Your Favorite Limb (or Torso)?

Who is your favorite Combiner Team Member from:

1) Superion - Sky Dive, I love his design/colors way more than the rest of the Aerialbots. And his personality (Modest Bookish History Geek who is secretly an ace pilot) is one of my favorites.

2) Menasor - I think Dead End because over the top doom and gloom is funny.

3) Bruticus - Personality-wise Swindle easy. Toy wise Vortex cause I love using the flip out tail parts on his arm as weapons.

4) Defensor - First Aid is kinda the only one on the team I really like. Just nice to have more than one Doctor.

6) Predaking - Razorclaw was just so cool to me as a kid. I LOVE that lion mode.

7) Devastator - Character wise I like Scavanger'ss bio, Toy wise I have a ton of Nostalgia for Long Haul and Bonecrusher.

8) Abominus - Blot. How can you not love that gross nose monster.

9) Computron - Lightspeed easy. I love his bio that he's handsome charming and admired and dosn't care, he just wants to be rebuilt as a Spaceship and explore the galaxy. Also him having a troublesome Allergy is a really fun little quirk.

10) Piranhacon - Sea Wing, also easy. He's a tiny dorky sea goth who thinks he's destined to replace Megatron despite being a nobody's right arm.

11) Monstructor - Skowl wants to be terrifying and is constantly mortified because his werewolf form is super chiby. That Rocks.

-ZacWilliam, You?

Aerialbots (Superion): none of them really stick out to me but I'd probably go with Sky Dive for the reasons you mentioned. And he got some face time in G2 (in a sort of generic Furman "could've picked anyone for this role" way, but still). Silverbolt is honorable mention, the other three feel interchangeable to me.

Stunticons (Menasor): agree with Dead End; Breakdown would be a close second with those sweet Lambo decos.

Combaticons (Bruticus): Swindle is easily the best character, but I have a soft spot for Onslaught due to his name/design. I also like the idea he's a tactician and wish he could more chances to show that off.

Protectobots (Defensor): hard to pick, I don't have an easy favorite but each has at least one aspect I like. I'd probably go with Blades just for the irony of a murderous rescue vehicle.

Predacons (Predaking): never really had any feeling for these guys, I guess Razorclaw by default

Constructicons (Devastator): Hook or Scrapper, I just really like their designs and their personalities (snobby perfectionist, and sociable, modest psychopath).

Terrorcons (Abominus): probably Blot for the same reason, but Sinnertwin's name alone gets him points.

Technobots (Computron): tough call between Scattershot, Strafe and Afterburner, who all look really cool to me and have decent personalities.

Seacons (Piranhacon): Snaptrap just because turtle, and his "Butcher of the Bogs" nickname is pretty cool.

Pretender Monsters (Monstructor): ooh this is tough. I guess I've always been partial to Icepick, just like the colors and name. Slog has the best shell IMO.

Ooh, fun.

Constructicons: Not sure here. Never had any, save for Action Master Devastator, but a friend did. On the cartoon, most had something appealing about them to me. I guess I like Mixmaster.

Aerialbots: Slingshot. He was like, my second Transformer ever, after Twin Twist. I'd love to get the new one, but I'm not sure I'll be able to. Dig the orange face, and I just liked him in the cartoon when I was a kid. But, I liked them all.

Stunticons: Despite never owning him (just Motormaster and Drag Strip), I think Dead End is my favorite, just for his nihilistic attitude. Otherwise, probably Motormaster.

Combaticons: Tough call. Maybe Onslaught. I like how his third "base" mode can act like a second vehicle mode. Sucks as a torso, though, because his arms don't stay in place and tend to knock down his chest plate. I liked Swindle because he had an arm cannon similar in style to Megatron's, and it's a shame the toy didn't. Brawl was neat, too.

Protectobots: I only had Hot Spot and First-Aid, and as much as I like First-Aid, I really liked Hot Spot. He was just so much fun to play with, and had a small Optimus Prime look to him. I'm still disappointed that after giving us Combaticon recolors, RiD 2001 didn't give us Protectobot recolors with Hot Spot recolored to look like Optimus.

Predacons: Never had any, but Razorclaw has always been an eye-catcher for me. Maybe it's the mane.

Terrorcons: Hun-Gurrr. Blot and Cutthroat were the other two I had, but Hun-Gurrr was just awesome with the huge gun, big shield, and two-headed dragon mode.

Technobots: Ooh, my favorite Combiner team from G1, supplanting the Aerialbots. Hard call, I could make a case for any of them. Scattershot, maybe? He was a lot of fun to play with, that's for sure.

Seacons: Only had an incomplete Overbite I got from some neighbors, but I think I got to play with Snaptrap, who was lots of fun with those guns, and the sword and shield.

Pretender Monsters: Never had any of these. Icepick always looked neat, orange monster and all... and with a name like "Icepick"? He just sounds like he's going to stab someone, possibly inside an Autobot prison.

Honestly, I don't have an answer for all the other ones - just Hook.



My sister and I walked down to the store so I could buy him over the summer. My mom bought the rest and had different family members give them to me at Christmas, so over the course of Christmas Eve and Christmas morning I got the other five.

Constructicons: Bonecrusher. Only one I ever had. And turning the bucket into his chest instead of having it hang off somewhere as kibble was inspired.

Aerialbots: Silverbolt. I still can't tell the limbs apart.

