MYTH’S TOP 20 TRANSFORMERS OF 2023
Hi, there. It is that time of year again when everyone figures out their favorite figures of the year and my yearly tradition of going over my Top 20 figures I got this year. Let me tell you this year's top 5 is the CLOSEST ranking I have ever had and there is an easy argument for any of them to be #1. Now then let’s get into it
Hi, there. It is that time of year again when everyone figures out their favorite figures of the year and my yearly tradition of going over my Top 20 figures I got this year. Let me tell you this year's top 5 is the CLOSEST ranking I have ever had and there is an easy argument for any of them to be #1. Honestly, this year was great for figures both in terms of release and acquisitions on my end, and on the whole, there are plenty of great figures that just didn’t make the cut that I thought were shoe-ins for this list when I got them. If you have read the previous year's posts you should know the standard rigamarole for my lists, the figures on this list didn’t have to come out this year I just had to acquire them within the past 12 months and it is not a Top 10 list because there are too many figures that I think deserve attention. Now then let’s get into it
#20: Shattered Glass Grimlock
The original Studio Series 86 Grimlock figure came in at #15 on my list two years ago and combine that with my love for Shattered Glass, this figure being on this list was a no-brainer. Sometimes all you need in life is a big plastic robot dinosaur that turns into a big plastic robot—pure simplicity.
#19: Universe 2.0 Powerglide
I have always loved this era of Transformers toys and Powerglide is such a good example of it. New designs for existing characters that have wack proportions, made of big chunky parts, and have tons of play value. This toy just oozes an energy that we just don’t get anymore, sure he doesn’t have the standard articulation we have now but he proves that it isn’t necessary to be a good toy.
#18: Alternators Miester & Wheeljack
I got quite a few Alternators this year so I am glad a couple of them made the list. Alternators are an incredible toyline that I don’t think we could get today and even if we did I don’t know if they would hit the same. This is a line of 1:24 scale model cars that just so happen to transform into, usually, recognizable Transformers characters. Wheeljack and Jazz here may be some of the more controversial picks for favorites, but Jazz has a really interesting transformation and Wheeljack is a toy I have wanted for a while, and he didn’t disappoint.
#17: Buzzworthy Origin Jazz
Not a figure I was initially planning on getting as I am pretty content with the 86 Jazz figure but I am really gald I did as this figure has no right being this good. He looks great in both modes, handles great, and transforms great. I don’t know how they managed to pull off this alt mode so well and have the robot mode be as good as it is.
#16: Legacy Evo Orion Pax & Senator Shockwave
This is a super weird set where neither mold really suits the designs they are going for but there aren’t any better options so this is what we got and I love it for that. Shockwave uses the Siege Seeker mold, which is always a win in my book, and wears it well. The new molding is good but I wish the wings were slightly bigger. Orion is the real star for me though as the Siege Hound mold is almost as good as the Seeker mold and it really shines here with the bright colors and new parts
#15: Legacy Evo Nacelle
This really shouldn’t be a surprise. Considering I just went over the other use of this mold that came out this year and that I had two versions of this mold on last year's list. This mold is a constant for these lists for me and I am not mad about it. Nacelle here is one of the best-looking of the bunch too. The only thing I wish he had was new wings with V-TOL blades, I am not complaining.
#14: Retro G1 Hound & Hot Rod
These two toys made me understand why the G1 toys are so loved. I grew up on the Micheal Bay movies and those are the toys that I grew up with so I had never really handled any G1 toys growing up, aside from a well-loved Prime and Soundwave, which were still great don’t get me wrong. But Hound and Hot Rod here are so good. They are fun, they are simple, and they are exactly what they need to be.
#13: Legacy Evolution Javelin
The original use of this mold was already phenomenal and one of, if not the best, female Transformers figure, and this version knocks it out of the park. I love the entire look of this figure, with the new colors and parts really enhancing the look. The customizable weapon is a big stand out for me, as it gives so much versatility and variety, but this entire figure is great and has not moved from my desk since I got her.
#12: Masterpiece Trainbot Suiken
Two MP Trainbots made the cut last year so of course at least one was going to make its way onto this year's list and Suiken is my new second favorite. The transformation on him is much simpler than the other 3 I have and he just feels so much more dynamic and clean compared to the rest and the train mode is just as incredible as the rest of the crew’s
#11: Shattered Glass Sideswipe & Hot Rod
As noted earlier, I am a Shattered Glass enjoyer so this pack was a necessity for me but man I was not expecting it to be this good. Hot Rod was already a great toy and the new head and Skywarp colors make it incredible but the real surprise here is Sideswipe. There are only 4 new parts on the mold itself plus the 2 new sword parts and it feels like a brand-new toy compared to any of the previous Siege/Kingdom Sideswipe variants, and then add the new mini-con and you get the full, incredible package.
