Top 5 Transformers Toys

[Philip Ayres]

The world needed more Inferno (and Red Alert) in the comics

[Jim]

1. Perceptor - didn't know how good he really was until the TFC reissue, top toy.
2. Grimlock - best of the Dinobot toys, even if as a child I wanted Sludge more.
3. Hoist - again didn't know this mould until the Encore reissue, but it's great.
4. Seaspray - possibly largely nostalgia, but I do love this toy.
5. Skids - first TFC reissue I got (along with Tracks), really love both modes. So nice and compact as a car.

Bubbling under - Tracks, Jetfire, Beachcomber, Warpath, Cosmos, Slag, Thrust.

-Jim

[Jim]

I tend to associate Inferno with that annual text story, the illustration is pretty much my definitive image of him. I am partial to Firebug as well.

Never much cared for that toy though.

-Jim

[Grand Moff Muffin]

Hmmm... Tracks, Devastator, Hoist, Red Alert, Bombshell.

Martin

[Shockprowl]

I have the 3P Cosmos, Nickos. I have to say that I love him! He's not perfect, but a great deal of fun! Recommend if you can find one.

[Philip Ayres]

Week 6: Megatron

Your top 5 toys named Megatron.

[Toph]

In no order:

BW Ultra Megatron, 10th Anniversary reissue/remold- Neat and original robot design, dinosaur alt mode. And the new stuff Takara did to it just makes it even more awesome.
BW Transmetal Megatron- Robotic dinosaur mode with VTOL fans and roller blades. How awesome is that? Plus to me this is the iconic BW Megatron.
BW Transmetal II Megatron- while I'm not much on dragons, the detail work and wings are just awesome. The mouth gimmick is fantastic.
Animated Leader megatron- Neat design that accurately captures the Animated look, and is just all around awesome.
G2 Hero Megatron- Takes the brilliant new G2 design, makes it into a reasonable size, and gives it amazing (for the time) articulation. The only down side is I hated the bellows gimmick.

Honorable Mentions:

RiD Megatron- 'cause it's a lot of toy for an ultra.
Armada Megatron- So many gimmics, neat design, awesome sculpting. Would have made the top five list if it had knees.
Shattered Glass Megatron- Takes the awesome Energon Megatron design and makes it in a manageable scale, plus new megatron-esque head with the black marvel helmet. Being Shattered Glass knocks it off the top five list.
BW Basic Croc Megatron- It's just fun!
BW 10th Anniversary deluxe Megatron- The best dinosaur mode ever made, and just an all around awesome toy.

What would have made the list-
The G1 toy of the triplechanger Megatron who would have transformed into Skywarp (I'm still convenced the final toy would have been Starscream). That would have made it for pure WTF factor.

[The Doctor]

MEGATRON ATTACK!!!

-ralph

[Stomski]

BW Megatron
Not sure he needs much discussion. He has a squirt gimmick, he's a T-Rex, he looks great in both modes. But he is missing a hand.

BW TM Megatron
GPS be damned (although TFWiki states it's not actually GPS?). Ridiculous roller skates aside, the colours, the proportions, it all just seems to work.

BW TM2 Megatron
As discussed in a previous Top 5 list, love it.

Henkei Megatron
Preferring the Japanese Henkei release here, the colours are more suited to the character, although the people and neon green of the Classics release aren't actually as bad as you'd think.

G1 Megatron
Yeah, I know his robot looks a little odd, but the level of engineering here is incredible, especially for the time it was designed.

And throwing one out of left field...

DotM Megatron
There's quite an intricate transformation here for the smaller scale , head is a little small though.


Upon researching, I discovered that Robot Masters Megatron could really do with a hug.

[Philip Ayres]

5 Legends Megatron

The Legends version of Megatron is fabulous. I have five of the ****ers now! (Original Universe, EZ Collection, EZ Collection metallic, DollarGeneral Generations and TFGO EZ Collection). Wonderfully shrunk down and with hip articulation that the G2 Megatron lacked. To see it beating a toy many times it's size is a big thing.

