What do you consider to be the WORST G1 Toy Concept?

[BigTransformerTrev]

(as usual, will preface this with the note that if this topic has been done before I apologize :) )


What do you consider to be the WORST G1 Toy Concept?

Got this idea talking on another thread when discussing the large gaps in my Gen 1 collection and how I had all of certain groups or types on toys, and little to zero of others. So I wondered how everyone else felt.

Voting in the poll is anonymous, however it would be cool if people could list their top 3 worst G1 Toy concepts in their answer.



Though I am sure everyone here knows the toy genre's and this will be redundant, here are some quick descriptions. Please note, I put in lots of categories to be fair, as even though I might love some groups (Targetmasters, Combiners) others may hate them:


Headmasters: Where the head of the robot/animal turns into a robot of its own while the main body turns into a vehicle/animal/building.

Powermasters: The engine of the vehicle turns into a robot of its own. In many cases it needed to be installed into the toy before transformation can take place.

Targetmasters: Either where the gun/s of a vehicle or robot turn into robots of their own, or a robot has a third transformation where it becomes the gun of a gestalt

Micromasters: Itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny robots that turned into vehicles. Often came with a base or could combine in vehicle form.

Action Masters: The robot could not transform, but would come with a Targetmaster partner that could or some form of machinery or vehicle that could change forms.

Pretenders: The outer shell resembling an organic humanoid, animal or a vehcile would open up to reveal a transforming robot inside.

Combiners: 5 to 6 bots would combine into one big bot!

Palette-Swapped Figures: Where the exact same mold was used with no retooling, just a simple colour change. Most prevalent in the 84/85 toys and the Micromasters.

Weird Monster Things: This refers to mainly Transformers that seemed to just turn into... things. Examples are the Monsterbots, Decepticon small Headmasters, Pretender Monsters etc. Bots that transformed into definite creatures such as the cassettes and Dinobots are not included.

Other: Any other sub-category of G1 Transformers you like (Sparkabots, Battlechargers etc).


Please bear in mind when voting to think of the group as a whole, not an individual bot. For instance, Tentakil could be considered to be a Combiner, Targetmaster and Weird Monster Thing.



So your challenge is:

1. Vote for your Worst G1 Toy Concept in the poll

2. List your top 3 worst G1 Toy Concepts with a brief description why you feel this way.

3. (Optional) Would you still buy these toys if you needed them to complete your G1 Collection?




My answers:

Top 3 Worst G1 Toy Concepts
1. Pretenders - hated these guys! The shells were often awful and seemed to serve no purpose unless the bots were going undercover on the planet of ugly-fraggers, and the inner toys were skinny, simplistic and resembled nothing.
2. Action Masters - they did not transform! I'll say it again: Transformers. That. Did. Not. Transform!
3. Weird Monster Things - What the pit was Blot supposed to be? Or Fangry? One of the main reasons my G1 Autobot toy count far exceeds my G1 Decepticon toy count.



Would I still buy these toys to complete my G1 Collection?
Sigh... yes, yes I would. And considering they make up a large proportion of those I have left to go, I eventually will.

[DELTAprime]

1) Actionmasters, I only ever liked these when I was a little kid, I soon realized I'd rather have the transformable version of Starscream, Devastator, ect.

2) Pretenders, I never got how a 10m tall robot could fit in a human body.

3) Throttlebots, They always seemed like cheap imitations of the Minibots, but they did have a cool gimmick.

I'm more of a Classics and Masterpiece collector for G1 so I wouldn't buy these ever. I'll take G1 characters with modern engineering any day over the original in most cases.

[Bidoofdude]

I'll go with Pretenders. Their shells look butt ugly to me.:p:D
Action masters aren't bad, but they aren't necessarily good either...:D:cool:

[BigTransformerTrev]

I'm more of a Classics and Masterpiece collector for G1 so I wouldn't buy these ever. I'll take G1 characters with modern engineering any day over the original in most cases.


I must admit despite the fact I want to complete my G1 collection, I do spend more money on modern takes of classic characters. As well as classics/generations and masterpiece I'm quite the fan of alternators/alternity as well. :)

For some pics of classic characters next to their G1 counterparts I did a thread here:

http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?p=338490#post338490

[Trent]

Easily action masters.

At least Pretenders transformed. If very badly.

[Hursticon]

Actionmasters, hands down are the worst series of G1 figures - I'd take a Decoy over an AM any day. :cool:

[iamirondude]

i'd have to agree with just about everyone.actionmasters were one of the worse toy concepts ever.how could they take what was a puzzle,a car and a robot and then turn it into a moulded piece of dung.

