Top 5 Best Original Transformers Comics Characters Who Have Toys
Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2016 10:58 amEvery two weeks, Seibertron.com brings you a Top 5 list related to all things Transformers. These are the opinions of one or a few people (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. This week's list is brought to us from fellow Seibertronian Optimutt who has already given us some awesome lists like the Top 10 Best G1 Episodes and a list of the top 5 comic only characters that did not have toys yet (at the time). This is a follow up to said list, so take it away Optimutt!
Top 5 Best Original Transformers Comics Characters Who Have Toys
In the process of creating my “Top Five Comics-Only” list, I realized that there have been a huge number of comic characters who have enjoyed a physical existence in the sake of an officially-licensed product or two. While the companion looked at Transformers who have only existed in comic form, this is a list of those lucky enough to have been given toy form as well. In fact, many of my original choices for the previous list were exempt because of their toy versions. Luckily, they now get a chance to shine in all their comic-origin glory in this list that is pretty much the same as "Best Transformers Characters Original to the Comics"! Please also keep in mind that by “toy” I mean officially-licensed Hasbro/Takara products. Third Party versions don’t count in regards to this list.
5. Straxus
In the original cartoon, Megatron left Cybertron in charge of Shockwave. In the comics, however, a number of Decepticon leaders came and went, leaving Straxus the victor. From his fortress of Darkmount, Straxus was a brutal overlord whose greatest pleasure was the liquefaction of his enemies in his smelting pool. He was such a nasty number that even after his apparent death at Blaster’s hands, Marvel UK chronicled how he was able to take over Megatron’s body and continue his rule over the Decepticons. Sadly, his time with IDW was abbreviated and as a soldier for Nova Prime, he was relegated to a cameo role in several of the publishing company’s earlier books. Both Takara and Hasbro did a Classics version of him (pictured below), and he even got a Shakespeare-inspired Shattered Glass version in 2014.
Alt Mode: Tanky cannon.
Transformers Convention & Club Exclusives The Bard of Darkmount (Shattered Glass Straxus) Gallery
4. Impactor
A creation of Simon Furman, the Wreckers were a group of Autobots who had toys but were never in the comics (or cartoon) for one reason or another (mostly legal). With an initial group composed of Whirl, Roadbuster, Topspin, Twin Twist, and the duobot- Rack’n’Ruin, the Wreckers were a lean, mean, tailpipe-kicking force to be wreckoned with. And at their helm was this javelin-fisted soldier utterly dedicated to that team. Sadly, his time in the Marvel UK series was short-lived, as he sacrificed himself to save the life of the Cybertronian Autobots’ leader, Emirate Xaaron. The good thing about that? His replacements were none other than the Autobot Triple Changers! Not a bad legacy there. In IDW’s time with the series, however, he had a pivotal role in the Last Stand of the Wreckers series where he maintained his legacy of a soldier with quite a capacity to Wreck and Rule. Taking inspiration from the ill-fated Rotorstorm’s page in Last Stand of the Wreckers, Impactor’s first toy served as the torso of the Ruination combiner toy that came out in 2012. In keeping with the comics-inspired concept, 2016’s TCC Impactor toy will also be able to combine.
Alt Mode: Tank
3. Jhiaxus
In the early 1990’s, Marvel pulled the plug on the Transformers comics because of dwindling sales and the announcement from Hasbro that the toy line would cease. However, only a few years later, Hasbro relaunched the line, to be dubbed Generation 2. With this, Marvel also relaunched the Transformers series with former TF scribe Simon Furman at the helm. To maintain the idea of “new generation,” Furman created a third faction for the Autobots and Decepticons to battle, a group of Cybertronian colonizers whose goal was the creation of a universe of mini-Cybertrons. Despite being happy to be writing Transformers again, Furman was left a little dubious about the chances for G2’s longevity. This came across in the name of the new race’s leader, Jhiaxus, pronounced “Gee, axe us” (why doncha?). Since then, Jhiaxus has become a staple in TF fiction and has had the honor of having two distinct oddly-pumpkinized recolors of pre-existing TF toys!
Alt Mode: Jet
2. Drift
Yes. He does count! When Shane McCarthy was putting together his All Hail Megatron comic, he was in the market to balance off Sunstreaker and Hunter O’Nion’s betrayal of the Autobots. He did so with a Decepticon murderer who decided he had had enough and then switched sides. This disillusionment of a dedicated soldier was something that was pretty thoroughly explored in the series, but none were quite as spearheading of this as Drift. The coolest thing about this three sword-wielding drift racer was the fact that concurrently with his comics’ origin, Hasbro was in discussion with artist Guido Guidi and the IDW editorial team about the production of his toy! This was pretty much the first time that a comic and toy had similar timeliness in their origins. He has since become so popular that he beat out hundreds of other Autobots to land a role in TF 4, and his legacy continues in the Robots in Disguise cartoon. It is thanks to this name and image recognition that he barely ekes out ahead of Jhiaxus.
