Underrated Transformers Toys Thread

[SkyWarp91]

Though this thread could be subjective, I'd like to see what TF toys fellow OTCA members considered were underrated?

One that I consider as an underrated toy is the MagnaGuard/MagnaGuard Starfighter Transformer from Star Wars and though it lacks personality with its dull face, it offers great posability and you can pose him in a way where he is holding one of his rifles with both hands like a shotgun.. ..such a badass toy

[jaydisc]

Imma let you finish, but Animated Voyager Bulkhead is one of the greatest Transformers of all time.

[GoktimusPrime]

The Throttlebots. :)

[Sky Shadow]

Imma let you finish, but Animated Voyager Bulkhead is one of the greatest Transformers of all time.

I agree - fantastic toy. Great gimmicks, Automorph, dimensions, feel and everything locks in where it should.

This is a hard question to answer, since even the most maligned transformers have their own cheer squads (Beast Wars Injector, Action Master Thundercracker, Animated Lugnut etc.) But my favourite 1984 Autobot 'car' is Ratchet - a toy many people don't 'get'.

[Hursticon]

But my favourite 1984 Autobot 'car' is Ratchet - a toy many people don't 'get'.

See, I dig both he and Ironhide as they've got an awesome Alt mode, vehicle accuracy-wise, but they also come with a little robot and a base/missile-platform, the only other who had that was Prime! - Well, initially. ;):D

For me, I'd have to say BW Optimus Minor - He's an entirely obscure enigma that has a cool little chimp Alt mode and intriguingly odd Bot mode where he is able to separate his forearms for no apparent reason, apart from faster poop flinging. :p

[SharkyMcShark]

Universe 2.0 Glavatron.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

his forearms for no apparent reason, apart from faster poop flinging. :p

I wish they had put that on the backing card, or as part of his bio.

I reckon Star Convoy.

Looks like a brick. Is a brick, but soooo much awesome base-robot-playability!

And Turd-former Optimus Prime (or the comet mode prime from the first movie). Great action figure, lots of posability and general awseomeness. Plus he has honking great toes!!:D


I would like to hear a positive about ROTF Ravage.

[Hursticon]

I would like to hear a positive about ROTF Ravage.

He's an extraordinarily cool figure with a near perfect, screen accurate Bot/Alt mode - Tis a pity he's basically an Actionmaster though. ;)
(Assuming you're talking about the Deluxe figure :cool:)

[kristofferrer]

this is going to sound silly but how do i know the toy i'm thinking of is under-rated?

[tinyJazz]

Skywarp, you come up with really good discussion threads. :p

Can I say Cyberjets? I don't think they're popular. :confused:

CYBERJETS GALACTIC ABILITIES:
Fun and easy to transform
Great posability
Available in rad colours
Friction based launchers that work really well
Awesome light piping
The cutest headsculpts ever. :B

And I think I'm done. :|



I would like to hear a positive about ROTF Ravage.


He's an extraordinarily cool figure with a near perfect, screen accurate Bot/Alt mode - Tis a pity he's basically an Actionmaster though. ;)
(Assuming you're talking about the Deluxe figure :cool:)

He has a fun range of posability, pulls of realistic and dynamic big cat poses. Well, as long as you don't want to move the head. Looks better if you flip the hind feet upside down. And he has snapping jaws!

Bonus points: Recon Ravage looks like Voltron black lion (if you stand at a distance and squint, maybe).

[LordCyrusOmega]

Energon Wingsaber. Basically a brick as a robot but has massive play potential. Hoverboard (Green Goblin style) for Optimus, Combines in 2 different ways, and an interesting transformation. I played with him for weeks after I first got him.

Ravage isn't an Action Master. Has a better transformation the Scorponok (movie). He's (mostly) screen accurate and his alt mode is what it was in the movie.

[Hursticon]

Ravage isn't an Action Master. Has a better transformation the Scorponok (movie). He's (mostly) screen accurate and his alt mode is what it was in the movie.

Nah man, Deluxe ROTF Ravage doesn't transform... ;):p

[LordCyrusOmega]

Sure he does. Ravage to entry mode. It's screen accurate so I'm sticking to that theory :)
Scorponok on the other hand...

[SkyWarp91]

Imma let you finish, but Animated Voyager Bulkhead is one of the greatest Transformers of all time.

I got the Leader Class Bulkhead, was on sale and cheaper than the Voyager version when I got it. He was a pretty decent toy, can't imagine the voyager one being better but I guess I shall have a closer look when I get my net speeds up again!


The Throttlebots. :)

I used to have Wideload as a kid. Though they can't carry anything and don't have poseable legs or arms, it leaves it up to the imagination of who is playing with it.


I agree - fantastic toy. Great gimmicks, Automorph, dimensions, feel and everything locks in where it should.

This is a hard question to answer, since even the most maligned transformers have their own cheer squads (Beast Wars Injector, Action Master Thundercracker, Animated Lugnut etc.) But my favourite 1984 Autobot 'car' is Ratchet - a toy many people don't 'get'.

I never had the Ratchet/Ironhide mold, my brother did though. Before the interwebs he thought the toy lost its head, but when he looked it up online recently he was shattered lol



For me, I'd have to say BW Optimus Minor - He's an entirely obscure enigma that has a cool little chimp Alt mode and intriguingly odd Bot mode where he is able to separate his forearms for no apparent reason, apart from faster poop flinging. :p

Man it takes some sort of imagination to come up with that thing!


Universe 2.0 Glavatron.

Yes, Glavatron was underrated! :)




I reckon Star Convoy.

Looks like a brick. Is a brick, but soooo much awesome base-robot-playability!

And Turd-former Optimus Prime (or the comet mode prime from the first movie). Great action figure, lots of posability and general awseomeness. Plus he has honking great toes!!:D
I would like to hear a positive about ROTF Ravage.

I like the look of Star Convoy, looks awesome and retro. I agree with Movie Protoform Prime, though he does look a turd in alt-mode he is a pretty badass toy.


this is going to sound silly but how do i know the toy i'm thinking of is under-rated?

Is it Optimus Prime? Is it Bumblebee? Is it Megatron? Is it a toy that's had multiple re-releases / remolds / retools? If it's a toy that likely not everyone has or likes then it's probably overrated.


Skywarp, you come up with really good discussion threads. :p

Can I say Cyberjets? I don't think they're popular. :confused:

CYBERJETS GALACTIC ABILITIES:
Fun and easy to transform
Great posability
Available in rad colours
Friction based launchers that work really well
Awesome light piping
The cutest headsculpts ever. :B

And I think I'm done. :|


He has a fun range of posability, pulls of realistic and dynamic big cat poses. Well, as long as you don't want to move the head. Looks better if you flip the hind feet upside down. And he has snapping jaws!

Bonus points: Recon Ravage looks like Voltron black lion (if you stand at a distance and squint, maybe).

Thanks Tinyjazz for the polite comment!
Woah those Cyberjets do look funky as, surprising they offer so much pose-ability for G2 toys!


Energon Wingsaber. Basically a brick as a robot but has massive play potential. Hoverboard (Green Goblin style) for Optimus, Combines in 2 different ways, and an interesting transformation. I played with him for weeks after I first got him.

Ravage isn't an Action Master. Has a better transformation the Scorponok (movie). He's (mostly) screen accurate and his alt mode is what it was in the movie.

Though Wingsaber is a brick there's something I like about the robot mode, it's the colors - they scream heroic yet awesome!!!


Nah man, Deluxe ROTF Ravage doesn't transform... ;):p

Yeah, the 1.5 seconds he was in space he was in entry mode! Enough to justify producing an alt mode!


Sure he does. Ravage to entry mode. It's screen accurate so I'm sticking to that theory :)
Scorponok on the other hand...

Scorponok had a robot-mode, the 2 seconds he was airbourne when jumping out of the sand in the 2007 movie. Then he turned back into alt mode as soon as he landed :D:D

[Gutsman Heavy]

Bw Injector! Ugly =/= bad. The closest we've got to a h.r giger tf.
Armada Scavenger, the only toy I bought FOR the electronic gimmick! *stomp*stomp*stomp* also has one sweet mini-con!

[Sky Shadow]

Bw Injector! Ugly =/= bad. The closest we've got to a h.r giger tf.

...except perhaps his wavemate and my namesake:

http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/3623/78114skyshadowcard.jpg

(He even has a missile like a Giger Alien's 'second mouth'.) Re: this thread, if Beast Wars Sky Shadow is underrated, then he shouldn't be.

[Gutsman Heavy]

Surely sky shadow isn't overrated! awesome fig.

[Deceptic_Optic]

drift

[LordCyrusOmega]

Scorponok never had a robot mode in the movie, ejected straight out of Blackouts back in scorpion mode. According to TFWiki Scorponoks alt mode is actually made up of parts of Blackouts alt mode, though this could b pure speculation.
Yes, the 1.5 seconds Ravage was in space justified the alt mode.

[Sky Shadow]

drift

-> Post relocated to Overrated Transformers Thread.

