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It's time to look back at 2023 in all things Transformers. Below you will find the picks from staff members Scotty P, D-Maximus Primal, Bounti76 and myself, william-james88, for the toys we found best in various categories along with our favourite bits of Transformers media and what we look forward to most for next. Please let us know your pics too. And now, on with the list!
Best Overall Transformers Toy
Deathsaurus is beyond a shadow of a doubt the toy of the year. While it was indeed much pricier than any toy his size in a Generations line, this toy showed what the designers at Hasbro could do if they had all the budget they needed to make our beloved toys as great as possible. And they didn't disapoint in any way. I love this toy and wish every Transformers fan could experience him. -william-james88
BURNING CHAINCLAW LET'S F****** GO jk it's Haslab Deathsaurus, soaring to the top of my 2023 pile at the very last minute. Part of my brain is screaming at me that this choice is pure recency bias. It may prove to be, but right now I'm more confident than not that it's the correct choice. Deathsaurus reminds me in many ways of the toys we saw from around 2005 - 2010. He's big, is (mostly) made from materials that feel solid, has tons of satisfying, clicky ratchet joints, and generally looks how I personally want Transformers to look. Best of all, and this is what nudged him past Suiken at the last minute, Deathsaurus looks great on a shelf while also including massive amounts of optional, well integrated play value. There's a plethora of stuff to do if you want to, and if you don't, you can slap that stuff on the back of his chair or in most cases, on his back.
Take your Victory lap, Deathsaurus, Eaglebreast and Tigerbreast. You've earned it.
-ScottyP
ROTB Optimus Prime. I managed to get one from Pulse, and he's fantastic. Tabs and fits together well in both modes, and it's fun to transform. -Bounti76
Legacy Armada Optimus Prime - This toy hit my hands, and I knew from there that this was the best things would get this year. He is so good, just so good! The alt mode screams power and bulk, and I love it. Main robot mode is very solid, very good looking, very well painted and molded, it is just lovely. And then the super mode is just so awesome. They could not have nailed this any better. and the fact that he is compatible with the old Overload is just the cherry on top. Well done team, this one was perfection incarnate. -D-Maximal_Primal
Best Legacy Toy
Sicko-Mode Powerlinx Hot Shot with Jolt. Take a fun Hot Shot, make it three times faster, give it extra guns and finally include a Mini-Con with an Armada toy homage and you get a super fun afternoon. This is the one Armada themed release from this year that tops its forebear in every possible way. -ScottyP
Tarn. I've wanted a toy of Tarn ever since I saw the design. I always appreciated that Alex Milne designed the character in a way that you could see exactly how it would work as a toy and I admit, I thought of getting a third party version many timed (but the total cost was always prohibitive for me). I'm glad I waited, because Hasbro aced it with this version. Looks like the comic character come to life. -william-james88
Tie between Nemesis and Antagony. Nemesis' altmode is straight out of the G1 cartoon, and they managed to make her robot mode look surprisingly good considering the starship was the priority for the toy. And I'm a sucker for obscure fembots, so Antagony definitely fits that bill, while wearing the mold better than Inferno, IMO. -Bounti76
Prime Dreadwing - After the first year of Legacy, the Prime figures were definitely the weakest link, with pretty poor efforts overall. This year, they shined. Skyquake was really good, and a lot of fun, but then they repainted him like Dreadwing, who is one of my all time favorite Decepticons, and I screamed. He is good, he is beautiful, and I am thankful my boy got another toy. -D-Maximal_Primal
Best Studio Series Toy
SS86: Snarl, Movie SS: Noah Diaz. Snarl is just great, and yes I wish the gold matched the other dinobots, but outside of that I couldn't ask for more from a Generations incarnation of Snarl. Well, maybe a gun, but aside from that, yes, entirely satisfied. It was a tough choice between this and Magnus, but my love of dinobots won out. I wasn't sure how granular answers in this category should be, but Movie SS and SS86 feel like two entirely different toylines, so I'm picking a separate Movie entry and that is Core Class Noah Diaz. Yes, really. This is a fun toy that takes some liberties with the film's exo-suit, but do you care? Not when it's this fun. It even avoids the weird no-face of recent things like the SS86 exo-suit by just painting over the visor. Maybe not an ideal solution, but better than a bad one! The rest of Movie Studio Series was disqualified for not being very fun. - ScottyP
SS Rhinox. This line felt off this year due to having toys based on non final designs for ROTB and making missteps with every single release of the Gamer Edition subline. But voyager Rhinox turned out awesome. Hasbro was able to make a last minute change to the colours right before it hit the stage of mass production, making this the most accurate ROTB toy this year, and thus the epitome of what the line is meant to be, accurate figures from the live action films. -william-james88
SS 86 Brawn. Another "stepped-out-of-the-cartoon" design, with a cool altmode and the perfect size to fit in with the other Deluxe "mini"bots. -Bounti76
This is probably my hardest category this year. SS was super polarizing this year for me, between Mirage AKA my favorite movie character, Gamer Megatron, and SS86 Snarl being my 2 biggest disappointments of the year, yet RotB Bee being the best SS Bee figure, Gamer Prime rocking out, core Noah being far superior to any other core, it was hard. But for me, Leader Scourge will be my pick. I loved Scourge in the movie, and his toy is pretty solid. It has a slenderman feel to it, with that awesome claw and grill chest. He is fun to pose, and he can look menacing in many different ways. He is just good, I liked him a lot. -D-Maximal_Primal
Best Earthspark Toy
Deluxe Nightshade, pick your deco (Hasbro or Takara). Not since Transformers: Prime, at least generally speaking, have the design teams for Transformers toys needed to make sleek, stylistic, potentially impossible character designs into toys. Sometimes these aren't successful but in the case of Nightshade, they knocked them out of the park. It's also been entirely too many years since an owl was used for an alt mode. The combination of novelty from that non-traditional alt mode plus a surprising level of quality and fun makes for the best output of the Earthspark lineup so far. - ScottyP
Warrior Thrash surprised me as it fit the bill of deluxes of old. I really like motorcycle Transformers since they usually give you a sleek robot with an imaginative transformation and that it exactly what we got. -william-james88
Nightshade. Transformation is a bit more intricate than I expected for an Earthspark toy, but they have a decent robot mode, and their owl mode is unusual and unique. -Bounti76
Warrior Jawbreaker - I adore Jawbreaker in the series, and his toy is no exception. It is fun but simple, elegant yet well painted. I adore him, he is cute and fun. They managed to make a great warrior here that wasn't compromised. -D-Maximal_Primal
Best ROTB Toy
Takara Optimus Primal. The "mainline" for Rise of the Beasts was surprisingly fun, and while not totally devoid of segments overly hampered by one-note gimmicks, it was a big improvement over the Bumblebee movie's tiny, mostly soulless effort. The main standout from the line has to be Takara's $60-ish Optimus Primal, a big rendition of the Maximal leader that fits right in with the "Leader Class" of years gone by and even the Legendary Optimus Prime they put out for the Bumblebee movie. A great sculpt, fun transformation, and even excellent compatibility with the Beast Battle Masters all adds up to what Transformers could be more often, if only they weren't so darn expensive. - ScottyP
Optimus Primal seems to have gotten the preferential treatment in the ROTB line, with most of his figures being the best of their specific class. The voyager, for instance, was the best of the three, and I really like that deluxe sized weaponizer figure. That was an excellent option for younger kids, providing an easy transformation but still providing good old ball joint articulation from the later Beast era. -william-james88
Voyager Optimus Prime - I am an oddball here, but i didn't like the SS (Buzzworthy Bumblebee) voyager that much. but the main movie voyager? That one was super strong. I like him a lot! It has some really nice little cues here and there that make him proportionally a little better looking than the movie model (which needs smaller thighs, more abs, and less square shoulders) and just makes him a superior toy. I love him, he definitely stood out this year. -D-Maximal_Primal
Best MP Toy
MPG-04 Suiken is the best of the very slim roster of MP toys released in 2023. All of the Trainbots have had a high degree of elegance in their designs, but the execution hasn't always been on par - just search the internet and social media for pictures of Yukikaze's knees. Suiken and the extremely similar Seizan offer both, in my opinion, with Suiken winning out for a unique color scheme and a headsculpt that completely nails the era the character comes from. The backpack kibble may be an issue for some, but for me it's super easy to just take it off and set it to the side if a slimmer profile is desired.
Honorable mention to MP-57 Skyfire, which would have won this if Takara Tomy hadn't designed him with exploding feet in service of a gerwalk mode that we don't need in Transformers because this isn't Macross and this figure doesn't even use the G1 toy design and ohmygodwhatweretheythinking
-ScottyP
MPM Bonecrusher and MP-56 Trailbreaker. I really tried to pick one of them, I did, but I just could not do it, they are so utterly different and accomplish things so completely different. They are just really good. Trailbreaker makes a great cartoon Trailbreaker, with some cool effects and a nice alt mode. Bonecrusher is huge, posable, but perfectly balanced with wonderful flame effects for movie scene recreations as well as a the highly posable claw and weathering. They are both top notch, and they both deserve a mention. -D-Maximal_Primal
Best TF Media
Earthspark, which probably edged out Rise of the Beasts for me just due to length as there's more here to savor. An entire team of totally new Transformers in a show with a decent budget? When do we get more? The villains of this entry scrape the barrel, but the rest is the most fun you can have with Transformers this year. - ScottyP
I really enjoyed the first comic from the new series. You can read my review here: /transformers ... und/47912/ -william-james88
Rise of the Beasts. While not as good as Bumblebee, still a solid follow-up with some actual good character development for the Autobots, and great voice acting work for the Autobots, Terrorcons, and Maximals. -Bounti76
Skybound comics - This one was also a surprise, I really enjoyed Rise of the Beasts, but the new skybound comics are just so strong. I was very wary of them, but then I heard about issue 1, decided to read it, and now I am hooked. This comic is so good you guys, they know what they are doing. It is a blast, and I cannot recommend it enough.
-D-Maximal_Primal
What you are looking forward to next year?
Titan Tidal Wave, and hopefully, Hasbro CEO Chris C. (whose entire name I can't type because of the profanity filter, which is honestly kind of hilarious) being fired.
-ScottyP
Magmatron, easy. I never had the original figure but always wanted it since I love Dinosaurs. And now I will own the ultimate version of that figure with modern articulation (a big weakness of the original). -william-james88
Honestly, not a lot of what has been revealed so far interests me, so I hope Hasbro has some amazing things coming up for the 40th Anniversary of the brand. -Bounti76
I am gonna say 2 different Masterpiece releases next year, specifically MPG Kaen and MPM Brawl. Kaen will finally complete Raiden, a project I have long been waiting to complete, ever since it was announced really. And Brawl will, with the exception of the Frenzy we really need, complete the MP 07 movie cast, which I am so excited for! Especially since the cons have been really solid, with Bonecrusher proving to be such a solid entry this year. -D-Maximal_Primal
Hello everybody! Welcome back for the third and final part of this series focused on mini-cons.
You can find part 1, focused on Mini-con teams, here, and part 2, focused on mini-con partners, here.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of what has been one of the most influential Transformers toylines ever created, whose wild success eventually opened the door to investing in the Bayverse.
Armada introduced us to Mini-cons as the “third faction”. Spawn of Unicron and pokemon of the week, these tiny robots were hunted down by both Autobots and Decepticons as “power ups” for larger Transformers.
Mini-con toys came in two flavours: teams, sold, in 3-packs, and partner Mini-cons sold together with their bigger partner. After journeying through teams and partners, we are finally at the final showdown: which are the top 10 Mini-cons, when taken as standalone toys?
In this list we won’t focus on “team’s theme” or “partner integration”, but on the toy in itself, in the context of still being a powerup for larger ‘bots.
1-20 scores were given for:
Alt mode: how cool is the alt mode, how well designed?
Robot mode: how cool is the robot mode, in the context of a tiny toy?
Powerlinx credibility: just by itself, how credible is this Mini-con as a powerup?
Engineering: how well was this Mini-con built?
Transformation: how original and well executed is the transformation?
Then those scores were added together to give a score on 100 which is what you will see on all the entries throughout the ranking.
The list includes:
- all 63 individual molds from Mini-con teams: 33 from Armada, 3 from Energon, 6 from Cybertron, 18 from Classic and 3 from Thrilling 30;
- all 35 partner Mini-con molds: 21 from Armada, 4 from Cybertron, 1 from Universe 2.0 and 9 from Power Core Combiners;
two molds with toys which were at some point called Mini-cons: Cybertron Laserbeak, and Generations Cyclonus’ Nightstick.
This gives a grand total of exactly 100 Mini-con molds.
Because of the number and variety of Mini-cons listed, in case of tied scores the placement in the list is down to personal preference.
Which are the top 10? Which is the single worst Mini-con out of 100?
Let’s get started!
#10. Transformers Armada Thunderclash(85/100)
20/20/5/20/20
Iconic alt mode, original transformation, not very credible as a power up, also because of how its port is positioned.
Team: partner, with Armada Skywarp
Versions: 5
#9. Transformers Armada Gunbarrel (Glide) (86/100)
18/14/20/20/14
Six-barrelled cannon and bomber, some challenges with articulation in robot mode but overall solid targetmaster.
Team: Air Military Team
Versions: 9
#8. Transformers Armada Leader-1 (Barrel)(87/100)
14/15/20/20/18
Iconic triple-changing mini-con, simple but effective engineering and transformation.
Team: partner, with Armada Megatron
Versions: 3
#7. Transformers Classics Dreadwing (88/100)
20/14/14/20/20
Excellent beast mode, it could pass as a shield with its wings closed, why not.
Team: Classics Predator Attack Team
Versions: 4
#6. Transformers Armada Terradive (Recon) (89/100)
20/20/20/13/16
Excellent targetmaster to give Starscream some Wolverine claws, hampered by bad engineering and overall fragility.
Team: Air Military Team
Versions: 9
#5. Transformers Cybertron Safeguard (Roots) (91/100)
Safeguard is possibly the best Mini-con to come out of Galaxy Force. While it does not activate any real feature, being more of a targetmaster partner, Safeguard’s inherent coolness makes it stand tall among so many power-ups.
Alt mode (20/20): literally a flying laser cannon, cool enough to get a pass.
Robot mode (20/20): articulated, cool looking and well proportioned.
Powerlinx credibility (20/20): possibly the most credible arm-mounted powerup.
Engineering (16/20): durable, stands easily despite the massive backpack.
Transformation (13/20): effective, but simple.
Team: partner, with Cybertron Vector Prime
Versions: 5
#4. Transformers Armada Makeshift (Twist) (92/100)
Makeshift is a great mini-con triple changer, with two excellent alt modes and a passable robot mode.
