Toy of the Year
Thanks to all that voted in the first CollectionDX Toy of the Year vote. It was an interesting experiment for sure. We broke out the toys into four main categories and some really interesting choices got a lot of attention. Transformers sites, Vinyl toy sites and others rallied their troops to sway the votes.
Toy of the Year ($100 +)
Ex Gokin Mazinger-Z 1969
You can't deny that this is an amazing toy. Even if you didn't own one, you could just tell this thing was killer. Its weight literally crushed the competition with 24% of the vote.
Runner Up: Soul of Chogokin Ideon
| This mammoth Bandai diecast captured the hearts of chogokin lovers everywhere with its intricate transformation and good looks. |
Second Runner Up: Wave SDF-1 Macross
| Despite the small size and fiddly transformation, fans really dug this version of the Macross. Perhaps because its the first toy of the DYRL version? |
Toy of the Year ($25 - $100)
Transformers Masterpiece Megatron
If one thing became clear from the TOTY vote this year, it is that Transformers RULED 2007. In fact, if we had reviewed one that cost over $100 I bet it would have won that category too. The Masterpiece Megatron looked awesome but issues about safety concerns kept it out of hands of a lot of fans.
Runner Up: Transformers Optimus Prime (Leader Class)
| In my opinion this should have taken the vote, but people just LOVE Megatron. This is one of the best transformers to come out in years. |
Second Runner Up: Eyezon
| Vinyl toy fans rallied behind this mutant potato and enemy of Captain Max, and rightly so, this thing is frickin awesome. We will definitely have more vinyl on CDX in 2008. |
Toy of the Year ($10-$25)
Transformers Ironhide (Voyager-class)
This big black beast of a truck was not seen nearly enough in the Transformers movie, but thankfully the toy delivered. Ironhide is another solid Transformer that is way fun to play with.
Runner Up: Revoltech VF-1S Strike Valkyrie
| Are you seeing a trend here? This Revoltech really captured the anime likeness without getting bogged down with over-engineering. VF-1S + Strike Armor = awesome. |
Second Runner Up: Revoltech Yotsuba
| Fans apparently could not resist the cuteness of little Yotsuba. CDX readers aren't just interested in robots, and Yotsuba's strong showing supports that claim. Having a bad day? Just play with Yotsuba and Enjoy Everything! |
Toy of the Year (Under $10)
Transformers Bumblebee (Concept Camaro)
One of the hardest toys to find this past Christmas was the Concept Camaro Bumblebee. Arguably the star of the Transformers movie, Bumble stole the hearts of both transformer fans and normal folks. Bumblebee turned in the strongest vote of any nominee in any category.
Runner Up: Glyos Series Space Traveler Pheyden
| Onell Design's futuristic action figures were a big hit with Japanese toy fans, with tons of playability and an affordable price tag. Each one feels like love in your hands, and with more on the way in 2008 there will be plenty of love to go around. |
Second Runner Up: Revoltech Miniature EVA-01
| With the Rebuild of Evangelion movie release, love for EVA-01 was in the air. In an odd upset, the miniature version got more votes than the full size version! We'd love to see more Revoltech Miniatures, but the line seems to be dead. |
The Big Losers
The following toys got almost NO VOTES during the TOTY VOTE. Shame on you.
- Revoltech Gaiking (Face Open Version) - Fans never really warmed up to the new version of Gaiking, and this powered up version didn't have a lot of draw with american fans. Most had no idea what this version was all about.
- Fantastic Four Fantasticar - A neat toy, but a bit too off topic for the CollectionDX audience. Duly noted.
- Romance of Three Kingdoms Guan Yu - This was an amazing 12" figure from Chinese mythology, but once again, I think it's a cultural thing.
- Sideshow Leia as Boushh - This was shocking. I loved this toy. Whats wrong with you people?
- Lego Shadow Crawler - I think our Lego audience is limited anyway.
- Revoltech Eva-02 Production Model (Movie Ver) - It was a fantastic Revoltech release, but I think the public is suffering from Eva Overdose. The other EVAs just don't have the same draw as the unit 01.
- Revoltech GR-2 - This is another one I was shocked at. How long have we wanted toys of the Giant Robo enemies? This may be backlash because you had to buy GR-2 to get the bazooka for Giant Robo.
- Revoltech Inoue Toro - People just had no idea who this was. Obscure Japanese pop culture only goes so far in the US.
- Revoltech Oper. Yashima Set Rebuild of Evangelion Ver. - A weapons set for two figures that didnt gather that many votes anyway.
- Transforms Nike Free feat. Convoy - I'm sorry, these Nike Transformers were just hideous.
- Transformers Payload - If it wasnt in the movie, people don't seem to care about it.
- Transformers Swindle - See above.
- Transformers Final Battle Jazz - People generally don't like repaints, and lack of any votes for this proves it. This one just looked like a dog chewed on it.
Well, that's it. Thanks again for voting. Let us know your thoughts. Did you agree or disagree with the votes? Anything we could have done better? Let us know.