Transformers Team "Drafts" Best Figures of 2023

Posted by Emerje Dec 13, 2023 at 5:42am CST 139,126 views

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The Transformers Team over on the Hasbro Pulse YouTube channel decided to have a little fun between BMac, Evan and Mark and do a sort of sports style "toy draft" picking their favorite figures of 2023 without duplicating picks for their "teams". They're picks were broken down by class as well as a wild card pick in no specific order. While mostly just something done for fun it did include quite a bit of banter between the three that has given us some insight into what we might find in the future as well as insight into the design process of figures they chose.

- It doesn't sound like they're working on a blue G2 Grimlock... yet.
- There was a brief, not by name mention of Dino King when talking about Core Scarr
- They actually called Nemesis "dommy mommy"... (Link is at least visually safe for work.)
- They said they have way more female characters than most people know about. Not sure if that meant to pick from or in the works.
- Apparently Takara gave the go ahead for SS86 Rumble and Frenzy to get their cartoon colors matched to their names (RiBFiR) after Siege went the other way (seemingly at Takara's request).
- Mark actually said Ultra Magnus has been under represented leading to the SS86 figure.
- Mark used some of Aaron Archer's original concept art when designing Commander Class Armada Optimus Prime.
- Mark was also the one that got Buzzworthy Tow-Line made.
- They joke about only making 4 SS86 Dinobots. They must hear that alot.
- Lots of gushing over Retro reissue pink Hot Rod and praise for that line in general.
- Mark actually went to a dump and waste management site for inspiration with Trashmaster (who was named by their copy editor).
- Tease more Insecticon repaints (but definitely no more Dinobots).

It's a little telling that while they praised the Studio Series line, most of their picks came from Legacy. Was there anything big that was missed? Let us know in the Seibertron Energon Pub forum!

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Re: Transformers Team "Drafts" Best Figures of 2023 (view post)

Comment by D-Maximal_Primal Dec 13, 2023

Emerje wrote:
Munkky wrote:I had a look at my pending Hasbro Pulse pre-orders today, and at the moment it says Thundertron, Tasmania and Tigerhawk are due to be shipped out next week! 22nd December to be exact, so they most likely won't arrive by Christmas, but between that, my Takara Beast Wars VS Tigatron and Blackarachnia set coming tomorrow, and a Studio Series 1986 Arcee I found for a good price on Ebay, that's a few nice things I have to look forward to within the next few days.

I got the notice from Amazon for Bouldercrash arriving Thursday. I have Megatron and Tasmanian Kid ordered, but I guess those aren't coming yet.

Emerje

My Magneous and Thundertron arrived sunday, and my Prime, Chase, and boulderclash arrived yesterday, still waiting on the rest to ship, and also still need to open the shipping boxes

Re: Transformers Team "Drafts" Best Figures of 2023 (view post)

Comment by Munkky Dec 13, 2023

Emerje wrote:- They actually called Nemesis "dommy mommy"

Ah, men of culture I see.

No joke though, if I had bought the Nemesis my head-canon personality for her would've been a cutesy anime girl who doesn't really like fighting and treats the other Transformers like kittens or puppies ("OMG SO CUTE!!!" for example), in complete juxtaposition to everything else about her. I've decided I want Tidal Wave more than the Nemesis so I likely won't get her, but it's still funny to think about.

Re: Transformers Team "Drafts" Best Figures of 2023 (view post)

Comment by Razorbeast88 Dec 13, 2023

Munkky wrote:
Emerje wrote:- They actually called Nemesis "dommy mommy"

Ah, men of culture I see.

download (7).jpeg

Re: Transformers Team "Drafts" Best Figures of 2023 (view post)

Comment by Razorbeast88 Dec 13, 2023

Emerje wrote:The Transformers Team over on the Hasbro Pulse YouTube channel decided to have a little fun between BMac, Evan and Mark and do a sort of sports style "toy draft" picking their favorite figures of 2023 without duplicating picks for their "teams". They're picks were broken down by class as well as a wild card pick in no specific order. While mostly just something done for fun it did include quite a bit of banter between the three that has given us some insight into what we might find in the future as well as insight into the design process of figures they chose.

