With Brian away, Chris hosts and opens by remembering JD Church, whose nagging brought RFC back in 2009. The final US Toys R Us stores close this week as Party City plans Toy City pop-ups. Figure King reveals MP-43 Beast Wars Megatron’s accessories, including a toothbrush, and Masterpiece Convoy Version 3 gets a clearer look. Plus Special Edition Blast Off with Megatronus and dueling unofficial Red Alerts.
This Week in History
On June 26, 2009, Radio Free Cybertron returned to a regular schedule after more than half a decade away, just in time to review Revenge of the Fallen. Chris uses the anniversary to remember the show’s late friend JD Church. It was JD’s nagging of Brian over Google Chat in the summer of 2009 that brought RFC back. Chris says nearly everything since, from the crew to the other shows, traces back to JD, more than four years after his death. Jason, who joined after JD was gone, says his presence is still felt on the show.
News
Party City Looking to Fill Toys R Us Void With New Toy Stores
The final US Toys R Us stores close this week, most on June 29. Chris and Matt found the stores they visited stripped down to piles of unwanted Power Rangers zords. Party City plans 50 Toy City pop-up stores starting as soon as September, which could become permanent if they perform. A KB Toys pop-up effort is also planned. Chris calls a Party City executive’s forecast, that 70 to 80 percent of the lost toy market recovers in a year or two, extremely optimistic. He also mentions an unconfirmed report that someone wants to buy and revive the Toys R Us brand. [Source: TFormers]
Power of the Primes Deluxe Wave 3 Hitting US Walmarts Now!
The second set of Terrorcons and a reshipment of Jazz have been sighted in Ohio, New York and Texas. Chris has seen a lot of Wave 1 refill clogging Walmart pegs, though Walmart’s distribution seems to be catching up. [Source: TFormers]
Blast Off and Megatronus In-Box Images of Power of the Primes Transformers Figures
Photos from Robot Kingdom’s Facebook show Special Edition Blast Off with a choice of the cartoon shuttle chest or the combiner-peg chest. It adds G1-style sticker tampographs, which some of the crew dislike. The bundled Megatronus has a clear backpack and painted limbs. Diecast asks why it is a Prime Master fans already have, and Chris guesses the set was planned before the line was cut short. Don noticed that Amazon’s listings for Blast Off, Counterpunch and Repugnus now go to 404 pages. The crew suspects Hasbro simply asked Amazon to hide them. [Source: TFormers]
Figure King reveals MP-43 Beast Wars Megatron’s accessories. Chris’s favorite is a toothbrush: the beast kibble comes off so Megatron can recreate a first-season scene, animation error and all, brushing his dinosaur hand’s teeth. He also gets a beam effect for the dinosaur hand, parts to hoist Masterpiece Dinobot by the head on Dinobot’s stand, and the rifle from “Call of the Wild.” Chris calls it the most amazingly TakaraTomy move he can think of. [Source: TFormers]
Masterpiece Optimus Prime / Convoy Version 3: Clearer Looks at Prototype
Chris expects the third Masterpiece Optimus Prime to be MP-45 and to arrive between January and March 2019, around the 35th anniversary. He also expects a new top price tier. One host worries about gaps, such as the chest sitting below the windows. The crew compares it with Magic Square’s similar Optimus Prime and shares a Japanese meme comparing MP-1, MP-10 and this one to ever-simpler animation cels. [Source: TFormers]
Magic Square Unofficial Legends Scale Sideswipe and Red Alert Shown With New Color Photos
Chris notes the Red Alert has no fire department markings at all, which is not even cartoon accurate. The crew finds the robot modes a little off, though one host likes the faces better than Badcube’s. [Source: TFormers]
Iron Factory Racing Bros Annihilator: Unofficial Legends Red Alert Revealed in New Photoshoot
Iron Factory’s stylized Red Alert follows its love-or-hate Sideswipe. Most of the crew likes it better than Magic Square’s, and it remembers the fire department markings. One host notes you could pair a Magic Square Sideswipe with this Red Alert. [Source: TFormers]
Millennium Falcon Out of Box Images: Star Wars Powered by Transformers
The ship mode looks great with plenty of deco work, and the robots beat the earlier Hasbro-engineered versions. The Han Solo half reads as a generic robot, and the crew pitches a Lando and Rey version, or Chewbacca with a Porg. [Source: TFormers]
What’s on TFormers
Rob covers details on the Transformers episode of The Toys That Made Us, with the season three subject to be revealed at SDCC. He also covers a report on the 3H BotCon panel at Pete’s Robot Convention 2018. A fresh rumor points to Masterpiece Ratchet and Ironhide reissues in December. Rob thinks that supports an early 2019 release for the third Masterpiece Optimus Prime.
RFC T-Shirts
RFC shirts designed by John are on sale through Shirtsicle, in sizes up to at least 4X. John says one more sale unlocks a second wave of designs, and the goal is reached by the end of the segment.
What We Got This Week
Chris went to the final JoeCon with Matt and found little to buy in a packed dealer room. On the trip, Matt picked up a Titans Return Trypticon for him at Ollie’s. Chris also got the Power of the Primes Wave 2 Dinobots and is not impressed: Snarl feels better than Sinnertwin, but Slag, Swoop and Slash were the best. He got TakaraTomy Legends Weirdwolf with the Headmasters-accurate head, for about what the Hasbro figure cost. Robots in Disguise Bludgeon, a heavy retool of Megatronus, ranks with the best Warrior figures. He also bought Power of the Primes Inferno, plus a second one for Diecast after teasing him about it.
Matt got Prime Master Landmine and is convinced Submarauder does not exist after searching five states. At antique malls with Hey Mickey, he found a Power Core Combiners Dinobot set, a carded Revenge of the Fallen Lockdown and Terradive, each about $15. Mastermind Creations’ Thunderclash arrived from Big Bad Toy Store with a stress mark on its backpack. Grand Maximus arrived too. He also bought another Inferno and another Starscream, plus a Beachcomber, as custom fodder.
Diecast got the yellow Toy World Devastator box set from Taobao, a big, heavy box. From Hasbro Toy Shop he got Outback and two Cindersaurs.
Jason got the Iron Factory Windblade reissue in Combiner Hunters colors with the extra sword. He also got the FansHobby trailer for Nemesis Prime. Its excellent Jeff Senior stickers are for a different deco, so the crew urges him to buy a second Gunfighter 2.
Rob got a Titans Return Slugslinger from Mark Alley for his birthday and finds it simpler than Triggerhappy but very solid. Someone also sent Thermidor and Robots in Disguise Power Surge Optimus Prime. Rob warns that Thermidor has hidden antenna channels. He thinks the Power Surge design nods to Machine Wars Optimus Prime.
John ordered Rodimus Unicronus, Outback and Cindersaur from Hasbro Toy Shop, arriving next week. Chris points out that Rodimus Unicronus is actually Unicron in the Machinima series.
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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