Subscription Service 2.0 Treadshot ships with his chainsaw cheetah partner Catgut, and the crew calls it the best figure of the set. The Collectors’ Club’s Marissa Fairborn sparks talk of more season three humans and a rumored merger of BotCon and JoeCon. Toys R Us delays Generations Leader Jetfire, Nightbeat appears out of package, and Paladone shows official G1 gifts. Rob Springer weighs listener picks to direct Transformers 5, and This Week in History digs up the first Transformers newspaper ads.
News
Generations Nightbeat Out of Package
New photos show Nightbeat out of package on the Goldfire Bumblebee mold. The crew says the mold looks best as Nightbeat, though the yellow paint over blue plastic has a green tint. One host wishes for a new chest piece, which drags in vehicle mode. The crew recalls early solicitations showing a Jazz-mold Nightbeat and doubts that version will ever appear. Don still wishes he were a Headmaster. [Source: not found]
Paladone Shows Official G1 Gifts
Paladone’s G1 line includes a foam board 3D puzzle, an Optimus Prime egg cup, mugs and a lamp. A keychain doubles as a headphone splitter and stylus, which the crew jokes is a triple changer. They like the lamp and debate whether anyone uses a headphone splitter. [Source: not found]
Subscription Service 2.0 Treadshot Ships
The fourth Subscription Service 2.0 figure, Treadshot, shipped this week, and the crew loves it. Catgut’s bio calls him a Prismosian cheetah, a Visionaries nod that one host credits to a designer who knows the line. Diecast skipped the subscription and balks at $75 for Thrustinator on the Club store. Several hosts are on the fence about Subscription Service 3.0 because it has two Seeker molds. One host says the Seeker mold is worn out after 35 uses, while another will buy it every time. Brian notes the next installment bills around the 26th. [Source: not found]
Toys R Us Delays Generations Leader Jetfire
Toys R Us pushed its Jetfire preorders to October and let buyers cancel, which Brian did. Amazon still lists September 15, and some fans already have Japanese copies. The crew debates the Hasbro version’s chrome, which the Takara version drops. Rob says the new design team is still learning, and he expects Combiner Wars to make the collector line kid-friendly. The crew expects the first combiners around the end of November. [Source: not found]
Age of Extinction Home Release Date and Preorder Extras
Best Buy sent an update with an Age of Extinction release date of October 30, which Brian is excited about. Walmart’s preorder includes three small non-transforming figurines. Brian admits he will buy the movie because he hosts a Transformers podcast. [Source: not found]
Generations 2014 Volume 1 Package Art
Package art for Generations 2014 Volume 1 shows a train Targetmaster that comes with Daniel as his partner. The crew debates whether it is Astrotrain or one of the Raiden trains. One host likes how the partner turns a weak Power Core Combiners mold into a bow. The crew jokes that Hasbro made Daniel a Targetmaster instead of a Headmaster just to troll Don. [Source: not found]
Third-Party News
KFC Toys Becomes KTC
KFC has changed its name to KTC, not Toy Express as first reported. The crew notes the logo still looks like the restaurant’s, colonel mascot and all. [Source: not found]
Unproduced Third-Party Skyquake, Lugnut and Depth Charge Designs
Renders surfaced of Zealot, Triton and Turbulence, homages to Skyquake, Lugnut and Depth Charge. They will not be produced after a disagreement. The article names a designer who worked with iGear, Mastermind Creations, Mech Ideas and KFC. Brian loves the Depth Charge render. The crew likes that these are stylized homages instead of near-replicas. [Source: not found]
Q&A with Rob Springer
Computron2 lists his picks to direct Transformers 5: Joss Whedon, Shane Black, Marc Webb, Matthew Vaughn and James Cameron. Rob says no to all five. He argues fans pick directors for movies they liked, not for how they would handle giant robots. Another host makes the case for Whedon, who would give every robot a real personality. Other suggestions include Guillermo del Toro, Brad Bird and J.J. Abrams.
Marissa Fairborn and a Possible BotCon and JoeCon Merger
The Collectors’ Club’s Marissa Fairborn figure uses G.I. Joe parts for a season three character. One host calls it the greatest thing ever, while another is lukewarm on Afterburner. Another hopes it leads to more human figures from the G.I. Joe parts library. The crew also discusses a rumor that BotCon and JoeCon could merge. Most see little harm if Fun Publications profits, though they worry about exclusives and staffing. Wish lists turn to Battle Beasts, Visionaries, MASK and GoBots.
This Week in History
In 1984, the first known Transformers newspaper ad ran, as collected on Crazy Steve’s Roboplastic Apocalypse blog. Local chains such as Rose’s and Kmart priced the Autobot cars at $8.97 to $8.99, with minicars at $2.49. The crew notes that is about $18 in today’s money, not bad for so much die-cast metal. They laugh at the crude ads and the knockoffs printed beside the real toys.
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.