The Energon Pub

Defcon! wrote:The best. The line that started it all G1! No matter how you look at it you can't beat the toys innovation and evolution through the whole G1 series. The worst i would have to say is Beast Machines.

i'll agree BM were on the whole abysmal, i only put the movie line below them because of its massive popularity, there will be masses of renewed TF fans feeling the movie is where its at but it generally needs bringing down a peg or two, kudos though for the movie pushing TF into the limelight = more toys in the future.

G1 of course, but that is obvious.

Best: Tie between Classics and Alternators, leaning more towards Classics because of all the Alternators repaints.
Worst: Titanium.

Best: Cybertron and Beast Wars Transmetals

Line with individual favourite toys: Movie

Worst: Beast Machines

As I am a foolish youngling, I am not at such a level of wisdom as some, but...
Best-Well, Beast wars had the best T.V show, but I think that, due to my lack of experience, the movie line is the best. The figures just have an asthetic appeal, their complexity, and the automorph is fun.
Worst- I will say one word that does not have to be explained unless you are under 5:
Animated.


I know I am making enemies here..
Uh-0h.
Please don't take my views to heart, If said something stupid, don't flame. Explain your view.

Personally, G2 is one of the best lines out there. Granted it did have alot of repaints (as does alot of lines- lookin' at you Movie) but it introduced alot of features that are still around today- notably better joints/articulation, "light pipe" eyes, and electronics to name a few.

In terms of worst lines that are actually out (animated isn't having high hopes, but I'm still open) I think Machine Wars was the worst. That wasn't even like a toyline as it had no real original molds or figures |:[ Only thing that was cool about it was maybe that big ol' Soundwave.

I take back what I said about Energon being the worst.

I realized, while working on a TF list I'm putting together, that many of the figures I was thinking of when I complained about the Energon figures are actually Cybertron figures, not Energon figures. (Like when I talked about the bad designs and how they reminded me of Fisher Price toys, those were Cybertron figures I was picturing in my head. I got the two series confused.)

So now I'd have to say I dislike Cybertron and Armada the most.

.

Newtilator wrote:As I am a foolish youngling, I am not at such a level of wisdom as some, but...
Best-Well, Beast wars had the best T.V show, but I think that, due to my lack of experience, the movie line is the best. The figures just have an asthetic appeal, their complexity, and the automorph is fun.
Worst- I will say one word that does not have to be explained unless you are under 5:
Animated.


I know I am making enemies here..
Uh-0h.
Please don't take my views to heart, If said something stupid, don't flame. Explain your view.

I agree that Beast Wars is the best TV show. So far that i have seen. I've not completed all the other series yet. At least it is much better than Armada, Cybertron, Energon.

Best: Beast Wars, very well writen and over all executed with increadably show acurate toys that where intricate in detail.

Worst: I know it's just starting, but Animated. Believe me, I want it to be good, but everytime I give it a chance, it just real realy lets me down.

RID and AEC had some awesome toys(just wanted to toss that in)

Best: I'm torn between Alternators and Classics. Alternators because they are what the movie line should have been: Realistic, detailed, right down to opening doors and trunks. I love the engines turning into their weapons (so much for subspace! No more pistols hiding in the backseat!) Classics because they are sturdy, articulate renditions of the G1 greats, as well as being excellent toys all around. If I were still 8 years old, Classics would be the line I would want to play with, more than any other.

Worst: Energon and Beast Machines. Energon because it just seemed to have too many gimmicks. Superlinking annoyed me. The color schemes drove me crazy. I will say, however, that Energon Megatron is among my favorite version of Megatron ever. Beast Machines just struck me as loose, cheap, and poorly designed. Having said that, I must concede that Beast Machines is worse than Energon. At least when it comes to toys.

Newtilator wrote:As I am a foolish youngling, I am not at such a level of wisdom as some, but...
Best-Well, Beast wars had the best T.V show,

chill man, you know what's up. 5 points in my book yo.

i repeat, WORST, toy-wise, are the TFTM toys. again, poor QC & paint apps, poor plastic, lotsa repaints, 'Con figures not on-scale, kibbleous-maximus, easy to break Automorph (BB 74/Concept, Ironhide, etc. tales abound)...what more reason do you need?

plus it introduced scalping and wannabe-newbies to a whole new level. 'nuff said.