:p

[GoktimusPrime]

Scorponok never had a robot mode in the movie, ejected straight out of Blackouts back in scorpion mode.
That must suck... getting pooped out of a larger Transformer. :p


Yes, the 1.5 seconds Ravage was in space justified the alt mode.
Makes as much sense as believing that Grapple-looking robot who appeared briefly in the Battle of Autobot City in Transformers The Movie was actually Hauler. ;)

[Paulbot]

Universe 2.0/Henkei Dinobot is underrated. People tend to either think it was as bad as the Cheetor toy was which came out first; or they chose to ignore it because it wasn't 'G1' enough for their 'Classics' collection. I stand by my original comments (http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?p=88581) but add that while the Henkei colours are better, the toy itself is good in either.

[Hursticon]

Universe 2.0/Henkei Dinobot is underrated. People tend to either think it was as bad as the Cheetor toy was which came out first; or they chose to ignore it because it wasn't 'G1' enough for their 'Classics' collection. I stand by my original comments (http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?p=88581) but add that while the Henkei colours are better, the toy itself is good in either.

Whilst I agree that the henkei version is the better colour scheme choice, I myself avoid this figure because I see absolutely no significant enough improvement over the original BW figure apart from the head sculpt, but that is not to say that it isn't worthy of being underrated by other's standards. ;):)

[SharkyMcShark]

Skywarp, you come up with really good discussion threads. :p

Can I say Cyberjets? I don't think they're popular. :confused:

CYBERJETS GALACTIC ABILITIES:
Fun and easy to transform
Great posability
Available in rad colours
Friction based launchers that work really well
Awesome light piping
The cutest headsculpts ever. :B

And I think I'm done. :|



Cyberjets are amazing! The swing wing one (F-22 NATF... yeah the orange one) and the forward swept wings one are two of my favourite molds ever.

[LordCyrusOmega]

That must suck... getting pooped out of a larger Transformer. :p


Makes as much sense as believing that Grapple-looking robot who appeared briefly in the Battle of Autobot City in Transformers The Movie was actually Hauler. ;)

Do you mean in the 'I'll drive, you shoot' scene? Wasn't that Longarm? But yes, a lot of the movie toys were a stretch.

Apparently Scorponok was made out of excess pieces of Blackout

[Deceptic_Optic]

-> Post relocated to Overrated Transformers Thread.

:p

and there is the twist

[Vector Prime]

Universe 2.0 GlavatronGalvatron.


drift

+1 on both of these.

Galvatron is fiddly and slightly annoying, but the sheer level of engineering gone into him is incredible for a Deluxe sized figure.

Drift is just well... awesome.

[GoktimusPrime]

Do you mean in the 'I'll drive, you shoot' scene? Wasn't that Longarm? But yes, a lot of the movie toys were a stretch.
Erm, I said Transformers The Movie (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/The_Transformers:_The_Movie), not the Transformers movie (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Transformers_%282007%29). :o

Grapple made a brief appearance during the Battle of Autobot City, as can be seen here (http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/5/59/BattleAutobotCity.jpg) - the only 2nd series Autobot car to appear in the film (Inferno is credited, but doesn't appear in the movie). Grapple is somewhat unique amongst the 2nd series Autobot cars because there's evidence that suggests that he was intended to be released as part of the first series to be named as Hauler (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Hauler). But in the end, Grapple was pushed back and released in the 2nd series, and the Grapple-looking Autobot who appeared briefly in "More Than Meets The Eye, Part 1" and called Hauler, became a separate character by default (and has since been retconned as his own character proper). Since no other 1985 Autobot car appears in Transformers The Movie, some fans have theorised that the Grapple-looking robot in Transformers The Movie could be/is Hauler. Another point is that the robot in TFTM has two hands, whereas Grapple was drawn with one hand (the right hand) -- the left arm has one of his missiles inserted (as can be seen here (http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/6/6c/Masquerade_AutobotsBlasted.jpg)). Quite frankly it can't really be conclusively proven one way or the other - but while it's plausible for that Autobot to be Hauler, it's generally accepted by most fans as Grapple. :p

[LordCyrusOmega]

Ah yes, my bad. Should have read it properly though The Battle for Autobot City should have tipped me off. :)

[Tallestblue]

Energon Slugslinger. I love that guy. Actually I love a lot of the Energon Decepticons, there are some great ones in that line.

[GoktimusPrime]

I quite like Snowcat; cos of the GI Joe reference. :)

[Darthprimus]

Imma let you finish, but Animated Voyager Bulkhead is one of the greatest Transformers of all time.

My wife agrees totally.

[Lint]

Cybertron Red Alert was a surprisingly good toy. Although dull at first glance he looks pretty spiffy all over and has an interesting transformation that is really harmonious with both alt and robot modes.

[Golden Phoenix]

I find that Animated Cybertron Optimus Prime gets overlooked a lot. I love the guy.

I also think that the Hulk transformer is one of the best in the series.

[optimus1]

TF Marvel Crossovers!

Particularly:

Thor
Iron Man / War Machine

[jaydisc]

I find that Animated Cybertron Optimus Prime gets overlooked a lot. I love the guy.

Agree. Hands down the best Animated Prime.

[GoktimusPrime]

TF Marvel Crossovers!

I think one problem w/ crossovers is the engineering to cost ratio. They typically cost $5-10 more than other Deluxe TFs, and arguably they're not as well designed as most other Deluxe TFs. Compare your avg Crossovers Deluxe w/ your avg Classicsverse Deluxe -- then consider the cost ratio; most people would consider Crossovers to be relatively poor value for money. And I think one thing that hampers their engineering is the insistence on making the robot modes resemble the characters instead of giving them unique robot modes. It just feels really cheesy for one thing...

Anyway, that's my opinion ;)

[klystron]

I always thought that Longarm (from first Transformers movie) was vastly underrated. Awesome little figure that one.
From G1 I think that Quickswitch gets overlooked a bit.
And there are quite a few really good BW figures that probably dont get the love they deserve.

[i_amtrunks]

I love Cybertron Longrack with the lovely reference to BW Longrack.

Voyager Animated Bulkhead, Cybertron Red Alert and Backstop were another two of my favourites that I think were overshadowed by other figures from their series. Red Alert in particular as that awesome mold was reused to make Cannonball, who was just dripping with awesomesauce.

[SkyWarp91]

I always thought that Longarm (from first Transformers movie) was vastly underrated. Awesome little figure that one.
From G1 I think that Quickswitch gets overlooked a bit.
And there are quite a few really good BW figures that probably dont get the love they deserve.

+1 on Longarm

[GoktimusPrime]

From G1 I think that Quickswitch gets overlooked a bit.

The problem with Transformers that have more than one alt mode is that you invariably sacrifice the look of some modes -- the more modes you chuck in, the harder it is to get each mode looking good. Sixshot pulled it off fairly well in 1987. Then comes 1988 and we get Quickswitch... by comparison it feels like a big throwback from Sixshot. Usually we expect gimmicks to improve with time, not worsen. Sure, 1988 was the year we saw a lot of downsizing - smaller Headmasters, smaller Targetmasters... but I dunno, I wasn't disappointed with the '88 Headmasters and Targetmasters as I was with Quickswitch. The only thing that disappointed me with the '88 Headmasters was the loss of the interchangeable tech specs meter (i.e. their stats remain the same regardless of which Nebulan you plug in). And I loved the Targetmasters... they were much cheaper carded figures (which made them a lot more affordable!) and they came with two Nebulan guns! :)


And there are quite a few really good BW figures that probably dont get the love they deserve.
Really? I love most of the BW line... the only ones I would gripe about would be:
+ Retrax - robot mode is stuck in "Christ the Redeemer" pose; and his gimmick is far too sensitive
+ Injector - he really is one uuugly sucker. But even as far as Fuzors go... he transforms into a lionfish vomiting a hornet... oookay. :rolleyes: (having said that, I bought him anyway :p)
+ Transmetal 2 Cheetor - like Quickswitch, felt like a backward step in engineering from Transmetal Cheetor. Little did I know at the time that there was further disappointment down the road with Beast Machines... ;)
+ The Mutant Beasts. Such a fail concept. (although Beast Changer pulls it off well, but he's not a Mutant Beast, nor a BW toy ;)).


I love Cybertron Longrack with the lovely reference to BW Longrack.
+1. Cybertron Buzz Saw works really well in that regard too. A lot better than Blurr who's just too chunky.


Voyager Animated Bulkhead, Cybertron Red Alert and Backstop were another two of my favourites that I think were overshadowed by other figures from their series.
Red Alert is indeed full of win. :) Cybertron Defence Red Alert is also really nice. :D

Bulkhead... I think the main thing that hurt him was his size, plus the fact that he was sold at a Voyager price point. There's something about paying $40-45 for a toy that's shorter than Deluxe Bumblebee. I have the same gripe with Animated Lugnut too... but I don't necessarily dislike Bulkhead (other than the size, I think he's a nice toy) -- but I found Lugnut to be really disappointing, size issues aside. But yeah, usually when I pay for a Voyager, I expect it to be as be about the size of a Voyager... not a "You're a little short for a Deluxe Stormtrooper" :o

[Vector Prime]

Voyager Animated Bulkhead, Cybertron Red Alert and Backstop were another two of my favourites that I think were overshadowed by other figures from their series. Red Alert in particular as that awesome mold was reused to make Cannonball, who was just dripping with awesomesauce.



