Underrated Transformers Toys Thread

[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, here and here.

[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?

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...

[/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?

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.

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?

Gigatron.

And I can confirm this,

As I've received the Robots In Disgise (RiD) Megatron/Galvatron/Gigatron 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.
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 ).

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

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.

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!

[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.

[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.

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.

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, 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


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.
For the question of who has the most articulation out of all the six/ten changers though... Well, now we know.



And Beast Wars is still this franchises saviour!