1st: Leo Prime. From all the pictures I had seen of this mold over the years, I hated this mold for its crappy articulation, weird proportions, disjointed shoulders and overly simplistic transformation. But in hand, the articulation was indeed limited, but effective as all hell, allowing his to take on tons of cool poses. The proportions take some getting used to, but they're not bad at all. The same is true for the shoulders. The transformation is indeed simple, but it's also kind of magic. He's awesome.

 

2nd: HAks, or, by his more common name, HA Skids. While mine personally suffered an injury that kind of irks me when I was modding him, the mold itself is brilliant with a few small changes to dispose of the moronic HA gimmicks. His transformation, while still in the same ballpark as HAmblebee's is different enough and clever enough in enough areas that I really enjoy it without feeling that it was recycled. While I wish his legs had a thigh swivel, his feet are more than good enough to make up for it.

 

3rd: Crabitron. This mean little guy is so damn cool. The only reason he's not higher on this list is because of his weak connection joint in his knees, which can make his legs slide out from under him. I fixed this on mine by making them actually peg into the bottom of his thighs. The problem is that this destroyed one of his knee joints in each leg, so he's not as devilishly poseable as he once was.

 

4th: Leader Prime. While he's brilliant and all kinds of awesome, I just don't find him that fun to tinker with. He's too big to take with me everywhere I go and his transformation requires a time investment that I don't always have. Also, his high center of gravity makes his legs unable to hold many poses. Looking stoic all the time is fine, but I expect a $50 toy to be able to do a large range of decent action poses easily, which is not the case.

 

5th: HAmblebee, AKA HA Bumblebee. He's low on the list because, while he's nice, he's not that original. Aside from a couple extra pieces folding away, his transformation is also exactly the same as Universe Prowl's transformation. I was kind of underwhelmed by him after the shock of how awesome he was subsided and some of his flaws, like the slight floppiness in his shins, started showing through.

 

6th: Thrust. The Breakaway mold is all kinds of awesome, barring the slightly floppy wings and legs that don't peg into jet mode. The legs aren't that much of a problem, but if they had pegged in instead of just sitting by friction, the jet would be a lot more solid. His robot mode makes me think of a piloted mech when the canopy's closed and a well armored fighting machine with the head exposed. While the wings could have pegged into something in robot mode, it's hard to really knock them out of position without intending to, so I can let it slide.

 

7nth: Mixmaster. He has a truly marvelous transformation, but it takes more time than Leader Prime to transform because of all the little parts you need to account for and the payoff isn't quite as good. His robot mode, while nice, has a lot of kibble on it and the rear wheels on the truck mode should peg in more solidly, as it is they shift around a lot, which I find maddening.

 

8th: Voyager Screamer. I anticipated him more than any other from the ROTF line but, while I enjoy him, he's fragile as all hell. I keep thinking his wings are going to snap off and the way the wings peg into the fuselage is either WAY too tight and impossible to undo or WAY too loose, making the wings floppy. Also, his balance is horrible, seeing as his feet are so tiny. He's nice and looks awesome, but he has flaws his Movie 1 counterpart didn't have. I hope the leader version will be MUCH better.

 

9nth: Universe Hound. While he's one of my favorite transformers of all time, far above most of the others on this list, he's just not as interesting as the movie figures as far as aesthetics and detail go. He's very bare bones and simple by comparison, which is fine, but it means he's easily overshadowed by the later figures of the year. In hand he's extremely fun and enjoyable, with a simple, yet clever transformation that gives him two perfect modes. But on a shelf full of badasses with super detailing and intricate transformations, he's rarely the one I pick up.

 

10nth: Universe Cheetor. He sucks, yes. I freely admit that. His arms are limited as all hell and he makes the Hunchback of Notre Dame look like a porn star (an ugly one, mind you, but a porn star nonetheless). But I can't help but love him. He has a cool transformation, a good range of action poses that look like he's actually DOING something instead of preparing to do something and he's a nice nostalgia piece for me.

Yeah I'm having a hard time getting it down to only 1 and Deceptikhan pretty much nailed it...

 

Insecticons set for a G1 fix. Small diecast figure goodness.

 

Cyclonus for that perfect robot feel. All around GREAT robot.

 

Blurr for Animated FUN. SWEET toy in both modes, what Waspinator could be.

 

And MP Skywarp... cause he's my 1st MP and just a sweet toy ;)

 

A hard but fun thread indeed AP !!!

I'm not counting anything Animated or Universe case I had that all wrapped up by the end of 08 outside of Smokescreen, Ratchet and Hot Shot.