#10: Legacy Evolution Metalhawk
The final instance of a remold/repaint of a toy that was on a previous year's list and what a toy. Metalhawk uses the phenomenal mold that is Kingdom Cyclous and it works so well. Both modes look super good and so and Metalhawk is just as fun to handle as Cyclonus, the only reason he loses points is that his alt mode is not as sleek and the colors are not clean, especially in jet mode
#9: Legacy Evolution Skyquake
Here is a toy that I’m surprised me it made my top 10, but after picking it back up I totally get it. This toy has presence, in both modes. The design is also such a good blend of the original toy and Prime iterations of the character, the easily best of all the “Prime Universe” figures we have gotten in Legacy. I am really hopeful we get to see this mold done up in more colors in the coming years as I am all in on a version in Classic G1 toy colors and Machine Wars Starscream colors.
#8: Legacy Evolution Tarn & Bludgeon
These two show off how good Hasbro figures can be, and how two, of what is essentially the same toy, can feel so distinct. Tarn is a toy nobody thought we would ever get in toy form, just because of the nature of the character, so his toy being this good is incredible. But then to get a reuse of the mold later in the year with Bludgeon who somehow wears the mold just as well if not BETTER than Tarn is something I never expected.
#7: Legacy Evolution Needlenose
Needles here is a surprise hit for me, I did not expect to like him as much as I do. He is a phenomenal fiddle figure, with a simple yet interesting transformation, all the various ports for the Targetmasters, and all while looking superb in all modes. Add to that the playability with Skyquake and you have a whole lot in such a small package.
#6: Studio Series 86 Ultra Magnus
I was always gonna get this figure when it came out as my last Ultra Magnus was the Siege version and I am not a big fan of that mold. This guy is the exact opposite; incredible looking in both modes, a transformation that is both interesting and not infuriating, incredible playability, and great accessories. This toy made me understand why the car carrier is such a great alt mode and why vehicle scale is so good.
#5: Haslab Deathsaurus
It may come as a surprise that the new Haslab is coming in this low considering last year’s was my figure of the year, but that just proves how stiff the competition is. On top of that, Victory Saber is more toyetic, with lots of combining elements, and just more fun overall to mess with. Deathsaurus on the other hand, while he has a lot of accessories and functionality, is just a phenomenal, premium figure which in the end, is all he needs to be.
#4: MMC Optus Prominon
As far as hyper-articulated Transformers go this is one of the best. He can pull off most poses extremely well, and all the accessories he comes with just add even more variety. On top of all that he looks great in both modes, my only gripe is that the transformation can be a bit of a pain in the ass, especially going to vehicle mode but considering everything he can do, that is a fair compromise.
#3: Legacy Evolution Armada Optimus Prime
I have always loved the Armada Optimus design so I am super glad this toy came along, as a good quality version of the original toy feels so far out of my price range, and boy does he deliver. The core robot is a blast on its own and then adding the trailer pants just adds so much pure presence that is hard to beat.
#2: Maketoys Contactshot
Everyone in this fandom has that one character who is essentially a nobody but they love them anyway, and for me, that is Pointblank. Needless to say, I have really wanted this guy for a while, and man I was not expecting him to be this good. Or this big. He is so much fun and such a beauty to pose and even just look at. The head and face options are a great addition, so you can mix and match to create your preferred Pointblank look. Transformation isn’t complicated and has some very interesting sections, specifically the legs, and the car mode is immaculate.
#1: Maketoys Striker Manus
This was a long-time grail figure for me, essentially ever since the original version was released back in 2016(I think), I have wanted it and now that I have it I have to say he doesn’t disappoint. This version in particular is the Premium Editions so it comes with all the extra bits and weapons from previous releases of the mould which just increases his fun exponentially. There are so many things I love about this toy, that there comes a point where it becomes derivative and the only thing to say is that he is phenomenal.
Once again my Top 20 Figures of the year list has 25 figures in it but really who’s counting? This is just a way for me to gush about a fraction of the cool robots I got this year for anyone who will read it. If you haven’t caught on this is the end of the list no honorable mentions or anything as that would take WAY too long and this is long enough already. Hoping to update this site more this year but I guess only time will tell, so in that case, I will see you when I see you.
