Since I started
selling toys on eBay,
I've not been able to do reviews. Its a matter of appearing biased
and having conflicting interests. I still collect however, and its
the time of year for awards. So, I thought I'd list my favourites,
not detailed analysis, but brief discussions of why I like them. All
the toys and/or comics would be good, or at least interesting, but
the number 1 would not necessarily be the best Transformer this year.
I don't dabble in Masterpiece or Japanese lines, and my interest in
the comics usually stops with James Roberts, so my sample size is a
bit small. So, something in the line of last year's top ten, toys I
have in my personal collection which were released this year. More or
less. Then I realised its actually been a pretty good year for
Transformers, and 10 wasn't big enough a number. Especially since
Titans Return Wave 3 started appearing in December, and Six Shot was
looking to be a shoe-in for top 5 if I got it in time. Did I get it
in time? Well,
keep reading.
Let's do a top twenty instead.
Numbers 20-11 represent the honourable
mentions category. Toys I'm glad I have, but got pushed out of the
top ten by others. You'll notice a lot of retools in there, but
that's not a bad reflection on them, as we have parts reuse in the
Top Ten too. Buckle up.
20: Titans Return Rewind
While
definitely the most successful attempt to reinvent tapeformers, the
legends class "tablets" of Titans Return have ended up as
an also-ran. Good enough as a group, but one hopes for more
interesting toys in later waves. Rising above, more for what he is
than what he does, is Rewind. As a toy, he's a nice robot, with an
IDW head, a serviceable tank mode, whom adds to Blaster as a chest
minion. As one half of a married couple of two guys, yet in Toys R
Us, he means a lot more.
19: Titans Return Brawn (Titanmaster)
While not the best solo titanmaster
release, Brawn gets on this list due to his general competency and
theme. Whereas a lot of the toys at this pricepoint seem a bit
misplaced, having Brawn as a tiny dude riding in an ATV isn't a
stretch, even if the hoverbike mode is. It helps that the titanmaster
evokes his toy design in robot mode, whereas the head is pure
cartoon. That aside, functionally its the most consistent toy so far
of its kind, not having a weak mode, and probably having the best
weapon form. Just a shame that so much detail goes unpainted.
18: Robots in Disguise Quillfire
(Warrior)
The modern Robots In Disguise cartoon and its toys have
largely failed to register with me. I don't think I was the only one
put off by the thought of a series about Bumblebee, and its
non-standard size classes reminiscent of Age Of Extinction. The
quality did however improve as things went along, eventually giving
us this guy. Quillfire is very close to being a proper deluxe, if
only his doors folded up, while having loads of character, and
two weapons both which stow internally. I'm also amazed they
articulated the neck, it could have been so easily been fixed as a
cost saving measure.
17: Titans Return Blurr (Deluxe)
Yo
listen up here's a story
About a little guy that lives in a
blue world
And all day and all night and everything he sees
Is
just blue
Like him inside and outside
Blue his house with a
blue little window
And a blue Corvette
And everything is blue
for him
And himself and everybody around
Cause he ain't got
nobody to listen
I'm Blurr da ba dee da ba daa
Etc. etc.
Anyway, Blurr is a nice mould, but the
blue is overpowering. Gonna repaint mine, I think.
16: Combiner Wars Trailbreaker
(Deluxe)
An unexpected pleasure from the final gasps of Combiner
Wars, Trailbreaker is another benchmark transformer. Not because he's
a brilliant toy, although he has little to apologise for, but
more for being better a toy on the second pass. The original Offroad
mould is an also-ran of Combiner Wars, suffering from some tabbing
issues that affected the already unstable Menasor, and a lack of
anything to make it stand out amongst its peers. Trailbreaker fixes
both problems, being rock solid in all modes, and adding Rook's party
trick. More like this please.
15: Combiner Wars Victorion (Boxset)
My
last Combiner Wars purchase, I hope, the
fan-built-female-combiner set was an impulse buy at a good price, but
proved to be better in hand then I expected. Its that beautiful sword
and all that subtle retooling to make them feminine without going the
sexy robot route. Unified colour schemes, and the fact the Combiner
Wars toys are rarely bad helps too. That said, quality control issues
and simple mould fatigue seem to be at play here, taking the shine
off.
