As the year drew to a close, the TFW2005 staff again paused to reflect on the new figures that graced our collections in 2014. With recent Hasbro changes that folded all collector oriented releases into a single line, many of the Age of Extinction movie figures that would have previously comprised a separate line were instead included in Generations. As a result, the Generations and Masterpiece lines collectively lead our 2014 selections.
Overall, four figures dominated staff voting in 2014. Which figures did the TFW staff rank as tops in 2014? Is your favorite release represented? Read on to find out more and sound off in the thread to let your opinion be known!
Infosaur
Problem is,,, I never saw half these guys at retail.
I searched half the year for AOE Strafe (not the quick change or one step or any of the others, just the straight up transformer) then when I got him the rubber tails got in the way in bot mode and the legs never looked right in beast mode. Buyers remorse.
Around here the stores are Pegwarmed by large quantities of Ken-Doll Bumblebee, Ken-Doll Optimus and Ken-Doll Lockdown. UGH!
Sorry guys, Kre-Os are NOT transformers, neither are Constructabots.
And the sad thing is with all the Whirls lining the shelves, that means not enough people are reading MTMTE,,, which is a crime in itself. (Also, I want a Whirl with a Cybertron mode like in MTMTE, not a remake of the 80's toy, unlikely to see it now.).
Pandagfx
Interesting picks from everyone, nice to read your reasoning.
Great to see some love for AOE Voyager Hound. Evasion Mode Prime's transformation is much more awesome, but when I saw Hound on display, it's like "H*** S***, the guy's a walking one man army". Love all of the weapons that he comes with, and they're stored in neat little spots. Lots of fun to display and play with.
Masterpiece Wheeljack's alt-mode is also really gorgeous. I see it on display everyday. Probably should get around to transforming him.
blaine71274
I'm having a hard time resisting the Combiner Wars. Technically I think they will fall under 2015. They are looking really sick as my son would say. But I kinda see where they are going to go with it. Multiple characters using same mold. Optimus/Motormaster, Alpha Bravo/Blades/Vortex. Then releasing bits and pieces at a time from different combiners? And some that were never combiners in the first place. It could get really expensive and really ugly. But that's probably for another thread. Trying to stay Masterpiece, and only one figure per mold.
DOTM Bumblebee
I like the choices. Unfortunately, I own none of these figures, but they all look great. Oh, what I wouldn't give for a Leader Class Jetfire or a Voyager Class Hound…
taterx
Great read guys I always look forward to reading this New Years day. I pass d on evasion mode Prime but based on the reviews I've seen he clearly belongs on the list. I have a bunch of the bots mentioned but haven't got around to opening most of them. I did bust out that sweet G2 MP Sideswipe & that's my favorite. I also loved my YOTH MP Prime missed out on MP10 & h s spectacular. Even though I'm happy enough w that paint scheme to not go after the regular version I still like G2 Side Swipe better, that Yaniker head sculpt & those over the top 90s extreme weapons put it over the top.
LegendAntihero
I think AoE Optimus would've been a much better figure if Hasbro used takrar's paint apps
zfarsh
For me, 2014 is really the best year I have had with Takara / Hasbro
I mean 3 femmebots: Arcee, Chromia and Windblade
And my current 2 favorite MP Cars: Wheeljack and Bumblebee
As well as Whirl
There are others, but these ones are really my favorite of the year. Surprised so many loved the Jetfire, that turned up as one of my disappointments.
And aoe prime did pretty well too….hmm, maybe I should get this one and see how I like it.
Smashs
Glad so many are enjoying our picks. I had my main pick in my head for months, but with so many good choices I've been second guessing myself.
Sitting at my desk tonight fiddling with EvPrime reaffirms my decision.
Autovolt 127
All great choices by the staff.
smf2045
You never found one at all, Frank? Wow, sorry to hear it. I picked up mine at K-mart. TRU also had them. If I'd have known I'd have picked you up one.
I love reading the mod staff's picks, even though I don't always agree with all of them. I can't really collect MPs due to prices and availability (plus I don't really think they are toys – they are more like models, but whatever), although I did get MP-10 in 2014. And no matter how good a figure it is, I can't stand the aesthetics of the movies, so Evasion Prime was not for me.
It was still a great year for TFs, though, and my faves include Generations Jetfire, Arcee, Cosmos, Skrapnel, and Crosscut with Windblade, Chromia, and Brainstorm as honorable mentions despite their faults. Happy new year to everyone and hope that this year is even better than last, both in TFs and in life.
Lumpy
any figure released this year counts. And there were a lot of great toys this year. I had a super hard time choosing. Here's my list of everyone that was a favorite this year. Kinda forgot about Waspinator and Rattrap though…
G2 MP Sideswipe, MP Smokescreen, Swerve, Tailgate, TFCC TFSS Barricade, TFCC TFSS Chromedome, TFCC TFSS Treadshot with Catgut, Windblade, Jetfire, Botcon Wingspan & Pounce, Botcon Flamewar, MP Wheeljack, Evasion Optimus Prime, Whirl
Killamarshan
The picks have tempted me to track down a Jetfire and Hound this year.
I already own Evasion Prime, MP Bumble and WJ … all worthy of the high regard they're held in.
optimusmegas
i gotta go evasion mode optimus. for basically all the reasons above. the shotgun for megs. that upgrade kit…easily one of my favorites of the year.
flik68
I agree.
NICKBOT
Great read boys! Lots of interesting picks, glad to see Evasion Mode Prime getting some love. And to the "figure not a toy" guy, come on… they're all toys.
Razerwire
I've only seen Jetfire at KMarts and TRUs.
Acteon
Such a great year for TF's, all the choices have merit. Despite having to take mine apart to fix her, I'd still just about go with Arcee. It'd be worth it if only for all the false-starts we've had over the years, but coupled with a tamashi stage, she's glorious.
Brainstorm, Wheeljack, Bee and Skrapnel would be in my top 5, but I could easily come up with a top ten from a stellar year.
motorthing
The MP Love is easy to understand but glad to see Cosmos get some credit too. One of the greatest little toys ever made.
jayman118
Gotta agree with hound, there's something about that toy that i really like a lot and one of the best plastic ive held for a voyager. He may not be the best toy but i can definitely understand why some of you pick hound.
GAUGE
Wait, they are a TRU only release?
must explain why I never found one then.