Dave's Transformers Page: News and Reviews!
Established January 1996 - over 400 reviews and still going!

Last Updated: 3/16/24


SIGHTINGS Main TF Page Dave's Online Nest Opera of the Dvandom
Movieverse
Rise of the Beasts (2023)
Bumblebee (2018)
The Last Knight (2017)
Age of Extinction (2014)
Dark of the Moon (2011)
Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
2007 Movie
Studio Series
Nostalgia
Generations:
General
Prime Wars
War for Cybertron
Legacy
Universe 2
Classics
Universe
Alternators
Post-Beast TV
EarthSpark
Cyberverse
RiD (2015)
Prime
Animated
Cybertron
Energon
Armada
RiD (2001)
Beast Eras
BW Phase 1
BW Phase 2
BW Phase 3
BW Phase 4
BMac
BWX
Other
Japanese
Side Lines
Kiddie Lines
Artifacts
Books/Comics
Non-TF
Fanfic/Essays
Art/Images


    Warning: I've had reports of mobile browsers turning the review files into unreadable blocks of text, because they now evaluate extensionless files as if they're HTML. I've set an .htaccess line that seems to have fixed the problem, but if you still get it, let me know. In the meantime, if your phone won't work, try desktop, or download into a word processing app.

    Any section updated less recently than six months ago will have a darker background below, although it's possible I'll slip on keeping this updated.

    Please page down to the bottom for site policies, like my guidelines on linking to my page, buying and selling toys, etc. Yes, a lot of these policies are relics of the old days of webrings and so forth.

INFO STUFF
SIGHTINGS     A clearinghouse of sightings information that I've either been sent or culled from various other sources such as newsgroups and chat boards (not to mention my own eyes). Updated: 3/16/24 - Studio Core wave 9 and Voyager wave 23 in VA.
LINKS     A bunch of links I've found useful or interesting, some of which may have rotted by now, as I don't really maintain this too carefully. Don't ask to have your site added to this page, and don't take it personally if I don't include your page/webboard/etc. Pretty dead, so I removed it from the navbar.
AllSpark
Forums
    I've had this for a while, but it was pointed out that it might get a bit more traffic if it wasn't several pages deep in the Links section. Added to front page 11/22/02. If that link doesn't work (every so often there's an upgrade and the php stuff changes), just go to boards.allspark.com, then Friends of the AllSpark and page down. Not included in the navgrid.
Main TF Page     This page you're on right now. Just mentioning it so you know what the navgrid entry means.
Dave's Online Nest     My root homepage, with links to my vast online empire.
Opera of the Dvandom     My art homepage, although it also has some old toy review links.
RECENT TF STUFF
Studio Series     This started as a "nostalgia for ten years ago" sort of line, and while it does still have older figures (especially those from the 1986 movie, as well as from old computer games), it's also become a place for higher quality toys of current movie characters as the main movie tie-in lines have shifted to cheaper and more gimmick-oriented toys. Updated: 3/12/24 with Deluxe wave 23.
Rise of the Beasts (2023     Sequel to Bumblebee (2018), this brings the Beast Wars characters sort of into the movieverse, but in the modern age rather than prehistory. Autobots and Maximals face the threat of the Terrorcons, who are unrelated to any previous Terrorcons. Updated: 12/31/23 with Awakening Optimus Primal (Takara)
Bumblebee (2018)     Time for a soft reboot, redefining Bumblebee's time on Earth to explain his flashback sequence in The Last Knight and generally make Ratchet seem a little less incompetent at repairs. A tale of a girl and her car, finally getting persmission from Volkswagen to make Bumblebee a Beetle again. Updated: 12/30/19 with MPM-7 Bumblebee. Bleh.
The Last Knight (2017)    2017 is apparently the year all the noble heroes become villains, if only temporarily. But there's baby Dinobots and a strong female character, so hey. Sadly, no toys were released of the baby Dinobots. Or many at all...something of a whimper. Updated: 4/19/20 with guest review of Dancing Sqweeks.
Age of Extinction (2014)     Bayformers are back, with Dinobots, Dinobots, gun-faced bounty hunters, and more Dinobots! Updated: 6/30/15 with Power Battlers Vehicon, Lockdown, and Junkheap
Dark of
the Moon
    And now, the inevitable 3-D sequel! I saw it in 2-D, though. Updated: 4/12/15 with Human Alliance Leadfoot.
Revenge of
the Fallen
    The 2007 movie was such a smashing success that a sequel was assured, and in 2009 it was more than assured, it was released! This page has reviews of the transforming toys based on, inspired by or otherwise released under the logo of the second movie. A lot of toys that really should have gone under Generations ended up sold in the movie line under the "Reveal the Shield" subline of RotF. Updated: 6/22/11 with Legends Prowl and Trailcutter.
The Movie
(2007)
    In 2007, the Transformers returned to the big screen! This page holds reviews of the transforming toys based on, inspired by or otherwise released under the logo of the first movie. Updated: 11/10/08 Guest comments on Deep Space Starscream added.
Side Lines     This page is for secondary lines I've decided don't merit a "top level" section, but which aren't really part of another section either. You'll note that except for Collaborative, they're all basically dead lines, unlikely to update. This is probably where Reactivate will go once I get to them in the review stack.

