Jetfire is art. I'm very fortunate to have the 1st release with the Macross logo. Having that logo AND the Autobot insignia simultaneously on a bot just sparks joy. A whole lot of joy.
Only Blitzwing of these would make my personal Top 10 but I really respect your inclusion of Astrotrain, as I feel like he was invaluable to the Decepticons with his shuttle transport abilities. I owned both of those triple-changers, as well as Octane and Sixshot. Good times!
Omega Supreme reigns supreme. I almost died when I received it for Christmas as it retailed for a cool $100. Some of my favorite G1 Decepticons? Blitzwing, Skywarp, Bombshell, Ravage, & Laserbeak. Shoutout to Galvatron, as well. If you thought Shockwave was cool, Galva one-upped him. As far as "Jetfire", yeah, of course the VF-1S is amazing. 😁Enjoyed the video.
An excellent list. I’d probably trade Cosmos for Powerglide for my token minibot. But leaving out Perceptor is just unforgivable. I’d probably drop Astrotrain for him.
Astrotrain was VERY instrumental to the Decepticons in the cartoon, but I agree about Perceptor in general. As for Cosmos, that's a good one but if I dropped Powerglide for a similar mini bot, it would be for Warpath.
Just like the 1984 list... I actually have to look up to see what figures were released in 1985. Also I thought 1986 with the Movie toys was the first time Hasbro would come up with original molds that weren't reused from existing toy lines. What figures in 1985 were original? I'm on a cell phone right now so it's not easy to open up a Wiki page. I think I mostly agree with this list. There's a couple figures I might swap out later once I have a full list in front of me but it's hard to argue a lot of this where a lot of these figures are also my favorites as well.
Update, I have a list in front of me so here's my list. 10. Cosmos, really only here because my dad likes him. 9. Seaspray, I'm a sucker for aquatic vehicles so he makes my list. 8. Inferno, there weren't a lot of figures in 1985 I really liked so I was actually struggling to find figures and this guy ended up in this slot. This is also the reason I kind of cheated with my number 1. 7. Omega Supreme, he's kind of just a big play set which I personally have never been a big fan of. 6. Tracks, a character I wish would get a proper modern day update. I know his arms are clearly visible on the original toy but I feel like with modern engineering they could do better than just copying what the original toy did and those arms are not as obvious on the animation model. Modern versions also make the wings really small compared to the original so that flight mode just never looks quite right. I love Tracks, he deserves better. 5. Blitzwing, I like him but he suffers a lot in robot mode and the jet mode has an obvious tank turret under it. He is not the best looking triple changer in G1 and it's the Animated version that really made me love the character. 4. Astrotrain, honestly my favorite of the original Tripple changers. Especially the version in the more realistic vehicle colors rather than the Purple version. Yes he has tiny arms in robot mode and his shuttle mode is a bit too boxy but he still looks the best to me. 3. Shockwave who frankly is only here because of the articulation, it's impressive for an 80's Transformer, can't deny that. And I do like his gun mode more than Megatron. 2. Jetfire, not only does he have impressive articulation for an 80's toy but he's also got an actual vehicle mode which puts him above Shockwave for me. 1. Devastator... yep I cheated and put the combiner team on here. None of them are really worth much on their own but together I do think they deserve a spot on the list. And I did not include any Dinobots mostly because I've personally never been a fan of the G1 Dinobots so I just didn't care to add any of them.
