When it comes to Transformers figures and collectors, opinions tend to be strong. The slightest flaw can mar a figure enough for me that I won't even want to look at it, especially when it comes to QC issues, and I know a lot of people here are the same. Despite that pickiness, there is the occasional figure that I pick up that has a lot of issues but I end up liking it enough that I can look past those problems enough to consider it a favorite figure. 1. Energon Mirage This figure has a lot flaws: Mirage is a shellformer, his wing balljoints tend to crack, his torso is entirely hollow, his Decepticon insignia paint has a tendency to flake off, and his legs have pop off with the slightest wrong move. I bought two of this figure as a teenager in order to build one that actually manages to stay together and, with a lot of screw-tightening and parts-swapping, I managed to put together a copy that is still in great shape 12 years later. I currently have him decked out with Doomlock's and a broken Generations Armada Starscream sword (I broke one on accident, but one weapon was saved). This figure has its flaws for sure, but it's amazingly pose-able, it's got a great speedboat alt mode, and it has an amazing character design. E Mirage is one of the few figures that I would never sell, even in desperation, if you don't have this guy, pick him up 2. Energon Slugslinger Okay, I know, this guy is floppy as fuck. Even after a fair bit of joint-tightening with floor polish and screw-tightening, Sluggy here still has some problems with posing. Despite that, armed with E Insecticon's sword and machine gun, Slugslinger looks great, can hold a pose (he's only floppy when picked up), has one of the most awesome and unique headsculpts of all time for the TF line, and has two excellent modes. I can't say he's perfect, but he's still one of my favorite figures in my collection. 3. Galaxy Force Soundwave The Cybertron version of this figure sucks, but the GF version has incredible paint apps. The legs on this figure are absolutely terrible, the cannon droops like an old man without Cialis, and there are (sadly) no other cassettes/bombs other than the Soundblaster repaint's Buzzsaw, and he has a gigantic backpack. Still, I love this figure's silhouette and feel like the idea of cassettes as bombs is terribly unexplored. 4. Voyager Galaxy Force Starscream This mold works better at the voyager scale it was intended to be released in, who would have thought? Yeah, the supreme scale Starscream looks overly simple and generally under-articulated (also overpriced), but the voyager-scale mold of this guy is absolutely amazing! He can't do many poses, but those pink swords look really awesome no matter where they're aimed. 5. Galaxy Force Metroplex This guy's alt-mode looks like a robot crawling on all fours, though it represents a fairly distinct alt-mode that is hard to represent in an action figures(an earth mover). Metroplex' robot mode is amazing, but the axe/land mover accessory is hard to pose. I love this figure, but in a realistic giant robot fight he would probably lose to anyone with a long ranged weapon and a sense of self-preservation. Anyhow, what are your favorite figures that others tend to hate?
Go on, then... Chug Galvatron. The deluxe. The transformation is infuriating, particularly with the tendency for the arms to pop off their ball joints, but no more so than the Classics Lambo or Datsun toy of the same era. On the plus side, it is asymmetrical, a rare treat for a TF, particularly a deluxe. And it is covered in molded and painted details. Compared to a contemporary deluxe / warrior figure, it looks like a Faberge egg. Now compare it to the TR voyager-class offering: The colours are closer to what I want from a Galvatron and the head will always be better. The real downside is the rumoured intended to be Ultra-class, hence the abandoned quadruped mode teased in the deluxe. It looks mint alongside deluxe Cyclonus (but not so much Chug Scourge). 2015 RiD Sideswipe. The warrior-class thing which doesn't roll. OK, it doesn't roll in car mode and the shoulders don't tab in robot mode. The first is a fault I can ignore because I don't play much Hot Wheels with my TFs; the second is one which doesn't matter if you hold the shoulder when posing the arms. Other than that... swish car mode, lovely and fluid transformation including a shin & leg swivel-me-do I enjoy every time I do it. It really helps if you think of the character as the closest a Transformer will ever be to Sterling Archer in TF media.
