Stern officially reveals its Transformers pinball machine, with a Megatron that fires the ball from his fusion cannon, and Brian has already put down a deposit on the Limited Edition. HasLab Liokaiser starts arriving, and John’s first look finds the combiners bigger than expected. The Transformers: The Movie heads back to theaters in 4K, and the crew is not happy about who’s covering “Dare to Be Stupid” on the Reformatted Edition soundtrack. A late listing confirms Commander Class Thunderwing with the full Mega Pretender gimmick.
News
HasLab Transformers Liokaiser First In-Hand Images
Brian and John both have Liokaiser, while the rest of the crew hasn’t even had a shipping notice. John opened his before the show. He says every member is bigger than expected, Liokaiser will be bigger than he pictured, and the plastic quality is good. A friend of Brian’s is having a blast with hers, and no quality-control issues have been reported yet. Delivery needs a signature. One host says FedEx’s release form is a big orange button on the tracking page, and another has packages held at a local store. [Source: TFW2005]
Officially Licensed Transformers Pinball by Stern: New Trailer & Product Description
Brian confessed he put a deposit on the Limited Edition this week, then refreshed Stern’s site in a work meeting waiting for the reveal. Optimus Prime doesn’t transform, which is a little disappointing. The Premium and Limited Edition have an animatronic Megatron, and on every version Megatron fires the ball from his fusion cannon. Soundwave’s cassette door opens to knock the ball away. The Limited Edition costs $3,000 more than the Premium for a better sound system, RGB lighting, a shaker motor and mirrored back glass. Gameplay is the same. Kim is on board as long as Brian pays for it by selling his Masters of the Universe and G.I. Joe. [Source: TFW2005]
The Transformers: The Movie Is Returning to Theaters in 4K
The movie returns to theaters September 17 in 4K for its 40th anniversary. Brian assumes it’s the widescreen 4K Blu-ray version. He noted the full-screen version is actually the intended one, since the widescreen is matted. Rob flagged an upcoming visual history book on the making of the film, with pre-production art. Two hosts have already pre-ordered it. [Source: Cartoon Brew]
The Transformers: The Movie The Soundtrack The Reformatted Edition: The Details
The first track is Stan Bush’s re-recorded “The Touch.” Brian likes the original better but says the new one is pretty good. Sebastian Bach is also on the album of covers and re-recordings. The crew is deeply disappointed that Cold Slither, the band from Hasbro’s G.I. Joe album, is covering “Dare to Be Stupid.” One host said the only band he’d want covering it is Devo, since the song is a Devo pastiche. Two hosts canceled or regretted buying the Cold Slither album after hearing it. The soundtrack comes on CD, vinyl and cassette. [Source: TFW2005]
Transformers Cyberworld Energon Surge Official Stock Images
The wave includes a polar bear Jazz and a bonkers Soundwave that one host says looks like an anglerfish. One host likes these for having enough articulation without being hard to transform, and calls them ideal kids’ toys. Someone briefly mistook the Soundwave for the fan-voted design. [Source: TFW2005]
Transformers Age of the Primes Sentinel Prime Artifact Pack In-Hand Images
Sentinel Prime uses the Tarn mold and is based on IDW’s Megatron: Origin. He comes with a gold disc for displaying the 13 Primes’ weapons, meant to evoke the Well of All Sparks. A sword on the disc suggests a gold Galaxy Force Vector Prime is coming. Matt didn’t collect the Primes, finds the disc’s post holes a kludged mess, and balks at about $70. One host wishes the disc had ports for the Power of the Primes Prime Masters. [Source: TFW2005]
Hot Pre-Order Alert: Autobot 3-Pack, Sentinel Pack, Japanese Exclusives
The Generations Selects Autobot 3-pack has Mirage, Ironhide and Bluestreak in animation colors with opaque windows. Mirage is retooled with a working shoulder cannon mount. It’s on Hasbro Pulse along with the Sentinel Prime pack. One host loves Ironhide’s yellow stripe and calls Bluestreak fantastic. He still wants an all-new Mirage, maybe in Diaclone red. [Source: TFW2005]
Missing Link Ironhide pre-orders are up, and the van’s rear doors open into a battle platform, like the scene in “The Ultimate Doom.” One host likes that it gives the missile launcher a reason to exist, since it looked odd over his head in robot mode. [Source: TFW2005]
Transformers Studio Series Titan Class Age of Extinction Grimlock Color Sample
One host doesn’t care about this Grimlock but calls it impressive. One host wants to see it posed next to Trypticon. [Source: TFW2005]
2027 Age of Evolution Commander Listing Found: Thunderwing
JT Prime surfaced the listing right before recording. The crew wondered if Hasbro would skip the shell or the inner robot. Then word came through the RFC Discord that JT Prime confirmed the full Mega Pretender gimmick. The crew immediately asked for a Black Shadow repaint and a Crossblades to make a Blue Bacchus. One host would rather have Thunderclash but will take Thunderwing. [Source: TFW2005]
This Week in History
Twenty-five years ago, the Beast Wars episode “Nemesis, Part 1” premiered in the US. A depth charge killed Rampage and the Nemesis rose from the sea, and Tigerhawk died too. Brian, then 21, thought Megatron quoting the Covenant of Primus in Part 2 was the most awesome thing he’d ever watched.
What We Got This Week
Diecast
Diecast got Powerglide, who isn’t his favorite. The wings tab in but still leave a gap, the jet intakes slide oddly on the legs, and there’s a gap at the back that seems designed in. He’ll leave it in its solid robot mode. He also got Liege Maximo but hasn’t opened it.
Matt
Matt had nothing in Transformers this week, since Hasbro Pulse is still shipping his orders by DHL.
Don
Don’s Powerglide has the same issues. The engine intakes pop off their friction nubs during transformation, and the robot mode does 90% of the work. He still likes it. Kranix wowed him. Don wants a new RFC award for best first-time toy, alongside Devcon and Liege Maximo. Kranix looks like he stepped right off the screen, and Don will happily buy the mold again as Arblus. Yolopark’s Thundercracker has the best blue he can think of, but the joints are scary tight. His Skywarp is missing the teal paint on one knee, and he has written Yolopark asking for a fix. He also got another Metal Cardbot: Savannah Land, a car carrier like Ultra Magnus. It becomes a giant robot with zebra, elephant and giraffe armor, each with matching weapons, and is about the size of Commander Class Soundwave.
Rob
Rob had nothing in Transformers this week.
John DeLuna
John opened Liege Maximo and was impressed by subtle painted highlights, including blue, that bring out the sculpt. About 20% of him is the separate horned backpack. John also unpacked all the Liokaiser members during the show and calls it a very neat set so far.
Brian
Brian’s Liokaiser is still in the shipper. His Liege Maximo is nicer in hand than he expected, and he has no plans to ever transform it. He calls it more G2 love.