BotCon 2012’s Classics versus Shattered Glass exclusives start to surface on this January 4, 2012 Radio Free Cybertron, with Overlord, a red Trailcutter and a heroic Soundwave. Soundwave’s separately sold bandana sparks the controversy fans dubbed Bandana Gate. JD Church hosts while Brian Kilby is out. Lady Wreck reviews IDW’s Death of Optimus Prime, and the crew asks whether BotCon is a toy convention or a social one.
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BotCon 2012: Classics vs. Shattered Glass
BotCon 2012’s theme is Classics versus Shattered Glass. Weebum lays out the set: Shattered Glass evil Ultra Magnus and evil Trailcutter, heroic Treadshot and heroic Soundwave. The Classics-universe side gets Overlord, as Gigatron, and the Pretender commander Metalhawk. Registration is expected soon, and RFC will be at BotCon in some form. JD plans to take the train from Oklahoma City to Dallas and sleep on John’s floor. [Source: not found]
First Reveal: Overlord on the Bludgeon Mold
Overlord uses the Revenge of the Fallen Bludgeon mold with a new head. The crew jokes about the head’s lips. One host says the mold doesn’t suit Overlord’s look and the new head doesn’t match the body. JD notes G1 Overlord was a brick anyway. [Source: not found]
Second Reveal: Shattered Glass Trailcutter
The evil Autobot Trailcutter is a red recolor of the Generations mold, meant to double as Classics Road Rage. JD likes it, but the crew says the Shattered Glass name made the red reveal predictable. [Source: not found]
Third Reveal: Heroic Soundwave and Bandana Gate
Heroic Soundwave uses the Generations Ironhide mold with a new head that one host says looks like Soundwave in a cheap Optimus Prime mask. A TFormers poll found 36.55 percent chose “please just stop” and 28.15 percent chose “fat Prime, no thanks.” Another 18.49 percent said okay and 16.81 percent said great. The teaser showed a long bandana that the toy lacks, and BotCon says the bandana will be sold separately at the show. One host suspects it will be a yellow rubber band. JD says Brian actually likes the set. [Source: TFormers]
Holiday Hauls
JD got Heavy Tread for Christmas, though he says it was a lean holiday. The crew remembers Brian’s stories of breaking Christmas toys and the year he asked for Transformers and got GoBots. JD once asked for Micromasters and got Micro Machines.
Comic Corner: Death of Optimus Prime
Lady Wreck notes IDW’s comics are now available digitally on release day. In The Death of Optimus Prime, Prime returns to a Cybertron that has reverted to a primordial state and called home its unaligned robots, known as NAILs, or Non-Aligned Indigenous Lifeforms. The NAILs want both the Autobots and Decepticons gone, and the Autobot high command is fighting among itself. Metalhawk and Ratbat return. Prime agrees to leave Cybertron forever so the Autobots can stay, and he splits the broken Matrix between Bumblebee and Rodimus. Written by James Roberts and John Barber with art by Nick Roche, it sets up the two new ongoing series starting next week. Lady Wreck calls it engaging, with no humans in sight.
Topic: The Two BotCons
Prompted by Lady Wreck on Twitter, the crew asks whether BotCon is about the toys or the people. Lady Wreck isn’t interested in this year’s set and plans to go for the people, panels and artists on a cheaper non-toy pass. One host notes the cheapest toy package is $340. He says that pushes attendees to get their money’s worth from the set, while the social side is a known value. John says BotCon has been mainly social for him for six or seven years. He thinks a social reason to attend lasts longer than the toys, which fans can get in other ways. Rob says Transformers’ mix of toy line and fiction makes BotCon both a trade show and a social con. John relays Don’s point that fans now know the toys far in advance, unlike the early secret reveals in Fort Wayne. JD urges fans not to skip BotCon over the set alone.
One host recalls BotCon Japan, which ran for two or three years before Takara grew restrictive. One year, Takara barred the Japanese Optimus Prime voice actor from speaking about Transformers. Another remembers its super hybrid model Galvatron exclusive.
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.