HasCon 2017 tickets are on sale, and the crew spends the big item picking apart the prices and policies. Adult VIP packages cost $600, dealer booths start at $1,000, and talent will only sign merchandise bought at the event. TakaraTomy’s MP-39 Masterpiece Sunstreaker reveal sends Sunsurge owners to eBay and sparks a debate over third-party Masterpiece figures. Movie news brings the first Bumblebee poster and the working title Transformers Universe Bumblebee, plus a Hot Rod package leak and Voyager Scorn. Third-party news covers FansToys Rouge, BadCube reissues and two Mastermind Creations releases.
News
HasCon 2017 Tickets Go On Sale With Few Details
Hasbro opened ticket sales for HasCon, its first “Fanmily” event in Providence, Rhode Island. The press release lists Transformers alongside Hasbro brands like My Little Pony, Nerf and Magic: The Gathering. Announced guests include Peter Cullen and Frank Welker. Single-day tickets cost $30 for ages 3–15 and $60 for adults. Three-day tickets run $75 to $165, and VIP packages start at $200 for youth and $600 for adults, plus Rhode Island tax. Exhibitor booths cost $1,000, $2,500 or $5,000, with a cheaper artist option. One host reads the booth pricing as a sign Hasbro doesn’t want dealers there. Talent will only sign merchandise bought on the day of the event, which the crew called insane. Don shared a book signing where his own copy was refused even with a receipt. Rob pointed to a JoeCon lineup note suggesting some exclusives may be shared with SDCC. The VIP package includes a choice of evening events, including the Hall of Fame dinner. Brian argued Hasbro is targeting people who can afford it, like Maserati does. Another host countered that many fans can afford it but haven’t been given a reason yet. Don, who has attended nearly every BotCon, said nothing so far makes the VIP package worth considering. Other concerns included the date right after school starts, a thin schedule three months out, Rhode Island travel, a split venue and a one-credit-card payment rule. A few hosts said they likely won’t attend, though a few also stressed they want it to succeed. [Source: TFormers]
MP-39 Masterpiece Sunstreaker Revealed
New magazine scans and a designer interview show off MP-39 Masterpiece Sunstreaker. According to the crew’s reading of the interview, the team hopes to make the full 1984 and 1985 cast, including minibots. Sunstreaker’s doors, trunk and headlights all open, and he can be set up as a real Lamborghini or the cartoon look. The domestic preorder price is about $120, well above the roughly $80 Sideswipe sold for. The crew speculates the complex engineering and Lamborghini’s involvement push the price up. The reveal sent Sunsurge owners to eBay, where he’s selling for $50 to $60. One host declared he is 100% done with third-party Masterpiece figures after being burned several times. Don is keeping his Sunsurge, and his Downbeat as Jazz, rather than paying $120. Another host argued buying official figures sustains the brand, while third-party figures keep splintering a bubble. In the chat, Machtackle hoped the news pushes third parties away from G1 Masterpiece figures. [Source: TFormers]
Transformers Feature Coming to Walmart in June
One host heard about this firsthand from a Walmart toy department manager. A Hasbro rep told her an Action Alley Transformers display arrives in early June, with the set-out date unknown. The host suspects it will go out the week Transformers: The Last Knight opens. The crew hopes it brings the next movie wave and new Generations waves to brick-and-mortar stores. [Source: TFormers]
Legends LG-42 Godbomber New Photos
New photos of TakaraTomy’s Legends LG-42 Godbomber impressed the crew. One host’s preorder has already been charged. The crew was surprised by his size, close to Super Ginrai’s height in earlier magazine scans. His legs use Combiner Wars-style sockets, so expect plenty of combination swapping. Chrome came up too, since tinted chrome chipped badly on Generations Jetfire. [Source: TFormers]
Optimus Prime and Bumblebee Bears at Build-A-Bear Workshop
Build-A-Bear Workshop is adding Optimus Prime and Bumblebee bears, costumes and sound options. The crew agrees the bears aren’t for them, though the Bumblebee bear tempts at least one host. Another joked about how many kids the movie Optimus Prime has given nightmares. [Source: TFormers]
First Bumblebee Movie Poster Reveals a Working Title
The live-action Bumblebee prequel got its first poster image, showing only his head. It also gives the tentative title Transformers Universe Bumblebee. The crew joked it sounds like a 2004 toy name, and someone offered “Bumble Blast” as an alternative. [Source: TFormers]
Last Knight Hot Rod Package Leak
A new leak shows the front of the placeholder “Lorem Ipsum” package seen earlier. It is the corner of a presumed Hot Rod and Bumblebee two-pack with Hot Rod’s character art. Because it’s a two-pack in red, it is likely Toys R Us exclusive Mission to Cybertron packaging. It is also the first proof a Last Knight Hot Rod toy exists. [Source: TFormers]
