IDW currently has two Transformers ongoing series running simultaneously that have truly raised the bar for Transformers comics. Both More than Meets the Eye and Robots in Disguise have taken the property in directions that have been thoroughly entertaining and that have successfully challenged the unfortunate notion that all there is to the Transformers saga is just Optimus Prime vs Megatron blah blah blah. In both titles the line between Autobot and Decepticon is blurred, if not gone, and as a result we have Cyclonus operating alongside Chromedome, Starscream and Bumblebee occupying the same space without trying to blow each other to smithereens (at least not outwardly), and other pairings and situations that may otherwise leave readers scratching their heads if this all wasn’t handled so well.
What I like best about these books, particularly More than Meets the Eye, is writer James Roberts’ ability to take fairly obscure c-list and d-list characters and make them the focus of the book — and actually pull it off with flying colors. Never in my life would I think I’d be able to say Swerve is my favorite Transformers character and actually mean it, but that’s the power of these books — instead of relying on the tried-and-true formula that we’ve had for decades, Roberts is actually taking risks with both character and narrative. And it’s paying off. Maybe a little too well, in fact, because now I find myself being a big fan of characters that have never been properly rendered in action figure form. In some cases they’ve been close, but the toys are either old and severely dated, or they were super-exclusive and unattainable con-exclusives. Or, worse, they just plain sucked.
Whatever the case may be, there are a bunch of characters that are screaming to be made in toy form to share the shelves with our Classics or Masterpiece collections. And I don’t care who makes them. In fact, any one of these would be a golden opportunity for a 3rd Party team like Mech Ideas, Toy World, etc. to tackle. At this point, Hasbro and Takara are just two options among many, so hopefully some, if not all, of these see the light of day soon.
So let’s get to it. Kicking off the list is:
10. Metalhawk
In RID, Metalhawk is a NAIL, a non-affiliated ‘bot who has assumed the role of “official” spokesman for the NAIL population in Cybertron’s new, fledgling government. And he’s a major thorn in Bumblebee’s side. He’s become a character I love to hate, so I’m dying to have a figure that represents his IDW look on my shelves glaring at Bumblebee and waiting for him to make a mistake.
9. Rung
Rung is the official Autobot psychologist aboard Rodimus’ ship the Lost Light who has proven to be a lot of fun in the MTMTE series. From helping poor Red Alert get a handle on his psychoses, to his current catatonic state as a result of getting mistakenly blasted in the face by Swerve, Rung deserves a figure who can be there on the shelves to help the Autobots sort out their issues.
8. Fortress Maximus
Fort Max has been among the most interesting characters we’ve seen in the IDW comics, beginning in the wonderful Last Stand of the Wreckers when Overlord handed him over to all the Deceptions he had served as prison warden for at Garrus-9. When he came back in MTMTE, he had some “issues” to work out and went on a rampage throughout the Lost Light blasting anyone who reminded him of Overlord. We have the giant G1 Fortress Maximus and there was a Headrobots exclusive that upgraded the Universe Onslaught to Fort Max (to a very questionable degree), but I’d love to see something more accurately based on his IDW rendering that can actually stand in a display without BEING the display, so to speak.
7. Tailgate
Tailgate wins the “most lovable” Transformer award thanks to his portrayal in MTMTE. He was a low-level ‘bot who was basically abandoned and left dormant thousands of years ago only to awake centuries later and join the Lost Light crew. His complete bewilderment as to the modern political climate and his not really understanding the distinction between Autobot and Decepticon have been positively endearing. And his unlikely “friendship” with Cyclonus has further established the importance of his character among the crew. I’d love to have a Tailgate figure to pose next to my Henkei Cyclonus, if only for the lulz.
6. Skids
An IDW Skids would redeem the character after his name was dragged though the mud in Bay’s Transformers movies. Skids never had a very high profile in the G1 years, so the Skids that most people know is that green mess of a thing from Revenge of the Fallen. Fortunately, that character has little in common with the “real” Skids, so a new, proper Skids figure is long overdue. He’s actually one of the more interesting characters in a book full of interesting characters (MTMTE); he arrived on the scene under mysterious circumstances and his actual role within the series really hasn’t been revealed yet. What we do know is that a message from the future, which arrived too late, warned the Lost Light crew to not take Skids along. Hrm…
5. Tarn
The fact that his face resembles the Decepticon insignia not withstanding, Tarn is a monster of a character. He heads up a little group known as the “Decepticon Justice Division” who are capable of taking down even Phase Sixers (Decepticon killing machines themselves, basically). What makes Tarn so cool, apart from being a singularly scary and zealous Decepticon, is that he’s essentially a junkie who has to continually feed his habit. He’s addicted to transforming, so he burns through transforming cogs like crazy and is continually in need of new cogs in order to maintain. To keep his habit going, he either harvests cogs from the DJD’s victims, or he resorts to even less elegant means. Tarn is a mean SOB who was able to give even Grimlock a run for his money, so it would be awesome to add him to the Decepticon shelves to make them an even more intimidating presence in the toy room.
