It’s the 14th annual year-in-review episode, and the crew hands out the first RFC Awards alongside a fan choice vote.
Studio Series 86 Ultra Magnus, Devcon and Metalhawk win big, and Hasbro’s layoffs take the Sad Trombone for news.
The crew scores its 2023 predictions, and Brian wins for the first time.
Then they race month by month through 2023, from Rise of the Beasts to Missing Link Convoy and Tidal Wave.
RFC Awards
Chris organized this year’s awards and tallied a separate fan choice vote for each category.
Best Legacy Core Class goes to Soundblaster, and the fans pick Swoop. Best Studio Series Core Class is Frenzy (Red) for both the crew and the fans.
Best Legacy Deluxe is a near-sweep for Devcon, while the fans narrowly pick Needlenose over Animated Prowl. Studio Series 86 Brawn sweeps Best Studio Series Deluxe with both the crew and the fans.
Metalhawk wins Best Legacy Voyager, and the fans pick Tarn. Studio Series 86 Ratchet takes Best Studio Series Voyager with both.
Armada Optimus Prime wins Best Legacy Leader or bigger, and the fans agree. Studio Series 86 Ultra Magnus wins Best Studio Series Leader or bigger, with fan agreement, though Don and Matt pick Snarl.
Scraphook wins Best Junkion, and the fans agree. Thrash and Nightshade take the EarthSpark categories. Skyfire wins the fan vote for Best Masterpiece, while the crew splits between Diaclone Burnout and Skyfire.
Rise of the Beasts awards are mostly ties, and the fans pick Rhinox twice. The Troop Builder Multipack wins Best Buzzworthy Bumblebee, and Guardian Robot sweeps Best Selects.
G2 Grimlock wins Best Retailer Capsule Toy with both. Hot Rod takes Best Walmart Retro Release, and Volvo VNR Optimus Prime takes Best Crossover, though the fans choose Thunder Machine Soundwave.
Optimus Primal versus Megatron wins Best Beast Wars Again set with both. For Best News, picks range from Victory Saber’s replacement run to Missing Link Convoy and Titan Class Tidal Wave.
The Sad Trombone for news goes to Hasbro’s layoffs. Favorite toy of the year is Studio Series 86 Ultra Magnus for Diecast, Matt and Chris. The fans pick Legacy Armada Optimus Prime. The fan Sad Trombone for toys goes to the Studio Series Gamer Edition concept.
2023 Predictions Scorecard
Chris’s predictions that Rise of the Beasts would flop and the Victory Saber replacements would be worse both missed. Brian was right that Rise of the Beasts would outgross Bumblebee domestically, and got partial credit on fewer product lines.
Don got the 40th anniversary trade dress right but missed his Headmaster Arcee, HasLab Optimus Prime and Circuit Breaker calls. Rob’s HasLab God Ginrai and Walmart retro Optimus Prime did not happen in 2023.
Diecast earned partial credit for Rise of the Beasts grossing the least domestically and for a shrunken PulseCon. His HasLab Metroplex missed. Matt’s enclosed packaging, Legacy Lugnut and HasLab Devastator calls all missed, and Brian wins the year.
2023 Year in Review
January brought Hasbro’s Victory Saber replacement run, the Hasbro Asia Menasor five-pack, a rumored G.I. Joe collaborative Triple T, and Toei model sheets for The Transformers: The Movie.
February opened with Hasbro cutting 15% of its workforce. Legacy revealed Metalhawk, Rise of the Beasts toys debuted, and the design team conference call revealed Origins Jazz. Commander Armada Optimus Prime was announced, and Robosen’s next robot came into view.
March brought Titan Class Guardian Robot, the Toxitron Collection capsule and Volvo VNR Optimus Prime. The crew also loved newly found Action Master Elite Optimus Prime concept art.
April brought Nemesis, Beachcomber, Axlegrease and Devcon, plus behind-the-scenes footage of G1 season 5. Reports called Rise of the Beasts a mess after many editing teams.
May brought a bad Hasbro quarter, the Transformers One voice cast and Robosen Grimlock’s FCC filing. The month also saw retooled Earthrise Prowl, Minerva-era Senator two-packs and plenty of Rise of the Beasts merchandise.
June brought the Troop Builder pack, Skybound’s Transformers comic license, Masterpiece Rhinox teased at Tokyo Toy Show and the Lunar Cruiser Optimus Prime. A $114,000 Rise of the Beasts watch topped the licensing news.
July brought SDCC with Commander Ultra Magnus, Robosen Grimlock and Powerlinx Hot Shot. The Toxitron Collection hit stores, and Rise of the Beasts arrived on Paramount+.
August revealed Activision had lost its game assets, Missing Link Convoy and a pile of 2024 listings. September and October brought Toy Fair, Beast Wars Again Silverbolt and the Nemesis Bridge set. Unproduced season 2 opening storyboards surfaced too.
November brought HasLab Deathsaurus shipping, Commander Magmatron and the Ted Schwartz Rodimus Prime recordings. December closed with more Hasbro layoffs, Titan Class Tidal Wave, Origins Wheeljack and Peter Cullen’s Lifetime Achievement Award.