MYTH’S TOP 20 TRANSFORMERS OF 2022
Hi, it has been a minute since a blog post. Let’s just get into this, though, shall we? Same format as last year, Top 20 because there were too many standout figures; the figures did not have to release this year, I just had to acquire them this year, and as always, this is in no way a definitive for anyone else, just me. Now without further adieu, let’s start
Hi, it has been a minute since a blog post. My posting, in general, on the website has been inconsistent this year, which is something I would like to improve upon next year, hell, even this post is late, but better late than never, I suppose. Let’s just get into this, though, shall we? Same format as last year, Top 20 instead of Top 10 because there were just too many standout figures; the figures did not have to release this year, although most of them did. I just had to acquire them this year, and as always, this is in no way a definitive for anyone else, just me, so if you disagree with some of my picks, that’s cool, let me know on Twitter what your top figures of the year are. Now without further adieu, let’s start with #20;
#20: Shattered Glass Jetfire
Starting off with a Big Boy. I never got the original release of this mold when it came out during Siege, it never really appealed. I am perfectly fine with the T30 Jetfire as my normal Jetfire. Still, when this guy was announced, I knew I had to get him, mainly because I wanted to complete the Shattered Glass line, but I was also curious about the mold. I am glad I did; Jetfire here is PACKED with features and accessories, and while his transformation isn’t anything special, his sheer size makes up for it.
#19: Selects Galvatron II
This is a figure I was unsure if I would pick up. I already loved the regular release from Kingdom, and while I knew I wanted the toy decos for Scourge and Cyclonus, I wasn’t thrilled with the pics of this guy. Obviously, I did pick him up, and he is just as good as the Kingdom/Legacy release, but this time with proper shoulders, a manga reference matrix, and some stickers for that extra toy look, even if those stickers aren’t very good, I appreciate the effort.
#18: Wreck ‘N’ Rule Collection Autobot Springer
It is wild to me that it took this long to get a repaint of this mold, but I won’t say no to a toy deco, and I knew I had to have this one as soon as I saw it. I absolutely adore the Siege Springer mold, and the toy colors for Springer are so good and this mold wears them perfectly. He is just as good if not better than the original release, and I couldn’t be happier about that.
#17: Studio Series KSI Sentry
This is a mold I have loved since Stinger came out in 2018, and I finally got KSI Sentry, who is just as good. The deep blue and black Pagani Huayra alt mode is absolutely stunning. And the added gunmetal silver in robot mode makes all the details in the molding pop, making up for the lack of weaponry.
#16: Revenge of the Fallen Knock-Out
The is a classic for anyone who grew up with the movie toylines. The Revenge of the Fallen toyline scouts are some of the best figures in the line, and Knock-Out is the epitome of that. Incredible colors, impeccable bike mode, and a remarkable robot mode design. Any version of this mold is excellent, but Knock-Out is the OG.
#15: Fansproject Protector & Fansproject Knight
We have come to the first of my ties with Fansproject Protector and Fansproject Knight. These are two very different figures, but both are great in their own rights. Protector has the classic look and charm of old school 3rd party figures and upgrade kits that is hard to rival. While Knight has a similar charm to him, his size and six modes make him a just as fun a toy to mess with.
#14: Premium Finish Optimus Prime (SS05)
I know this could be a controversial pick, I mean this figure is controversial. Most people question why this version of the mold and not the more accurate SS32 version. I am not most people. I have always preferred the SS05 version; I think transformation is less complicated, and I don’t care about the Jetfire compatibility as I never wanted Jetfire. This is just the perfect version of 05, and I couldn’t be happier.
#13: Studio Series TLK Hot Rod
This is a figure I hoped to be good, and it did not disappoint. I am one who enjoyed the original TLK deluxe, as flawed as it is, but this just blows it out of the water. The transformation and engineering is nuts, the car mode is excellent, and the robot mode is absolutely stunning. Plus, he actually comes with a gun this time.
#12: Legacy Blitzwing
Another controversial pick, but I think this guy is pretty fun. Transformations are simple yet interesting, and vehicle modes are flawed but fun. He looks great next to the rest of the Season 1 & 2 Decepticon cast, especially Astrotrain.
#11: Kingdom Blaster/Shattered Glass Blaster
I don’t think many people were expecting Blaster to be as good as he is. Essentially perfect looking in both modes, interesting transformation, not to mention the included cassette companion being better than pretty much all of the Decepticon ones. Just an all around great toy no matter what version you choose.
#10: Studio Series 86 Sludge
It is such a shame that the QC on this figure is so sloppy because he rivals Grimlock in my opinion. The transformation is interesting without being too frustrating. Visually he looks great and fits right in with the other two. It also helps that he doesn’t come with a weird squatting companion.
#9: Kingdom Slammer
The final of the WFC weaponizers and what figure to end with. He is a fantastic figure in his own right, but all the weaponizing parts are great and so much fun to use on other figures, and he has bonus functionality with T30 Metroplex if that is up your alley.