Beast Machines Supreme Cheetor It is in essence, a horrid figure, almost as if Hasbro had a whole bunch of left over yellow plastic they had to use. However, in my Beast Machines collection, despite being ridiculously bigger than his comrades, he looks great. And I much prefer him to the Mega Class Cheetor for some very peculiar reason.
Henkei Galvatron is not the Galvatron i want for my chug shelf, i bouht him just to have some representation of the character. But now i have him i find it difficult to sell him, there is something -dare i say - fun about the transformation once you got it figured out. RID Sideswipe i was affraid of the shoulders - someone at Has/Tak DEFINENTLY has a problem designing shoulders - but mine isnt as bad as in the reviews, if you are gentle he'll be allright. And he is a very fun toy. Energon Slugslinger has been in my wantlist for a long time and Mirage looks cool too. I guess i'll see what i think when i finally get them. As for my own pick... I guess MP Shockwave will have to do: The color really isnt as pastel as in pictures and either way i dont really care. My chug collection odly enough is my shelf-collection - i do play with them offcourse - i consider my yet small mp collection to be my real handle-toys. And that is the purpose i bought Laserwave for: to sit in front of the television, transforming him back and forth going:"pew, pew" in gunmode. Also because of his resemblance to the G1 toy in gunmode, cause i never had a G1 Shocks and i dont need to. And he fills both purposes just fine. And i guess Pretenders. I just always loved the more fantastic - as usual sadly mainly Decepticon - monster Pretenders. It really was like having two toys in one. Sure the shells only had arm and barely head articulation but seriously: there were lots of G1 toys that didnt do much better. And yeah the altmodes were not really very appealing to many, but i still like them. They are basic, because they have to fit in the shell but i like that about them. They look like sleek, fast vehicles for fast short-period action you can attach powerfull weapons to. Like some Gung-ho units that dive into the battle shooting foes left and right, making bots heads spin, just to quickly turn back to the frontline, hiding in the safety of their shell to dig into the breach they created
Henkei Hot Rod He's a dated figure and smaller than the TR version. He also has a cheesy blue flame that attaches to his gun. I still like him better than the TR and will use him for Hot Rod when I set my CHUG collection again.
The original G1 Ratchet and Ironhide figures. Sunbow virtually assassinated their toys by anthropomorphizing them so far beyond resemblance to their figures. I had almost dozen Transformers before I ever saw the show or read the comic and I loved my G1 Ratchet. I don't know if that would've been true if I'd seen the show first. I still think that they could have been animated as is and kids would have been fine as long as they were written well. I wonder if their sleds were dropped for the same reason Prime's trailer rarely got used. Maybe three semi-autonomous battle platforms and the Autobots numerical advantage would have made the Decepticons a less credible threat in the first season. Or perhaps Floro Dery was just feeling lazy that day.
Masterpiece Tracks/ Road Rage/ Loud Pedal. It's certainly not perfect. It's definitely different when compared to the cars that came before it. But I still love it, most of the transformation is fun and it's poseable and evokes the character.
How about most of the original Classics line? Take out the awful ultimate battle set and there's not a dud amongst them. Oh they don't have an obnoxious gimmick or look like this week's redesign of the comics but they're still phenomenal toys.
- G1 Topspin and Twintwist - These are a dime a dozen. But when I finally got a set that was in perfect working order I appreciated them a gazillion times more. - Classics Astrotrain - I seriously don't get the hate for this figure. I think it is a fantastic recreation of the vintage toy. - 2012 Botcon Metalhawk - I know they dropped the ball on the head sculpt. But I still think it was a great idea and I love the character.
LoL But no one hates Classics!! Except Galvatron, anyway. I second the GF/Cybertron voyager Soundwave mention. It's goofy as shit, but has a badass alt mode and gave his minions a new purpose.
Combiner Wars Breakdown is one for sure. I love his transformation and the look of him, but people hate him because of his backpack and his hips. It doesn't bother me at all and I'll never stop liking the figure.
ROTF Mixmaster, definitely. I think the transformation is fun and well done, and either modes are great. I understand why some people don't like him, but he's one of my favorites.
