SS86 Soundwave, Stranger Things Crossover, Dan Mora Exit & Beast Wars 30th TFcon 2026

Sentinel Online. Now loading all things Transformers.

and welcome to all things transformers i'm your

host steve megatron and joining me on this adventure

into the transformers fandom is tfg and mike

so it's been a couple of weeks as it doesn't

seem like it it's been a couple weeks are you

sure about that yes Yeah, 1029. Wow, it's 1117.

Holy crap. It's been a month. Yeah, not really.

Not our usual month -long break, but close. So

how are things in the Transformers world where

you are? Seem to be doing okay. Still waiting

for Studio Series 86 Megatron to finally decide

to come out. Yeah, I haven't gotten any new emails

from BBTS. The last email I got was, it has been

delayed till November. That's the last email

I got from them. I think they're coming out in

January now. Oh, no, that's right. Yeah, the

last email I got was February, I think. Yeah,

the last email I got was February because I sent

you a message. I said, well, I guess you're getting

this for my birthday. Yeah. I'm like, this is

stupid. I'm like, why is it not coming out? So

crazy. But we have the seven sort of stories

here. The way I say seven sort of is because

the seventh story is basically Gary Chuck. I

forget who the sponsor, the whatever, who was

putting it on. Gary on his primal parodies YouTube

channel did a live stream and I kind of thumbed

through it. And it was just people asking him

questions about certain things, about certain

voice acting things, about how he combined certain

parts of the voicing of like, like the other

primes, like not necessarily Optimus primal,

but like the other primes that he's voiced like

Armada. energon and other things it was a nice

little little hour and 16 or hour and 20 minute

stream it was cool so that's out there for people

to to check out but continuing from last time

we have uh enhanced new series 86 leader sound

wave new in hand images okay so the first one

is him in the tape deck mode with the tapes in

front of him i think the only tape out of all

of these in both tape deck and actual animal

form that i actually like is ravage looking at

soundwave himself i still wish this looked i

don't know it it's the He doesn't look G1 enough

to me. Like, the shape is there. The tape, it's

the colors. It just doesn't... I don't know.

I don't know. I get where you're coming from,

because I've been critical about Prime. I mean,

like, okay, so the first image, where it's just

he's just sitting there with the three tape decks

and... It just doesn't... I don't know if it's

because it's plastic and not die -cast construction,

which is a lost art, but I don't know. It just

looks weird to me. As we scroll through, I really

don't like the way these tapes look in the buzzsaw

and laser beak. They just look weird. And then...

You get to the, I think it's like the fifth or

sixth. When you get to the Ravage images, I'm

like, okay, Ravage looks cool. What is that thing

coming out of his ass? Because his first image,

it looks like there's something coming out of

his ass. And what it is, is it's his second piece

that goes on top of him for his missiles. And

I'm like, why would you take a picture like that?

What? What is that showing? Is that showing that

it's detachable? You could have taken a better

picture. Like, I don't know. That was just weird.

Whatever. It is what it is. Yep, it is. And Soundwave

in alt mode, in robot mode, he looks great. He

looks cool. But again, after all the robot mode

pictures, the one where the last picture, so

if you're at the starting first picture, you

just go to the left, the one where whoever's

photos these are, the dudes holding the tape

deck. It looks good, but honestly, I would prefer

having the Lego version of Soundwave over having

this. I don't know. It just doesn't... I don't

know, dude. I like how they made them more 3D

and less narrow so they don't tip over and stuff,

but I like Soundwave. I like what he is. I think

that the colors are, like I said, a little bit

off, but it's not a bad figure. I just, it's

too bright. It's all, it's like the prime, like

the prime is too bright. Yeah. And I could fix

it. Like I could, but like I, I did that for

the word for Cybertron prime and I just was like,

okay, he's my G2. Yeah. And I left studio series

86 prime alone. Cause I'm like, eh, I don't want

to alter it too much. Like if there was, you

know, I've changed the head out. And that's about

it. Yeah, but sound wave like. The the like the

legs look kind of plain ish and sort of the arms

and then like the upper torso blue just kind

of looks bland. Yeah. So I don't know. It just.

Yeah, it's not worth them. And again, this is

Hasbro. This is Studio Series 86. Especially

with next year being the 40th anniversary of

the movie, you would think that they would be

going all out. And that the content, I don't

know if it's just the way the person that has

the photos. I don't know if it's the way they're

holding it or if the way that sound wave is standing,

but if you look at these one, two, three, the

second and the third and the second photo to

the last. So basically right before you get to

the, the where, where the dude's holding the

tape deck, the last two robot mode photos. That

second one there where he's just standing there

and he's not holding the robot. The blue looks

brighter, but when he's holding him, it looks

darker. And I'm sitting here thinking, okay,

I know lighting is a thing and whatever, but

come on, the lighting can't change that much.