Red Alert is indeed full of win. :) Cybertron Defence Red Alert is also really nice. :D

+2 on Red Alert.

The original Deluxe mold is awesome - love the leg transformation and how everything just fits together.

The weapon/hand attachments that store under the bonnet/legs is also quite clever.

CD Red Alert I'm not a big fan of since the rocket launcher is just too ridiculously large and should have at least split into smaller weapons or something for bot mode.

[dirge]

Hauler. He appeared - with both his hands - in TF:TM long before his toy was released; meaning he doesn't get enough love.

Cross Cut is a close second - a diaclone mould not used in G1 & released as a new character years later. Yet he's often dismissed as a "Skids repaint".

[Sky Shadow]

Hauler. He appeared - with both his hands - in TF:TM long before his toy was released; meaning he doesn't get enough love.

I think it's more impressive that Hauler appeared in More Than Meets The Eye Part 1, the very first episode of the cartoon, 29 episodes before Grapple. (And 19 years before Hauler's green toy, which I love.)

[jaydisc]

Movie Longarm rocks

[gamblor916]

Binaltech Skids. Nice bot mode and modern car mode is a great homage to G1. Also paint scheme, head sculpt and general proportions are fantastic.

[Gouki]

I thought a majority of the Cybertron line were top figured, even with the Cyber keys. But I don't really see them getting a lot of love anywhere.

[Hursticon]

I thought a majority of the Cybertron line were top figured, even with the Cyber keys. But I don't really see them getting a lot of love anywhere.

Primus and Soundwave have my vote! :D

[GoktimusPrime]

I thought a majority of the Cybertron line were top figured, even with the Cyber keys. But I don't really see them getting a lot of love anywhere.

I think because some people were disillusioned with Armada and Energon that they didn't give Cybertron much of a look in. But I agree with you, Cybertron did give us some really nice toys. The problem with some Armada and Energon toys is that they had engineering compromised and too much focus given to gimmicks. e.g. Armada Scavenger, Energon Ironhide etc. Not all Armada/Energon toys are that bad, but I just picked two nasty examples. But I think by time we got to Cybertron, HasTak had learnt to strike a reasonably good balance between making good toys with gimmicks. Not too many Cybertron TFs had their engineering adversely compromised by the Cyber Key gimmick; e.g. Red Alert, Downshift etc. - all nice toys, even with their Cyber Key gimmicks. :) And Optimus Prime was just pure win. There were a few disappointing toys too (e.g. Jetfire, Megatron etc.), but on the whole I found Cybertron to be the best line of the Unicron Trilogy series. :D

[Vector Prime]

I found Cybertron to be the best line of the Unicron Trilogy series. :D

Well one would think so, seeing as it was the last toy line in the series and that the prior two just sucked monumentally - they couldn't make them any worse! :p

[i_amtrunks]

I thought a majority of the Cybertron line were top figured, even with the Cyber keys. But I don't really see them getting a lot of love anywhere.

Oh I forgot to mention Cybertron Sideways... that was a great figure, and the Ratbat repaint was pretty cool, although I never managed to get one myself.

Cybertron Scattorshot and Breakdown were excellent scout class figures, as was Hardtop, even though he never appeared on the show.

[Vector Prime]

I thought a majority of the Cybertron line were top figured, even with the Cyber keys. But I don't really see them getting a lot of love anywhere.

I have plenty of love for the Cybertron/Galaxy Force figures as seen by my acquisitions just for the month of May here (http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?p=239302#post239302), here (http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?p=241913#post241913) and here (http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?p=243768#post243768). :D

[Deonasis]

I like the Cybertron Soundwave mould. He can be tricky to transform back to jet mode but it can be done!! And he and all accessories are rock solid when this is done right.

PROS
- interesting transformation
- an excellent looking jet with heaps of detail
- very cool weapons
- boot spikes!
- Soundwave and Soundblaster repaint colour schemes rock
- nice headsculpt and pop out chest
- and the ABSOLUTE BEST minion sculpt in Laserbeak since the g1 cassettes

CONS
- arm kibble
- the Blaster redeco
- and basically if this guy pegged together easier for alt mode he would get a truckload more love.

[klystron]

The problem with Transformers that have more than one alt mode is that you invariably sacrifice the look of some modes -- the more modes you chuck in, the harder it is to get each mode looking good. Sixshot pulled it off fairly well in 1987. Then comes 1988 and we get Quickswitch... by comparison it feels like a big throwback from Sixshot. Usually we expect gimmicks to improve with time, not worsen. Sure, 1988 was the year we saw a lot of downsizing - smaller Headmasters, smaller Targetmasters... but I dunno, I wasn't disappointed with the '88 Headmasters and Targetmasters as I was with Quickswitch. The only thing that disappointed me with the '88 Headmasters was the loss of the interchangeable tech specs meter (i.e. their stats remain the same regardless of which Nebulan you plug in). And I loved the Targetmasters... they were much cheaper carded figures (which made them a lot more affordable!) and they came with two Nebulan guns! :)


Yeah, I agree. Most of the time a just a single alt mode can impinge too much on the other mode. But I never said Quickswitch was good. Just a little underrated. There are plenty of TFs with sucky alt modes, but Quicky has 5 sucky alt modes!
Springer is a classic character and has three modes, only one of which is even remotely passable (helicoptor, in case anyone is wondering) and its still pretty poor. QS's alt modes might be bad, but certainly no worse than Springer's. Or Broadside's. Or Octane's...
Of course Sixshot is better (one of the greats in my book) but I ask you: which six-changer has the most robot articulation? :D


Really? I love most of the BW line...


Me too. But there are plenty that don't and sometimes I cannot understand why. Some of the figures are just fantastic!

[Tabias Prime]

I certainly agree, Longarm was certainly underrated...Hes a nice toy to play with except maybe the hands are his only let down, not to bad for someone who was suppose to be only a drone.....

and he looks so good standing next to Brawn and Gears...:D:D:D

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd33/Tabias_Prime/Photo0628.jpg[/IMG]

[GoktimusPrime]

Of course Sixshot is better (one of the greats in my book) but I ask you: which six-changer has the most robot articulation? :D
Gigatron. ;)


Me too. But there are plenty that don't and sometimes I cannot understand why. Some of the figures are just fantastic!
Meh, the majority like Beast Wars -- the sales of the toys alone, saving the Transformers franchise from extinction (Transformers nearly died out by the end of G2 in 1995, yet when BW came out TFs became the 3rd best selling boys toyline within a year (next to Star Wars and Toy Story)), is proof of this. :cool:

I don't care what people say about Beast Wars -- it SAVED the franchise. If not for Beast Wars Transformers would probably have died off in the mid 90s and we wouldn't have all the toys, cartoons, movies and other stuff that we have today.

[Hursticon]

Of course Sixshot is better (one of the greats in my book) but I ask you: which six-changer has the most robot articulation? :D


Gigatron. ;)

And I can confirm this,

As I've received the Robots In Disgise (RiD) Megatron/Galvatron/Gigatron (http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?t=10850&page=40) mold just yesterday, I can honestly say it is truly a shining example of the Beast-era's incredible level of engineering that it achieved at the end of it's evolution. :cool:
This mold has articulation in it that wouldn't be seen in a main-line TF until Animated or Generations/Reveal The Shield and that is truly not exaggerating or overstating this thing, seriously. ;)

The fact that it has 10 separate official modes of conversion and even manages to work in a mechanical gimmick, with 2 sets of beautiful paint jobs including gleaming chrome, it really shows how much of a backward step the franchise would take in engineering over the next 3 to 4 years (Main-line-wise ;)). :D

And to top it all off? - these guys were Predacons! :D:cool:


Meh, the majority like Beast Wars -- the sales of the toys alone, saving the Transformers franchise from extinction (Transformers nearly died out by the end of G2 in 1995, yet when BW came out TFs became the 3rd best selling boys toyline within a year (next to Star Wars and Toy Story)), is proof of this. :cool:

I don't care what people say about Beast Wars -- it SAVED the franchise. If not for Beast Wars Transformers would probably have died off in the mid 90s and we wouldn't have all the toys, cartoons, movies and other stuff that we have today.

QFT! ;):cool:

[Oilspill]

Universe Silverbolt, Darkwind & Skyjack. Sure he's just a bot wearing a plane on his back, but he looks damn good doing it. And you gotta cut a figure some slack if it makes the almighty transformation sound.

As a bonus, the new head sculpts Renderform has done for Skyjack & Darkwing make the bot mode even better.
http://www.renderform.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Renderform_RF002_Testshot_01.jpg
http://www.renderform.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/RF005_07.jpg

[GoktimusPrime]

Yeah, I agree that universe Silverbolt is underrated - especially the Japanese version with the more G1-accurate colours. Never picked up Darkwing... he looked okay, but too expensive for my liking. Never saw Skyjack -- not sure if the Silverbolt head would work for him (and you all know my stance on unlicensed 3rd party stuff).

