Tired of waiting for official U.S. releases of your favorite Transformers series while fans overseas are already bingeing Headmasters, Beast Wars, or the RiD sets? Yeah, we’ve been there. The good news? There’s no reason to wait anymore.
The trick? Region-free DVD players — and they're easier to get than you think.
You don’t need some crazy import or high-end tech. There’s an army of budget-friendly DVD players sitting at your local Target, Best Buy, Walmart, or wherever you shop. A little research online will show you which models can be easily unlocked or "hacked" to play DVDs from any region.
💡 Pro Tip: The cheaper the DVD player, the easier it usually is to unlock. Stick with recognizable names like Philips — avoid high-end models like Sony, Toshiba, or Pioneer if you're aiming for flexibility over frills.
Region 4 (Australia)? PAL format (UK)? Region 2 (Europe)? Bring it on.
I’ve been watching global Transformers content for years — including:
- []Metrodome’s Headmasters, Masterforce, Victory, and RiD []Transformers: The Movie Reconstructed []Madman’s flawless Beast Wars and G1 box sets []Japanese bonus DVDs, right out of the box
- Burned raw video files (AVI, MPEG, etc) straight from downloads
No conversions. No drama. Just plug and play on my main setup.
Why does this matter now? Because one of our site’s latest sponsors is Madman — the team bringing official releases to life down under. If you're not importing from them yet, you’re missing out. I personally think it’s worth the extra few bucks to own incredible sets like Headmasters or RiD, especially when there’s no domestic alternative.
Still unsure where to begin? Want help picking a solid region-free player? Just post below or message me — I’ll do my best to point you in the right direction.
Let’s make sure every Seibertronian can watch their favorite episodes — no matter where in the galaxy they’re released.
Freedom is the right of all sentient Transformers fans.
Ryan in 2005 wrote:Hey guys,
Once Metrodome announced the upcoming Headmasters DVD set, I started doing some research into figuring out a standard way to play foreign DVDs. I've been anxiously awaiting a Headmasters DVD set that's not as expensive as the Japanese version for quite some time so I can assure all of you that I wasn't going to let a little thing like Region 2 or PAL video stop me from figuring out a way to play the Metrodome DVDs here in the States (NTSC video, Region 1). While it was great news that Metrodome was going to release the Movie and Headmasters as Region 0 (just like the Robots in Disguise RiD videos were released unbeknownst to many fans), but that would only allow most of us American fans the ability to watch the DVDs on our computer. I wanted to watch the DVDs on my television with my sound system dammit!
So I talked to a few of my friends at work who are from Poland. A few of them started pointing me toward the DVD player that is sold locally at Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Circuit City or Amazon.com. This DVD player can EASILY be hacked to play any region AND it automatically converts PAL formatted videos to NTSC. PLUS IT'S CHEAP and comes with tons of other features that have totally changed my DVD experience. I highly recommend this DVD player:
Philips DVP642 DivX-Certified Progressive-Scan DVD Player
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... lectronics
http://www.google.com/products?q=phillips+DVP6421. Turn on the player.
2. Open the tray.
3. Press the following sequence on the remote: 7 8 9 OK 0
4. The number 0 will appear on the lower left side of your screen.
5. Your player is now region free! Put in a DVD and enjoy!
NOTE: The 0 in the sequence above represents the region code. 0 = region free. If you want to change your player to just a specific region code, replace the 0 with the region number you want.
The hack should be perfectly safe, but USE IT ON YOUR OWN RISK!
It plays my RiD DVDs from the UK perfectly as well as my various Takara DVDs that came with my Robot Masters figures and TFC-9 Starscream. I can't say enough great things about this DVD player.
And no, I do not work for Phillips. I'm just trying to spread some information about this DVD player out to the community so that you guys can get your DVD player before the Headmasters set is released.
Apparently the cheaper the DVD Player, the easier it is to region hack and to find a player that will convert from PAL to NTSC. I bought one that was a little more expensive with a brand that I recognized even though several of my friends recommended the Cyberhome DVD players. However, I read so many bad reviews about the Cyberhome DVD player that it didn't matter that it was only $40 or less ... I wanted a player that would last and look decent.
