On the annual prediction show, Brian calls Hound the last new Masterpiece mold, and Matt calls Scorponok as the next Titan. Chris expects Hasbro to quietly drop the trilogy label from War for Cybertron. Don and Diecast both bet on a Transformers HasLab. In the news, color-change BotBots leak on Hasbro Australia’s site. Siege Prowl and the wave 2 Micromasters turn up in hand.
RFC Notes
The RFC Roku channel is back up and running with recent episodes. Brian also plans to add the RFC Daily Transformers news updates to the main podcast feed unless listeners object.
Brian’s 2019 Predictions
Brian predicts Hound will be the last new Masterpiece mold released or announced in 2019. He says $450 Masterpieces are pricing fans out. He also predicts Hasbro will scrap its G1 reissue plans by year’s end. The crew notes Devastator and Starscream sold through while Hot Rod went to clearance.
Rob’s 2019 Predictions
Rob, who sent his in, predicts the reissue Optimus Prime will eventually hit clearance at around $15. His bold prediction is a Generations Selects Monstructor.
Matt’s 2019 Predictions
Matt expects Omega Supreme at Toy Fair and predicts Scorponok as the next Titan. He thinks a claw will tease it at New York Comic Con. He also predicts a Masterpiece Blaster announcement. His third pick is an Optimus Prime movie follow-up to Bumblebee, since Paramount needs the franchise.
Chris’s 2019 Predictions
Chris predicts Hasbro will quietly drop the trilogy label from War for Cybertron by San Diego Comic-Con as brand performance slips. He also predicts the reissue Optimus Prime’s trailer will be sold as an event exclusive. Don prices it at $84. Chris expects BotBots series 3 to shrink to 24 blind-pack characters after series 2 multipacks hit clearance.
Jason’s 2019 Predictions
Jason predicts Siege will last just a year, with lines running about four waves from now on. He predicts Masterpiece Jazz, not counting Movie Masterpiece. He also expects less battle damage on official toys, with none in the next War for Cybertron line. Brian adds that fans will then complain the lines do not match.
Don’s 2019 Predictions
Don predicts a Transformers HasLab in 2019, possibly Unicron or Primus. He picks Tarantulas or Tigatron as the next Beast Wars Masterpiece. He also predicts Masterpiece Trailbreaker and Hoist, since the shared mold could recoup costs quickly. Another host notes he has predicted Masterpiece Trailbreaker for two years with no luck.
Diecast’s 2019 Predictions
Diecast predicts no new Transformers movie will be announced in 2019. He also predicts a HasLab Unicron, unless Hasbro’s finances shelve it. His third is that Transformers sales will decline in 2019, and the whole crew agrees.
News
BotBots Series 1 Color-Change Figures Leak on Hasbro Australia Website
Hasbro Australia’s site shows bonus series 1 BotBots with a thermal color-change gimmick. New molds include a stand mixer and a rolling pin, and the pizza slice is redone as a pie. Brian loves the color change, though he wishes the mixer looked more like a KitchenAid. One host recalls Car Robots Spy Changers with heat-reveal Autobot logos. [Source: TFormers]
Blitzwing In-Hand Images of Energon Igniters Nitro Series Figure
The crew says this Blitzwing could pass for Starscream or even an Aerialbot. A variant reportedly has a face inspired by Animated Blitzwing’s crazy face. One host doubts any repaints, since his Walmart just cleared out its Bumblebee movie toy space. [Source: TFormers]
Siege Prowl In-Hand Images and Video
Prowl has a great face sculpt and a good upper torso, but some unflattering angles. He is clear plastic from the knees down. One host dislikes the Cybertronian windows and hopes Toyhax makes Earth-style door labels. The crew compares the car to a Judge Dredd police cruiser. A video of Sixgun from the same source looks good. [Source: TFormers]
Siege Wave 2 Micromasters Two-Pack In-Hand Images
The new two-packs are Red Heat and Stakeout, and Ravage and Laserbeak. Laserbeak looks cool, while Ravage looks more like a Ramhorn or Steeljaw than a cat. Brian wishes Micromasters had a whole line of their own, with a Titan as the playset. Chris adds that small figures suit playset-style lines. [Source: TFormers]
Walmart Toy Reset
One host reports his Walmart now prices Generations at $20 Deluxes, $30 Voyagers and $50 Leaders. Studio Series dropped two to four dollars, to $18 Deluxes and $26 Voyagers.
What We Got This Week
Brian had nothing in Transformers this week.
Matt finally found Siege locally and picked up Cog, Flywheels and Hound. Flywheels is his favorite so far. He bought Hound because of Chrome Toronto’s running joke about Hound absorbing everything into his weaponized form. He also got the jet and military Micromaster packs.
Chris‘s pickups this week were not Transformers.
Jason found all of Siege at Walmart. He picked up Megatron and put him back because of the battle damage. He bought Hound but has had no desire to open him and may return him.
Don‘s pickups this week were not Transformers.
Diecast got Hot Soldiers’ small Optimus Prime with trailer and calls it better than DX9’s Legends-scale version. He also got Dream Factory’s Roadbuster and Zeta Toys’ Silverbolt, which includes an outer Superion torso. A friend sent him an unofficial Sky Guardian that he calls junk.
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.