Hursti: actually, I just picked Gigatron as an example of a six-changer with greater articulation in robot mode (in response to klystron's question). As far as his alt modes go, I don't think they're that great. The dragon mode is the nicest and the hand mode is epic fail. The jet mode is fair, but the other modes are just okay. Devil Gigatron's additional four modes are just silly IMO... Takara just added an extra peg and made up four more "fan modes" for the toy really.

And if you have RiD Megatron, then there's even less incentive to get RiD Galvatron because RiD Megatron is actually a repaint of the Devil Gigatron mould (with Hasbro safe rounded missiles - and flat non-metallic colours); i.e. it has the ability to transform into all 10 modes, whereas Gigatron could only transform in 6 modes and the mould was slightly modded for Devil Gigatron for the extra modes.

[Hursticon]

Hursti: actually, I just picked Gigatron as an example of a six-changer with greater articulation in robot mode (in response to klystron's question).

Indeed and I agree with your response, but I also wanted to mention a little more about the figure for those who may not know much about it - In hindsight I probably should've just created a thread for the figure/s in the review thread. :o


As far as his alt modes go, I don't think they're that great. The dragon mode is the nicest and the hand mode is epic fail. The jet mode is fair, but the other modes are just okay. Devil Gigatron's additional four modes are just silly IMO... Takara just added an extra peg and made up four more "fan modes" for the toy really.

Well that's cool, I'm loving this mold however and being that it is a Multi-Changer we know that sacrifices are made in each mode. :)
I wont go into the specifics of each mode but whilst some feel a little lacking, on a whole it's a great achievement and I'd happily debate whether the sum of Sixhot's modes are greater than that of Galva-Giga-Mega's. :D


And if you have RiD Megatron, then there's even less incentive to get RiD Galvatron because RiD Megatron is actually a repaint of the Devil Gigatron mould (with Hasbro safe rounded missiles - and flat non-metallic colours); i.e. it has the ability to transform into all 10 modes, whereas Gigatron could only transform in 6 modes and the mould was slightly modded for Devil Gigatron for the extra modes.

I bought both Megatron and Galvatron in the same transaction, see here (http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?t=10850&page=40), but I don't see how Hasbro having utilised the retooled version of a mold for their Megatron release is a negative because one effectively receives a superior toy, sure the rounded missiles are a given after 20+ odd years of safety regulations but I think the paint apps are hardly flat either - You wanna see flat paint apps?, talk to RTS Wreck-Gar :p:D


Whilst I dig the brick that is Sixshot, he's an awesome character really, I feel that the RiD/Car Robots - Megatron/Galvatron/Gigatron/Devil Gigatron mold is an excellent figure and is very much an underrated toy - Especially by those of us who don't have a lot of affection for the main-line toys of the period comprising that of Beast Machines to Animated. :o
For the question of who has the most articulation out of all the six/ten changers though... Well, now we know. :cool:



And Beast Wars is still this franchises saviour!

[GoktimusPrime]

I bought both Megatron and Galvatron in the same transaction, see here (http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?t=10850&page=40), but I don't see how Hasbro having utilised the retooled version of a mold for their Megatron release is a negative because one effectively receives a superior toy,
I wouldn't say "negative," but because both RiD Megatron and Galvatron are both the exact same mould, it's arguably superfluous to get both, considering that they're both relatively expensive toys too. Unless that mould particularly appeals to you, or you're a RiD completist, I imagine most people (especially kids) would have only gotten either Megatron or Galvatron, but not both. Not that this discouraged Hasbro, since they continued to pump out repaints of Megatron as Galvatron across the Unicron Trilogy. (-_-)

In 2000 I just got Gigatron from Car Robot. Then Devil Gigatron came out, and I refused to get that, even with the modification for the additional four modes. It felt like such a cheap way to milk more money out of collectors. Then in 2002 we had that stupid drought where we had a whole year with barely any new TF moulds at all... so I got RiD Galvatron ;) :p


sure the rounded missiles are a given after 20+ odd years of safety regulations but I think the paint apps are hardly flat either - You wanna see flat paint apps?, talk to RTS Wreck-Gar :p:D
Both Super Fire Convoy and Gigatron have metallic colours - i.e. there's those little metallic filament thingies throughout the plastic to make them look all sparkly -- like the plastic on G1 1984 Thundercracker (not so much with the Encore reissue though :(). RiD Optimus Prime and Megatron lack the subtle "sparkle" in their colours, and so looks relatively flat and dull by comparison. I collected Car Robot first before RiD ever came out, so it sticks out to me like a sore thumb.

Having said that, I got RiD Optimus Prime too even though I had Super Fire Convoy 2 years before. :p Again, 2002 toy drought... and the chrome on my SFC had badly chipped too. :(


Whilst I dig the brick that is Sixshot, he's an awesome character really,
Speaking of character, what I enjoyed about the Gigatron character in the Car Robot series was how he would take on a different voice and persona in each different mode. E.g. Giga-Dragon was booming and menacing, Giga-Bat was like a gangster thug etc. -- I felt this was lost in what I saw of the RiD dub.


I feel that the RiD/Car Robots - Megatron/Galvatron/Gigatron/Devil Gigatron mold is an excellent figure and is very much an underrated toy - Especially by those of us who don't have a lot of affection for the main-line toys of the period comprising that of Beast Machines to Animated. :o
Animated wasn't around at the time, but Beast Machines certainly was (in fact, some BM moulds were released under RiD; e.g. Bruticus, Megatron Megabolt, Air Attack Optimus Primal) -- so yeah, compared to that, little wonder why so many fans went crazy with Car Robot and RiD!

I remember RiD toys literally flew off shelves months before the TV show had even aired in Australia. Kids must've been walking in and after seeing Beast Machines' weird technorganic beast modes, then all those ugly Animorphs... then along comes RiD with licensed vehicle modes like Lamborghinis, Dodge Vipers etc. 'nuff sed. :) It's a shame we missed out on some moulds like the bullet trains, Scourge and the repainted TM2 Predacons (Sky Byte & crew). :(

[Hursticon]

I wouldn't say "negative," but because both RiD Megatron and Galvatron are both the exact same mould, it's arguably superfluous to get both, considering that they're both relatively expensive toys too.

It is arguable and that same argument is often applied to any repaint of any figure, but...

Unless that mould particularly appeals to you, or you're a RiD completist,
This is often the case that causes people to purchase multiples of the same mold and in regards to this particular mold; most parents/kids wouldn't have known about the use of the retooled mold for the Western/Hasbro Megatron release and possibly would've bought both Western releases of Megatron and Galvatron anyway due to the packaging differences between them where Galvatron's displayed additional modes - So it could've been seen as an upgrade at the time. ;)


In 2000 I just got Gigatron from Car Robot. Then Devil Gigatron came out, and I refused to get that, even with the modification for the additional four modes. It felt like such a cheap way to milk more money out of collectors.

Well it's evident that opinions must've changed over time then, because that approach basically makes up a good chunk of the Classicsverse lines and people have bought those in spades but I do make note that this was your own personal opinion at the time and I doubt you would've been the only person to share that feeling. :)


Both Super Fire Convoy and Gigatron have metallic colours - i.e. there's those little metallic filament thingies throughout the plastic to make them look all sparkly -- like the plastic on G1 1984 Thundercracker (not so much with the Encore reissue though :(). RiD Optimus Prime and Megatron lack the subtle "sparkle" in their colours, and so looks relatively flat and dull by comparison. I collected Car Robot first before RiD ever came out, so it sticks out to me like a sore thumb.

That's fair enough as the Hasbro releases do indeed lack the metallic specks, prismatech in certain circles :p, but I wouldn't call them flat though as at the very least they've got chrome and gloss paints/plastic. :o
(I'm splitting that hair damn fine :p)


Speaking of character, what I enjoyed about the Gigatron character in the Car Robot series was how he would take on a different voice and persona in each different mode. E.g. Giga-Dragon was booming and menacing, Giga-Bat was like a gangster thug etc. -- I felt this was lost in what I saw of the RiD dub.

I've read and heard about people's disappointment with aspects of RiD like that and as an Anime fan I can completely understand that sentiment as it is quite unfortunate because the character in-turn loses some of it's identity - Maybe that was why it was left out of the Megatron Hall of Fame reel? :(


Then in 2002 we had that stupid drought where we had a whole year with barely any new TF moulds at all... so I got RiD Galvatron ;) :pWhich feeds into...

Animated wasn't around at the time, but Beast Machines certainly was (in fact, some BM moulds were released under RiD; e.g. Bruticus, Megatron Megabolt, Air Attack Optimus Primal) -- so yeah, compared to that, little wonder why so many fans went crazy with Car Robot and RiD!

