As most of you know, I’m a big Transformers fan. One part of being a fan that I especially love is collecting Transformers toys. (I try to get at least one from each of the recent toylines.) So, I figured that I’d give you guys a list of the top 10 figures in my collection. In addition, for anyone who wants to start collecting Transformers toys, this is a good recommendation list.

Here we go!

Number 10: Studio Series Gamer Edition Deluxe Class +02 Barricade

This is a figure of the Decepticon enforcer Barricade based on his appearance in the War for Cybertron video game, which was released in 2010. Now, I’ve seen the reviews of this guy. People don’t like the toy, mainly because he doesn’t have heels, which, combined with his large backpack and angled feet, causes him to fall backward (or forwards). This is kinda disappointing for a Studio Series figure, since the whole point of the toyline is to make the perfect versions of certain characters. However, I still love his design, his alt-mode is really cool, and he gets a spot on this list partly because I have a soft spot for Barricade. (I have three toys of the character for a reason.)

Number 9: Collaborative Top Gun x Transformers Maverick

This is a figure created for a crossover between Transformers and Top Gun, originally released to promote the film’s sequel, but ended up coming out a year early due to the movie’s release being pushed back to 2022. Either way, Maverick is a solid toy, with a great design, clever accessories (the missiles turn into rifles), and a fun transformation into his F-14 Tomcat jet mode. His jet mode also features a small detail that references the film, saying the full names of Maverick and Goose right below the cockpit. Sadly, he has photodegraded a bit, mainly on the legs and guns, which are turning a creamy color due to being molded in white plastic.

Number 8: Shattered Glass Collection Autobot Goldbug

This toy is a retool of Earthrise Cliffjumper meant to represent an evil mirror universe version of Bumblebee. He comes with a bazooka that can split apart into three pieces, as well as two pieces that can be attached to the sides to look like ammo clips, or be used as a mount. Sadly, I lost one of those pieces, so the other one is in a box. Goldbug has good posing and a transformation that’s simple and quick enough that he’s a good “desk toy.” (A figure you can keep on your desk to fiddle with while you work.)

Number 7: War for Cybertron: Siege Deluxe Class Deadlift (customized Brunt)

This figure is a customized version of Siege Brunt who has become a completely different character named Deadlift through the application of a special Toyhax sticker set (some of the stickers of which are falling off.) Deadlift is one of the Weaponizers from Siege, figures which can come apart to transform into different vehicles and to form weapons and armor for other characters. I had a hard time to deciding whether to place him above or below his Modulator (more on that in a second) companion Wrought on this list, but he lost out to Wrought because some of the 5mm pegs and ports holding him together are becoming loose, causing his legs to fall off a lot. Deadlift can transform into many different things, but his primary alt-mode is a laser tank that looks great and holds together well.

Number 6: War for Cybertron: Earthrise Deluxe Class Wrought (customized Ironworks)

The other figure I customized with a Toyhax sticker set was my then brand-new Earthrise Ironworks, turning him from an Autobot engineer into the Decepticon smelter Wrought. Wrought has a pretty cool design, with his right arm ending in a flamethrower. In addition, he's also a Modulator, which were the Earthrise versions of Weaponizers: they could transform into bases with ramps that could connect them, and they usually had at least two base configurations. While I do like Deadlift's design more, Wrought was placed higher on this list because, unlike Deadlift, the 5mm ports that hold him together aren't loosening, which means he isn't going to fall apart when I pick him.

Number 5: Shattered Glass Collection Ultra Magnus

This figure is a repaint of War for Cybertron: Kingdom Leader Class Ultra Magnus, who is in turn a retool of the Leader Class Siege Magnus toy. He also has a new head designed to look like Shattered Glass Ultra Magnus' scarred face. (This character is from the same universe as Goldbug, and is also an evil Autobot.) He transforms - like most Ultra Magnus toys - by taking off the armor pieces on him, which turn into a trailer, and transforming the core robot into a truck cab to connect the trailer to. His transformation and alt-mode are pretty cool, and the colors are awesome. To make things better, he comes with a red version of the normal Ultra Magnus head (the one from the Kingdom toy) that you can swap out with the normal head to turn him into the Autobot Delta Magnus, and his core robot is colored in reference to another Autobot named Magna Convoy, making this technically three characters in one. (I'm assuming you're confused, so let me explain: the original Ultra Magnus toy was a repaint of a Japanese transforming robot toy called Powered Convoy. Powered Convoy's red and blue color scheme was used for Shattered Glass Ultra Magnus, and he was also repurposed as an Autobot called Delta Magnus. This toy is basically just chalked full of classic references.)