Since Astrotrain quite deservedly made this list, I was wondering if anyone has heard or knows about some of his other alternate unreleased/scrapped/shelved design features for both the G1 toy and/or later releases? I had read about the retractable arms mentioned in this video and I had also read that his loco wheels in front and behind the drivers were also quite different from what we got in the final release. Specifically that they had toyed around (no pun intended) with at least 2 other designs that gave him rolling wheels that were completely in line with his drivers. One supposedly had a guiding truck (making him a 4-8-2) with two rolling wheels. The other design supposedly featured only two, but they were primarily concealed/shielded/covered and that design is what the marvel artists primarily based many of his locomotive comic book appearances off of. I had also heard that he was originally slated to be an Autobot at first and his head styling that ended up in the final product is really from his autobot design renderings and that when they made the decision to make him a decepticon instead, it was late enough in the game that producing the toy with the intended deception design (which we see in the cartoon and the comic) was too expensive and that was part of the reason for changing his color scheme from the original realistic black/white to the more creepy purple motif. Dunno how much truth there is to some of the claims, but the claim also attributed that the first versions released in Asia were actually the black/white versions that had already been manufactured before the audible to make him a decepticon, so they just changed his sticker sheet and box design! Just wondering if anyone knows if there was/is any truth to any of that. Beyond the G1 toy rumors, I had also heard/read some years back that there are supposedly at least two other unreleased/prototype designs for Astrotrain that have never been mass produced. One was supposedly for that early 2000s anime-esque animated toyline which does have a Blitzwing toy. The other rumored design which really intrigued me is more recent and gives him an American diesel locomotive mode! I know that one of the more recent comics illustrated his train mode as an American Diesel locomotive and I have been able to find one illustration on the web that depicts him that way, but I'd be really curious to see all the elements of that design because I think that route could actually provide the possibility for a toy with very realistic appearances and free of kibble.
I quite like Red Alert's car mode, even if not the most stealthy. Whirl had a unique design at the time of the release year. Speaking of Whirl, Shockwave many years later would get a redeco of a different Whirl toy and it generally works well. Out of the three cone heads, my favorite one in the G1 line is Thrust due to the unique wings and color combination. Ironically, it seems the toys weren't meant to be cone heads, but they feel more unique with the nosecone kept on their heads.
I think TJOmega is applying a modern mindset regarding gun modes of the 1980s when gun toys weren't controversial. The controversial events of kids pointing toy guns at others and the police thinking they are real guns hadn't happened by 1984. Although probably did happen because of Megatron. Toy makers had a whole different attitude towards toy guns back then.
No, I'm applying personal preference, as a kid who always had toy weapons and though they were a lot of fun, being able to also be a toy robot is always going to make them a high preference for me.
Good video as always TJ! I was only 6/7 years old in 1985 but I remember it well. Transformers was the whole world to me then! Did you say Swoop was the only Dinobot with a launcher / launchers? I distinctly remember my Slag having a launcher. It attached to the front dinosaur leg and came with chromed missiles on a sprue. It even worked quite well if I remember correctly. What's going on there? I grew up in northwest England, so is it possible I had a different, european version? It didn't have a red face though. Am I going mad or did I just misunderstand what you said? I had Slag, Grimlock and Sludge by the time I entered my dark ages and stopped playing with them. My dad threw them all away in about 1998, without even asking me first. Pain. If I remember correctly Swoop wasn't very widely available in the UK and I never even knew what Snarl looked like until I was an adult, apart from catalogue images. Looking forward to you doing '86. That was probably the peak of it for me, because I would have been 7/8 in 1986!
no TJ's just misremembering, most if not all of the other Dinobots had missile launchers on top of a regular gun and Swoop instead of also having a normal rifle just had 2 launchers
If I can’t find him, I will check to see if the seller won’t include batteries. Just so that way I can supply my own, and mess around with it like the electronics worked just fine.
G1 Blitzwing is a rare case of a G1 design I find bland regardless of whether it's animation or toy form. What makes him actually stand out is being one of the first triple changers ever.
Which is why some of them didn't make it into the cartoon (except Shockwave, Jetfire and Omega Supreme): Takara wanted to bring the cartoon into their markets and refused to give Bandai (their rival at the time) free advertising by featuring those molds. Jetfire was then redesigned and renamed Skyfire in the cartoon, but it wasn't enough, so Skyfire vanished after the episode Day of the Machines.
![Why do the Seekers look alike? [Guest Starring Comodin Cam & Last Prime Speculator]](/img/1.gif)
Jetfire is art. I'm very fortunate to have the 1st release with the Macross logo. Having that logo AND the Autobot insignia simultaneously on a bot just sparks joy. A whole lot of joy.
