Masterpiece Ghost Starscream looks real after all, with Big Bad Toy Store, Famitoy and other sources listing it. This December 30, 2009 Radio Free Cybertron is the last show of the decade. Exvee reviews Revenge of the Fallen Bludgeon, and JD opens his Legends Devastator dilemma. The crew then looks back on ten years of change in the Transformers fandom, toys and media.
News
Masterpiece Ghost Starscream Appears to Be Real
Last week RFC called Masterpiece Ghost Starscream a hoax. Big Bad Toy Store, Famitoy and several other sources now suggest it is real. One host trusts retailer solicitations more than an orphan picture on the internet. The crew thinks the Henkei Ghost Starscream mold suits translucent plastic better, since the Masterpiece Starscream makes a better jet than robot. They would rather see Sunstorm, Acid Storm, a Purple Dirge or Ramjet on the mold. Then one host reads from Bot Talk that it is a hoax again. [Source: not found]
Hasbro.com Adds Pages for the Last Universe Robot Heroes Packs
Hasbro.com has added pages for the final Universe Robot Heroes packs, but they still can’t be bought. The crew hopes they turn up at Big Lots, since Hasbro doesn’t like to waste finished molds. One host notes Robot Heroes cost about a dollar more at Big Lots than at Walmart. [Source: not found]
Bludgeon Is Out
Bludgeon is on shelves everywhere, except at JD’s house. One host calls him the best toy of the year and says he was more excited to hold Bludgeon than Unicron. [Source: not found]
What We Got This Week
JD
JD’s wife gave him Cybertron Legends Leo Prime, Optimus Prime, Soundwave and Hot Shot for his work desk. She also got him Legends Devastator, the seven Revenge of the Fallen Constructicons, in Japanese packaging for about $45 shipped. He can’t decide whether to open them or wait for the U.S. release. The crew tells him to keep them carded and wait for the Hasbro version, which he expects around the end of March.
Exvee
Exvee had nothing in Transformers this week. He got a can of Manwich and some buns.
This Day in Transformers History
JD notes that the G1 episode introducing Kremzeek premiered on December 27, 1985. A 2002 Transformers Armada episode, in which Hot Shot takes a beating, also falls on the date.
Toy Review: Revenge of the Fallen Bludgeon
Exvee reviews Bludgeon for It Figures. The vehicle mode is a well-detailed Japanese Type 90 main battle tank, but it is a box on wheels. Transformation needs a fixed order of steps, and the spine can be hard to lock. In robot mode, Bludgeon is a skeleton samurai with tank parts as shoulder armor and thigh guards. He lacks wrist swivels, and short heel spurs let him topple backwards. Exvee loves the geared sheath that extends from the turret for an over-the-shoulder sword draw. The left thigh guard carries both swords. He calls Bludgeon his favorite movie toy and well worth the $20. Rob and Exvee both fought the thigh guards during transformation. Brian finds Bludgeon flatter than expected, though another host says that suits the samurai look.
Stump Monzo
Protoman asks who defeated Wheelie in the early bouts of the Transformers 2010 manga Battle for the Convoy Cup. Monzo guesses Springer. The answer from Protoman’s scan is Rettgar, so Monzo is stumped for the first time. Questions go to stumpmonzo at tfradio.net.
A Decade of Transformers
The crew calls the 2000s the transformative decade for Transformers. Fandom moved from Usenet, mailing lists and IRC to message boards such as the Allspark, which just passed ten years. BotCon has grown from a few thousand fans to a Disney World event, alongside TFcon and Auto Assembly. One host thinks message boards have split the fandom into factions. They name TFormers, Seibertron and TFW2005 as the supersites and the TFWiki as the largest store of Transformers knowledge. Facebook and Twitter haven’t drawn fans away from the boards, but JD says Twitter now pushes news to fans on the go.
On media and toys, the crew lists Robots in Disguise, Armada, Energon, Cybertron, Transformers Animated and the live-action movies. They also mention comics from Dreamwave, IDW and Titan. One host estimates that about 85 percent of Transformers media came from this decade. Ten years ago, Walmart might carry an Optimus Primal or Cheetor, and Beast Machines put out maybe 30 toys a year. Transformers T-shirts are now everywhere, and Zobovor’s old pop culture references page would be impossible to keep up today.
The crew counts more than two Transformers podcasts now, naming Moonbase 2, WTF, TFW, Autobot City and the TFormers podcast. Brian says making the show is far easier than it was on a 300 MHz machine with 32 MB of RAM. He moved tfradio.net to Squarespace to save hours each week. One host thinks the next big shift will come from new uses of existing technology rather than new technology.
Twitter Theater: Transformers the Movie
Rob explains why Transformers the Movie was the pick. Before this decade it was nearly the only Transformers media fans could watch at home, so G1 memories lean on the movie. He recalls hearing it play on the TVs in a Walmart in 2006. The crew remembers the Rhino DVD restoring the theatrical cut with Spike’s curse word. The show notes link to RFC’s Transformers the Movie commentary: RFC TFTM Commentary.
Up Next
Next week’s episode has a 2010 theme. John DeLuna left partway through the show.
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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