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Top 10 Worst Transformers Toys of All Time

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Top 10 Worst Transformers Toys of All Time

Postby william-james88 » Sat Feb 20, 2016 8:13 am

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Every two weeks, Seibertron.com brings you a Top 5 list related to all things Transformers written by me, your fellow editor. These are my opinions (just like movie or game reviews hosted by sites are still just the opinion of one person) so what matters most is what you guys think of the topic or list, and I hope to see your own lists or comments on omissions and ranking. Let's have fun! All previous lists can be found here.


Top 10 worst transformers toys of all time

This list is simple, it is made up of toys that wouldn't be recomended to anyone ever. While I wrote this list, this was actually chosen by the community in a thread I had made called "Transformers that are absolute garbage", which people responded to. I kept the ones that weren't unanimous (but which I greatly dislike) for honourable mentions. Now, let's get to this!

10. Movie legends Jazz

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This is when you know the designer just wasn't trying. A robot having the front of the vehicle as his chest is the most basic Trasformers design of all time. How badly can you mess that up? Well, this badly. All this toy had to do was have the car front as the robot chest and I guess that's what we got, even if it meant having a fake chest that is just right there on the car's roof. The first movie's Legends Class toys were not great and this is a great example of just how bad things could get. The deluxe Jazz that came out was not great toy either, but at least the car mode didnt look this bad.


9. Beast Machines Silverbolt

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I just want to put some "sick" emoticons and just call it a day. It would be as much effort as this toy designer put into the toy. I think what is truly terrible about this toy is how Hasbro knew full well how terrible it was and still sold it to us. The reason we suspect they know it's bad (rather to them simply not caring if it is or not) is because this is one of the only toys from the beast era (if not the only toy) to be packaged in Robot Mode instead of Beast Mode. The robot mode is not bad actually and looks like the show model. Though you do wonder how it can possibly transform since it doesnt seem to have any kbble aside from the weapon that partforms to make wings. Well that's because the alt mode doesn't look like much, at all. It's the robot doing a hand stand, with his head right there between his arms (the beast legs). This looks nothing like the show model (which while it's subbosed to be a condor, reminds me more of a turkey without the big tail) and that's even besides the point that the colours are all wrong. This toy is just a mess really and as bad as they get for the usually phenominal beast era.


8. AOE Leader Prime First Edition

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Luckily, this toy did not set the tone for what Transformers would become. I remember quite clearly when it was the first toy available of the Age of Extinction line, a toyline which promised simplified transformations to appeal to youger age groups. This toy was looming over making all our fears a reality. A big expensive toy that was made simpler and unlike the other one steps and such, it was not marketted for kids (who would need amazon accounts to purchase it in the states). Turns out this was just a fluke. Transformers remained just as traditionally complex after with some simpler toys aimed at the correct audience (which is nothing new for the line). But you still have this guy as the odd outlier, the mother of all shellformers in a time when you'd think Hasbro had grown out of that outdated engineering concept. In great shellformer fashion, you could even have it so that you could just detach the figure from the shell and have a perfectly fine truck mode that excluded the robot. This toy symbolizes a scary time and while I am glad we are all passed that, it doesnt make this abomination any less terrible.


7. Prime Deluxe Airachnid

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The phrase "feels like a KO" gets thrown around a lot when fans express their distaste for a toy's quality but it's most often hyperbolic and is more of an insult towards the toy than an actual fact. I have bought dollar store KOs in the past (guilty as charged) out of curiosity and they are far far worse than all official toys out there. The plastic is usually very supbar, frail, and lacks a bunch of sculpting detail. They also lack paint apps and you usually just end up with blotchy paint in limited areas while the rest of the toy is just made up of the undistrubed monochrome cheap coloured plastic. The only toy in the history of the brand that this description would also apply to is Robots in Disguise Prime Airachnid.


6. Energon Hotshot

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This toy sacrifices a lot for the gimmick of being able to form the top or bottom half of a combined bot. The biggest sacrifice is the articulation. After Beast Wars and RID and some of Armada, it looked like G1 articulation was a thing of the past never to be seen again. But this guy brings it back. He's a brick with heavy disproportions, tiny arms which can't be positioned more than straight ahead, a head that can't even rotate, and legs that don't do much more than split. Any articulation included is wasted and can't be used. He may not be junk to some but amongst the entire Energon line (looking only at original molds here), I can't think of anyone worse. His lack of meaningful leg articulation makes him even worse than his Armada self, which is mind boggling. He simply sacrifices far too much for his gimmick.


