Days before Toy Fair 2016, leaks reveal Titans Return Brainstorm as a winged Blurr retool. Computron box art appears in color, along with an Astrotrain triple changer. Reports of Hasbro and Mattel merger talks spark a debate about antitrust and what each company would do with the other’s brands. The club previews Subscription Service 5.0, and Earth Wars brings Transformers to mobile strategy gaming. Plus Unite Warriors Bruticus in full color and Matt’s mixed feelings on Combiner Wars Sky Reign.
News
Titans Return Brainstorm Revealed On Newest Art Leak
Box art leaked first, followed by the vehicle mode. Brainstorm is a retool of Blurr with wings, and the crew is surprised how well it works. Some like it better than Generations Brainstorm’s balled-up jet, while others will wait to see the head. Diecast hates that leaks spoil the surprise of covering Toy Fair in person. [Source: TFormers]
Combiner Wars Computron Partial Box Art Now In Color
The color art suggests Afterburner’s front end has been retooled. Computron’s head is no longer in Scattershot’s colors, which the crew welcomes. The figures at the bottom are just generic Decepticons. [Source: TFormers]
Titans Return Astrotrain Image Teases New Triple Changer
The crew called Astrotrain as soon as Sentinel Prime appeared. The image leaked inverted and cut in half. The crew is fed up with a leaker who drips images through Chinese social media for attention. [Source: TFormers]
Titans Return Fortress Maximus To Debut On Official Transformers Instagram
Hasbro plans to reveal Fortress Maximus on Instagram before Toy Fair. One host sees it as going direct to fans, likely informed by the leaks. Diecast, whose Encore Fortress Maximus is his grail, cannot wait to see it in person. [Source: TFormers]
Negotiations Taking Place For A Merger Of Hasbro And Mattel?
A Bloomberg report suggests Hasbro and Mattel discussed a merger. The crew notes Hasbro’s strong quarter, driven mostly by Star Wars, and its recent win of the Disney Princess license. Several hosts expect Hasbro would dominate a combined company. One host hopes for Kre-O designs with Mega Bloks quality, and another imagines Thundercats in Marvel Legends style. One host notes antitrust concerns at about 45 percent of the toy market, and that Disney might object to less competition for its licenses. [Source: TFormers]
Transformers Earth Wars Trailer: First Transformers Real-Time Combat Strategy Game
Earth Wars is a G1-styled real-time strategy game for iOS and Android, compared to Clash of Clans. It requires Wi-Fi and is expected in spring 2016. Brian swears he will play it, and the crew doubts him. One host laments that new Transformers media now just stamps out G1. [Source: TFormers]
Transformers Figure Subscription Service 5 Preview: First Look
John’s photos of Transformers Collectors Club magazine #67 spread worldwide overnight. They show Armada Starscream mold repaints as Ramjet, with a flaming head, and Skywarp. The club also reuses its gorilla Pretender shell for a nesting-doll Optimus Prime and adds a Paradron Medic. Brian loves it, and the crew jokes it settles the truck-or-monkey debate. [Source: TFormers]
Unite Warriors UW07 Bruticus: Official Color Photos
The crew loves the decos, though Vortex’s dark gray does not look like Vortex to some. They wonder why the cartoon put a second Blast Off on Bruticus’s chest. Wonderfest photos convince Chris that Blast Off has a second, toy-accurate chest on its back for future uses of the mold. The crew asks Diecast to press Hasbro about a shuttle Blast Off for G2 Bruticus. Don wishes Hasbro had at least used the Fireflight face. [Source: TFormers]
Wonderfest 2016 Picture Roundup Featuring MP Optimus Primal
A painted Masterpiece Optimus Primal prototype shows a fur paint effect the crew hopes survives production. They speculate about future redecos, from Burning Convoy to a Megatron-colored version. [Source: TFormers]
Robots in Disguise Season 2 US Start Date And Episode Titles Revealed
Season two starts February 20 with “Overloaded” Part 1, with Part 2 a week later. Brian signed up for an internet TV service so he can finally keep up. Don is keeping his expectations in check but hopes for links back to Transformers: Prime. [Source: TFormers]
Garatron Gand of Devils G.o.D.-02 Galaxy Destroyer Recreates Unproduced Beast Wars Neo Unicron
A new company is recreating the canceled Beast Wars Neo Unicron, first seen in a 1999 magazine scan. One host recalls the fan petitions that followed, and the crew agrees fan petitions have never worked. Some say it looks dated by current third-party standards, but others say it is meant to look like a 1990s toy. The crew hopes the company keeps reaching beyond G1. [Source: TFormers]
X-Transbots MM-VIII Arkose: Unofficial Beachcomber
The crew likes it better than iGear’s Beachcomber, whose blue was off. Don notes it would make a red Wonderbug. [Source: TFormers]
This Week in History
In 2006, IDW released Infiltration #2. The crew agrees IDW’s current books are far better than its early G1 recreations. Brian jokes that, like the G2 minicast concluded, the fandom is already living in G3.
Listener Feedback
Dan, known as Mantis999, leaves the first voicemail in years to thank the crew for the show, the minicast and Being Awesome. Sammy Turnage asks about a future Titan Class Unicron, and the crew hopes it comes if the Titan line continues. He also asks why toys feel hollow. One host explains that rising overseas labor costs, not oil prices, drive thinner designs. Diecast thinks the Titans Return figures he has seen feel more solid.
What We Got This Week
Matt
Matt got all of Combiner Wars Sky Reign and is less happy than he hoped. Sky Lynx has a weak ratchet on one hip, and his shuttle mode will not tab together. Wheeljack tabs together even worse and looks like a shampoo bottle, and Hound’s head is off-putting. Smokescreen is the one he really likes.
John
John also has Sky Lynx, and his weak hip is on the left.
Don
Don went a little third-party crazy. He got X-Transbots’ Andrias, DX9’s Tyrant and Unique Toys’ Provider. He also got the club’s Treadshot for $19 in a sale.
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.