On Sunday, December 25, 2022 at 2:29:27 PM UTC-5, banzait...@gmail.com wrote:
> ATT,
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> Say what you will about 2022, but overall it was a pretty solid year for the Transformers franchise. On the media front, it was pretty terrible. A forgettable webshow was released and another sure to be CGI garbage movie was announced. Barf.
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> On the positive side, BOTCON was resurrected, Yours truly attended and found it a bit of a throwback to the bloated corporate modern BOTCONs, which were mostly held in LA to capture the tourists and strictly managed by hasbro. The Nashville hosted BOTCON saw short lines, up close and personal discussions with voice actors and GASP, a third party (and rather disappointing) toy boxed set. Even though I got to meet Frank Welker, who was a genuinely great guy, the highlight for me was the 20 minute discussion I had with Bob Budiansky. In general, he came off to me as somewhat of an egotistical jerk (could be that he just kinda looks like John McEnroe to me?), but he did have some incredible insight in the creation process of the original tech specs. He told me Optimus Prime’s tech spec quote was his favorite, and that he adapted it from the Declaration of Independence. Ego or not, the guy is a genius and one of the most important human beings associated with the Transformers franchise. I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to sit and chat with him.
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> With all that said, the point of this thread is to talk toys, more specifically the best of the year. For me, the theme of 2022 was mostly taking G1 characters and making the best figure to date of that character, I call this phenomena “G1 toy optimization”. That’s a pretty impressive feat after 40ish years of toy production. Nearly all of the toys that caught my eye this year fit into that category. For some reason, they are still making bayverse figures. I will admit to largely ignoring these.. As I have grown older and more bitter, this entire period of transformers history just angers me. It’s possible I am overlooking some incredible bayverse figure that should be crowned ATT Toy of the Year for 2022, but as Perceptor would say, the chances of that “are remote”..
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> One more note on this years selections. As I perused all of the toys that came out in 2022, and the quality and engineering of them, I feel like this year was particularly competitive. There was just so much damn good Hasbro product that came out, it seems highly unlikely there will be any consensus this year.
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> Here is a reminder of the “rules”. All remain untouched from 2021.
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> 1.) No ties. You have to pick one (Feel free to name as many honorable mentions as you wish!)
> 2.) No molds. If you pick a mold that has been redeco'd a zillion times, you have to declare which of the redecos you are picking.
> 3.) No third party toys
> 4.) Released in 2022 per https://www2.unicron.com/2022-transformers.html
> 5.) Cost is a factor in selection. The more expensive, the more "awesome" the toy has to be to win.
> 6.) Hasbro Pulse or other Store exclusives are eligible, and toys are not decremented for lack of availability.
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> Before I announce my pick for 2022, here are some of the figures that I saw as runner ups. These are all great toys, listed in no particular order. I will highlight why I didn’t pick them in my descriptions below:
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> TITAN Class Metroplex: OK, I get it. Your probably asking WTF about now. But there is really no good reason for this toy to exist - NONE. That’s partly why I love it. He’s a relatively obscure character who already has a pretty solid toy. They basically just supersized the original, and added in some additional detail. If you know how to transform the original incarnation of the toy, you know how to transform him. Also of import, he’s pretty easy to transform. It’s also great because his alt mode is a giant piece of equipment. Making a scorpion a titan doesn’t necessarily make sense, but an earth mover? It’s perfect.. The other nice thing about this toy is that he was deeply discounted. Only the first adopters paid more than $150 for him. Even on discount, he’s too expensive to win the award (he’s not THAT great). But I really liked this toy, and was glad Hasbro took the risk on him.
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> Motormaster: OK, here is where we start following the “G1 toy optimization” theme of the year mentioned above. With such a decadent price tag, it would be easy to overlook this toy. However, consider that this toy yields us TWO bestest toys ever - Motormaster and the basis for Menasor. Let me save you the suspense, this toy is not perfect. They still cant figure out the two trailer Motormaster, his robot mode requires a good bit of panel forming, and his gun is both unsightly and simply a massive disappointment. I only give this toy an honorable mention due to it’s engineering, and the fact that somehow it manages to pull off its 3 modes incredibly well (the base mode is pretty nifty too!). It this toy were $40 cheaper, and came with a proper gun, I think it would run away with the title.