Stunticons: Motormaster. Having the cab and trailer turn into a robot was different. Ultra Magnus typically does that now, but for a while it was something only Motormaster did. Also, he had the decency to incorporate his base mode ramp. Bravo.

Combaticons: Onslaught. It feels unfair to keep picking torsos when they're bigger toys and inherently less limited, but Onslaught is neat. I like how the robot mode turns into this crazy long vehicle. I like when there's a noticeable size difference between modes. And I also like how the base mode is basically a second vehicle mode. I have a thing for the base modes in general, and Onslaught's is good.

Protectobots: I want to pick Hot Spot because he's the best engineered combiner torso of G1, but I have to give the limbs some love at some point, so I'm going with Streetwise. His head isn't the combiner peg. The designer went the extra mile there.

Predacons: Why do I have to pick one? They're all 10/10 for having animal limbs that are not the robot limbs and also don't just hang off the robot modes as kibble. If I have to pick one, I'll go with Headstrong for having elbows.

Terrorcons: Hun-Gurrr. That's just a remarkably handsome robot mode. And he has the best leg articulation of the era.

Technobots: Afterburner. He's a bike-former with a symmetrical robot mode, and not at all awkward. It's a slick transformation. Surprisingly interesting for a limb bot.

Seacons: Snaptrap. Blastoise totally stole his shtick.

Pretender Monsters: Scowl for obvious reasons. He wants to be scary but he's not. That's the whole team in a nutshell. I love that about them, and he leans into it the hardest.

CoffeeHorse said:

And I also like how the base mode is basically a second vehicle mode.

Click to expand...

Jinx.

Constructicons - Hook. I've always loved both his design and his attitude. And being an electrical engineer, I definitely have some affinity with him. Second would be Bonecrusher. I just loved his design and transformation.

Stunticons - Motormaster. Despite working for a car company, I've never been a car guy. Just like I find most Autobots to be boring for that reason, the Stunticons have always been the least interesting Decepticon combiner for me. At least Motormaster is a truck.

Combaticons - Blast Off. They're all great, but Blast Off was always my favorite. I loved seeing him get a bit of the spotlight in IDW 2019, brief as it was.

Predacons - Razorclaw. I love cats, lions especially, and I love his mane in particular.

Terrorcons - Hun-Gurrr. Two-headed dragon. 'Nuff said.

Seacons - Snaptrap. I don't care a lot for aquatic animals, but I do like turtles. Snaptrap does have a nice design going for him, too.

Pretender Monsters - I have a hard time picking one. Slog stands out with his gold and stockiness. I also really like Wildfly, Bristleback, and Icepick.

Aerialbots - Fireflight always had the most appeal to me. His red color was probably the biggest reason, but I think he was also my first Scramble City toy.

Protectobots - First Aid. This is entirely due to his role in IDW. Outside that, none of this team ever appealed to me much. Probably my least favorite combiner...

Technobots - ...unless it's this team. In theory, I should find them at least more interesting than the Protectobots. However, they've always came across to me as really generic sci-fi vehicles with a really boring color scheme. They're the only G1 combiner team where I don't think I could name all the members, much less attach those names to the right bots.

Superion- Slingshot. I just love the Harrier jump jet.

Menasor- Breakdown. He's one of the few who had a personality I could recall, and he had a cool car mode and colour scheme.

Bruticus- Easily my favourite G1 Combiner. And it's gotta be Swindle. Vortex has a cool design, but Swindle might be the GOAT Combiner limb character.

Defensor- First Aid, because I liked the idea of Ratchet having a buddy. Also I dig his robot mode design, and his Civil Defense deco.

Predaking- Rampage. Tigers are so cool. I even named my kitten after him.

Devastator- Mixmaster. Good combination of a memorable alt mode and cool character design.

Abominus- Sinnertwin. I don't have much love for any of the Terrorcons as characters, but I dig Sinnertwins' colours and design.

Computron- Strafe. See above. I don't really connect with any of them as characters, but I like Strafe's look the best.

Piranhacon- Snaptrap. Dragon turtles are criminally underused.

Monstructor- Slog, but that's kind of by default. I'm far more of a Dinoking fan, and my favourite component there is Kakuryu, who Slog was repainted into.

BONUS ROUND

Liokaiser- Leozack. He's like Starscream if Starscream did a modicum of forward thinking. He also turns into a F-14, which is criminally underused amongst jetformers.

Roadcaesar- Laster. I just dig his colours and robot mode design. Also I just really dig the Countach.

First, from nostalgia:
I don't have very strong feelings about most of the combiner teams or their members, although a few are remembered fondly because my late uncle (who was somewhat close to my age and who got me into Transformers and GI Joe) would either own or have borrowed some Transformers from friends (Hardhead, Brainstorm, I remember a Blaster), or later on would just bring up the names because he found them cool or memorable.

But out of the combiners specifically that's... Hot Spot, First Aid, Brawl, Nosecone, Skydive (Superion was in the "memorable name" category, not the "had one" category), maybe Mixmaster (think Scavenger was in the "name" category).

I remember having a Blades. Not sure if that was something another relative gave me so I could play along with him, or that he did so I'd stop bugging him, heh. I really should look for it, but I have a sinking feeling that it's lost to time.

I don't think we ever encountered the Seacons or Terrorcons at the time, or anything after.

If I get some free time later on I'll think of favorites conceptually speaking, from my current vantage point.