[crankcase76]

i'd have to agree with just about everyone.actionmasters were one of the worse toy concepts ever.how could they take what was a puzzle,a car and a robot and then turn it into a moulded piece of dung.


+1:)

[M-bot]

Gotta be Pretenders. I can mostly get my head around the scale issues inherent in the TF brand, but pondering the Pretenders concept feels like a bad acid trip.:p

[tinyJazz]

Great topic BTT! :)
I think Action Masters are great! It's your favourite character, now compact and posable! I can't complain, Jazz got a skateboard strapped to a gun, possibly the coolest G1 weapon there is. Not to mention the line gave us that positively exquisite piece of art: Thundercracker in dungarees.

1. Vote for your Worst G1 Toy Concept in the poll
2. List your top 3 worst G1 Toy Concepts with a brief description why you feel this way.

1 Headmasters
Who thought this was a good idea? Brainstorm? Are you kidding me?
It's the main reason why I couldn't take season 4 seriously. You know, aside from the fact that it sounds like they all went off to teach in the UK.
I don't see how this concept makes logical sense in fiction either, especially with organics forming the head. What happens when they die? How is a headless robot supposed to fight?
This particularly bugged me when IDW took Sunstreaker's head off. I'd just gotten into reading the comics and one of my favourite Autobots was ruined for the foreseeable future. I'm just thankful they fixed him.

2 Pretenders
The saving grace is the adorable inner robot. Some shells like Bludgeon and Chainclaw are pretty cool. The majority of them just look daft though, like that half-naked viking dude.

3. (Optional) Would you still buy these toys if you needed them to complete your G1 Collection?

Fortunately, Jazz kept a cool head on his shoulders, so I won't have to buy any Headmasters. :p
As for the Pretender, just, keep the helmet on please.

Oh, and for all you action master haters, I'm happy to adopt any unwanted AM Jazzes. He'll go to a good home for a change. :D:D:p

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Great topic BTT!

Seconded!


1 Headmasters
Who thought this was a good idea? Brainstorm? Are you kidding me?
It's the main reason why I couldn't take season 4 seriously. You know, aside from the fact that it sounds like they all went off to teach in the UK.
I don't see how this concept makes logical sense in fiction either, especially with organics forming the head. What happens when they die? How is a headless robot supposed to fight?
This particularly bugged me when IDW took Sunstreaker's head off. I'd just gotten into reading the comics and one of my favourite Autobots was ruined for the foreseeable future. I'm just thankful they fixed him.

BLASPHEMY!

OK I'll admit the English version of the Headmasters story is fairly pointless. Who thought that chopping off the head of a bot would be a good idea? But the Japanese take on the idea (Of little guys being Transformers and joining to a bigger body) makes much better sense.

I'd go with Action Masters, then Pretenders (although I do like them, it's mainly because they are bad...)

Finally Monster Bots. Once again, I will admit I like them (Yay for Blot! Terrorcons are my favourite combiney group) but they certainly ruin the robots in disguise idea. I mean take the Seacons for example. Sure, they blend in juuuust fine don't they...:rolleyes:

[BigTransformerTrev]

Great topic BTT! :)

1 Headmasters
Who thought this was a good idea? Brainstorm? Are you kidding me?
It's the main reason why I couldn't take season 4 seriously. You know, aside from the fact that it sounds like they all went off to teach in the UK.
I don't see how this concept makes logical sense in fiction either, especially with organics forming the head. What happens when they die? How is a headless robot supposed to fight?


I gotta admit, if I had said name your 4 worst TF Toy Concepts, Headmasters would have been my next one. I only have 4 (Skullcruncher, Highbrow, Scorponok & Fort Max) or 7 if you count the likes of The Motorvators (awful name - they sound like a self-help seminar group and they were more of "Facemasters"). Also since when I display them I like to have every bot set up in Robot mode (with the exception of my Grimlock's) it bugged me I could not have both bots set up as it would not work.

[BigTransformerTrev]

OK I'll admit the English version of the Headmasters story is fairly pointless. Who thought that chopping off the head of a bot would be a good idea? But the Japanese take on the idea (Of little guys being Transformers and joining to a bigger body) makes much better sense.



