The Energon Pub

I’ll start from oldest to newest.

Biggest gripes

G1: Toys had bad articulation.
G2: Mostly repaints in odd color schemes.
Machine Wars: Some figures could have been better, like Starscream.
Beast Wars: Some figures weren’t show accurate in the least form.
BWT: Chrome paint chipped very easily.
BWT2: Same problem as before just to a worsened extent.
Beast Machines: A number of figures were, well, ugly.
RID: Lack of original molds (I had trouble finding anything bad about this one and Machine wars.).
Armada: Gimmicks could tend to be overdone.
Universe: Line consisted of repaints that didn’t always look good.
Alternators: Transformations were waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too complicated.
Energon: Deluxe figures had some odd looking proportions when combined.
Masterpiece: Very fragile.
Cybertron: The planet keys didn’t always look to good on a figure and had to be left in to keep certain gimmicks activated (example: Sideways).
Classics: Lack of Decepticons.
Movie: Bad QC.
Movie Allspark power: The blue can be a little distracting.
Animated: Toys look ugly.

The best things

G1: A lot of neat concepts that seem to be forgotten in comparison to today’s figures.
G2: Some figures were nothing short of excellent, like G1 with better articulation (the new molds that is).
Machine wars: Some real fun figures.
Beast Wars: First and one of the few TF series with realistic animals.
BWT: Most figures had a third mode that was usually interesting to say the least.
BWT2: An interesting cross between BWT and BW.
RID: Combiners and enough of em to tide the gestalt lover over.
Armada: An new take on transformers while managing to give numerous homage’s to some of the great concepts from G1.
Universe: Many creative repaints that gave people a second chance at some of the best molds throughout TF history.
Alternators: Most accurate series to an real object.
Energon: Great figures and Arcee who had never gotten a figure previous to the line.
Masterpiece: Detail is put into every piece of the figure, even if the smallest part.
Cybertron: Gimmicks were noticeable, fun and not very obtrusive.
Classics: This line had some of the most well articulated figures.
Movie: Very intricate and detailed figures.
Movie Allspark power: Like the movie line yet a little more imaginative in its own way.
Animated: Most figures capture the somewhat odd look of what they represent.

Also, if you don’t feel like typing up everything up or just don’t have good grasp of a certain line than you can skip one or however many.

I'm just gonna use you as a template seeming as we agree on alot of this stuff...

Biggest gripes

G1: Toys had bad articulation, and I was to young to aford them.
G2: Mostly repaints in odd color schemes.
Machine Wars: Some figures could have been better, like Starscream.
Beast Wars: Some figures weren’t show accurate in the least form.
BWT: Chrome paint chipped very easily.
BWT2: Same problem as before just to a worsened extent. Lots of loose joints.
Beast Machines: A number of figures were, well, ugly. Many figures balances poorly if at all, scale was way off, and the show likeness that the BWTM figures had was thrown out the window
RID: Lack of original molds. SideBurn was to kibble heavy, no Fort Max Us release. Also thinking this show wasn't coming stateside, I payed 4x the retail price at a collectors shop!Armada: Gimmicks could tend to be overdone. Poor articulation on to many figures, plus minicons!
Universe: Line consisted of repaints that didn’t always look good.
Alternators: To many repaints and not enough new molds.
Energon: Deluxe figures had some odd looking proportions when combined.
Masterpiece: Very fragile.
Cybertron: The planet keys didn’t always look to good on a figure and had to be left in to keep certain gimmicks activated (example: Sideways). ThunderCraker, OverDrive and BackStop suck! Lack of consistent story line
Classics: Lack of Decepticons BOTCON.
Movie: Bad QC. To many repaints.
Movie Allspark power: The blue can be a little distracting.
Animated: Toys look ugly. To many Humans

The best things

G1: A lot of neat concepts that seem to be forgotten in comparison to today’s figures.
G2: Some figures were nothing short of excellent, like G1 with better articulation (the new molds that is).
Machine wars: Some real fun figures.
Beast Wars: First and one of the few TF series with realistic animals.
BWT: Most figures had a third mode that was usually interesting to say the least. Figures where made near identical to the show
BWT2: An interesting cross between BWT and BW. Figures lacked design symetry that made for some great, wild detailing!
RID: Combiners and enough of em to tide the gestalt lover over. These combiners also had unique transformations into their larger bot mode, unlike the average one main figure with a bunch of smaller figures hanging off him.
Armada: An new take on transformers while managing to give numerous homage’s to some of the great concepts from G1. Finaly got a decent Unicron
Universe: Many creative repaints that gave people a second chance at some of the best molds throughout TF history.
Alternators: Most accurate series to an real object.
Energon: Great figures and Arcee who had never gotten a figure previous to the line. Lots of variety in the toy design with several types of combiners, workers, troopers and so on
Masterpiece: Detail is put into every piece of the figure, even if the smallest part.
Cybertron: Gimmicks were noticeable, fun and not very obtrusive. Articulation was a key feature on many bots, one of the best Primes ever and finaly, a Primus with Cybertron alt mode
Classics: This line had some of the most well articulated figures.
Movie: Very intricate and detailed figures.
Movie Allspark power: Like the movie line yet a little more imaginative in its own way.
Animated: I get to save some money.

G1 is my favorite toy line of all time. Thumbs up!

*cracks his knuckles and sets to work*
G1
Pros: Interesting and often innovative concepts. Several comic book series that balance out the often shoddy cartoon work.

Cons: Fragile as hell. Lack of articulation, lack of a unifying element. Over reliance on decals in place o paint ops. 2 dimensional cartoon series.


G2
Pros: Released some of the best, most articulated molds ever, some of which surpass even todays designs.

