Top 10 Worst Transformers of 2021

For everything good, there is often always something terrible. While this year and the last few years have been an excellent run for Transformers as a whole, not everything's been a hit. So for the first time on this site, I'd like to contrast the good with what has, to me at least, been some of the low points of the year. For most of the entries on this list, low points mean just that, low points. Just because a toy is on here doesn't make it objectively bad. Some entries are here because of questionable design choices and frustrating engineering elements. Some are here because it made me question what I was doing in past years. Some toys are bad for QC issues, some are personally frustrating, and others objectively don't work. The point I'm trying to make is that this is a spectrum, and just because I don't like it doesn't mean you don't have to (though I do hope we can all agree on Number 1). So come with me on this trip down memory lane to the things I'd rather forget.

 

10. Kingdom Red Alert. 

 

Red Alert is not a bad toy. I've gotten many versions of this mould, which should tell you how much I like the mould. The issue isn't that it's a lousy toy; it's the fact that it makes Siege seem redundant, more so than Earthrise did. I liked the futuristic look for the characters; I wanted to see more of them, so to see Hasbro not only throw that away after a year but also actively replace characters with their Earth Mode counterparts stings. It makes me feel like most of the stuff I got in 2019 was a waste of money.

 

9. Kingdom Wingfinger.

 

I'm an avid defender of the Partformer gimmick bots of the War for Cybertron Trilogy. I had a lot of fun with the Weaponizers of Siege, the Modulators of Earthrise, and the Fossilizers of Kingdom. Wingfinger as a parts pack for other figures is also fun. I've just never liked the standalone beast mode. I don't get how this one is supposed to work. Granted, you could say that about the others, but the others only had to walk. How is Wingfinger supposed to fly when he has no real wings? Yes, that's why he's low on the list. 

 

8. Studio Series 86 Gnaw. 

 

It's a little hard to justify saying this is one of the worst toys of 2021 when I have three of them, isn't it? Clearly, I don't hate it that much, and to be honest, I don't. I still enjoy the figures that are low on this list. Gnaw's a fun figure in robot mode and looks good in Shark mode. Honestly, the only issue I have is the position of the shark hips in beast mode, as they sit very far down the back, making him very front heavy and a pain to pose. It's an area where I think the Titans Return one did it better, but that came with its sacrifices. The bot head peeking out from under the jaw is also unsightly compared to how clean the shark mode was for the Titans Return release. While I think this has a way better bot mode than the Titans one did, the beast mode was handled better back then and considering the nature of the character; I can't help but feel the priorities were wrong, as the people who would buy lots of this (how's it going Simon) will buy them for the beast mode. 

 

7. Kingdom Ultra Magnus.

 

Though I went into this expecting a Siege retool (unlike many people, apparently), there are still some bells and whistles that I wish they did now that they could cut the extra guns and cut some of the costs retooling the Siege one. A Matrix cavity would have been nice, along with some hinged hands to hold a Matrix. Filling out the shoulder stacks also would have been nice, or at least moving the gaps, so they weren't visible beside his head. Do I hate the mould? No, and I'd honestly still buy a Delta Magnus repaint if they ever made it. I can't help but expect a little more as other 86 movie characters got that little extra TLC. 

6. Buzzworthy Bumblebee and Spike.

 

 

Or, to be more accurate, Spike. The Bumblebee included in this pack is good. I'd love to see a version of this at some point with a Bumper head sculpt. This is a really good figure for a modernization of Bumblebee's original toy. Unfortunately, he came packaged with a plastic plank. How hard is it to do a good toy of the Exo Suit? I didn't hear good things about the Masterpiece one when it came out with Bumblebee 1.0, the one that comes with Studio Series Slug is a joke, and this somehow fails even more than that thing did. How is the best version of the Exo Suit the one from Titans Return that has to do double duty as Arcee's head? 

5. Premium Finish Bumblebee. 

 

 

The worst thing about this toy isn't that it's genuinely bad but overly complicated. Considering the space to work with, the transformation is highly complex for a figure this size and price, and because of that, it's hard to make the car mode actually behave and stay together. Unfortunately, ambition got the best of you, Bumblebee. Here's hoping we get a new one that's accurate to the final on-screen model, though.

