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Franchise-wide items[]

  • Audience-Alienating Premise: Crossovers can sometimes be seen as this, as they bring in even more humans to steal focus from the Autobots. Especially if the other franchise doesn't have the name recognition of Transformers.
  • Broken Base:
    • How much focus should the franchise place on Earth and the human race? Half the fanbase argues that the whole point of "robots in disguise" is to have them turn into Earth technology and that speaking with humans keeps the franchise grounded. The other half argues that humans are The Load and a Spotlight-Stealing Squad who only detract the shows they're in, highlighting the many pieces of media that feature little to no humans, usually the Beast Era of the 1990s, as proof that the franchise can do fine without humans.
      • Human villains, such as MECH, are another point of division. One camp says that they make logical sense, expanding the mythos and adding a layer of complexity to human/Autobot relations. The other camp says that they just steal focus from the Decepticons, generally only serve as Plot Detours at best and, barring Transformers: Age of Extinction and Transformers: The Last Knight, never have any impact on human/Autobot relations.
    • Should the Transformers be built by the Quintessons, randomly pop out of Cybertron, or created by Primus?
      • And if it's the latter, how big a role should Primus have in the story?
    • In terms of comics, G.I. Joe crossovers. While there are many fans who appreciate the long-lasting relationship between the two franchises and how it provides semi-competent human villains for the Autobots and Decepticons to face, an increasing number of fans who don't care much for G.I. Joe think Hasbro should stop using Transformers to promote it. Especially given that G.I. Joe in the 21st century is a Cult Classic that lacks the media awareness of Transformers. Though it seems that most fans are okay with a Shout-Out to G.I. Joe here and there.
    • Should energon be pink or blue? Seriously.
    • When it comes to the Cybertronians' nature as Mechanical Lifeforms, should the focus be on the "Mechanical" side of that; such as being able to mass-produce and even disassemble Cybertronians; or the the "Lifeforms" part; treating them as having a Bizarre Alien Biology?
    • Thanks to some muddled statements across the various continuities, are Cybertronians an ageless race or do they just age at a glacial pace? There have been visible cases of Cybertronians, most notably Alpha Trion, aging[1] but the vast majority of bots look exactly the same after millions of years. At this point, it basically just boils down to whatever a fan prefers.
  • Creator's Pet:
    • Kicker Jones of Transformers Energon was the first major one. The creators clearly thought him a tortured Anti-Hero whom everyone would love, yet the fans generally found him to be a Wangsty turd.
    • Bumblebee has become this, due to his Movie and Prime incarnations being overpacked in case assortments and, especially in Movie BB's case, having too many just-slightly-different versions of the same toy. Hell Transformers Rescue Bots was filled with Bumblebee toys, including a large playset. Bumblebee is but a guest star on that show. Though it seems that Transformers: Cyberverse and Bumblebee went a ways in rescuing him.
    • Grimlock under Simon Furman's pen. Way too taken with Grimlock's Anti-Hero nature, Furman really ups how much of a jerk the Dinobot leader can be but still expects the audience to root for him.
    • And then we have Skids and Mudflap. They got almost as much toys as Bumblebee in ROTF, and had more screentime than any other Autobot. Thing is, it's possible that them flopping and flopping hard led to Bumblebee becoming a Creator's Pet.
    • Drift started out as this. The guy read like a laundry list of every bad TF fanfic trope - Badass Angsty Ninja Samurai with a BFS who pulled a Heel Face Turn in a woefully overwrought backstory. The only one he didn't have was (thankfully) any feelings for a human girl. However, thanks to James Roberts' More Than Meets the Eye ongoing, Drift has been (mostly) Rescued From the Scrappy Heap. It also didn't hurt that his toy was really great.
  • Draco in Leather Pants: Yes, you can find many fans, particularly Transformers Animated fans, on the Decepticons' side.
  • Ear Worm: Transformers... more than meets the eye...
  • Ensemble Darkhorse: Quite a few from all series.
  • Fanon Discontinuity: Exactly what varies from person to person. The live-action movies are especially popular for this treatment.
  • Friendly Fandoms: With a surprising number of things. Helps that Transformers is one of those franchises that can cross over well with most things. Some friends include RWBY, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Cars, Thomas the Tank Engine and Doctor Who.
