Transformers: The Movie turns 25 this week, and the crew debates whether it saved or sank G1. Hasbro’s Masterpiece Rodimus Prime is turning up at Toys R Us, and the crew compares it to the Takara release. Garry Chalk is the first guest for SlagCon 2011, and Hasbro Toy Shop is giving away a Kre-O Optimus Prime with Transformers purchases. JD reviews Transformers ongoing issue 23, and the crew picks apart the latest Transformers Prime episode.
What We Got This Week
JD Church
JD shows off Ultimate Optimus Prime in his ultimate mode. He likes the clip-on points along the trailer, where he has already hung his Power Goliath.
Brian
Brian picked up Sky Striker Starscream, a G.I. Joe Sky Striker in an enormous box he compares to the Takara King Grimlock packaging.
News
Hasbro Masterpiece Rodimus Prime Arrives at Toys R Us
Hasbro’s Masterpiece Rodimus Prime is appearing at Toys R Us stores across the U.S. AllSpark posted a comparison gallery with the Takara version. Brian prefers the Hasbro colors and G1-style flame stickers, but one host misses the Takara version’s dark boots. The silver face paint makes the Hasbro Rodimus head look older. The crew also likes Offshoot, the renamed Firebolt figure. [Source: AllSpark]
Garry Chalk Named First SlagCon 2011 Guest
Garry Chalk is the first guest announced for SlagCon 2011. Brian would like to go but has committed to SavCon 2012, which lists RFC on its flyer. [Source: not found]
McDonald’s-Themed Optimus Prime Coming to Japan
A McDonald’s-themed Optimus Prime appears headed to Japan, with a retooled trailer that holds little transforming food toys. The crew compares it to the 2007 Pepsi Optimus Prime. [Source: not found]
Canada Airs a New Transformers Prime Episode First
Despite Hasbro owning The Hub, Canada aired a new Transformers Prime episode first this past weekend. [Source: not found]
Hasbro Toy Shop Gives Away a Kre-O Optimus Prime
Hasbro Toy Shop is giving away a Kre-O Optimus Prime with any Transformers purchase. Brian says he would buy something he already owns to get it. [Source: Hasbro Toy Shop]
TFWiki Spotlight: The Beast Wars Diorama Story
Chris McFeely spotlights the Beast Wars diorama story, still-photo dioramas included on DVDs packed with Japanese Beast Wars Telemocha reissues. The TFWiki team split it into individual chapter pages. Its claim to fame: a 2007 Japanese timeline treats it as canon, including a crossover with a live-action movie.
Comic News: Transformers Ongoing Issue 23
With Aimee away at Auto Assembly, JD reviews Transformers ongoing issue 23. Most of it flashes back to Orion Pax meeting Megatron and a corrupt Senate. Orion even rides the carcass of a fallen officer as a motorcycle. The issue reveals that Sentinel Prime handpicked Orion as a Matrix bearer and retrofitted him to carry it. JD finds the social commentary heavy-handed but the issue solid, and has added Transformers to his pull list.
Transformers Prime Episode Review
XV finds the latest Prime episode borrowed from Stargate SG-1. An ancient cylinder beams Iacon data, including a formula for synthetic Energon, into Bulkhead’s head. The crew agrees Miko causes more problems than she solves and nearly gets Bulkhead killed twice. They do like the dialogue for Ratchet, Optimus Prime and Megatron, and the Beast Machines and Perceptor references. For season two, the crew hopes for a Galvatron separate from Megatron, plus Cyclonus or Sweeps.
Transformers: The Movie at 25
The crew calls the movie an archetypal hero’s journey in the Star Wars tradition. JD argues that losing Optimus Prime helped kill G1 in the 1980s, while others credit the movie with keeping G1 remembered. XV prefers the look of season three, while JD blames the shift away from recognizable vehicles. The crew rates Galvatron, Cyclonus and Springer as the movie’s best new characters. They praise Stan Bush and “Dare to Be Stupid” and agree never to force the movie on a non-fan partner.
Twitter Theater
Rob shares a Scrubs clip in which JD and Turk paint Optimus Prime fighting Megatron on a nursery wall. He notes that fans were too used to Transformers in pop culture to notice. He also points to the old fan legend that Slag farts before saying “excuse me” in Transformers: The Movie.
Wrap-Up
Brian points listeners to RFC’s Transformers: The Movie fan commentary, reposted for the anniversary. He also asks everyone to take the survey at tfradio.net/survey.
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.