Alt Mode: Drift racer
Transformers: Robots In Disguise (2015) Drift Gallery
1. Primus
When Primus first appeared in Marvel’s TF 61, Octopunch shot him right between the eyes, waking him up from an eon-long slumber. He handled it pretty well, screaming loudly enough for his spark-brother, Unicron, to figure out where he was. It turns out that Primus was the heart and soul of Cybertron and – more importantly – the creator of the Cybertronian races! Over the next fifteen issues, we saw him come to life as a mildly-ineffectual protector of the Cybertronian race, only to be killed by Unicron. Prior to Primus’ appearance, the closest thing we had to a Transformers deity was the Creation Matrix, which was a mystical object that could give life. Fast forward a bit and the really cool toy of him that they made in his honor for the TF: Cybertron line became an even cooler repaint from Takara in 2010. Why is he at the top of this list? Can a mere mortal ever hope to compete with a god? Yeah, no way.
Alt mode: Cyber-freaking-tron. Yes. The planet.
Honorable Mention
Minimus Ambus
When the first Ultra Magnus toy came out in 1986, he was a recolored Optimus Prime toy with a car carrier trailer that turned into battle armor. In both comics and the cartoon, he was always depicted in battle armor, as a stalwart defender of what he could handle. Fast forward to Dreamwave’s run of the comics and minds were blown when the armor was destroyed to reveal Optimus Prime’s batch brother in shiny white glory. IDW took this concept to another level and created Ultra Magnus as the ultimate secret: he was a legendary soldier who, upon his corporeal death had his image resurrected by Chief Justice Tyrest as a battle armor given to special Point One Percenters who could carry the load of this special armor. The most recent of these to wear the Magnus armor is Minimus Ambus, a soldier who impressed Tyrest with his sense of duty, order, and punctuational adherence to the laws of the Tyrest Accords. The reason for his HM? Technically, he’s not an OC. I mean, he is, but he’s Magnus and everyone knows Ultra Magnus. So it would be cheating if we said he was completely OC. Hasbro brought him majestically to pearly life in 2015 in their Combiner Wars toy line.
Alt Mode: Anti-gravitational mine-sweeper (self), car-carrier (Magnus armor)
Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Minimus Ambus Gallery
Top 5 Best Original Transformers Comics Characters Who Have Toys
In the process of creating my “Top Five Comics-Only” list, I realized that there have been a huge number of comic characters who have enjoyed a physical existence in the sake of an officially-licensed product or two. While the companion looked at Transformers who have only existed in comic form, this is a list of those lucky enough to have been given toy form as well. In fact, many of my original choices for the previous list were exempt because of their toy versions. Luckily, they now get a chance to shine in all their comic-origin glory in this list that is pretty much the same as "Best Transformers Characters Original to the Comics"! Please also keep in mind that by “toy” I mean officially-licensed Hasbro/Takara products. Third Party versions don’t count in regards to this list.
5. Straxus
In the original cartoon, Megatron left Cybertron in charge of Shockwave. In the comics, however, a number of Decepticon leaders came and went, leaving Straxus the victor. From his fortress of Darkmount, Straxus was a brutal overlord whose greatest pleasure was the liquefaction of his enemies in his smelting pool. He was such a nasty number that even after his apparent death at Blaster’s hands, Marvel UK chronicled how he was able to take over Megatron’s body and continue his rule over the Decepticons. Sadly, his time with IDW was abbreviated and as a soldier for Nova Prime, he was relegated to a cameo role in several of the publishing company’s earlier books. Both Takara and Hasbro did a Classics version of him (pictured below), and he even got a Shakespeare-inspired Shattered Glass version in 2014.
Alt Mode: Tanky cannon.
Transformers Convention & Club Exclusives The Bard of Darkmount (Shattered Glass Straxus) Gallery
4. Impactor
A creation of Simon Furman, the Wreckers were a group of Autobots who had toys but were never in the comics (or cartoon) for one reason or another (mostly legal). With an initial group composed of Whirl, Roadbuster, Topspin, Twin Twist, and the duobot- Rack’n’Ruin, the Wreckers were a lean, mean, tailpipe-kicking force to be wreckoned with. And at their helm was this javelin-fisted soldier utterly dedicated to that team. Sadly, his time in the Marvel UK series was short-lived, as he sacrificed himself to save the life of the Cybertronian Autobots’ leader, Emirate Xaaron. The good thing about that? His replacements were none other than the Autobot Triple Changers! Not a bad legacy there. In IDW’s time with the series, however, he had a pivotal role in the Last Stand of the Wreckers series where he maintained his legacy of a soldier with quite a capacity to Wreck and Rule. Taking inspiration from the ill-fated Rotorstorm’s page in Last Stand of the Wreckers, Impactor’s first toy served as the torso of the Ruination combiner toy that came out in 2012. In keeping with the comics-inspired concept, 2016’s TCC Impactor toy will also be able to combine.
