Masterpiece Convoy Sleep Mode, a BotCon 2010 Streetstar and new War for Cybertron characters lead this live April 28, 2010 Radio Free Cybertron. The crew also covers a Del Rey Transformers origin novel, pricey Collectors’ Club exclusives and first pictures of Drift. Former co-host Ironhide1975 and TFG1 Mike join the show. Exvee’s topic asks how much a toy’s limited run affects what fans will pay, inspired by the $75 Chevy Aveo Swerve.
News
Del Rey Announces a Transformers Origin Novel
Del Rey has announced a Transformers origin story novel. The crew is skeptical, noting that most Transformers novels struggle because action and transformations are hard to write in prose. One host found the first movie’s prequel novel boring. The crew laughs about the old illustrated Transformers storybooks, including a Find Your Fate book bound with repeating pages. [Source: not found]
BotCon 2010 Exclusive Streetstar and the G2 Box Set
A BotCon exclusive Streetwise repaint will be named Streetstar, and a friend of one host on Twitter called the name a Cybertronian hooker. BotCon 2010’s theme is G2 in cartoon continuity. Rob is weighing the box set, though he usually does BotCon on the cheap. [Source: not found]
Collectors’ Club Punch/Counterpunch Sells Out at About $60
Ironhide1975 is frustrated that the Collectors’ Club Punch/Counterpunch costs around $60 for a figure that once sold for about $12, and that it sold out quickly. The crew explains the economy of scale behind low-run exclusives. They wonder why Hasbro doesn’t bring popular exclusive molds to retail, as it is doing with Dirge. They call the exclusive Classics Thundercracker the biggest missed retail opportunity. [Source: not found]
First Look at Drift
Pictures of Drift are out. The crew mocks the character’s swords and fan-fiction reputation. One host intends to buy it and calls it a decent toy brought down by who it is. The mold will also be reused as Blur, which the crew thinks should have been the other way around. [Source: not found]
War for Cybertron: Best Buy Jazz, Barricade and Warpath
The Best Buy exclusive for War for Cybertron is a Jazz skin. The crew complains that retailer exclusive characters work only in an online multiplayer mode, not single player. Barricade and Warpath have also been added to the game. Brian likes the new Warpath’s look, though he cares less about Barricade. Ender has played the game but can’t talk about it yet. [Source: TFormers]
Masterpiece Convoy Sleep Mode
Takara’s Masterpiece Convoy Sleep Mode shows Optimus Prime after his death in the 1986 movie and is limited to 2,010 pieces in Japan. The crew calls it the lamest repaint yet, mostly an absence of paint. Big Bad Toy Store lists it at $274.99. Ironhide1975 endorses Big Bad Toy Store for its pre-orders and service. [Source: Big Bad Toy Store]
This Week in Transformers History
IDW’s Spotlight: Kup was released in the U.S. in 2007. The crew notes IDW has held the comic license since late 2006 and is closing in on Marvel’s run from 1984 to about 1993. Ironhide1975 downloads IDW’s free Transformers comics app on the iPad during the show and is impressed.
Topic: How Much Does Limited Production Drive What You’ll Pay?
Exvee’s topic, inspired by the $75 Chevy Aveo Swerve, asks how much a toy’s limited run affects what fans will pay. Most of the crew admit they’ve overpaid for limited toys. One host spent over $900 on G1 Galvatron, Blaster and Soundwave when he started collecting in 2007. Ender says he has paid three digits for tiny pieces he never saw again, including a $170 Optimus Prime ring. Rob once tried and failed to buy a friend’s Grandus. Ironhide1975 sold half his Robots in Disguise collection in hard times and regrets the Railbots. Another host sold his complete Unicron Trilogy collection and found it liberating. The crew agrees kids and bills come first.
Ironhide1975 closes with a story about spending three hours playing Transformers with a visiting boy who knew the characters from Transformers Animated. He encourages listeners to share Transformers with the next generation.
RFC Announcements
RFC will give away another Animated Arcee plus other prizes, with details next week, and listeners can email prize ideas to brian@tfradio.net. Cub podcaster Billy McElfresh joins for New Soundwave after the show.
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.