- It doesn't sound like they're working on a blue G2 Grimlock... yet.
- There was a brief, not by name mention of Dino King when talking about Core Scarr
- They actually called Nemesis "dommy mommy"... (Link is at least visually safe for work.)
- They said they have way more female characters than most people know about. Not sure if that meant to pick from or in the works.
- Apparently Takara gave the go ahead for SS86 Rumble and Frenzy to get their cartoon colors matched to their names (RiBFiR) after Siege went the other way (seemingly at Takara's request).
- Mark actually said Ultra Magnus has been under represented leading to the SS86 figure.
- Mark used some of Aaron Archer's original concept art when designing Commander Class Armada Optimus Prime.
- Mark was also the one that got Buzzworthy Tow-Line made.
- They joke about only making 4 SS86 Dinobots. They must hear that alot.
- Lots of gushing over Retro reissue pink Hot Rod and praise for that line in general.
- Mark actually went to a dump and waste management site for inspiration with Trashmaster (who was named by their copy editor).
- Tease more Insecticon repaints (but definitely no more Dinobots).

It's a little telling that while they praised the Studio Series line, most of their picks came from Legacy. Was there anything big that was missed? Let us know in the Seibertron Energon Pub forum!

This was great. Funny and fun to watch, I hope they do this more often

Re: Transformers Team "Drafts" Best Figures of 2023 (view post)

Comment by chuckdawg1999 Dec 13, 2023

Re: Transformers Team "Drafts" Best Figures of 2023 (view post)

Comment by Sowndwave76 Dec 13, 2023

cloudballoon wrote:I like the Origins WJ alt mode but not the chunky bot mode. I skipped on Jazz so I'll likely pass on this simply because I have no shelf space.

Tidal Wave is not for me, not into the designs of the Unicron Trilogy in general. And again, no shelf space. If I can squeeze out the space, I'll reserve it for Titan Nemesis anyway... but I'm still waiting for it to go on sale in Canada's Amazon/TRU. $300CDN + tax hurts my wallet too much.

I’m going to have to figure out something for more shelf space, but I have Jazz & Bee, and this Wheeljack looks good enough for me to get.

I’m with you on Tidal Wave. I’m okay with the UT designs, although I don’t love any of them. Again, the issue is shelf space.
And I’m also waiting for the Nemesis to go on sale. She just does not seem to be worth over $100 imo.
If the best sale I see is $120, I’ll definitely hesitate.

Re: Transformers Team "Drafts" Best Figures of 2023 (view post)

Comment by Sabrblade Dec 13, 2023

Tidal Wave designer notes from Sam Smith. Click each link to see all the pictures and videos:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C0zNOSGOACe/?img_index=1

Transformers Legacy United - Titan Tidal Wave

“Tidal Wave, Tidal Wave, Tidal Wave”

With the daunting chant on impending doom and having been officially announced at Cybertron Fest Singapore, let’s get into the details of Titan Tidal Wave. With the launch of Legacy United, we knew that there was no greater time to revisit this character at the titan scale. This guy was a blast to work on, but we had so many priorities we needed to define out of the gate. As a Titan, Tidal Wave needed to deliver a large scale super articulated robot. As a vehicle, he needed to deliver a large flying aquatic war craft, which needed to be assembled out of 3 smaller vehicle form factors (the dark fleet). Tidal Wave needed to combine with Armada Megatron, to create Burning Megatron and we felt that he needed to have an alt mode that was achievable without the need to separate the vehicles in assembly. I’d like to say that we were able to achieve 4 out of the 5, but in the end, we did them all!

Shogo Hasui (Hasui san) was an absolute rockstar to work with on this project, and continued to find incredible solutions in delivering such a massive undertaking. He continued to push this figure forward despite all the curve balls that we through to him.

In the end Tidal Wave delivers a super articulated Titan robot, with waist, ankle, clever butterfly shoulders, wrist and neck. His chest weaponry all 8 turrets points are articulated for rotation, with the larger 4 featuring articulated barrels and 5mm ports for blast effect compatibility. In addition, his palm cannons also used 5mm ports that can be utilized in robot and alt mode

Tidal Waves color spec is primary based on the Armada animation with a few pieces of influence from the original toy, similar to Armada Megatron.

