COUNTDOWN: 5 Transformers toys I could never be without!

Toy collecting is an innately personal affair.

The items we choose to populate our shelves (and fill our homes with!) are often carefully chosen and curated in a manner which speaks volumes about our tastes, yet also reveals something about how we came to be who we are. In the case of Transformers, that might be the era we grew up in or the very specific influcences that led us to being the collector we are today.

Which is a very philosphical and rather poetic way of saying here are five Transformers toys that, personally, I could never be without! These are all absolute mainstays on my shelves; items which, if I had to boil down my collection to its barest essence, would be amongst those which remain.

#5: Nucleon Quest Super Convoy

In truth, I don’t know if I could choose just one version of the showstopping 1988 Powermaster Optimus Prime design (or its retooled Japanese Ginrai counterpart). The original is so steeped in nostalgia for me, having landed at a critical point in my youth when an original format Optimus was no longer available. True, a second-hand copy of that toy would later emerge, but my love for PMOP never waned, nor has it to this day. It’s superbly chunky, unbelievably handsome, and delivers the tactile thrill that few toys can legitimately claim.

Imagine my delight then when newly-coloured versions of the mould started to appear, including the Toys “R” Us Japan exclusive Nucelon Quest Super Convoy and the outrageously orange Fire Guts God Ginrai in 2001. These are the kind of repaints we could have never even dreamt of before their release, and even if they were largely slept on at the time, they’ve gone on to become mega-desirable in the years since (and for good reason). The black version is an oddity for all kinds of reasons: that it represents Convoy and not Ginrai; that it is a black Prime with an Autobot sigil (a sign of the times it was released in, though unthinkable now!); and lastly, those piercing blue eyes, which seem like such a strange but most welcome choice, acting as the perfect flourish on this simply stunning toy.

#4: Binaltech Smokescreen

Anyone who knows me must have realised there was little chance of making it through such a list without some mention of my beloved Binaltech, and whilst it’s undoubtedly the obvious choice, I’ll happily rely on the all-time instant classic that is BT Smokescreen. This toy is special because it delivers on three fronts: firstly, it’s gorgeous beyond belief, casually dropping the kind of visual thrills, premium finish and unparalleled detailing that is honestly now hard to comprehend on what was a mass retail Transformers toy at a surprisingly accessible price point. You don’t have to be a gearhead to appreciate the aesthetics on offer here, but the fact that this was delivered in the format it was still blows my mind! Secondly, it represents one of arguably the greatest and most internet-breaking Transformers reveals of all time.

Seriously, when this thing was first glimpsed at a Takara distributor event in July 2003, no one could quite believe their eyes – showcased alongside MP-1 Convoy, together these items represented a significant step change in the direction of Transformers as we knew it, and truthfully, I don’t think anything has quite reached the same degree of intense reaction ever since. Finally, on a personal note, I’ve long admired and had an affinity for the Subaru Impreza since my stepdad owned one back in 2000. The mid-2000s ‘Blobeye’ makeover on which Smokescreen is based remains the peak era of design in my humble opinion, so much so that I have a 2005 WRX at home myself (no livery though, because that’s considered a bit tacky on the road model!). All of this together makes for one enormously sentimental package that just so happens to be top-tier Transformers fare.

#3: G1 Fortress Maximus

Back when I was growing up, Fortress Maximus was the stuff of legend. No one I knew here in the UK could ever conceive of a toy so monstrously huge – the mere idea of it was sheer lunacy! Sure, Max was a mainstay of the Marvel comics at the time and true, he put in an awe-inspiring appearance at the very end of the classic Sunbow cartoon (the episode of which yours truly had on a very well-worn but loved VHS), but the notion that this was a thing people could actually go out and buy in a shop was unfathomable (especially as it was never available here outside of a few high-profile giveaways). So imagine my surprise when a fellow school chum claimed to own just such a thing. As I recall, one of his parents had connections overseas, though his boasts initially fell on deaf ears; we all knew that one kid who cried wolf by saying they had a G1 Unicron, after all. The day he brought in the Cerebros robot as definitive proof and flipped it over to head mode in front of me will remain in my mind forever. The rumours were true!

Fast forward a few decades, and a similar feeling of giddy glee swept through my brain when I first acquired an Encore Fortress Maximus at long last. This reissued version was the ultimate prize for all of us who grew up yearning after such an impossible possession during our younger years, an event of a toy that truly felt like it could never be legitimately toppled (though it’s a shame to acknowledge that muted sales meant there was no Grand Maximus follow-up). In truth, that feeling stays with me even now, which is why Max remains so prominently on display in my collection, and still manages to elicit the same sense of childlike wonder whenever I glimpse him. It’s a ludicrously over-the-top uber-extravagant beast of a thing, but to me, it represents the zenith of wish fulfilment in so many ways.

#2: Beast Wars Transmetal 2 Megatron

If we’re reminiscing about old times, I’ll take you back to the very fledgling days of the World Wide Web with this next entry. I appreciate I am going to sound perfectly prehistoric here, but this was an age before the internet could be instantly accessed via a device we casually carried in our pocket at all times. In my case, it was a rare (and always momentous) event, typically in a brief stint at school or college. It’s also fair to say the online resource for all things Transformers was in its infancy compared to what we know today, though somehow, this only served to elevate any discoveries made during these sessions to near-legendary status. So it went as I randomly stumbled across some news concerning the upcoming Beast Wars cartoon’s third season, only to be presented with my first look at what I now know was Transmetal 2 Megatron.

As the picture before me slowly unveiled itself by loading vertically down the screen a few dozen pixels at a time, I distinctly remember being in awe. This was a Transformer unlike anything I’d ever seen before, and I fell instantly in love. To my mind, dragons have always been unassailable levels of cool, so to see my favourite Robots in Disguise line bring one to life in such gorgeous form was something I could have never prepared for! Sadly, it would be some time until I finally managed to get my hands on one, and then it was the 2001 Robots in Disguise Cryotek repaint (though I love it just as much!). I’ve treasured both versions in the years since, especially as they’re forever tied to that initial sense of wonder.

#1: Retro G1 Hot Rod

Here’s a date for your diary: this coming Sunday, 24th November, is Pink Hot Rod Day. I know that because it was this very date just two years ago when a dream was finally fulfilled. You see, that is when I first got Retro Hot Rod in hand, delivering the idea of a perfectly pink take on the classic toy into my palm after over three decades of wanting. After all, I can so vividly recall sitting and staring at the classic UK catalogues of Transformers toys during childhood, to the point where numerous examples began to stand out to me as being rather unusual or noticeably different to the specimens I owned. The most memorable of all these was Hot Rod, which I now know was a non-transformable prototype made in colours more closely resembling the character’s on-screen appearance, but back then, it represented a serious source of wonder.

In more recent years, the notion of a pink Hot Rod reissue had become a regular talking point for me in blog articles and as part of Triple Takeover, which meant when the thing was first unveiled in October 2022, I genuinely could not believe my eyes. Was this an elaborate prank? A digibash of some kind? It’s no exaggeration to say that I’m as stunned today that it actually exists as I was then, and my love for it has not dwindled one bit. As they say, dare to keep all your dreams alive.

So that’s our list! What are some of your all-timers?

TTFN