These Transformers Are Tarrifying!

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Hello and welcome to... all things transformers

i'm your host steve megatron joining me on this

adventure into the transformers fandom is tfg1

mike things are crash boom banging around here

folks i don't know what's going on in the world

of the transformers but uh the uh you know i

laughed the toaster laughed i shot the toaster

yeah i'm here it's one of those nights folks

but uh It is Monday. What do you expect? Fucking

Mondays. I mean, it is, it is, it is a Monday,

but this will be out on Transformers Tuesday.

So yes. So yeah. So anyways, we're going to get

into some various Transformers toys, some convention

stuff and well, some comics. Yeah. But, uh, and

then of course some, uh, 2026 studio series listings

of speculatory. Uh, I mean, it is, these are

legit. They're just, it's like, what series do

they belong to? Because they all fall under the,

uh, uh, the, the primes, uh, series that they're,

they're doing now with the, uh, generations.

Cause you know, we can't name it something else.

Try the age of Primus. Yeah, the age of the Primes.

It's like, OK. Too long. Let's pick something

else. Anyhow. Getting off first in this conversation

is Takara Tomy Studio Series Commander Optimus

Prime fixed heels. Yeah, I didn't know his heels

were broken. I think they were mismatched. OK.

uh apparently some of the tolerances were bad

too with the mold yeah that's very true yeah

i'm looking at these photos now yeah interesting

yeah this is a good i was gonna say well you

you continue your thought on this and then i've

got something that's kind of a tangent on on

this yeah i I know we covered that this was coming

out and I know we looked at it, but I don't remember

us complaining about the heels. And I don't,

maybe I'm not paying enough attention to the

Transformers toy community anymore because honestly

it's 2025. And the last episode we did was in

February of this year. It is now April. And I

gotta say. Sorry, not sorry, but my interests

right now are everywhere other than the Transformers

fandom. I still love Transformers, absolutely.

But, like, I ain't hip to the jive, man. But

I guess... Okay, so... Are these photos supposed

to show us that they fixed them? Or are these

supposed to show this is what the problem was?

That's what I'm confused about. Yeah, that's

what I'm like, wait a minute. Okay, so the article

here says that, courtesy of very own TFW 2005

member, ProWay, we have some in -hand images

and information about the Takara Tomy 86 Optimus

Prime, which has just been released in Japan.

This release features a slightly different box

with some Japanese text, and the figure has got

fixed heels, which has been a common issue in

the first batch of this mold. To top it all,

this release also improves tolerances on the

mold like the head flip parts and Optimus' gun

on his hand. So, I guess this is supposed to

show that the... See, now... I wish... This photo

or this photo set from this person would have

shown. The old version, as well as the new version

to show the difference, because this to me, like

I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference

unless I saw like an actual comparison time photo

comparison of what the old heels look like to

the new heels, because these heels look. fine

to me but then again i don't have studio series

86 optimus and honestly i don't really want him

well and this is my thing i wouldn't mind a studio

series optimus prime however it for the price

point i'll get a third party optimus prime that's

masterpiece you know what is his price point

i don't even know anymore oh he's 90 yeah Because

it's commander class. Right, right, right. Okay.

Yeah, that's fine. All right. So he's $90. And

a common issue in the first batch of this mold.

You put Hasbro. You put a... And I understand

Hasbro Takara Tomy Studios. I understand this

is the Takara Tomy version. Fine. But I'm sorry.

Hasbro. You let your Japanese partner put out

a version of this elite toy with a common issue

in the first batch? You fucked it up at the first

try? Really? Seriously? I mean, we are talking

about the same company, though, that put out

the Kingdom Beast figures. With tolerance issues

of plastic and then not painting them according

to the show. And then Takara Tomy comes out with

a premium finish. Yeah. Which had all of the

correct color aesthetics that I had to hand paint

on my original figures. Yeah. So this is why

it worries me being a regular non Funko pop toy

collector is because these companies aren't doing

the quality control just seems to be completely

thrown out the window. They threw it out the

window back during the power of the primes. because

honestly like if you look at that whole line

the prime you know the combiner wars titans return

and power the primes you know the quality of

those figures like yes some of the aspects were

pretty nice yeah comparing let's say i i compare

even the optimal optimus because i do have that

figure of Varying degrees. Comparing their Power

of the Primes Optimal Optimus. It has more posability

than the original figure. It is closer in detail

to the show. In some regards. And then in others.

The original release from 1997. Is better. It

had the chrome, like the gold, the vac metal

on them. It was heavier. Yep. And overall, like

it was pretty show accurate for, you know, the

colors and everything else. A lot of the paint

jobs were the first things I started noticing,

but the plastic has gotten thinner and flimsier

as years have gone on to the point that third

party is almost the way to go. And that's kind

of sad when they're the ones that are supposed

to originate it. I mean, even the quality control

on the original masterpiece, Beast Wars Megatron.

There were issues with it, with tolerances and

certain parts being brittle. And the knockoff

actually fixed all of that. And it's it's slightly

different color. like slightly off to the point.