    Currently includes (most recent at top):

Updated: 3/8/24 Collaborative updated with Stranger Things Code Red.
Kiddie
Transformers
    This page covers the kiddie lines. Tonka 1-2-3 Transformers (aimed at grade school kids) and Playskool's perpetually-renaming Go-Bots (originally Big Adventures Transformers, then Go-Bots Transformers, then just Go-Bots). Also has Robot Heroes and other non-2007-Movie kidstuff, like Optimash Prime. Updated: 12/27/23 with Classic Heroes Team Starscream notes.
NOSTALGIA and NAME REUSE
Generations General     The earlier years of official Generations stuff, such as Thrilling 30 toys, along with a few minor lines that, while not technically branded as Generations, fall under the same nostalgia remit (such as Cyber Battalion). Updated: 3/4/24 with Alpha Class Starscream.
Generations: Prime Wars     Combiner Wars, Titans Return, and Power of the Primes brought tighter thematic through-lines to Generations, and more or less told a single story of escalating power levels leading to the return of the godlike Primes. Updated: 11/18/18 with Walgreens exclusive Wreck-Gar.
Generations: War for Cybertron     No relation to the War for Cybertron phase of early Generations, this continues the recycling of G1 into the final years, with Targetmasters and Micromasters getting wholesale updates (and probably Actionmasters). The final days of the war on Cybertron, with lots of modern Earth altmodes with small variations to make them "Cybertronian modes." Updated: 12/31/22 with the Earthrise map.
Generations: Legacy     Universe 3, kinda? The premise is that universes are in collision, so any previous setting goes. As do a lot of repackages, at least initially. Mostly G1 and Prime to start with, but others will come in later. Updated: 3/2/24 with Core Wave 8 (United wave 1)
Universe 2     Initially launched as a "Classics 2.0" sort of line, it later expanded into a general "homages to everyone in the past 25 years" line, adding in an Armada Series, G1 Series, Beast Wars Series and so forth. A mix of redecos and new molds, plus redecos of the new molds. Updated: 5/22/09 old Voyager wave 3 added.
"Classic"
Transformers
    As a sort of palate cleanser between the A/E/C semi-continuity and the 2007 movie, Hasbro created a line dominated by G1 homages. No particular storyline to go with it, nor cartoon. Expected to continue off and on in the gaps between major lines. Updated: 10/12/08 Classics Dropshot, Deluxe Wave 3 added.
Transformers
Universe
    Unicron seeks out minions from across the multiverse, leading Optimus Primal to a desperate gambit that assembles a matching army to oppose him. This is a strictly recolor line, bringing back molds from the Beast Era (and maybe a few from elsewhen) in garish new colors to represent energon-seething robots. This will likely be a small page, since I own all the original molds and don't care for many of the color schemes. Last updated: 8/11/09 Chevy Aveo Swerve added.
Alternators     Highly detailed, super-poseable revisions of classic Transformers characters, using licensed actual vehicle modes. Updated: 11/24/08 RoadBot 1:32 wave three added.
Post-Beast TV
EarthSpark     A new "What if G1 happened a little differently in the 80s and now it's the presend day" series that aims to take the basic audience block of Cyberverse but with different animators and a different network. The toys follow similar patterns, however. Updated: 2/9/24 with Cyber-Combiners wave 1
Cyberverse     Starting over with "evergreen" designs, but also introducing a few new characters here and there, another very obviously computer-animated series with no particular attempt to look cel-based, with a toy line following in the general design footsteps of Robots in Disguise in terms of simpler transformations. More gimmicks this time around, though. Updated: 4/3/23 with Energon Armor Volcanicus comments.
Robots in Disguise (2015)     Someone decided that "Prime" wasn't potentially confusing enough, time to reuse a line name for something totally different! Set some time after Transformers: Prime, the new Robots in Disguise follows Bumblebee and his ragtag group as they hunt down the remnants of the Decepticon Empire. Updated: 5/15/18 with the rest of Warrior Wave 11.