I don't know. I don't think this is worth the

money for me. They're really going to have to,

and we should not, at whatever price point this

thing is, I forget what the price point of this

is supposed to be, but whatever price point SS86

leader class Soundwave is, no one that's a Transformers

fan should have to buy this and have anyone that's

a... or artist extraordinaire specialist like

yourself, we shouldn't have to have someone like

you repaint this for us into the colors that

it should be. They should make it the color that

it should be from whatever it's supposed to be

referencing. And like I said before, I don't

know what the F they were thinking with these

two bird cassettes. They just weird. Yup. Moving

on to Transformers Collaborative Series. I have

never watched Stranger Things. I don't know if

I ever will. Ditto. I don't have any opinion

of the series, positive, negative, indifferent,

other way. All I know is I've seen several trailers,

and it's just not my thing. However... this stranger

things transformers frequency and eight tracks

official reveal and pre -order like this to me

that this might actually get me to watch uh uh

stranger things but this this thing is really

cool because it's based on the radio station

from the show it's a robot that turns into a

van basically a radio station van and it comes

with a chicken chicken laser beak i don't know

what that's all about because i haven't watched

the show obviously but this is kind of cool so

he's obviously a cassette icon yep and it's unique

now the thing about the collaborative series

are they're not allowed to sell these designs

for something else so that's why like you had

kit you had the The Dorian, you had the Ghostbusters

machine. So you'll never see it repainted as

something else. Oh, yeah. No, no, no, no, no,

no. Now, that being said, looking at this, I

love the robot mode. Yeah, it's very cool. I

really do. And I say that because it kind of

reminds me of the mascot of ATTF. Yeah. And robot

mode. Yeah, it kind of looks like Ultimus, doesn't

it? yeah head and i looked at that head and i'm

like wait did they steal steve's design what

the hell well and i'm looking at the shoulders

yeah like the grill and the yeah yeah so i'm

looking at all of that and i'm like oh yeah it

kind of looks like ultimus and i'm like i'm not

i'm not overly upset about it either because

i'm like hmm like like i really i really was

because i was kind of going you know and and

i know you've always wanted ultimus to be your

chevy s10 your old chevy s10 you had yep but

really even though ultimus is the all things

transformers mascot but if he was to be the gcrn

mascot having him transform into a radio station

van would be Like, I mean, come on. That would

be so fucking cool. I mean, I was looking at

it and because like I've been eyeballing like

the Transformers Legacy Generation Select lift

ticket for some time because I'm like, OK, he

turns into a truck and he's probably the closest

that you're going to get. Yeah. You know, and

it's it's cheap. Like it's OK. They get a discount

at BBTS for like 18 bucks. And I'm like, OK.

I've been eyeballing this one for ages and not

to mention, you know, right now they have like

J axis G2 is on discount too. Or like a fraction

of the price. And I'm sitting here going, Hmm.

Cause like the J axis would work great for the

Megatron pre beast. Yeah. More than the Galvatron

figure would. And then I'm looking at this, the

stranger things thing. And I'm like, okay, he

looks like. He could be Ultimus Prime. Because

the chest thing, if I didn't want to put a cassette,

put the Matrix. And then swap out the weapon.

And then give him... I haven't seen enough of

the figure to know does he have a spot for a

fusion cannon to be on his shoulder. And... uh

i love the fact that you know it's a radio vehicle

yep yeah i like like the head looks really good

the the details on everything else and i'm just

kind of looking at it i'm like i wonder if i

could kit bash it because like you know the back

of them what's to say like because i haven't

seen like all the stuff on the back and the sides

it's like i could repanel him and keep like the

shoulders the same and re -panel the rest of

it so that it's a truck instead of a van. Yeah.

And I'm looking at it, and I'm like, oh, this

figure looks genuinely good. Yeah, but it would

be, I don't know, it would be so cool. I know

you want Ultimis to be a truck, and you could

always do more than one Ultimis version. It would

just be so cool if Ultimis was the GCRN radio

station van. That would be so friggin' cool.

This one, like, between this, like... Yeah. I

don't say, like, oh, I want a random figure for

no reason, you know, out of the blue. Yeah, I

know. But I'm looking at it and I'm going, like,

okay, I want Megatron. Uh -huh. Obviously, because

he's going to fight Prime. Yeah. And that would

be my first G1 Megatron. And then I'm looking

at the Captain Kirk from Star Trek Generations

that's supposed to come out end of next year.

So that's nowhere near. But then I'm looking

at this and I'm like, this I could genuinely

see being Ultimis. If I repainted him even and

printed GCRN decals, I'm like, hmm. I could technically

paint him the same color as my truck. Uh -huh.