If you didn't know the difference or have them

side by side, you're not going to notice the

difference between the two. And that's why I

have a knockoff instead of the official, because

there's a $300 difference for something that

was manufactured better. And it has David Kaye's

voice. Exactly. So go figure. But, but I mean,

like, I would love to support some of the Hasbro

stuff because like, honestly, I would love to

be able to pick the stuff up in the store, but

they underproduce the ones that everybody wants

and overproduce the other ones, which is, I mean,

it's beating a dead horse. I've been saying that

for years, but I mean, I'm finally starting to

see some new stuff in the store because everything

else got clearanced out or sent to like an Ollie's

in some other state because Colorado doesn't

have one. You should be thankful. So, I mean,

this is getting to the other part that I was

going to cut in with earlier. They have these

new. Smash battlers or I don't know, like these

smash together. Yeah, I know what you're talking

about. I took a look at that in the store and

I'm like, these are ridiculously stupid. And

I get they had a cheater, you know, playing,

you know, cat dog with with Tigatron as the rear

end and. I was like, okay, these are kind of

stupid. Because it's like a mix and match thing.

I'm like, what the heck are the point of these?

Why manufacture something that is not... I mean,

looking at it, the Transformers 1 stuff is somewhat

shelf -warming. I mean, you can pretty much find

every Optimus Prime and Bumblebee on the shelf.

They're not going anywhere. I've all of the Earthspark

stuff was clearanced out to get rid of it. The

beast, the last beast movie or the Transformers

live action movie with the beast stuff took forever

for them to get rid of. They had to clearance

it like mega clearance it to get rid of it. And

then Transformers one stuff selling pretty decent

studio series stuff sells pretty decent. The

Transformers Legacy United. is doing pretty like

somewhat decent once they got past the g2 color

stuff when they started getting like um uh slipstream

and animated bumblebee and you know some of those

characters that are kind of jumping genres there

uh they started doing better and then i for the

first time the other day i saw that deluxe studio

series uh devastation optimus prime in the store

And I took a look at it and I'm like, I want

to like it, but I don't like it. It just seems

bland and it looks cheap. And that was that.

That's my main gripe with the Hasbro stuff anymore

is it looks cheap. Yeah. And now they didn't

have these retro card backed Transformers, which

I didn't even know that that I don't know if

I missed it or if I didn't know that that was

a thing. But they re -released Bumblebee, you

know, in his Earth form with the Volkswagen Beetle.

Yep. In this classic style packaging. And it

says, you know, the Transformers more than meets

the eye. And it's got the red and it's got the

classic art deco of the original Bumblebee on

it. And it's like a very like it's just a card

back with a very minimalistic plastic covering

Bumblebee himself. Which, honestly. I kind of

like. Yeah, I mean, it's it's bigger cardboard

like square because they're putting the art,

but. It I think it kind of compensates for the

fact that some of the figures are bigger than

others, and then they had gears like Autobot

gears, and I was like, OK, this is a new figure.

Oh, and. But I mean, there's still a deluxe,

so you're still paying. you know, $25 for these

things. And, and I get inflation and I get all

that stuff. I don't for the amount of plastic

I'm paying for, like it better be like kind of

immaculate for that $25. You damn right. It better

be immaculate for $25 freaking dollars. And they,

they, they have a hard time selling the, the

leader class. They have a hard time selling the.

The Voyager class, like I don't really see those

move. I've seen the deluxe go farther. We don't

have basic anymore, so that's gone or core class

or whatever. I think that there's still room

that they can. Make this work and. I will be

looking forward to seeing what they do with some

of the other characters and, you know, these

classic card backs and, you know, maybe re -releasing

some of the the beast. type characters are releasing

the new ones with classic box styles but with

the new figure you know something something like

that because like i i'm looking forward to when

they you know get some of that new stuff uh and

you know especially with some of the stuff we're

going to talk about later with new figures coming

along the way yep well what have we been saying

we've been saying Last year, when we did episodes

of this podcast, and this year, we're going to

say it all this year, too. Because I will say

this. Hasbro, you've got the market of us. You've

got us. You've got the 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 -year

-old collector. You've got us. We may not always

buy everything. There are some of us that will.

You know, most of the time you've got certain

things appeal to certain one of us and others

of us and whatever. They need to be fostering

that kid market again. And honestly, the old

stuff sells the best. So like what you're talking

about, like these new figures or these new renditions

of figures, put a new Cheetor. in a classic beast

era box or a beast era package like you can still

do cool things with the brand with new figures

so here's here's part of my my thing too though

kids are not parents are not buying this stuff

for the kids one they can't afford it yeah i

know kids do not play with toys kids are on electronics

and so that's i see where brian cox purposely

has pivoted to chris cox no not brian you confused

the two yeah i know i know what i've done but

chris cox i can see why he pivoted to gaming

games yeah because kids are that's where they're

at that's where that's where they're going to

make the money and they know that And that's

why they're off sourcing, you know, everything

else to everybody else other than like Transformers

and some of their core brands. And then they're

manufacturing those themselves with, you know,

some caveats of some specific versions that don't

transform to other people. And I, I understand

that. And I understand that they're, you know,

they're pretty much a collector's market now.

