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Top 5 Worst IDW Transformers Stories

Date: Sunday, April 4th 2021 12:44am CDT
Categories: Site Articles, Editorials, Top Lists
Posted by: Kurona

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Views: 126,809

Every month now, Seibertron.com brings you a Top 5 list related to all things Transformers written by me, your fellow editor, or a guest. That's the case this month where fellow Seibertronian Kurona wrote this list. 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 Worst IDW G1 Transformers Stories

For many years, the IDW Generation One comics have been a gift to its readership. Entertaining battles and interesting new spins on old characters are a standard of any good Transformers series; but the IDW comics stand out in particular for being aimed at an older audience than usual - hence we've been challenged with darker material, philosophical questions, political allegories and deep character studies the likes of which we have never had in the franchise before. Among all this sophistication, however, it's sometimes easy to forget that the company has unfortunately put out some very, very bad stories in its time. Let's count down what are arguably the 5 worst IDW Transformers stories!



5. Combiner Wars

As time has gone on, my opinion on this crossover has lightened up a bit as it does have quite a few good points. We have some fantastic action courtesy of a very unique style of combiner battles, we get to see Starscream's political machinations behind the scenes continue to wreak havoc on society, and this arc did provide the true beginning to the Colony Worlds story that makes the Windblade books and Till All Are One so good.




However, these are not enough to save this crossover - only enough to put it at the top of the list rather than the bottom. This was a scary event from the outset as it put interference from Hasbro at an all-new high - while IDW did advertise some of Hasbro's Universe/Generations toys before, generally it was at a much lower rate compared to the usual amount of salesmanship Transformers fans are used to and they were allowed to continue their stories with only a couple new bodies or background characters to show for it. However, Combiner Wars saw fit to shove in as many toys as it could at an alarming rate, even to the expense of interesting concepts like the Prowl-controlled Devastator getting shelved for the sake of showing off the new £150 Titan-Class toy. An attempt at focus in the storyline seems evident but we can barely keep up as the titular gestalt scuffles rage not once, not twice, but three times over the course of but a few issues when the political and religious ramifications of Cybertron coming into contact with Caminus should be at the forefront. 'Combine' that with an unprecedented amount of scripting and art errors and it's easy to see why many fans at the time took to calling this the worst arc of the post-Death of Optimus Prime era.
- Kurona


4. Infestation

This is a bit odd because it technically isn't a Transformers story - well, it is, but the actual Transformers part is just one aspect of it. The actual story is based around, as far as I can tell, two of IDW's original franchises - CVO: Covert Vampire Operations and Zombies vs. Robots. A prelude of multiversal nonsense has zombies invade multiple universes in what was at the time billed as the biggest crossover event of IDW as a company, with zombies infesting various of their licensed universes - G.I. Joe, Ghosbusters, Star Trek and, of course, Transformers. This isn't the first time IDW Transformers has done a cross-continuity crossover, but it is notable for being the only one of the two that stayed canon and had effects on the universe going forward.




And as one might have guessed, the two-issue segment of Infestation containing the Transformers is pretty bad! Transformers does not lend itself well to the threat of undead flesh. The whole point of zombies as a horror trope is that no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try to stop it; it is slowly coming for you, it will get you, and everyone who falls in its path will be added to its ranks. It's very chilling, and while in recent years Zombies in horror movies have arguably not been used to their best potential - that's a top 5 worst list all on its own - it's still very possible to make them very scary with a human element. Not with a giant-robots-from-outer-space element. You can't possibly fear for the Autobots here as the best the zombies can do is weakly slap their metal before getting kicked away or obliterated by a photon blast, and even in the story Wheeljack uses their advanced technology to make sure they can't even get to the humans beyond a small portion of Las Vegas! But even beyond that faulty premise the story does not inspire confidence. Galvatron and Prowl are both wildly out of character, very weak "it's magic, we don't have to explain it" reasoning is used for the main villain to pose a threat to Cybertronians, and a potentially interesting look at Kup's mental health following Everything in its right place (a very good Transformers story I can recommend) is pulled out of nowhere by trying too hard to link the undead to what happened in his Spotlight and resulting in a rather pointless sacrifice to stop villains we don't care about from a universe we don't care about. Maybe CVO and Zombies vs. Robots are interesting franchises, I don't know; but it really had no business being here.
- Kurona


3. 2019 IDW Reboot Series

You know what's worse than something bad? Something boring. And this series is the most boring piece of Transformers fiction I ever read. At any point that it picks up an inkling of momentum, it then shifts into an all talk issue leading to absolutely nowhere. I swear I never read a comic with so many panels of Transformers just talking while walking up or down some stairs.

Here's a shot from issue 7



Now one from issue 8



By 10 we at least get to see some actiOH My God STOP!





