The Energon Pub

I never liked the character designs from the live action/CGI films. They didn't look like Transformers to me. That said, around the release of the first film, I did try out the Voyager Prime and Deluxe BB (2-pack in Argos was cheap) to see what the toys were like. There were some nice touches, but I found that they were maybe too complicated for their own good. Panels that were hard to line up, stuff that didn't fold away right, restricted posablity because of engineering and on Bee, a shoulder pad that kept popping off, when it could have just been a painted on part of the arm.

I didn't really follow the movie lines, and looking back on it, missed out on some pretty nice (non-screen) toys. I can think of maybe 3 or 4 of the characters who appeared in the films whom I'd buy as toys, and those as mostly repaints that look nothing like the film character. I did pick up Bludgeon, who isn't bad. His skeletal form suits the movie look a bit better than many characters. RTS Fallback was a movie toy originally as well, and he's ok, but both of those guys have that fiddly panels/not quite as articulated as they could/should be thing going on.

The "movie" line that I really enjoyed, in DOTM is the Human Alliance Basics. I've got half a dozen of these guys and they're mostly pretty cool. Not all of them are perfect, but Sandstorm and his blue and white repaint are some of the nicest Transformers I've picked up ever.

I plead general ambivalence. What I enjoyed most about the '07 line was a return to real vehicles, and an interesting new take on on 'bot mode aesthetic.

Ever the G1-canon-obsessionist, as well as a huge fan of the Unicron Trilogy, I later resigned myself to picking up only homages, which is consistent with my general display pattern.

I like the idea of having extant characters seen from a "multiverse" POV. My Armada/Energon/Cybertron shelves are all G1 characters, as well as my Movie Trilogy display, and, of course, Alternators, MPs, Classics forward.

My interest did peter out by the 3rd film line, but I attribute that to several aforementioned variables, like: price increase, mass decrease, character redundancy, and overall quality, which I feel suffered progressively in some areas, while improving in others.

Nonetheless, the Movie Trilogy did give me some wonderful figures which I would never part with, e.g., First Strike Prime. I also very much enjoy several Deluxes, HAs, ROTF Scouts, and most of the Leader Class. But, they are first priority to jettison, if the need ever arises.

Sort of a discursive post, I know...it's early.

I love Movieverse. It got me into the hobby, and the real vehicles/non-human, heavily mechanical robot aesthetic is by far my favorite, so the vast bulk of my TFs are Movieverse. In a sense, it's my G1/Classics; they aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

That being said, I'm greatly enjoying the break going on now.

I think I went a bit overboard during the first movie and purchased a few toys I really don't like in hindsight. I think the ROTF and HFTD lines were both really good, and I enjoy every figure I got from those lines. However, by the time DOTM came out, I was sort of tired of the aesthetic, so I think I may have gotten only a handful of those figures.

So, long story short, I really like the majority of my movie figures and I don't mind having them on display at all. I doubt I'll ever sell any of them because I was (for the most part) pretty picky about what I bought from those lines.

From the first movie, I got almost all of the on-screen cast(minus Prime, who I have yet to pick up a proper voyager or leader version). Granted most of them were on sale or clearance, but I seeked them out.

For ROTF, I picked up a few onscreen guys(Sideswipe, Sideways, Long Haul, Rampage, Ice Cream Twins, Soundwave, Scalpel, Insecticon, Jolt, Medusa...I mean Arcee, Sea Attack Ravage eventually), but never bothered with "upgrades". I did get quite a few non-screen guys and Neo Classics(Bludgeon, Seasprary, the AWESOME Mindwipe and Sunspot, etc.). I think ROTF really hit a sweet spot in terms of design, gimmicks, and most important of all, variety. I also got some Legends, epspecially Devastator, but they fall into a different category for me.

And there's DOTM, which for whatever reason I didn't bother much with. Most of the figures were retreads, and the only new on-screen guys that interested me were Laserbeak and Hatchet. I did get Guzzle and Darksteel and enjoy them, but since there were so many characters that weren't going to get figures or got lost in the shuffle(deluxe Leadfoot, Dino, Brains, etc.), I didn't see any point at all to even try getting the movie cast.

So now we come to staying power. Well I won't sell any of my figures, but I don't find myself going back to most of them for whatever reason that often. They're good, but there's only a few I really think are great, such as the Decepticon animals. And as I said for DOTM, there's not really any I'm itching to pick up after the fact.

I also just want to say that I hate the brawl toy. I hate I hate it I hate it, rarely have I been so disgusted with a toy or really anything.

njb902 wrote:I also just want to say that I hate the brawl toy. I hate I hate it I hate it, rarely have I been so disgusted with a toy or really anything.

Which one? I'm assuming you mean the deluxe, but there was a green and a dessert brown one. I like the brown one as it fixed the arm locking issue. Other than being a bit rough and having upturned palms for the elbow joint, I think its one evil looking con.

Apart from the more Classics inspired characters (like Bludgeon, and Brawn) I don't like the movie toys. I find that especially during movie 1 and 2 I was swept up by the hype a little to much.