So, I don't know. It's very tempting. It's very,

very, very tempting. I don't watch Stranger Things,

but I love the robot design. Yeah. So, yeah.

I would be very, very tempted for this, depending

on cost. Yep. So, I'll have to see. It says,

well, it says 57 at Target. Oh, it's an exclusive.

Aw, crap. Boo. Well, it's planned release this

June, so I've got time. Yeah, you've got time.

Speaking of time, yes, according to BBTS, estimated

arrival February 2026 for Megatron. I went and

looked. Yeah. Speaking of other beasts, age of

the primes, deluxe quick strike in hand images.

I'm looking at these and I'm thinking this is

quick strike. This can't be quick strike. It

looks great. It looks ugly as fuck. Well, it

looks great as far as a toy. Really? Yeah. Do

you remember the original? yeah but the original

was hot garbage like it was see through in parts

it was a basic figure and it was like it didn't

have the shoulder things the same way the head

was the wrong sculpt the paint job was bad the

snake tail is basically the only thing original

on this by comparison I was thinking they were

going to make him more show accurate and I don't

remember quick strike having so much black on

him in the show So looking at looking at the,

you know, because they have a side by side of

the original figure and. And then they. They

they have him. In it. And this is this is the

thing, too. I could easily get quick strike.

Yeah. And repaint the dude. Yeah. So he didn't

have. And this is this is the. The CGI thing.

Yeah. Technically, the the quote unquote black

parts of his body, like the snake part and the,

you know, the shoulders and the legs. Technically,

they're like a bronze. OK, fine. What? But yeah,

they should have been colored differently. But

as far as the rest of the figure is concerned,

it looks great. And yeah. So, like, if I got

this guy, for instance, too, like, I would repaint

that stuff bronze to be show accurate. Yeah.

Because he looks great next to all the other

Beast characters here. Yeah, I... See, Quickstrike

I always liked better than Scorponok. Yeah, Scorponok's

a bitch. Yep. I hated Scorponok, and I didn't

get Silverbolt, but it was more so I was never

a fan of Silverbolt. Quickstrike I always liked.

And, you know, the Inferno looks great, except

for his goofy hands. Megatron looks great, obviously.

Scorponok looked... Scorponok, he's a deluxe,

but he's shorter. Yeah. Like, he looks stupid.

Like, I put leg extenders on him before I sold

him. Like, I 3D printed leg extenders to make

him taller. And I gave him an additional like

add on to his torso to make him taller because

I was like, he is so stupidly short. Yeah. And

and so, yeah, so I don't have him anymore, but.

But yeah, I I really like this quick strike.

And yeah, I mean, if I saw him, I would probably

get him, but I don't I'm not going to go out

of my way either. Yeah. But he is cool. I haven't

seen it yet in stores. I've seen a lot of the

other guys, but not him. Very cool figure. Yeah,

he's very cool. So, folks, next year. Next year

is a big year for Transformers, everybody. TFCon

Los Angeles, March 13th to 15th, 2026. Celebrating

the 30th anniversary of Beast Wars, the 25th

anniversary of Robots in Disguise 2001, and the

40th anniversary of Transformers The Movie 1986.

Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport. TFCon Los

Angeles 2025 America's Ultimate Transformers

Fan Experience returns to Los Angeles the weekend

of March 13th to 15th, 2026. Tickets now on sale.

tfconla .com slash tickets hotel block online

at tfconla .com slash hotel man we gotta figure

out a way to get you to this thing because Colorado

LA it ain't that far LA is pretty far it's expensive

too I know it's expensive, but I don't want to

go to LA to be honest. Like it, I drove through

California last year or earlier this year. It

was not fun. Okay. But you would be flying from

one place to another. Like we got to figure out

a way to get Steve to, to, to LA, TF con LA folks.

I almost said LA comic cons, but TF con LA. It's

the 30th anniversary of Beast Wars. It's his

favorite show of all time. He does the damn voice

of the main villain. Send donations to feedback

at geekcastradio .com. That's not the actual

address to send the donations to. No, it is not.

Uh, but so yeah, that's, uh, that's coming. They're

going to do, I don't know what they're going

to be doing, but that, that was, uh, all, all

that information is out there. Uh, I am going

to be very interested to see what they're going

to be doing for that this year. And then we get

into comics. So we have, uh, Just last week,

we had Transformers Trade Paperback Volume 4

from Skybound Entertainment release. This collects

issues 19 to 24 and a story from the Energon

Universe Special 2025. So that's out now for

trades. Coming up next month. We've got Transformers

27. Megatron strikes back. The Decepticons make

their move to rescue one of their most powerful

members from the Autobots. So that's what's going

on there. And then in January, January 14th of

next year, starting off the year with issue 28,

we've got Mirage and Bulkhead are back in action.