And this was supposed to be a bold new era of Transformers fiction. Give me a break!
- william-james88


2. All Hail Megatron

Ah, All Hail Megatron. Now we're getting to the big leagues. For those that have only started reading IDW in the past few years, a quick history lesson - when IDW first got the license to Transformers back in 2006, the infamous and well-loved among the fandom writer Simon Furman was given full reign to create whatever story he liked with nothing to hold him back. And it was, in fact, rather interesting and a Transformers story unlike what we had seen before. Full emphasis was put on 'robots in disguise' as Autobots and Decepticons alike made sure to hide themselves from humans at all cost. Darker, more complex morals for the Autobots were introduced with an Optimus jaded by the war and implied to not have the matrix. Megatron played the long game with an infiltration protocol that had the Decepticons pervade a world's politics and society before destroying it and taking over. Lesser-used characters like Hardhead and Doubledealer became big players alongside new concepts like Sunstreaker being a Headmaster. This was no Shakespeare, but it was a great breath of fresh air for the franchise.




So you can probably understand why the fans who loved this little era were not appreciative when All Hail Megatron came around. Suffering sales forced IDW to bring in a whole new direction and soft-reboot for the title as Shane McCarthy took over writing duties. So what was this fresh new direction? What wellspring of new ideas came from a writer new to the series? Well, the Decepticons abandon all subtlety and take over Earth. And suddenly have technology that in previous stories was stated to be extremely rare and lost to the ages. And then the Autobots come and defeat them. Oh, and Optimus has the matrix and there's an original character who is a samurai Decepticon turned Autobot in there somewhere. Disregarding the AHM: Coda series which attempted to patch this up - and in some parts was rather good - this plays out essentially like a bland, standard, by-the-books G1 episode or action movie with a superficial gritty overlay. Little characterisation is given or focused on beyond Ironhide's newfound want for punching everyone and everything, and I constantly ask why I don't stop reading this and put on the 1986 movie instead. At least that one had the bravery to actually kill off important characters to increase tension! Oh sure, it was purely to sell toys, but it's a heck of a lot better than this! At the end of the day, this is a story that tries to pretend it's mature and gritty but instead has no new ideas, nothing important to say, no risks to take, and comes off as a watered-down version of an 80s movie whose express intent was selling toys.
- Kurona


1. Revolution

It was a little difficult for me to put this ahead of things as cynical as All Hail Megatron, as you do feel a real passion here. One of the great things about all the creative teams on the modern IDW Transformers comics is that you can feel a true love for the franchise and the series they're writing for - this isn't just a day job for them, this is something they want to do and something they adore doing. And as an aspiring writer myself, I can kind of see how they thought this could be a fun idea - much as the concept has arguably been overdone after Marvel's movies proved it could be successful, an expanded shared universe does bring in a lot of positives. You're able to explore a lot more areas of your world and universe and focus on a lot of different things at once without getting in the way of each other all the time. Your franchise can bring in a lot of different readers looking for a lot of different things. You can have some great crossovers with some entertaining team-ups and history if you really work well at it!




But it's hard to see how one could start up a shared universe worse. I'm not entirely sure how much I have to criticise this here - of the six franchises involved, four of them have no history and have either just started up a few months prior or are starting in this very book. It... the premise speaks for itself. This is probably not going to go very well. Between having to start up MASK, restart G.I. Joe and show what exactly is going on with the Transformers; Micronauts and Action Man barely get to show up at all in the crossover while ROM does show up... and acts completely out of character in the first issue by killing someone without trying to explain why (trying to explain being something he had consistently done in his own comic up until this point) to set up artificial drama and conflict in the second. As crossovers go, this is badly thought out. While the focus has to be on some group and you can't be perfect in your distribution; you should at least try and give equal focus to each party involved in the crossover and make sure to represent them correctly. Instead we got a trigger-happy moronic G.I. Joe randomly shooting at the Autobots in what is... probably the 1,673th time in this franchise humans don't understand there are good robots (despite their predecessors in the EDC making such a distinction and going about things far, far better in more interesting ways for the story), ROM being an idiot, a bulk of focus being given to MASK characters who at the end of the day don't really contribute anything to the story, and Action Man and the Micronauts only arriving at the last second to give too little joy too late. The final battle should be an awesome sight to behold - all these iconic characters people have grown up with over the years banding together for the very first time to fight a threat none of them can hope to face alone. But the actual action panels are a mess with too much happening to make out anything that's going on - not helped by the art which is decent at best, and distorts characters like Victorion and Arcee beyond recognition at worst - and even if they were good by the time you got to Issue #5 you're so exhausted from the terrible quality of the preceding issues and trying to make sense of what I can only generously call a plot that it's difficult to feel any investment or care.