5. Transformers G1 1987 Wideload

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Just look at it. Sure, it's a simple toy, but so are Topspin and Twintwist and they look like decent 80s robots. This little guy just looks like he should be holding a "kill me" sign. Every single one of this throttlebot brethren have a better alt mode and a MUCH nicer robot mode. The only thing he has going for himself is the decent pullback gimmick but it works just as well on any of the other far superior throttlebots. The lack of any articulation is already bad enough with this line but this guy even gives you these overall terrible proportions, making this probably the worst G1 toy.


4. PCC Doubleclutch

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Speaking of the worst proportions possible, I give you PCC Double Clutch! The Power Core Combiner (PCC) line is already not a fan favourite so you know this guy is bad when even the most devoted PCC fan says this guy is one of the worst. Aesthetically this is an ugly figure with terrible proportions, but beyond that it is really sad how the way the combiner arms connect make it so that the arms always pop off. The last thing you want in a combiner is for it to just keep falling apart. So he fails at both an aesthetic and functional level. That's like both Siskel and Ebert giving you a thumbs down.


3. Titanium Megatron

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Yes, this being in third place means Titanium Megatron is not the worst Transformers toy of all time, but that is by no means a compliment. It just means that we live in a sad world where there are 2 Transformers out there which are worse (not by much though). Although the figure looks somewhat impressive, it notably has the tendency to fall apart during transformation. Along with its loose joints, it was relatively difficult to pose in robot mode without it falling over, something that was entirely par for the course when it came to Titanium figures. It was also known for being a shelfwarmer thanks to people knowing how poor it was.


2. Transformers Armada Side Swipe (Stepper)

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This toy is such garbage, it's unbelievable. While Energon Hotshot was pretty bad, he doesn't hold a candle to the atrocity of this toy which easily claims the title as both the worst toy of the Cybertron Trilogy and the toy which sacrifices the most for a gimmick. Look at the proportions! The forearms are enormous, the legs are an afterthough (they are just what's left of the car). G1 may not have had articulation but at least it had style. This has nothing. The whole robot mode aesthetic is sacrificed for the minicon gimmick and that would be bad enough but have you seen what the minicon looks like? Is this a face you would sacrifice so much for?

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So, not only does Sideswipe have the worst robot mode I have ever seen but he is paired with Nightbeat, the worst and laziest looking minicon of all time. That's right, that makes this toy double garbage. The only good thing is that this means both atrocities can be avoided at once. For everyone out there, this might be the worst, and I would understand them, but what I hate more than hot garbage toys is paying more money for them, and hence...


1. Transformers Voyager Animated Megatron

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Let me list the reasons for him being a piece of junk:

1.Lazy alt mode simply made up of rearranged robot mode parts which looks like a mess.
2. They couldn't even get that right, because the show model shows his fusion cannon mounted differently. So he's a pile of Junk that isnt even show accurate.
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3. The gun is too heavy for him and can't stay attached if his life depended on it. You have to mod his fusion cannon to get it to sit properly on his arm.
4. His deluxe and more affordable version gets the paintjob right but this voyager doesnt?!
5. His hands have no articulation of any kind and are posed as if he's constantly shaking hands.
6. When I first bought him (he came free with a lot I bought, give me a break!), the person told me he was missing his back piece. That made sense to me since his back looks like what you'd uncover if you opened up a Transformer. Turns out, he was referring to his long skirt piece in the back, which means his back is a mess that looks like a Piet Modrian painting naturally. Even the Cyberverse commander Prime Megatron, for all its lazy alt mode glory doesn't mess that part up.
8. Both automorph gimmicks do not work well and the one on his chest ends up making his robot mode very annoying to pose properly or play with. Which brings me to my final point...

You would think a toy with an inaccurate alt mode made up of a mess of robot mode parts would at least have a structurally sound robot mode (take Prime Megatron for instance or the first movie Megatron toys) but this one doesn't. And unlike his "better" deluxe version (better coloured at least), he's at the second highest price point. The only worse thing than paying a little bit of money for a pile of junk is paying more money for it.

