Why did Power Core Combiners fail? This January 18, 2012 Radio Free Cybertron puts the question to Brian Kilby, JD Church, Exvee, Peter Van and Rob Clay, along with listeners on Facebook. The news covers the Shattered Glass Ultra Magnus head for BotCon 2012, a Powerizers Optimus Prime and SavCon’s lineup. Amy Morgan reviews IDW’s digital-only Autocracy #1, and Rob Springer’s TFBBQ asks whether Transformers can ever move past G1.
News
Shattered Glass Ultra Magnus Head Revealed
Pictures show the BotCon 2012 Shattered Glass Ultra Magnus head, the alternate built into the Reveal the Shield Optimus Prime mold. One host thinks the sculpt was meant to be cast in clear plastic with everything but the eyes painted, but the BotCon toy is fully transparent with only the eyes painted. One host thinks it may look striking in hand. One host says he’ll skip the Primus package, since he prefers attending as a walk-in. [Source: TFormers.com]
Powerizers Energon Optimus Prime Pictured
Pictures surfaced of a light-up Powerizers Optimus Prime, a mid-sized, barely transforming toy with flowing Energon effects. The UK price is about 25 pounds, and one host expects roughly $25 in the U.S. The crew thinks it looks cool, but maybe not $25 cool. [Source: TFormers.com]
SavCon Details Announced
SavCon runs June 22 through 24 in Savannah, Georgia, and RFC’s Rob Springer is on its board. Plans include Friday contests, a concert for pre-registered attendees, Cosplay for a Cure and vehicle customs. Voice acting panels include Gregg Berger, Neil Kaplan and Daniel Ross. Brian calls it well put together and says RFC will be there. [Source: not found]
Comic News with Amy Morgan: Autocracy #1
Out today is Autocracy #1, a digital-only IDW comic by Chris Metzen and Flint Dille, with art by Livio Ramondelli. Orion Pax and his fellow police bots crash an arms deal, and Pax holds nothing back. Amy calls it action-packed and gives it 8 out of 10, though she’s not hooked yet. She notes it’s $1 an issue through Comixology. Brian reads it on his Kindle Fire and didn’t love it. JD finds it worth a dollar, though he can’t stand Ramondelli’s painted box-former art. He hopes Metzen’s World of Warcraft storytelling pays off. JD adds that Dreamwave pushed a boxy style that IDW’s More Than Meets the Eye is finally breaking.
From the Chat
Peter reports mixed reactions to this year’s BotCon toys. One listener, Tony, defends Dreamwave, which the crew teases.
TFBBQ with Rob Springer: Does It Always Go Back to G1?
Rob admits he wanted the Dark of the Moon Voyager Ironhide largely because its red and black is closer to G1, even though he always pushes the fandom to move past G1. He loved that Beast Wars was a next generation, and his favorite G1 stories are the movie and space operas like Matrix Quest. He notes newer fans grew up with Armada, citing a fan who called Hot Shot the original yellow guy. He points to Prime’s Knock Out as nearly a new character, and asks whether a line of all-new characters could catch on.
What Went Wrong with Power Core Combiners?
Brian recaps the line: a 2009 trademark, a 4chan leak and a Toy Fair 2010 debut. The $10 basics paired a figure with a weapon-like Minicon, and the five-packs added four non-transforming drone limbs. The crew loves the line but agrees it never sold. JD blames a perfect storm of no fiction, little built-in story and a bad economy. One host says the basics sold fine until wave three’s repaints, but the five-packs never looked like $20. Listener Sean McDaniel notes the best sets, like the Dinobots and Constructicons, came last when stores had stopped stocking the line. Others agree the missing fiction hurt, and Matrix Prime calls it Action Master Syndrome. The crew argues kids needed something to latch onto, like the Kre-O web videos. One host thinks a better-known character than Huffer might have helped. Another host counters that new characters were the line’s best part. The crew hopes Hasbro revisits the concept someday, maybe at BotCon.
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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