Transformers: The Movie turns 28, and the crew argues the brand would not exist as it does without Unicron and the 1986 cast shake-up. In a slow post-convention week, the crew asks when third-party Transformers jumped the shark, from three Predakings to a pile of Dinobot teams. Masterpiece Star Saber is confirmed as a Brainmaster, and Million Publishing’s Go Shooter gets painted images. Rob Springer answers questions on Perfect Effect’s Warden and on why fans love Whirl and Roadbuster.
News
New Photos of Generations Crosscut
New photos show Crosscut in flat green plastic instead of the painted Toy Fair sample. Exvee notes that unpainted photos always look this way and that Roadbuster shipped heavy with paint. One host thinks Crosscut looks much better than Skids. Others like the red and the Diaclone-style head. One host suspects the legs in the photos are mistransformed. [Source: not found]
Primacy Number 1 Arrives
IDW’s Primacy number 1 is out, with a review on TFormers. The crew expects readers to feel about it the way they felt about Autocracy and Monstrosity, since the writers are the same. They still like Livio Ramondelli’s art. [Source: TFormers]
Masterpiece Star Saber Confirmed as a Brainmaster
New images confirm that Saber is a Brainmaster. The crew had assumed so, but one host was unsure the earlier photos showed a real figure in the cockpit. [Source: not found]
Painted Images of Million Publishing Go Shooter
New hand-painted images of Go Shooter look very nice. The crew likes the blue and red dots that turn the roof intake into a light bar. They call the Goldfire Bumblebee mold mediocre, but say the extra paint of a mail-order exclusive fixes a lot. Don owns both Artfire and Stepper, and the crew compares how those sold. [Source: not found]
When Did Third-Party Transformers Jump the Shark?
With little official news, the crew takes on the flood of third-party toys. Two unofficial Impactors are coming, from Mastermind Creations and X2 Toys, with iGear’s still pending. Two not-Snarls are close, from Gigapower and Fans Toys, and a triple-changing not-Megatron leaves the crew cold. One host points to the Giant versus Hercules Devastator race as the beginning of the end. John DeLuna picks the three Predakings as the real turning point. Don wishes the companies talked to each other, but Diecast likes having options.
One host notes that Mastermind Creations fixed its first figure with the Annihilator retool, while BTS never fixed Bisonicron. The crew agrees Unique Toys keeps improving, and one host sticks with Fans Project for its Headmasters. Another calls Fans Project the one company whose quality he trusts. Brian cancels a pile of preorders on air, including Mania King. The crew also notes KFC Toys is changing its name, reportedly at a retailer’s request.
Q&A with Rob Springer
Kent Taylor asks about Perfect Effect’s Warden, an unofficial IDW Fortress Maximus. Rob likes the new Brave Max colors but cannot afford it. Others call it over-engineered, with a great robot mode and a head mode that looks out of place. One host played with Ninja Dave’s and says it feels premium, but it is overpriced.
Transfanatics asks why the crew makes such a big deal of Whirl and Roadbuster. Rob says they are interesting history: non-Takara molds from outside companies that ended up in the Transformers line. The crew lists other outside molds, such as the Deluxe Insecticons, Jetfire, Shockwave, Omega Supreme and Sky Lynx. They also credit the Wreckers and the UK comics for the love.
Ant from TFU.info asks Rob to retell a 2004 OTFCC story. A dealer at a room party praised a Robot Masters Convoy as super articulated. Rob blurted out a ‘your mom’ joke, then left the room.
This Week in History
Transformers: The Movie and its soundtrack were released 28 years ago this week. The crew credits the film with season three, Unicron, the Matrix and Stan Bush. One host argues that without it, Transformers would reboot from scratch every few years like Ninja Turtles. One host saw it in theaters at 16 and remembers the shock of each death. The crew debates whether it looks better than season one.
Live Chat Questions
Asked whether Michael Bay will direct Transformers 5, the crew says probably, since the movies make him a fortune. They note that Bay’s Platinum Dunes produced, rather than directed, many films fans blame on him. Asked about a table at TFCon, Brian says no, since a table makes it hard to enjoy the show. The crew expects Aaron Archer to keep appearing as a TFCon guest.
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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