MYTH’S TOP 20 TRANSFORMERS OF 2021

Hi there, it has been a while since I have done a blog post, but it is that time of year where we take a look back at everything we got, did, and watched and then rank them because… why not. I would usually just do this on twitter but since I now have this space I can go a bit more in depth on each figure. Now If you know me, you know I like to rank things so this was a lot of fun for me and took a lot more time than I thought it would to finalize. Even now while writing this I am still moving figures around, which is a testament to how stacked this year has been for me in terms of getting figures. That is seconded by the fact that this isn’t a Top 10 list, it is a Top 20 cause there were just so many figures that deserve praise and recognition that I couldn't narrow it down to just 10.

Before we get into it I do want to set some general ground rules; First, this list is not limited to just figures that came out in the year 2021, it is any figure I got throughout the year. Second, this list is by no means definitive in anyway or to anyone other than me, I shouldn’t have to say that this is an opinion piece, but there are a lot of dumb people out there, so this is more of a precautionary measure than anything. This is less of a rule but if you couldn’t tell by the title, this is going to be a REALLY LONG blog post so strap in and let’s get started

20: Studio Series 86 Wreck-Gar

Starting us off is Wreck-Gar, who I imagine is going to be on numerous people's lists, because he not only looks excellent in both modes but also has tons of play value in either mode. In robot mode he has great pose ability and has his signature axe. On top of that his wheels can be placed in a variety of locations across his robot mode giving him quite a few display options. In vehicle mode he is engineered to be able to have figures ride him, which is way more fun than it has any right being. What really holds him back from being higher up is his transformation, while it isn’t complicated, I always get hung up on how everything folds, especially his chest.

19: Studio Series Dino

I don’t feel like I have much to say on Dino here. He is the first proper toy of a character we barely saw in Dark of the Moon, and it is wonderful. The transformation is neat, vehicle weapon storage is very cool, and just an all around fun figure.  

18: Legends Blurr (+ Mold Mates)

I went from having none of this mold too having 3 of it within a month, and while it is a pretty simple mold, it is still very fun and I love all 3 versions pretty much equally but I think Legends Blurr would come out on top if I had to pick one just because of that color scheme alone. I appreciate that all 3 versions look different enough from one another, especially in vehicle mode, giving the mold their own personality.  

17: Studio Series Bumblebee Starscream

I know I might get flak for this one considering how many people I see who dislike the alt-mode and head for this figure but as someone who loves both the Bumblebee movie aesthetic and Cybertronian alt modes, this is a hard one not to love. On top of that, the colors on this toy are absolutely perfect and just make me happy anytime I look at him. While I do have Thrust as well I don’t get the same level of enjoyment out of him as I do Starscream here.

16: Studio Series 86 Slug

This large lad is excellent despite some visual wideness and him being more complicated than I would have liked. That being said the transformation has some cool and interesting sections, like the way the rear dino legs compress and fold away for robot mode and how the robot chest compresses for dino mode.

15: Studio Series 86 Grimlock

Not much to say here, he just is a very good, very chunky G1 Grimlock, essentially a scaled down Masterpiece Grimlock. Just a simple and fun robot dinosaur that turns into a simple and fun aggressive murder himbo/dad  

14: Generation Selects Deep Cover

Deep Cover is one of those characters that is essentially a nobody. He has never appeared in any media, at least not in this color scheme, but I love him all the same. That is mainly because of the colors, as black and blue is one of my favorite color combinations and he wears it well. The mold itself is just the Siege Sideswipe mode, which is pretty basic in and of itself. Not much else to say here, just an obscure character with a good color scheme on a good mold.

13: Transformers 2007 Stealth Bumblebee

This one is pure nostalgia for me. I was introduced to the franchise via the 2007 movie and had both the Cliffjumper and regular Bumblebee variants of this mold, so getting Stealth Bee was an absolute blast from the past. The color scheme of this guy is incredible and the car mode is absolutely stellar. When I opened him up I did not want to transform him into robot mode because I was so enamored with his car mode for a good 15 minutes. On a side note, Transformers should return to being packed in vehicle mode.  

12: WFC: Kingdom Core Class Soundwave

Core Class was a pleasant surprise for me, I wasn’t initially going to get any of them but after I got Core Starscream(mainly out of spite) I was pleasantly surprised, and as much as I enjoy both him and Megatron, Soundwave takes the cake. He is the perfect little desk toy and the closest thing we have gotten to replicating the original toy in modern day. If you only get one core class figure make it Soundwave.

