Radio Free Cybertron episode 988 opens with Liokaiser arriving for Brian and John, while the rest of the panel awaits shipping notifications. The big news is Stern Pinball’s official reveal of the Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye machine — which Brian had already put a deposit on — featuring an animatronic Megatron, Soundwave ball-deflection, and an eye-watering price tag. The panel also covers the 40th anniversary theatrical return of The Transformers: The Movie, the Reformatted Edition soundtrack (with pointed disappointment over the Dare to Be Stupid cover choice), and a late-breaking Commander Class Thunderwing listing confirmed to include the full Mega Pretender gimmick. In What We Got, Don’s Kranix earns strong praise as a best-first-time-toy contender, while Powerglide collects mixed reviews from across the panel.

News

HasLab Liokaiser is shipping, and early in-hand impressions are positive. John DeLuna received his unit during the recording session and reported that the individual members are larger than expected, plastic quality is solid, and initial impressions are strong. Brian also received his but has not yet opened the shipper box. Several other panelists are still awaiting shipping notifications. FedEx delivery requires a signature — the release form option is available on the FedEx tracking page, or the package can be redirected to an alternate pickup location such as a local FedEx-affiliated retail partner. HasLab Liokaiser first in-hand images

Stern Pinball has officially revealed the Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye pinball machine. Brian placed a deposit on a unit before the official reveal — the machine comes in Pro, Premium, and Limited Edition configurations. The Premium and Limited versions feature an animatronic Megatron that physically shoots the ball from his fusion cannon; the Pro version includes a static Megatron with the same firing feature. Soundwave’s cassette door opens and deflects the ball during play. The Limited Edition adds a premium sound system, RGB LEDs, a shaker motor, and a mirror-finish back glass. Brian confirmed the Limited Edition is more than $13,000 — the Limited and Premium editions run about $3,000 apart. Stern Pinball Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye

The Transformers: The Movie returns to theaters September 17 in 4K through Fathom Entertainment. Brian notes the 4K print is assumed to be the same widescreen version released on UHD Blu-ray, and raises the ongoing point that for this film, the full-screen version is actually the superior presentation — the widescreen is matted, not shot for the wider frame. Rob mentioned that a visual history book covering the making of the film is available for pre-order on Amazon, featuring pre-production art and other production artifacts, with a release expected around October. The Transformers: The Movie 40th Anniversary theatrical re-release

The Transformers: The Movie — The Soundtrack: The Reformatted Edition has been announced, with Stan Bush returning to re-record The Touch as the first release. The full album is a covers and re-recordings collection; Sebastian Bach is also confirmed to appear. The panel expressed strong disappointment that the Cold Slither band — from the recent G.I. Joe Cold Slither album — is slated to cover “Dare to Be Stupid.” Rob noted the only acceptable version would come from Devo themselves, since the original is a style parody of that band. The soundtrack will be available on CD, vinyl, and cassette. Pre-orders at tfradio.net/soundtrack. The Transformers: The Movie Soundtrack — The Reformatted Edition

Cyberworld Energon Surge official stock images are out. The set includes a Jazz as a polar bear, a Soundwave with an anglerfish/tentacle design, a Megatron, and an Optimus Prime or Optimus Primal variant. Rob noted these figures hit a good balance of articulation and simplicity, and make for strong kids’ toys. A fan-voted Soundwave design — Shock Whale — was briefly confused with this Soundwave by Diecast, but those are separate. Cyberworld Energon Surge official stock images

Age of the Primes

Pre-orders are live for the Age of the Primes Sentinel Prime Artifact Pack. The Sentinel Prime figure uses the Tarn mold and is based on the IDW Megatron Origin mini-series. It ships with a disc intended to display weapons from the 13 Primes, designed to evoke the Well of All Sparks. A sword on the disc suggests a Galaxy Force/Cybertron gold-deco Vector Prime may be planned as a companion release. Matt noted that the post holes for the artifact accessories are unevenly distributed across the disc design, and that the price is a significant concern. Age of the Primes Sentinel Prime Artifact Pack in-hand

The Generations Selects Autobot 3-Pack — Mirage, Ironhide, and Bluestreak — is now available for pre-order on Hasbro Pulse and most major online retailers. All three figures use animation-accurate colors with opaque windows replacing clear plastic. Mirage has been retooled with a shoulder cannon mount, finally allowing the cannon included with the previous release to be properly displayed. Matt praised the Ironhide and Bluestreak updates, and noted that Mirage still needs a full ground-up redesign but this is a meaningful improvement. Generations Selects Autobot 3-Pack in-hand

Missing Link C-14 Ironhide pre-orders are live, and a hidden feature has been revealed: Ironhide’s van form can open the rear doors to serve as a battle platform for smaller figures, referencing a scene from the G1 episode Ultimate Doom. Rob noted the addition gives the missile launcher — which was awkward in robot mode — a better in-context purpose in vehicle mode. Missing Link C-14 Ironhide pre-orders and hidden features

Studio Series Titan Class Age of Extinction Grimlock color samples have been revealed. The panel noted the figure is enormous — Rob is curious to see it posed next to Trypticon.

Breaking late-addition news: a listing surfaced, shared by JT Prime, for an Age of Evolution Commander Class Thunderwing. JT Prime has confirmed the figure will include the full Mega Pretender gimmick — inner robot and shell — not just a simplified version. Matt and Rob immediately called for a Black Shadow repaint and a Crossblades follow-up for a Blue Bacchus.

What We Got This Week

Diecast picked up Powerglide. The robot mode is solid, but vehicle mode has fitment issues — the wings don’t tab cleanly, the engine intakes are loose, and there’s a gap at the rear that appears to be by design. He also received Liege Maximo but hasn’t opened it yet.

Don got several things. He echoed the Powerglide comments — the robot mode does most of the heavy lifting, and the engine intakes are particularly frustrating to handle during transformation. He gave high praise to Kranix, calling him one of the best first-time toy adaptations in recent memory alongside Devcon — a beautifully clean robot mode that looks like it stepped directly off the screen. He mentioned picking up Yolopark Thundercracker and Skywarp, noting the blue on Thundercracker is exceptional, but his Skywarp arrived missing a paint application on the kneecap. He has contacted Yolopark requesting a sticker or other resolution. Don also received another Metal Cardbot — Savannah Land, a large car-carrier-style figure that transforms into a robot with three armor attachments themed around a zebra, elephant, and giraffe, each with matching weapons. He compared the overall size to Commander Class Soundwave.

John opened Liege Maximo and was impressed by the subtle painted highlights — more color variation than the photos suggest, including blue tones that bring out the sculpted detail. He noted the large backpack/horns are a separate component requiring assembly. He also received Liokaiser and unpacked the individual members during the session, reporting that all six are larger than expected, with good plastic quality.

Brian has not opened his Liokaiser shipper yet. He also received Liege Maximo and said everything John described matches his experience — it looks better in hand than expected, and he has no plans to transform it.

Rob had nothing on-topic.

Matt had nothing — Hasbro Pulse is still shipping his orders via DHL.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 47:00 — 34.4MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Email | TuneIn | RSS | More