I do have all the Japanese episodes on DVD, but I must admit I did have trouble following them and only watched them once - perhaps if I had a greater understanding of it all I may like Headmasters better. :)

But I will say this for headmasters - the vehicle modes of the likes of Hardhead and Brainstorm were awesome, and the character of Nightbeat is great - so I do still want them, just not for their headmaster gimmick ;)

[GoktimusPrime]

Worst G1 Toy Concepts
1. Action Masters - Transformers that don't transform, and worse still they dominated the toy line when they came out. In 1988 if you didn't like Pretenders you could collect Powermasters or Triggerbots or Triggercons or Sparkabots or Seacons or the Double-Targetmasters or Headmasters etc. - there was more variety/choice. In 1990 if you didn't like Action Masters... well, there were Micromasters... and that was it. (needless to say I collected more Micromasters ;)) And G1 slipped into a serious decline after that... 3 years later G1 was dead. Action Masters weren't the only thing that led to the demise of G1, but they were the straw that broke the camel's back.
2. Action Master Elites - their so called 'transformations' are a complete joke (they make the 1988 Pretenders look like Masterpieces by comparison). Their ultra rarity makes would make them uber expensive on the secondary market, and I have nooo intention of paying high prices for these pieces of rubbish (they're colours are ugly too).
3. Firecons - their alt modes are Weird-Monster Things, but they are the worst because they have such chumpy robot modes, and they all have the same ridiculous transformation scheme and design which is just the robot carrying the monster on his back, turn around to transform. Reminds me of all the monsters in "Monkey" where they appear in human form and turn around to change into their true demon selves!

Would I still buy these toys to complete my G1 collection?
1: Only if I happen to come across them for a cheap price
2: As above. Odds of this happening is nigh impossible, so effectively "no." :p
3: Already completed (hey, they were cheap!)
...I'm certainly not going to actively hunt or pay expensive prices for any of these crummy toys!

----------------

I'd also like to jump into the defence of the 1989 Pretenders. They were far better toys than the 1988 Pretenders and I don't think they deserve to be painted with the same brush and judged as harshly. First of all, they were cheaper. Secondly, they had MUCH better looking alt modes; even the weaker 89 Pretenders (e.g. Grimlock and Jazz) were better toys than any of the 88 Pretenders. Yes, Grimlock is puny and Jazz has a gimpy robot mode, but Grimlock's alt mode looks like a robotic (baby) T-Rex, and Jazz's robot mode is solid and not stick-thin! The worst of the 89 Pretenders trump the best of the 88 ones! You look at the 1988 Pretenders' alt modes and think, "What the hell is THAT meant to be?!?" -- but not so with the 1989 Pretenders. You can _see_ the Bludgeon is a tank, Stranglehold is a rhinoceros, Bumblebee is a Volkswagen Beetle, Pincher is a scorpion et al. -- their alt modes are definitive, not ambiguous!

I'd like to cite the G2 Power Masters as one of the worst toy concepts too... I don't own any... the only one I regret not getting is Ironhide, purely because he's Ironhide. i.e. I want the character, still hate the toy! Gah... just awful! These things pegwarmed really badly too. I still remember seeing LOADS of them at Toys R Us in the late 1990s. Mind you, Laser Optimus Prime was a shelf warmer too, and that's an excellent toy. :o

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

1: Action Masters. Robot Replicas at least had the benefit of being fairly posable, but AMs were just bleurgh.
2: 'Cybertronian/futuristic' alt-modes. I can live with a few exceptions such as G1 Shockwave and Cyclonus, but so many of the toys just look lazy. G1 Blurr? OK, looks kinda cool if not especially 'in disguise'. G1 Quickswitch? Not so much - even allowing for the 'Six-Changer' thing.
3: Gold Plastic. Ooh, shiny! Ooh, breaky!

[BigTransformerTrev]

.
2: 'Cybertronian/futuristic' alt-modes. I can live with a few exceptions such as G1 Shockwave and Cyclonus, but so many of the toys just look lazy. G1 Blurr? OK, looks kinda cool if not especially 'in disguise'. G1 Quickswitch? Not so much - even allowing for the 'Six-Changer' thing.!

The 'Cybertronian' modes were hit and miss for me. I liked the molds of Hardhead, Brainstorm, Triggerhappy, Misfire etc though I will admit they did not have the intricacy of other bots Transformations (Slugslinger a prime example - very lazy). And I loved the look of the Technobots. Was always happy to see Cybertronian forms, but as you say, there does seem to be a parallel in G1 between the complexity of the transform and the realism of the alt-mode, I think it was Hasbro getting lazy before they got REALLY lazy with Action Masters :rolleyes:

[Robzy]

Action Masters! I'll never understand Transformers that don't transform! (I can't believe Hasbro still makes similar stuff! :rolleyes:) Pretenders, a very close second!

