Hi,

I have been collecting transformers awhile and thought to have some questions. I collected mostly lines starting from Beast war into RiD into Unicron trilogy, and now into HTFD, ROTF, Generations, and PCC.

What I wanted to ask is for recommendations, as in, bots that you would recommend to buy from other lines that are just so amazing that, even if I am not collecting that line, these are "marvels" to have.

I know I am missing some great lines, such as Binaltech, Animated, and Classics.

I intend to look into classics but they only get worse in terms of price, so I don't think I will collect the whole line.

Basically, what I consider as "marvels" would be a transformer toy that is well engineered. Homage does not factor at all for me. "Well engineered" is perhaps a loose term, but when you think about it, when you hold a toy that is an engineering marvel, you know it. The designers just have thought of about everything, and even the little details, amuse to no ends.

Examples of "well designed" transformer toys in my opinion, would be Generations Bumble Bee and HA Jazz (which I do not have but intend to get even though I don't collect the HA line, I feel it is well done).

For Bumble bee, when you think about it, the transformation packs very neatly, the weapons are all thought out, the figure is posable... you just.... know it was well engineered. It totally surprised me that a deluxe can turn into a scout sized vehicle, this thing is well designed, kudos to the engineers/designers that did it.

With that said, I was just wondering if there are any "engineering marvels" that you diehardly recommend.


An example of what is "not", is Fort Max. Everyone loves it, its a relic, its a holy grail, but I wouldn't say its an "engineering marvel". Optimus Classics, is one.

 

Personally if you had to get one toy from the animated line (since I don't go for the other 2) it would be animated swindle.

Both his modes are show accurate as possible, with no excess kibble. And can fit into the universe line pretty well. Sure his hands maybe a bit over large and depending on your luck you could end up with decent joints or bad flaps. But he has personality.

Plus he is a deluxe, which is good if you prefer something that takes up less space.

 

ah, thanks for the recommendation, I will look into it; its not limited to those lines =) I really just want to collect the ones that are well engineered

 

classics and animated have a great amount of well engineered figures, also masterpieces are as well

 

hm, well, what are the specific recommendations, as in,

"if you don't collect XYZ line, you should at least get ABC, because that is just an amazing toy", type of thing ^^;

 

Well, if you're collecting generations, then classics/henkei/universe 2.0 is a must, b/c other than the WFC figures, its a continuation of the same toy line.

After that, i'd say it depends on what you collect for. Investment/value? complicated transformations/puzzles? posing/display purposes, etc. Personally, i love articulation (for displaying) and sturdy/solid feeling toys, and I prefer the animated/classics lines. ROFT and Alt/Bin involve slightly more complex transformations and more panels popping off joints and paint apps chipping, etc if you're not careful. I specifically don't think that Movie/ROTF figures are as high of quality as the rest (along with the titanium line for different reasons).

 

Animated Blurr. I think he's an incredible little figure: show-accurate, good alt-mode, clever transformation (as Thew said, everything ends up the exact opposite of where you'd expect it to be) and a kick-ass robot mode with plenty of posability. I also second the Swindle recommendation.

 

I do like solid feel toys with good articulation. Personally, I like "well designed transform". which is slightly different in defintion to "complex transformation".

A well designed transformation is intuitive and fun, but retains a level of complexity.

The major violation of complex and FRUSTRATION, are ROTF optimus prime, but probably not as much so as ROTF Jetfire, where panel lining up is impossible without strict QC (which Hasbro does not have). Bumblebee from generations (I hate to bring it up again and again but it is true) has a complex yet FUN transformation.

 

Animated Prowl/Samurai Prowl

 

I agree, where as a figure like ROTF Bludgeon or Starscream have transformations that take getting used to but are really neat, for each one of those you get 2 Mixmasters/Jetfires/Payloads, figures that are just frustrating and unnecessarily complex

 

MP Prime.

If you don't mind spending a lot on a toy; he's great.

 

I watch Thew's reviews too, his humour and research is what makes me come back for more  

 

I will definitely look into those

 

So from animated, Prowl, and blurr seems to be the must haves? anymore?

From animated, Alternators, universes, etc... are there any bots whose designs and execution stands head and shoulders above the rest?>

 

Definitely get Animated Jazz. IMO, the best Deluxe figure in the Animated series.

 

For Alternators... most I think go into the frustrating complex category, but the 2 I think are the most well done and fit in the satisfying/elegantly complex transformation category are Hound(or Swindle or Rollbar) and Jazz/Meister(or Shockwave/Shockblast)

Animated Prowl I think has an elegant transformation and his only 'kibble' is basically his 'wings' and the only difficult part is getting the legs folded and locked just right when going back to motorcycle mode. The Samurai version loses the stoplight weapon and the throwing star hubcaps are then just hubcaps, but he adds a sidecar that forms samurai armor for him.

Are you asking about Universe "1.0" or just "2.0". "1.0" is just repaints(but there are some outstanding repaints) and sounds like you might be familiar with most molds from BW/RID/Armada.

For Universe "2.0"... I think Hound, Onslaught, and Inferno are the tops for 'elegant' transformations. Prowl & Sunstreaker are maybe a little fiddly, Cyclonus is very good(only drawback is rear end of the jetmode not being 'tight' & 'compact'). Ironhide & Galvatron are a bit overly complicated, Cheetor's not so great. And Hot Shot is a bit complicated but I actually love his transformation. The back kibble is a bit awkward, but there are work-arounds. He also might have some looseness or too tight joints issues but my Dion(the club repaint of Hot Shot) is perfect in that regard, plus he comes with the blasters omitted from Hasbro's Hot Shot.

 

there is one thing that gets to me about the animated line, and while I acknowledge that a lot of the bots are well done, they all seem so.... I don't know the word... "round"?

I guess, they are so "distinct" that they "have" to form their own lines, whereas, say, G1 and G2 "can" merge together, A/C/E/RiD can merge together without much difficulty.

Actually, I think for a personal taste, I usually only buy Bay-formers that can "fit" into the other lines (as in, no ailen-like head).

I have heard many praises about the Prime mold on Classics; is that one of the "must gets", in the classics?

 

animated as a whole is a fun line, probably my favorite in recent years. yeah, they have their own style. there are some really good toys in it, but if it doesn't fit in with your collection (or you don't want to collect the whole line) pass on them lol.

i generally keep away from most bayformers for the same reason you listed, and the chicken legs, can't stand either of those, like dropkick from the first movie, loved the paint, the alt mode, and the top half of it, but the legs really bugged me

classics prime, mirage, hot rod, jetfire, and ultra magnus with the armor are must gets from classics. a lot of the rest of them could be but fall short on paint apps

for alts, mirage, jaguar ravage, the subaru mold, jeep mold and to a lesser extent the rx8 mold (bad qc on the arm joints ruined this figure for me) are all fun and intuitive transformations, prime is an easy pass if you don't want frustrating, as is the mustang mold

 

Yep, the definitely have their own style. They won't be fitting in with other lines, but I think the "round-ness" or curvy-smooth-ness actually shows off the engineering better.

I think so.

 

I will definitely look into the animated line. Actually, everytime I search thru TRU, looking at Arcee and Grimlock do nudge me a little. (Grimlock for his uber looking sword, Arcee... sleek... just sleek). But I have this feeling that this line looks good when displayed as an entire line (or at least, a substantial amt of the line), and that can be costly (when you consider all the other lines like HTFD, Generations, PCC, masterpieces, and other fan made stuff coming out)

Hm. it seems that Binaltech is filled with the word complex ><