So, it pretty much fails on all accounts I can think of. When comparing to the rest of the phenomenal Transformers Animated toyline, he becomes a sin for simply existing. If you want more hating on him, there is a whole thread I found on this site dating from 2008, when he was first released.

Honourable mentions: BW Optimus Minor, Cybertron Thunderblast, ROTF Demolishor, Cybertron Backstop, Armada Scavenger, G1 Wheelie, G1 Flamefeather, Beast Machines Nightscream, Beast Machines Supreme Cheetor, 2007 Legends Megatron, ROTF Blazemaster and many many more.
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Re: Top 10 Worst Transformers Toys of All Time

Postby -Kanrabat- » Sat Feb 20, 2016 9:04 am

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It's that simple."
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About 1st Ed AoE Optimus. I just paid 75$CAN shipped to have the Silver Knight version! 8-}

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Yeah, I do know what I just bought but for some reasons, I really wanted that figure for a long time. After seeing a video review, I confirmed my purchase because I think it's not too bad.

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Agreing very much on 2007 legend Jazz, Prime Airachnid, Titanium Energon Megatron, voyager Animated Megatron, and Armada Sideswipe. I have them all. I hate them all, except Armada Sideswipe. I bought it on purpose especially because of his hillarious and derpy design.

One figure that I REALLY hate and made me rage is ROTF Voyager Starscream. The hands sticking out of the vehicle mode when the instructions tell you they can fold away. The elbows that bend the wrong way. And especially the version I got, the DOTM version with opaque red parts. This toy is pure concentrated rage for me.

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Also, the alternity seeker mold. What garbage. Both mode look good, but it's impossible to transform it without the damn door falling off, and he cant stand correctly even if it's life depend on it. Expensive garbage.
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Come see my latest creation, a Galvatron Combiner using 4 SS86 Sweeps as limbs HERE!

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Re: Top 10 Worst Transformers Toys of All Time

Postby Darthshadow » Sat Feb 20, 2016 9:41 am

Gotta disagree with the list.

Every one of the top 10 worst TFs all belong to the movie line. Nearly every movie figure ever made is crap.
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Re: Top 10 Worst Transformers Toys of All Time

Postby -Kanrabat- » Sat Feb 20, 2016 9:53 am

Motto: "Love it? GET IT!
It's that simple."
Weapon: Vibro-Axe
Darthshadow wrote:Gotta disagree with the list.

Every one of the top 10 worst TFs all belong to the movie line. Nearly every movie figure ever made is crap.


2/10. Made me reply. >:oP
Come see my latest creation, a Galvatron Combiner using 4 SS86 Sweeps as limbs HERE!

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Re: Top 10 Worst Transformers Toys of All Time

Postby Randomhero » Sat Feb 20, 2016 9:53 am

-scrolling down the list- yes, yes, I agree so far, yes, yes, these are terrible figures, 2. Armada sideswipe, I can't argue that. Man I can't argue any of these. 1. Cybertronian animated Megatron...awe man...I really enjoy that figure. Lol well to each his own. I won't deny he is does transform into a lump of nothingness and his canon hinge is awful and you can't lock his chest in but he's so charming to me!
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Re: Top 10 Worst Transformers Toys of All Time

Postby Ironhidensh » Sat Feb 20, 2016 10:00 am

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Darthshadow wrote:Gotta disagree with the list.

Every one of the top 10 worst TFs all belong to the movie line. Nearly every movie figure ever made is crap.

Well that's flat out wrong. The leader class Primes from the first 2 movies are awesome. Human alliance Jazz is a figure good enough to earn a spot on my masterpiece shelf. Hell, even AOE had an amazing figure in EMOP.
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Re: Top 10 Worst Transformers Toys of All Time

Postby Randomhero » Sat Feb 20, 2016 10:03 am

Ironhidensh wrote:
Darthshadow wrote:Gotta disagree with the list.

Every one of the top 10 worst TFs all belong to the movie line. Nearly every movie figure ever made is crap.

Well that's flat out wrong. The leader class Primes from the first 2 movies are awesome. Human alliance Jazz is a figure good enough to earn a spot on my masterpiece shelf. Hell, even AOE had an amazing figure in EMOP.