I was 6 years old when the ‘85 figures were released. That year, I got Hoist, Skids, Cosmos, and the Constructicons. Such a good year!
Nice. The only Constructicon I ever owned was Bonecrusher, but that worked b/c he was my favorite by far.
Swoop has always looked cool. I cannot wait to see what his eventual Studio Series '86 figure is going to look like. I am so stoked for that
Swoop is cool to me because he and Snarl are the only Dinobots I ever owned. 😄
If we’re talking Takara-originated molds, I’d give it to Perceptor. If we’re talking non-Takara molds, I’ll give it to Jetfire.
Missed opportunity there. You could’ve started with, “And awaaay we go!”
My 10 are 10. Shockwave 9. Astrotrain 8. Blitzwing 7. Skids 6. Hoist 5. Thrust 4. Snarl 3. Smokescreen 2. Grapple 1. Tracks
Only Blitzwing of these would make my personal Top 10 but I really respect your inclusion of Astrotrain, as I feel like he was invaluable to the Decepticons with his shuttle transport abilities. I owned both of those triple-changers, as well as Octane and Sixshot. Good times!
Omega Supreme reigns supreme. I almost died when I received it for Christmas as it retailed for a cool $100. Some of my favorite G1 Decepticons? Blitzwing, Skywarp, Bombshell, Ravage, & Laserbeak. Shoutout to Galvatron, as well. If you thought Shockwave was cool, Galva one-upped him. As far as "Jetfire", yeah, of course the VF-1S is amazing. 😁Enjoyed the video.
I love these year by years! I really hope you cover every year til now! Keep it up!! :)
I'm glad my boy Tracks made the top ten :). I would have swapped Roadbuster for Whirl, I loved that toy
Another point to Blitzwing is he also has firing missiles so you could even more bombing runs
An excellent list. I’d probably trade Cosmos for Powerglide for my token minibot.
But leaving out Perceptor is just unforgivable. I’d probably drop Astrotrain for him.
Astrotrain was VERY instrumental to the Decepticons in the cartoon, but I agree about Perceptor in general. As for Cosmos, that's a good one but if I dropped Powerglide for a similar mini bot, it would be for Warpath.
Maccros, in the 80s i never heard of, we knew it as robotech back then
Just like the 1984 list... I actually have to look up to see what figures were released in 1985.
Also I thought 1986 with the Movie toys was the first time Hasbro would come up with original molds that weren't reused from existing toy lines. What figures in 1985 were original?
I'm on a cell phone right now so it's not easy to open up a Wiki page. I think I mostly agree with this list. There's a couple figures I might swap out later once I have a full list in front of me but it's hard to argue a lot of this where a lot of these figures are also my favorites as well.
The Year 2 Minibots were the first molds made just for Transformers.
Update, I have a list in front of me so here's my list.
10. Cosmos, really only here because my dad likes him.
9. Seaspray, I'm a sucker for aquatic vehicles so he makes my list.
8. Inferno, there weren't a lot of figures in 1985 I really liked so I was actually struggling to find figures and this guy ended up in this slot. This is also the reason I kind of cheated with my number 1.
7. Omega Supreme, he's kind of just a big play set which I personally have never been a big fan of.
6. Tracks, a character I wish would get a proper modern day update. I know his arms are clearly visible on the original toy but I feel like with modern engineering they could do better than just copying what the original toy did and those arms are not as obvious on the animation model. Modern versions also make the wings really small compared to the original so that flight mode just never looks quite right. I love Tracks, he deserves better.
5. Blitzwing, I like him but he suffers a lot in robot mode and the jet mode has an obvious tank turret under it. He is not the best looking triple changer in G1 and it's the Animated version that really made me love the character.
4. Astrotrain, honestly my favorite of the original Tripple changers. Especially the version in the more realistic vehicle colors rather than the Purple version. Yes he has tiny arms in robot mode and his shuttle mode is a bit too boxy but he still looks the best to me.