4. Buzzworthy Bumblebee Fangry. 

 

 

I'm just going to let this photo speak for itself:

This is the current state of my Fangry. Unfortunately, a severe factory error put a screw in at the wrong time, causing the hips to have no friction in them. All I need is a pin puncher to fix the issue, hopefully, but it's not exactly a tool I've got on hand. In the meantime, though, any toy that's in pieces, and isn't by Lego, has to make it onto the worst list.

3. Kingdom Scorponok. 

 

 

What the hell happened here? Between Blackarachnia's release and this, how did the care going into the Predacon bugs drop so drastically? The transformation isn't fun. The robot mode looks awkward (though accurate depending on where you look), and the beast mode is basically a brick thanks to the useless hollow bug legs and the tail almost wholly locked into place. All that comes to mind whenever I look at him is, "What the hell happened?"

2. Shattered Glass Megatron.

 

Is this a bad mould? No. Is this a lousy repaint? That depends on your definition. To me, it's not a good repaint due to the team trying to turn a tank into a jet. Because of it, Shattered Glass Megatron comes off as an awkward mess. A clash of identities given plastic form because if this is meant to look like the original Shattered Glass Megatron, a toy that was a repaint of the Transformers Energon Megatron, this is a laughable disgrace. I wouldn't have an issue with it if it were "Here's Siege Megatron, in Shattered Glass colours". I would probably groan a little because I like Energon Megatron's design and would love to see a new version, but I would at least respect it as a fresh take on the character. This awkward mashup of concepts makes me angry because the Unicron Trilogy designs get shafted so often lately, reduced to "kinda sorta close enough" repaints. That's why I put this toy so high on my "Worst of 2021". This, this right here is the pinnacle of fans of the toys, of the designs, being given less than scraps. Primus, I hope Legacy helps ease this and gives us more designs that aren't G1 or repaints forced out of G1 moulds.

 

Honourable Mentions 

• Generations Selects Powerdasher Zetar
• Earthrise Thrust
• Kingdom Huffer
• Kingdom Grimlock
• Generations Selects Lancer

1. Kingdom Tracks and Road Rage.

 

 

For all the issues I have with the concept behind Shattered Glass Megatron, the worst toy of the year has to go to a figure that barely works, and even when working as intended, it feels like it's straight-up broken. Nothing about Kingdom Tracks feels finished. While I'm willing to accept that issues would have come up in the testing process due to the pandemic, that can only go so far when there are objective design issues. Most copies of the mould barely stand, with many people (myself included) resorting to a variety of 3D Printed adapters just to keep the shins together in robot mode. I've had to modify both figures to get the front windscreen to plug in and out without running the risk of shattering, and I was unable to get a friend's copy of Road Rage into car mode in order to have a version of the mould for robot mode, and a version in car mode for Comic-Con. "Oh, you just have a dud copy" can't apply when three copies of the mould barely function, and the vast majority of people have similar issues. So is there a positive to this mould? Well, it's nice to have an alright looking copy of Tracks, and great to see Hasbro making a Road Rage for mass retail. For those like me who got back into collecting after his last toy left shelves, it's nice to have that hole in the Autobot Car Collection filled. But this is a toy I'm looking to replace as soon as a better one comes along, assuming it even lasts long enough to survive a resell. 

And that wraps up the worst of the worst for me this past year, at least from a Transformers perspective. Next week will be a smaller list combining the best and worst 6-inch figures I got over the year that aren't from G.I. Joe Classified. Let me know if you agree or disagree with this list, as I'm curious how these stack up in the eyes of others.

Top 10 Best Transformers of 2021

2021 has come to a close, and it's time to begin looking back at the year that was. Throughout January, I'll be looking over the figures I've bought this year, seeing who's the best of the best and the worst of the worst. Both Transformers and G.I. Joe will have two posts each, today being the Best of Transformers. Between the Bots and the Joes, there's going to be a smaller miscellaneous list, covering some of the other 6-inch figures I obtained in 2021, to give them a send-off as well. However, a golden rule for all of them is that these are all figures I own. As a result, Unicron is automatically disqualified, as I don't own a copy of that toy. With that said, come with me on this trip down memory lane. Here are the Top 10 Best Transformers I got in 2021 (most of which came out in 2021).