11: Titans Return Topspin/Twin Twist

These two have no good being as good as they are. From being some of the most simple G1 toys to these to being one of the best molds in the entirety of Titans Return, which was a line FULL of absolute bangers, especially at the deluxe size class. They are just a pair of absolute delights and the epitome of a “pick up and play figure”

10: Universe 2.0 Ratbat

This is a figure I was not expecting to love as much as I do. The transformation is simple but the way the legs become the wings is both ingenious and simple. The colors on this guy are ACE, and a jet mode that looks like some sort of evil future tech Batwing and is everything I love about cybertronian/non-earth alt modes

9: Generations Selects Shattered Glass Optimus Prime

If you know me then you know that I LOVE Shattered Glass, so obviously this figure was going to make the list. The colors and articulation are ace the the way they have miniaturized the MP-10 transformation for this mold is very impressive and shows just how far we have come in the decade since that figure came out.

8: Universe 2.0 Roadbuster

This guy is simplistic fun incarnate. The transformation is great, I love all the hidden missile pods and he feels good to handle. Just a good, chunky lad and sometimes that is all you need.

7: Reveal the Shield Lugnut

I really have no idea what to say about RTS Lugnut that hasn’t already been said by both myself and anyone else who has this mold. I highly doubt we will get a mold this good again, especially for this character. Just absolutely excellent.

6: Universe 2.0 Dirge

I don’t feel like I need to explain why this is a good figure, cause everyone should already know why this is a good figure, I mean it is the Cybertron Starscream mold. It looks incredible in both modes and then put Dirge’s royal blue and dull gold color scheme on it and you have a match made in heaven. Sure the arms may be hindered by the flip-out sword gimmick, but that is to cool a gimmick for me to not love.

5: WFC: Kingdom Galvatron

This is the best Galvatron figure we have ever gotten HANDS DOWN, and probably the best leader in the entire WFC trilogy. He just has this presence to him in robot mode that only he can have. He looks great next to anybody, whether that be Rodimus, Cyclonus and Scourge, or Optimus and Megatron. Transformation is interesting and alt mode is just this giant space cannon that looks as ridiculous as it does awesome

4: Universe 2.0 Nemesis Prime/Classics Ultra Magnus

This is a mold I have wanted for a while and I am so glad I got my hands on, not one but two versions of it. For a mold that is 15 years old, it holds up EXTREMELY well and is so much fun to play with. Posing it is a blast even if it doesn’t have the amount of articulation of a modern figure. The weapons look so cool and the way they store in vehicle mode is incredible and I am pretty sure there is not a single version of this mold that doesn’t look incredible. I think this is one of the quintessential Transformers figures and every fan should, at least, mess with it at some point.

3: WFC: Kingdom Cyclonus

On the topic of Classics figures, Kingdom Cyclonus is just Classics Cyclonus brought into the modern era. The engineering between the two is incredibly similar which I think is a testament to how ahead of its time the Classics figure was. Kingdom Cyclonus is proof that you don’t need complicated transformations or world class engineering to make a good toy, you know what they say, less is more.

2: WFC: Kingdom Rodimus Prime

There is not much I can say about this figure that I haven’t already said in my review. Rodimus’ price of admission may be high but he is absolutely worth it in my opinion. His engineering is incredible, he looks fantastic in both modes. He is so much fun to pose and the accessories just exemplify that. For a figure that I was not considering picking up when first revealed, I am so glad I caved.

1: Ocular Max Eris: Kultur

And so we have come to the final figure, my number 1 of 2021, and it should come to no surprise that it is Eris:Kultur. Similarly to Rodimus there is not a lot more I can say that I haven’t already said. Not only was this figure my first brand new 3rd Party figure but it also fits with my own personal canon, on top of that both modes are extremely good looking and all the engineering is simple yet intuitive. I knew as soon as I got her out of the box she would be my number for the year, and despite figures coming close it was never a question.

And that is all folks, that is my top 20 figures that I got in 2021. I do hope you enjoyed my little look back at the past year, and am curious as to what your favorite Transformers were that you got in 2021, so let me know on Twitter if you want. As for the future I still plan on doing galleries every week and I do want to get back to doing blog posts, they just take a while to write so they might not be as regular as they started out. I also want to expand beyond reviews and perhaps do monthly news roundups or top ten lists, maybe incorporate tier lists or brackets somehow, I guess only time will tell. Until then, Have a Happy New Year and I’ll see you when I see you.

Transformers 2007 Wreckage

This week's review is going to be quite interesting, I can already tell. Like I said last week this is an older figure, at least in the grand scheme of things. I wanted him far a very long time since he looked so cool and interesting yet when I did end up getting him I was kinda disappointed, and I have yet to figure out why, so maybe this will help me with that. Anyways let’s take a look at Transformers 2007 Wreckage.