What are your thoughts on Titan Tidal Wave? Was he a worthy selection for the next titan figure? Our would you have preferred to have seen him at a smaller scale? Let us know along with any other questions in the comments below!

https://www.instagram.com/p/C0zNcdlO6_x/?img_index=1

Transformers Legacy United - Titan Tidal Wave - Alt Mode

We decided early on, the importance of delivering the dark fleet as 3 separate vehicles to align to the original toy, and the consistent onscreen combination sequence that took place on screen. Due to this figure being super articulated, we would not be able to have him transform from robot to combined war craft without separating the vehicle forms. In order to avoid having him be referred to as a parts former, we introduced a secondary alt mode as a battle station / weapons fortress.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C0zNoMVO0Tl/?img_index=1

Transformers Legacy United - Titan Tidal Wave - Combined Burning Megatron

In order to combine with Megatron to create Burning Megatron, miniature versions of the dark fleet can be extracted from various parts of Tidal Wave in order to combine. To avoid being left with a partial titan during the combination, we introduced a secondary transformation to the hands to keep them in tact so that a very in tact titan figure remains. The miniature versions are able able to be displayed as mini dark fleet vehicles, that convert into their armored accessories for Megatron.

To assist with the added weight of the components, and to deliver a more frightening Megatron, Foot extensions are included to raise the characters height, along with the ability to port the arm weaponry into the sides of the arms or the upper shoulders.

And additional info from the comments:

Re: Transformers Team "Drafts" Best Figures of 2023 (view post)

Comment by chuckdawg1999 Dec 13, 2023

So they realized Armada Megs was too small so they include new feet. I'd be less salty about it if there was a way for the feet to fully integrate with Megs.

Re: Transformers Team "Drafts" Best Figures of 2023 (view post)

Comment by -Kanrabat- Dec 14, 2023

chuckdawg1999 wrote:So they realized Armada Megs was too small so they include new feet. I'd be less salty about it if there was a way for the feet to fully integrate with Megs.

That's not really it. He was too small when COMBINED. So it make sense that he get extra boots when combining.

Re: Transformers Team "Drafts" Best Figures of 2023 (view post)

Comment by Quantum Surge Dec 15, 2023

Munkky wrote:
Emerje wrote:- They actually called Nemesis "dommy mommy"

Ah, men of culture I see.

No joke though, if I had bought the Nemesis my head-canon personality for her would've been a cutesy anime girl who doesn't really like fighting and treats the other Transformers like kittens or puppies ("OMG SO CUTE!!!" for example), in complete juxtaposition to everything else about her. I've decided I want Tidal Wave more than the Nemesis so I likely won't get her, but it's still funny to think about.

I have them share a space as a married couple in my collection. If we did get the Legacy show, their wedding should have played a Barry White song while they danced.

Re: Transformers Team "Drafts" Best Figures of 2023 (view post)

Comment by william-james88 Dec 16, 2023

Big news, the Transformers Legacy United line is being distributed across the globe and starting to appear in stores. This particular sighting is from a Toysrus in Singapore and it's only for the deluxe class figures. This includes Cyberverse Windblade, Rescue Bots Chase, Animated Bumblebee and Magneous, which is part of 2024's Rock Lord type gimmick for the line.

We have videos if you want a better look at the figures coming from Prime vs Prime and Chuckdawg 1999.

The images of the sighting come from Isaac who posted on Facebook.

Re: Transformers Team "Drafts" Best Figures of 2023 (view post)

Comment by Razorbeast88 Dec 16, 2023

So who are the bots on tidal waves box art?

Re: Transformers Team "Drafts" Best Figures of 2023 (view post)

Comment by Overcracker Dec 16, 2023

Razorbeast88 wrote:So who are the bots on tidal waves box art?

quote="Overcracker"]

Emerje wrote:Soooo, are any of the bots on the box art actually recognizable as real characters? I'm stumped though the two in the water look a little familiar. Are they generics from the Armada cartoon? I looked through Insecticons.com and didn't really see any matches.

Emerje

Can't see any that I recognize as actual characters.

I can se a brown guy on the left that appears to turn into a car.
An Impactor-ey looking dude by TW's right leg in the water. Near him someone that looks vaguely like R.I.D Tow-line.