14: Titans Return Powermaster
Prime (Leader)
An extensive and perhaps obvious retool of Ultra
Magnus, this adds new play features, a third mode, addresses the hand
issue, and brimgs an industrial amount of nostalgia. Given that
Magnus was already a pretty good toy, this basically adds up to
great, but is likely to be overshadowed by later releases. In a
repeat of Devastator, the Japanese equivalent has additional tooling,
which looks to be an improvement in almost all ways except feet.
Whichever version you go for though, this toy nails the
robot/truck/base play pattern better than any Optimus we've had for a
while, if a bit gappy.
13: Titans Return Fortress
Maximus
Perhaps the most interesting retool in this modern age of
retools, Fortmax is a remix of 2013's Metroplex, another modern
classic. Is he as good? Well it depends. The robot mode certainly
looks better, the proportions greatly improved, and the reuse of
parts borders on the ingenious. Cerebros is also a high point,
overcoming his status as soundbox on legs to the point where some
want him separately. And while I want to slap the person whom
included the sticker sheet, the metallic foil effect adds a lot to
the finished product. On the flipside, the city form is necessarily
different from the G1 toy, and there's an almost "Uncanny
Valley" feel to things as now undocumented engineering is
retained from Metroplex. Odds are, you've already made up your mind
on this one, but its got an appeal.
12: Combiner Wars Sky Lynx (Voyager)
I was
down on this toy at first, my opinions coloured by questionable
quality control and overhype. On balance however, Commander Modesty
ends up as the best overall CW torso bot, if lacking for appropriate
limbbots. No single mode is a total success, but there is no weak
third mode either. The torso mode is heroically proportioned, and
makes better use of the jet moulds than Superion does. And let's be
real here, Sky Lynx is so utterly bonkers, its impossible not to like
him.
11: Titans Return Crashbash
(Titanmaster)
An extremely charming little toy, this is a spare
head that combines with a wyvern to make an adorable T-Rex. Or what
can only be described as a triple barrelled butt cannon. He's a great
pocket money toy, all these individual titanmasters are, but this is
the one to beat in later waves. Of course, given the number of times
this toy has been re-released.....it will probably be in those later
waves too.
10: Combiner Wars Shockwave
(Legends)
Another toy making this article because I didn't get it
until April, Shockers is an ideal representation of the character,
and the best thing about the CW Combaticons. Seriously, articulation,
appearance, transformation, and play value all tend towards great.
When the only change you'd make is the characteristic use of
translucent plastic, you know you've got something good. I liked this
toy so much, I brought it even after I'd got it 3 times as the Botcon
Reflector set.
9: Titans Return Hardhead
(Deluxe)
Hardhead is an entirely satisfactory toy, but it has a
mouth-plate, unlike basically all fictional depictions of the
character. Putting that aside, HH is possibly the best deluxe
overall in Titans Return wave 1, and out-performs toys in other size
classes too. If you've got an Autobot with two guns and effective
articulation, you are half way there with me, but this guy looks
great, and he really sells the play pattern.
8: Titans Return Mindwipe
(Deluxe)
While all of the wave 2 Titans deluxes are worth a look,
Mindwipe is the most interesting and arguably the most functional.
This is mainly due to his unique transformation where the legs unfold
into bat wings, and the number of daft fan modes that result. He's
also well-made in robot form, and I find his accessories to be a
surprisingly attractive. A solid performer.
6/7: Titans Return Blaster/Soundwave
(Leader)
Ever since Jetfire came along in 2014, the modern leader
class has felt a bit of a compromise. Be it gappy plastic, sub-par
engineering or a questionable design choice, a good all-rounder had
yet to appear. With Blaster, it arrived. While not exceptional in any
mode, this toy is consistent and hides its hollowness. Big. Simple.
Fun. And Soundwave adds an accessory. Both represent the best
versions of their characters outside of Masterpiece, if slightly let
down so far by the quality of the chest minions so far.