Alt mode (16/20): iconic and unique, Makeshift’s alt mode looks so peaceful… until it’s transformed into its third mode, a double tri-barrelled rotating machine gun!
Robot mode (16/20): its gun-hands are a bit distracting, could be worse.
Powerlinx credibility (20/20): how cool is this?
Engineering (20/20): robust and durable, with thick transparent plastic.
Transformation (20/20): simple and effective across three modes.
Team: Emergency Team
Versions: 10
#3. Transformers Armada Stormcloud
(93/100)Stormcloud not only makes for an excellent power-up, but is also a great, fun TF toy on its own.
Alt mode (17/20): great looking speedboat with a giant, giant missile on top
Robot mode (20/20): articulated - even more than the “highly articulated” Street Speed Team members - stable and cool looking, despite the giant, giant missile.
Powerlinx credibility (20/20): one of the best.
Engineering (18/20): very well designed, more effort than in many other cases.
Transformation (18/20): simple, and very effective.
Team: Sea Team
Versions: 6
#2. Transformers Armada Waterlog (95/100)
Waterlog is at least as cool as Stormcloud, with a slightly more interesting transformation.
Alt mode (20/20): a great hovercraft mode, with a giant, giant missile
Robot mode (16/20): well proportioned and decently articulated, with a great arm-mounted weapon - the giant boots are still needed to give it stability
Powerlinx credibility (20/20): excellent power-up.
Engineering (20/20): stable and robust.
Transformation (19/20): original transformation for a mini-con, well executed.
Team: Sea Team
Versions: 6
#1. Transformers Armada Bonecrusher (Bomb) (99/100)
Bonecrusher is the pinnacle of mini-con molds, with an original alt mode, a unique transformation, a cool looking robot mode and great credibility as a power-up. Bonecrusher wins under all dimensions, and any TFan should own a copy of this mold.
Alt mode (19/20): unique and well designed - it’s a shame the first is so visible.
Robot mode (20/20): this mini-con means business.
Powerlinx credibility (20/20): an excellent power-up with a giant, giant missile
Engineering (20/20): the best engineering of any Mini-con toy out there. Solid and durable.
Transformation (20/20): the most original transformation of any Mini-con toy out there.
Team: Land Military Team
Versions: 6
Bonecrusher confirms the strength of the Land Military Mini-con team (see part 2). And now, as we go through all remaining 95 molds, we’ll finally find out: which is the worst mini-con ever forged?
#11, Overcast (Cybertron), (84/100)
13/15/20/18/18
Great power-up as dual missile launcher, but the giant missiles don’t work in alt or robot mode.
Team: Giant Planet Team
Versions: 3
#12, Steel Wind (Classics), (83/100)
20/13/10/20/20
Original transformation, and I guess it’s somewhat credible as “arm-mounted bomb launcher”. Proportions in robot mode are iffy.
Team: Classics Clear Skies Team
Versions: 6
#13, Firebot, (82/100)
20/8/20/16/18
Great, kawaii triple changer, with an excellent targetmaster mode as missile pod.
Team: Emergency Team
Versions: 10
#15, Longarm (Cybertron), (80/100)
20/20/0/20/20
Excellent TF toy, no credibility whatsoever as power-up.
Team: Giant Planet Team
Versions: 4
#16, Nightscream (Classics), (78/100)
20/18/0/20/20
Great Dragon TF, notable for having its Dragoyell repaint as one of the most elusive Mini-cons ever; terrible, terrible as power-up.
Team: Classics Clear Skies Team
Versions: 5
#17, Thunderwing, (78/100)
20/12/6/20/20
Fun triple changer toy, but… is it a rotating shield? A shuriken? Not very convincing.
Team: Air Military Team
Versions: 9
#18, Liftor, (78/100)
10/20/8/20/20
The Tiny God of mini-con toys, with possibly the best robot mode of any and all Mini-cons, not very convincing for the rest.
Team: partner, with Armada Smokescreen
Versions: 2
#19, Inferno, (78/100)
14/14/14/20/16
Solid in all three modes.
Team: partner, with Armada Thrust
Versions: 4
#20, Comettor, (78/100)
20/16/12/14/16
Unique modes and transformation, not very threatening as a power-up.
Team: partner, with Armada Jetfire
Versions: 4
#21, Firebot (Classics), (78/100)
16/20/14/14/14
Very cool looking robot mode, OK for the rest.
Team: Classics Night Rescue Team
Versions: 4
#22, Stripmine, (76/100)
13/17/12/18/16
While partner interaction with Quickmix was great, on its own Stripmine is much weaker in all modes.
Team: partner, with Cybertron Quickmix
Versions: 2
#23, Sky Blast, (76/100)
20/16/0/20/20
Fun, original rocket mode, not great as a powerup…
Team: Space Team
Versions: 6
#24, Heavytread (T30), (76/100)
20/12/20/12/12
Simple, chunky tank TF, nothing to write home about.
Team: Thrilling 30 Assault Team
Versions: 1
#25, Buzzsaw, (76/100)
20/10/20/12/14
Fun, original alt mode, mediocre robot mode.
Team: Destruction Team
Versions: 9
#26, Jolt, (76/100)
20/20/0/20/16
Spinning blade? Not really - but it’s a nice little TF toy on its own.
Team: partner, with Armada Hot Shot
Versions: 2
#27, Grindor (Classics), (74/100)
20/14/0/20/30
Unique car mode, original transformation, not much of a power-up, still quite nice.
Team: Classics Dirt Digger Team
Versions: 3
#28, Blackout, (74/100)
20/18/14/12/10
Iconic Mini-con, two modes and a half, simple but very well thought out.
Team: partner, with Armada Demolishor
Versions: 5
#29, Oval, (72/100)
20/20/0/16/16
Street Speed team members have the same thing in common: nice car modes, mediocre robot modes. Oval is the best one of the three.
Team: Street Speed Team
Versions: 8
#30, Wind Sheer, (72/100)
18/14/0/20/20
Iconic alt mode and fun transformation, not much of a power-up.
Team: partner, with Armada Wheeljack
Versions: 3
#31, Oil Slick (Classics), (70/100)
20/20/0/10/20
Fun little TF toy, not much of a power-up - most common case for Classics mini-cons.
Team: Classics Dirt Digger Team
Versions: 4
#32, Dead End, (70/100)
20/12/14/12/12
Here comes the pain. Unicron’s favorite antibody is as mean as its role requires - coming packaged with a massive gun only helps in its job. Considering the challenge of turning into a sphere, Dead End is one of the most ambitious designs - a qualified success.
Team: partner, with Armada Unicron
Versions: 7
#33, Heavy Load, (69/100)
17/17/7/14/14
Original alt mode, well articulated robot mode, it just sucks as a power-up.
Team: partner, with Cybertron Menasor
Versions: 1
#34, Strongarm (Classics), (68/100)
20/14/0/16/18
One of the most peculiar transformations ever, it’s less successful than e.g. Bonecrusher, but still manages to stand on its own.
Team: Classics Night Rescue Team
Versions: 7
#35 Wreckage, (68/100)
14/12/20/12/10
Excellent power-up, fun alt mode, OK-ish robot mode. In this vein, Cybertron Overcast is better.
Team: Land Military Team
Versions: 6
#36, Windshear (T30), (68/100)
20/20/8/0/20
Extremely fragile, Windshear has possibly the worst engineering of any mini-con class toy. It’s a shame, because its modes look pretty great.
Team: Thrilling 30 Assault Team
Versions: 1
#37, Rollbar, (66/100)
20/16/0/14/16
Original, satisfying transformation, a fun little toy on its own.
Team: partner, with Armada Scavenger
Versions: 2
#38, Knock Out, (66/100)
12/12/20/12/10
The weakest of the three members of the Land Military Team, still a great power-up.
Team: Land Military Team
Versions: 6
#39, Throttler (PCC), (64/100)
0/14/20/16/14
PCC Mini-cons don’t really have any alt mode, and rely on their strength as power-ups. Throttler, with its unique alt mode as a drill, is the most interesting PCC mini-con.
Team: partner, with Power Core Combiners Sledge
Versions: 3
#40, Rollout, (64/100)
12/12/4/18/18
A core class toy by today’s standards: Armada Overload sold at the Max-con price point of $20, and a core class Rollout would easily cost $15 by itself, today. Would it be worth the money? By itself, probably not.
Team: partner, with Armada Overload
Versions: 7
#41, Reverb (Cybertron), (63/100)
18/20/0/14/11
A micromaster car: competent, with a fun transformation, but nothing special.
Team: Cybertron Recon Team
Versions: 8
#42, Beacon (PCC), (62/100)
0/20/16/14/12
PCC mini-cons are often great for fan-modes. Of all 100 Mini-con molds, PCC Beacon is the most fanmode-friendly, a great source of fun - with some imagination.
Team: partner, with Power Core Combiners Steelshot
Versions: 4
#43, Runway (T30), (62/100)
10/16/14/12/10
Iffy proportions, iffy alt mode, overall it’s OK but nothing to get too excited about. At least thrusters can be used as an arm cannon.
Team: Thrilling 30 Assault Team
Versions: 1
#44, Sonar, (62/100)
10/20/0/16/16
The Star Saber is made of three little airplanes - and Sonar is the most interesting of the three.
Team: Air Defense Team
Versions: 12
#45, Crumplezone, (61/100)
15/10/8/18/10
A great partner and complement for Armada Cyclonus, but does not stand up well on its own.
Team: partner, with Armada Cyclonus
Versions: 4
#46, Nightstick (Targetmaster), (60/100)
0/20/0/20/20
One of the two “Mini-con because they say so” entries, Nightstick is not necessarily worse than many Classics or PCC Mini-cons. The lack of a Mini-con port just makes it less versatile.
Alt mode (0/20):
Robot mode (20/20):
Powerlinx credibility (0/20):
Engineering (20/20):
Transformation (20/20):
Team: partner, with Generations Cyclonus
Versions: 8
#47, Waterlog (PCC), (60/100)
10/20/20/8/2
A cheater - its wings suggest some alt mode, but no. Still, a fun power-up.
Team: partner, with Power Core Combiners Undertow
Versions: 3
#48, Dune Runner, (60/100)
20/16/0/14/10
A fun toy, with a fun gimmick for its machine gun.
Team: Adventure Team
Versions: 6
#49, Iceberg, (54/100)
20/12/14/6/2
Sometimes less is more - and Iceberg really plays it safe. The original alt mode rescues it somehow. Its boosters can act as a double cannon, why not.
Team: Adventure Team
Versions: 6
#50, Ransack, (54/100)
20/10/14/8/2
Rope and hook gimmicks came at great cost in Armada, just see Armada Smokescreen. Ransack also suffers from balancing its budget, with the simplest transformation of the entire Unicron Trilogy.
Team: Adventure Team
Versions: 6
#51, Swoop (Classics), (59/100)
13/13/0/13/20
A competent dinobot micromaster. As we move into the second half of the list, most Mini-cons we encounter are still OK toys on their own - just bad Mini-cons.
Team: Classics Dinobot Team
Versions: 5
#52, Incinerator, (59/100)
20/13/12/8/6
Nice car, with engineering taking shortcuts, putting most of the alt mode on one arm. Maybe it can be a melee weapon - maybe.
Team: partner, with Armada Blurr
Versions: 3
#53, Dualor, (58/100)
16/14/20/4/4
Redundant alt mode, simple transformation, but competent overall.
Team: Destruction Team
Versions: 9
#54, Astroscope, (58/100)
20/12/0/12/14
A satellite mode is already cause for celebration, but this mold’s fragility holds it back. Not something you could ever give to a child.
Team: Space Team
Versions: 6
#55, Laserbeak (not a cassette), (56/100)
8/18/0/20/20
Nightstick’s partner as an “intruder”, Cybertron Laserbeak is more of an accessory than a toy - less interesting than a G1 cassette, and not even much of a power-up.
Team: partner, with Cybertron Soundwave
Versions: 3
#56, Bomb-burst (PCC), (56/100)
0/20/20/8/8
One of the best PCC Mini-cons, and one of the most credible Mini-cons in general as a power-up: despite its simplicity. Bomb-burst is straight out of the PS2 Armada videogame.
Team: partner, with Power Core Combiners Salvage
Versions: 4
#57, Razorbeam (PCC), (56/100)
0/16/20/10/10
One of several “targetmaster PCC Mini-cons”, Razorbeam is only mildly interesting.
Team: partner, with Power Core Combiners Darkstream
Versions: 3
#58, Deepdive (Cybertron), (56/100)
20/8/20/4/4
The submarine mode is cool, but when it comes to engineering and transformation, they didn’t even try.
Team: Giant Planet Team
Versions: 4
#59, Sparkplug, (55/100)
20/10/1/10/14
Sparkplug is yellow, awkwardly shaped and useless: it reminds me of G1 Bumblebee, and for this reason I was very tempted to give it a perfect score: 0
Team: partner, with Armada Superbase Optimus Prime
Versions: 5
#60, Jetstorm, (54/100)
14/14/0/10/16
Another little airplane, and possibly one of the most fragile Mini-cons out there.
Team: Air Defense Team
Versions: 12
#61, Longarm, (54/100)
20/12/0/12/10
A homage to Micromasters from inception, it succeeds in this regard - nice micromaster, bad Mini-con.
Team: partner, with Armada Red Alert
Versions: 6
#62 Drill Bit, (54/100)
8/14/18/6/8
Drill Bit took Leader-1 and removed any and all ambition from that concept. I am not surprised that Legacy Metroplex omitted Drill Bit entirely.
Team: partner, with Cybertron Metroplex
Versions: 2
#63 Rook and Crosswise, (54/100)
20/8/0/14/12
Dead End’s lost cousins, they only really work together - the novelty of their combination has its merit, but they only work as complements for Armada Sideways.
Team: partner, with Armada Sideways
Versions: 4
#64, Backtrack, (54/100)
20/14/0/12/8
At this point, almost two thirds into the list, we can start finding Mini-cons which have fewer and fewer redeeming qualities. Backtrack is one of these - Oval is a far superior alternative.
Team: Street Speed Team
Versions: 8
#65, Spiral, (53/100)
20/14/0/12/8
Boring, boring, boring.
Team: Street Speed Team
Versions: 8
#66, Dirt Rocket (Classics), (52/100)
20/16/4/2/10
Another spectacularly fragile mold, with hair-thin biceps which often break up during the first transformation attempt. While its two modes are OK, it’s a lazy, unrefined design.
Team: Classics Dirt Digger Team
Versions: 4
#67 Overbite (Classics), (52/100)
20/12/0/12/8
Wolves make for terrible, terrible pets, and even worse power-ups.
