The Energon Pub

Burn wrote:My biggest gripe with this list (aside from Stalker once again being left out ... I mean really, he's clearly a Cybertronian Tank) is that the likes of Hot Rod and Arcee are more futuristic (and thus plausibly Earth based) vehicles.

That's a question I am always wondering, at what point is something futuristic or cybertronian? And with the transformers brand, a lot of the cybertronian designs do take hints from earth for some reason (well its because the artists and toy makers had to base it off something familiar for people to buy), and thats not just for the vehicles but also for how humanoid the robots look. Anyways, I just went with the actual material. Animated Arcee and Rodimus were not on Earth (and their designs were made before the toys) and Gen Arcee's alt mode is specified on the box:

kurthy wrote:6i started thinking about this list, then I realized that I don't really collect cybertronian land vehicles (I've got Arcee). Then I realized that cybertronian land vehicles pretty much means unicron trilogy, animated, or FOC/WFC toys only, and I wasn't collecting during that time. It seems like most of the toys in this category fit into three types: utter crap, lay-down-spread-your-arms, and the ones that made the list. So good job on the list!

Hey, what about Armada Overload? J/k , the only one I could think of otherwise is FOC Soundwave/Soundblaster/Blaster.

Thanks man. As for toylines that have these kinds of vehicles, there was also Beast Mahchines. And the generations line did give us another cybertronian design outside of the WFC/FOC lines and while it is great, I found it a bit too redundant when WFC Prime is already on the list (and better), but it's still worth a mention here:


Transformers Generations Orion Pax (Optimus Prime) Gallery


Transformers Generations Orion Pax (Optimus Prime) Gallery

william-james88 wrote:That's a question I am always wondering, at what point is something futuristic or cybertronian?

I think this illustrates it nicely:


Cybertronian Ratchet's an entirely alien vehicle, one that takes very broad cues from the Earth mode but doesn't outright copy anything. Cybertronian Rodimus, on the other hand, is effectively identical to his (Classics) Earth mode.


Really, so many Cybertronian modes look either like something so near to an earth vehicle it might as well have been one, a mess of nothing, or a folded up robot. Too few look like an actual alien machine.

william-james88 wrote:

Burn wrote:My biggest gripe with this list (aside from Stalker once again being left out ... I mean really, he's clearly a Cybertronian Tank) is that the likes of Hot Rod and Arcee are more futuristic (and thus plausibly Earth based) vehicles.

That's a question I am always wondering, at what point is something futuristic or cybertronian?

To me it's pretty simple.

Hot Rod and Arcee made their debut in the animated movie, it was common back then for them to adopt Earth based modes, so to me, they were representative of futuristic Earth based modes.

And given the Animated incarnations are based on the original G1 look, to me, they're futuristic Earth based. More so when you thrown in Cybertronian Ratchet who is so radically removed from anything Earth based.

But that's just my take on things, others will no doubt see things differently and that's fine.

william-james88 wrote:

RK_Striker_JK_5 wrote:That's a damned good list! i... really can't disagree with any of them on there. Good show, William!

Thanks man. You know, I just realized that you are the cause for all these lists. I always loved Trasformers, but I didnt collect much between Beast Wars (when I was young) until I got back into it a few years ago. And the way I got back into collecting was by wondering what were the best toys out there. There werent many lists online (any list of best Transformers concentrates more on the characters than the toys) so I ended up seeking advice on what was good from the thread you started called "Best transformers in terms of design" and thats where I got the foundation for my collection to the point of knowing enough to write these lists here. So you helped me get into this hobby and learn what I need to know in order to help show others all the beautiful toys this hobby has to offer.[/quote]

As humbled and as much as I'd like to take credit, I never started that thread. But thank you for the thought.

Great list - a couple on there I wish I'd gotten ahold of when I got the chance, specifically rodimus minor and FOC optimus.

But here's my big gripe with cybertron modes: Why do they have seats, windshields, and cockpits? heck, Arcee's cybertronian mode has two comfy little human-sized seats??

That's why I love so many of the FOC/WFC designs - they really look like living vehicles instead of modes of disguise.

DarkEnergon wrote:Great list - a couple on there I wish I'd gotten ahold of when I got the chance, specifically rodimus minor and FOC optimus.

But here's my big gripe with cybertron modes: Why do they have seats, windshields, and cockpits? heck, Arcee's cybertronian mode has two comfy little human-sized seats??

That's why I love so many of the FOC/WFC designs - they really look like living vehicles instead of modes of disguise.

Man, I loved the wfc/foc designs. So ingenius, especially the dual-purpose hover wheels, so amazing

DarkEnergon wrote:Arcee's cybertronian mode has two comfy little human-sized seats??

Because she's Futuristic Earth based, NOT Cybertronian based.

Thanks for helping me strengthen my case against the News Crew.

Burn wrote:

DarkEnergon wrote:Arcee's cybertronian mode has two comfy little human-sized seats??

Because she's Futuristic Earth based, NOT Cybertronian based.

Thanks for helping me strengthen my case against the News Crew.

Or maybe she was ready to become Daniel's headmaster partner

D-Maximus_Primal wrote:

Burn wrote:

DarkEnergon wrote:Arcee's cybertronian mode has two comfy little human-sized seats??

Because she's Futuristic Earth based, NOT Cybertronian based.

Thanks for helping me strengthen my case against the News Crew.

Or maybe she was ready to become Daniel's headmaster partner

Your argument is flawed by the time line.

Here's my top-5.

#5 - G2 Stalker\MachineWars Soundwave\Universe Soundwave (and no, I'm not kissing Burn's ass)


Angular, menacing with just enough "recognizable" elements to let you know what it is.

#4 - G1 Blurr


Unlike Arcee, Kup and Hotrod - Blurr looks like some alien vector that is built to whizz along the highway.

#3 - Fall Of Cybertron Brawl


Its hard not to fill this whole list up with tanks, especially when I'm trying to keep to only one toy per series (ok, ok - I cheated with Blurr and Stalker). I prefer this to War for Cybertron Megatron because its more shapely - Megatron, I feel - looks a bit like a table.

#2 -


Its a bit like a mangled Tankor (who didn't make my list) - there is just enough of the shape to make it a tank, like as if an abstract painter had attacked the Transformers universe. And no - I still don't like the movieverse, thank you.


#1 - Armada Demolishor

Begging for a Titan Wars release

Aside from (my opinion here) being one of the best Armada figures - the tank mode is really perfect. The robot mode is snugly tucked away and the vehicle mode which is suitably recognizable and very alien from earth tanks. Plus - he can use his Minicon partner as the pilot. Awesome.

And now I wish I hadn't given up my demolisher...He was am awesome deluxe and a lot more fun than cyclonus and technically a triple changer with the gun emplacement mode you could do by fiddling with his legs. Darn you Amelie, I'm going to have look for him again!

ZeroWolf wrote:And now I wish I hadn't given up my demolisher...He was am awesome deluxe and a lot more fun than cyclonus and technically a triple changer with the gun emplacement mode you could do by fiddling with his legs. Darn you Amelie, I'm going to have look for him again!

He really is a thing of beauty, isn't he?

I'd really love for a Titan Wars version - so the headmaster could pilot the tank mode.