5: Sins of the Wreckers (Comic
series)
I feel really sorry for Nick Roche, because not only was
Last Stand of the Wreckers a tough act to follow, not only was MTMTE
was reaching a fever pitch at about the same time, the guy suffered a
family tragedy while he was working on it, delaying the series. This
has unduly marked the reception of Sins, trapping it a cycle of hype,
anti-hype, and uncertainty. Its fortunate then that its a honestly
excellent work. Personal where Last Stand was bombastic, but no less
shocking or political, the plot Sins is something I dare not spoil by
explaining it. I will however say that certain characters and scenes
you will never forget. However much you may want too......
4: Titans Return Chromedome
(Deluxe)
Chromedome was one of those toys that was gonna be a lot
of peoples favourite, but also where some collectors were not
immediately on board. Along with Rewind he forms the premier MTMTE
couple, beloved by Tumblr and almost anyone whom actually reads the
comic. But if you hadn't, all Chromedome just looks like is a retool
of the excellent if over-used Combiner Wars Dead End. He's not, he's
just copying engineering, although he share parts with #17 on this
list. All that said, Chromedome ended up a very high quality toy, and
was only pushed our of the top 3 by a late addition. This guy is
basically Dead End plus Blurr, with an IDW face. He's the Marvel
superhero film. He's very familiar, but he's so well put together,
the end result is awesome. Chromedome is the new standard for car
transformers, having all you could want at the price and no
meaningful flaws.
3: Titans Return Triggerhappy (Deluxe)
The first last minute addition to this
list, Triggerhappy came out of nowhere to be everyone's darling.
While he personally ties into some happy childhood memories, this toy
is notable for its very novel transformation, a distinctive jet mode,
and satisfying robot mode. Its extremely well-presented too, with
numerous effective paint applications, minimal gaps, landing gear,
and a dedicated figure stand port for each mode. This all rests atop
the Titans Return play pattern, which makes Triggerhappy extremely
compelling as a toy. He's the best jetformer we've had in a while,
and like Chromedome represents the new standard for such things, whom
he ranks above for seemingly being completely new.
2: The Dying of the Light (More
Than Meets The Eye Volume 10)
"Season 2" of MTMTE has
been subject of a lot of controversy, but this five issue story
proved to bean undeniable high note More Than Meets The Eye has
always been willing to take risks amongst the character comedy, and
its biggest was to make Megatron a regular character, on probation
for his innumerable war crimes, and seeking to change his legacy.
Against all odds, they pulled it off. Megatron's character gained
nuance and complexity that just wasn't there before, and we slowly
realised he was sincere. In this story arc, it all came crashing
down, as his past caught up with him and people started to die. But
it wasn't just about him, as plot threads bubbling away since 2012
came to the fore, and the core cast found itself re-enacting Rorke's
Drift. As if we needed reminding, this story proved James Roberts and
Alex Milne are names you want on a Transformers comic.
1: Titans Return Six Shot (Leader)
By far the most ambitious toy on this
list, Six Shot had a lot riding on him. Transformers with more than 2
distinctive/convincing modes are rare enough on their own, but 6? We
hadn't had that since the 2000 Robots in Disguise series with
Megatron/Gigatron, the closest thing since being the 4 mode Animated
Shockwave. When I saw the pictures, I knew that as long as it didn't
break on day one we were looking at a modern classic. Getting it in
person revealed some imperfections that confirmed it was made by
mortal hands for the mass market, but yes.
Six Shot is possibly the biggest crowd
pleaser we've had since Generations Springer.
Perfect? No. He's basically made of
friction joints, and I took steps to tighten things immediately. He's
entirely in the G1 aesthetic, so his altmodes require “imagination”.
There's the whole submarine silliness too, and the guns look a bit
weedy. These things do not matter. He does all the original did,
modernised with articulation, tabs to interact with base modes, AND
a titanmaster whose design is a spectacularly dark in-joke. Play
value is off the charts, as is style, and this makes him my #1.
