Early Beast Machines toys Mirage, Buzzsaw and Scavenger sold on eBay for a combined $283 this week. This November 19, 1999 Radio Free Cybertron also covers the first BotCon 2000 details, set for Fort Wayne, Indiana. Brian Kilby reviews the Japanese Beast Wars Metals Ravage, and John DeLuna delivers the very first ATT Buzz. Brian closes with a Top 10 Christmas Gifts list and a Beast Machines rant.
News
Early Beast Machines Toys Auctioned on eBay
Buzzsaw, Mirage and Scavenger from the new Beast Machines toy line were auctioned off on eBay earlier this week. Brian says the toys went for a hefty price, with more detail in the ATT Buzz. [Source: not found]
BotCon 2000 Set for Fort Wayne, Indiana
BotCon 2000 will run July 28 through 30, 2000, at the Grand Wayne Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Announced guests include Alec Willows (Tarantulas), Venus Terzo (Blackarachnia), Ian James Corlett (Cheetor), a Beast Machines producer and Transformers: The Movie composer Vince DiCola. Planned events include autograph sessions, Q&A panels, an art contest, a charity auction, a semi-formal dinner, a trivia challenge, three 24-hour video rooms, exclusives and contests. [Source: not found]
Toy Review: Beast Wars Metals Ravage
Brian reviews the Japanese Beast Wars Metals Ravage, a Deluxe built from the Transmetal Cheetor mold. He calls it the nicer toy, with a good robot mode, a bendable waist and the pop-out guns from the Agenda episodes. The chest opens to show a Predacon symbol, a Decepticon symbol or a picture of Megatron, though the stickers can’t be swapped. Brian praises the small box, the lenticular tech spec card and an instruction book with a G1 retrospective. The single head cuts kibble but looks a little cheap, and anyone who owns Cheetor already knows the transformation. He scores it a nine.
ATT Buzz
John DeLuna’s first ATT Buzz says alt.toys.transformers has fallen into flames and fights, all over Beast Machines. This week’s reveals were that Silverbolt is the Vehicon Thrust and Rhinox is the Vehicon Tankor. The Maximals also learned that Cybertron was once organic, and the Oracle has them working to make it that way again. John jokes that an alt.toys Beast Wars group could split off before it’s over.
John also reports that Spooky got three new Beast Machines toys early: Mirage the race car, Buzzsaw the wasp and Scavenger the construction vehicle. They sold on eBay for $51 for Buzzsaw, $81 for Scavenger and $151 for Mirage. The packaging shows Cheetor instead of individual art, and the tech specs are full of typos. The overall feeling on the newsgroup is that Hasbro rushed the job and the toys may arrive before Christmas. Brian agrees the flames have been bad, and says many are unfounded. [Source: alt.toys.transformers]
New on the RFC Website
The site now has a link to Mad Max MFP’s column, plus text versions of Brian’s Beast Machines rant and his Top 10 Christmas Gifts list.
Trivia
Last week’s Name That Clip had two correct answers, from Divefire and Dave Edwards, also known as Zobovor. Brian plays a new, easier clip, which is also posted on the website.
Top 10 Christmas Gifts for the Transfan 1999
Brian counts down his gift picks. They include the Rhino re-release of Transformers: The Movie, a PDA for conventions, and Transmetal Scavenger to clear the shelves. Beast Wars Metals Ravage, the Beast Wars Metals game for the Nintendo 64 and the BotCon Transformers: The Movie CD reissue also make the list. Rounding it out are Animorphs as kitbash fodder, the repackaged Transformers video collection and the unofficial guide to Transformers from the 1980s through the 90s. Number one is a trip to BotCon 2000.
Beast Machines Rant
Brian says he doesn’t like the current direction of Beast Machines and calls it too much, too fast. Beast Wars took until its second season and the Agenda trilogy to tie into the Transformers mythos. Beast Machines, he argues, is like a wrestling match full of high spots with few payoffs. He finds little payoff in Tankor being Rhinox or in returning Cybertron to its organic past. Bringing together the lost Cybertron tribes sounded like a better direction to him. For now, he’s only interested in the toys.
Brian hopes to have the fanfic review next week and an interview in about two weeks. He may also move the show from Friday to Thursday.
Radio Free Cybertron is the world's first and oldest toy and action figure podcast — broadcasting from the heart of the Transformers fan community since October 1999. What started as a scrappy fan show has grown into an institution, with nearly 1,000 episodes and over 25 years of coverage. Every week, host Brian Kilby and the RFC crew dig into the latest Transformers news, toy reveals, collecting, and everything hitting shelves from Hasbro, Takara, and beyond. No fluff, no hype — just informed, passionate collectors who have been doing this longer than anyone else on the planet. The original. The longest running. Till all are one.
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