Y’know, regardless of anything else on the planet, Transformers has been getting better and better every year. 2021 was a big year in this hobby for me, what with Kingdom coming out, and a few other longtime grails of mine coming into existence. On this site, it’s probably been my most prolific year as a writer, too. As I look back at this year, I’m truly glad to be involved in this hobby, for the fun it’s brought me, the friends I’m connected to, and the opportunities it’s granted me. It was a real oasis in the middle of everything. And the figures were really good, too. That’s why making a best-of list was a tough one, between the fact that a lot of stuff I liked came out, and that I tended to only grab the good things. So, because everything’s made up, including the rules, I settled on a Top 15, and I’ve also expanded it to cover “stuff released in 2020 that only made its way to me, a Canadian, in 2021.” So, out of everything I reviewed, here’s what I liked best, with each title linking back to my longform opinions.
15. War for Cybertron Trilogy Deluxe Bumblebee
Sure, the Hubcap (and probably other non-VWs) version of this tooling hold together a bit better, and this is a tough lad to panel-massage into Beetle mode, but honestly, the novelty of finally having a proper G1 mainline Bug Bee cancelled that out to me.
Plus, he inherited a bunch of good stuff from Hubcap, like his fun, robust pack of accessories, his better-than-the-Masterpiece articulation, his impressive density for his small size, and his general good desk toy vibes.
A shame he’s expensive and difficult to find, or he’d be higher up (thanks again for the hookup, April!).
14. Studio Series Voyager Blitzwing
I just love this design, really.
Blitzwing was way too cool-looking to be a goon with such a brief role in the Bumblebee movie, but at least he was captured perfectly in plastic.
He’s basically Seeker filtered through a detailed real-robot aesthetic, and for all the little issues he has (a backpack that doesn’t want to plug in well, a messy altmode), he gets by on sheer vibes.
13. Buzzworthy Bumblebee Deluxe Origin Bumblebee
He’d be on here just for existing, honestly. HasTak took an impossible idea (a VW-looking robot that changes into a completely different altmode), and realized it at a mainline, non-Masterpiece scale.
But more than that, they made it into a really good figure, a shellformer that isn’t frustrating, and used the oddness of the concept to give us probably the best Cartoon Bumblebee ever, on top of that.
His only real flaw is the bizarre uselessness of some of his accessories, but even outside of that, this is the best mainline G1 Bumblebee out there at the moment.
12. Kingdom Deluxe Blackarachnia
Speaking of mini-masterpieces, they literally did that with this gal, taking the Takara Masterpiece, shrinking it, and making it available at a standard Deluxe pricepoint.
As one of my very first Kingdom figures, she set the pace for how the line would go: Incredible, near-perfect replicas of characters from my favorite show, finally existing in plastic form.
Heck, her spider mode is more cohesive-looking than the Masterpice (and actively terrifying to me). She’s a little bit too complicated to transform, but that’s her only real problem, and kind of a necessity for what they were trying to do.
11. Generations Selects Deluxe Transmutate
On the other hand, sometimes, extreme screen-accuracy isn’t the way to go, and Transmutate’s a prime example of that.
This radical re-interpretation of the character perfectly captured their vibes in a weird, gorgeously-colored way. Also, she turns into a T-rex skeleton, always a good thing to do. Plus, the whole Fossilizer thing’s a cool gimmick, basically turning her into a Bionicle-style construction toy.
If you’re only going to get one of these -Izer figures, this is the one, just for sheer novelty.
The Bottom 5 Adventurers. Transmutate is the Bard.
10. War for Cybertron Trilogy Deluxe Sparkless Bot
Speaking of weird concepts, here’s something that was based on a terrible show, but divorced from that, makes for a great figure. The Cybertronian Datsun mold was one of Siege’s many, many solid Deluxes, so you’ve got a basically-perfect figure at the core of this, but colored in an elaborate, clever, unique deco.
You’ve never seen a Transformer that looks like this one, and it happens to be a good, easily available figure, too.
I’m a little bit biased, because the design fired my imagination, and I immediately repurposed them into a unique character, instead of a mindless zombie.
Here’s one that was a pleasant surprise. From the images of this guy, I really didn’t expect to like him as much as I did. But having him in-hand is where it all clicked.
Cheetor’s buttery smooth to transform, extremely poseable in both cat mode and robot mode, and just feels good in your hands, something that’s hard to quantify from pictures or writing alone.
He went from least-interesting, to one of my top Kingdom pics, just because of that.
Honorable Mention: Kingdom Voyager Tigatron
Complete with Dramatic Lighting!
I only just picked this guy up a few days before the year’s end, and I’ll write him up properly in 2022, but I’m going to put him on the same level as Cheetor, because he’s the same figure, but larger and with a slightly higher budget, along with all the good things that entails.