Yes I'd like elbows - doable with a remould. Yes I'd like 3mm clip hands. But this is one of my favourite Legends toys.

4 S-16/TFC 6/Encore Megatron

The problem with original Megatron is we'd never got the complete package. The west lacked the launchers and bullets, Japan the accesories. It's not until the three reissues (take your pick) that you got the full story with everything in the box together. The gun shoots. Megatron gets a sword. The weapon his add on bits fit onto shoots and can seat a Microman. Superb.

3 TM2 Megatron

I love Beast Wars Megatrons. BW Ultra Megatron, TM Megatron & BW Croc Megatron are all great but both T-Rex's have better versions with different paint jobs. So the Red Dragon gets the nod as a superb toy. To this day I think one of the biggest mistakes Beast Machines made was not re-releasing this in BM packaging!

2 Armada Megatron

Packed with action features you have to love it. Yes the leg articulation could be better. But it's a fab toy and as for how the tank's main gun gets fired.....

1 Hero Megaton

I can remember hearing about G2 Megatron before he came out. Yes I suppose it makes sense for Megatron, if he can't be a gun, to be a tank. And this form was almost prefigured by AM Megatron driving a tank (likewise Laser Rod Prime is prefigured by AM Prime in he drives a long nosed truck). But G2 Megatron has the unfortunate luck to come out just before Hasbro realised the growing importance of articulation and is a brick from the shoulders down. Annoyingly it has joints that could serve as knees if the waist was redone to include hips and I'm surprised that these (and a waist) have never shown up on a remould. When the Combat Hero Megatron came out the next year it miniturised Tank Megatron, threw in the missing leg articulation and gave it a decent weapon (I quite like the air bellows).

Yes it's not perfect: It could do with light pipe eyes. And has never had a green repaint tomake it look like the original G2 Megatron. And yes tooday it could probably use a more conventional launcher. But it's my favourite Megatron. it's just that bit bigger than deluxe toys so looks right alongside them yet Devastator towers over it.

Honourable mentions:
RTS Megatron for shrinkingn the gun mode succesfully
Energon Voyager Megatron
BWX Megatron

[Stomski]

Oh I forgot to mention Masterpiece Megatron, for being the most complex piece of engineering in my TF collection... But lacks any sort of interactability due to being a nightmare to transform and the alt mode being oversized. Oh and he suffers from Cosmic Rust too.

[Jim]

1. Classics Megatron - I prefer this deco to all other versions of this mould, he looks bright and like a toy and purple and green are nice, villainous, secondary colours. It's also a really good toy, fun as a gun and suitably imposing as a robot.

2. G1 - Never owned one, but played with a friend's as a kid and always liked it.

...and that's the limit of Megatron toys I have direct experience with, somehow. So based on those I've seen in shops or some other way:

3. Armada
4. Animated Leader
5. TM2 - I owned an RID Cryotek at one point, dragon mode is awesome but I always found the robot mode weak.

-Jim

[Philip Ayres]

If we're talking Classics Megatron versions then United Megatron wins hands down.

But the Decepticon symbol on the gun ending the wrong way up and the cannon not being on the top of the arm really annoy me.

I always thought there was a good Galvatron repaint of that toy but nobodyh has done it yet

[kayevcee]

Hmmm. Still can't decide an order, but here are my five favourites to wear the Megatron name:

Takara Reissue Megatron (book-style or Encore) for the reasons that Phil mentioned. So many features and accessories, and so many configurations. The morningstar is a cool addition too.

Armada Megatron: showcases Minicon connectivity and provides all sorts of combination options and features. Wearing Tidal Wave as power-up armour is a fun bonus.

G2 Megatron: I do love the Combat Hero design, but in my mind he will always be Archforce: Megatron fanboy. Plus the big one has loads of funky electronic sounds (and one irritating one), a gravity-feed missile launcher and a really massive, chunky vehicle mode that folds up very small compared to the robot but still takes up a lot of space on the battlefield. The limited articulation and fixed turret are disappointments.

