Radio Free Cybertron says goodbye to Regeneration One with a live review of issue #100, the final issue of the Marvel continuation. News covers the first details of a new animated series that follows Transformers Prime with Bumblebee in charge. The crew also looks at Masterpiece Ratbat and Soundblaster shipping, a possible Masterpiece Cliffjumper, Ultimetal Megatron and Make Toys’ giant not-Metroplex. Fort Max of Super Hero Time joins the show.
This Week in History
In 2003, Dreamwave released Transformers Armada #9. Brian enjoyed the first seven issues but felt the book stiffened after Simon Furman took over. In 2000, the Beast Machines episode “Home Soil” premiered and introduced Botanica. The crew compares the fan backlash to Botanica with current reactions to the upcoming Windblade comic.
News
Masterpiece Ratbat and Soundblaster Start Shipping
HobbyLink Japan has started shipping the Masterpiece Ratbat and Soundblaster set. A new comparison shows Masterpiece Ratbat next to the G1 toy, and the crew thinks it looks far better. John says he is not really a Masterpiece collector and only buys characters he must have. The crew expects Masterpiece G2 Sideswipe to hit clearance at some point. [Source: TFormers]
New BotCon Datalog Teases Tidal Wave
A new BotCon saboteur datalog is titled “Board the Tidal Wave.” The crew wonders what a Tidal Wave figure could use, since Hasbro has few boat molds. Suggestions include Energon Mirage, Cybertron Thunderblast and the Power Core Combiners boat Undertow. [Source: not found]
Ultimetal Megatron Revealed
An Ultimetal Megatron follows the Ultimetal Optimus Prime. The crew guesses it will cost close to $1,000 imported. It looks more like Megatron than the third-party Hegemon, but nobody thinks any toy is worth $1,000. The talk turns to AFA-graded toys, and the crew jokes about “Schrodinger’s AFA” for a graded knockoff no one can open. [Source: not found]
New Animated Series Will Follow Transformers Prime
The first details arrive on a new Transformers series due in 2015. It continues the Transformers Prime and Beast Hunters universe, with Bumblebee leading the Autobots. Will Friedle returns as Bumblebee. The show will put 3D characters on 2D painted backgrounds. One host compares the setup to G1 season three. Another likens it to a co-worker who gets promoted to supervisor and turns out to be the right pick. The crew expects more at San Diego Comic-Con. [Source: not found]
Is Masterpiece Cliffjumper Coming?
Exvee posted an image of a possible Masterpiece Cliffjumper built on the Masterpiece Bumblebee mold. Brian thinks it is almost certainly a Photoshop, though possibly an official one. The crew agrees any Masterpiece Cliffjumper will reuse Bumblebee, since the G1 toys share the same engineering. Brian keeps asking for Masterpiece Mirage, and the crew debates how a Masterpiece Ironhide could work. [Source: TFormers]
Asia-Exclusive Decepticon Three-Pack
A new Asia-exclusive set includes Tankor, called Octane in Japan, plus Astrotrain and Galvatron in new decos. It costs about $120. The crew calls Tankor a loathsome toy but says this is the best that Galvatron mold has ever looked. [Source: not found]
Make Toys Shows a Two-Foot Not-Metroplex
Make Toys is making its own Metroplex, closer to the original toy than the Generations version. It reportedly runs about $400 and may be no taller than Cybertron Primus. Brian calls Metroplex his favorite toy ever, but the crew finds it unnecessary next to the Generations figure. [Source: not found]
Fans Project Announces Not-Rack ‘n’ Ruin
Fans Project reworked its not-Roadbuster mold into a green two-pack based on Rack ‘n’ Ruin. It runs about $180 and includes the armor and weapons left out of the Roadbuster release. The crew passes. [Source: not found]
JoeLanta Panel
Brian and Rob Springer hosted a panel at JoeLanta in Atlanta. Most of the audience were kids. One 11-year-old asked why Predaking is a combiner in G1 but a dragon in Beast Hunters. Rob Springer answered that two people can share the name Steven. Another fan asked whether filling G1 collection holes with knockoffs is okay, which led to talk of how hard sealed reproductions are to spot.
Q&A with Rob Springer
Tony Klepek of the Transmasters fan club asks what comes after Age of Extinction. Rob Springer points to the new series, a sequel to Transformers Prime with Bumblebee leading the Autobots. He hopes its lighter tone lands closer to Transformers Animated. He is impressed that a show will start without Optimus Prime for the first time since G1 season three. He also hopes the new styles reach a Generations line for adult collectors.
Review: Regeneration One #100
Exvee and Rob, who co-wrote the TFormers review, walk through the final issue and give it 6 out of 10. The Dark Matrix entity is revealed as the villain behind the whole series, which Exvee likens to the surprise final boss of an anime. The crew mocks Ultra Magnus telling his troops to turn off the limiters on their weapons after four million years of war. Rodimus faces the Dark Matrix, summons every Rodimus-colored Transformer from the multiverse and seals the universe off. Every Transformer there then dies of old age, and the Matrix seeds a new kind of life. The art is split between Andrew Wildman, Geoff Senior and Guido Guidi. The crew loves Guido Guidi’s pages but finds the Geoff Senior pages a jarring fit. They suggest reading the series in trade, and agree that More Than Meets the Eye is the stronger book.
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.