TakaraTomy officially reveals Transformers Wild King, and the crew sees a spiritual successor to Power Core Combiners in its combining animal robots. HasLab Liokaiser passes 18,000 backers with five days to go, and Robosen’s early plans for a fully robotic Devastator leave everyone asking who buys these. Target’s Transformers Thursdays bring back Legacy Devcon, and new in-hand looks show a surprisingly tall Age of the Primes Sky-Byte. In What We Got This Week, Don and Brian find Age of the Primes wave one, Matt finally gets his black Masterpiece Ironhide, and Chris receives a one-of-a-kind Headmaster Don.

News

HasLab Liokaiser Unlocks Every Tier with Five Days Left

HasLab Liokaiser crossed 18,000 backers, unlocking every tier, including the display stands. It sat at about 18,250 with five days remaining. The crew expects a late surge, and a bonus item like the Omega Prime Titan Master or the Deathsaurus Micromasters if the numbers climb high. The crew jokingly called dibs on a bonus Grandus, though one host expects something smaller, like a Micromaster redeco. [Source: TFW2005]

TakaraTomy Officially Reveals Transformers Wild King

One machine translation of the promo materials called it “Wild Cooking,” and the crew loves it. The line pairs Energy Master Optimus Prime and Megatron with animal robots, including a giraffe, a T-Rex and Hydrophant. One host loves one-off Japanese series, though wishes the beasts were returning characters like Beast Wars Megatron. One host called it a spiritual successor to Power Core Combiners. The core robots transform without disassembly, and their lower legs become feet for the full combined form. A Discord member noted Optimus Prime’s arms store in his legs when removed. A web series launches March 26, with wave one a month later. Two-packs list at 7,480 yen, the core robots at 4,950 yen, and the animals at about $19 each. The whole wave runs about $140. One host hopes Hasbro imports it, even as a Pulse exclusive. [Source: TFW2005]

Target Transformers Thursdays: Devcon, Ramhorn and Devastation Troopers

Last Thursday brought the reissue of Legacy Devcon, still up for preorder at Target and now on Hasbro Pulse. One host calls it the best version of the Studio Series Blurr engineering, and another named it a figure of the year. Thursday the 20th brings the Studio Series Ramhorn, Ratbat and Perceptor three-pack. Ramhorn is the counterpart to the single Steeljaw, though there’s no sign of Blaster’s second speaker. The 27th brings the Devastation Decepticon Trooper two-pack with a Conehead and a blue Battle Charger. [Source: Target]

Robosen Devastator First Look

Robosen’s Devastator images are basic CAD models, and the text reads like a patent filing. It describes six transforming Constructicon robots that combine into a self-moving Devastator. One host thinks the combined form may be a frame the robots plug into, like Age of the Primes. A transforming Scrapper video already exists, though its origin is unclear. The crew wonders how Robosen sells enough robots to justify this, and hopes smaller Constructicons would keep the price down. Nobody had it on their 2025 bingo card. [Source: TFW2005]

Age of the Primes Sky-Byte and Heatwave In-Hand Images

Toys “R” Russ has Age of the Primes Voyagers Sky-Byte and Heatwave in hand, and TFW posted screenshots of his videos. Sky-Byte stands much taller than expected, close to Commander-class Optimus Prime with his head fin. Heatwave is a retool of the familiar Bulkhead mold and stands about a head shorter than Sky-Byte. One host hasn’t preordered either but looks forward to finding both in stores. [Source: TFW2005]

Licensed Transformers Easter Baskets Coming to Family Dollar

Family Dollar’s Transformers Easter “basket” is a keepsake box with jumbo chalk, a flying disc, taffy and a 24-piece puzzle. It costs $10 to $12 and includes no actual Transformers figures. One host kind of wants it anyway. [Source: TFormers]

Agoro Transformers 40th Anniversary Silver Coins

The New Zealand Mint’s Agoro brand has new Transformers 40th anniversary silver coins, including Soundwave, Grimlock and Starscream. One host came very close to buying one at about $119, far above the silver value, since the appeal is the limited, licensed collectible. Soundwave’s mix of toy and cartoon styling looks odd to the crew. A Galvatron, Metroplex, any season three character or a Beast Wars coin might finally tip that host over. [Source: TFW2005]

What We Got This Week

Don

Don found all four Age of the Primes wave one deluxes at a Walmart Supercenter. Waspinator caught his eye from the front peg, though its arms are a tight fit. Solus Prime has great gold paint, but he couldn’t finish transforming it yet. Slingshot has the best jet mode and Air Raid the better robot mode, and he’s glad they aren’t carbon copies. A $5 review credit got him the carded retro Bumblebee for about $18, and he lucked into a clean card. A Big Bad Toy Store order finally delivered the Animated Optimus Prime upgrade kit with his super mode trailer.

Diecast

Diecast got Age of the Primes Prima Prime from GameStop. It is quite posable, with an odd but straightforward transformation, nothing like Solus Prime. He also snagged Hasbro Pulse’s Optimus Prime and Megatron metal cards, limited to 500 pieces, at about $25 each after they reappeared in stock.

Matt

Nearly 10 years after seeing the first Masterpiece Ironhide images, Matt got the black Masterpiece Guard redeco. He doubted the mold before it came out, but its transformation blew him away. He expects it to be his last Masterpiece.

John

John had nothing in Transformers this week.

Rob

Rob’s Big Bad Toy Store preorder for the Dramatic Capture Autobot Headquarters set finally arrived. It is his first time handling the Mainframe mold, a wall that folds into a robot, and he likes it more than he expected. The Optimus Prime looks great, but the hips are tight and the fuel tanks seem paint-locked. He plans to preorder less.

Chris

Chris received a gift from Sean Hamilton: a There Goes My Money tote bag and a custom Headmaster Don action figure. His is the Service Merchandise Don, customized from a vintage Boss Hogg figure.

Brian

Brian got the carded retro Bumblebee. Walmart runs turned up Solus Prime and Waspinator, so he canceled his Waspinator preorder. He also picked up Studio Series Transformers One Bumblebee, a fifth Quintesson High Commander for $7, and Studio Series Devastation Optimus Prime. Studio Series Transformers One Sentinel Prime is a Voyager, and Brian thinks the character deserved more. From Mandarake, he got a sealed Beast Wars Neo D-37 Hardhead, the Dinobot retool. His last pickup is a boxed vintage G1 Skywarp from a new online store. It arrived missing a fist, so the seller is sending both fists from another Skywarp to be sure they match.

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