Toy Fair 2018 is in the books, and Chris hosts while Brian is away. The crew grades the TFormers Toy Fair report card and digs into what Hasbro said about War for Cybertron. Chris worries the next line could bring another 2012-style downsizing, with Power of the Primes deluxes already headed to $20. An Amazon Canada listing points to a Generations Special Edition Counterpunch. Plus Studio Series Bumblebee and Stinger in hand, and a long debate over Rippersnapper and Moonracer.
This Week in History
In 2012, Transformers Prime Season 2 premiered on the Hub with “Orion Pax, Part 1.” One host recalls Hasbro sending review discs of a few Prime episodes. The crew calls Season 2 the weakest of the three, and one host notes how hard it is to follow a Unicron story.
News
Toy Fair 2018: The TFormers Report Card
Rob says the TFormers predictions landed about half right. Toy Fair showed most of Power of the Primes Wave 2, some of Wave 3, Novastar and Predaking. Studio Series turned out to be the toy support for the Bumblebee movie. Authentics and Cyberverse are separate lines, though Authentics packaging samples still have no clear home. Repugnus did not appear, and the Studio Series Thundercracker display figure could not be found. The big takeaway, per Rob, is how much Hasbro loves 1984. The crew debates what War for Cybertron’s Cybertronian modes will look like, with Tetrajets as the one example given. [Source: TFormers]
Toy Fair 2018: What Did We Learn?
Stickers stay for the rest of Power of the Primes, but Hasbro does not expect to lean on them for War for Cybertron. The fan vote offers three two-packs: Impactor vs. Mirage, Trax vs. Needlenose and Spinister vs. Wheeljack. Matt is pushing Impactor, and Jason voted for Spinister vs. Wheeljack. Hasbro implied the winners would use new tooling from the next line. Chris also learned Hasbro’s internal name for two toys that share core parts: a partial tool. The crew also notes that Hasbro now has the Power Rangers license. [Source: TFormers]
Should We Be Worried About the War for Cybertron?
Chris’s article compares Hasbro’s comments to 2012, when Transformers toys got smaller and simpler as prices rose. Hasbro says no Prime Wars Trilogy molds will carry forward into War for Cybertron’s main line. Power of the Primes deluxes rise to $20 with Wave 3. Chris thinks Power of the Primes may have been cut short, and he suspects The Last Knight’s weak performance shaped those plans. Diecast came away from the Q and A thinking it was a design shift, not a cost cut. The crew stresses this is heavy speculation and hopes it is wrong. [Source: TFormers]
The Next Mysterious Generations Special Edition Figure Is Nearby
An Amazon Canada listing for a Generations Special Edition Counterpunch appeared with no price or image. Chris sees two possibilities: a retool of Power of the Primes Jazz or a redeco of another mold. Its item code suggests more exclusives beyond Blast Off and Repugnus. One host hopes it is not the Jazz mold, which the crew calls the weakest of Wave 1. [Source: TFormers]
Studio Series In-Hand Photos: Wave 1 and 2 Deluxes, Optimus, Starscream and Blackout
New photos show Jazz, Lockdown, Optimus Prime, Starscream and Leader Blackout. Blackout’s finished sample impresses even hosts who do not care about the character. Toys R Us lists April 20, and Amazon Japan lists April 21, so the street date looks like April 20. [Source: TFormers]
Mastermind Creations Azalea and Foxwire Test Shots
Mastermind Creations shows Azalea, its Masterpiece-style Arcee. The crew thinks the head looks too big and the lower legs too small, and they prefer the Fans Toys version. Foxwire, the DJD’s pet, also appears. [Source: TFormers]
Toy Fair 2018: Jada Metals and Super7 Transformers Products
Licensed items from Toy Fair include Jada Metals G1 die-cast vehicles and Super7’s Keshi Surprise figures, 12-inch vinyls, pins and drinking glasses. Chris notes the Keshi figures are basically blind-boxed G1 Decoys. One host wants the glasses. [Source: TFormers]
Transformers: Unicron #0 Free Comic Book Day Preview
The Free Comic Book Day preview of Unicron #0 has art by Alex Milne. Rob warns that it spoils the Optimus Prime series from the first page. Rob and Chris also note Nick Roche’s announcement of Requiem of the Wreckers, a one-shot in May that wraps up the Wreckers trilogy. [Source: TFormers]
Transformers Generations: The Future That I Want to See
Chris’s follow-up article imagines how a downsizing and design shift could be done well. He calls it a fun, playset-heavy piece of fantasy toy line building. [Source: TFormers]
What We Got This Week
Diecast got a Weijiang Masterpiece-scale Megatron, scaled to match its upscaled MP-10. It is a re-engineered take, and the first run’s scope becomes a Laserbeak the crew dubs a laser chicken. He also got Generation Toy’s Sarge, an unofficial Streetwise that turns into a Nissan 370Z, which he reviewed. His Studio Series Bumblebee reworks The Last Knight Wave 3 mold, and he likes it better, with a hex port for the arm cannon. He has the rest of Studio Series Wave 1 too.
Chris chimed in on Studio Series Bumblebee, which is about the size of a Fall of Cybertron deluxe at a $20 price. He likes the movable chest and the head sculpt. He notes that Crowbar shares parts with Premier Edition Berserker. Later he covered his own haul: Stinger, picked for its Pagani Huayra mode, plus Power of the Primes Blackwing, Moonracer and Rippersnapper. Blackwing is an Aerialbot retool with loose wings and some paint defects. He actively dislikes Moonracer’s long car mode and the robot’s missing heel support, and Rippersnapper does nothing for him.
Matt found the Power of the Primes Wave 2 deluxes. He defends Moonracer, which tabs together well and will make a sturdy combiner leg. He finds the Darkwing and Dreadwind combination spotty but will still buy Buster and Hydra. He explains that Moonracer’s mystery tabs lock into the folded backpack.
Don got Bludgeon and Thermidor thanks to John and may keep Thermidor carded. He picked up War Giant Onslaught, Blast Off and Vortex, and he warns that Blast Off has breakage reports. He also got the black Rodimus Unicronus and the Infinite Transformation Megatron from a Facebook seller. He likes that its backpack hides kibble and that a second fusion cannon plays Frank Welker sound clips.
John DeLuna got the latest Legends round, including Overlord, the clones, Blitzwing and Bumblebee. He also got Power of the Primes Optimus Prime, with Reprolabels ready, and the Wave 2 deluxes. He lands in the middle on Rippersnapper, which he calls G1 Rippersnapper with Combiner Wars legs and nice wrist swivels.
Rob had nothing new or Transformers-related this week.
Jason Kirk got Stinger and admits he missed the step that tucks the head away. He found the Wave 2 Legends right after joking about waiting on preorders. A Twitter poll told him to keep his Tailgate alongside Windcharger, and a Big Bad Toy Store box is 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.