3. Shockwave who frankly is only here because of the articulation, it's impressive for an 80's Transformer, can't deny that. And I do like his gun mode more than Megatron.
2. Jetfire, not only does he have impressive articulation for an 80's toy but he's also got an actual vehicle mode which puts him above Shockwave for me.
1. Devastator... yep I cheated and put the combiner team on here. None of them are really worth much on their own but together I do think they deserve a spot on the list.
And I did not include any Dinobots mostly because I've personally never been a fan of the G1 Dinobots so I just didn't care to add any of them.
Since Astrotrain quite deservedly made this list, I was wondering if anyone has heard or knows about some of his other alternate unreleased/scrapped/shelved design features for both the G1 toy and/or later releases?
I had read about the retractable arms mentioned in this video and I had also read that his loco wheels in front and behind the drivers were also quite different from what we got in the final release.
Specifically that they had toyed around (no pun intended) with at least 2 other designs that gave him rolling wheels that were completely in line with his drivers. One supposedly had a guiding truck (making him a 4-8-2) with two rolling wheels. The other design supposedly featured only two, but they were primarily concealed/shielded/covered and that design is what the marvel artists primarily based many of his locomotive comic book appearances off of.
I had also heard that he was originally slated to be an Autobot at first and his head styling that ended up in the final product is really from his autobot design renderings and that when they made the decision to make him a decepticon instead, it was late enough in the game that producing the toy with the intended deception design (which we see in the cartoon and the comic) was too expensive and that was part of the reason for changing his color scheme from the original realistic black/white to the more creepy purple motif. Dunno how much truth there is to some of the claims, but the claim also attributed that the first versions released in Asia were actually the black/white versions that had already been manufactured before the audible to make him a decepticon, so they just changed his sticker sheet and box design!
Just wondering if anyone knows if there was/is any truth to any of that.
Beyond the G1 toy rumors, I had also heard/read some years back that there are supposedly at least two other unreleased/prototype designs for Astrotrain that have never been mass produced. One was supposedly for that early 2000s anime-esque animated toyline which does have a Blitzwing toy. The other rumored design which really intrigued me is more recent and gives him an American diesel locomotive mode! I know that one of the more recent comics illustrated his train mode as an American Diesel locomotive and I have been able to find one illustration on the web that depicts him that way, but I'd be really curious to see all the elements of that design because I think that route could actually provide the possibility for a toy with very realistic appearances and free of kibble.
Wow, did TJ actually compliment Swoops CHROME wings? 😮
I feel like Inferno / Grapple should have at least made the list.
Considering that the combination gimmick's the main point of the constructicons; I would've had Devastator here instead of Swoop.
My Top 11 Favorite 1985’s Transformers G1 Toys
11. G1 Warpath
10. G1 Powerglide
9. G1 Whirl
8. G1 Skids
7. G1 Thurst
6. G1 Snarl
5. G1 Smokescreen
4. G1 Perceptor
3. G1 Grapple
2. G1 Shockwave
1. G1 Jetfire/ Skyfire
I recomand KO G1 Shockwave for those dont want to pay a arm and a legs for it plus electronic is new the the ruber wired wont break !!!
I quite like Red Alert's car mode, even if not the most stealthy.
Whirl had a unique design at the time of the release year. Speaking of Whirl, Shockwave many years later would get a redeco of a different Whirl toy and it generally works well.
Out of the three cone heads, my favorite one in the G1 line is Thrust due to the unique wings and color combination. Ironically, it seems the toys weren't meant to be cone heads, but they feel more unique with the nosecone kept on their heads.
Red Alert is the only one of the 3 G1 Lamborghinis that I ever owned so he's cool for that reason. And I agree about Thrust. Great design!
All G1 Dinobots had functioning missile launchers. It's just Swoop had two of them.
Also clearly you mean Takatoku Valkyrie, not Bandai.
My favorite Dinobot weapon was Slag's flamethrower. Talk about bad breath.
