Brian Kilby is back from OTFCC 2003, the Official Transformers Collectors Convention in Chicago, and says he is “back with a vengeance” in the hobby. This August 3, 2003 Radio Free Cybertron recaps the show with convention tales from Hooper X and Suspsys. The centerpiece is about half an hour of the OTFCC voice actors panel with David, Garry and Greg. Brian also runs down a big week of purchases, led by a mint-in-sealed-box Overlord.

OTFCC 2003 Recap

Brian rode the bus to the convention alone and vows never to ride the bus again. He slept until noon both days, so he missed the Hasbro panel, the Energon news and the Transformers MST3K screening. For news from the Hasbro panel, he points listeners to TransFandom.com, The AllSpark and TFormers.com.

He still had a lot of fun, hanging out mostly with WeeGee members. He names Tony Fitz, Bruce Howie, Hooper X, Rob Sabler and Daniel Suh, and he finally met Rob Springer and his wife. His full written report is in the news section at tfradio.net.

Suspsys vs. Particle Man

Hooper X interviews Daniel Suh, known as Suspsys, about a Friday night lightsaber duel in the hotel lobby. Suspsys says dealer Particle Man took it far too seriously and left him with a gash on his forehead. Suspsys won by grabbing Particle Man’s underwear and dragging him across the carpet. He says three people caught it on videotape. Brian notes he has nothing against Particle Man, who sold him a great Omega Supreme years ago.

Hooper X and the Girl Who Slapped Him

Hooper X tells how a woman outside the AllSpark party turned down his invitation, then slapped him later when she tried to grab his group’s pizza. He invites her to email him.

WeeGee Hallway Clips

Brian plays short clips with WeeGee members, including Craig Cicero (Brax Cardigan) and Thylacine2000. Brax pitches a BotCon documentary, and Ravage ignores Brian’s attempt at an interview.

OTFCC 2003 Voice Actors Panel

Brian’s recorder missed the start and end, but he captured about half an hour of the panel with David, Garry and Greg. They explain how agents and publicists juggle their convention and studio schedules. One panelist recalls recording Duckman from a hotel in Moscow with a digital audio recorder.

Asked to compare Beast Wars with Armada, David and Garry say Beast Wars was more fun. Beast Wars was recorded as an ensemble before animation, like a radio play. Armada was ADR to finished animation, with “beep, beep, beep” cues and little room to play. The panel blames the Sparkplug and Leader-1 mix-up in Armada on a writer’s mistake.

Greg shares stories of Frank Welker’s studio sound effects, from air escaping his head to an imaginary payphone. One panelist recorded Transformers: The Movie lines on the same days as Judd Nelson’s Hot Rod and recalls Orson Welles arriving at the studio in a Buick Riviera, then moving to a wheelchair taken from a limousine.

Garry says Optimus Prime and Man-At-Arms are both father figures, and he can’t pick a favorite. One panelist calls Armada’s Optimus Prime more “hard-ass” than the Beast Wars and Beast Machines version, which had more humanity. David tells how his role in X2 was cut from the film. A fan asks for a moment of silence for Robert Stack, voice of Ultra Magnus in Transformers: The Movie. A shout from the crowd breaks it, which Brian calls the “infamous” moment many found funny.

What We Got This Week

Brian

Brian bought Overload, Armada Skywarp and three Beast Wars Powerlinx repaints. At the convention he picked up Tidal Wave, with thanks to SwiftEagle, and the reissue Red Alert. He also spent “a ludicrous amount” on a mint-in-sealed-box Overlord, his biggest purchase ever.

RFC Notes

Brian says he has a pile of toys to review and hopes RFC returns to a regular schedule. His web hosting is 80 percent full, so site changes are coming.

Radio Free Cybertron: The Transformers Podcast

Brian Kilby

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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