Aaah, gotta second classics Astrotrain. While i paradoxically think he and Broadside are the only ones of the six best known triplechangers that should have been updated in voyager size i think he is a great toy. Classics Astrotrain is proof that awesome triplechanger toys can be made in deluxe size and i hope Has/Tak or anybody else one day sees the light and produce a triplechanging Springer, Sandstorm, Blitzwing and Octane in deluxe size as they should be.
Movie ('07) Payload I just like his unique look, his unique transformation, and his unique altmode--and even his claw gimmick. He has parts that just fall off (like his head, grill, and that piece on his claw) and a giant bar sticking our of his back, but I just like him a lot. AoE Platinum Silver Knight Optimus Prime The "first edition" mold gets a lot of flack, but this thing all chromed and silver painted with his giant sword and shield looks so awesome. It definitely has an unmatched shelf presence. Also, put me down as another big fan of RotF supreme Devastator, RotF voyager Mixmaster, and CW Breakdown
Combiner Wars Computron - I know a lot of people hate it because its inferior to Takara's offering but I prefer it to Unite Warriors by a lot. We've got Scrounge, a better Strafe, really nice coloring too. Titans Return Stripes & Ravage - What? I really do like these because they feel like a CHUG update to that old Cougar Cassette tape. Really want a Howlback & Glit repaint and then a Steeljaw retool. Titans Return Getaway - He is not lazy you just have a high standard when it comes to Transformers especially when it comes to the amazing Titans Return line. I like the color scheme on Getaway a lot more then Chromedome and I like the head sculpt more. Both are great and this is a great old. Combiner Wars Breakdown - I'm a fan of the mold just don't like the legs in transformation. Also I like the retool into Wheeljack, yes despite the fact he lacks so much paints. I didn't know people disliked ROTF Devastator. I remember getting him for Christmas and just couldn't put him down for a month, I love this thing. How much hate does Fall of Cybertron get? I know I heard a lot of people hate Bruticus but I like him and love him more as Ruination. And I do like the Jazz/Sideswipe mold.
Definitely ROTF Blazemaster. The bot mode looks like shit but the minimal amount of kibble, esp from the tail section and how clean and bot mode free the helicopter mode is... I love it.
Going to add another one to my list: Classics Dinobot Alright, this figure downright sucks as Dinobot. First off, wrong colors. Why the wrong colors? Hasbro hates you, duh. Actually, it's because this guy is secretly Classics Pretenders Iguanus. I like to think that Iguanus got fed up with not being attached to his shell and got his crazy ass fuzed to the thing. Sure, his dinosaur mode looks like it's giving birth to hands, but if you think of him as an overweight mutant lizard instead of a Velociraptor, it works perfect! Also, this figure has a down right great robot mode, especially if you deck him out with a 3 3/4" gundam action figure missile launcher and use his claws instead of his fists. Sure, it's not a perfect figure in any way, and he sucks as Dinobot, but with a little bit of imagination he's still a good figure.
TR Galvatron. Been waiting for a Galvatron in cannon mode for a long time. Everytime they made him a freaking tank. Now we get one for Titans Return. A lot of folks didn't like him for the Triple changer aspect I get that but over all he is a great figure. perfect for from it. The mask was a bit of a let down but I got the shape ways helmet and it works great. Was able to remove the cockpit and boom.
For me it's the MP vans. Especially Ironhide. I waited 30 years for a decent versions of these two and they did not disappoint. The finish and alt modes are gorgeous and the transformation might be the cleverest that the MP line has ever produced. The hip panels undoubtedly suck, but the figure gets so much else right that, after owning him for a year, I barely see them now. The diaper thing doesn't faze me because the shape is sit on and I don't find it to be obnoxiously large. People bitch that he has a beer belly. I'm not interested in a G1 Ironhide that doesn't have a beer belly. That's always how I've always thought he was supposed to look. The flat torso on the Voodoo vans was enough by itself to make me hate that version. Let alone those hideous face sculpts. Speaking of which, after some initial skepticism from early pics, Ironhide's head and face are IMO close to perfect.
