Top 10 Transformers Purchased in 2019

With a new year and a new decade upon us, I thought it might be nice to look back on what's been, because 2019 was a solid year for Transformers. Siege was a huge step up over Power of the Primes, Cyberverse gave characters not cast in plastic for several years a new chance on life, and Studio Series continues to replicate the movie designs (whether or not this is a good thing or not depends on your view of the movie designs). With 2020 looking to continue the upward trend, and even improve on the engineering in Cyberverse, I thought I might look back at the 10 best figures I obtained in 2019. They don't need to be released this year, they don't have to be objectively the best, just the stuff that I've enjoyed the most that I obtained this year.

10. Cyberverse Skybyte

While the spark armour gimmick of the Cyberverse line was more of a mess then I'd hoped for, I will admit that Skybyte on his own was a nice figure. Basic engineering, but fitting for what is basically a Legends Class toy. As good as previous Skybyte toys? No idea, this is the only one I own, but perfectly serviceable. A fun toy to fidget with, thanks to the basic, but to the point transformation and small size. Besides, it's nice to see something other then G1 get nostalgia love.

9. Siege Shockwave

I like a good spaceship Transformer every now and then, and while many purists might not like all the extra stuff added in to turn a space gun into a spaceship, it doesn't take away from how playable Shockwave is. If you want to completely ignore the armour, you've still got a good voyager sized Shockwave that turns into the space gun. At the end of the day, I love toys that are fun to mess with, that don't feel like they're going to break if you do something wrong. Shockwave's fun, a strong release in Siege bogged down in the controversy of all the extra plastic that a lot of people didn't want but had to get to avoid the "you're selling a gun to my child" controversy. He also looks great in black, at least based on pictures I've seen.

8. Studio Series Hightower

I had to put this thing somewhere on the list. Is it a good toy? No, but it's hilarious that it exists at all, considering as the design itself is universally hated. I'm not against non-humanoid robot designs, but Hightower's design is a joke, and that's honestly the best thing about it. I love how stupid this thing looks, I find it hilarious that someone legitimately thought that this was a cool design. Until the rest of Devastator comes out, and even probably after, this guy has the title of the funniest transformers I have, and for that alone, he makes the list.

7. Siege Micromasters

I'm lumping all of them together for this one (except for Wave 5, I'm missing those two), as, like Skybyte, they're fun to fiddle around with, and with Earthrise teasing at Micromaster bases in the future, it'll be fun to have a modern take on the Micromaster play pattern. If I had to pick a favorite of the wave 1 moulds, it would have to be the one used for Flak, along with Roadhandler at number 2, Lazerbeak at number 3. All I can really say is "more Micromasters please, and try to refresh the stock here once in a while, I'm sick of seeing Wave 2 on shelves! (While you're at it, for the love of Primus, stop putting Studio Series Blackout and Grimlock on shelves!)

6. Siege Jetfire

Jetfire is probably one of my favourite characters in Transformers, so from the announcement of it happening, I was onboard for Siege's take. The end result is a fun display piece. As good as third party offerings of Skyfire? No, but again, it's that playability that I enjoy in collecting Transformers, so while Siege Jetfire might not be as amazing as the Fanstoys one, but he can certainly outgun him. A very minor complaint of mine is that I wish he had a bit more weight in him. He feels a bit too light for someone of that size. Not KO levels of light, nowhere near it. It might just be a me thing because while I'm not what you'd call buff, my job requires moving heavy stuff around.

5. Studio Series Dropkick (Car mode)

Why aren't their more muscle car transformers? I'm not joking around here, there are a surprisingly large amount of vehicles that have the potential to be cool transformers, but you never see them (or rarely see them at best), with Muscle cars being one of them. It's why I've enjoyed the car forms of Bumblebee villains Shatter and Dropkick. While Shatter has a bad kibble problem, Dropkick's

4. Studio Series Scrapmetal

What've I've enjoyed the most about figures in the Studio Series line like Scrapmetal is that while they've taken creative liberties, to me at least they're creative liberties that improve the looks of the characters, decluttering the movie designs and making them stronger as a result. To me, while there are parts of the movie designs I like, they always look messy with parts overkill cluttering the look, and parts coming out of nowhere to make it look even worse at times (I swear movie 1 Bumblebee has two engines for feet). The simplification for the sake of making working toys does mean that we get nicer looking designs (for the main body at least), and Scrapmetal is probably the best example of this. It's nice as a standalone toy, and I'm curious to see how well it holds up as Devastator's left hand.

