New Fall of Cybertron gameplay video shows Grimlock fighting with a sword and transforming into a flame-breathing dinosaur. Takara’s upcoming Transformers Prime lineup includes a Unicron and pricier, muted Power Core Combiners. With BotCon 2012 a week away, nearly the whole crew is going, and the third-party ban is the talk of the show. Aimee gives More Than Meets the Eye #4 five stars, and Rob Springer wonders what a G2 cartoon would have looked like.
BotCon 2012 and the Third-Party Ban
This is the last regular show before BotCon, and everyone but Rob Clay is going. Brian says third-party products made BotCon dealer rooms magical, so the ban is a big deal. Captured Prey is holding an after-hours third-party party in its hotel room, and MegaToyFan is hosting a parts party. The crew jokes about Hasbro staging a raid. SavCon preregistration ends May 1, and the show runs the last weekend of June.
News
Takara’s Transformers Prime Lineup Includes Unicron
Peter’s TFormers article covers placeholder images of upcoming Takara Prime toys, including Swerve, a Darkness Megatron and a Unicron. The crew notes that Unicron’s sharp points would never pass U.S. toy standards. [Source: TFormers]
Takara Power Core Combiners Get Muted Colors and Higher Prices
Takara’s Power Core Combiner five-packs will cost about $75, in much more muted colors, with two-packs sold as versus packs. The crew likes Rollermaster and Chopper Master but finds Bombshock boring. They wonder whether solid-color Minicons reuse Targetmaster molds. The talk turns to how Takara and Hasbro need each other, and one host calls Energon Grimlock and Swoop proof of a Hasbro-only toy gone wrong. [Source: TFormers]
Fall of Cybertron Grimlock Gameplay Revealed
A new Fall of Cybertron video shows Grimlock fighting with a sword, then transforming into a dinosaur with a flamethrower. John hopes melee works better than it did in War for Cybertron. Aimee has heard Grimlock may be playable only in the campaign because of his size, but nobody can confirm it. The crew plans to ask High Moon at BotCon. They agree the Dinobots need no origin story beyond being awesome. [Source: Kotaku]
Comic News
Aimee reports that IDW’s Transformers Collection Volume 7 is listed on Amazon for the fall. July solicits include a Regeneration One cover, the Autocracy and Robots in Disguise trades, and Turmoil’s return in Robots in Disguise #7. July is Decepticon Month, and More Than Meets the Eye introduces the Decepticon Justice Division.
She gives More Than Meets the Eye #4 five stars. Ratchet, Pipes and Drift investigate a mysterious death toll on Delphi, inside DJD territory, while Tailgate says he wants to join the Decepticons. She praises its pacing, mystery and world building.
TF Barbecue with Rob Springer
Rob hopes Regeneration One captures the feel of late 1980s Simon Furman. He wonders what a G2 cartoon would have looked like if DIC, which made the second G.I. Joe series, had made one. He also recommends G1er.com, a site aimed at older fans with its own new podcast.
Fall of Cybertron Toys
The chat talks about the Fall of Cybertron toys, including Bruticus, Shockwave, Jazz and a Starscream that one host thinks looks a lot like the Cybertron version.
Wrap-Up
RFC will cover BotCon live with TFormers.com and plans a fan get-together, announced on Twitter.
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.