#8: Studio Series Bumblebee Thundercracker
This shouldn’t be surprising, considering Starscream made my list last year, and this figure is just as good. I talked about how much I loved this figure last year, but these colors are just as good, if not better. Now, all we need is a Skywarp to complete the trio.
#7: Premium Finish WFC Starscream/Shattered Glass Starscream
Another seeker mold and my favorite Seeker one to date. I have every version of this mold and will buy every version they release in the future and two of the best-looking ones released this year. SG Screamer does have rampant yellowing, I can’t excuse that, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t look stunning out of the box.
#6: Masterpiece Trainbots Shouki & Getsui
Every time I get a new one of these guys, I get even more excited for the rest of the components and for Raiden himself. Don’t let that overshadow the fact that these are excellent figures in their own right. The engineering is constantly surprising and interesting without being overly complicated and frustrating. On top of that, the licensed train modes are sublime especially for someone like me whose childhood was filled with trains. I can’t wait for the rest of the crew.
#5: Fansproject Sigma L & Browning II
The final 3rd party figures on the list and what figures they are. I love it when 3rd party companies redesign existing characters, and these two are precisely why; Great designs, interesting transformations, and oozing personality. I knew I was going to like Sigma L, but Browning II was a complete surprise, and I couldn’t be happier about it.
#4: Selects Cyclonus & Nightstick
If it hasn’t been established already I love a toy deco, and this figure is the best one so far. It was an already near-perfect mold, but include the Targetmaster and the perfect paint job and toy detail stickers. It doesn’t get much better than this.
#3: Legacy Jhiaxus
The complete surprise of a figure to pretty much everyone if I had to guess. No one ever expected this design to get a toy, much less for it to be this good. This is one of those rare times when Hasbro knocks it out of the park on the first try. Not much else I can say about this figure; if you haven’t picked one up, you are missing out.
#2: Legacy Motormaster/Menasor
I was not expecting to like this figure as much as I do, but the engineering is incredible, not to mention that the designers somehow managed to make the toon look for Menasor, the worst-looking combiner in the original show, look good, which is an achievement on its own. Combined mode aside, Motormaster on his own is great fun to play with and transform to the point where I recommend him on his own.
#1: Haslab Victory Saber
I don’t know what else to say about this figure that everyone else has already said. Exceptionally engineered, looks superb, and, most importantly, incredibly fun. All of the Victory Saber component figures would be on this list if they were sold individually from one another, but the whole package together is just something special. Some of the most fun i have had with a set of figures in a long time
And just like that, this list is complete; those are my top 20 figures for 2022. If you want to be technical about it, this is my top 25 figures of the year, but that’s semantics. All these figures are great, and I recommend all of them if you have any passing interest. I hope to be more active on this place this year, but only time will tell if that actually happens. Until then, I hope you all had a Happy New Year, and I’ll see you when I see you.
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.
Studio Series 86.07 Slug w/Daniel Witwicky
Hi, welcome back to MythicTF’s. Over the past few months since I have started this blog all the figures I have done haven’t really been brand new, with the exception of Eris:Kultur obviously. Not to say most of these toys are old, most have come out within the past 3-4 years, but today’s figure is brand new as of writing this, so new that he has barely started showing up in most countries. I wasn’t even expecting to get this guy till October, but I got lucky with a listing on Walmart.ca and was able to get him early, or at least early by my standards, but enough beating around the bush let’s get prehistoric and look at Studio Series 86.07 Slag, I mean Slug.
Slug here is actually the second Dinobot to be released in the Studio Series 86 sub-line, the first being Grimlock, who I am sure we will get to eventually. Before we actually move on to the figure I feel like I should address the name issue here between Slag and Slug and why it was switched. Slag is his original name and to numerous people that is this character's name as that is what they grew up with but, as time went on, it was discovered that “slag” is a derogatory word in the UK and Europe, so Hasbro decided to change the name of the character to Slug. Some people may get unnecessarily mad at this name change, but it isn’t really that big of an issue, at least to me, because it is not like Slag was a major character with a lot of history and even if he was it is not like the name is that much different, they just switched a letter. Anyways let’s take a look at the figure shall we.
Starting as always with the head as always, and honestly I like it much more than I thought I would based on all the pictures I saw beforehand. I am still not the biggest fan of the fully red head and would have preferred a black head with a red or silver face, but this head is accurate to the G1 cartoon and that is the point of the SS86 toyline, but like I said I like the red more than I thought. I think that there are a substantial amount of details here that would have gotten lost had they used black instead. The only non red parts on the entire face are the rather large metallic blue eyes which really stand out. The head itself is not actually a full head because of how he transforms, it is more of a face with a slope on the back, which is fine since you don’t really see the back of the head thanks to his iconic dino head hood. Speaking of the hood, it does make it a little difficult to maneuver the head but there is sufficient space to get your fingers in there to move it around. You can actually move the head quite a bit thanks to the ball joint it’s on, plus the neck panel can move for some extra up and down action, although the downside of that is that that panel doesn’t lock in so you can up can end up sinking his head into his chest a little without noticing.