4. Impactor
There is an Impactor figure on the way from Hasbro, so maybe he shouldn’t be on this list. No, he should because that figure just isn’t going to cut it. It’s a repaint of the Onslaught figure from the Fall of Cybertron Bruticus wave. Sure, it has a new head, but that’s the only feature that resembles Impactor. Impactor was one of the coolest characters from Last Stand of the Wreckers and that alone would merit his getting a figure, but what really stings is that iGear gave us teaser images of an Impactor figure, loosely based on the Hasbro deluxe-class Warpath figure, that looked straight-up awesome. The teaser image made it look as though it was a done deal and we’d be seeing it soon, but that was a long time ago. So please, iGear, release that Impactor! Or maybe someone else should step up and do it?
3. Ironfist/Fisitron
Ironfist was the fanboy who got to be part of the team — that’s what makes him so cool. Using the pseudonym “Fisitron,” Ironfist chronocled the exploits of the famous Wreckers until Springer approached him and offered him a spot on the team. Ironfist became a pivotal character and one of the stars of The Last Stand of the Wreckers, once again showcasing Roberts’ knack for giving a lesser-known character the spotlight. Without spoiling how it all plays out, Ironfist accomplishes what no one else on the team was able to, and he transformed from a fan to a hero. At the end of the series I was practically cursing my shelves for lacking an Ironfist. There was a Botcon exclusive that used Ironhide from the Transformers Animated line as a base body, but that doesn’t come close to adequately representing the IDW character. We need a proper Ironfist ASAP.
2. Overlord
Another Decepticon baddie, and the main villain in both the Last Stand of the Wreckers and the current More Than Meets the Eye, Overlord is beyond overdue. Sure, we got an Overlord last year as a Botcon exclusive, but that figure’s availability was next to nil and it was just a repaint with a new head using a less-than-ideal base body. A proper Overlord in all his intimidating IDW-glory is sorely missing from our shelves and we definitely need one sooner rather than later. Given his sizable role in the comics, I’m kind of astonished we haven’t heard word of an impending release, but maybe the Botcon figure fouled that all up. Time to step up, 3P teams!
1. Swerve
Like Impactor, Swerve is another I wasn’t sure would be appropriate for the list because we did just get the GDO Swerve last fall, and iGear has their take on Swerve coming later this year, so Swerve isn’t exactly hurting for representation in plastic form the way some of these characters are. The problem is Swerve has been possibly THE breakout star of MTMTE and the GDO figure doesn’t even slightly resemble the character many of us have become so fond of. That figure is only Swerve in name. IGear’s figure is closer to the mark, but it’s primarily an update of the G1 figure. The IDW Swerve does share many characteristics with the G1 figure, but the iGear figure lacks all the personality and charm of the IDW character, and it’s Swerve’s personality and charm that have made him such a hit with readers. I can’t look at the promo shots of iGear’s Swerve and see the goofy bar proprietor from the comics, and that’s what I WANT to see. So even though iGear has something coming that will come darn close to filling the void, it’s not perfect, and there’s still opportunity here for someone to really nail it.
There were a lot of characters who were almost included in this list, like Rotorstorm, Guzzle, Whirl, and other members of the Decepticon Justice Division, but the ones actually on the list seemed to be of a higher priority. Part of me really wishes Hasbro would just go all-in with the IDW universe and give us wave after wave of characters based on the comics, but I’d be happy if someone, it doesn’t have to be Hasbro, just tossed us a bone every once in a while. With the sheer amount of Transformers product — official and unofficial — out now and with so much more on the way, there must be room for these characters and designs somewhere. There must be.
Thanks for reading and let me know what you think in the comments section. What characters would you like to see rendered in plastic?
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