Now that the TFCC/TFSS/Botcon/OTFCC era is over, I looked back and picked my top 5. What would your top 5 be from Fun Pub/3H/MIB/Raksha/Hartmans? Doesn't have to be toys you own, could be you just really like the idea and would own one if you could. #5 - Punch/Counterpunch (TFCC 2010, Fun Pub) Yuki designed this mold for both Sideswipe/Sunstreaker by keeping front/back looks for each brother, and Fun Pub cleverly used it for the G1 spy. I really liked the G1 toy and this would have been the perfect modern update, except that the head was embarrassingly minuscule. I display him in car mode and wish we'll get a better front/back toy in future but probably never will if its up to Hasbro. #4 - Dawn of Future's Past Boxset (Botcon 2006, Fun Pub) This is for the boxset rather than individual toys, which were very meh on their own. I always disliked the boxsets without no cohesive themes but I thought here's one where clearly the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I think the idea is so cool, to have the crew of the Axalon in their pre-BW vehicular bodies, offering us a glimpse beyond the fiction we've seen. I'm glad Hasbro also delivered similar ideas in the form of the Orion Pax toy and also various characters in their pre-Earth Cybertronian modes although those were supported by fiction. I display this set in the box, but I sold Dinobot. I didn't pick Predacus because I feel he was shoe-horned into a 5-member combiner when he was clearly 3 guys. And also didn't like how pre-BW Terrorsaur, Ravage, etc all became combiners. #3 - Oilmaster (Botcon 2015, Fun Pub) Wow, a real pretender (and not a weird robot with a cross-eyed human head) plus its an unreleased double pretender toy! What an awesome idea with a great history! Nobody thought they needed a double pretender in their collection until Oilmaster arrived! What are the chances of Hasbro ever doing pretender shells again? #2 - G2 Breakdown (Botcon 1994, Hartmans) This is, to me, the purest Botcon toy idea. One official Transformer toy you cannot get anywhere else except if you show up at the convention this year. How cool is that? The beauty is in its simplicity. #1 - Devcon (Botcon 2014, Fun Pub) Ever since the G1 cartoon, I wanted a Devcon toy. And this is the only one in existence. If club/con toys are about giving fans obscure characters that Hasbro didn't do, Devcon is the definition of that for me. Shame that his vehicle mode and colors are not really screen-accurate and a darn real shame his face is so duck-lips ugly. Still a childhood dream come true. PS: Goodbye club/con toys era, and hello the era of Hasbro giving us rather Botcon-like toys recently. Like G2 combiners, Victorion, Scrounge, the Chaos on Velocitron boxset with Quickswitch, Fastlane and G2 Laser Prime. We even get toys like Krok, Lione, Shuffler, Top Spin at mass retail. So, I'm happy to say goodbye and pretty optimistic about the future.
i also like that hasbro is making more obscure characters toys. 5. tfcc depth charge it's a repaint of terradive, a great toy, as depth charge from beast wars! it's good. it's also the only club/botcon toy i actually own, so i like it because i have one, and it looks cool 4. tfcc barricade he looks good. it was also a neat idea to make a classics-like version of a movie character. i want one 3. knight ginrai this one looks really cool. it's ginrai (from that one japanese show called super-god masterforce) in his fire guts. the result is an orange optimus prime. i want one 2. botcon rainmakers these guys are nice. they're the classics seeker mold, but in more colors. this spot is more specifically at hotlink, because he is purple. but the others look good too. i want them. i would have tried to get them if they weren't like 200 dollars 1. transmetal 2 megatron first of all it looks amazing. wow. yes. also, this one has history behind it. it was an unused concept from when 3H ran the show, and funpub decided to pay homage to this in the final botcon (which was the only one i got to go to) which was also the 20th anniversary of beast wars. it just seemed perfect. also i want one
From the guys i have, in no particular order: Deptcharge for sure. He is seriously beautifull. Machine Wars Thundercracker and Sandstorm: cool molds that got me to start a selective movieverse collection. The Dread Pirate Crew: never new i would like the molds that much and man, those colours! Runamuck and Rubabout: the figures Hasbro should have released at retail. I can hardly see me replacing them with anything we might see in future As usual i cant stop at five SG Octopunch and Classic Spinisters: Man, they are beautifull. Wings Leozack, or Lyzack in my case I dont have her. But i gotta mention Paradron Medic: she looks beautifull.