[5FDP]

Action Masters! I'll never understand Transformers that don't transform! (I can't believe Hasbro still makes similar stuff! :rolleyes:) Pretenders, a very close second!

^ This!

[GoktimusPrime]

(I can't believe Hasbro still makes similar stuff! :rolleyes:)
Yeah but, nowadays they're made as sideline figures, or pieces of merchandising. You look at Robot Replicas or Revoltech... they don't transform, but they don't dominate the main Transformers line like Action Masters did. In 1990-91, if you didn't collect Action Masters that took a serious chunk out of your collecting during those years. I don't collect Robot Replicas or Revoltech, but that hasn't exactly slowed down my collecting in recent years. :p

Imagine if Hasbro ONLY produced Robot Replicas and Cyberverse... and nothing else. That's pretty much what it was like. <shudder> Had the Action Masters just been some minor sub group (like the Firecons) or a sideline piece of merchandising... it wouldn't have been so bad. The crappy thing about Action Masters was just they really took over a massive chunk of the Transformers franchise!

[SharkyMcShark]

1. Vote for your Worst G1 Toy Concept in the poll


Action Masters. Easy.
2. List your top 3 worst G1 Toy Concepts with a brief description why you feel this way.


Action Masters - Transformers. It's in the name for gods sake. Without that it's basically just a normal action figure shaped like something that has about 10000 times more play value and ingenuity.

Headmasters - for two reasons. First, I don't think that the engineering at the time allowed them to explore this concept properly (ie most of thes heads ended up looking like oversized bobble heads). Secondly, as a child I generally lost everything that wasn't physically permanently attached to the figure and the prospect of one day having a headless figure was a real downer.

Weird Monster Things - I'm not against the concept at all, just that execution was usually so lazy.

3. (Optional) Would you still buy these toys if you needed them to complete your G1 Collection?


Would I buy a figure from a subline I dislike, from a generation of figures that I dislike? Who does that? No, obviously.

[theshape]

So your challenge is:

1. Vote for your Worst G1 Toy Concept in the poll
Action masters

2. List your top 3 worst G1 Toy Concepts with a brief description why you feel this way.

1. Action masters as others have stated
2.micro masters - I never liked small boys
3. Weird mosters

3. (Optional) Would you still buy these toys if you needed them to complete your G1 Collection?

At the moment... no. I rather buy Japanese g1 or euro g1. When I finished with that stuff I'll look at action /micro masters

[GoktimusPrime]

Headmasters - for two reasons. First, I don't think that the engineering at the time allowed them to explore this concept properly (ie most of thes heads ended up looking like oversized bobble heads). Secondly, as a child I generally lost everything that wasn't physically permanently attached to the figure and the prospect of one day having a headless figure was a real downer.
I personally never lost any of my Nebulans as a child. Another child went and lost my Krunk after I let him borrow Snapdragon! Gggrrr!! :mad: (Hey kids! NEVER lend your toys to nobody!!)


Weird Monster Things - I'm not against the concept at all, just that execution was usually so lazy.
I thought Hun-Grrr was really well done. But I suppose he's different because he wasn't some randomly invented monster like the Monsterbots or Firecon, but rather a double-headed dragon (i.e. sort of based on an "existing" mythological creature). Do alt modes based on mythological creatures count as "Weird Monster Things"? Cos Sinnertwin transforms into an Orthus (2 headed dog from Greek mythology), as opposed to Blot who transforms into... umm... I have no idea. A blot. :p


3. (Optional) Would you still buy these toys if you needed them to complete your G1 Collection?


Would I buy a figure from a subline I dislike, from a generation of figures that I dislike? Who does that? No, obviously.
:D ^http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/avatars/th_like.jpg^ :D


So your challenge is:
At the moment... no. I rather buy Japanese g1 or euro g1. When I finished with that stuff I'll look at action /micro masters
Euro G1 is the same as Australian G1 dude. Australia (and New Zealand) got all those late-G1 Euro-market toys. :) When it comes to those toys, I find you're better off getting them in Australia than say in Japan. I saw some of the prices in Japan and thought, "zOMG!" Obviously Japanese dealers charge more cos these toys were never released there, but I've occasionally seen them sell in local fairs and markets for way cheaper prices (since they're obviously not as rare or "exotic" here).

