Of course no look back at the year in fandom would be complete without the news. Through 2015 we did our best to keep you up to date with the latest news items, and we've tried to select a few that most stood out to us. As a toy-based fandom, it's not surprising most of what we picked relates to toy news, but that certainly isn't everything that caught our attention this year. Keep reading to see our picks, and stay tuned for one more important announcement as part of our Year In Review!
A conversation had among the RFC hosts during Botcon weekend went over the topic of "so, what can they do to excite us after Combiner Wars?" Such things come up when hanging out at the pool, you see. At the time, we had no idea what was in the works, and only vague hints to speculate off of on the banners mistakenly displayed at the Hasbro booth. Months later when Titans Return was officially revealed, well, there was the answer that we never anticipated seeing. The return to at least Headmasters and reviving neglected classic characters featuring that gimmick, plus incorporating new ones for the first time was very exciting. Plus the toys looked quite different from the (necessarily) rather self-same style among Combiner Wars. New molds, distinct styles, more gimmick play, fresh "Classics"-style updates. It’d be hard to not be enthusiastic given all that!
The surprise hit of Botcon 2015 easily had to be Birth of The Transformers, a panel presented by Kojin Ono that detailed the background and history of developing Diaclone, Microman and more to form the backbone of the Transformers line, including design and concept art, TV commercials, and rare images of testshots and carved wooden prototypes. A wealth of information was revealed over the course of about an hour in that panel room, and for all who were lucky enough to attend, it was a true highlight of this year’s show.
It was announced in June and released in October, which is amazingly short for any game’s hype cycle. The press was not provided with review copies before release, which is usually not a good sign. And the game, though fairly deep in terms of its brawler gameplay, is pretty short on a single playthrough. And despite all this, it turned out to be really good, and worth replaying a couple of times. It’s a very specific kind of game in the Dynasty Warriors vein, which promotes replay for better gear and improving stats. And if you’re into that kind of gaming, there’s something very satisfying about struggling your way up through Prime difficulty and then getting the (reference-heavy) weapons and upgrades that will ultimately make it a breeze.
IDW’s Optimus Prime has been... well, not the most effective character in the four years I’ve been reading their comics. With the (very) soft reboot in to the current structure of the main books, Optimus immediately discarded his name and went on a long country drive to figure out what was next. And through Dark Cybertron and Combiner Wars, he may have gotten his name back, but not much more. But this year we heard for the first time what the next chapter in Prime’s Midlife Crisis is to be: He’s going to conquer the Earth, for its own good! All Hail Optimus begins with The Transformers #50, and according to the solicitations and occasional interview so far, everyone in universe recognizes just how bad an idea this is going to be. Which I can only assume will make for a thoroughly entertaining read!
One thing everyone expected when going in to Botcon last summer was a reveal of some fresh material in to the Combiner Wars line. By that point we already knew of wave 4 being just recolors and remolds, but surely the Hasbro panel would have good news for us! But apart from Brawl and Sky Lynx, we had no such luck. It was made worse by SDCC, when the only further thing revealed apart from boxsets was Scattershot. It was about then that people started realizing that the best of Combiner Wars was almost entirely behind us already - and we still had a good ten months left with the line.
But of course, when you accept the reality that the line will majorly be molds used over and over, you have to look at best case scenarios for that. And nothing ended up feeling like a better case than G2 versions of Combiner Wars. As of this writing we already know three of the four planned original G2 sets are being reproduced, and it’s hard to believe Defensor alone would be left out before all is said and done. It may not be to everyone’s tastes, and that’s understandable. But I can’t help but see it as a silver lining to the cloud that fell over Combiner Wars.
So after expressing our frustrations at the lack of new molds in Combiner Wars - so many G1 combiners left to do! - you might be surprised to see us happy with something like this. But if you’re going to use existing molds and characters that are not traditionally combiners, this is the way to go about it: crazy. And who better to embody an outburst of crazy than G1 Galvatron? Grand Galvatron is a collection of dead/lost Transformers from various timelines and continuities using their grudge energy to form a new body for the Emperor of Destruction last seen in Japan’s Headmasters series. Using such diverse characters as Armada Thrust, the corpse of Prime Breakdown, the ghost of Starscream, and IDW Rook, Grand Galvatron is the polar opposite of Optimus Maximus, who was pretty clearly created just to keep the 1984 Gang on shelves. As much as I want to see new molds, I’m content with Takara reusing Combiner Wars for as long as they can bring the weird.