I don't know if I'm entirely qualified to post here, but here I go anyway! Club exclusives fascinate me to be honest. Always such rare characters that look so damn nice. It's cool to see time and effort going into characters you otherwise wouldn't get. Anyhow. #5: TFSS Nightracer You know, I like fembots. There's not any particular reason, I just do. And, well, this is a case of a mold working better as a fembot than its intended use. Nightracer wears the Tailgate mold so damn well, and it's such a nice looking color scheme! Love the stripes on the car. Absolutely love it. #4: Botcon SG Ravage It's cute. The end! 3: Botcon 2010 Double Punch Mmmm. Neeeon. Honestly this spot was the hardest pick for me, as there's a lot of convention exclusives that aren't really my favorite, but deserve to be on the list. Right in the middle, you know? My debate for this slot is the exact reason that the honorable mentions down there exist. But in the end, it has to go to this neon... whatever it is. 2: Botcon 2014 Flareup In an ideal world, she'd share a spot with no. 1. I, despite not actually HAVING the mold, adore the Prime Arcee mold with all my heart. It just forms such a cohesive bike and a damn nice robot. 1: Botcon 2014 Flamewar Remember what I said about fembots? Still applies here, as Flamewar is honestly one of my favorites. I know nothing of her personality or anything, but her design is frankly phenomenal. I love the black and red with the sick flames, and would absolutely love to get my hands on this figure. But alas it's an exclusive so it of course has a high aftermarket price. A damn shame, that. Honoroable mentions: Botcon Animated Dragstrip, Predacus, TFSS Paragon Medic, Botcon Minerva, Botcon 2016 Airrazor, Botcon 2015 Battletrap, any other amazing con/tfss exclusive that I happened to forget about.
Scorponok 2014 "Raise the Flag" so Funpub could have just banged out a g1 flavored repaint of the Energon Scorponok and people would have been happy. but they didnt just do that. they retooled the figure's head AND neck, and gave us a brand spankin new Headmaster (before such a thing became the norm) and knocked it outta the friggin park. Double Pretender Optimus Prime 2017 Figure Subscription Service 5.0 most people are gonna say Oilmaster, i'm going with TrukkMunky Prime because it's a weird mashup of Powermaster, G2, Targetmaster, and Pretender. and all of that is my 90s kid jAam Shattered Glass Thundercracker 2011 "Stunticon Job" (for some reason?) The colors, holy fuckballoons, the colors, last time i saw colors like this, there was peyote involved. Serpent O.R. 2015 Figure Subscription Service 3.0/Advanced B.A.T. 2015 Club store G.I.Joe crossover transformers, need i say more? Cannonball/Dread Pirate Crew 2014 "Raise the Flag" imma sucker for Pirates. honorable mention: Waruders 2016 "Cybertron's Most Wanted" for a while, we were wondering what Hasbro was gonna repaint Generations Waspinator into, and then along came funpub, and basically made all of them in one go. while tying them into Transformers history by making them the Waruder swarm from Diaclone. also, the one News credit i have to my name was the discovery of these guys on Taobao. so there may be some bias here.
I'll start by saying I love the concept of both shattered glass and the redux boxed set. Owned the reduxed, but sold it a few years ago. Most botcon/tfcc/sdcc are ok, but the ones I own I feel reprisent the best (imo) Botcon Double Punch. Before I got my hands on a g1 scorponok, I figured the best we would get was energon version. This was also before the botcon scorponok. So I searched ebay, and asked my gf, now wife, what colors she likes best. D.P. won. SDCC Nemises Prime. Love the mold to this day, and the colors. Although, red instead of blue clear plastic would be better. Oh well. Tfcc 2016 Skywarp. Given my name on here, he should come as no surprise. Botcon Galva Convoy. Bought him at the 2015 botcon, untouched by any paint. In my own personal head cannon, he is the grim reaper of transformers, neither good nor evil. Plus a clear purple energon ax, whats not to love.
5. TFCC BWU Lio Convoy: Because it's Lio what his Cybertronian Alt Mode before he got the White Lion Beast Mode. 4. Botcon 2008 Shattered Glass Theme: Having the Autobots and Decepticons switch roles and colors, both cool and awesome. 3. TFCC SS.01 Ultra Mammoth: Well it's really nice to a Beast Era version of Ultra Magnus, that isn't White Gorilla or a Blue/Red Lion. 2. Botcon 2006 Dawn of Future's Past/2016 Dawn of Predacus Themes: Having Beast Era characters got alt modes before they got their Beast Mode is still a nice add 1. Botcon 2011 Animated theme: Well having Animated versions of G1/G2/BW Characters that aren't in the show is both amazing and nice all the same time.
Botcon 2011 The Stunti-con-Job Boxset - It's the Stunticons mixed with Animated, what's not to like? Botcon 2015 Waruder 4-pack- Couldn't help picking this one since they used that unreleased Halloween deco. TFSS 2.0 Thrustinator- Two Waspinators in one. TFCC Advanced Stealth B.A.T- One of my favorite molds just enhanced by the B.A.T Deco. TFCC MP Ratbat- Dat Marvel deco. Mmmmmm
It's funny I was about to post a thread like this... (and just use FP figures) then take the results and turn it into a poll for the best FP figure.
