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| Tier One |
My passion for Transformers starts with the ’86 Movie, before
anything else. I love a lot of other Transformers media, from the UK comic that
was partly responsible for advancing my reading age, through to the humourless
but occasionally brilliant Transformers Prime, but in terms of passion… Give me
Transformers: The Movie any day.
That pretty much sums up why I want to use the Movie as my
focus point – it’s where I care the most deeply about the Robots in Disguise,
and it’s what I would most like to see represented on my toy shelf. Besides
that, it features a vast but limited pool of characters, which means that I’m
not going to break the bank trying to buy them all.
Well, not too much.
I put serious thought into going for a Masterpiece
collection, but ultimately the price and the lack of available characters put
me off – I know plenty of collectors are still waiting to get a complete Ark
crew, so there are no guarantees about ever getting a complete Movie cast
anyway. Little by little over the last few years, I have picked up a number of
bargains from the Classics/Generations line, a run that continued with last
week’s addition of Classics Starscream. This last purchase steeled my resolve
to commit to a Classics/Generations TF: TM cast... and brings us to where we
are now.
Even with the source media and line sorted, figures still
needs to meet a certain criteria to merit inclusion in my collection, and that
is where the issue starts to get subjective – I’m not that bothered about
getting a load of dead Autobots like Ironhide and Wheeljack, for example; but
then no Transformers collection is complete without Optimus Prime.
Because I need to have some clarity regarding what I collect,
and because I like making lists, I have split what I consider an essential TF:
TM cast into three tiers of priority, starting with a heavy focus on the cast
from the third series. As you can see above, for the first ‘wave’ I’m going for
a core Autobot cast with a strong focus on the Quintessa faction; firstly because
those scenes are unquestionably some of the best in the film, and secondly
because it helps to split the cost.
With all that in mind then, what figures make the grade?
Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime
There is only one choice when it
comes to the new leader of the Autobots, and that is Classics Rodimus with the
Fansproject Protector Armour. I have the Classics base figure already, and the
Protector Armour is the highest priority on this high priority list. After all,
I still do not actually have a Deluxe scaled Matrix-bearer on the toy shelf.
Kup
For the cranky old timer there is again only one viable
option, the Generations Sergeant Kup release from 2011. The secondary market
price for this has stayed high, which I imagine is due to the lack of
alternatives; there was a Kup released in the TF: Prime line, but the shade of
green and comedy face make it a non-starter for the Movie collection.
Springer
Confession time: Springer was originally on the
second tier, before I needed an equal number of ‘bots per wave to make that
nice picture up top. He made the jump over Ultra Magnus because I already own
him, in the form of the incredible Generations Voyager figure, and because he also
serves as a reminder for not jumping on third party offerings before Hasbro have
a chance to shine first… because with Springer, they shined very brightly
indeed.
Grimlock
Winning the ‘not perfect but close enough’ award,
I’ve chosen the Fall of Cybertron Voyager Grimlock from the Generations line,
with the Iron Factory Dinoarmor (sic) & Rifle upgrade kit to fix the dinosaur
mode’s rather gaping flaws. That the upgrade will also give old Grimmy G1 style
wings is an additional bonus, and one that will make the figure even more
suited to a TF: TM collection.
Galvatron
Remember what I said about Springer and third
party releases? Whilst I would be prepared to wait for a new official release, I
have a suspicion that we are not going to see any new Movie commanders until
the film’s 30th anniversary in 2016, which is too long to wait for me. It’s a
good job then that Unique Toys have already released Mania King, a near perfect
take on the crazed Decepticon leader.
Cyclonus
Another character where I have a head start, as I already
own the excellent Classics Reveal the Shield version with Nightstick, his
Targetmaster partner. From the sublime and intuitive transformation to the
imposing stature, fine articulation and impressively effective light piping,
this is a great Transformer.
Scourge
To round out Unicron’s army I will need to pick up a
Scourge (or several), and there are no better options for that than the 2010
Generations release. I’m less enthused about getting this than I am any of the
other seven listed here, but I have read good reviews about this toy, and I
know that my Decepticon line up wouldn’t look complete without at least one. Or
three.
Wheelie
He’ll get no hating round these parts. I looked at
the GDO release, but since I already have Jazz, I would prefer something a bit
different to round out the wave. Universe Wheelie fits the bill perfectly, and
is also close to being the correct scale, making him a lock for the collection.
There are still a lot more figures to come over the next two
waves, with a lot more third party expenditure as well. I will say now that if
Hasbro can release a decent, vaguely G1 Voyager Optimus Prime before I have to
cough up for the excellent looking Orion by Toy World, I will be very grateful…
That's all from me for now. All credit to Seibertron.com for the majority of toy
pictures, and as always, thank you for reading!
