ElevenLabs and Hasbro have struck a deal to license Transformers character voices for commercial AI use, and the RFC crew has thoughts — ranging from cautious skepticism to genuine concern about what it means for voice actors and the brand. TakaraTomy’s New Legends Gigastorm has new promotional images with pre-orders opening Friday, and the Giga Scouter accessory figure drew admiration even from hosts passing on the main release. The long-awaited Siege Greenlight reissue is official and up for pre-order, giving fans a second chance at the Orthia combiner at a fraction of secondary market prices. Good Smile Company’s Moderoid Red Geist announcement rounded out the news, with Rob offering useful context on the Moderoid line’s complexity for newcomers. What We Got This Week delivered strong showings across the board, including Matt’s Haslab Liokaiser — complete with Death Cobra — and detailed impressions of the Transformers × Stranger Things Frequency crossover from Don, Diecast, and Rob.

News

ElevenLabs Partners With Hasbro to License Transformers Character Voices

Hasbro has reached a licensing deal with ElevenLabs — a voice AI platform that can clone voices and generate character dialogue from text — to make Transformers, G.I. Joe, Mr. Potato Head, and Clue characters available for commercial use. Brian has personal experience with ElevenLabs and explained how the service works: you can upload audio to clone a voice, or type text and have it generated from scratch. The crew discussed the implications for voice actors like Peter Cullen and Frank Welker, with Rob noting the deal is probably aimed more at attracting AI investors than generating real revenue. Brian’s take: it may dilute the value of Hasbro’s characters more than it helps them. Source: Variety

TakaraTomy Transformers New Legends NL-04 Beast Wars II Gigastorm New Promotional Image

New promo images are out for the New Legends Gigastorm, with pre-orders opening Friday. Brian is stepping back from Titans due to display space constraints, but Rob and Diecast were drawn to the included Giga Scouter — a Dead End recolor in Gigastorm colors. Both hosts said they’d buy Giga Scouter separately if TakaraTomy offered it that way. Source: TFW2005

TakaraTomy Transformers Missing Link C-15 Ratchet New Promotional Image

Missing Link Ratchet has new promotional images out, with pre-orders also opening Friday. The crew is largely on board — Brian called it a definite purchase, Matt is jumping on it immediately, and Rob noted the red-on-white color scheme reads significantly better than Ironhide. Don has a pre-order down but wants to see the transformation before committing. Source: TFW2005

Age of the Primes Leader-Class Unicron Soldier Teasers

The teasers for the Age of the Primes leader-class Unicron Soldier reveal it’s Megatronus the Fallen — using the same mold as the Age of the Primes Megatronus figure. Matt had expected a Liege Maximo retool; Brian thinks this is the smarter call. Don pointed out the Megatronus mold has only had one use so far, making it a natural choice for reuse. Rob flagged that one of the teaser images has a Google Gemini logo in the corner, suggesting AI-generated art was used. Source: TFW2005

Transformers War for Cybertron Siege Greenlight Reissue

Siege Greenlight is officially up for pre-order as a straight reissue, packaging and all accessories intact including the Dazzle Strike weaponizer. The combining function is not called out on the new packaging — Matt explained this is consistent with Hasbro’s practice when no other combiners from the same wave are current. Rob, who owns the original and uses her in the Orthia combined form, welcomed the reissue for fans who’ve been waiting six years to complete the combiner at a reasonable price. Source: TFW2005

Blokees Action Edition 06 Transformers Prime Optimus Prime Official Images

The Blokees Action Edition 06 Transformers Prime Optimus Prime is official. At $40, the Action Edition sits above the standard Blokees price point — Rob compared it to a same-sized Gundam model kit. Diecast has a Blokees distributor connection and was enthusiastic about the figure’s accessory count, including two swords, two guns, an alternate windshield, and three faceplates. Don flagged a Blokees Lucky Draw Transparent Optimus Prime contest exclusive also circulating in Asia. Source: TFW2005

Good Smile Company Moderoid Brave Series Red Geist Announced

Good Smile Company — makers of Figma — has announced a Moderoid kit for Red Geist from the Brave series, with a detachable Red Brester breast force figure. Rob explained that Moderoid is a model kit line (the name is a Katakana transliteration of “Modeloid”), and that Good Smile is expanding into transforming kits with this release. The figure looks impressive but pricing is likely over $100. Rob also noted, drawing on Discord feedback from BladeRaider, that Moderoid kits generally require more painting than the box suggests and have a history of breakage — placing them at a mid-range hobbyist difficulty level. Source: TFW2005

