Radio Free Cybertron, the world’s first and oldest toy and action figure podcast, marks 20 years since its first episode in October 1999. Brian looks back at the Transformers of 1999, from Beast Machines to Big Convoy and Transmetal 2, and reads anniversary notes from longtime listeners. The show closes by replaying the original first broadcast, including Brian’s Transmetal 2 Blackarachnia review. In the news, Studio Series listings point to the Wreckers, and Toys R Us returns online through Target.com.
20 Years of Radio Free Cybertron
RFC counts 20 years from its first episode, not 20 years of weekly shows. The show went dormant for stretches, with no episodes at all in 2005 through 2007. Chris and John date back to the start, with John joining within a month. Don has been a regular since 2012, though he was a topic of conversation long before that. Brian credits Alex and Mad Max MFP as his sounding boards when he first pulled the show together.
Brian sets the scene for 1999. Fight Club was the top movie the week of the first show, and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire took the top three TV spots. On the Transformers side, Beast Wars and Beast Wars Neo had just ended and Beast Machines was on the way. His standout toys of the year include Big Convoy, the Transmetal 2 line, Transmetal Ravage, the blue Walmart Rattrap and Optimus Minor. The first episode’s review of Transmetal 2 Blackarachnia may have been the first multimedia Transformers toy review.
Listener Messages
UltraMarginal sends an audio note from Australia, saying he misses JD and Rob Springer and loves Don and Massey. Phil of asmzine.net notes that his site also started in 1999. TFboy picks Brian chewing 40-year-old gum on RFC 620 as his favorite moment. Jason Tate remembers listening in RealPlayer in 1999. Mark Baker loves the Toy Detectives segment, and Anthony of TFU.info recalls his Destroy, Erase, Improve segment. Brian also notes that Joe Ibe, the Metalhawk guy RFC interviewed around 2010, has passed away.
The First Broadcast
The show closes with the original 1999 broadcast. A 20-year-old Brian reports that Transmetal 2 Blackarachnia has shipped. He also covers rumors of a Cartoon Network anime channel and Rhino’s VHS release of The Transformers: The Movie. He then reviews Blackarachnia, calling her robot mode elegant but top-heavy, and scores her 8.5 out of 10.
News
Studio Series New Product Listings: Bumblebee Movie, Wreckers and More
New listings include Overload, Roadbuster, Jeep-mode Bumblebee and Shatter in jet mode. Brian is most excited by Roadbuster, since a Wreckers wave should mean a Deluxe Leadfoot that does not cost $200. One host expects new molds, since older Dark of the Moon molds now cost too much to make at Deluxe prices. [Source: TFormers]
Toys R Us Returns to Target.com
The Toys R Us website is back, powered by Target.com. It lists Omega Supreme but has no Transformers section in its navigation. One host suspects a vendor data gap rather than a design choice. [Source: TFormers]
Yolopark 24-Inch Optimus Prime Movie Figure
Yolopark’s two-foot figure is based on the Bumblebee movie’s Cybertron Optimus Prime. The crew has never heard of the company, and the render looks oddly simplified to them. One host notes it is only a render and may look better as a physical prototype. At that size, it would nearly look HasLab Unicron in the eye. [Source: TFormers]
Flame Toys Furai 11 Devastator Model Kit
One host likes this non-transforming Devastator kit more than most of the line, because it reminds him of Zone Devastator. Don would rather have a cartoon-accurate design, and another host dislikes the Mixmaster foot. Chat notes the design comes from Studio Trigger artists. [Source: TFormers]
What We Got This Week
Brian got the Off Road Patrol Micromasters from Hasbro Pulse. He also got the exclusive three-pack with Impactor, a clear Mirage and Powerdasher Aragon. He calls the clear Mirage hideously ugly but likes it anyway, as a classic retailer three-pack.
Matt got the same three-pack. Impactor has an IDW head, but a Decepticon insignia that makes no sense to him. He likes the Mirage mold but hates the translucent plastic. He also got The Toys That Made Us seasons one and two on Blu-ray.
Don is splitting the three-pack with friends from Twitter and keeping Aragon. He found Mirage and Impactor at Target after two months of empty shelves. On Chris’s tip, he got a damaged-box Siege Omega Supreme from Amazon Warehouse for $148, though the box was badly torn.
Chris had nothing in Transformers this week.
Diecast got Impactor in a crushed box, though the figure was fine. His Siege Mirage has a gap in vehicle mode he cannot fix. He also got NewAge Megatron, which feels like a miniature MP-36, and Iron Factory’s Legends-scale Helix. FansToys Jabber arrived but is still sealed, and he picked up the heavy HasLab Unicron pin.
John got the same three-pack but has not opened it yet.
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.