Team: Classics Predator Attack Team
Versions: 5
#68, Terrorsaur (Classics), (52/100)
16/16/0/10/10
Great homage to Beast Wars Megatron, not a great powerup.
Team: Classics Dinobot Team
Versions: 6
#69, Pinpoint (PCC), (52/100)
1/20/19/8/4
Effectively a homage to G1 Powermasters, with a piss-poor color scheme.
Team: partner, with Power Core Combiners Leadfoot
Versions: 4
#70, Grindor, (50/100)
8/14/0/14/14
It’s a skateboard - and it could have been much, much worse.
Team: Street Action Team
Versions: 6
#71, High Wire, (50/100)
20/14/0/14/2
It’s a BMX bike, and… no, really, no, this doesn’t work.
Team: Street Action Team
Versions: 6
#72, Airlift (PCC), (50/100)
0/18/2/6/6
Yawn.
Team: partner, with Power Core Combiners Sky Hammer
Versions: 4
#73, Prowl, (48/100)
20/8/8/8/4
Personally I love Armada Prowl’s car mode, but its other two modes are really bad.
Team: Emergency Team
Versions: 10
#74, Divebomb (Classics), (48/100)
20/2/14/4/8
Fun concept, and terrible, terrible engineering - this is something one would create with LEGO. Also, they really need to stop integrating rocket launchers and other weaponry into the robot head, it’s just bad.
Team: Classics Night Rescue Team
Versions: 6
#75, Refute, (47/100)
8/2/15/14/8
Great homage to G1 insecticon, inexplicable for the rest - comedy value at best.
Team: parter, Armada Hoist
Versions: 4
#76, Highwire (Energon), (46/100)
10/14/0/10/12
Better than its Armada version in some aspects, but it doesn’t even have cuteness to save it, this time.
Team: Energon Street Action Team
Versions: 6
#77, Sledge (Classics), (44/100)
14/10/0/10/10
Original, fragile, awkward, not the brightest design out there.
Team: Classics Demolition Team
Versions: 6
#78, Runway, (44/100)
16/10/0/10/8
Runway sucks as a robot - its arms are truly terrible.
Team: Air Defense Team
Versions: 12
#79, Oceanglide, (44/100)
0/6/20/10/8
The weakest member of the Sea Team, and one of the weakest alt modes of all Mini-cons.
Team: Sea Team
Versions: 6
#80, Drill Bit, (44/100)
6/4/20/4/10
Fun alt mode, completely botched robot mode.
Team: Destruction Team
Versions: 9
#81, Nightbeat, (43/100)
20/1/10/6/6
This might come as a surprise: Armada Nightbeat is not the weakest mini-con mold, despite its horrifying robot mode - even Universe downgraded its repaint as “Seek and Destroy Drone”, they didn’t dare call it a Mini-con. Not only its alt mode is well executed, but as a power-up it somehow works as a jetpack.
Team: partner, with Armada Side Swipe, or A.S.S.
Versions: 2
imagine it as flamethrower in reverse
#82, Dirt Boss, (42/100)
14/8/0/10/10
A boring car mode, an ugly robot mode, Dirt Boss doesn’t really shine.
Team: Race Team
Versions: 8
#83, Groundspike (PCC), (38/100)
0/8/18/8/4
Groundspike has one of the best Mini-con integrations of all PCC Mini-cons, but it only really works together with its partner.
Team: partner, with Power Core Combiners Heavy Tread
Versions: 4
#84, Caliburst (PCC), (38/100)
0/8/18/8/4
Visually more interesting than other “PCC turrets”, with a terrible, ugly robot mode.
Team: partner, with Power Core Combiners Huffer
Versions: 3
#85, Sureshock (Energon), (36/100)
20/6/0/4/6
A four-wheeled bike, perfect for faceplanting - just like its robot mode’s design.
Team: Energon Street Action Team
Versions: 6
#86, Thunderwing (Classics), (36/100)
14/4/0/4/14
Tom Cruise would probably get offended - fun transformation, but overall a terrible design
Team: Classics Clear Skies Team
Versions: 6
#87, Broadside (Classics), (36/100)
20/2/14/0/0
One of the ugliest robot modes of any TF toy, Broadside’s hips are just under its chin. Moreover, Broadside cannot stand on its own. Who approved this thing?
Team: Classics Demolition Team
Versions: 5
#88, Ramjet, (36/100)
14/2/0/10/10
Armada Ramjet was entirely designed for a specific gimmick, much like Armada Nightbeat. No Tidal Wave, no party.
Team: partner, with Armada Tidal Wave
Versions: 2
#89, Sure Shock, (34/100)
20/4/0/6/4
It’s a Vespa! And it sucks.
Team: Street Action Team
Versions: 6
#90, Over-run, (33/100)
13/6/0/8/6
Over-run is effectively a rifle with wings. More of an accessory than anything else.
Team: partner, with Armada Optimus “Bendy” Prime
Versions: 5
#91, Swindle, (30/100)
20/2/0/6/2
Swindle somewhat worked as Starscream’s partner, but as a standalone toy it’s a bit of a stinker.
Team: partner, with Armada Starscream
Versions: 7
#92, Six-Speed (Cybertron), (28/100)
20/4/0/3/1
Possibly the most boring car mode in the entire Unicron Trilogy.
Team: Cybertron Recon Team
Versions: 8
#93, Wideload (Classics), (26/100)
9/0/10/0/7
Ugly in robot mode, forgettable in alt mode.
Team: Classics Demolition Team
Versions: 6
#94, Downshift, (25/100)
20/2/0/2/1
Downshift is similar to Six-speed, with a far more horrifying robot mode and worse engineering.
Team: Race Team
Versions: 8
#95, Mirage, (23/100)
10/4/0/5/4
Mirage is similar to Swindle - only worse.
Team: Race Team
Versions: 8
Here we are: 95 entries later, we start the countdown for the worst 5 Mini-con molds ever! Are you scared? You should.
#96, Knockdown (Classics), (22/100)
Alt mode (10/20): knockdown is less of a dinobot, and more of a frankenstein monster.
Robot mode (4/20): most of this robot mode is a cow split in two.
Powerlinx credibility (0/20): of course.
Engineering (4/20): it must have taken a good 4 minutes to design Classics Knockdown, points for the effort.
Transformation (4/20): I just want to forget this exists.
Team: Classics Dinobot Team
Versions: 5
#97, Payload, (18/100)
Alt mode (6/20): one of the least ambitious alt modes ever designed, it’s just there.
Robot mode (4/20): I assume this is some micromaster homage? Not brilliant.
Powerlinx credibility (0/20): of course.
Engineering (6/20): no engineering, just regrets.
Transformation (2/20): it does transform, yes, it’s something that happens.
Team: Space Team
Versions: 6
#98, Snarl (Classics), (16/100)
Alt mode (12/20): it’s a kitty… puma… panther? I think it meows.
Robot mode (0/20): Classics Snarl’s robot mode is so ugly its designed should be banned from ever approaching a cat again.
Powerlinx credibility (0/20): of course.
Engineering (0/20): no engineering, just pain, suffering and lots of sadness.
Transformation (4/20): Classics Snarl can be classified as an ass-former.
Team: Classics Predator Attack Team
Versions: 5
#99, Universe 2.0 Jolt, (15/100)
Alt mode (4/20): Universe 2.0 Jolt transforms into a helicopter, a helicopter made with spit and glue.
Robot mode (4/20): Universe 2.0 Jolt has a robot mode. Now that you know, no need to verify for yourself.
Powerlinx credibility (1/20): Universe 2.0 Jolt can be used as a shield, possibly while still alive.
Engineering (01/20): cheap, cheap, cheap, Universe 2.0 Jolt is nothing more than an insult to the Unicron Trilogy.
Transformation (02/20): yes, Universe 2.0 Jolt transforms. It also sucks.
Team: partner, Universe 2008 Hotshot
Versions: 3
#100, Grindor (Energon), (10/100)
Alt mode (8/20): I am pretty sure that Energon Grindor transforms into a Cybertronian Turd.
Robot mode (0/20): Energon Grindor’s robot mode should be fixed by activating SafeSearch.
Powerlinx credibility (1/20): it deserves a 20, in that enemies will probably run away laughing.
Engineering (1/20): Energon Grindor had elbows and ankle articulation - and nothing else.
Transformation (0/20): this is something you don’t want to test.
Team: Energon Street Action Team
Versions: 6
And here we are: all 100 mini-con molds, ranked. Between Armada Bonecrusher and Energon Grindor, mini-cons have brought incredible variety in their alt modes, transformations and gimmicks - a testament to the incredible creativity Aaron Archer and the Armada design team brought into our hobby.
As we celebrate Armada’s 20th anniversary, it’s an excellent time to revisit many of these molds - today is best time to get started with Mini-cons
Thanks for making us company in this celebration, looking forward to read your comments.
19 years later, still yours,
Every month now, Seibertron.com brings you a Top 5 list related to all things Transformers written by the main editor or a guest. These are our 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 5 Best Transformers Minicon Teams + All Minicon Teams Ranked
Hello everybody! It’s good to be back. This year marks the 20th anniversary of what has been one of the most influential Transformers toylines ever created, whose wild success eventually opened the door to investing in the Bayverse.
Armada introduced us to minicons as the “third faction”. Spawn of Unicron and pokemon of the week, these tiny robots were hunted down by both Autobots and Decepticons as “power ups” for larger Transformers.
Minicon toys came in two flavours: teams, sold, in 3-packs, and partner minicons sold together with their bigger partner. Partner minicons will be ranked in the second part of this celebration.
This first top 5 will focus on Armada mini-con teams were sold in 3-packs, each with a dedicated theme. Minicons have been defined as “feature-activating micromasters.
In ranking these teams, 1-10 scores were given for:
theme execution: how well does the trio represent its unique concept?
gimmick: how well implemented is the team’s gimmick?
power-up credibility: how credible does the team look when powerlinked?
engineering: how well was this toy built?
transformation: how original and well executed is the transformation?
We also add a couple of completely arbitrary notes on best partner for powerlinking, and best repaint out of many (MANY!) available. The list includes all 21 minicon team molds: 11 from Armada, 1 from Energon, 2 from Cybertron, 6 from Classic and 1 from Thrilling 30.
Let’s get started!
#5 Armada Race Team
Score: 43/50
Theme: 10, a nice variety of racing cars, no doubt
Gimmick: 10, the Skyboom shield combiner gimmick is great fun, and it doubles up as a “flying thing” which is fun by itself
Power-up: 10, the shield looks great in the hands of most ‘bots
Engineering: 6, the individual robot modes are quite sacrificed for the Skyboom combination
Transformation: 7, one of the three members, Mirage, barely transforms
Best partner: Smokescreen or Hoist
Versions: 8
Best version: Armada Road Assault team, which looks great with a variety of holders.
#4 Armada Air Military Team
Score44/50
Theme: 10, no doubt about what these planes are about
Gimmick: 10, they handle triple-changing at minicon scale very well
Power-up: 10, an excellent homage to G1 targetmasters
Engineering: 7, Terradive is prone to breaking - you can be careful, but it’s way too fragile
Transformation: 7, it does the job for all members, but it’s not revolutionary
Best partner: Armada Starsceam
Versions: 9
Best version: Galaxy Force Calibur Team, remolded and repainted to be paired with GF Sonic Bomber
#3 Armada Space Team
Score: 45/50
Theme: 10, they went above and beyond with an additional “ground transport” combination of two members
Gimmick: 10, the combination into the Requiem Blaster is well executed, with a stable weapon which can be comfortably handled by most TFs
Power-up: 10, a blaster for every season
Engineering: 7, the satellite is prone to breaking or losing pieces
Transformation: 7, one of the three is at G1 micromaster level of simplicity
Best partner: Armada Megatron (if you don’t know why, ask Smokescreen)
Versions: 6
Best version: The Umbral Blaster made up of the minicons from the 3 different mini-con vs packs (to go with TFCC Timelines Astrotrain)
#2 Armada Sea Team
Score: 48/50
Theme: 8, this is indeed a Sea team, but the terracotta colors are truly baffling. The Micron Legend original X-Dimensions release and its DVD version make this set worthwhile..
Gimmick: 10, three boats which double up as rocket pods for their partners
Power-up: 10, three credible weapon attachments
Engineering: 10, all three minicons are well built and sturdy
Transformation: 10, three diverse transformations, including an excellent one
Best partner: Micron Legend Shockwave (the purple version)
Versions: 6
Best version: Micron Legend X-Dimensions Sea Team (of course!)
#1 Armada Land Military Team
Score: 49/50
Theme: 10, three military vehicles which mean business
Gimmick: 10, three excellent rocket pods, with a well-designed pressure-based gimmick
Power-up: 10, possibly the most credible minicons for powerlinking
Engineering: 9, all three minicons are well built, with minor issues for Knockout’s legs
Transformation: 10, Bonecrusher has possibly the best transformation of any Unicron Trilogy toy
Best partner: Armada Demolishor (of course!)
Versions: 6
Best version: Armada Night Attack Team, to go with… anything, really, it’s just that good.
With the top 5 done, let’s find out which is the undisputed worst minicon team ever made as we rank ALL remaining teams!
#6 Armada Air Defense Team (42/50)
6 / 9 / 10 / 9 / 8
Iconic because of the Star Saber, but with an uncertain theme overall
Best partner: Armada Starscream or Micron Legend Hot Rod
Versions: 12
Best version: Air Assault Team, to go with Armada Galvatron
#7 Classic Night Rescue Team (41/50)
10 / 8 / 7 / 7 / 9
Original and partly awesome transformations, possibly the best post-Armada minicons.
Best partner: none - most Classic minicons don’t really work well when powerlinked
Versions: 6 Divebombs, 4 Firebots, 7 Strongarms
Best version: Classic
#8 Thrilling 30 Assault Team (40/50)
10 / 10 / 5 / 7 / 8
A great homage, reimagining Armada Perceptor at deluxe scale, with uneven engineering.
Best partner: none - these three are just too large for powerlinking
Versions: 1
Best version: T30
#9 Armada Destruction Team (38/50)
8 / 10 / 5 / 7 / 8
Together with Armada Cyclonus, the Destruction team represents all the best aspects of Armada. It’s a shame that Dualor got one of the most boring alt modes.
Best partner: Armada Cyclonus
Versions: 9
Best version: Micron Legend Space Galaxy Destruction team, to go with Energon Cyclonus
#10 Armada Adventure Team (37/50)
10 / 10 / 7 / 6 / 4
Meant to be the equivalent of the Destruction team for the Autobots, Armada Hoist’s cost-cutting led to losing its gimmick, limiting the value of this team. The micromaster-level transformations don’t help making them relevant, even if the theme is well executed.
