2021 Top Ten Thread

[klystron]

One of my favourite things about new years, is all the blogger/vlogger/reviewers putting out their 'top ten' of year.
Personally I keep a list of figures bought, and typically pick my favourite of the year along with a runner up. If the list is long enough, I'll rank the top 5 or 10. Its also interesting to look back on and see if my thoughts have changed over the years. (Spoiler: It does!).

I think it would be interesting to see what figures fellow board members liked the most for the year.
You can list your top ten or five, with or without a brief explanation why the fig is chosen or ranked the way it is. You can chose to be limited to only figs released this year, or perhaps just any figs your acquired this year. You can provide a most disappointing or most hated entry as well. Whatever. I'm not thinking we set super strict rules - mainly just has to be 2021 related. Its all subjective, and not a debate on why someone picked a particular fig.

Perhaps we could make it a yearly thing.
So what's everyone's thoughts on having a "Top Ten TF Figures of 2021" thread?

(I'm happy to start it, but not going to if there is no interest.)

[Skyfire]

Skyfire's 2021 Top Ten


10. Studio Series 86 Rodimus Prime
I always felt the original G1 Rodimus toy was ugly and out of proportion, as is my Power of the Primes one. This guy looks the part, has neat transformation and fits in perfectly with the War for Cybertron and Studio Series 1986 movie Autobots.


9. War For Cybertron Kingdom Galvatron
I thought Galvatron looked silly compared to Megatron and was annoyed at his replacement in the TV series (Megatron looked cooler and had a great character compared to Galvatron's madness.) So, I'm only ever going to own one Galvatron, and (battle scars aside) this guy is definitive.


8. War For Cybertron Kingdom Cyclonus
Mini Masterpiece in both modes with the exception of the cockpit being upside down in bot mode. Straightforward and clever transformation that hides things well. And nice inclusion of landing gear.


7. War For Cybertron Kingdom Sideswipe
This is how they should have made all the G1 cartoon-esque toys from the WFC line, instead of the odd choices of colour for various body parts, as it shows they can indeed reproduce cartoon colours. Apart from the spoiler, which they could have moulded, he is pretty faithful to the G1 cartoon. He looks like a small MP-12+ Lambor. Really intuitive transformation for the mould too. Minus points for Hasbro making us buy Maximal Skywarp to get him.


6. Studio Series 86 Wreck-Gar
The bot mode appearance is a cut above all previous versions of Wreck-Gar and scales perfectly with WFC Siege Springer (another great representation). Straight forward transformation (once the windshield is loosened on first transformation - sweated blood with that) and the fun ability to make a trike or quad bike with extra wheels (from the second Junkion you bought/will buy ).


5. Studio Series 86 Grimlock
He is pretty cartoon faithful in both modes and he was given the proper size a Dinobot deserves. Another Masterpiece-like figure.


4. Studio Series 86 Slug
Ditto for Slag. I love the bright red head - cartoon iconic. The hind legs fold cleverly but give the option to expose them like the G1 toy.


3. MP-52 Starscream
Despite his price and pot-luck quality (loose ankles or knees and cracks), this is the definitive G1 cartoon Starscream in both modes. The numerous faces allow for some fun posing.


2. MP-52+ Thundercracker
Definitive like Screamer but cheaper (but still expensive). Copies were generally better than Starscream in terms of cracks and ankle tightness but sometimes poorer in blemishes to the finish. Still, he edges out Screamer due to the colour of his blue - beautiful pastel.


1. MP-53 Skids
I'm totally surprised this guy is my number 1. He was barely seen in the G1 cartoon and his shoulder placement in one episode looked really odd. So I didn't have a great deal of emotional investment then. But, till recently, he was the last of my 1985 catalogue of "snowy mountain" Autobot cars to own in a G1-esque form. I also thought the original G1 Skids toy looked cool. MP-53 Skids reminds me of the simple and solid MP carbots like Wheeljack and Sideswipe, especially after all the balancing, cracking, frustration and fiddling recent MPs have been. The painting quality of my Skids is almost flawless (I can only spot a few tiny imperfections that others wouldn't pick up). His joints, apart from the sideways hips, are almost squeaky tight. And he is a handsome bot with lovely engine details and spot-on likeness to the Honda City Turbo.


I like your idea, your turn klystron .

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I'm not Klystron, but I did one of these for my blog and since Klystron mentions blogs, I'm gonna pop a link here
https://tetstoys.blogspot.com/2022/0...y-of-year.html

I only listed my Toy of the year, but give a run down on everything I got.
The top for me is Kingdom Rodimus Prime, I just like everything about it.
Next in line would be Cyclonus. It's a very impressive toy and look amazing in Jet mode.
The Third one I had to think about, but I think it falls down to Inferno, a nice toy that gets the job done, feels very faithful to both the original toy and his cartoon look and is just fun to play with.