Like they're not, it's not a kid's market. It's,

it's the people that grew up with it. We're the

ones buying it. We're the ones that are like,

oh, it's a new version of what I used to have.

You know, point in case. If I ever saw the. It's

the classic. Optimus Prime. You know that they

that that looks like. The original Optimus Prime

toy. Oh, yeah. It's the the Legacy United Deluxe

G1 Universe Optimus Prime. Yeah. Like, for instance,

I'm highly tempted to get that one. For the sole

purpose, it's a nostalgia kick like I had it.

I don't love the colors like I don't love the

fact that I mean, I know it's plastic and it's

not die cast and I get that. That's not my. my

thing, the, the, the gripe that I, the only one

I have is specifically is the, um, you know,

it just, it looks like plastic, you know, compared

to the, um, but it's, they give him, you know,

the, the ankle tilt. So they give him, you know,

some of the needs bending and they give him,

you know, better articulation. He, he has, you

know, the fist fold in on themselves, you know,

it's, they give him the, the energon axe uh and

then you know there's a couple little modifications

that are modernized but i mean if i saw that

i would like probably pick it up because i'm

like that's a pretty cool you know figure i liked

the original one despite the fact that it looked

like hot garbage compared to you know what it

was supposed to be uh but it was cool for the

time and i had one and it was one of the ones

that i i thought was really neat and so like

what i would do with it is i would give it the

paint job that it shows on the back of the box

yeah you know the richer blues the the the chrome

the uh the the richer reds you know the deep

dark red you know so it looks metallic like i

would i would give it that paint job if i you

know actually bought it and But I mean, that's

the kind of thing like that's it's a nostalgia

kick. It's giving you a modern version of a classic

figure. But it's they're definitely selling to

us like it's not the kids. It's oh, yeah, no,

I know. But I mean, like I would buy this. Over

the Studio Series 86. Based on the fact that.

This I know what I'm getting like. the devastation

optimus prime looks like crap compared to this

the the the studio series 86 is great i just

wish that they would sell them separate from

the trailer and that's that that's been my gripe

with the various primes that have come out it's

it's you know i would be more willing to be like

oh i'll drop 35 bucks you know on a voyager optimus

prime of studio series 86 or even 40 you know

but 90 it's like i'll buy a third party and get

just the the cab it'll be bigger it'll be better

quality and the paint job will match so it's

it's it's one of those things where i have to

kind of weigh things yeah i understand and my

thing is if i really wanted it If I really wanted

to have it, and obviously I'd have to save the

money to do it, I wouldn't mind paying the 90

because I want Roller. I want the trailer because

I want that full experience of being able to

have Optimus in truck mode, not just the cab.

I want that full trailer. I want to be able to

open up those back doors and have Roller pop

out. kind of thing so i get it i understand where

you're coming from because you're coming from

the great upgrade of 1996 and things were smaller

and more compact and more beastly than car uh

you didn't need trailers for beast modes uh so

i get it but uh yeah i don't know dude like it

just So let me, I don't remember if I've asked

you this in past episodes. I don't know. Have

you, or will you ever show your kids generation

one? I already have. Okay. I don't remember.

That's fine. I know that, but they, they genuinely

enjoyed that. Okay. They like. Okay. Okay. Like

my youngest loves. he doesn't really care he's

like i'll watch whatever he likes beast wars

he likes g1 right my my older one likes g1 like

he likes the car he likes the vehicles there's

more you know there's there's more that that

has them engaged with it i guess just because

it's it is cars um right and they are your oldest

is how old now 12. He's 12. Okay. So he's 12.

So he's. My youngest is going to be 10 in like

a month. Okay. So your youngest still has about

two. Okay. I'm trying to think of like, I'm trying

to think of like kids ages of like when to kind

of try. I'm trying to think of like how Hasbro

could get the kid market back of how they should

be. Like, I remember when we were kids from.