    • G.I. Joe and My Little Pony were its first friends, the three being the Hasbro giants of The Eighties. How friendly they are has varied since then.
    • With Marvel Comics. Likely because the Autobots and Decepticons were initially part of the Marvel universe in the original comic.
    • Ben 10 with many thinking that the Cybertronians would fit perfectly into the Ben 10 universe.
    • Much love is shared with the Star Wars fanbase.
  • It's the Same, Now It Sucks:
  • Just Here for Godzilla: Fans generally only want to see giant robots turning into cars and beating each other up. Everything else is window dressing and human characters tend to be automatic Scrappies.
  • Memetic Badass: Optimus Prime is the Robo-Jesus.
  • Running the Asylum: Arguably, it's one of the few series that has benefited from it.
  • The Scrappy: Humanity. While there are some Cybertronian scrappies (such as Wheelie or Nightscream), human characters as a whole are seen as slowing down the story more than anything else, especially if their screen time starts to outpace a Cybertronian's.
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks: Well, this is the fanbase that named "Runied FOREVER".
    • The Dinobot "Slag", the triceratops, being renamed "Slug"[2]. While most fans have long since accepted it, there remains a Vocal Minority who will make this trope known to whomever listens.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: A number of fans were disappointed that the Official Commemorative Chinese New Year Transformers Coin utilized a chibi mouse-eared Bumblebee (a design previously used in the mobile collectible app Quidd) instead of Rattrap. To provide context, the coin was commemorating the Year of the Rat.

The Toys[]

In general[]

  • Broken Base:
    • The smaller size classes such as Legends, Commander/Legion, and Core; Whether the size class is not worthy to collect due to its size, or it was perfect for the buyers who prefer smaller bots, and also wanted them to scale with certain larger figures.
    • The Generations Deluxe Class Blast Off toy. While most of them would actually think that his new alt mode actually made sense to his "Combaticon" moniker, some of them would prefer the original Space Shuttle alternate mode. The other side of the criticism is the head, which is reused from Slingshot's/Quickslinger's.
    • Heavily-simplified figures made for small children like One-Step Changers. One side approves of them for letting very young fans be able to enjoy transforming toys without having to struggle with figures that would be too complex for them and argue that they are harmless since they are usually accompanied by traditional figures of the same characters. The other side criticizes them for having wonky proportions and low articulation (simplistic transformation and durability in the hands of a small child are prioritized) and feel that they take up shelf space that could be given to more traditional figures.
    • The Authentics line. While Megatron & Starscream (somehow, but still disliked by fans due to his nap time-ish undercarriage on his alt mode) toys are excellent on their own, Optimus Prime & Bumblebee's toys are not well received due to their overly-simplified transformation schemes (with fake chest & limited articulations), and not helping to the fact that they're the size of a Scout Class figure, and they're recently upscaled into Voyager-sized (with some added arm joints) as well. While some of them are fine with it since it was only aimed for very young Transformers fans, most of the fans believed that Hasbro might have also gone to the knock-off route.
    • There is a current debate regarding whether Hasbro and Takara need to bring back the extensive deco patterns for the Japanese releases of the figures after the companies merged.
  • Overshadowed by Controversy:
    • The Gold Plastic Syndrome is so notorious that the fandom would still doubt whether the current gold plastic (notably on Combiner Wars G2 Quickslinger/Slingshot) would still break in spite of the material's improvement.
    • The USUALLY poor distributions for both regular retail and store exclusive Transformers toys, especially Walmart and Target after numerous fans reports of them barely stocking it despite Hasbro itself already prepared to take their orders from them.
  • Poison Oak Epileptic Trees: Despite using the improved golden (mustard yellow-ish) plastic material since the Combiner Wars Generation 2-styled Quickslinger (Slingshot) toy, at least some fans still fear that said material would potentially suffer from Gold Plastic Syndrome after a few years.
  • Replacement Scrappy:
    • The ReAction Figures by Super7, which is basically Action Masters but with a seemingly least affordable price point, though there are diamonds in the rough such as the prototype-styled Unicron.
  • The Scrappy:
    • If anyone wants to talk about Universe (and its Henkei! and United redecoes) Galvatron, they'll just generally point out its extremely infuriating transformation scheme.
