Brian, JD Church and John DeLuna revisit Robots in Disguise on this August 25, 2009 Radio Free Cybertron. They recall how Car Robots hype gave way to “just another dubbed anime” that still won fans with Sky-Byte. They share what drove each of them out of Transformers as kids: the Pretenders, the Action Masters, and G.I. Joe and the Ninja Turtles. The AllSpark Almanac is out to strong early buzz. Exvee pans the Revenge of the Fallen Scalpel robot mode but loves the microscope, and Rob Springer recommends Nightbeat.
This Day in Transformers History
JD notes that Hasbro senior design director Aaron Archer, once known on the boards as Orson, was born August 26, 1972.
News
The AllSpark Almanac Arrives
The AllSpark Almanac, a guidebook to Transformers Animated, has been released. Brian is waiting on his Amazon order. He hears it is the best Transformers sourcebook yet. He also mentions co-author Bill Forster’s Victory Leo tattoo. [Source: not found]
Universe Bruticus Released
Transformers Universe Bruticus, a Robots in Disguise homage built on the dragon mold the hosts identify as Flame Convoy from Cybertron, is out. None of the hosts are excited, and JD calls the mold overused. [Source: not found]
The Unicron Trilogy and Robots in Disguise
Brian watched all of Armada, half of Energon and only six episodes of Cybertron. He calls the Unicron Trilogy cartoons a strain even on his love of Transformers, though he praises Chris Sarracini’s early Armada comic. JD has a soft spot for Armada’s toys and thinks Cybertron had the clearest plot despite poor CGI.
After Rob posted the Robots in Disguise premiere, Battle Protocol, on RFC Twitter Theater, the hosts revisit the series. John says fans who had warmed to Beast Wars still craved cars, so Car Robots built huge hype. It then turned out to be another kids’ dub on Fox Kids. Brian came around after The Fish Test, and all praise the dub’s under-the-breath humor and Sky-Byte. They also recall importing the toys before the US release and Brave Max’s value.
Toy Review: Revenge of the Fallen Scalpel
Exvee says Scalpel’s stereo microscope mode is well sculpted, with knobs, a slide tray and a camera port, and roughly in scale with 12-inch figures. Everything else goes downhill. The transformation is fiddly, with many thin parts on ball joints that pop off, and no clear final robot mode. The spider legs curve inward and topple easily. The tiny arms are decorative, and the glasses are fun but cannot be held. Later releases shortened the clear antennae. Exvee says Scalpel makes a great microscope but could have been much better as a Transformer.
What Drove Us Away?
Brian lost interest at the Pretenders: Cloudraker turned out to be mostly empty shell around a thin robot, and the Action Masters would have finished him off. JD remembers seeing non-transforming Action Masters at Walmart and asking how a Transformer could not transform. Brian says the Action Masters at least had great commercials. John drifted away through the Pretenders and Micromasters as Ninja Turtles and video games took over. JD switched to G.I. Joe. Brian bought only the yellow Constructicons when G2 launched, and Season 5 with Tommy Kennedy kept John watching.
Toy Review: Revenge of the Fallen Nightbeat
Rob Springer reviews Nightbeat, an $8 Scout redeco of Dead End and an homage to the G1 detective. The light blue sports car with yellow flame stripes looks like it belongs after Season 3, and the robot is articulated “out the wazoo.” The hands and thigh swivels pop off easily, and he has no gun. Rob says the colors make this a much better use of the mold than Dead End.
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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Radio Free Cybertron 960 – I’d buy that for a dollar
Radio Free Cybertron – September 16th 2009