Thirteenth Anniversary

While, once again, I've not bought a great deal of new stuff since last year, it's not been as easy to pin down a Top Ten because, frankly, the official merchandise has been largely disappointing to one degree or another. According to the numbers, I have bought more than last time - both official and Third Party (12 and 4 figures, respectively) - but only because of the three I held over from last year. In a lot of ways, I'd have felt better at doing a Top Five and some honourable mentions... What's happened here is perhaps predictable, but sad nonetheless.

A good chunk of the problem is that the whole War for Cybertron Trilogy, with the surprising exception of a couple of Weaponisers, has been a complete waste of time for me. This appears to be true for many others as well, considering how quickly people seem to be reselling some of these toys! I first got into the franchise via G1, back in 1984, at around ten years of age. I've now been an adult TransFormers collector far longer than I was a collector as a child, and we've now had about a decade and a half of G1 reboots taking centre stage. I'm more than a little fed up of Hasbro producing the same thing over and over again.

At this rate, Third Parties would be set to become the only good thing about being a TransFormers collector, except many of those have been frightened off producing direct analogues due to the much-publicised raids on various Chinese knockoff-makers and the arrest/incarceration of toy-modding genius Black Apple. Still others have been put off by the vitriolic 'fandom' response to their products. Meanwhile, much the fandom is intent on convincing themselves that the QC issues and the overall decline in build quality are minor. In response to a Facebook post about the so-called Studio Series '86 Coronation Starscream - a Leader class package made out of the Voyager class Earthrise Starscream and some accessories - I suggested this approach was "a little insulting" and, while a handful agreed that Hasbro might have at least remolded a few parts to make it a bit more 'toon-like, others got defensive - there was one comment along the lines of "you act like they're forcing you to buy it"... which is kind of misses the point while somehow also being the exact opposite of the case.

But I digress. Let's get into it...

I'll start off, this time, with a list of Dishonourable Mentions, since I'd be remiss if I didn't list a few specifics of why the last year's worth of purchases have been so disappointing to me...

5. War for Cybertron: Kingdom Huffer
Huffer was one of the first handful of TransFormers toys I bought back in the 1980s so, initially,
it seemed cool to have a new version of the character that took cues from some of the Third Party
versions. Sadly, there are several things about it - the hollowness, the clumsy engineering, the stupid
accessories - that make it disappointing... The fact that he has the cartoon-style head sculpt
doesn't help either.

4. War for Cybertron: Siege Rumble & Ratbat
Very much simplified versus their G1 incarnations, let alone the Masterpiece versions, this
mismatched pair is saved only by the simple fact that Siege Ratbat is the cutest. As toys in and
of themselves, they're pretty dull - they transform into blocks - and they don't even interact with
Soundwave particularly well. They can only really plug into his 5mm ports since, unlike Siege
Laserbeak, Ratbat's feet aren't designed to allow him to perch on Soundwave's arms or shoulders.
It surely says something that, more than 35 years after the MicroChange originals, these don't
even fit properly into their corresponding Soundwave's chest. Sloppy work, indeed.

3. Studio Series #64 Cliffjumper
It never ceases to amaze me how Hasbro can take an excellent piece of engineering, such has their
Offroad Bumblebee, tweak it slightly to create a new character, and deliver something utterly lacklustre.
Cybertronian Cliffjumper deserved better than this ill-fitting mess with its wasteful backpack, if only
because it was obviously destined to be later repainted into yet another Bumblebee toy.

2. War for Cybertron: Kingdom Optimus Primal
This one had the best chance of being awesome, simply because it changed so little from the original
Beast Wars toy... and yet the end result is resoundingly mediocre. The improved transformation of the 
head(s) comes at the expense of gappiness, while the legs and feet just aren't as mobile as they should
have been. Beast mode benefits by the improved articulation to a degree, but the legs are just as 
unconvincing as they were on the original.

