Best figures of 2023?

[Gizmoboy]

I know what you're talking about when it comes to the scale of the WFC version. You can see in this shot they're both pictured, and seeing them side-by-side really makes you appreciate how much more massive the Leaders are. You can even see the RiD remold of Grimlock standing back behind SkyLynx.

 

[Sabrblade]

The worst I can say about the original is that the auto-transforming trailer gimmick worked maybe three times before the electronics completely failed. I would rather do it manually anyway, but those electronics weren't free.

I always had to do it manually because the gimmick never worked on mine. It tried auto-transforming maybe once, with the internal gears sounding off, but no movement of the trailer parts actually happened. It was a janky idea and a janky execution from start to finish.

 

[The Predaking]

I was never a guy who "needed" Leader class Dinobots. The pre-WFC Voyager size was fine, gets the idea of power and mass across, doesn't take up too much space, better price.

But I am very impressed with the Studio Series 86 dinos. The WFC onward internal line scale makes them seem enjoyably, fittingly massive in both modes. This is one of the reasons I tend to prefer them smaller, because it gets hard to display everyone together without some looking incongruous. (The scaling thing where most Autobots are waist high to Optimus Prime has always put me off, like they're his children instead of his team.)

But by themselves individually and as a team with their fellow dinos, it's so satisfying. I just regret that if they go and make the other G2 dinos I may not be able to get them all (maybe just Snarl and Slag) because of the collective space consumption/demand.

And I'm very happy that they did Snarl despite his blink-and-you-miss-it participation in the movie (of course they could have just assigned him somewhere else if they had to), and that he turned out so well. His stumpy wedge of a dino head, the broad gold tail halves on the shoulders, the great execution of spiky potato dino mode. All I could ask for is some clear pieces like POTP did, but I'm digging it as is. Even with the inconsistent gold and yellow, because the yellow is a nice shade that's distributed enough that the mismatch isn't a dealbreaker.

I hear you on the dinobots! I was quite happy with my recent collection of dinobots, and I was digging that they could combine into Volcanicus. However, with the new scale, these dinobots are going to take over on my shelf and I am just going to have the others form Volcanicus to fight against another combiner.

 

[lastmaximal]

At least you've got that going for Volcanicus, haha. I got everyone but Grimlock because he had too many little flaws accumulating in each mode, and never really wanted a Dinobot combiner anyway. But I did get the others because I've always liked Slag and (of course) Snarl. I actually managed to find a good deal on the Selects (Takara) Snarl with the nice bright yellow-gold paint shortly after getting this. Anyway, not sure what the fate of my POTP dinos will be now.

I think the only flaws I keep getting stuck on with this Snarl are the gap in the spines (the permanent ones on his robot mode shoulders and the last of the ones on the cover-up panel), and the obvious dark line right down the middle of his dino head. The former isn't a big deal, and the latter could maybe be improved by painting some yellow on a little more of the inside rim of each half; I don't really care as much if that's visible in robot mode.

But I still love the muppet looking dino head. It was the POTP design's biggest flaw.