Alt Mode: Tank
3. Jhiaxus
In the early 1990’s, Marvel pulled the plug on the Transformers comics because of dwindling sales and the announcement from Hasbro that the toy line would cease. However, only a few years later, Hasbro relaunched the line, to be dubbed Generation 2. With this, Marvel also relaunched the Transformers series with former TF scribe Simon Furman at the helm. To maintain the idea of “new generation,” Furman created a third faction for the Autobots and Decepticons to battle, a group of Cybertronian colonizers whose goal was the creation of a universe of mini-Cybertrons. Despite being happy to be writing Transformers again, Furman was left a little dubious about the chances for G2’s longevity. This came across in the name of the new race’s leader, Jhiaxus, pronounced “Gee, axe us” (why doncha?). Since then, Jhiaxus has become a staple in TF fiction and has had the honor of having two distinct oddly-pumpkinized recolors of pre-existing TF toys!
Alt Mode: Jet
2. Drift
Yes. He does count! When Shane McCarthy was putting together his All Hail Megatron comic, he was in the market to balance off Sunstreaker and Hunter O’Nion’s betrayal of the Autobots. He did so with a Decepticon murderer who decided he had had enough and then switched sides. This disillusionment of a dedicated soldier was something that was pretty thoroughly explored in the series, but none were quite as spearheading of this as Drift. The coolest thing about this three sword-wielding drift racer was the fact that concurrently with his comics’ origin, Hasbro was in discussion with artist Guido Guidi and the IDW editorial team about the production of his toy! This was pretty much the first time that a comic and toy had similar timeliness in their origins. He has since become so popular that he beat out hundreds of other Autobots to land a role in TF 4, and his legacy continues in the Robots in Disguise cartoon. It is thanks to this name and image recognition that he barely ekes out ahead of Jhiaxus.
Alt Mode: Drift racer
Transformers: Robots In Disguise (2015) Drift Gallery
1. Primus
When Primus first appeared in Marvel’s TF 61, Octopunch shot him right between the eyes, waking him up from an eon-long slumber. He handled it pretty well, screaming loudly enough for his spark-brother, Unicron, to figure out where he was. It turns out that Primus was the heart and soul of Cybertron and – more importantly – the creator of the Cybertronian races! Over the next fifteen issues, we saw him come to life as a mildly-ineffectual protector of the Cybertronian race, only to be killed by Unicron. Prior to Primus’ appearance, the closest thing we had to a Transformers deity was the Creation Matrix, which was a mystical object that could give life. Fast forward a bit and the really cool toy of him that they made in his honor for the TF: Cybertron line became an even cooler repaint from Takara in 2010. Why is he at the top of this list? Can a mere mortal ever hope to compete with a god? Yeah, no way.
Alt mode: Cyber-freaking-tron. Yes. The planet.
Honorable Mention
Minimus Ambus
When the first Ultra Magnus toy came out in 1986, he was a recolored Optimus Prime toy with a car carrier trailer that turned into battle armor. In both comics and the cartoon, he was always depicted in battle armor, as a stalwart defender of what he could handle. Fast forward to Dreamwave’s run of the comics and minds were blown when the armor was destroyed to reveal Optimus Prime’s batch brother in shiny white glory. IDW took this concept to another level and created Ultra Magnus as the ultimate secret: he was a legendary soldier who, upon his corporeal death had his image resurrected by Chief Justice Tyrest as a battle armor given to special Point One Percenters who could carry the load of this special armor. The most recent of these to wear the Magnus armor is Minimus Ambus, a soldier who impressed Tyrest with his sense of duty, order, and punctuational adherence to the laws of the Tyrest Accords. The reason for his HM? Technically, he’s not an OC. I mean, he is, but he’s Magnus and everyone knows Ultra Magnus. So it would be cheating if we said he was completely OC. Hasbro brought him majestically to pearly life in 2015 in their Combiner Wars toy line.
Alt Mode: Anti-gravitational mine-sweeper (self), car-carrier (Magnus armor)
Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Minimus Ambus Gallery
