Takara Tomy announces a Masterpiece Raiden project, and the crew debates whether it means six full Masterpiece Trainbots. MP-49 Black Convoy gets photos, a July 2020 date and a price near 24,000 yen. The 35th anniversary Hall of Fame vote opens on SurveyMonkey. Cyberverse Deluxe figures hit retail in Hong Kong, and Nezha gets Kre-O-style construction sets. Brian finally finds Siege Spinister and Crosshairs hiding behind old stock at Walmart.
News
TakaraTomy Announces Masterpiece Raiden Project at Railway in the Sky Exhibition
A display at Japan’s Railway in the Sky exhibition confirms a Masterpiece Raiden. It sits beside MP-44 Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and boxed G1 Trainbots. Rob expected a Generations figure and finds the possible price frightening. Chris thinks only the combined Raiden will be the Masterpiece, with simpler Generations-style Trainbots. He cites a Takara engineer who treated Unite Warriors Devastator as a Masterpiece Devastator. Rob expects it to be MP-50, and one host says he is buying it either way. The crew would also welcome G1 Trainbot reissues. [Source: TFormers]
More Earthrise Wheeljack, Ironworks, Trip-Up and Daddy-O Official Images From Takara Tomy
New stock photos show Ironworks attached to Wheeljack. One host thinks Wheeljack looks off, possibly from unflattering angles. Another suspects Takara’s photographer uses a polarizing filter that hides the chest window. Ironworks’ platform shoes and arm-mounted shovel are a hit, and one host has two preordered. [Source: TFormers]
MP-49 Masterpiece Black Convoy New Stock Photos and Release Date
MP-49 Black Convoy is due in July 2020 at roughly 24,000 yen on Amazon Japan, about $215 to $220. US preorders run near $260. Several hosts pass, citing MP-44’s problems, though one host admits he preordered anyway. One host warns that Amazon Japan cancellation cutoffs are getting closer to release. [Source: TFormers]
Vote Your Favorite Transformers to the 35th Anniversary Hall of Fame
Voting runs through a SurveyMonkey form for a 1984 G1 cartoon character and a Siege toy. Micromasters, Battle Masters and wave five are missing from the toy list. One host is not a Hall of Fame fan. Another notes it meant more when it inducted real people who made Transformers. Votes go to Bluestreak, Springer and Impactor, and a host spots a misspelling. The crew’s joke about the free version gives the episode its title. [Source: TFormers]
Transformers Nezha Construction Block Sets to Be Released in China
The China-original Nezha series gets construction sets that look like Kre-O pieces using Cyberverse designs. One host notes Kre-O has done much better in China than in the US. The crew wants them, especially Windblade, and expects them to reach AliExpress. [Source: TFormers]
Toy News: Cyberverse Deluxe Class Figures Hit Retail in Hong Kong
Ben Yee’s site shows Cyberverse Deluxe Bumblebee, Megatron and Optimus Prime at retail, with out-of-box photos. They look close to Generations quality, and they build a Maccadam figure. The packaging reveals a second wave with Hot Rod, Grimlock, Arcee and a new character. Two hosts plan to grab Arcee, and one expects her to be short-packed. [Source: BWTF]
Contest Winners
Brian announces the Twitter contest winners. Ryan Qbert wins Cyberverse Slipstream and Cheetor, and Miguel wins two BotBots five-packs. DarthLiquacious wins a Transformers Trading Card Game two-player starter deck. A new Facebook contest gives away a Siege Crosshairs, with the winner named on RFC 652.
Transformers Reanimated
Brian plugs Transformers Reanimated, a free fan project in script form that bridges season two and the 1986 movie. It comes from Yoshi of the Transmissions podcast and Greg, with covers by top Transformers artists. Issue five is a Christmas special.
What’s on TFormers
Flame Toys Furai Action Optimus Prime Packaging Revealed
Rob likes the packaging and the model-kit style weathering on Flame Toys’ Furai Action Optimus Prime, which he calls better than Siege’s. [Source: TFormers]
What We Got This Week
Diecast got another Gnaw from Taobao to reach a coupon threshold. He also got a bootleg copy of First Edition Transformers Prime Optimus with more accessories. The rest of his order is stuck in customs.
Rob only picked up a couple of non-Transformers items this week.
Matt got more acrylic shelf risers, so he gets to redo his display again.
Brian added three more Cyberverse Gnaws, bringing him to about ten. He loves Siege Astrotrain’s robot mode, and Chris clarifies that Astrotrain’s extra parts are optional. After a dozen fruitless trips, Brian found Spinister and two Crosshairs hidden behind older Siege stock at Walmart. Crosshairs is his favorite of the Ironhide molds, and the second one becomes the Facebook contest prize.
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.