Beast Machines Strika, Nightslash Cheetor and the three Beast Changer repaints have reached full distribution. On this March 19, 2001 Radio Free Cybertron, John DeLuna’s ATT Buzz says Strika plays like a Mega at a deluxe price. Brian Kilby, with help from Jay Foster, tours the Transformers channels on IRC. Brian also talks about buying junked toys on eBay to repair his collection.
News
Strika, Nightslash Cheetor and Beast Changers Reach Full Distribution
Nightslash Cheetor, Strika and the Beast Changer repaints are now in stores everywhere after a few weeks of general release. John rates all six toys from above average to very good. He calls Strika great, with the complexity and bulk of a Mega, and a better bargain at $15 than the first Beast Machines Megatron. Nightslash Cheetor is show accurate but has an embarrassingly simple transformation, and John is burned out on the Cheetor design. [Source: alt.toys.transformers]
John DeLuna Doubts Web Diver Will Succeed
John expects Takara’s Web Diver line to fail. He thinks it is too expensive for a struggling Japanese economy, and he says import-paying fans won’t buy it because it isn’t Transformers. [Source: not found]
Brian’s eBay Parts Hunt
Brian has been buying junked toys on eBay as parts for ones he already owns, including a second G2 Snarl. He is still looking for a junked Blur, Grapple and especially Scorponok parts. He says it is more rewarding than paying $50 or $60 for a second-year car like Mirage.
Dubbed Line of the Week
In the Star TV dub, Galvatron rebuilds Soundwave as New Soundwave, the dub name for Soundblaster. Brian explains that Broadcast, Blaster in the U.S., was called Billy in the dubs, and Twincast was called Blaster. He uses New Soundwave as his IRC nick.
Trivia
Brian admits a mistake: last week’s clip came from The Autobot Run. David Schultz, BlueStreet7, had the right answer first, and Brian asks a second emailer to write again. A new clip is played, and answers go to brian at tfradio.com.
Transformers on IRC
Brian credits Jay Foster of galvabots.net for most of this guide to Transformers chat on DALnet. Channels include Metroplex, Decepticon, Unicron, Cold Hard Slag, RFC, Cybertron and Wiigii, and Jay calls TFChat on WebNet the biggest. Brian clears up misconceptions about Wiigii: it is not the ATT channel, and Transformers isn’t its only topic. Newcomers with bad grammar and lame jokes get ignored, and James Hooks offers a blunt warning to stay away. Jay describes Cybertron’s rules against insults, profanity and explicit talk. He also covers the Lonac role-play channel, now on SorceryNet, and the Transformers Serve file-sharing channel. Brian recommends mIRC or MS Chat as a client and reminds listeners to follow netiquette.
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.