Wreckage was one of the few, if not only, deluxes in the 2007 film’s toyline that was not in the movie, or accompanying video game, in any capacity, although we did get concept art for him under the temporary name of Stryker. I just find it really interesting that he still got a toy, in the first wave no less, despite being cut from the film entirely. He is also one of the most uniquely designed figures in the entire line, and I will get more into the specifics of that as I get to those sections, speaking of which…

Wrekage’s head is interesting and not in a good way. The design of the head is pretty neat, lots of various shapes and angles to make up all the molded details. While the head, half of it anyways, is cast in a rather boring pale grey but that is broken up with some very nice gold paint apps the head crest and cheeks as well as the face being done up in silver. The face itself looks pretty nice with the thin red lightpiped eyes and the massive underbite. Articulation is pretty limited despite being on a ball joint. He can look left and right well enough with some downward movement, but you may have noticed that he is always looking down and that is because of the panel his head sits on and the automorph in his chest. It is pretty unfortunate especially since the rest of him is pretty well articulated. 

The torso is focused on this pristine white pillar, on the front there is the center section of the alt mode, which is not a totally uncommon design when it comes to transformers but what makes this section unique is the fact that it is clearly not the front of a car, not to mention the translucent red naval cannon sitting underneath. Now you may notice that the chest piece doesn’t sit flush with the rest of the torso, so I am thinking that, since it is part of his main auto-morph gimmick, one of the gears is misaligned. While not the end of the word in terms of issues it is kind of annoying. Like I said, the chest is only the center front section of the alt mode, the sides rotate up becoming shoulder pylons, akin to a seeker design, albeit much smaller. I do really like this, since these sections don’t fully rotate back they give him a more unique and visually interesting look. Moving around to the back, and this is where my major problems with the figure lie. The idea behind it is cool, with the angled backpack and it connecting to the pylons, but they only connect via friction which seems to work, but it doesn’t feel strong. Below that you have a few of leftover vehicle parts, which seem harmless for the most part, but the hinge right at the bottom of it unfortunately hinders the waist swivel to the point where he should not even have one. 

These arms are probably my favorite part of this figure, because of both the aesthetics and articulation. Aesthetically the arms are very simple but incredibly effective, the panels on the shoulders give an armored look and while they can get in the way of articulation at certain angles you definitely work around them. The forearms are super cool too with each one sporting a pair of wheels and nothing else, you know what they say, less is more. The hands are molded in a slightly open position but do still have a 5mm port to hold weapons, unfortunately they have a similar issue to the waist where ther have the ability to rotate but are pretty much unable to because of an overhanging panel. Speaking of articulation, that is where the arms shine. Ball jointed shoulders and double hinged elbows do a lot of the heavy lifting, especially since there is no bicep swivel and neutered hand rotation, but to make up for that, he has forward butterfly joints which really help take posing to the next level. 

Moving onto the legs and they are pretty standard. Ball jointed hips, 90 degree knees, he does have ball joints at the feet which was pretty rare back then. Oddly enough, because of transformation, the knees have more articulation going the wrong way. Visually they are pretty neat, the more alt mode armour this time looking similar to a waist cape. Similarly to the forearms the lower legs each sport a pair of wheels. Other points of interest would be the knee spikes and gold stripe down the front of the foot. 

For weapons Wreckage comes with these 2 odd looking guns which are identical mirrored copies of each other. You can plug them into either his hands, the ports on the underside of his arms or any of his wheels, you can also store them in the waist cape if you so choose. Unfortunately the only peg on the guns is on the side rather than the bottom. One of the 2 major features with these guns is that they can convert into swords with the flip of a switch, literally. While you can still plug them into all the same places, the only place the blades work well is under his arms. The other feature is that you can take both swords and combine them together to make a double bladed sword, and attaching it to either of the arm wheels gives it the ability to spin freely.

Transformation is pretty easy, just collapse everything up and in, then cover the legs with the backpack. I do appreciate the weapon storage in this mode since it incorporates the guns right in. Wreckage transformers into an M1126 Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicle, albeit unlicenced. It is decked out in a basic arctic camo of primarily white with grey splotches decorating most of it. Besides the weapon storage, he has what looks like a 50. Calibur machine gun sitting on top, but other than that there isn’t really any other important details to talk about, I mean all the wheels roll but that is everything. 

That is all folks, that is Transformers 2007 Wreckage in a nutshell. He is cool looking and has some decent articulation and decent ideas but otherwise he is kinda underwhelming. This could very well be a case of over hype for a 14 year old figure and it not living up to said hype, or maybe it just hasn’t aged as well as most people think so he gets a solid 6/10 from me. Anyways check out the gallery if you feel so inclined, next week we take the trail back to the present day and take a look at a fairly new figure. See you all next week.