Do designs from the toyline and such count? One of my favorites to this day is Wreckage.

 

toylines prolly where some of the best designs came from so sure

 

For something different design-wise, I've always liked Demolisher. I wish we got to see him more.
Also liked the idea behind Squweeks.

For unique alt modes, The Twins when they were an ice cream van, all the kitchen bots and Brains the laptop.

I was going to put Blackout, but I think the only reason I like him is because he looks like what I'd expect from a Transformer and wasn't messing up an established design.

 

Wreckage? I thought his name was "What Megatron SHOULD HAVE looked like in the 2007 movie" I guess that was too long to fit on the toy package.

So my personal favorites are...

Optimus Prime: Protoform and Evasion mode really needed a different color scheme cause they look more like Ultra Magnus than Optimus and both of them actually fixed this in the toy line. The Knight design looks like he has boobs for some reason... and again the toy line actually fixed this but the CGI model still looks like it has boobs. These are all really minor complaints compared to most other movie designs.

Jazz: If we're going to include toys I might as well point out that Jazz doesn't make a bad figure... he looks like shit on screen but the fact that the designs had to be simplified to work as toys made him look a hell of a lot better as a toy.

Barricade: With a different head this actually wouldn't be so bad as a transformer. He's one of the few movie designs that I can actually see where all his vehicle kibble ends up rather than more than half the vehicle magically disappearing mid transformation. Ironically the head design got less ugly while the rest of his robot mode got MORE ugly in future movies. Can I just take the head from his last appearance and put that on the body from his first appearance?

Soundwave: This a great example of how to make a character look different with the movie aesthetic but still keep them recognizable... Thank you. And I'm really glad they waited to introduce him in a sequel instead of putting him in the 2007 movie because the characters they wanted to slap his name onto would not have been Soundwave in my eyes.

Sideswipe: Granted he looks nothing like the original Sideswipe but I was never really a fan of that character in the first place. Movie Sideswipe has a cool sleek design and it's a little bit more forgiving because the vehicle mode makes it impossible to turn into a transformer without adding panel lines anyway. Most other vehicles already have panel lines on them even when they aren't robot and non-movie transformers are smart enough to take advantage of the lines that are already present in the vehicle mode rather than adding lines that don't exist on the actual vehicle. Can't do that with movie Sideswipe because there's no lines to take advantage of except for the doors. Plus I like the vehicle mode so much I bought a non-transforming model of the thing!

Shockwave: I wish he had a different chest design rather than that rib cage... Stop giving robots rib cages! Unless they transform into a literal skeleton. But other than the chest it's actually a really good Shockwave... though I kind of wish Nitro Zeus had been Shockwave instead.

Sentinel Prime: It could of been worse... he could of had a giant chin!

Lockdown: Yeah... I'm only really giving this credit because he looks a lot better than Decepticons in previous movies and his weirdly proportioned Animated counterpart... and I'm only talking about the version that was actually in a movie not the ROTF design, I still hate that one.

Cogman: In concept as a toy I like him. How he was actually done in the movie... no...

Megatron: Only the Last Knight version and only with his battle mask on. Every other movie incarnation of this character can burn in a dumpster fire.

Guardian Knights: Some of the toys look like they could have easily fit in with the Prime Predacons do to the similar Dragon theme they had going on. I still hate how they were actually portrayed in the movie itself but as toys they have some pretty good figures.

I'm only going to do the original 5 movies for this thread cause it was easier to point out the few designs I actually liked... for Bumblebee... it's easier to point out the designs I hated.

 

Knight Optimus and TLK Megatron are top 3 designs for both characters(arguably best for Megatron if I'm being perfectly honest). Bonus points for Sideswipe and Mirage for looking nothing like their original characters but still managing to look cool and leave an impact, which is more than I can say about a majority of other characters

Shockwave looked great and honestly deseved better

 

Sentinel is such a solid design. I love the shoulderpads and stature that he has.

 

i liked barricade's og design and rotf mixmaster as well prolly cuz the latter was one of my first tfs

 

I don't agree that it is the BEST Optimus design, but (with the mask plate on) it probably one of the great character redesigns of all time.

 

best prime design imo is either wfc/foc or idw

 

Yeah, if I had to say what the best Prime design, it would probably be a tie between PMOP, IDW, 07, G1, and BB.

 

IMO either Cybertron,PMOP,Laser,07, or Aoe

 

I tend to gravitate towards the weirder and more out-there designs. I love Demolishor, Rampage...most of the Constructicons, actually. Those are probably my favorite movieverse designs. They sort of have an industrial/utilitarian look.

Initially I thought Sqweeks was super ugly, but he's become an acquired taste for me, to the point where I'm really fond of that design. I like the puppet approach they took with him, he has an interesting and very different aesthetic than anything else we've seen in the brand. Sort of droid-like, which is always a plus for me. I'd like to see more Sqweeks-style practical effects in these movies in the future. Maybe something like that, but actually engineered to transform. That would probably go viral, like BB-8 did when they revealed he was a practical puppet.

I know it's controversial for not having enough truck kibble, but I actually quite like Optimus Prime's AOE/TLK design. It looks big and powerful and larger-than-life. I've always viewed Optimus (in the cartoons and whatnot) as a very heroic design, and I never quite thought the 2007-2011 design quite captured that...it was a bit too lanky for my liking. AOE really bulked him up and filled in the gaps, while still keeping the proportions somewhat realistic (he's not boxy or anything). Sure he could have used more truck kibble, but I still think it's a very visually appealing design (which is the most important thing for me). I don't always like Transformers who are themed after something from Earth culture (I'm not too big on the whole "The Wreckers look like Nascar fans" sort of thing), but Optimus as a knight really works for me. I think it's because they kept it relatively subtle and didn't overdo it by literally giving him a cape or knight helmet or something like that. He more embodies the spirit of a knight.

A few others I like are Laserbeak, Dino, Blackout, and Scorponok.

 

I totally agree with you on these, the more monstrous and wacked out they are, the better. Blackout and Demolisher are probably my top 2 with devastator, rampage, starscream, Grimlock following

 

Blackout. Simply well designed

 

My favorite Optimus designs would be: TFP (S1–2,) AOE, IDW, Armada (black.)

 

Bumblebee Optimus Prime.

 

Not really Bayverse but I like your choice.

 

He’s the producer, no megatron, Simmons in sector 7, and bees vehicle mode ties in with the 2007 movie... it’s bay verse

 

It was, but then thanks to TLK they changed it with reshoots and cutting as many references to the Bay films as possible to make it a reboot. They Cybertron scene itself was made only a few months before the film was released.

So it was a prequel but it than became a reboot. Part of a "new storytelling universe" as Hasbro calls it (since actually saying "reboot" is bad for business).