Rob Clay makes his first RFC Mini-cast appearance and names Combiner Wars Superion his favorite toy of the year so far. He and John DeLuna weigh where Superion sits in the line, then dig into the Unicron Trilogy. Rob explains how Armada Supercon Optimus Prime brought him back to Transformers and how he met Exvee. Energon combiners, Cybertron keys and the self-transforming Armada Prime all get a look.

Meet Rob Clay

Rob says Gundam figures are his biggest non-Transformers collection, and Gundam is how he and Exvee met. That connection eventually brought him to RFC. The pair spend a stretch on Gundam and other toy lines before John steers back to Transformers. John plugs the toy reviews Rob and Exvee write at TFormers.com.

Combiner Wars Superion: State of the Art

Rob calls Superion his favorite thing this year. He says it is the first item in seven or eight years to earn the top “State of the Art” rating on the FigureReviews.com scale TFormers uses. John asks whether Superion is an outlier or the start of better things, now that Menasor is out. Rob says it is too early to tell. Hot Spot looks spectacular on its own, he says, but shares some of Menasor’s odd proportions from certain angles. He rates Dragstrip the best standalone Stunticon deluxe. John compares Dragstrip to Silverbolt as a great standalone figure. Both praise the new combiner connectors. Rob notes how hard older combiners like Bruticus and Power Core Combiners are to pull apart.

Robots in Disguise and the Collector

Rob has not bought Robots in Disguise yet but wants Strongarm and Warrior Class Grimlock, plus Legends he missed. John recommends Warrior Class Bumblebee as an underrated pick. Rob says he does not mind the kid-focused approach. He is glad the Warrior Class exists at all, since collector and kid needs are so far apart. His one disappointment is indirect. The Transformers Adventure Animated Dinobots, Slag and Swoop, showed him he has moved on from Animated. John says the same about the Animated DVD set he never opened.

The Unicron Trilogy Revisited

Rob still revisits his Unicron Trilogy collection, except Armada Leader Class Megatron. On Energon, he says the good toys were really good and the bad ones really not. He liked Energon Optimus Prime, Scorponok, the Ultra class figures and Bulkhead. He argues no Energon Autobot managed a good robot, vehicle, torso and leg all at once, with Inferno closest but immobile as legs. Both call Cybertron the most forgettable of the three lines. Its keys felt to John like Mini-Cons without Mini-Cons. Their favorites are Cybertron Optimus Prime and Vector Prime. John says the over-designed Cybertron Optimus showed why a fresh start came next.

Armada and the Supercon Prime

John calls the Armada toy line beloved and recently dug out Megatron and Sideways. Rob says a Supercon Optimus Prime brought him back to Transformers. On the Gundam forum where they met, Exvee told him to swap the thighs for better hip range. Rob also enjoys the large Armada Optimus Prime. John brings up a big, self-transforming Optimus Prime toy, and both say nothing that elaborate has been tried since. Rob mentions the movie Gravity Bots as a later take on automatic transformation, and jokes his Optimus could switch his TV on and off.

Contributors: John DeLuna, Rob Clay

The RFC Mini-cast

Brian Kilby

Your snack-size Transformers podcast every week. Get in-depth reviews, commentary and more in 30 minutes or less!

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