Best partner: none
Versions: 6
Best version: Cybertron Lunar Assault Team, with Universe Ransack
#11 Armada Emergency Team (36/50)
10 / 7 / 7 / 7 / 5
Another great G1 targetmaster homage, ruined by the second worst minicon ever made - Armada Prowl.
Best partner: Armada Red Alert
Versions: 10
Best version: Armada, with Armada Red Alert
#12 Classic Dinobot Team (35/50)
10 / 10 / 1 / 7 / 7
Great homage to G1 Dinobots and Beast Wars but very weak as minicons.
Best partner: none
Versions: Terrorsaur has 6, others have 5
Best version: Rise of the Fallen (G1 repaints)
#13 Cybertron Recon Team (34/50)
6 / 10 / 3 / 8 / 7
Almost a celebration of minicons by itself, with two great transformations - but not really made for powerlinking.
Best partner: none
Versions: 8
Best version: Galaxy Force Micron Booster v3 repaints
#14 Classic Demolition Team (33/50)
7 / 10 / 6 / 3 / 7
Nice variety of alt modes, with some of the weakest engineering across any minicons.
Best partner: none
Versions: Broadside has 5, others have 6
Best version: G1 Micron Booster v4 with Universe Heavy Load
#15 Street Action Team (32/50)
10 / 10 / 1 / 6 / 5
Armada Perceptor is an iconic combiner and can hold Hotshot’s engine gun, but the individual robots suffer because of it - more than for most other minicon combiners. Very original and unique alt modes, points for audacity.
Best partner: none
Versions: 6
Best version: Micron Legend Magna Convoy DX Fembot version
#16 Cybertron Giant Planet Team (31/50)
1 / 5 / 7 / 10 / 8
Interesting little Transformers with great engineering, but not really great for powerlinking, and with a non-executed theme.
Best partner: none
Versions: the airplane has 3, others have 4
Best version: TFCC Timelines with Astrotrain
#17 Street Speed Team (27/50)
7 / 7 / 1 / 6 / 6
Easily the worst Armada minicon team, it betrays the core concept with tiny cars which make no sense whatsoever in the context of powerlinking, with an “articulation” gimmick which adds very little value, and a boring, uninteresting colour scheme.
Best partner: none
Versions: 8
Best version: Armada Beast Wars Transmetal repaints
#18 Classic Clear Skies Team (25/50)
10 / 1 / 3 / 5 / 6
They all fly, with some original transformations, but once again failing at powerlinking.
Best partner: none
Versions: Nightscream has 5, the others have 6
Best version: G1 Minicon Team (Japanese exclusives Sling, Glide and Dragoyell)
#19 Classic Predator Attack Team (25/50)
10 / 1 / 1 / 5 / 4
They are all predators, and they all suck in terms of engineering or powerlinking.
Best partner: none
Versions: Dreadwing has 4, others have 5
Best version: BotCon 2008 Shattered Glass Predacons
#20 Classic Dirt Digger Team (21/50)
1 / 7 / 1 / 6 / 6
Armada showed us that original, diverse transformations were possible even at minicon scale. The Dirt Digger team, combining simple transformations with misassembly and breakage, was made to remind us that times had changed.
Best partner: none
Versions: Grindor has 3, others have 4
Best version: Classic, if you must
#21 Energon Perceptor (Energon Street Action Team) (20/50)
1 / 6 / 1 / 6 / 6
Energon didn’t give us many minicons, but it gave us was memorable: the Energon Saber, a great remold of the Air Defense Team, and Energon Perceptor, one of the most abysmal concepts ever devised in almost 40 years of Transformers. 20 years later, I still can’t imagine how this concept got approved. Energon Perceptor is so bad it’s not even funny.
Best partner: none
Versions: 6
Best version: Japanese exclusive Stealth City Team
This wraps up our minicon team ranking. We hope you enjoyed this article more than I enjoyed Energon Perceptor.
Every two weeks, Seibertron.com brings you a Top 5 list related to all things Transformers written by me. 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. Some images for this article come from Toybox Soapbox.
Top 5 Best Transformers Cyberverse Toys
With the Cyberverse show over and the toyline now being the place where the Rise of the Beasts 2022 toys will be released, I felt it was time to look back at the toys made for the Cyberverse show. While the show did end up winning over a lot of fans in the later seasons (if you didn't watch the first half of season 3, you are missing out), the toyline was never made to win over older fans. It was a toyline for kids through and through. There were some pretty fun toys in there and I am looking at the ones I think are the best of the lot.
5. Deluxe Soundwave
Soundwave is one of the best characters from the Cyberverse show. While some characters get hat is the equivalent of a cameo, Soundwave got a full arc from Cybertronian citizen just having a good time, to ruthless Decepticon soldier, to Cybertronian resistance warrior to Cybertron's ultimate hero. And he had a great design too, which is why the toy looked disappointing from the start for not fully invoking the design and having some issues with kibble. But the toy won me over. It's very solid, has a fun transformation and comes with a cute transforming Laserbeak. In the end, it gives us another good Soundwave toy and e finally have a good toy for this wonderful version of the classic character.
4. Warrior Hammerbyte
This is a really fun toy of a new original character. While he is indeed a warrior as opposed to a deluxe figure, he feels more like a toy from the Cybertron line with nice hard plastic and a simple yet also meaty transformation. And it has a great design in both modes plus a fun non intrusive gimmick. And all for the low price of yesteryear's deluxes. So yeah, very reminiscent of the Cybertron line, which is something you will hear a lot of in the next entry.
3. Ultimate Grimlock
No other Cyberverse toy aimed only at kids even comes close to being as awesome as him. He is very imposing and really commands the space he takes. While he is light, the plastic feels strong and durable. The transformation is not too difficult but interesting and there are even surprises in it for people who know the typical Grimlock conversion inside and out. He has decent poseability and fine gimmicks that don't get in the way. Plus, he is the size of a leader class toy, almost 9 inches tall and only cost $30 USD. Design, transformation and articulation wise, this is almost like a Grimlock we would have gotten in the fabled 2004-2006 Cybertron toyline.
2. Deluxe Slug
While I love animated Slag, I think this guy takes the cake as the best deluxe Slag/Slug we've ever gotten. Now that I think of it, is he the best deluxe toy to represent one of the Dinobots? Could be. He has great articulation, including his horns which actually have their own transformation step, even the SS86 leader Slag doesn't have that. Lots of accessories, a nice colour palette with many differently coloured plastics working well together and a simple yet very well done hand to "paw" transformation. The face is very expressive too.
1. Deluxe Bumblebee
This is one of the greatest deluxe Bumblebee toys we have ever gotten and that is saying a lot since there have been some really good deluxes lately. This one works really well though since it finally gives us a version of that Evergreen design which combines multitude of now classic Bumblebee elements. While probably unintentional, I really like how the black and yellow plastic around the feet are perfectly aligned with the stripes on the car roof making it look like the car's design runs deep within the robot's innards. Nice car mode, great robot mode, good articulation, smart transformation, nice weapon storage for the gun in car mode, relevant accessories with unique blast effects make this an all around winner.
Honourable Mentions:
Deluxe Arcee: the car mode is super cute and a fun new take on Arcee. there is very minimal alt mode integration with the robot mode but at least the backpack you get is show accurate.
Deluxe Megatron: too loose for my liking in important areas but that transformation is really amazing. I love toys that feel like origami where you are shaping a vehicle into a robot and that's what this was, especially for the upper torso/back.
Warrior Cybertronian Starscream: now this is how you make a simpler toy! Articulation is not jeopardized, neither are proportions or the look of either mode. It simply requires few steps to get from one mode to the next. Of course, that is not always achievable, but when it works it can be a thing of beauty and the perfect toy for a kid wanting to mimic the speed of conversion seen on the show.
So here we are, another year is over and done with and while looking back on 2021 might not be of high importance on everyone's list of things to do, we did get some pretty cool figures. So the staff team at Seibertron got together to share what they liked best of the year in different categories and we invite you to join in on the fun and give us your pick for each category. Now, here we go!
Figure of the year
william-james88: Kingdom Rodimus Prime. As part of the standard Kingdom line, spending $80 on a voyager sized figure is rough. BUT if the same toy was released as a special "Gen MP" release, which was a line of toys with MP level engineering made to fit in with the current classics scale line, and he came with a trailer, turret platform, accessories (matrix, sword of Primus, effect parts) fans would be all "take my money" and the fact that it's below $100 would sound almost incredulous. Well that's what this Rodimus Prime toy is, truly. More complex than MP-10 with similar number of accessories. And since he's chug scale, he's 80$ instead of 150$ (hell, this released these days in MP scale and MP quality, we'd be looking at $250). I for one thank our Hasbro overlords for trusting me to understand what I am getting in this 80$ package. Obviously, if you find it on sale, then that's even more awesome but that's the same for any great toy.
Scotty P: MP-52 Starscream and/or MP-52+ Thundercracker. I suppose Skywarp makes the cut here too, though end of December releases get tricky, especially with the slower pace of international shipping these days. Anyhow, this third version of a Masterpiece seeker mold delivers the pinnacle, thus far, of the "Sunbow" style design aesthetic for the MP line. Delivering a complex transformation that is, for once, pretty easy to learn while still achieving a superb sculpt with all the articulation you need made this a slam dunk. I didn't need any more Masterpiece seekers but given what the final product is in this case, I can say in retrospect this is something I really wanted.
Bounti76: Unicron. The sheer scale of the figure and the PRESENCE he has is worth the cost.
ZeroWolf: I was conflicted here. Part of me wanted to give this to Unicron but then I couldn't think of a good reason why compared to others. So instead I'm going to say...Transformers Kingdom Core Class Rattrap. Sure, his shoulders are awkward but any toy I can return to and fiddle with constantly are a win for me.
Kanrabat: Definitely Masterpiece Reboost. Not only it's an original character for once (at least in the TF universe) but it's an AFFORDABLE MP with a simple transformation that is FUN to do. I was blown away by this truly Masterpiece of a Masterpiece.
Favourite Kingdom toy
william-james88: Even though this was the best year ever for my favourite series, Beast Wars, none of the beasts impressed me as much as Cyclonus. That transformation was amazing, truly going from one completely different form to another.
Scotty P: Rodimus Prime. Kingdom was an excellent line overall and this nearly went to Dinobot with even Huffer getting some consideration in my mind. Rodimus Prime is something like a dream which is why it gets the nod here for me. Some fans are understandably apprehensive about the switch from size classes to price classes even now, years after it happened, and Rodimus Prime certainly can be looked at as the poster child of this when comparing the robot mode to previous releases such as Jetfire. This is a case where size just doesn't matter when the toy uses that additional budget to be so darn good. Rodimus borrows cues from several previous iterations of the character and even MP-44 for the under-trailer accessory storage, has every feature he needs and even possesses the best headsculpt we've seen for this character ever. It's not perfect, as the trailer tab tolerances are a little frustratingly off and the packaging itself caused paint woes, but this is one of those topics asking for a "favorite" and not "best", so Commander Class Rodimus Prime was an easy pick.
Bounti76: Tie between Slammer and Cyclonus. Slammer is great fun to transform and feels solid, and Cyclonus not only looks the part, but is an engineering slam dunk.
ZeroWolf: this was going to be Airazor but Tigatron nipped her to the post.
Kanrabat: Very hard to decide. I guess Leader Beast Megatron is my favorite of the bunch. A fantastic mold with amazing poseability and great show accuracy. Why pay 400$+ for the MP when you can have this one?
Favourite Studio Series toy
william-james88: Slug, it was really great to finally get another big dinobot that wasn't Grimlock for a change. I love how beefy he is and I feel these leaders (both he and Grimlock) give us what we all want in a leader class release.
Scotty P: Studio Series 86 Grimlock. If Studio Series' branding being co-opted by The Transformers: The Movie wasn't enough, the toys released for this section of the line have been far superior, delivering pleasant and high-quality figures with 90% less of that frustrating 'panel massage action' when compared to their movie universe peers. Ignoring Wheelie, who should have been replaced with a sword, this is very nearly the definitive Classics-style Grimlock I've always wanted. An excellent companion piece in Slag makes me very excited for the inevitable releases of Sludge, Snarl and Swoop.
Bounti76: Tie between Dino and Jolt. We FINALLY got screen accurate versions of these two... only 10 years after the movie they were in came out. Technically, Dino's car mode isn't a Ferrari, but licensing issues aside, still looks great.
ZeroWolf: Grimlock, has to be...Who can resist a robot dinosaur?
Kanrabat: SS86 Grimlock. Simple, yet so perfect. Another mini MP.
Favourite Cyberverse toy
william-james88: I really didn't like deluxe Soundwave when he was first shown. The character has a great model on the show but it seemed ruined with some offputting kibble. But in hand, most of the issues went away. Not physically, everything I disliked was still there, but I just loved transforming and posing him that they didn't matter as much.
Scotty P: Deluxe Slug. Sometimes you have so many toys of a given character (or character archetype) that you feel like there are no surprises left to be had. Cyberverse Slug takes away some of the jaded feelings this old-timer gets on occasion by delivering two expressive modes that have a process to transform between the two that lives up to the brand's "More Than Meets the Eye" tagline.
Bounti76: Deluxe Class Arcee. Screen accurate robot (minus the back kibble) that actually feels decently made, and not be a "kiddie" toy, designed more to be cheap.
ZeroWolf: Deluxe Class Dinobot Slug...see previous answer.
Kanrabat: I didn't bought much Cyberverses so I'll cheat a bit because he was re-released in 2021. Ultra Skullcrunsher. This one blow both the OG G1 and the TR update away. Sure, he's no headmaster but the whole package just works. He's fun to transform, have a logical gimmick and he do MORE than the previous versions. Truly impressive.
Favourite Masterpiece toy
Scotty P: MP-53 Reboost. As is tradition, I've managed to pick two MP toys in this list once again. It's true though, while I don't think this is on the same objective level of nicety as the new Starscream, Reboost is an amalgamation of so many cool ingredients at once that he quickly became my unexpected favorite Transformer for the last little while. Start with the equally great MP-52 Skids, give him a cool red repaint, extra accessories, the soul of Diaclone and a headsculpt with the energy of Alternity and you get an amazing piece that feels like a celebration of everything that went into making it a reality. The fact that Reboost is a "literally nobody" type of character could be a knock against it, but in this era of Total Brand Awareness where everyone in the brand's A and B tiers gets done ad nauseum, these are the types of Transformers that spark the imagination and keep me invested.
Bounti76: Skids. Out of nowhere, and he and Reboost bring me back to the things I loved about Masterpiece in the early 2010s- fun transformation and durability of the figures without being overly complex.
ZeroWolf: Skids, thanks to not having to rely on cartoon accuracy, they instead made a fantastic toy that shines in both modes.
