Ten Awesome G1 Transformers Collectibles
As a young kid who grew up in the 80s, I used to watch every Transformers episode, never missing a single one. But because I came from a poor family, the ability to buy even one of my favorites would only happen in my dreams. Now older and somewhat richer, I’ve collected more than 60 Generation One (G1) Transformers toys, and they sit up high on my shelves like trophies. Out of all those I’ve amassed, ten of them are selected as the best collectibles. And believe me, picking only ten out of all the awesome Transformers I have was not easy, so please don’t get upset if you don’t see your favorite one(s) on this list. My list is not in any particular order because they are all precious to me. I’m going to leave this brutal decision to you instead. Who’s your favorite?
1. Devastator
Devastator is the combined form of six badass Constructicons. They are Bonecrusher (bulldozer), Scavenger (excavator), Scrapper (front-load shovel), Hook (crane), Long Haul (dump truck), and Mixmaster (concrete mixer truck). He’s mostly green and purple. His purple torso formed by Bonecrusher is my favorite.
2. Dinobots
Dinobots are a group of five Autobots who can transform into dinosaurs. They are Grimlock (tyrannosaurus rex), Slag (triceratops), Sludge (brontosaurus), Snarl (stegosaurus), and Swoop (Pteranodon). They are mostly grey with gold and red touches. All five of them look perfect together.
3. Fortress Maximus
Fortress Maximus is the most gigantic Transformers toy in G1 (and also the most expensive). Standing two-feet tall in robot mode, he makes all other Transformers look like midgets. Since he’s a Headmaster Transformer, his head, along with his human ally, Spike Witwicky, can detach and transform into a robot, Cerebros. Fortress Maximus can also transform into a battle station and city. Because of its ultra rareness, I had to buy the whole thing used on ebay (but in great condition).
4. Jetfire
Jetfire, or Skyfire, is a very handsome red, white, and black Autobot. He can transform into a jet (of course), and his Jet mode looks just as good as robot mode if not better. I like his big red rocket boosters on his back the best.
5. Megatron (Reissue)
I bought this reissued die-cast Megatron because of its high quality. He can transform into a handgun with detachable scope, handle, and silencer in gun mode. If this is not awesome enough, the gun can actually shoot pellets.
6. Omega Supreme
Omega Supreme is the most powerful Autobot who can transform into a tank. He’s also the only motorized Transformer I have. When in tank mode, he can roll on the track pieces that are attached on his back in robot mode. This toy comes with many parts, and he’s quite bulky and quite difficult to transform, so I’ve only transformed him once since I found him few years ago.
7. Optimus Prime (Reissue)
How can Optimus Prime not on this list? This Optimus Prime is another reissued die-cast I bought. The quality is just as sick as the reissued Megatron. The main cab is the robot, and his trailer can unfold to form a base, with a bunch of other accessories inside.
8. Predaking
Similar to Devastator, Predaking is a combined form of five fearsome wild beasts called Predacons. The Predacons are Razorclaw (lion), Rampage (tiger), Divebomb (eagle), Tantrum (bull), and Headstrong (rhino). Each individual one is a flashy piece, with bright red, orange, and yellow as the main color scheme. The lion-head chest formed by Razorclaw is my favorite.
9. Sixshot
Sixshot is called Sixshot because he has six different forms! Other than robot mode, he can transform into an armored carrier, a tank, a jet, a laser gun, and a wolf. His color scheme is white, blue, and green. Although he has six transformations, about three of which look quite similar. I still like his robot form the best.
10. Soundwave (Reissue)
Last but definitely not least, Soundwave is arguably one of the most popular Transformers toys in the world. The blue and grey theme looks exceptional in his robot and alternate mode. This reissued Decepticon comes with Laserbeak, the cassette that comes out of Soundwave’s chest who can transform into a bird.
These pictures are borrowed from the internet rather than taken by me (mostly from Seibertron) simply because I never took any pictures of them.
I think the only one out of these that I had was a Dinobot, the Stegosaurus I think. We also were a bit too poor for this, I had a few GoBots instead.
Soundwave was by far my favorite, and the only one I owned on this list besides Omega Supreme (although I owned the Autobot foil to Devastator). Definitely wish I had more Transformers growing up. Another one of my favorites was Shockwave, he didn’t get enough recognition.