85 to 89 so i was five years old to nine years

old you could anytime my mom took me to the mall

i'm like running to kb toys or running the toys

or us or running to wherever wherever there was

transformers toys or he -man toys or whatever

i'm like zoom there immediately and i'm trying

to think of in 2025 2026 And this is why I thought,

oh, modern toys in vintage packaging would maybe

get... I don't know. It is what it is. Speaking

of things that are kind of classic, and I almost

thought this was an April Fool's joke because

it just sounds like it would be an April Fool's

joke. Up next... New third -party company, Big

Mac Toy. Come on. Big Mac Toy make Big Mac. No

sauce included. Exactly. No Thousand Island dressing

for you. But seriously, when I saw this, and

I understand the Weibo post was on March 29th,

but when TFW posted this, was on april 1st and

i read the the headline big mac toy big01 i'm

like wait what the hell is this that's why in

our document i put april fools question mark

question because i'm like we don't do april fools

around here we don't no we stay offline exactly

i mean i'm online but i ignore all the all the

fools but uh yeah no so this is uh big mac toy

big01 g1 fortress maximus this thing is going

to be two feet five inches tall that's a bit

excessive do you imagine how much that'll be

with tariffs yeah it's going to be terrifying

is what it's going to be hey yeah that's i get

it but yeah i mean i mean i'm all for like yeah

this kind of stuff like i think it's cool it's

gonna be heavy oh yeah i don't i don't understand

where people have the room to put these gargantuan

versions of these characters like i the biggest

figure i've ever had of anything was when i had

the transmittal to megatron like the winged dragon

yeah and it was so big because of the wings and

just the size it put the rest of my masterpiece

to shame and i was like i don't have anything

this big like i don't even have a star trek ship

i don't have like a megazord like nothing and

i ended up getting rid of it because of one space

and then two i was like well i can flip it you

know for what i got it for and then um And then

I can get something else, which I did. I was

able to get like two or three other masterpiece

and like half the Beast Wars line. So City Bots

for me have never been about the bot. Metroplex,

Fort Max, Scorponok, Trypticon. Okay, maybe Trypticon

was about the dinosaur, but they've never been

about the bot. mode it's always been about the

city mode because it was a play set experience

you watch the old metroplex commercial or you

watch the old fort max commercials and you can

have your other transformers that is what like

that's why all the other transformers were smaller

obviously not just why but like Go back to 1984.

Go back to 1985. We were just talking about the

updated version of Generation 1, 84 Optimus.

But you go back to 84. You go back to Optimus.

You go back to Bumblebee, Cliffjumper. You go

back to Ratchet and Soundwave and Megatron and

Starscream and the Jets and this and that and

the other thing. You have something like this

here. And I'm just looking at the city. I have

the larger city image pulled up, the middle image

here, where it's just the city. It's not open

battle station mode. It's just the city mode

where the ramps are. Go in, go out, go around,

go whatever. Upside down, inside out, whatever

kind of thing. It's a display piece. Same thing

with the Ark and the Nemesis. It's a display

piece of using the other toys you have. These

bigger bots, for me, have never been about the

robot mode. Do I like the characters of Fortress

Maximus or Metroplex as the robots? Yeah. But

I like them in the cartoon. As a toy, if I had

this today, I would be using it as a battle station.

I would be using it as a city for every other

smaller thing that I have. Like, I have the...

You probably can't... I have the Jada Toys Nano

Metal Figs. Like, I just basically dropped Starscream

on his metal head here. I would put all my Jada

Toys Nano Metal Figs, all my Autobots, I would

put them in this city. or around the city somewhere

kind of thing. So I understand what you're saying

about the space. I completely do. But that, to

me, is why the city bots... Like, if you look...

What's the episode? Oh, God, I should know this.

I'm a Transformers fan. I should know this. The...

Oh, is it Five Faces of Darkness when Scourge

and Starscream and... Well, it was Starscream's

ghost. Oh, Starscream, that's what it is. Starscream's

ghost. In Starscream's ghost, Starscream comes

back to life. He possesses Scourge, and Scourge...

Starscream has to do these labors for Unicron,

and Unicron wants eyes. Well, what's he going

to do? He's going to steal Metroplex's eye and

Trypticon's eye, and they have to go in. And

as they're going in, they see what kind of life...

is being lived inside the city that is Metroplex.

People can say what they want to say about the

IDW Publishing Comics, which I absolutely love

the IDW Publishing Transformers, IDW 2 .0 Comics,

but Margaret Scott, who we interviewed a couple

of times on the pullback. She wrote the Windblade

series, several of them, and Windblade is the

city speaker. She actually talks to Metroplex

and has a relationship with him and does all

that and whatever else. It's just a genuine,

interesting thing of how the rest of the Transformers

can live inside of this one Transformer. So,

yeah, I don't think we have pricing on this yet.

No, it's probably, since it's two feet, five

inches tall, because I had to do conversion on

that, folks, because I don't want to sit here

and say it's 76 centimeters. I mean, that's what

it says in the post, but I wanted the actual,

you know, two feet, five inches. Yeah, I mean,

it's... I think it's I want to say it's on show

Z. OK, well, if it is, you let me know. I mean,

two feet, five inches tall is about the same

height as the original Fort Max. He was two feet

tall. So, you know, it it is what it is. I think

this is cool. I probably won't be getting it,

but I think it's very cool. Yeah, he's twenty

nine point nine two inches. Yeah. it's it says

that on show z yeah um yeah and people can pre

-order them what's the pre -order price does

it say just as a dollar to start so i want to

know what i'm actually paying for like i want

to know the actual price yeah anyway speaking

of uh the things that are uh costly Masterpiece

Generations. Why they got to add the G to the

MP? I don't get this, but MPG -17 Optimus Prime.

