A huge leaked list of Transformers listings teases Generations Leader Jetfire, Leader Megatron, Arcee and a pile of Headmasters. The crew sorts real hopes from old data and debates what a Leader Class movie Optimus Prime means for 2014. Toys R Us leaks a $50 Black Friday Jetwing Optimus Prime, and Masterpiece Soundblaster gets both red and purple windows. Rob Clay and Exvee review Dark Cybertron #1, and Transformers Rewind takes on Thief in the Night.
This Week in History
Ten years ago this week, in 2003, iBooks published the novel Transformers: Annihilation in the United States. None of the crew has read it, and one host notes it is set in the Dreamwave G1 universe. That leads to jokes about Pat Lee’s “dull surprise” faces. The crew agrees the best thing Dreamwave produced was the More Than Meets the Eye guide books.
News
IDW Limited Launches a Transformers Lithograph Line
IDW Limited is launching a Transformers lithograph line and asked fans to vote on the first print. One host has always loved the absurd cover of Optimus Prime holding a flag. [Source: not found]
New Transformers Listings Reveal Generations Leader Jetfire, Megatron and More
A huge list of product listings names dozens of Generations figures. It includes Legends two-packs, Voyager Brainstorm, Roadbuster, Skybyte and Whirl, and two separate Arcee entries. Deluxe Headmasters such as Hardhead and Nightbeat appear too, along with Leader Jetfire and Leader Megatron. The crew suspects the list is an old working document, since it still calls the Fan’s Choice figure by a placeholder. Exvee reports that one Arcee code dates back to a cancelled 2011 Generations release. One host hopes a Deluxe Headmaster mold could be reused across many characters. The crew guesses Leader Jetfire could share a case with a Leader Class movie Optimus Prime. [Source: not found]
Toys R Us Black Friday Ad Leaks with $50 Jetwing Optimus Prime
The leaked Toys R Us Black Friday ad lists Jetwing Optimus Prime for $50 and a buy one, get one deal on Prime Deluxes. One host is bitter that he paid about $120 for his. Others expect a fight at the door, since the sale starts on Thanksgiving evening. The crew also points Vehicon troop builders to Five Below for cheap Kre-O packs. [Source: not found]
Rhinox and Double Dealer Up for Preorder on Hasbro Toy Shop
Generations Rhinox and Double Dealer are up for preorder, with an estimated delivery date of Christmas Day. The crew doubts that date and warns that holiday crowds make store hunting pointless. [Source: not found]
Masterpiece MP-13B Soundblaster Gets Red and Purple Windows
Masterpiece Soundblaster will include both red and purple windows, matching the cartoon and the toy. One host admits a weakness for Soundblaster and plans to preorder it. Another host still is not sold on the included Ratbat and hopes for a better third-party one. [Source: not found]
Ultra Mammoth Goes on Sale at the Club Store
Ultra Mammoth and Jackpot are now sold separately at the Collectors’ Club store, with Ultra Mammoth at $79. A fellow host tipped Don off by email. Don had called the club the week before and was told it would be a couple of weeks. The crew calls the price reasonable and wishes they had skipped the rest of the set. [Source: not found]
Crossover Gen Adds a God Bomber to Its Not-Powermaster Prime
Crossover Gen’s not-Powermaster Optimus Prime gets a God Bomber partner called Trailer Force, for a full not-God Ginrai. One host calls it the best God Bomber has ever looked. Another host regrets not buying the first part, which is sold out at TFSource. The chat asks for a third-party Victory Saber or Star Saber instead of more Primes. [Source: not found]
Kabaya Overlord and the Fan’s Choice Debate
One host notes that Kabaya’s Overlord kit is the cheapest way to own an Overlord, though it is nowhere near the real toy. He argues that younger collectors would skip G1 Star Saber for its lack of articulation. Another host suspects TakaraTomy’s Fan’s Choice winner was a figure it planned to make anyway. [Source: not found]
Q&A with Rob Springer
Computron2 asks why Transformers comic publishers keep changing. Rob says it comes down to business: Marvel cancelled the book over sales, and Dreamwave went bankrupt. IDW took over soon after. Computron2 also asks why the G.I. Joe crossover Transformers do not transform. Rob explains that convention exclusives rarely get new molds, so they are repainted G.I. Joe vehicles.
Comic Review: Dark Cybertron #1
Rob Clay and Exvee find that Dark Cybertron #1 sets up the event but fails to tell a story of its own. They say it reads like a Free Comic Book Day preview and needed to be a double-size issue. As a toy pack-in, it will confuse kids new to the IDW universe. The art is the highlight, with a retro prologue in the style of Guido Guidi’s annuals. Phil Jimenez’s layouts over Andrew Griffith’s line art make the two-page Metrotitan splash a standout. They point out that Robots in Disguise has barely moved forward in time since issue #16.
Transformers Rewind: Thief in the Night
The Rewind crew revisits Thief in the Night, the season 3 episode where Trypticon steals Fort Knox for Octane and Carbombya. They call Carbombya’s portrayal jingoistic. They like the spotlight on Octane and the season 3 continuity with Five Faces of Darkness. They laugh that Trypticon carries Fort Knox away without anyone noticing. The highlight is another Metroplex versus Trypticon fight, and one host hopes for a Titan Class Trypticon.
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.