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.

Ocular Max IF-01 Eris: Kultur

Welcome back to MythicTFs, it has been a couple weeks but i wanted to do this one right because, boy am I excited for this one. This is a figure I have been waiting for since it was revealed and I pretty much preordered her on the spot and it is the first 3rd party Transformer I have bought brand new and I have no regrets. I almost did this review in place of Titans Return Hot Rod last week but I was really busy and Hot Rod is a much more simple figure so I pushed her to this week cause I really want to do this one right. This review is going to be a little different since this is the first foray into 3rd Party Transformers on the website and there is just so much to cover, but without further adieu, let's take a look at MMC Ocular Max IF-01 Eris: Kultur. 

I feel like there is a lot of background to cover with this figure so let’s just jump right in. As far as I know this figure wasn’t teased or revealed before the first official reveal so it just came out of nowhere and it is such a unique idea too. Within the canon that Ocular Max is building Eris had the ability to mimic any combatant but then Psyaxus(their version of Jhiaxus) experimented on her and enhanced her ability so now she can transmogrify her exo-skeleton to mimic the appearance of any combatant as well as copy their skill set. This makes me wonder if we will end up with more Eris figures down the line, each one mimicking a different character. On the topic of mimicry, this version of Eris is mimicking MMC’s Kultur or as he is better known, Tarn the leader of the Decepticon Justice Division from the IDW comics. I know a lot of people bought this figure because she looks cool(which she does) but I bought her for a slightly different reason. For a long time, probably close to 10 years at this point, I have been working on an AU(Alternate Universe) of my own creation and in it I switched Tarn’s gender to female, mainly because I could and I wanted more female characters in my story. This figure just so happened to line up with what I was creating that I felt obligated to grab it. 

We are starting off as always with the head and it is incredible. Just to get it out of the way, she does come with a mask that homages Tarn’s own Decepticon badge mask and it just fits over top. The face is a nice pale lavender with some pink painted lips and large red eyes. There is also a second set of eyes placed right above the large lavender unibrow, and in between the second set there is a large golden headcrest with a hot pink gem in the middle, which leads into a whole golden faux hawk. The rest of the head is cast in a nice black plastic with a good amount of molded detail none of which gets lost in the plastic. You may have noticed that she even has little kitty ears which is actually an homage to VERY obscure Japanese G1 character Esmeral but we have do idea if Eris is Ocular Max’s version of Esmeral. Head articulation is very good with a ball jointed head with tons of clearance both up and down plus there is a neck hinge for even more downward articulation.

Her torso is a very slender and well built bod, but not oversexualized like most 3rd Party female transformers are these days. The chest is just a condensed version of Tarn’s, capturing all the important details, like the mine catcher chestplate, the silver cylinders underneath it and all the bio light sections picked out in a hot pink, all condensed to fit onto this form fitting chest plate. The back is not quite as interesting, well at least not on the detail front, the main attraction are the giant tank tread sections. They are on these support beams and they do slot in to stay straight but it isn’t a very strong connection and they are on quite a few hinges so you have a lot of options when posing them. I personally like to keep them at an angle as I find them more visually appealing that way. Torsos usually don’t have much in terms of articulation but Eris here has quite a bit. I am pretty sure her waist is ball jointed, giving her a slight ab crunch and the ability to rock in any direction as well as a full waist rotation. She also has forward butterfly joints for her arms, which is an EXTREMELY nice addition and gives her so much more character and posing options.