I really did try to like Revolution. I really did. And you know what? I like the shared universe! The miniseries Revolutionaries alone has proven its merits, some of the books (especially Micronauts) are pretty damn good, we've got what looks to be a decent, small-scale crossover between Transformers and ROM coming up, and despite the fears many fans had; the Optimus Prime ongoing has had minimal effect on its stories by the shared universe while the other two ongoings (Till All Are One and Lost Light) go on as if it never happened. The shared universe is working out fantastically, and if any readers left because of Revolution - something I can't be surprised by and something I really can't blame you for - I absolutely urge you to pick up these ongoings you loved again, because they're still great and Revolution has not hurt them in the slightest.

But as a comic? As a story? As a crossover? As something I can pick up to read and try and enjoy and have fun and hopefully get invested in some new characters and comics? Revolution is an objective failure in almost every area, and I am sorry to say that it is the worst story in the IDW G1 continuity that at the time of writing has ever been put out.
- Kurona


Dishonourable mentions:

Dark Cybertron is yet another unfortunate example that shows IDW sadly, for whatever reason, can't make a good crossover. It wasn't awful and I would certainly recommend it to you over anything on this list, but it was a very long very boring story that, contrary to a lot of modern IDW's strengths, required you to know a lot of backstory and seemed to exist for the pure purpose of tying up loose threads from when Furman left the series. Still, it does provide some good lines, some good team-ups (Whirl and Arcee, Rodimus and Optimus), and managed three incredible twists at the end - two of which it seemed like Hasbro would never let IDW do - that paved the way for amazing stories and have not been undone since.

New Avengers/Transformers, on the other hand, is so stupendously bad it almost got a spot on this list. I decided against it as Infestation is one multi-continuity crossover enough for the list and unlike that one, this has the good grace to be non-canon to both franchises involved. But it is still a mess. Some cool ideas like Iron Man getting a bigger suit to be on-par with the Decepticons and a neat homage to Marvel Transformers #3 aside there are almost no good points to be found here; the art isn't particularly outstanding, character motivations seem to come and go (ESPECIALLY with Dr. Doom), the plot is standard and boring and almost nothing interesting comes of the team-ups. But hey, I got to mention Dr. Doom and Iron Man in a Transformers list, so I'll give it that.

Also, while the Heart of Darkness limited series is related to the Infestation event that is already on the main list, I wanted to make special mention of it here for adding terrible art to an already completely uninspired story.

Top 5 Best Starscream Transformers Toys So Far

Date: Wednesday, January 6th 2021 4:30am CST
Categories: Site Articles, Editorials, Top Lists
Posted by: william-james88

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Views: 118,294

Every month now, 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 Starscream Transformers Toys so Far

While anticipating the next Masterpiece Starscream, I just wanted to cover all the great toys that we got of him so far. This is one of the few characters that has been a mainstay through different eras, almost as much as Optimus Prime and Megatron (even more so than Bumblebee who was absent for the Unicron Trilogy). And since Takara's best designer is a fan of the character, he was always given some extra love in the design department, and as we're about to see, it shows.


5. Studio Series Starscream

Upscaling a toy might be an easy way to put "new" products on the shelves but it can also result in great toys, like Beast Hunters Voyager Predaking. And the result for this voyager Starscream is awesome! Even being familiar with the deluxe mold from Dark of the Moon, the bigger pieces made for a very fresh transforming experience. And it being an upscale did not feel in any way like it had less parts than it should. It felt complex enough for a voyager. I really appreciate the attention to detail like covering parts that used to show hollowness adding parts to beef out the sides, add detail to the sculpt and, best of all, use that now famed Takara MP Beast Wars technology for adding a digital textured deco layer all across the alt mode. Really cool. The tatooed redeco for the Revenge of the Fallen version is just as good.










4. Transformers Prime: First Edition Starscream

This is one of the best seeker molds of all time. The design choice to have the robot mode be so slim and sleek makes him look creepier than any version of Starscream before. I am so impressed with how they were able to pull off a robot mode as skeletal as the one depicted onscreen and yet still have him perfectly transform into a tight and smooth jet mode where no robot limb protrudes, as is often the case with jets.






3. Transformers Cybertron Starscream

It is really too bad that the voyager Starscream toy in his show colours was never released by Hasbro, but at least fans got to experience this excellent mold in other colours, such as a very Thrust like burgundy and in blue with Dirge. And yes, even with the Siege mold out there, this is the better looking Cybertronian mode we've ever gotten for Starscream.










