Top 10 Transformers of 2024

Even though I haven’t been doing much in the way of toy reviews on the site this past year…mainly due to the ever-growing mess that is my den…with most hobbies providing their top-10 lists for 2024, I figured I should probably jump on the bandwagon. It is worth noting that none of the pictures within this article are mine. If they aren’t stock photos, I’ll try my best to give credit where it’s due.

Honorable Mentions

While these are typically reserved for entries that didn’t quite make the list…okay, one of these does fit that criteria…I wanted to take this as an opportunity to highlight some Transformers-adjacent items that I found INCREDIBLY addicting this year. You’ll see what I mean as we get going.

Blokees

With a style that can be best described as Lego minifig mixed with Transformers and just the slightest inkling toward SD (Super Deformed) or chibi…Blokees’ entire array of model kits had me hooked throughout the entire year. Yes, most of the spotlight goes to their Galaxy Series and perhaps rightly so…as these quick, blind-boxed kits take a mere 10-15 minutes to assemble and result in a highly poseable, stylized 3.5 inch figure. And these things proved to be the plastic equivalent of Pringles: I found that when I got a new box of 9, once I popped the first one open, I wasn’t stopping until the entire box was done. I also had the chance to collect all of their Rise of the Beasts Classic Class kits as well. These proved to be slightly taller, came with an LED in the core/chest and had an increased parts count that bumped the time needed to complete the kit to around maybe an hour…give or take. Highly detailed, yet still stylized, these kits proved to be just as addicting as their smaller kin. On top of all of this, the kits themselves at both levels are pretty inexpensive: around $7 for the individual Galaxy Class kits and around $14 for the Classics. I’m looking forward to jumping up to the $35 Action Class soon and I hope that Blokees keeps churning these guys out! These little guys have taken the fandom by storm, and rightly so. Check out the numerous reviews out there and take it from me…the hype is real.

Shinkalion: Change the World

I’ve talked about this Takara line before (see our Shinkalion Z figure reviews here) and its next iteration proved to be a fantastic evolution. The mixing and matching from the Z line is still there and so is the ability to combine with a support vehicle to allow for armored-up forms, but now there’s the added layer of being able to combine with the other trainbots to form three-member combiners! Yes, the downside is still there when it comes to all the trains transforming identically…and yes, they’re still parts-formers too. However, as Transformers continue to nod to past lines, if you’re looking for an update to your Car Robots/RiD 2001 Rail Racer, you need to add at least 3 of these guys to your collection. However, there are larger sets that mix things up: Dr. Yellow and the evil Hades Shinkalion. Plus, all things considered, these bots are actually fairly cheap for imports as a set of one train and one support vehicle usually will only run you about $35. Given that these guys typically stand a little taller than the standard Voyager-class Transformer, which shares this price point, I feel it’s a good value for the money. Of course, the kick in the cajónes will be the shipping costs from Japan, as American online toy stores a pretty inconsistent with bringing these guys stateside. But if you’ve got the extra cheddar to get ‘em here, they’re VERY worth it!

HasLab Deathsaurus

While most people got theirs late in 2023, I ended up ordering from a third-party vendor (Thanks TFSource!) and thus he didn’t arrive on my doorstep until February 2024. Like Blokees though, this figure lives up to all the hype from the various well-known YouTube reviewers: great transformation, awesome in both modes and accessories that only serve to amplify the greatness of this Emperor of Destruction. As much as I love 2022’s Star Saber/Victory Leo combo, Deathsaurus shows how HasLab has truly evolved. While there were some minor flaws with the former, the latter is practically flawless. If this evolution continues, I very much look forward to RiD 2001’s Omega Prime topping this list next year.

Okay…enough stalling. Let’s get down to business.

#10 – Transformers Legacy United: Beast Wars Silverbolt

Stretching all the way back to War for Cybertron: Kingdom, the current design teams at both Hasbro and Takara have been knocking these Beast Wars updates out of the park. Legacy United carries on this proud tradition. While Core Class Beast Wars II Tasmania Kid and Leader Class Tigerhawk fell a little short of making this list, although both still quite excellent and highly recommended, Silverbolt here stood out as the best of these updates in this year’s line. Taking everything that made the original mold great and adding additional articulation, most notably wings that fold down onto the back and a waist swivel, this did what the best updates do, embody the toy we THINK we had back then. Granted, he’s not perfect…some of the hollowness, especially on the undersides of the wings/feathers can be incredibly detracting, but the good here far outweighs that bad. Perhaps the best thing I can say about him is that as I sit here in retrospect, Silverbolt makes me wish we had a few more entries into the Beast Wars characters than we ended up getting…as there are still several that either need to be done or need to be re-done (Cheetor…I’m looking at you…).

