So as 2022 draws to a close what are your top 5 figures of the year. The only criteria is you must have opened and messed with them this year so a few of mine that are unopened like cybertron metroplex won't make my list.

My top 5 from 5 are

5 Legacy cyclonus. Despite issues of being quite loose my cyclonus is as solid as the Kingdom one. Complete with stickers this is a great updated version of the original g1 toy.

4 SG Flamewar. A lovely reuse of the arcee mold. Once I realised the bike front needs to be attached to add stability to the bot mode she became a favorite

3 SG Ultra Magnus aka Delta Magnus. A great reuse of the siege mold this is a potentially decent delta Magnus depending on which head you might want to use. I keep him as delta.

2 Reformatted Galvatron with unicron accessories. Love the colors of this guy plus his shoulders are correct.

1 Legacy Black Zarak. He arrived in January to me so he counts in my list. Beautiful solid titan. Great use of the scorponk mold. My number 1.

 

1) Legacy Menasor
2) KO MP Arcee
3) TE01 Nemesis Prime
4) Magic Square Ironhide
5) SS86 Ironhide

**This list could change at any time...haha...

 

Yes indeed.

Any time

 

5 Legacy Tarantulus
4 Legacy Dragon Megatron
3 Selects Black Zarak
2 Legacy Jhiaxus
1 Legacy Iguanus

 

5. Newage Ymir (I got the EX)

4. Legacy Kickback

3. MP Crosscut

2. Generations Selects Behold Galvatron

1. Legacy Cyclonus

Honourable mention to Legacy Blaster, which I think hit the UK this year but all the time blurs together nowadays, doesn't it?

 

Blitzwing and Wildrider

 

1) Legacy Inferno
2) Legacy Tarantulas
3) Studio Series TLK Hot Rod
4) Studio Series 86 Ironhide
5) Studio Series BB Soundwave

 

1 - Legacy Victory Saber
2 - Legacy Override
3 - Studio Series The Fallen
4 - Legacy Dragstrip
5 - Legacy Motormaster

 

Right now my five favourite figures I got this year are Victory Saber, PFSS05 Optimus Prime, LVS500 Cosmos, Legacy Bomburst, and SS86 Gnaw. If you limit it to figures first released this year then Gnaw gets subbed for SSTLK Aut Rhaud. Thought in a year with Legacy Bulkhead, SSBBM Brawn, Wheeljack n Ratchet, Legacy Minerva, LVS500 Override and LWnD Springer there’s a lot of competition that could make the list. Hell Legacy Crankcase is great too.

 

Legacy Inferno
Legacy TM2 Megatron
Legacy Tarantulas
Legacy Kickback
Legacy Buzzsaw

 

1. Legacy Override
2. Legacy Metroplex
3. Legacy Arcee/SG Flamewar
4. SS86 Ironhide
5. Legacy Elita One

Third party list: APC Airachnid, APC Soundwave, MMC Nitro, APC Arcee, and Planet X Star Saber

 

1. Fans Hobby Energon Optimus
2. MP Skids
3. Fans Hobby Armada Megatron
4. Nemesis Primal
5. Planet X Grimlock.

 

I forgot about Dragstrip. I find it immensely - and irrationally - pleasing how flat his underside is.

 

Studio Series Jetfire-I sold my old one for idiotic reasons just to buy it back and be graced by its glory once again. I ain't selling that shit ever again though lol

Velocitron Cosmos-Scalpers and availability aside I've always wanted this character and I got it. Could've had 2 but decided to help a fellow TFW member out.

SS13 Megs- I don't know why I didn't get this figure in the first place but I'm glad that I did get it this year at a good price. It's like my definitive version of movie Megatron, I really hope this mold gets the premium finish treatment one day.

Velocitron Blurr- Had I known this figure was going to come out I would have never gotten the SS86 Blurr or Takara Blurr. Legit love this thing.

ER Thundercracker and Skywarp-So I initially had these two but they got destroyed while I was trying to take pictures along with six other Seekers. I'm just glad to have these back and I look forward to having Dirge and Ramjet next year as new reinforcements

 

5: studio series 86 ironhide: an amazing figure, however, the only reason its not further up on the list is cause my copy has a missing nub that keeps the arm mushroom joint on, so if falls off all the time

4: legacy override: had low expectations, however after getting her in hand, override ended up being amazing...

3: studio series BB arcee: got it used from a local toy resale shop, and was blown away with how well the figure is designed, so simple, but so amazing...

2: holiday optimus: was worried that the lack of early reviews was a omen, however, after getting prime in hand, there are no other words to use besides "perfect"... transformation is amazing, veichle mode is super accurate... 9/10

1: MPM-13 blackout: some people including me thought it was just going to be a SS upscale and couldnt find a reason to get it, however after finding him on clearence and fiddling with him for a few days now, i am truley astonished that it somehow ended up being my favorate toy of the year... personally belive hes criminally underated...

HM: velocitron cosmos: an amazing figure with several flaws, major one being distrobution...
Legacy minerva: barely a 2022 release, as it seems like she only started to show up at walgreens a few days before christmas...
Velocitron burnout: deco is better than skids, however my copy was missing a eye, and i had to repaint them...
Creatures collide: amazing boxset with really loose joints

 

My top 3 since I didn't purchase that many this year.

In order from least to most:

1) Legacy Armada Starscream
2) Legacy Lio Convoy
3) Legacy Transmetal 2 Megatron

I'm not calling Lio Convoy Leo Prime  

Mainline Transformers wise, I've become very selective.

The only one that has sparked my interest is Armada Optimus Prime.

