Brian and JD Church mark the 23rd anniversary of Transformers: The Movie on this August 4, 2009 Radio Free Cybertron. They agree it is traumatic and flawed but turned Transformers into a space opera. Brian praises two new repaints, Thrust from the Revenge of the Fallen Breakaway mold and Skyfall from Classics Silverbolt. Rob Springer reviews the Human Alliance Bumblebee and Sideswipe and calls the line a worthy successor to Alternators. Trivia reveals Botanica as the only US cartoon Transformer never made into a toy, prompting a fresh look at Beast Machines.
Collection Woes
Worried by last week’s talk of toys melting in storage, JD checked his mostly loose collection in a hot Oklahoma closet and found it fine. Then he snapped his Transmetal Megatron in half at the waist by forcing a stiff joint. Both hosts note that Transmetal foil tends to flake, and that Machine Wars Prowl now sells for $20 to $30 carded. They also debate auto-transformation from Machine Wars through Mech Alive and praise the Animated Activators.
News
Thrust Repaint of Revenge of the Fallen Breakaway
Photos of Thrust, a dark red and beige repaint of Revenge of the Fallen Breakaway, appeared on the AllSpark’s front page via Big Bad Toy Store stock images. Brian was not impressed by Breakaway, but he says Thrust looks excellent. [Source: not found]
Skyfall Repaint of Classics Silverbolt
Hasbro repainted the poor-selling Classics Silverbolt as Skyfall, a nod to G2 Skyjack. Brian notes the Skyjack name is not usable after 9/11. He says Skyfall looks phenomenal and plans to buy one. JD agrees the mold’s repaints beat the original. [Source: not found]
Toy Review: Human Alliance Bumblebee and Sideswipe
Rob Springer calls the Revenge of the Fallen Human Alliance toys a successor to Alternators, about Voyager size at roughly $30 each. Each comes with a human figure. Sam Witwicky rides with Bumblebee and Sergeant Epps with Sideswipe, sitting in the cars or manning shoulder guns in robot mode. Sideswipe has fully articulated fingers, stands better than the deluxe and has wheel-spun blades, but carries a big backpack. Bumblebee’s spring-loaded chest pieces frustrate Rob, and Sam has no good seat. Rob likes the window-tray packaging and looks forward to Skids, Mudflap and Barricade with Frenzy.
Transformers: The Movie at 23
Neither host saw the 1986 film in theaters. Brian first watched it on a friend’s bootleg tape, after Season 3, and still cried at Optimus Prime’s death. JD says few writers grasped how seeing a hero shot at point-blank range would affect eight-year-olds. Brian calls it crap that he can quote word for word. JD says the Matrix was a MacGuffin and Unicron was invented alongside his own weakness. Both credit the film with turning Transformers into a space opera and paving the way for Season 3.
Trivia
Last week’s question asked for the only US television Transformers character never given a production figure. The answer is Botanica from Beast Machines. That prompts both hosts to say Beast Machines was better than its reputation. Brian admits he once wrote parody fanfiction mocking it, and they condemn the death threats sent to Bob Skir. This week’s question: name the G1 episode featuring a gigantic female robot ninja.
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.