HasLab Unicron reaches 5,700 backers, still 2,300 short, and 72% of a Twitter poll expect it to fail. MP-45 Masterpiece Bumblebee Ver. 2.0 slips to late November, which may push back Blackarachnia and Hound. The crew previews Hasbro’s New York Comic Con panel and Super7’s $75 Super Cyborg Megatron X-Ray Edition. WizKids Deep Cuts miniatures, X2 Toys mini Jetfire and Starscream, and APC Toys’ Prime Optimus also get a look. Diecast checks out Siege Omega Supreme and two Transform Element Primes.
News
RFC Turns 20 on October 15
Radio Free Cybertron’s 20th anniversary falls on October 15, and the crew will mark it on the regular show the next day. Brian asks listeners to send favorite show memories to contact@tfradio.net or to @tfradio on Twitter. Diecast also confirms he will attend Hasbro’s New York Comic Con event on October 3.
YouTube Changes Rules for Videos Made for Kids
Toy reviewers worry about YouTube’s new rules for content aimed at children, which follow its FTC privacy settlement. One host read that flagged videos lose personalized ads rather than all monetization. One host follows a Transformers reviewer who expects to lose 90% of his revenue and plans to end his channel. Brian is not worried for RFC, since YouTube is a minor outlet for the show. The crew notes popular creators could move support to Patreon. [Source: Engadget]
Unicron Watch: 2,300 to Go
Brian walks back through the tracking since August 7, when HasLab Unicron sat at 2,289 backers. It now stands at 5,700, still 2,300 short. Of nearly 200 people in Brian’s Twitter poll, 72% think it will not fund. Diecast still expects last-minute orders plus UK, EU and Asian sales to carry it. Brian has a bet riding on whether it reaches 8,250. Rob notes that most Americans could not raise $1,000 in an emergency, and Unicron is not an emergency. One host predicts a last-second burst from inside Hasbro if the count gets close.
MP-45 Masterpiece Bumblebee Ver. 2.0 Release Delayed
MP-45 Bumblebee Ver. 2.0 has slipped to the last week of November. One host expects that to push back Blackarachnia and Hound too, since Takara Tomy rarely releases two main Masterpieces in one month. The crew notes that every new main-numbered Masterpiece this year has been delayed. [Source: TFormers]
NYCC 2019: Hasbro Transformers Panel to Reveal New Product Line
Hasbro’s panel on Thursday, October 3, at 11:30 a.m. will reveal the next product line. No reliable leaks have surfaced. One host dismisses a text list of rumored products as something anyone could fake. [Source: TFormers]
NYCC 2019: Super Cyborg Megatron X-Ray Edition
Super7’s $75 convention exclusive captures the moment Megatron becomes Galvatron in The Transformers: The Movie. One host who does not care about Super Cyborg calls it the best use of the concept yet. Jay Zachary says in chat that these usually turn up online after the con. [Source: TFormers]
WizKids Transformers Deep Cuts Miniatures
New images compare polished renders with an unpainted Bumblebee production sample. At $5 each, one host wants them as a relaxing paint project. He would paint one Starscream in Action Master Thundercracker colors and another as Action Master Starscream. [Source: TFormers]
X2 Toys XT013 Frozen and Starlight
These unofficial mini Jetfire and Starscream figures transform, or swap their vehicle backpacks for faces to work as Headmasters. The two-pack is $35 at Big Bad Toy Store. The crew likes the concept and notes that, unlike past X2 Toys prototypes, these are actually for sale. [Source: TFormers]
APC Toys Unofficial Transformers Prime Optimus Prime
Eric shared this third-party Transformers Prime Optimus Prime, which chat believes is an improved knockoff of the First Edition figure. The crew thinks it looks good, though several hosts are not big fans of Prime designs. [Source: TFormers]
What We Got This Week
Chris got another Cog from his Amazon wish list, plus a gift card, thanks to listener Skrt. He wants more Cogs to build weaponizer armor for other deluxes.
Brian got two of the Siege dino cassette sets with Frenzy, one to open and one to keep sealed. He finally got the Reflector set too, and the crew talks him into opening it. He also picked up a G1 Transformers thermos and still needs the matching lunchbox.
Diecast got Siege Omega Supreme from his friend Nick. Its bicep swivel was so tight he had to force it, and there are fingerprints inside the faceplate. Tightening a screw fixed his droopy head antenna. He also got the NewAge clear Insecticon set. Transform Element’s Shattered Glass Prime and Nemesis Prime each cost under a quarter of MP-44’s price. He prefers Transform Element to Magic Square, though he still likes MP-10’s look best.
Don‘s pickups this week were not Transformers.
Matt‘s pickups this week were not Transformers.
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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