Takara is reportedly re-releasing Ultra Magnus and Hot Rod in Japan, and Transformers: The Movie is coming to DVD, on this September 1, 2000 Radio Free Cybertron. John DeLuna’s ATT Buzz praises the new Beast Machines Deployers and reviews the Car Robots Build King gift set. Goldimus Prime reviews Transmetal Tarantulas, and Rattrap007 recounts a fake Bot Talk rumor about Car Robots coming to the US. News from Cybertron, the Transformers Cybertron comic update and Bad Poets Corner round out the show.
News
Ultra Magnus and Hot Rod Reportedly Being Re-released in Japan
Brian has heard that Ultra Magnus and Hot Rod are being re-released in Japan. He believes it’s a straight re-release rather than a repaint, though he hasn’t heard either way for certain. [Source: not found]
Transformers: The Movie Coming to DVD
Transformers: The Movie is due on DVD soon, possibly this month. Brian jokes that he needs a DVD player but would probably lose it in a thunderstorm. [Source: not found]
RFC Notes
Brian says this week’s chat session didn’t produce much usable material, and he may move it to IRC or another chat room. Trainimus Prime asked him to mention his site at geocities.com/trainimus, and a link will be on the homepage. The intro song was requested by AlexJ33106.
News from Cybertron
Brian writes solo this week. The new Autobot lubricant Soylent Purple turns out to be made of Nebulons, and sales dip 2%. On the campaign trail, Galvatron accuses Optimus Prime of tax evasion over seized Orion Pax accounts. Prime blames the death tax, which has seized his fortune almost 150 times. Galvatron’s campaign manager Bruticus changes his name to Buttons for a kinder, gentler image.
ATT Buzz
John DeLuna starts his third year of college as a mass communication major and promises the Buzz will get better. He says alt.toys.transformers had an off-topic nightmare this week, and he won’t name those threads. The good news is the Beast Machines Deployers, Mole, Rat and Dillo, are showing up in stores. Like the Beast Riders, they are winning fans over with creativity. John argues the Transmetal 2 line and early Beast Machines waves lacked fun gimmicks. He contrasts them with fiddly, fun toys like Ultra Megatron, now repainted as T-Rex. He still doesn’t collect Beast Machines but respects a good toy. [Source: alt.toys.transformers]
Car Robots Build King Review
John is collecting Car Robots as a completist, skipping the pricey prize-contest Spy Changer and Flip Changer recolors. He calls Build King a floppy mess, worse than Magmatron, and afraid to be looked at. Like Devastator, it’s a jumble of construction vehicles that somehow works visually. The four robots, Build Boy, Build Cyclone, Build Typhoon and Build Hurricane, are really good toys. At $65, he says the set is worth more than Super Fire Convoy or JRX.
Merchandising Rant
John closes the Buzz wanting more Transformers merchandise, from Optimus Primal socks to Cheetor folders and gum. He notes Japan never stopped, with candy, chocolate bars and keychains for Beast Wars Neo, Beast Wars II and Beast Wars Metals. He thinks the success of G1 shirts and stickers shows Hasbro it would pay off, and the new Japanese PVC figures are just the tip of the iceberg.
Campaign 2000
The Optimus Prime for the Year 2000 ad airs again. Brian credits J. Dale, now at coldhardslag.com, with creating the campaign bit.
Transformers Cybertron Comic Update
Silverbolt Maniac apologizes for missing last week’s update because he still has no internet on campus. Episode 16 is up, and four episodes remain in season two. Next week concludes the BeastBot trilogy, and the Blaster on the opening page is a preview of what’s coming. Season three is planned, the site will be redesigned, and he wants sample episode scripts from serious writers.
Toy Review: Transmetal Tarantulas
Goldimus Prime reviews Transmetal Tarantulas, standing in for the missing Beast Machines review file. The spider mode can’t stand on its legs, but the robot arms work as hidden kickstands. The motorcycle mode uses the back disc and saw blade as wheels and needs the kickstands too. Tying a string to the abdomen makes him look like he’s dangling from a web. The transformation is intuitive once you learn the shoulders lock in place. He has about 10 points of articulation and matches the show well. Goldimus says he has no real flaws and gives him a solid 9 out of 10.
Bad Poets Corner
This week’s poems are “Car Robots,” about Fire Convoy, Gigatron and a fussing Takara, and “Sarcasm.”
Bot Talk Buzz
In a one-time segment, Rattrap007 recounts a Bot Talk board post by JonBot. It claimed a Hasbro insider said Car Robots was coming to the US in a new Mainframe series, with Cheetor, Nightscream and Rattrap becoming Fire Convoy and other Car Robots figures. Rattrap007 called it a joke by an immature teen, and JonBot later admitted the whole thing was fake, staged for a psychology paper. Rattrap007 calls the stunt rude and damaging to the board. He’s ending his trivia and will review old G1 figures that became Beast Wars and Beast Machines figures instead.
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.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 39:50 — 18.3MB) | Embed
Radio Free Cybertron – 12/31/00
Radio Free Cybertron 755 – So you’re saying Alligaticon is a $55 footlong?
The RFC Mini-cast – 059: The Masterpiece Optimus Primal Mini-cast