When I said between BM and Animated, I was meaning that there are a number of people who have no liking for anything main-line-wise between those 2 shows i.e. a large dislike for anything BM, RiD, Armada, Energon, Cybertron, Animated and their Japanese counterparts - I'm aware that all those lines didn't exist at once though if that's what you're thinking? :confused:
Because of the dislike towards these shows and lines, IMO people have missed out on some massive stand-outs and I was one of these people until recently when I decided to do some research and/or had seen in person figures from these lines, that I personally felt they were worth my attention and have hence sought their acquisition. ;):)
(I steadfastly refuse to pay any officially recognised currency for anything Animorphs related however :p)


I remember RiD toys literally flew off shelves months before the TV show had even aired in Australia. Kids must've been walking in and after seeing Beast Machines' weird technorganic beast modes, then all those ugly Animorphs... then along comes RiD with licensed vehicle modes like Lamborghinis, Dodge Vipers etc. 'nuff sed. :) It's a shame we missed out on some moulds like the bullet trains, Scourge and the repainted TM2 Predacons (Sky Byte & crew). :(

Unfortunately, that may of been due to the fact that BM didn't air on any free-to-air networks and was only available to those who could afford it.
I myself had heard that there was a sequel series to Beast Wars and downloaded some Canadian RealMedia files at the time to see what it was like... What I saw was not favourable. :mad:
RiD was aired on a number of week day and weekend morning free-to-air cartoon programs and hence had a vastly superior marketing aid, here in Australia at least, so they probably did fly off as you say. :cool:

I've been lucky enough to of owned all the RiD Beast-era molds (BW Repaints ;)) and Railracer, Rail Racer is definitely another underrated toy though as that is a really well engineered set of figures that have an excellent gestalt mode too. :D

[klystron]

Glad I helped spark a little conversation, but was really only comparing the two G1 six-changers - Sixshot and Quickswitch.
A little short-sighted? Perhaps. But thats what I had in mind at the time of writing.
Just wanted to put that out there.

[GoktimusPrime]

Well it's evident that opinions must've changed over time then, because that approach basically makes up a good chunk of the Classicsverse lines and people have bought those in spades but I do make note that this was your own personal opinion at the time and I doubt you would've been the only person to share that feeling. :)
Armada really started the "craze" of repainting everything. :) Car Robot had a few repaints, then with RiD Hasbro made a lot more repaints (especially with the SpyChangers!!) -- but it wasn't till Armada came along that HasTak went "repaint happy" ;) So while it's commonplace now to see slews of endless repaints, at the time of Car Robot/Beast Machines, it wasn't quite the case.


(I steadfastly refuse to pay any officially recognised currency for anything Animorphs related however :p)
Think clean thoughts, think clean thoughts, think clean thoughts... :p :)


Unfortunately, that may of been due to the fact that BM didn't air on any free-to-air networks and was only available to those who could afford it.
Even for those of us who had FoxTel, it was aired at the STUPID time slot of Saturday 2PM. Who the hell is home to watch that??

I used to program my VCR to record it automatically... but then my dad or someone would change the channel on the FoxTel box, and of course, it'd end up recorded whatever was playing on Discovery Channel or National Geographic at the time. :mad: I used to leave notes written in large writing with permanent marker ink telling people to leave it on Channel 8 while I was out... do you think anyone paid attention to that massive sign? NOPE!

So in the end I just gave up. :( Fortunately I'd already seen most of the eps taped off American TV, but it would've been nice to see it "first hand" PAL instead of "second hand" NTSC.

[Deonasis]

and now back to the thread of underrated toys..

[SkyWarp91]

ROTF Scout Class Breakdown. Badass.

So was ROTF Scout Class Rollbar.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Hey yeah, that reminds me: RotF Dirt Boss/Deadlift. That little guy was heaps of fun, really poseable, good balance, interesting alt-mode and transformation, and then they redid him as a Gobot homage!
Wish they'd released him (Deadlift) over here, along with the Slap Dash/Trenchmouth pack...and Hot Shot etc...*sigh*

[SkyWarp91]

Hey yeah, that reminds me: RotF Dirt Boss/Deadlift. That little guy was heaps of fun, really poseable, good balance, interesting alt-mode and transformation, and then they redid him as a Gobot homage!
Wish they'd released him (Deadlift) over here, along with the Slap Dash/Trenchmouth pack...and Hot Shot etc...*sigh*

+1 Overall the ROTF Scout Class figures were underrated. Except Scalpel, he was a piece of crap!

[Hursticon]

Except Scalpel, he was a piece of crap!

I think I'm the only person who likes that little guy, maybe because mine's still unbroken? :p

[SkyWarp91]

I think I'm the only person who likes that little guy, maybe because mine's still unbroken? :p

True lol

[Golden Phoenix]

I think I'm the only person who likes that little guy, maybe because mine's still unbroken? :p

Mine is still unbroken.
I love him too, so maybe your theory is right.

[LordCyrusOmega]

+1 Overall the ROTF Scout Class figures were underrated. Except Scalpel, he was a piece of crap!

I've gone through 3 Scalpels so far, refuse to buy any more. Just superglued his legs into place. I really wanted him to, it's just unfortunate that his legs break off taking him out of the package.
Hursticon: How is your's still unbroken?

[GoktimusPrime]

I don't like nor dislike Scalpel. It's not HasTak's fault that Paramount went and designed something so impractical for a toy. But that's what happens when you design Transformers as screen characters first and toys second; I much prefer Transformers being conceived as toys first, as they usually other.

[LordCyrusOmega]

True, thats what they did with BW wasn't it and it shows.
Unfortunately the toy deigners didn't have designs to go off and Mr Bay wasn't forth coming with what was being used due to (Paranoia?) his own reasons

[tinyJazz]

Hey yeah, that reminds me: RotF Dirt Boss/Deadlift. That little guy was heaps of fun, really poseable, good balance, interesting alt-mode and transformation, and then they redid him as a Gobot homage!
Wish they'd released him (Deadlift) over here, along with the Slap Dash/Trenchmouth pack...and Hot Shot etc...*sigh*


+1 Overall the ROTF Scout Class figures were underrated. Except Scalpel, he was a piece of crap!

Yes! I effing love ROTF scouts! They're a fantastic set of figures with great engineering for their size. The sports bikes are the best i think, and they remind me of masked rider too (Backfire looks like the Cyclone!).

I only own scalpel because he's a set completer, and I only display him in microscope mode. :p sooo ugly!

[GoktimusPrime]

True, thats what they did with BW wasn't it and it shows.
Yeah. The Beast Wars animators actually created the animation models based off 3D scans of the toys themselves! That's why Beast Wars has a pretty good degree of toy-accuracy (especially compared to G1). The majority of Transformers were made as toys first, then comic/cartoon models second. Movie Transformers are part of the exception to the rule...

The inherent problem with designing Transformers as screen characters first is that animators don't need to think about how their designs are going to translate as toys. Sometimes the animators will work in tandem with toy designers (e.g. G1 Hot Rod, Kup, Galvatron, Transformers Animated etc.) - which tends to work better, but still not as good as just making the toys straight up. With the movies they just designed the Transformers purely as screen characters. Hasbro had relatively minimal input into modifying the designs, only stepping on a rare occasion, e.g. with Optimus Prime(movie Optimus Prime design (http://fantasyartdesign.com/free-wallpapers/imgs/mid/302Optimus_Prime-m.jpg) <--note the split tyres and blue chest; changed on Hasbro's behest)

But other than that, Dreamworks designers had pretty much free reign. And tbh, I can see why - because when you're trying to make the Transformers look photorealistic and have them move about naturally without cheating physics by "warping" them (as cartoon and comic artists do), then you have to make them look more complex. But unfortunately for HasTak, it makes it jolly hard to translate as toys; keeping within a certain price/size limit and time frame. The CGI movie model of Optimus Priem in the first movie has10,108 individual parts, 1,830,898 polygons, 27,744 rig nodes, and 2336 texture maps, with the volume of all pieces combined forming 154 cubic metres! :eek: That's not easy to translate into a relatively much smaller and simpler toy for kids! And as we can see with ROTF Leader OP, the more screen accurate they get, the trickier the toy is to transform - and arguably less fun to play with because it is so fiddly and tricky.


Unfortunately the toy deigners didn't have designs to go off and Mr Bay wasn't forth coming with what was being used due to (Paranoia?) his own reasons
Hasbro owns Transformers and they have to approve everything, so I imagine that they would have the right to access any of the designs at any time. Transformers is Hasbro's property after all. More likely they had access to early designs... remember that it takes about a year to create a Transformer toy from conception to final product - and during that time it's not uncommon for artists to make changes. For example movie Megatron's head was initially going to look like this:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y226/absumzero/fishmegs.jpg
...but Dreamworks changed it because a lot of fans hated it and complained heaps. But by this stage, Hasbro had already designed a lot of products based on the old head; e.g. Legends Megatron (http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/3/32/Movie_Legends_Megatron_toy.jpg)'s head is based on the abandoned old head design.

This is another pitfall of creating Transformers as screen characters first -- it's a lot easier to make late changes to drawn characters versus changing the toy. For example, toys like G1 Hot Rod, Blurr, Kup, Cyclonus, Scourge, Galvatron etc. were based on cartoon models made for Transformers The Movie, but the toys look different because they were based on earlier designs that were later changed.

