Brian Kilby reviews Cybertronian: The Unofficial Transformers Recognition Guide Volume 1 and calls it definitely recommended. This June 17, 2001 Radio Free Cybertron also hears John DeLuna declare Supreme Optimus Primal and Megabolt Megatron dead as Robots in Disguise starts shipping. A rumor says Metroplex could be the Act 4 chase figure for Takara’s G1 PVCs. Prime Z debuts the AllSpark Buzz segment.
News
RFC Opens a Forum at The AllSpark
Brian thanks the ColdHeartSlag.com crew of Heath, JD and Tim for filling in the last two weeks. Radio Free Cybertron now has a forum at The AllSpark. The Goldimus.net forum stays up too. A new site poll asks whether Robots in Disguise is the return of classic G1 Transformers.
BotCon Is Less Than a Month Away
Brian and John DeLuna will both be at BotCon. Brian expects to attend Saturday only because of family health issues. He promises BotCon news and summaries on RFC and hopes to meet listeners there in an RFC T-shirt.
Rhino Polls Fans on Beast Wars or Beast Machines First
Rhino has a poll asking which line it should release first, Beast Wars or Beast Machines. A link is in the RFC news section. [Source: not found]
Metroplex Rumored as Act 4 PVC Chase Figure
According to an alt.toys.transformers poster, Metroplex may be the big chase figure or extra pack-in for Act 4 of Takara’s G1 PVCs. That would follow Fortress Maximus in Act 3. Brian notes Metroplex is bigger in the comic and the show, but Fortress Maximus is the bigger toy. [Source: alt.toys.transformers]
Transformers Network Plug
Brian plugs transformersnetwork.com at Foldit’s request. The site has Kingpin and Winamp skins, AOL Instant Messenger icons, 3D renders, a message board and episodes for download.
ATT Buzz
John DeLuna returns after about three weeks off and says the news dead zone is stretching. Blast Punch Primal is still scarce. He expects it to be even more limited than Transmetal 2 Blackarachnia.
Figures.com says Robots in Disguise has started shipping, and Joel at Big Bad Toy Store expects his shipment in three weeks. John thinks that spells doom for Supreme Optimus Primal and Megabolt Megatron. He says when Hasbro is “thinking about” releasing a toy, it’s over. He calls Megabolt Megatron a totally original Beast Machines Megatron that “we’ll never see.”
John wouldn’t be surprised if either mold turns up in the BotCon charity auction. He recalls Optimal Optimus going for about $625 last year and calls that “sick.” He guesses Supreme Primal could top $800 and Megabolt $200 to $300.
The blue Dragon Megatron debate is back on ATT. John doesn’t think it’s a hoax and guesses it was a scrapped mass-release repaint. He likes the Red Gekobot repaint, though he calls the regular Gekobot “Kermit the Frog on crack.” He doubts these random repaints are red herrings and tells skeptics to give it a rest.
Toy Fair Exclusive Campaign
John says a campaign started by Trent Troop for a ToyFare magazine Transformers exclusive is gaining steam. He likes exclusives and repaints, but not ToyFare, which he calls “not the highest-brow rag on the market.” He jokes that any exclusive this year would likely be a Beast Machines mold, the era ToyFare ignores. Next week he plans to cover late G1 toys falling apart in their packaging.
AllSpark Buzz
Prime Z debuts the AllSpark Buzz as a weekly segment. Sites including Radio Free Cybertron and wildrun.com have joined the AllSpark Cybertronian Alliance. TransFan Trentulas started a campaign for a ToyFare Transformers exclusive. Brainstorm is running a Best Transformers Toy Tournament, and a new AllSpark logo debuted. A record traffic spike around 3 a.m. on Friday, June 15 appeared to crash the ezboard software.
Brian says The AllSpark has a better sense of community than alt.toys.transformers these days.
Book Review: Cybertronian Volume 1
Brian reviews Cybertronian: The Unofficial Transformers Recognition Guide Volume 1 from Antarctic Press, 96 pages for $24.95. It covers the first two years of G1 toys with tech specs, a checklist, the first 29 cartoon episodes, the first 20 Marvel comic issues and the crossover miniseries. Doug Glenn edited it and wrote the foreword, and Fred Perry drew the Megatron cover.
He praises the crisp photos and tight editing. His two complaints are small text in the episode and comic summaries and the price. He still calls it worth $24.95. He would rather own the pictures than spend $300 on a boxed G1 Prowl, and he definitely recommends it to G1 collectors.
Closing
Brian plugs Tomcat X and Little Girl Productions and hopes to bring back trivia and other old segments next week.
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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