3. Siege Impactor

A long-awaited figure to join The Wreckers, and one that certainly didn't disappoint. While locking the IDW head behind a US exclusive is annoying, the original looking head still looks great and doesn't detract away from how great of an overall figure Impactor is. It's strong, commanding, might have been better as a voyager, but there's still a clear presence to him on a shelf, in both tank mode and robot mode. Perfectly fitting his long-awaited arrival as an official toy. Would have been nicer though if his legs weren't so visibly hollow though.

2. Siege Spinister

From an absolute nobody that no one expected to be any good, to what many, myself included, view as one of the best Siege toys released, and also the best helicopter Transformer released (though when your competition includes Studio Series Dropkick, there's not that much competition in it). Spinister's a lot of fun to mess around with, movement feels effortless, the transformation is fun, there's very little I can actually fault him for, and what faults I have, most of them I can easily look past for the sake of the overall figure. If you could only get one figure in Siege, get Spinister.

Before moving on, a few honourable mentions

• Siege Skywarp: Fun in a squad, just wish those Rainmakers weren't US exclusives
• Studio Series Drift (Helicopter): A bit too much kibble on him for my liking, but it's a far better Helicopter then Dropkick's one was
• Siege Galaxy Upgrade Optimus Prime: I really wanted to love this thing, but the Ultra Magnus retools get in the way, and to this day I still don't know how those shoulder pads are meant to store in space fire truck mode.
• Studio Series Ironhide: Honestly the biggest issue with this guy has just been the release schedules of Studio Series with entire waves being almost impossible to find on shelves while older stock keeps being brought in and shelf warming.
• Siege Optimus Prime: I've got more to say about him in the new year, as a joint review of him and Takara's Nemesis repaint is a goal of mine to cover. A lot of fun to mess around with though, I just don't want to give it to the toy that's guaranteed to be good because it's Optimus Prime

And for number 1...

 Galaxy Force Megatron

A collection such as toy collecting is a representation of who you are. The stuff you gravitate towards tells a bit about yourself, what you enjoy, what you hate. It's an amazing feeling to find a grail from your childhood, something you've wanted for a long time and now finally own, and Galaxy Force/ Cybertron Megatron was one of my grail pieces. While I was introduced to Transformers in late Armada/ early Energon, Cybertron design-wise was a line that felt like it could do no wrong for me as a child, and even to this day holds a special place in my heart. If I had the space and the money, I'd probably try and put together a complete collection of that line. I'll admit Megs isn't quite as graceful about gimmick integration as Optimus is, but he still has a presence to him that I do think some incarnations lack. For that reason, Galaxy Force Megatron is my number 1 Transformer toy purchased in 2019.

With that, it'll be interesting to see what happens in 2020. I've got some things lined up, like a review of the Generations Selects Seacons, a goal of mine is to try and track down a MakeToys Thunder Manus so if that happens, you'll see that as a review. Studio Series Devastator is still happening as far as I know, and Earthrise looks to have a lot of interesting stuff in the pipeline if leaks are to be believed (I'm hyped for Snapdragon and Doubledealer).

Transformers Studio Series (Revenge of The Fallen) Voyager Class Constructicon Long Haul: Behold, one of the most faithful to source Bayformers Decepticons.

What is this? A humanoid (ish) looking Decepticon, who got to keep his alternate mode from Generation 1, who got to keep his status as a part of a combiner, with the only loss being his position in the combiner, but it comes with the bonus of no longer needing to be that combiner's guts? I would say that is a solid win for Long Haul, especially when you remember how much weight he had to gain in order to be Devastator's crotch in Combiner Wars. In addition, being a leg means he does not need to lug around Devastator's balls... So anyway, the Long Haul review...

