A leaked BotCon 2000 exclusive leads this week’s Radio Free Cybertron. John DeLuna’s ATT Buzz reports that Shokaract, a repainted Transmetal Rampage, was spoiled on alt.toys.transformers with almost no warning. John also covers Supreme Cheetor reaching stores alongside two new Beast Machines Ultras, and the news that no Transformers movie is coming from Mainframe and Hasbro. Turin argues about what counts as canon in the G1 cartoon. Rattrap007 races through his G1 collection in a five-minute review, and the show closes with a look at English-dubbed Japanese Transformers episodes.
News
Shokaract Revealed as BotCon 2000 Exclusive
John reports that the larger BotCon 2000 exclusive looks to be Shokaract, a repaint of Transmetal Rampage. The information came from Spooky, who John jokes gets Hasbro toys “perfectly legally” years early. John says Spooky may have the toy itself, or only the information. He gave listeners spoiler space before the reveal. John says ATT was unhappy because the post had a vague title and little spoiler space. In his view, a reveal this big needs a clear title, because many fans enjoy the surprise of BotCon exclusives. [Source: not found]
Supreme Cheetor Hits Stores With the Beast Machines Ultras
Supreme Cheetor has reportedly shown up in stores alongside two new Beast Machines Ultras. John says most early sightings ignored Cheetor, likely because fans were focused on the Ultras. He calls the Ultras “pretty nifty.” John adds that he didn’t see Cheetor at the Targets where he found the Ultras. He says ATT’s reaction has been surprisingly balanced and civil. John’s take: fans of Cheetor won’t mind the $40 price, but Beast Machines doubters won’t be impressed. He thinks you’re mostly paying for flashy lights and size, and the details aren’t great. [Source: not found]
No Transformers Movie Coming From Mainframe and Hasbro
John reports that Mainframe and Hasbro have no current plans for any Transformers movie. He notes ATT was upset, but argues there was never real proof a movie existed. The only evidence was a press-release blurb on a fan website saying a film was “in development.” John thinks the best fans could have hoped for was an hour-long, straight-to-video Beast Machines episode. He doubts the ratings or fan love were there to support even that. [Source: not found]
John Wants Better Transformers Names
John asks Hasbro, and whoever names the BotCon toys, to rethink their naming. He gives the BotCon comic writers a pass but says Hasbro has no excuse. He singles out T-Rex, Dinobot as a single character, and the Beast Wars Neo names Big Daddy, Randy and Stampy. He suggests Hasbro recycle G1 Targetmaster and Headmaster partner names instead. His picks include Tailspin, Hotwire, Ricochet, Tracer and Flintlock.
News From Cybertron
Brian’s comedy news desk returns. Ironhide is out of action after losing an important file while uninstalling Quake 2. A new Quintesson restaurant is struggling despite its “five phases of casserole.” RFC’s restaurant critic blames the “creepy atmosphere and incessant moans of death.” Finally, a reminder that Brawn is dead, so get over it.
Turin on Canon and Proof
Turin opens by apologizing for a story that led off last week’s review of Ultra Jetstorm and T-Rex. He says it was meant as venting, not bragging, and he edited it out of the review. He then takes on an ATT thread that drifted from “The Return of the Autobots Hidden Master” into a debate on G1 cartoon canon. The thread asked questions like whether Sunstreaker is really an Autobot and whether Fujiyama really created Nightbird. Turin argues that “prove” does not mean 100% certainty. He says evidence counts, and without contrary evidence, Sunstreaker is an Autobot and Fujiyama created Nightbird. He allows that some questions are truly open, like the size of Cybertron or where Optimus Prime’s trailer goes. Turin closes by reading a Transformers parody of “A Natural Woman” written by his girlfriend. He also jokes that Beast Wars Neo Stampy is the first toy to show anyone new to Transformers.
Dinobots Do Hamlet
Zobovor performs a short sketch with Grimlock, Slag and Snarl taking on “To be or not to be.”
Five-Minute Review: Rattrap007’s G1 Collection
Rattrap007 tries to review as many toys as he can in five minutes. Highlights include Optimus Prime, a “full-fledged 10,” and Transmetal Optimus Primal at 9.5. He gives 9s to Beachcomber, Bumblebee, Grimlock, Blast Off, Transmetal Rattrap and Jazz. Swoop, Hound, Gears, Rewind, Shrapnel, Slag and Snarl land around 8. Cutthroat scores a 7 for beast mode but a 4 for his “puny, wimpy little arms.” Huffer gets a 6 for having no hands. Motormaster gets a 7, and the other Stunticons get 8s. Blaster scores an 8 overall, with points off for size. Astrotrain and Blitzwing get around 7.5 to 8 for being blocky. Rattrap007 pitches a new segment where listeners list their own collections, if Brian approves.
Galvatron for President
Goldimus Prime delivers a mock campaign ad for Galvatron, president in the year 2000. It is “paid for by the Decepticon Kindness Council.”
Rattrap007’s Trivia
Last week’s answer: the movie The Professional, known as Leon abroad, featured Transformers episodes three times, including “S.O.S. Dinobots.” Razorpak was the only listener to get it right. This week’s question: in the original series, what was the original purpose of Autobot X? Rattrap007 also delays his GoBots vs. Transformers speech to next week.
Japanese Dubs
The closing segment looks at English-dubbed versions of the Japanese series, including the first episodes of Headmasters, Masterforce and Victory. The sound quality is called good, but the voice acting is “more mundane than generic,” with one or two people voicing everyone. Names are often wrong, with God Ginrai called Optimus Prime and Spike called Sparkle. Clips include Wreck-Gar’s dubbed voice, Ultra Magnus meeting Sixshot, the “ninja consultant for the Decepticons,” and Wheelie tricking Trypticon into a ravine. The verdict: subtitled episodes may be better, and the dubs are optional since they don’t affect Western continuity. Seeing characters like the Seacons on screen is a plus.
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.