X2Toys reveals Giga Raiden, yet another unofficial Optimus Prime, and the crew is not sold at 60 to 70 dollars. Power of the Primes Wave 3 Prime Masters bring Octopunch back, and Rescue Bots Academy is announced with a new voice cast. Garry Chalk heads to TFCon Toronto, and Flame Toys adds a Kuro Kara Kuri Optimus Prime. The crew sorts out the retracted Encore God Fire Convoy recall rumor. WeiJiang’s trade-show booth and Black Mamba’s oversized knockoffs round out the third-party news.
The Big Item
X2Toys Reveals Giga Raiden to a World Desperate for Another Unofficial Optimus Prime
Stop the presses: there is another unofficial Optimus Prime. Don thinks Giga Raiden looks like Robot Masters Optimus Prime, and another host notes every Optimus Prime is someone’s first. The robot mode looks fine, but the truck mode lands somewhere between a Dollar Tree and a Family Dollar toy. At 60 to 70 dollars and roughly Classics scale, the crew would rather buy better official Primes. One host would grab it on clearance for 20 dollars, and another admits he might buy the Nemesis-colored version. [Source: TFormers]
News
Power of the Primes Wave 3 Prime Masters: Official Images of Bomb-Burst, Bludgeon and Octopunch
Brian needs Octopunch in his life and never expected another official, non-convention Octopunch. The crew also likes Bludgeon. One host notes Hasbro is running out of characters, so the deeper cuts had to come eventually. [Source: TFormers]
Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy New Cartoon Announced
Rescue Bots Academy is a sequel series about trainees, aimed at an even younger audience. It replaces the voice cast, Peter Cullen included, reportedly with non-union actors. Don, a big Rescue Bots fan, is not happy. One host doubts young kids will notice, while others remember spotting voice changes as children. One of the new trainees is a female Whirl. [Source: TFormers]
Garry Chalk to Attend TFCon Toronto 2018
Ages Three and Up is sponsoring the voice of Optimus Primal and the Unicron Trilogy Optimus Prime. Diecast will not make it to Toronto but would love to see Garry Chalk again, and the crew calls him a wonderful human being. One host recalls sharing an airport bus with Chalk after a BotCon. They talked about how much of Beast Wars was improvised and how limiting ADR felt by comparison. [Source: TFormers]
Flame Toys Kuro Kara Kuri Optimus Prime Announced as Fourth Figure in Non-Transforming Series
Flame Toys, an official Hasbro licensee, adds Optimus Prime to its line after Tarn, Drift and Star Saber. The crew says that when Japanese designers reinterpret G1 Optimus Prime, the result is inevitably a Gundam. Brian draws the line: Transformers are characters with agency, while this looks like a robot with a pilot inside. Another host sums it up as character design versus industrial design. [Source: TFormers]
Early Prototype of MMC Reformatted Unofficial Tesarus Revealed
Early prototype photos show Mastermind Creations’ Tesarus, with Helex still to come. One host bought the first figure in the series from Diecast three years ago, so the line is moving on a Fansproject timescale. The crew jokes about Tesarus’s blender mode and a blend-off with Revenge of the Fallen Devastator. [Source: TFormers]
Encore God Fire Convoy: Retracted Recall Rumors of Retro Robot Reissue
The group that started the recall rumor later admitted there was no recall. A Japanese YouTube video posted to TFormers still shows quality problems with the molds. Rob’s article says this is not a set to buy as a gift right now. Chris calls Fire Convoy an okay toy that deserves a modern re-engineering into a one-piece super mode. Don calls Super Fire Convoy his favorite non-Masterpiece Optimus Prime. [Source: TFormers]
Optimus Prime Quad Barrel Shotgun: Exclusive Transformers Gift Campaign
A Dengeki Hobby campaign gives away a quad-barrel shotgun with TakaraTomy Transformers purchases over 4,000 yen. It is Hound’s Age of Extinction weapon in Optimus Prime colors. One host likes it, though he thought the original was cast in unpaintable plastic. [Source: TFormers]
Fans Toys Shows FT-29 Quietus Unofficial Cyclonus Color Testshot
FansToys’ Cyclonus comes with an IDW head and a G1-inspired head. The crew thinks the G1 head leans too hard into bunny ears. The figure otherwise looks nice, and a replacement head should be an easy fix. [Source: TFormers]
WeiJiang Ultima Unofficial Omega Supreme and More on Display at Chinese Trade Show
WeiJiang’s booth at a Guangzhou trade show is heavy on IP theft, which shows how lucrative the business is. One host explains that most bootleg sales happen in Asian markets, where Hasbro can do little. Diecast notes WeiJiang uses bootleg profits to fund new molds like its Omega Supreme. One host hopes the company eventually makes an original line of its own. [Source: TFormers]
Black Mamba Unofficial Third-Party Merchandise Roundup
Black Mamba’s lineup includes a good-looking movie Optimus Prime and a Galvatron that one host compares to Rob Liefeld art. Its G1-styled Motormaster torso for Combiner Wars Menasor even includes a Blackjack chest minion. One host thinks it looks better as a torso than as a standalone robot. Oversized knockoffs of the Power of the Primes Dinobots are also coming. [Source: TFormers]
What’s on TFormers
Rob’s Brands of Transformers series returns with Galoob. TFormers also has Imaginarium Art’s Galvatron, Wheeljack and Jazz statues, Studio Series arriving at Walmart, and the Cyberverse Slipstream voice actor, Lianne Marie Dobbs. A video on Encore God Fire Convoy’s defects and photos of a giant Bumblebee statue at Tyrese Gibson’s Georgia estate round out the week.
RFC Announcements
Brian is weighing a general toy podcast, and Matt and Jason are both interested. John’s minicast with Bill Ray is coming within a week, so send questions to @tfradio or contact@tfradio.net. Brian also found the old RFC netbook in his basement, which still holds the soul of the RFC computer.
What We Got This Week
Diecast got Black Mamba’s upscaled knockoff of Nitro Zeus, with die-cast feet, gorgeous paint and two heads. He also got more Mech Fans Toys knockoff Legends: Springer, a Megatron based on DX9’s Legends-size design, two more Scourges and Ocular Max’s blue Rumble.
Brian got Studio Series Thundercracker thanks to Don, plus Studio Series Blackout. He likes Blackout except for the cockpit panel that will not stay closed. Studio Series Grimlock, Optimus Prime and Starscream are still in their boxes.
Don used eBay sales to buy a third-party Astrotrain to stand beside his steam-locomotive Evilstar. He also picked up Mech Fans Toys’ upscaled recolors of the DX9 Dinobots Swoop and Sludge, and Studio Series Optimus Prime. From Big Bad Toy Store’s third-party sale, he ordered two Iron Factory Mini-Con sets at 25 dollars each.
Chris finally got the Power of the Primes Wave 2 Voyagers. Elita-1 has a much better jet mode than Starscream, while Hun-Gurrr is a participation trophy he bought to finish Abominus. The real winner is Studio Series Thundercracker, also thanks to Don. The darker colors make the Nitro Zeus mold look far better, and he likes the head sculpt.
Matt found Power of the Primes Rodimus Unicronus on clearance at Walmart for 30 dollars. He says its tolerances beat the regular Rodimus Prime.
Jason had nothing yet; his preorders have not shipped.
Rob had nothing this week except a chest cold.
John had nothing in Transformers this week.
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.