2. Transformers Hunt For The Decepticons Leader Starscream and MPM-10 Starsceam

These two toys are both great and achieve the same purpose so what I saw for one is almost the same as I'd say for the other. They are relentlessly detailed and screen accurate (obviously, the MPM more so). There are many separate pieces which shift in perspective by being moving from the background to foreground while transforming him to the point where it really feels like there is a robot inside the jet made up of all the jet parts and you uncover him through the transformation. Both of these toys show us what perfection is in a different way. With the Leader class one, we have a much cleaner jet mode and a satisfying while intuitive transformation but the robot mode is not as detailed. With the MPM one we have the most perfect robot mode we will ever get for the movie Starscream design. However, it is far more fiddly and the jet mode, while still looking sharp, does have an undercarriage which looks more out of place. So these toys tell us that while you can't have absolute perfection, you can still have two incredible toys.










1. Transformers War for Cybertron: Earthrise Starscream

I have made lists for seekers and jets in the past and while I always included the classics mold, I did always wish it was bigger. I loved the look of it though, as well as the simple yet smart transformation. It seems Hasbro was thinking the same thing, and now I realize there is a trend in good Starscream toys being the result of upscaling a good deluxe toy. With this toy, we have what I would call our definitive Starscream for a classics scale. Plus with this being the same scale and overall aesthetic as the Siege tetra jet, you can form a really awesome armada of seekers varying in designs and colour with Starscream in the lead.

Exclusive Transformers ReAction Dead Prime and Toy Megatron Redecos Found at Target

Date: Sunday, October 11th 2020 8:45am CDT
Categories: Toy News, Site Articles
Posted by: william-james88

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Views: 41,490

The Target exclusive Reaction figures are available in the US. The picture below comes from Rob on Facebook's Cybertron Cafe. These include a grey redeco of prime called Fallen Leader Optimus Prime, so this means we are getting two exclusive dead Prime figures in the same year. The other exclusive is a silver/chrome version of Megatron, to reflect his toy colours. These should be available at targets everywhere around the country by now.

Top 5 Best Female Transformers Toys

Date: Saturday, June 6th 2020 8:39pm CDT
Categories: Site Articles, Editorials, Top Lists
Posted by: william-james88

Discuss This Topic · Permanent Link
Views: 93,903

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 Female Transformers (Fembot) Toys


We had covered the top 5 female transformers characters a looooooong time ago. And it was suggested we also cover the best Transformer toys made for female characters. Now, I was a bit apprehensive because, from my memory, that would be a very short list. But we've come a long way from the days where the gender was only decided in the fiction after a non gender specific toy was done. We've even had 2 fully female combiner teams. So let's have fun and get to it!


5. Transformers Animated Arcee

We often get sleeker versions of earth based cars (like Cybertron Hotshot) that don't capitalize on the potential of designing vehicles from other worlds. This one totally fits the bill though. Unlike so many other alt modes, it bravely crosses the line between being a futuristic design to a full blown cybertronian one. It is a great homage to G1 Arcee which is followed through in robot mode and I like the added massive spoilers in the back. That detail gives it enough variation from the traditional Arcee model. Too bad it has exposed hands in vehicle mode though. Props go for it having that signature Arcee backpack without going the easy route and making this a shellformer. - William-james88








4. Unite Warriors Mega Empress (central element of Megatronia, Takara's version of Victorion)

While this is a retool of Hotspot, the new chest, hands, combiner bits and head completely change the identity of the mold. The chest manages to be subtly feminine, the headsculpt is excellent with its classic finned helmet and noble, elegant face, and the hands are definitely female whilst still looking powerful. The holdovers from the original mold work well too, with the massive shoulder pauldrons making her look suitably imperious and her gauntleted hands and booted feet looking properly brutal. On top of that, you can fold the "ladder" over her shoulder or under her arm to form her railgun, which is a feature she does in the fiction.

Megaempress is decked in a very Megatron silver, black and red colour scheme with hints of dark grey and some magenta for the combined mode.

Her greatest triumph, however, is that she takes the old chestnut of "What if (insert character here) was a girl?" and makes it work! The toy looks great, is a lot of fun to play with, AND she's a combiner torso- and a damn good looking one to boot! All Hail Megaempress! - Black Hat








Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Victorion Gallery


Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Pyra Magna Gallery


3. Transformers MP-46 Masterpiece Blackwidow (Blackarachnia)

This is easily the best representation we've ever had of Blackarachnia, who I find to be the best female character in the entire Transformers franchise. The paint is sublime and I can see where all my money went since the robot mode is perfect. However as a Transformers toy, it falls a bit short since there isn't much to the transformation and the beast mode is nothing to write home about. But all around, it is still a toy I am happy to own in my collection and I recommend it to any Blackarachnia and fembot fan. -William-james88









