Going through my collection the other day it occurred to me that while it is common for a good character to get horrible toys (*stares at Movie Bee*) it is rarer for a Horrible Character that is loathed or hated... to get an amazing figure. Maybe it just happened to have great engineering. Or a great look. Or cool accessory. But this is the figure where you look at it and go "I hate this character so much and I am ashamed to own merchandise of him/her... but damn is that a fun toy!"

So let us celebrate the horrible figures that somehow got amazing figures.

I'll start with the one (or two) that inspired this discussion:



There is a LOT I will forgive the movies for because I feel they did more good than harm. I honestly believe Transformers would be a shell of what it currently is without them. I don't think the toy aisles would have the space they do without the films and it brought so many great characters back into the limelight. But I can't defend Skids and Mudflap. You might see them as racist... or stupid... or stupid racists... you might feel they took away from better characters or didn't help the plot...

But dang if they don't have a cool deluxe.

Even though I know I could make 100 bucks easily selling off my Skids and Mudflap deluxe... I won't. Because it is a friggin ice cream truck that turns into two scout-size Transformers! They look silly and dumb but I just love this figure so much. I don't care if the robot modes have so much kibble my neighbor's dogs scratch at my door thinking it is dinner time when I get them out... ICE CREAM TRUCK!

 

I'd say DotM voyager Shockwave. While many other figures suffered when Hasbro took the first leap towards smaller figures, less paint, and less complex transformations, I always loved that Shockwave. It's not so much that he was a horrible character, per se, just that he didn't get much screen time or characterization. Teaser shots of him in the trailers were more of a red herring to distract from any clue that Sentinel Prime would end up as the big bad.

 

Normally I hate the alien Cybertronian alt modes as they feel lazy... but Shockwave's is the best (I don't count TLK Megatron as he is basically a stealth jet). Great look, great transformation... wasted on a crappy version of the character

 

My choices may raise a few eyebrows as I dislike a lot of popular characters. However some of them have great toys. So here goes:

G1 Wheeljack
G1 and Titans Return Kup.
Masterpiece Ratbat
CW Devestator
G1 and Classics Voyager Optimus Prime.
Titans Return and Pretender Bumblebee.
G1 Cliffjumper
Takara Legends Brainstorm
Titans Return and G1 Tailgate.
G1 Red Alert
Masterpiece Grapple
G1 Sideswipe
G1 Prowl. I hate the prick IDW and Furman make him.
Classics and CW Leader Jetfire.
Titans Return Perceptor
Masterpiece Frenzy
Titans Return Wheelie
Collector's Club Ramjet
Transmetal Rattrap
Voyager Bludgeon
Generations Blitzwing
G1 and CW Bombshell
G1 Shrapnel
G1 Snarler
Generations and G1 Doubledealer

 

Studio Series Grimlock. Seeing that movie Grimlock isn’t a character just an explosive device.

 

One word, Erector.

 

Whoa, whoa, whoa!!! Spoiler alert next time! Sentinel Prime is the bad guy? Thanks for ruining that one for me!

 

In his defence it's 7 years since the movie came out. Leonard Nimoy is brilliant as Sentinel.

 

TigerHawk May have just been a convenient Deux Ex Machina that dies with little commupance, but he had a neat toy. Plus it was recolored into that cool universe Razorclaw. Know that he is Razorclaw!

 

My boyfriend looked Everywhere for that damn ice cream truck.

 

Getaway.

 

Didn't he hear the jingle?

 

Ejector from RotF....stupid scene with the Kitchenicons in my opinion but damn did l love fiddling with that toy!

 

Blue text is generally accepted as sarcasm.

 

T30 Windblade. I really like the figure, but care absolutely nothing for the character.

T30 Rhinox. He was my least favorite BW Maximal, but damn that figure is excellent.

 

I have occasionally felt a powerful impulse to buy that thing because of how cool that alt mode is.

But I don't think I could live with myself.

 

I wouldn't buy it now, not with the price, but paying retail for it makes them a very cool figure in my collection. But I am a sucker for odd alt modes.

 

I think the Skids/Mudflap ice cream truck is probably the best example there is. I suppose the better movie Optimus toys? He's a terrible character but it feels weird totally divorcing him from all other Optimus Primes.

 

TLK Voyager Megatron occurs to me as an example of this — the DOTM version too, although that one is a bit lanky. Megatron is probably one of the most developed movie 'Cons going through all the films, but that doesn't mean he was done well. Toys? He has a few good ones.

 

It really isn't. I never see it used anywhere but here.