(OCT-2013) Animated Era Toys - Reviews and Favourites

[griffin]

I saw the blue and green versions of Arcee on the shelf and wondered if they were some Japanese redecos I had missed... but eventually found that they were just KOs. Which was a pity, as that mould could do with a couple redecos for the various "token females" in TFs.
I woulda snapped them up instantly if Hasbro or TT had done them.

[tinyJazz]

McDonalds Animated Happy Meal toys (6 toys in America - 4 in Australia)
Bumblebee, Megatron, Optimus Prime, Autobot Ratchet (released AUS Sep/Oct 2008)
Lugnut, Starscream (not released here)

Hey Bossbot, you forgot French McDonald's Blitzwing!


What are your Best and Worst toys of this Era?

Best
Deluxe Rodimus: Just a stand out mold that came in a lot of great colours. Hyper Hobby Black Rodimus and Botcon Sideswipe being my favourites.
Blurr: Clever design, love dem legs.
Arcee: So cute! In both modes, tidy and fun.

Worst
Activators Optimus: it just will not stay together.
Activators Lockdown: mini murder moke has the same problem. Great details though.
McRatchet Deluxe: You all know the one I'm talking about.


What was your first one, and when?

Deluxe Bumblebee and Prowl, from Myers of all places, at full price. They were the first store to get the TFA toys in and I was so excited to see them, well I just had to buy them right there. I used money that I'd received in a high school art prize to buy them.

What ones are you currently most looking for and why?

Time was, I was a TFA completionist, right down to the most bizarre merchandise. I have the boogie board. Also, two skateboards (one with sick flashing wheels!) all still in plastic wrap.
I gave up finding the Japanese clear Thundercracker and "Starscream Clone Black Version" legends exclusives though. ugh.



But now.
I am literally only looking for a piece of cardboard.

One I had, but was trashed in the 2011 flood. And then given false hope when I found the regular version with our dry salvage a few months ago, but nothing more.

I'll stop being so melodramatic, it's the backing card/tray/box for Stealth Ninja Bumper Battler Jazz. Australian Exclusive (and possibly NZ/Europe also)

Sell me a piece of cardboard, I will make you a good deal.



and, peut-être
...french McDonald's Blitzwing.

Show us some pics of your collection of the ones you have.

These are the only decent photos I have on hand right now.



Microbots!



Yep.

[MayzaPrime]

I saw the blue and green versions of Arcee on the shelf and wondered if they were some Japanese redecos I had missed... but eventually found that they were just KOs. Which was a pity, as that mould could do with a couple redecos for the various "token females" in TFs.
I woulda snapped them up instantly if Hasbro or TT had done them.

I would have loved an official release of the female bots, I managed to pick these 2 up from a KO website (can't remember which one). The blue bot actually has a purple Autobot symbol on her chest, but I just put a repolabel sticker over the top.

Surprisingly for a KO the quality of the figure is pretty good.

[christalcase]

Animated was an amazing toyline, I am still surprised at how well the character designs and proportions translated into functional, transforming figures. Transforming them were fun and I like how there were no cumbersome line-wide gimmick.

My favourite would be Prowl, one of the best, and still the best, motorcycle Transformer. The way they handled the wheels is ingenious. The Samurai retool was good, too bad they scrapped the splitting wheel idea, .

The other great Animated toys that comes to mind are the Activators, they are really fun! Spring loaded transformations, they were good representations of the characters in a small size. Some were very cleverly designed. It is always a tease to see the unreleased Animated toys and prototypes. It's great that Takara ended up releasing all the molds that Hasbro couldn't.

Back when Animated was released, I was still young in my collecting habits so I only managed to procure three: Wingblade Optimus Prime, Samurai Prowl and Oil Slick.

[GoktimusPrime]

Mucking around with all my Grimlocks for this thread, I gotta say that Animated Grimlock is by the worst when it comes to a solid and stable alt mode. He was a nightmare to pose with Voyager Optimus Prime riding on his back. Even little Pretender Grimlock fared better with the massive Powermaster Optimus Prime on him, and Masterpiece Grimlock was able to hold the weight of the much heavier MP01! But yeah... Animated Grimmie was a hassle to get into a position where he could support Voyager Prime's weight and stay in position long enough to be photographed!

[shockNwave]

Griffin, ...the Stealth Lockdown (deluxe) with Optimus and Bumblebee (legends) actually did make it to Australia. I was lucky enough to find it at Target Chadstone but because the Animated line was coming close to it's end at the time, I expect few to know of this.

[Seraphim Prime]

Griffin, ...the Stealth Lockdown (deluxe) with Optimus and Bumblebee (legends) actually did make it to Australia. I was lucky enough to find it at Target Chadstone but because the Animated line was coming close to it's end at the time, I expect few to know of this.

I can confirm that both Stealth Lockdown and Rescue Ratchet were both released at Target stores in Australia - I was working in the Target toys department at the time, and remember putting them on the shelf!

[Ozgardian]

Blitzwing was the 1st toy in this line I acquired & really set the tone of the show for me. "Ooooh! I wanna see him turn into a fire truck! Can I? Can I, ha-ha, can I? Ahahahahahahahaha!" So much sarcasm & a great nod to G1 with easter eggs galore.

Have to say G1, Japan G1, Beast Wars & Animated get more replay than the other series for me.

Still haven't snagged animated Blackout but I plan on getting him before 2016 ends.

[griffin]

Griffin, ...the Stealth Lockdown (deluxe) with Optimus and Bumblebee (legends) actually did make it to Australia. I was lucky enough to find it at Target Chadstone but because the Animated line was coming close to it's end at the time, I expect few to know of this.

That was an era (2009-2010) that I didn't keep as much track of the releases here, so I couldn't remember if that one was released here when I did up that posting.

If I ever get around to doing up toy lists for those two years, I'll make a note that they were indeed released here.