Mainline figures don’t seem to average fewer transformation steps.

 

Mainline figures were originally supposed to be released in 2022 to coincide with the film's original release date before the delay while SS figures were meant to be released in the year after.
Then the delay happened. All toys and merchandise had to be pushed back to 2023 and this included the mainline Deluxes and Voyagers.

 

So when we refer to the “mainline”, it’s a specific RotB mainline that would exist on the shelves along side Legacy?

 

Yep. The mainline includes gimmick figures and the non-SS Deluxe and Voyager class figures.
To put it in a simple term: The movie's toyline.

 

Ok. I think I get it.
I knew there would be gimmicky 1-steps and such, but I figured the “mainline Deluxes” like what we’ve seen for Cheets, Airrazor and WJ would have been in the Legacy line with a RotB label on the box.

 

Well that fortunately won't be happening since we know that the Deluxes and Voyagers for ROTB's main toyline will have their own ROTB themed packaging.
We've seen it on Optimus Prime and Rhinox but not the Deluxes yet.

 

iirc the plan was for the SS figures to release later than the film by about 6 months or so, with the mainline filling in so that kids and collectors could have some representation of the characters.

then the film got delayed, and the mainline toys along with it
twice
so now they're releasing concurrently with each other instead of the mainline then the studio series.

 

It makes sense but honestly a mess

 

I just hope the delays were worth the wait. Battletrap is kind of meh, Bumblebee is surprisingly alright (if a little creepy), Arcee is wonky, Freezer is broken, Cheetor is quite good, and Airazor is so ugly and the Kingdom mold has been so overused that she's old hat yet awful-looking at the same time.

The mainline might be the saving grace. Rhinox looks fun, Optimus looks cheap, Airazor looks a heck of a lot better, Cheetor's a badass, and Donatel...I mean Wheeljack sucks.

I'd say the pros go to the mainline over SS on this one. Still, is it worth the wait? Who knows at this point?