Slug here has a rather wide torso, or at the very least it is visually wide. There are multiple factors to this and not all of them are chest related, but since we're here we might as well look at the chest. To start off we have this big grey centerpiece which, on the original toy was the lower jaw of the dino. Here it is clearly a faux part but it stands out REALLY nicely against the primarily red torso, and reversely the Auto-badge stands out really well against the grey. Moving on outwards to the shoulders sections. They are these large red cylindrical chunks, which is one of the main reasons he looks so wide, another one being the slopes tapering to the waist not going out far enough so it looks like the torso stops perpendicular to them and then the shoulder starts, there is even an indent in the molding that helps sells that “illusion”. Speaking of molded details, it all looks very nice and stands out pretty well against the red plastic, and most, if not all, of it is based on the details from the G1 toy which is a nice touch, and blends the cartoon and toy styles very well. I especially love all the details on the inside of the back wings. Since we're talking about the back wings, let's talk about the backpack as a whole cause there is a lot here, but all things considered, it is very compact. It does have the whole dino tail hanging off his back but it looks a lot better and compacts much more than the initial pictures made it appear. It does have a few gaps you can see from the side, nothing major though and it is all very secure.
Moving on to the arms, which are the other main reason he seems wide. They are very good with all the right articulation; Hand rotation, double hinge elbow, full bicep rotation, 90 degree outward movement and full shoulder rotation(the ratchets of which are incredible). I feel like the arms themselves should be both slightly longer and bulkier. When fully straightened the arms just barely make it a third of the way down the thigh, and I think if you made them bulkier they would stand out more from the body instead of extensions in a different color. Luckily these complaints are only really visible when his arms are straight, if you pose them they aren’t really noticeable.
Now let's look at the legs, which are super chunky in multiple ways. The waist is this large brick with a rotation, and full outward, forward and backwards movement in the hips, and while the tail does interfere slightly, it is not as much as you might think and it can be moved out of the way pretty easily. Thighs are a bit short but in comparison to the rest of the legs but not enough where it is a flaw, and I do really love the blue and green on the knees, keeping with the toy inspired details. Surprisingly, thanks to transformation, Slug has double-jointed knees and both joints are ratcheted, although this does cause a minor issue of the thighs not lining up to the lower legs correctly, but again minor issue. Now we get to the main event, these chunky knee-high boots with gold painted toes and mechanical detail galore, but the best part about these has to be the rear dino mode legs that collapse in on themselves and fold around to fill in the inner leg. The engineering here actually allows you to fold them out so you can homage the G1 toy even more, obviously this brings the downside of hollowness on the inside of the legs. He does have some exceptional ankle tilt, going fully 90 degrees, but that isn’t something we haven’t seen before, especially over the last 2-3 years.
Obviously before looking at the transformation and Dino mode, we have to look at his accessories, of which there are two. First up is his gun, which is a pretty nice single barreled rifle painted in the same light grey as the chestplate, and it can be held in either hand, or stored on the back, or oddly enough plugged into the shoulder. Our second accessory can also be plugged into the shoulder, but this one plugs into the top instead of the side. Yep, it is time to look at the weirdest accessory for this guy to come with, Daniel Witwicky in his exo-suit. Daniel here is very well detailed and looks like he did in the 86 film, with the exception of anything actually telling us this is Daniel other than name. For all we know this could be Spike or just an empty exo-suit and either option would make just as much sense coming with Slug as Daniel. The only articulation on this figure is the ball joints at the shoulders and hips, the latter being pretty pointless thanks to the legs being permanently bent 90 degrees. To the point where it makes him hard to stand up on his own. Like I mentioned he can plug into the top of Slug’s shoulder and ride up there if you would like, and that is pretty much it for integration at least for robot mode.
Transformation is neat, especially the legs, since they collapse together to become the entire back end of the dino and the way the chest opens up to reveal the lower jaw is extremely satisfying. This mode is overflowing with molded detail and while we saw most of it in robot mode it is all concentrated together now into this giant mechanical mass. I especially love the faux feet on his back to give him his classic look without sacrificing anything in the legs overall design. Taking a quick look at the head, and it is your classic triceratops head with the spake mane, forehead horns and singular nose spike, all with some mid 80’s mechanical flair. The head itself is done up in a nice brilliant gold and, just like the robot head, the metallic blue eyes really capture your attention from almost every visible angle. The lower jaw can open up and there is even a blast effect port in the mouth so you can make him breath fire(I unfortunately don’t have good enough effect parts to replicate this, so I did the best I could). Because of how the dino head is engineered he can’t look up at all so he just breathe fire at what is on the floor directly in front of him. Actually he doesn’t have much going on the way of articulation in this mode, the front legs obviously have everything the arms had, since that is what they are, but the back legs really only have hip movement. I mean you can use the knee and ankle joint there thanks to the transformation joints but they don’t look all that convincing. Both of the accessories can be used in this mode, the gun actually stores in the tail, giving him a properly tapered tail. Meanwhile Daniel/Spike/the Exo-suit can ride Slug thanks to the two tabs just behind the spike mane.
