Big Bad Toy Store has announced Masterpiece Prowl and Smokescreen, plus a Tigertrack repaint of Masterpiece Sideswipe. On this January 23, 2013 Radio Free Cybertron, Brian Kilby, Rob and JD also cover the surprise Construct-Bots line and the Generations GDO Brawn the crew loves to hate. Jacob Waller and Eric Warren preview Charticon, their new Transformers convention in Charlotte. Transformers Rewind revisits Animated’s Blast from the Past, and Aimee and Nicole review Transformers Prime’s Darkness Rising Part 2.
News
Masterpiece Prowl, Smokescreen and Tigertrack Announced
Big Bad Toy Store announced Masterpiece Prowl and Smokescreen, along with MP-12T Tigertrack, a repaint of Masterpiece Sideswipe. No pictures of Prowl or Smokescreen yet. One host calls Sideswipe his favorite Transformer in years, and two hosts rank Grimlock as their favorite Masterpiece. The crew expects a proper Sunstreaker to need a new mold, since Masterpiece aims to be the definitive version of each character. One host is surprised Prowl came before a new Megatron, and another notes that Prowl’s mold also gives them Smokescreen and Bluestreak. [Source: TFormers]
Construct-Bots Bring Building-Block Transformers
The new Construct-Bots line has interchangeable parts, and fans are calling it Bionicle Transformers. Rob likes that they can transform without being taken apart, unlike Kre-O. The crew is excited to see a Blitzwing in the first wave. The crew calls it a smart way to diversify the brand, even if they would rather see more Generations figures. [Source: TFormers]
Generations GDO Brawn Revealed
Official images show the Generations GDO Brawn in and out of the box. Brian has made it known on Facebook that he hates it. He says it looks like Brawn wearing a Brawn suit, and yet it’s so ugly that he wants it. [Source: TFormers]
RFC’s Toy Fair Coverage
Toy Fair runs February 10 through 13, with Hasbro’s fan day on the 9th. RFC will do its live coverage on Sunday the 10th, after the Transformers news is already out.
Interview: Charticon
Jacob Waller and Eric Warren are the organizers of Charticon, set for August 9 through 11 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The idea came after Jacob’s first BotCon in Dallas and a trip together to SavCon, and SavCon not running this year gave them a push. They want an intimate convention with both a strong dealer room and great panels, like the old BotCons the Hartmans ran. They also want it to be affordable, unlike BotCon’s thousands of dollars in exclusives. They have 50 dealer tables, expandable to about 75, with at least half of each dealer’s stock Transformers-related. Third-party toys are welcome. They’re planning an exclusive classics-style figure limited to 50 pieces, with the reveal coming on Facebook. Their biggest challenge so far has been booking voice actors. Registration is at charticon.com.
Transformers Rewind: Blast from the Past
In the Transformers Animated episode, Ratchet and Bumblebee’s EMP combines with Sari’s key to bring the Dino Drive animatronic dinosaurs to life. Megatron, still working through Professor Sumdac, turns the Dinobots against the Autobots. Prowl helps them escape to Dinobot Island. The crew says Animated makes the Dinobots’ origin make sense, unlike Wheeljack’s small brains in SOS Dinobots. They praise Corey Burton’s Megatron and the tight first-season writing. Some find early Bulkhead annoyingly goofy before the show gave him more depth. One host says every episode of Prime makes him miss Animated.
Comic News with Aimee Morgan
Mars Attacks Transformers is out, and Alex Milne drew an exclusive Spotlight Megatron cover for Stadium Comics. Robots in Disguise Volume 2 and the first Regeneration One trade are available. Aimee asks fans not to forget Roger Slifer, still recovering from a hit-and-run, and points to the Slifer Needs You Facebook page. She interviewed Rage of the Dinobots writers Mairghread Scott and Mike Johnson for the Underbase. April solicitations include Robots in Disguise #16, More Than Meets the Eye #16, Regeneration One #90 and Spotlight Trailcutter.
Comic Review: Mars Attacks Transformers
Rob and Exvee say the one-shot mixes the G1 cartoon setting with Mars Attacks and turns the goofiness way up. They call it a loving parody, like Dragon Ball Z Abridged doing Transformers, and they praise Shane McCarthy’s humor. They would love a recurring backup feature set in the G1 cartoon world.
Transformers Prime Retro Review: Darkness Rising, Part 2
Aimee and Nicole review the second part of the Transformers Prime pilot. Megatron brings back Dark Energon, named as the blood of Unicron, and uses it to raise a zombie Cliffjumper. They love Ratchet’s banter, Agent Fowler’s debut and Starscream’s diving transformation. They also like how the kids realize the Autobots can feel and die. Their one complaint is that Dark Energon was dropped in season two.
RFC Announcements
Next week’s Rewind is Madman’s Paradise, and the third-party roundup features an interview with Crazy Steve of the Roboplastic Apocalypse blog.
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.