Wow, so I was going to type out a response but then you went and typed it up for me so thanks for that.
Nah. As poor as the storytelling can be in those shows they at least have decent character moments interspersed. The movies are trash in that regard, and deserve every bit of ire because of it.
In no particular order, my biggest disappointments were: 1. Majorly increasing prices 2. Pointblank (and seeing Hasbro’s posts enthusiastically explaining how cost-cutting ruined him) 3. Triple changers being leader class 4. Minerva’s mysteriously appearing and disappearing Walgreens listing 5. Finding out there’s yet another attempt at nailing Ultra Magnus coming 6. Finding only Legacy wave 1 at Walmart 7. Breakdown’s alt mode being Wildrider in cream 8. Pretty much paywalling Cosmos and Minerva
None of the Legacy Stunticons are really doing it for me, their robot modes feel really primitive and I just don’t like the combination style. Dragstrip is an exception but he still feels kinda cheap. Dead End and Wildrider are nobodies to me. Legacy Prime Arcee could’ve worked if she didn’t have a soulless Sunbow animation model face, given she’s supposed to be a character. Prime Arcee was one of my least favorite Prime characters but she still was a character with some facial expressions. Legacy Prime Knock Out is the worst because of the insult he is to the lively, unique fan favorite character whose need for a decent toy was not answered. Another soulless face, a bulky body that while still a good toy in its own right is a poor representation of the sleek, stylish original character. People who praise him say they like having a Prime character in the Sunbow/CHUG style, but I hate it. If this is really what some people want for characters who debuted outside of G1, count me the fuck out. This is really “we have Knock Out at home” at its finest. I am deeply grateful they listened to feedback and new toys like Animated Prowl and Prime Skyquake are doing way, way better. Because fuck this noise.
I don’t have Breakdown yet, but I’d say he’s my biggest dissapointment of 2022. Wildrider is not totally awful, but he’s the worst of the Stunticons Legacy. Breakdown is a dissapointment 50% because he’s just white Wildrider with a spoiler and 50% because they intentionally hid him until the end when people were already all-in for Menasor. That was cheap Hasbro. For other figures, I don’t know because I don’t buy figures that I don’t like. So, the other worst things of 2022 are stupid exclusives again. Mainly the way a character like Cosmos was handled and Walmart in general. Still only have Legacy wave 1 in my area.
As someone who prioritizes alt modes over robot modes, this was a big disappointment. That is in no way a fake Countach. The Legacy Stunticons looked promising at first, but I quickly lost interest. Mainline reveals have almost fallen completely off of my radar. I’ve lost confidence in Hasbro’s design direction and QC capabilities.
Sucks cause he’s my favourite of the Stunticons. Still looks good imo but after doing some reassessing of my collection going into the new year he went from a definite pick up to hopefully a family member can grab him for me for my birthday or Christmas or something.
He’s my fave as well, and I will sometimes buy stand-alone Breakdown figures without the rest of the team. But not this one.
This… I liked everything I bought If I don’t want it I don’t buy it… If I was to complain about anything it would be yellowing and not buying more figures… I would see people rail on a figure and NOT buy it. Only to buy it later and be happy…(blitzwing) I didn’t buy any stunticons this year because I’m waiting for the whole set to be available at once without worrying about not getting something to complete the set. eBay is a great resource
Blizwing is the kind of figure that haunts me. The initial pictures looked awful. Early reviews weren’t favorable. But I took a chance despite my natural reservations and was absolutely blown away. He’s a top ten figure of the year for me. That robot mode is just spectacular. So now I’m terrified of how many other potentially great figures I’ve passed on.
Hiss Tank Megatron. Horrible integration of all parts, awful mandatory parts forming, incredibly hollow and overpriced. Looks like Megatron GI Joe crossovers are cursed.
Breakdown, I was so looking forward to having a White countach. I started collecting again this past year, and I specifically passed on the Sideswipe mold because I figured that I would get it with the Stunticons. Also, seeing the image on Motormaster's boxart raised my expectations.
