Upon Further Review: Does Size Really Matter?
Mind out of the gutter, you! :) I'm talking about Transformers toys
I was looking at through that book "The Unofficial Guide to Transformers" by J.E. Alverez the other day. For those of you who don't have this book, it's quite obvious that the author really likes the Fortress Maximus toy. Well, I got to thinking. Are the bigger Transformers toys really that much better? If they are, what makes them better? Do all small toys suck just because they're small toys? In order to gauge better how the Transfan community as a whole feels about Transformers toys, I looked at the Trannies results from the last three years.
Looking at my own collection, I have a lot of smaller Transformers toys. A lot of this is the product of buying them myself as a kid with the money I had from a paper route. In fact, bigger toys were usually presents from Santa (such as Galvatron). With the onset of Generation 2, Beast Wars, and Beast Machines (not to mention flea markets and Botcons that come along for G1), I've had a chance to get some of the bigger toys. And some of them are quite good. BW Rampage and Depth Charge are constantly on display with the limited space that I have. But then again, so are Counterpunch, Beachcomber, and BW Iguanus. But some bigger toys, especially with the original Transformers toys, I can't help but scratch my head as to what the big deal is.
Fortress Maximus, Powermaster Optimus Prime, Metroplex...they are all BIG TOYS. But for me, "play value" is limited for them. Fort Max and Metroplex turn into cities, which to me isn't terribly exciting. And they're also a bit on the brickish side. They are very square and their mobility is basically limited to raising their arms up and down and that's about it. They do, however, look pretty snazzy standing there. It would be hard for someone walking into the room to miss two feet of toy that is Fort Max standing in the room. They had a lot of guns and they could step on Wheelie. All good things. Still, the toys themselves left me a little cold. But I'm hardly most Transformers fans.
I looked at the Trannies from the years 1996-1998 for the best toys, both of the year and of all time, for those years. I figure this is as good of a sampling of Transfans I'm gonna be able to get. Here's a boring little breakdown of the top three in each of the categories.
1996 Trannies:
Toy of the year:
Optimus Primal (gorilla) 21
Megatron (T. rex) 14
Inferno, Scorponok 4
Best toy of all time:
Jetfire (original) 15
Optimus Prime (Laser Rod) 7
Fortress Maximus 6
1997 Trannies:
Toy of the Year:
Magnaboss 21
Megatron (Transmetal) 12
Tripredicus 9
Best toy of all time:
Jetfire (original) 18
Optimus Prime (Laser Rod), Fortress Maximus 13
Soundwave (original), Sixshot 4
1998 Trannies:
Toy of the Year:
Rampage 25
Optimal Optimus 23
Galvatron (BWII) 16
Best toy of all time:
Optimus Prime (Laser Rod) 17
Fortress Maximus 14
Optimus Prime (original), Megatron (original) 8
*Jetfire was disallowed this year*
Sense a pattern?
Even though there's the occasional vote for the likes of Retrax or Cliffjumper thrown in there, it seems a lot of people like BIG TOYS. And there's certainly nothing wrong with that. Question is, what's the big deal with them? (yes, that pun was intentional :)
First, there's the sheer size of them. People at work would notice Optimal Optimus standing on my desk before they noticed Optimus Minor. We, the fans, notice the big ones too. Did I notice Metroplex at Botcon before I noticed Chop Shop? You bet I did, despite the fact that I think Chop Shop is a superior toy (not so blocky and an interesting alternate mode). They catch our eye, plain and simple. Plus, maybe we're still thinking like a lot of kids and have a "bigger is better" mentality. If we ask a kid in September 2000 if they'd rather have Beast Machines Mega Cheetor or Supreme Cheetor, what do you think they're going to say? :)
In some cases, there is also the complexity of the transformation. This is especially the case early on in the Beast Wars line. If you had the T. Rex Megatron and Razorbeast, the more complicated Transformer would be more interesting to anybody that isn't a huge Pumba fan. Sixshot is another complex Transformer. Though I don't have this one yet, it is one I've heard can be a bit of a chore to transform sometimes. Overall, though, Beast Wars did a better job of giving us complex transformations with the big (and even smaller) toys. TM2 Megatron and Tigerhawk are far more difficult to transform than Metroplex is. Metroplex's transformation basically involves moving around his arms and legs. Not the most stimulating exercise I can think of. There are exceptions to this, like Jetfire or Laser Rod Optimus Prime, who have fairly complex transformations. But, beside this fact, they also have a neat look.
And, for me, that's what it comes down to. I like the toys that have a nice look or, if they were featured on the show, a neat personality. I have Metroplex and Optimal Optimus because of the show. Rampage and Depth Charge are a plus in both departments. Prowl and Hooligan are cool looking in both modes. Basically, size doesn't matter to me. For those of you who think Fortress Maximus or Powermaster Optimus Prime are the beginning and end of all Transformers toys, why do you like them? I'd like to know. Maybe you'll be able to convince me to look for them at Botcon 2000. :)
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