Check out the link if you want to read up about it more, as I'm not typing it all out again ;p

Overall I think it's been a great year of Transformers. There have been no duds for me since Siege (those targetmasters and micromasters really disappointed me). Ah, actually thinking about it, I guess some of the joining guys I got (doublecrosser etc) were a bit naff, but not so much that I loathed them. It's just a shame they were such a pain to acquire for me, and not cheap.

[klystron]

I'm not Klystron, but I did one of these for my blog and since Klystron mentions blogs, I'm gonna pop a link here
https://tetstoys.blogspot.com/2022/0...y-of-year.html

.

I enjoyed reading that. Thanks.

[klystron]

So there doesn't seem to be much interest in the proposed thread. So I'll let it go.
I will however walk-the-walk and post my top ten of the year here.

Only official TF figs (no 3P, Macross, SW, etc) that I acquired in 2021.
Also I tend to rank with a bias toward the "toy" aspect, as opposed to just best figure or display piece.

TOP TEN

10: CW Aerialbots
Being 7 figs, didnt quite know how to handle this, but felt I had to include them. Not great by themselves, but together are a nice set that I really enjoy mucking about with.

9: SS86 Jazz
Shows that a well designed fig need not be complicated or super fancy. Great in both modes, screen accurate, but needed toyhax labels to really shine. Spent a lot of time as one of my desk-bots. Dicky knee tab and clear plastic prevent it scoring higher.

8: BW Neo Longrack
Always wanted this and so glad to now have it. Its so... beast wars-y with all its kibbly wierdness, gimmicks and daft 3rd mode, but damn I love it. Only 8th due to being less toy and more display piece because its... precious. Oh so precious.

7: RtS Jazz
Nifty fig that (I think) still holds up against new figs. Really enjoyed this one. Strange that I wasn't particularly fussed on this when it was first released. Getting SS86 Jazz inspired me to pick this up.

6: KD Blackarachnia
Best deluxe fig of the year. BA is one of my BW favourites but I've never liked any of the toys. So this happily filled a hole in my collection. And its a passable effort of a difficult beast mode. All round awesome toy. This nearly made number 5....

5: KD Rodimus Prime
Hard to image we'll ever see, or need, a better version of Rodimus. (Mind you I did say that after the PotP one...). There are plenty of well (over?) engineered TFs that fail at being a good toy. Not this one. A figure deserving of a Prime with neat engineering that displays well and still manages to be a good toy (esp if you consider trailer). However... I still dont love the winnebago mode or the price.

4: SS86 Grimlock
Not much to add here. Its the king so its always going to rank highly. Not perfect (sword!), but pretty damn close. Saved me buying the MP version.

3: KD Dinobot / KD Grimlock
Same mould so I'm ranking them the same. Big fan of both these anyways. Sure the alt mode is a little wonky, but for me the bot mode is outstanding. So thankful for a proper (definitive?) representation of DInobot.


1 and 2 were really close, and swapped positions several times over the course of the year.


2: ER Sky Lynx
Magnificent figure and toy.

1: KD Cyclonus
Masterpiece figure? Damn near perfect. Probably the peak of the WfC line. Pipped SkyLynx because of my preference for the character and G1 toy.


HONORABLE MENTION:
SS-29 DOTM Sideswipe. Bought on a whim for $10. Surprised the hell out of me how much I ended up liking this.
TR Blitzwing. Good, but looses out on the 'new toy' feels since I've had the Meggs version of this mould for 4 years.

MOST DISAPPOINTING:
KD Optimus Primal. Not a bad fig, but didnt quite hit the mark (or high expectations) that I had for it.
ER Sunstreaker. I love Sunstreaker, but I felt that Hasbro really phoned this one in. I'm still salty that I felt I had to buy an upgrade kit and toyhax labels just to make him passable.

[SharkyMcShark]

I didn't really feel it was a stellar year, and I didn't buy that many things in 2021 so I'm not going to do a top ten because it would be padded with stuff that in my heart I know isn't that good. Instead, I've just categorised every figure I purchased in 2021.

Figures That Stood Out
Studio Series Starscream (Bumblebee Movie Version) - Everything I want from a Cybertronian alt mode, with a great posable bot mode thrown in too. Makes me viscerally angry that I bought WFCS Starscream because this figure does the same concept 100 times better.
WFCK Leader Beast Megatron - 10 years ago we'd have called this a masterpiece. Hands down the best beast mode of any retail figure in Transformers, and a robot mode with oodles of character.
Netflix Voyager Optimus Prime (the WFCE Leader Class repack without trailer - On the one hand, this is great. I love that this was offered as a Voyager without the giant accessory, and it is a really good figure. On the other hand, stop making G1 Optimus Prime figures now. I'm sick of seeing them and it's not going to get any more accurate or better than this mold.

Figures That Existed Without Standing Out Or Annoying Me
WFCK Tigatron
WFCK Air Razor
WFCK Optimus Primal
WFCK Cyclonus
Studio Series Dino
WFC Trilogy Cover Agent Ravage


Figures I Found Innately Disappointing
WFCK Dinobot - Gorgeous robot mode but the dinosaur mode isn't great. I think I was possibly spoiled by WFCK Megatron's rex mode, but this is an ugly brick in comparison. I had such high hopes for this one.

