Studio Series Leader Slag leaks with a Daniel exosuit, and TakaraTomy opens preorders for Masterpiece Skids and Reboost at a surprising price. The crew recaps Hasbro Pulse Fan Fest, from Titan Class Ark and Commander Rodimus Prime to Trax and Shattered Glass Blur.
Robosen’s $700 self-transforming Optimus Prime dominates the talk, and John delivers a blunt verdict on HasLab Unicron. Brian more than doubles his Action Masters collection.
News
Studio Series Slag Pictures Leaked
Studio Series Leader Slag leaked with a Daniel exosuit figure, and it stands as big as Studio Series Grimlock. The exosuit is basically an effects part, like the Wheelie that came with Grimlock. The crew expects all five Dinobots in Studio Series, and one host jokes the line will become Dino Riders. Another dreams of a Commander Class Sludge. One host shares the long-running theory that Snarl’s model sheet was lost during the 1986 movie’s production. [Source: TFRadio]
MP Skids and Reboost Preorders
TakaraTomy opened preorders for Masterpiece Skids and Reboost, both releasing the same month. Their localized price under $100 recalls 2015-era Masterpiece pricing. One host double-preordered Reboost as insurance. Another will get Reboost but skip Skids, since he already owns X-Transbots Savant, and he gets an Alternity vibe from Reboost. Skids comes with two guns, and Reboost adds a scooter and a Holomatter avatar rider. The crew expects Crosscut and Burnout in 2022. [Source: TFRadio]
Hasbro Pulse Fan Fest Transformers Reveals
Brian appeared silently on the Fan Fest stream as part of the fan room. The Ark looked big in Mark’s hands, and Brian wants it even more. Core Class Soundwave impressed Brian with its likeness, and Commander Class Rodimus Prime confirmed the spoiler cannot sit further under the trailer. Wingfinger joins the Fossilizers, and Mark’s custom combiner caused confusion. Trax was the crowd favorite, a very Corvette-like toy. Chris is cool on Rhinox, and one host calls Airazor the most Beast Wars-feeling Kingdom figure so far. Tricranius, a Ractonite retool with blast effects, landed on Pulse. Shattered Glass Blur’s premium packaging won over even the Shattered Glass skeptics. [Source: TFRadio]
Robosen Self-Transforming Optimus Prime
The Fan Fest spotlight went to Robosen’s licensed self-transforming Optimus Prime, a $700, 19-inch programmable robot. Brian recounts being scammed by fake Optimus listings of the earlier T9 prototype, then owning and selling a real T9. He sees it as an educational robotics toy marketed as a collectible. He warns that scammers already sell it on Facebook for $39. Brian preordered one and will fund it through eBay sales or cancel. Pulse sold out its first allocation. [Source: TFRadio]
Ollie’s Deals and the Super Megatron Comic
Ollie’s is selling Earthrise Optimus Prime and Double Dealer for $20 each. One host calls Earthrise Optimus Prime a great toy at that price. Ben Yee translated the TakaraTomy Super Megatron comic, and a panel shows Star Convoy using his broken-off gold star as a weapon.
John’s HasLab Unicron Verdict
John spent about three hours finishing Unicron’s planet mode and transforming him once to robot mode. He describes giant shellformer panels that fold into heavy masses on thin beams. The shoulders need extreme force, a spring-loaded panel and a loud lock-in. He recommends several YouTube videos over the printed instructions. His verdict: Unicron is the right character for a HasLab but the hardest to engineer at this size, and he does not enjoy it. Chris says the account confirms every reason he passed. The crew trades jokes about hanging Unicron from the ceiling in a net.
What We Got This Week
Matt got Kingdom Huffer, which pairs well with the Earthrise Optimus Prime trailer, though its truck mode bows in the middle. He also got Kingdom Ultra Magnus, which looks far better than the Siege version in robot mode.
John opened Kingdom Inferno and calls its head sculpt excellent.
Diecast got a Funko Pop Grimlock and Kingdom Airazor from Rob, and he really likes Airazor’s proportions and wings.
Don took a chance on Best Buy’s website and got Kingdom Airazor and Ractonite. He also bought about $50 of Nonnef spoilers for his Lamborghinis.
Chris got nothing new this week.
Rob got Kingdom Wave 2 except Arcee. His Huffer also bows unless the bed stays unlatched. Airazor is great once you check the instructions, and Ractonite needs multiples to shine.
Brian got a lot of six Action Masters in various states of completion: Banzaitron, Axer, Skyfall, Jackpot, Devastator and Snarl. The lot more than doubles his Action Masters collection.