COUNTDOWN: 5 gorgeous Transformers Animated repaints

I may have mentioned this, but I’m a huge repaint fan.

There’s just something about seeing an already familiar toy design rehashed in a bold new colour scheme that really gets the motor running. There’s often no better way to fully appreciate a particular mould than to admire it with a different look.

Having recently showcased examples from the Unicron Trilogy, CHUG, Beast Wars, RID 2001, and even Generation 1, it was inevitable that we’d turn our attention to one of the most fan-favourites parts of the franchise in Transformers: Animated. Simply put, here are five gorgeous repaints for your consideration!

#5: Black Rodimus (2011)

The world of black Hot Rod recolours is long and surprisingly convoluted, mostly because no consistent interpretation of the idea exists across more than one subline at a time. Sure, it’s been done in Generation 1, Masterpiece, Unicron Trilogy, Generations and more, but they all have their own unique flavour. So it is with this absolute stunner, which takes an already fantastic toy design and pumps it full of everything you could want from a sleek and sultry dark makeover. The pink accents are an inspired touch and give Rodimus a real sense of both evil and panache in equal measure, whilst the main black body is superbly shiny for that finishing touch. Despite being an exclusive release tied with Hyper Hobby magazine, this figure isn’t too hard to come by if you go looking, although it’s equally well worth it. It is, after all, a truly amazing black Hot Rod repaint, so what’s not to love?

#4: Ironhide (2010)

It sounds weird to class any Ironhide toy as a ‘repaint’, although it’s entirely accurate in this case! The tough ol’ geezer was, after all, not part of the core show cast for TF: Animated (though there were plans for that to change in the sadly cancelled fourth season), and so perhaps wasn’t top of the pile when they were considering which characters to make into toys! That explains why it was one of the final releases at US retail, debuting solely as a Toys “R” Us exclusive, no less. It makes this Ironhide a bit of an oddity by general standards despite his otherwise mass appeal as a franchise superstar. Even better, the design has had some serious overhaul since it debuted as ‘Cybertron Mode Ratchet’, with a wholly new head the crowning glory here. That sort of thing may seem commonplace by today’s standards when second noggins are baked right into the production process, but back in the Animated days, things were not so certain! As it turns out, this new tooling budget could only be afforded for one of two specific repainted toys in that same final wave, and given the alternative, “Fugitive Waspinator” never actually made it to fruition, perhaps we should be even more grateful for what we got!

#3: Cheetor (2011)

Although Animated had ended its days at retail by this point, the toy line lived on in various forms as exclusives and the like, although it arguably produced some of its major highs during that time! Step forward this take on popular Beast Wars character (and now big-budget live-action franchise film megastar) Cheetor, who arrived as a Transformers Collectors’ Club release in 2011. That the toy is a repaint and retool of Blurr is wholly appropriate, given the inherent design was itself inspired by Cheetor’s unique but ultimately scrapped ‘Transtech’ model from the series that would have carried on after Beast Machines. Thus, things came full circle, and we received what is essentially the closest official representation of a Transtech Cheetor we may ever see (or perhaps not, the way Legacy is going at the moment!). That this release is also incredible to behold, with paint applications aplenty, gorgeous translucent green highlight, superb new tooling and an overall stunning presentation, is but the icing on a very delicious cake. Spot on smooth.

#2: Multipack Shockwave (2009)

As characters with popular potential alternate colour schemes go, Shockwave is one of the first to mind, given how frequently he’s represented in both purple and grey. That’s all thanks to the classic toy’s pre-Transformers origins, of course, but it’s an idea which has generally stuck throughout the franchise and worked its way in through unexpected means. In this case, the grey version came first, released as a show-accurate 2008 standalone release, and it’s only fair to say it lives up to the iconic Decepticon’s name in every single way you care to think of. However, for many fans, seeing the design now decked out in more traditional allegiance-affirming hues is the real treat, thanks to this Target two-pack alongside the also excellent Activators Bumblebee. For me, though, the two versions make for a fantastic (and very logical) complement to one another – one can never have enough Shockwave toys, after all.

#1: The Motor Master (2011)

I’ve said before that I almost – almost – feel bad for popping Botcon exclusives in the top spot of these repaint lists, but in this case? C’mon, it had to be done. In the pantheon of convention releases, the 2011 Stunti-Con-Job box set still remains the stuff of legend, drawing fevered fan attention even after over a decade on account of just how creative and superbly realised all five toys were. True, these Stunticons may not combine into a Big Man mode, but honestly, they don’t even need to; they’re already more than special enough, and if anything, it just gives the individuals a true chance to shine. The crowning glory is, of course, “The Motor Master”, who takes the superb Voyager Optimus Prime mould and weaponises it in something… more. The newly tooled head boasts one of the finest face sculpts of the last four decades, complete with signature moustache, and the colour scheme is purely provocative besides. There’s a reason this set is so desirable, after all.

So that’s our list! What are some of your favourite Animated repaints?

TTFN