One might think that having a selection of only twelve figures to work with, organising a top ten and a couple of Honorary Mentions would be simplicity itself: just organise things in order of preference... But this year's slim pickings have been highly targeted. All have been toys that I was really looking forward to, or that I had high expectations of. Certainly, some turned out to be a bit disappointing, for one reason or another, but the main problem is that I feel as though I'd be doing my latest three purchases an injustice by attempting to include them at all, since they only arrived in the last week. I really haven't had time to decide whether they've met (or exceeded) my expectations, let alone fully get to know and appreciate them.
With that in mind, I'm going to present only a Top Nine this year, with my most recent purchases being honorary Honorary Mentions because otherwise this list would feel disappointing.
So, let's get on with it:
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| 9. War for Cybertron: Earthrise Optimus Prime I'm really getting tired of the continual G1 reboots Hasbro have been pumping out, but this was the first non-Masterpiece G1-style Optimus Prime to be released with a trailer since the original G1 Optimus Prime. That one simple fact made this release something of an event, and a must-buy for me. I was pleasantly surprised by the Optimus Prime figure, with its interesting, somewhat innovative transformation and excellent articulation, but the trailer was a flimsy mess, with most of its traditional features either pared down or removed entirely. |
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| 8. Studio Series #51 Soundwave While it was disappointing to see Soundwave go from being a Hentai satellite in Revenge of the Fallen to just another silver car in Dark of the Moon, I can't deny that I rather liked his design... and while the Movie Advanced Darkside Soundwave was a decent enough toy, it didn't quite do the CGI justice. The Studio Series version did substantially better but, like the Movie Advanced version, lacked his handgun, and was instead packaged with a small, rubbery Laserbeak figurine. Plus, with so much silver paint on vehicle mode, robot mode ended up quite plain-looking, with little unique paintwork, and none of the glowing parts of the CGI. |
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| 7. Studio Series #56 Shockwave Shockwave's Mech Tech toy from the original Dark of the Moon toyline looked OK in and of itself, and as part of the DotM toyline, but barely resembled the on-screen CGI either in its overall look or its colourscheme. Studio Series cleverly reworked the RotF Megatron toy into another nondescript Sci-Fi 'tank', but gave it a gorgeous dry-brushed, metallic purple finish. Let down by its rubbery 'blade' weapon and some dubious additional accessories to bump it up to the Leader class pricepoint, it's one of those figures that one need never bother transforming into its vehicle mode. |
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| 6. Studio Series #57 Offroad Bumblebee I'd decided never to buy any more (official Hasbro) movie Bumblebee figures because they were all so similar, they just blended into each other... But then the Bumblebee solo movie came along and, while the VW Beetle toy was disappointing the surprise appearance of a Bumblebee toy based on his first terrestrial vehicle mode turned out to be one of the best Bumblebee figures ever produced. Though it could have been even better at a larger size, or if the materials used had been less flimsy. |
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| 5. War for Cybertron: Earthrise Cliffjumper Who would have thought that, with their bizarre focus on Bumblebee, Hasbro would grant Cliffjumper - an afterthought repaint since Classics and the original movie's toyline - not only an earlier release date than Earthrise Bumblebee, but an entirely unique vehicle mode? Granted, the toy is tiny - essentially a Legends class toy with a set of weapon accessories to bulk it up to Deluxe class (something of a running theme these days) - but clearly designed to emulate the original Masterpiece Bumblebee. If only they hadn't partsformed the rear end of the car, it would have been perfect. |
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| 4. TransFormers Cloud Starscream I love this toy more for what it can represent than for what it was packaged as. Admittedly, I like the base mold - Generations Blitzwing/Doubledealer - more than I probably should, and I like the idea of Starscream as a triple-changer, as well as how well the traditional Starscream colourscheme has been fitted to the mold... But it's the fact that the Decepticon from the Bumblebee movie who was initially thought to be Starscream, but ended up being called 'Blitzwing', that made this toy an essential purchase. A wonderful example of a toy being made better by a coincidence. |
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| 3. Studio Series #59 Shatter While the Decepticons from the Michael Bay franchise had a very distinctive aesthetic, it wasn't a style that made it easy to create unique and recognisable robots. The Bumblebee solo movie gave us not only the more G1-style aesthetic fans had clamoured for, but robots who were distinct both visually and in terms of personality. Shatter was a femme-fatale cut from the same sheet metal as Blackarachnia and Airachnid and, coupled with Angela Bassett as her voice actor, was one of the highlights of the Bumblebee movie. Shame the toy of her car mode was such a shambles, but this jet version was a classic. |
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| 2. Masterpiece Movie MPM-9 Jazz I've steered clear of the Masterpiece toylines, for the most part, ever since the original branch started making its robot modes look like the shitty animation models from the G1 TV show. The Masterpiece Movie subline hasn't been of much more interest because Studio Series was producing some excellent renditions of the characters... but SS Jazz was appalling, and this version was just too tempting to pass up. It's not without its problems - not least the cut-down paint jobs Hasbro have been foisting on even the Masterpiece line due to their misguided 'Unification of World Brands' - but it's certainly the very best version of Movie Jazz we've had so far, and it looks increasingly unlikely that he'll be tackled by any of the Third Parties. |
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| 1. Encore 07 G1 Sky Lynx My first purchase of the New Year, and likely to be the last interpretation of Sky Lynx I buy. The Earthrise version looks great, and all, but nothing can compare to motorised toy from the 1980s that can roll or walk under battery power. It's chunky and simplistic, but it's everything I love about toys from that decade. |
Unfortunately, as mentioned at the start, I haven't yet had the opportunity to take the usual selection of photographs of my most recent purchases, so my 'honorary Honorary Mentions' list is going to have to be text only... and in no particular order, because I really don't know what to say about any of them yet, other than "I now have them in my collection".
I preordered Studio Series Blitzwing from Smyths a couple of weeks back, and received him on Saturday. His jet mode isn't great, and robot mode isn't perfect, but I'd certainly rank it as one of the better Studio Series releases from the more recent few waves. Oddly, there seems to be a slight but consistent misassembly issue: the small fins have each been attached to the wrong shoulder - it's fairly obvious when you look at them, and the sculpted detail lines up far better when they're swapped.
BigFirebirdToy's debut figure, Nicee, attracted a lot of controversy when it was first revealed, due to its overtly sexualised design... But later attracted even more when the G1 Arcee-style head was pulled from the production figure, leaving it with two generic anime robot-girl heads for a Femme-Bot with the colourscheme and vehicle mode of a typical Arcee... Personally, I think the problem there is that too many fans are overly fixated on the original iteration of a toyline where change is an intrisic part of the concept, inherent in the toyline... and absolutely explicit in the brand name. On the former controversy, I'm undecided... No doubt I'll explore my thoughts on the matter more fully when I write up the figure.
Finally, I've said all along that I don't feel completely comfortable supporting the outlandish designs of some of the movie robots, and none moreso than Megatron from The Last Knight... but Unique Toys' Dragoon is such a beautiful figure that, when Omegalock announced they'd received their final restock of the figure, I did some serious thinking about how willing I was to risk losing out at its current pricepoint, and having to acquire it later, either on import or on the secondary market at vastly greater cost. The box alone tells you how proud UT are of the figure, and I look forward to spending some time transforming it and taking photos for this blog... Just need to make a bit of space to assemble my light tent again.
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