Titan Class Devastator turns up at U.S. retail ahead of its street date, and preorders open everywhere. Photos of a rare G2 Defensor prototype surface from a seller handling a former Kenner employee’s collection. Rob’s Toy Detective segment decodes a rumored Transformers Adventure list, including Battle Grimlock and a Rumble and Frenzy set. The crew also previews next week’s SDCC Hasbro event.
News
Titan Class Devastator Spotted at U.S. Retail
Titan Class Devastator appeared on Toys R Us shelves in California ahead of its street date. ToysRUs.com lists it at $149.99, and Amazon, Big Bad Toy Store and other stores opened preorders. One host notes Amazon broke Metroplex’s street date and may have done it again. Big Bad Toy Store has to honor the date because of its Hasbro account. [Source: TFormers]
Unite Warriors Devastator Still Has No Price
Takara’s Unite Warriors Devastator still has no price. It adds G1-accurate guns, elbows, nicer paint and relocated knees on two robots. Several hosts plan to buy both versions: Takara’s for the individual robots and Hasbro’s to stay combined. [Source: TFW2005]
New Images of Transformers Adventure Optimus Prime
New images show the robot-mode head of TAV21 Optimus Prime, a new Leader class mold for Japan. The last currency conversion put it at about $57.68, close to a U.S. Leader. One host likes it but has other priorities first. [Source: TFormers]
G2 Defensor Prototype Photos Surface
A seller handling a former Kenner employee’s collection posted photos of a G2 Defensor. One host recalls that only about six sets reached final card art, and carded samples once sold for $4,000 to $6,000 each. The crew would love a Combiner Wars G2 Defensor but expects G2 Superion first. Brian expects third parties to eventually release G2-colored combiners. [Source: TFW2005]
Trypticon Reaches Australia
A friend of one host reports Trypticon on Australian shelves at about $300 in U.S. dollars. The crew is still amazed Trypticon exists at all, given the Gigastorm mold’s missing pieces. [Source: not found]
SDCC Hasbro Press Event Next Thursday
Hasbro’s SDCC press event is next Thursday morning, so next week’s RFC moves to Thursday. Riffing on the latest Mini-cast, the crew asks whether Hasbro can top Combiner Wars. One host hopes Hasbro keeps the same level of complexity. Don would trade combiners for new Headmasters, Targetmasters and Powermasters.
Toy Detective With Rob Clay
A rumored Transformers Adventure release list surfaced on TFW2005. Rob reads TED13 Drift and TED14 Fracture as easy-transform one-step figures. TAV30 Battle Grimlock costs 4,500 yen, too much for any existing Grimlock, so he expects a new mold. TAV31 Black Shadow likely uses Generations Sky Shadow, which never came out in Japan. TAV32 Rumble and Frenzy at 3,500 yen points to a reissue of the Scout class United UN-20 pair.
Third-Party Check-In
There was little third-party news, so the crew revisits BotCon highlights. Spartan, the MakeToys Reflector trio and DX9 Carry all impressed in person. One host dropped plans for three other figures to afford Carry.
On TFormers This Week
Jay, one of the site’s owners, reviewed SDCC Devastator. TFormers also previewed Robots in Disguise Animated #1 and posted Rob’s article on the Transformers Adventure rumors.
What We Got This Week
John got the Collectors’ Club Nacelle, a red, white and blue Seeker that one host likens to Captain America.
Diecast has DX9 Carry and Siegfried in hand as review samples from The Chosen Prime. He praises Carry’s all-in-one transformation and solid plastic. He combined Siegfried’s team, minus one arm, and calls it the most solid combiner yet.
Matt had nothing in Transformers this week after his BotCon trip.
Brian got Legends Fixit, ordered from Amazon. He also got the SDCC Combiner Hunters set and the Kre-O Class of 1985 set, and will post photos.
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.