Blue and gray, Beachcomb-ey guy. Green and purple dude on TW's knee(no clue), some guy with striped legs and a blue chest, I know I've seen the color scheme some where but can't place it. Reminds me of G2 Spark, but it's not right, because the stripes were only in his truck mode.[/quote]

Re: Transformers Team "Drafts" Best Figures of 2023 (view post)

Comment by First-Aid Dec 17, 2023

.....aaaaaand I'm still looking for wave 2 of the Legacy deluxes in the stores.

Re: Transformers Team "Drafts" Best Figures of 2023 (view post)

Comment by D-Maximal_Primal Dec 18, 2023

Razorbeast88 wrote:So who are the bots on tidal waves box art?

One appears to be a repaint of Trashmaster as Rescue Bot Salvage

Re: Transformers Team "Drafts" Best Figures of 2023 (view post)

Comment by D-Maximal_Primal Dec 18, 2023

I have received the first 5 figures of the wave, with all but Tigerhawk set to arrive this week. Wanted to share some thoughts on those figures, as well as Medix, since I got him as well.

Let's start with Medix: He is neato, a nice basic figure, but I like that I have this character now, and I do intend for him to go to the Aligned autobots shelf. Kinda wish he didn't have his blue gun, feels extraneous, but I can live with it.

Next up was the first pair I got, Thundertron and Magneous.

Thundertron is a really cool figure. I love this guy. They really got a good look on him, a cool aesthetic the headsculpt is great, the lion mode head rules, and he is just a fun guy. I like him, very solid, and I only ever had the Lio Prime repaint of the OG mold, so it still feels new to me since i didn't have the character yet.

magneous is a star, let me tell you. You cannot tell me movie Ironhide didn't influence this guy. He is just so cool! I love the rock look to him, the colors are good, the headsculpt rocks, he is just a great figure! A nice addition to the come apart guys.

Up next we have Bouldercrash, Chase, and Animated Prime.

Bouldercrash is nice, the colors and aesthetic are good, and he looks good with Magneous. I wish his sword mode was a little tighter, but it's hardly a problem for me.

Chase is pretty solid, The transformation is inspired with how the legs work, not what I was expecting at all. He is good, and he looks good with his old toy and Generations Rescue bots!

Animated Prime, however. oh man. Animated Prime is the standout star of the wave so far, and arguably for me, he is the standout voyager for Legacy so far. He is just so dang good! They really captured the Animated spirit here, he is really solid, really fun, really cool, he is really everything good! Transformation is inspired, I love how the axe works and the fact that he can draw it. He is just so good. He is definitely my favorite so far.

Re: Transformers Team "Drafts" Best Figures of 2023 (view post)

Comment by Emerje Dec 18, 2023

D-Maximal_Primal wrote: Let's start with Medix: He is neato, a nice basic figure, but I like that I have this character now, and I do intend for him to go to the Aligned autobots shelf. Kinda wish he didn't have his blue gun, feels extraneous, but I can live with it.

The blue gun is a call back to the Botcon figure. I like that bit of attention.

Emerje

Re: Transformers Team "Drafts" Best Figures of 2023 (view post)

Comment by D-Maximal_Primal Dec 18, 2023

Emerje wrote:
D-Maximal_Primal wrote: Let's start with Medix: He is neato, a nice basic figure, but I like that I have this character now, and I do intend for him to go to the Aligned autobots shelf. Kinda wish he didn't have his blue gun, feels extraneous, but I can live with it.

The blue gun is a call back to the Botcon figure. I like that bit of attention.

Emerje

Then I am good with it

Re: Transformers Team "Drafts" Best Figures of 2023 (view post)

Comment by Rodimus Prime Dec 19, 2023

Wow that Animated Optimus is a serious letdown. From that ridiculous face to the proportions, he continues the trend of showing why Animated should NOT be G1-ified.

Re: Transformers Team "Drafts" Best Figures of 2023 (view post)

Comment by -Kanrabat- Dec 19, 2023

Rodimus Prime wrote:Wow that Animated Optimus is a serious letdown. From that ridiculous face to the proportions, he continues the trend of showing why Animated should NOT be G1-ified.

I agree that the mix is weird. There's something that just don't work with that Optimus and the upcoming Bee.

At least, Prowl is great enough and stand on his own without looking uncanny.

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