Black Zarak goes up for preorder as the first Generations Selects Titan, a retooled Scorponok, and Don’s prediction comes true. Figure King reveals that Masterpiece Skyfire and Masterpiece Raiden are in development.
TakaraTomy shows Masterpiece Skids and its Diaclone redeco Reboost, and Amazon’s Golden Disk Collection surfaces. John finally opens HasLab Unicron, while Diecast is still waiting.
The Unicron Betting Pool
Diecast still has no HasLab Unicron, so the crew starts a betting pool on the episode where it finally arrives. Guesses range from 723 to 726, while chat suggests 666, 777 and 920. Hasbro Pulse’s livestream event is scheduled for the following Friday, and the crew hopes to see the Ark.
News
Black Zarak
Black Zarak went up for preorder after an early UK email, a Generations Selects retool of Titan Class Scorponok with a new head and spear. It is Hasbro’s first Titan reuse. Don called it in his predictions and hopes it opens the door to Omega Sentinel. Chris preordered during the show. The crew agrees Fortress Maximus and Metroplex need new molds rather than repaints. [Source: TFRadio]
Masterpiece Raiden and Masterpiece Skyfire
A Figure King interview revealed that Masterpiece Raiden is back in active development and that TakaraTomy is working on Masterpiece Skyfire. Chris notes the Masterpiece line keeps the original G1 names. He expects a cartoon-accurate figure, since Skyfire once had his episodes moved because of the Macross connection. Don warns it must justify an MP-44-level price against Fans Toys Phoenix. One host thinks Masterpiece is becoming a Hot Toys-style status line. [Source: TFRadio]
Masterpiece Skids and Reboost
TakaraTomy showed Masterpiece Skids in color alongside Reboost, a new character based on a Diaclone Honda City R. Designer Kojin Ono owned a Honda City R, which explains the first retool. Reboost includes the Diaclone scooter. The hand-painted samples look great. Don gets an Alternity vibe from Reboost and plans to skip Skids since he owns X-Transbots Savant. Chris ties the toy-accurate style to Diaclone’s 40th anniversary and to Honda’s support. [Source: TFRadio]
Golden Disk Collection
Amazon’s Golden Disk Collection listings include a Deluxe two-pack nicknamed Ranger Puffer and a Deluxe Terrorsaur. Chris explains it as Road Ranger, a black and orange GoBots-nod Huffer, and Puffer, a European or Mexican Pipes-colored Huffer. Terrorsaur’s mold is unknown, though one listener suggests shared Airazor engineering. The crew hopes for a Selects Fractal and Pack Rat two-pack. [Source: TFRadio]
Optimus Prime Replica Helmet
GameStop has a G1 Optimus Prime replica helmet from GeekNet up for preorder at $130, with lights and sounds. The crew jokes about head size and whether it should quote City of Steel. [Source: TFormers]
What We Got This Week
John opened his HasLab Unicron, and the shipping box became a playhouse for his daughter. Finishing planet mode took over an hour, and the instructions skip how to mount it on the stand. He now sees Unicron as a giant War for Cybertron Titan, and he is happy with planet mode. Transforming such an expensive shellformer felt nerve-racking.
Diecast got Core Class Starscream and Megatron. He opened Megatron and likes how it looks.
Chris opened Core Class Megatron and calls it an effective downscale of Siege Megatron, with a great finish and pistol. Core Class Starscream looks better in person than in photos. He also got the Kingdom Wave 2 Deluxes, the Nonnef Studio Series Grimlock upgrade kit with an extra sword and two BotBots Series 5 packs from Kroger.
Don found no Kingdom Wave 2 locally. During a GameStop sale he picked up a Pop Culture Shock Megatron statue, which looks better in person than in photos.
Rob had only a non-Transformers pickup this week.
Matt had only a non-Transformers pickup this week.
Brian opened Kingdom Wave 2. He finds Huffer’s transformation fiddly and calls Airazor a bit off but nice. Kingdom Ultra Magnus surprised him with how good the robot mode looks. He also got a Kiss Players set he regrets and a complete Action Master Optimus Prime. Dreadwind with Darkwing, Slapdash and Joyride move his US Powermasters toward completion. Z75 Sales sold him a pristine G1 Mirage that may be a 1990 Chinese reissue sample. He also got the Five Faces of Darkness laserdisc and a mint, untouched Radio Shack Galactic Man Shockwave.