Well, I don't agree with you about how awful the movie line is, though the repaints are tiresome. However, it's your "wannabe-newbies" line that puzzles me......what's wrong with people liking TFs through the movie line? A lot of kids likely flat out ignored Transformers until the movie and the toys came out and I can't imagine how that can be a bad thing for the franchise or the older fans who still support it. A lot of kids found out just how cool TFs can be in 2007 and the franchise hasn't had this much interest in it since the G1 days, whether you want to admit it or not. If there is going to be a certain arrogance that the movie toys are for the untrue fan, then you'll have to come to grips that the beloved lines of Armada, Cybertron, Beast Wars, etc. did nothing comparable to the movie line in sparking interest in "newbies", as we'll put it, as well as reinvigorating older fans(like myself) whose love of TFs was in hibernation.

A previous poster said that Alternators were everything the movie line wasn't, pertaining to opening doors and trunks, etc., but the movie line never was really meant to be comparable to the more model car-ish Alternators. What TF lines had the level of detail and realism that the Alternators did? None, which is part of the reason why Hasbro hit such a home run with the Alt. However, they are not toys, and toys are the lifeblood of the Transformers franchise, not collector's items. And as much as I love Alternators(probably my favorite line along with Classics), Leader Prime is just as awesome, if not more awesome, than anything in the Alternators lineup. Of course, it cost $20 more, so it balances out, sort of.

There isn't any 1 line I don't like since it wouldn't be fair to criticize a line of toys I don't own anything from, but I'll say each line has their really great toys and their pretty poor ones; what sets them apart is how good the ones that don't fall into that category are.[quote][/quote]

No Death for Prowl wrote:

zemper wrote:

Newtilator wrote:As I am a foolish youngling, I am not at such a level of wisdom as some, but...
Best-Well, Beast wars had the best T.V show,

chill man, you know what's up. 5 points in my book yo.

A previous poster said that Alternators were everything the movie line wasn't, pertaining to opening doors and trunks, etc., but the movie line never was really meant to be comparable to the more model car-ish Alternators. What TF lines had the level of detail and realism that the Alternators did? None, which is part of the reason why Hasbro hit such a home run with the Alt. However, they are not toys, and toys are the lifeblood of the Transformers franchise, not collector's items. Of course, it cost $20 more, so it balances out, sort of.

True, the movie line is not quite as accurate to real-life vehicles as Alternators but they are close for the price that they are listed for. The Alternators were meant for collectors/adults that enjoyed G1 when they were kids, which is why they are more expensive than the movie line. The movie line as a whole, on the other hand, were mainly meant for kids.

I don't think Alternators did make much of a homerun. Hasbro terminated this line, because it's not making enough money.

Auto Bot wrote:I don't think Alternators did make much of a homerun. Hasbro terminated this line, because it's not making enough money.

It was a hit with just about every adult collector. Maybe they didn't rake in the cash for Hasbro like, say, the movie line, but it will go down as a real pinnacle of achievement in the history of Transformers. How great was it to see Hasbro prioritizing the quality of a line over the bottom line. That's true artistic ambition, when you don't worry so much about how much money you're going to make or how much you're going to appeal to the mainstream masses, but seeing your vision to fruition.

And it's not like the Alternators line did THAT poorly. The secondary market for them has gone through the roof and if the line was still going strong post 2007 movie, the reenergized adult collectors would have slurped it up as quickly as a dehydrated cat that comes across a saucer of milk. Furthermore, I think the Alternators line as we know it really ran its course and was just going for repaints with more obscure characters, so it's time as a retail line had come and gone.

