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So, about halfway through Blurrz' list of the 25 Greatest Transformers, I had a thought. Maybe there was a list I wanted to make too. But "The 25 Most One-sided Battles" didn't seem like a great idea (although it would have culminated in Erector going up against the Brest Force) and Nexus Maximus had already won the "The Top 27 Transformers With Names You Might Find In Playboy".So instead, here it is:

26 of the Greatest Alt Modes of All Time.

To celebrate the 26th Anniversary of the franchise, here are, in my opinion, 26 of the best Alt Modes.

#26: Trains (doy.)
#25: T-Rex
#24: Corvette Stingray
#23: Guns and Weaponry
#22: Big Cats
#21: Motorbikes
#20: Dragons
#19: Birds
#18: Tanks
#17: Maritime Vehicles
#16: Monkeys and Apes
#15: Formula-1 Racers
#14: Nissans
#13: Humans
#12: Tentacles
#11: Apache Helicopters
#10: Musical Media
#9: Lorries
#8: Porsches
#7: Seekers F-15s
#6: Insects
#5: Future Cars
#4: LeMans
#3: Penguins
#2: Future Jets
#1: Lamborghinis


Honourable Mentions: Part 1
Honourable Mentions: Part 2
Honourable Mentions: Rhinocerouseses (written by Duke of Luns)
Honourable Mentions: Turtles (written by Duke of Luns)

#26 Trains

Despite all their limitations, toy trains will always hold a place in the hearts of little boys everywhere. Sure, they may not be able to leave their tracks, or do anything but go round and round in circles, but we all had glowing smiles on our faces as our electric trains rounded the corner, ready to run over our sister's Barbie.

So really, it was no surprise that trains would keep coming back again and again in the Transformers franchise, and the first is Astrotrain.



One of the second year of figures, ol' Astro made frequent appearances in the cartoon thanks to the usefulness of his two Alt Modes; in the first he could take his fellow Decepticons into space, in the second he could take them to Hogwarts.


"I hope I get put in Slyth...WHAT?!? HUFFLEPUFF!?!"

But the big reason why trains make for an awesome Alt Mode is that trains are, by their very definition, combining, and many of their figures live up to that. Here are some of the best figures:

Raiden:


"We could fly! For some reason."

These guys were awesome in Headmasters, transportin' folks around and taking random holidays in Japan.

Rail Racer:

"I sure hope the Decepticons are near the station!"

Rail Racer has to be the best combiner in Transformers. Sure, Menasor is cooler and Predaking is bigger, but they're just not as sleek, posable and stylish as this guy.

Sixtrain (Well, Rail Racer):

WARNING: BECOMING A TRAINSPOTTER MAY CAUSE VIRGINITY TO GROW BACK.

I've never understood the point of lots of little guys merged into one normal-sized guy. It's like in cartoons where kids steal their fathers' antique Bogie trenchcoats and stand on one another's shoulders to get into adult movies and fight Evil Decepticons.

Powertrain:

"I really shouldn't be here."

So ultimately, trains may not be the most mobile or maneuverable of vehicles, but they combine real damn nice. And as the new 3rd party Hearts Of Steel Prime proves, they're not running out of steam any time soon!

Heh, running out of steam...

Heh...

...heh...

Oh, never mind.

I just got a Rage Mode Sixtrain, and he's pretty sweet. I'm looking for a Sixliner, but he seems to be running the most expensive by far of the Micromaster Combiner Reissues.

Haha, great idea Diem.

I think Trainformers are pretty dynamic and as shown by the quality of the trains that we have - are pretty outstanding figures.

Nice. Rail Racer's gotta be one of the best combiners in TF history.

RK_Striker_JK_5 wrote:Nice. Rail Racer's gotta be one of the best combiners in TF history.

He's got my vote for one.

Raiden is an awesome combiner, and I wish I had a proper version of him.

Nice one adding poor old Powertrain in there.

I used to like trains. I dunno what happened that turned me against them, but now I honestly can't stand them. Astrotrain only gets by because he's a triple changer, but otherwise I have an inexplicable bias against train TFs and thus do not agree on this choice.

Moving on though, can we get a #25?

Kind of general, isn't it? I mean saying something like "cars" would be similarily odd when there's so many.

Diem, I will be sorely disappointed if Heinlad doesn't make your top 3.

Love the trainformers.

Nickolai wrote:Diem, I will be sorely disappointed if Heinlad doesn't make your top 3.

Love the trainformers.

Too true. LONG before the "manly" Devastator of the movies, Heinlad was the only Transformer with... whem... the 'balls' to show it all off!