The Energon Pub

If you had to pick out a high-tide mark for Transformers - which year would you choose? Why?

That year for me is 1986. The movie had come out and Hasbro had pretty much exhausted the Diaclone line and finally in 1986 we start seeing what I would call the first 'proper' Transformers toys - Hot Rod, Galvatron, Blurr, Kupp, Scourge, Cyclonus, Gnaw, Wreck-Gar. They were bigger than their Diaclone cousins and arguably less detailed and in many cases less 'involved' when it came to transformation. However - these toys looked much more like their show counter-parts and were generally more robust.


The contrast between the new wave and the Diaclone or Microchange figures is striking. For better or worse.

We also saw the introduction of the (cancelled Diaclone) figures that made up the scramble combiners alongside Metroplex, Typticon and Predaking. With Metroplex being the first titan-class figure to be released and Trypticon being the first fan-voted titan-class figure - to me it speaks volumes about how loved 1986 really was. Aside from the usual Prime, Megs, 'Scream - characters like Predaking, Hotrod, Galvatron are often among the first called out for with excitement when a new line starts.


"Where is my modern update, human?!"

City-bots, Combiners and Trailer-Armour - the gimmicks had come full-force, but it wasn't until 87's ~Masters lines that we would go into full wack-out territory.

Aside from the toys - we had Transformers: The Movie and Season3 out which introduced lots of our favorite (or not so favorite) recurring themes - The Matrix, Optimus-Prime-Must-Die, Megatron transforms into Galvatron, Unicron and Optimus-Must-Live-Again (as the season finale). Fint Dille had created a monster which Simon Furman and every other Transformers writer was going to run with for the next 3 decades - with varying levels of success.


"I'll be back after a 28 episode commercial break, guys"

To summarize - 1986 is the year Hasbro and Takara finally gives us a line that isn't simply a reboxing of other toys and branches out new. Transformers itself was transformed and strong themes were developed that would be retold series across series. To me G1 starts its gradual decline from this point - making it the high point of the 80s, even if arguably being the root cause of its decline. Its also the year that my collection limit ends at, too.

I think I would pick the past few years and possibly present. I like G1 as much as the next Seibertronian, but technology and engineering have come a long way. Between MP and reimagining of our favorite characters...now is the golden age for TF fans.

I'm a staunch follower of G1, but I would choose either 1996 (the arrival of Beast Wars) or 2007 (the 1st live action movie) as the benchmark of the franchise so far. True, G1 started it all, and 1986 was a great year for G1. But for the franchise as a whole? The 1st Bay movie infused a lot of new attention and thus money spent on toys, making a lot of things we enjoy today possible, most likely the current toy lines. If Hasbro never got that influx of profit from the films themselves and the accompanying toy lines, we most likely wouldn't be getting all this neat Combiner Wars and Titans Return stuff. Or if we did, it would be a lot slower coming, and it would be slim pickings. I also suggested 1996, because after the waning years of G2 and the Japanese series after the ending of season 3, Transformers faded from pop culture. In comes Beast Wars kicking down the door, which an actual awesome story and some pretty cool toys, and the franchise is back in business. But that's just my personal favorite as a fan. If I am to go with common sense, I have to go with 2007, and the premiere of the 1st live action film, due to all its influence and effects on the entire franchise.

Rodimus Prime wrote:A lot of stuff I agree with

2007 was actually second on my thought process - for all the reasons you mentioned. I'm not a fan (at all) of the modern movies, but their influence and impact on Transformers is profound.

Amelie wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:A lot of stuff I agree with

2007 was actually second on my thought process - for all the reasons you mentioned. I'm not a fan (at all) of the modern movies, but their influence and impact on Transformers is profound.

I can totally agree with that. The horrible live action movies have definitely played a role in the current station of Transformers today.

For me the "Heydays" begins with the start of the Classics line 2007. It was at that time that I still owned a decent amount of G1 figures vintage and reissues and fan. I then came to terms realizing that my interest in the G1 figures where gone. Though I have the up most respect for the G1 line I chose to part ways with all G1 Transformers except for the WST line for obvious reasons.

The Classics line through the current Generations line has been a total re-invention thing for me and has made me a hardcore fan.

Maybe I'm biased because it was the time I start collecting, but I see 2009-10 as A benchmark in TF History. Mainly because of the very, very ambitious technology behind the ROTF/HFTD toys. They were big and extremely movie accurate. Many TFs got some cray transformation schemes and amazing robot modes that were tought impossible just a few years prior. TFs like Leader Optimus Prime and Starscream were like Masterpeices of their own. The Human Aliance line too.






