The first in-package images of Transformers Prime Beast Hunters are out, and JD Church has zero interest in the spiky retools of last year’s molds. On this November 28, 2012 Radio Free Cybertron, Brian Kilby, Rob Clay and JD also cover a movie-themed BotCon 2013 tease and the coming Kre-O Micro-Changers. Aimee Morgan reviews Robots in Disguise #11 and More Than Meets the Eye #11, and she and Nicole review Rescue Bots. The crew rewinds to the Headmasters dub Life Can Be Sacrificed for Peace on Earth and runs the monthly third-party roundup.
RFC on Android and TV
RFC now has Android apps for Radio Free Cybertron, Fanboy Versus, Superhero Time and its video shows at tfradio.net/android. The shows can also be watched on TV through the YouTube channel, through Blip.tv on Roku and on TiVo. Brian is writing a guide for Roku, Apple TV and more.
News
Club Magazine Teases a Movie-Themed BotCon 2013
Transformers Collectors’ Club magazine #48 reveals the BotCon 2013 theme on its cover. It shows Circuit and Bobby B’s car lot from the first live-action movie, which suggests a movie theme. A shadowy figure on the logo is also tied in. Brian expects the club to use non-movie molds for movie-universe characters. One host would rather not see Animated molds reused outside Animated. [Source: not found]
Kre-O Micro-Changers Wave 1 Codes Revealed
TFormers reports that the blind pack ID codes for Kre-O Micro-Changers Wave 1 have been revealed, and the figures may already be in Singapore. Brian loves the look of Springer, Hook, Bludgeon and Dirge. Warpath is just okay, and he is saddened by Airachnid. [Source: not found]
First In-Package Look at Beast Hunters
Images of Beast Hunters figures and packaging have surfaced. JD calls them atrocious: last year’s molds covered in spikes, as if Rob Liefeld redesigned them. He also dislikes the white packaging with a vague monster image. He says a retooled Bumblebee in nearly the same colors, sitting beside unsold Bumblebees, is worse than a repaint as a new character. The crew compares it to the 2002 Masters of the Universe Snake Men retools and early G2 molds with crappy accessories. They note Hasbro has lost its knack for beast modes, and Rob calls Thundertron a failure as a beast. Brian says it pains them to complain, but this has killed JD’s interest in the line. They still love Legends-scale figures. [Source: Seibertron]
Spotty Distribution
JD hasn’t seen Ultra Magnus or Thundertron on shelves, and only a couple of Dreadwings. Brian’s wife Kim found Generations Sergeant Kup, which is plentiful at Toys R Us. The Bruticus team has been hard to find.
Comic News with Aimee Morgan
Aimee notes birthdays for James Roberts, Chris Metzen and Livio Ramondelli. The Art of Fall of Cybertron book is finally being printed. IDW’s February 2013 solicits include Robots in Disguise #14, More Than Meets the Eye #14 and Spotlight: Megatron by Nick Roche. Regeneration One #88 and Rage of the Dinobots #4 round them out. Rage of the Dinobots #1, set in Transformers Prime continuity, is out this week. The Old Oil House released a fan audio drama of The Death of Optimus Prime, with Aimee and Nicole in small roles.
Comic Review: Robots in Disguise #11
Aimee reviews Robots in Disguise #11, The End of the Beginning of the World, by John Barber, Guido Guidi and Priscilla Tramontano. After Metrotitan names Starscream the uniter of Cybertron, Starscream lets it go to his head. An attack on Omega Supreme calls Decepticon loyalties into question. Metalhawk decides to trust Bumblebee, and Arcee gets a moment to shine. Aimee calls it a political poker game, though the final reveal feels a bit soon. She gives it 4 out of 5 Energon goodies.
Comic Review: More Than Meets the Eye #11
Shadowplay concludes as Pax’s team breaks into the Primal Basilica to steal the fake Matrix. In the present, the story is told to revive Rung, and Red Alert’s fate is revealed. Chromedome, Whirl, Rewind, Ratchet and Ultra Magnus get moments. Pax ultimately loses, and the unnamed senator’s identity is revealed. Aimee notes some detail lost to guest inkers but gives it 5 out of 5 Energon goodies.
Rescue Bots Review: The Other Doctor
Aimee and Nicole review the first part of the two-parter introducing Dr. Morocco, voiced by Tim Curry. With Doc Greene fired, Morocco takes the town scientist job and convinces the council his Morbot can replace the Burns rescue team. The audience sees Morocco behind the pier fire, the runaway rocket and Doc Greene’s runaway solar car. The mayor hires him on the spot. They love Frankie vowing to expose him.
Transformers Rewind: Life Can Be Sacrificed for Peace on Earth
Brian’s favorite episode is the Headmasters dub in which Scorponok, now leading the Decepticons, plots to turn Earth into a sun. Sparkle is badly hurt fighting Trypticon, and Fortress Maximus spends his power to save him. Sparkle tells Danny that boys can cry, but not out loud, Brian’s favorite Transformers quote. Scorponok throws Fortress Maximus into lava, but the Headmasters theme song revives him and he runs Scorponok through his weak point. JD finds the dub awful, while Brian calls it a work of art. Another host argues the dub makes the formulaic anime watchable. The crew hasn’t recorded the next Rewind yet and asks for suggestions.
Third Party Roundup
Brian says he has brand loyalty to iGear. Its limited-edition Mini Warriors MW-01 Manatee and MW-09 Tubes are Rager and Spray repaints, $40 each or $70 for both. Brian is far more excited about iGear’s new Dune Raker, a Beachcomber homage, and Cogs and Veer, Gears and Swerve homages. A Bushwhacker homage on the larger Hench mold leaves him cold. He prefers the $20 Rager’s Legends-friendly size to the $40 Hench.
TFC’s Project Uranus F-15 Eagle is a nice Aerialbot homage without being slavishly G1. Planet X’s Genesis, a War for Cybertron Omega Supreme homage, has a claw big enough to grip Bruticus and internal lighting like the game designs, for $350. The crew says Hegemon still sucks, though one host wants Toy World’s Grindrod until he sees the $80 price. Head Robots’ drone kit turns the Japan-exclusive Dark of the Moon Vortex into Whirl. Brian badly wants it, since he has that Vortex thanks to Tengu. A Kre-O upgrade kit gives the figures Popeye proportions. Head Robots’ Skeletron kit turns the BotCon Gigatron into Skeletor. JD is unsure about Captured Prey’s $105 Chaos Paladin pre-order, since Beast Hunters has soured him on Transformers.
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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