Transformers Rise of the Beasts Core Mainline RANKED

Rise of the Beasts may be over for the toyline, but that won't stop me from wanting to revisit the mainline's Deluxes and Voyagers. This movie, unlike AOE, TLK, and Bumblebee, provided toys that were comparable to the Generations line, each of which had varying degrees of screen-accuracy. So for example, Optimus Prime is pretty close while the Maximals generally aren't. Regardless, that won't be a knock against them because I'd rather judge them as action figures. I will say that the distribution getting weird on top of Hasbro delaying the movie has caused some overlap between these guys and the Studio Series offerings, so some of them might have been weird to get after the Generations offerings. But with that out of the way, let's cover them from worst to best!

9. Bumblebee

This really was a rough figure overall for Bumblebee. The shades of yellow between the painted areas and the molded plastic don't match, the proportions are an odd hybrid of his ROTB and 2007 designs, and there could be a few more paint apps to make him look less awkward. That being said, I do like the arm cannon being sort of like the AOE Camaro Concept form from back in 2014, the daggers being made from the bumper is cool (and certainly better than the dumb "shield" of the windshield guard), and the tires going behind his head rather than in front of the doors like all the other Bumblebees is something we rarely see. On his own in some markets, he is easy to skip in favor of the Studio Series version. In the US where he is in a 3-pack with two other figures we'll get to, you're stuck with him.

8. Nightbird

Much like Bumblebee, she is the dud of the overall set she comes from. While better than Bumblebee, her biggest issues come from the hip kibble combined with the back kibble hindering her leg articulation as well as the waist swivel. Her car mode could use a bit more color consistency thanks to the caramel plastic breaking things up. Positives include the metallic purple, her weapon storage in vehicle mode being clever, and the car mode itself looking slick for the most part. The Studio Series one better be good in spite of the shorter scale and tiny wings.

7. Mirage

How do you NOT put out merch of one of the more prominent characters from the movie until now? While detractors will say his altmode is not accurate or the colors are bad, and the head sculpt was never like that in the entire film, there were plenty of things that do admittedly make this guy better than the Studio Series version. Namely the proportions, slightly better kibble management, and the transformation being a bit closer to what the CG model went for. If this guy has the better paint apps, head, and properly licensed altmode of the Studio Series version, then he'd be perfect. If only I could get another mainline Mirage and customize away...

6. Cheetor

Obviously he looks more Beast Wars than he does Beast Machines as seen with the CG model in the film, but I still like how this guy turned out. While he copies the Kingdom figure, his plastic isn't as cheap, the tail whip is a little more effective, ans the gut gun is a nice bonus. His cheetah head does match the CG model more than the Studio Series one, though. But I will admit the brown lower legs look like weird pants in both beast mode and robot mode. At least the brown shoulders match a bit.

5. Airazor

Out of all the Maximals, this figure stands out the most from the others. Firstly, she is nothing like the others in terms of aesthetics, better resembling a TFP or Earthspark version of herself. Secondly, she resembles the beast mode even less than the already inaccurate Studio Series. And third, she doesn't borrow the engineering of her Kingdom counterpart the same way the others do (Studio Series did that lol). Still, this figure is awesome! Original transformation, bird wings can still articulate despite involving the legs as part of transformation, and the figure still looks great even if she never showed her robot mode in the movie. 

4. Rhinox

While he may be blockier and browner than the CG model, he is more tolerable to transform than the Kingdom figure he is based off of. I think the brown looks good on him if it were more metallic, and while the outward arm movement is a bit annoying with how the plastic for the joint either has the arms parallel or nearly 45 degrees, this guy at least has good range elsewhere, and hey, he not only has better cannons than the Kingdom guy but even doesn't have parts pop off too easily like the Studio Series version! More on that for his review!

3. Wheeljack

Remember how everyone first saw this toy and went "wHy DoEsNt hE hAvE hIs BuMbLeBeE dEsIgN?! wHy DoEs He LoOk LiKe StEvE uRkEl?!?! wHy DiD yOu ReMiNd Me Of ArMaDa WhEeLjAcK jUsT tO mAkE mE lOoK sTuPiD?!?!?!"...yeah things never change with the ungrateful side of the fandom. But setting aside the manchild drama, this figure is surprisingly good amongst the mainline Deluxes. While he us bulkier and unlicensed, he matches the character model quite well, the glasses and suspenders give him a unique personality that hadn't been seen too often in Transformers of late, and the brown us off white adds a but of an underrated color combo. And combine that with his voice actor adding a cool accent, it all results in a nice toy of Wheeljack for fans who still aren't Geewunners or Beewunners who are butthurt over Pablo having a girlfriend and not them.

2. Optimus Primal

The one Maximal that matches the CG model the most in both modes amongst his brethren is also the one in need of having better colors that the CG render on his box contains. If his dark gray was gunmetal black and the light gray somewhat gold, then I could rate him higher. Some would find the boxier proportions and weird head articulation distracting, but I ultimately liked seeing what this guy can provide as an action figure thanks to tbe sculpted details and simple yet pretty effective ape-to-robot transformation that one does not hate when it feels a bit iconic for Primal thanks to the different chests, heads, shoulder pads, and the waist swiveling. And hey, he can make his swords dual-bladed easily compared to Kingdom Primal!

1. Optimus Prime

It's no surprise this guy showed up in first place, but I love how he turned out. Still not perfect thanks to his somewhat thin plastic and severe lack of paint in addition to relying on painted parts here and there, this guy still has a great amount of articulation, a respectable amount of sculptwork, and two pretty decent takes on Optimus's design for the movie! Is he worth getting in the aftermarket for higher prices? No. But if you were lucky to get him in a store, then you can't complain with how good he generally is. And it was getting this release that tempted me to get the entire mainline series of Deluxes and Voyagers.

And that covers the ROTB mainline! In case you're wondering where Battle Changer Mirage as well as the Weaponizer versions of Arcee and Scorponok are, they will pop up in another ranking list coming soon! While I do like this line-up, it is odd that Arcee, Scourge, and Battletrap, three of the more prominent characters in the movie that is neither oversized (Stratosphere & Unicron), cannon fodder (Scorponok & the Sweeps), or barely prominent/cut from the film (Apelinq and Transit). So we are left with 4 of the 5 Autobots and only one Terrorcon while the Maximals are complete. Arcee has 2 mainline figures (one I covered previously), Scourge has a few mainline toys but not a Voyager with articulation, and Battletrap has vittually nothing besides his Studio Series toy and a weird orange Ironhide that was somehow proof that Unicron reformatted him into Battletrap (which thankfully didn't happen). But with all that said, this is an early tease for the rankings coming at the end of the year, as we are now in the final quarter of 2023!