Magmatron reaches Target stores in the U.S. on this October 15, 2000 Radio Free Cybertron, as Hasbro’s falling stock price leads to company cutbacks. John DeLuna’s ATT Buzz also covers Trench, Burrow and Crow, three new Deployers expected to be repaints. He adds new Beast Machines drones, a basic unicorn, and Rapticon and Terranotron for the Dinobot subline. Matrix Prime reviews Car Robots Super Wild Ride, and the original audio clip trivia returns.
News
Magmatron Arrives at Target
Magmatron is starting to show up in Target stores. John DeLuna says it is a cheaper route for fans who never wanted to pay $50 to $60 for Magmatron and Big Convoy from Beast Wars Neo. He sees it as pretty much the same toy in different, anime-styled packaging. [Source: alt.toys.transformers]
Hasbro Cuts Back as Its Stock Falls
Hasbro is cutting back, with some toy factories expected to close after its stock price plummeted. John argues a company holding Transformers, G.I. Joe and Pokemon should have turned a profit. He thinks cutting the fat is good, and he doubts Transformers will suffer, since it has been one of Hasbro’s best franchises since 1984. [Source: alt.toys.transformers]
Trench, Burrow and Crow Deployers Coming
Three new Deployers named Trench, Burrow and Crow are due late this year or early next. John puts the odds at about 90% that they are repaints of Dive, Mole and Rav. He calls repaints a good sign, since Hasbro nearly released no more Deployers or Beast Riders at all. Strong sales could lead to new molds. [Source: alt.toys.transformers]
More Beast Machines Toys Planned for Next Year
Upcoming Beast Machines toys reportedly include a motorcycle drone, a tank drone, an attack bird and a unicorn. John doesn’t see why fans are upset about a unicorn when Geckobot and the Transmetal 2s aren’t real animals either. Rapticon and Terranotron, repaints of Transmetal 2 Dinobot and Transmetal 2 Terrorsaur, look set to join the Dinobot subline. John reads the new releases as a sign the Transformers line is still selling. [Source: alt.toys.transformers]
Brian on the G1 DVD Set
Brian Kilby wonders whether anyone else is considering the G1 DVD set, even at around $200. He plans to buy a DVD player mainly for the Transformers: The Movie DVD.
Toy Review: Car Robots Super Wild Ride
Matrix Prime’s review, read by the computer, covers C-24 Super Wild Ride, the boxed super version of the Car Brothers’ Wild Ride. In vehicle mode, he is a red, white and green rally SUV with opening doors, a gold engine and rubber Transformers tires. Matrix Prime says the robot mode is the only way to display him. It has about 15 points of articulation, a sword in place of the right hand and the hood as a shield. He ranks it second only to Black Convoy and gives it a solid 9 out of 10. He paid $26. Brian adds that the God Magnus and Fire Convoy combination is better than he expected.
Trivia
Brian brings back the original trivia: a clip from a Transformers episode that listeners identify by title. The clip airs twice and stays on the homepage for a week. Correct answers will be read next week.
Bad Poet’s Corner
This week’s poem, “History,” is by Turin.
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.