(JUNE-2013) Robots In Disguise Era Toys - Reviews and Favourites

[Sky Shadow]

i actually really enjoyed rid as a kid

I which you whippersnappers would stop coming here and making us feel old.

[Ravagecat]

What are your Best and Worst toys of this Era?

Best: Railracer - easy sell for me - love bullet trains and love combiners - A cleverly engineered toy
Worst: Most of the Beast Machines Redeco's - Obsidian, Storm Jet - main reason being that IMO the beast machines toy line was one of the worst and to re-use the molds is a sin (although I did buy a few of them - probably because there was nothing else to get at the time )

What was your first one, and when?

Pretty Sure I got Sideburn, X-brawn and Prowl first (bought at the same time). Was excited to be getting new vehicle type transformers similar to G1

What ones are you currently most looking for and why?

Fortress Maximus (for the right price ) other than FM I'm pretty sure I have all that I want/need in this line. I remember having to pay scalper prices for Railracer set and Scourge (ebay), because as usual Australia only got half the stuff released. Scourge was a must as he is bad ass in the show and I love the colour scheme - Railracer for the reason mentioned above (first question)

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

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/...ps42e68028.jpg
http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/...pse1708ddf.jpg

[BigTransformerTrev]

What are your Best and Worst toys of this Era?
Best: Ultra Magnus vehicle mode, Build Team, Team Bullet Train
Worst: The Predacons

What was your first one, and when?
Wedge, 2001

What ones are you currently most looking for and why?
Pretty happy with my collection, though I have the blue & white version of Prowl and wouldn't mind finding the black & white one

Show us some pics of your collection of the ones you have.
Ironically all my fav toys from this era are Autobots and I only have my Decepticons photographed for cataloging. And all my figures are crated up right now. But here's my bad guys:

[MayzaPrime]

My RID collection

[crankcase76]

What are your Best and Worst toys of this Era?

Best: would have to be railracer, as have only acquired this toy not long ago. But loved him in the cartoon.

Worst: would have to be The reissue of the machine wars line, I think I might have a few in this line.

What was your first one, and when?

Optimus prime when he hit the shelves. Loved the fire truck theme.

What ones are you currently most looking for and why?

None I don't think, as stated in a previous post about the reuse of the machine wars line, I will not get all of those ones.

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

All boxed up, will have to find them.

[GoktimusPrime]

What are your Best and Worst toys of this Era?
Best: Super Mach Alert. A great figure, and I particularly like this deco because the colours are somewhat similar to those used by Italian Polizia, making it feel more like a robot in disguise. While the regular Mach Alert looks like a standard Japanese patrol car, I've NEVER seen or heard of Japanese cops driving a Lamborghini!

Worst: All those endless weird redecos of the SpyChangers! The transparent ones with random colours (like transparent-grape coloured W.A.R.S.) was just weird. These toys weren't bad... SpyChangers are damn cool... but we just got hit with what felt like endless slews of just strange redecos! Still... they seemed to sell better than endless waves of Bumblebee.

What was your first one, and when?
Super Fire Convoy and Gigatron in 2000.

What ones are you currently most looking for and why?
None. I'm collecting Transformers Prime Beast Hunters atm.

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

[doublespy]

Similar to couple of other ozformers, this was the line that got me back into collecting Transformers. Car Robot, to be exact.

The toys were spectacular. Car Robot as a toy line is one of the best in the franchise history IMHO. All the new molds were aesthectically consistent (a good example being all the Cybertron robot heads had elements resembling their vehicle mode) and cleverly engineered (all three of the Cybertron combiners could rank in top 5 combiners of all time IMO) And they really made redecos work: Black Convoy was a fine example; Gelshark and the three stooges were also great. On top of all these they gave fans a chance to own the Fort Max mold again.

I'd recommend any of the new molds to TF collectors that are new to collecting CR/RID. They're just all good, and the engineering and play value blow a lot of today's toys out the water.

The all-TakTom Transformers Go! combiners remind me of the Car Robot era. As much as I like these new combiners gotta say they don't make combiners like JRX any more...

What are your Best and Worst toys of this Era?
Best: I love all the new molds. Top three would perhaps be the combiners, Build King, JRX, and God Fire Convoy. Build King's combining system is ingenious and offers tons of play value. JRX is probably the best looking combiner ever. All the three 'bots integrate so seamlessly together and really only J4 suffered a little from the combining gimmick as an individual figure.

