Every two weeks, Seibertron.com brings you a Top 5 list related to all things Transformers written by your fellow editor or a guest star. This week, the list is written by
Black Hat!. These are our opinions 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 5 Best Transformers G1 Pretenders5. Transformers Super God Masterforce Skullgrin (Dauros)Skullgrin is pretty grim for a kids’ toy, even by 80s standards. With his shell resembling a monstrous demon with a cow’s skull for a head and horribly necrotic-looking flesh and armour, he looks like he’d fit right at home with Inhumanoids’ D.Compose. His inner robot was derpy for certain but that shell was the stuff of nightmares. Brrrr.
4. Transformers Super God Masterforce Submarauder (Gilmer)Another creepy looking Pretender, Submarauder resembles nothing so much as a mixture of the Creature from the Black Lagoon, a classic Kaiju and something out of the late great H.R. Giger’s twisted imagination. The combination of the carapace-like armour design, gribbly pseudo-organic tubes on his chest, strange fin and sucker details and those horrible orange gills in place of a mouth make him look truly alien. His inner robot, whilst abstract like most Pretenders, kinda resembled a horseshoe crab in vehicle mode too.
3. Transformers Super God Masterforce Cloudburst (Phoenix)I don’t much care for most of the Autobot Pretenders but Cloudburst is an exception because of how cool his armour design is, even if his inner robot is 200% goofy. The colours are on point, with a nice mix of red and cool grey accented with blue, and the smooth, rounded shapes of the armour are pure late 80s robot goodness, looking like it would be more at home in Bubblegum Crisis or Megazone 23 than Transformers. His whip is a cool accessory too, looking much better than most whips that come with toys.
2. Transformers G1 1989 BludgeonNot much needs to be said about Bludgeon. He’s a skeleton samurai for crying out loud! And on top of that, his inner robot isn’t terrible for a Pretender either, actually making a decent tank and a nice robot mode. However, where he wins over most Pretenders is he actually did stuff in the comics, where he was a total badass and almost beat Megatron in a duel.
1. Transformers G1 1989 ThunderwingUnlike the others on this list, Thunderwing’s shell also had a vehicle mode, and unlike some (poor Crossblades) it actually looked like something. His robot modes were suitably imposing, especially the shell, with its organic, alien designs and sweet colour palette. And like Bludgeon, he was actually important in the comics, being part of a major story arc, being driven mad by the Matrix and having the manifolds to challenge Unicron! What a madbot. Thunderwing is the most fictionally important Pretender by some way, and combined with his unique toy and frankly awesome name he easily lands the #1 spot.
Honourable mentions: Black Shadow. A retool of Thunderwing, this guy had minimal fictional appearances, but was a very nice looking rework of an already cool toy, had a cool name and also spawned one of the best Leader class molds in Titans Return. Also the Monster Pretenders, who whilst pretty terrible toys had shell designs ranging from adorable to awesome and had very unique backstories.
Transformers G1 1989 Monstructor Gallery