Official images and promotional video. I watched

the promotional video. It looks good. This is

via Amazon Japan. We have new official images

and pre -orders for the Japanese market of the

new Transformers. mpg 17 optimus prime style

generation this new stylized optimus bold features

elements from different universes is up for pre

-order somebody somewhere on facebook i'll have

to send it to you later somebody somewhere on

facebook did a like a optimus masterpiece optimus

prime over the years he's only gotten like more

buffier kind of like he's gotten skinnier he's

gotten like he used to be fat with a ph back

in the mpo1 days by mp44 he's kind of slimmed

down to the point of look you know two shakes

you know and a sensible dinner and and i'm i'm

good to go but uh the video looks cool uh It

looks cool. It looks good. Does it say what it's

supposed to be? It was just confirmed that the

figure will stand 24 centimeters, 9 .5 inches

in robot mode, which is almost the same size

as MP44 Optimus Prime. Don't get me wrong. I

like the appearance of it. I like his vehicle

mode. I like the robot mode. Yeah, but... I don't

know. It almost looks like they took Randall

and Dr. Smooth's Optimus Prime and translated

him to... I don't like the really pointy part

of his head. Yeah, the ears are a little bit

much. And the ankles kind of make me feel like

they're on a ball joint that could break. yeah

that looks a little bad uh but the rest of it

like i mean i'm i'm pretty sold on this version

of a modern optimus prime and no trailer no trailer

for you so 165 dollars at any sense could be

yours today yeah except that's a little bit rich

for me i don't want to okay i know i'll wait

for i'll wait i'll wait for the knockoff no i'm

just That's horrible. You are going to drive

me nuts. I don't want to pay $90 for the Hasbro

all -in -one trailer version, but I don't want

to pay $165 without the trailer. Make up your

freaking mind, dude. Well, I can buy the Magic

Square Light of Freedom Optimus Prime Metallic

version for $69. And here's no trailer. Do that,

then. I don't think I've ever seen this before.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone put his laser

rifle on his shoulder. I have. Really? Yeah.

You want to know when that happened? When I wrote

about Ultimis Prime. Oh, of course. When you

wrote about your Chevy S10 truck. No, no, no,

no. This predates that. Oh. This is late 90s.

I thought. i thought ultimus was the chevy s10

oh the gmc s10 or s15 but okay story time yes

way back when the transformer sites you know

used to be good plentiful and good and all of

this there was a bunch of tech spec creator websites

that would generate a tech spec based on what

you wrote gotcha and they would send in a database

and you could download them and i did um so i

wrote about a character that i created called

ultimus prime and i wrote his his tech spec i

wrote his information that he was essentially

a failed clone of optimus prime after optimus

prime went back to earth you know, or went to

earth and was lost. And so they wanted an Optimus

prime. So they cloned him in, in the failed experiment.

He ended up becoming like the white and like

slate metallic, you know, Optimus prime essentially

like an, uh, like a, uh, ultra Magnus without

the armor. Um, and he had a fusion cannon on

his shoulder. Oh, nice. Okay. It's how I designed

him. And then, um, And then he also had another

one like it was basically his his hand cannon

was on his shoulder, but then his fusion cannon

was like on his arm, too. So, I mean, it could

go either way. But right. Point being, he had

a cannon on his shoulder. And. So it's kind of

funny that this figure is capable of it. Plus,

they have pegs on his back that you can actually

mount his various weapons. Nice. Yeah. Kind of

hold them in place, like on the side and on the

top or on the complete back. So I think it's

kind of cool how he does have the cannon there.

It just, I don't know, it makes him look more

like I'm ready for battle. Optimus Prime, roll

out. But yeah, I mean, I'm I mean, I'm all for

it. I like it. I think it's cool. And then he's

got the laser sword arms and stuff. no i i think

this is really well done i i do like it uh when

it boils down to like a money thing i just it's

not 100 like something i have to get my hands

on i kind of wish i never got rid of my uh mpo1

yeah but it's neither here nor there i i may

eventually get another masterpiece optimus prime

this may be it this may not i don't know but

i do think it's kind of cool I like the magic

square version better. But I think that these

ultimately these are these are all awesome. You

know, there's a flavor of Optimus Prime out there

for everyone. Yep. Absolutely. Oh, boy. And yeah,

so I'm waiting to see what the. price is gonna

be on this thing but apparently we would have

had to wait a few more days on this folks because

the pre -order does not go up until April 10th

but premium collectibles studio museum scale

Unicron statue reveal Coming to us from the official

Premium Collectibles Studio Facebook, we have

our official reveal of the massive Premium Collectibles

Studios Museum Scale Unicron Statue. The chaos

bringer is coming. The PCS Collectibles Transformers

Unicron Museum Scale Statue goes up for pre -order

on April 10th, measuring an immense 39 inches.

This towering force of destruction is a must

have for Transformers fans. Stay tuned for more

details. Yada, yada, yada. So, uh, 39 inches

wondering, um, what's the difference between

this and the, um, the, uh, the, the, the thing,

the thing, the other thing, uh, the one that

actually transforms. Yes. besides the fact that

this one doesn't it's just a statue yeah no i

know but like why is that like okay if you're

gonna do a unicron and i'm looking at the the

better image of this uh on on the facebook thing

that they linked here if you're going to do a

unicron statue Wouldn't you do something where

the bottom of him is the top of Cybertron and

he's actually stand like literally recreate the

scene where he's standing on top of Cybertron

fighting everybody from the movie. If you're

really going to do a 39 inch statue. I don't

know. Whatever. Maybe I'm just complaining too

much, folks. You know how we love to complain

around here. I don't know. And honestly, there's

only one Transformers statue that I still want

to this day that I don't think I will ever have

because I think it was a display piece only.