Leader class Prime, that jungle strike ironhide with all the clips, Brawl, Lockdown, leader Starscream, Dark of the moon Megatron, DOTM barricade are all perfect and fun figures.
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Re: Top 10 Worst Transformers Toys of All Time

Postby Amelie » Sat Feb 20, 2016 10:16 am

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Turns out, he was referring to his long skirt piece in the back, which means his back is a mess that looks like a Piet Modrian painting naturally.


I actually like Modrian. Especially his abstract trees. Lets not insult Modrian when comparing his work to garbage like that Megatron. :HEADHURTS:

If anything - Megatron resembles a Jackson Pollock some drunkard has coughed up on the roadside. :P
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Re: Top 10 Worst Transformers Toys of All Time

Postby william-james88 » Sat Feb 20, 2016 10:22 am

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Randomhero wrote:-scrolling down the list- yes, yes, I agree so far, yes, yes, these are terrible figures, 2. Armada sideswipe, I can't argue that. Man I can't argue any of these. 1. Cybertronian animated Megatron...awe man...I really enjoy that figure. Lol well to each his own. I won't deny he is does transform into a lump of nothingness and his canon hinge is awful and you can't lock his chest in but he's so charming to me!


:lol: That's cool. Well at least you see and understand where I am coming from :)

Darthshadow wrote:Gotta disagree with the list.

Every one of the top 10 worst TFs all belong to the movie line. Nearly every movie figure ever made is crap.


Tell that to the multitude of fans who called foul on me not including the Movie Blackout mold as part of the best Helicopter TFs: top-5-best-helicopter-transformers-toys-t106231.php
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Re: Top 10 Worst Transformers Toys of All Time

Postby Darthshadow » Sat Feb 20, 2016 10:32 am

Fine, those fans are fools because the movie toys are total crap, period.
Last edited by Darthshadow on Sat Feb 20, 2016 10:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Top 10 Worst Transformers Toys of All Time

Postby Andrius » Sat Feb 20, 2016 11:05 am

There are plenty of not-great toys on this list, but the exclusion of these:

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is wholly unforgivable.

And yes, the movie toys should have dominated this list with a whole mess of Unicron Trilogy figures not far behind.
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Re: Top 10 Worst Transformers Toys of All Time

Postby Zetatron » Sat Feb 20, 2016 11:07 am

The only two I disagree with are spots 1 and 3. I think they should be flipped. While Animated Megatron is an awful toy, it's at least recognizable as Animated Megatron to a degree. Titanium Megatron doesn't look like any iteration of the character that I can recall. More like they tried to mash together a few different versions of Megatron and created a Frankenbot not even fit to be a happy meal toy. Add in the pose-ability issues, pieces that fall off when you look at them and the overall sloppy design, and I'm surprised there isn't a crater somewhere in New Mexico where Hasbro dumped the entire stock just to get rid of them.
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Re: Top 10 Worst Transformers Toys of All Time

Postby Alpha Dominus » Sat Feb 20, 2016 11:12 am

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With the exception of that animated Megatron (dat robot mode!)figure I dig this list.

Let's not forgot perhaps the laziest marketing idea for Transformers-Combiner Wars! When it first started out we were treated to new renditions of our favorite combiner characters. Hey look, a newly engineered Superion! Over there, Menasor! And whoah, check out Devastator! Just one of those figures is almost as large as the original! But very soon, we discovered some of its cheap shortcuts.

Multifunctional hands/feet looks good on paper but really it looks pathetic in person. With the exception of that amazing Devastator each combiner suffers from Cinderalla feet. Placing fist size hands on any combiner is just bad comedy. You know what I'm talking about.

Another gimmick that looks great on paper: Modular construction. Just "no". Just because a bot can combine doesn't mean they should combine. By shoehorning characters that don't share relatively similar designs or alt functions,we're left with a combiner that is noticeably conspicuous. Optimus Maximus, Betatron and Sky Reign are the abominations/results of this Hasbro experiment that would certainly make Jhiaxus proud.