It is, after all, the Year of the Tiger.
Firstly, she’s a female Transformer with a normal, non-weird design.
Secondly, she changes into what’s probably the most poseable, expressive bird transformer ever.
This figure existing and turning out as good as it did feels like belated justice for an extremely underserved Beast Wars character, and that’s totally removed from it just being yet another really solid Deluxe, in a way that, like Cheetor, is hard to quantify in writing.
7. Kingdom Core Vertebreak and Dracodon
Core Class (formerly Legends) has always been a treasure trove of good little figures, especially the times they break from 80s and 90s updates, and do something original.
These two were a great, unique example of that, two pocket-sized dinosaur skeletons that changed into small, ball-jointed, expressive little people.
Everyone should own one of these Core figures, honestly, just pick a color you like better, gothic black, or radiation green.
6. War for Cybertron Trilogy Soundwave, with Ravage and Laserbeak
I’m ignoring price on this one, because like it or not, it’s an expensive buy, due to rarity and demand. However, if you have a shot at it, and it’s for a non-crazy markup, it’s definitely worth it, simply for being a near-perfect rendition of Soundwave, with two minions to interact with.
All of the best aspects of the War for Cybertron Trilogy’s design and engineering are on display here, in this chunky, simple, poseable, fun bit of nostalgia-bait.
As I said in the actual review, this is the last (mainline, G1) Soundwave I expect I’ll ever buy.
Numbers 10-6 get to enjoy some tunes.
This is probably the most cheat-y one on the list, but hey, I only got him this year, after finally watching the movies his altmode’s from.
A lot of the Collaboratives feel overpriced, but this is the rare case where you can see where that budget went.
The Siege Sideswipe tooling’s an all-timer, a good, flexible workhorse, and this retool proves it, taking a good base, and giving him a flashy makeover.
It’s not just that he’s now a Thing From A Movie You Know, it’s that he has a crazy-detailed altmode, with a ton of detail, and neat accessories, on top of all the good points of Sideswipe.
4. Studio Series 86 Voyager Hot Rod
This one was a big deal for me, because it meant that I completed my quest for a figure of my favorite character that was actually done right.
And done right it was, with this premium figure with a big pile of accessories, that even outdid the Masterpiece in terms of fidelity.
That’s them, that’s Hot Rod, exactly as I remember them, with all the bells and whistles, thanks to cramming a Voyager’s budget into a Deluxe-sized figure.
The only reason it’s not #1 is that they pulled off a few other miracles this year.
3. Generations Selects Voyager G2 Ramjet
I was already a bit more fond of the Earthrise Seeker tooling than a lot of the Transformers Internet seemed to be, but even if you didn’t care for it, this release gave it a new lease on life.
On one level, as a Generation 2 fan that watched a crude CGI replica of this specific design fly across his TV screen every weekday morning, this is some intense nostalgia bait.
But even removed from that, we’re looking at a lush, gorgeous set of colors, on a mold improved by just a little bit of retooling.
It all gels into something simple, but good. It’s just a good figure to grab and fiddle with, which I do, frequently.
2. Kingdom Leader Megatron (Beast)
Kingdom did a lot of great Beast Wars updates, but to me, this was the one that turned out the best, especially considering that at its size and complexity, it’s not the type of figure I’d usually spend a lot of time with (or even buy, since Leaders are a bit steep).
Imagine, a Leader-class figure that’s actually Leader-sized, and still fun.
Megatron’s surprisingly nice to transform, but more importantly, I love his poseable, expressive, rubber-skinned T-Rex mode, which just gives off good Dinosaur Toy Feelings, and his imposing, personality-laden robot mode.
There’s no need for a Masterpiece when I have this chunky purple lad.
1. Kingdom Commander Rodimus Prime
What’s better than Hot Rod? Bigger Hot Rod.
Yeah, as a Commander, this is an expensive piece, but they used that budget to put everything but the kitchen sink into the box.
What you get is a Bass-Boosted transforming Hot Rod with a sword, using the extra money to refine the Studio Series 86 design, add even more bells and whistles (and paint and joints), a huge base for the whole crew to chill on, and a gigantic pile of accessories (including blast effects to share with the whole team).
As an underappreciated, underrepresented leader, this feels like the character finally got her due, and this is the one figure I’ve been messing around with ever since I got them.
The Winner’s Float.
And there you have it! It’s been quite a year, and if you’ve stuck with my rambling, you can look forward to more reviews in 2022, as I finish off the Beast Wars cast, pick up some Legacy, and look at some of the more unusual things in my collection. I’m almost out of Retro Reviews to repost, so in the coming year, it’ll soon drop to one a week, but I don’t think I’ll ever stop yammering on about robots.
For over 100 Bot, Non-Bot, and Retro Bot Reviews, click here to view my archive.
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