Oh, the pain of demanding accuracy to three-decades-old media in your modern toys. For the fan who just couldn’t tolerate Groove as an auxiliary torso component rather than an arm or a leg, there was good news and bad news. TakaraTomy, in their amazingly crazy attitude this year, decided to fix that problem. But it wound up being exclusive to a full Protectobots box set, forcing a double-dip for anyone who’d already gone in for the Hasbro releases. And to make it just a bit worse, Unite Warriors Defensor was the first to sell as a TakaraTomy Mall exclusive at a higher base price than Superion and Menasor’s sets before it. Yes indeed, you could have your 1986-accurate Defensor eventually, but at no small cost.
Georgia Ball gave us a lesson in the harsh realities of the comics business as she explained the factors that went into Robots In Disguise not continuing beyond issue number 6. That was a pity on a number of levels. Its role as The Kid-Friendly Transformers Comic was something I welcomed and felt was long overdue - and as much as I love IDW’s Transformers output, how weird and sad is that? And more importantly, it was good and it was fun. Ball did explain that the last two issues were more or less "bonus" issues granted above and beyond the original pitch, and I’m happy to have them. But I hope that this isn’t the last we see of Ball’s writing, Priscilla Tramontano’s art, or kid-friendly Transformers comics at IDW.
Granted, that’s not the entirety of Akiva Goldsman’s resume, but it’s the standout achievement... just not for any of the right reasons. There’s a few other entries on that list (Lost In Space, The Da Vinci Code) that are similarly cheesy, if not as manic. That said, his work on the genre series Fringe was very well-received. (Fringe is also an Orci/Kurtzman universe, so - for better or worse - that’s a style he’s used to working in.) It’s difficult not to prejudge this based on Goldsman’s history, but even moreso based on the history of the Transformers films themselves. The identities of the writers, and even whether or not a script was even in place before shooting started, are factors that have had fairly minimal impact on the resulting quality of Michael Bay’s Transformers films. So either Goldsman will have a minimal impact on the resulting film or he and Bay will just gel, and create something uniquely, enduringly awful.
And the news gets better! Paramount and Hasbro were so happy with Goldsman’s work on Transformers 5, and as head of the Transformers Cinematic Universe Writers’ Room, that he was tasked with taking the bulk of Hasbro’s 1980s properties - GI Joe, Micronauts, ROM the Spaceknight, Visionaries, and MASK - and shaping them into their own interconnected cinematic universe. This after the TFCU Writers’ Room produced two viable movies - one animated, one live-action - after producing somewhere around a dozen scripts in the process. With a chance of possible outcomes ranging from Transformers, to GI Joe, to Jem, it’s a difficult thing to decide whether to congratulate fans of the rest of Hasbro’s `80s toylines or offer our sympathies. Why not both?
It was probably not a bright future for Robots in Disguise right from the moment it was relegated to the 5am slot on Cartoon Network in first-run US broadcast. So it’s not very surprising that it appears season 2 will be the last, and much like Transformers: Prime before it, possibly have a short season run with a concluding TV-movie. While the unfavorable timeslot surely limited its potential audience reach, those who did take the extra effort to watch the show hold it in a favorable regard. And so it simply ends up a shame that a decent show with good potential to be mined if given the chance will never see any of that realized. But we can’t necessarily lay all blame upon Cartoon Network; 2017 being a movie year, all involved parties may just want to clear the table and focus on media supporting that instead.
Hi everybody. Thanks so much for all your responses! We've loved hearing from you and seeing all the different answers everybody had to their top picks for the last year. As of now the entry period for the giveaway is closed, and only replies prior to this post will qualify to win one of the prizes. We're going to start going through the entries and make our selections which will be announced live during the broadcast of Radio Free Cybertron on January 13, which you can watch embedded on the front page here at TFormers, or at tfradio.net/live. Afterward we'll be contacting the winners via private message here on the forum to arrange for delivery of the prizes.