The idea of retooling/recoloring is a manufacturing concept that has been with Transformers since the beginning. From it we've been introduced to some of the most memorable characters in the canon. It certainly helps to maximus Hasbro's quarterly return. Kudos to them (and any other toy company) for milking this approach. Unfortunately, the volume of redecos in the combiner line has become noticeable to the point of exploitation. "Computron" and Victorion were perfect examples of missed opportunities which instead sought to recycle resources for capital gain. "Twin" helicopters? Sure. "Afterburner" and "Strafe"? Yeah, not exactly hi sci-fi designs there.

For my vote, I nominate the extremely obvious cost-cutting measures that the Combiner Wars line displays on virtually all of its figures. For eye-searing color schemes (Victorion), sneaky recycling (G2 combiners), daft designs (Scattershot) and misguided,flawed size consistency (silly feet) Combiner Wars takes the win.
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Re: Top 10 Worst Transformers Toys of All Time

Postby Randomhero » Sat Feb 20, 2016 11:16 am

Alpha Dominus wrote:With the exception of that animated Megatron (dat robot mode!)figure I dig this list.

Let's not forgot perhaps the laziest marketing idea for Transformers-Combiner Wars! When it first started out we were treated to new renditions of our favorite combiner characters. Hey look, a newly engineered Superion! Over there, Menasor! And whoah, check out Devastator! Just one of those figures is almost as large as the original! But very soon, we discovered some of its cheap shortcuts.

Multifunctional hands/feet looks good on paper but really it looks pathetic in person. With the exception of that amazing Devastator each combiner suffers from Cinderalla feet. Placing fist size hands on any combiner is just bad comedy. You know what I'm talking about.

Another gimmick that looks great on paper: Modular construction. Just "no". Just because a bot can combine doesn't mean they should combine. By shoehorning characters that don't share relatively similar designs or alt functions,we're left with a combiner that is noticeably conspicuous. Optimus Maximus, Betatron and Sky Reign are the abominations/results of this Hasbro experiment that would certainly make Jhiaxus proud.

The idea of retooling/recoloring is a manufacturing concept that has been with Transformers since the beginning. From it we've been introduced to some of the most memorable characters in the canon. It certainly helps to maximus Hasbro's quarterly return. Kudos to them (and any other toy company) for milking this approach. Unfortunately, the volume of redecos in the combiner line has become noticeable to the point of exploitation. "Computron" and Victorion were perfect examples of missed opportunities which instead sought to recycle resources for capital gain. "Twin" helicopters? Sure. "Afterburner" and "Strafe"? Yeah, not exactly hi sci-fi designs there.

For my vote, I nominate the extremely obvious cost-cutting measures that the Combiner Wars line displays on virtually all of its figures. For eye-searing color schemes (Victorion), sneaky recycling (G2 combiners), daft designs (Scattershot) and misguided,flawed size consistency (silly feet) Combiner Wars takes the win.


So your vote is for figures you don't own or haven't even seen in person. There's that back seat criticism I was saying.
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Re: Top 10 Worst Transformers Toys of All Time

Postby Darthshadow » Sat Feb 20, 2016 11:19 am

Andrius wrote:There are plenty of not-great toys on this list, but the exclusion of these:

Image

is wholly unforgivable.

And yes, the movie toys should have dominated this list with a whole mess of Unicron Trilogy figures not far behind.


I agree completely. The author just hates being told he's wrong when he is clearly wrong.

That Animated Megatron is the best toy on that list and to say G1 Wideload is worse than the other Throttlebots is just downright ridiculous.

The movie lines are filled with garbage.
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Re: Top 10 Worst Transformers Toys of All Time

Postby william-james88 » Sat Feb 20, 2016 11:24 am

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Darthshadow wrote:I agree completely. The author just hates being told he's wrong when he is clearly wrong.

That Animated Megatron is the best toy on that list and to say G1 Wideload is worse than the other Throttlebots is just downright ridiculous.

The movie lines are filled with garbage.


Nobody is wrong, it's all about opinions, nothing here is factual. And the list isn't just my opinion but a round up of the community's collective opinion. There is even a link to the thread discussing that Megatron figure for everyone to check for themselves.

