So it has to be the same character, just a different deco? That really narrows it down. Anyway, I'd have to say that I was really fond of the G1 redeco for TFTM Jazz. It's the best iteration of that mold. And if Jazz was considered 1, then Starscream's G1 redeco was easily 1A.
And as Plain Jane as it is compared to the original and Henkei releases, I really like Universe 2.0 Starscream best.
Revenge of the Fallen and Animated leader Shadow-blade Megatron. Nothing like a black repaint to make it look awesome.
Either Electrostatic Mirage or Starscream's Ghost. They're tied for first place. Three-way tie for second, the e-Hobby Unicron heralds.
Henkei Hound. I mostly buy Hasbro releases, but I'll shell out the extra cash if the Takara version has a distinct, superior deco. Same principle for Rodimus, except I don't like the gold chrome and have been trying to get the orange ones from a Classics release.
It's pretty tough sticking to the rule of it being the same character, so i'll go with Universe 1.0 Night-Slash Cheetor.
If going by the "not a new character" deal, then yes. My overall favorite repaint is probably Universe Frostbite. Fantastic color scheme that just breathes a new life into a rather mediocre(or maybe outright bad) mold. Being the same character... I don't know... there are so many translucent versions I could say... SHUM, Clear (Beast) Convoy, etc.... so maybe I'll mention a repaint that's probably completely overlooked: Super Spychanger Autofire. It's basically negative colors. The blue flames look great against the white car body and the translucent green and metallic gold are accents that go great with the blue and white respectively.
He isn't the same character as Sideswipe. This thread is about repaints of the same character, like the yellow and blue DOTM Sideswipe
I normally hate any & all same-character repaints that just have a new word slapped in front of their name, but I will say that I liked the Animated Freeway Jazz repaint. And that's only because it's a wicked little stand-in for an Animated version of Silverstreak. That and of course the G1 colored repaint of Animated Shockwave.
Battle in space Cyclonus or whatever it was called. The repainted version of Universe2.0 Cyclonus is the one I mean. Not that I dislike the orginal paintjob, I'll buy that mold in every color they release it in, just think the newer version is even cooler then the original.