Stern Pinball announces an officially licensed G1 Transformers pinball machine, and Brian plans to sell off his non-Transformers collection to buy the $13,000 Limited Edition. Takara Tomy’s Shizuoka Hobby Show brings Beast Wars II Galvatron, Gigastorm, Nemesis Star Convoy and a reimagined Missing Link Ironhide and Ratchet. Hot Wheels Wave 2, CultureFly’s movie VS figures and Wild King Rexblade round out the news. In What We Got This Week, Don raves about Metal Cardbot, and Brian comes home from a local convention with an armload of G1 Dinobots.
News
Transformers HasLab Liokaiser Has Started Shipping
Brian got his FedEx shipping notice, with a Wednesday delivery estimate he doubts. No one else had theirs yet. [Source: TFW2005]
Brian is super excited for Beast Wars II Galvatron, which looks new from the ground up. It will be New Legends 07, so the wait will be long. Matt has never seen the toy or the cartoon. Gigastorm uses the 10-year-old Titans Return Trypticon mold. Brian is glad he skipped the Age of the Primes Trypticon and the Toyhax Gigastorm upgrade kit. He’d love a Megastorm too. [Source: TFW2005]
Takara Tomy Transformers MPG-24 Ramhorn & Eject Prototypes
One host thinks both look promising, though Eject looks flat in gray. Ramhorn has a gap behind his head, just like the original toy. Ramhorn was one of the only cassettes one host had as a kid, but he is mostly done with Masterpiece. Rewind is still missing, and fans suspect he’ll be packed with a future Twincast. One host called it the very picture of needing a house to go with the doorknob. The crew also shrugged at a Dark Designs Rhinox redeco with the mutant head. [Source: TFW2005]
Takara Tomy New Legends NL-03 Nemesis Star Convoy Full Reveal & Price
Nemesis Star Convoy comes with Shockblast instead of a black Hot Rodimus. Brian loves Star Convoy mostly for Hot Rodimus, so he no longer cares about the partner, though he still put down a $28 deposit at Big Bad Toy Store. Don likes that it’s a different character, not just another black Rodimus. He notes there has been no official Shockblast since Energon. The crew noted it drops the Micromaster Rodimus and blast effects and adds about $100. One host thinks the Hot Rodimus mold can still be run on its own, maybe as a store exclusive or prize. [Source: TFW2005]
Takara Tomy Missing Link C-14 Ironhide Full Reveal & Details
Matt loves Ironhide but loves Ratchet more. He notes fans are split because this reimagines the toy rather than adding joints, and some engineering, like the feet, looks too modern for 1984. Ironhide needs gray on his hands and thighs to break up the red. The door panels also swallow the hands. Another host thinks it captures the spirit of animation-model Ironhide and Ratchet. One host finds the face in the windshield distracting, though paper behind the glass could hide it. One host said it answers the Missing Link seeker question: Takara will do whatever it wants. [Source: TFW2005]
Takara Tomy Missing Link C-15 Ratchet Color Prototype First Look
Ratchet’s red breaks up the white, which is why several hosts prefer him. One host says it nails the John Romita character model but isn’t what he wants from Missing Link. If the line had to bend its format, he said, this was the toy where it had to happen. He might grab a green e-Hobby-style Ratchet, and Matt hopes for a black Ironhide. [Source: TFW2005]
Shizuoka Hobby Show 2026: Transformers x Evangelion Collaboration Phase 2 Teaser Image
The silhouette appears to be Unit-02, likely the Unit-01 Optimus Prime with a new head in red, white and yellow. One host is irritated that every Japanese crossover has to be Optimus Prime. He thinks a Prime Starscream would make a far better Unit-02. [Source: TFW2005]
Takara Overgear Optimus Prime Color Images
The third Overgear figure is Optimus Prime in real-world military colors. The crew likes the vehicle mode. One host calls the robot mode terrible, while another appreciates the craftsmanship but doesn’t see it as Optimus Prime. One host compared it to Full Armor Gundam and the early-’80s Real Type Gundam kits. [Source: TFW2005]
Transformers x Hot Wheels: GT Scorcher, El Segundo Coupe & Twin Mill
Wave 2 pre-orders are up with two new molds, El Segundo Coupe and GT Scorcher, plus the Target-exclusive red Twin Mill. One host likes the El Segundo Coupe in both modes but not the part sticking up behind Scorcher’s head. They’ve jumped to $35. One host found Wave 1 on clearance for $21 and expects these to drop too. [Source: TFW2005]