 

10. Shattered Glass Jetfire.

 

I'm starting the list with some returning moulds that I enjoyed back then and still enjoy now. Many of my issues with Siege Jetfire still hold true with the Shattered Glass repaint; he still feels very light for a bot of this size (especially when compared to Sky Lynx). Some things also feel a bit too clunky (such as the Titan Master support), but the positives still outweigh the negatives, and the colour change on the Shattered Glass repaint makes a solid mould even better.

9. Generations Selects Galactic Man Shockwave. 

 

 

"He also looks great in black, at least based on pictures I've seen.". A quote from my 2019 Top 10 Transformers list and... Well, yeah, he does! Functionally this toy is just a repaint of the Siege Shockwave mould using the colours of the original, pre-Transformers toy in Japan. I was shocked by the little extras included in this toy, including painting some of the moulding detail to look like wires for a nonexistent light up gimmick (again to homage the original toy). I'm glad that the controversy about all the extra pieces has died down, probably because we live in a world where a Deluxe can be sold as a Voyager, Voyagers can be sold as Deluxes, Voyagers can be sold as Leaders, and a Voyager can be sold as a Commander if given enough accessories. Is Galactic Man a must buy? No, it's only for those who like the niche repaints.

8. WFC Kingdom Megatron (Beast Mode). 

 

"He's just a degimmicked re-release of the original!" Is that a bad thing? Though I haven't gotten the Beast Wars reissue of Megatron yet, it's something I've been on the fence on since learning about how similar the toys are because the Kingdom one is really good. Many of the Kingdom Beasts (and don't worry, there's more of them later on in this list) blend cartoon accuracy with realism, something that I think the brand has been missing up until recently. Sure, if they did a version of this toy in more cartoon accurate colours, I'd buy it because the cartoon colours are beautiful. Even without that, though, this is what I wanted in a modern take on Beast Wars Megatron. The dino skin is excellent; the gimmick integration is fun, the modern articulation makes him so much more dynamic in both beast and bot mode. This is the boss of the Predacons redone two decades later; what more is there to say?

7. Generations Selects Transmutate.

 

 

Representing the Fossizers and "partsforming made fun" for 2021, how could it not be Transmutate? The moulding and the gimmick work so well as a fresh take on the half a bot we all know, love and who haunts our nightmares thanks to the ugly 90's CGI and that godforsaken scream. While she's fine in official configurations, the nature of being a Fossilizer has meant that people have gone to town with configurations for her, bringing her closer to the original body horror-based design. Still don't like her as a standalone, independent fembot that don't need no Maximal's help? Well, rip her apart and turn her into a golden axe for Primal. Everybody wins! Just, please don't make her scream. I'm not kidding about that "haunts our nightmares" part.

6. Studio Series 86 Grimlock and Slug.

 

Wheelie and Daniel not included. I couldn't decide between the two of them which one I enjoyed more, which is why both of them made the list. Both begin to tease us with what we've been missing in our lives, a complete set of Leader Class Dinobots that tower over the cars and trucks of the Autobots. However, neither wholly outshines the other in my eyes. Grimlock's very imposing, but I'm not a fan of the transformation as it's a very safe transformation for Grimlock. On the other hand, Slug is more complex and exciting but not as burly in some areas, and the backpack looks far more cluttered when compared to Grimlocks (thanks to the new transformation. Together, both are great, I can't wait to get the other three, and Sludge had better have the Googly eyes as an accessory, dammit!

5. Netflix Optimus Primal

 

As tempting as it is to include all three versions of the mould here, I prefer the Netflix release just a bit more out of the three. The paint applications are more in line with the cartoon while still keeping the Kingdom detail, and some of the annoyingly tight elements of the original release are smoothed out here, making him effortless to move around and pose. The differences between this version and the regular Kingdom version are minor, though, so if you can't find one, the regular Kingdom release is still a great option. As for the Nemesis Primal repaint included in Buzzworthy Bumblebee, my only complaint is the black fur. After seeing all the customizers repainting the black gorilla fur white, it just looks so much nicer.