[liegeprime]

aaaaw. I can feel the hate for Actionmasters here :p:p

For me
Worst toy concept - Battlechargers. sure they have the pull back and roll gimmick and then pop to ''transform''... but the robot form is just ugh, no articulation whatsoever... cant even hold their freakin gun correctly, shame that the awesome look of the altmode is wasted when it comes to the bot mode. Its like tombstones rising for a transformation.

Top 3 worst concepts
1) Battle chargers - they could've made the bot mode more articulated even if it was just the arms. this gimmick is then repeated to the throttlebots - with SDF concept - cute but still its so 2D. there's no fun in transforming these figures. the altmode is its only saving grace - but yeah wasted on the crap robot mode. Crap transformation - if you can call it that.

2) Autobot sixchanger - as awesome and well thought of is Sixshot - is equally on the opposite direction how shoddy and ''forced'' is Quickswitch's. Honestly when you look at the figure - its a boat with rectangular limbs attached and a flat face - the concept is sound but the excecution on this one fails - where sixshot is glorious this is just meh....not all of his 6 altmodes are any good. drill tank, pfft yeah if you are drilling a small hole then how can you fit the rest of him in - the concept of a driller is that the drill big so that the rest of the tank can drive in the hole it makes to dig even deeper - just take a look at that puny driller. Hovercraft mode - uh huh, seen better thanks, pistol - oh please its a boat trying to look like a pistol. Beast - just because it has beast face.... it aint a beast even lego beasts have more proper angles than that. Fighter jet, meh the design isn't so aerodynamic - itll get shot down quick with all the air drag it will have.

3. Firecons - ugh . shame they have good altmodes - firebreathing monsters - but the same spark gimmick has made the figure in bulky sparky squares... then to transform - turn around and unjoin the arms , that's it? ugh. I's one of those they could've done better had they made it bigger... just look at the Monsterbots - they use the same gimmick - sparks - but the altmode/botmode isn't compromised by having the sparking stuff in the torso with proper sized limbs and wotnot. with the firecons its a box housing the sparkler with kibbles attached to the box to make it look the creature or robot. lame.

Would I buy em?

well yeah I already did, which is why I can comment of how lame the figures are. Oh well I got em cheap so it's ok.

[1orion2many]

I'm too lazy to think about all this at once so I'll just answer the first question for now. I voted other "Battle Beasts" rubbery little dudes:rolleyes:

[Bidoofdude]

Action Master Devy looks okay to me but it just plain sucks that was all that was available and the ability to not transform.

[Trent]

(Hey kids! NEVER lend your toys to nobody!!)

Soooo… they should lend their toys to everybody??


:p

[Hursticon]

Soooo… they should lend their toys to everybody??


:p

Can you believe that guy is supposed to be a Teacher? - Them teachers learn you good I reckonz... :p:D
(Kidding Gok, just having a lend of ya... ;):cool:)

[Starscream77]

Pretenders were the worst by far for me

And no i will never purchase any of them for the sake of being a completist

[GoktimusPrime]

I was intentionally using a double-negative to be facetious. :p ;)
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/avatars/th_unpossible.jpg

Action Master Devy looks okay to me but it just plain sucks that was all that was available and the ability to not transform.
The Decepticons did (attempt to) build a second non-transformable Devastator in the Earthforce Saga (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Earthforce). The Constructicons had, at the time, lost their ability to combine, so they tried to build a duplicate Devastator (http://tfwiki.net/mediawiki/images2/5/57/Devastator_rebuild.png) who was a separate Decepticon from the Constructicons! :)

So one could repurpose the 1992 G1 Constructicons (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XRbHoJFk5Xk/S7ZyhuKX-eI/AAAAAAAAASs/GrYexsvgl3A/s1600/euroconstructicons.jpg) (who cannot combine) as the Earthforce Constructicons, and Action Master Devastator as Earthforce Devastator! :p :D

[Bidoofdude]

Isn't the action master Devy a bit small?

[VERT]

I actualy kinda liked action masters but only because of the old characters. But what I did not like much was pretenders and I hate micro masters. Little cheap falling over all the time little #!&% that they are :-P

[Lord_Zed]

I thought Hun-Grrr was really well done. But I suppose he's different because he wasn't some randomly invented monster like the Monsterbots or Firecon, but rather a double-headed dragon (i.e. sort of based on an "existing" mythological creature). Do alt modes based on mythological creatures count as "Weird Monster Things"? Cos Sinnertwin transforms into an Orthus (2 headed dog from Greek mythology), as opposed to Blot who transforms into... umm... I have no idea. A blot. :p


Heresy! Flamefeather is one of the best Transformers ever, any fool can see he turns into the mythical Griffin beast, he is clearly up there with the proper mythological beast transformers.:p

The other two are more of a grey area.