  • Seinfeld Is Unfunny:
    • Redecoes are a staple of the Transformers toy manufacturing since the 80s, with Optimus and the Deception Seekers being the general examples, and retools (new body parts and heads) has also become a new staple since the 2000s. After its usage for many decades, these methods can be generally considered as uninspiring and lazy for today's new releases.
    • Simplified transformation, Some parts of the Action gimmicks other than missile-launching features. and especially partsforming.
    • Ironically, the concept of complex (depending on difficulty) transformation somehow wounded up as this; Though it increases the challenge of transforming the toy, said gimmick also ended up being a generally frustrating feature that potentially tampers its playability.
    • Nearly-unreadable modern instruction manuals with monochrome and smaller CGI pictured transformation steps.
    • Though it was used due to transformation shortcuts, the faux parts (fake kibble) on several toys can be considered as a rather cheat-sy feature for those who wanted a more complex transformation.
    • If this isn't obvious, any of the non-transforming action figures (since the existence of the Action Masters line) and collectibles also counts, especially high-end ones.
    • Since 2020, the very concept of "Exclusives" has been frequently scorned due to their inability to get stocked on several physical (Walmart being the main offender)/online shops (such as the UK and Canada) that sell them, plus their tendencies on getting scalped by a subset of buyers.
  • Snark Bait: Ever since the existence of the Third Party (read: IP Theft) figures, some fans began to ridicule any/most of the current Hasbro/Takara-released toys, primarily the current Generations lineup, as "lacking proper build and paint quality" compared to 3P toys.
  • Squick
    • The PVC figurines included in the Kiss Players toyline, ranging from underwear Marissa to panty revealing ShaoShao Li.
    • The prototype photos for the Flame Toys Windblade model kit had generated controversy regarding its rather sexualized body (complete with Robo butt).
  • Tainted by the Preview: Aside from the commonly trivial reactions, there examples are the only one that's worth mentioning:
    • The R.E.D. (Robot Enhanced Design) figures; Aside from being scorned as yet another revival of the Action Master-styled line.
    • A number of Windblade merch made by other companies (with HasTak's licensing approval) also turned down a number of fans as she became an occasional subject for the Sex Sells trope:
      • The "Furai Model" kit of the character produced by Flame Toys posted the initial prototype photo of her featuring a pose that emphasizes her rear skidplate, not before the company removed them and later replacing it with an updated version of the prototype.
      • The 58cm tall Windblade statue by Azure Sea Studio also caused some controversy due to two of the photos emphasizing her rear butt, again.
    • While the leaked listing of the upcoming Collaborative Amazon Prime figure (now repurposed as "Holiday"/VNR Optimus Prime) seems to interest the fans due to being a toy representation of a long-running wordplay, at least some consider this as a poor taste due to the current criticism regarding the company.
    • Any of the "Prime Universe" characters from Legacy (2022), such as Bulkhead, Arcee, and Knock Out (a G1-styled remake of the character from Animated (former) and Prime (the latter both)), is not well received by a number of fans from both series who were expecting anniversary reissues such as the Hasbro Pulse exclusive Breakdown/Vehicon-2 pack and the Hades Megatron.
    • The "Canon/TRANSFORMERS" Optimus Prime R5 figure, which consists of him turning into one of the another non-truck alt modes (in that case, camera). While the pragmatic fans understand TakaraTomy's decision of using a recognizable character such as Optimus, many were disappointed that the figure is a wasted opportunity given that Reflector exists. Luckily, there is actually a Reflector (Refraktor) redeco/retool of it, as the fans previously believed that the shaded teaser of Prime R5's right section was actually Megatron hours ago.
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks:
    • While it was still mostly retained in current toylines, the play value on most of the toys from 2010s-and-beyond are generally nowhere in the level of previous lines such as the Unicron Trilogy's.
    • Though justified due to being a heavily-enforced trademark for the Red Cross organization, any of the toys of the 'Bots that possesses the same cross symbols unfortunately tends to be recolored in blue or replaced/edited with a similar-looking one.
