So 2012 is about wrapped up, and I’m getting my countdowns started with my favorite OFFICIAL Transformers products from this year! As much as I love my Third party toys and add-on sets, the actual licensed toys had a great year as well.
Number 10: Transformers Generations: Fall Of Cybertron Soundwave
At the tail end, we have the recently-released F.O.C. voyager-classed Soundwave. It’s a nice looking figure, with great articulation, impressive size, and a nice gimmick for his minions (which are now in disc form rather than cassettes). What really stands out about this figure for me, however, is the fact that it’s a new mold that has all of these features and keeps a regular voyager pricepoint. It’s very refreshing when toy see deluxe-classed figures with a significant increase in price and an equally significant decrease in size.
Number 9: TFCC Botcon 2012 Shattered Glass Junkions
I’m a Shattered Glass junkie, so I come with a bias, however I think that the Shattered Glass Junions from this year’s Botcon 2012 extras were just fantastic. Hasbro really knocked it out of the park with the Reveal The Shield WreckGar mold. so it was nice to see these included as part of this year’s Botcon exclusives. The twist of giving them purple colors and the characteristics of Insecticons was very well done.
Number 8: Hasbro’s Masterpiece Thundercracker (TRU Exclusive)
This one came at a bit of a surprise this year, but Hasbro releasing a Masterpiece Thundercracker using the new-and-improved molding from Takara’s MP-11 Starscream was just awesome. And, released at $60, it was also a helluva deal!
Number 7: TFCC Botcon 2012 Exclusive Kickoff
Another Botcon figure from this year, Kickover is an homage to the action master Kick-Off. This toy not only accentuates the bright colors of the original toy, but further highlights the great mold that Reveal The Shield Jazz is, which this toy uses as a base.
Number 6: CMS Corps’ Minelba
CMS Corps is a very well known company overseas that does quality toys from a variety of anime lines, so when I saw that they were doing Minelba, I was thrilled. Their homage to Masterforce’s Minerva is just fantastically done. It’s a great, solid sculpt with good size and poseability. I’m really excited for their upcoming Ginrai figure as well.
Number 5: Transformers Prime R.I.D. Dreadwing
The Transformers: Prime toys got off to a tremendous start with their First Edition line, which was a more premimum-styled toy line with a very fine attention to detailing and scale. That line was limited, unfortunately, and when the main line, titled “Robots In Disguise” (R.I.D.) started to roll out, it was immediately given a lot of flack due to the detailing and sizing being considered sub-standard to the first Edition line. However, there are definitely toys from this line that meet and even exceed the precedent set by the First Edition toys, and voyager-classed Dreadwing is one of them!
Number 4: Transformers Prime R.I.D. Vehicon
Like Dreadwing, R.I.D.’s deluxe-classed Vehicon figure tipped fan’s taste in favor towards that line it had a more show-accurate look and better engineering than it’s First Edition counterpart. The way that this toy handles the roof and hood kibble from it’s vehicle mode to make it barely visible while in it’s robot mode will be seen as amazing for some time.
Number 3: Takara’s Masterpiece Lambor and Red Alert
I’m putting these two together because they are virtually the exact same toy with different colors and some different “extra” accessories. 2012 has gone down in history as the year that Hasbro and Takara have truely stepped it up with their Masterpiece line. What stands out about the mold used for these two is their show-accurate smaller scaling. Until these two, all of the more recent Masterpiece figures had been about the same height in their robot modes, but this mold is almost half the height of the other leader Masterpiece characters for a true-to-show scaling. The fact that these toys still maintain the same standard in terms of detailing and poseability is also very awesome.
Number 2: Tranformers Prime R.I.D. Thundertron
Toys like R.I.D. Vehicon and Dreadwing definitely caught fan’s attention, but I feel that voyager-classed Thundertron is the one that hammered home the fact that this line isn’t to be looked at as sub-par by any means. This isn’t just a great voyager from the Prime toy lines, but one of the best voyager-classed toys that I’ve owned, period. The sculpt is fantastic, the colors are incredible, and the size and poseability are just damned good. The “weaponizer” pop-out weapon is a drawback, but a simple mod that consists of just removing a spring, turns even that into an awesome blade for him to weild.
What’s crazy to me, is that this is the one toy that I would recommend to absolutely anyone from the Prime toy lines, but it’s a character that never even appeared in the show.
Number 1: Hasbro’s MP-10 Masterpiece Optimus Prime (TRU Exclusive)
Right now, if you ask me what Transformer I own, rather it be licensed or not, do I consider the absolute best, I’m going to tell you that it’s Takara’s MP-10 Optimus Prime. It nails everything that the Masterpiece line is about and puts an exclamation point on top of it. It’s like the character jumped directly out of the TV from the cartoon onto your shelf. Stunning articulation, and accessories galore were the tip of the iceberg on a mountain of awesome.
So, when I saw that Hasbro was not only releasing this mold here in the states, with more (and arguably BETTER) paint apps, all of the accessories, and at more than HALF of the price of the Takara one: Let’s just say that there was a moment of silence, and then a moment of pant-changing.