Prime     Because "Animated" as a series title didn't cause enough confusion, we now have Transformers Prime. The first toy available was Optimus Prime...Prime Optimus Prime? Optimus Prime Prime? CG animation, and the entire first season was done before the first toys hit regular stores. Third season changed to Beast Hunters with a shortened season but lengthened toy line. Updated: 5/6/21 with 10th Anniversary War Breakdown and (Jet) Vehicon).
Animated     In what could be considered a reaction to the hyper-detailed Movie look and feel, the next TF series went for a much simpler theme. "Transformers Animated" goes back to cel-style animation and tries to make the Decepticons a more significant threat. Updated: 11/16/10 with Cybertron Mode Ironhide and Rodimus Minor
Transformers
Cybertron
    As Energon more or less followed from Armada, so Cybertron follows from Energon, completing a loose trilogy. With Unicron's evil temporarily sealed away, it's a race to unlock the secrets of the Planet Keys to prevent Unicron from ever rising again. Updated: 12/14/22 Link to FortMax's Cyber Key archive added. added.
Transformers
Energon
    A sort of sequel to Armada, with a struggle between Unicron-backed Hyper Decepticons and Autobots who have found the Spark of Combination. Lots of clear plastic stuff, and "Omnicons" that come with lots of Energon weapons and the "Energon Stars" that none of the larger toys have. Updated: 4/1/05 Grimlock and Swoop review added.
Transformers
Armada
    Autobots and Decepticons court a new faction known as the Minicons in an "alternate universe" storyline that keeps the same characters, factions and general themes, but reboots the history. Updated: 10/26/09 with K-Mart Universe Mini-Con 10-pack.
Robots in Disguise (2001)     A full return to Autobots, but they fight Predacons. Mostly an import of the Car Robots line from Japan, but with some new molds and some older molds recolored. Lived on well beyond its time as a dumping ground for recolors and store exclusives. Not to be confused with the TF:Prime sequel series from 2015. Updated: 11/28/03 with Wal-Mart exclusive yellow Landfill set.
BEAST ERA
BEAST WARS
I've broken Beast Wars into four Phases, roughly representing the stages of its development as I see it.
BW Phase 1     Also known as "Classic" Beast Wars, this Phase covers everything prior to Fuzors and Transmetals. I've broken it into four "waves" of toys. Updated: 9/18/00 with the page being spun off. All material is older than this.
BW Phase 2     Phase 2 of Beast Wars saw the coming of the Fuzors and Transmetals, and lasted two waves. Updated: 9/18/00 with the page being spun off. All material is older than this.
BW Phase 3     Phase 3 was the era of Transmetal II toys, which also lasted two waves. Updated: 5/1/01 with Tripredacus Agent (TMII Cheetor recolor) review.
BW Phase 4     This Phase of Beast Wars is sort of a dying trickle, with Mutant Beast Wars and the Dinobot recolors. Updated: 9/18/00 with page spun off. All material is older than this.
Beast Machines     Covering the 1999 and 2000 TV shows and the toys up through 2001. Organic Maximals (including animal forms previously reserved for Predacons) versus mechanical Vehicons. Updated: 6/28/01 with Blast Punch Optimus Primal review.
Beast Wars 10th Anniversary     To honor the 10th anniversary of Beast Wars, Hasbro is releasing six recolored toys in more show-accurate colors, plus a few new molds. Updated: 7/14/06 with Leaders.
MISCELLANY
TF Japan     Reviews of Japanese Transformers, commentary on the Beast Wars anime and manga. Updated: 7/4/22 with Street Fighter II x Transformers Hot Rod vs Arcee.
Artifacts     If it's not actually a toy widely available in stores, look for it here. This includes fast food toys, kites, keychains, etc. Updated: 3/8/24 with Nano Metalfigs Series 3-ish.
Books/Comics     Mostly comicbooks, but a few novels, How To Draw books, sourcebooks, etc. Updated: 3/8/20 with I Can Draw Robots added.
Non-Transformers Reviews     Robot-type Legos, War Planets, and miscellaneous reviews that don't even have a page. 12/23/23 Replaced the Lego page in the navbar with this.
Tales of the
Intermezzo
    These are short fanfics I've written, which explore ideas I've had regarding the interval between the end of the Great War and the beginning of the Beast Wars, or between just about any two or more eras in the canon. Now includes some non-Intermezzo writings. Page updated: 4/9/20 with a really old (1993) fanfic dug out of Google Groups archives and linked in.
Art/Images     Opera of the Dvandom, formerly my Protoform Project space. Holds a lot of my art and photos, updated sporadically.