No Death for Prowl wrote: it's your "wannabe-newbies" line that puzzles me......what's wrong with people liking TFs through the movie line? A lot of kids likely flat out ignored Transformers until the movie and the toys came out and I can't imagine how that can be a bad thing for the franchise or the older fans who still support it. A lot of kids found out just how cool TFs can be in 2007 and the franchise hasn't had this much interest in it since the G1 days, whether you want to admit it or not. If there is going to be a certain arrogance that the movie toys are for the untrue fan, then you'll have to come to grips that the beloved lines of Armada, Cybertron, Beast Wars, etc. did nothing comparable to the movie line in sparking interest in "newbies", as we'll put it, as well as reinvigorating older fans(like myself) whose love of TFs was in hibernation.

I agree. I hate 'true fan' arrogance. What the heck is a wannabe newbie anyway? No one wants to be a newbie, not many people intentionally ACT like a newbie, yet we were all newbies once. G1 was once something new. I think Cybertron is an overall better line than the movie but if there's going to be an 'us and them' mentality, i.e 'true fans who stick with Beast Wars, Alternators, AEC and Classics' and 'those noobs who came to Transformers through the movie', then I'm going to leave this community.

If these noobs don't know that there are better toylines than the movie simply because they were introduced to TFs through the movie, what's the big deal? Just introduce them to the older lines. It's not their fault they weren't interested. And like many others, I once collected Beast Wars, stopped during Beast Machines, and oops! RID, A/E/C and even Classics and Alternators didn't capture my attention - not until guess what, THE MOVIE. And now that there's no movie figs I want that are available yet, I'm going back to Cybertron collecting! So how on earth can I say I hate the movie line?

It would have been nice if the project leader of Alternators coordinated with the Masterpiece guys. Producing same scale vehicles.

Big bots for the Masterpiece line, and small bots for the Alternator line.

GuyIncognito wrote:I just started collecting recently, after not having paid any attention to TFs since I was a kid 20 years ago. So I don't have a lot of experience with all the series'. But based on my experience so far...

I think the Energon line is the worst. For the most part, they look like Fisher Price toys to me. I hate the color schemes and models. And based on my limited experience with them, it seems like they were also made more "cheaply" - loose joints, lots of "soft" plastic, etc. And those clear Energon weapons look like something that belongs in a KO or a cheap toy from the dollar store.

I also have a strong dislike for the old Beast Wars figures. The designs seemed lazy. It's like they couldn't come up with creative ways for an animal to tf into a robot, so they best they could come up with was "Well, the animal's legs become the robots arms and legs, and um... the animals body opens up and just sort of hangs on the robot's back."

Some of the later Beast Wars figures (Transmetals?) are cool, though. I got Depthcharge and I think he's awesome. Longhorn (the longhorn sheep one, not the bull) is also really cool.

And I have to say, as cliche and predictable as it may be, I think the Movie line is the best. While there are exceptions (like Swindle's design or Brawl's faulty shoulders), the movie figures are mostly well-designed and well-built, and have cool designs both in robot and alt mode.

I totally agree with you. I like the originals for the simple fact that they were die-cast and they had rubber wheels. The robot modes were simple but the vehicle modes were great. Could you imagine the if the movie figures were die cast and rubber?

Best:
(in no particular order)

Movie(excluding FABs, blasters and Tech): fantastic variety of realistic alt modes and inventive transformations. Even the duds were good.

early G1: elegant designs and transformations, diecast, rubber wheels, chromed weapons. Just a class act all around.

Classics: Good articulation, tough, fairly definitive designs.

Worst:

Mid-late G1(1988-1991 or thereabouts)
When things got a little worse at first, before becoming outright terrible.

Pretenders - lame

Micromasters - lame

Actionmasters - superlame.

Energon, Armada, Cybertron all looked ugly to me, but nothing could be as bad as the stuff I grew up with. I have absolutely no nostalgia for that junk.

Cybertron is without a shaddow of a doubt my favourite line. It has everything. Great molds, tones of viriaty, a good gimmick that dosnt distroy the alt mode/robot mode/transformation/posability, and well, I just loved it.

Now the worst line? Toy wise it has to be Beast Machines, I mean I have no love for Beast Wars and their 'Look Ma, no hands!' charecters, but Beast Machines was pure crap on a stick.