Jetfire is an exact copy of the Japanese Macross fighter / robot (Robotech in the US). All they did was change the color and some of the plane’s markings…
Nice collection. For $200, I sold all my Transformers back in 1997 to a toy seller in the Rt. 18 Market in East Brunswick, NJ. I wonder where they are now. Fortress Maximus and Scorponok were among the ones I sold. Btw, where is Scorponok in your list? Is he considered G1?
Devastator is definitely one of the coolest Transformers. He had a good brawl with the Dinobots in Transformers: The Movie. Megatron in robot form actually looks pretty stupid, unlike Shockwave.
Pretty sure Scorponok counts as G1. he was there during the Headmasters thing and fought with Fortress Maximus. As a matter of fact, they created Fortress Maximus to fight Scorponok.
Predaking was not G1. My brother had that guy and he’s 10 years younger than me. So it’s at least 10 years after G1.
Predaking was G1. He came out post-movie around 1986. I’ve always wanted to find the original die-cast metal version of him… it is the most expensive transformer to buy on ebay. I’ve seen auctions for it go upwards of 9000
My favorite thing about Jetfire (I still have one, but in rather poor condition and missing all the attachments) was the front wheel. If you weren’t careful that thing would pop out and whack you in the knuckle quite hard.
Love the list but where are the constructicons?!!!
“Love the list but where are the constructicons?!!!”
Seriously? Really?
I’ve always had this weird disease where I can’t see the first thing on the list either…so I was kinda wondering the same thing.
“Love the list but where are the constructicons?!!!”
“Seriously? Really?
I’ve always had this weird disease where I can’t see the first thing on the list either…so I was kinda wondering the same thing.”
Holy crap – completely missed it.
Trypticon was pretty sweet. I have the original version of him and he is motorized. He can still walk. He was the size of a city in the show and would get beat up by metroplex.
Ahh, the memories – Optimus Prime was my first transformer around 1984/85 – I asked my Dad to modify the spring mechanism so the little blue car came out of the back of the trailer at shin cracking speeds. Awesome.
Predaking, hands down. Razorclaw was one of my favorite Transformers.
I used to have about half of these listed when I was a kid, then my mom sold them in a garage sale when I was away for summer camp =(
While Pete is definitely right, what is more important to note is that new macross figures are still being made so if you want some modern transforming robot awesome you can get, essentially, jetfire in a whole host of colors.
Devastator, Jetfire, and the Dinobots were my faves on this list. I grew up in Denver and for some reason couldn’t find Soundwave to save my life! Occasionally I could find one of the tapes that went in him but that was about it. Much like G, my mom sold/gave mine away when I was away. I would still have all of them had she not. Awesome collection, I hope you are proud.
I wish I took care of my Dinobots when I was a kid. I had the exact same Dinos shown in the pic, Grimlock, Slag and Snarl. I kept looking for Sludge and Swoop in tantrums even but could not find any even way back then.
Other transformers I had was the Protectobots set forming Defensor and ChainClaw the bear Pretender.
I sold my Fortress Maximus back in 2003 on eBay for $300 … I miss him so dearly … thanks for the memories!
I had five of the constructicons, then my family hit a financial snag and toy buying was out for a while. I never got Hook, and therefore never had the cnhance to make Devastator, even though he was my favorite.
Personally, I never cared for any of the post-movie figures like Six-Shot, Predacons or Fortress Maximus, nor any of the Headmasters or Weaponmasters. They just seemed too… well, cartoony for me. There non-robot forms weren’t “in diguise”, and that bugged my teenage sensibilities…
Almost forgot: I also had six of Soundwave’s cassettes, but no Soundwave. Ravage’s legs ended up just dangling uselessly, he got transformed so much there was no tension in them anymore.
Nice post! I still have all of these except sixshot and many more.
I am now in my mod thirties, and I let my kid have them. The bummer thing is, one day my old Rottweiler dog got into them, and decided to try to eat them all. A lot of of have nasty bite marks now and missing pieces.
They may be worth something today if they were all still in good shape.
Sure brings back the memories!
Doc
Uh…you say Bonecrusher is your fave, mentioning he forms the torso.
No. Bonecrusher (bulldozer) is on the arm. Hook and Long Haul form the torso
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