On the topic of her arms, they are very nice looking but they feel a little lacking in places. Starting with the shoulders they are these large tread chunks, but these ones are only single tread wide instead of Tarn’s iconic double tread shoulders. The treads themselves are free moving and are surrounded by this nice purple plastic, which I kinda wish we saw more of from the front, but we get enough of it to help break up the greys and blacks. The forearms are rather small comparatively but still look rather nice. I really like that the black looks like a small arm gauntlet she is wearing on top of her silver exoskeleton to help reinforce her lore. Now we get to the hands and these hands are insane. Including the ball joint and hinge at the base of the wrist there are 21 joints in EACH ONE of her hands. All the fingers are individually articulated with 3 joints in each as well as a joint where they connect to the palm allowing them to be splayed out.  The thumb is slightly different as it only has 2 hinges and is connected via a ball joint. As for the rest of the arms articulation Eris has full 360 rotation at the shoulder, 90 degree outward shoulder movement, full bicep rotation and a double jointed elbow that is so well engineered and hidden I didn’t know it existed until doing this review 

Continuing downwards to look at the legs and man are they great. The thighs are nice and chunky, cast in this dull silver with lavender accents so break it up. They are actually attached to the waist at an angle giving her a much more natural stance. The articulation here is really good as well with a full rotation at the thigh, a double hinge for outward movement and two thigh rotations; one inside the upper thigh and one right above the knee. Speaking of knees, Eris has some insanely deep knee bends. They go as close to 180 degrees as you can get and it is all one joint. The shins are really nice black pillars with some nice golden knee pads, which are on a double hinge for some extra posability action and diecast metal making up the entire back and sides of them. Finishing up with the feet which are considerably small but are packed with articulation. The toe has a 90 downward movement, the foot itself can go up and down at 2 different joints, the heel can hinge up and down, and there are 2 ankle tilts, one at the ankle itself and one just below the shin. This can be a bit annoying as the lower one is tighter than the upper one and that one can make her leg look broken. I should also mention that the main part of the foot is diecast and I think part of the rounded section is too. 

For accessories Eris only comes with two. The face mask which I have already covered and her arm cannons. Now these cannons are pretty cool, they are obviously Tarn’s signature asymmetrical double cannons but obviously scaled down to fit with Eris. You can plug the entire thing into either arm but traditionally it goes on the right arm. The cannons themselves can rotate separately if that interests you, but they are also removable from the centerpiece and can be plugged into either arm separately to give her dual arm cannons.

This transformation to tank mode is extremely unique and not super challenging or panel heavy which is a change of pace. The way the backpack becomes the front half of the tank is neat but the main surprise is the legs folding up to become the tank turret, which is such a cool design and not one I have seen done before, at least never to this extent. The cannon assembly just plugs into the inside of each leg and the back of the crotch piece so it is very secure. Tank mode is incredible, it seems to be some sort of future tech/cybertronian double barreled stealth or speed tank. I love the primarily purple body accented with lots of lavender on the sides plus little bits of gold and silver to liven things up. The cockpit is situated right in the middle of the turret picked out by a nice magenta that really pops against the black. Speaking of the turret it can do a full 360 and even aim up a little and you can increase that range slightly if you untab the turret from the center piece. All of the treads roll freely, better than most wheels on official transformers, although they are plastic meaning they don’t work great on most hard surfaces.

I guess that is about it for Eris here, I was expecting this review to be a lot longer but I guess I covered everything I wanted to cover in a concise manner. Overall final thoughts, Eris is a fantastic figure, who is extremely expressive thanks to all the articulation she has and on top of that she is a very unique figure especially for the world of 3rd party transformers which is mainly dominated by G1 cartoon accurate Masterpiece or Legends scale figures, and while she is technically scaled with MP figures, she is about the same height as a modern leader class figure so she fits right in with the rest of my CHUG collection. She is an easy 9.5/10 for me and probably my figure of the year, I know we are only half way through but she is gonna be tough to beat.

The next review is review #10 and so I am doing something special. It is my first group review so it might take a bit longer to do and combine that with the fact that I am in the process of redoing my room, it might take 2 weeks as well but I promise after that we will be back to weekly reviews. I hope you all enjoyed this one and don’t forget to check out the gallery for Eris as at the time of posting this it is only around 70 images but I plan on adding more sometime later in the week, seems time got away from me. I will make a post on my Twitter(@Mythic_Gears) when I do add the pictures, while you're waiting for that feel free to check out the other galleries and blog posts and share them around if you like them. See you all next time.