Retailer leaks from Japan reveal Masterpiece Rhinox, Legacy United Silverbolt and a Decepticon Headquarters three-pack.
Chris hosts while Brian is out, and the crew digs into Toy Fair 2023’s Energon-style EarthSpark combiners.
Breaking news from the Discord previews Walmart Collector Con’s retro Blaster and Soundwave reissues.
In What We Got This Week, the Buzzworthy Troop Builder pack wins over the crew, and Chris lands Takara Tomy’s LG60 Overlord.
News
Transformers EarthSpark Cyber Combiners and Cyber-Sleeve Battle Blaster Official Images
Toy Fair 2023 brought little new Transformers news from Hasbro beyond EarthSpark. Two Energon-style combiner sets pair Bumblebee and Twitch with Robby and Mo in exosuits. Chris hopes the mix-and-match play pattern grows past these first two sets. A Cyber-Sleeve roleplay toy fires Nerf darts and has a pop-out blade. EarthSpark Season 2 has been greenlit. [Source: TFW2005]
Transformers Page Punchers Coming Soon From McFarlane Toys
McFarlane Toys will make Transformers Page Punchers, three-inch figures packed with a comic. The Toy Fair display showed Optimus Prime, Wheeljack, Megatron and Bumblebee with IDW comics. [Source: TFW2005]
Toy Fair 2023 Hasbro Showroom: Yolopark AMK Series and More
Yolopark showed its AMK Mini Series G1 kits, about 10 to 12 centimeters for roughly $10. Diecast, a Yolopark fan, hopes the same characters come to the AMK Pro line, which he calls what he wanted from R.E.D. Yolopark also showed AMK Pro The Last Knight Optimus Prime and Bumblebee Movie Soundwave at Shanghai Wonder Festival. A 62-centimeter Bumblebee Movie Optimus Prime, limited to 2,000 pieces, costs $2,600. The crew wishes for Beast Wars characters next. [Source: TFW2005]
Walmart Fall Collector Con to Feature Transformers and G.I. Joe
Walmart’s Fall Collector Con previews on October 5 and launches October 13. Chris expects one or two more retro G1 reissues and suggests watching Hasbro Pulse instead. Matt found Retro Starscream marked down to $18, while other Walmarts never got past Starscream. [Source: Walmart]
Legacy Thundertron Behind the Scenes
Mark Maher’s photos show Legacy Thundertron far more readable than the original toy. Maher notes he painted the original figure, and Chris praises how much his photography has improved. [Source: Mark Maher on Instagram]
New Takara Products First Look: Legacy United Silverbolt, Masterpiece Rhinox and More
Japanese retailer leaks show Legacy United Silverbolt as a Voyager. One host wants Silverbolt plus purple and Windrazor repaints. The crew notes the wings look small, though the photo’s perspective may exaggerate it. Takara Tomy will also release Studio Series Rise of the Beasts Optimus Prime. The headliner is a render of Masterpiece Rhinox. Chris wonders how Takara will hide a whole rhino in the robot mode. [Source: TFW2005]
A Decepticon Headquarters premium set packs Earthrise Megatron, Siege Shockwave and Netflix Soundwave with Coronation Starscream’s throne for about 15,000 yen. One host notes it is cheaper than buying Netflix Soundwave alone. Chris hopes this Shockwave finally has the brighter cartoon purple. BWVS-08 pairs Ghost Starscream on the Earthrise mold with a translucent Waspinator, and one host is in just for the Starscream. [Source: TFW2005]
Super7 ReAction Halloween Optimus Prime
Chris’s headline asks whether Super7 will finally make him buy a ReAction figure. The answer is no, despite Optimus Prime being 70% orange. A Jack-o’-lantern Unicron idea from Twitter gets the crew’s approval. [Source: Super7]
Transformers Beast Wars BWVS-04 Rhinox vs Scorponok In-Hand Images
A comparison photo shows the Kingdom and 2013 Rhinox molds getting Rhinox wrong in completely different ways. Chris calls this the best way to get the Kingdom mold, though he prefers the 2013 version. He has no idea what the deco on Scorponok’s scorpion mode is going for. [Source: TFW2005]
Legacy Chase Early Sample Images
Chris studied a video of Legacy Chase and predicts a Lockdown retool, since the legs run the full length of the car. Don sees GoBots Handcuff in the transformation and hopes for a Handcuff homage. [Source: Autobase Aichi]
Transformers Masterpiece MPG-05 Trainbot Seizan In-Hand Images
Matt feels as much disappointment from Seizan’s photos as he did handling the first three Trainbots. A photo of all five floating as an incomplete Raiden reminds Chris it is not the Raiden he wanted. [Source: TFW2005]
Transformers RPG Dice Set and Dice Bag From Renegade Game Studios
Renegade Game Studios now sells a Transformers dice set and a separate dice bag, about $15 each. The top face of each die is a faction symbol, so the set works for any game. [Source: TFormers]
The archive posted summaries of unproduced Season 2 episodes, which introduce Omega Supreme under the name Fortress Maximus. It also built an animatic of an unused Season 2 opening from storyboards. Chris praises the archive for making so much production material freely available. [Source: Sunbow Marvel Archive]
40th Anniversary Retro Blaster and Soundwave Preview
Breaking news from JTPrime, relayed by Hyper Shouta in the Discord: the next retro reissues are Blaster with Steeljaw and Soundwave with Laserbeak and Ravage. They return to vintage-style packaging with a 40th anniversary logo and keep the cartoon-style decos. [Source: TFW2005]
What We Got This Week
Matt
Matt found a clearance Retro Starscream to replace one with a damaged nose tip. His big item is the Buzzworthy Troop Builder pack, which is everything he hoped for. The purple Seeker stands apart from Thundercracker, and the mold feels solid. The G2 Troopers have easy head swaps. He calls the Auto Troopers the winners of the set and has more on the way.
Don
Don has four Troop Builder packs, still unopened, and will offer spares to people who need them. He got a knockoff Studio Series 38 Optimus Prime in Nemesis colors for about $14. He also got Legacy Powerlinx Hot Shot with Jolt and Magic Square’s Vortex, leaving only Blast Off for his Magic Square Bruticus. He also got EarthSpark Nightshade.
Diecast
Diecast got Studio Series 106 Leader Optimus Primal. He also ordered Studio Series 86 Commander Ultra Magnus from GameStop for $85 with a $5 discount.
Rob
Rob got Studio Series 86 Rumble in blue and loves the animation color. He also got the Beast Wars Versus two-pack and is sending its Megatron to Chris. He calls Optimus Primal a subtle upgrade over the Kingdom release, with darker plastic and more paint.
Chris
Chris got the same knockoff Nemesis-colors Studio Series 38 Optimus Prime for $17 and finds it fine for a shelf. In the Troop Builder pack, he thinks the Seeker is too close to Thundercracker but likes the Bailiff’s cartoon-accurate colors. One host jokes that the Skullgrin mold is a beautifully engineered rectangle of nothing, which became the episode title. Chris calls the Auto Trooper one of the best uses of the Siege Ironhide mold. He also found Legacy Detritus, Legacy Trashmaster and Crashbar at Target, plus a $17 Studio Series Shuttle Massacre set. At Ross he got Velocitron Scourge and NEST Bumblebee, and at Walmart he found Legacy Shrapnel and Kickback. His big find is Takara Tomy LG60 Overlord from Mandarake, about $100 shipped.