2. Transformers Legends Arcee/Nightbird Shadow

It is great to see a deluxe come with so many accessories and different places to store them in both robot mode and vehicle mode (the vehicle mode storage where Arcee’s robot hands hold a gun into place is really clever). While this is not a masterpiece, it looks exactly like the G1 cartoon model. Especially with the softer Takara deco which looks like it is made of delicious candy. For those who don’t know, this is the only toy from this line (Thrilling 30) to be designed partly by Takara instead of simply Hasbro. Since this is the very first toy of G1 Arcee, Takara felt it would be a disservice for it to be an update to her G1 self, which is the theme of the Generations line (and all the other “classics” lines.) So they stepped in and made her design reflect her G1 self as much as they could. That dedication and passion makes this toy extra special.- William-james88








1. Transformers Beast Machines Blackarachnia (Black Widow)

Even with the MP out, this remains one of the better Blackarachnia figures. I really like the transformation, which gives us a great spider mode even though the details don't match up perfectly with the show. And it gives us the multiple eyes gimmick in robot mode too. I find it the best toy done for a female character, emphasizing the different body type a female Cybertronian could have. It's just a well done toy all around, conveying the essence of the character and the biotech theme of the show, regardless of its accuracy. - William-james88









Honourable mention: Takara Transformers Adventures TAV-52 Strongarm and Sawback (Battle Pack Strongarm from Robots in Disguise)

I really like Strongarm's design. While she is female, she doesn't have the typical fembot physique, and instead is more in line with the classic boxy image of Transformers. And doesn't that make more sense? While her warrior class toy was not one of the standouts in the line, her two smaller toys were pretty great. Her Legion toy was already on our top 10 list for that class and now I would like to highlight her Battle Pack class toy. Especially the Takara version which had the best deco of all Stong Arm toys. In a line that fans first feared to be simpler, these Battlepack toys had the perfect articulation and complexity to go with the size. I find it remarkable how the designers were able to achieve the same bot and alt mode in this smaller scale.

Top 5 Best Grimlock Transformers Toys

Date: Saturday, April 25th 2020 2:41pm CDT
Categories: Site Articles, Editorials, Top Lists
Posted by: william-james88

Discuss This Topic · Permanent Link
Views: 81,263

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.


5. Transformers G1 1985 Grimlock

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.










2. Transformers Adventure TAV-30 Battle Grimlock / Robots in Disguise Platinum Grimlock

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.










1. Transformers Masterpiece Grimlock (Grimlock (MP-08))

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/

Also, I do want to mention another: Transformers Animated Grimlock.

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.

Top 10 Best Transformers Action Figure Hauls of 2019

Date: Sunday, January 5th 2020 12:06pm CST
Categories: Site Articles, Editorials, Top Lists
Posted by: D-Maximal_Primal | Credit(s): D-Maximal_Primal

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Views: 82,333

Another year, another round of toys! 2019 offered up not only some excellent new figures, but it also provided collectors of all ages plenty of opportunity to collect older figures as well.

And that is what we will be focusing on today. Today, I will be sharing with you the Top 10 Transformers that I collected last year, and then you can comment on the hauls as well as share your own Top 10 of 2019! And remember: any figure you bought from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019 is fair game for your lists! And the figures don't have to be ranked based on being technically good, they should also be ranked on how much joy they gave you.

So here we go!

10) Transformers 2007 Movie Premium Optimus Prime

This was the figure that I was hunting when I went to TFcon D.C. this year, which was also my first ever TFcon. And it was a great experience! If you haven't gotten to go to a convention like this, I highly recommend you do.

But back to Prime: I have the leader Allspark Power Nightwatch version of this mold from the 1st movie, and it is my all time favorite Transformer, the one I could not give up ever. And I wanted to find the version with the sword, very badly. But throughout the Con, I could not find a hint of it, anywhere. And then, when me and my buddies were getting ready to leave, I ran to grab one final autograph. And after getting that, I saw a Prime on top of a pile at a table; it was the Leader with a gun; underneath that, a 2nd of the same Prime; and then, somehow, at the bottom of the pile, was a 3rd Leader Prime, and it was the one with the sword.

I got him! It was a great find, and one I will cherish not only since it is a good figure, but also because of the circumstances of the score.



9) Studio Series Dark of the Moon Optimus Prime

This one ends up on the list not for being the best Studio Series figure, but for being the one that I had been hoping to happen for 8 years.

When I saw Dark of the Moon, all I wanted was a Prime with a trailer that turned into a combat arsenal and flight tech, and it finally happened. And while it does leave some to be desired in terms of trailer detailing/paint, it is still a joy to finally get this set as I had always wanted and envisioned it.



8 ) Ghostbusters / Transformers Ectotron

At the beginning of this year, we knew a Ghostbusters MP-10 was coming out, but we had no idea this wonderful thing was coming. And it was the most fantastic surprise ever. Not only is it a wonderful crossover of 2 franchises I love, but it is also a very very good figure in and of itself. Ectotron is a wonderful figure that is so full of fun stuff, least of all being the first ever Transformer with a Proton Pack.