Get ready for awesome. And RC makes a stunning

decision that will shock every Transformers fan.

Trust me, folks, it's not really that shocking.

It's not because I've read the issue. It's just

because whoever is writing the solicitations

for Skybound, they use that terminology in every

effing solicitation. Oh, boy. So that's what's

coming out for that. I'm trying to think what

else is going on for Transformers. There was

something else I was going to bring up. For Black

Friday, they're doing the bundles at Walmart.

Oh, yeah, that's true for Black Friday. Yeah,

so they're bundling. TF1 Optimus with like a

Chevy Tahoe Dark of the Moon character and then

they're bundling like they're so here it is Cybertron

Hotshot is with G1 Optimus Prime like the classic

like the one that's articulated but styled like

the original 84 figure. So that one is a two

-pack. TF1, Optimus Prime, and Dark of the Moon

Hatchet. Origins, Bumblebee, and G2 Breakdown.

Beast Wars Tarantulas and Alita 1. Animated Bumblebee

and Chromia. Cosmos and Armada Wheeljack. Studio

Series 86 Bumblebee and Devastation. Optimus

Prime, Wild Rider, and TF Prime Knockout. Rise

of the Beast, Wheeljack, and Rise of the Beast

Scorponok, Reactivate Bumblebee in Studio Series

86 Bumblebee, Age of the Prime, Solus Prime,

and Dead End, and Age of the Prime, Solus Prime,

and Age of the Prime, Slingshot are the options.

It's funny because they're the weirdest pairs.

And I don't know, like, I feel like these are

the ones that they're like, yeah, we couldn't

sell these, so we just, we've, back sealed these

together and uh two for one like yeah it's yeah

it's always surprising to me where certain transformers

or any action figures or any toys show up like

these just showed up at five below these just

showed up at well this store is out of out of

business now but circuit city or these just showed

up at best but i'm like what the is that doing

at best buy Like, I don't know. It's weird. Yeah,

the Optimus Prime, though, I was on the hunt

for that for a while, and then I got Studio Series

86, and I was like, okay, I'm good. I like the

idea of that Prime, but at this point, I'm like,

I don't need it. There are other figures I'd

rather get at this point. He's bundled with Hotshot,

and I don't really care. Nobody cares about Hotshot.

Hotshot sucks. I remember what the other comic

news was, was that Dan Mora, who is the current

artist on Transformers, is only going to be there

for the six issues of the current arc. So their

terminology in issue 25 to 30, the Generation

1 arc, At least that's what it's called on the

Volume 5 trade. But Dan Mora will be leaving

Transformers after six issues. Question mark,

question mark, question mark. For those Dan Mora

lovers, you may have to get used to getting less

Dan Mora going forward. He recently stated, next

year I'm going to put all of my energy in just

one book. 2026 will be DC only. And that Transformers

will be only six issues. Hey, you never know.

Maybe Dan Mora will be drawing. ADC comic weekly

titled source is bleeding. Cool. Just wanted

to have this text here. So yeah, so we're only

in for me, I don't mind artist changes on books,

but I don't want constant artist changes. Like

it's fine. If it's an arc, if it's one story

arc or two story arcs, we started transformers

with. Daniel Warren Johnson writing and drawing

and doing the colors. And well, he didn't do

the colors, but he did the writing and the drawing.

And then we went to Jorge Corona doing the drawing.

And now we're on Dan Mora and that's fine. But

I am hoping after starting with issue 31, I'm

hoping we at least have. a consistent artist

on the book for at least more than just one arc

because that would be kind of nice so here's

hoping that uh robert kirkman will be staying

on writing and and all that but dan moore's art

so far in 25 and 26 has been solid i absolutely

love it yeah at some point i'll read the comics

yep we will We'll get the trades and we'll do

them on the show at some point. I think I already

have the first two or three volumes already saved

up. Yeah, I think that about runs it out. I don't

really have anything else that I can think of

that's coming up. No, it's the end of the year.

There's not much news coming out. I mean, there's

some, but not much. I'm hoping that we get some

new cartoon notice. Yeah, I'm thinking that'll

happen somewhere after Christmas, maybe, or maybe

right before Christmas. If it happens after Christmas,

it'll probably happen sometime in January, most

likely. I think. Could be wrong, but you never

know. so thank you as always for listening to

all things transformers i've been your host steve

megatron with tfd and mike you can of course

interact with us on the website post geekcastradio

.com and you can talk to us on the facebook page

on geekcast radio network until next time transform

and transcend yeah