Kanrabat: I'll say MP Reboost again.
Favourite Exclusive
william-james88: We had great exclusives this year. I FINALLY got my coneheads but I can't use that for the best exclusives of this year since they were supposed to arrive in 2020. With beasts being absent from this Beast Wars fan's year end list, it's about time I changed that as I claim Covert Agent Ravage as my favourite exclusive. This was not cheap but it is the best toy of the character we ever got and none of those were ever cheap. I appreciate how he transforms different from Cheetor at parts and looks very different in robot mode. It's also a really cool package with a fun spin on how incredulous his transformation was on the show.
Scotty P: Buzzworthy Bumblebee's "Worlds Collide" set. This feels like a throwback to the exclusives of 20 years ago and I love it. One set manages to provide a killer black and teal repaint of a "good guy faction" leader that hasn't been done 19,000 times already, Blackarachnia in her weekend clubbin' outfit, a re-use of the awesome Earthrise Cliffjumper tooling as Bumblebee to fill in your kinda-sorta-Mini-Bot-homage ranks and a toy that should've been released years ago in Fangry. In a time where store exclusives are becoming as large a part of the overall Transformers toy line as the main series releases, this stood out as a uniquely fun and creative set that provided great value.
Bounti76: Tie between Tyrannocon Rex and Puffer and Road Ranger. The first female Leader Class figure. An official toy of a European version of a character that used another character's mold, and an official toy of an eHobby exclusive that brought GoBots into the Transformers family. I'm all about firsts and obscurity.
ZeroWolf: Origin Bee. Despite not being a G1 purist, I know a fun toy when I see one.
Kanrabat: Agent Ravage. A great package for a relatively reasonable price, with a superb figure. The engineering on the Agen Ravage is quite something.
Favourite piece of Transformers fiction from 2021
william-james88: My kids and I had a blast with the two Cyberverse films. I really wish we had a Volcanicus that transforms as he does on the show.
Scotty P: Cyberverse special 2 "The Perfect Decepticon". Honestly, it was such a bad year for Transformers fiction that nothing even came close except for the other Cyberverse special, but I picked this second one because the first one focused on one of the worst concepts in Transformers: combining Dinobots :shudders: Additionally, this special accomplished something that was very questionably possible by managing to make Tarn a character that worked in an all-ages piece of media while still keeping true to the character and his truly menacing personality. Add in fantastic roles for characters such as Soundwave and Hot Rod while providing moments to almost every character that mattered previously in the series at some point and you get "The Perfect Decepticon", which was the perfect finale for the best Transformers cartoon series since Armada.
Bounti76: Light/Star, the Transformers Annual for 2021. It strongly featured the first ever female Titan to have appeared in fiction, but also saw the "birth" of Computron (my favorite childhood combiner) in IDW.
ZeroWolf: The Transformers Cyberverse conclusion (thanks to Pop! On Sky TV for airing the specials in the UK!)
What are you looking forward to most next year
william-james88: Seeing what will happen toy wise with the change in release schedule for Transformers Rise of the Beasts. This delay was way too late in the toy development cycle so I am curious if Hasbro will release what was done already and rerelease it later. And I am also curious as to how different the toys will be from the final models now that there is even more time spent in post production between toy designs and final movie designs.
Scotty P: The chaos that ensues from RotB's delay. Necessity is the father of innovation. Mother of invention. Cousin of filler toy lines? Something like that. Bring me all the weird repaints and previously canceled molds. They're probably better than all the movie toys were going to be anyhow.
Bounti76: Finally/hopefully getting a G1 Elita One, and saving money- Legacy looks to be an easy pass for me so far, based on what I've seen.
ZeroWolf: A toss up from looking at what the line after Legacy looks like, and more MP Raiden reveals
Kanrabat: The toys being better distributed with fewer QC issues. But I think I'm asking for the moon.
With the holiday season now in full swing, I wanted to write a quick guide for parents, or grandparents or relatives of kids who like Transformers. If you are at the store and not sure what to get, here are some toys that I'd recommend based on value, quality, age appropriateness and presentation (something that looks good as a present), which is more important this time of year. And if you are a life partner of a Transformers fan, and knows what they have and don't have, well just skip to the end. We will break it down by tight age categories (though there is some overlap) since when it comes to younger kids, the products vary wildly for what is too complex or too babyish. And remember, these are simply recommendations for those who are not sure what to get.
For 2-3 year old, I would recommend either Rescue Bots Dinobot Adventures Optimus Prime or the Rescue Bots Dinobots 3 pack. Both are terrific toy for young kids. Optimus turns into a t-rex in one step and he has an Ankylosaurus friend which swiftly becomes a shield for him in robot mode.
This product may not be in your area so I am also recommending this 3 pack that can currently be purchased on Amazon.com. It has a nice variety including a robot that turns into a 2 headed dragon, a t-rex that turns into a motorcycle and a robot that turns into a Stegosaurus. All three transform in just 1 step and can easily be done by someone as young as 2. Here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/Transformers-F29 ... TOY_FIGURE?tag=seibertron07-20&
For 4-6 years old, I would recommend the roll and combine Slugatron toy from Cyberverse. You get 2 characters, it's not too complex, the combiner mode looks good and the gimmick is fun. Also not too pricey. Overall, it's a good package and looks great as a Christmas gift. We have a video review for you to check out below and here is the link to the item on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Transformers-Bum ... TOY_FIGURE?tag=seibertron07-20&
For 6-9 years old I would recommend Cyberverse deluxe Soundwave (remember, deluxe Soundwave, not warrior Soundwave, which is not a good toy) since he's a main character of the current show, has a good transformation which is challenging enough for this age group and is basically 2 bots in one due to Laserbeak, a bird that transforms into a cassette that stores in his chest. There is a review below. There are no longer any copies available online for the retail price, but he could still be found in stores.
Another option would be Cyberverse deluxe Slug, who also looks great and has a fun transformation, and is especially fun for a kid who likes dinosaurs since he turns into a robotic Triceratops. He is also readily available on Amazon right now https://www.amazon.com/Transformers-TRA ... TOY_FIGURE?tag=seibertron07-20&
Now, for older fans, there is one hot toy this year that most fans want (especially anyone over 30) but not all are willing to spend their money on. And that is Rodimus Prime from the Kingdom line. The toy is fantastic, and the best official representation we have ever gotten of the leader of the Autobots once Optimus died. The reason why many fans hesitate over this toy though is the price. It is $80 USD, so not cheap, and he isn't big either (he is made to scale with all the other figures). But that's why gift giving is so fun. I know that while I may not want to spend all that money myself, I would never say no to finding it under the Christmas tree. And if ever you aren't sure if they have it or not, just keep the receipt. Here is the link to this toy on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Transformers-Toy ... B08D6T2R6W?tag=seibertron07-20&
And here is the link for this toy at Walmart.com https://www.walmart.com/ip/Transformers ... /410445526?wmlspartner=FYAGeMjDX6c&=&affs=p&wid=5b6b4213e4b0bcb699adeb9f&u1=&oid=223073.10006940&sourceid=37141976172661509211&affillinktype=3&veh=aff
With there being buzz again for a new Transformers film, I thought of starting this ranking which will update through the years as more movies get added. This ranking consists of theatrically released Transformers films. Be sure to let us know your ranking too.
Ranking of the Transformers Films with Theatrical Releases
7. Transformers The last Knight
With the previous film steering things in the right direction by finally having the robots actually feel like characters and not just background noise, I was legitimately excited for this film. Megatron was coming back as well with the best design we had seen for him so far in the series and it looked like Optimus could finally be the prominent character in the film, especially based on the marketing. I mean, you look at this and Optimus is the last knight, right... RIGHT?!?!?!?!
Wrong!
The last knight is Mark Wahlberg. You wondering why? Well it's because he doesn't have sex a lot. They spend some minutes discussing that very thing. Oh and Optimus, the guy on the poster? Not in the film much. The last film ended with him setting off on an awesome revenge mission in space and this one opens with the film showing us that he wasn't really made for deep space flight. This film is a dud with the most uneven tone of the entire series. Like having some really raw and visceral medieval action intercut with Stanley Tucci being a clown as a drunk Merlin. Tone deaf, truly tone deaf. There's just so much wasted potential here. Evil Optimus? Lasts for just six minutes. Cool new Megatron? Not there much, plays second fiddle to Quintessa. Barricade returns? Taken out without Bee even needing to transform. Unicron is planet earth? Not gonna focus on that too much. Cog is called a headmaster? He never transforms into anything and is just a butler robot. The submarine is a Transformer? Never transforms. Bee can finally talk again? He does, after we were told that he still can't, and after his two second speech he goes back to the radio voice.
This doesn't feel like a Transformers movie in the least. It looks like one of the writers in the writer's room had an Arthurian legend descendants script in the works and the rest of the writers just added Transformers to it. This film is just a junk fest of scenes and random ideas put together, avoid it "no matter the cost".
6. Transformers Dark of the Moon
My issue with this film is that it is so damn boring. Like mind numbingly so. The Transformers hero characters are relegated to the background here, even in the fight scenes and they seem to have no agency. The Wreckers are there for 2 minutes of screen time and mostly in the background of those 2 minutes. This is not a joke. The montage scene of Sam looking for a random job lasts longer (it lasts for 4 minutes). And I absolutely hate how they have to write ridiculous reasons for Optimus not to join a battle (and thus save some money on CGI), like getting tied up with ropes. It just makes this huge blockbuster feel so cheap. Speaking of Optimus, any hint of that noble warrior is gone here and he's just a murderer. I get that he is beyond pissed off in Age of Extinction, which gives a reason for his overly rash behaviour, but we don't have that here. Just a murder machine who executes his mentor by shooting him in the head point blank. That particular scene does not make him look heroic in the least. And once again, Megatron plays second fiddle to another villain. Also, the studio insisting on Leonard Nimoy to say his famous Spock line in the context of villainy made me want to hurl. Although the "homage" to the Columbia shuttle tragedy is probably worse.
5. Transformers Revenge of the Fallen
One thing that pisses me off to no end with these films is the total disregard for the robot characters. The live action films treat the robots as just random characters we don't need to know much about and the constructicons are a great example of this. We see them in the beginning, they aren't introduced nor so they talk among themselves to establish anything. And then later in the film, we see Devastator, who you'd think would be made up of those constructicons. But he isn't. Instead, he is made up of construction vehicles lying around a pyramid which suddenly merge together into devastator. And during that time, you have the constructicons from the beginning fighting the Autobots. It's like the writers and filmmakers are going out of their way to show how little any of this means to them. The writing is beyond poor in this film with one of the key plot points being that only a Prime can defeat the Fallen, the villain of this film which Megatron plays second fiddle to. And while Optimus does beat him after getting some parts from Jetfire, I don't see why it had to be a prime and not just any other bot who was jacked up on extra parts.
And I hate how terribly cheap the film looks with its obvious cost cutting methods. There's an important scene where Optimus is resurrected and it's entirely obscured by a tarp.
All that said, there are some good things in this film. For one, Megatron's looks are a step up here in robot mode. I like how the tank treads incorporate into his feet and the asymmetry of his arms adds a real creepy factor. This look is the one that has remained the most iconic for Megatron's Bayverse tenure even though he changed look in every film. Also, that forest battle scene is pretty incredible. Not just because it is well done, but it lasts long enough for it to become this small pocket in the history of Bay films where the robots are the main characters. Sure Sam runs around, but he serves his purpose as indicating to the audience just how different Autobot and Decepticon ideologies are. In that scene, Sam is there not as a main character but just as a means to share more info about the robots to the audience, no matter how basic that info is (Auobot good, Decepticon bad). It's an awesome 3 minute scene that you can watch again and again on youtube with no need for what comes before or after and none of the films previously mentioned have something this good.
4. Transformers Age of Extinction
This film gets kudos for actually trying to fix major issues from the previous films. For one, the bots actually feel like characters with their own personality traits. Optimus is a full fledged character here, well at least as much as any of the human characters. Sure, it's the murder machine version of the character, but at least you know where he's coming from. All the Autobots get several lines of dialogue. I remember Protoman (a reviewer on youtube and a friend) reviewing the Drift figure and saying that the character probably wouldn't have more than two lines of dialogue in the film and this film proved him (and many others) wrong. Were they good lines? I'm not even going there, I am just happy these characters have lines. And speaking of the Autobots, they are colour coded this time around to make the action scenes easier to follow. And there are some pretty kick ass action scenes, be it Hound and Bumblebee's last stand, Optimus Against Galvatron, Optimus against Lockdown, the dinobot charge, flying around Chicago, Bee vs Stinger atop the robotic Pterasaur, lots of fun stuff. Plus the villains are good here. The bounty hunter Lockdown is rather threatening and I really liked Kelsey Grammer as an 80s type villain that is just obviously evil. We even get scenes of just the Transformers heroes talking and figuring things out with no human in sight. Crazy, I know!
3. Transformers (2007)
In comparison to the rest, there isn't much to say here other than I think it was a good first outing for a franchise branching out into a new era. Sure, the humans take centre stage for most of the film but it serves as an introduction to the brand and the new mythos of this interpretation. It does an ok job at what it's trying to do even though Bay's live action style was never something I was overly fond of, especially the idea that really cool stuff will be relegated to the background and that the Transformers are secondary characters with action told from a ground witness point of view. It was fine for a first film and that point of view even works well in that military desert scene vs Scorponok but I feel what worked for one film did not work for the entire franchise. And the CGI still holds up, which is quite an achievement and it shows just how cutting edge the film was when it first came out.
2. Transformers The Movie
This film is really special and I haven't cracked the code as to why it works so well for so many of us. I just know for a fact that it is extremely captivating to kids (Or those who watched it when they were kids). The drawings are gorgeous and the animation is good. It holds up very well and you can definitely tell that this is a movie rather than another episode of the show to the point where going back to the show will feel like a downgrade after seeing it. It also feels truly epic. You feel the stakes. I feel it does waver off a bit after Galvatron's initial attack with the remaining autobots, where three parties are split off into new worlds, but everything comes back together for a grand finale. The part of the writing that I find rather impressive is everything to do with Galvatron. It's not easy to bring about the idea of a different character also being a new version of an old character, and to do that without that becoming the main plot you are telling. Here, I feel they do it effortlessly. I love how Galvatron retains the memory of his previous self and is proud of his achievements, yet you see that this is a new persona at the same time. Just wonderful stuff all around.
1. Bumblebee
This may not be a revolutionary movie for most, but to me it proves that the Transformers franchise can truly inhabit the world of classic live action films without any mockery. The film itself is excellent for what it is, an Amblin film for today's generation of kids. It goes for the 80s aesthetic all the way by not only making it the setting, and giving the robots the more classic look and feel of that era, but also in giving us a film that feels a product of that era of film making and storytelling, like ET.
