The Hub’s website goes live with the first Transformers: Prime character art and bios, and the network launches October 10. November shipping lists show Thunderwing, Skullgrin, Jazz, Trailbreaker and the Power Core Combiners Dinobots. The Collectors’ Club teases Sideburn, G2 Ramjet and Transtech Cheetor. Paladin reviews Takara’s Wingblade Optimus Prime, and the crew shares the toys that got away.
News
The Hub’s Website Reveals Transformers: Prime Characters
The Hub’s website is up with images and bios for several Transformers: Prime characters. The crew loves Bulkhead, who looks like Animated Bulkhead in the new style, and is impressed by Arcee. Soundwave has no face, Ratchet looks oddly generic, Starscream looks a little dead and Bumblebee has lost his voice again. The Hub launches October 10, with its full schedule due on HubWorld.com on October 4. [Source: not found]
Generations Shipping in November
Retail listings show Thunderwing, Skullgrin, Cliffjumper, Jazz, Trailbreaker, Voyager Lugnut, Grapple, Strafe and the Power Core Combiners Dinobots and Constructicons shipping in November. Exvee notes Jazz and Trailbreaker are listed in the same assortment as Mindset and Fallback, which are not Generations toys. The new names, like Turbo Tracks and Special Ops Jazz, are likely trademark workarounds. [Source: not found]
Collectors’ Club Teases Sideburn, G2 Ramjet and Transtech Cheetor
The Collectors’ Club site teases Sideburn with a new head as next year’s free membership figure. G2 Ramjet and Transtech Cheetor will be sold in the club store. Several hosts wanted Cheetor as the freebie and plan to join just to buy him. [Source: not found]
Hasbro Files a Transformers One Trademark
Hasbro filed a trademark for Transformers One, covering entertainment services only, with no mention of toys. The crew has no idea what it will be. [Source: not found]
Costco’s Gold Battle Ops Bumblebee
An upcoming Costco exclusive pairs a gold Battle Ops Bumblebee with a gold chrome Legends Bumblebee. Two weeks after JD begged for fewer Bumblebee toys, the crew calls it the most redundant Bumblebee ever, but Brian might rejoin Costco to get it. [Source: not found]
More Japanese Animated Exclusives
Takara has a crystal Activator Optimus Prime packed with an Animated manga, a mail-away black Animated Rodimus through Hyper Hobby and an Activator Animated Ramjet. A translation also says Masterpiece Rodimus Prime’s vehicle mode is a futuristic truck. [Source: not found]
Generations Waves Arrive Unevenly; UK Line Ends
Generations waves 2 and 4 are turning up together at California Targets, while some hosts still cannot find wave 3. Thrust has become an unlikely pegwarmer. Hasbro UK will not continue Generations, though Speed Stars, the renamed RPMs, will continue there. [Source: not found]
This Day in History
September 29, 2006, was the first full day of BotCon 2006, which included an advance screening of the 20th anniversary DVD of The Transformers: The Movie. That day also saw the US premiere of Cybertron’s final episode. The crew admits they were glad to see the Unicron Trilogy end.
TFWiki Spotlight: Death
Chris McFeely spotlights TFWiki’s article on death, which lists nearly every death in Transformers fiction by cause. A second section covers how many of those deaths did not stick. He promises it is not depressing, and notes how often dogs die in Transformers stories.
Review: Takara’s Wingblade Optimus Prime
Paladin says the crystal plastic adds nothing to the Voyager Animated Optimus Prime, still the best version of that mold. The six-piece armor is the draw: a flight pack, gauntlets, shoulder cannons with sensitive missile launchers and a scaled-down Magnus Hammer. Combined, it recalls Galaxy Convoy without hurting the articulation. The trailer configuration feels like an afterthought, but he recommends it to Animated fans as a last hurrah for the line.
RFC Contest Winner
The Toys R Us exclusive Animated Rodimus Minor goes to YouTube subscriber Stolpen84.
The One That Got Away
Brian passed on Universe Hardhead and the Roadbuster Ultra Magnus repaint, expecting them to stick around. Exvee let a Beast Wars Mutants Soundwave go, then watched Chris Triplett grab the Energon Dinobots. Rob skipped two Beast Machines Blackarachnias at Kmart and the Classic Soundwave reissue, and Masterpiece Starscream was a headache for everyone. JD passed on the Robots in Disguise train. John spent his summer savings on Sixshot, then saw a Fortress Maximus on the shelf the next day for the only time in his life.
Aimee nearly lost out on the AllSpark Cube collectible after an eBay seller scammed her, but finally found one at TFSource. Exvee finally found two Animated Wreck-Gars at Ross.
Twitter Theater
Rob’s pick is a video of Little Superstar, a child singer from India, dancing with a knockoff Bumblebee that punches dinosaurs. The crew cannot explain it.
Comics
Sector 7 #1 is out. Aimee has not received her review copy yet, and the crew is wary of a human-focused book.
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.