So yeah, with the live action movies, having them as screen-designed characters first is unfortunately a necessity. Having said that, Hasbro can step in if a design just looks too weird and tell them to change it if they wanted to... like Alice... Aaron Archer kept on insisting that Transformers "don't morph" (despite the fact that they did during Beast Machines) and that having alt mode kibble was a defining feature of the Transformers... where the frell are Alice's alt mode kibble when she's in robot mode?? Gee, thanks a lot Dreamworks... she's gonna be a beeotch of a toy to design. Oh wait, Hasbro never bothered! :rolleyes:

[Hursticon]

Mine is still unbroken.
I love him too, so maybe your theory is right.

Fingers crossed anyway. :p:)


I've gone through 3 Scalpels so far, refuse to buy any more. Just superglued his legs into place. I really wanted him to, it's just unfortunate that his legs break off taking him out of the package.
Hursticon: How is your's still unbroken?

Skill mate, skill. :rolleyes::p:D


I only own scalpel because he's a set completer, and I only display him in microscope mode. :p sooo ugly!

I love him for both of those reasons, he's an ugly microscope. :D:cool:

[Jetfire in the sky]

Ok, so I sped read this thread for most of it, and there are some great TF's picked.
But I reckon an extremely underrated TF figure(s ;)) is .........................



The Jumpstarters.
Hello, they transformerd themselves while advancing on the enemy :p
A cheap G1 item even thesedays, and I remember my cousin who didn't have any other TF's had one and I didn't , as much as I longed for some of my input to tranform it, I watched in awe as it did it by itself.

[GoktimusPrime]

And the Jumpstarters were also much better designed than their predecessors, the Battlechargers. While the Battlechargers may have Earth based alt modes, the Jumpstarters had much nicer robot modes. My only gripe about the Jumpstarters was that the gimmick never quite worked like it was meant to -- i.e. the odds of a Jumpstarter landing on its feet and not toppling over was slim, even back in 1985. But conceptually it was a fun gimmick. :)

On that note, another underrated toy is McDonalds Happy Meal Armada Starscream, which is essentially a Jumpstarter itself... but being a 2003 toy, the gimmick works a lot better on it than on the original Jumpstarters. And for just a cheap $2 Maccas toy, incredibly great value for money. :)

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/Transformers/psychic%20predictions/psychic4.jpghttp://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/Transformers/psychic%20predictions/psychic5.jpg
Above: Happy Meal Starscream using his psychic powers to predict the outcome of the last Federal election.It picked Liberal... so while this toy's psychic powers may suck, its Jumpstarter gimmick works excellently! :)

[SkyWarp91]

Photographic proof of why Magnaguard is an awesome TF who is also underrated...

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff245/gc_xiahou_nguyen/P1030380.jpg

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff245/gc_xiahou_nguyen/P1030375.jpg

[SkyWarp91]

Was G1 Ultra MAgnus an underrated toy, or overrated one? Because I think he's an awesome toy!

[GoktimusPrime]

How's he underrated? Almost every G1 fan loves that toy! It was uber popular at the time - and a lot of G1 fans argue that, as DrSmoov's parody puts it - Ultra Magnus should have kept the Matrix and remained as Autobot leader instead of Rodimus Prime, like Optimus Prime wanted in the first place! :D

I think Diaclone Powered Convoy (pre-TF Ultra Magnus) actually won a design award... can't remember where I read that though...

[SkyWarp91]

How's he underrated? Almost every G1 fan loves that toy! It was uber popular at the time - and a lot of G1 fans argue that, as DrSmoov's parody puts it - Ultra Magnus should have kept the Matrix and remained as Autobot leader instead of Rodimus Prime, like Optimus Prime wanted in the first place! :D

I think Diaclone Powered Convoy (pre-TF Ultra Magnus) actually won a design award... can't remember where I read that though...

Ah k, cool and thanks. DIdn't know because I wasn't born in G1 days lol

[Fonecrusher]

How's he underrated? Almost every G1 fan loves that toy! It was uber popular at the time - and a lot of G1 fans argue that, as DrSmoov's parody puts it - Ultra Magnus should have kept the Matrix and remained as Autobot leader instead of Rodimus Prime, like Optimus Prime wanted in the first place! :D

And I was one of those fans!:p
As a kid I always thought Ultra Magnus just oozed charisma, while he would never of replaced Prime he would of been a far better choice for leader than Rodimus IMO. He actually acted like a leader, instead of a whiny emo kid (I still love ya Rodimus!).:D

[Skullcruncher]

Was G1 Ultra MAgnus an underrated toy, or overrated one? Because I think he's an awesome toy!

As a toy by himself I think hes ok, but as a toy fitting with all the other characters way overrated - Wheelie is even better! Also his character on the 'toon zzzzz boring!

[GoktimusPrime]

Ultra Magnus has the same awesome robot cab as Optimus Prime, which makes the core robot highly articulated for a G1 toy. As a car carrier, he's interactive with other Autobots - boosting the play value there because he can always carry other Autobots around and deploy them into battle. There was a scene in Transformers The Movie where Magnus was meant to do this, but it got deleted. :( His gun can also be wielded by both the inner robot and powered-up super robot, and the super robot mode has two shoulder-mounted missile launchers. The super robot mode also features decent articulation for a G1 toy -- better articulation than Powermaster Optimus Prime's super robot mode. Ultra Magnus was also the first Transformer to be able to combine with his trailer to form a super robot mode too, so that made him incredibly cool because no other Transformer could do it!

2 years prior we had Optimus Prime, who had a trailer which transformed into battle station - that was cool. But in 1986 we got Ultra Magnus, a toy like Prime who not only came with a trailer, but he could merge with the trailer to become a super armoured robot! Phwoar!! Don't tell me that didn't impress the pants off you at the time!

As for Wheelie, even by 1986 standards he's disappointing. You compare him with all the other 1984, 85 and 86 Autobot Mini-Spies (e.g. Bumblebee, Huffer, Powerglide, Pipes, Swerve etc.), and he's easily the most poorly engineered figure. The robot mode has these spindly legs and being a bit top heavy can make him fall over at times. And for the first few months after owning this toy in 86, I never even knew he had hands!! It was only afterwards while playing with him for the umpteetnth time that I found them by accident and thought, "Hey whaddaya know? He has hands! Man they suck!"

And this is a toy that was purpose-made for Transformers. Some people criticise the heads on Ironhide and Ratchet, but those moulds were made for Diaclone and intended to be piloted power armour. It's not the fault Takara designers like Ono Koujin that Hasbro would later take them and repurpose them as living sentient robots; they didn't know this was going to happen at the time they designed them. But 1986 was the first year that we saw Transformers being purpose-made for Transformers - Ultra Magnus wasn't one of them, he was brought over from Diaclone - but Wheelie was.

As a kid I was disappointed by Wheelie, but I could not get enough of Ultra Magnus! :D


Also his character on the 'toon zzzzz boring!
Yeah well, that's the G1 cartoon for you. His G1 comic character on the other hand was more interesting. Sure he got the crap repeatedly beaten out of him over and over again, but that's because he was always going up against Galvatron, who was a freakin' demi-God in the comics! :D The fact that he could even go toe to toe to him made him awesome (it's like the 300 Spartans, even though they lost, they did put up a spectacularly jolly good fight :))

[Sky Shadow]

(it's like the 300 Spartans, even though they lost, they did put up a spectacularly jolly good fight :))

SPOILERS! I've only had 2500 years to find that out and now you've ruined it! http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww173/prestonjjrtr/Smileys/CryingSmiley.gif ;)

[Bartrim]

SPOILERS! I've only had 2500 years to find that out and now you've ruined it! http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww173/prestonjjrtr/Smileys/CryingSmiley.gif ;)

If it's any consolation you look pretty good for someone who is 2500 years old:p

[Skullcruncher]

Ultra Magnus has the same awesome robot cab as Optimus Prime, which makes the core robot highly articulated for a G1 toy. As a car carrier, he's interactive with other Autobots - boosting the play value there because he can always carry other Autobots around and deploy them into battle. There was a scene in Transformers The Movie where Magnus was meant to do this, but it got deleted. :( His gun can also be wielded by both the inner robot and powered-up super robot, and the super robot mode has two shoulder-mounted missile launchers. The super robot mode also features decent articulation for a G1 toy -- better articulation than Powermaster Optimus Prime's super robot mode. Ultra Magnus was also the first Transformer to be able to combine with his trailer to form a super robot mode too, so that made him incredibly cool because no other Transformer could do it!

2 years prior we had Optimus Prime, who had a trailer which transformed into battle station - that was cool. But in 1986 we got Ultra Magnus, a toy like Prime who not only came with a trailer, but he could merge with the trailer to become a super armoured robot! Phwoar!! Don't tell me that didn't impress the pants off you at the time!