------- Site News and Policies -------
April Fool's Day
    A lot of people think it's funny to mess up news sites with false reports on and around April 1st. Personally, I don't care for April Fool's pranks (okay, I hate them with a passion), so I will not willingly participate in them. Unfortunately, that also means that I need to reject any first-sighting reports for new stuff that come in too close to April 1st every year. This can suck when it turns out Hasbro's actually releasing product around that time, but there you have it. If you have a sighting around that time for something that has not been reported on before here, hold onto it until the 2nd. If I see something myself during the interdict period, though, I'll still post about it.

Site Button
    Every so often, I'm asked if I have an "official" button or banner that can be used by people who want to link to me. I've made a chopped-down version of the logo up top, click here for a copy you can download and use. For the curious, the word "Transformers" is made with one of Neale Davidson's fonts, and the other words are in the font called Sand. Oh, and while the shape of the logo is roughly that of the Autobot symbol, you'll note that the more you navigate this site, the more the red links become purple...so balance is maintained.

Toy Sales Policy
    I'm not selling my own toys. I'm not a retailer. So don't ask me if you can buy toys from me. And because there's serious money involved these days, I'd rather stay officially neutral and not put up any links to sites that do sell toys (although if you email me asking about my experiences with a particular retailer, I'll tell you). I do have places I prefer to shop, but I don't want to give the appearance of being in the pocket of any retailer. If I do put up links in the news section, it'll be for purposes of pointing out new images or new products.
    Similarly, I'm not really in the secondary market...I don't buy or sell old toys, and frankly have no idea what they're worth on the open market or where you'd have a good shot at finding them. I filled my want list years ago, and now really only buy older toys if I stumble across them and think the price is good.

Link Policy
    There's a LOT of good Transformers sites out there. Hundreds, easily. There's no way I'm going to try and keep track of them all. So I'm not going to. My links page is fairly small, and don't try to convince me to add your site if it's not up there (but definitely let me know if I have a dead link to your page!). If you're trying to get some new service (a screen capture archive, a searchable techspec database, whatever) going, I might put a link in the news section for a couple months, and if I think it's a useful site I might then move it to the Links page. However, it should be something significantly new and different, not just a personal art, fanfic or review page.

Images Policy
    This site is intended to be very low on images, mainly because of space limitations on my account. What images I do have, please ask before using.

E-Mail Notice
    If you want to email me a question or some information, make sure your return address is correct. Those with AOL addresses take special note: you may have parental controls set on your account that prevent you from getting email from non-AOL accounts (I guess because unsavory people NEVER use free AOL trial discs), and this does not generate a special error message...so the person trying to reply to your mail just sees that the address is invalid.

    As an adjunct to this, if you want me to reply to you at an address, mail me from that address. Most mailers will let you set a reply-to in your email so that replies automatically go to another address, in the event you have to email me from an address other than the one you want a reply at. In any case, I've gotten enough "message undeliverable" bounces when replying to people's questions that I've stopped trying to redirect them to the proper address. If you want me to answer your questions, please do me the courtesy of having a valid return address on your email.

Feel free to E-Mail me. I usually respond pretty quickly.