1. prices going up, up, up while quality keeps going down, down, down (Include the yellowing, all the poor QC, empty hollows — now sometimes without even tech-waffling and poor tolerance issues under here) 2. Unfinished Alt modes — like Skullgring and thinking Wheelie and Tarns hands hanging off the back of their alt modes is acceptable (especially at current prices) 3. The Stunticons and their faux combining + the bait and switch with Breakdown 4. Anything overly Sunbow and underdetailed (why are RED figures even a thing) 5. The Cosmos situation. 1 Per case? Not repacked in wave 2??? (Walmart — please stop with the 5 figures per wave cases on Your exclusives!!!) dishonorable mention: plastic-free packaging. It sucks, and the fact so much of point 1 is an issue, it extra sucks when you can’t SEE what you are buying. And those tissue bags are just a terrible user experience. damn, that might be my favorite figure of the year — been waiting for blue Bluestreak since literally 84. dude. They had to work awfully hard to get my to NOT purchase something else I’ve been waiting my whole life to see done right… …and still waiting.
SS-86 Arcee SS Bumblebee Movie "Red Rocket" Ravage Legacy Kickback Collaborative A.W.E. Striker Bumblebee Legacy Elita-1
The only disappointment for me this year was Legacy Laser Prime, its just such a cheap feeling figure and a huge step back from the one released in 1995. I understand the appeal of having him with Prime, SG Prime, WFC Prime, Nemesis Prime, Rodimus Prime, Magnus, Delta Magnus etc... all at the same scale which is why I bought him, but he felt really nasty and the head fell apart first transformation. The trailer doesn't really do anything. It made me buy Fans Hobby Arch Enemy to go with Gunfighter II though, so net positive.
I came here mostly to preach the bad news of Pointblank. Many of you beat me to it which is acceptable. 1.) BOTH Pointblank and Peacemaker. I hate that I still feel the G1 toy is better. Ggggrrrrrrr! 2.) Legacy Breakdown. 3.) Price hikes. It was inevitable but it made purchasing a lot harder for me. Picking up the Stunticons was soooo hard! 4.) Collabs. I never bought any but the reviews told me enough. 5.) Trainbots debacle. Hahahahaha!
New QC issue for me was mushroom pegs that popped out any time the joint was rotated. That really sucked. As for specific figures: Coronation Starscream. I like the accessories but the figure is still what it is, and I like the deco less than the original. Prime Knockout. Missing what I feel are the characters hallmark design features. Jazz was an ok mold, but lacks the elegance KO needs. Skids/Crankcase. Just feels like the designers stopped at "close enough". The panel behind the head. The guns look weird in hand. Crankcase's micro canons. Just meh, especially after giving us the wonderful masterpiece figure last year. And this is a weird one: Blaster and Perceptor. Perfectly fine figures, but that's the problem. They're fine. They don't offer anything new or interesting. I would not consider them "worst" figures, but just a bit disappointing unless you only care about slavish adherence to Sunbow.
Worst of 2022: Price Increases Funko Pop NFTs Coronation Starscream Walmart only having Legacy Wave 1 and Nothing else Hard to get Action figures (Cosmos, Minerva, Exclusives in General) Breakdown getting bad treatment
Beast Wars retro Wolfang: how to make new problems for a mold that wasn’t known for them Legacy Peacemaker: movable arms I don’t think would’ve sank the budget Legacy Prime Arcee: figure overall could’ve been more secure in robot mode, had better waist poseability and more knee range. Velocitron Road Rocket looks great but given the aforementioned issues, is tricky to pose. Main issue I have with this mold is that it feels like it should move better but just doesn’t due to questionable design choices. That alone left it not even a contender for me as a version of Prime Arcee. Shortpacking Velocitron Cosmos: While it’s also bad that Clampdown is 1 per case in wave 1 stateside, Cosmos being the only all new mold in wave 1 of Velocitron deluxes was a bad decision. Should’ve been packed 2 per case with maybe Clampdown held back for wave 2 to make space for 2 Cosmos in wave 1. Packing Coronation Starscream 2 per case initially, then 1 per case with Sludge months after. Should’ve just been 1 Coronation Starscream per case all along. No elbows on SS86 Rumble and storage attachment points for its piledrivers on either WFC Soundwave: seems all was sacrificed for the robot mode sculpt which is definitely the best thing about the figure. YMMV if you think the sculpt is worth the functional sacrifices.
