Over and Underrated?
 

I started this thread about transformers over on the TCC boards, and thought it might be a fun thread to post here.

What toylines, and indeed individual toys do you think don't get a fair shake by the fandom? That are so universally hated, but you just can't find a reason to hate? And which ones are so highly praised by everyone, but have constantly failed to live up to your expectations, leaving you to wonder what all the fuss is about?
Please try to keep this within personal experience, and don't come along posting how aweful a toyline/toy that you never owned or played with is. ("Gobots! Why does everyone love them so? They're worthless. Never seen one in my life, but they ain't transformers and don't deserve to exist!" ~For example)
And in that reguard, I'm leaving my opinions exclusively to transformers (for now), since I don't have as much experience dabbling in other lines.

I feel some of the more underrated toys, are actually from Armada. Sure, I'll admit that each one of them has their fair share of problems. And I'll admit that they're not the greatest examples of transformers. But toys like Hotshot, and Scavanger I feel are far better than people give them credit for. Scavanger may have sacrificed proper legs for a gimmick, but I personally feel that gimmick works *really* well. It's not a great toy to put on a shelf and never touch. Like all of armada, it was ment to be played with. And it's one of the most fun TFs I've found to actually play with.
I also feel Universe Galvatron is pretty underrated. All of the problems he's critisized for do indeed exist, I'll acknowlegde that. But I don't think they're as big of a dealbreaker as everyone acts. I think he's a nice design, looks nice in both modes. He has great detailing, and decent articulation. And basically he accomplishes exactly what everyone eants. To stand on a shelf untouched and look like his G1 namesake.

For the overrated catagory? I'll go for Titaniums. Every single one of them is MASSIVELY overrated. They're complete rubbish. Heavy, expensive, and fragile thanks to the diecast. Lacking in articulation, and a lot of articulation they get are rendered loose and pointless due to the diecast. What little scultped detailing they have is lost due to diecast. Transformations are overwhelmingly simplistic (And in the case of Jetfire, DOESN'T EVEN TRANSFORM! You take apart a chunk, fold him over, put chunk back on in different place!). This line... I honestly do not understand the appeal of it, and why it is so highly praised. I've aquired several figures from it. Hotzone, WWI Optimus, Scourge, Jetfire, Thundercracker, Rodimus... and every single figure has completely failed to do anything to impress me. Thundercracker and Hotzone are decent... but were these in the propper TF lines, they would both be mediocre at best. Were *any* of the other figures in one of the mainlines, with the engineering and details they currently have, they would be laughed out and every single one of them would be declaired massive failiers. But because they're Titaniums, they get praised as something aspirational.
I also feel Universe Hotshot is overpraised beyond deserving. The toy to me fails miserably, and is the worst toy that's called Hotshot. It's design is flawed, transformation is rubbish, and it's articulation really doesn't improve much on the original.

Underrated? TFA Roll-out command Optimus Prime. I mean, it's a friggin' gigantic optimus with a gigantic axe. Plus the axing gimmick makes it more awesome.

Overrated.....Movie 2 Megatron. Hate,hate,hate for him.

Underrated: G.I. Joe Sigma 6--the 8 inch figures are some of the most fun toys I've seen in a long time.

Overrated: POC Snake Eyes from Wave 3. It's a cool figure, but it's not the best action figure ever like some Joe fans would lead you to believe.

overrated: the new heman line,and the 6" dc line from mattel. everybody has the same body almost. wth?
underrated: the new crysis 2 3 3/4" figure line. the manufacturer snuck in from nowhere but do actually a fine quality job.

Underrated: DCIH...so underrated nobody carries it/keeps up with new waves.

Overrated: Marvel Legends and DCUC...Yes they are poseable and well painted but they are marketed to collectors and I think we take ourselves far too seriously.

Well said! I agree completely!

Overrated
Animated Lockdown: What's impressive is this guy's sculpt, and the fact that he is vastly bigger in robot mode than in alt mode. Other than that I didn't think this was the best TF Animated deluxe. An alright figure for sure, but not the highlight of the line.

GI Joe VVV Thunderwing: This plane was worth its retail price, was hefty, and sufficiently big. However it looks bloated with small wings, and unlike the real F-22, isn't sleek. The True Heroes F-22 is far better.

I think I've got quite a few figures which other people don't really rate, but I think the most constantly picked on has to be the Star Wars Transformers (later Crossovers).

