The best Transformers of 2021

 Another dreadful year of higher up control. But let's recap this year of my favorite Kingdom, 86 Studio series, and whatever figures I opened up this year. This year was a little different due to the fact Kingdom consisted mainly of Beast wars figures (I'm not into BW), so to make a top 5 out of that category was going to be fairly slim and difficult. Same for the 86 line since I didn't get everyone. I do have a Sharkticon 86 review but he will have to settle for a 2022 post and possibly a re-edit "best of" post if the character warrants such a change. 

Transformers Kingdom

Inferno

The mold was made for him. Colors are vibrant. He looks good and plays well overall. An improvement over Grapple. 

86 Studio Series

Grimlock

Sweep

Grimlock is a 86 masterpiece done well plus Sweep whose lighter colors doesn't detract any value from the original Scourge figure. In fact, the wings are tightened and not loose as in comparison to Scourge. Despite being a repaint of Scourge, Sweep is still a pretty good figure. 

Legends and Netflix

Topspin and Twintwist

Octane

Megatron

Soundwave

I started to open up some of my figures late. Topspin and Twintwist were simply amazing figures. Lots of replay value for Octane thanks to the ghost Starscream gimmick. Megatron with his nicely painted scheme is a robust looking figure (thanks to Darkonen for supplying me this bad boy). Lastly, Soundwave, immaculate as always stands out in this category as the true last years release (my version is the Japanese NF released that year). 

Honorable mentions: Improved outlook







Sunstreaker who is arguably the blandest looking character in the ER line from 2020 had the most improved look thanks to the upgrades Nonnef supplied. Not to mention, he also supplied Smokescreen's shoulder canon stacks making the figure more G1 looking accurate. 

Thank you folks. 2021 turned out pretty well. Most of the figures were great. Don't get me wrong but these were the ones that stood out to me. Anyhow, thank you once again and I'll see you next time. 

Update: 5/5/22

Kingdom Rodimus Prime

Despite the fact I opened him up earlier this year, he was released back in 2021 so I'll give him that much. Although I feel he is overpriced due to his trailer, he is made with high quality plastic. Fun to play with overall. 

Nonnef Earthrise Sunstreaker upgrades and Nonnef Earthrise Smokescreen upgrades versus classic comparisons

 Earthrise Sunstreaker vs Henkei Sunstreaker (Team Sunstreaker)

Earthrise Smokescreen vs Universe Smokescreen (Team Smokescreen)

I think the ER versions are my definitive versions of both characters though the classic versions still have some redeeming qualities such as the nice mustard yellow of the Henkei Streaker and I dig the alt version of Smokescreen (also has the correct number). I'll let the pictures do the talking. Take care folks and Jesus loves you. 

Transformers War for Cybertron: Earthrise top 5 figures

 Today I just pick my War for Cybertron: Earthrise top figures. Like Siege, there were a couple figures I still haven't opened so my list may be updated down the line. This is only on the figures I've opened, played and examined thus far. Without delay, let's get started!

Trailbreaker

Bluestreak, Smokescreen, Prowl.

Thundercracker, Skywarp, Starscream

Ironhide and Ratchet

Runabout and Runamuck.

For once I'm going to say there is no order for the most part in whom I liked better. I was really wowed by the Siege line after a fairly average Power of the Primes line. I really had difficulty picking someone I really liked in this line. I had an easy time with Siege however. 

I guess what made this list a bit intriguing is that half of the guys on this list were exclusives. 

What was also striking was that I liked most of these guys halfway through the season. I remember not caring too much when we initially got Cliffjumper, Hoist, and Wheeljack etc... They were great figures but Cliffy was too overpriced for a deluxe figure, Hoist felt basic comparing to Trailbreaker, and Wheeljack felt incomplete. 

I think this all started to change for me when it hit the Target 2 pack exclusive of Skywarp and Thundercracker. At first I saw that these guys were just upgrades of the classics versions a few years back, but all too soon, I truly saw how these guys were the new seekers in the house and more respectively closer to their G1 anime counterparts. The only real complaint here was they had no waist swivel. They did look and played better than their classic counterparts overall. Oh don't forget Starscream. 

Trailbreaker was a vast improvement over Hoist mainly due to the extra backpack and shoulder canon giving him extra arsenal. He was more fun to play actually because of this. 

The Datsun brothers Smokescreen, Prowl and Bluestreak turned out to be fairly entertaining in some areas. I was amazed how they captured Smokescreen's likeness from the cartoons, Prowl looking decent with the nice translucent shins, and Bluestreak looking the best imo of the trio. The only drawback was they did feel light, had huge skate looking feet, small shoulder cannons for SS and BS, and a brittle rifle which came with Prowl (though some fans had issue with SS and BS's rifles as well). My Prowl also chipped parts of his plastic as I transformed him a 2nd time. My TF buddy Darkonnen said the Earthrise line did use lighter plastic and you can clearly feel it in these guys. 

Iron-hide and Ratchet grew on me weeks after I opened them. Initially wasn't impressed by their Siege make over. However, I started to like their G1 do-over thanks to that glass re-do on their chests. I just wish they weren't too much of a partformer and maybe they could had done something about the feet on alt mode. It kinda throws the whole van mode off. Also, its probably just my Ratchet, but I can't complain enough on how his flaps and even his shin pops off easy. Mold over-use at this point? 

