The Energon Pub

william-james88 wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:Not bad. If I had a list, the only change I would make is replacing the MP line with Prime. Those figures were pretty good, especially the deluxes. I wouldn't include the MP line because like you said, some of the earlier pieces were way off the mark.

For me, Prime was a contender but i judged it worse than MP (Airachnid anyone?). The fact that we never got a show accurate deco for season 1 voyager megs was enough to tip it in the favour of mp 2.0 for me.

So when you put MP on the list you were only referring to MP 2.0?

Isn't that what I wrote on the list?

Oh...yeah. somehow I missed that...

Today I finished a small project that's taken up three weekends.

Unpacking and setting up all my Optimus Primes/Convoys.

This spans the entire existence of Transformers.

I was, and still am not, a fan of Animated's aesthetic. But damn did they do some amazing engineering for that line to produce such cartoon accuracy. For that very reason alone I would put it at #1.

Sure, other lines did a good job too, but they never had to contend with the sleek misproportioned style of Animated.

It took me a while to look beyond the aesthetic of Animated before I gave it a chance. Longer still for me to get my head around the idea of human villains. But after I did, it is probably my favourite Transformers show after Beast Wars. I never owned any of the figures BUT if they had released Animated Omega Supreme, I would have bought it Day One.

Cool list dude.

Ive just recently been letting my kids check out my transmetal beast wars toys. They hold up so well it’s insane. That was probably the most excited I’ve ever been in my life to collect toys. I can remember going into toys r us and picking up my first one (Cheetor). Good memories!

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:It took me a while to look beyond the aesthetic of Animated before I gave it a chance. Longer still for me to get my head around the idea of human villains. But after I did, it is probably my favourite Transformers show after Beast Wars. I never owned any of the figures BUT if they had released Animated Omega Supreme, I would have bought it Day One.

It was just so undeniably entertaining. So well written so much fan service and some of the best voice acting across all the series. I loved Prowl and although I thought Bulkhead could be like a stereotypical character sometimes it was still Bulkhead. Who could transform his own kibble into a chair. Brilliant.

A competent [non-BW] Megatron and the Decepticons were a credible threat throughout the first and much of the second series. I liked that they played up the fact that the Autobots were rookies and the Decepticons were warriors. That it actually took them a while to win in combat.

Gobots were the most accurate.

Yes! Totally - they were all huge and the Autobots were all smaller with primarily melee weapons. That Decepticons having that overall upper hand brought me back to BW like ok we’re heroes oh crap we better figure this out fast.

I was so opposed to the animated style at first despite my love of Animated Batman and Superman but it was Transformers in the most radical new interpretation we’d seen I gave it a chance it hooked me with the great plot and all the fun fan service. I mean George Takei Werid Al Sue Blue all these guest voices and then Elita 1 story ugh drowning in nostalgia! And as a dad of two daughters on Father’s Day I’ll say Sari Sumdak will always have a special place in my heart next to Verity Carlos.

Clicked just to make sure Cybertron was #1, and it is. Nicely done!

I pretty much agree with the list. Cybertron is my favorite line. It has everything I like in my Transformers. Electronic lights and sounds (though I do like actual voice clips better), projectiles (especially that don't stick out of the guns comically), and show accuracy. Cybertron just took the toys and animated them really, adding just a little more articulation and paint apps. Cybertron Prime is one of my favorites, especially with all the stuff he does and his combos.

Transmetals were awesome as well, and Transmetal Cheetor happens to be my favorite BW figure for his colors and design, though when my Cobalt Kitty is in robot mode I use a different transformation for his backpack legs than the official one. And looks pretty much just like the show. And Depthcharge is a thing of beauty along with so many others in the line.

When it comes to Animated I'm with Burn on this. Didn't care for the show, didn't like the designs, but my goodness were the toys amazing for nailing the look in both modes accurately. I got the Optimus in a lot I purchased, and while his look isn't my favorite, the engineering makes it a very awesome Transformer toy.

