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 Reveal the Shield Lugnut

I teased this one slightly at the end of last week's blog, but this is a figure I have been wanting to get for a VERY long time, and I definitely wasn’t expecting to write about it pretty much as soon as I got it, so forgive me if I sound more biased than usual. Without further adieu, It is time to look at what I believe to be one of the most well received figures, even by today’s standards, in a decade, let’s look at Reveal the Shield Lugnut. 

This is such a unique figure. I know I said that before with Springer, but I really mean it this time. This is a main line Generations figure of an essentially brand new character, Lugnut was introduced in Transformers Animated, only 3 years prior to this toy's initial release in 2010. To put that into perspective, his Autobot counterpart Bulkhead, who was also essentially a brand new character at the time still hasn’t gotten a Generations update. (He did end up being in Transformers Prime though, but that isn’t really the same). The only characters I have found with a shorter turnaround from first appearance to Generations toy are comic characters like Drift and Windblade, but I don’t really count those cause Generations is the only toyline they can go in. 

Enough about other characters, let’s get back to Lugnut here and as always let’s start with the head. It should be very obvious that this is not your standard head in both shape and design. It is obvious his main feature is his large cycloptic red eye, which is quite unique all on it’s own but he also has 2 smaller eyes on either side of his head, for a total of 5 eyes, which is even more unique. His other main feature is his large jaw, which is actually moveable. It isn’t a lot of movement but enough to get the point across, unfortunately the jaw does hinder the rest of the head's articulation, meaning you can only really open it when he is facing straight ahead. Speaking of articulation the head is on a ball joint giving him a bit of up and down and side to side, but even without the open jaw the articulation is limited by the shape of the head, but he has enough to get by. Since he is the first figure I have reviewed to have it, I obviously need to mention his light piping. All of his eyes and the inside of his mouth are all light piped but it doesn’t really work the greatest. The main eye gets most of it and that is about it, luckily he doesn’t have “dead eye syndrome” like most figures that use light piping, and I am assuming that is because of the plastic used. 

The torso is a very interesting shape, as he has a hunchback like appearance with the head being sunken into the chest and the shoulders being positioned both above and behind it. The chest is primarily this thin purple pillar and on either side you have these cockpit halves that help fill out the chest, each one of those cockpit panels has a small turret that is fully rotatable and can fit blast effects on them. These sections are spring loaded and because of that they have a tendency to slide back from their proper positions, it makes the chest a bit wider and a bit more dynamic now that the windows are on an angle, it isn’t really a bad look, so I can completely understand if someone might prefer it over the regular configuration. He does seem to have quite a long torso because of his stature which almost seamlessly goes into his backpack which is just the entire tail section of the plane mode. It does end up going pretty far down his back meaning it can hinder leg articulation but it is on a rail and a hinge so it can be moved out of the way pretty easily. 

Moving on up to the arms, or well more specifically the shoulders. The large section right behind the head is where the shoulders connect, now this part doesn’t connect super well and tends to wobble a bit. The shoulders themselves are made up of the main turbines which is both accurate to the character and super cool, what is even better is that the entire middle section of the turbine is ratcheted allowing for outward arm movement. As for forward and back movement, that’s where it gets kind of weird, because of how the shoulder rotation is designed he doesn’t have any at the shoulder propper, but they did add a joint right beneath the turbine that is both a bicep swivel and a hinge that gives him some semblance of shoulder movement even if it is only 90 degrees of forward movement. Almost right below that joint is his elbow joint, which goes just under 90 degrees, and right after that you have his massive hands. Lugnut’s hands are quite spectacular and that is all because the fingers are articulated, the thumb is on it’s own separate hinge then, one for the whole palm and then the fingers are individually articulated. The main section of the hand is also on a rotation but that is mainly for transformation. 

The legs don’t have a lot going on, full waist rotation, hip ratchets and thigh swivels, knees go well beyond 90 thanks to a double hinge and a lot of clearance. The lower legs are considerably chunky but that shouldn’t be a surprise considering the rest of the figure. I think the feet are the most interesting part of his legs because of how much articulation they have, albeit most of it is left over from transformation, the heels and toes can move inward almost like bird claws, the ankles are on ball joints as well as a separate hinge for more forward movement, although that one is critical to his balance. 

Lugnut doesn’t come with any accessories, but he does have quite a few features and gimmicks. First off is the spring loaded missile launcher that hides in the plane's tail and is the main reason the tail doesn’t fold away better. Now I got this figure second hand, and he didn’t end up coming with the missile, which is fine by me as it does not hinder my enjoyment of this figure in the least, but I can still deploy the launcher as ridiculous looking as it is. Next up is the plethora of 3mm brackets, in just the shoulders and arms he has 10, 16 if you move a couple panels out of the way, plus the 1 on the missile launcher and the 2 on each leg. This guy can be a walking armoury if you have the resources, which I unfortunately don’t. Finally both of his fists are spring loaded to simulate his famous P.O.K.E, or Punch Of Kill Everything, attack. This unfortunately only works on one of my fists because I had to take the spring out of the other one as it was misaligned and was keeping the arm from transforming properly. Oh and before I forget since Lugnut was released in Reveal the Shield, he has a rubsign on his left hand which reveals he is of course a Decepticon when heat is applied. 

This transformation is pretty rad, with the way the main torso extends out, the arms unfolding into the wings and the legs collapsing up to form the bomb bay and leave essentially no undercarriage, which is usually a big problem with jet formers. The jet mode itself is absolutely FANTASTIC, it is an amalgamation of a few different WWII Bombers, mainly the B-25 Mitchell, B-24 Liberator, and B-17 Flying Fortress plus some more modern technological updates like having turbines instead of propellers. There are so many little things on this plane mode that really put it above the rest. The translucent red cockpit windows, the fully rotatable guns, the shark teeth pattern, the caution stripes on the turbines, the leetspeak version of his name on the wings and tail fin as well as the little molded gunner section at the very back. As for features in the is mode the launcher can still function just as well as it could before and he still has almost all of his 3mm brackets available to use at your desire. Oddly enough though he can actually roll, and rather well i might add, thanks to 4 tiny wheels on his underside. 

There was a lot to cover with this figure but I think I have covered pretty much all of it. I absolutely love this figure and am SO glad he is finally a part of my collection as incomplete and “broken” he may be, none of those things really hinder my enjoyment at all. This could very well be the last Lugnut figure we ever get and I would be ok with that. He is a decade old figure that stands right alongside modern day figures in terms of quality and general playability, not to mention size. Reveal the Shield Lugnut is an easy 9/10 and can really only be described in one word. Glorious. 

Hope you all enjoyed that one, and feel free to check out Lugnut’s photo gallery for more pictures, you won’t be disappointed. Next week we are going older than this weeks with a figure that I think is pretty cool and holds up almost as well as Lugnut but has a few flaws holding him back, so see you guys then.