Brian reviews Transformers: Age of Extinction and calls it his least favorite Transformers film so far. Don reports back from BotCon 2014, where Generations Arcee, Chromia, Brainstorm and a hinted 2015 combiner line headlined. The crew also weighs Hasbro’s San Diego Comic-Con exclusives, led by a Kre-O Class of 1984 set and G1-colored Dinobots. Andrew Franks and David Proctor of Boss Fight Studio talk about sculpting Collectors Club figures and their Vitruvian H.A.C.K.S. Kickstarter.
News
SDCC 2014: Kre-O Class of 1984 and G1-Colored Dinobots
Hasbro’s Kre-O Class of 1984 yearbook set packs 30 Kreons for $60, and the crew calls it the best news of the week. A second exclusive offers G1-colored Age of Extinction Dinobots with a cardboard Ark and Teletraan-1 diorama for around $160. There is no Slug, and one host would have paid more for a plastic diorama. Others think it is too expensive. Since Snarl is not in the movie, one host asks why the G1-colored Snarl could not be the retail release. [Source: TFW2005]
Robots in Disguise Preview Coming to The Hub
A preview of the 2015 Robots in Disguise series will air July 4 during a Transformers marathon on The Hub. The crew expects a short animation sample like the first Transformers Prime preview. [Source: not found]
Takara Tomy’s Age of Extinction Dinobot Microns
Takara Tomy’s clear Dinobot Microns turn out to be Cybertron-era dinosaur Mini-Cons, including Brimstone. The crew is unimpressed. [Source: not found]
Rusty Optimus Prime Comes to the US in a Three-Pack
A US version of the rusty Age of Extinction Optimus Prime arrives in a three-pack with Deluxes, including Rollbar on the Crosshairs mold. It uses more plastic color and less paint than the Takara version. Brian would rather import the Takara figure than buy two Deluxes he does not want. [Source: not found]
Angry Birds Transformers Announced
Rovio and Hasbro announced an Angry Birds Transformers crossover. Brian calls it a non-story, and the crew expects mostly merchandise. [Source: TFW2005]
Unique Toys Mania King Gets a Better Repaint
Unique Toys repainted its not-Galvatron Mania King with a reversed cannon color and an added LED. One host preordered within 30 seconds. The crew understands why first-run buyers are angry, and they debate waiting for third parties’ second releases. [Source: TFW2005]
Maketoys Quantron and More Third-Party News
Maketoys’ Quantron, a not-Computron, ships in August as a gift set for about $400. One host already preordered it despite the price. Crossover Gen’s God Bomber add-on works with both its trailer and MP-10. Diecast is in love with a third party’s new Swindle, part of an ambitious set of five Voyager-sized figures. [Source: not found]
Rise of the Dark Spark Arrives
The crew finally received a review copy of Rise of the Dark Spark. The review comes next week, and early buzz on Twitter is not great. [Source: not found]
BotCon 2014 Analysis
Don calls the new Generations Arcee great looking, short of a Masterpiece, though he hopes the back kibble adjusts. The crew is surprised that Chromia is a major remold of Prime Arcee, which opens the door to more female characters. Don saw Fans Project’s colored Mindwipe prototype and describes legs that form a coffin for the Headmaster. Brian now loves the Voyager Optimus Prime as Puppet Prime from the stop-motion bumpers.
Peter Van and the crew prefer the Leader Megatron to the Armada Megatron remold, which still looks like G1 Megatron in an Armada costume. Exvee and Don agree to keep Smart Robin alongside the new Brainstorm. Legends Bombshell and Powerglide look great. Hasbro says it wants to finish groups like the Insecticons and Seekers. Exvee explains that slow-selling Data Disk two-packs clogged Legends distribution.
Don covers the BotCon box set. Cannonball has a knee quality-control issue, Cheetor is the surprise souvenir, Apelinq is confirmed and Primal Prime sold out. The crew runs through Subscription Service 3.0, from Serpentor on the Scourge mold to Zap with G.B. Blackrock. Silhouettes of Superion and a helicopter point to four combiner teams among 16 Deluxes and four Voyagers in 2015. Brian sees Hasbro answering third parties with better, cheaper versions.
The crew asks fans to respect BotCon’s no-photo rule for panel slides. They also note controversy over remarks by the Fun Publications owner. They decline to weigh in but agree Fun Pub needs better public relations.
Interview: Boss Fight Studio
Brian and Diecast talk with Andrew Franks and David Proctor of Boss Fight Studio, both former Hasbro designers. Their first original line, Vitruvian H.A.C.K.S., starts with Greek mythology, including Spartans and a Medusa with an articulated snake tail. Series 2 goes fantasy, and Series 3 retro sci-fi. The highly articulated, roughly four-inch figures are built for customizing, with swappable parts and unpainted base bodies.
Boss Fight sculpted the heads for the Collectors Club’s subscription and BotCon figures, from Chromedome and Rampage to Scorponok’s Zarak and Croc. Franks designed the Combaticons set with new heads and wanted Xeron as the combined head. He also created a G2-colored Jazz and Optimus Prime value pack. Proctor explains how Rampage’s sharp horns were blunted in production. Brian backed the Kickstarter during the interview. [Source: Kickstarter]
Transformers: Age of Extinction Review
Brian says Age of Extinction looks like a competent outing on the surface but is the worst Transformers film underneath. The Autobots are more colorful and distinctive, the visuals are sharp and Lockdown works. But the movie runs nearly three hours with no wow moment, weak acting and a near-absent Galvatron. Worst of all, Optimus Prime beats Grimlock handily, neutering the Dinobots on arrival. If you liked the first three films, he says, you will like this one.
What We Got This Week
Brian got the Transformers Loot Crate, but its Loyal Subjects Slag broke when he tried to fix a backward leg. He also tested his new Retron 5 with the Famicom game The Mystery of Convoy.
Diecast reviewed the Transformers Loot Crate on the Radio Free Cybertron YouTube channel.
Don picked up an Evac at Universal Studios after riding Transformers: The Ride.
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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