WonderFest Winter 2019 brings Masterpiece Blackarachnia, a second Masterpiece Bumblebee and a numbered MP-47 Hound. It also reveals a 35th anniversary Star Convoy with a G1 Optimus Prime inside and a new Armada Optimus Prime. New BotBots series 2 and 3 include a rubber ducky and a player piano, and Cyberverse adds a Sky-Byte. Chris spots Amazon listings for Siege Springer, Thundercracker and Galaxy Convoy dated for Toy Fair Saturday. Diecast heads to Toy Fair, and the RFC livestream starts at noon Eastern.
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RFC Toy Fair Livestream
The Toy Fair livestream starts at noon Eastern on Saturday, February 16, and Diecast will report from the floor. Jeremy Dennis and Chris McFeely are expected as guests. The crew notes Hasbro has already pre-revealed a lot, though there should still be surprises.
WonderFest Winter 2019: Masterpiece Display with MP-44, MP-45 Bumblebee and MP-46 Blackarachnia
Brian’s prediction of no new Masterpiece molds is already wrong. Brian loves Blackarachnia but not some design choices, and he will still get her. The crew finds her body accurate to the CG model but overly sexualized. MP-45 Bumblebee version 2 draws heavy criticism for its feet, backpack and face, and it costs about $130. One host expects a Cliffjumper reshell within a year and suspects it was designed for him first. MP-47 Hound returns as a gray prototype with a number. Seeing the back of MP-44’s truck mode, one host plans to cancel his preorder. [Source: TFormers]
WonderFest Winter 2019: 35th Anniversary Star Convoy and Armada Optimus Prime
Star Convoy is a heavily reworked Power of the Primes Optimus Prime. Its inner robot is a G1 Optimus Prime with a face based on the original toy. Armada Optimus Prime is new tooling, shown only as the upper body for a Super Base Prime. One host predicts Super Base Prime will appear at Toy Fair as the second Commander Class figure. Another expects Star Convoy to be a Takara Legends release like Big Powered. The giant Commander Class Jetfire was also on display. [Source: TFormers]
Toy Fair 2019: New BotBots Revealed with Series 2 and 3 Assortments
Screen Rant posted the new tribes, including a rubber ducky, a player piano, a soccer ball and a snowman. There are also a pumpkin, an avocado, grapes, a Christmas tree, a drum set and a pacifier. One BotBot is named Steve from Accounting. One host wants the rubber ducky most, but it is a series 3 figure due around August. The crew agrees BotBots remain their love in 2019. [Source: TFormers]
Toy Fair 2019: Cyberverse Spark Armor Battle Previews Including Sky-Byte
Kotaku posted the new Cyberverse lineup. Battle Class figures cost $14.99, Elite Class $25 and Ark Power Optimus Prime $50. One host will buy only Sky-Byte, and he expects the Ark to be tiny and hollow. Don asks what Bumblebee’s battleship armor has to do with Bumblebee, and the crew says it is just a battleship. [Source: TFormers]
Transformers Siege Weaponizer Brunt Stock Photos
Brunt’s robot mode is based on an early IDW take on the Centurion robots. The crew loves the Weaponizers and wants a silver redeco. One host misses the orange from the first showing. [Source: TFormers]
Transformers Siege Commander Class Jetfire Official Stock Photos
Amazon Japan’s stock photos show Jetfire’s effect parts and his Autobot or Decepticon options. One host finds an $80 toy more approachable than a $160 one. The more he sees, the more he wants it. [Source: TFormers]
Masterpiece MP-18+ Bluestreak Animation Colors Version and North American Release
MP-18+ Bluestreak will be an EB Games exclusive in Canada and is up for preorder at Entertainment Earth in the US. Matt will buy it because he loves the mold. One host guarantees a cartoon-color Smokescreen will follow, answering Don’s question from last week. [Source: TFormers]
Siege Thundercracker and Springer Available for Preorder on Amazon
Chris noticed Amazon listings for Siege Springer and Thundercracker suddenly showing a February 16 in-stock date. The Siege Leader Optimus Prime and Studio Series listings for Hightower and Dino soon followed. He suspects these are Hasbro’s Toy Fair surprise launch, not a system error. Dino may have been reassigned, possibly to Shatter, given past Ferrari licensing trouble. [Source: TFormers]
On TFormers: WonderFest Stasis Pod, Super Cyborg Guts Editions and More
Rob covers a limited Masterpiece-scale stasis pod resin kit with a Protoform Airazor, sold only at WonderFest. Jack posted a gallery of Studio Series 38 Optimus Prime. Super Cyborg G1 Optimus Prime and Megatron Guts editions get new images. A 104-page Transformers vs. Mazinger Z comic arrives in Japan on March 28, with Hayato Sakamoto and Naoto Tsushima contributing. The trading card game’s Rise of the Combiners expansion adds triple changers Springer and Blitzwing. [Source: TFormers]
What We Got This Week
Brian got Studio Series Dark of the Moon Megatron but prefers the original Voyager’s look. He loves Encore Big Convoy, calls its quality control phenomenal and ranks it far above Lio Convoy. He also got Takara’s Throne of the Primes set, which will stay boxed.
Diecast bought a framed copper Autobot symbol from an artist at a local toy convention. His DX9 Wild Rider arrived with a mystery legless Orion Pax-style figure in the box.
Don found a complete Tigerhawk at Ed McKay’s in Greensboro for $10. Thanks to Chris’s heads-up, he got Studio Series World War II Bumblebee. He also got Studio Series Sideswipe, which he has waited for since the line began. He grabbed the Bumblebee Garage at TJ Maxx for $5 out of pocket. GameStop clearance gave him Studio Series Revenge of the Fallen Megatron for $5.
Matt finally bought the wave 1 Battle Masters and a second Cog.
Chris got his first Nonnef Productions weapons, two Chromedome sets and a set of Blurr guns, at about $5 each. He is very pleased with the finish and molding.
Jason had nothing in Transformers this week.
Rob‘s pickups this week were not Transformers.
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.