Number 4: Mastermind Creations Oberon

This is technically not an official Transformers toy - it's a third party figure based on a character named Obsidian, who first appeared as a Vehicon in Beast Machines (released in 2000). This toy is based on his IDW appearance as an inhabitant of the Titan known as Carcer. Luckily, he can serve any faction you want since he lacks Hasbro's trademarked faction symbols to avoid a copyright strike! Anyways, I love third party figures since they're usually based on designs Hasbro hasn't made toys of, and this is one of them. He is a slight pain to transform, and part of him broke off, but he's still a great figure! (Basically, the rotors are attached to pieces that are hinged onto Obsidian's torso, but the top part of one of the hinges broke off, so it can easily be pulled off. Because of this, I normally display him with the rotors attached to his forearms.) Obsidian also has one of the coolest Transformers designs I've ever seen, and he can recreate his legless, hovering Beast Machines design too.

Alright, time for the top 3!

Number 3: Legacy: Evolution Deluxe Class Scraphook

Scraphook is one of the newer Transformers figures, released earlier this year. He's a Junkion - a race of sentient robots similar to Transformers that can take themselves apart and survive - and, to this end, is able to be taken apart at the arms and lower legs much like the Weaponizers and Modulators. He also comes with a whopping 7 accessories, those being a pair of guns that store in his legs and become his engine block in his alt-mode, a hook, a crane arm to attach it to, a spiked shield, and a pair of exhaust pipes. These all contribute to his Mad Max-esque tow truck alt-mode, making him look just slightly more menacing despite his Autobot allegiance.

Number 2: HasLab Victory Saber

This is easily one of the most incredible Transforms figures I've ever seen, which may be in part due to being one of HasLab's crowdfunded toys. Okay, so let me list everything that's included in this set: one Leader Class-sized Star Saber, accurate to his appearance in the Transformers: Victory cartoon, one Voyager Class-sized Victory Leo, also accurate to his Victory appearance, small Micromaster figures of Holi and Fire, accurate to their appearances in the cartoon as well, a sword hilt for Star Saber that also serves as his spaceship mode nosecone, one sword blade for Star Saber, one shield and shield handle for Star Saber, one blaster for Star Saber, a pair of cannons for Victory Leo that can mount on his back or forearms, one large V-Lock Cannon for both Victory Leo and Victory Saber (the combined form of the duo), a pair of turquoise three-piece fire blast effects to attach to various 5mm ports around your figures (including their gun barrels) to simulate them shooting or getting shot at, and, finally, a three-piece blue flight stand with the Victory logo painted onto it to display him or your other figures as if they're suspended in the air.. In addition, both Star Saber and Victory Leo have excellent posing and can combine in both robot and ship modes, and Star Saber is actually three figures in one. His chest component is a smaller, Deluxe Class-sized robot named Saber, who can turn into a jet (that's what the sword hilt attaches to) whose face can transform into another, smaller robot (smaller than Holi and Fire) called the Brain of Courage, which is where his brain is. (So, if Saber and V-Star - which is what Saber attaches to - were blown up but that part survived, Star Saber could still live.) The component that Saber attaches to is called the V-Star, and it can turn into a large ship mode for Saber's jet mode to attach to to form a spaceship. Now, you may be asking, "IGE, why is this number 2? It sounds like a perfect toy." Well, there's a few drawbacks. You see those gold details on his chest? Yeah, that's paint that's chipping a little bit. And you see the cannons on his shoulders? One of the red barrels - which is a separate piece - cracked a little bit and now it sometimes comes off when I take off the fire blast effects. Oh, and how could I forget the biggest offender? Remember that sword hilt I mentioned earlier? The one that becomes a jet nosecone? Well, it attaches to Saber via a pair of tabs. Back in February - and some of you may remember this wall post when I first made it - I was simulating Victory Saber crashing, and when he hit the ground (I had him in my hand and was moving him towards the ground. He landed nosecone-first, and it came off. When I tried to reattach it, I couldn't, and when I examined it, I saw that the tabs had snapped off and were lodged in the slots they go into. I can still kind of attach it, since the sword handle slides into a port in the front of the jet mode to serve as a third connection point, but it's pretty lose. Now, before you blame me for this breakage, a figure of this quality shouldn't break this easily, so I'm blaming Hasbro/HasLab. Anyways, that's why he's #2 on this list.