Overall I think SS86 Slug is an EXCELLENT figure with a couple flaws that keep him from being as good as he could have been. I am thinking he gets a very respectable 8/10. I think that is everything covered with Slug here, I do hope I can get to SS86 Grimlock sooner rather than later but with a lot of stuff releasing and arriving in the next couple months I am not quite sure that will happen, only time will tell. As always with every blog post the accompanying photo gallery is up so check it out if you would like and next week we keep the dinobot theme but probably not in the way you're thinking. See you then.
Transformers Studio Series Shadow Raider
It is that time again and this time we are returning to a toyline I have already done a figure from, which is Studio Series, but unfortunately for Studio Series it is another figure I am not super thrilled with(I promise there are figures in this toyline I enjoy). I do think this one is an improvement from ROTF Megatron in multiple ways, especially since I don’t hate this design from the get go. So let’s take a look at one of the few seemingly toy only characters in the entire toyline, Studio Series #17 Shadow Raider.
I know, I know technically Shadow Raider did appear in the movies. He is a representation of the background Mercenaries on Lockdown’s ship in Age of Extinction but like is he really? Those models look nothing like this toy except for maybe the feet and arms plus they were never named in the movie, they were just credited with “Mercenaries”. This toy was just an excuse for Hasbro to reuse this mold in a new color and as far as I am concerned it is a new toy only character.
Looking more closely at the actual figure, and of course starting with the head, we can see that this is a very simple head as he has no real facial features to speak of. He just has a full face visor/mask/helmet which actually is closer in design to Lockdown’s than it is to the actual background mercs. It does have quite a few molded details all over the head which looks really nice but I find the ones in the front half get lost a lot more and that is because the front half of the head is black painted clear plastic. The other issue this clear plastic brings up is that you can see all the, what I assume to be, connection points for said piece in the green plastic behind and it looks awful, just random holes all over the place. Quickly looking at articulation before moving on, the head is on a ball joint and he has a neck hinge meaning he has a lot of upwards movement but because of the shape of his head and collar his side to side movement is limited and downward movement is non-existent.
The torso is very simple in the grand scheme of things, just a black block with tons of molded detail. For real the detail here is insane and it is all super visible thanks to the black plastic, but I think my favorite part is the chest piece which is picked out in grey and orange and really helps draw attention to the chest. The back on the other hand is just the entire top half of his car mode folded up into a somewhat cohesive looking backpack. It isn’t the worst backpack I have seen on a figure, especially since it doesn’t make him back heavy and, for the most part, doesn't hinder the articulation. But it would have been nice if they did something more creative with it, but I understand that this line is all about movie accuracy and since this mold was originally Lockdown, and he had hardly any car parts in robot mode it makes sense.
Moving onto the arms which are made up of the sides of the car mode, and they are fine. They are very orange compared to the rest of the figure but they do have sections on the shoulder and bicep, which look like ammo pouches with some relatively large bullets, and the entire forearms are black as well. Articulation here is kinda lacking, and what is there gets hindered. Shoulders are on ball joints but are hindered going back because of the backpack and going upward because of the shape of the shoulder. He does have a bicep swivel but it gets stopped by the wheel that is in his inner arm, but you get enough range out of it for it to be useful. Just below that you have the elbow which is on a ball joint, so there is also a swivel there if you need some more range there, unfortunately the elbow itself only goes 90 degrees and, on my copy at least, these ball joints like to pop out which can be slightly annoying. Before moving onto the legs I should mention that there is a fairly common QC issue with this mold in general, and it should come at no surprise to you that it has to do with clear plastic. Shadow Raiders shoulders sections are cast in clear plastic, so that means both the shoulder joint and bicep swivel are affected. This clear plastic has been known to shatter especially at the bicep, since that is a transformation joint and is rotated the wrong way. I have found that rotating it clockwise without holding the wheel has given me the best results so far.