Beast Wars T-rex Megatron: I love the look of the dragon, but he's an enormous pain to transform and has an oversized gimpy arm in robot mode. The Transmetal has great proportions and a really distinctive weapon (not to mention one of the most surreal transmetal modes) but he gets serious minus points for full-body GPS. The "Barney" t-rex doesn't have hands and suffers from extensive kibble in robot mode, but he's got loads of fun features and is suitably big and imposing in both modes.

EDIT: Animated Megatron (leader class). Thank you Karl! A cracking update of the way the original animation model "felt" to watch as a child, with an impressive feature set and a surprisingly convincing vehicle mode given the emphasis on robot.

-Nick

[legios]

5) Legends Megatron - Phil has covered most of the reasons, but I shall add one of my own. He does all that the G2 Megatron does and more, but in a smaller, handier-sized package.

4) Universe WFC Megatron - Fantastic looking humanoid mode which takes the skinny-look of the original Megatron, takes away all the fragility and makes it look like a lean killer-robot who can take a lot of punishment and give out more. The tank-mode is daft, but it is daft in a good way. It does feel like a ducted-fan hovercraft should be. The only thing it lacks is a proper turret - it feels more like a hover assault-gun than an actual proper tank.

3) TM2 Megatron - It's a Red Dragon. I was born in Wales. I'm pretty much duty-bound to love this one. Not only that but it is a fantastic looking toy, with the shredded-looking wings and the hints of scales on the limbs. It also looks really imposing in the way I think that Decepticon/Predacon leaders should

2) Animated Leader Megatron - Large, chunky, a nice Megatronish grey silver-grey colour. Great alt-mode, and a humanoid mode that has as much of the aesthetic of Super-Megatron as we are ever going to get in a toy, and he keeps the chunky arm-mounted cannon thing going.

1) Original Megatron - Has it suffered somewhat since the days when it originated in Diaclone as technology and design has passed it by? Undoubtedly. It has spindly arms and doesn't really hold together well in humanoid mode. None of these things matter to me really in this case. It is Megatron, the original and first. If it didn't exist then Soundwave would have remained the Decepticon Leader the early advert told me he was and none of the subsequent Megatrons would have existed.

Bubbling under: G2 Megatron, an Abrams tank is somewhat fitting for a fuel-hungry alien robot of massive destructive potential and the toy just looks huge and imposing. TM Megatron - it's a gold and purple dinosaur on roller skates and ducted fans, how utterly marvelous. Henkei! Henkei! Megatron - the deco looks great on the humanoid mode, I love that he has a big regal "cape" behind him like a cackling animated show villian and he turns into what looks like a mini-version of a custom-painted Nerf Maverick.

Karl

[Philip Ayres]

Week 7: Car Robots/Robots in Disguise

Robots in Disguise
Car Robots

[Stomski]

Hrm, trying to do this without using repaints from older lines, but it cuts it down a lot!

Omega Prime (Optimus Prime + Ultra Magnus - the way different sounds are triggered based on the configuration is a really cool feature)
X-Brawn
Prowl
Sideburn
Galvatron (Feel the white suits the figure better)

Are there even any other original molds in the line other than Prime, Magnus, Scourge spy changes, the trains (Rail Racer, Rail Spike, Rapid Run) and the BM figures Megabolt, Primal and Bruticus.

[Philip Ayres]

Jun 21, 2013 9:05:28 GMT Stomski said:

Are there even any other original molds in the line other than Prime, Magnus, Scourge spy changes, the trains (Rail Racer, Rail Spike, Rapid Run) and the BM figures Megabolt, Primal and Bruticus.

The Build Team and the Car Brothers

And without fail all the repaints are damm spiffy so I wouldn't let that restrain anyone for voting for them.

The Spychangers are a mix of G2 Gobots (the wave 1 figures), unused G2 Gobots (wave 2) and new moulds (Wave 3)

Are the smaller Prime & Magnus technically Spychangers?

