With 2016 rapidly fading into memory, the TFW2005 staff once again sat down to reflect on the figures released in the past year. The overall consensus was that 2016 was once again a strong year for collectors, with the Masterpiece and Titans Return/Takara Legends lines scoring top picks or honorable mentions across the board. The staff also confirmed that they were not yet done with combiners, with those molds continuing to make a strong showing.
Among individual figures, it appears as though Masterpiece finished the year on an uptick. Inferno led the way overall with four top picks and six honorable mentions. The boss monkey himself, Optimus Primal, narrowly missed the top spot with four top picks but only four honorable mentions. Finally, in a remarkable feat Unite Warriors Computron managed to pull in eleven honorable mentions without a single top vote.
So, what do you think about our top picks? Agree? Disagree? See the entire list and sound off in the thread below.
ex dtw2003
The more I look at him the more I dislike MP-Ironhide. Such a horrible face sculpt and such atrocious proportions.
Mormolyce
If only I could swap you my TR for a Legends
samisham
Probably, I think it'll be Misfire. I hope it'll be Misfire.
MatrixOfWumbo
I
I've heard he shares engineering, but I'm assuming there will be at least one actual jet-looking revisit of the mold. As it stands he looks great but I already have a figure from Wave 3 on my get list.
samisham
I think he's being turned into Topspin.
MatrixOfWumbo
I must be the only one who prefers Blurr's TR colors to his Legends colors.
It's going to be really hard to wait for whoever Trigger-happy gets repainted into.
samisham
That was one of the most oddly unsettling things I've ever seen…
Starscream0625
This was a great year for Transformers. Titans Return has hit it out of the park, like Combiner Wars before it. Robots in Disguise stepped it up too. There's a ton of terrific figures I'm sure, but the last six months have been a bear, so I have a large backlog of toys that I have yet to open.
I'm torn between Titans Return Astrotrain and RID Warrior Starscream.
Astrotrain is everything that the classics toy was, and more, especially when in terms of articulation. His alternate modes are odd and suffer from the retool/pretool Sentinel Prime, but hide the second alternate mode quite well when compared to the classics version. The titan master gimmick is well-done, with lots of placement options for Darkmoon in both the cockpit and the gun emplacement. He also has his show-accurate landing gear shoulder pauldrons. And, he's just one of my favorite characters.
Starscream really benefits from how much I loved his return, and his new, more serious self. His engineering benefits from the uptick in the quality of the RID figures, with a fun transformation that really surprised me in that he has no faux cockpit chest. His jet mode is awesome, and super sleek, just like in Animated, although his huge shoulders don't make an effort to hide themselves beneath his wings.
Honorable Mentions: Titans Return Weirdwolf, Titans Return Galvatron, Titans Return Scourge, RID Paralon, RID Groundpounder, Adventure Quillfire, TFCC Ramjet
Lumpy
Beautiful. I'm crying. Bravo!
Acteon
Some great picks in there. Titans Return has really knocked it out of the park this year, especially the Japanese versions. Legends Fort Max is a thing of beauty, but the whole line has been pretty spectacular. My own favourites are the Legends versions of Scourge, Weirdwolf, Highbrow, Blurr and Hardhead. Triggerhappy & Super Ginrai have been lovely last-minute additions too. I feel spoilt.
With regards to MP, Inferno would have been my number one if he'd been around £75 on a par with Ractchet/Ironhide, but at £140 he was very poor value. I won't be buying Grapple and Megatron might well be my final purchase in this line given his OTT pricing. Good as Masterpiece are, they aren't on a par with DX Chogokin and shouldn't be charging as though they are. I've had a lot of fun with Hot Rod, especially paired with my Delicate Warrior figure.
Very much looking forward to what 2017 has in store – already off to a strong start with Perceptor and the announcement of Krok I feel!
Murasame
My number one is MP-28 Hot Rod, my number two is Titans Return Powermaster Optimus Prime, third place goes to Titans Return Triggerhappy.
Grimlock_13
My #1 pick is third party but my #2 is Unite Warriors Computron, just for the sheer amount of remolding on all the characters and combined mode set it apart from any of the other Combiner releases IMO.
Masterpiece Inferno and Optimus Primal were both incredible releases though. I was blown away by both.
Vangelus
I made a video supplement to my entry in this article:
Vangelus
If I'd ever found Bisk in 2016, I think he'd have booted out one of my runners-up.
Swoop Dogg
TR A-Train gets my vote!
Onslaught24
Before Bisk, the only other RID cons I'd bought were Megatronus and Fracture. Both very fun, but Bisk was a treasure and makes me really want Thunderhoof, Quilfire, Scorponok, and Starscream even more now. It's actually pretty impressive how much the line has improved over the course of what? A year or so?
WishfulThinking
Good picks on TR Powermaster Prime. He was the first Titans Return figure I bought and it was pure love. So good, I decided to buy God Ginrai as well. It's okay…they can live together on the shelf as separate characters just fine.
Starscream 91
If I ever need to describe why I love Robots in Disguise 2015 to someone I can just pull out Thunderhoof & Bisk. Some of the most creative designs ever in the Transformers brand. I just love the design of Bisk and how well it was executed in plastic form.
I can't exactly articulate why I love Astrotrain as much as I do. I love the colors, the guns, and the head sculpt. That and Astrotrain is one of my favorite characters and he scales so well with Thrilling 30 Blitzwing. I knew I was going to love him the moment I picked up Sentinel but never realized how much I would love him. He took the attention away from Victorion on my birthday thats for sure
Onslaught24
Very good picks! I loved Astrotrain and Bisk. Very close to making my honorable mentions.