Worst: SpyChangers.

What was your first one, and when?
Gigatron in around 2001.

What ones are you currently most looking for and why?
Black Convoy. Played with it a couple of times but never owned him.

My favourite toys are Omega Prime, as someone else said, the shaking hands thing is just inspired.

Indeed! Didn't know this "handshake" was intentional until I read about it in a Hisashi Yuki interview couple of years back. Really ingenious design.

[GoktimusPrime]

The toys were spectacular. Car Robot as a toy line is one of the best in the franchise history IMHO. All the new molds were aesthectically consistent (a good example being all the Cybertron robot heads had elements resembling their vehicle mode) and cleverly engineered

A lot of that engineering came from Beast Wars, including the "heads that mimic the alt mode" (re: Beast Wars Neo). Car Robot was basically, "let's take Beast Wars engineering and give them licensed vehicle modes." And it did work quite well. I also really liked how they all had sculpted Autobot insignias in robot mode that were concealed (to various extents) in vehicle mode. It really helped to make them more like robots in disguise! But I didn't like how Hasbro undid this on their RiD toys by slapping Autobot logos on the vehicle modes (and then having the audacity to name the line "Robots In Disguise")

I'd recommend any of the new molds to TF collectors that are new to collecting CR/RID. They're just all good, and the engineering and play value blow a lot of today's toys out the water.

IMO the engineering of the larger figures has become a bit dated now. Super Fire Convoy and God Fire Convoy are somewhat unstable and ungainly in their combined form, and Fire Convoy suffers from chrome that chips too easily. The carded figures on the other hand are still really good even by today's standards. Speedbreaker and Wild Ride's asymmetrical robot forms may not be everyone's cube of Energon, but they are both good solid toys.

Gigatron's not really that great, but that's what happens when you try to shove 6 modes into a single toy... then retool it for an additional 10 modes for Devil Gigatron. Jack of all trades, master of none.

The all-TakTom Transformers Go! combiners remind me of the Car Robot era. As much as I like these new combiners gotta say they don't make combiners like JRX any more...

From photos that I've seen, the TF Go! gestalts really don't look as nice as Car Robot's. JMO.

Worst: SpyChangers.

I love the SpyChangers! And here's why:
1) Whereas the larger Autobots had insignias that would be hidden in vehicle mode, they couldn't do this with the more simplistic engineering of the Spy Changers -- so instead they added Autobot logos embedded in the paint and it's heat sensitive! e.g. if you look at Ox (Ironhide), here's no Autobot logo visible, but if you put your finger on one of the sides and press it, the heat from your finger activates the Autobot logo! It's a lot like the old rub signs from G1, only that they're NOT stickers. It's like some sort of heat sensitive tampograph but coloured to perfectly blend with the paint job! That's gotta be one of the coolest gimmicks ever devised for Transformers, and it's a shame that they've never tried it again!
2) SpyChangers are FUN to play with! Remember that these are repaints of 1995's G2 GoBots, and they were designed to be compatible with Hot Wheels and Matchbox playsets! The SpyChangers all have free-spinning axles that conserve momentum allowing the vehicle to roll for a jolly long time. You can shoot them out of launchers and onto tracks etc. Heck, a good flick with your finger will send a Spy Changer flying across any flat surface! When Spy Changers transform and roll out, they seriously roll out! It is such a simple but incredibly effective gimmick. Sure, it means that the legs don't separate and they end up with large chests, but that's because the chest and legs house the free-spinning axles which need to remain inseparable in order to work. For a bunch of small cheap toys, they pack a LOT of awesomely fun play value! Their robot modes are better designed than previous toys with free spinning axles such as the Battlechargers and Throttlebots, and even then it was only their rear axles that were free spinning (and motorised). By having both the front and rear axles spin freely, the Spy Changers can conserve greater momentum and achieve long distances without the need of motorisation.

What ones are you currently most looking for and why?
Black Convoy. Played with it a couple of times but never owned him.

Yeah, I skipped Black Convoy too. Not really actively looking to get him though... if I happen to come across one cheap I'll get it, otherwise ... meh. It sucked how RiD Scourge never got released here though.

