Jack from TFormers sat in on a High Moon Studios demo of Transformers: War for Cybertron, and he walks the crew through the Autobot campaign opening. This March 10, 2010 Radio Free Cybertron also reacts to the first look at Bumblebee from the new Transformers cartoon. The crew groans at news of a Drift miniseries from IDW, and Monzo takes on Beast Wars two-parters in Stump Monzo. Twitter Theater tackles the G2 version of More Than Meets the Eye Part 1.
News
First Look at Bumblebee From the New Transformers Cartoon
The first image of Bumblebee from the new Transformers cartoon is out. Rob mocks it at first, then admits he likes it. Several hosts think it beats the movie Bumblebee, though it is clearly movie-influenced. One host fears a movie-based show from Orci and Kurtzman, and worries the detail points to cheap Flash animation. Another thinks the image looks like concept art, not final animation. The crew rejects the idea that fans simply want G1 back and says they want something as good as G1. [Source: not found]
Drift Gets His Own Miniseries
A trade paperback of the Transformers Drift comic is solicited. One host says IDW confirmed to him that Drift will get his own miniseries, the secret project Shane McCarthy has been working on. Most of the crew compares Drift to Poochie from The Simpsons and wonders why IDW keeps pushing him. They point to the praised new Wreckers comic, which uses obscure established characters well. One host defends IDW’s right to invent a character and suggests giving it time. [Source: not found]
Hubcap and Brimstone Vehicle Modes Revealed
New pictures show the vehicle modes of Hubcap and Brimstone. The crew calls Hubcap awesome; Brimstone has a cool alt mode but a weaker robot mode. One host plans to buy two Hubcaps and turn one into Dead End. [Source: not found]
Transformers Collectors’ Club Magazine Offered Free as a PDF
The Transformers Collectors’ Club is giving away an issue of its magazine as a PDF, with a link on TFormers. The issue includes Jim Sorenson’s write-up on Transformers 2010 and War for Cybertron coverage. Its War for Cybertron Bumblebee toy looks almost just like the game character. The crew debates Power Core Combiners; some must have them, while others find them blocky and gimmicky. One host passed on Legends Devastator at $35. Another reports piles of Shanghai Showdown three-packs at Toys R Us while Arcee and Ratchet are nowhere to be found. [Source: not found]
Robot Heroes That Never Came Out
The crew wishes the Hasbro Toy Store would sell the unreleased Robot Heroes, such as Star Saber, as collector items. One host collects Optimus Primes and Star Sabers and missed eBay auctions for the unreleased Prowl, Star Saber, Beast Machines Optimus Primal and Robots in Disguise Optimus Prime.
This Day in Transformers History
Neil Kaplan, the Robots in Disguise voice of Optimus Prime, celebrated his birthday on March 9. Code of Hero premiered in the U.S. on March 9, 1998. The crew debates whether Dinobot should have simply been named Grimlock. One host recalls an Auto Assembly script reading in which Grimlock and Dinobot argue over the name, with Chris McFeely as Dinobot. Moonbase 2 has also released a commentary on Only Human featuring McFeely.
Stump Monzo
The question asks how many two-part episodes Beast Wars has. Monzo names Beast Wars, The Trigger and Feral Scream, and notes that The Agenda has three parts. The answer is seven, adding Other Voices, Coming of the Fuzors and Nemesis. Monzo admits he forgot season two, which he likes more than season three.
Transformers: War for Cybertron Preview
Jack didn’t play the game himself. High Moon Studios’ director ran the demo on an Xbox 360 for about an hour. It took Jack a few minutes to notice the switch from cinematic to gameplay. The demo picks up where the Bumblebee trailer ends, as Bumblebee meets Optimus Prime and Ratchet. Each campaign uses a three-bot squad with distinct roles, such as a scientist who can repair teammates. The AI fills empty slots, and online players can drop in and out of co-op. Vehicle and robot modes suit different terrain, and the Seekers fly through canyons between towers. Jack likes that the Decepticon campaign comes first and shows Megatron fighting for what he believes in. He laments the lack of Autobot-versus-Decepticon fighting in the campaign, and one host says multiplayer will fill that gap.
The crew hears Jack’s audio clips from the demo. They call Peter Cullen’s Optimus Prime excellent and like Ratchet and Jetfire. Soundwave is technically well done, but Megatron sounds like a Hugo Weaving imitation. Jack plans to buy a console for the game. The crew then debates what would make the right Transformers game. Ideas include action RPG elements, gathering Energon to build weapons and a story where choices make you an Autobot or Decepticon. One host argues that Transformers works best when its robots stay human, while another says variety matters more.
Twitter Theater: More Than Meets the Eye Part 1 (G2)
The host picks the Generation 2 version of More Than Meets the Eye Part 1, with its computer-enhanced space cube. Exvee corrects him after he first calls it Robots in Disguise Part 1. The crew argues over who narrates the opening and concludes Gary Chalk only did the G2 commercials. They try to ask Monzo on IRC, but he never answers, and one host calls it the worst Twitter Theater ever. One host recalls first seeing the episode in a prime-time debut. One host still needs to post his G1 Season 5 Tommy Kennedy episodes to YouTube; Zobovor encoded them to DVD in 2008.
RFC Announcements
RFC will do a live show at the end of the month, and listeners can email brian at tfradio.net to come on. New Soundwave will also go live each week. The YouTube channel is at tfvideo.net, and Fanboy Versus is RFC’s comic book podcast.
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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