Some Third Party figures I bought this year that were excellent: Planet X Cacus (IDW Grimlock), Iron Factory City Commander (IDW Lost Light Ultra Magnus), BigFireBird Kalavinka, MMC Eris.

[Paulbot]

My top 10, based on the 17 figures I opened in 2021

10. Kingdom Rhinox. Not a huge improvement on the last version, but nice overall. Shame about the weaker chain guns.

9. Kingdom Rodimus. Nice robot makes up for stupid big trailer. A little too fiddly in conversion - never like a “am I about to break this?” moment.

8. Kingdom Dinobot. Bit of a flawed beast mode puts him lower down my list. Just wonderful robot mode.

7. Kingdom Huffer. Another great robot mode but a bit iffy in truck mode. Looks great on the shelf

6. Core Starscream. The transformation baffled me so I had to get it. He became my go to fiddle play TF on my at home work desk.

5. Kingdom Galvatron. Got good shoulders. He’s ok as a Transformer but it’s fantastic as a robot action figure of this character.

4. Studio Series Grimlock. Nice in both modes, but also feels a bit off in each mode too. I would have preferred less cartoon accuracy in the colours.

3. Studio Series Slag. Great in robot modes (although I’d rather a toy head) but his Dino mode is my favourite. Looking forward to having the whole set.

2. Kingdom Inferno. Grapple was nice too, but this guy just does it all better somehow while being basically the same toy.

1. MP Inferno. Yes I’m very late to this. My first new MP in ages though and I had high expectations from the hype he gets. He deserves it though. Quality fun figure


Most undecided
Unicron. I’ve opened and assembled him but the idea of transforming him is daunting. His planet mode is definitely striking and impressive, but it’s so big that I don’t know if I want in my house forever.

Most disappointing
Earthrise Trailbreaker. I think this toy is great as Hoist, and I guess it’s not a bad toy-Trailbreaker, but his robot mode feels too much like a Hoist repaint and not his own self (would rather taller, leaner, clean arms)

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I enjoyed reading that. Thanks.

G;ad to hear that. I think, had I got Sky Lynx this year, the toss up between him and my #1/2/3 would be very hard to justify. Sky Lynx is just a fun toy.

My top 10, based on the 17 figures I opened in 2021
2. Kingdom Inferno. Grapple was nice too, but this guy just does it all better somehow while being basically the same toy.

1. MP Inferno. Yes I’m very late to this. My first new MP in ages though and I had high expectations from the hype he gets. He deserves it though. Quality fun figure

I heard lots of good talk about the MP version and it looks like some of that quality design has filtered through to the Kingdom one too.

[TaZZerath]

2021 for me was a very lean year when it came to Transformers and collecting. I've always had to be incredibly picky due to budget and space limitations but I really enjoy reading others top 10 lists and their thoughts because it may help me in the future. So I thank those who have so far put in the efforts to make their lists

For me it was a 'Top Two' as it was my ONLY two purchases in 2021 (and one special mention preorder from 2020)

My first purchase was POTP Rodimus Unicronus. Several years late to the party as always I was incredibly surprised about how much I liked this guy. My particular copy had tight joints, nice paint and sticker application, and felt really good in all modes. Plus when partnered with POTP Nemesis Prime from a few years earlier they really look great together.

My second was Earthrise Sky Lynx. His engineering is a marvel. I really thought he would primarily end up being displayed in combined DinoBird mode however I've really enjoyed having him in all his modes. The detailing is fantastic, and the sign of any good transformer in my opinion is one you can intuitively transform without the need for instructions and just some reference images for each mode (although I did miss the Lynx's front shoulders the first time!) and is just fun to do so. Sure the bird mode is a little bit of a challenge to balance however once you get it he just looks fantastic. I like me a good robot cat and so I really dig Lynx Mode. Overall he has a real presence especially when combined together. The poesability is top notch and he just oozes personality. Again like Roddy Unicronus and Nemesis Prime, I was able to pair him with Siege Skyfire and the colour palate matching make the two look great together.

Special Mention was to Generations Selects Super Megatron. He arrived early 2021 despite being purchased in 2020 so felt he could be put here. He has a lot of replay value due to his head/chest swapping features and triple changer mode. As an added bonus the red/grey sword from POTP Nemesis Prime suits him so well it was like it was made for him and really increased his presence.

Sorry for cheating but theres my two(or three) cents

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

There is no cheating on this one. If we made a rule that it had to be toys released this year alone, the lists would look very similar.

Thanks for sharing. I too thoroughly enjoy Sky Lynx, for many of the same reason as you.

I think the Super Megatron is a cool idea, but When I saw one of his modes, possibly the tank, it put me right off. A shame as I suspect the robot modes would be right up my alley. Oh well, my loss. Glad you enjoy him