Voyager Dinobot Scorn Package Image
A package image shows Scorn as a new Voyager mold, after a Deluxe in 2014. Amazon stock photos followed, and the crew hopes the dinosaur mode just photographs badly. One host worried the split pelvis and red plastic recall Beast Wars Inferno’s weak hips. The new mold also has three rows of spines instead of one. [Source: TFormers]
Empire Magazine’s Last Knight Feature
Chris says the Empire article opens with Michael Bay’s hair getting singed off on a pyro-heavy set of another film. It is mostly about watching Bay work. It also gives the first hint the Bumblebee movie might be set in the 1980s. [Source: TFormers]
New images show TakaraTomy’s Dark Optimus Prime, the Voyager movie-ticket premium. The crew likes the matching gray plastic and fuller deco more than Hasbro’s version. Nobody plans to buy one, since a middleman would push it to about $100. [Source: TFormers]
Camino Bluetooth Speaker Heads
Camino is making Bluetooth speaker heads of Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee and Sqweeks. The crew says the Optimus Prime head is human-sized and about $400. The crew called Megatron creepy and Sqweeks adorable. One host would buy Optimus Prime at $100. [Source: TFormers]
Sonic Color-Changing Last Knight Slushes
Sonic’s Last Knight promotion brings color-changing slushes in three combos. They are cherry with blue raspberry, orange with grape, and clear with grape. Nobody could say what flavor “clear” is. [Source: TFormers]
Third-Party News
FansToys Rouge Prototype Images
New prototype images show FansToys Rouge, an unofficial Masterpiece-scale Arcee. She isn’t a Headmaster, so Don, who has waited years for a proper Arcee, still has to wait. She comes with an optional chest, angular like the original movie or curved like the Generations toy. The crew wants promo shots without pinup poses. Brian recalled discussing Transmetal 2 Blackarachnia on the very first episode of RFC. The crew thinks a Headmaster upgrade kit could come later. [Source: TFormers]
BadCube Brawny and Backland Reissues
BadCube is reissuing Brawny and Backland, its unofficial Brawn and Outback. They get slightly modified colors and their preorder bonuses again, including a Quintesson pack. The crew recalls Backland’s bonus was the Decepticon detector from “Five Faces of Darkness.” The reissues should benefit from BadCube’s improved production standards. [Source: TFormers]
Ocular Max Volture and Buzzard
New photos show Ocular Max’s large-scale Volture and Buzzard, unofficial Laserbeak and Buzzsaw. They look great, but one host won’t buy a two-pack after trouble with Jaguar, their unofficial Ravage. [Source: TFormers]
Mastermind Creations Aero Alpha
Mastermind Creations’ Reformatted Aero Alpha is an unofficial IDW Wing from the Drift miniseries. Wing was created by Shane McCarthy to motivate Drift’s story. The crew especially likes the clean vehicle mode and expects a Drift figure to follow. [Source: TFormers]
What’s on TFormers
Rob reviewed IDW’s Optimus Prime #7, with Priscilla Tramontano filling in on art for Kei Zama. Rob enjoyed it and says it starts a short run of fill-in artists ahead of the First Strike crossover. [Source: TFormers]
This Week in History
In 2000, the Car Robots opening single “Hono no Overdrive” and ending single “Marionette” were released in Japan by Interchannel. The crew remembered singer Koji Wada and talked about a two-disc Japanese Transformers theme compilation. In 2009, the Transformers Animated finale “Endgame, Part II” premiered in the US. The crew praised Animated as a solid show, though one host felt the finale was rushed. Matt didn’t dispute calling Animated the second-best series, only the other host’s number one.
Bad Poets Corner: Sun Surge
This week’s poem, “Sun Surge,” jokes that owners stuck with a falling resale value should donate him to Goodwill. They can skip the Donanomics classes and write him off on next year’s taxes.
RFC Reviews
Diecast’s latest RFC Reviews video covers Voyager Optimus Prime.
What We Got This Week
Rob
Rob ordered parts from Not-If Productions: guns for Titans Return Brainstorm and Chromedome, plus Brainstorm’s briefcase. The parts are injection-molded and feel durable, though the colors are a little less saturated than the toys. Chromedome’s guns fit his hands and car mode almost perfectly. Brainstorm’s guns rely on friction against painted parts, so they don’t quite hold on his vehicle mode. The briefcase matches Alex Milne’s artwork, and its handle swivels so it fits in his hand. Each piece was about $3, around $18 shipped, and Rob plans to order Not-If’s Titans Return Galvatron upgrades.
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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