4. Golden Disc Collection Mutant Tigartron.

 

 A more recent inclusion that I only got a few days ago at the time of writing. I include it, though, because of the history of Tigartron and Cheetor. If you have Kingdom Cheetor, Netflix Cheetor or Kingdom Shadow Panther, you'll know how this mould's going to mostly work, as the original Cheetor mould was used for Tigertron back in the '90s. With the upscale to Voyager class, Tigartron gets to have more of the bells and whistles that the little cat didn't get. Extra joints, extra accessories, a few minor tweaks in the transformation, pretty much everything I wish was done for the Deluxe Class release is done here. I love the fact that this is a nod to the original plan for Tigartron, and I can't wait to get the regular release of him next year. Hopefully, I'll go into more detail early in 2022, but that will have to wait until I get the regular release. 

3. WFC Kingdom Rodimus Prime.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if this is Number 1 for many people. Rodimus is a great toy with a lot of playability and display options. I love how effortless he is to move, a perfect refinement of Studio Series Hot Rod from earlier this year (even though I got mine last year). The only issue with him is that he's a little overpriced at RRP, something that sales, especially holiday ones, easily fixed. So why isn't he Number 1 for me? Two do beat him. This year was just an excellent year for Transformers.

2. WFC Kingdom Cyclonus.

 

 

Refined Perfection. This is what the Earthrise Seekers wish they could be. An updated take on the 2008 toy is the Cyclonus toy people have wanted for years. Cartoon accurate without being bound to the aesthetic (looking at you modern Masterpieces), Voyager Class scale, with all the articulation and modern engineering tricks made standard in the 13 years since the original's release. If Starscream and his merry band of repaints got this kind of treatment last year, they would have made the Top 3 easily. Easily the best of the G1 stuff in Kingdom.

Before Number 1, a few honourable mentions. 

• Kingdom Vertibreak
• Kingdom Dinobot
• Pulsecon Covert Agent Ravage
• Generations Selects Sandstorm and Ramjet
• Studio Series Dino
• Buzzworthy Bumblebee Origin Bumblebee

And the best of the best is...

 

1. WFC Kingdom Airazor.

 

 

Beyond the perfect articulation, the beautifully sculpted feathers, and the delightful transformation, the reason Airazor gets Number 1 is because this is a long time coming. While a good chunk of the Beast Wars characters have had toys since the late '90s, some like Scorponok, Terrorsaur, and Airazor haven't. Until this year, the only other option for a Beast Wars Airazor on your shelf WAS her 1997 toy. This didn't need to be this good, and cases like Scorponok show that we still need to wait for a perfect version of some beasts. Kingdom Airazor is a perfect figure for the character, though. Not only that, she's the best female transformer toy to date as she doesn't get bogged down with alt mode junk on her back, putting recent releases of Arcee, Chromia and Elita-1 to shame. She's more dynamic than many other Aerialbots (not just the combiner team); what few faults she has are easily drowned out by the positives. Not only is Kingdom Airrazor the best figure of 2021, but I'd also go so far as to say it's one of the best Transformers figures I've ever owned, right up there with the likes of Cybertron Optimus Prime and Energon Tidal Wave. Without a doubt, Kingdom Airazor is a must-have figure.

And with that, that wraps up the best of the best. Let me know what you think if you agree or disagree, and I'll see you next week for the worst of the worst.

Transformers War For Cybertron Kingdom Deluxe Class Waspinator: Scorpion + Spider = Robot Wasp?

 A week late for several reasons, one of which I'll discuss at the end, so I won't waste much time with this intro. For the final Predacon review of the year, it's time to look at the Predacon Punching Bag. The indestructible yet incredibly disposable Waspinator. Try not to read this in a Waspinator voice, though. You'll likely hate yourself for it.

Waspinator in Waszp mode suffers from a similar issue to Scoropnok's scorpion mode, but it feels less egregious here. The bug legs are limited to swivel joints for the sake of the robot mode, limiting what you can do with posing for the beast mode, amplified by the fact that the middle and back legs are moulded together. It makes Waspinator feel more rigid when compared to some of the other Beasts in Kingdom, but it's not as much of an issue as, for example, Scorponok because... well, what are you going to do with a wasp? It would be nice if the legs could move a bit more, at the very least separating the middle and back legs to give some more natural flight poses for those who want to put him on a flight stand. As it stands, all you can move are the pincers and the wings when in this mode. On the wings, though, many have an issue with the plastic colour it was moulded in. To have the bug and bot mode eyes be purple. The wings were also moulded in purple. I honestly don't mind this, as I think the purple wings add a nice bit of extra colour to the bug mode. While a selling point of the Beasts was "realistic animal modes", in practice, a lot of them were stylized in some form or another for the sake of making toys. T-Rex's aren't purple (to our knowledge), spiders don't have golden legs, scorpions aren't purple. Just let him have this; he's the Predacons punching bag; he deserves something nice.

