HasLab Liokaiser is fully funded, and the crew expects Death Cobra to unlock within a week. T-Spark Lio Convoy is delayed, reportedly because the toy could not transform. In the pre-Toy Fair slump, the panel also picks through the Supreme Optimus Prime, Age of the Primes Air Raid and Devastation Optimus Prime. In What We Got This Week, Chris reviews the Dr. Wu Impact cassette combiners, Rob finally lands Squeezeplay and Brian weighs a heavy knockoff Missing Link Convoy.
News
Radio Free Cybertron Toy Fair Live Stream Returns March 1
Brian announced the return of the Radio Free Cybertron Toy Fair live stream on Saturday, March 1, at 5 p.m. Eastern. Diecast will attend the Hasbro event. Brian called this week the pre-Toy Fair slump, when news runs thin.
HasLab Liokaiser Is Fully Funded, With Death Cobra Next
HasLab Liokaiser jumped from just under 6,000 backers on Saturday to about 11,000 on Monday once overseas backers were added. The Death Cobra tier unlocks at 13,000, and the crew expects to pass it by next week. Don confirmed that Death Cobra forms a left arm. Hellbat and Death Cobra double as shoulder cannons, so all seven robots can’t be attached at once. The panel recalled failed Ghost Rider and Star Wars HasLabs. Hasbro has since moved Marvel to straight made-to-order sales. Blade Raider in chat called HasLab Unicron a failure because its deadline was extended twice. The crew agreed, and figures that is why a Primus HasLab is unlikely. One host predicts Star Saber and Deathsaurus numbers, somewhere past 20,000 backers. [Source: TFW2005]
T-Spark Lio Convoy Delayed Over a Reported Transformation Problem
T-Spark Lio Convoy has been delayed. A Reddit post claims a manufacturing issue left the toy unable to transform. That claim is unconfirmed, but overseas retailers have changed their dates. Amazon Japan now lists June, and HLJ shows a likely placeholder date at the end of March. The figure has not been canceled. [Source: Snakas]
Supreme x Transformers Optimus Prime Gets Its First Stock Image
A single stock image shows the Supreme x Transformers Optimus Prime. The crew found the robot mode very red, with “Supreme” printed on its window. One host hates himself for wanting it, along with the Bathing Ape collaboration figures. [Source: TFW2005]
Yolopark AMK Pro Clear Optimus Prime In-Hand Images
New in-hand images surfaced of the Yolopark AMK Pro G1 Optimus Prime clear version. Don already owns it. He got his about a month ago, so the crew wondered why it counts as news. [Source: TFW2005]
Hasbro’s Mark Maher posted an Air Raid gallery on Instagram. The figure shows off deep ankle pivots. In one shot, the crew joked he looks like he rolled his ankle and is down in agony. Age of the Primes wave one may arrive around May. Legacy United wave five, with Armada Wheeljack, G2 Breakdown and an Origin Bumblebee rerun, still lacks real distribution. [Source: Instagram]
Age of the Primes Air Raid and Slingshot In Hand
More photos show Air Raid and Slingshot alongside the Constructicons. Scrapper, sold as a Voyager, stands taller than a typical deluxe. One host may grab Slingshot if an add-on maker offers a Rolls-Royce chest piece. Another can’t get excited after the Legacy Stunticons, where Dragstrip and Motormaster outshone the other deluxes. Brian noted that future combiners like the Combaticons need limbs on the front of the legs. The crew expects the system can adapt, and pictured Onslaught’s flatbed becoming a Bruticus combiner frame. [Source: TFW2005]
Armada Red Alert and Devastation Optimus Prime Photos
Photos landed of Age of the Primes Voyager Armada Red Alert and more of Devastation Optimus Prime. One host would pick up Red Alert at a discount. Don watched a video on Devastation Optimus Prime and is thinking of canceling his preorder. Another host defended it as the budget alternative to Studio Series 86 Optimus Prime. It also scales with Studio Series Devastator, as in the video game. [Source: TFW2005] [Source: Snakas]
What We Got This Week
Diecast
Diecast finally got Hatchet, the four-legged Dread. The tail clips on so the car’s bumper sticks out the back oddly. He checked the instructions, and it is correct, just a strange choice.
Don
Don’s crushed Star Wars Mandalorian N1 Starfighter crossover from Hasbro Pulse got a replacement without a return. He had also bought one at Walmart for half off, so he now displays one boxed, one in starship mode and one in robot mode. He also got Guyhawk, the last main piece of Iron Factory’s Legends-class Liokaiser. Now he can form it, and only Death Cobra remains.
Matt
Matt had nothing in Transformers this week.
Rob
Thanks to Wheeljack64 in the Discord, Rob got the Target Legacy United set with Squeezeplay, marked down to about $55. Squeezeplay has a weird transformation and an awkward beast mode, but Rob likes its charm. The set also includes Cliffjumper, Tarantulas and a Cyberverse-styled Tarn.
Chris
Chris got the Dr. Wu Impact wave, the third set of its Siege-scale cassette combiners. He ranks the combined modes in release order, with Squawk Box best. The Impact combiner relies on shoulder plates on ball joints, and one arm on his copy pulls loose. He thinks this set has the best individual cassette modes yet. At about $14 per cassette, he calls Dr. Wu one of the best values in third-party toys. He also scored Legacy Overcharge for $28 in a Walmart pre-clearance sale.
Brian
Brian got a bootleg of Missing Link Convoy through the Show-Z Store. It swaps much of the plastic for die-cast metal and feels like a five-pound dumbbell. It has no Autobot symbols, a cheap sticker sheet and only one gun. He says it loses what makes Missing Link Convoy feel like the original toy. It is headed for his desk at work.