Favourite Subgroup/gimmick/concept?

[5FDP]

G1 gestalts. I always loved them as a kid but could never afford them. Now I am an adult I am slowly collecting them all.

Just because you earn money doesn't mean you're an adult

[GoktimusPrime]

Just because you earn money doesn't mean you're an adult

He can trialed as an adult.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

It took some thought, but here's mine: the recent trend towards doing repaints and minor retools of new molds/characters into homages to older characters - especially the obscure ones like Skullgrin and Axor. I try not to get multiples of the same mold (with a few exceptions, like the Seekers and Rumble/Frenzy), so those repaints/updates of 'classic' characters mean I have a lot more Classicsverse TFs - of fairly obscure characters no less - than I would otherwise.
I have to admire it from both the business and engineering perspectives (I mean, Wheeljack and Tracks from the same mold? With distinct-looking robot modes? That's pretty damn cool.), and it's a nice nod to the fandom on Hasbro's part.

[GoktimusPrime]

Yeah, I do like the idea of retooling/repainting moulds as new characters! What I like about the idea is that someone at Hasbro is actually putting creative thought into their retool/repaints! We all know that Hasbro benefits from repaints because they get more "bang for their buck" with what they invest into developing new moulds, but we also know that seemingly random or pointless repaints (e.g. Bumblebees!) are about as appealing as being slapped in the face with a live trout and end up peg/shelfwarming. But thoughtful repaints actually give a impetus for people to buy the toy! These are the kinds of repaints Hasbro should be putting more focus on instead of doing all their random repaints that don't sell.

P.S.: Skullgrin's not really obscure - he had a prominent and repeated canonical appearance in G1 and G2 (and later in Dreamwave and IDW). I agree that Axer is pretty obscure though - never had any canonical appearances during G1/G2 or DW -- only ever made a brief "hi then bye" appearance in IDW's Spotlight: Arcee

[klystron]

I'm on the Dinobot bandwagon for favourite sub-group. Some of my favourite combiners (Combaticons, Technobots, Tripredicus) rate a close second.

Gimmick-wise:
Combiners -
I'm a fan (but not owner) of all combiners. I dig the concept of a functional transformer then forming part of a bigger robot. Sometimes simplistically (scramble city) or with a high level of complex engineering (Tripredicus). I also like PCC which is a concept that I think has a lot of untapped potential.
Multichangers -
Triple, six, unoffical, dumb base-modes, whatever. I love TFs with more than one alt mode.

Are weapons being hidden / incorporated into an alt-mode a gimmick? Cause I'm a fan of that too.

How about fictional gimmicks of TF characters...? Cause the winner there ATMO is definitely Skywarp. In my universe he's like Nightcrawler in the X-MEN movies.

[GoktimusPrime]

Are weapons being hidden / incorporated into an alt-mode a gimmick? Cause I'm a fan of that too.

It's a concept, and I agree it's a darn cool one. Ditto incorporated/self contained accessories like gestalt parts. Aaah, that's why I'd really love to see TakTOM reissue Lio Kaiser!

How about fictional gimmicks of TF characters...? Cause the winner there ATMO is definitely Skywarp. In my universe he's like Nightcrawler in the X-MEN movies.

How far can Nightcrawler teleport? Cos Skywarp's teleportation range is four kilometres. Although I like how Skywarp teleports in and out through purple lights, instead of blue fart clouds. "BAMF!" Eeewwww!

[Bartrim]

Just because you earn money doesn't mean you're an adult

touche

[BigTransformerTrev]

My fav subgroup when I was a kid for setting up battle scenes was always the Combaticons!

Despite the 'Robots In Disguise' concept, I had never really understood, when they were in the middle of a civil war, why more Transformers did not have combat oriented alt-modes. So I used to have my Combaticons set up on the loungeroom floor arranged against the few combat-oriented Autobot alt-mode vehicles I had such as Guzzle.

[GoktimusPrime]

Despite the 'Robots In Disguise' concept, I had never really understood, when they were in the middle of a civil war, why more Transformers did not have combat oriented alt-modes.

There was also a deliberate decision by Hasbro in early G1 that the Autobots would be more "peaceful" civilian vehicles, whereas the Decepticons would be weapons of war or instruments of espionage (cassettes etc.). If you look at the 1984 line up, that's how they were. A similar thing happened with Beast Wars -- most of the Maximals were "warm bloods" and Predacons were mostly "cold bloods," and in Bay's 2007 movie you had Decepticons being "authoritarian vehicles" (army, air force, police) whereas the Autobots are all civilian vehicles. So it's often a thematic choice -- the Combaticons are typical Decepticons, "nasty war vehicles", whereas say the Protectobots are their antithesis as vehicles of search and rescue. As Neil Kaplan once said, the cool thing he loves about RiD Optimus Prime is that he's always a hero - when he's not fighting Predacons and Decepticons, he's helping to put out fires.

[griffin]

That's the Hasbro explanation... he's commenting on the story explanation, or the lack of. As in, if they are in a multi-million year old war, why would would ANYONE have a non-military alt-mode.
That's where the fan-speculation comes in to explain Hasbro's toy decisions, within the context of the story universe.