Transformers: The Manga volume 1 arrives from VIZ Media, and volume 2, covering Headmasters and Masterforce, is set for May 12. The coronavirus is causing supply shortages for Hasbro and other toy makers, and the crew wonders whether the long Toy Fair release dates already account for it. Brian drives two hours to Toy Federation in Greer, South Carolina, and comes home with G1 Nightbeat and Armada Nemesis Prime. Matt falls hard for Earthrise Starscream and Optimus Prime.
Radio Free Cybertron News
The Full Time Toy Detectives Patreon promotion runs through May 10, with a $500 monthly goal to pay Rob and Chris as contributors. The first Toy Detectives episode is out for patrons and in the public feed. A new Transform Squadron episode is posted. The next RFC Throwback episode features John on what it was like to negotiate a Hasbro license as a licensee executive. Brian also plans to post more of What’s Happening in the Headmasters.
News
Transformers: The Manga Volume 2 Details
VIZ Media’s volume 2 is due May 12 and covers Headmasters and Masterforce, with Victory and Battlestars expected in volume 3. One host looks forward to it for the only original fiction appearances of Stepper and Artfire. The crew is sad the series stops at three volumes. [Source: TFormers]
Reports say the outbreak is disrupting Hasbro’s supply chain through Asia. The crew wonders whether the oddly distant release dates from Toy Fair already factored in delays. TakaraTomy’s dates for the same items are still earlier, suggesting business as usual in Japan for now. One host hopes no late waves get canceled outright. Another notes TakaraTomy’s Sky Lynx appears to have a different deco than Hasbro’s, and the Allicon’s colors differ too. The crew suspects early production samples rather than real variants. [Source: AllSpark]
Earthrise Sunstreaker and Trailbreaker are now up for preorder on Amazon. One host notes that early Scorponok preorders locked in a price $10 under the SRP. Don thanks Brian for grabbing him MP-50 Tigatron from Amazon Japan.
What We Got This Week
Matt
Someone at Matt’s Walmart put out Earthrise, and he found Optimus Prime. He calls it the Optimus Prime toy he has always wanted, though he wishes the legs were white instead of silver. Earthrise Starscream from Hasbro Pulse beats it: Matt calls it near perfect, has bought a second and nearly bought a third. He would buy it in every color on the Sunbow color chart. He also got Transformers: The Manga volume 1 at the $16 preorder price.
Chris
Chris’s only pickup this week was not Transformers.
Don
Nothing turned up locally, but Hasbro Pulse finally delivered Hoist and Cliffjumper, the two first-wave deluxes he wanted most. He passes on the Seacons at their price. Don follows up on Civil Warrior’s General Grant, $110 shipped. He says it made him like the War for Cybertron Optimus Prime design, with a flight pack that integrates well. He warns that the individually jointed fingers are fragile.
Diecast
Diecast got Voyager Grapple from Hasbro Pulse and had no peg problems. He says it felt like transforming a figure he had owned for 20 years. Someone on Twitter pointed out a head cover he missed.
Rob
Thanks again to Al, Rob completed his Power Dasher set with Aragon, which has slightly better tolerances than his Cog. He also got Ironworks, his first Earthrise figure, and is enjoying building different configurations.
Brian
Brian got Transformers: The Manga volume 1 and the One Shall Stand, One Shall Fall set of Optimus Prime and Megatron. At a kids’ consignment sale he found Power Core Combiners Doubleclutch and Bombshock and Energon Barricade. From a Facebook seller came G1 Double Spy, Punch-Counterpunch, and G2 Starscream with its sound pack. At Toy Federation in Greer, South Carolina, he found G1 Nightbeat, an Ultra Magnus voice changer, G1 Whirl and the Armada Happy Meal Optimus Prime. He also bought Armada Nemesis Prime for about $60. Brian calls the store a warm hug and plans to visit its Retro Toy Con in November.
Photos from Brian’s visit to Toy Federation.
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.