We have two of these now so lets talk about them... Transmutate I think made more sense as a build a figure because she was never meant to Transform in the show. Maccadam on the other hand... does actually transform... into what we don't really know, it was off screen and all we saw were shadows... I'm hoping to fan mode something out of him but officially Maccadam doesn't transform. On the opposite side of things... The down side to Transmutate is that the figures were all reuissues of figures people likely already had and would have to rebuy in order to get her. I'm not sure kids at the time would care about 10 year old figures of characters they've never heard of with a build a figure of a character they've also probably never heard of. Maccadam on the other hand is being released along with the cartoon with new figures so while I love the Beast Wars I think Transmutate was released 10 years too late to be relevant. So they're kind of a tie... I much prefer Transmutate over Maccadam if we're just looking at the figures on their own. But on a promotional level I think Maccadam has a better sales pitch. Looking at the individual figures in the BAF toy lines and ranking them... Rattrap: He has an unfair advantage here being the only Transmetal figure in the line up. The season 1 Beast Wars toys were not the greatest. Tarantulas: I actually had this figure when I was a kid but the 10th Anniversary version did seem to have better paint apps that brought out more details in the mold. Especially the head sculpt, the original all grey head didn't look that great but this version you can see all the little molded details because it's actually painted. Rhinox: Again with the much nicer more show accurate paint job. This would be the best version of Rhinox if it weren't for the Generations figure that would be released later. Waspinator: OK I get it the 10th Anniversary toy line really liked to update the paint jobs. Dinobot: Another figure I actually had as a kid... oddly I don't think they improved the paint job here... Cheetor: I put him last for two reasons... 1. Unlike the other characters this looks exactly the same as the original release... at least to my color blind eyes... I'm not sure what they could of done to make him look better but it just seems a little off compared to the others. 2. Just mold wise Cheetor has always had one of the worst designs with that bulky out of shape cheetah mode. They all have a bit of robot kibble hanging off them but Cheetor just does the worst job of hiding "I'M A ROBOT!" Now looking at the Maccadam figures... Thunderhowl: I had to look up what this guy looks like cause there's no pictures of him currently on TFWiki… but I REALLY like the look of this figure. He also seems to have more accessories than the other figures in the line. An actual sword unlike Grimlock, a shield, and an effect part. Not including the piece of Maccadam he comes with. Bumblebee: I was fine with just having my IDW Bumblebee represent this guy because the toys were so bad for this line... then these came out and I saw this. HUGE improvement over the other figures we've gotten in Cyberverse. Grimlock: I just think it's kinda funny he comes with a crown that can be used in both modes... Megatron: I actually have this one and I would of put him higher but there are a few slight problems with the figure mainly in robot mode. Nothing too bad but still he's pretty high mainly because of that TANK! Finally a Cyberverse Megatron that isn't just doing a yoga pose! Hot Rod: OK so the paint job isn't the best... actually if I were judging on paint job alone he'd be dead last... but it's otherwise a nice looking figure and while I usually don't care about effects parts I really like those flames he comes with. Optimus Prime: Consider this a middle ground figure. It's not bad but the reason I didn't put him higher is because the Spark Armor figure was actually pretty good already and this isn't as much of a vast improvement over previous releases of the character as the other ones were. Also I think the Matrix Blast thing is the dumbest gimmick out of all of them. Arcee: I'm not sure they could of done better... I mostly put her down here because of that GIGANTIC back pack. I'm pretty sure she's wearing the entire vehicle mode shell on her back. Again I don't think there's a better way they could of done that but still she looks pretty bad because of it. Shockwave: And this isn't really his fault because it's accurate to the show... but I hate that vehicle mode so he kinda just ended up on the bottom of the list by default. I actually own this figure and he has some neat tricks, I still kinda like him and that kinda says a lot about this line when the figure I consider to be the WORST of the bunch is still an enjoyable figure. This rankings might change as I complete the line. Right now I'm mostly judging them from pictures but for now this is how I rank the build a figures.
I can't speak to cyberverse but in my case TM Rattrap and cheetor were my only repeat buys. I missed out on Tarantulas and Dinobot but did have the fox kids repaints of Rhinox and waspinator
I missed out on Transmutate, but I'm already a sucker for the Maccadam. I know he's going to be a cheap little figure in the end, but it's going to be my Alchemist Prime. I like the way Marvel does them better when it's a figure bigger than the figures that come with the parts. I bought the Hulkbuster set and love him. As far as the Cyberverse Deluxes, these save the toyline for me. The other figures in the toyline are all hampered with gimmicks that kill articulation and aesthetics.
I really don’t want bafs in TF, unlike other toy lines, TF has many different size classes and price points, throwing parts in a wave to make a baf just doesn’t make sense to me outside of promoting completion of a wave, which is a lame business tactic imo as for the ones already out. None transform, and they are small, ok, but they also aren’t very well articulated, which sucks, so yeah I don’t really want Bafs in TF, the only real draw is that we have no other representation of them ( other than BotCon/tfcc transmutate) Also there are a few bafs in the SCF line if you want to count those
I mostly agree with this. Mainly the part about how BAF is just a way of promoting completion of a wave which is a lame business tactic. The part I don't get is how this is different than any other toy line that does the same thing? Other toy lines also have different size classes and price points... and so far both of the BAF sets have all been only Deluxes so why does that even matter? The main thing that I think makes Transformers different which you didn't even mention is the fact that it's TRANSFORMERS! As in the figures are suppose to TRANSFORM... That makes it kinda hard to have a Build a Figure and probably why the only ones we've gotten so far have been non-transforming figures. Imagine having to engineer a transformation into a figure and also expecting people to piece it together themselves. Aren't well Articulated? Have you looked at Maccadam? He has more articulation points than the figures you need to buy to complete him. That's the only reason I decided to complete him even though he has no official transformation he looks like he would be articulated enough that I could fan mode him into something anyway. I don't know what SCF is but this is a Transformers discussion so why would I count what I assume is a non TF toy line?
Look and The two lines that kinda started BaFs, marvel legends and DCUC they don’t really have a size class above standard (other than the 1/6 ml I guess), and ML have only ever released bafs individually sporadically, they don’t have dedicated higher price point size classes that get periodic releases actually iron factory and I believe a few others have done transforming BaFs in the 3p scene, also I am of the mind that transformers don’t have to transform, I just have other standards when they don’t transform, like better articulation, while I don’t think I would have an issue putting together a transforming baf, I would rather not have something with so many parts have the possibility of being split into potentially dozens of releases I have what’s out of Mac addam and I am not impressed with the articulation, it’s rather standard imo, and no ankle anything they are a transformers line
