BotCon 2014 reveals a Headmaster Scorponok built from the Energon Scorponok mold with a remolded Spike head. Mega Drive Megatron gets more photos in Japan, and Hasbro plans toys based on the Transformers Universe online game. The crew also covers Generations Tankor, the Transformers Cybertron complete series on DVD and Unique Toys’ Sound Mixer. Then everyone confesses how big a nerd they really are.
Masterpiece Hot Rodimus Arms Are Breaking
Brian warns owners to check their Masterpiece Hot Rodimus. Tformerz90’s Hasbro release and Alan Young’s second-run Takara release both had an arm snap off while sitting on a shelf. Brian’s first-run Takara copy is intact, but he is afraid to touch it. Don admits his Hasbro copy has only been half-transformed once.
This Week in History
In 2004, Atari released the Transformers Armada game for the PlayStation 2 in the US. The crew calls it the first good Transformers game, though not the first where you could transform. In 1998, Beast Wars debuted in the UK. That sparks memories of trading tapes by mail for Headmasters, Masterforce and bad copies of the 1986 movie.
News
BotCon 2014 Headmaster Scorponok
The next BotCon 2014 figure is a G1-style Scorponok, built from the Energon Scorponok mold with a new head. His Headmaster partner is a remold of the Spike head from the Encore Fortress Maximus. His visor is based on the Scorponok seen in the commercial and The Rebirth opening. Brian is impressed by the effort and thrilled to get a real Headmaster. Don likes it and is curious about fiction that makes the Headmaster Zarak’s son. Another host appreciates it but is not in love with it. With a Headmaster and a Targetmaster already revealed, the crew calls the set at least a triple. [Source: not found]
More Mega Drive Megatron Photos from Japan
New photos from a spring hobby show in Japan show more of Mega Drive Megatron. Brian calls it a dated novelty but still kind of wants it. Fans are already asking for a Super Famicom Optimus Prime, and one host shares fan art of a Famicom Optimus Prime. The show also had a non-transforming Alpha Trion model. [Source: not found]
New Photos of Generations Tankor
New photos show Generations Tankor. Don would rather have more Rattrap figures, and one host wishes Tankor were a Voyager. Another host likes Tankor as a character, and the crew splits over Beast Machines. [Source: not found]
Hasbro Will Make Transformers Universe Toys
Hasbro is working on toys based on the Transformers Universe online game, which is still in beta. One host never received the beta invite he signed up for at BotCon 2012, and another never heard back after New York Comic Con. One host notes that a few characters designed for the game already turned up in Transformers Prime. [Source: not found]
Transformers Cybertron Complete Series on DVD
Shout! Factory releases Transformers Cybertron, the complete series, on August 5 for about $30. Brian calls it the best of the Unicron Trilogy, and Don says it has the most likable kids of the three. [Source: not found]
Generations Legends Two-Packs Shown
New photos show Tailgate with Groundpounder and Scrapnel with Reflector. Brian has them preordered and hopes they actually show up. [Source: not found]
Big Lots Dino Combiner Set
A first look at a Dinobot-style combiner team bound for Big Lots draws laughs. The crew says it looks like Playskool Dinobots, though one host likes it better than Energon Swoop and Grimlock. One host suggests discount chains could be an untapped market for third-party toys. [Source: not found]
Unique Toys Sound Mixer In Hand
TFSource has new in-hand photos of Unique Toys’ Sound Mixer, a not-Soundwave, for $75. The crew agrees it looks nice but is too small. Its cassettes are a smaller size and do not work with KFC Toys or official cassettes. The crew likes that its cassette becomes his gun and his handle becomes a heel. [Source: not found]
Q&A with Rob Springer
Twilight Warrior asks whether Grimlock will talk like his usual self in Age of Extinction. Rob Springer has not seen the movie but notes that a toy voice clip kept the caveman speech in a slightly different voice. He recalls that Daniel Ross pushed for a more classic Starscream voice in the 2007 movie DS games. He says the movie could go either way.
Topic: How Big a Nerd Are You?
Diecast has never taken a toy to dinner, but he still gets Transformers for Christmas at 30 and covered Toy Fair 2014. Matt calls himself a bad nerd, then admits he schedules Free Comic Book Day off every year as a religious holiday. Chris is the conservative nerd who opens up once a conversation heads that way. Brian’s co-workers keep discovering the podcast, and he has more friends in the Transformers fandom than anywhere else. His nerdiest act is starting an online Transformers radio show in 1999, among the first podcasts of any kind. Don has worked at the same store for 16 years and once ran its Saturday Yu-Gi-Oh demos. He gets up at 3 a.m. for fan fiction updates and reads instruction booklets in the bathroom. One host plans to shrink his collection to his top 100 items, so no one has to sort it later.
What We Got This Week
Brian has his discounted Hasbro Toy Shop Rhinox, still in the box. He also preordered Generations Whirl from Hasbro Toy Shop after a tip from Exvee.
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.