Starting in dump truck mode, and though it has some large, glaring issues due to transformation, this is a solid dump truck, and from what I have seen, better than the Combiner Wars one. I will be honest; there are some parts to Devastator where G1 comparisons are, to me at least, valid. Four of the six G1 Constructicons are in this Devastator, Long Haul, Mixmaster, Scavenger and Scrapper. However, I will only be comparing three; Scavenger is too far removed from his G1 incarnation (though comparing him to Scrapmetal might have been more valid. Joys of hindsight). However, Long Haul, Scrapper and Mixmaster are fair game (though Long Haul more than the others). With that said, in terms of vehicle modes, the Studio Series one is certainly better than the Combiner Wars one, though a large chunk of that is the requirements in the combination. That's not to say this is a flawless dump truck mode, there are a lot of gaps in the design, and due to how the arms need to move, there's no working dumper, you can't even load cargo on it, which is something that the Combiner Wars one has as an advantage (in that it was Devastator Parts storage). What I do like most about this dump truck though is that the Combiner Wars one looks bloated, as if it is barely able to hold everything it needs to hold. The Studio Series one looks more consistent, from certain angles; it looks like it could be the real thing. Nevertheless, it still needed to make sacrifices for the sake of the combined mode, so onto foot mode.

In foot mode, the first thing that comes to mind is "how the hell is Overload going to work?", and by extension, how is Devastator going to work? The connection points are not consistent with Rampage, and on top of that, the ratchet range looks and feels inconsistent, making me question how stable this person is going to be. I do not know if the visual difference is because of how much more mass is being used in Long Haul, or if there are distinct differences between the ratchets used. As for the foot itself, it is a larger foot then Rampage is, though a complaint I have is that I wished the back wheels had a place to lock in, rather than be loose. Might have helped make the heal place more secure as well. As for how well it holds up, we will have to wait for (hopefully) next year to find out.

As for the robot mode, with the current spectrum of Scrapmetal as being good movieverse robot modes, and Rampage as bad ones, this is on the Scrapmetal side, I honestly love this robot mode. This reminds me of the types of tanks you would see in Role Playing Games, the heavily plated, super slow, but can take a ton of damage and exist to be damage sponges in raids. Speaking purely in the looks department, I really like this robot mode. Unfortunately, that tank comparison also means that Long Haul is not going to be doing a lot of posing. A lot of kibble gets in the way of movements, so while he has the standard points of articulation, including a waist swivel for the sake of Devastator, and even ankle tilts bringing him up to par with the War for Cybertron line, you have to fight the kibble to be able to use a lot of it. What helps though is that it does not take much to make him look intimidating, again thanks to the kibble.

Overall, I would say this is a win. Though I am concerned about Devastator requirements, he still works as a good standalone robot at least, and the toning down of movie accuracy works in the same way as it does Scrapmetal, in that it makes him look better than he did in the movie. Three out of eight of the Constructicons in and only one has been bad, so we may have a promising future ahead. However, that being said next is Hightower so who knows. I will not be reviewing Hightower next, that will be in a few weeks, because next I am looking at a recent Lego set for a nice change of pace by reviewing not a Marvel set, but a DC set.

Transformers Studio Series Devastator Part 2; Constructacon Rampage: Bonecrusher arguably got off easy

I say arguably because he got turned into a Minesweeper who only existed to be a cool fight for Optimus in the first movie, and die shortly after. I mean, at least he got legs.

Part 2 on the trek to see if Hasbro and Takara really can pull off a large Devastator with reasonably accurate robot modes continues with the introduction of the one combiner part that would make sense on a beast looking Combiner, Rampage. "Promoted from Predacon to Constructacon, your choice on if this is the one from Predaking or the Predacon from Beast Wars. At least this one had more of a presence then Scrapmetal did.

Starting in bulldozer mode, and we're not off to a good start as the Combiner sacrifices are on display here. There are a lot of awkward gaps in the main body of the bulldozer, and unlike Scrapmetal, there's no movement here other than the wheels, making it feel very basic. In terms of functionality, the Combiner Wars Bonecrusher has it beat, but that's likely due to the fact that the scoop on that toy (I don't know construction vehicles), actually needed to move for the sake of the robot mode. Rampage's alt mode does, however, look a lot better then Bonecrusher's does, however that perspective is skewed slightly due to relying on images and videos for comparisons, as I don't own a Combiner Wars Devastator (and this is also being reviewed when I'm out of the house because I was bored, but that's beside the point). The muted red is complimented nicely by the paint, with things like the silver scoop, the blue windows, and the realistic placement of black and silver helping give it more of a presence, compared to CW Bonecrusher's bombardment of lime green. At a good angle, Rampage's bulldozer mode makes for a nice display piece if you don't want him for Devastator, but for those who do...