#9 – Transformers Legacy United Armada Tidal Wave

For me, the Titan Class figure of each year is an event. It’s built up to from its revelation and the anticipation only grows until I get that notification from Big Bad Toy Store (except with maybe the exception of Cybertron Metroplex. I mean…I like him and all, but he really wasn’t on my top 20 most wanted for the Titan Class treatment). With the release of Armada Megatron back in last year’s Legacy Evolution, we knew that Tidal Wave had to be coming soon. Plus, let’s face it, he’s been high on most fans’ wish-lists for much of the current Titan Class run, including my own. Thankfully, he’s everything you could want in an updated Tidal Wave. He’s imposing, he still has combination capabilities with Armada Megatron…although your mileage may vary about how they pulled that off…and his increased articulation improves on what was already a stand-out mold from back in the day. The way they pulled off the combination ability with Armada Megs is pretty interesting: instead of breaking apart the Titan and adding it to the smaller-than-they-used-to-be Leader class figure, Tidal Wave harbors (see what I did there?) smaller versions of his components all over his body that do the combining. Even better is that these bits do transform into a mini version of the Dark Fleet. Still, I can’t help but wonder how much of an increase in tooling (and thus price) it would have been to allow these smaller parts to combine into a mini-warship or even a mini-Tidal Wave. And I’m not gonna lie, there’s a sizeable part of me that thinks this is a serious missed opportunity…especially when you consider the extra work they did for a largely forgettable “base mode”. There’s one last “flaw” that, for me, kept Tidal Wave from climbing much higher on the list: his coloration. I mean…I get it, the current design philosophy is “animation good…toy bad!” Unfortunately, it’s one I really disagree with…and definitely so in this case. The current Titan reflects his appearance in the Armada/Micron Densetsu animation, consisting mostly of grays and purples. The US toy, however, had a much more diverse color pallet, with green, gold and an off-white added to the already present gray and purple, making for a more striking visual presence.

#8 – Transformers Legacy United G1 Optimus Prime

Often nicknamed “we have Missing Link Prime at home” or “budget Missing Link Prime”, this both hits the nail on the head yet also kinda betrays an elitism inherent in at least some of the more hardcore collectors among us. Do I have Missing Link Optimus? Yep. Have I opened him up and played with him? Once. Am I ever going to touch him again? Maybe not. The piece is just a little too far on the expensive side for it to be an adequate shelf or desk bot. You know, the ones that really aren’t part of your collection, they’re kept at a location where they’ll give your hands something to do while you’re involved with something else, whether its work, watching TV or what have you. This little guy scratches that itch so, so well for much less money. While some reviewers have criticized this toy for feeling cheap or having a lesser plastic quality, well, hey, I’m no expert in polymers or plastics (as I’m sure these people are…with their “whacking with a pencil” test and what have you…), but he feels fine to me. I will say that the mechanism they decided on regarding hiding and revealing the hands feels flimsy and prone to breakage, but I suspect that more an engineering flaw than having anything to do with plastic quality. Now, admittedly, the clear “glass” in his chest does have a roughness that resembles 3D printed plastic, but I felt that it was small enough to not really detract from the look. There are additional positives, for example the rubber tires and the accessories, but if you’re going for a pure G1 toy vibe the way this Optimus purports to, then there’s some very vital things missing: Decals or Tampographs. The G1 toy very notably had stickers on each of his forearms, each of his knees and each of his feet that gave him a distinct appearance apart from his animated counterpart. All of those are absent and is possibly our first hint that while G1 Prime isn’t “cheap”, he likely fell on the lower end of the cost budget for this wave. Our second clue is…well…he is TINY. He stands somewhere between a head or head-and-a-half taller than the smaller minibot deluxe updates and a head shorter than the average Deluxe class figure. Not nearly the presence you would want in ANY Optimus toy, even at this lower price point. And while a stop over to ToyHax might solve the first of these issues, there’s no buying this Prime lifts or the like to nudge him upward. These two things end up keeping this official release in the bottom half of this list. That said…man, I kinda wonder what some of the more notable KO…er…I mean Fourth Party…companies might do with this guy. A slightly oversized Black Mamba rendition might end up being the perfect representation, but who know if or when that might happen.