[doublespy]

A lot of that engineering came from Beast Wars, including the "heads that mimic the alt mode" (re: Beast Wars Neo). Car Robot was basically, "let's take Beast Wars engineering and give them licensed vehicle modes." And it did work quite well. I also really liked how they all had sculpted Autobot insignias in robot mode that were concealed (to various extents) in vehicle mode. It really helped to make them more like robots in disguise! But I didn't like how Hasbro undid this on their RiD toys by slapping Autobot logos on the vehicle modes (and then having the audacity to name the line "Robots In Disguise")


IMO the engineering of the larger figures has become a bit dated now. Super Fire Convoy and God Fire Convoy are somewhat unstable and ungainly in their combined form, and Fire Convoy suffers from chrome that chips too easily. The carded figures on the other hand are still really good even by today's standards. Speedbreaker and Wild Ride's asymmetrical robot forms may not be everyone's cube of Energon, but they are both good solid toys.

Gigatron's not really that great, but that's what happens when you try to shove 6 modes into a single toy... then retool it for an additional 10 modes for Devil Gigatron. Jack of all trades, master of none.


From photos that I've seen, the TF Go! gestalts really don't look as nice as Car Robot's. JMO.


I love the SpyChangers! And here's why:
1) Whereas the larger Autobots had insignias that would be hidden in vehicle mode, they couldn't do this with the more simplistic engineering of the Spy Changers -- so instead they added Autobot logos embedded in the paint and it's heat sensitive! e.g. if you look at Ox (Ironhide), here's no Autobot logo visible, but if you put your finger on one of the sides and press it, the heat from your finger activates the Autobot logo! It's a lot like the old rub signs from G1, only that they're NOT stickers. It's like some sort of heat sensitive tampograph but coloured to perfectly blend with the paint job! That's gotta be one of the coolest gimmicks ever devised for Transformers, and it's a shame that they've never tried it again!
2) SpyChangers are FUN to play with! Remember that these are repaints of 1995's G2 GoBots, and they were designed to be compatible with Hot Wheels and Matchbox playsets! The SpyChangers all have free-spinning axles that conserve momentum allowing the vehicle to roll for a jolly long time. You can shoot them out of launchers and onto tracks etc. Heck, a good flick with your finger will send a Spy Changer flying across any flat surface! When Spy Changers transform and roll out, they seriously roll out! It is such a simple but incredibly effective gimmick. Sure, it means that the legs don't separate and they end up with large chests, but that's because the chest and legs house the free-spinning axles which need to remain inseparable in order to work. For a bunch of small cheap toys, they pack a LOT of awesomely fun play value! Their robot modes are better designed than previous toys with free spinning axles such as the Battlechargers and Throttlebots, and even then it was only their rear axles that were free spinning (and motorised). By having both the front and rear axles spin freely, the Spy Changers can conserve greater momentum and achieve long distances without the need of motorisation.


Yeah, I skipped Black Convoy too. Not really actively looking to get him though... if I happen to come across one cheap I'll get it, otherwise ... meh. It sucked how RiD Scourge never got released here though.

I hadn't noticed that the BW Neo toys had such similar design feature, e.g. Mach Kick looks like he has a Mexican luchador mask on, rather than resembling a horse. But totally agree on the "robots in disguise" element. This worked especially well on the Car Robo brothers.

My God Fire Convoy's quit stable when all pegged together, and for a combiner this size a little bit of clumsiness is understanable to me (from the looks of it the new TF Go! combiner is even worse in the stableness department....) I actually quite like Gigatron in that he's sort of a techno-organic six-changer and he has such a unique aesthetic. They pulled off the two supposedly "pure mechanical" alt modes, Giga-Formula and Giga-Jet surprisingly well with all the organic bits and curves. Oh I've never tried this myself but I read somewhere his Giga-Hand mode can hold G1 Megs perfectly..

Yeah the heat sensitive paint was really cool but I just didn't like the G1 brickness in those G1 molds.

[UltraMarginal]

What are your Best and Worst toys of this Era? I don't technically have any, as at the time with no awareness of the show, I saw these toys on shelves that had the same names as G1 chracters but in no way resembled them. I was offended and was not buying any of them. I also thought the colours were too bright when compared against my favorite early G1 figures.

What was your first one, and when?
TFCC Sideburn, which is technically just a repaint of generations rodimus. I really like the paint scheme though.

What ones are you currently most looking for and why?
I want an original Sideburn to display with my "generations" sideburn.
based on all the talk I'd be tempted to track down the train team to check out their combined mode.


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

don't have any available at the moment.