I love the world building etched into the dialogue. Like how Bee's sentencing by Blitzwing shows Megatron's ideals of "Peace through Tyranny". That first segment with Bee coming to Earth is just so beautifully done. That was originally how the film began in the script, when there was no Cybertron scene and while I think that Cybertron scene is all kinds of fun, I am really impressed at what Bee's arrival on Earth accomplishes in terms of storytelling and aesthetics for this new breed of live action Transformers films. They show us how Bumblebee scans and transforms and how that changes his own aesthetic through an action scene. Right after that it shows us just how bad the odds are against the autobots with the battle against Blitzwing. We see the advantage a flier has over a bot that can only transform into a car and and there are some nice shots contrasting their size, mirroring the larger war at hand. I love how Bumblebee goes to destroy his flight mechanism to ground him first. Plus how that fight finishes shows how the Autobots had to get crafty to survive and continue fighting.
We get some more awesome fight choreography at the end against Dropkick and Shatter, and the filmmaker even throws in a few moments of showing how a Transformers fight differs from other robots fighting, with using their transformation abilities as they fight. Plus you've got a great soundtrack and good human characters, and a solid performance from John Cena (who has BY FAR the best line in the film). I am just very happy this movie came out by the time I had kids (a boy and girl) since it's a great way to share this brand I love so much with them within the modern slew of entertainment. It's the Transformers film I can truly recommend to anyone and everyone.
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 5 Best Grimlock Transformers toys
Grimlock is one of the most iconic and popular characters in the Transformers brand. I made a list three years ago for his best toys and I must say there wasn't the cornocopia of great Grimlock toys we have now, so I really felt this character needed another list. He feels a lot like Shockwave and Ironhide where even though they are classic characters, it took a while for Hasbro to give us some really great toys for our collections. Well, I am glad Grimlock is now getting his due.
The Dinobots are some of the crown jewels of any G1 collection and while their poseability is nothing to brag about, they will always looks great. Grimlock especially with his massive shoulders and decorative wings, adding to his upper mass. His T-Rex tail become the legs brings equal mass to his lower area, offsetting any top heaviness. The colours are also just great, with that gold just popping. It was a smart transformation and one that keeps getting carried over through different iterations over the years, even the movie toy covered above. And that biologically incorrect T-Rex mode adds to this toy being a time capsule of the 80s era while also giving him a more stylized mechanical dinosaur look, turning something dated into a timeless design.
4. Transformers Studio Series SS-07 Grimlock
FINALLY a good movie Grimlock figure came out. The previous voyager was not bad, but it wasn't something great. This one though really takes it up a notch. Firstly, they make him as big as you could while trying to still fit in a leader class box and then they give it a sweet air brush deco that is found all throughout the toy, making him look much closer to how he appearaed in the film. Speaking of that, we finally have a grimlock which, like in the film, has 2 full T-Rex heads as shoulder pads. And that second T-rex head is hiding in plain sight when in dino mode is pretty cool to me. I always love clever details like that. There is actually a lot of the robot mode detail hiding in plain sight in the dino mode, but that gives it a nearly kibble free robot mode. He is a tad simple, and not all pieces like to stay in place, but his imposing stature and look in both modes make him an easy pick for a list of the best Grimlock toys around.
3. Transformers Cyberverse Ultimate Grimlock
What's so fun to me about that toy is that it feels like a toy we would have gotten in the Cybertron line from the unicron trilogy, right down to a spring gimmick. It's something that both kids and collectors could enjoy while really having a presence and a smart transformation that feels familiar yet has some extra tricks to it. And it just looks so good as an update to g1 while being it's own take at the same time, and a the price of a voyager figure, you sure got your money's worth with this big beefy looking toy.
Lipstick on a pig is an expression fans throw around when there is a deeply flawed Transformers toy that Hasbro or Takara tries to amerliorate with a paint job. It doesn't always work and usually the toy ends up remaining just the same, but with lipstick. However, this is a good example of a time when it worked. Of course some retooling helped a lot to the point where this Robots in Disguise Battle Grimlock (the Hasbro version was just called RID Grimlock) feels very different from the Fall of Cybertron Grimlock toy it is based on, with different transformation steps too. The shoulders which were once a mess are reworked and made simpler and less frustrating, and if you didn't know the mold existed before you would think this was made just for this character. They reworked a lot of pieces from the original and give it a faithful colour scheme (Hasbro's version is a tad less faithful). Here is a quick example to show how it keeps the base mold yet reworks it.
What can I say at this point that hasn't been said? This toy is nearly flawless. It has an imposing robot mode and a smooth Dinosaur mode that looks exactly like the show but with the extra shine of the G1 toy. The Transformation is well executed as it replicates the G1 transformation while taking modern engineering into account. Plus he is fully poseable and comes in gorgeous comic colours as well (and there is a version with hus tux too if you want). After three years and a huge influx of Grimlocks, nothing's come close.
Honourable Mention:
I didn't have an honourable mention last time, but now that we have more toys, you can look back on the previous list to see who didn't make the cut this time around: /transformers ... oys/38563/
While he isn't too innovative on the G1 formula transformation wise, I do like like how they were able to get the proportions and cartoon look into an actual toy. And he is a solid toy, as is most of the animated line, probably even one of best voyager class toys from that whole line.
2019 was a very good year for Transformers fans. While it wasn't as insane as last year (where we had 4 main lines on shelves at the same time!) it delivered as much for collectors as any other years. More even with the advent of the Generations Selects line which feel like the old collector's Club but more affordable and more accessible. I mean, think about it, what other year did we get seven seekers? So yeah, for both G1 and movie fans, it was a very fun year. And Beast Wars fans got 2 Masterpiece figures, so drinks all around! Below are what we here at Seibertron each thought were some of the best toys to come out, grouped up within categories.
A Year in Review - Transformers 2019
To go along with your Year in Review, you can enjoy a nice little sidedish of the Twincast Podcast Episode #237, itself is a 3 and a half hour year in review, which you can download HERE! As for the folks who are joining you here today, check them out in their Avatar glory below:
the News Hounds
The Intimidators
The Smooth-talkers
The News Mongrels
Best Cyberverse Figure
William-James88: This has to go to Ultimate Grimlock. He was the shining beacon of awesome in a toyline that I felt was something I wouldn't even recommend to parents for their kids. This toy though made it feel like the Cybertron era was back. With an imposing physique and a fun yet not too tough transformation that just feels right and chunky to play with. I even wrote an article about how this is the toy I recommend to any parent who wants to get their kids into Transformers without wanting to break the bank or worry of fragile pieces. I do recomend him to everyone though, just to relive toys of a bygone era that were for all ages and just fun.
Bounti76: Gnaw, by a mile. The simple transformation is familiar if you had Titans Return Gnaw, and though this is a gimmick oriented line, his spinning torso gimmick is unobtrusive and easy to pull off, plus, it makes sense. He's a solid figure for the price point, and could easily be displayed with the aforementioned Gnaw(s) as their leader.
ScottyP: Lil Ratchet. He even has a sled! The Spark Armor "Battle Class" has been excellent, outclassing everything else in Cyberverse by a decent margin, with Ratchet being the best of this size class to date. A simple but still fun transformation, sculpting with a lot of personality and smart articulation points made this an easy choice. I'm looking forward to the Deluxe Class which will hopefully carry over some of the potential in these designs that's been held back by the stingy choice to just put out the bare minimum for Cyberverse toys over its first two years.
D-Maximal_Primal: Spark Armor Sky Byte - This little figure is just wonderful. For one thing, he is a totally competent little legends sized figure that has a really good robot mode and a cool shark mode. The only real weakness to the whole thing is he doesn't have a head swivel. But that is a minor point. The armor drone is a sweet little drill tank that looks pretty neat, and the spark armor combination with the Sky Byte figure is really cool. I love having a drill hand and claw hand on the same Shark figure. He is really fun.
Nathaniel Prime: The line from Season 2 has been pretty fun and good for the most part, but if I had to pick the best, it would probably be a tie between Ultimate Grimlock and Spark Armor Shockwave. Ultimate Grimlock just has some sort of charm to him, and his gimmick, transformation, and looks all scream "fun for everyone!". As for my other tie, isn't it logical? In all seriousness, he's a fun little figure, and the armor gimmick once against knocks out of the park what it means to have a fun gimmick.
ZeroWolf: I'm torn between two, Spark Armour Sky-Byte and Ultimate Grimlock. I'm going to give it to everyone's favourite Dinobot for the pure reason that it does best what I like to see in a toy. It's fun to play with, to pose and stomp around in T-Rex mode. Sorry Skye-Byte, as fun as you were, you'll have to appreciate being runner up this time.
Stargrave: I had to pass on Cyberverse as a whole in favor of collecting the main Siege line but like all fans I've kept pretty good track. I'd have to say the clear winner has got to be Cheetor. A welcomed call back to the Beast Era who not only has a super slick bot and beast mode but comes with a battleship for battle armor. That made me stop and check it out every time I saw in in the stores.
Best Studio Series Figure
William-James88: While last year's Studio Series toys for the Bumblebee movie were some of the worst, this year there were some of the line's best. Like that voyager Optimus Prime and Car Mode Dropkick which I liked even more. What I love most about it is how it shows that after years of doing cars that turn into robots, Hasbro and Takara still have some new tricks to show us. I especially like how the arms are formed so that the wheels are placed to be accurate to the film. I finally have a good looking Dropkick to add to my collection and it's a pretty awesome car mode to have as well.
Bounti76: For me, it's a tie between BumblebeeVoyager Class Optimus Prime and.... Deluxe Class Hightower?? Let me explain. First this particular Optimus Prime figure hits ALL the marks for me. Faithful movie design (though I know it's not 100% accurate), and it looks like G1 Optimus stepped into the movieverse. He's got a fun transformation, looks great in altmode. Combine my kid in the 80s nostalgia with my enjoyment of the live action movies, and it's a no-brainer. So how does he tie with Hightower? Well, given that the live action movies brought me back into the hobby after 20 years, I have a fondness for most movie designs. Though he never transformed on screen, Hightower is a great movie design, and a freaking WEIRD one at that. He's appropriately creepy looking and then some, like a mutant construction vehicle came to life and wanted to kill you. We rarely see any bot mode that isn't humanoid, so his incredibly unique design combined with the movieverse aesthetic puts him right up there, in my opinion.
ScottyP: The full set of Constructicons didn't quite make it out in the whole of this year but they got close, with each figure being a standout so far. I'm giving this to Hightower for being one of those really bizarre Movie-verse Decepticon designs that you'd think would translate into a terrible toy who then ends up being really charming in not only just the goofy design, but also in how surprisingly well it ended up translating into a real consumer product made of plastic. Honorable mention goes to the rest of the Constructicons and car Dropkick. Outside of a couple notable warts, Studio Series has been delightful and I wish more Transformers continuities would receive (and sell enough to deserve) a similar ongoing, consistent and high-quality toy line.
D-Maximal_Primal: Rampage. It was a tough choice between Rampage and car Dropkick, but ultimately, Rampage for me wins out. For one thing, he has presence, being pretty dense and heavy for a voyager figure. He feels really good in your hands. The paint work is also very well done, making him look really good and imposing. He also forms 3 solid modes (robot, bulldozer, leg). He may not have elbows, but he is still a very solid figure that looks and acts the part. I also love how poseable his jackhammer lower body is. He is so unique in body style and he can move it too. He's just really cool.
Wolfman Jake: SS-38 Optimus Prime Bumblebee Movie. The Studio Series has been knocking it out of the park, with a few foul balls here and there. The best of this year, though, has to go to the Bumblebee Movie version of Optimus Prime. THIS is the live-action movie version of Optimus Prime we should have gotten back in 2007. He's the perfect blend of intricate mechanical detailing with an almost pristine, realistic vehicle mode, all with so many more of the classic G1 Optimus Prime visual cues to make for a character that strikes all the right cords with both longtime fans and newcomers to the franchise. The vehicle mode, though unlicensed, certainly looks the part. The robot mode is detailed, beefy, and unmistakably Optimus Prime. The transformation is interesting, with a few neat surprises. There may be a bit of a design issue, particularly with parts of the leg assemblies, but it doesn't detract from the overall fun of this figure. He look great paired up with SS-18 Bumblebee
Nathaniel Prime: Studio Series is a line I entered with moderate expectations, and came out overjoyed with such cool and awesome figures! There was something for everybody, and while none were perfect, most of them were great enough to enjoy. As for my favorite, it was simply too hard to pick just one favorite. Between Car Mode Dropkick, the Constructicons, and so many others, it would too much for me to write (and too much for you to read!). In the end, I settled with SS38 Bumblebee movie Optimus Prime. A figure that hits all the marks for what it means to be an Optimus Prime, while having a flawless robot mode, altmode, and a transformation that makes me drool.
ZeroWolf: I've been debating this a lot, and it comes down to either Rampage or (this will shock everyone) Bumblebee Movie Optimus Prime. Rampage is bounds of fun though, so in this case, he takes it, though for me, none of the constructicons have disappointed.
Stargrave: Rampage. I didn't get a ton of Studio figures this year but man, Rampage won me over. And the only reason I think he beats out Hightower is that he came first. It's an amazing feat of pulling off that strange monstrous robot mode out of that vehicle mode, and he still turns into a foot for Devastator. No he doesn't have elbows, poor guy doesn't even have two feet to stand on, but despite these set backs, the paint, sculpting, the grotesque face, and articulated claws and treads all added up to make me go, so, I guess I'm getting a movie Devastator in the collection now.
Best War for Cybertron Siege Figure
William-James88: I have been doing this end of year list for a few years now and you may notice the trend that I am ecstatic when Ratchet and Ironhide are not given the short straw. MP Ironhide was a godsend not just because it was a decent representation of Ironhide in the G1 show but because we finally got a decent Ironhide toy, period. And this year we got that again with the Siege mold. Now we finally have a good Ironhide and Ratchet toy for our non MP collections. I pick Ratchet specifically for this list because I was really impressed by how dedicated Hasbro was to make him sculpted as differently from Ironhide as possible while retaining the same overall look and transformation. A lot of care went into the distinction between two characters that are very unique from one another from a character perspective. plus I like the asymmetrical arm details and the extra accessories (which didn't make him more expensive than a regular deluxe, yay).
Bounti76: If I'm being forced to pick, I can't help but pick Voyager Optimus Prime. Fun, unique transformation (though I do worry about the sturdiness of some moving parts). He is a fantastic CHUG style figure in robot mode, which is how I display him most of the time anyway.