In robot mode, Waspinator feels more like Blackarachnia, in that the robot mode looks very cluttered due to Wasp Mode junk. It's a messy robot mode, but not one you can change because of its iconic design for Waspinator. Granted, it's not entirely accurate. The pair of bug legs on the robot legs are new for this take, as they're generally on the arms. Due to this toy re-imagining tricks from his 2013 toy, there are bug legs on the robot legs at all might be seen as an eyesore compared to the original toy. I'm also not a fan of how they handled the blaster. For the sake of beast mode storage and the fact that spring-loaded shooters are no longer a thing in Transformers, Waspinator's gun just looks like a random bit of wasp he's holding as a classroom pointer. It somewhat looks better with a blast effect (something that would have been nice to include, especially if it looked like his old stinger), but I'm not even sure if it is meant to be blast effect compatible, as the nub on the end of the blaster is a bit smaller then the blast effect posts usually are, making any effect really easy to knock off by mistake. An unintended feature likely caused by a minor quality control defect results in Waspinator's head being effortless to take off. But, it's something that works in this toy's favour, as Waspinator was known to come apart in the show. Now that I say that, I kind of want to see a Weaponizer take on Waspinator now.

Should you get Kingdom Waspinator? Probably not if you have the Generations one. While this one does look good with the other Kingdom Predacons, arguably a lot better than the Generations one does, it doesn't feel very interesting. It's a toned-down version of the Generations one, with a lot of the excitement gone due to the changes in engineering and the inclusion of gimmicks changing in the last eight years. The main reason this took a whole extra week to work on was that he's a mediocre toy to talk about, nothing terrible, but nothing stands out either. Like Dinobot, he's an average figure, but unlike Dinobot, the average toy is perfectly fine. The final review of G.I. Joe Classified is next week, ironic as I may be helping out a Transformers booth at the local Comic-Con that weekend. As much as I want to talk about Cobra Grunts, I think I'll close out the year for them with the last two members of the Cobra Leadership team released so far: Destro and The Baroness.

Transformers War for Cybertron Kingdom Voyager Class Dinobot and Grimlock: No, not Dinobot Grimlock.

When Kingdom was unveiled, there was a specific set of characters that people couldn't wait for, and were characters that a new toy of them would be inevitable. Dinobot was one of these characters, as not only is he a beloved character from the Beast Era, but a spotlight episode for him, Code of Hero, is regarded as one of the best Transformers Episodes ever made. Considering he's one of five Beast Wars characters (not counting reprints and Lio Convoy) to have a Masterpiece figure, not including him in the toy line meant to represent the anniversary of Beast Wars would be a disastrous oversight. However, a bit more surprising was the inclusion of his repaint, Grimlock, in one of two exclusives that bundled an Autobot with a Maximal. Granted, Hasbro will use any excuse to repaint a figure that they can get, so Grimlock was likely; it just felt like an odd choice to include with a new Mirage toy, especially when G1 Grimlock was available in the Studio Series line (though out of all the possibilities, it probably still made the most sense). We've tackled Optimus Primal, Cheetor, Rattrap, Airazor and Rhinox; how well does 2021 treat one of the most infamous warriors in the franchise (and his white cousin)?

For a lot of toys this year, the term "Mini Masterpiece" has been thrown around. While I think how it's being used is wrong, I believe there is a grain of truth to it. Many toys have borrowed elements from Masterpiece engineering to achieve the two modes. Still, due to the downscale of cost, the engineering's used mainly for large chunks rather than minor tweaks. Dinobot is an excellent example of this as while the base concepts in his engineering are similar to the Masterpiece in certain elements, the compromises are far more visible due to the smaller budget. This velociraptor mode looks ugly; there's no getting around that. Due to the robot legs needing to go somewhere, the entire underside of the raptor mode looks awful, and due to how much the legs stick out compared to a raptor's body proportions, there's no natural way to fix it either. From the top-down, the raptor model looks really good, and all the Kingdom signature beast detail is nicely on display here. However, even at this angle, the illusion is ruined by the robot mode feet. Compared to how the legs integrate into the toy, elements like the robot mode-specific deco visible in what would be awkward areas of the Raptor mode don't stand out as much. However, an eyesore is easily the Raptor hands. For the sake of robot mode engineering, the fingers are too long when compared to (what we know of) raptor hands and claws, and the locked position of them always makes the hands look awkward no matter what you do with them. Another compromise for the sake of the robot mode was the articulation.

