BotCon 2012’s Octopunch turns out to be a Seaspray repaint with duck tattoos, and the crew is not impressed. On this January 11, 2012 Radio Free Cybertron, Brian Kilby returns, joined by JD, John DeLuna, Exvee, Peter and Rob. They cover Shattered Glass Treadshot, BotCon registration and Brian’s Christmas haul, led by Transformers Prime Starscream. Aimee reviews More Than Meets the Eye #1, Peter lists five things he wants from Transformers in 2012, and Rob debuts TFBBQ.
News
BotCon 2012 Reveals Treadshot
BotCon’s Treadshot is a Shattered Glass Universe Treadshot built on the Jazz mold and colored like Armada Sideswipe. One host calls it a pretty toy, but the crew finds too many references stacked on top of each other. Another host would rather see Jazz repainted as Armada Hot Shot or Nightbeat. [Source: not found]
BotCon 2012 Reveals Octopunch
Octopunch is a repaint of Generations Seaspray. One host loves both characters but says this isn’t Octopunch, and one host says a Power Core Combiner made a better one. The crew can’t make sense of his confrontational duck tattoos. [Source: not found]
BotCon 2012 Registration Opens
BotCon registration is open, and the Primus packages are nearly sold out. A thumbnail of the box set shows Ultra Magnus and Metalhawk, who gets a human face. Peter missed the customizing class again, which sold out in seconds. Last year’s class figure was Animated Arcee with resin parts to make Minerva. [Source: not found]
Bot Shots and Power Risers Appear in Meijer Shelf Plans
Meijer shelf reset material lists Bot Shots and Power Risers as new product assortments. Nothing else is known yet. [Source: not found]
Brian’s Christmas Haul
Mike Carvalho found Brian a couple of Generations Windcharger figures. Chris Triplett picked up Darksteel, the Quickstrike homage, and Transformers Prime Arcee, which has a great bike mode. Brian calls Transformers Prime Starscream easily the best toy from the line so far. He also got third-party Bomber and Hover, homages to Powerglide and Seaspray, and says they could pass as Hasbro products. A metallic Battle Ops Bumblebee from Ross for $30 stays in the box. One host praises Generations Skyshadow’s light piping and finds Junkheap’s face too clean-shaven. Another host has his eye on the Japanese Ricochet at about $120 and picked up the Armada PS2 game for $5.
Comic News with Aimee Morgan
Autocracy, an eight-page biweekly digital comic by Flint Dille and Chris Metzen with art by Livio Ramondelli, starts January 18. More Than Meets the Eye #1 by James Roberts and Nick Roche is out today. Rodimus leads a crew including Ratchet, Chromedome, Rewind, Cyclonus, Swerve and Tailgate off Cybertron to find their ancestors. Aimee calls it fun and brilliantly paced, with great dialogue, twists and fan nods. She gave it 9 out of 10 on TFormers. IDW is also running an online image treasure hunt across 12 sites. Brian is halfway through on his Kindle Fire and calls it the best IDW Transformers comic since Last Stand of the Wreckers.
Peter’s Five Wishes for Transformers in 2012
Peter of TFormers wants a story worth talking about, and he thinks More Than Meets the Eye, Robots in Disguise and Transformers 81 can deliver one. He calls Mike Costa’s explanations for Chaos a cop-out. He wants synergy: the Transformers Prime crew believes in the show, but Hasbro Studios schedules it with no tie to toy releases. Rob notes that the War for Cybertron toys have been the most timely product in years. The crew worries Hasbro is stretched too thin and that its unified timeline misses the point. Peter wants more variety from third parties, who keep making Devastators and Seasprays instead of obscure characters. He wants BotCon’s organizers to publish a registration schedule ahead of time. Finally, he wants Hasbro to make fans love it again by putting Transformers Prime toys and episodes in sync. Listeners can comment on the editorial at TFormers.com.
TFBBQ
Rob revives TFBBQ, his first podcast, as a new segment replacing Twitter Theater. Holding the new Trailbreaker, he recalls a 2003 rumor that an OTFCC Europe exclusive Trailbreaker would use the X-Brawn mold. He asks whether fans would accept that kind of homage today, now that homages come out constantly.
RFC Announcements
Brian recommends Dan Gilvezan’s book as a cheap digital download. New Soundwave is relaunching as a recorded show that premieres after RFC each Wednesday and repeats on Twitch. Brian says RFC will focus more on fans in 2012 and make better use of its TFormers partnership.
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.