As for Prime, when I first heard about the cartoon and saw the designs I was so hyped. Then I saw the RID toys and was very disappointed. The weapon gimmick was the worst, especially because they didn't lock open. The first editions were much better, but as a whole I don't think I would put them above any on the list. I think the Cyberverse Prime toys would be more show accurate than the main line. I love the Cyberverse Megatron. I'm mostly disappointed that their hands don't morph into weapons like the show. MP line, give me my Prime Prime, wait, Prime Optimus, that doesn't sound right either, uh, give me my Prime squared with morphing hands already

Yep, Cybertron's toy-to-screen accuracy was pretty spot-on... except for one change made to the animation model for one particular Decepticon that, to be honest, was really unnecessary. I am, of course, referring to Thunderboobs--err, Thunderbreast--I mean, Thunderblast.

Epsilon Delta wrote:I pretty much agree with the list. Cybertron is my favorite line. It has everything I like in my Transformers. Electronic lights and sounds (though I do like actual voice clips better), projectiles (especially that don't stick out of the guns comically), and show accuracy. Cybertron just took the toys and animated them really, adding just a little more articulation and paint apps. Cybertron Prime is one of my favorites, especially with all the stuff he does and his combos.

Transmetals were awesome as well, and Transmetal Cheetor happens to be my favorite BW figure for his colors and design, though when my Cobalt Kitty is in robot mode I use a different transformation for his backpack legs than the official one. And looks pretty much just like the show. And Depthcharge is a thing of beauty along with so many others in the line.

When it comes to Animated I'm with Burn on this. Didn't care for the show, didn't like the designs, but my goodness were the toys amazing for nailing the look in both modes accurately. I got the Optimus in a lot I purchased, and while his look isn't my favorite, the engineering makes it a very awesome Transformer toy.

As for Prime, when I first heard about the cartoon and saw the designs I was so hyped. Then I saw the RID toys and was very disappointed. The weapon gimmick was the worst, especially because they didn't lock open. The first editions were much better, but as a whole I don't think I would put them above any on the list. I think the Cyberverse Prime toys would be more show accurate than the main line. I love the Cyberverse Megatron. I'm mostly disappointed that their hands don't morph into weapons like the show. MP line, give me my Prime Prime, wait, Prime Optimus, that doesn't sound right either, uh, give me my Prime squared with morphing hands already

Ah, so Prime² with morphing hands it is, to differentiate between Prime with murderous morphing hands that is Bayformers Prime.

I think the list is great as it is, and I wouldn't change a thing here. The MP line is fine where it is because, frankly, the cartoon wasn't accurate to itself, meaning the toys wouldn't really be accurate anyway, no matter what they did.

Prime, while having great toys, wasn't as accurate to the show as others on this list, kinda like the first BW toys.

I considered Studio Series for this, but then I remember VW Bee and Dropkopter... yeah, not nearly accurate to the source for this list

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

Emerje wrote:Though, now that I think about it, aside from Animated aren't these all really "toy accurate shows"?

Emerje

It is so weird when you say that and then note the disparity between the Transmetals/TM 2 and Beast Machines...

Beast Machines was really Hasbro's fault. Mainframe wanted to keep things going the way they were, but then Hasbro basically cut their animation budget in half when they told them to share it with a then-new Action Man series. Beast Machines was them cheating with kibble-free character designs that don't really transform in the classic sense to simplify the animation models and Hasbro doing toys that looked little like the cartoon since both companies were doing their own interpretations of Draxhall Jump's design concepts at the start. It was a no win situation for fans.

Emerje

Indeed. That said, in hindsight, it would have probably worked out better if they had just made Beast Machines an animated cartoon, instead of CG.

Transformers Prime? Some aren't super accurate, but some are pretty close.

I'm still really impressed with how close they managed to get Animated the show to its toys. Cybertron deserved #1 but I'm glad Animated made the list, it definitely worked some magic to make the toys show accurate!

Emerje wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

Emerje wrote:Though, now that I think about it, aside from Animated aren't these all really "toy accurate shows"?

Emerje

It is so weird when you say that and then note the disparity between the Transmetals/TM 2 and Beast Machines...

