Brian, JD Church and John DeLuna rank the best and worst Transformers repaints on this September 1, 2009 Radio Free Cybertron, from Big Daddy and Skyfall to Strafe and every white Convoy sold as Ultra Magnus. They weigh what Disney’s $4 billion purchase of Marvel could mean for Transformers and the Japanese Disney Label line. Masterpiece Skywarp, Black Convoy and limited Transformers watches surface in new photos. JD and Brian also debate Five Faces of Darkness on its anniversary. Rob Springer reviews a 1991 Japanese fan comic, Universe of Primacron.
This Day in Transformers History
JD notes that Five Faces of Darkness premiered on this day in 1986. Brian calls it “the Transformers movie we should have gotten.” JD, who never saw it as a kid, finds the production values low and prefers the Marvel comics’ Primus origin to the Quintessons creating the Transformers. Brian likes the idea of robots built as tools that became sentient.
News
Disney Buys Marvel for $4 Billion
Disney’s purchase of Marvel could affect Hasbro’s Marvel Crossovers transforming toys. Brian wonders whether it might bring Takara’s Disney Label Transformers, such as Mickey Mouse and the coming Donald Duck, to the US. John expects that if there is any way to sell those molds here, it will happen. Brian says he wouldn’t mind if Marvel’s toys left Hasbro. [Source: not found]
Masterpiece Skywarp, Black Convoy and Henkei Strafe Photos
In-box photos surfaced of Masterpiece Black Convoy and Masterpiece Skywarp. Brian will buy Skywarp after missing Masterpiece Starscream, and the hosts debate which heads come with it. Henkei Strafe, a Cyclonus repaint, looks psychedelic to the crew. JD likes a coming Toys R Us two-pack of Hoist and Mixmaster. [Source: not found]
Limited Edition Transformers Watches
Licensed Transformers watches limited to 500 to 1,000 pieces impress the hosts, especially the Decepticon model and its tin. Brian has asked his wife for one for Christmas. He worries about the price. [Source: not found]
The First Transformers Post on Usenet
Hooper X found a 1984 Usenet review of Transformers #1, the first Transformers reference on Usenet, and it is cynical. JD says it shows how early material reads without nostalgia. Brian likes the comic but understands the reaction. [Source: not found]
Repaints: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
JD points out that repaints go back to the G1 Seekers. John likes repaints that create new characters, and he doesn’t think a new head is required. Brian’s favorites are the Fox Kids “tuxedo” Tarantulas, the Diaclone-colored Powered Convoy Ultra Magnus and Takara’s GoBots minibot repaints. JD likes Skywarp-colored Starscreams and the Walmart blue Rattrap, which Brian traded by the dozen.
Brian names Classics Overkill and Big Daddy, the Walmart exclusive the Ouija crowd lobbied Aaron Archer for, as standouts, and the hosts praise Skyfall again. Black Convoy began the Nemesis Prime wave, and repaints also gave the world Sunstorm. On the bad side, they list Fox Kids Waspinator, Strafe, Super Primal Prime, white Convoys sold as Ultra Magnus and garish early Universe Beast Wars recolors. G2’s neon Combaticons and turquoise Grimlock split them. Brian admits he buys them anyway.
Fan Comic Review: Universe of Primacron
Rob Springer reviews Universe of Primacron, a 1991 doujinshi by Japanese fan artist Stars, reprinted for BotCon 1998 as issue 0 of Epoch of the Cybertron. Working from little more than the cartoon episode The Call of the Primitives, Stars casts Primus as Primacron’s rebellious android assistant. The story follows Primus’s partner as Unicron becomes self-aware and destroys their world. Rob praises the art and the fan characters’ tech specs. He says copies sell for about $5, possibly still from Doug’s BigBot page.
Twitter Theater: Transformers Victory Episode 2
Brian loved Victory’s Old West opening as a new fan but soon found it worse than he hoped. JD says each Japanese series goes deeper into anime territory and loses him. John, an anime fan, enjoyed the Dinoforce. Brian argues for watching the dubs, while JD sticks with subtitles. They wonder what an anime of the Zone-era Battlestars comic would have looked like.
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.