And now, without further ado, the number 1 best Transformer in my entire collection...

But first, some honorable mentions (not in any ranked order)!

- Shattered Glass Collection Soundwave (w/ Laserbeak and Ravage) for just being a really good figure and for being a figure of one of my favorite Shattered Glass characters
- ToyWorld Alert (a third party WWII-style version of the movieverse version of Barricade) for having a great design, but not making it on this list because he’s floppy as hell
- NewAge Darius (a third party Legends-scale Galvatron) for being a micro-Masterpiece and the perfect Galvatron figure, even if he’s tiny
- Legacy Core Class Iguanus for being a cool figure of one of my favorite obscure G1 characters
- Collaborative Gigawatt for being an awesome crossover between Transformers and Back to the Future and for having a perfect DeLorean alt-mode
- War for Cybertron: Kingdom Deluxe Class Predacon Scorponok for having good posing, despite a painful transformation
- Titans Return Leader Class Dreadnaut & Decepticon Overlord (specifically Overlord, all Dreadnaut is good for is turning into a nice head) for being an awesome toy of one of the best Decepticon leaders in history

Now, back to the number 1 best Transformer in my collection… it is…

Studio Series Leader Class 101 Scourge!

That's right, this is my favorite toy in my collection as well as the best one! So, just to explain what exactly he is, the Studio Series toyline's purpose is to create screen-accurate versions of characters from the live action Transformers movies, as well as the 1986 animated classic The Transformers: The Movie (as of 2021) and the High Noon War for and Fall of Cybertron video games (as of this year). I know I probably should've explained this when I talked about Barricade earlier on this list, but oh well. Point is, this figure is awesome! Now, he isn't exactly screen-accurate, as he was designed based off of the original Scourge design used in the Rise of the Beasts test screenings before it was changed, but at TFCon a few weeks ago, the toy developers stated that it was possible for figures like the Rise of the Beasts characters (most of whom were designed off of the test screening designs) to get "redos" and have more accurate toys. Anyways, onto the actual toy. He comes with one accessory, that being an arm cannon that you can attach to him by taking off his left forearm (the one with the claw) and attaching the cannon in its place. The cannon ends in a 5mm port, so you can attach fire blast effects (like the ones included with Victory Saber) to it. When not in use, it tabs into a slot on his rear (yes, it goes there), or it can be opened up and attached to the truck bed in alt-mode to recreate the pipe-looking things he had there in the film. The claw is made of rubber and is semi-flexible, and his other arm ends in a hand with articulated knuckles, allowing it to open and close. It also has a large blade attached to the underside of it, which can be positioned to be held in Scourge's hand. His neck is on a ball joint, which allows for a lot of posability, and there's a second ball joint at the top of it, where the head is attached, allowing for even more posing. It comes off easily, but that's also pretty cool since Scourge died by decapitation in the film. He transforms into a menacing black truck which, through the use of cleverly-positioned orange clear plastic, can have a fiery glow if you put in the light. The grille is rubber, and can be removed to reveal the clear plastic under it. Most of the truck does end up folded up on his back in robot mode, but it's not as egregious as it is on other bots with similar transformations, which makes it okay. Turning back to posing, Scourge has an ungodly amount of articulation, and I love it. He just looks so menacing, and it's just awesome. Now, you may be asking, "IGE, that's great and all, but it doesn't answer why he's the best." Well, when it came down to him and Victory Saber, I had to decide who would be on top, and I chose Scourge simply because he had a much cooler design and, unlike Victory Saber, hasn't broken so many times!

Anyways, that's the list of the top 10 Transformers in my collection. Hope you enjoyed it!