1. Studio Series #72 Cybertron Starscream
Here's a figure I really wanted to like, if only because I wanted an excuse to buy the inevitable repaints
as Thundercracker and Skywarp. Sadly, while SS Blitzwing transcends its inaccuracies and the
limitations of a Voyager class pricepoint, this Cybertronian version of Starscream works better as a 
homage to 1980s arcade shoot-'em-ups than it does as a homage to the G1 character. 

So, with that out of the way, here's what I actually liked and enjoyed over the last year - my Top Ten purchases since this time last year...

10. War for Cybertron: Kingdom Beast Megatron
While the engineering is undoubtedly improved on the Beast Wars original in terms of articulation in
both beast and robot modes, this very nearly found itself on the Dishonourable Mentions list because
the execution is pretty poor. From the incongruous white plastic used for the exposed knee joints to the 
clashing parts of the rubbery outer shell, the inconsistent effectiveness of certain pegs and the severely
lacking paint job, it's so nearly a great-looking and fun toy, so nearly the ideal update... but I had to
admit that, while he was (at the time) one of the best toys to come out of the War for Cybertron Trilogy,
I still prefer the original.

9. War for Cybertron: Kingdom Blackarachnia
Blackarachnia's original Beast Wars toys suffered most noticeably because it was made from the same
mold as Tarantulas, and because its integrated 'mutant head' meant that the her face sculpt had a slot
cutthrough the middle. Kingdom's remake took a few cues from the Masterpiece version and created a
toy that is arguably better simply due to its comparative value for money. OK, beast mode isn't great,
the paint job is rather bland, and there are several things to watch out for in terms of her fragility, but
the only real downside to this toy is her small size, even for a contemporary Deluxe. She's no Earthrise
Cliffjumper, but she's not far off. The 'Worlds Collide' version, with it's toy homage colourscheme and
a new head sculpt, also looks excellent.

8. War for Cybertron: Kingdom Dinobot
Not only was the original Dinobot toy nothing like his on-screen counterpart, but it was a terrible toy
generally, looking pretty crummy both in beast and robot modes. The Kingdom version was largely
well-deserving of the description 'mini-Masterpiece' since it somehow created a reasonably good beast
mode and an excellent robot mode sculpt... albeit at the cost of a disastrously lacking paint job and at
the loss of some beast mode articulation. Some parts feel a touch fragile, but it's one of the few toys in
the line that has genuinely got a 'wow' from me while larking about with it.

7. War for Cybertron: Kingdom Airazor
Airazor's appearance in the Beast Wars TV show was nothing like the toy, but Kingdom's version - 
coming more than 20 years after the original - did her far better justice. In common with most other
Kingdom toys, she's not perfect and she's still not overtly feminine in appearance, but so much the 
better, since she hardly needs to be. Beast mode, with its expressively flappy wings and articulated
head, looks pretty cool even though the robot parts are pretty obvious on the sides and undercarriage.

6. War for Cybertron Trilogy Centurion Drone
This figure was something I wanted as soon as I saw its announcement... After all, Brunt ranked #2
in the Eleventh Anniversary Top Ten, so pretty much any repaint would have been high on my Want
List. This version is molded in a gloriously pearlescent light grey with red highlights and touches of 
both flat grey and silver paint and, for something that's intended to be a generic version of the robot
Brunt is based on, it kind of outshines the original. The only downside here is that I had to get him
on the secondary market, and he cost almost as much on his own as his full boxed set
with the accessories.

5. Studio Series #65 Blitzwing
Given that Blitzwing barely lives through five minutes of the Bumblebee movie, it seemed strange that
he got a Studio Series toy at all. While his vehicle mode is not remotely accurate, it's not the worst 
TransFormers jet ever made and his robot mode turned out great apart from its miserly paint job. I later
picked up Cybertronian Starscream on the strength of this figure, little realising that its entirely
different engineering would make it a far less impressive toy... Repaints of this as Thundercracker
and Skywarp would have been preferable, I think.