 

So really all I have are movie figs to go off of.

Cyclonus- do you really need a reason. Hands down the best of the year. Especially if your a G1'ner like myself. He's flawless really. His light piping is one of my favorite parts aswell. It's the brightest of all the releases this year, if you like that sort of thing. Which I do.

 

Blurr- just love the way he looks and he poses really well.

 

Ejector.....absolutely love this guy. Maniacal.

 

MP Grimlock

 

these are in no particular order. I'd add leader Prime but i don't have him. Always did cause i think he's amazing but for some reason never got around to it.

ROTF Legends class Fallen.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK, I'm kidding! :P

 

I think I have a few faves actually and they would be

 

Henkei Voyager Megatron: I finally got this figure this year. I refused to get the Hasbro version, and waited to get this one. And due to bad things always happening when i had funds to get him, it ended up me getting him this late. Glad I did though. He's such a great interpretation of the badass leader of the Decepticons

 

ROTF Prime: What can I say that everyone else hasn't. Apart from mine says "Optimus Prime" without the "I am" in front of it as it's a European version. At least mine's not as annoyin in that sense :P

 

Device label Ravage: It's as close to an MP Ravage as we're gonna get anytime soon. His articulation is great, His robot mode looks a lot like his G1 self, and you get a USB and a programe on top of it.

 

Henkei Spy set: Legends Cosmos, Warpath and Wheelie: 3 of the hard to find figures, all in one package! Great figures that are fun to fiddle with. Highly recommended :thumb

Yeah I'm having a hard time getting it down to only 1 and Deceptikhan pretty much nailed it...

 

Insecticons set for a G1 fix. Small diecast figure goodness.

 

Cyclonus for that perfect robot feel. All around GREAT robot.

 

Blurr for Animated FUN. SWEET toy in both modes, what Waspinator could be.

 

And MP Skywarp... cause he's my 1st MP and just a sweet toy ;)

 

A hard but fun thread indeed AP !!!

Thank you Arden, I knew it would start multi-awnsers, I have cyclonus, classic right??? I love that fig as well as the Galvatron, priceless.........

Takara

 

Revenge of the Fallen

 

Leader Class

 

Buster Optimus Prime.

 

 

 

King of Kings!

 

Great figure made better!

 

Nice work Takara, once again...

The best figure I got in '09 was Henkei Smokescreen. The G1 accurate color scheme was far superior to the Universe version.

 

MP Grimlock and MP Skywarp are a close second and third.

Huh? Where's all the Supreme Devastator comments? :wtf

 

-looks at title-

 

Ooooooooh....that changes things alittle

 

Hmm Can't really narrow it down to one so I'll take the easy way out and list the best 5 :lol

 

- Deluxe ROTF Sideswipe

Probably the best Deluxe I've gotten this year, he's just so fun and cool looking that he's just a joy toy to own, he's the deluxe I'd actually like to see get repainted in hordes, cause unlike Bumblebee I like this figure.

- Leader ROTF Prime

Not going to say anything that hasn't already been said...he's pure awesomeness placed in a box...nuff said

-HA Barricade

Technically he counts since some people did find him in 09....right?. Eitherway I freaking love this figure, he's a great improvement over the lack luster deluxe and frankly he's just amazing. Great Bot mode and an even better vehicle mode. Now if only I can make him say "Are you Ladiesman.....I don't remember the rest :tfsad "

-Masterpiece Grimlock :love

I don't own him (yet...hurry up already TRU!) but he is by far my most anticipated figure....he's just....well....he has so much pure awesomeness it's left me completely speechless....now I only want him more.

-HA Bumblebee

First off let me just ask...Who the hell doesn't own this figure yet? Probably the best of the HA line and possibly the ROTF line. He's extremely accurate, has a nice vehicle mode and comes with his own whiney sidekick you can roll over and crush repeatedly...what's not to like?

Hmm, I think for sheer awe factor Powered up Prime is certainly a centre piece model.

 

I also agree with one of the previous callers about the Breakaway mold as being very neat and posable. I think loose wings might only be a prob on certain runs cause mine is pretty tight.

 

25th anniversary Prime was a nice surprise to find down at the Toy store, apart from being woefully inferior to my 25 year old original, and I'm not talking about the short stacks and ridiculously long missiles, ( Color of everything off, mold noticably deteriorated with prominent seam lines etc ).

 

Henkei Cyclonus, give me anything thats had some money ( chrome ) spent on it.