1. GenerationsI had lapsed away from buying Transformers toys for several years, and
War for Cybertron reignited my passion for the franchise like wildfire. Seeing Megatron, Optimus, and Soundwave in stores, I knew I had to have them and play again. This year's influx of figures with the same aesthetic and the campaign of the even more stellar
Fall of Cybertron led me to collect more and more. The inclusion of other favorites like Thundercracker and Thunderwing, as well as awesome quality molds like Warpath and Blurr and Scourge, leads to monetary windfalls.
2. Prime (FE/PRID/AM)Like many of my forum colleagues, I share the view
Prime is the best Transformers cartoon since
Beast Wars, and the varied toyline has a lot of quality figures. It also has a lot of redecos and retools, but with the exceptions of Hot Shot, PRiD Arcee and a few PRiD Voyagers, they're all figures I like and a nice, complete and contained line. Plus, I'm still in awe of the feats of engineering that are Soundwave and PRiD Vehicon.
3. Beast WarsThis one is a bit of a nostalgic choice, as Beast Wars was the first Transformers series I really got into. I still have a full set of Season 3 show Predacons, plus a Transmetal 2 Cheetor for them to torture. Fuzors and mutants and Transmetals gave this line tremendous variety, and the figures still hold up surprisingly well today.
4. EnergonThe show was terrible, but the toyline was great. My personal favorite Starscream mold, an awesome (and awesomely hideous) Scorponok, and a Shockwave homage who just happens to be a murderous asshole. Throw in the scout-sized Terrorcons for a little army building, and it's a great line for those who wear the only badge Cybertronians can be proud of
5. TimelinesAgain, this line has great variety, with things like
Shattered Glass and
Wings of Honor plus clever reinventions of old molds. Were it not so gosh-darn expensive, it'd have listed higher.