#7 – Transformers Legacy United Cybertron Starscream

Another past line of Transformers that got some love this year was the final act of the Unicron Trilogy, Transformers Cybertron. Representing this era in Legacy United we got Hot Shot, Vector Prime and Starscream. Hot Shot proved to be not much of an upgrade. Not bad, mind you, but I feel like he didn’t do enough to separate him from his previous version. Vector Prime was almost the opposite, this latest rendition almost did too much to separate him from the previous incarnation! Credit where it’s due, I’d have never thought to derive him from a heavily remolded Legacy Jihaxus, but in doing so, it feels like they cheaped out a bit. The leftover connectors for Jihaxus’ foot wings and no really good storage for the sword are the prime exhibits in my case here. And while I would have preferred that the ship mode have a longer nose to it, it’s seeming stubbiness doesn’t detract too much. Starscream, however, is simply perfect. He’s exactly what you’d want out of not only an updated take on the character, but also filling a hole in the old collection that saw no Voyager scale incarnation. Instead, the only Starscream that dropped stateside was the Supreme class version intended to take on Primus himself. As I mentioned when talking about Tidal Wave, I’m never gonna knock a larger toy, it’s this normal sized version of the character that was present for the majority of the series and, aside from those that were able to import the Takara version, presented a gaping hole in both collecting and play. That said, while there are some nods to the original transformation scheme, there are some interesting twists and turns that not only facilitate increased articulation (waist swivel and better movement to the arms, no longer encumbered by the swords that run along the sides) but serve to further enhance the appearance. I’ll admit, the position of this guy on the list was harder than I thought it would be. It turns out that the only reason he’s on the bottom half of this list is that the rest of the bots where just that good. Well, except for #6, but he ranks higher for a different reason that we’ll get into…now.

#6 – Transformers/G.I. Joe Collaboration Kup/Triple T Tank

The collabs with G.I. Joe have been a point of debate amongst the fandom…and there are excellent points to both sides. Yes, the line up to this point has produced some fantastic replicas of old Joe toys with that bonus play feature of turning into recognizable Autobots and Decepticons, but, also yes, it’s very clear that these robot modes come second and given a lot of the hollow nature of these molds…more so than mainline since these have to accommodate the Joes or Cobras that they’re packaged with…and with that does come a cheaper feel to them. Megatron was a good start to grow from, certainly not perfect but an excellent proof of concept while Bumblebee was an unmitigated mess. Soundwave would show the improvement we’d expect from a second wave, but man…nothing prepared me for what Kup was going to do. Kup and his alt mode Triple T Tank really nails the assignment: an excellent looking bot mode, a great replica of an old Joe vehicle and an interesting transformation process to get from one to the other. Yes, there’s a backpack (although somewhat explainable here) and yeah…the plastic still doesn’t feel the greatest, but largely…it’s solid. Both modes look and play great and if this is what’s to come for future Collabs…I’m seriously stinkin’ excited. Is this toy objectively better than our previous entry, Cybertron Starscream. No. But Kup here absolutely nails the task he was given…and while it might be damning with faint praise to say he’s the best of his kind thus far, the fact that it stands out so well amongst its kind only helps it to shine brighter. That’s what lifted him into the number 6 postion.

#5 – Transformers Legacy Fractured Friendship 2-pack Orion Pax

A heavy remold of the Studio Series Gamer Edition WFC Optimus Prime, this is what the original mold needed to be in the first place. Brilliantly modeled after his appearance in the IDW comics, this version of Optimus/Orion Pax is nearly perfect for what it needs to be. It improves on all the weaknesses of the original issuance: no more gaps in the rear of the vehicle mode for one and a rifle he can actually hold for starters. Also, his bright and vibrant colors that just make this toy…pop. He evokes the superior yet almost excessively complicated Mastermind Creations Optus Pexus while being far more toyetic: fun to transform and fun to pose. There are some drawbacks, although none of these are particularly the fault of this toy. First up: San Diego Comic Con exclusive. Not a huge hurdle, mind you, as Hasbro Pulse has been good in the last couple of years in making sure to get these online with enough stock that most collectors won’t have to pay scalper prices. Hell, he’s still in stock at the time of this writing (1/11/2025). But the biggest piece of baggage holding him back is that in order to get him, you also have to buy YET ANOTHER slight remold/repaint of the Siege Megatron mold. If I’m counting correctly from tfwiki.net, this would make the NINTH iteration of the mold. While my copy didn’t have the horrific looseness and pieces falling off as the one that came with my Rise of Tyranny version, there’s still a few signs of mold degradation. Rightly so given how overused this mold has become. But, yeah, having to buy this thing again really ends up bogging down the far superior Orion Pax to keep this figure at just the halfway mark.

