Have I Bought My Last Transformer?

Jun 16, 2024 · 4 minute read

Obviously, the answer to that question is no, of course not, but I may be closer to calling my collection complete. Since around 2006 (what other date could it be, yes?), the Transformers toyline has had a number of sub-lines on sale. There’s been toys focused on the movie of the day, toys for the current cartoon, and another line which, whilst it has had many names, has always been aimed at older fans¹). Starting out as Classics, then Universe, and its most recent regeneration as Transformers: Legacy United², it has been mainly re-workings of old characters with more modern toy-making technology. So yes, always a new Optimus Prime, and lo! there’s a new Bumblebee…and here’s Megatron and please stop complaining that he doesn’t turn into a gun any more.

As these lines have gone on, they’ve introduced a few new characters, revisited some of the more esoteric areas of G1 - combiners, Headmasters, and the like, but in the past few years, there’s definitely been a sense of “look, we’re now filling in the gaps…and in some cases just going back and redoing the things we redid a few years ago”. There’s been some wins with this; the current versions of the Dinobots are basically the toys you always wished the originals were, but even as somebody who owned the Stunticons back in 1987, I have no desire to buy the new set of them — I even skipped the “new” version of them back in 2016 too. Still, I bought quite a few of these remasters — I wasn’t going to miss the chance to have a Scorponok that is in scale with the original G1 Fortress Maximus, after all! But I’ve noticed of late that I have been just scrolling past “oh look, another version of Jazz”.

(the exception here is Optimus Prime, which I have bought a lot over the years, but if you’re after the proper answer to “which Prime should I buy?” then it is “find Earthrise Prime". It’s not too expensive, comes with a reasonable trailer, and the robot mode is likely the best representation of G1 Prime from the cartoon/comics that you can get without spending over $200)

But oh, those gaps. As somebody that grew up with the Marvel UK version of Transformers, there’s always been that annoyance that a lot of everybody’s favourite characters were not real toys. You could never complete a collection of The Wreckers for example, because Rack’n’Ruin and Impactor were never toys!

And then things like this started to happen.

Impactor? There’s three different versions of him, including one with an IDWverse head, as well as the classic Marvel UK torso and head:

What about Straxus³? Okay, sure, Hasbro are yet to release Straxus-in-a-jar, but look at this set, coming out later this year:

They even released Tarn and Rung from the IDW comics!

And then, well, I think we were all surprised by this one. Jhiaxus, a Transformer created for the ill-fated G2 revival, suddenly appeared on shelves like he had stepped out of 1994 in all his “BIG GUNS!” 90s glory. Look at the snarl on this piece of plastic!

There was always one figure who seemed destined to remain elusive. After all, would there be an audience for a mostly-Marvel UK figure who never transformed?

Yes, so Hasbro this week answered that with “silly man, why don’t we throw in his nemesis from the zombie storyline too, eh?"⁴

That’s Emirate Xaaron, manipulative leader of the underground Autobot resistance, and short-arse. HE’S IN SCALE WITH IMPACTOR IN THEIR TARGET: 2006 SCENES. Reader, I could not smash the “Buy Now” button harder on Thursday.

I have wanted this toy since I was seven. And in a few months, I’ll have him, and Flame (!?!?!) too. I really am not sure I need anything else⁵…

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1. There’s also the Masterpiece line, which is really expensive (>$100) toys for the rich lads who demand their die-cast metal, but aside from a few fun pieces, I’ve never really got on with them, as they’re fiddly, prone to breaking, and insanely priced. ↩︎

2. Legacy United 0 Stenhousemuir 3 ↩︎

3. Wags at the back pointing to a random Megatron toy: very clever. ↩︎

4. Tweenies version of Threads! ↩︎

5. Okay, I would like an updated Nightbeat, but that’s about it… ↩︎