Hasbro Transformers Generations Hoist 2012

When I first started getting back into Transformers last year after a very long break, I was most intrigued by their Cyberverse Commanders, as they seemed to really be the best of both worlds. All of the transformation and articulation of larger bots, but with a much smaller size and price tag. A combination of this curiosity and very cheap prices on Amazon led me to grabbing a few of them to see what I thought. Today's review, Hoist, is one of those first figures that I picked up, and he did nothing to deter me from buying more.

Transformers Beast Hunters Ripclaw 2013

It's been a little while now since Transformers: Beast Hunters has been on the air, but it still is a very memorable toy line. While there were a few misses, most of the figures were well sculpted, unique, and featured great paint applications. Current toys are in the process of dialing back on articulation and paint (as well as plastic quality) in the interest of cost-cutting, but Hasbro has done a pretty good job of avoiding that with their Transformers toys so far.

Hasbro Transformers Beast Hunters Cyberverse Commander Huffer 2013

Thanks to the Amazon.com Christmas sale, I was able to snag some pretty nice Transformers at a REALLY nice price. The ones that impressed me the most at that time were the Cyberverse Commanders. These are smaller figures with limited paint applications and a lower entry price, but still retain a lot of play quality. After my first couple of purchases, I decided to get some more and found Huffer for a steal. Since it's been a while, I figured today was as good a day as any to take another look at a Transformer, so let's check out Huffer! (Also, just a reminder - most of the images I upload to my reviews are pretty massive.. feel free to click on an image if you want to see it larger and in more detail!)

Transformers Prime Beast Hunters Commander Class Bulkhead 2012

While Transformers fans worship at the alter of Generation 1 in general (the original toys released in the early to mid 80s), one of the great things about TF fans is that they are open to new ideas. It's why they've managed to stay on shelves and televisions for thirty years while other properties have stagnated. The figure I'm looking at today, Bulkhead, didn't exist in the 80s. It wasn't until Transformers:Energon that he was introduced, and then he was perfected with Transformers Animated. Proving very popular, he was brought almost entirely unchanged into Transformers Prime, the latest cartoon and the inspiration for this toy line.

Transformers Prime Beast Hunters Commander Class Hardshell 2013

Ladies and gentlemen.. meet Hardshell! Us 80s kids might not recognize the name Hardshell, but you'll certainly recognize him once you see his transformation. Yes, this is a modern nod to the old favorite Insecticon, Shrapnel the stag beetle. He goes stag everywhere! Hahahahaha *snort*! Uhm.. anyway.. let's just get on with the review.

Hasbro Transformers Piranacon 2010

There's no getting around it. This is going to be a review with a LOT of pictures. I'm going to break up my style a little bit on this. Rather than going from photo to photo with commentary, I'm going to go from figure to figure. If I stop typing, scroll down to the next figure and you'll see more of my color commentary. As always, if you'd rather skip anything I have to say, just take in the photographs and feel free to click on them - it makes for much bigger pretty pictures instead of little pretty pictures.

Bootleg Transformer Soundwave 20??

Ah, bootlegs. Where would be in the world without you? You make unaffordable toys more affordable with incredibly questionable design decisions and quality control issues! Still, when you just have to own a figure, and you don't want to break into triple digits to do so, a bootleg might just be the way to go. As an example of that, I'm taking a look at what is easily my most illegal figure, Soundwaveish.

Hasbro Transformers Generations Hot Rod 2010

If I cover a fair number of Transformers on this site, it's for two reasons. One, they were easily my favorite toys when I was growing up. By far, they were my toys of choice when I had the chance to choose any figure I wanted. Second, it's because I've only recently gotten back into the line. You can blame the Armada trilogy for that. Overly-steeped in anime stylings and seemingly made of cheap plastic, I just could not get into the designs or the feel of the modern toys. Recently, Hasbro seems to have decided that it actually wants to make figures that are more reminiscent of the original designs. It's no coincidence that they have been getting more of my money since making that decision.

Transformers G1 - Menasor

The toy reviews on this site are probably going to be a bit untraditional. I'm far more concerned with nostalgic value and modern appeal than I am technical aspects of the toy. I'll spend most of my talking about what made the toy special in the past, and how well it adapts to modern sensibilities than specific paint applications or posing issues. That all being said, let's kick off our inaugural review with Menasor, one of the Scramble City Transformers from 1986. Sherman, fire up the WayWayBack Machine!