New scans of Masterpiece Star Saber show off his gimmicks and a surprisingly tiny Brainmaster. Age of Extinction’s success lets Hasbro Studios expand into new live-action and animated projects, and a complete AllSpark Almanac is on the way. Transformers Cloud adds Hellwarp and a blue Roadbuster, while Fans Project shows its Sixchanger. Rob Springer’s listeners ask which Beast Wars characters should come next in Generations, and the crew has a long wish list.
News
New Scans of Masterpiece Star Saber
New scans show Star Saber’s gimmicks and articulation, including both robot modes and docking vehicles. The Brainmaster figure is about the size of a Diaclone pilot, much smaller than the original. Most of the crew wants one, though one host doubts it is $200 nice. Another says it captures late G1’s focus on toy play over realistic vehicles. [Source: not found]
Age of Extinction Success Expands Hasbro Studios
Age of Extinction’s success lets Hasbro Studios expand into new live-action and animated projects under new leadership. The crew jokes about Battleship 2 and live-action Pound Puppies. They also note Guardians of the Galaxy has passed Age of Extinction at the domestic box office. [Source: not found]
Subscription Service Payment and Combiner Club Ideas
The third Subscription Service payment came out this week. The crew speculates that a future Club subscription could be a combiner, such as a Battle Gaia-style team built from Combiner Wars molds. One host jokes the Club will sell the correct limb for every combiner. The crew also asks why the billion-dollar Age of Extinction’s toys are not selling, and blames seven years of the same characters. [Source: not found]
AllSpark Almanac Complete Edition Announced
Books one and two of the AllSpark Almanac will be combined for about the price of a single volume. The crew praises it as a book you can thumb through again and again, and credits Chris McFeely’s annotated guide. Don bought both original volumes after Paladin urged him to. The crew is still waiting on the delayed G1 box art book. [Source: not found]
Kre-O Class of ’84 Box Set
One host bought the Kre-O Class of ’84 set, styled like a high school yearbook with superlatives for each character. He expected the figures to be the 1984 characters, but it is a random mix. Arcee is prom queen. [Source: not found]
More Videos From the Mackie Florence Collection
New videos at TFormers document more toys from a former Hasbro employee’s collection, some sold and some sealed G1. The crew likes that the opening was filmed to prove where items came from. A black Optimal Optimus test shot is up for auction at $910 with five days left. The talk turns to the old fandom rules against posting prototypes. [Source: TFormers]
Transformers Cloud Hellwarp and Roadbuster
Hellwarp puts the Sky-Byte mold in Skywarp colors as a nod to Beast Wars II’s Hellscream. Roadbuster reuses the Energon Ironhide mold in blue. One will come from e-Hobby and one from the TakaraTomy Mall. The crew calls Hellwarp the worst concept yet, though several like Roadbuster’s colors and plan to get Cloud Rodimus. Another defends the line for trying ideas no one else would. [Source: not found]
Third-Party News
Fans Project Shows Its Sixchanger
Fans Project’s not-Sixshot appears in Quickswitch and Six Knight colors at about Voyager size. The crew splits between the two decos. One host suspects Six Knight will be a Fans Project web exclusive. [Source: not found]
Fans Project Lost Exo Realm and Toy World Dinobots
Fans Project shows the second figure in its Lost Exo Realm line, which is not Sludge. One host explains the names are translated words that start with S, like the Dinobots. The crew likes that its Mini-Con weapon looks like a real weapon. Toy World adds its own Dinobot combiner, and the crew loses track of how many Dinobot teams exist. One host will buy both Fans Toys and Fans Project sets. [Source: not found]
KTC Reuses Its Mold for an Unofficial Blaster
KTC turns its Soundwave and Perceptor mold into an unofficial Blaster, plus a Shockwave and a new Perceptor deco. The crew hates the Blaster’s name and wants the mold retired. One host notes KFC’s Captain Shark is well liked, with Sky-Byte and Sharkticon recolors planned. [Source: not found]
Q&A with Rob Springer
EDogs20111 asks whether the blue Rainmaker has a name. The crew explains the Rainmakers are a fan term, and Acid Storm is the only one with an official identity. Rob jokes that the three are named Cecil, Earl and Jimmy.
Transfanatics asks which Beast Wars characters should come next in Generations. The crew’s wish list runs from Blackarachnia, Silverbolt and Terrorsaur to Airazor, Botanica and Transmetal 2 Scourge. Others want Tigerhawk with a full deco, Transmetal 2 Dinobot and Beast Wars II’s Longrack. Asked what program the show records with, Brian says not to use Skype and recommends Google+ Hangouts.
This Week in History
In 1987, Transformers: The Headmasters was released in Japan for the Famicom Disk System. The crew calls it less terrible than Mystery of Convoy, mostly because you do not die in one hit.
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.