[Philip Ayres]

Taking TFU's List, eliminating the in line repaints and breaking it down to where the toy was sourced from here's how the line's made up:

NEW

Optimus Prime
X-Brawn
Prowl
Side Burn
Railspike
Rapid Run
Midnight Express
Rail Racer
Wedge
Grimlock
Heavy Load
Hightower
Landfill
Ultra Magnus
Omega Prime
Megatron

NEW SPYCHANGER

Optimus Prime (Spychanger)
Scourge (Spychanger)
Ultra Magnus (Spychanger)
X-Brawn (Spychanger)

Unused BM

Bruticus
Megabolt
Optimus Primal

Unused G2 Gobot

Daytonus
Prowl 2
Side Burn (Spychanger)
Side Swipe

BM Repaint

Jhiaxus
Mirage GT
Nightcruz
Obsidian
Scavenger
Storm Jet

BW Repaint

Cryotek
Dark Scream
Gas Skunk
Sky-Byte
Slapper

Combaticon Repaint

Armorhide
Mega-Octane
Movor
Rollbar
Ro-Tor
Ruination

G1 Headmaster

Brave Maximus

G2 Gobot Repaint

Crosswise
Hot Shot
Ironhide
Mirage
R.E.V.
W.A.R.S.

G2 Repaint

Axer
Bludgeon
Dreadwind
Scourge
Scourge (Destructicon)
Sideways
Smokejumper

MW Repaint

Skid-Z
Skyfire
Tow-Line
Wind Sheer

[Stomski]

For some reason I've always thought the build team were G2 or Machine Wars!

[Philip Ayres]

Nope, definitely Japanese original for CR.

It's interesting how much of the repaint stuff got no UK distribution! Only the Spychangers and Combaticons were generally available.

Bludgeon, Scourge (Destructicon), Dreadwind & Smokejumper are labelled RID but effectively they're exclusive repaints put out with Armada. Obsidian and Stormjet had a limited grey import into TRU. I'm not sure if Sky Byte or the TM2 repaint 3 pack was ever seen here anywhere outside of import, I recall the Mega Trains distribution being very very poor too.

[legios]

Most of these will be based on the Car Robots versions, because I imported quite a few of those at the time.

5. Super Wild-Ride - loved the mis-matched arms, with one big arm for punchin' and the gun-arm for shootin'. The white Rally paint scheme is by far my favourite of the colour schemes this mold has had
4. Landfill - Construction vehicles feel like they ought to be Autobots/Cybertrons to me, and I like the look of the combined modes here - and I like the fact that it has different combined modes depending on how you rotate the three three "back-stop" members. Really felt like they were stretching the way combiner technology could work
3. Super Mach Alert - Blue and White scheme on a high-speed police interception car, interesting looking humanoid mode - love the little built-in riot shield, and the wrist-mounted guns.
2. Fire Convoy - cracking vehicle mode, long-ladder fire truck with hidden volley missiles. Two really good humanoid modes - although my favourite is the separated "cab-half" humanoid, with the more classic Convoy-style head, the combined Supah-Moduh! is pretty nifty as well. And to top it all he combines with God Magnus if one happens to be handy...
1. Black Convoy - take arguably the best Optimus Prime mold every made, colour him black and make him evil. Job pretty much done. Fantastic toy, with lots of play features and weapons, in a brilliant colour scheme - the shiny trailer is marvelous. The Black Convoy version also has the inverted Cybertron/Autobot logos instead of Scourge's Decepticon logos, which I love. They make him look like he has not just rejected the Autobot Code, but actively embraced the negation of it - making him a sort of Anti-Prime if you like.

A note on Car Robots versus Robots in Disguise. I find it ironic that it is the Japanese versions that have better disguises - due to the fact that most of them don't have visible faction logos in vehicle modes (other than God Magnus, who is just too cranky to care really), whilst the versions from the line that proclaims in the title that they are in disguise... has them with big logos plastered on them for ease of identification....