All that experience paid off in the modern MP line I think.

Amelie wrote:If you had to pick out a high-tide mark for Transformers - which year would you choose? Why?

That year for me is 1986. The movie had come out and Hasbro had pretty much exhausted the Diaclone line and finally in 1986 we start seeing what I would call the first 'proper' Transformers toys - Hot Rod, Galvatron, Blurr, Kupp, Scourge, Cyclonus, Gnaw, Wreck-Gar. They were bigger than their Diaclone cousins and arguably less detailed and in many cases less 'involved' when it came to transformation. However - these toys looked much more like their show counter-parts and were generally more robust.


The contrast between the new wave and the Diaclone or Microchange figures is striking. For better or worse.

We also saw the introduction of the (cancelled Diaclone) figures that made up the scramble combiners alongside Metroplex, Typticon and Predaking. With Metroplex being the first titan-class figure to be released and Trypticon being the first fan-voted titan-class figure - to me it speaks volumes about how loved 1986 really was. Aside from the usual Prime, Megs, 'Scream - characters like Predaking, Hotrod, Galvatron are often among the first called out for with excitement when a new line starts.


"Where is my modern update, human?!"

City-bots, Combiners and Trailer-Armour - the gimmicks had come full-force, but it wasn't until 87's ~Masters lines that we would go into full wack-out territory.

Aside from the toys - we had Transformers: The Movie and Season3 out which introduced lots of our favorite (or not so favorite) recurring themes - The Matrix, Optimus-Prime-Must-Die, Megatron transforms into Galvatron, Unicron and Optimus-Must-Live-Again (as the season finale). Fint Dille had created a monster which Simon Furman and every other Transformers writer was going to run with for the next 3 decades - with varying levels of success.


"I'll be back after a 28 episode commercial break, guys"

To summarize - 1986 is the year Hasbro and Takara finally gives us a line that isn't simply a reboxing of other toys and branches out new. Transformers itself was transformed and strong themes were developed that would be retold series across series. To me G1 starts its gradual decline from this point - making it the high point of the 80s, even if arguably being the root cause of its decline. Its also the year that my collection limit ends at, too.

If I was born earlier and already working, then those years were the golden But as a kid with no cash and dependent on his parents..........torture!

2010 is definitely the year I would pick because it is the apex of value and quality. 86 is a fun year but it is a start while I would link a heyday to a summit. People unknowing of all these toys would find a certain charm to the 86 toys but any wow factor would be coming from 2010 or the years surrounding that (from 2006 to then). What I mean is that while the toys from 86 are in this time capsule, and wanted for rarity and nostalgia, toys from 2010 are wanted for the amount of toy you are getting. The engineering, the design. Design is a big deal here. While the G1 toys had a problem recreating what you saw on the screen, 2010 has so far not been beaten. No Movie Optimus has beaten ROTF Leader Optimus. Same foes for Starscream, and the Human Alliance line.

But it is not just movie toys, 2010 also has 2 very specific series all about design innovation: Reveal the Shield and Animated. That year gave us Reveal the Shield Jazz and Wreck Gar, two toys which have the best deluxe engineering ever seen, giving you a phenominal toy that leaps off the G1 screen but without needing to dish out the money for a Masterpiece. There was also RTS Lugnut which is the apex of the entire Transformers line in it's originality. Both in its origins (bringing an animated toy to a Classics line, merging both aesthetics perfectly) and in it's engineering, by having his wings become his arms. That reduces his plane kibble significantly and unlike almost all planes, he has a super smooth undercarriage with minimal robot kibble, and everything is stored neatly.



Transformers Reveal The Shield Lugnut Gallery


Transformers Reveal The Shield Lugnut Gallery

We also got the best animated toys of the entire line that year. Firstly, Takara finally had their crack at them and gave them some awesome decos and fixed the qc errors that plagued a bunch. Paint and qc was the only problem with that line and Takara fixed it, leaving us with nothing else to do but to enjoy the beauty of these well engineered toys. I believe, the animated line has the best designs ever done for a tf toyline, it's insane they were able to replicate a radical style into a toyline and make them fully transformable. But regardless of takara's take (which wasnt always the best), we got Cybertron Ratchet/Ironhide, Arcee and Rodimus, which are 3 of the best designs ever. These are all small masterpieces in their own right, leaping from the screen with some amazing cycbertronian designs. That Rodimus is to this day still the best Rodimus toy out there and handles his kibble better than any other version.


Transformers Animated Arcee Gallery


Transformers Animated Rodimus Minor (Rodimus) Gallery

So yeah, we get the apex of the 3 most distinctive TF styles, Movie, Classics and Animated with the best quality and engineering ever seen for toys of that price point, from the beginning to today.