 

This is easy for me. I got Commander Class Rodimus Prime on clearance this year and that is an all time great transformer. Spot 1-5 on the list. Nothing else I’ve bought this year compares.

 

He is a great figure

 

In no particular order:

Earthrise Prowl
Selects Rotorstorm
Legacy Scourge
Legacy Dead End
Legacy Wildrider

 

2022 was an epic year for TFs.

5) Legacy Blitzwing. The divisive opinion about this guy is dead wrong and largely based upon what people want Generations to be vs what it is. Blitzwing is a perfect adaptation of his source design with modest allowences for engineering differences and changes in design (like with the turret). They nailed it. If folks wanted something different, they got TR and Generations Blitzwing. But for cartoon accurate, Legacy is more or less ripped form the screen in all three molds, which is no minor feat. He's an excellent compliment to Astrotrain.

4) Legacy Selects Black Zarak. WHat if I were to tell you that years of trying to make a "good enough' Black Zarak out of Energon Dark Scorponok or repainting an old G1 Scorponok torso was all for nothing? Hasbro did the ultimate retool of ER Scorponok who improved on his source mold in every way. And he was easily available! A truly excellent take on the character. Only wish was he had gold chromed parts!

3) Holiday Optimus Prime. What in the blue fuck....? This last minute entry on the list somehow ends up being.... among the best Optimus Prime's we've ever gotten? Excellent look and EXCELLENT engineering. The Christmas theme was just goofy and fun. But most of all the fact this guy had no (real) leak made him a total surprise about what he'd be like, with a short turn around time. Very memorable gift to the Fandom. I can't wait for the inevitable Combat Hero Optimus Prime retool with a new missile trailer.

2) MPM Blackout. This figure slaps so hard. He's way, way more than just an upscaled SS Blackout (which is one of the best figures of the last 10 years). He's certainly informed by him. But he goes the extra mile for visual fidelity to the source design. His transformation is very clever and only modestly finnicky. It was a long wait for him, but the final product was worth it. He's exceptional. He may be the best overall MPM.

1) Haslab Star Saber and Victory Leo. FOr 20 years the song of a generation of G1 fans has been "bring victory characters over... when?!". In 2022 it finally happened. Star Saber has some defects but is, in its own way, a triumph equal to Unicron. His engineering is very smart. He's heavy and big. He's in every way an improvement on MPM-24 Star Saber (clearly, they looked at him). Hasbro did the right thing by giving us a zero compromises take on the character, so far beyond what a hypothetical mere Commander Class or PotP Leader class would ever be. Victory Saber needed Haslab and made the most of it. To think we got our first inkling of him in 2004 with Wing Saber in Energon, to finally hold him is to complete an 18 year quest. He's not Unicron... but what is? Like Unicron, there are now two types of colelctions - those with him and those without him.


Honorable Mentions:
- Legacy Minerva / Elita-1. THe fact this mold and these characters exist, at retail, is wild. Very clever mold re-use.... Universe Sideswipe/Sunstreaker level clever. The feet suck but that's okay. Hasbro's deep cuts are much appreciated.

- SS Bumblebee movie Arcee. It was the year of Arcees (with SS BB, SS86, Legacy Prime and left over Kingdom repacks, there were four on the shelf in just generations, and there was at least one in Cyberverse). she was the best. It takes a lot for a female figure to have shelf presence due to their typical smaller size and slimmer builds, and she somehow overshadows almost all her SS BB movie peers. Her engineering ie excellent and is VERY fan mode friendly.

- SS Bumblebee Ironhide and SS86 Ironhide. Remember when we were starved for Ironhide molds? We had the piece of shit Universe one for like 8 years, then we got the Combiner Wars new head retool, and then nothing until Siege who was fine? And then we got the hard-to-find ER Ironhide mold that was a real improvement, but was still a retool. Well in 2022, we got two of the best Ironhide's we'll never get. SS86 is better than MP. He's nearly perfect. Few minor erros keeps him out of the top 5, but he'd be in the top 10 easily. Meanwhile SS BB Ironhide is the best "cybertronian Ironhide" you'll ever need. It's an excellent mode with a brilliant transformation. And his design is VERY line agnostic. People are using it for Siege displays, for War For Cybertron game displays and for G1 displays. Between these two figures, we're done with Ironhides.

- SS86 Sludge. He's the best of the SS86 Dinobots. The other two are great. He smashes them with probably the best overall engineering of any mass released figure in 2022, hands down. He's old-school tricky to transform, but pulls it off brilliantly. And his shelf presence is unbetable, especially next to the other 2 dinobots. So why isn't he in the top 5? Because of how his feet transform into his hollow dinosaur mode undercarriage. This was undoubtedly a result of trying to keep him at a Leader Class price point. It's fixable... with a 3P solution. With one of those, he's the perfect figure. But this ranking is based purely on out-of-box quality.

-Velocitron Cosmos. Now in my opinion, this thing of making the G1 Minibots dexlues that are smaller by a head is not great. I think the later WFC-era Legends classes like Beachcomber and Seaspray got the scale right. I think Huffer (especially Huffer), Pipes, Cosmos, and Cliffjumper Bumblebee are all too big. But this is the direction the line has chosen to go, and Cosmos is the best of them. It's insane how Hasbro Pulled this off in 3 toolings. His Transformation is superb and he really captures the character in a way his previous attempts missed. The "old school hunt" was both rewarding for those who did it and found him, and deepy unfair to many collectors. You could get him, if you got lucky or made it your business to drive around to every walmart and ask someone to open the case (what I did) during that 2 week window. Online ordering and pre-orders just make for a better world in the end. Cosmos is notable because he became an unlikely grail figure for people on top of being a good figure in itself.