All six Generations Selects Seacons and King Poseidon appear in primer gray at Summer Wonder Festival 2019, alongside a Big Convoy Unicron Destroyer Edition. HasLab Unicron passes 2,000 backers, and TakaraTomy Mall’s campaign raises questions about how Japanese orders count. Siege Powerdashers turn up at ACG 2019, and the Transformers Trading Card Game announces a Titan-sized Trypticon. A listener shares a tip for stripping Siege battle damage.
News
Unicron Watch: TakaraTomy Mall Begins a Provisional Unicron Campaign
HasLab Unicron stands at 2,093 backers about two weeks in, with 31 days left. The crew says it is still not on track. TakaraTomy Mall lists commercialization at 8,000 units worldwide, with Japanese applications open until August 30. That seems to contradict John Warden’s SDCC comment that Japan would not count. One host reads the machine translation as TakaraTomy Mall proxying orders for Hasbro Pulse, with Japanese cards charged in mid-September. The listing also includes 24 ring parts, four thorn parts, a stand and a replacement destruction face. Only one transforming Unicron prototype exists, and the crew hears it was transformed behind a curtain at the Pulse party. The crew notes John Warden told Awesome Toy Blog the prototype took 18 months, with delivery expected in early 2021. Rob suggests the hashtag #UnicronSale for fans selling toys to fund a Unicron. [Source: TFormers]
Wonder Festival 2019 Summer: King Poseidon and All Six Generations Selects Seacons on Display
Matt says the Seacons look glorious, even in primer gray. Tentakil is a heavy retool of Moonracer, reworked into a squid. The crew notes any limb can become a gun by plugging into a Power of the Primes combiner hand. Don calls some of them retools, and one host says the hobby’s vocabulary has not kept up with shared engineering. The crew expects later repaints only if the Seacons sell well. [Source: TFormers]
Wonder Festival 2019 Summer: Big Convoy Unicron Destroyer Edition Coming Soon
Big Convoy returns with a giant gun from the Beast Wars Neo anime, and one host says that is exactly how TakaraTomy gets him to buy the mold again. One host calls Beast Wars Neo and Beast Wars II not worth watching. Wonder Festival also showed plastic color samples of Spinister and Rung and a primer gray Unicron prototype. [Source: TFormers]
ACG 2019: Siege Powerdashers Jet and Drill Types First Look
Two Siege Powerdashers appeared at ACG 2019 in Hong Kong as minor retools of the other Weaponizer molds. The crew thinks they look better than the Cog in the fan vote battle pack. One host suspects they were displayed by mistake, since the booth had wrong name tags and one photo post disappeared. [Source: TFormers]
Trypticon, Brunt, Full-Tilt and Wipe-Out Invade Transformers TCG Wave 4
The Transformers Trading Card Game’s fourth wave includes a booster box with 30 packs and a Titan-size Trypticon card. Brunt, Full-Tilt and Wipe-Out arrive as regular cards on November 8. Diecast is excited but finds the announcement early. He says Titan cards can be strong with the right deck, like the Devastator deck. [Source: TFormers]
First Look at Nightbird Retool of Siege Chromia, Rumored Generations Selects
Siege Chromia has been retooled into Nightbird, rumored for Generations Selects. Chris prefers TakaraTomy’s Legends Nightbird. One host would buy this one only with interesting accessories, like weapons that combine into a super weapon. [Source: TFormers]
Studio Series Universal Studios Store Exclusive Leader Megatron
The Universal Studios exclusive repaints Dark of the Moon Leader Megatron. Its deco follows the interactive Megatron character who greets guests at the ride. One host appreciates the idea but can live without it. [Source: TFormers]
Cyberverse Official Images: Spark Armor Ratchet, Shockwave, Warrior Drift, Jetfire and More
Spark Armor Ratchet combines with a snowmobile. Shockwave’s satellite accessory turns him into an Energon Shockblast homage. The crew will not pay $50 for Cyberverse Ark Optimus Prime and mostly waits for Cyberverse clearance. [Source: TFormers]
Listener Mail
John shared a toy swap where a Fans Project City Commander, silver drybrushing and all, turned up in a Siege Ultra Magnus box. Listener Jeremy recommends denatured alcohol from the hardware department to strip Siege battle damage. One host cautions that alcohol can cloud clear plastic and make it brittle.
What’s on TFormers This Week
Rob points to a review of the Lewis Resources Atlas, an upscaled MP-10 knockoff with a Captain America shield. There is also a 40-minute interview with Hasbro’s John Warden and Lynsey Bernie that covers Unicron.
What We Got This Week
Brian got a Transformers busy book from listener Dusty, who dropped it off during the pre-show. He also got Lancer, Galactic Man Shockwave and Refraktor, and his Brunt preorder arrived. He calls Galactic Man the best Shockwave in years, though it is small without its extra parts. Don got him Red Wing. Rebuying things he once sold, he found Robot Masters Reverse Convoy for $80 shipped and MP-40 Targetmaster Hot Rodimus. He picked up the 16-piece BotBots Arcade Renegades set from Amazon, where his favorite is a little Sharkticon. He also added two Gears and a Brawn from the 1985 McDonald’s Happy Meal set, bringing him to five of about 24.
Don got Red Alert, Brunt, Caliburst and Smashdown, and Chris helped him get Ectotron. He found Alternity Fortress Maximus on eBay for $15, missing its sword and driver. A Kabaya Fortress Maximus sword almost fits, so he plans to hunt for one at TFCon. He also got a spare Transmetal Optimus Primal for $15, plus Red Wing, Galactic Man Shockwave and Lancer.
Matt got Brunt from Amazon, calling him the biggest partsformer ever but still likable. He finally broke down and bought Siege Starscream, which he finds over-detailed and ugly in jet mode but poseable. Don arranged a Red Wing for him.
Chris got Lancer, but his came misassembled with a missing leg rivet, and he has contacted Hasbro Pulse. He also got TakaraTomy’s Legends Chromedome, a second Robots in Disguise Storm Shot from Paladin and a Nonnef weapon set for Siege Sideswipe. The new weapons free Sideswipe’s original gun for Red Alert.
Diecast got X-Transbots Neptune, which he calls the best-looking Seaspray yet, and Mechanic Studio’s Legends-scale Hound.
Jason got Brunt, whose mushroom peg keeps popping off, and Smashdown, which he says looked better in the CAD renders.
John said he got nothing that had not already been discussed.
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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Radio Free Cybertron 959 – Curse you, Brian Kilby