This is supposed to be fun, a chance for us to all let loose and say what we loathe. I look forward to reading people's own lists :) Feel free to tell us which top 10 movie figures you dislike the most.
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Re: Top 10 Worst Transformers Toys of All Time

Postby Alpha Dominus » Sat Feb 20, 2016 11:33 am

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Randomhero wrote:
So your vote is for figures you don't own or haven't even seen in person. There's that back seat criticism I was saying.


If not having a figure in hand for scrutiny means back seat criticism than that's certainly what I'm doing. My vision is just fine and so far I don't like what I SEE.
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Re: Top 10 Worst Transformers Toys of All Time

Postby Andrius » Sat Feb 20, 2016 11:36 am

Darthshadow wrote:
Andrius wrote:
And yes, the movie toys should have dominated this list with a whole mess of Unicron Trilogy figures not far behind.


I agree completely. The author just hates being told he's wrong when he is clearly wrong.

That Animated Megatron is the best toy on that list and to say G1 Wideload is worse than the other Throttlebots is just downright ridiculous.

The movie lines are filled with garbage.


I get the sense that the list was written to spread the hate out over multiple lines, which I get from a "political" standpoint.

And every line has its duds, for sure.

But I find it hard to pick on anything from G1, mainly because, on some level, MOST of them are somewhat crappy, by modern standards. Many are funny-looking, overly-simplistic, or just downright stupid. But you know what? It's G1 and we're talking about toys that broke a whole mess of ground and set this whole thing in motion. So I'm able to look at them with the eyes of that kid who picked up his first "scramble city" limb and didn't care that the head was unpainted, square, and comically small.

(The Pretenders on the other hand... well, I'll just let that go for now.)

But of the modern lines -- and by that I mean Beast Wars onward -- each line has had some real missteps and real triumphs. What makes lists like this one sort of silly, though, is that these lines are NOT created equal.

Beast Wars, Animated, Prime, and most CHUG iterations are characterized by a bulk of designs which can be considered "good" or better, along with some truly exceptional designs and a small number of duds. Those lines skewed high.

But when I look at the movie toys, all I can think about was the almost nonstop disappointment of nearly each and every figure. There are absolutely exceptions. Unquestionably. But the deluxe/voyager lines skewed towards fiddly, kibble-heavy, ugly figures --particularly the toys that were based on movie characters. The lines, on the whole, were just depressingly bad.
Last edited by Andrius on Sat Feb 20, 2016 11:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Top 10 Worst Transformers Toys of All Time

Postby Darthshadow » Sat Feb 20, 2016 11:36 am

Randomhero wrote:
Darthshadow wrote:
Randomhero wrote:
-Kanrabat- wrote:
Darthshadow wrote:Fine, those fans are fools because the movie toys are SHIZZLESNIT, period.


Shhhhhhhhhh... Grown ups are talking. :-$


More like people who actually bought movie toys and can say what's fun about them while others who bought maybe one or none at all and feel like being back seat critics because they saw pictures of them and say they're the worse toys ever.


You should never assume, one I bought the entire run of the first movie toys and the first movie toys are among the best from all the movies and they are still crap.


So you bought an entire line of something you hated? Who's being foolish now? That's a lot of money spent on something you don't like.


Yes, the toys were all released, I was at Botcon 2007, I bought them all. I then kept them MISB for years before finally opening them and realizing they were crap. Most of my stuff is MISB, that's how I collect. I thought the movie toys might be worth money some day because they were from the first live action movie.

So again, it is still you who looks foolish because YOU are assuming **** you don't know.
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Re: Top 10 Worst Transformers Toys of All Time

Postby Darthshadow » Sat Feb 20, 2016 11:37 am

william-james88 wrote:
Darthshadow wrote:I agree completely. The author just hates being told he's wrong when he is clearly wrong.

That Animated Megatron is the best toy on that list and to say G1 Wideload is worse than the other Throttlebots is just downright ridiculous.

The movie lines are filled with garbage.


Nobody is wrong, it's all about opinions, nothing here is factual. And the list isn't just my opinion but a round up of the community's collective opinion. There is even a link to the thread discussing that Megatron figure for everyone to check for themselves.

This is supposed to be fun, a chance for us to all let loose and say what we loathe. I look forward to reading people's own lists :) Feel free to tell us which top 10 movie figures you dislike the most.


