McDonald’s prepares a Beast Machines Happy Meal promotion on this March 4, 2000 Radio Free Cybertron. Kid Rhino releases volumes 4 through 6 of its Transformers episode tapes, and Spooky auctions an early Beast Machines Blackarachnia. Brian Kilby reviews the Beast Machines episode In Darkest Night, which brings back Silverbolt, and Zobovor imagines Transformers: The Movie written by Bob Skir.
News
McDonald’s Prepares Beast Machines Happy Meal Toys
ATT got word that McDonald’s is prepping a Beast Machines promotion with Blackarachnia, Thrust, Cheetor, Optimus Primal, Megatron and more. John DeLuna calls the toys ugly based on the pictures, though at least the Rattrap looks like it transforms. Details are on Dave Van Domelen’s page, linked from the RFC homepage. [Source: alt.toys.transformers]
Spooky Auctions an Early Beast Machines Blackarachnia
Spooky has a Beast Machines Blackarachnia up for bid on eBay, with the link on the RFC homepage. [Source: not found]
Kid Rhino Releases Transformers Volumes 4 Through 6
Volumes 4, 5 and 6 of Kid Rhino’s Transformers episode tapes are out, with vendors such as MyComicShop.com stocking them. Volume 4 has The Key to Vector Sigma Parts 1 and 2. Volume 5 has War Dawn and Forever Is a Long Time Coming, and volume 6 has Heavy Metal War and The Insecticon Syndrome. RFC thanks Tony Fitz for posting the news to alt.toys.transformers. [Source: alt.toys.transformers]
Why Transformers?
Brian explains RFC’s focus: Transformers has a vibrant fan base and an active franchise, with several toy lines, a TV series, a possible comic and, he hopes, video games. He introduces himself as a 21-year-old math major in northwestern North Carolina.
ATT Buzz
John DeLuna reports no new toy sightings at all and hopes Hasbro ships some Toy Fair toys before spring break to avoid a glut. ATT also had its monthly Who Are You thread, where posters share personal details. John loves it because it reminds everyone that ATT is made of real people, and he hopes it stops even one flame war.
News from Cybertron
Unicron’s maker unleashes a new planet eater that runs on Unix and devours a planet every day at 4 p.m. Its name is UnicronTab. A telemarketer sketch follows.
Zobovor’s Top 10: If Bob Skir Wrote Transformers: The Movie
Zobovor’s list includes Optimus Prime inexplicably becoming Orion Pax again and 20-minute chase scenes on the planet of Junk. Prime takes out Decepticons with energy ninja stars and decrees that Autobot City become a wildlife reserve. Wheelie becomes a whiny teenager with an ultra-size toy. At number one, Hot Rod becomes Rodimus Prime and exclaims, “I am enlarged!”
Trivia
This week’s clip is played twice and posted on the homepage. Zobovor’s new opening question asks where the Decepticon ore refinery was in The Secret of Omega Supreme. The answer, given at the end, is 10 miles north of Mount McKenzie.
Turin’s Top 5 Failed Hasbro Toys
Turin’s mock list of unreleased products includes a non-transforming Optimus Prime corpse with coffin case and a Transformers fireworks kit. It also has a Beast Wars Lava Pool playset, scrapped when the writers refused to drop more characters into lava, and a Dinobot kit tied to an alternate Code of Hero.
Episode Review: Beast Machines, In Darkest Night
Brian reviews the newest Beast Machines episode from Canada, written by Steve Melching. Nightscream, betrayed by Megatron, searches for Noble, the mindless wolf that becomes the dragon Savage. Rattrap builds a DNA scanner and spark extractor, and Megatron’s giant floating head swallows Primal and Cheetor. Blackarachnia uses the device to restore Silverbolt as a pure bird, now a bitter loner who reminds Brian of Depth Charge.
Silverbolt helps free Primal and Cheetor but rejects Primal’s hand. Brian finds the Silverbolt and Blackarachnia scenes contrived next to their Beast Wars season two romance. He also dislikes Megatron’s New Age-tyrant angle.
He scores the story 6, characterization 7 and character design 7. He calls Silverbolt’s robot mode ugly but likes the beast mode. Overall, the episode gets a 7, weaker than last week’s Prometheus Unbound but better than Beast Machines season one and most of Beast Wars season three.
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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