Toy Fair 2013 delivers far more than the crew expected, led by a $125 Generations Titan-class Metroplex that Brian calls Hasbro dropping the mic. New triple changers Springer and Blitzwing, IDW comic packs and Legends-class Targetmasters round out a huge Generations reveal. Kre-O expands its Micro-Changers with combiners like Piranacon, and BotCon’s Machine Wars Skywarp shows its vehicle mode. A magazine reports Transformers Prime will end after season three, and the crew reviews Regeneration One #88.
What We Got This Week
Rob Clay
Rob found Grimlock.
Phil Zeman
Phil found Beast Hunters Sinnertwin at Toys R Us, which the crew calls slavishly faithful to the G1 toy.
News
Toy Fair 2013: Generations Comic Packs
Hasbro is packing new IDW Spotlight comics with Generations deluxes: Orion Pax, Megatron, Bumblebee and Trailcutter, with Thundercracker also getting a Spotlight. The crew loves Trailcutter’s new SUV mold and notes the comics are switching to the Trailcutter name. Phil credits Chris McFeely for predicting the comic-pack program on AllSpark. The crew calls Orion Pax the weakest of the wave and expects the mold to become something else, maybe a G1-style Sentinel Prime. [Source: TFormers]
Toy Fair 2013: Triple Changers Springer and Blitzwing
Generations Springer and Blitzwing exceed anything the crew expected. Brian asks whether they are a shot at third-party makers. Phil sees them as Hasbro showing fans it can do these characters well. Don defends his $60 Warbot Defender, while Brian notes Springer will cost $20 to $25. The crew suspects Blitzwing has a face-switching gimmick despite a rep’s answer at the show. A Sandstorm remold of Springer is rumored, and the crew debates whether a Broadside could follow. [Source: TFormers]
Toy Fair 2013: Legends Targetmasters
New Legends figures pair a larger figure with a smaller Targetmaster partner: Optimus Prime with Roller and Bumblebee with Blazemaster. Rob says Hasbro made two Bumblebees he actually wants. [Source: TFormers]
Toy Fair 2013: Generations Metroplex
The surprise of the show is a Titan-class Generations Metroplex at $125, slavishly faithful to the G1 toy, with Scamper, lights and sounds from the game. Brian, who kept G1 Metroplex on his mantle, couldn’t be happier. Phil notes Fortress Maximus cost $100 in 1987, about $200 today. The crew points out that Metroplex doubles as a Cyberverse and Legends playset and hopes for a Fortress Maximus repaint. [Source: TFormers]
Toy Fair 2013: Beast Hunters, Bot Shots and Construct-Bots
Most of the Beast Hunters reveals dull Phil’s interest. He notes that Shockwave and Smokescreen are the only all-new non-beast molds with removable armor. Supreme Predaking will be a general release, not a Target exclusive. Bot Shots get more detailed molds, and Construct-Bots share a common skeleton with more parts at higher price points, like Xevos. [Source: TFormers]
Toy Fair 2013: Kre-O Combiners
Kre-O expands its Micro-Changers with combiners such as Piranacon and the Seacons, along with characters like Hook and Springer. Brian calls them far better than the first figures. Phil wants more helmet molds. Rob notes Kre-O is mostly on clearance while Lego dominates store shelves. Hasbro also showed a Weaponizer Ultra Magnus, an Optimus repaint that disappoints the crew. [Source: TFormers]
Fall of Cybertron Grimlock Becomes Beast Wars Megatron
A test shot shows the Fall of Cybertron Grimlock mold reused as Beast Wars Megatron. Rob says it needs a new dinosaur head, and the crew is unimpressed. [Source: TFormers]
Transformers Prime Ending After Season Three
A magazine reports this is Transformers Prime’s final season, with 13 episodes and a movie, and a new series in 2014. Rob hopes the next one is radically different. [Source: not found]
BotCon 2013 Machine Wars Skywarp Vehicle Mode Revealed
Club magazine shows the vehicle mode of BotCon’s Machine Wars Skywarp. Brian likes it but notes it is exactly the repaint approach Fun Publications said it wouldn’t take. One host says the club story continues into a Shattered Glass Beast Wars setting. The crew wishes the BotCon comic went to IDW writers like James Roberts. [Source: Transformers Collectors Club]
Comic News
Aimee notes Regeneration One #88 is out, previews of Monstrosity, an Andrew Griffith cover on DeviantArt, and creator commentaries on Facebook. More Than Meets the Eye #13’s prose story was accidentally left out of digital copies and is being restored. She asks fans to write IDW to keep the letters page going.
Regeneration One #88 Review
The reviewers say even desperate to save the Dinobots, Simon Furman’s Grimlock should be smarter than to trust Scorponok. The issue ends abruptly, and the solicited meeting between Hot Rod and Primus never happens. They praise Guido Guidi’s alternate cover as a perfect 1980s Marvel cover. One reviewer predicts Hot Rod will become Primus. They argue the book retreads old stories in a new style instead of telling new stories in the old style, and note More Than Meets the Eye and Robots in Disguise now outsell it.
Wrap-Up
Next week’s Transformers Rewind is the Masterforce episode “Showdown on the Surface of the Moon,” picked by Chris McFeely. Brian thanks listeners for iTunes reviews and invites them to the after-show Google+ Hangout.
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.