ScottyP: Rung, because it happened at all. Now bring on a larger, more articulated version!
D-Maximal_Primal: Galaxy Upgrade Optimus Prime. This figure is a load of fun. The base figure is pretty dang good, minus the visible hands in truck mode. And then you get to the larger figure, and it is spectacular. The truck mode is pretty imposing, and then the robot mode is pure joy. The battle damage paint looks pretty good on him, and adds to his strong imposing robot mode look. The head is also spectacular, and rounds out a pretty dang good package as far as Siege figures go.
Wolfman Jake: WFC-S43 Mirage. One of the winners of the Siege Fan Poll last year was also one of the best Deluxe class figures to come out in the line! Mirage looks great in robot mode and is tons of fun to transform, customize, and display. The vehicle mode certainly looks the part of the G1 toy and cartoon model for the most part, but a few things like the large engine block made out of the robot arms shoved under the spoiler and the faux back end that is blatantly the robot mode chest, keep that alternate mode from being perfect. Still, this is easily the best representation we've had for G1 Mirage in a modern toyline since the 2006 Classics mold. While it was great at the time and featured no faux parts, the proportions were a little wonky and he was missing some trademark accessories, like his shoulder cannon. The Combiner Wars version of Mirage was fun as combiner fodder, but didn't quite sit right as a true Mirage update, what with being a repaint of Dragstrip. The Siege version of Mirage fixes all of that and gives us a transformation scheme just as good, if not better, than the Classics version. The way the rear wheels tuck up into the back torso of the robot mode is just pure magic! The translucent blue plastic parts also help Mirage really pop on a display shelf. He's just so satisfying, and I didn't even blink at the idea of double dipping on him to get the all clear blue version as well from the "Fan Vote Battle 3-Pack." (It helps that it also contained the exclusive Powerdasher Aragon figure as well as the also superb Impactor figure with new paint details and his IDW inspired helmet.)
Nathaniel Prime: Like Studio Series, there was simply too much for me to love, and it's hard to talk about just one. To settle the internal war over a favorite, I'll just go with Titan Omega Supreme. The only Titan class figure that has no flaws to me, it has such a presence in anyone's collection. It helps that he comes with my favorite Micromaster too!
ZeroWolf: A clear winner here, as despite the fact that I'm not a G1 guy, this toyline has delivered quality and fun figures, and that's nothing to sniff at. There was a figure that stands tall against all overs, and that is Jetfire. The designers went all out on him and it shows, lots of play value, and looks great in the crowd.
Stargrave: I haven't been disappointed by a single figure from the Siege line. I honestly love each of them for reasons from aesthetics to construction to fan service to nostalgia. I've thought about this for days and it keeps not making sense, but, I've gotta give it to Voyager Megatron. Many people have had problems with Megatron and I get all of them. He's got some flaws, but he's also undeniably Megatron. Outside of turning into a gun this is the most G1 accurate version of Megatron we've gotten in ages. Now that can be G1 nostalgic for the toys and then there's G1 nostalgic for the cartoon. This hits both notes for me. He's broad, he's beefy, the colors are all there and in the correct places. The countenance is perfect, the fusion cannon is PERFECT. Totally subjective here, but to me, I haven't been so pleased with a version of Megatron since Classics. These bots are all darlings to me though, thank you and hats off to the Siege line.
Cobotron: I want to put Optimus here. He is fantastic in every regard. But, when I look at Siege as a whole and think about which figures struck the strongest chord, I keep coming back to Sideswipe. Wave 1 Deluxes were the first Siege toys I received, and Sideswipe was the first I opened. Coming out of the Prime Wars Trilogy, my mind was blown by the precedent he set. The bar had risen. The elegant simplicity and intuitiveness of his transformation, the attention to his classic character design, and the tightness and solidity of his build quality were a fantastic introduction to the line to come. Almost the entire line continued to live up to the standard he had set in my mind. I actually prefer Red Alert's deco and details, always have, but I give it to Swipe since he was the first.
Best Masterpiece Figure
William: My favourite Transformers character and figure is Beast Wars Megatron. This is in no way objective, it's just what I grew up with and what made me fall in love with Transformers. So to have him be given such grand Masterpiece treatment was exhilarating. My copy had no problems and he is just sublime. I really like how he is an homage to the original toy,s transformation with many more tricks up his sleeve, like how that whole back section just folds away and how they give him a left arm. Plus that paint work is stellar.
ScottyP: Beast Wars Megatron but have to note that with one exception this was a phenomenal year for Masterpiece and this was a difficult choice to make. Megatron accomplishes something that I wouldn't have thought possible by delivering an outrageously detailed and complex incarnation of the Predacon leader that doesn't compromise in either mode. Parts of the accordion-ish folding when compacting the dinosaur mode's scales aren't what you would ever call intuitive, but the fact that it can do what it does at all is such a feat it's tough for me to hold that against it. Assuming the pelvis on yours didn't explode into purple glitter, nothing else from 2019 delivers the presence and personality that this toy brings to the table.
D-Maximal_Primal: MPM-8 Megatron. This is the movie 1 Megatron that we have all deserved and needed, and they delivered in an epic way. This figure is huge and heavy. The robot mode itself is as tall as a Prime Wars combiner! And it is super detailed and super well painted. He is really strong and stable, and the light piping and super attention to details just finishes off a fantastic robot. The jet mode is also really big and cool, and casts a heck of a shadow. The transformation is also pretty dang good, and I would argue it is the best of the Movie Masterpiece figures.
Wolfman Jake: MP-46 Blackwidow/Blackarachnia. This was not a banner year for the Masterpiece line. We're only (just barely) getting 5 figure in total by the very end of the year (if Hound isn't delayed again). Beast Wars Megatron and MP-44 Convoy/Optimus Prime version 3.0 are just too expensive for me to invest in right now. MP-45 Bumblebee version 2.0 is very flawed with unsightly kibble. Hound isn't even out yet, so I can't rightly pick that, no matter how amazing it looks to me right now. That leaves us with...Blackarachnia. That's not to say that she isn't a great Masterpiece figure in her own right. She's got a killer robot mode that evokes perfectly the character model of the Beast Wars femme fatal. She's got lots of fun accessories to reference the original cartoon, like the goggles, and the original toy, like the alternate missile launcher with a "spider silk" cord, and even includes a stand with a thematically appropriate energon web with which to pose her. The spider mode has been divisive, thanks to some mistransformed examples at trade shows and in official photography, but it's not at all terrible. It's just not perfect, but then again, none of the Beast Wars Masterpiece figures have perfectly "organic" alt modes. Each one has a bit of robot detail or kibble that isn't hidden. Blackarachnia is not an exception in that regard. Still, she's also not the best Masterpiece figure I've ever had, but she's not anywhere near the worst either.
Cobotron: Even though technically released in 2018, I didn't receive MP-36+ (toy version) Megatron until January of '19. Can we count it? I have to say, I waited out the 1st release of this toy in hopes of a plus version, and it was for me, the most major Masterpiece event of the year. What an amazing figure! I finally got to experience all the grandeur of this figure no matter the version, but in the deco, details, and head sculpt I had wanted from the start. He is with out exception the crowning jewel of my MP Decepticons.
Nathaniel Prime: This year truly was a feast on our optics with the Masterpiece line (unless you were a yellow Beetle ). For me, the best Masterpiece figures that were released this year are a tie between MP44 Optimus Prime and MP43 Beast Wars Megatron. Both figures scream the essence of the MP line; to be the best versions of the characters they represent, and I feel those figures do that job quite nicely.
Stargrave: No reveals just releases? Sorry Lio Convoy, next year my multi-maned friend. As an old Beast Wars fan I'm between Megatron and Blackarachnia on this. But, if I ask myself who I truly love more it's Black Arachnia all the way. One of thee best characters from that show and has kept coming back in the games and the cartoons year after year because she's got too many awesome qualities you just can't deny her. The quality of the Megatron toy may be better, but if I had to pick one, it'd be Black Arachnia. Ah we can all moan about that spider mode all day but come on how many of you display your MP's in alt mode, really?
Best Exclusive Figure (anything goes as long as it was an exclusive in some way)
William-James88: The Refraktor 3 pack is just good fun. While Reflector looking the same is show accurate, I am not much of an army builder. Most of my toys aren't on display anyway so getting three of the same toy is not too appealing and this is the kind of toy where if you only get 1 then you are denied the alt mode he was designed to turn into. So, lucky for me, we had this three pack to honour the toy deco with more accessories. So not only do I now have 3 different looking toys (which I can customize with accessories) but they turn into an even better looking camera. And I could grab this exclusive at my local TRU as easy as any other figure, which was icing on the cake.
Bounti76: Siege Greenlight and Dazzlestrike. From a background character with no lines, Greenlight getting a toy is nothing short of astounding, considering this was the kind of thing only Botcon used to do. Her headsculpt is plucked directly from the 1985 cartoon episode she appeared in, and her paint applications, deco, and colors do a lot in distinguishing her from her mold mates. Add a Battlemaster with the best action effect piece in Siege, and Greenlight easily wins.
ScottyP: Gurafi and Noizu/Decibel for giving me continuing hope that the era of "not reissuing toys so that a handful of collectors that bought import G1 stuff 20 years ago can still feel special" is over. Also because more cassettes are always welcome, they're pretty fun toys, the presentation with vintage style packaging plus new Tech Specs is fun (ignoring the nonsense Frenzy attached for some reason) and it provided another entry to my collection of Lost Light characters that I thought would never be attainable.
D-Maximal_Primal: Ectotron. Oh man was this one an interesting one. For one thing, just the reveal and release was super cool, and then they actually went ahead and made a full transforming and fully functional Ecto-1 Transformer, and the made it really well. He is tall, he has an awesome alt mode, the transformation is really good, and the paint work is really good. He is such a spectacular figure, and it is a blast to have a Transformers with a proton pack. He looks good no matter what you do with him, and he was such a joy to get.
Wolfman Jake: Refraktor Reconnaissance Team 3-Pack. Let's start with the mass-retail version of Siege Refraktor (née Reflector). We've been waiting a LONG time for a good update of the G1 cartoon character. There have been a few attempts along the way, like the "Targetmaster" version that came with Thrilling 30 Skrapnel, or the BotCon exclusive retool/repaints of Combiner Wars Shockwave, but neither came close to capturing the cartoon character model of Reflector so well, and in just the right scale. Siege Reflector has an amazing head sculpt, just the perfect amount of techno greeble detailing, and is painted to perfection. Although the singular "space cruiser" alt mode is nothing interesting, the combination of three Reflector toys makes for a great, classic camera alt mode. The special edition 3-Pack builds on that by including even more accessories to give the camera mode an even more convincing look, complete with flash cube, grip and shutter button, and a viewfinder. The figures themselves have been meticulously repainted to represent their original toy versions, rather than the cartoon versions, and are made even more distinct by their new accessories listed above. It's just too bad the heads weren't resculpted to match the original toys as well. The fun doesn't stop there with this set either. We also get an adorable little Kremzeek figure to cause mischief and mayhem among the Transformers. Finally, the whole set is packaged in a nifty box, styled after real 1980's camera releases. It even comes with a VERY tongue-in-cheek instruction manual meant to mimic those of the era with tips and tricks to get great photographs...in the service of the Decepticon war machine. You'll learn how to spy on your enemies, blackmail your colleagues, and make the perfect propaganda poster. A LOT of love went into making this exclusive box set, and it shows. Every bit of it is appreciated. Just like Mirage above, this was an easy choice to double dip on Reflector. I've got a trio of the cartoon versions on the shelf and the toy versions in camera mode displayed elsewhere. The extra accessories are still compatible with the mass-retail version of Reflector too, so you can beef up the cartoon camera mode if you want as well. Bravo, Hasbro!
Nathaniel Prime: While the main line has been awesome enough this year, the exclusives were the cherry on top to me. There were so many nice exclusives to choose from, and they were all really nice, from the Ghostbusters Crossover, to the Siege exclusives. My favorite one this year might just go to Ectotron, who just barely beats the Refraktor 3 Pack.
ZeroWolf: Tempted to say Siege Ratchet but I'm going to go with the Refraktor 3 pack. I liked Siege Refraktor well enough, great army builder and a fun way to build the camera mode. This set though was amazing, even down to the packing. These are the kind of exclusives we need more of.
Stargrave: Cromar. When I was a kid (many thousands of years ago) I actually had Cromar. And he was an outlier then, and an exclusive, just like he is now. So when I saw that strange clown face on Sixgun's body I figured we'd be getting the rest, and then there were the Rainmakers, and the Refraktor 3 pack, and more. But with Cromar's reveal my hair was blown back and I realized just how deep down the rabbit hole the Hasbro team was willing to take us. Take the rules, grab your expectations too, and throw 'em in that trash can right there. Buckle up and get your nerd on, this is going to be one heck of a ride.
Cobotron: Out of all the awesome exclusives that were offered this past year, the one I was most excited for was the Refraktor 3-pack. If you've ever read (or cared about) anything I've ever said, you'll know that this kind of thing is precisely my jam. A fantastic modern update to an old classic. It oozes with all the toy detail of their original release. Not to mention that it is a fantastic call back to the Takara of old. No surprise that this Microchanger has found a happy home with my Microman collection.
Toy of the Year
William-James88: Siege Optimus Prime was my toy of the year early on and it stayed that way the whole way through. I keep picking him up, transforming him, posing him. He is a really solid toy with a nice spin on the Optimus transformation. Being familiar and new at the same time. I really like the back detail too and that Hasbro went the extra mile not to have hollow looking legs. His is now the main Optimus of my classics scaled collection.
Bounti76: Orthia. She wasn't supposed to exist, and collecting her components took two years and three toy lines, but having the Female Autobots all together (and able to combine, to boot)n in toy form is amazing. The limbs all coming from the same mold does a lot to eliminate the somewhat awkward proportions of Elita One's torso mode but she looks great in her combined form.
ScottyP: MP-44 Optimus Prime version 3. One day, I'll be banned from choosing two different MP figures then putting one here and another in the "Best Masterpiece" category, but that hasn't happened so here we are. See, this category doesn't say "best" explicitly, so my interpretation becomes "Transformers toy of the year is the one that most represents the year 2019 that is also still a good toy." In several ways, MP-44 is indicative of almost every piece of the brand as we know it this year:
Repeated and continued reliance on 1984 and 1985 as the basis for stories and products instead of creating something truly new.
Multiple iterations of the same 'A' and 'B' tier characters in every form with new design refinements on each pass.
Masterpiece toys that utilize increased part count and an insane amount of paint to create figures that, sometimes to a fault, are oddly adherent to specific frames of the Sunbow cartoon while totally missing the mark when compared to others - and I don't mean in-betweens.