And it's all your damn fault. Because it's your

guy, even though it's not the purple version

of him. Dragon Megatron. God damn Red Dragon

Megatron from that whatever convention that was.

That display piece was so cool. Thing was awesome.

Anyway. all right yeah so there's that we don't

know what we'll we'll do an update at some point

next month or something folks but pre -order

for that is coming april 10th at 12 p .m uh pacific

time on uh on april 10th getting into some comics

stuff because skybound is skybound under image

comics skybound entertainment is the home of

the Transformers. Transformers fans, roll out.

Today, well, this was posted March 11th, but

in collaboration with leading games, IP and toy

company Hasbro announced a campaign for a Kickstarter

exclusive, the Transformers Compendium Set, which

will collect the complete US and UK stories from

the 1980s Transformers. marvel comics run in

definitive hardcover compendiums fans can sign

up for the mailing list now and receive all campaign

details and updates ahead of its launch on tuesday

april 8th 2025 at 6 a .m pacific time hey that's

tomorrow or today when you're hearing this or

after today when you're hearing this whatever

but uh yeah april 8th 2025 is when the Kickstarter

will go live. There's a teaser trailer that I

will send the link to you for. Lovingly bound

in gorgeous fox leather, each of the Transformers

compendium is between 950 and 1200 pages. Long

time and new fans alike can expect to relive

the classic stories that started it all for the

robots in disguise in editions that will not

be available anywhere else. So yeah, very, very

cool that they're doing this. And campaign rewards

will include 1980s -style tech spec cards, a

challenge coin featuring Autobot and Decepticon

shields, patches, exclusive comics, and additional

stretch goals to unlock as the campaign progresses.

Previous Skybound campaign backers and early

mailing list members will receive a free Jetfire

tech spec card when they back the campaign. A

quote from Skybound says, We wanted to make sure

that Skybound's follow -up to the record -breaking

G .I. Joe A Real American Hero compendium campaign

gave Transformers fans the jaw -dropping experience

they deserve, said Sean Mankiewicz, senior vice

president publisher Skybound. The Till All Are

One compendium box set is the most epic comic

book collection. we've ever produced so whether

you're looking to read the entire Cybertronian

saga like never before or dive into stunning

hardcover collections of the US and UK comics

this campaign has something for every long time

and new Transformers reader that is very cool

I absolutely love that I think that's great that

they're doing that it's not something I need

personally since we've already covered good majority

of the Marvel US and UK run over on the pull

bag. Did that a couple of years ago. We need

to finish that at some point, probably later

this year in Autobotly August or something. Because

I think there's like two trades that we didn't

finish at the time. I think so. Yeah, we'll finish

it at some point. But that is very, very cool.

I do think it is very cool that Skybound is doing

that. And that they are offering very, very cool

collectible type items. And that's the cool thing

about physical comics is that offering to have

the stories in these hardcover special edition

type things and offering to have an experience

that you could never have before. past comic

licensees like idw and dreamwave and obviously

marvel i'm sure they've done like i know idw

did several things over the years but you know

those are out of print by now most likely and

with skybound being the current license holder

they're going to do stuff special for the old

stuff just as they're doing their new run with

the energon universe Oh boy. This is okay. So

this next one is going to be, I need to really

just do a pull bag episode for this, but basically

Alliance entertainment, acquiring key assets

from diamond comic distributors. So earlier at

some point, diamond comic distributors. filed

chapter 11 bankruptcy alliance entertainment

arrived to the rescue earlier today proposed

acquisition which is subject to bankruptcy court

approval includes diamond comic distributors

u .s alliance game distributors diamond select

toys and collectibles and collectible grading

authority who collectively represent a 42 -year

-old enterprise recognized as a category -defining

leader in comic books, tabletop games, pop culture

merchandise, and collectible grading. Together,

Diamond Comic Distributors, U .S. Alliance Gaming

Distributors, and Collectible Grading Authority

support over 5 ,000 retail storefronts ranging

from blah, blah, blah. So the news is that Alliance

Entertainment Holding Corporation Trying to boil

this down here. They're going to, has been selected

as the winning bidder to acquire substantially

all of the assets of Diamond Comic Distributors

Incorporated, currently being sold through a

court -supervised bankruptcy process. The proposed

acquisition, which is subject to bankruptcy court

approval, includes... Everything I just mentioned.

So we'll see how everything goes. Yeah, I'm looking

for a price here. That's what I'm looking for.

There's no price. Yeah. But basically, yeah,

it's a thing. It's a whole thing. I was looking

for a number, and they're not giving me a number.

This is why sometimes I really hate TFW 2005.

And I know it's not their fault. This is the

way the press release is. They just copied the

press release. But some of these press releases,

the headline should be, Alliance Entertainment

acquiring key assets from Diamond Comic Distributors.