Ectotron was probably the greatest surprise of 2019, and is one of the best of the year, retro-hauls and all.



7) Siege Omega Supreme

This was a late entry to my collection this year, but ever since I have gotten him, I can't stop messing with and talking about him. Omega is the Titan that we have always deserved, he is of great quality and posability, with intricate detailing and some great paint work. Not to mention his transformation is really fun and his alt mode has so much playability. Omega is a fantastic figure, and one that everyone should get if they want a Titan figure.



6) Studio Series Rampage

My Studio Series figure of the year. Rampage this year was a lot like Jazz from 2018 - He is immensely fun. He is the best figure, technically? No. He doesn't even have elbows. But is he ridiculously fun, and also forms a leg to a massive combiner? Absolutely. Rampage is a wonderful Decepticon figure, and is one of the best Studio Series figures of the year, and one of the best figures of the year.



5) Siege Smashdown

I cannot stop singing the praises of this figure. For a $6 figure, this thing delivers so much. For one thing, a Minotaur that turns into a Hammer. That is brilliant. And then, a hammer, the one sole hammer that we have got in the battlemaster class, one of the few melee weapons, and one of the few hammers we got in the decade. Hammers are rare in Transformers, and I love every single one of them.

This is a figure where you can get 5 of them (like me) or more, and not feel like you've wasted money. Get as many of them as you can. And with a re-release coming in Earthrise, it's evident Hasbro recognized how good Smashdown is.



4) MPM-8 Megatron

While I ranked Smashdown as the figure of the year, Megatron is the most important figure of the year to me. This was a masterpiece of my first ever Transformer, and it was a perfect update. This is a huge figure that impresses in so many ways, not least of which is the fact that he is combiner sized and heavy as heck. He is wonderfully painted, and the sculpting is perfect. This was the update I really wanted my first Transformer to have, and it was delivered upon perfectly.





3) Armada Powerlinx Jetfire

The final 3 on my list are older figures, and those 3 start with Jetfire. I have recently been getting into the Unicron Trilogy, and bought a lot from those lines this year. Armada Jetfire was one of the very first figures I got this year, and it should say a lot that one of the first is in the top 3 of my year-long list.

This Jetfire is really good and really fun. For one thing, he is a massive shuttle, and he forms a great giant robot from that shuttle. The Powerlinx colors are great on him, and I love the faceplated head. And then he forms the pants to a giant Prime. This is an insanely fun figure by himself, and he's a team player too. I could not be happier to have him.



2) G1 Dreadwind and Darkwing / Dreadwing

This was a pair where the story is as important as the actual find. This was a 1:00 AM Friday night hotel find at TFcon D.C., where both of these, as well as a G1 Slapdash and Flywheels, were up for a barter for a half hour, with some help from a friend of mine from the Podcast. Finally, after a half hour, I got the price I wanted, and suddenly I had 3 of the Powermasters in one go, and these 2 are the greatest of that. I now have 5 of the Powermasters, including all 3 Decepticons, and plan to finish that entire team this year.

But back to these 2: not only was getting them a highlight, but these 2 are pretty dang good by themselves. The robots and jets are really good, and then the combined jet mode is really fun and bonkers. It's a sign to me that G1 still has some pretty nice tricks up its sleeve, and I love the entire Powermaster team/concept.



1) Cybertron Defense Red Alert

I will be fully honest, this one was a huge surprise to me. Whenever the Siege Selects Cybertron Defense Hot Shot was revealed, I ended up getting the original from a Twitter friend, and once getting him, I decided to get the other 2 members of the team if I could. And late Saturday night at TFcon, I found a boxed Red Alert and scored him for a great price with the last of my cash (and some help from previously mentioned friend/podcaster).

And wow, this figure is so good. So so good. This is a large toy that has some great weapons, poses pretty dang well, and is just fun. And that chest and head sculpt are fantastic. This is the figure of the year for me, special both for how I got it, and for just how dang good the toy itself is. It is pure joy.



Honorable Mentions:

- Classics Optimus Prime

This was another TFcon haul, and while it was not a Top 10 of the year, it is still a great toy that is fun to mess around with and is a good toy all on its own. It feels good to experience a mold so many have had such high praise for.

- G1 Pretender Jazz

Also TFcon haul, this one was complete and a surprise to find for his price. After some Toyhax stickers, he is nearly perfect, and is a wonderful Pretender addition.

- Cyberverse Ultimate Grimlock

I got 4 Cyberverse figures, and this Grimlock is a great toy. He is one of the best Grimlocks we have ever gotten, and he's a great Cyberverse toy. He also has a fun gimmick. This is a toy that Cyberverse needed, and it's one I am glad to own.

