What if Disney bought Hasbro? The crew debates the rumor on this November 7, 2012 Radio Free Cybertron, a week after Disney bought Lucasfilm. The news desk covers Takara solicitations pointing to Reflector and Hardhead retools, and Toy World’s Throttlebots hiding a combiner mode. JD shows off the new Masterpiece Optimus Prime, and Lady Wreck reviews Regeneration One #85. Transformers Rewind takes on Surprise Party, Brian Kilby’s pick for the most unnecessary episode of season three.
News
JD Gets the New Masterpiece Optimus Prime
JD finally picked up MP-10 Optimus Prime after a tip from listener Tylox, and Don picked up Brian’s. JD compares it to the 2003 Masterpiece Optimus. He likes the larger-than-expected size, the trailer, Spike and Roller, the solid Matrix and the folding gun that stores on Prime’s back. His one complaint is the feet, which tip forward unless balanced just right. Rob says the newer Masterpiece Prime and Seekers balance toy and collectible better than the originals. JD paid $120 with a $10 coupon.
Takara Solicitations Point to Reflector and Hardhead Retools
A Takara solicitation list on the AllSpark shows United figures that line up with known pre-tool parts for Reflector and Hardhead, from the Classics Perceptor and Warpath molds. The list also includes an Arms Micron Thundertron and a Preview Optimus Prime redo. One host says the Perceptor mold is a stretch for Reflector, though purple and green might sell the cartoon look. JD wants the Arms Micron versions of everything. [Source: AllSpark]
Toy World’s Throttlebots Form a Combiner
Third-party maker Toy World’s Throttlebot homages have a secret combiner mode, with Grindrod, based on Rollbar, forming a leg. The last figure will include the extra combining parts. After the problems with Toy World’s Hegemon, One host says Grindrod will make or break the company’s reputation. JD says quality control will decide whether he buys. [Source: not found]
Big Bad Toy Store’s Dark Energon Knockout
Big Bad Toy Store posted a video of the Dark Energon Knockout from its exclusive four-pack of translucent Transformers Prime redecos, alongside Bumblebee, Starscream and Wheeljack. Exvee notes the video shows Knockout mistransformed. JD says a new deco doesn’t fix a bad mold, and both are wary of clear plastic and having to buy all four. [Source: Big Bad Toy Store]
Comic Review: Regeneration One #85
Lady Wreck reviews Regeneration One #85, the issue Simon Furman has been teasing for months. It is a big Optimus Prime versus Megatron showdown that she says feels like a modern take on the 1986 movie. It also wraps the Wreckers’ fight over Aunty the Autobot shuttle in Oregon. It seeds new plots with Hot Rod on Cybertron and Grimlock and Scorponok on Nebulos. She gives it four out of five stars but says the seeded subplots throw off the pacing. Exvee didn’t like it, and JD thinks IDW’s other Transformers books overshadow it. Brian questions the point of continuing Marvel continuity. One host suspects Furman is clearing the deck to tell the good-versus-evil story he hinted at in G2 #12.
Transformers Rewind: Surprise Party
In the season three episode Surprise Party, Daniel and Wheelie steal a shuttle to find Ultra Magnus’s creation date on a lost Autobot storage asteroid. Cyclonus follows them and aims the asteroid at Cybertron during a peace delegation. Ultra Magnus rides Sky Lynx to the rescue, and the irreplaceable archive is blown up. Then Spike suggests they just make today Magnus’s birthday. Brian, who loves season three, calls it the most unnecessary episode ever. He also mocks the paper-book Hall of Records and the idea of storing history on an asteroid. One host says it isn’t technically incompetent like Carnage in C-Minor, just stupid. Another prefers Headmasters Wheelie to season three’s version.
Transformers Prime
Rob notes that CG series like Prime have to save their budget for big moments, which leads to episodes of relic hunting. Brian hasn’t caught up since the hiatus, and he says Aimee and Nicole will review Prime episodes once Nicole is back.
Topic: What If Disney Bought Hasbro?
After Disney bought Lucasfilm, rumors said Disney would buy Hasbro, which Hasbro denied. Brian says Disney would own nearly everything from IP to retail, and Disney Stores could carry exclusives Walmart won’t stock. Lady Wreck worries the comic license would move from IDW to Marvel and disrupt the current creative run. Brian says IDW has put more care into the license than Marvel or Dreamwave. One host notes Hasbro already holds the Marvel and Star Wars toy licenses. Another says Disney has left Marvel’s comics alone, but expects it would shut down the Hub quickly.
JD argues Disney bought Marvel and Lucasfilm to reach boys after flops like John Carter. He thinks Disney would rather license Hasbro than buy a manufacturer’s overhead, especially right after two big acquisitions. Brian counters that owning production and IP together, like Henry Ford, is where the money is, and that Hasbro is poised for a purchase after a weak year. One host notes each Disney deal also brings a foothold in another field: comics with Marvel, games with LucasArts, toys with Hasbro. Lady Wreck jokes that her husband once worked for Mattel and her parents for Fisher-Price.
Fall of Cybertron Soundwave and Grimlock
Exvee, via the chat, likes the look of Fall of Cybertron Voyager Soundwave, which is big for a modern Voyager. Chris Triplett pre-ordered Soundwave and Soundblaster. The crew hopes its size bodes well for Grimlock, though they weren’t thrilled by what they’ve seen of Grimlock so far.
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.