So the year 2015 is behind us now, and as we embark on 2016, let's take a moment to reflect on what we got last year!
This is a thing that apparantly floats around Twitter and I've seen it mention in the last two years so I figured why not?
The idea is to list the top Transformers you got in the last year, matching the year itself, so in this case top 15 of 2015.
HOWEVER! It's not just the new stuff that came out in 2015, but also the old toys you got. If you finally got that G1 grail you wanted you can put it on here. Finally got a Beast Wars Megatron? Put it here! And so forth!
and as always try to make it a bit more interesting than just a list with numbers.
So let me begin. This year I didn't get that many Transformers. I got distracted (and drained) by Glyos toys as well as a few other toylines. Plus Combiner Wars fatigue settled in really quickly with me, soon after getting Menasor together I kinda go tired of the whole thing and didn't buy anything aside from a First Aid for my Lost Light crew and some legends... Also I don't buy Masterpieces. G1 aesthetics just don't do it for me anymore. Now that that's said, let's go!
15-Cybertron Thunderblast
Cybertron is such a fun line of solid figures that are easy to transform and, due to how the show was made, highly accurate. I finally got my hand on an affordable Thunderblast and despite all her flaws I still like her. The Queen of Shellformer has a very characterful design, some ace coloring and a sweet alt mode. We really need more boat Transformers!
14- Combiner Wars Deluxe Off Road
Yeah I'm picking the new guy as my favorite of the Stunticons. I like his color scheme and the way the teal just pops out of nowhere for his robot mode. His mold is just a pleasure to transform and generally looks cool in almos any pose. The arm mode is also one of the better one to come out of a land vehicle in this line.
13- Legends class Acid Storm/Thundercracker/Skywarp
I'm putting all three in the same header for obvious reasons. The jet mode is sleak, the transformation fun, and the robot mode looks like a badass beefcake despite the size! And I love Acid Storm neon green color. Three thumbs up!
12- Combiner Wars Legend Bombshell
Love me a good Insecticon! I wish his colors matched better with his buddy Skrapnel, but Bombshell is still great. Beetles make such satisfying alt modes! The mind controlling bastard looks really creepy and I like his knuckle canons!
11- Movie Deluxe Fracture
Anothersweet EBay find. I still have my old Go-bots Crasher and getting this more recent realisation finally in my hands was great! The toy loses some points because of mold degradation, and a few fragile feeling details. It's still a sweet toy, but just not quite good enough to break the top 10 this year.
10- RID2015 Legends Fixit!
Talk about expressive! This is like the more accurate depiction a character from RID got as a toy. He's just so full of life and personality in a year I felt was very cold and 'Serious Collector Buisness! G1 or bust!' in Transformers. If you don't have one, you need one for your collection!
9- RID2015 Warrior Class Strongarm
Quite the year for Fembots in my collection. I actually went on Ebay looking for more of them early last January after receiving Chromia, Arcee and Windblade in late December. Strongarm is a much different style of fembot and while she's not objectively better than the toys beneath her on this list I still love the way this toy feel in hands. So chunky, so easy to transform and such a satisfyingly big alt mode!
8- Takara Legend Blackarachnia
I always thought the Animated Blackarachnia toy was fun, despite balance issues and dumbell curling arms. his new remold by Takara makes her look so much like her Beast Wars self it's just nuts. For that alone this toy get on my list. Note that she's the only one of the Takara fembots I picked up this year.
7-Impossible Toy Glipher
I don't usually got for Third Party toy so there isn't many on this list. When I saw her on sale on BBTS I couldn't pass her up (should have passed on Smshor, he looks good in general but his transformation is HELL). I like the concept of Glyph as an archeologist. This simple toy just looks adorable in vehicle mode (could use weapon storage though) and the conversion to the dumpy looking robot mode is easy peasy. This mold just looks ace in blue!
6- Combiner Wars Deluxe First Aid
I already said I like the Off Road mold and this variation is no exception. Furthermore I really like First Aid in MTMTE so this pick was a no brainer. The new head is so spot on! The surgical axe less so...
5- MMC Salvia Prominon
If I had more money to invest in third party I think MMC would be the way for me. Their design aesthetic just scratches a lot of my itches, matching well with IDW and feeling modern and fresh instead of slavishly G1. Salvia's accesory and coloring as just stellar and once you've done the transformation one or twice it's not that difficult. There's really just the positioning of the legs that's tricky to adjust.
4- Combiner Wars Superion
Kinda cheating here, doubly so because my Superion has two Air Raid and Alpha Bravo (I prefer symetry in my combiners, but I couldn't be bothered to buy a second Firefly before they dissapeared from the shelves), but I think I prefer Superion as a whole than any of the individual Aerialbot. As a group I find their colors boring, but when united the coherent color scheme really pops and the general silhouette is propotioned way better than any other CW gestalt from what I've seen.
3- DX9 Miko for Iron Titan, Windsaber
SO CUUUUUUUUUTE!!! If I could pull off sound in that range I think I would squeal like a happy Japanese schoolgirl every time I look at this little toy. The Hasbro Windblade is way too stoic looking and the transformation is needlessly finicky. This miniature cutie is looks lovely and the transformation would work wonder on a bigger toy (with some added poseability thrown in). For a legend sized toy it has all the articulation you need plus a cool sword accesory. DX9 is a company I want to support in the future.
2-Combiner Wars Leader Ultra Magnus.
What can I say about this guy? The transformation is clever, the articulation feels like limited than the Masterpiece and it's IDW accurate! It has Minimus Amubs!
'Nuff said.
and my number one Transformer of 2015 is...
Combiner Wars Leader Megatron
I've been wanting a good Megatron for a while now. I had good representation for Prime Megatron and Beast Wars Megatron (DRAGON!), but I didn't really have any for a G1-ish grey Megatron, or the new Autobot Megatron from IDW comics. This toy has a sublime tank mode, a stunning paint job and, while it looks odd sometimes in robot mode, a clever turret design! The moving threads and canon are a great trick too. It's fun to be able to pick such a huge bot up and transform him in a few minutes without hassle! Sometimes the more fun you can have with a transformer isn't always by going for the more complicated option.
Well that's my list, do you guys have one for yourself? Any line you got into with surprising result? Maybe some toy you want to shame? (Shame on you Smashor for the crazy hard conversion process!).
Please discuss!