#4 – Marvel Comics Edition Straxus

Yes, I know it’s a Galvatron remold and yes, while that mold certainly hasn’t been replicated as many times as the aforementioned Siege Megatron, it’s safe to say that it is “well-travelled”…but goddamn. Not only does this nearly perfectly depict the comics rendition of this character but this version of the mold is more fun than it has any right to be. The vehicle mode is spot on from how it was depicted and while you could nitpick about tiny details in the robot mode, the fact that this variation takes a character that looked like maybe he had just a little too much energon while casting Autobot refugees into the Smelting Pit and turns him into a toy that damn well ought to instill fear amongst not only the Autobots in your collection, but many of the Decepticons too. To be fair, it’s been a long time since any attempt was made to bring this guy into the modern era, Universe Darkmount back in 2010…and even then the design was more of a modern re-imagining than a straight adaptation, as the line was doing back then…so any refresh or update to this seemingly minor character in the lore was definitely going to be welcomed, but man, oh man did Hasbro really knock this one out of the park. Even the comic book shading, present on all the toys in this series…and usually my biggest detractor from buying any of them, never interferes with the visual of this guy. The black stripes look like they belong there and the few dots there to mimic the print quality of those 80s comics barely register unless you really look. As I heard another reviewer (I think it was Thew Adams) say, ‘this toy did not have to go this hard,’ but by doing so, it made it one of the must-have Transformers of 2024.

#3 – Transformers One Brave Commander Optimus Prime

In an age where there’s an increasing uniformity in the products offered by both Hasbro and Takara, damned if the Japanese side of this equation doesn’t manage to sneak out an exclusive or two. And, as you’d expect, their product generally outshines any unique offerings Hasbro may release. I was cool on picking up the previous occurrence of this, Rise of the Beasts’ Ultimate Optimus Primal (Such a mistake, thankfully I was able to track one down much after the fact. What a fun toy!) but upon seeing pictures of Brave Commander Optimus Prime…oh, hell yes, that was an immediate pre-order. As I already mentioned, this spurred me to get the previous exclusive and the quality of that toy only amped up my expectation further.

Let me tell you, I was not disappointed. Now, if I were to say that this is THE definitive rendition of Transformers One’s eventual Autobot commander, that would be damning with faint praise, as neither the mainline nor the Studio Series renditions were all that…well…good. Okay, the mainline figure was good…but Studio Series? When your transformation has the arms blatantly sticking out? Ugh. Brave Commander here does what any Transformer needs to do to not only be a good toy, but to stand out head and shoulders above the rest: Good articulation, engaging yet not overly complicated transformation, play features that don’t feel forced onto the toy or inhibit any of the major functions/main points of articulation and most of all, it’s gotta be FUN. This guy ticks all of those boxes. You’ll get him into any number of dynamic poses. The transformation, like our #8 entry, is great to just sit and fiddle with. The spring-out shoulder blasters and face-swap mechanic don’t intrude on anything…although those blasters are on a bit of a hair trigger. If you could distill the essence of the animated film this toy was based on down into plastic form, this would be it: fun enough for kids, deep enough for adults.

#2 – Studio Series 86 Optimus Prime

This guy sits atop most of these kinds of lists, either in the first or, like mine, in the second. And it’s not difficult to see why: if you wanted a screen accurate cartoon Optimus, this is it. No question about it, this guy walked out of your TV screen and into your grubby little collector mitts. It maintains the core transformation patterns that go all the way back to G1 all the while factoring in a bunch of nuances that allow both modes to bear such a strong resemblance to their animated counterparts. The reviews that call this figure a Masterpiece are not exaggerating, especially even now when, at least for me, the Masterpiece line has lost A LOT of its luster. Seriously, watch transformation videos of both this and the most recent MP iteration of Optimus, MP-44, and tell me which one you’d rather play with. Core bot aside, the trailer far overshadows its predecessor from Earthrise, coming with Roller as opposed to having to buy him separately (either through Third Parties like Nonnef or via the very hard to get accessory pack with the Centurion-bot repaint of Brunt), bearing a better resemblance to its G1 counterpart and having a more substantial feeling repair drone within. Heck, just the heft of it…where the Earthrise trailer felt weak and a little flimsy, this one…well, you couldn’t kill a man with it, but you’ll for damn sure give him a headache if you knock him upside the head with it!