Amelie wrote:[color=deeppink]If you had to pick out a high-tide mark for Transformers - which year would you choose? Why?

That year for me is 1986. The movie had come out and Hasbro had pretty much exhausted the Diaclone line and finally in 1986 we start seeing what I would call the first 'proper' Transformers toys - Hot Rod, Galvatron, Blurr, Kupp, Scourge, Cyclonus, Gnaw, Wreck-Gar. They were bigger than their Diaclone cousins and arguably less detailed and in many cases less 'involved' when it came to transformation. However - these toys looked much more like their show counter-parts and were generally more robust.

The contrast between the new wave and the Diaclone or Microchange figures is striking. For better or worse.

Yes those where the good days.. back when toys were still made without all that small details that fall off before they are delivered^^

Yeah, 2010 was pretty amazing. After RotF, the toys found a nice balance of complexity and playability, of Movieverse and classic styling. We got a hell of a lot of amazing figures, like Lockdown, Mindwipe, Skystalker, Lugnut, Terradive, Hubcap, Grimstone, Leader Starscream, Highbrow, Sea Spray...

Lessee, what else happened in 2010? ..... Last Stand of the Wreckers, War for Cybertron, and the first five episodes of Prime. Yep, 2010 was the best!

Hey Amelie, I just thought of something awesome. I could turn this into a top 5 best TF toy years list.

Not in order, but so far we would have:

2010
1986
1984
1995

A fifth one would be tough. 2007 is important for the renewed interest but nothing really impressive came out. I personally like 2006, 2005 and 2008 for Classics, Cybertron/Galaxy Force and Animated respectively.

I could just make it a top 4

Sounds like a great idea

I actually think last year was pretty impressive - Arcee, Masterpiece Magnus, Bee...

Noideaforaname wrote:Yeah, 2010 was pretty amazing. After RotF, the toys found a nice balance of complexity and playability, of Movieverse and classic styling. We got a hell of a lot of amazing figures, like Lockdown, Mindwipe, Skystalker, Lugnut, Terradive, Hubcap, Grimstone, Leader Starscream, Highbrow, Sea Spray...

Lessee, what else happened in 2010? ..... Last Stand of the Wreckers, War for Cybertron, and the first five episodes of Prime. Yep, 2010 was the best!

My agreement goes to this camp. Post-ROTF a lot of fans came back to the game, and a lot of new ones were created! The comics went full blast, games started actually working for a lot of players, Prime was a huge success in those opening moments.

I would point out one thing though, for the potential list: this is a Western perspective on it all, and worth marking that up. Just to cover all bases.

I'll throw another year out: 2001.

YeAh, I'm talking about the first RiD series. Beast Wars had played out its hand, with the horribly disappointing Beast Machines stinking up shelves. To keep selling toys in till Armada was ready, Hasbro imported car robots for us to spend money on, and spend it we did.

This year gave us our first look at what modern engineering could do with transforming vehicles, and it was mostly awesome. For me personally, this was also the year I began to purchase things on the internet, so that is a big thing for me.

Ironhidensh wrote:I'll throw another year out: 2001.

YeAh, I'm talking about the first RiD series. Beast Wars had played out its hand, with the horribly disappointing Beast Machines stinking up shelves. To keep selling toys in till Armada was ready, Hasbro imported car robots for us to spend money on, and spend it we did.

This year gave us our first look at what modern engineering could do with transforming vehicles, and it was mostly awesome. For me personally, this was also the year I began to purchase things on the internet, so that is a big thing for me.

Good call. It was the beginning of a return to "normal" Transformers after the hugely successful Beast Wars. Fire Convoy remains one of my favorite Transformer toys to this day, too.

2006. No debate here for me, just a quick and easy answer: 2006.

G1 was celebrated:

Transformers Classics Optimus Prime (Convoy) Gallery

That amazing Botcon set:

Transformers Convention & Club Exclusives Cheetor Gallery

And Beast Wars kept on by turning 10 in style:

Transformers Beast Wars (10th Anniversary) Dinobot (Reissue) Gallery

We got our first Masterpiece seeker:

Transformers Masterpiece Starscream (MP-03) Gallery

Cybertron finished up its run in really cool fashion with some massive (in size and fun-factor) toys to go along with the second half of the show:

Transformers Cybertron Menasor (Moledive) Gallery

Plus there was Beast Machines finally on DVD, Kiss Players, IDW coming into its own with Spotlights and Stormbringer - for me, it was a great, less hectic time to be a fan.