In a further case of redefining Scramble City, Ravage becomes the left foot of Devastator, and one that looks to be able to support the weight, thanks to a pair of sturdy, but moveable ratchets in the ankle. My only concern as it currently stands though is the connection to Overload, and how strong it will be because it looks to be connected via a sliding rail, and a pair of tabs. The instructions to get to this mode are complicated for what you're actually doing, and it feels like joints mentioned in the instructions aren't actually there. It doesn't make the mode impossible to get to, just frustrating for what the end result turns out to be. The support stand included for Ravage's robot mode, while it can store in the bulldozer mode, can't connect to the foot mode, which is a shame as it would help with covering the gap that is most of the foot, due to it being the treads and scoop of the bulldozer. If there is a way to do it though, let me know.

To the robot mode, and while I like Scrapmetal's robot mode, this just skews too far into the monster direction that it's hard to take it seriously, and the design of the character for the movie is a huge hindrance on the toy itself. It's a shame to an extent because I do like the idea of Transformers that don't have human-like designs, so seeing something like this is at least unique. It makes you wonder what troubles this poor bastard went through to get where he is, what caused him to have these proportions? It looks nasty in the good kind of way, but unfortunately, you can't get any good poses out of him. The tail is stiff and blocky for the sake of Devastator, and the arms are limited to what's in the shoulders in terms of movement, meaning you can't even get a good jumping pose out of him because they can't even reach all the way up. Even moving kibble out of the way, you can't even get a T-pose out of him, he just ends up looking like he wants a hug. You can't even get the tread whips looking good due to their small size, I really wish he came with accessories to make those longer. It's also a shame that they didn't do anything for the scoop and the cockpit, as those are some of the largest pieces of kibble I've ever seen on a Transformer (that isn't their entire alt mode on their backs)


*There would be a screenshot here of where he was in the movie, but I can't find one, nor can I take one, that isn't a blurry mess. He was the one that fought Bumblebee in the final battle, with Bumblebee using Ravage's spine as a weapon against him*


While I can recommend Scrapmetal as a stand-alone toy, the only reasons I can think of to get Rampage is either because you want a somewhat nice looking red Bulldozer, or you want him to be Devastator's foot. He's just not good as a stand-alone Transformer, and I can't help but feel that the source is the biggest part of the problem, it's probably the main reason why most of the toylines adopt a "design toy first, do lore second" approach. I think this type of design could be interesting to revisit later when the combining requirement isn't needed and it can have more movement, but as it stands, for me, it's going to stay as either a bulldozer or a foot.

Transformers Studio Series Devastator Part 1; Constructicon Scrapmetal: Clamps' future after Futurama

In the midst of the kiddified G1 Cyberverse, and the G1 nostalgia pandering Generations line, Hasbro has been putting out a third line that's equally, though debatably, nostalgia pandering, Studio Series, a line dedicated to making sure you'll never forget about the live action movies. This is a line I've been trying to find time to review for a while now as the two I do have, being Blackout and Starscream from the first movie, for whatever one can say about the designs and the inspiration, are good toys, and that's something that parts of the fandom really hate to admit. As much as I really don't like Starscream's look in the movies, I personally like to call him Doritoscream, that Starscream was the best general retail Starscream toy to launch last year. Sorry to G1 purists, that's an objective fact, especially with its main competition being the Power of the Primes Combiner torso and gimmickformers in the Cyberverse line.

Even with a line focused on bringing movieverse characters up to modern toy engineering standards, there are some that I still thought they wouldn't try to do, one of them being a version of Devastator that had individual robot modes, something they only did (to my knowledge) at Legends scale for Revenge of the Fallen. The RotF release of the Constructicons existed to either be just Devastator or just their individual modes. Maybe Combiner Wars was enough of an encouragement that they think they can pull off releasing eight toys between 2019 and 2020, split between Deluxe and Voyager class, with many of them not having individual robot modes, and some looking drastically different between modes (I'm looking at you Mixmaster and your glorified Headmaster mode). I don't know how well this thing is going to turn out, but I figured I'd see where this goes. I have no idea when this will end, all I hope is that it will end with a complete Devastator, unlike Volcanicus and Abominus.