For me, Dropkick and Bludgeon are the best Transformers to come out of the movie lines. All the rest, including movie 1 Barricade, Sideswipe, Voyager Starscream and Voyager Blackout, I'll probably sell down the line. Actually, come to think of it: the Mudflap/Skids Icecream van really was a fun Transformer which I don't regret buying.

I love my movie collection. They're my favorite line, moreso than even Generations / Classics. I love the aesthetic, the detail, the complexity, the articulation, and even the scale of the figures. The only figures I need to complete my movie collection are deluxe Leadfoot and either RotF Jolt or HftD Jolt.

MINDVVIPE wrote:

njb902 wrote:I also just want to say that I hate the brawl toy. I hate I hate it I hate it, rarely have I been so disgusted with a toy or really anything.

Which one? I'm assuming you mean the deluxe, but there was a green and a dessert brown one. I like the brown one as it fixed the arm locking issue. Other than being a bit rough and having upturned palms for the elbow joint, I think its one evil looking con.

yeah I ment the green deluxe one.

Blurrz wrote:It's crazy how we're all spread out about this.

For those who have sold your movie toys, have their prices spiked or are they still worth retail?

When everything was said and done, I probably made an overall profit in selling my movie toys.

All out of package too.

I've actually never really been a fan of the movie Transformers toys. My husband has quite a few of the ones from the first movie (Starscream, Bumblebee, Arcee) but until the last movie came out I had avoided adding any to my personal collection. The problem I have with the movie toys is that I really don't like the designs as much as the G1 toys. My collections pretty much consists of every Starscream that has been released as well as a few random Decepticons that caught my fancy over the years (I don't collect any Autobots). The movie Starscream is the only one that I refuse to intergrate into my collection. His design just looks awkward to me.

Don't get me wrong, I really thought that the character designs worked well in the movies but as toys I just couldn't get over the fact that they looked like flying triangles with walnut heads. With the release of the new movie I actually broke down and bought a Shockwave. He is perhaps the closest to the original G1 design that I've seen Micheal Bay come up with. I probably will not be adding any new movie toys to my collection unless the new movie that will be coming out actually has some really good designs.

Lady_Starscream wrote:(I don't collect any Autobots).

I only collect em so I have somthing for the cons to smash!

njb902 wrote:

MINDVVIPE wrote:

njb902 wrote:I also just want to say that I hate the brawl toy. I hate I hate it I hate it, rarely have I been so disgusted with a toy or really anything.

Which one? I'm assuming you mean the deluxe, but there was a green and a dessert brown one. I like the brown one as it fixed the arm locking issue. Other than being a bit rough and having upturned palms for the elbow joint, I think its one evil looking con.

yeah I ment the green deluxe one.

Don't know about deluxe Brawl, but I finally got leader Brawl last week and am extremely impressed. Definitely the best of the '07 movie leader figures.

Dean ML wrote:

njb902 wrote:

MINDVVIPE wrote:

njb902 wrote:I also just want to say that I hate the brawl toy. I hate I hate it I hate it, rarely have I been so disgusted with a toy or really anything.

Which one? I'm assuming you mean the deluxe, but there was a green and a dessert brown one. I like the brown one as it fixed the arm locking issue. Other than being a bit rough and having upturned palms for the elbow joint, I think its one evil looking con.

yeah I ment the green deluxe one.

Don't know about deluxe Brawl, but I finally got leader Brawl last week and am extremely impressed. Definitely the best of the '07 movie leader figures.

I wish i could get my hands on a leader brawl maybe one day but anyway i don't understand the hate for Deluxe movie brawl i think he looks good in robot and alt mode .

My collecting went down as the movies came out, and even with 2007 it wasn't a whole hell of a lot. I'm keeping all I bought, mind you. I like most of them.

I go back and forth on my movie figs. I'd like to sell them all (shy of ROTF leader Prime) and get back what I paid. I think I could get a decent amount back for the better figs, but the less desirable ones I don't think would sell for jack.

I also wouldn't mind unloading all my Animated figs either, but I know I wouldn't get jack for those...

I did get back into collecting as the first movie came out. I do really enjoy the movie line. I only collect the Movieverse, and Classics/RTS/Generations line. Being married w/ lil ones I have to be a realistic with myself. If I were single, I would probably be out of control with my collecting.

I was a bit of a completest with the fist movie, ROTF, and HFTD. When DOTM came out I quickly let go of completing the line. I picked up the new and decent molds only. (Reading through this entire post, I was surprised Shockwave was only mentioned once and legends ravage from ROTF not at all) I did let a few go by without giving them a second thought.

I am considering selling off (eventually) some of the repaints/ TF's I was duped into (Damn you Hasbro) like the yellow rampage, only to have the red one released later. Or the 07 Arcee that looked nothing like the one on screen. Even perhaps HFTD payload (repaint of Longhaul) He is far better then the 07 payload, but I think the armored car payloads uniqueness adds to his coolness. And the 07 voyager Prime mold.