I haven't read absolutely everybodies opinion but I took a look at this thread because I got Cybertron Prime out and I remembered that I had seen somebody say he was the best transformer ever on YouTube.
I used to agree but I have had a bit of a change of heart. Here are my top few anyway - I'll try to keep it short.
1 - MP01 - MP Optimus Prime.
I think that the few years of G1 inspired generations figures and universe figures, the live action films and the whole new injection of money into the product line has blinkered us to how much of a victory for the common TF fan MP01 actually was. The figure is 'beyond imagination' ( lol ) and still stands out even amongst the MP line as the nearest thing to a perfect re-imagining of the ideal 80's G1 era as we could possibly ever hope to expect. Then - you actually receive the figure and see the many tiny pistons in his joints, the faithful face looking back at you from your childhood, the truck seat is in the middle just like G1 prime, there is SO MUCH die cast. Then you open him up and see the matrix - it looks like the matrix we have been waiting for as G1 fans since childhood. The Cybertron one was good but this one is collector standard. The wheels have suspension, the fingers move, the 'ears' move, the chest opens like in the film, you get a tiny megatron in the box . . . . so many more things. I just can't see how anybody who is the same sort of TF fan I am - or just an action figure fan even could argue that MP01 wasn't a massive step forward for the fandom. Very few of the figures people mention here were actually released before MP01.
Don't get me wrong - I like and respect the second MP Prime but to me he seems like a fantastic generations figure rather than an MP. I Like MP01 for the die cast and the fact that it was a thing I had desired my whole life and never thought I would see. I don't care about the scale or the stupid short smokestacks because I'm in the UK. My MP01 is within the top few of my absolute most dearest possessions.
2 Cybertron Optimus Prime
Until MP01 I though C Prime was amazing. I was totally prepared to accept the updated alt mode and I even quite liked the series ( though I tried to pretend I didn't as I was about 24 when it was aired in the UK lol ).
He is a truly great figure and for me he regenerated a lot of my latent passion for TF's at the time. He is by far the best figure of the Cybertron line ( though I love a few others ) and he came with a MATRIX!
The combination thing with Leo Breaker was lame but the engineering of the toy worked it in so well that I had it ages before I actually realised that I had a version that was capable of connecting to others. I actually have Energon Tidal Wave and Cybertron Prime can use a few of his bits even! ( Tidal Prime??? )
3 MP Grimlock ( any version! )
I said I'd keep it short so this - the only thing that makes MP Grimlock lower on the list than MP01 is that he isn't Optimus Prime. This figure is also perfect. . . . okay - we could have done without the waggly head and tail gimmick and maybe had light up eyes or a light in the mouth instead of that stupid light up hand thing but still..... 99% perfect. All is good.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
MP Megatron - seriously. Wow - did real human people design that transformation? I can't decide if they were geniuses or evil or both. I am afraid to touch my MP Megatron. At first that annoyed me. Now I can kind of relate to it. The Megatron it represents was a devilishly portrayed gremlin of a character. Now the best figure I can probably ever hope to own of him is a devilishly difficult gremlin of a product. You always know that the perfect pose of a perfectly tight gun mode is just a few clicks away - yet
YOUR GONNA BREAK IT!!! It's evil . . but brilliant.
I love my MP Rodimus. Yeah it's a bit flawed but it is still an amazing product.
Any MP with a plane mode is an engineering marvel, they are all excellent. I have MP Skywarp. I always preferred him over StarScream!
Generations Warpath, all of the 'Countach triplets' - Sunstreaker etc, Cyclonus, Perceptor, RTS Jazz and Tracks... so many from those lines.
Yet for some reason I still, to this day have big love for the jumpstarters. They are the only G1 I still display. I'm not suggesting them for best ever or anything but they are still part of my display. Twin Twist was the first TF I remember keeping the box for and cutting the robot points out of when I was a kid.
Loads of people are slating the upcoming film figures but we should remember - the money made from movie products sold to kids are probably allowing the funding for the lines that we have seen in the last few years.
Sorry . . . I got carried away.....