Pricing that is sometimes prohibitively expensive to the point of being exclusionary.
Lose-able effect parts.
Optimus Prime being awesome and driving you to spend lots of money on his toys anyway even if you're a little tired of him.
Anyway, more about this actual toy follows. I was extremely lukewarm on it when it was announced and still think the shoulders are too small unless the goal actually was "Headmasters" Convoy, but nearly everything else about my initial bah-humbugging was very wrong. The transformation feels really complicated and impossible to memorize at first, but by the third instance of exploding this toy from truck to robot and back I found myself barely needing the instructions and even then, it was mostly for recalling the precise order of when to transform a sub-assembly before integrating it with others. While the legs are still a little needlessly complicated in spots, the magic of moving pieces near the wheel well up into the torso while still retaining all of the expected articulation can't be denied. There are certainly more little quirks and annoyances I could mention, but the overall experience of this toy coupled with what is indubitably the nicest trailer ever given to a G1 Optimus Prime makes this the capstone that most collectors will remember when looking back on the brand's 35th Anniversary.
Let's just not talk about the similar attempt in MP-45 Bumblebee, who is the butt fumble to MP-44 Optimus' miracle game ending "Statue of Liberty" play that ends in a touchdown.
D-Maximal_Primal: Transformers War for Cybertron: Siege Smashdown - Who would have thought that a $6 Battlemaster could be the best figure of the year. Well, I can tell you confidently that Smashdown is the best of the best. For one thing, the very idea of Smashdown - a Minotaur that turns into a War Hammer - is a truly inspired and unique idea, and I have loved it from the reveal. For another, the paint work covers what it needs to, both modes are really good with a fun little transformation. and Smashdown just goes with anyone and everyone. I personally bought 5, and I have enjoyed placing Smashdown with everyone and anyone with 5mm hands. Everyone needs a Smashdown.
Wolfman Jake: WFC-S28 Jetfire. This figure is an absolute dream come true! We've had a few other modern updates to Jetfire in the past 13 years, one of them being a Voyager sized figure from Classics in 2006, based more on the original toy than the animation model, another being the Leader sized figure from Thrilling 30 about five years ago, which gave us a toy accurate alt mode and a very stylized cartoon-homaging robot mode. (I'm not going to count the Legends figures or the "Cyber Series" figures here.) Siege, though, has given us a nearly perfect cartoon Jetfire (or is it Skyfire?) at long last! He's BIG, a brand new size class, in fact: "Commander Class!" He's fun to transform, with quite a few nifty little tricks. He comes with a ton of accessories, so you can armor him up a la the original toy if you really want to. But, most of all, he looks like he stepped right out of the TV screen and into our figure collections! This figure is gorgeous, hefty, and has a real presence among the rest of the War for Cybertron Trilogy cast. Hasbro and Takara even built in an insignia changing gimmick, so you can have him as a Decepticon scientist/explorer from before the war, or as a new ally to the Autobot forces on Earth, just like in his debut episode in the G1 cartoon, "Fire in the Sky!" If all of that wasn't enough, Jetfire can interact with other Siege figures, acting as an areal transport of sorts for Deluxe class figures. He even has a secret compartment in the cockpit to fit a Titan Master or Prime Master figure! Jetfire has everything you could want in a Transformers figure, in terms of on screen fidelity, solid engineering, quality control, and playability.
Nathaniel Prime: Honestly, while the majority of people would only list one toy that defined this year, I have three, all of which were critical and are equally important to what 2019 meant to a Transformers fan. Those 3 toys are Studio Series Bumblebee Movie Optimus Prime, WFC Siege Omega Supreme, and Masterpiece Beast Wars Megatron. These toys are the utmost best 2019 had to offer, and there is nothing to be disappointed with any of them.
ZeroWolf: There can be only one winner here, and that is War for Cybertron Siege Titan Class Omega Supreme. An fantastic update, oozing with play value and features, sturdy and all around fun.
Stargrave: Rung. Of all the reveals and toys that came as shocks this year, nothing beats Rung. I honestly cheered out loud. I probably teared up like Kirk giving the Spock Eulogy when I saw that reveal, and it's all resonance from the amazing character he was in the comics. Some could say there've been better characters, stronger, better armed, but I can't think of a whole ton that have touched my heart like Rung did towards the end of Lost Light.
Cobotron: WfC - Siege Leader Class Ultra Magnus. This choice has nothing to do with fact or science. It's not based on engineering wonders or innovation in Transformers design. It's all based on feelings. Squishy gooshy nostalgia covered feels from the heart. Second only to Bluestreak, Ultra Magnus is my favorite Autobot. While Combiner Wars Magnus was also an awesome toy and a neat alternate take on the character. I was over joyed to get a traditional City Commander with all the modern articulation and design. The inner figure is great on his own, and only gets better armored up. He is the one figure I have played with the most all year long.
Best comic book issue
Bounti76: Given the glacial pace of the first several issues of the ongoing, I haven't read many comics this year, but I have thoroughly enjoyed the Galaxies series.
ScottyP: Transformers: Galaxies #2 was everything I want in establishing fiction for a new continuity, while the one-shot Transformers '84 #0 actually felt like a heartfelt apology for Regeneration One that showed veteran Transformers writer Simon Furman still has it after all. Unable to pick between the two, I choose both. If you don't like it, petition the other admins to make more rules for these sorts of things
Hats off to Tyler Blesinski, Simon Furman, Livio Ramondelli, Guido Guidi, Jean-Paul Bove, Tom B. Long, Tom Waltz and David Mariotte for these two excellent entries into the Transformers comic book library.
D-Maximal_Primal: Transformers Galaxies #2 - Galaxies has proven to be a very enjoyable series, and my favorite so far was issue 2. For one thing, we got our introduction to the Insecticons, and for the first time ever, this comic made me care for the Insecticons. They are creepy as heck, and their story was both frightening and cool. And then you have the progression of the Constructicon story, and both of them intertwine for form a very good and enjoyable story. I hope Galaxies continues to shine, and I hope the ongoing can take notes from Galaxies as well.
Shout out to the Ghostbusters/Transformers crossover too, that was a fantastic crossover series!
Nathaniel Prime: From what I've read in 2019, I'm not really impressed with alot of what I read. I'm hoping IDW picks up the pace and returns to their former glory with their comic book series. That being said, I would say the Transformers Ghostbusters Crossover comic, particularly the first issue, is what I would say was my favorite comic book issue of the year.
ZeroWolf: While not an issue persay, the Transformers X Ghostbusters crossover was the best TF fiction we've had all year. It treat both franchises with respect and was a joy to read. Ectotron is a great new addition to tf lore.
Stargrave: Hmmm. I'm going to just say Galaxies as a general offshoot. As an idea really. It was just what fans wanted, maybe needed to keep their Transformers comic book fires burning when the mainstream title had them dimming down. For all that Galaxies has brought and intends to bring, my hat's off.
Best Cyberverse Episode
ScottyP: S2 E15, "Wiped Out". Hot Rod, Bumblebee and Cheetor accidentally get involved in a turf war between three rival gangs of surfer bro Sharkticons, each led by a Sharkticon that looks like a Street Shark. I made none of that up. It's totally amazing. Watch this show!
D-Maximal_Primal: Parley - This episode was fun, giving us a look at peace talks between the Bots and Cons, and gave us some fun character moments. It reminded me some of Maccadams from Season 1, with how enjoyable it was and how fun it was to see Bots and Cons actually enjoying each other somewhat. It also ended kinda dark, in contrast to the tone of the rest of the episode, setting up the stuff to come in a pretty memorable way.
Stargrave: Although the series as a whole is not my personal cup of tea, there's Transformers cartoons on the air! And kids like it! That's good news any way you cut it. Cartoons, comics, toys for old, and toys for young; those are all branches of our hobby and when one does well, they all do well. I love that there's an aspect of the brand to appeal to younger fans.
What are you most excited for next year?
William-James88: The Cyberverse deluxe figures. It's really the most novel line of next year when you think about it since the other lines (Generations War for Cybertron and Studio Series) are simply continuing the good work we saw this year. But Cyberverse is getting an overhaul with toys closer to what collectors expect. And since the show designs are based on those G1 evergreen designs, this means we will finally get good toys of those designs. Really looking forward to Megatron most since it's a great take on the G1 design turned tank-former. Plus I feel we are getting really good value with the additional BAF. I usually hate BAF since it has become less of an extra and more of an actual part of the value (meaning a bigger BAF piece will mean a smaller individually packaged figure and vice versa) but here we are getting toys that all have as much to offer in complexity and accessories as the Generations line and yet also come with a bonus piece which you can turn into an extra figure if you get the whole set.
Bounti76: Piranacon. He's expensive to complete, and I don't care for the Japanese names of the figures, but we're getting the last G1 Scramble City style combiner, and he looks great.
ScottyP: I'd like to say Earthrise's modular base play-pattern concept but can't be sure if it will live up to its potential until we see more products. Instead, would like to mention how excited I am for the first official English release of the 1980s Transformers manga. Even if it ends up being terrible it's always fun to see older parts of the brand's fiction recollected and made more accessible to a wider audience.
D-Maximal_Primal: The completion of Studio Series Devastator. This is a figure that I have been eagerly looking forward to, and with 4 of the 8 components in my hands and 2 more to arrive soon, I could not be more excited. I am ready to see this hulking behemoth rise up and fully form up. Bring him on!
Wolfman Jake: One word: Earthrise. I was a bit incredulous when the War for Cybertron Trilogy Siege line was first introduced back in 2018. Figures appeared to get smaller. Some had questionable greebling sculpted in. They had "battle damage" paint apps. But once I got the first wave of Siege in hand, I knew I was in deep. This was the new standard for Transformers toys, and I was excited about getting updates to many of the Classics, Universe, and early Generations toys in my collection. These things look like mini-Masterpieces. Earthrise looks poised to take this new standard and run with it. There isn't a single figure from the first wave of Earthrise that I don't want, and I'm anticipating more reveals in the coming weeks. The sky is the limit right now for Transformers collectors, and I couldn't be happier!
Nathaniel Prime: 2020 will be the turn of the decade, and I'm excited for it to come! As for what's coming, there's just so much to love! To keep it short, I'm super excited for Piranacon, The War for Cybertron Earthrise line, and Studio Series Devastator. And as of this morning, I'm super excited for the Transformers Terminator crossover!
ZeroWolf: Honestly, Earthrise. Siege proved it wasn't just a G1 pretty boy, with new additions and great little surprises (like Smashdown) so I'm hoping Earthrise does the same. Iron Works is a great preview of this and I'm looking forward to seeing the rest. Of course Fortress Maximus also gets his rival next year, which should be a sight to see!
Stargrave: Earthrise most of all but honestly, I can't remember a time where I saw more fan dreams come true. Thrilling 30 was pretty close, but with Powerdashers and Rainmakers and Rung and primo Cyberverse figures hitting the shelves, I'm looking forward to another year of surprises and dreams coming true. Here's to another year of collecting and feeling joy from this awesome hobby.
Cobotron: Earthrise, of course! Most notably, Hoist. Just glad to finally get a neat representation of this figure. Beer belly,weird long legs, and all. And I'm sure we can all anticipate a Trailbreaker from the mold too. Also really looking forward to Cliffjumper and the fact that he finally got his very own mold. And I am excited to see how the A.I.R. Lock system plays out.
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 5 Best Non Screen/Show Accurate Transformers Toys
The idea of owning a part of what you are a fan of is integral to the idea of collecting action figures. And of course, it is important for the object representing what we love to be as faithful as possible. I do remember being disappointed as a kid with the mutant heads on Beast Wars toys so much that I would remove them on Megatron and Dinobot, so even for kids accuracy to a show or movie can be important. However, there are some toys which are still pretty awesome even though they may have major inaccuracies and we will look at the best examples now.
There was very little discrepancy between show models and toys for Beast Wars after the first season, which was great for kids. Tigerhawk was a glaring exception though. It’s not that the differences are numerous but more that they are very obvious and in your face. With this character being a combination of Tigertron and Airrazor, I understand the toy designers wanting to integrate both the alt mode heads in the alt mode, with a hawk battle mask going over the organic tiger head making Tigerhawk look a lot like one of those He Man battle cat toys. That was probably too goofy for the show, which ignored this and gave Tigerhawk a more streamlined look of a flying mechanical tiger with no Hawk head. It definitely makes the toy look way off compared to the show model, but it doesn’t stop the toy from being awesome and having excellent play value. I really like those wing missiles.
Beast Machines will always be one of the oddest eras of Transformers with a show that people are still split on, on show transformations that were closer to morphing than changing parts, and a toyline that looked very different from the show with no sense of scale. Case in point, the toy which looks the most like the Tankor we see on the show is a small unimposing tank drone. We do have a bigger Tankor toy (called Tankor) in the toyline and while it does not look like the show it is one of my favourite toys. Especially with being even more complex than the animation shows him to be by having one head/cockpit for each of his modes.
I only realized waaaay later that the three combining components of Tripredicus were supposed to be the three characters we see on the show. It’s not obvious (especially for a kid) since the three seen in shadows would not have beast modes, and the headsculpts don’t look like the three toys we did get. Plus, it’s not like the Magnaboss components were seen on the show (as part of any Maximal government). It doesn’t stop Tripredicus from being one of the best combiners we ever got of course.
In the later half of the 2000s, here was a big change in Transformers toys where the animated models were created independently of the toys (and have been ever since). Of course, toy designers could get a look at what the artists were working on but since a toy cycle is 2 years, there was a lot of changes from when a toy designer gets a model and what we see in the film. Add to that the fact that toy designers had never dealt with such complex designs as the live action ones and we ended up with an odd first batch of movie toys looking very different than what we saw onscreen. A great example was Optimus Prime, whose toy was much blockier than the onsceen model. But it was still a phenomenal toy with a very different transfomation scheme for Optimus, where the legs are in the front of the cab and not the back, and a new level of complexity we had not been privy to before. Plus, it being blocky made this toy a perfect hybrid easing us in on both the new types of transformations schemes and the new movie aesthetic.
While Hasbro had obtained the license to sell a Macross toy as part of their Transformers line, the show had to change the look of the toy, especially in alt mode. So what you see on the show is very different than the sleek sexy jet we got with the toy. I don’t think too many kids minded though, especially since the toy looked so awesome. And we all know Jetfire is easily one of the best toys of the G1 era.
I am not a huge fan of this toy but I can't deny how lovely the jet mode is. Of course, the perfection of the jet mode means the robot mode ends up with a lot of kibble and not looking as close to the G1 model as the previous Masterpiece mold, Optimus Prime, did. And of course, the colours were completely off.
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). For me, the best Masterpiece figures that were released this year are a tie between 
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