- G1 Powermaster Prime with Apex Armor

I got this figure in the fall, and it was wonderful. This G1 toy is incredibly fun, with tons of great features and gimmicks. Every mode has something fun about it, and it is a large great toy.

2019 Seibertron.com Year in Review

Date: Tuesday, December 31st 2019 1:19pm CST
Categories: Site Articles, Editorials
Posted by: william-james88

Discuss This Topic · Permanent Link
Views: 116,447

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.



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:



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 Bumblebee Voyager 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.

Pictorial Review for Deluxe Optimus Prime from Transformers Cyberverse

Date: Saturday, December 14th 2019 2:41pm CST
Categories: Toy News, Reviews, Site Articles
Posted by: william-james88

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The new deluxe Cyberverse toys are by far the toy which fans are most curious about. We all know more or less what to expect from more toys from the Studio Series or War for Cybertron Trilogy line but this is completely new.

I will start by saying this, while these deluxes are the same price point as a Studio Series and WFC deluxe they are as different from either of those as a Studio Series toy is from a WFC toy. It's a different feel and aesthetic. This review is for Optimus Prime. This toy is a third more expensive than the simplified warrior class Prime and it is twice as good. But that still doesn't say much and I will admit, while this is very much a traditional deluxe fans are accustomed to, I think it still falls a little short.

We've had deluxe Primes before, and this one won't join any of my top lists. While he is faaaar more articulated than the Prime we got in RID, his design is just the standard G1 Prime. You already know how the legs will transform. Then again, now that I think of it, when it comes to deluxe G1 Primes, this might be the best one. It's not like the competition is fierce. He isn't anywhere near as good as the WFC deluxe Prime we got from 2010 though, when just thinking about deluxe class Primes.





The robot mode is far better than the cab mode. While the cab mode is better than many recent primes (POTP or anything else from Cyberverse), it is still filled with gaps. The base of the cab mode is quite an eyesore with these protruding hinges that make it look like he has a snow plow attached.







The Transformation for his upper body is fine. The way they handle the front wheels folding away is something I found new for Prime and I do like the added step of the headlights folding away, but that's as far as it gets for ingenuity. At least there's no cheating with fake parts. It's a good looking robot mode though. The back is nice and neat with some nice added detail and weapon storage. His deco is great. There is a lot of minutia with the front of the truck and the feet. I also love that blue plastic for the legs. I would have really loved them to paint those forearm triangles yellow though.













I like that the chest opens to reveal the matrix and that you can use the effect part as either coming from his blaster or from his chest. Speaking of the effect part, it's compatible with other effects from Siege and even with 5mm holes.



























In the end, he definitely deserves that deluxe label. Compared to Siege Prowl for instance, he has a as much if not more parts (Prime felt slightly more complex), more paint apps (though the amount of paint is probably the same), two combining effect parts and even a build a figure piece. We all paid a similar price for less than what we are getting here but small Optimus Prime toys were never really my bag and I don't think this one knocks it out of the park. I will leave you now with some size comparisons with other deluxe figures.

IDW Transformers Ghostbusters Ghosts of Cybertron Part 4 Review

Date: Wednesday, September 4th 2019 8:22pm CDT
Categories: Comic Book News, Reviews, Site Articles
Posted by: D-Maximal_Primal | Credit(s): IDW Publishing

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Views: 53,740

Just when you thought Grimlock saying he ain't afraid of no ghost was the highlight of the series, issue 4 comes along. Issue 4 of 5 takes us to the setting of the climax of the series, and with crossovers such as this, issue 4 truly is one of the most important: it needs to set up the finale and make you care and get you all excited for the finale.

And the Ghostbusters did not disappoint. All 6 of them.



One of the best things about this issue had to be the addition of Optimus Prime to the Ghostbusting crew. And we aren't talking about a Prime who is boring, who gives big heroic speeches, who monologues a lot, and who is fairly monotone. No, what we get here is a Prime from the original cartoon that plays basketball and cracks wise. It was refreshing and really fun to read Prime interacting with the Ghostbusters, especially with Venkman. It felt different in a great way and he contributed greatly to the story.

Oh and he gets of the best line of the series. Seriously, if you don't enjoy that last page, can you ever truly love anything?



Ectotron and the Ghostbusters also get their share of time, and this issue solidifies just how good of a team they are becoming, and also how disgusting us humans can truly be sometimes. Their chemistry is enjoyable, and Ectotron's first time out with the Proton Pack went about as expected, and it was enjoyable and entertaining all the while.



We also get to the crux of the story regarding what happened to the Decepticons, and who the mysterious red hooded figure is, and it's enjoyable. It's a bit straightforward, but sometimes you just need that.

That is a place where this crossover really shines: it isn't world ending serious, it is light-hearted, upbeat, and fun. You have quippy characters that make sense and fit into the theme of the series. It's a comedy action comic, and the whole tone of the series has followed that theme perfectly.