The best for me is the Alt/ Binaltech line...a great homage to G1 in todays style. for the worst...i can't really choose a specific line but a few figures in some lines like most of the beast wars and hot shot armada comes to mind!!!

Bumblethumper wrote:Best:


Worst:

Mid-late G1(1988-1991 or thereabouts)
When things got a little worse at first, before becoming outright terrible.

Pretenders - lame

Micromasters - lame

Actionmasters - superlame.

Yup. I was 11 around that time and even I thought those were bad. I still loved the show but the toys were getting bad. You can add Head and Targetmasters to that list.

Well, it sucked for me, cuz I was about 7 or so. I knew it was ****, because I had a toy chart with the earlier G1 stuff(all of which was nowhere to be found). So I knew I'd missed out on the good stuff. During the heyday of G1, I was too young and mostly got fobbed off with Gobots. But even Gobots were better.

For years, Smokescreen was the only true G1 transformer I managed to get(not counting throttlebots, triggerbots, pretenders, sparkabots etc). The difference was like night and day.

But that's how I got hardcore. Sometimes I think if I'd been able to get what I wanted, I might've just moved on with my life. I obsessed on the problem for years.

omega666 wrote:

Bumblethumper wrote:Best:


Worst:

Mid-late G1(1988-1991 or thereabouts)
When things got a little worse at first, before becoming outright terrible.

Pretenders - lame

Micromasters - lame

Actionmasters - superlame.

Yup. I was 11 around that time and even I thought those were bad. I still loved the show but the toys were getting bad. You can add Head and Targetmasters to that list.

REALY?!?

Ok so the actionmasters were totally pointless, and the pretenders wernt very good either (thought I wouldnt mind some of the classic charecter pretenders), but Micromaster?, Headmasters? Targetmasters? How can you hate those, they were cool!

Actully I have a guilty secret...

I think Throttlebots are great!

Redimus wrote:
REALY?!?

Ok so the actionmasters were totally pointless, and the pretenders wernt very good either (thought I wouldnt mind some of the classic charecter pretenders), but Micromaster?, Headmasters? Targetmasters? How can you hate those, they were cool!

What exactly is the point of a gun that turns into a little man? By virtue of what technology is that going to work better than a gun that's only purpose is to be a gun? Would you use a hammer that turned into a little man? You're basically talking about going to war with a weapon that can wander off from you.

And Micromasters, most of 'em had the same basic transformations. Not to mention the absurdity of little robots that transform from vehicles, only to then have separate vehicles to drive or fly around in.

Headmasters, I liked the specs in the chest, that was an okay gimmick. Except years later, you're stuck with a headless body.

I will concede though that those years weren't a total loss. Pretender Classics Bumblebee is pretty much the Bumblebee to have.

Redimus wrote:

omega666 wrote:

Bumblethumper wrote:Best:


Worst:

Mid-late G1(1988-1991 or thereabouts)
When things got a little worse at first, before becoming outright terrible.

Pretenders - lame

Micromasters - lame

Actionmasters - superlame.

Yup. I was 11 around that time and even I thought those were bad. I still loved the show but the toys were getting bad. You can add Head and Targetmasters to that list.

REALY?!?

Ok so the actionmasters were totally pointless, and the pretenders wernt very good either (thought I wouldnt mind some of the classic charecter pretenders), but Micromaster?, Headmasters? Targetmasters? How can you hate those, they were cool!

Actully I have a guilty secret...

I think Throttlebots are great!

That's when the toys started to look and feel cheap. All plastic and very simple transformations. And the gimmick of weapons and heads turning into robots was just lame. I think THAT's when the toys stared to go downhill. I remember my cousin and little brothers getting them and I thought they were pretty bad. I was glad I had the original Optimus and Megatron.

Those were so much better, I even remember when I lost Optimus hands and broke Megatron's gun attachments. I lost the hands at school. I accidentally threw the hands away because they were on my lunch tray and I broke Megatron's attachments while playing with friends at my house. We weren't even playing Transformers. We were playing cops and robbers.