All of them except Leader class Optimus Prime (2007) and Human Alliance Bumblebee suck equally.
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Re: Top 10 Worst Transformers Toys of All Time

Postby Darthshadow » Sat Feb 20, 2016 11:42 am

Andrius wrote:
Darthshadow wrote:
Andrius wrote:
And yes, the movie toys should have dominated this list with a whole mess of Unicron Trilogy figures not far behind.


I agree completely. The author just hates being told he's wrong when he is clearly wrong.

That Animated Megatron is the best toy on that list and to say G1 Wideload is worse than the other Throttlebots is just downright ridiculous.

The movie lines are filled with garbage.


I get the sense that the list was written to spread the hate out over multiple lines, which I get from a "political" standpoint.

And every line has its duds, for sure.

But I find it hard to pick on anything from G1, mainly because, on some level, MOST of them are somewhat crappy, by modern standards. Many are funny-looking, overly-simplistic, or just downright stupid. But you know what? It's G1 and we're talking about toys that broke a whole mess of ground and set this whole thing in motion. So I'm able to look at them with the eyes of that kid who picked up his first "scramble city" limb and didn't care that the head was unpainted, square, and comically small.

(The Pretenders on the other hand... well, I'll just let that go for now.)

But of the modern lines -- and by that I mean Beast Wars onward -- each line has had some real missteps and real triumphs. What makes lists like this one sort of silly, though, is that these lines are NOT created equal.

Beast Wars, Animated, Prime, and most CHUG iterations are characterized by a bulk of designs which can be considered "good" or better, along with some truly exceptional designs and a small number of duds. Those lines skewed high.

But when I look at the movie toys, all I can think about was the almost nonstop disappointment of nearly each and every figure. There are absolutely exceptions. Unquestionably. But the deluxe/voyager lines skewed towards fiddly, kibble-heavy, ugly figures --particularly the toys that were based on movie characters. The lines, on the whole, were just depressingly bad.



That is exactly how I see it. There might be the odd gem in the movie lines, but by and far they are ugly, terrible figures that while they may have sweet looking vehicle modes, look like kibble scrap garbage in robot modes. Most of them are overly complicated garbage and have little to no fun involved in them.

Animated, Prime, BW, RiD (2001 version) all had some amazing screen accurate stuff and the figures still looked good.
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Re: Top 10 Worst Transformers Toys of All Time

Postby RAR » Sat Feb 20, 2016 11:46 am

Any such list that does not include Bulletbike is an incomplete one.

Oh and why is everything on there post 2000 ?

There are a few less than Brillant 80's & 90's toys too.

Besides a lot of it is context you don't expect the same from a Titan Changer Optimus Prime that you do from a main line leader class for example.

Just for the Record though I actually rather like :

Legends Movie Jazz, & Energon Hotshot.

The issues with Animated Megatron can be partially fixed with a little TLC
Yes Armada Sideswipe is dreadful but you can even make him better by taking the pins out his doors _ I do like his car mode and his minicon deployment though.

Yeah Titaniium Earth Tank Mode Megatron kinda sucks - But if he was made of plastic not metal most of the issues would disappear.

Doubleclutch Is also fixable a bit of care and nail polish / floor polish and patience and he's perfectly fixable. I have no problems with his Proportions - though I can see that some might think his main head is a little to small - I actually think he's a pretty decent looking car and torso though.

Wideload - He is what he is I don't blame him for it.

Airachnid has a nice helicopter mode the thing that is tragic about her is that she can't do the cool things you'd want her to do like the spider-robot mode.

Basic Silverbolt is a bit awful.

-----

It is possible to think something Is OK even if you don't actually like it over much - I sort of feel that way about Beast Machinese Ultra Jetstorm... he's an OK jet and a lousy standing robot and an OK hovering robot - but he's not a 'satisfying toy' by any means...

Both Mega & Deluxe Beast Machines Optimus Primal really disapointed me but that was mainly due to colours and choice of material - if the Mega one wasn't yellow or the Deluxe used more opaque plastic both would be much more tolerable toys - the moulds are not dreadful its the colours and over use of clear plastic that is dreadful.

