Hasbro’s San Diego Comic-Con 2013 G.I. Joe crossover set brings a Skystriker Jetfire with Bludgeon and Baroness walking Ravage on a leash. TFC Toys’ Wings of Uranos upgrade kit sparks a debate about three competing third-party Predakings. Jason Jansen, who played Tommy Kennedy in season four, is headed to BotCon. Rob and Exvee review Robots in Disguise #18, and Aimee Morgan and Nicole Hale revisit the Prime episode Shadow Zone.
News
Skystriker Jetfire Leads the SDCC 2013 G.I. Joe Crossover
The new Comic-Con crossover pairs a Skystriker-style Jetfire with Bludgeon and Baroness, who walks Ravage on a leash. A second vehicle turns Hound into a green VAMP jeep. The crew likes the added rocket thrusters on Jetfire and the comic-art box. Exvee points out that Bludgeon is a Pretender, so a human-size figure makes sense. One host notes the box calls the set the epic conclusion, so this may be the last crossover for a while. The crew pitches a Beachcomber and Chuckles set anyway. [Source: TFW2005]
TFC Toys Announces a Wings of Uranos Upgrade Kit
The kit adds a new chest piece and extra guns to TFC’s Uranos, its Superion homage. The crew laughs at the name first. One host calls the base figure a mess and says many owners are already selling their Uranos limbs. He compares it to the Rage of Hercules kit, which was optional because Hercules already worked as Devastator. The talk turns to three competing third-party Predakings, plus Make Toys’ Computron and Fansproject’s Menasor homages. The crew debates whether Hasbro must defend its trademarks, and one host bets on Mastermind Creations’ Predaking. [Source: TFW2005]
Unique Toys Shows Its Bruticus Combined
Unique Toys’ Warlord appears combined and in color for the first time. The still photo looks good, but early reviews of the first limb have been weak. One host hopes the later figures improve, as TFC’s did on Hercules. [Source: not found]
A Masterpiece-Scale Third-Party Gears Surfaces
Photos show a Masterpiece-size Gears beside Masterpiece Sideswipe. Most of the crew cannot see the point, since it looks about the size of iGear’s Cogs, which is already shipping. Don surprises everyone by wanting it badly. The crew complains that third parties now overlap on the same characters. Wish lists include Animated Omega Supreme at Voyager size and more Animated characters. [Source: not found]
Transformers 4 Vehicles Revealed
New set photos show Bumblebee as an older Camaro, a Bugatti Veyron and a military truck said to be Hound. The crew is glad the movie is finally using new vehicles. They joke that the fourth movie’s China theme exists to sell the film in China. [Source: Seibertron]
Generations Dreadwing Test Shots
New Generations Dreadwing photos show clear purple test-shot plastic. The crew loves the colors but expects the final toy to look different. Two hosts like the mold better as Dreadwing than as Megatron. [Source: TFormers]
Kabaya Scramble City Combiners
Kabaya’s candy-toy combiners mix Stunticons, Combaticons and Aerialbots in each pack. Don read that no pack holds a full team, so buyers may need resellers to complete one combiner. [Source: TFW2005]
Transformers Go Combiners Debut at Tokyo Toy Show
Better photos show the Transformers Go combiners, which one host says feel like a Brave toy. They go on sale first at the Tokyo Toy Show, alongside Masterpiece Tigertrack. [Source: not found]
Third-Party Ratbat Goes Up for Order
A third-party Ratbat is finally up for order. Brian preordered his five months ago and says it looks great. Don wants one, and a chat viewer points him to a store still taking preorders. [Source: not found]
Jason Jansen to Appear at BotCon
Jason Jansen, who played Tommy Kennedy in season four, will be a BotCon guest. A friend of the show tracked him down and interviewed him on his blog months ago. Most of the crew expects him to repeat that interview, much like Garry Chalk’s familiar stories. Don hopes he can share how the puppet scenes were made. JD says fans who grew up on the show will enjoy thanking him. [Source: Seibertron]
Figure King Reports Strong Encore Fortress Maximus Sales
Figure King #184 says Encore Fortress Maximus sold better than Takara expected. Masterpiece Prowl and Bluestreak orders were so heavy that both were pushed back. Takara is also working with more car makers to license future Masterpiece designs. Wish lists include Mirage, Hound, Trailbreaker, Reflector, Wheeljack and Galvatron. [Source: not found]
BotCon Guests and a KB Toys Sticker
Don adds that actor Glenn Morshower, the general from the live-action movies, will attend BotCon. The BotCon box set packaging also carries a KB Toys-style price sticker, like the Machine Wars era. Don worked at KB Toys when Machine Wars came out and loves the touch. [Source: TFormers]
ReGeneration One #0 Recruits Geoff Senior
ReGeneration One is getting an issue zero with Geoff Senior and other classic artists. Exvee prefers Senior’s robots to Andrew Wildman’s. [Source: not found]
Comic Review: Robots in Disguise #18
Rob and Exvee review the issue. The exiled Autobots leave Iacon, and Arcee struggles to deal with others without violence. Bumblebee collapses and wakes in a new gold body, which the reviewers read as a toy tie-in. They suspect the incentive covers preview future Generations pack-in comics. The Constructicons stay loyal to Prowl, and Arcee blurts out what Prowl did under Bombshell’s control. The reviewers like that the issue chose Arcee’s present over a flashback.
Transformers Prime Retro Review: Shadow Zone
Aimee Morgan and Nicole Hale revisit season one, episode ten, written by Marsha Griffin. Starscream keeps a Dark Energon shard and revives Skyquake, and Optimus Prime shoots off Starscream’s arm. Two ground bridges collide and drop Jack, Miko and Raf into a shadow zone with zombie Skyquake. Jack’s text, in alt dimension with zombie help, gets them rescued. Both hosts love zombie Skyquake and think the texting plot will still hold up.
Q&A with Rob Springer
MonkeyPrank asks how long the rubbery plastic on Beast Hunters Ripclaw will last. Rob notes the same soft plastic on Transmetal 2 Megatron and Cryotek has held up for years. Thin parts can tear with rough play, he warns. Clear plastic like Beast Machines used is the real worry, since it cracks over time.
Charticon and BotCon Plans
Charticon runs August 10 and 11 in Charlotte, with an RFC panel on Saturday and a live stream. Diecast and Rob Springer will be there. Don and John DeLuna are headed to BotCon, and Don plans to tweet news from the panels.
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.