2017 was an interesting year. I have to say, overall Titans Return was an infinitely more satisfying toyline for me than Combiner Wars. More variety in engineering, less of a "Gotta get them all" element, a (mostly) better implemented gimmick, and some really cool character choices.
My top 5 toys (official) I got this year (not necessarily made this year though):
5: Pretty much every Titans Return toy this year was excellent, but on top has to be Topspin. Inspired transformation, great poseability, and looks awesome in both modes. As a friend of mine said, who would expect the Jumpstarters to be some of the best toys of the year? Triggerhappy came very close, it has to be said.
4: UW Nosecone. Technically I got him in 2016 but thanks to the replacement shenanigans with my faulty one I ended up "properly" experiencing him in 2017. Computron I found to be a little disappointing in some ways, but Nosecone is the gift that keeps on giving. I just can't put him down. The tightnesses are a bit off here and there, but mostly? He's superb.
3: UW Megaempress. It's the stupidest concept for a toy ever and I love her. She absolutely owns the mold, and she positively oozes personality. The whole set is great but she definitely comes out as the highlight.
2: BW Rampage. He's been a holy grail for almost a decade now, and I'm so glad I got him. He's such a characterful toy. He looks absolutely gorgeous in every mode, he poses pretty well and he's built wonderfully. Plus he's one of my favourite characters from one of my favourite shows.
1: ROTF Mindwipe. Not only is he an absolutely stellar toy, but the fact WJ88 straight up gifted him to me just warms my heart. What an awesome dude. I still need to find some way to repay you, mate.
Other highlights-
TFNation was amazing. I got to meet Hal Rayle, our very own Hinomars (I'm still jealous of your drawing skills, even if I mistook your Daniel for Kei from Dirty Pair...
), Simon Furman, Thew and Venus Terzo, I bought some awesome stuff and generally had a great time. If I can I'll definitely attend again this year.
I managed to nab some neat third party stuff- Maketoys Green Giant (who IMO makes a better CW Devastator than CW Devastator) and Maketoys Despotron (who is absolutely amazing). Both wonderful purchases.
I bought my mum a Transformers Christmas present in the form of Henkei Ghost Starscream- she absolutely loves it too!
The one Transformer related negative this year was The Last Knight. Good lord, what a mess. A shame as I've enjoyed every other Transformers movie, but this was just awful.
Overall though? Excellent year. I may even extend the 2017 goodness a bit, I've seen TR Sky Shadow in my local Entertainer and if I can nab him he will be mine! MINE!