Of the ones I have: Thunderclash Leozack Actionmaster Treadshot Tap Out Chromia/Moonracer deco Honourable mentions: Shadow Striker Roulette Of the ones I don't have: Dreadwind Double Punch G2 Hot Link Kick Off Scorponok with Olin Zarak
2005 Ironhide and Ratchet. One of the times FunPub took a mold and significantly improved it by making it a different character. You know it was good when Hasbro made an official Ironhide and Ratchet three years later and it still wasn't as good as FunPub's. 2008 Starscream. The Cybertron Voyager Starscream mold is great to begin with, and looks great in white and red. 2010 Punch/Counterpunch. Even the small head can't knock this one off the list. A perfect homage for a character that both needed one and wasn't likely to get one. 2012 Over-Run and Runamuck. The whole presentation here is gorgeous, including the collector box with slots for both of them. 2016 Unit-3. Using a great mold helps, but how FunPub managed to make a kickass homage to a Happy Meal toy I don't know. But it looks amazing. So true. I mean, look at this: Will a Hasbro Scorponok scale as well, assuming they ever even make one? Don't count on it.
I never signed up for the club or attended a con, but I do have a few figures (and want even more, but I'm sticking to figures that I own): 5. Botcon Rapido - Like the mold, love the head sculpt, and I'm a huge fan of that color combo. Alt mode is kinda "meh" to me though. 4. TFCC Punch/Counterpunch - Don't really care for the transformation scheme, but I love the fact that the mold was initially made for two different characters, therefore fitting Punch/Counterpunch more than any other mold I can think of. 3. TFCC Nova Prime - One of my favorite character designs. Need more figures of this guy. He'd be higher on the list except 1) I already have this mold as Orion Pax and 2) he doesn't have his signature wings. 2. TFCC Rewind - I'm a HUGE fan of sunglass-like-eyes-or-maybe-even-a-visor and face-masks, so his head is perfect. Yeah, those spring-loaded pile-drivers keep popping out, but at least mine has tight joints everywhere else. Also, he turns into a TANK. Also also, getting this character in Transformers: Battle Tactics (remember that game?) spurred me to pick this figure up - no regrets! 1. TFCC Krok with Gatoraider Fun fact: I hated Transformers as a kid. Too many springs and gears and tabs that break. But I LOVED crocodilians. My first Transformer was Skullcruncher (No springs, no gears, solid figure, CROCODILE). My second was Action Master Krok (I mean, I really just played with Gatoraider and let Krok himself sit in a box. Gatoraider had springs though, which bugged me). (Alligator Megatron was my third, but he had way too many springs and gears - I mean, his whole transformation was spring loaded - so I've sold him and repurchased him many times over the years, and now he just stays in his gator mode.) Anyway, when this mold initially came out for Megatron, I noticed that the windshield parts matched up with the chest on Krok, and decided to customize my Megatron. The painting was going all right, but I was stuck at figuring out how to get the head on. THEN this guy came out. Apparently I wasn't the only one who saw the connection! So I scrapped my custom (poor guy is still in a box of junk somewhere - what a waste of time and money) and bought this guy. PLUS, he comes with a Gatoraider, which was just icing on the cake.
Based off the ones I own: 1. SDCC Metroplex The definitive version of the figure, IMO. Chrome, extra gun, and the figurines made it worth every penny to me. It was the playset that I've always wanted growing up, but since I grew up with the Unicron Trilogy, I never got a playset. I'm glad I have it now, and it reminds me of what I had to go through to get that figure. 2. Botcon 2014 Scorponok The original Energon Scorponok was always a figure I wanted as a kid, and seeing it in G1 colors with a headmaster was great. It's a great stand-in until a titan class Scorponok comes out. 3. Botcon 2013 Starscream Being one of the few people that loved the Machine Wars theme that year, Starscream was the best use of the Terradive mold to me. A great color scheme on a great mold. 4. SDCC Tablet Soundwave Everything about the figure screams premium. It was an experience even just opening up the box! A marvel of engineering, going from a 2 dimensional alt mode to a 3 dimensional robot was so impressive. 5. SDCC Knights of Unicron I don't care about how flawed some of the molds are. Just the sheer ridiculousness of the set made it a must-buy for me. Especially since I grew up as a musician, it's awesome having a glam metal band of figures.
i agree with OP, except substitute the 2006 set for Nacelle, although that 2006 set then gets an honorable mention Carzap also deserves an honorable mention IMO -
1. TFSS Krok 2. TFSS Double Pretender Optimus Prime 3. Botcon Predacus. I really dig the deco 4. Botcon Double Punch. I love that he exists at all, and he's just lovely 5. Botcon Kickoff. Honorable Mention: Runabout/Runamok; the first five members of TFSS 4.0; TFSS 5.0 Toxitron; TFSS Nacelle
In no particular order, and based on nothing but personal attachment to them: Second version of Apelinq TFSS Chromedome Thrustinator Darksyde Megatron Darksyde Waspinator