    • Ever since the release of the War for Cybertron: Trilogy line, Most of the larger characters were relegated into either Deluxe and/or Voyager-sized figures (for the sake of proper scaling) while retaining the latter and the Leader Class price point, though there are other fans believed that this approach gives an opportunity for slightly complex transformations and maybe more accessories.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
    • Megatron's original Walther P38 alt mode has yet to make a return for his Generations Voyager Class iterations. But then again...
    • The Encore God Fire Convoy (Omega Prime) would've been a better toy if it wasn't plagued with assembly errors.

C.H.U.G. (Classics, Henkei, United, Generations)[]

  • And the Fandom Rejoiced:
    • After several objections from fans, The deluxe class Blast Off finally gets a new mold that converts into his classic Space Shuttle form, released as part a Unite Warriors & the Power of the Primes line.
      • Likewise, "Brake-Neck" (Wildrider), "Quickslinger" (Slingshot) and Groove also gets their individual releases by Hasbro to complete their respective combiners' original roster.
    • Both Gears (since his release as a Legends Class figure for the Thrilling 30 line) and Windblade (since her release as a Titans Return figure) finally gets their new iterations for the upcoming Legacy line in late 2023/early 2024.
    • Previously criticized for its (rather minor) usage of minor battle-damage details, Kingdom Leader Class Galvatron finally gets himself a much cleaner deco for his re-release for the Legacy line.
    • Aside from having pinned wheels, Legacy Beachcomber features PVC tires, in a time where rubber wheels are considered as a "Lost Art" (along with Die-Cast metal) for the Generations line.
  • Base Breaker:
    • While they had their merits, both the Combiner Wars and Unite Warriors versions of Computron has this occassional debate in terms of toy/show-accuracy, and engineering.
  • Epileptic Trees: In terms of new toy iterations of the characters:
    • Fans speculate whether Tidal Wave from Transformers Armada will finally gets a new toy for the Titan/Leader Class lineup since it's reveal. After the reveal of Armada Universe Megatron (with ports compatible for the parts) for the Legacy Evolution line, this is ultimately possible at this point.
    • Though this was very unlikely due to the laws applied there, fans theorized whether Megatron will return to his classic Walter P38 form for his potential Studio Series 86 Voyager (or Leader) Class toy.
    • While it was not possible to be retooled due to being used for a potential regular-colored "Combat Hero"-styled iteration of the character, the newly-molded cartoon accurate head and the red arms for the Holiday Optimus Prime toy may have sparked the fans' hopes on those particular areas being reused for a potential Studio Series 86 figure of the character himself.
    • As the possibility of the future Junkion-based characters for the Legacy line are seemingly high, fans also speculate whether Rum-Maj from the 2005 IDW comics will also be made as part of the line as well.
    • Time will tell whether Paddles, an Ensemble Darkhorse Dinobot from iBooks' "Transformers Legends", will have his own Generations toy in the future.
  • Improved Second Attempt: "Third" or "fourth" depending on the individual character:
    • Among the many Generations Arcee toys released, the HasCon 2017 exclusive figure of the character is also viewed as a widely superior version of the toy, as it does not utilize shellforming, while capable of recreating the Headmaster gimmick between her and Daniel ("Leinad" in that case) from the cartoon's "The Rebirth" trilogy.
    • Of all the Optimus Prime figures, the Earthrise Leader Class figure can be generally considered as such, despite some runner limitations such as the joints (notably the elbows) being molded in unpaintable gunmetal plastic.
    • Though each of the two Deluxe Stunticon components are limited to their respective limbs, Legacy Menasor can be seen as this compared to his Combiner Wars counterpart, due to its rather balanced and more proportioned design.
    • The Legacy Evolution Leo Prime (Lio Convoy) can be considered as a step-up for his previous toys such as the original, Robotmasters, and yes, even the Masterpiece figure.
    • The Studio Series 86 Commander Class Ultra Magnus is widely viewed as an improvement to the previous Generations line's Ultra Magnus toys, which includes the previously-released Siege and Kingdom iterations.
  • It's the Same, Now It Sucks:
    • At least a few vocal fans are not satisfied by the repeated rehashing of many popular characters (particularly the 1984 - 1985 lineup's characters such as Optimus Prime and Bumblebee), as they wanted to have something fresh and new such as toys of unreleased characters instead.