And while he’s close to perfect…he isn’t. Granted, these shortcomings are far from dealbreakers, but they are just enough to keep this toy from being the ONE and ONLY Optimus your collection is ever going to need. First, even though the trailer is great, the monochromatic interior is…ugh. There needed to be some color in here. I get that I’m more of a toy-look guy than a cartoon-look one, but whew…this trailer, aside from the repair drone, looks like it’s already died and faded to gray and is now just waiting for Prime to inevitably do the same. I’ll make that same criticism about the exterior. Yes, I know that the stripe running down the trailer wasn’t colored or detailed in the animation like it was on the G1 toy, but again, there’s something to be said about a splash of color to break up the unending gray. And no, that Autobot logo isn’t enough. At least, not for me. To switch gears to the core bot, unfortunately the first run of these figures had an assembly error in the feet, putting the pieces that would become the heel spurs from the rear taillights upside down and on the wrong legs. It’s an uncomplicated fix (though neither quick nor easy), but the fact I have to correct any errors like this is a strike. To offset that though, this error doesn’t seem to bother the majority of collectors, so you may be fine just to leave it alone. But once I knew about it, it bugged me…so call it OCD or whatever, but yeah, I needed to fix it pronto. The shoulder smokestacks, while they remain attached to the figure well and (kinda) lock into place to stay upright in robot mode, it’s easy to knock ‘em loose and when you do, boy are they loose. While I get that you do need to do a little rotation of the smokestacks during transformation to get them out of the way, I feel like there had to be a better way to do this. This loose nature could make maintaining poses, such as for photography, difficult, resulting in some unflattering droopage.

Plus, as I’ve said several times over, I’m just not that beholden to the Animation look. My perfect Prime would be a mix of the two looks, the streamlined silhouette of the animation yet with all the detail and techno-kibble of the toy. So while he is indeed GREAT…he’s just a tiny bit shy from being my ONE and ONLY. Maybe, like the aforementioned Legacy G1 Prime, the folks at Toyhax can help to elevate this guy to perfection.

#1 – Transformers Legacy United Beast Wars Neo Magmatron

When the main artwork for this last phase of the Legacy line was unveiled, the minute my eyes locked on the central figure, I knew that unless they utterly bolloxed it up, this was gonna be Transformer of the year. It was so unexpected, such a deep cut and so instantly nostalgic for my college days when I had only just started to import Takara product into my fledgling Collection 2.0. The original Magmatron was such a seemingly impossible thing that when you got it in hand and saw that it was indeed not only possible, but also sporting much of the poseablity of his Beast Wars comrades, you knew you were holding something special. And perhaps Hasbro at the time thought so too, because even they imported it as a Target exclusive for the Beast Machines: Dinobots subline. As we’ve moved on in time, yes, the current design team at Hasbro has been good about throwing in a Japanese character from the lore here and there…but the design challenges, and, well, the sheer obscurity of Magmatron…I don’t think anyone had this guy on their bingo card. But here he is…in the fleshy-molded plastic…and of course he’s fantastic. Just the modern articulation this guy can pull off is astounding…so much so that it will help you overlook all the things that kinda get in the way. The way each of the dinosaur modes feel largely uncompromised by the larger bot that they have to form.

And no. We’re not talking about orgy-saurus. I didn’t do it with the original, I’m not doing it here. But I’m happy for anyone that wants to go in this direction…you sicko.

The Japanese have a tendency in their series that go beyond the American versions to show any Decepticon or Predacon leader as superior to their respective Megatrons, each worthy of the title Emperor of Destruction. And just like the previously discussed Deathsaurus, Magmatron embodies and validates this point of view. This is very clearly a Predacon that can knock BW Megatron on his ass and put him in his place. And honestly, I’d be hard-pressed to find a Decepticon he couldn’t knock around either (again, except for Deathsaurus). If you’re a Beast Wars fan, this is a must buy. If you’re a Transformers fan, this is a must buy. [And if you still look down your nose at Beast Wars at this point in the fandom, you really need to think long and hard about why you’re still here. – Ed.]

All in all, 2024 was a pretty solid year for the franchise. There were certainly enough entries that made creating this list difficult. At the same time though, researching this was more fun than I thought it would be. Who knows? I may succumb to the internet trend of countdowns after all, as I’m already thinking about how I’d break down 2023.

Maybe there’s more to come…