Takara’s Car Robots reach US import stores days after the Japanese launch on this March 25, 2000 Radio Free Cybertron, and John DeLuna defends Hasbro against the Takara-rules crowd. Goldimus Prime calls Beast Machines Obsidian a must-have, and Brian Kilby reviews the episodes Native Soil and Spark War Part 1, which introduce Botanica, Obsidian and Strika. Turin answers TransTalk’s claim that RFC copied its movie parody. Brian also delivers his rant on ripping off other fans’ work.
News
Car Robots Reach US Import Stores
Car Robots came out in Japan this week and reached US import stores only a few days later. Fans on ATT like them a lot. [Source: alt.toys.transformers]
J. Dale’s ATT Who’s Who Returns
J. Dale’s ATT Who’s Who, one of Brian’s favorite ATT projects from last year, is being updated again, and fans can submit profiles. [Source: alt.toys.transformers]
Transquake Updated
Transquake has been updated, most notably with the ability to play as Soundwave. [Source: Transquake]
RFC News
RFC is moving files to a new server. In the trivia poll, 71 percent said don’t change a thing, 23 percent said keep it but improve it and 6 percent said drop it, so trivia returns. The movie parody drew a lot of praise and is on the homepage as audio, MP3 and script, and a surprise interview is planned for next week. Staff fan fiction is now in the RFC archive.
News from Cybertron
Energon prices hit an all-time high after Decepticon raids. Soundwave releases a spoken word album, Zen and the Art of Cassette Maintenance, to an underwhelmed response. Trax denies an affair with Blackarachnia, and it turns out he started the rumor himself.
Turin on TransTalk
Turin addresses a dispute with TransTalk, another Transformers internet show. Its host, the Nixter, said RFC’s movie parody imitated his. Turin says RFC’s had been planned for months, uses original dialogue rather than recycled movie audio, and uses soundtrack music with 3H Enterprises’ permission. The Nixter has apologized, and RFC accepts. Turin objects that the Nixter read parts of a private email on air, and says he never accused TransTalk of copying RFC.
Turin’s Quick Review: Manterror
Turin only recently realized what a great toy the pre-Transmetal deluxe Manterror is, rating him Very Nice. The mantis stands well on its insect legs and has a moving mouth and antennae. The robot mode is highly poseable, with a long reach and a fierce Inferno-like head. His disc launcher works well, and his beast parts work as armor, leaving almost no kibble. Turin’s only warning is that he is very green.
Turin’s Rant: Defending the Bad Guys
Turin is tired of people excusing bad behavior because nobody is totally evil. He applies that to fans who call the Decepticons the good guys. He loves the Decepticons as characters and toys, but notes they try to kill every human on Earth. Soundwave’s loyalty doesn’t excuse much when he let Megatron be tossed into space in the movie.
Ask RFC
Mop Boy answers a Mac listener struggling with the new player by promising MP3s of the show before the end of April. He points a fan who found a loose Sixshot at a garage sale to several Sixshot pages and BigBot.com’s link list. He also plays a sample from the ska band The Decepticons, with the band’s and label’s blessing.
Trivia
Trivia returns after listeners voted to keep it. This week’s clip features Rattrap calling himself a betting rodent.
Toy Review: Beast Machines Obsidian
Goldimus Prime’s Obsidian is a mostly green VTOL with purple stripes and translucent orange rotors, which reminds him of G2 Tank Megatron. He looks like a mass-produced war machine refit as a general. He is well armed, has a gooseneck cockpit and a fanboat pose, and his rotors fire as missiles. Goldimus scores the vehicle mode 9.5.
Pulling the tail starts a geared, mostly automatic transformation. The robot mode looks even better, with missile launchers for hands and rotors on the shoulders, and only a back projection to complain about. He scores the robot mode 9 and the gimmicks 6, for an 8 overall, and calls Obsidian a must-have.
Brian’s Rant: Ripping People Off
Brian admits his first webpages used images, screencaps and sounds taken from others without credit. He cites Greg Galb’s spinning Transformers logos, which appear all over the web and eBay and almost never credit him. After months of work building RFC, Brian says he hates seeing material used without credit or permission. He leaves it to each fan’s conscience what to do about it.
ATT Buzz
John DeLuna pushes back on the Hasbro-is-the-devil posts that followed. Takara has long used repaints, including contest-only prizes, and accepts kibble that Hasbro tries to eliminate. He calls the two companies apples and oranges. ATT is also split on Botanica, the new plant Maximal. John says it’s too early to judge her personality but can barely stomach the plant form.
Episode Reviews: Native Soil and Spark War Part 1
Spoilers for the rest of the season have been posted on ATT. Brian finds Native Soil, Botanica’s debut, boring until Megatron transforms into a ship in anger. He gives it a 6, thanks to Thrust’s rude gesture at Primal.
Spark War Part 1 is a great episode by any standard. Megatron creates two new Vehicon generals, Obsidian and Strika, who lead swarms of drones in an ambush that herds the Maximals into the Citadel. Brian loves the new generals, the dialogue, the action and the suspense. His only complaints are Botanica and Thrust becoming comic relief. He gives it a strong 9.
Radio Free Cybertron is the world's first and oldest toy and action figure podcast — broadcasting from the heart of the Transformers fan community since October 1999. What started as a scrappy fan show has grown into an institution, with nearly 1,000 episodes and over 25 years of coverage. Every week, host Brian Kilby and the RFC crew dig into the latest Transformers news, toy reveals, collecting, and everything hitting shelves from Hasbro, Takara, and beyond. No fluff, no hype — just informed, passionate collectors who have been doing this longer than anyone else on the planet. The original. The longest running. Till all are one.