The Energon Pub

[Rodimus Prime]

I think the Bayverse line in general suffers from 1 main characteristic and that is that there is little to no middle ground when it comes to the figures. They're either great or total crap, with the majority leaning towards crap.

Oddly, most of the non-movie bayverse line figures I've had have tended to lean toward great, but that could just be me choosing the right figures. Bludgeon (and Banzitron), Seaspray, Powerglide, Ransack, they're good enough they could work as non-bayformers more or less. RTS Fallback (recolor of bayBrawn) is okay too.

Out of those the only one I ever had was Bludgeon and I liked him. And yeah he could have passed for a non-Bayverse figure. Especially since there was no Bludgeon in Bayverse.

Also, if Sentinel was so disliked and disregarded by fans, why did he get a Leader class toy and neither Megatron or Shockwave did? Was production concurrent with character prominence in the movie?

[shajaki]

Also, if Sentinel was so disliked and disregarded by fans, why did he get a Leader class toy and neither Megatron or Shockwave did? Was production concurrent with character prominence in the movie?

I assume it was because he was basically the main villain of the movie. Megs was secondary, and Shocky (like most Baycepticons) was an afterthought. Nimoy's star power might have had something to do with it too?

[Rodimus Prime]

Also, if Sentinel was so disliked and disregarded by fans, why did he get a Leader class toy and neither Megatron or Shockwave did? Was production concurrent with character prominence in the movie?

I assume it was because he was basically the main villain of the movie. Megs was secondary, and Shocky (like most Baycepticons) was an afterthought. Nimoy's star power might have had something to do with it too?

Those are all valid reasons, but in Transformers as a whole, Megatron and Shockwave are more recognizable. I agree that Shockwave was terribly mistreated, but Megatron should have gotten a leader class toy. It would have been the best out of all his figures, if we go by the voyager. I'm not complaining about Sentinel, I own the leader class toy and I love it even if it is a bit top-heavy.

[nycPrime]

OK, I'll bite...so here I am shajaki. So this is probably a loaded question, but is there general consensus on what the top figure(s) are for each of the main movie characters?

BTW shajaki - looked up AoE evasion OP. He didn't look like that in the movie did he? (I only saw the first one and none since) .... I feel like if I'm going to get a movie OP, it shouldn't look like the G1 version. That's probably the reason I'm going to hunt down the TLK voyager version.

[shajaki]

BTW shajaki - looked up AoE evasion OP. He didn't look like that in the movie did he? (I only saw the first one and none since) .... I feel like if I'm going to get a movie OP, it shouldn't look like the G1 version. That's probably the reason I'm going to hunt down the TLK voyager version.

OP has had a few versions over the films....

Movie 1 - The Leader figure for Movie 1 doesn't quite capture his screen appearance as good as ROTF Leader though. It was probably just a learning curve for the designers. Only get it for completions sake, but surprisingly there was a reissue of this mold in the Tribute line. Should be available now actually, but which stores I couldn’t tell you.

ROTF - Little to no change on screen, but as said the toy is much more accurate this time around, and is(was?) regarded as the definitive Movie Prime for years. He does get the Jetfire upgrade as well (basically just addition of armor and wings).

DOTM - Still little to no change to the base model, but he does have the Jetwing upgrade(transformed bits from the trailer, same deal as Jetfire) in this film. Leader toy is the same (slightly remolded?) from the ROTF Leader figure.

AOE - This was the first major change to him. Between DOTM and AOE he adopted the "Evasion Mode" which was a Peterbilt Cabover (ala G1). Halfway through the film he turns into his.... I dunno what to call it... pre-Knight form? Then at the end of the film he changes SLIGHTLY again to his Knight form.

Getting to the toys, there are a lot of routes to go, but you're actually quite fortunate because all my recommendations are for rather newer figures. So they should be easy to find and not terribly expensive. I'll run down the best versions of each of his forms:

Movie the Best MB-01 Evasion Mode Optimus Prime



This figure has been released SOOOO many times (trust me on this) and luckily the last one (MB-01) is arguably the best one. He's got a simple, but intuitive transformation and looks amazing in both modes. Must have!

Movie the Best MB-11 Optimus Prime



This is the ROTF Leader Prime mold, remolded for the 12th or 18th time. He comes with amazing accessories, has an amazing deco, is still compatible with the Jefire and Jetwing upgrades, AND is still newish so easy to track down. Another must have!

Age of Extinction AD-01 Optimus Pime



This mold was a big step down from his processors. The transformation is very simplified and he's got a backpack like no tomorrow. The Takara version of this figure (what I called his "pre-Knight" form) does have a much better deco than Hasbro's, has some nice sculpted details, but is nowhere near the same quality a toy as the previous.

Age of Extinction AD-31 Armor Knight Optimus Pime



Remolded from the previous figure, this is the proper Knight version seen at the end of AOE. He has some added articulation, new head with face swapping gimmick, and a jaw dropping deco. He still carries most his previous problems over (backpack) but is far better. I'd recommend him.... but maybe not until you see the NEXT remold....

The Last Knight TLK-15 Calibur Optimus Prime



If you're going to get only one version of this Leader mold, make it this one. The stunning deco and previous remolding carries over, this time adding a removable backpack (that transforms into a shield) and more accessories (that badass axe and two swords). Still not perfect, but the best one yet.

.........