These legs have all sorts of little issues that just add up to a not great experience. First off the waist and hips are both hindered by the shape of the hips. The waist can only move about 15 degrees in either direction, and the hips can only go out about 60 degrees, before being stopped. Other than that though the hips are also hindered going backwards by the backpack and they can only go 90 degrees forward, which is more than enough. He does have a full thigh swivel but because it is used for transformation, it is slightly off center so it looks awkward when used. His knees only go about 90 degrees, which is workable and his feet actually have about 90 degrees of movement up thanks to transformation so he can do a pretty convincing crouch. On the topic of his feet let’s talk about them for a minute and how I am a dense human being. So for the longest time, essentially since I got the figure till right now as of me writing this, I never realized that the bumper sections on his heels are on a double hinge, meaning they can be pulled out slightly allowing them to sit higher up and more importantly they let the foot sit perpendicular to the rest of the leg, meaning he can stand up straight and not lean forward at a 45 degree angle.
Before moving onto transformation and vehicle mode he does come with this gun accessory that fits over his left hand. I do really like all the details on this gun with the 3 canisters on top, the tri-spikes at the front and just all the little molded details it has. Unfortunately, like I stated before this gun can only go in his left hand because of how it is designed. If you really want to put it on the other arm you can use the vehicle mode ports and plug it into the outside of either arm but it will be upside down on the right arm, not that that really matters.
Speaking of vehicle mode, this vehicle mode looks absolutely amazing but getting here is the ABSOLUTE WORST. Everything has a hard time lining up, certain sections will catch on other sections and just pop off, but the real pain comes from getting the entire sides of the car lined up. Trying to fold the hands under the small panels that are attached to the backpack is truly infuriating and requires an uncomfortable amount of pressure. It gets to a point where you wonder if the transformation is really worth the trouble. Onto the car mode itself it is really nice, it is an officially licensed Lamborghini Aventador, and the orange is actually a stock color for the car. It rolls well enough and you can store the gun on the side of the car but it looks pretty ridiculous. I don’t know what else to say about this mode other than it looks cool. You may have noticed that I have indeed “painted” the rims on him, just like on TR Hot Rod, and honestly I think it really completes the look here
And just like that we are at the end of another review, Shadow Raider looks so cool but doesn’t really have the engineering needed to back it up, and combine that with the transformation he comes out at a very mediocre 5.5/10. As always the gallery for Shadow Raider is up as well if you want to look through that.
Now that all of that is over and done with I would like to point out a couple new things on the website; First off I added a Search button in the header and added a search bar at the top of the blog page(replacing the blog title), just in case you need some help finding something, Secondly you will notice the page thumbnail for the Studio Series page as well as the banner on said page has changed from Megatron to Shadow Raider, which was always the plan just to keep things fresh. Expect a couple more minor changes to the site as the weeks go on, gonna be tweaking stuff till I find something I like. Speaking of tweaking I did tweak my watermark in my pictures, and I do like it a lot better. I think i still need to adjust the sizing a bit but it works well enough for this week. Going forward I do have the next 6-7 weeks planned out, provided figures arrive on time, and it is all newer stuff too, so look forward to that and I will see you all then.
Transformers Studio Series ROTF Megatron
Welcome back, I hope you enjoyed last week's review on Earthrise Trailbreaker. I thought it turned out really well, but you're not here for last week's review, you're here for this week’s and I’ll be real for a minute, I have not been looking forward to this one. I know some people like this figure but I really don’t, so if this review seems partially negatively biased I apologize and if I am going to be fully honest, my disdain for it mainly comes from the design of this version of the character, but that doesn’t mean the toy itself doesn’t have issues of it’s own. I guess I should stop beating around the bush and just get on with it, so here is a look at Transformers Studio Series #13 Revenge of the Fallen Megatron.
Like I said I am not a big fan of this design, and I was not originally going to get this figure because of that, but I ended up getting it as a gift so I figured I would give it a shot and man I am not impressed. It has some neat ideas going on but his color pallet is extremely dull and he is generally not fun to mess with. I can’t say I am super surprised though because out of all the live action Megatron designs we have gotten over the years, this one is definitely one of the weakest, at least to me.
Getting right into it with the head, it is your standard Bayverse Megatron head and it is one of the only parts I don’t dislike on this figure. The general design is pretty neat, with the permanently angry head crest unibrow, the spikey half mohawk and the metal shard mutton chops that go so far back they seem to turn into some type of horn. As for facial features, his mouth is set into the head a bit, which ends up pronouncing the chin, the teeth are painted gold but his facial expression is somehow anger, disbelief and disgust all rolled into one, which is kind of impressive. It isn’t helped by the beady solid red eyes that are very likely to stare into your soul. Articulation is actually really good because the ball joint is positioned at the back of the head, giving him a lot of clearance and range of movement.
