Top 5 Best Movie Toys for Off Screen Characters (first trilogy)
Last time, we looked at the top 5 best Transformers movie toys of on screen characters, so this week we are looking at the toys of characters who didn't show up. My only rule is that the molds must be original for the movies. While Big Daddy is an awesome looking TF (dont have him, but wish I did), I can't count him since he is just a redeco of a pre-existing mold. I also won't count the toys that fell in the cracks of the 2010 Transformers line and werent clearly identified as being linked to the movie line. In the end, the lines that were looked at for this list are: Dark of the Moon (DOTM), Revenge of the Fallen (ROTF), Hunt for the Decepticons (HFTD), Human Alliance, and the initial 2007 movie line.
5. Hunt For The Decepticons Breacher
One of the best Scout class toys of all time. He is beautifully sculpted and more complex than any deluxe that has come out in the past two years. I love that meaty satisfying transformation that is intuitive and not annoying. The articulation is superb and he can even interact with others, like Seaspray, or use other toys' c-clip weapons. What really seals the deal though is the look. You will see this theme repeated often in this list but he feels like the perfect marriage between the clean and traditional autobot aesthetic and the more detailed movie designs. He still has the pistons and layered armour, but there are also smooth panels and alt mode integrations and a beutiful little autobot headsculpt. Just writing about him, I feel like replacing my number one entry with this guy.
4. Hunt For The Decepticons Terradive
Sometimes, Hasbro and Takara will just decide to revolutionize the way to transform a typical alt mode. Jets usually go with the seeker design where the nosecone folds down and he wings are in the back. Even weird movie designs like Breawakay still go with that outline. Then you get Terradive, who just changes it all. Firstly, the nosecone chest is totally inverted and made as a more protruding design rearranging the jet pannels. Then the wings are brought down to the legs, making him look far more sleek than most other jet Transformers out there. And unlike other attempts at revolutionizing the jet transformer, Teradive keeps a nice traditional symmetric robot mode with alt mode integration all throughout. Plus he has a trident making him a sea and air double threat!
3. Dark of the Moon Skyhammer
This is the greatest helicopter Transformers toy of all time, no contest. The detail in both modes is asgood as it gets with two gorgeous molds that have little to no extraneous kibble of the other mode showing thanks to lovely alt mode integrationg in robot mode. That gives you a sleek yet powerful looking robot which merges both the detailed multiarmoured theme of the films with some sleek and smooth surfaces of more traditional designs, including a nice modernized G1 style headsculpt.
2. Revenge of the Fallen Bludgeon
What could beat the greatest Helicopter mold of all time? The greatest tank mold of all time, that's what! I will never stop marvelling at the beauty that is ROTF Bludgeon. Hasbro and Takara really went all out here, making this an amazing G1 homage in a movie line, of all places. They finally give us a robot samurai that transforms, and use the alt mode of a tank to make it work perfectly. The tank treads becoming the leather samurai armour is genius, and so is the tank roof and cannon providing weapon storage for his two swords. This is one of the most innovative designs ever done and easily the best Bludgeon toy out there.
As an aside, the other Bludgeon using a movie mold is also pretty great.
1. Revenge of the Fallen Mindwipe and Skystalker
This duo is the cream of the crop. Firstly, the alt modes are perfect. It is amazing how unintrusive their combining gimmick is. More of a fun option than something crammed down our throats. Both are phenominal toys with both of them being stellar examples of the most recent golden age of Transformers and kings in their size classes. I love how these toys use the best aspect of the movie lines to give us new designs that can be appreciated independently of the movie line. They merge the complexity and intricate panelling of the movie lines but make it more streamlined, making the transformation pleasant rather than frustrating. Mindwipe especially. He feels great with nice big chuncks that fit perfectly together, like a refined version of a Cybertron toy made using all that was learnt since. And there is even a slight G1 homage with his winged robot mode along with the theme of stealth, radars, blindness and bats all coming together. He is also just striking as a figure with a sleek and kibble free robot mode filled with personality and unique features, like those folded automorph wings and energon daggers he is holding ala X-men's Warpath. To me, a perfect Transformer is very hard to do since it must have a striking robot mode with new robot mode detail and no extraneous vehicle kibble, and a clean vehicle mode, all while haiving a fun transformation. To achieve this, they usually have to repurpose parts from one mode to the next and this toy does it like no other with having his cockpit/nosecone seperate into his two feet and daggers. Him being turned into "classics" Strafe is a testament to how his design crosses that gap in easthetics which would be futher expanded upon in the Prime line. All these toys in this list do that in a way, but I really feel Midwipe does it best.
Honourable Mentions: Transformers Hunt For The Decepticons Sea Spray and Revenge of the Fallen Lockdown. Both of these are awesome, I just thought the others were a tad bit better and more linked to the movies while these two seem to be more in line with the "classics" theme, especially Lockdown which works more as a companion to Reveal the Shield Lugnut as a classics reinterpretation of the animated aesthetic (and plus there is a new movie Lockdown which is far more linked to the movie-verse).
