What I don't get is why they didn't just name overload, ultra magnus in the first place.  Go with the past theme of Magnus and Prime combinding just like in robots in desguise.  Will overload be remembered, or will his double Energon Ultra Magnus be remembered over him.  Ultra Magnus has always been a classic hero, on the other hand the concept of overload is cool.

In Japan, Overload was named Ultra Magnus.

 

The Energon Ultra Magnus will definitely be remembered, as he has appreciated in value quicker than any almost any Transformer in recent history. It's hard to say about the other Energon TFs, still too new to make a judgement.

 

For Armada, I think it will be the Seeker jets, as they've always been a fan-fave. Plus this is the first time they've had the "big three" released from (essentially) the same mold since G1.

 

And of course, the MP/20th Prime and the Binaltech/Alternators will always be among the most popular.

There will be remembered characters and toys from the current story lines. But those will be determined by the fans and the ones they choose to remember and which ones they let fade into obscurity.

 

My personal experience with this is METALHAWK, I had never seen this figure in person or online, then one day one showed up on ebay and went for an ungodly amount, later more started popping up, so I went the distance and picked one up, all because of the great reviews I had read about it online. And after having it in my collection for a few months now I must say that it was well worth it, and I owe it all to the fans for making me see the greatness of this figure.

Well, look at it this way. If you truely love Transformers, then you won't be collecting anything by it's potential future value, you'll get the toy because you like it and want to have it. Just get the ones you want, and you'll be alot happier in your collecting :) Now, if you want them ALL? well, then you're gonna need to get a very very good job ;)

I think it depends on which characters or lines the kids nowadays like most. There will be relatively few of today's collector's left in 10 years. Despite the "Transformers forever!" replies that will likely follow, things will change as they always have. For some, their interest will wane and they'll move on to other hobbies; for others, they will cease collecting out of necessity.

 

But in 10 years, the kids today will be just starting to view their old playthings as collectibles. So, the Transformers that will be popular in 10 years are the ones that are the favorites of kids right now. I suspect Prime, Hot Shot, Megatron, and Unicron would be good candidates, but I really don't know since I don't know kids' preferences.

I agree Armada Unicron being the first for the chaos bringer should remain popular amongst TFans years from now.