[GoktimusPrime]

FWIW Flamefeather is my favourite (or least hated?) Firecon. :p Cindersaur's my least favourite.

[BigTransformerTrev]

Well, I think that 'Action Masters' unsurprisingly was the definite winner of the 'worst g1 toy concept' (18 at last count), followed by Pretenders which lagged far behind but was still a definite second (5 at last count). Oh Hasbro, if you had just stuck with what had come before (barring the Firecons - lot of hate for the Firecons came out here), you could have had us emptying our wallets for so many more years!

Out of interest, those that voted 'other' - what particular figures did you have in mind? (Don't have to answer if ya don't want).

[Megatron]

... I just think Headmasters is the worst idea for Transformers ever.

[GoktimusPrime]

I can see why some people might not like Headmasters -- they're not the greatest concept ever... but worst ever? How are they worse than Action Masters?

IMO these are some of the ways that Action Masters are considerably worse than Headmasters:

(1) Headmasters were only one limited sub group. Action Masters dominated the line when they came out. If you didn't like Headmasters, there were plenty of other toys to collect at the time -- Throttlebots, Targetmasters, Technobots, Duocons, Terrorcons, Clones, Monsterbots etc. If you didn't like Action Masters, aside from Micromasters there was nothing else to collect. :(

(2) Headmasters don't have 'realistic' based Earthen alt modes, unlike say the Throttlebots (e.g. the Throttlebots gave us a VW Beetle, Ferrari Testarossa, Chevrolet Corvette C4, Jeep CJ-7, Ford RS200 and a dump truck), but at least they HAVE alt modes! Action Masters transform into a whole lot of nothing. And the Headmasters alt modes are recognisable for what they are (unlike the Pretenders). Skullcruncher's a gator, Highbrow is a helicopter, Hardhead's a tank, Mindwipe's a bat etc. They may not be the greatest alt modes, but at least you can tell what they are. Waverider was my first Pretender in 1988. I opened that toy and started playing with it, making Waverider zoom about in the air because I thought he was a jet. Then I read the tech specs and discovered he's meant to be a submersible. Oooohhh... :o

(3) Some of them have less than inspiring transformations, like Chromedome and his "bend be backwards, now you're done" transformation (so simple that the smaller (and die-cast) TF Jr. version transforms in the same way!). Even Fortress Maximus has a pretty darn simple transformation... he just lies down to transform to battleship mode, and the city mode is just the robot lying down with legs tucked in (Fortress Maximus is more impressive a _massive_ play set more than as an action figure really). But still... at least they can transform. And the engineering of even the worst Headmaster completely outclasses any Action Master Elite IMHO. Look at Omega Spreem's alt mode (http://www.erwinsdomain.com/typo3temp/pics/69176b8ab6.jpg)... suddenly Chromedome looks like a Masterpiece by comparison! :eek:

Anyway, that's just my opinion. But I'd be curious to know how you would rate Headmasters as being worse than Action Masters. :)

"It cannot even transform, this thing is useless. Get rid of it." - Megatron (Transmutate)

[liegeprime]

Well, I think that 'Action Masters' unsurprisingly was the definite winner of the 'worst g1 toy concept' (18 at last count), followed by Pretenders which lagged far behind but was still a definite second (5 at last count). Oh Hasbro, if you had just stuck with what had come before (barring the Firecons - lot of hate for the Firecons came out here), you could have had us emptying our wallets for so many more years!

Out of interest, those that voted 'other' - what particular figures did you have in mind? (Don't have to answer if ya don't want).

I voted for Others since my choices would not be classified under the rest of the masters"etc. Sixchanger - as Ive mentioned just because you got 6 transformations doesn't make it cool especially when all of em modes are lame looking,
Battlechargers - altmodes ok but for the sake of the gimmick they've become a rolling transformer which ''transforms'' like a tombstone rising

and the firecons - these can be classified as weird monster almodes category, BUT, that's what I love about them, it's their bot mode that irks me a blocky bot non articulated with kibbles all over which you only recognise as the bot mode coz it's got the face. -(due to just turning around as a "transformation" - lame)

[GoktimusPrime]

I voted for Others since my choices would not be classified under the rest of the masters"etc. Sixchanger - as Ive mentioned just because you got 6 transformations doesn't make it cool especially when all of em modes are lame looking,
It worked well with Sixshot IMO, but yeah, Quickswitch (and thus Sixknight) suck. :p I got both for free though. :D (and my free Sixshot came complete w/ box and foam tray!)