The torso is very static and very dull and that is about it. Ok, that may be an oversimplification but it is accurate nonetheless. The chest has all the right details and is accurate for the most part. The Bronze paint does help break up the grey but not enough to really pop and make a huge difference. He also has some holes in and around the lower half of his torso which are unnecessary and just bring attention to the fact that the entire torso is hollow, like completely hollow. Unlike Trailbreaker who, if you remember from last week, also had a hollow inner torso, the emptiness is visible from every angle in one way or another. The back is a bit better than the front just from a design standpoint, but it still has the same issues as the front. I really enjoy the gunmetal paint apps and the large thrusters, not to mention the movable back cannons, which unfortunately are not modern blast effect compatible.
Megatron’s arms are unique since they’re asymmetrical. His left arm is very spindly and thin, even the shoulder is more rounded with a layered look. This arm has pretty standard articulation; full shoulder rotation, outward movement over 90 degrees, full bicep rotation, and a 90 degree elbow. The fingers are articulated as well, they’re separated into two different sections with each one able to move separately, unfortunately they don’t really look good when you do that. Now the right arm is where all the action is. This entire arm is one big cannon, and is considerably more beefy than the other one, the shoulder has this cool trio of metal spikes. That aesthetic continues to the rest of the arm with a rather large spike protruding from the top of the cannon and he has an even bigger spike/blade that can be flipped out from its hiding place of the entire forearm. Doing this pretty much doubles the entire length of the forearm. Articulation in this arm is pretty much the same as the other one with the exceptions of the elbow going slightly more than 90 degrees and the shoulder going slightly less. Obviously since there isn’t a hand on the arm there isn’t much in the way of hand articulation, other than the single finger on the inside of the cannon and is in my opinion the most pointless thing on this figure.
Now then let's get onto what is probably my least favorite part of this figure, the legs. My hate for them stems from both the design and function, seeing as I very much dislike the digitigrade leg style on pretty much anything, this figure included obviously. As for function, let's get all of my issues out of the way right off the bat, starting with the panels. The upper leg/thigh panels, while not horrible, don’t like to tab in and if they do, they don’t like to stay that way, they can also pop off from time to time. On the subject of “popping off panels” the ones on the back of the knee I'm convinced don’t want to live there because they will come off with next to no force. My other big issue lies in the feet, and how unstable they feel. The feet are made up of a section of tank treads folded at an angle, with the front splitting to help with balance, in theory anyway. In reality the feet don’t get a chance to actually be feet because of two panels, one is there for extra support since the foot are oddly shaped so I am not going to give that on too much slack other than being slightly too tall so they end up being the only thing the toy is balancing on, but the panels on the inside of the feet do absolutely nothing for the figure other than mess with his balance since they sit too far down and mess with his balance since they are constantly at an angle. As for the legs as a whole, I do like the idea of the entirety of the treds becoming the legs and feet, even if I am not a fan of the execution, and the dark grey plastic really helps the bronze, silver and grey paint shine. Articulation is fine, full range of movement in the hips, full bicep swivel, knees go about 90 and the ankles tilt about 45 degrees inward.This would be the point where I would move on to talk about the features and accessories this toy comes with, but he doesn’t do or come with anything, so i guess I will just move onto transformation an vehicle mode.
Transformation is pretty simple but the legs always confuse me, they never look right until I plug them into the main body. You will also be hard pressed to transform this guy and not have any of the leg panels fall off in the process. Megatron’s vehicle mode is this cybertronian tank, but it looks more like a pile of scrap metal with treads and guns attached, although that can be used to describe most bayverse designs. There aren’t really any new details here aside from the main cannon section, everything else we saw in robot mode. That being said it is all still very good, and almost works better in this mode. You may have noticed that this altmode is not very clean and you can see quite a few robot bits, from the back you can see the hands and you can very clearly see the head from the front, now this one is accurate but it doesn’t excuse how dumb and lazy it is. For features in this mode he can roll but it isn’t great as it is just on 4 small plastic wheels, the main cannon cannon can look down but not up at all, but the smaller back cannons have the same amount of articulation as in bot mode.
And just like that we are done with Studio Series Revenge of the Fallen Megatron. As you could tell i really don’t like this figure but as modern figures go he is pretty standard with decent articulation, very good film accuracy and a simple transformation. It is the design itself that bugs me more than the toy. All that being said though, I am still going to give this guy a 5/10. I get little enjoyment from him as a whole and so I don’t think he deserves being ranked any higher. As always the gallery for this guy is up, it is a bit smaller than the others but that is because I didn’t have a lot of time this week and all the poses I put him in looked the same so I had trouble finding good poses for him. Next week is going to be a figure that was fairly well received at the time but now makes it very clear of how far we have come in 5 years. See you all then.