Karl

[Philip Ayres]

OK..... I think it's going to be a multiple lists week:

Overall

5) Prowl - a Lambo Police Car with BW level articulation? LIKE

4) Ultra Magnus - you forget now but this toy was a BIG thing: the first new Magnus since 86 and it combined with Optimus!

3) Spychanger Scourge - Evil inn a tiny minute form. Perfect downsizing of the larger toy.

2) Brave Maximus - What we can but a recoloured Fort Max that looks amazing? Sold. Minus points for the missing weapons but hallelujah for the 3P replacements/KOs! (why has nobody yet done new 3P weapons for Max? A new hand held missile launcher?)

1) Super Fire Convoy (Optimus Prime) - "I'M A GOLDFISH - TRANSFORM!" To me it makes sense that Optimus Prime could be a fire engine.
Heroic red vehicle mode. They seem made for each other. Cab robot + base or Super robot or Fire Engine. Articulation. Features. One of my fave TFs of all time.

For a purely new moulds list remove Max, advance the others and add Sideburn/Speedbreaker onto the end.

For a repaint list OBVIOUSLY Max tops it for me. But beyond that.....

5) Windsheer - the Megatron flipchanger jet fixed and in black - superb

4) Sky Byte - TM2 Sharkticon is a steaming pile of **** of massive proportions. A lick of paint transforms it!

3) Destructicon Scourge - I already like Combat Hero Op. The Black version is superb!

2) Scourge - and as much as I don't like Laser Op it works so much better in black as an Evil Op. My one complaint is the name is *obviously* wrong and he should be Mega Octane not the Combaticon leader.

Plenty of honourable mentions in the recolours (it was a good line for recolours) for Storm Jet (1st New Jetfire) Slapper (red tm2 Frog) Skid-Z (Flipchanger car in better colours) Sky-Fire (the other Flipchanger jet now fixed) Baldigus (a superb Combaticon repaint slightly spoilt for the western release) Wal*Mart Ruination (THE best Combaticon repaint), Clear Indy Heat (clear Mirage!) and Clear Wrecker Hook (best official version of the Flipchanger truck!)
Obsidian

[kayevcee]

1) Optimus Prime: such a great figure. Large, stable, dynamic-looking, packed to the rafters with weapons and features. Its combination ability is just icing on the cake. That it could still stand up and hold poses in this combined form is astonishing

2) JRX/Rail Racer: Brave-style combination with Beast Wars style articulation. Not as fond of the individual figures, but Railspike is a favourite.

3) Wedge: such a clever wee figure. Benefits from not being restricted by the combination as much as the rest of Build Team. I also liked that he wasn't as big as the other three, befitting his "young officer" status.

4) Galvatron/Devil Gigatron: Glorious looking figure. Amazing to think what Hasbro could produce at the £20 price point a mere... 11 years ago.

5) Prowl: the best of the car brothers. Good proportions, nice weapons, spiffy car mode, and transformation isn't a killer like Side Burn.

-Nick

[Jim]

1) X-Brawn - my first adult Transformer purchase, still really like the toy.

2) Heavy Load - Landfill is quite a neat combiner, and Heavy Load just edges over Wedge it as my favourite component.

3) Optimus Prime - Cab robot is a bit weak, but the powered up mode and fire truck are really excellent toys. Omega Prime is magnificent, too.

4) Crosswise - I have a soft spot for the Spychangers and he's my favourite for some reason I can't quite put my finger on.

5) Skid-Z - beautiful repaint of that mould.

Lots bubbling under here, it was a great line.

-Jim

[Stomski]

I dunno, don't think the base robot of Prime is that bad Jim, aside from the wide calfs it's fairly well in proportion

[Philip Ayres]

My main problem with the base robot is how scratched the chrome has got on mine!

[Jim]

I'll have to dig mine out of Omega Prime again as it's been years, but I'm sure I remember not being too keen on the base robot for some reason which eludes me now.

-Jim

[Philip Ayres]

Can I tease this week's subject in advance?

They'll be whaling and nashing of teeth tomorrow.....

[Jim]

Pretenders?

-Jim