Compared to other Beast Wars characters, Dinobot's raptor mode feels uncomfortably stiff, thanks to the locked neck, the immoveable tail, and the thighs being locked in place, denying the ability to get good running poses. In addition, many have complained about one element of this mode: the end of the robot mode's sword being used as the tip of the tail. Due to the paint on the sword is based on the Masterpiece's metallic pink blade, it leaves the tail with a pink tip. If that bothers you, Grimlock's sword blends in better with the tail, but I find the deco on him to be less impressive when compared to Dinobot. Also, elements like the deco on the dino thighs feel less interesting than Dinobots, an interesting turn of events as Grimlock was an exclusive repaint, often resulting in a deluxe paint job compared to regular retail. Unfortunately, that might be due to the one he was bundled with, Mirage, getting the deluxe treatment, a shame for those who were after the set for Grimlock like I was. I love Grimlock's green eyes, though, and it gives the beast mode a robotic feel to it that almost helps with hiding the robot mode junk trying to pass itself off as a Raptor stomach. 

With the beast mode clearly suffering, one can hope that it was all for the sake of the robot mode. Thankfully, the robot mode for Dinobot is gorgeous! Dinobot is almost everything a Dinobot fan would want in a Voyager Class representation of the character in robot mode. He's one of the more agile figures in Kingdom, thanks to the extra joints in the shoulders for the sake of beast mode. 5mm ports on the palms of his hands can help fake the tail shield spinning gimmick the original toy and the Masterpiece had while maintaining the friction to hold his gear. Unfortunately, it's not very useful outside of his weapons because most weapons are designed for regular hands (sorry, you can't have him hold G1 guns, I'm sad to say). Paint applications are beautiful, with the only thing that feels like a glaring omission is painting the bone details on his shins, likely cut due to the transformation. Thankfully the moulding on the legs is there, so there's very little extra work that would be required if you're into customizing your figures. For those that aren't, I don't see an upgrade kit coming that could help fix this as the joints are covered up nicely, with pins not designed to be removed, locking the plastic pieces together. Once again, though, deco seems to be the issue with Grimlock, as not only is he missing paint applications, but applications intended for beast mode look awkward in robot mode, coming off as half done. The outer half of the knee spikes, thighs, and feet are painted white to blend into beast mode, but it shifts to the colours for robot mode, down the middle of each, resulting in a half-painted mess. The chest is also missing details, as some aspects in the moulding intended to replicate the Beast Wars Cartoon's Raptor head chest that Dinobot uses to full effect are lost on Grimlock. It seems like the priority that was given to Grimlock was for the beast mode. Still, it looks like a wasted effort, especially when the robot mode's engineering is so well done due to how heavily compromised the beast mode already was. 

What's frustrating about this toy is that it's okay when a character like Dinobot deserves an amazing one. However, the issue with that mindset is that Beasts are always going to be compromised, and though this feels like too much of a compromise, it's hard to deny the sacrifices that were worth it when you see the robot mode. As a Raptor, Dinobot's toy is awful when compared to the other beasts in Kingdom's line, up there with Scorponok's beast mode due to how rigid it feels. As a warrior, though, the toy is practically perfect at the Voyager scale. The two cancel each other out though, to make the toy okay in the line, very average when compared to others. As for Grimlock, I wish it got the same Robot mode attention that Dinobot did, but that was probably due to Mirage needing so much of the packs budget.

Transformers War for Cybertron Kingdom Leader Class Galvatron: Now with 100% less Jet Mode.