For $1 million. It's not going to be $1 million.

I'm just doing the Dr. Evil thing. But that's

a big thing that Diamond is getting acquired

by Alliance Entertainment. That doesn't surprise

me. It doesn't surprise me, but it's news that

kind of came out of nowhere. I was not expecting

to see that news happen last month. So. Yep.

And then we get to Skybound Compendium Volume

2, available for Amazon pre -order. This is the

paperback collecting more of the Marvel series.

End of the Iconic Original Era collects Transformers

45 to 80, Transformers the Movie 1 to 3, Transformers

Generation 2 1 to 12. Oh. See, that's what I'm

more so interested in is the fact that it has

the generation two, but yeah. Um, but yeah, I

mean, it's, it's, it's still cool seeing all

this stuff come back out again. Everything old

is new again. Absolutely. Well, that's not bad

actually for that. That's okay. So you, Oh, wait

a minute here. So we get 45 to 80. That's nearly

40. 30 40 issues plus the moving one to three

another 12 so like let's say 70 issues of comics

in one compendium for 60 just under 60 bucks

that's not bad at all that's that's an investment

right there that's very cool Well, your birthday's

coming up, so look out. You think I'm joking?

I know. You think I'm joking? I have your address.

I know what the hell I'm doing. Anyway. Moving

on to the last thing of the night. The 2026 Studio

Series stuff. Oh, boy. So, TFW member JTPrime17.

of course has an in places. So he sees the, the

product number, which I'm pretty sure these are

target numbers just from what I remember. Um,

so anyways, the, the first link that, that I

posted, cause there's like two different ones

of just kind of continuing it. Um, you know,

we get like the deluxe, uh, studio series. Um,

It says, like, A -level. Yeah. Deluxe. I think

it's Devastation Bumblebee. Yep. And then there's

Deluxe TF1 Orion Pax. Then we get, you know,

Barricade. We get Deluxe Windcharger from 86.

Deluxe 86 Sunstreaker. 86 Kranix. 86 Clipjumper.

Did we ever get a Kranix figure? Because if we

haven't, that's kind of awesome. It is. I don't

think we have. I don't think we've had a Windcharger

either or some of these others, but then you

get TF1 Thundercracker, TF1 Arachnid, and these

are all deluxes. And then the Voyagers, we're

getting the Skywarp Thundercracker, Seekers from

86, Shockwave from 86, TF1 Alpha Trion, and then

Leader, we're getting Leader 86 Soundwave, 86

Astrotrain, 86 Snarl, TF5 Nemesis Prime 30th

Anniversary Capsule for 86 and it says 86 Anniversary

Deluxe Hound Voyager Scourge Voyager Hot Rod

and Leader Optimus Prime so 86 Anniversary Leader

Optimus Prime so I'm wondering if this version

of Optimus Prime is going to give me the colors

that I'm looking for let's hope like the detail

like because if it was like You know, I had that

eight studio, the, the 86 film aesthetic. Yeah.

I would be more likely to jump. Yeah. Not that

the figure's bad. I mean, I liked what they did

and it is like, I felt like the war for Cybertron

Optimus prime, the earth rise and the kingdom.

Optimus Prime I felt like worked as a good G2

Optimus Prime whereas this will be a good G1

because it is G1 but and then I have Scourge

from like the 86 Scourge from Studio Series so

this is not enticing because they have I mean

one I have it too there's like that shell form

for so long like his sweeps yeah and then the

other link is the Age of the Primes full listing

yeah and so we end up with deluxe quintus prime

deluxe sure shot which doesn't tell you what

version of sure shot like if it's g1 if is it

like another universe it says gen gen prime deluxe

no it's generations of the it's the age of the

prime they all say prime so So they're doing

the generation thing here instead of the, you

know, United or Legacy United or, you know, it's

not Legacy, it's Generations again. Yeah. So

they're being super coy on this one. So we don't

even know what universities are necessarily coming

from. We have Blast Off, we have Quick Strike,

which if that's a deluxe Quick Strike for Beast

Wars, that could be interesting. Yep. Smokescreen,

Powerglide, Swerve, Animated Ratchet, Cliffjumper,

and then we get to Voyager. We get Amalgamous

Prime, Brawl. I mean, they're going to make Bruticus.

So, Animated Rengar, Armada Sideways, Nexus Prime,

and then we get Leaders. We get Big Convoy from

Beast Wars 2. Or Beast Wars Neo, I'm sorry. um

which will round out kind of the the beast wars

2 leader you know leo prime yeah and then big

convoy and then um universe razor claw which

was in the past for the for this uh was when

they kind of had it previously i'm i'm wondering

if this is from predaking or if this is from

like the universe like universe line which is

that's what it looks like which would be a repaint

of taiga hawk in the purple and black yeah for

the universe line and then of course we get onslaught

and then generation selects g2 swooping swooping

sludge so nothing particularly here other than

like quick strike i would care about maybe big

convoy because he's a giant elephant prime But.