I'll weigh in on the TLK Voyager too. While the base mold is more impressive than the Knight Leaders, I have yet to see him released in a deco that actually made me want to buy him. If you're going to get him, maybe make it a unique one like the Takara "Dark Optimus Prime". Otherwise I'd say hold out for some future release.



I hope this helps!

[shajaki]

OK, I'll bite...so here I am shajaki. So this is probably a loaded question, but is there general consensus on what the top figure(s) are for each of the main movie characters?

To be fair, I made this thread to get everyone else's opinions as my own knowledge of the Bayformers was severely lacking. I skipped two whole movies worth of toys, so I wanted to hear from all the folks who didn't jump ship like I did

[ExciKaiser]

I've been near completlist for the first movie, got some of ROTF, then dropped quite completely the movies lines (still got leader and evasion Primes from AOE).

The Movie 1 toys main flaw was to not be very accurate, but in exchange, they were very good transformers, with parts of vehicules actually forming the toys, with nice and fun transformations. (mwell, most of them, I remember some failures like Swindle).

ROTF and DOTM were more accurate but definitely less fun, if not frustrating, transformations based mainly on fidgetting ten panels in same times, with lot of 'faux-parts' hidden by these panels. Even Leader Optimus which is considered as the most screen acurate is a pain to transform back to Truck. (I've read later retool corrected that, but the original is a pain).

AOE moved even a step further, more panels, more faux-parts, most of the line are shellformers, with shell stored in the back, and robot mode having no relation at all with the alt mode. (which is also the case in the movie in fact).
I seriously don't understand how AOE Galvatron can be defended by some people, I even saw people telling him awesome, while for me it's exactly what transformers should not be.
I personnaly see no difference between this :

Sans titre 2.jpg (32.34 KiB) Viewed 16350 times

and this :

Sans titre 21.jpg (18.82 KiB) Viewed 16350 times

outside the articulations.

I've sold most of my movie toys, I kept the two first bumblebee, all the primes, the Arcee bikes, and that's all.

For the moment I got nothing from TLK, and I saw nothing really catching my eye.

[Overcracker]

OK, I'll bite...so here I am shajaki. So this is probably a loaded question, but is there general consensus on what the top figure(s) are for each of the main movie characters?

BTW shajaki - looked up AoE evasion OP. He didn't look like that in the movie did he? (I only saw the first one and none since) .... I feel like if I'm going to get a movie OP, it shouldn't look like the G1 version. That's probably the reason I'm going to hunt down the TLK voyager version.

Indeed he did look like that at the beginning of the 4th movie: Age of Extinction. Only more rusted, and not as G1 colored. But yes he was a G1 Style cab over truck for the first part of Age of Extinction.


If you want something closer to the First 3 movies looks here are my top picks all conveniently displayed in a single pic from the new Masterpiece Movie Optimus Prime Gallery here:




From left to right:

2007 Movie Leader Class Optimus Prime. The original recently released in the Tribute Line. Available from Amazon.com


Revenge of the Fallen Leader Class Optimus Prime. Still the best rendition of Movie Prime. Recently released as mentioned by Takara as part of there Movie the Best Line. Its easily one of the best versions to get if you don't care for the super huge guns or Jetfire add on packs of other versions of that mold. It still has quite a bit of accessories, and lights and sounds.

Movie Masterpiece mpm-04 Optimus Prime. This one is currently available at Toy's R Us. Pretty decent, but does have some issues.

2009 HFTD Voyager Battle Blades Optimus Prime. Slightly smaller, but just as cool as the big ones.


2011 Dark of the Moon Deluxe Mech Tech Optimus Prime. Small but with a fun and intuitive transformation.

[shajaki]

*snip stuff about AOE Galvatron*

I hear ya on that. I do not like that toy. He has his fans, but I'm not one of them

Also, while we're on the subject of Galvatron and the "transformium robots" in AOE... I gotta say... that I hate them. A lot. Even more than the cluster F of a plot that was TLK. Because at that point they weren't even TRANSFORMERS anymore.... just these weird shapeshifting alien robot things.... I'm so glad none of them apparently survived

[Evil Eye]

I think the Transformium thing would work for one character, like Prime Makeshift or something, but I will always take "conventional" transformations over the "turns into cubes" malarkey.

[Archforce]

You know, the other week, I took my Blackout down of the shelf and started playing around with him. I'd forgotten how much fun he is in both modes.

Around five years ago I picked up a heavily used Voyager Blackout with broken shoulder tabs and missing rotor blades, it he was still a fun figure. He's even sort of displayable in copter mode. I recently decided to take the dive and order a lightly used Premium Blackout off of eBay, since any movie Blackout figure is extremely expensive now.

[shajaki]

You know, the other week, I took my Blackout down of the shelf and started playing around with him. I'd forgotten how much fun he is in both modes.

Around five years ago I picked up a heavily used Voyager Blackout with broken shoulder tabs and missing rotor blades, it he was still a fun figure. He's even sort of displayable in copter mode. I recently decided to take the dive and order a lightly used Premium Blackout off of eBay, since any movie Blackout figure is extremely expensive now.

Blackout is easily my favorite mold from the first movie, and I was fortunate enough to get the Premium version off the shelves. It's been discussed before, the learning curve the designers had to go through moving from traditional TF's to Bayformers. Not that I'd turn down a new Blackout, but the original can still proudly stand on my display.