Some criticise the basic idea - 'why don't they transform into actual Transformers characters?', 'why would a jedi need a giant robot in his/her own likeness?'. Others don't like the toys themselves, 'they fall apart', 'they look rubbish', etc. 'Why don't they use the resources to make more transformers that I want?'.

Firstly, they're made by the Star Wars team at Hasbro, so don't make any difference to the number of actual Transformers produced.

Secondly, and feel free to correct me here, but they're actually one of the longest running transformers lines ever. I think they first appeared on shelves in 2005, that's almost 6 years, not much less than that most revered of lines, G1. I can't help but suspect that they sell quite well.

One problem the designers have is that they have to be completely faithful in vehicle mode, which means trying to squeeze a decent robot out of it is tricky. There have been a few horrors from vehicles which just don't make good robots (these are the ones where bits pop off), but some have been excellent designs.

The Delta and Eta Starfighter designs I think are among my favourites (Jedi seekers if you will), nice transformation and pose well. Commander Cody is well worth a mention, as are Death Star Vader and the Millenium Falcon.

If you can't get your head round Star Wars vehicles turning into Star Wars characters then leave them in vehicle mode! They're perfect for me really, I wanted toys of the characters and vehicles roughly in scale, but I'm not that big a fan to get the 3.75" scale stuff. Nicely!

Definitely agree about Star Wars Transformers. The line as a whole has some issues, but there are some really stand-out figures in the line that are worth owning, if only they were given a chance.

That's actually rather surprising to hear. I can't recall any of the Titanium figures ever getting that much praise. In fact, most of what I heard (and experienced firsthand) is how awful they are in general and how there's only a few decent figures in the entire line.

I would say what's really overrated is die-cast metal in toys with moving parts. It's prone to paint chipping/flaking and it can stress plastic connection points (which ironically makes the whole toy more fragile).

Getting back to your original request though, I suppose I should list a few of my picks for over- and underrated.

Overrated: POC Jungle Viper. As crazy as his accessories are, they really don't work as intended. So you get this guy with an obscenely long sniper rifle who either looks like a walking advert for Pine-Sol or a rejected MGS design for Gray Fox.

Underrated: Cybertron Backstop. Sure he's got ass-hand syndrome on one side and you can see his robot mode arm under his rhino head on the other, but he's still a fun toy to fiddle with.

Another contender would be GoBots. Same original price point as TF minibots, but tons more variety and solid (but simple) engineering.

Most of my interaction with the fandom comes from skimming over threads on Allspark and TFW, and direct interaction on the TCC board.
All I remember seeing about Titaniums when they came out on the popular messageboard was how glorious they are. Reinforced by some bigtime vocal fans on the TCC that would actively critisize someone for not thinking they're the greatest. For a long time anytime anyone got the chance "Why can't the club release the cancelled titaniums???"

I agree with you whole heartedly about diecast being overrated as a medium as a whole.
It drives figure costs up to unreasonable levels, kills detail, and makes joints insanely fragile.
Also agree with Gobots!
mmmmm.... gobots....
Fortunately mindless trendy hate against gobots for no reason at all is finally slowly starting to wane.

I think the general joy of Titaniums was that they were geared towards collectors, particularly as they featured War Within designs, many of which were pretty good (the designs that is!).

I only own one Titanium - WW Grimlock, and I think he's great, for me he's up there with MP Grimlock as one of the best modern incarnations. He's got a particularly cool head sculpt as well.

I remember when Don Figueroa posted a few pictures of the toy before it was confirmed it would even get a release, and was delighted to finally have it in my hands!

I honestly think they would have been a lot better had they been engineered by TakaraTomy in lieu of the Galoob's Action Fleet team(which was absorbed into Hasbro and is behind the Titaniums/SWTF's).

It would have been a lot better had it been engineered by the Takara team, and released in the mainline without the diecast and shoddy engineering to hold it back.
Titaniums didn't have bad designs, they were bad toys of good designs released in an utterly inferior toyline, constructed and designed by utterly inferior engineers.
The worst part of all is they pretty much destroyed any chance at getting *real* War Within toys.

(Not saying you disagree. I'm just adding onto what you said)

WW Grimlock is one of the standouts and is another example of one of Laws of Transformers: the best toys in the line are usually released/announced at the end of the line's run.

What's really sad is I've almost got the line completed (at least for retail releases). I'm only missing a couple (both versions of Magnus, Hot Zone and WW Prime reissue). But the ones I do have are now glorified paperweights collecting dust.

So true! Warpath anyone?

Design Your Own Toys
 

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