Radio Free Cybertron turns 13 on this October 18, 2012 show. Hasbro revealed Transformers Prime Beast Hunters at New York Comic Con as the line’s 2013 refresh, with no new mainline Prime toys until spring. Takara revives Alternity with a Super GT Optimus Prime, and the Classics Seekers return yet again in an Asian box set. Paramount is casting new human leads for Transformers 4, due June 27, 2014. Transformers Rewind revisits SOS Dinobots, and the crew launches Operation Beehive to donate shelfwarmers to kids in need.
Brian is joined by Rob Clay, John DeLuna, JD Church and Exvee. Thirteen years ago, Brian notes, he recorded a nine-minute first show on his computer. Starting Halloween, the live show moves back to Wednesdays.
News
Arms Microns and iGear Hench
JD shows a Takara Arms Micron combined weapon, a chainsaw formed from three Arms Microns, including Igu. Brian shows iGear’s Hench, a not-Brawn about the size of a modern Deluxe. He likes it, but at $40 it is twice the size and price of iGear’s Rager and doesn’t fit his other minibots. He worries the same scale problem will hit Bushwacker and the not-Cosmos. Rumors point to a third not-Devastator, so far only in CAD. [Source: not found]
TFormers.com News Desk: Alternity Super GT Optimus Prime
Takara is reviving Alternity with a Transformers GT series, starting with a Super GT Optimus Prime, a remold of Alternity Convoy with rally markings. It debuts at Japan’s Dengeki Festival, with no price yet. The crew sees little difference from the first Alternity Convoy and hopes for new molds. [Source: TFormers.com]
TFormers.com News Desk: Classics Seekers Box Set
The Classics Seekers mold returns again in an Asian-market box set of Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp in cartoon-inspired decos. One Malaysian source says it could cost over $100. The crew notes the mold was outdated when it came out in 2006 and wants new Seekers. [Source: TFormers.com]
TFormers.com News Desk: Transformers Prime Beast Hunters
Hasbro revealed Transformers Prime Beast Hunters at New York Comic Con as the 2013 refresh, arriving in spring. There will be no new Prime Voyagers or Deluxes until then, after Thundertron and Ultra Magnus. Most of the line is spiky remolds of existing toys, plus a few new beast figures like Twinstrike. The crew worries the new beast molds are all villains and will be short-packed, and compares it to the 2002 Masters of the Universe Snake Men refresh. [Source: TFormers.com]
Comic News with Aimee
Aimee reports that IDW’s next crossover is Transformers vs. Mars Attacks in January, by Shane McCarthy and Matt Frank. There’s a mini-con in Dublin, details on Simon Furman’s blog, and a new Transformers Classified kids’ book, Battle Mountain. In Regeneration One #84, the Wreckers and Circuit Smasher, really Spike, split up to raid the Ark and save Kup from Megatron. She gives it 4 out of 5 and says it sets up a deadly #85. Robots in Disguise #10, drawn by Livio Ramondelli, sends Orion Pax into a time-jumping mystery on planet LV-117 with the stolen time machine. It is confusing until the last page, and she also gives it 4 out of 5.
Rescue Center: Christmas in July
Aimee and Nick review the Rescue Bots episode Christmas in July. Cody finds a weather machine in the archives, and a stray snowball jams it, burying Griffin Rock in snow. Boulder’s terrible aim improves in time to save Frankie from a waterfall, and Blades makes a snow angel of himself.
Transformers Rewind: SOS Dinobots
Transformers Rewind revisits SOS Dinobots. Wheeljack and Ratchet build Grimlock, Slag and Sludge, who wreck Teletraan 1 and get locked away. When the Decepticons capture the Autobots at a hydroelectric plant, Wheeljack upgrades the Dinobots, and they save the day. The crew says the episode’s lasting lesson is that Huffer is a jerk. They note the more fluid season one animation and a Grimlock close-up traced from the toy.
A 13th Birthday Message from the Computer
The Computer wishes Radio Free Cybertron a happy 13th birthday, along with Fat Boy, Goldimus Prime, John DeLuna, RoboRob, Mop-Boy, Hooper X, Turin and the whole crew.
More News
Chinese Generations Voyagers turned up at an Arizona Toys R Us for under $25 each. They include a Hot Spot on the Inferno mold with a new head, Ransack and a G2-style Megatron from the Bludgeon mold. Paramount is casting new leads for Transformers 4, a high school senior girl and a Texas race car driver, with Optimus Prime returning on June 27, 2014. JD previews his next Transformers Rewind, a Headmasters dub episode. [Source: not found]
Operation Beehive
Rob Springer’s Operation Beehive asks fans to buy shelfwarmers like Bumblebee and donate them to underprivileged kids, through programs like Toys for Tots. Brian, who once worked for a children’s home, says the kids desperately need it, and clearing shelves may bring new toys. Send RFC a picture of your donation.
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.