    • Studio Series Crankcase, a toy that turns out to be a straight redeco of Crowbar rather than using the Berserker mold from The Last Knight.
    • In terms of packaging, the TakaraTomy releases of the Legacy line simply reuses the Hasbro-produced windowless packaging with a Japanese text stickers slapped on.
    • Anyone who expects Bludgeon to be fully retooled from Legacy Tarn will be disappointed that the former is merely a new-head retool (and a new weapon) from the latter. It doesn't help that the head is not designed to tuck in the cavity properly.
  • Memetic Mutation:
    • "Combiner Wars Silverbolt Retool": Originating from a fan's speculation and other comments regarding the Titan Class Ark's Mainframe figure taking cues from the Combiner Wars Voyager Class Silverbolt figure engineering-wise, the fandom (notably on Twitter) began to joke that some or most of the new figures are actually retools of the said figure.
  • More Popular Replacement:
    • Transformers: Legends Blurr, a Japanese market-exclusive redeco of his Titans Return iteration, if occasionally viewed as a much superior figure (at least deco-wise) to the original Hasbro release.
  • Poison Oak Epileptic Trees:
    • Ever since the issue regarding the usage of "MAGA" (written in Cybertronian language) text on Power of the Primes Jazz, fans started to doubt whether newer releases of the character by Hasbro will also include other hidden racism-based subliminal
    • Despite the fact that it will become a regular retail entry for the lineup, at least some fans fear that the Studio Series 86 Voyager Class Ratchet, a redeco/retool of Ironhide, will be relegated into yet another Walgreens exclusive as with his Siege Deluxe Class counterpart at the very last minute, though his Core Class iteration doesn't wound up as such. Fortunately, much to the joy of many; The toy ultimately ends up as a regular retail item.
    • Given that Legacy Elita-1 has been retooled into Minerva and recently, Strongarm, fans started developing some fears on whether it will also be made into female characters with rather buff builds, such as Strika from Beast Machines (At least based on her retroactive appearance in G1).
    • Ever since its lack of official announcement (as of August 2023) and/or early release in usually Asian countries after its leak on October 2022, fans are doubting whether both the Buzzworthy Bumblebee Hatchet and Hound were ditched from any possible release schedule by Hasbro/TakaraTomy, much like the Velocitron Speedia Collection Hot Rod. Some fans who wanted the latter only gets slightly more worried after the release of Legacy Detritus, as they believed that he was the only retool released.
  • Replacement Scrappy: While previous toylines had mostly suffered from this before they're Vindicated by History, the figures from the the recent Generations line after Thrilling 30 had various examples:
    • Transformers Prime Wars Trilogy:
      • Combiner Wars' Offroad (Wildrider's replacement), Alpha Bravo (Slingshot's replacement), Rook (Groove's replacement), and the Jet mode Blast Off (though accurate to the "Combaticon" moniker if it wasn't for the toy reusing Fireflight's head) from the Combiner Wars toyline.
    • Studio Series (Live-action, 86 Movie):
      • In an extent, both the Studio Series 05 and 32 Voyager Class Optimus Primes can be seen as such, especially when in comparison with the Hunt for the Deceptions Voyager toy feature-wise.
      • Core Class Wheelie, a new, show-accurate Legends-sized figure, is occasionally lambasted for its one issue: protruding hands in vehicle mode, which only makes the Titans Return Legends Class figure look good.
    • Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy (Siege/Earthrise/Kingdom):
      • The Leader Class Siege Galaxy Upgrade Optimus Prime figure is considered as an inferior successor to the original Cyber Key gimmick-filled Cybertron Optimus Prime toy.
      • Earthrise Arcee (and to an extent, the redeco Lifeline and the minor retool Elita One) had killed a number of fans' interests on getting her after an in-hand review shows that she is a shellformer with her whole body present in the undercarriage of the vehicle, which is considered as a major step down compared to the T30 Deluxe toy.
      • Despite being one of the in-scale versions of the character, the Earthrise (and to an extent the Studio Series 86) Starscream toy is viewed as an inferior new iteration compared to the Siege release, largely due to differences between the two figures' articulation (such as the waist, ankles, and hands).