Surprisingly, Runabout and Runamuck made this list. They were impressive figures and something about Runabouts red translucent parts still amaze me till this very day. Perhaps they would had been my actual number one in this list if it wasn't for their shoddy alt mode. I, like, some other fans got really disappointed as some of the configurations don't lock in place. The Battle Chargers are definitely a force to be reckon with... in robot mode that is. 

Oh well, on to the rest of 2021. Take care folks and let God take control. See you. 

*Update 1/4/22*

I guess this is no longer a top 5 but Allicon is definitely an awesome ER figure. He belongs in this list as well. 

Toy Review: Transformers War for Cybertron WFC-E31 Ironhide and Prowl Autobot Alliance 2 pack Amazon Exclusive! Transformers Toys Generations War for Cybertron: Earthrise Deluxe WFC-E31 Autobot Alliance 2-Pack

 

You should know that the government has an Agenda and it's not saving lives.

At long last, the Autobot Alliance 2 pack arrives! Without delay, let's get started!

Boxing and packaging

This is your packaging? Included is the map piece. No instructions used here. 

Ironhide and Prowl robot mode

Ironhide

Prowl

Prowl has the ports to place shoulder cannons but no shoulder cannons was packaged with his figure.

Iron-hide has his G1 looking windshield and he comes packaged with a small blaster and surfboard err... shield. Though he can make use of it as a surfboard. His shield also has some mini cannons stacked in one end. It's a nice little add-on and it has some decent replayability and photo-op. Sadly, this is the feature that has torn up some of the TF community known as "Part formers." I'm ok with it though. You can plug it behind his back but it does look like he is wearing a trench coat or something. Iron-hide is a retool/remold of his Siege version. 

Prowl is molded after Bluestreak and Smokescreen. What makes his figure a little jarring is the lack of shoulder cannons as I pointed out. I understand they were either going with the G1 cartoon look where he didn't have it, but you can see they left the indents which gives the possibility for third party sellers to create surplus and for those who want to recreate his G1 toy figurine where it actually came with shoulder missiles. Another glaring omission is his lack of police insignias he sported in the original g1 toys and anime. Of course, we will be paying more once again just to get this rectified with third parties. Ugh. I do like Prowl's Translucent shins despite his feet being like

Smokescreens/Bluestreaks huge skate feet. 

Comparisons with Siege Iron-Hide, Earthrise Bluestreak and Smokescreen. Also Alt mode. 

The Datsun Brothers

I want to point here as I was playing with Prowl, his blaster was brittle and started to fall apart. You can see the bent shape. If I start pulling/push this part, it will break eventually. I heard of some reports how the Datsun brothers have this issue. Though I heard it is random for some will say it was their Bluestreak that has it, some will say Smokescreen, and I, like a few others, have this issue with Prowl. It seems like I may have to invest in third party like I was talking about earlier. Ugh.

*update* I forgot to point this out but Smokescreen has a different bumper/chest in comparison to Prowl/Bluestreak. 

Weapons are inter-changeable though it is jarring once again to see Prowl lacking cannons of his own. If you are familiar to Bluestreak/Smokescreen's transformation, this part is very easy to get to. It was also then I found out you could remove Prowls lightbar to mimic the 5mm the other Datsun brothers share. 

Iron-Hide

Earthrise Iron-Hide as you can see is a remold/retool like I said of his Siege counterpart. His shield now forms the top of his earth van mode which resembles his G1 toy/cartoon mode more closely. Strangely, he has the Datsun brother ports for you to stick the shoulder cannons for extra firepower. Unlike, Siege Iron-hide, the ER version shares the inconsistent different shades of coloring. I'm not sure why this feature is coming about, but you will see light red in some parts and darker in others. If you are familiar with the Siege transformation. It is the same for ER IH here, but all you are doing is inserting a top hood onto his alt mode. I wish they could had did something with the feet that is sticking out in the back. It still looks weird. But I actually thought it was cool how they were able to put an add on to his ER/G1 van mode from the Siege line. 

Some differences

I didn't include all pictorial differences here though there are some very noticeable changes:

• Head. The Siege line has a bit more detail. 
• Front bumper. This forms his shoulder in robot mode. Because this feature was removed, the ER version can longer use his shoulder cannon ability. 
• Siege Biceps (shown here) have more detail.
• Flaps (shown here) have different details for both.
• Shins (shown here) have different color striping and details
• The connector port (shown here) is made in the ER version so that you could peg the shield for his roof. This is pretty much his inner shin area.
• Siege has battle damage
• Both have different stripe colors in certain areas, different colors in certain places (ER likes black while Siege is grey) and obviously the windshield. 
• And the weapons are different for both.

Conclusion:

Not bad for an Amazon exclusive. What makes this bad, however, is that Hasbro short changed lots of fans who wanted these guys. Very difficult to get now and if these guys go bad on you, that is it. No way to get a replacement. Way to go exclusives. Ugh. 

I personally feel ER Iron-Hide is a different character despite being a remold of his Siege line. For now he is your IH to your classics line though I be content with Siege if you couldn't get him. Prowl looks and plays great too despite a brittle blaster I got from him. And I'm usually careful with my figures. Overall, they are well done though Prowl will most likely need upgrades hurting your wallet even further down the line. Laters.