CultureFly Transformers: The Movie VS Series Revealed
These small figures look like Battle Beasts, with Optimus Prime vs. Megatron, Prowl vs. Starscream and Arcee vs. Shockwave. Don notes CultureFly usually sells pricey novelties, but these are cute, and no price is listed yet. [Source: TFW2005]
Centurion Drone Weaponizer Pack Reissue Coming
The hard-to-find pack is coming back, six years later. One host recalled Hasbro telling Brian they watch aftermarket prices when choosing reissues. Rob noted nearly every figure the accessories were made for has since been replaced. The pack includes gear for Earthrise Optimus Prime, a Megatron pistol, Roller, a mini Reflector and a cage for Siege Ravage. [Source: TFW2005]
Sentinel Artifact Pack Description
The $68 pack is a Voyager Class Sentinel Prime that turns into a tank, with a Conduit and four accessories. Don hopes it’s the spiky-chested Sentinel from “The Five Faces of Darkness” Part 4. The crew calls him U-Haul Robo, and one host would absolutely buy him. [Source: TFW2005]
Transformers Wild King Wave W Rexblade & Energy Beasts Official In-Hand Images
Brian says Wild King may be his favorite current line. Rexblade turns into a robot, a dinosaur and a vehicle, and he’s in love with it. The wave also has an ankylosaurus robot with a handlebar mustache and monocle. One host wants these people making Power Rangers toys. [Source: TFW2005]
New Transformers Pinball by Stern
Brian has said for two years he’d buy a G1 Transformers pinball table if Stern ever made one, and now Stern is. Leaked photos show a transforming Optimus Prime on the Limited Edition. Prices are $7,000 for the Pro, $10,000 for the Premium and $13,000 for the Limited Edition, with a full reveal next Wednesday. Brian plans to get the Limited Edition. With Kim’s OK, he will pay for it by selling non-Transformers lines like vintage G.I. Joe, Classified and Masters of the Universe. A Discord listener suggested “High Octane Donanomics” as an episode title. [Source: TFW2005]
This Week in History
Brian is bringing back This Week in History ahead of episode 1000. Ten years ago this week, Takara unveiled Titans Return Trypticon at the 2016 Shizuoka Hobby Show. That mold now comes back again as Gigastorm.
What We Got This Week
Don
Don got Swerve and loves him, though the plastic feels thinner than Gears and the nylon may yellow. He also got Yolopark’s AMK Mini Safety Megatron, in orange, blue, brown and black with yellow eyes and gunmetal feet. He wishes it were the larger AMK size. Yolopark’s AMK Pro Optimus Primal has spring-loaded guns, extra faces and hands, and great posability. Don says its glossy black looks right from the show. Dinobot, Skywarp and Thundercracker are still unbuilt. The stars are Metal Cardbot figures from an eBay seller who covered tariffs and shipping. Jobber, a yellow SUV, is so dense it outweighs Liege Maximo, and its ratchets click like old Energon joints. Flash Vector is an F1 car with translucent inline skates and knives. Bloodwing is a vampire ambulance with an 8-inch wingspan and a bat backpack that joins his scythe. Don can’t recommend the line enough, and Wave 1 is now at Big Bad Toy Store.
Matt
Matt had nothing in Transformers this week.
Diecast
Diecast got Yolopark’s AMK Pro Bumblebee, which fixes the face he hated, and Dinobot. Both now go together like build-a-figures, with whole legs prebuilt. Diecast calls Dinobot the standout but misses the old, more involved assembly. He also finds Optimus Primal’s plain black plastic a step down from the Masterpiece.
Rob
Rob had nothing in Transformers this week.
Brian
Brian got two Safety Megatrons, one to stay boxed. The packing was excellent, but the head is so tight he plans to loosen it with a heat gun. His Protoform Sessions and Artistic Transformations CDs also came autographed. At a local convention he picked up a Walmart store display diorama with Scrapper and Bonecrusher. He also got vintage Warren 3D puzzles of Bluestreak and Starscream and a G1 Prism Stick and Lift set. A sealed Estrela carded-figure store display cost him $50. From his local dealer he got a loose Landfill with both Targetmasters, a loose G1 Slag and Snarl, and loose blue and turquoise G2 Grimlocks. Boxed Slag and a gold Spanish-box Sludge fill gaps in his boxed Dinobots. A boxed Sonic Bomber completes his Big Powered set.