The first color test shot of Masterpiece Wheeljack looks gorgeous, even if the crew nitpicks his forearm flaps and hollow heels. Takara’s Evangelion crossover Masterpiece Prime gets a reluctant breakdown from Don. The Transformers Animated complete series lands as a $35 Amazon exclusive. Third-party Dinobots keep coming from Fans Toys and Gigapower. Rob Springer answers a listener question about Rise of the Dark Spark, and Exvee and Rob review Windblade and Robots in Disguise.
News
Masterpiece Wheeljack Color Test Shot
The first color test shot of Masterpiece Wheeljack shows him standing next to Prowl. The crew calls him gorgeous. One host is bothered by the flaps under the forearms, and another points out how hollow the backs of the feet are. One host wishes Takara had found a way to recreate his flashing ears. Everyone still plans to buy him. [Source: TFW2005]
Takara’s Evangelion Crossover Optimus Prime
Brian hands the Evangelion crossover story to Don, who admits he only knows the series’ confusing finale. Don still likes the wild colors better than the gold chrome on the recent MP-10 reissue. He wishes it shipped without the trailer at a lower price. One host imagines an Ultra Magnus cab swap in these colors as a nod to the episode The Killing Jar. [Source: TFW2005]
Transformers Animated Complete Series Is an Amazon Exclusive
The complete Transformers Animated series box set will be an Amazon exclusive for $35. The crew tells the one host who has barely watched it to order it now. One host preorders on the spot. [Source: not found]
Sunstorm Headed to Toys R Us as Grimlock Goes Live
Sunstorm may hit Toys R Us in June. Grimlock just went live on ToysRUs.com for $80, which is $20 over what some stores charged. One host expects Sunstorm to sit on shelves while everyone hunts Grimlock, much like Acid Storm. A listener in chat reports seeing Grimlock for $80 in store, and one host calls that price a steal. [Source: TFW2005]
Mega Drive Megatron Goes Up for Preorder
Takara’s Megatron styled after the Sega Genesis is up for preorder. One host preorders it despite the roughly $120 price for a 7.5-inch figure. Another calls the price absurd. The crew wishes it were a working console, since tiny systems on a chip already exist. [Source: not found]
Silver Masterpiece Bluestreak Instead of Blue
Fans hoping for a blue Masterpiece Bluestreak will only get a silver version for now, as a convention exclusive. Don says the silver is not different enough to buy again, especially in robot mode. One host notes that for newer fans, silver was the only Bluestreak for years. [Source: not found]
Toys R Us Two-Pack Optimus Prime Uses the Classics Mold
The Toys R Us exclusive two-pack Optimus Prime is confirmed as the Classics mold with the Agent Mode option. One host suspects that is why the Collectors Club reused the same mold in its box set. [Source: not found]
Windblade Creators on the Underbase Podcast
Mairghread Scott and Sarah Stone talk about Windblade on the Underbase podcast. Brian has not listened yet but recommends it. [Source: not found]
Transformers Hall of Fame 2014 Nominations Open
Hasbro is taking 2014 Transformers Hall of Fame nominations at Tformers.com. The crew jokes about nominating Massey, Cosmic Rust and the kids from Prime. Knockout and Kicker also come up. [Source: not found]
Collectors Club Transmutate
Brian asks whether he should buy the Collectors Club Transmutate. One host calls it a horrible figure and is skipping it for now, since BotCon is close.
Age of Extinction Dinobot Digibash
A fan digibash reimagines the G1 Dinobots as their Age of Extinction counterparts. The crew would buy all of them, especially Snarl. [Source: not found]
Fans Toys FT-06 Sever Line Art
Fans Toys released line art for FT-06 Sever, its take on Sludge. Brian is glad it is not another blacked-out silhouette. Don will not prepay for a third Dinobot before the first two arrive. He doubts it ships in 2014 and expects early 2015. [Source: TFW2005]
Gigapower Grassor and More Third-Party Projects
Gigapower shows pre-production photos of HQ-02 Grassor, its large take on Slag. Gigapower is waiting until the figure is nearly done before opening preorders. Maketoys shares rough sketches for its not-Scorponok in the City Bot series. A die-cast third-party Blaster and a loose Unique Toys Warlord combiner deal also come up. [Source: not found]
Q and A with Rob Springer
Rob answers Jimmy Schlitz, who calls Rise of the Dark Spark lazy for reusing game assets. Rob argues that asset reuse is business, not laziness. Movie tie-in games lose shelf life fast, and Activision owns the High Moon assets. He compares it to War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron sharing an engine. He asks fans to stay positive and points them to the 3DS version.
Comic Reviews
Exvee and Rob review Windblade and Robots in Disguise. Windblade wins praise for Sarah Stone’s art and Mairghread Scott’s mystery, though the culprit looks obvious. Robots in Disguise works best as a Prowl character study. The reviewers find the Galvatron and Earth Defense Command setup contrived. They suspect the stories are waiting on Megatron’s trial in More Than Meets the Eye.
This Week in History
In 2003, Dreamwave published More Than Meets the Eye No. 2, its profile book series. One host still loves how it fleshed out the Micromasters.
What We Got This Week
Diecast picked up Trypticon, now a Toys R Us exclusive, and Jetwash, which the crew agrees is clearly a Jetfire.
Don got Tailgate, Shrapnel and Reflector. He hopes Reflector gets the same follow-up treatment Waspinator did.
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.