What We Got This Week

Brian assembled a large batch of Yolopark figures this week. A four-pack of Yolopark BMK-series figures — Bumblebee, Starscream, Megatron, and Optimus Prime — turned out to be a different size class than expected: larger than AMK Mini but with fewer articulation points and notably no knee joints. Brian discovered this the hard way when he tried to bend Optimus Prime’s knee, cracking the leg. After a failed superglue repair, the leg shattered entirely. Despite that, Brian praised the BMK figures’ look and said the remaining three are displayable. He also assembled the Yolopark BotCon exclusive Delta Magnus and Sunstorm AMK Minis, the recently delivered Skywarp and Nemesis Prime AMK Minis, and the Arcee AMK Mini — which he described as extremely small, smaller than a G.I. Joe 3¾-inch figure, but a nice petite piece. He noted quality control on the exclusive Skywarp/Thundercracker set: both his and Don’s Skywarp are missing one of the two teal-green leg paint applications. Don confirmed he’s been in contact with Yolopark customer service and they’re sending a replacement part.

Brian also picked up toys from two local stores this week, discovered via ToyMapper.com. Classic Plastic in Lenoir, North Carolina had a bronze knockoff Dinobot Sludge with unique head and wings — a loose piece Brian has wanted for a while, at $45. Needless Toys in Lincolnton, North Carolina — described as the closest equivalent Brian’s found to his favorite store in Cincinnati — had strong G1 vintage stock. Brian picked up a Double Targetmaster Quake, Double Targetmaster Needlenose, Double Targetmaster Scoop, and a Landfill, all in excellent condition.

Diecast received the Transformers × Stranger Things Frequency figure — a retro-styled Autobot that turns into an 80s-style van, comes with an 8-track cassette that transforms into a bird, and includes a chicken that converts into a gun. He appreciated the deal price (thanks to Don’s coupon tip) and called out the Blokees Action Edition 06 Transformers Prime Optimus Prime as something he intends to pick up through his distributor connection.

Don opened a significant haul of Metal Cardbot figures. Blast Train is a bullet train combiner — engine plus two cars — whose card weapon is a set of Wolverine-style claws. Bluestar is a police car in a Bumblebee/Cheetor aesthetic, available across multiple size classes, with a “Justice Buster” giant-fist weapon. Sky Gallop is a jumbo jet that converts into a centaur, with the jet’s wing assembly doubling as a melee weapon and gold and black coloring. Deep Bite is a submarine shark with a clear blue energy trident — Don’s pick of the wave for novelty, citing the absence of any current comparable shark robot in the market. Don also received the Transformers × Stranger Things Frequency figure, calling it a fun and easy transformation with a great 80s silhouette, and noting the soft leg clips are a minor but known issue consistent with Kingdom Cyclonus.

Matt picked up Studio Series 86 Skywarp, praising the mold as fantastic — same quality as Thundercracker, with easy face-swapping (he recommends using a rounded nail clipper handle to pop the face off the rectangular peg — and warns it will fly). The gray on Skywarp has a slight gloss versus Thundercracker’s matte finish, but not enough to matter for face swaps. He also received Missing Link Nemesis Prime, calling the metallic teal paint a standout — trailer, Roller, and all accessories carry the color and it elevates the figure. Then, in what he called a financially devastating one-two, he also picked up Missing Link Ultra Magnus: articulated, chrome-thighed, with a swivel solution for the historically uneven missile launcher arms, and a Deerstalker Mini-Spy included. Matt noted some concern about chrome wear from the trailer clips over time but called it his ideal version of the character. Finally, Matt received Haslab Liokaiser — complete with Death Cobra — and delivered an enthusiastic full rundown: individual robots are chunky Voyager-class pieces on their own, vehicle modes vary in quality (LeoZak’s combiner kibble shows), but robot modes are excellent and the combined form is spot-on. His only mild note: Lionbreast sits very high on Leozak’s back in combined mode, giving it a Yoda-riding-a-clone-trooper vibe that he finds charming.

Rob received the Transformers × Stranger Things Frequency figure. He echoed Don’s impressions on the transformation — exactly the level of complexity he wants, with enough panel-moving to feel satisfying without fingertip pain. He loved the 8-track and the chicken gun (the chicken-to-gun conversion required him to check the instructions; the hinge direction wasn’t obvious). Rob’s one hesitation: he doesn’t think it’s a $60 figure, but at Voyager price or a bit above he considers it well worth it. He also passed along a Discord update on the Moderoid Red Geist: BladeRaider confirmed that Moderoid kits require more paint than the box shows and that he’s experienced breakage, suggesting that newcomers start with something more forgiving.

John had nothing in Transformers this week.

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