Battlechargers - altmodes ok but for the sake of the gimmick they've become a rolling transformer which ''transforms'' like a tombstone rising
Yeah, I'm not a fan of Battlechargers either. Their robot modes aren't as solid or well made as their preceding Jumpstarter counterparts, although arguably they have better alt modes being more realistic (whereas the Battlechargers are these fantasy rocket sled things - and their heads aren't even concealed). The way the robot modes flop down is ridiculous, and zero shoulder articulation FTL. :( Having said that, I once watched a younger cousin of mine _really_ have fun playing with Runamuck once (she was still in primary school at the time). :) I don't think I've ever seen any child seriously enjoy playing with an Action Master. :p

[High_Q]

I voted Pretenders for two reasons; (i) the outer shell has minimal/no articulation (worse than Action Masters), and (ii) the inner robots mostly contort instead of transform. At least the Action Masters never pretended to be able to transform.

I'm surprised the Headmasters received any vote at all, as i consider the Headmaster concept the best toy gimmick in mainline TF history, and am hoping beyond hope of this concept getting a Classics/Generations treatment. Having a pilot/trainer figure integrating in such a way just adds so much playability to the main figure, IMO.

[BigTransformerTrev]

I'm surprised the Headmasters received any vote at all, as i consider the Headmaster concept the best toy gimmick in mainline TF history

Well the three groups that haven't gotten any votes as the worst (as yet) are certainly the three I didn't think would because they are so cool! I just thought I had better put them to make the whole thing fair:

Targetmasters: Little Nebulan dudes who turned into guns and could attach to either the vehicle or robot was a great idea! Maybe they got it from Megatron pretty much being treated like a Targemaster in the cartoon. THe one thing I liked about the Action Masters was their targetmaster partners, very cool to have characters like Catgut & Gatoraider (seriously - didn't Michael Bay get alerted to that? Could have made a FORTUNE in cross-promotion in the movies with him in it) turn from animals into guns. And of course it made the smaller Seacons have more play value.

Combiners: Seriously - who the frag doesn't love combiners? Combaticons, Stunticons, Constructicons, Aerialbots etc etc that combine into giant hulking robots - just fricken cool man! To my mind one of the very BEST TF toy concepts!

Pallette-swapped characters: We wouldn't have Skywarp and Thundercarcker - nuff said! Though I would kinda have liked to see with those guys like they did with Ken & Ryu in Street Fighter, make them stay similar but with a little more individuality and difference in each iteration.

[GoktimusPrime]

I voted Pretenders for two reasons; (i) the outer shell has minimal/no articulation (worse than Action Masters), and
Yeah but the shells are just accessories and not the action Transformers themselves.

(ii) the inner robots mostly contort instead of transform.
^Agree 100% :)

At least the Action Masters never pretended to be able to transform.
...other than daring to call themselves "Transformers" and being marketed as part of the mainstream toyline. :o


I'm surprised the Headmasters received any vote at all, as i consider the Headmaster concept the best toy gimmick in mainline TF history, and am hoping beyond hope of this concept getting a Classics/Generations treatment. Having a pilot/trainer figure integrating in such a way just adds so much playability to the main figure, IMO.
I like the concept too. :)

Well the three groups that haven't gotten any votes as the worst (as yet) are certainly the three I didn't think would because they are so cool! I just thought I had better put them to make the whole thing fair:

Targetmasters: Little Nebulan dudes who turned into guns and could attach to either the vehicle or robot was a great idea! Maybe they got it from Megatron pretty much being treated like a Targemaster in the cartoon. THe one thing I liked about the Action Masters was their targetmaster partners, very cool to have characters like Catgut & Gatoraider (seriously - didn't Michael Bay get alerted to that? Could have made a FORTUNE in cross-promotion in the movies with him in it) turn from animals into guns. And of course it made the smaller Seacons have more play value.
The concept actually came from Koutetsu Jeeg, a Japanese series from the mid 1970s where the main hero character (Hiroshi) is a cyborg who can transform into the head of a big mighty robot called Koutetsu Jeeg. :) Koutetsu Jeeg is also likely the inspiration for Wheeljack's head. :p