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> Hauler: Grapple was my ATT Toy of the Year for 2020. I was mostly panned for this choice due to some flaw in the feet that most people had with the toy (to this day I haven’t experienced it). However, I stick by my decisions and almost double downed with Hauler this year. I mean, how cool is it that this toy exists at retail. And that green color?! It’s beautiful!!! Sure, he has a silly grin on his face, but I like the fact that you have your choice of three different hand. accessories to differentiate him from Grapple. I also am told they “fixed the glitch” with his feet. I think this is one of the best molds of all-time. It’s simple, follows his G1 transformation almost perfectly, and is pretty much flawless. I didn’t pick him only because he is a remold and winner from two years ago.
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> Skids: Poor skids, he gets no respect. Only an ephemeral existence in the cartoon, “robotic insecticide?”. He turn into a, wait for it…. MINIVAN! What child of the 80s wouldn’t love that? His toys have been only marginally better than broadside’s, until now. This toy is a massive surprise, and it couldn’t have happened to a better person. If only he didn’t turn into a minivan….
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> Sludge: What a toy. We all love the giant Dinobots we are getting. Hats off to hasbro. None of them are perfect, but who cares. They are giant Dinobots!!! Sludge has some weird feet poking out of his stomach. Also, points lost for missing accessories relative to the 1985 edition. Also, I picked Slag as my 2021 ATT Toy of the Year.
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> While all of the above were great 2022 toys, I feel they were all bested by one toy. Drum roll please….
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> The 2022 ATT Toy of the Year Goes to….
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> SPOILERS
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> Cosmos: OK, let’s start with the negatives, of which there is really only one. Availability, I purchased my cosmos at Botcon at a parts party for $45. This was a steal, as there wasn’t a SINGLE Cosmos to be had in the entire dealer room. It took some convincing for the seller to part with the toy, he could have charged me much more. It really stinks that this toy wasn’t more available, and the scum sucking lowlife scalpers scooped up most of the inventory forcing the good hearted collectors to pay many, many times msrp. Right now, you can get him for “only” $85 if you want to risk authenticity and shipping from China, or $135 if you want to purchase from a US Seller. Absurd. With that out of the way, (I mean there still were people who paid msrp for him, right?), this toy is near perfection. Cosmos’ alt mode is a weird shape, so it’s virtually impossible to make a decent robot out of him. Somehow Hasbro pulled it off. He has a unique transformation, a great robot and flying saucer mode, and get this, he comes with a BLASTER! The flag gimmick is interesting, but whatever. This is by far the definitive Cosmos toy. I think there is good reason people are willing to pay the exorbitant secondary market price for him. Also, his size is perfect, not too small, yet he still maintains his minibot status. I love this toy.
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> Well, there you go! Anxious to hear what everyone else thought of Hasbro’s offerings in 2022???
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> -Banzaitron (Also really liked 1986 Coronation Starscream - Best Starscream ever?)

2022 was notable for how Hasbro branched out beyond Sunbow G1, with Diaclone, Wreck and Rule, RID01, Prime, Armada, and Cybertron all represented at retail, in addition to new entries in the neo-BW line. We even got the long hoped-for crossover with G.I.Joe with Bumblebee and Megatron, and there are hints that Soundwave is on his way.

G1 fans got reissues of Hot Rod, Starscream, and the Constructicons in new, exciting colors, BW fans got some of out of left field reissues in Wolfang, Retrax, Cybershark, Tigatron, and Scorponok.

There was truly something for fans from nearly every era. At last, all are becoming one (in CHUG).

Honorable Mentions:

Core Spike: the best representation of him we’ve gotten at retail to date, with wide distribution and an affordable price point. Outshines the Buzzworthy mold (simplified, limited to Target), and the joke of a mini figure that came with SS86 Gridlock.

Jhiaxus: A truly deep cut, Jhiaxus looks like he stepped off the comics page in all his 90s extreme glory. Hasbro didn’t skimp on his paint or his details, and he even has wrist covers to reduce the gappy look that has plagued the line recently. Not perfect, but pretty close.