As for Wheelie, even by 1986 standards he's disappointing. You compare him with all the other 1984, 85 and 86 Autobot Mini-Spies (e.g. Bumblebee, Huffer, Powerglide, Pipes, Swerve etc.), and he's easily the most poorly engineered figure. The robot mode has these spindly legs and being a bit top heavy can make him fall over at times. And for the first few months after owning this toy in 86, I never even knew he had hands!! It was only afterwards while playing with him for the umpteetnth time that I found them by accident and thought, "Hey whaddaya know? He has hands! Man they suck!"

And this is a toy that was purpose-made for Transformers. Some people criticise the heads on Ironhide and Ratchet, but those moulds were made for Diaclone and intended to be piloted power armour. It's not the fault Takara designers like Ono Koujin that Hasbro would later take them and repurpose them as living sentient robots; they didn't know this was going to happen at the time they designed them. But 1986 was the first year that we saw Transformers being purpose-made for Transformers - Ultra Magnus wasn't one of them, he was brought over from Diaclone - but Wheelie was.

As a kid I was disappointed by Wheelie, but I could not get enough of Ultra Magnus! :D


As a kid I never thought about a toys engineering, im not saying hes not poorly constructed - just that he fit better with the scenarios that we(my friends and I) played out with him as a toy.

Wheelie was the smallest so he either got beaten down first and need to be 'repaired' or he got taken prisioner and needed to be 'rescued'. In some cases he was the one that got attached to the old glass milk bottles and sent into outer space simply becuase of his size.

Actaully the trailer part for Ultra Magnus was so poor It never got used with how we played with them as kids. I felt the combiners were much more awesome - they could be taken a beating from someone then they combine and then they are handing out a whipping! (Plus you got to make the transforming noise for each one :D) . I only watched the cartoon so maybe if it showed ultra magnus transforming from white cab to super robot like God Ginrai does in Masterforce maybe he would of had more of an influence.

[GoktimusPrime]

The Marvel Comics never showed the white cab robot either -- but the toy certainly portrayed the cab robot as Ultra Magnus' core mode, and with the combined trailer robot as the powered upped mode. I often played with the car robot as a "young" Ultra Magnus, then later he was given the trailer armour that he could link up with when he was promoted to City Commander. :) But I was playing with Ultra Magnus well before he ever appeared in the comics or cartoon.

[klystron]

G1 Ultra Magnus = most overrated toy and character ever!
Even as a kid I disliked this toy (a friend had it so I did get some hands-on experience with it) and never desired to own. Which still stands today. Its only redeeming feature was that Autobot cars could go in the trailer. But then you could do that with OP too.
My dislike for the toy was amplified by my dislike of the character, another aspect that remains to this day. I never, never liked this character at all. And tbh, I'm not 100% sure why, but he still remains one of my most disliked characters in the whole TF universe. (Maybe because as a kid I was a card carrying member of the Galavtron fan club).
I was also a little offended by "Target 2006", when the writers implied that UM is so freaking fantastic, that three triple changers are only barely enough to compensate for his absence. Pah! I'd put $5 on Springer in a toe-to-toe with UM anyday. And an extra $5 if he's got Sandstorm and Broadside with him.

Anyways, thats my humble 2cents on UM.

Note: perhaps this post should be in the Overrated thread, but hey, the UM conversation was here... :o

[GoktimusPrime]

At least Ultra Magnus contributed to continuity... unlike say Wheelie whose entire canonical presence is fairly insignificant (arguably even more canonically insignificant than Jar Jar Binks' role in Star Wars The Phantom Menace).


Its only redeeming feature was that Autobot cars could go in the trailer. But then you could do that with OP too.
Prime's trailer basically holds one Autobot car. Maybe two if you squeeze in a mini-bot. Ultra Magnus' trailer, as a car carrier, can hold multiple Autobots. Having said that, Prime's trailer is also a mobile battle platform, but Magnus' trailer becomes a suit of armour -- both pretty cool in their own right IMO.


My dislike for the toy was amplified by my dislike of the character, another aspect that remains to this day. I never, never liked this character at all. And tbh, I'm not 100% sure why, but he still remains one of my most disliked characters in the whole TF universe. (Maybe because as a kid I was a card carrying member of the Galavtron fan club).
I was also a little offended by "Target 2006", when the writers implied that UM is so freaking fantastic, that three triple changers are only barely enough to compensate for his absence. Pah! I'd put $5 on Springer in a toe-to-toe with UM anyday. And an extra $5 if he's got Sandstorm and Broadside with him.
Okay, but Ultra Magnus was a big ticket item for Hasbro to push in 1986, so it made sense for writers to make him cool to try to elicit more kids to buy him. Also, being such a big toy, it kinda made sense that he would be powerful (though nothing wrong with small toys being strong - that's something I liked about Brawn ;)). Also, they were preparing to have Ultra Magnus become an arch-nemesis for Galvatron -- and Galvatron is insanely powerful in the comics... so while Magnus did repeatedly get nine colours of snot beaten out of him by Galvatron, just the fact that he was even able to go up against Galvatron meant that he had to be pretty powerful.

To me, it felt intuitive for Ultra Magnus to be the powerful Autobot leader in Optimus Prime's absence. He seemed a worthy heir... a lot more worthy than the incredibly underwhelmingly disappointing Rodimus Prime. And regardless of what you think about Ultra Magnus, he didn't get that much canonical exposure, thanks to the fact that:
1) Rodimus Prime was the real "flagship" Autobot hero and thus was 'prioritised' over Ultra Magnus; especially in the cartoon
2) In the G1 comics Ultra Magnus only existed in the "future" and not in the "mainstream" universe of the 'present day'.

Who else would you rather see promoted as the Autobot hero from the 1986 line? Would you prefer Rodimus Prime over Ultra Magnus or someone else entirely?

[Verno]

Underrated?

Transmetal Terrorsaur.

Playing with him today, he's everything someone could want in a toy.

So often Transformers toys stop being action figures. Terrorsaur is still an action figure. He's very 'human' in form and proportion, plus he can fly. There is just something about him.

[Skullcruncher]

At least Ultra Magnus contributed to continuity... unlike say Wheelie whose entire canonical presence is fairly insignificant (arguably even more canonically insignificant than Jar Jar Binks' role in Star Wars The Phantom Menace).

Maybe but someone had to fill the space bumblebee had in series 1 and 2. To 'fanboys' now he may be annoying and insignificant but back in 1986 Wheelie played that bumblebee role perfectly.



Okay, but Ultra Magnus was a big ticket item for Hasbro to push in 1986, so it made sense for writers to make him cool to try to elicit more kids to buy him. Also, being such a big toy, it kinda made sense that he would be powerful (though nothing wrong with small toys being strong - that's something I liked about Brawn ;)). Also, they were preparing to have Ultra Magnus become an arch-nemesis for Galvatron -- and Galvatron is insanely powerful in the comics... so while Magnus did repeatedly get nine colours of snot beaten out of him by Galvatron, just the fact that he was even able to go up against Galvatron meant that he had to be pretty powerful.

To me, it felt intuitive for Ultra Magnus to be the powerful Autobot leader in Optimus Prime's absence. He seemed a worthy heir... a lot more worthy than the incredibly underwhelmingly disappointing Rodimus Prime. And regardless of what you think about Ultra Magnus, he didn't get that much canonical exposure, thanks to the fact that:
1) Rodimus Prime was the real "flagship" Autobot hero and thus was 'prioritised' over Ultra Magnus; especially in the cartoon
2) In the G1 comics Ultra Magnus only existed in the "future" and not in the "mainstream" universe of the 'present day'.

Who else would you rather see promoted as the Autobot hero from the 1986 line? Would you prefer Rodimus Prime over Ultra Magnus or someone else entirely?

But the thing is what did Ulta Magnus really do or contribute to the cartoon? I can't recall anything significant about him. IMO someone like Springer was much more heroic than him. Not sure if you recall Transformers The Movie? UM got slaughtered and the autobots needed someone to standup and be the hero to save the day. Rodimus may have had some poorly written episodes(not fitting an heroic autobot leader) but at least fans can remember them!

[GoktimusPrime]

Maybe but someone had to fill the space bumblebee had in series 1 and 2. To 'fanboys' now he may be annoying and insignificant but back in 1986 Wheelie played that bumblebee role perfectly.
Yeah but I'd say Bumblebee isn't quite as annoying or useless as Wheelie. Bumblebee never went off and took Spike on a dangerous mission to find out Omega Supreme's birthday or some stupid crap like that. And Bumblebee did serve as the Autobot's spy/scout. Also, Bumblebee contributed more to continuity - for example, he found the Decepticon Space Bridge at the dried up river bed. He was also instrumental in "Attack of the Autobots." What did Wheelie ever do? I think the single greatest contribution that Wheelie made to cartoon continuity was to lead the Dinobots to where Kup and Hot Rod were... that's pretty much it. Helped Hot Rod and Kup to find a ship? Not really... all Hot Rod had to do was look behind him and he would've seen that Quintesson ship sitting there like a sore thumb. And if Hot Rod hadn't noticed it, Kup or one of the Dinobots would have -- the Dinobots may not be Rhodes scholars, but they're not blind!