Combiners: Seriously - who the frag doesn't love combiners? Combaticons, Stunticons, Constructicons, Aerialbots etc etc that combine into giant hulking robots - just fricken cool man! To my mind one of the very BEST TF toy concepts!
It's such a clever way to entice kids to collect an entire set of toys, isn't it? :D :cool:


Pallette-swapped characters: We wouldn't have Skywarp and Thundercarcker - nuff said! Though I would kinda have liked to see with those guys like they did with Ken & Ryu in Street Fighter, make them stay similar but with a little more individuality and difference in each iteration.
They did have more individuality in the toy continuity (which came first) -- their tech spec bios portray them as being different:
+ Starscream: treacherous and cunning, believes in the use of deception over brute force
+ Thundercacker: morally ambiguous. Not fully convinced of the Decepticon cause but supports them only because he disagrees with the Autobots more (kinda like voting for a political party not because you like them, but only because you dislike the other mob more :p) <--IMO one of the most interesting characters in G1
+ Skywarp: Total grunt. Absolutely loyal and follows orders without question, but is also completely useless without someone giving him orders.
+ Rumble: reckless punk
+ Frenzy: sadistic
...etc.
And that's one thing I really miss about G1 -- how every toy was a unique character with their own individual quirks. They just don't do that anymore. :(

I don't mind repaints per se... but they work so much better when they're new individual characters with their own personalities instead of just being random repaints of each other. Can you imagine how some of these toys would have worked out if Hasbro of Today was in charge of early G1?
* Red and grey jet = Starscream
* Blue jet = Night Attack Starscream
* Black jet = Shadow Strike Starscream
...etc.
Real lack of creativity. (of course the creativity from G1 came from Marvel rather than Hasbro - but at least Hasbro at the time were willing to enlist the help of Marvel whom they felt could do a better job of creating a stories and character bios than they could -- and they were right! Imagine if Hasbro of Today allowed IDW writers to come up with new character concepts and write their bios etc.)

[kup]

Over time I have grown to accept and like Action Masters but for the longest time, I hated them. They were just a cop out. Easy to manufacture action figures that don't require transforming.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

you only recognise as the bot mode coz it's got the face. -(due to just turning around as a "transformation" - lame)

Ha ha ha! Yeah, That's so true! I never really thought about it like that (I still like my Firecons though...) :)

[GoktimusPrime]

I like my Firecons too, but I do recognise that they are some of the worst engineered Transformers in G1. :) But I certainly don't hate them because:
+ They're such a small sub group (there's only 3 of them), by NO means did they ever dominate the toy line like Action Masters did! If you really hated them, they were _easily_ ignorable. :)
+ They're so little and cheap... it's not as if Hasbro were ripping us off with these toys that only cost a few dollars each. :p
+ Let's face it... the sparking gimmick is cool! :D

But yeah, they're transformation reminds me of the monsters in Monkey (Magic)... cos the demons always appeared in human form first, then they'd spin around and turn into their humans with excessive make up and bad prosthetics^demon forms! :D
"Born from an pod on a mountain top, the punkiest Firecons that ever popped...."

[Jetfire in the sky]

"Born from an pod on a mountain top, the punkiest Firecons that ever popped...."

*shakes head* :p

Just on the Firecons sparking toys were all the go at the time so however they got the gimmick into Transformers seemed secondary to Transformation which generally got pretty lazy by series 5. I love Monsterbots though.
Didn't Firecons have a moulded part for where a rub sticker should have gone which then got blocked out? Just asking coz I don't really collect beyond Series four anymore but I'm pretty sure I found it an oddity years ago.

[Jetfire in the sky]

Oh just to back up so many votes against Action Masters my brother, who was born in '86 and the recipient of many a shelf warming Action Master said to me when he was about 10, these should be called Craption Masters! Mainly due to the fact that after years of play they couldn't stand, their arms sagged and the parts broke easily.

[GoktimusPrime]

Years nothing... some of them were already in that condition after a several months! :eek:

[Jetfire in the sky]

Years nothing... some of them were already in that condition after a several months! :eek:

LOL, out of the pack even!!;)

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

*shakes head* :p

Just on the Firecons sparking toys were all the go at the time so however they got the gimmick into Transformers seemed secondary to Transformation which generally got pretty lazy by series 5. I love Monsterbots though.
The Monsterbots weren't bad really. The spark section was catered for quite well and they still retained pretty good transformation for the time.

Grotusque is still a fave of mine.