While Titans Return was justifiably praised back when it was the main Generations Toyline, very few Transformers toylines are without blunders. Some would argue that one of the biggest blunders the line had was its take on Galvatron. Though many of the choices for Voyager Class figures in the toy line were very questionable, Galvatron was one of the strangest as the goal was to make a triple changer out of a canon when the option for a toy gun was no longer going to cut it. As a result, Galvatron was given a jet mode that would make anyone with even basic knowledge of aerodynamics cry and a cockpit on his back that nobody asked for. If you have a seething hatred of Titans Return Galvatron, well, good news, today's subject does precisely what you want, have a purple Decepticon turn into a space canon. That alone would be worth an upgrade, but how well does Kingdom Galvatron hold up on his own. It's finally time to look at the last Herald of Unicron, in both cartoon and toy/kind of sort of comic colours.

Well... the one and only alt mode is undoubtedly a canon... As much of a cop-out bit of criticism as that sounds, it's hard to talk about G1 Galvatron's Alt mode because, like Megatron's original alt mode, it's interesting when compared to other Transformers but inherently not as exciting as something like a car or a plane, or a monster. You have small wheels on the tank treads and the angle leg (I don't know cannons), allowing you to roll him along the ground, and the joints in all three legs allow for you to angle the cannon. Apart from that, though, there isn't much to say. Elements like the front legs and the arms with treads sticking out the shoulders look bad but is a common thing for Galvatron. It's just how it has to work at the limitations this toy has (though one thing I do have to give credit to the Titans Return version for, the lower arms end up behind the main leg element, making it look more cohesive from the front). A pre-applied rub-sign sticker is the only major thing to bring up between the general retail release, and the Generations Selects release. Most of the differences become more noticeable in robot mode.

Missasembly issues on early releases of Kingdom Galvatron excluded (mine has the right shoulders if anyone is curious); I like this take on Galvatron, though I wish some minor things were addressed before release. I love the overall proportions, with the only minor exception being the panels on the side of his chest. While, on the one hand, it does break up the overall look of Galvatron and does make him look a bit too chubby (clearly, he's been putting on the lockdown weight, too), it also makes him look more imposing and stronger. The arm cannon is another element that I'm not a big fan of. I'm not a fan of where they put the 5mm post to connect the cannon to the arm, and I think the barrel looks a bit too long and a bit too thin. The 5mm post is my biggest issue with the cannon, though, as the ports on the arms limit you to either putting the cannon in a spot where it's accurately positioned on the arm but limits dynamic positions you can put him in. Your other option is a spot where the cannon should connect too and gives more articulation freedom, but makes the cannon look even longer and not sit in properly depending on the position of the upper arm. It's little things like those that, while they aren't that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, become far more noticeable because this toy is so close to being a fantastic Galvatron toy. It's why I got the Generations Selects release as well, which has a colour scheme more closely aligned with that of the original G1 toy. It comes with a sticker sheet to give it more of the G1 toy details, but the base plastic and the Kingdom detailing is so well done that it feels redundant to include them. Combined with my disdain for putting stickers on toys (blame LEGO), and I've decided to keep them off. One thing I was surprised about with the Toy colours was the choice of Purple. It's surprisingly darker than the retail release and stands out beautifully against the muted grey (compared to the retail toy's heavy use of silver plastic). 

Both toys come with three accessories that are both interesting inclusions and redundant bits of plastic. First, both toys come with guns based on the design of his ship from the 1986 movie, The Revenge, something I do find odd as the original toy did come with a gun. The sculpting is beautiful on the weapons, and the two can combine to form an interesting looking sidearm, but it's always going to feel redundant compared to the cannons both toys come with. Something far more interesting was the inclusion of a Matrix of Leadership on a chain to reference his jewellery in the 86 movie. It's ok for a toy, though the chain does feel like a bit of an afterthought in the initial design concept. I have no issue with the chain being a solid bit of plastic; it feels a bit too small for me, though, resulting in the Matrix not sitting right. An extra link or two in length could have helped with this. Credit to them, though, I love the fact that Toy Colours Galvatron comes with the Creation Matrix from the G1 Marvel comics. I'm surprised a Creation Matrix repaint of the Matrix of Leadership didn't happen sooner. 

The issues I've brought up are just what they sound like, minor issues, nitpicks at best. Without a shadow of a doubt, this is the best mainline G1 Galvatron they've designed. Almost completely flawless; I doubt anything would be topping this any time soon. If you can find one, get it because you won't be disappointed.