I'd suggest 2006- the year that gave us not only Cybertron (AKA one of the best toylines HasTak has ever cranked out) but also the birth of Classics, the first true G1 redo line. It also gave us 2 of the best Optimus Prime toys ever- the Classics mold and Cybertron Optimus Prime/Galaxy Convoy.

I'd also agree with the sentiment regarding 2010- that year was straight up engineering porn.

Delta Magnus wrote:I'd suggest 2006- the year that gave us not only Cybertron (AKA one of the best toylines HasTak has ever cranked out) but also the birth of Classics, the first true G1 redo line. It also gave us 2 of the best Optimus Prime toys ever- the Classics mold and Cybertron Optimus Prime/Galaxy Convoy.

I'd also agree with the sentiment regarding 2010- that year was straight up engineering porn.

I am so thankful to scotty for showing which cybertron toys came out in 2006 since with the research I had done, it seemed like all my favourite figures had come out in 2005 (like Jetfire, Hotshot (both of them), Optimus and the like). I had thought of 2006 as well and now its all confirmed. Looks like we have a list!

2006
1986
1996
1984
2010

william-james88 wrote:I am so thankful to scotty for showing which cybertron toys came out in 2006 since with the research I had done, it seemed like all my favourite figures had come out in 2005 (like Jetfire, Hotshot (both of them), Optimus and the like)

Mostly a "repaint" kind of year, but here's a (close to) comprehensive list:

Legends

• "Galaxy Force" Optimus Prime
• Red Alert
• Vector Prime
• Galvatron
• Soundwave
• Sunstorm
• Thundercracker
• Hot Shot ("Excellion")

Mini-cons

• Ramjet/Scythe
• Thrust/Anti-Blaze
• Sunstorm/Checkpoint
• Backblast/Sureshock
• Scrap Iron/Grindor
• Blastcharge/High Wire

Scout

• Ransack GTS
• Repugnus
• Shortround
• Hightail
• Yellow Scrapmetal
• Giant Planet Mini-con Team
• Breakdown GTS
• Shadow Recon Mini-con Team

Deluxe

• Optimus Prime (Cybertron Planet) (Three variants exist)
• Optimus Prime (Jungle Planet)
• Cannonball
• Skywarp
• Override GTS
• Megatron (Jungle Planet)
• Unicron
• Excellion
• Demolishor
• Smokescreen

Voyager

• Galaxy Force Vector Prime
• Quickmix

Ultra

• Menasor
• Cryo Scourge

Leader

• Galaxy Force Optimus Prime

Supreme

• Primus

Primus is pretty much all I need for validation

william-james88 wrote:Primus is pretty much all I need for validation

Galaxyforce 2005 was really a class to itself. Beefy and not hollow, big@rse releases. GF Convoy and Megatron with the blue nose and hairdryer. Now? Were lucky to own the TF Legends tank Megatron scale with the working rubber treads.

fenrir72 wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Primus is pretty much all I need for validation

Galaxyforce 2005 was really a class to itself. Beefy and not hollow, big@rse releases. GF Convoy and Megatron with the blue nose and hairdryer. Now? Were lucky to own the TF Legends tank Megatron scale with the working rubber treads.

Agreed. Cybertron Megatron is absolutely gorgeous, and I wish I owned one.

Amelie wrote:

Ironhidensh wrote:I'll throw another year out: 2001.

YeAh, I'm talking about the first RiD series. Beast Wars had played out its hand, with the horribly disappointing Beast Machines stinking up shelves. To keep selling toys in till Armada was ready, Hasbro imported car robots for us to spend money on, and spend it we did.

This year gave us our first look at what modern engineering could do with transforming vehicles, and it was mostly awesome. For me personally, this was also the year I began to purchase things on the internet, so that is a big thing for me.

Good call. It was the beginning of a return to "normal" Transformers after the hugely successful Beast Wars. Fire Convoy remains one of my favorite Transformer toys to this day, too.

Yeah, that's the year/line that got me back into Transformers, and I loved it. It was also pretty much a little of everything in that line. Redecoed G1 toys, redecoed G2 toys, redecoed beast toys, and of course brand new toys. It's impossible to be a Transformers fan and not have SOMETHING in that line that appealed to you.

Right now I would say the present day, with the franchise and lore so big I feel like I don't have to follow everything and still have fun reading/watching/playing/listening to various TF media and TF media that I'm into.

I don't have to feel guilty that I have to support financially the parts of the TF franchise, that I don't like. This frees me up to help support those parts of the franchise that I do enjoy financially.

I'd argue we're entering a new heyday, with Generations/Combiner Wars/Titan Wars and ongoing Masterpieces.