But the thing is what did Ulta Magnus really do or contribute to the cartoon? I can't recall anything significant about him. IMO someone like Springer was much more heroic than him.
"I've never seen anything this beautiful in the entire galaxy.... All right, give me the bomb."
- Ultra Magnus (Fight or Flee) :)

Ultra Magnus may not have been the primary "hero" in the cartoon, but he wasn't entirely useless/pointless either. What did he contribute to the cartoon, you ask? In Transformers The Movie he directed the counter-offensive when Megatron attacked Autobot City, including issuing the order for Blaster to radio Optimus Prime for reinforcements. If not for this, Megatron's plan to destroy Autobot City may have succeeded. Ultra Magnus also gave orders to set down on Junk for repairs, which led to the Autobots' alliance with the Junkions.

During the remainder of the cartoon, Ultra Magnus continued to contribute - albeit usually as directed by Rodimus Prime and later Optimus Prime. The cartoon portrayed Ultra Magnus as being a soldier rather than a leader, even though his actions at Autobot City showed that he was a capable commander... that was one of the few moments that Magnus showed charisma in the cartoon. (-_-) I'm not saying he's the most awesome character in the cartoon, it's not secret that I much prefer the G1 comics over the cartoon - and it's in the comics that Ultra Magnus shines.


Not sure if you recall Transformers The Movie? UM got slaughtered and the autobots needed someone to standup and be the hero to save the day.
Yeah, he got slaughtered because it was a plot device to get the Matrix into Galvatron's hand -- and it would only be the "chosen one" who gets it off him and becomes the next Prime. And Magnus copped it even worse in the Marvel comic adaptation of Transformers the Movie -- in the action film, they Sweeps combine fire and Magnus blows up. In the comic adaptation, the Sweeps attach energy bonds to his limbs, then fly in opposing directions, effectively draw and quartering Ultra Magnus! Ouch!! :eek:


Rodimus may have had some poorly written episodes(not fitting an heroic autobot leader) but at least fans can remember them!
Yeah, that's because Rodimus Prime was given a lot more limelight than Ultra Magnus. It doesn't necessarily make him a better character because of it - it just means he got more character development. But sometimes there are characters with a lot of potential that don't get developed... look at Thundercracker! He has a fascinating persona with a lot of potential -- a potential that was NEVER exploited by any G1 writers. Ouch. :(

[Paulbot]

Transmetal Terrorsaur.

I agree. Probably my favorite Transmetal deluxe (with Tarantulas second).

I want to throw a shout out to Beast Machines Night Viper. Loved that toy from the moment I got it. Best snake TF ever. Lanky, snake like warrior with flip out sword. And the legs through the hip to becomes the tail was such a clever idea.

[GoktimusPrime]

+1 on Night Viper. Very impressive given the challenging alt mode! Works out a lot better than Corahda.

[klystron]

Who else would you rather see promoted as the Autobot hero from the 1986 line? Would you prefer Rodimus Prime over Ultra Magnus or someone else entirely?

You're probably right - there really isn't anyone else. But I don't wish for a storyline change or that things were different. I just really dislike UM.
I can't love all the TF characters. :o

[SkyWarp91]

Machine Wars Starscream.

Though he's like a brick and has VERY VERY limited articulation, the sheer size of him is what makes him a great intimidating figure. The thickness of his limbs and the Shredder-like helmet with the trident horns combined with his size in robot mode makes him appear as a truly superior warrior of the air!
http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/9/9a/MWStarscream_Toy.jpg

[GoktimusPrime]

...plus no gold plastic! :) Shame they omitted the hand gun/launchers. :(

I reckon G1 Thunder Clash is also underrated. Yes, the colours are awful (typical early 90s fad) -- but the mega missile gimmick is really fun. :)

[KalEl]

Underrated?

Transmetal Terrorsaur.

Playing with him today, he's everything someone could want in a toy.

So often Transformers toys stop being action figures. Terrorsaur is still an action figure. He's very 'human' in form and proportion, plus he can fly. There is just something about him.

agree entirely

[Trent]

...plus no gold plastic! :) Shame they omitted the hand gun/launchers. :(

I reckon G1 Thunder Clash is also underrated. Yes, the colours are awful (typical early 90s fad) -- but the mega missile gimmick is really fun. :)

Skyquake was one of my favorites when I was a kid. He was huge! Plus had a fairly accurate bomb targeting system lol and missiles that fired pretty far. Of the turbomasters/predators thunderclash was the only one I didn't have.

My underrated vote goes to the duocons - battle trap and flywheels. As a 6 year old I loved them. They went everywhere with me.

[GoktimusPrime]

Duocons are awesome. :) I must say another advantage Skyquake has over Starscream seems to be the Predator scope gimmick. For some reason the smaller Predator jets don't work as well w/ MW Starscream's scope as well as w/ Skyquake's. By that I mean it's harder to get them to interlock, and once you do it's damn hard to disengage. I tried it once and it felt like I was going to break Starscream's scope. Never tried that again and I don't recommend anyone else try it. I don't know if Hasbro slightly retooled the scope on Starscream to make it less compatible w/ the Predators or if it's some kind of slight mould degradation (probably the latter I suspect).

[Cat]

Armada Overload.

Sure, it's articulation isn't the best, but it just has this strange quality about it, that takes it from 'brick' to 'that doesn't matter, this is just awesome'.

[KalEl]

Armada Overload.

Sure, it's articulation isn't the best, but it just has this strange quality about it, that takes it from 'brick' to 'that doesn't matter, this is just awesome'.

Myself and Hursticon have agreed that Armada Overload (if more articulated) would be one of the greatest transformers toys ever. It's a big bad looking robot, its a double "master gimmick" being that it is kind of a breast master and a headmaster. As well as having the original transformation sound built in when you connect the headmaster/minicon. plus the playability with becoming a artillery set up for optimus (with jetfire), and being part of his quote un-quote 'convoy' which carries jetfire as a launching pad.
Again a very cool figure. A bit like energon wingsaber it looks good just sitting there, but has a lot more to it, than meets the eye :P

[Doubledealer]

I reckon G1 Thunder Clash is also underrated. Yes, the colours are awful (typical early 90s fad) -- but the mega missile gimmick is really fun. :)

Wait, peeps don't like Thunder Clash?? :eek: He's the coolest truck-former this side of Motormaster!

I reckon PRIDE Cliffjumper is a criminally underrated Transformer. As my partner said to me the other day, he looks more like a toy compared to the First Edition but for me, that doesn't stop him from being just as much fun.

I love the fact that not only does Cliffjumper get a completely unique design in TFP, we get to celebrate this fact with not one, but two awesome toys each with their own unique approach to the transformation and look of the character. :cool:

[GoktimusPrime]

+1 on the awesomeness of Armada Overload. :) The Mini-Con gimmick is clever. I'm usually not a fan of sound gimmicks, but in Overload's case it works well. Yes, the robot mode engineering has some limitations, but considering that this toy is fundamentally an accessoryformer for Optimus Prime, I think it's really well made and a jolly good toy in its own right; whereas many other accessoryformers just suck on their own (e.g. Godbomber, Leobreaker (he really sucks) etc.) Heck - I prefer Overload over ROTF Leader Jetfire. Overload's also the only TF I've purchased from a regular retail store in Perth (Joondalup TRU). ;)

I drew a picture of Overload (left below) on my flight back to Sydney. :D
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/Transformers/fanart_chhs.jpg

[KalEl]

+1 on the awesomeness of Armada Overload. :) The Mini-Con gimmick is clever. I'm usually not a fan of sound gimmicks, but in Overload's case it works well. Yes, the robot mode engineering has some limitations, but considering that this toy is fundamentally an accessoryformer for Optimus Prime, I think it's really well made and a jolly good toy in its own right; whereas many other accessoryformers just suck on their own (e.g. Godbomber, Leobreaker (he really sucks) etc.) Heck - I prefer Overload over ROTF Leader Jetfire. Overload's also the only TF I've purchased from a regular retail store in Perth (Joondalup TRU). ;)

I drew a picture of Overload (left below) on my flight back to Sydney. :D
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/Transformers/fanart_chhs.jpg

nice sketch bro

[KalEl]

energon wingsaber is another like overload, by itself its a cool looking brick, but with energon optimus it becomes very cool and playable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing_Saber
It makes two kinda average figures great, and with two different configurations its very cool. And as i say for a brick, it looks very cool just sitting there.

[Tallestblue]

energon wingsaber is another like overload, by itself its a cool looking brick, but with energon optimus it becomes very cool and playable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing_Saber
It makes two kinda average figures great, and with two different configurations its very cool. And as i say for a brick, it looks very cool just sitting there.

I DO love Energon Wingsaber, in fact i love most of Energon, there's not a Decepticon in that line that isn't a bad toy. some of the Autobots are hit and miss. The only strike against wingsaber is he doesn't come with any weapons. I think some sort of sword would have made him much better.

[KalEl]

I DO love Energon Wingsaber, in fact i love most of Energon, there's not a Decepticon in that line that isn't a bad toy. some of the Autobots are hit and miss. The only strike against wingsaber is he doesn't come with any weapons. I think some sort of sword would have made him much better.

agreed :)