Thanks again to everyone who contributed, and we hope we'll continue to see you around the forums!
Best Official Toy (Hasbro): Leader Class Ultra Magnus. ??????1/2 out of 4 stars. Extremely impressive transformation for a non-masterpiece figure.
Best Masterpiece Toy: MP-18B Bluestreak. ???????? Waited most of my life for this and got the perfect Transformer.
Best Unofficial (third party) Toy: MTRM-01 Cupola. ??????1/2. Always wanted a Chromedome with working elbows and knees,
Best Official Toy (H): CW Superion
Best Official Toy (TakTom): UW Devastator
Best Masterpiece Toy: Star Saber
Best Unffocial Toy: Maketoys Cupola
Best Storyline: Sins of the Wreckers
est Official Toy (Hasbro) - CW Rook
Best Official Toy (TakaraTomy) TFA Supreme Optimus Prime
Best Masterpiece Toy- MP Wheeljack
Best Unofficial (third party) Toy- MMC Sphinx
Best Comic Issue Or Storyline- Last Stand of The Wreckers
Best News Item (any category) Masterpiece Beast Wars Optimus Primal
Best Toy Reveal- Titan Return Fort Max
CW Devastator: I really, really didn't expect to like Devy so much. I bought him expecting disappointment, however was met with great articulation, cool bot and altmodes and a magnificent combiner.
I must admit that Tak has made some awesom stuff this year, but one that caught my attention was the Blackarachnia toy. It's just too nice to see a screen accurate version of the character being produced.
The entire load of reveals we got in 2015 was fantastic, but the Leader Class Blaster from Titans Return just blew me away, I never expected to see a Blaster that now only would turn into a boom-box, but also have a cool gimmick like headmasters and also be compatible with the new spy tablet figures.
Best Toy Reveal: Magnus, since I was in shock to see the IDW body with Minimus Ambus!
Best Hasbro toy: Combiner Wars Bruticus, because I like all the Combaticons separate and combined, but I cannot wait for the Unyte Warriors still!
Best Takara Toy: Legends Ultra Magnus. I would've put Magnus as my favorite Hasbro toy, but then the first three of my favorite things would've been Magnus... So I put Magnus as Takara's best toy since it had a superior paint job in my opinion.
Best Masterpiece Figure: Blue Bluestreak! He's blue and the Masterpiece Prowl mold... Need I say more?
Combiner Wars Ultra Magnus
Unite Warriors Groove
Masterpiece Tracks
Best official toy (Hasbro) - Bombshell
Best MP toy (Takara) - Mp Star Saber
Best official toy (Takara) - Unite Wars Devastator
Hey!! I'm back, baby!!
My picks are:
Best Hasbro Official toy: Combiners Wars Superion! He's / They're just so awesome!! I'm still just not tired of messing with them! Even with Slingshot not in my particular arrangement, they cannot stop being cool! Great figures/ Great Combiner
Best Takara Tomy Official toy: Legends Ultra Magnus! I have the Combiners Wars version but those colors on Legends Ultra...Just as true blue as Ultra Magnus should be! Great Great!!
Best Masterpiece: Diaclone Blue Bluestreak! Nuff Said! He just looks awesome!!
Best 3rd Party Transformer: I can't pick just one so, in all their incarnations, all the Insecticons! Great engineering and just some of the tightest transformation schemes I've seen in a long while!
Best Storyline: Alita-1's arrival! Cans we has more Fembots, please??
Best news story: Combiners Wars Cartoon!! What?! So much awesome!!
Best Toy Reveal: A tossup: Masterpiece Diaclone Bluestreak and Titan Wars Galvatron ... Because, I wasn't expecting either of those guys to hit the shelves! I need both!
