Radio Free Cybertron turns 10 years old in this October 2009 anniversary special, the long-awaited premiere of Transformers the Movie Part 4. Brian Kilby, JD, Exvee, John DeLuna, Rob Springer, Chris Triplette and Turin look back on a decade that began on alt.toys.transformers and grew into a podcast. Mopboy, Mad Max MFP, the Cold Hard Slag crew, the RFC Computer, Hooper X, Recharge and Ant from TFU.info all check in. The crew also predicts where Transformers goes in the next 10 years.
Ten Years of Radio Free Cybertron
Brian opens with a clip of his very first introduction from October 15, 1999. The crew calls RFC the Transformers internet radio show, one of the earliest podcasts by most definitions, released in RealAudio and occasionally MP3. They play early clips of John DeLuna’s first ATT Buzz, Exvee’s December 31, 1999 Tigerhawk review and Turin’s News from Cybertron. Brian says RFC pushed him toward an IT career, and the others credit it with careers in media and television and a lifelong love of podcasting. Brian has posted J. Dale’s old ATT Who’s Who at tfradio.org/attww as a snapshot of the early fandom.
Interview: Mopboy
Brian and Exvee catch up with Mopboy, Scott Johnson, one of the original RFC crew. Brian credits him with keeping RFC alive for four or five years and making its return possible. Mopboy says family life and fandom drama have taken the fun out of Transformers for him. He hasn’t seen Revenge of the Fallen and plans to rent it for a dollar.
Interview: Mad Max MFP
Brian talks with Mad Max MFP, one of RFC’s original website writers alongside AlexJ33106. He has redirected his fandom energy toward baseball. The two agree that being a Transformers fan has gone from embarrassing to socially acceptable.
Being a Transformers Fan Then and Now
The crew remembers BotCon 2001 as cramped and smelly, and notes that Guillermo del Toro attended a recent BotCon as a fan. Everyone loves Transformers now, thanks to the movies. They debate whether online news has killed surprises; Rob points to the unexpected Bludgeon in the movie toy line. Several miss the days of just two BotCon exclusives, revealed only at the show.
Interview: Cold Hard Slag
JD Church, Tim Gourley and Heath Yeakley of coldhardslag.com reunite. Tim says Cold Hard Slag faded after he married and moved to Arkansas. Heath wishes he had taken Tim’s idea to expand into general geek culture, and Tim says his podcast idea became what the Soundwave podcast is today. Tim dislikes the movie toys’ insectoid look but praises Transformers Animated. Heath recounts how the site’s price guide drew 30,000 hits in a month once Ben Yee linked to it. He also tells how Gary Chalk phoned him personally to set up the site’s first interview.
Heath shares more interview stories. Frank Welker answered by fax and said yes to reprising Megatron. Michael Bell got a boxed Swoop at a BotCon panel and said “cold hard slag” on the mic. Alec Willows remembered Heath by name at a BotCon autograph line. JD hints at a possible Cold Hard Slag comeback.
The Next 10 Years of Transformers
The crew predicts a new cartoon and at least one more movie, and expects the brand to last as long as Hasbro does. One host expects the movies to fade after a third film, with the franchise leveling off. Most think future cartoons will keep a traditional look rather than copy the movie designs. They compare Transformers to G.I. Joe, which has reinvented itself since the 1960s. Several want Hasbro to revisit Armada, with Mini-Cons, Spy Changers and a new Armada Megatron. The crew calls Universe the best Transformers line ever. Rob brings up Rock Bots, a shelved heavy metal Transformers concept.
Interview: The RFC Computer
Exvee interviews the RFC Computer, which refuses to appear with Brian. It complains about getting no credit and processing every syllable Brian records. Its favorite memories are taking over the universe and ordering Brian’s death.
RFC’s Hiatus and RFC Throwback
Brian recaps how RFC slowed after 2002 and continued with occasional specials through 2004, with Recharge, Hooper X, Rob and Ant filling in. RFC Throwback, at tfradio.net, now replays old episodes with new show notes, including a recent fifth-anniversary show. Rob hosted a 2005 episode, and Brian plans to release the January 1, 2005 show on Throwback.
Interview: Hooper X, Recharge and Ant from TFU.info
Brian catches up with former contributors Hooper X, Recharge and Ant, who ran Destroy, Erase, Improve. Recharge is still in the Navy, now a father, and moving to San Diego. Ant works in television in New York and still runs TFU.info, which Brian ranks with the TFWiki as one of the most important Transformers sites. Ant still collects for the site but no longer follows the message boards. Recharge buys the occasional Animated toy and follows the fiction. Hooper X buys whatever sings to him. All three trade fond, rowdy stories about RoboRob.
Transformers the Movie Part 4
After an eight-year wait, RFC premieres Transformers the Movie Part 4. It stars ViceGripX as Hot Rod, Turin as Perceptor, Amanda Bonner-Church as Arcee, Brian as Galvatron and Zobovor as everyone else. The parody covers the Autobots’ escape from Earth, Kup’s endless war stories and the shuttle crashes on Quintessa and the planet of Junk. Exvee edited it, and Turin wrote the script. (Click here for the script.) Turin has started on Part 5, possibly by Christmas. Brian and Rob plan a Halloween episode.
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.