Transformers: War for Cybertron gets a June 23, 2010 release date on this April 7, 2010 Radio Free Cybertron. The crew also covers the Wii spin-off Cybertron Adventures, Transformers Animated’s Japanese premiere and IDW’s iPad comic app. Ender rants about Hasbro’s reason for cancelling Robot Heroes. Last Stand of the Wreckers co-writer James Roberts joins Ender and Moonbase 2’s Kal-El Prime for an interview, and the crew picks characters they want back.
Brian is joined by JD, Ender, John DeLuna and Rob Springer. Exvee is out this week but wrote the show’s news rundown and watches from the chat room.
News
War for Cybertron Gets a June 23 Release Date
Transformers: War for Cybertron arrives June 23, 2010, the same week as BotCon. The crew wonders why the date competes with the convention and suggests a launch event there. They joke about preordering from every store to collect each retailer’s exclusive characters. They are puzzled that Shockwave is a preorder exclusive, and pleased that Armada Demolishor is a hidden character. The crew also debates whether the squad-based play will depend on good AI. [Source: not found]
Johnny Yong Bosch Voices Bumblebee in the Game
Johnny Yong Bosch, who played the second Black Ranger on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, voices Bumblebee. The crew shrugs at the news and drifts into Power Rangers trivia. [Source: not found]
War for Cybertron on Wii Becomes Cybertron Adventures
The Wii version is a separate game called Transformers: Cybertron Adventures, from a different developer. It is reportedly meant to be more family friendly. One host suspects the new name distances it from the main game, while another looks forward to the motion controls. [Source: not found]
Transformers Animated Premieres in Japan
Transformers Animated premiered in Japan with what the crew calls the most cliche anime opening possible, and they loved it. They spot Ironhide and Arcee and wonder whether a caped figure is Megatron or Violen Jiger. They hope Takara releases the Animated toys Hasbro never did. They note Rodimus and Ironhide are due this fall, and that a spare head mold made with Ratchet became Ironhide. [Source: not found]
IDW Launches an iPad Comic Reader
IDW released a comic reader app for the iPad, following its PSP app. The Transformers ongoing series is current through issue five. The crew compares that with Marvel’s dated offerings and debates whether digital comics will finish off comic shops. [Source: not found]
Transformers 3 Truck Rumor
An unverified rumor says a custom shop built a black and purple rig for Transformers 3 that could be Megatron or Motormaster. The crew laughs it off, and Ender would welcome Motormaster only if it brings Dead End. [Source: not found]
Ender’s Rant: The Cancellation of Robot Heroes
Ender asked Hasbro, through a staff Q&A, why Robot Heroes was cancelled with figures still scheduled. Hasbro said the line performed well but ends after Revenge of the Fallen. It said Robot Heroes could not expand into vehicle play like Star Wars and Marvel, because Transformers are already vehicles, so it chose to end on a positive note. Ender calls that the stupidest thing he has ever heard. He lists ships, play sets, Animated humans and an Omega Supreme that could carry the line. He also tells Hasbro to sell the finished Prowl and Laserbeak. The crew points to Action Masters and Micromasters as proof, and agrees Hasbro should have just said it didn’t sell.
This Day in Transformers History
JD marks the Transformers Energon marathon of April 9, 2004.
Interview: James Roberts
Ender and Kal-El Prime of the Moonbase 2 podcast interview James Roberts, co-writer of Last Stand of the Wreckers, in a joint Moonbase 2, TFormers.com and Radio Free Cybertron production. Roberts got into Transformers through a Blitzwing birthday present, the 1986 movie and Marvel UK’s weekly comic. He then joined the Transmasters UK fan club, whose members built on Simon Furman’s stories in fanzines. He edited the story fanzine Transtext, which led to his fan novel Eugenesis. It runs over 500 pages, with Blue Streak, Trailbreaker and Mirage in focus. He printed about 150 copies for TransForce 2001, and a re-edited version is now a free PDF.
Roberts was a sounding board on Nick Roche’s Prowl spotlight in All Hail Megatron #15 and joined Last Stand of the Wreckers as co-writer in August 2009. Roche had issue one largely formed, and the script was fully shared from issue two. The violence is deliberate, he says, so readers know when a Transformer is dead. Overlord’s laughter scene drew on The Killing Joke, and Roberts hears Doctor Who’s Master in the character. He promises the upcoming Prowl spotlight is good and calls issue four a game-changer. He and Roche hope to work on another Wreckers project.
Topic: Characters We Want to See Return
The crew picks characters they want back in new continuities. Picks include an Animated Inferno, Sixshot, Metroplex and the real cartoon Devcon. Derek Wyatt’s planned Animated Devastator also gets a nod. Rob wants G1 Galvatron back after his Armada comic appearance and suggests an IDW Galvatron comic. The talk drifts into Galvatron and Cyclonus jokes, and the show wraps there.
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.