      • Kingdom Rhinox can be seen as such to the previously-existing Thrilling 30 iteration of the character, likely due to the fact that he comes with non-functional Gatling Guns of Doom, and both his robot and rhino modes were based on his Forged to Fight iteration instead of being show-accurate.
      • While it was viewed as a better toy than the Siege Deluxe due to using opaque plastic instead of translucent, one of the biggest downsides for Kingdom's Mirage (from the 2-pack with Maximal Grimlock) is the lack of a port for his shoulder cannon.
    • Transformers: Legacy:
      • While Legacy Bulkhead (a G1-fied Prime characters of the same name) has become a Base Breaker pre and post-release, the same probably cannot be said to other figures such as Prime Arcee, Knock Out, or even Animated Prowl.
      • Ironically, compared to his Thrilling 30 and his Titans Return incarnations, Legacy Leader Class Blitzwing is also viewed as an inferior new take of the character due to being a bit too accurate to the original toy vehicle mode-wise, the wings on his robot backpack being faux-parts, and a transformation that resulted on the vehicle kibble hanging/sticking out on most parts in their respective alternate modes.
      • In terms of appearance, the Leader Class Laser Optimus Prime (based on his Generation 2 tanker truck look) is considered as a downgraded version of his previous releases, due to having a less-imposing silhouette (caused by reused parts from Earthrise/Kingdom Leader Optimus Prime) compared to Reveal the Shield and Titans Return's.
      • While the character was unexpected to be made for the lineup, the Titan Class Cybertron Metroplex (known as Megalo Convoy in the original Galaxy Force version) toy is considered as a greater downgrade compared to the already-problematic (alternate mode aesthetic wise) original toy. While the lack of Cyber Key feature is understandable, the omission of his Mini-Con Drill Bit is also appalling.
      • In comparison with the previously-released Combiner Wars Deluxe, the Legacy Deluxe Class Breakdown pretty much disappointed some of the fans, as the toy ultimately ends up as a retool of the same line's Wildrider with a new head and rear car panel (with a removable spoiler to boot), which results on a car mode that's vaguely Lamborghini and more like a hybrid of Lambo and a Ferrari 308.
  • Seinfeld Is Unfunny: When it comes to figures...
    • Thrilling 30 Titan Class Metroplex is considered as the main centerpiece of the line, complete with high articulation including the poseable fingers, and the light-and-soundbox feature. Over time, he was viewed as a mostly outdated figure by the fans, primarily due to number of weaknesses such as the seemingly weakened-over-time elbow/ankle joints and sometimes, the debatable War for Cybertron + G1 aesthetic, to the point where they wanted Hasbro to completely redo him as another new release.
    • The same line's Windblade, and the Titans Return incarnation slowly becomes a bit dated to her fans' eyes (other complaints notwithstanding), as they wanted Hasbro/Takara to properly redo her for Legacy or beyond.
    • Ironically, TR Titan Class Fortress Maximus has become this over time due to the criticism regarding its lack of proper play value and features a mostly unsatisfying transformation scheme due to sharing parts with T30 Metroplex.
  • Tainted by the Preview:
    • Transformers: Universe: An image of the Deluxe Class Cyclonus (pre-release) that utilizes the wrong joint/unfinished deco colors allegedly sparked a lot of outrage from the fans who wanted to buy him.
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks:
    • When it comes to running changes:
      • Thrilling 30's Deluxe Class Arcee originally comes with a molded pair of hands on the forearm pieces that allows the weapons to fully be inserted, Later releases of the toy features retooled hands to prevent fragility, but unable to properly hold the weapons due to a protrusion added to the palms' lower end.
    • Despite the positive reception post-release, fans were not happy with the omission of the signature yellow stripe on Studio Series 86 Ironhide. Similarly, the "Buzzworthy Bumblebee" release of the mold (where he gained the stripe, but slightly retooled to be based on his death in TFTM) along with Prowl is similarly not well-received either.
    • A subset of fans consider the Legacy's Deluxe Class Elita-1 as lackluster due to her its short stature, which pales in comparison with the Voyager-sized Power of the Primes toy, where she actually scales with Optimus Prime himself.
    • Removing Powerlinx gimmicks on the Unicron Trilogy-based toys was one thing, but omitting Mini-Con interactions? A deal-breaker.
