Jack from TFormers calls in from San Diego Comic-Con with a first-hand report on the Transformers Prime panel. Peter Cullen appeared in person, and a video showed him recording with Frank Welker. This July 21, 2010 Radio Free Cybertron also covers a gold-toned Predaking reissue, $1 RPMs at Dollar Tree and more Punch-Counterpunch delays. JD hosts while Brian is out, and the crew closes by asking why they still love Transformers.
News
Transformers 3 Rumors: Stunticons, Heads on Sticks and Carly
One host hears that the NASCAR robots seen in set photos are not Stunticons or Omnibots. One host bets they will be name-in-toy-only characters like Sideways. Another host is annoyed that Sideswipe keeps his silver Corvette mode while a red Italian sports car joins the cast. Set photos show a cyclopean head with antennas and a head with hair and glasses on sticks. The crew jokes they are Wheelie and Cabal, but notes the heads may just be CGI stand-ins. Megan Fox’s replacement is reportedly playing Carly. [Source: not found]
Cyclonus, Hot Rod and Galvatron Three-Pack Pictured
Real images surfaced of a three-pack of Cyclonus, Hot Rod and Galvatron. News now points to a Japanese store exclusive, though it was earlier rumored for Target. The crew likes the decos: Hot Rod is cartoon accurate and Cyclonus is toy accurate. They agree Galvatron looks great in robot mode but is a partsformer. [Source: not found]
Bootleg Masterpiece Conehead Starscream
The crew calls a Masterpiece-style Conehead Starscream knockoff a straight bootleg. They also note that new third-party upgrade kit announcements have gone quiet. [Source: not found]
RPMs Hit Dollar Tree for $1
RPMs are now selling for $1 at Dollar Tree nationwide, in the first waves. One host says $1 is the right price, since $2 to $3 sent him to Legends instead. He also spots variations between the speed series and combat series, such as metallic paint and a different Bumblebee pose. [Source: not found]
Predaking Reissue Gets a New Gold Deco
New images show Takara’s Japan-exclusive Predaking reissue with a soft metallic gold where the original was yellow. The crew appreciates the change, though one host isn’t in love with it. They note the roughly $150 price and heavy shipping costs, and like that the new deco separates it from originals on eBay. One host had two of the three Predaking set members as a kid and wants Monstructor reissued. [Source: not found]
Punch-Counterpunch Delayed Until August
A Transformers Collectors’ Club email says Punch-Counterpunch is delayed until August. A few more orders will open only once the figures arrive, limited to one per person and about 300 pieces. The crew thinks the email could not have been written better to start a riot. The club has also opened a second BotCon hotel in Pasadena, likely already booked. [Source: Transformers Collectors’ Club]
Upcoming Conventions
LadyWreck plans to attend BotCon 2011. One host is going to Auto Assembly on August 13 and 14. The crew also points to Slagacon, a new and affordable Transformers convention in Illinois in October. One host hopes to bring Brian to Atlanta’s free MomoCon next spring for an RFC presence.
Comics: Drift Cover and Nefarious #5
LadyWreck shares the new Drift cover, which features Lockdown. She reviewed Nefarious #5 and recommends it, saying issue four revived her interest and issue five sold her. One host enjoyed the ongoing’s issue nine more than most of the series, but the crew agrees the pacing is terrible.
SDCC Report: Transformers Prime Panel
Jack calls in from San Diego Comic-Con, streaming live to TFormers. Peter Cullen and Aaron Archer were in the room, and Frank Welker appeared on video. A clip showed Cullen and Welker reading together. Jack expected a watered-down cartoon but found the CG slick and menacing, with a Beast Wars feel. The panel promised complex stories. Margaret Loesch praised the team, and Cullen fielded questions for about 10 minutes. In a tender moment, a woman told Cullen her Transformers-fan son had died of cancer, and they shared a hug. The concept art shown was all the panel had ready, and no toys were shown. The panel also named Starscream and three other bots for the series.
Jack says the SDCC exclusive Blaster is also available through Hasbro Toy Shop. It is close to the G1 figure apart from the legs and comes with Ramhorn, Steeljaw and Rewind. Masterpiece Grimlock is on sale at the Entertainment Earth booth and is back-ordered on tru.com. At the toy panel, many fans walked out when Power Core Combiners came up. Hasbro explained the line offers a full combiner for around $25 and is not a replacement for classic gestalts. Hasbro also referenced a roughly 350-page Transformers bible, with Aaron Archer as the keeper of the lore.
Twitter Theater: German Energon News Clip
Rob picks an official 45-second German ad for the Energon cartoon, presented as a lightning-fast news break. He has no idea what happened in it but thinks it was awesome. The crew compares it to Turin’s News from Cybertron on energy drinks. Rob asks German-speaking listeners to transcribe it.
Why Do We Love Transformers?
JD asks the panel what has kept them in Transformers this long. LadyWreck returned to the fandom about a year ago through YouTube and Transformers Animated and stays for the characters and story. Her kids, three and seven, watch Transformers: The Movie almost daily. Another host also points to the characters, specifically the G1 cast he bonded with as a kid. The crew notes that Armada or Beast Wars is someone else’s G1. One host remembers the first Transformers commercial transfixing him and says the transformation itself doesn’t matter to him. The crew agrees life is too short to feel silly about it.
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.