Cons: Shortchanged on virtually every front. Hideous paint job, only one limited comic series that barely even connects with the toy line, absolutely no other media support. A huge number of incomplete, and unreleased items.

Beast Wars
Pros: Probably the most consistently interesting, and innovative transformers lines ever produced. A wonderful television series to support it, dynamite posability and unique and fun action features.

Cons: Earlier toy designs were lacking for design aesthetic,and blocky. Later Gimmicks (TM, Fuzors, and TM2) took away from the realism of design that was a major strong point of the series.

Beast Machines
Pros: All the positive elements that were prevalent in Beast Wars, exist to an even stronger degree in this. The introduction of vehicle based transformers only adding to the fun. A unique design aesthetic that has become the blueprint for beast mode alternate modes to tis day.

Cons: Lack of support from Mainframe. Lack of support from the fans. Some underdeveloped concepts that should have been worked with more. Some of the designs were Too extreme.

RID
Pros: A proto-Universe line that gave a second chance to acquire molds dating back to G2. Some of the original molds created for the line remain stand up, in comparison to the later lines attempts to emulate them.

Cons: Leftovers. Uninspired, and uninteresting media support. The start of a long trend to rehash the exact same material over and over again, in the hope to 'recapture the magic.' Also part of a trend to let the japanese do all the work, and not contribute anything on our end.

Armada
Pros: A wide range of characters. Development of a strong unifying theme that ties the line together. Reuse of some Beast Wars Transmetals molds to great effect. Some great Minicons.

Cons: Pokemon for transformers. Widely varied level of design quality and posability. The main gimick of the line was at once underepresented, and overblown.

Universe
Pros:
Probably the most interesting, and innovative storylines ever attempted in the Transformers mythos. Some wonderful repaints, and truely exceptional homages to often obscure G1 characters. An excelent chance to buy old molds again.

Cons:
Some of the repaints were unimaginative, and uninteresting. Lack of support from Any media. Lack of any remolds or alterations that might have made the line stand out more.

Alternators
Pros: Some very nice transformations, and some strong G1 influences.

Cons: Wholely limited to car transformers. Overpriced, and under developed toy line.

Energon
Pros
Marginably interesting unifying themes. Better posability than Armada.

Cons:
The most boring, derivitive, and uninteresting line of transformers to date. Stupid gimicks, and some rather pathetic design elements.

Cybertron

Pros: Some of the best Transformers ever built. Managed to unify the strengthes of every past line, without losing playability, or cohesion in the process. Truely a phenomanal line.

Cons:
Japanese releases of some figures had better color schemes. Lack of support in the media, except for a mediocre cartoon series, that fails entirely to do justice to such a wonderful line.

Classics
Pros: Strong G1 influences, reinvisioned to a more modern aesthetic, and with far superior posability. Some great toys.

Cons: Minicons in many ways feel tacked on. Series as a whole is more a rehash of G1, without any real attempt to cover new ground. Again, no support from the media. Use of certain repaints as convention exclusives makes obtaining Decepticons next to impossible, and very frustrating.

The Movie
Pros: A fresh take on old concepts. Exceptional posability, and actual, challenging transformations. Interesting, and well thought G1 homages. A great revision of the transformers mythos for a mature perspective.

Cons: Lack of support by the fans. Not enough figures. Tremendously shortpacked.

Animated
Initial thoughts: Design aesthetic clashes violently with past lines, making troop building next to impossible. Overly reminicient of the Teen Titans line of thought. Probably skip in favor of Classics.

Okay, here goes my take on this.

G1- Best: They are the originals man! They are what set everything in motion. Characterization.
Worst: Articulation

G2- Best: A second chance @ the originals before the internet.
Worst: Terrible color scheming.

Machine Wars- Best: Great new molds that fit w/ G1 but I only had 2.
Worst: ...

Beast Wars- Best: Articulation.
Worst: ...

Beast Machines- Best: Again, characterization. Should have kept the toy line.
Worst: Didn't last long enough.

RID- Best: Complex transformations. Ultra Magnus.
Worst: Joint designs were shoddy for the transformation needs, sucky cartoon.

Armada- Best: Lots of characters, great concept. Unicron.
Worst: Too many repaints of the same characters, sucky cartoon.

Energon- Best: Great concept.
Worst: Repeat of Armada.

Cybertron- Best: Finally a new Metroplex!
Worst: Planet keys.

Alternators/Binaltech- Best: Excellent & challenging transformations, model scale too!
Worst: Not near enough Decepticons, hard to find in retail.

Anniversary/Masterpiece- Best: Very challenging transformations, nicely priced (@ first).
Worst: Price tag keeps climbing and I've got enough versions of the same characters, I don't need larger versions.

Classics- Best: Updated versions of G1. How can you beat that?
Worst: Limited access to the 3 final seekers *ahemBotconahem*. Would love to finish this set.

Movie- Best: Live-action baby! Great articulation and transformations.
Worst: Too many non-movie characters and repaints.

Animated- Best: ...
Worst: ...

Star Wars Transformations- Best: It's freakin' Star Wars w/ Cybertronian technology! That alone is awesome.
Worst: Pose-ability sucks rocks.

Titanium- Best: War Within era Transformers, can't get 'em anywhere else.
Worst: Joints can't withstand transformations, parts keeps popping off.

Universe- Best: The return of the micromasters.
Worst: Repaints galore! I've got enough copies of so-and-so figure.

WST- Best: Finally, transformers to scale w/ G1 cities and battle stations.
Worst: Toy line was dropped too quickly, not we get diaclone fever (albeit some very nice ones *ahemDinobotsahem*).