@@semicharmedlife311
*Weaponized belching intensifies*
@@EungsuLee Burn, baby burn.
@@semicharmedlife311
Is that a Disco Inferno reference I see?!
@@EungsuLee Indeed! 👍
I'm still not happy about thundercracker man! The purple jet nozzles look good do they??! C'mon!
While Powerglide was unique, I'd have Chop Shop here instead. He's one of the insecticons; who are generally unique for the series to this day.
I'd say I agree with this list. But I think Blitzwing's robot mode was way better than Astrotrain's.
12:53 haha crack. Like his beak.😂😂😂
I think TJOmega is applying a modern mindset regarding gun modes of the 1980s when gun toys weren't controversial. The controversial events of kids pointing toy guns at others and the police thinking they are real guns hadn't happened by 1984. Although probably did happen because of Megatron. Toy makers had a whole different attitude towards toy guns back then.
No, I'm applying personal preference, as a kid who always had toy weapons and though they were a lot of fun, being able to also be a toy robot is always going to make them a high preference for me.
Very enjoyable video
Fun fact: Shockwave’s Japanese name is Laserwave.
Pretty solid list.
Good video as always TJ! I was only 6/7 years old in 1985 but I remember it well. Transformers was the whole world to me then!
Did you say Swoop was the only Dinobot with a launcher / launchers? I distinctly remember my Slag having a launcher. It attached to the front dinosaur leg and came with chromed missiles on a sprue. It even worked quite well if I remember correctly.
What's going on there? I grew up in northwest England, so is it possible I had a different, european version? It didn't have a red face though. Am I going mad or did I just misunderstand what you said?
I had Slag, Grimlock and Sludge by the time I entered my dark ages and stopped playing with them. My dad threw them all away in about 1998, without even asking me first. Pain.
If I remember correctly Swoop wasn't very widely available in the UK and I never even knew what Snarl looked like until I was an adult, apart from catalogue images. Looking forward to you doing '86. That was probably the peak of it for me, because I would have been 7/8 in 1986!
no TJ's just misremembering, most if not all of the other Dinobots had missile launchers on top of a regular gun and Swoop instead of also having a normal rifle just had 2 launchers
@@Zatyme94 Thanks for that mate. Thought I was going mad there. lol
If I can’t find him, I will check to see if the seller won’t include batteries. Just so that way I can supply my own, and mess around with it like the electronics worked just fine.
I’m still waiting for a Transformers character to turn into a Silverado, if they haven’t already. Or a Tesla.
G1 Blitzwing is a rare case of a G1 design I find bland regardless of whether it's animation or toy form. What makes him actually stand out is being one of the first triple changers ever.
Where can I get one
To quote Prime, "eBay."
I find it funny that Kingdom Tracks really looks like a downgrade compared to the G1 version.
I will say Jetfire is good for $100+
Or just get the VF-1S Super Valkyrie and paint it red.
I’m surprised that the Macross Valkyrie hasn’t shown up in super sentai or Kamen Rider.
Toei doesn't own Macross, while Bandai only has the license to produce the toys. In fact, Bandai didn't create the Valkyrie toy, it was Takatoku Toys.
And when you remember that Roadbuster was on the list ... 40% of these bots were outsiders
Which is why some of them didn't make it into the cartoon (except Shockwave, Jetfire and Omega Supreme): Takara wanted to bring the cartoon into their markets and refused to give Bandai (their rival at the time) free advertising by featuring those molds. Jetfire was then redesigned and renamed Skyfire in the cartoon, but it wasn't enough, so Skyfire vanished after the episode Day of the Machines.
Those aren't horns, those are ear cannons lol
Shockwave and Sludge are the best 2. I hated Jetfire.
Megatron was a better robot T-Rex, in my opinion.
Jetfire = Robotech
It was Macros in Japan. It became Robotech when it was imported to America.
@@charlesdavis7285 Which was why Harmony Gold couldn't sell the Valkyrie toy in their Robotech toyline: Hasbro beat them to the license.