Not unlike the horribly placed Chrome Hasbro did way to much of in 2014 - Chrome isn't bad it's how you use it that can be terrible.
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Re: Top 10 Worst Transformers Toys of All Time

Postby Megatron Wolf » Sat Feb 20, 2016 11:55 am

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How are beast wars retrax and ROTF chromia not on this list, throw them on asap. I love chromias alt mode but the robot mode is garbage and retrax is just a spring loaded lump of plastic. Also remove wideload cause if hes on there all the throttlebots should be too, switch energon hotshot with armada hotshot, take animated megatron off cause that toy is actually pretty good (cant argue with the terrible back though), and im sure there are a bunch of movie figures that i cant think of at the moment that are far worse than these as well.
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Re: Top 10 Worst Transformers Toys of All Time

Postby Ironhidensh » Sat Feb 20, 2016 11:58 am

Motto: "Tell those damned kids to stay off my lawn!!!"
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:-? Maybe we need a "top 5 worst/best toyline" list?

I thought it was a good list.
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Re: Top 10 Worst Transformers Toys of All Time

Postby Andrius » Sat Feb 20, 2016 11:59 am

Alpha Dominus wrote:With the exception of that animated Megatron (dat robot mode!)figure I dig this list.

Let's not forgot perhaps the laziest marketing idea for Transformers-Combiner Wars! When it first started out we were treated to new renditions of our favorite combiner characters. Hey look, a newly engineered Superion! Over there, Menasor! And whoah, check out Devastator! Just one of those figures is almost as large as the original! But very soon, we discovered some of its cheap shortcuts.

Multifunctional hands/feet looks good on paper but really it looks pathetic in person. With the exception of that amazing Devastator each combiner suffers from Cinderalla feet. Placing fist size hands on any combiner is just bad comedy. You know what I'm talking about.

Another gimmick that looks great on paper: Modular construction. Just "no". Just because a bot can combine doesn't mean they should combine. By shoehorning characters that don't share relatively similar designs or alt functions,we're left with a combiner that is noticeably conspicuous. Optimus Maximus, Betatron and Sky Reign are the abominations/results of this Hasbro experiment that would certainly make Jhiaxus proud.

The idea of retooling/recoloring is a manufacturing concept that has been with Transformers since the beginning. From it we've been introduced to some of the most memorable characters in the canon. It certainly helps to maximus Hasbro's quarterly return. Kudos to them (and any other toy company) for milking this approach. Unfortunately, the volume of redecos in the combiner line has become noticeable to the point of exploitation. "Computron" and Victorion were perfect examples of missed opportunities which instead sought to recycle resources for capital gain. "Twin" helicopters? Sure. "Afterburner" and "Strafe"? Yeah, not exactly hi sci-fi designs there.

For my vote, I nominate the extremely obvious cost-cutting measures that the Combiner Wars line displays on virtually all of its figures. For eye-searing color schemes (Victorion), sneaky recycling (G2 combiners), daft designs (Scattershot) and misguided,flawed size consistency (silly feet) Combiner Wars takes the win.


There's always that guy who hates whatever's current because he expected it to be something it's not and feels disillusioned and let down. Since I don't know you and you list your specific gripes pretty clearly, I'll assume that's NOT you. I'm just saying.

I think there are a number of reasons to be frustrated by Combiner Wars, the barrage of retools and overall simplicity of the designs being probably the two largest for me.

But I'll say this about the line -- it's the first one in a LONG while that gives me real pleasure to just fiddle and "play" with the toys.

Do I love a good Masterpiece for complexity and display? Of course. And I regularly revisit some of my favorite Prime and CHUG toys.

But the Combiner Wars line is the first one in recent history that reminds me what it was like to be a kid -- and I'm talking 5-12 years old, here -- and just have fun.

The articulation is nice. The visual style is distinctive. And the whole combining concept is great. Always has been.

The designs are simple, sure, but that means they're accessible. I can transform a team from bot to alt to combined mode and back in ten minutes. That's less time than it takes me to transform some movie deluxe figures.

To me, the line is a terrific upgrade of the simple pleasure that was scramble city. And if that means I get saddled with a few too many iterations of the same mold, well, I'll live.


(And while I'm not excited by the potentially dropped ball that will be Victorion, I don't find anything about its release or that of the G2 homages to be exploitative. They're a playful wink and geared towards collectors. I appreciate the thought.)
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