It's a very enjoyable series, and Issue 4 continues that trend.



Art duties fall to Dan Schoening, Luis Antonio Delgado, and Tom B. Long on art, colors, and lettering respectively, and they are a great trio that bring this comic to life in a wonderful way.

The ghosts continue to be wonderful brought to life(?), and the Kremzeeks in the issue are wonderful too. The team truly does a great job of bringing both of these strange and interesting concepts to life and making you enjoy what you are seeing as your are reading. It's quite a good look!



They also do a wonderful job of bringing the backgrounds to life, and this is the most evident in the scene whenever Kremzeek first shows up. The bright sunny day quickly changing over to a dreadful foggy scene was awesome, and the maintaining of this scenery was great too. No matter what part of the panel you are looking at, you get some awesome living characters, ghosts, and backgrounds. The art crew has done a great job, and this issue was the highlight of the background scenery part of that art.



Ghosts of Cybertron has been a great, enjoyable series. This is what a crossover can do when it follows a fun, light-hearted tone that allows its characters to interact in fun ways that still fit within their characterizations. It is great!

I have greatly enjoyed all 4 issues so far, and with the final panel of this issue, I am all set and excited for the conclusion. This crew of 6 meshes together wonderfully, and it makes me yearn for more of this kind of crossover. The Ghostbusters and the Transformers make for a great gang with great chemistry, and I could not be happier with how things have been going.

Alright guys, let's finish the job strong!

IDW Transformers Ghostbusters Ghosts of Cybertron Part 3 Review

Date: Wednesday, August 7th 2019 7:37pm CDT
Categories: Comic Book News, Reviews, Site Articles
Posted by: D-Maximal_Primal | Credit(s): IDW Publishing

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Views: 49,877

Issue #3 marks the halfway point in this 5 issue crossover of 2 beloved 1984 franchises. The Men in Beige have now met the Bot in Red and Blue, and more Ghosts have been busted.

So how does the issue stack up with the story so far? Keep reading on to find out! And if you need to catch up on the important details of the issue, check out our Database Entry!



Issue #3 gave us some great moments with the Ghostbusters and bots. As the issues have gone on, we have gotten some better and more enjoyable Bot to Buster interactions, and this issue continued tha trend.

I would not have guessed or even thought about this prior to the series, but Peter and Starscream make for a great comedy couple. The Starscream snark and attempts to intimidate coupled with the mouth of Peter have led to some really cool and sometimes downright hilarious moments. One of my favorite parts of the issue was Peter just casually tossing Starscream in a hidden trap because he didn't trust him, and hey, can we blame him?



Ectotron has certainly made his home with the Busters as well. The jokes surrounding his name finally culminating in his (much better) rebranding was believable and fun. And then he remembers that he literally is the Ecto-1 right now, and his weariness at being the transport was fun. I also enjoyed the Ghost hunt and the blooming friendship he has with the Ghostbusters. Can the poor bot get a particle thrower already???



And we finally duck back to the Ark and the other Autobots. And with that trip back to Ark, I really hope we get a Grimlock on Earth with Ghosts and a Wheeljack/Egon meeting. The few pages on the Ark made it clear that there is a lot of fun to be had with some Auto-buster mashups beyond Prime and Ectotron.

The story was a good and entertaining one. There was some plot progression, some fun ghost hunting, team bonding, and of course some great Buster jokes. The Ghostbusters are a great crew, and it has been and continues to be so much fun to enjoy them like this.

Yes, story and characters are pretty good.



Art duties fall once more to Dan Schoening, Luis Antonio Delgado, and Tom B. Long on art, colors, and lettering respectively. It has been a joy to watch and look at the art for this crossover so far, and this issue continues that quality. I haven't really had a major complaint about any part of the art so far, and the quality has been nice and consistent, which is really nice considering this creative team doesn't get to draw and color Transformers much. They caught on quick!

If I had one little complaint, it would be that the other Autobots (mostly Optimus) besides Ectotron seem to possess just a little bit too much of a cartoony feel, mostly in the overly large chests. But it's a stylistic option and it is only a minor thing for the whole issue. The lines have been strong and defining, and I have loved the colors. Luis has gotten to flex his muscles with the colors of the ghosts, traps, and particle throwers. It has been one of the major art highlights of the series for me. It's great to see.





Halfway through this crossover, and I am feeling really good about this series.

The series has been a joy to read, and has provided some classic banter while throwing in some larger than life robots into the mix, with great results. It has been very lively, with every page giving you something good to take away, and has given me quite a few laughs. The chemistry here is wonderful, these were 2 franchises meant to meet each other. Keep going strong crew!

P.S. Now that we got the classic "ain't afraid of no ghost" line, bets on who says "more than meets the eye" anyone?