TakaraTomy’s Legends Targetmaster Hot Rod gets a clear-plastic chest with a painted flame, while Targetmaster Kup goes gray. Valvoline will give away 5,000 Valvotron figures, and the crew is convinced it turns into a bottle of motor oil. HasCon finally shares a few details about exclusives and design team panels. A new Last Knight trailer shows Optimus Prime fighting Megatron under Quintessa’s control. Brian and Diecast pick up Titans Return Leader Sky Shadow, and Brian finds its jet mode far too simple.
This Week in History
In 1988, Super-God Masterforce premieres in Japan with “Rise Up!! Pretenders.” Don calls it his favorite of the Japanese G1 series and Metalhawk the best Pretender toy ever, sparking a debate over Victory. In 2004, Atari releases Melbourne House’s Armada-based Transformers game for PlayStation 2 in the US, which the crew calls the first good Transformers game.
News
Hasbro’s HasCon Event Finally Reveals First Details of Content and Exclusives
HasCon will have exclusives, with leftovers sold on Hasbro Toy Shop afterward, plus Hasbro design team panels. One host says meeting the design team is a treat for first-timers. The crew agrees that is not enough to justify a trip to Rhode Island. [Source: TFormers]
Hot Rod’s retooled chest is cast in clear plastic, painted everywhere except a textured flame, which looks like stained glass. Kup is gray rather than teal, which Chris McFeely traced to the Rebirth Broadcast Masters packaging. Both get brand-new Targetmaster molds. Sweeps has a new face, and the crew teases Matt, owner of 25 Gnaws, about troop-building. Several hosts have already preordered. [Source: TFormers] [Source: TFormers]
Generations Cyber Commander Optimus Prime Deco Changes to the 2017 Release
The new release adds movie-influenced colors, including forearm paint meant to suggest a trailer. The crew would rather see it in Star Convoy colors. [Source: TFormers]
Robots in Disguise 2016 Products Hitting Discount Retail
Last year’s Power Surge figures are at Ross for about $12.99, down from $30. Combiner Force may also be split into two 13-episode halves, based on the European broadcast schedule. [Source: TFormers] [Source: TFormers]
Transformers: Forged to Fight Officially Launches RPG Mobile Game
The mobile fighting game launched after last week’s show. One host played it at Toy Fair and liked it, but few of the crew play mobile games. [Source: TFormers]
Transformers: The Last Knight Theatrical Trailer
A new trailer shows Optimus Prime fighting Megatron while apparently under Quintessa’s control. The crew hopes Megatron has to become an ally to stop him. One host hates that the trailers are so good when the movies disappoint. Chris spots two sets he saw in Detroit. Some wonder if Optimus could die, with Hot Rod waiting in the wings. [Source: TFormers]
Behold Valvotron! Valvoline Exclusive Transformers: The Last Knight Figure and Contest Announced
Valvoline will give away 5,000 limited-edition Valvotron figures to customers who buy oil or get an oil change. One host calls it his favorite news of the week. The crew spots a bottle handle on one arm and a nozzle on the other and decides it turns into a bottle of motor oil. [Source: TFormers]
Transformers: The Last Knight Voyager Optimus Prime In-Hand Photos of Premier Edition Figure
The figure has a surprisingly low-profile back and looks good, though it could use more paint. One host thinks this design deserves to be the Leader. [Source: TFormers]
Transformers: The Last Knight Rethink the Past Microfiche Video
Chris explains the video of old-style photos showing Transformers across history, including Drift with samurai, a World War I tank and a prop plane. Don thinks the plane looks like the GoBot Zero and hopes for toys of these historic alt modes. [Source: TFormers]
Steve Jablonsky’s Score for Transformers: The Last Knight Gets Digital Release on June 23, 2017
Chris warns fans to buy early, since the Age of Extinction score was pulled from iTunes after it passed its licensed sales count. Don cannot believe a studio would stop selling something that sells too well. [Source: TFormers]
Also on TFormers
TFormers posted nearly 800 HD screenshots from the new trailer. Jack looked at Animism Defender “Optmuprlmal,” an animation-accurate bootleg Beast Machines Optimus Primal. Exvee compared Legends Hot Rod and Kup with their US Deluxe counterparts. Rob corrects last week: the Rom vs. Transformers colorist is Josh Perez, not Josh Burcham, as Alex Milne pointed out. [Source: TFormers]
What We Got This Week
Diecast
Diecast had no Taobao box this week, but found Titans Return Leader Sky Shadow at Toys R Us. A Toys R Us employee tipped him off to one last Broadside at the Target next door. He also has MP-36 Masterpiece Megatron, which he has posed but not transformed.
Matt
Matt got the Chaos on Velocitron set. Nautica needs a new face with a visor, but he loves Laser Optimus Prime, even with crooked stickers. He also transformed MP-36 Masterpiece Megatron, though the back arm panels scared him. He still likes his bulkier MakeToys Despotron.
Brian
Brian got Chaos on Velocitron thanks to Chris. He loves Nautica’s color and Laser Optimus Prime but finds Fastclash boring. He also got Titans Return Leader Sky Shadow, which looks nice but has a jet mode close to a GoBots power suit. He is still looking forward to the Overlord version.
Don
Don reports his Toys R Us rings up Broadside at $16.99. He has Sky Shadow on order and Baldigus on the way.
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.