4. JH-01 Rescue Pioneer
A prime example of how the Masterpiece line has been diminished since MP-01, MPM-11 Ratchet 
was an absolute travesty: an excellent mold let down by the sort of paint job one might expect from a
Voyager class toy (even improved upon by Takara Tomy's 'Premium Finish' Deluxe class Studio Series 
version). So when this knockoff turned up looking absolutely fantastic, I had to pick it up. Even this
version isn't perfect, but it does a far better job of showing how great the mold is.

3. Perfect Effect PE-DX10 Jetforce Revive Commander
One of those Third Party toys that I just fell in love with as soon as I saw it, this is Perfect Effect's
upgrade to their own Powermaster Optimus Prime figure, given a live action movie remix that also pays
homage to the G2 version of Prime. Cleverly designed and beautifully painted, to me, this represents
what a contemporary take on Generation 1 could - and perhaps should - look like.

2. Big FireBird EX-01 Nicee
If ever one needs a way to illustrate how the TransFormers fandom will cut off its nose to spite its face,
Big FireBird's inaugural TransFormers analogue is Exhibit A. Conceived as a homage to Arcee, it's a
beautifully designed and stylishly executed Femme-Bot, and was originally planned to come with an
almost G1-style alternate head. Sadly, along with some much-publicised police raids on Chinese KO
merchants, the fan outcry to a figure deemed to be too risqué resulted in BFB changing their plans and
publicly pulling out of the 3P TF market. EX-02, originally intended to be a Windblade analogue, will
now be an original design, while still turning into a jet.

1. Unique Toys R-03 Dragoon
Easily one of the best Third Party TransFormers analogues with entirely original engineering, rather
than being Hasbro/Takara Tomy's engineering with a few upgrades/tweaks and a better paint job,
Unique Toys' take on Megatron from Age of Extinction is a stunning work of art and an excellent
display piece. Transformation is a little fussy in places, and the colourscheme is both inaccurate and
a little bland, but it really put UT at the top of the Third Party leaderboard, just in time for them to 
announce they were planning to pull out after releasing R-04, their take on Galvatron from Age of
Extinction. The only downside to my acquisition of this figure was that a knockoff was announced
just a couple of weeks later - with an improved sculpt, and at a slightly lower price.

And, to round things off, I have a single Honourable Mention this time... A figure which I wrote about in detail on my other toy blog...

Cyclion Type Lavender
While she is a Femme-Bot, and though she transforms into a vehicle, she's not a Third Party
TransFormer because she has no official, canonical counterpart. She was created based on a
stunning garage kit, and upgraded for mass release by Good Smile Company, creators of the Figma
line of high-end anime/videogame action figures aimed at collectors.

And there you have it... The upper echelons of my Thirteenth Anniversary Top Ten are dominated by Third Party figures, the bottom end are proof that the Beast Wars reboot component of Kingdom really should have been a unique, commemorative toyline of its own, rather than an ill-fitting and hastily tacked-on addition to the War for Cybertron trilogy, and the middle two are, respectively, a repaint of a Siege Weaponiser from two years ago and a Studio Series toy based on a character who got killed off at the start of the Bumblebee solo movie. What's crazy is that three of the top five were technically eligible for entry into last year's chart, but I held them over because they had arrived only a matter of days before the Anniversary, so I felt I hadn't had time to adequately assess them.

Hasbro's output has, in my opinion, been steadily declining, both in terms of build quality (possibly due to moving manufacture to Vietnam, but certainly due to the use of cheaper materials) and in terms of originality (because they insist on continually rebooting Generation 1 using most of the same characters over and over again). It's been getting pretty tedious. 

Hasbro really needs to knock it out of the park with their next toyline, because I'm currently far more inclined to put my limited funds toward saving up for 3P items than pay the newly inflated prices for the unimaginative, poorly-made shit they've been shovelling for the last few years.