    • In comparison with the concept art, the Titan Class Nemesis' budget cuts on her transformation scheme and jointing has led her to share little resemblance to said piece.
    • Instead of a new mold that is based on her buff-looking appearance, Legacy Strongarm ends up as a retool of the same line's Elita-1.
    • Anyone who expected a proper SS86 release/reissue of the Earthrise Deluxe Class Prowl (much like how HasTak did to Cliffjumper) will be utterly dissapointed as the mold was partly retooled to be based on his infamous death scene in The Transformers: The Movie. The same can be said to Ironhide, especially to those who wanted him to have the signature yellow stripe.
    • The Siege Hound mold being inevitably retooled into an earth mode Hound is one thing, but omitting the seats from the base mold?
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
    • Kingdom Deluxe Class Tracks, one of the most-long awaited new CHUG iterations of the characters, had the playability seemingly drowned out by the design flaw on the ankle joints.
    • Poor Gears will never, EVER catch a break, after his appearance in a concept poster for War for Cybertron: Kingdom, suggesting a new toy of him was considered for inclusion in the toyline before it was never materialized. Fortunately, it doesn't last.
  • Unexpected Character:
    • Galaxy Shuttle from Victory is getting a new toy since his original Japanese release, being a redeco/retool of Siege Astrotrain.
    • Scarr/Skar, the deceased Dinobot from the 2005 IDW Comics, gets his own Core Class iteration for the Legacy Evolution line, while being part of the Volcanicus combiner.
    • Senator Shockwave (Shockwave's original appearance in the IDW 2005 comics) receives his first ever toy iteration for the Humble Origins 2-Pack.
  • Vindicated by History: In spite of the newer, in-scale, and mostly show-accurate releases since the War for Cybertron trilogy line, at least some fans began to warmed up their opinions to most of the previous Reveal the Shield/Generations toys.

Collector's Items (Masterpiece, etc)[]

  • Broken Base: Beginning with MP-27 Ironhide, Takara's design philosophy on Masterpieces have torn the fandom asunder. Basically, Takara has begun making the figures look as animation-accurate as possible. While you wouldn't think that this would be contentious, detractors lament the fact that in doing so they make the figures look flat and dull, with large portions of completely undetailed plastic. Others like the "straight from the screen" look.
  • Epileptic Trees: Fans speculate whether Jazz and/or Mirage (and even the leaked Cliffjumper prototype from 2021) will have a chance of getting their official Masterpiece iterations, in spite of the legal issues and/or a lack of the licensing approval from Porsche and Ligier, though the former is very unlikely at the moment due to them not wanting their vehicles to be associated with war machines (Cybertronians). However, by the time Rise of the Beasts was advertised with Porsche being part of the film's promotion, It's probably safe to say that there's a chance.
  • Replacement Scrappy:
    • BOTH the MP-44 Convoy/Optimus Prime and MP-45 Bumblebee (Ver. 2.0), two new molds that aims for a more cartoon-accurate than previous releases (MP-01/10 and MP-21), is considered as a downgrade to their previous iterations, given the issues such as the more complex transformation and a knee joint problem for the former, and the attempt of hiding the kibble (which ends up glaring in some angles) for the latter.
    • Despite being unofficial "Third Party (IP infringing items)" releases, at least some of the newly-revealed/released official characters after their Masterpiece-styled 3P counterparts tend to get the flak for various reasons:
      • The Masterpiece G Trainbots (the first combiner for the line) from Transformers: The Headmasters, which includes their combined form Raiden, is occasionally viewed as a mediocre replacement for Moon Studios' "Radiatron" figure, likely due to their differences regarding their mass, the amount of kibble, and the gestalt's articulation.
  • Seinfeld Is Unfunny: Though the Masterpiece line was initially praised by many in the time of its reveal, the lineup has been looked down by many after a decade and a half, as recently-released figures since the 2010s feature a much more complex, but extremely frustrating transformation compared to past releases, while having an emphasis on show-accuracy that also generally tampers with several articulation points and aesthetic.
  1. Which some continuities have said is the product of prolonged energon starvation.
  2. As "Slag" is considered a swear word in some English speaking countries, most prominently England.

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