Starting off with Vehicle mode, and with the exception of a few gaps, this is a pretty good digger mode, and the best I've personally owned... but considering as the last Transformer I owned that had a digger for an alt mode was Energon Steamhammer, who's closer to Revenge of the Fallen Demolishor, the comparison is better saved for when we get Studio Series Scavenger. I would say they can't make it worse, but I still remember what those two are supposed to look like in robot mode, and that's part of the reason why I question who thought this would be possible. Back on topic, the colour and detail remind me of the Caterpillar branded construction machines (are those a thing outside of Australia?). I know that's not saying much because the industry standard for these kinds of vehicles seems to be yellow. There isn't much paint on this guy, and while I would have liked some silver on the roof vents and the railing around the back, I don't think this guy needs a lot of paint. It's sparse but applicable. Movement isn't the best though, because while the shovel arm moves exactly the amount it needs to move (for this mode), there's no rotation for the platform for the sake of transformation. That being said, I don't see any reason why it couldn't have been in there because with the exception of the shovel arm itself, the platform isn't connected to the treads, and the platform rotation would only really affect the shoulder/ upper torso assembly. It's a shame that they didn't go the extra mile with the vehicle mode.

To the combined mode and... oh boy... As evident from my previous reviews, both here and on the main site before this one existed, traditional multi-bot combiners tend to follow a strict path of mass distribution. For five bot teams, the leader is the largest, and becomes the central torso, while the four other members become arms or legs. For the original Constructicons, two bots become legs, two bots become arms (with a parts form elbow), and the remaining two members become the chest. For movie Devastator though, it's not that simple. The rear legs (and yes I say rear legs because in the movie he walked on all fours), and torso work almost like G1 Devi, two bots become legs, two become the torso, with the only difference being that Mixmaster becomes the head and neck, something that I'm honestly surprised more combiners don't do because of how hard some leaders find hiding their second heads to be. According to this teaser image in Scrapmetal's instruction book, Devastator is going to be made up of Scrapper and parts of Scavenger (though his main focus is upper torso so I'm not surprised if he also acts as the shoulders), his left arm though is going to consist of two bots alongside Scavenger. Scrapmetal is basically the elbow and left hand of Devastator and... I can see there being some problems in the future. Based on this being the only piece of Devastator I have at the moment, and how the character moved on screen, I'm really hoping the rear legs can support a lot of weight because this is not going to support anything. I wish the digger arm could turn around for this mode so that the scoop itself could act as a third finger for the hand, instead, it just ends up looking like a giant claw arm. It's hard to bring up more about it at the moment because it's just a hand. A fat looking hand, but a hand.

Ok, so the toy's not faithful to the concept, but I like the toy's look a lot better then I do this thing.

Going to robot mode, and considering the quality of the Decepticons at the time, this is one of the most normal looking robots from the movies, and there are enough original ideas for this guy to be a good robot in his own way. Hardware isn't great, nothing but ball joints for articulation here so if you're used to Siege's quality, you're going to be disappointed. As dumb as it sounds, I actually love the hands on this guy, they're basically Clamps' hands (please tell me people still know who that is, and they've seen Futurama). In terms of design choices though, I'm not a fan of the chicken legs, I just can't get anything decent out of them in terms of movement. This is another case where I wish the digger arm could spin because it would be a cool looking scorpion tail like joint, something that I think the Combiner Wars Scavenger could do.

News Roundup: Toy Fair News Part 3: Studio Series

Onward now to the most devicive line, at least in terms of what it's representing, the Studio Series, toys based on the Live Action movies. While I haven't reviewed any of them yet (I have two I'm waiting to cover), I will say this for the line. While I am not a fan overall of the designs used, these are good representations of those versions of the characters, and this is going to be analyzing them as representations of those characters. If you're looking for a beatdown of the movie designs, you're not going to find it here. We all clear about that? Yes? Let's move on.