Car Robots has reached fans outside Japan, and John DeLuna says alt.toys.transformers is flooded with reviews. This April Fools’ Day 2000 Radio Free Cybertron also covers the new Beast Machines characters Obsidian and Strika. Hitman Pez sits in with Brian, Turin delivers News from Cybertron and a top six of bad April Fools’ jokes, and a prank call reaches “Optimus Prime.” J. Dale reviews G1 Point Blank, Goldimus Prime gives Headmaster Arcee a tongue-in-cheek rave, and Brian reviews Beast Machines’ Spark War Part 2: The Search.
Hitman Pez Sits In
Hitman Pez joins Brian for the show. Brian introduces him as the first person in the US to see Beast Machines, well before BotCon. Pez says Beast Machines is okay but could use some work. Brian thinks Season 2 is much better. Brian also thanks Rick Baca and Zobovor for their work on the RFC movie parody, and apologizes for a brief show while he tests a new format.
Trivia
Last week’s clip was from Code of Hero in Beast Wars, and Soundwave X was the only one to get it right. This week is Zob Trivia: Zobovor asks which cartoon episode referenced Spike’s mom. The answer, revealed later, is none of them. April Fools.
News from Cybertron
Turin reports a 21-gun salute for Ultra Magnus’s birthday, followed by 21 civilians killed by gunfire from an unknown source. An unarmed renegade Decepticon barricades himself at home and nobody notices. Galvatron and Cyclonus wed in a quiet ceremony, and the RFC radio crew appears to have been blasted. Perceptor admits his scope only magnifies objects one time, and that his scientific pronouncements are guesswork.
Turin’s Top Six Worst Transformers April Fools’ Jokes
Turin counts down fake pranks from the Transformers universe. Rodimus Prime pretends to hand Ultra Magnus the Matrix of Leadership, and Bumblebee tells Sparkplug that Starscream stepped on Spike. The number one worst joke: Hasbro announces a new Transformers comic written by Bob Skir.
Turin’s Quick Review: Optimus Minor
Turin starts a glowing review of Transmetal 2 Optimus Minor, praising his poseable monkey mode and tail whip. Then he breaks down and refuses to continue, declaring that Optimus Minor does not exist.
Interview: Optimus Prime
Brian dials a number he got by email, expecting Peter Cullen. Instead “Optimus Prime” answers, lonely and eager to talk, and complains that it hurts when he transforms. Brian hangs up and vows never to trust an email again.
Toy Review: G1 Point Blank
J. Dale reviews the G1 Targetmaster Point Blank and his partner Peacemaker. The red futuristic car transforms simply and holds together well. The robot mode is fairly articulated for G1, with rotating wrists, shoulders and hips. Peacemaker’s gun mode isn’t very convincing, but he plugs into Point Blank in both modes. J. Dale gives the figure four stars and recommends picking it up on eBay.
Toy Review: Headmaster Arcee
Goldimus Prime, introducing himself first as “Larry Dottilio,” delivers an over-the-top rave of a late G1 Headmaster Arcee. He calls the car and robot modes perfect and show accurate, and loves the rubber tires. His favorite gimmick is the ejector seat that launches the little Daniel Witwicky Headmaster. He scores the figure 9.9995 out of 10 overall.
Transformers: The Movie Part 2
RFC presents the second part of its Transformers: The Movie parody, with ViceGripX as Mojo Jojo and Deathsaurus as Megatron. Hot Rod goes fishing with Daniel Witwicky, and the episode ends abruptly.
ATT Buzz
John DeLuna says Car Robots has clearly reached this side of the pond, judging by the flood of reviews on alt.toys.transformers. He calls it easily the biggest response to any Japanese release. Gigatron is his favorite so far, and he calls it a worthy successor to Sixshot. He jokes about Quickswitch’s color scheme. The newsgroup is also buzzing about Beast Machines’ new characters Obsidian and Strika, who made quite a first impression. John wonders whether Hasbro hired some Mainframe designers. He is disappointed in the Vehicon toys so far, which he says don’t look much better than G2. [Source: alt.toys.transformers]
Episode Review: Beast Machines, Spark War Part 2: The Search
Optimus Primal sends the Maximals to recover the stolen sparks, while Rattrap devises disguises for walking around in beast mode. Brian calls that joke forced and flat. Primal and Nightscream unearth Iacon and find a holographic tribute to Optimus Prime. Megatron reveals he planted the spark lead to make Primal access the Oracle. Brian finds Primal’s earlier theft of Oracle data a bit of a stretch, but says the episode has little to complain about. He gives it an 8.
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.