Yeah, I mean, I'm more interested in the 86 studio

series stuff than I am this particular section,

but it's still cool to see that there's some

cool stuff coming. Yeah, absolutely. Cool stuff

is good stuff. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, there are

there is a lot of good stuff that's that's coming.

Pretty much. I think what has me more excited

about anything that they're currently doing is

whatever they do with the animated line. I'm

more interested to see any of that than anything

else at this point. Because I liked animated

and it just. The animated line itself is, I mean,

2007, 2008, 2009. Seeing those toys in modern

day aesthetic, but still modern day, not aesthetic.

Modern day toy building with the same aesthetic

that we had from the actual show. Just how they're

pulling that off is just so, so fun and so cool.

And that Prime Cliffjumper, well, you're going

to get the horns, folks. It might be Prime Cliffjumper.

Well, that's what it says. Those were all age

of the primes. No, it had two primes on that

listing. It did say Trojan Prime, but it did

say Prime Cliffjumper. okay it does yeah yeah

yeah i knew i wasn't reading it wrong so but

yeah no i mean it it's awesome to be a transformers

fan currently from comics to toy collecting to

whatever else i think the only thing that we're

currently lacking is animation I don't know why.

I don't know what they're waiting on. They might

be waiting for like a reboot or, you know, somewhere

in that. I guess. I don't know. I don't know

what they're doing. It is Hasbro. That's very

true. Like. But. But, yeah, so. So, yeah, that

about rounds out everything. So anything else

you want to bring up before we close this out?

I would have had for this episode, and I'll probably

have it next time, hopefully. I would have had

because I finally at the end of March, I was

able to pay off my buddy. And he was going to

ship me the Transformers Funko Pop NFTs of Cheetor,

Blitzwing, Arcee, and Ultra Magnus from the NFT

Wave 2 of Funko Pops. He shipped them, which

I've lived here in this apartment that I'm living

in for three years. I've never had a shipping

problem. I haven't had a USPS shipping problem

in two decades. he shipped them ground advantage

or whatever usps has or whatever and they never

showed up they constantly went through the usps

system they did this they did that and now because

they've been unclaimed they're going they're

being shipped back to him and i'm like wait what

how the hell did that happen like what the hell

like uh this is why i don't buy stuff anymore

folks this is why i don't buy Because half the

time, and most people know, I don't leave my

apartment unless I have to. So I have to have

things delivered or shipped to me because I don't

go out and get the stuff myself. And it's not

like you can go out and actually buy the NFTs

in an actual physical store because they're NFTs

and it is what it is. But it's one of those things

where it's like, damn it. Like, come on. So there's

that. But hopefully next time. I will have that

to report back that I actually got those. Cause

I'm, I really, I've seen the cheat or I've seen

other people post, uh, like a three 60 of the

cheat or, but obviously I want to get the thing

in hands and I want to see it for myself and

all that and whatever else. And I'm hoping that

they do. What I find interesting with, with Funko

and the transformers licenses, either they don't

do anything with it. Or when they do stuff with

it, nobody's talking about it. I get it. The

overall Transformers community. Ew, Funko Pops.

I think I know maybe five people besides myself

that actually like the Funko Pop Transformers

stuff. I don't see Funko Pop Transformers in

any of the Funko Auctions stuff on Whatnot that

I follow. And I'm not on Whatnot Funko Auctions

to be buying stuff, but I support just... It's

like watching a YouTube video just going whatever.

So I don't know. It is what it is. It's weird.

It's whatever. But we've gotten... We had WonderCon

already this year. No Transformers exclusives

for WonderCon. I don't know if there's going

to be any Funko Transformers exclusive for SDCC,

CCCC. So, I don't know. That's a running... Over

on Geekcast Radio, folks, it's a running joke

between my buddy Christopher, my buddies Christopher

and Matt and I when we do our convention attention

coverage of cons that they go to. If it... Ends

in a CC, we usually add like seven CCCCCs because

ECCCCCC, it's a running joke. But yeah, I mean,

you know, like I always say, even if there isn't

anything currently going on for Transformers

for somebody, there's always 41 years of history.

I will recommend the Skybound comics for older

Transformers fans, for adult Transformers fans,

because it is geared towards the adult collector,

the adult reader. No child should be reading

the Daniel Warren Johnson Transformers comic

because it's far too violent. But for us adults,

it's actually pretty good. 18 issues of him writing.

And I'm like, get to the point over it. Literally

the, the 18th issue that me and Jesse early matrix

prime and Ryan, and even float discussed on,

uh, another comic review, Jesse's podcast. By

the end of it, I'm like, okay, can we get a new

writer? Not that Daniel Warren Johnson's a bad

writer, but I want a different voice on this.

I want a different story. I'm tired of this already.

Like, get to the point. So maybe I'm just old

and bitter, folks. I don't know. So with that,

thank you, as always, for listening to all things

Transformers. I've been your host, Steve Megatron

with TFG1 Mike. You can, of course, interact

with us and the show on geekcastradio .com on

the episode post or on social media. Until next

time, transform and transcend. Yes.