Beast Machines was really Hasbro's fault. Mainframe wanted to keep things going the way they were, but then Hasbro basically cut their animation budget in half when they told them to share it with a then-new Action Man series. Beast Machines was them cheating with kibble-free character designs that don't really transform in the classic sense to simplify the animation models and Hasbro doing toys that looked little like the cartoon since both companies were doing their own interpretations of Draxhall Jump's design concepts at the start. It was a no win situation for fans.

Well at least the gambit paid off and Action Man went on to be far more popular with a succession of movies, animated series, and shrinky dinks

Wait....whoah wait a sec, are you talking about the "amazing" show with spliced in Universal Studios action sideshow scenes where the live actor had the big 'ol fake looking scar? Or was that earlier?

Wow I've not thought of that in ages. Friends from across the pond (waited my whole life to say that) help me out here I'm an Action Ham more than an Action Man. Is that the one I'm thinking of?

That list is spot-on, William. It's quite accurate, like the toylines it lists. But yeah. I can't really think of any line to either add, or another order. Bravo!

Emerje wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

Emerje wrote:Though, now that I think about it, aside from Animated aren't these all really "toy accurate shows"?

Emerje

It is so weird when you say that and then note the disparity between the Transmetals/TM 2 and Beast Machines...

Beast Machines was really Hasbro's fault. Mainframe wanted to keep things going the way they were, but then Hasbro basically cut their animation budget in half when they told them to share it with a then-new Action Man series. Beast Machines was them cheating with kibble-free character designs that don't really transform in the classic sense to simplify the animation models and Hasbro doing toys that looked little like the cartoon since both companies were doing their own interpretations of Draxhall Jump's design concepts at the start. It was a no win situation for fans.

Emerje

I don't doubt you,but could you give a source?This is the first time I'm hearing this.

TulioDude wrote:

Emerje wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

Emerje wrote:Though, now that I think about it, aside from Animated aren't these all really "toy accurate shows"?

Emerje

It is so weird when you say that and then note the disparity between the Transmetals/TM 2 and Beast Machines...

Beast Machines was really Hasbro's fault. Mainframe wanted to keep things going the way they were, but then Hasbro basically cut their animation budget in half when they told them to share it with a then-new Action Man series. Beast Machines was them cheating with kibble-free character designs that don't really transform in the classic sense to simplify the animation models and Hasbro doing toys that looked little like the cartoon since both companies were doing their own interpretations of Draxhall Jump's design concepts at the start. It was a no win situation for fans.

Emerje

I don't doubt you,but could you give a source?This is the first time I'm hearing this.

Could you also show us some of those draxall jump designs? On the internet, all I can find is their designs for the dropped line after that (along with a cheetor).

I just had a thought. Has there been a 'Bottom Five Least Accurate Transformers Toylines' list done?

RK_Striker_JK_5 wrote:I just had a thought. Has there been a 'Bottom Five Least Accurate Transformers Toylines' list done?

For such a list to be valid each lines should have an official cartoon attached to it. Because it would be too easy to include special lines like the Xovers, the "running shoes", and the like.

RK_Striker_JK_5 wrote:I just had a thought. Has there been a 'Bottom Five Least Accurate Transformers Toylines' list done?

Not yet, but I can imagine G1 being on the list.

Nathaniel Prime wrote:

RK_Striker_JK_5 wrote:I just had a thought. Has there been a 'Bottom Five Least Accurate Transformers Toylines' list done?

Not yet, but I can imagine G1 being on the list.

I call it #1 for sure. Just with Ironhide, Megatron, and Reflector alone.

G1... it depends on whether you're willing to make allowances for the artistic license dumbing-down. And of course, G1 has cases where IMO that license expires and it's fair to call the show inaccurate: Superion and the Aerialbots' heads (which seem to have been referenced from dark grainy catalog photos, hence Superion ending up with a mouthplate and the individual Aerialbots' heads being a tad off), everything about the Combaticons but their heads, Astrotrain's chest, Menasor almost every time he's drawn, and the Stunticon limbs' made-up heads.
That being said, there are still some color and design discrepancies that allowances don't quite cover (such as the shoulder migration and addition of heads to Ratchet and Ironhide - and maybe the Minibot head redesigns - for the latter, and every movie character except Ultra Magnus and Wreck-Gar for the former).