Best Hasbro Toy: CW Devastator - It took thirty some years, but Hasbro has done great work in providing fans and new fans to this awesome figure which resembles the beloved Decepticon gestalt we all enjoy. In sculpt design, colors, and functionality it is a good toy. I've watched numerous reviews on this fig and despite the negative comments, I look forward to having this fig in my collection.
Best Toy Reveal: Power Master Optimus Prime. The improved look of this figure is AMAZING looking forward to seeing what Hasbro does with this series Titans Returns
Best Takara Toy: Decepticon Nightbird, I've always wanted to see more of this character when it was introduced in the series episode, "Enter the Nightbird" To see it now done even in the Generations release remolding of Arcee is still amazing. Giving that Fem fatal edge to the Decepticon ranks.
Best Hasbro Toy: CW Bruticus
Best Takara Toy: MP Bumblebee
Best Reveal: Thunder Mayhem
Best Official Toy (Hasbro) – Combiner Wars Titan Class Devastator! The articulation of the combined form, despite its size, and the fact it’s a combiner and holds together perfectly is amazing. The sculpts of the combined mode as well as all of his individual Constructicon parts, in both robot and alt modes are superb!
Best Official Toy (Takara Tomy) – Legends LG15 Nightbird Shadow! Great rendition of a previously used mold with newly sculpted head. Additional unique weapons and an excellent homage to the original cartoon character.
Best Masterpiece Toy – MP-11T Thundercracker! The modifications made to the transformation/figure since my first experience with it’s like (Hasbro Masterpiece Starscream) were a breath of fresh air! They made this figure far more like one should expect from a Masterpiece series.
Best Unofficial (3rd Party) Toy – WarbotronWB01-E Fierce Attack (aka Onslaught)! Not only does this figure complete the (not) Combaticons set to make the very impressive “Brute” combiner, but this guy is massively impressive all on his own. The Transformation, sculpting, paint applications, articulation and plastic quality are all top notch!
Best Comic Issue or Storyline – Combiner Wars storyline! It was fun to have a story to go along with the figures being produced outside of the latest animated series.
Best News Item – Voting between Omega Supreme, Trypticon and Scorponok as the next Titan class figure!
Best Toy Reveal – Early shots of Titans Return Leader Class Power Master Optimus Prime!
Sorry for the double post, I can't edit.......
anyway:
Best Official Toy: Combiner Wars Prowl. ( He just looks so nice, especially when you compare him to the rest of his team. )
Best News Item: Combaticon Awareness Week. ( I just though it was very interesting to remind myself of all the good and bad that a Bruticus had to offer throughout the years. )
Best Toy Reveal: Masterpiece Optimus Primal ( As someone who doesn't currently collect Masterpiece figures and is a huge fans of Beast Wars, I am excited for this. I home it turns out well. )
Best official toy. Hasbro: leader class ultra magnus
Best official toy takara: transformers unite protectobots with groove
Best masterpiece: tracks
Best Official Toy (H): Platinum Insecticons Old look with new plastic just brought back the nostalgia, just what I wanted out of them.
Best Official Toy (TakTom): Nightbird I cant believe they went that far back and made a toy for her after this long you would think everything had been done.
Best Masterpiece Toy: Road Rage Looks gorgeous the colors really pop. I had never known of this repaint.
Best Unofficial Toy: Sever I love the transformation. Looks complicated but super fun.
Best news Item: Combiner Wars animation announcement I cant wait for a more adult styled cartoon.
Best Toy Reveal: Titan Master Galvatron A headmaster Galvatron is just a brilliant idea. Center table was a good call.
Best Official Toy (H): CW Rook.
Best Official Toy (TakTom): UW Defensor
Best Masterpiece Toy: Tracks
Best Unffocial Toy: Shuraking Thunderous
Best Storyline: MTME Brainstorm's Arc.
Best news Item: rumor of CW Predaking
Best Toy Reveal: Masterpiece Tracks
Best Hasbro Toy: Deluxe Class Rook. Hasbro went all out on Rook,his unconventional weapon ports plus his bulky proportion make for a really good combination.
The Best Toy Reveal: Combiner Wars Bruticus
Best Takara Figure:Unite Warriors Scrapper
