Toyhax started off life as Reprolabels, and they were essential if you were a G1 Transformers collector or reseller (like me). Back before eBay was choked with knock-offs and carefully crafted “homage” figures that were indistinguishable from the real thing, the only Transformers toys on the site were mostly poorly kept cast-offs that parents were finding in their attics and garages.

As you can imagine, the state of these figures was generally poor, with their stickers taking the brunt of the wear as they were exposed to extreme temperatures and humidity. Reprolabels came to the rescue with labels that faithfully re-created not only the original sticker sheets that came with our old G1 Transformers but also the original factory decos themselves. If you didn’t have a Reprolabels account, your collection wasn’t reaching its full potential.

Fast forward 20 years and the same holds true. Except now, Toyhax isn’t re-creating old sticker sets but completing the job begun by Hasbro’s amazing modern designers who release amazingly detailed figures that are often done a disservice by a restrained paint and sticker budget.

Some sets just add detail that should have been there to begin with in the deco (or is implied by the sculpt). Others reimagine the figure entirely, turning it into something wholly unexpected. Either way, Toyhax is creating label sets that don’t just complement your collection, they give it the extra touch needed to finish it.

5. Siege Laserbeak and Ravage

Laserbeak, left. Ravage, right (Image: Anthony Karcz)

The nostalgia is strong with this set. I nearly chose Slamdance (from this Amazon Exclusive set) for the #5 spot because of the microcassette details. But Siege Laserbeak and Ravage are more faithful to their G1 toys. Forget that they turn into “shields” – they’re microcassettes in everything but name. This is an artfully done set that re-creates the look of the original G1 toys perfectly. They go so far as to cover up the “cockpit head” of Laserbeak and give him proper squinty raptor eyes. There’s even an extra part that fits over Laserbeak’s back in raptor mode to give him back his G1 cannons and boosters. Ravage is still a spatch-cocked mess, but he’s at least got proper cassette tape details. If you’ve snagged these two, you should definitely grab this set.

4. Siege Holo Mirage

No stickers left, with stickers right. (Image: Anthony Karcz)

When I got “translucent blueberry Mirage” from the Amazon exclusive set, I was mostly underwhelmed. Sure, I’m a sucker for anything in translucent plastic, but the overall figure was kind of an amorphous blue blob. To the back of the shelf it went. But the Toyhax set for Holo Mirage doesn’t just add back details that are lost in the monotone deco.

No stickers left, with stickers right. (Image: Anthony Karcz)

The gradual shading of each sticker, from solid to translucent, gives the impression that they’re part of the hologram, not just sitting on top of the plastic. This set made me appreciate the figure and moved Holo Mirage to the front of my shelf.

The 90s are back, baby (Image: Anthony Karcz)

This spot almost went to the amazing G2 Sideswipe set. If you’re a fan of the late 80s and early 90s, it’s a nostalgia-laden trip.

3. Titans Return Soundwave

Dance party indeed (Image: Toyhax)

While the current Siege Soundwave is a fantastic figure, with much better cassette bots, Titans Return Soundwave is vastly superior for transforming not only into a boombox but also into a base for all your Titan Masters. The Toyhax set gives all modes some much needed love. In bot mode, G1-inspired details are added. In boombox mode, there are textured stickers that create that special grill texture of actual speakers. But in base mode, the designers really shine by making one side a space bridge and the other a Staying Alive-style dance floor. (They even make Soundwave’s Titan Master into a tiny version of himself with a full DJ rig.) The neon disco squares are the kind of ridiculous, over-the-top detail that makes me love the figure even more.

2. Combiner Wars Ultra Magnus

Minimus Ambus, in his cockpit. (Image: Anthony Karcz)

While this figure was slightly remolded and redecoed to be Generations Powermaster Optimus Prime, this mold shines as Ultra Magnus. Not only is it one of the best car carrier alt modes Mags has ever gotten (and this is the toy that thankfully restored it to the character), it also includes a fairly crucial plot point for fans of the IDW Transformers comics with the inclusion of Minimus Ambus. In the comics, Minimus was the “bot behind the curtain” who wore Ultra Magnus like a suit of armor (or a piloted mech) rather than Magnus being his own bot. The Toyhax set gives Minimus some love while filling in scads of details in both alt and bot mode for the big guy. But what really sells me on this set are the stickers for Ultra Magnus’s chest cockpit. It’s a small thing that will mostly go unnoticed, but it enhanced the play value of the figure immensely.

1. Titans Return Trypticon

Trypticon with his G1 counterpart. (Image: Anthony Karcz)

It goes without saying that the biggest Transformers also get the biggest sets, so when Toyhax does a city bot set, they pull out all the stops. Fortress Maximus was the first of these that I had the opportunity to apply and, while the amount of detail it brought out in the figure was impressive, the sheer number of small details and long, impossible-to-keep-straight stickers made it a frustrating application session. Trypticon was different though. First off, a robot dinosaur that transforms into a city makes for a better canvas any day of the week.

Full-Tilt with Trypticon in base mode (Image: Anthony Karcz)

Secondly, his deluxe-sized partner, Full-Tilt, was practically ignored by Hasbro when it came to paint applications. Much like Holo Mirage, it was the Toyhax labels that turned Full-Tilt into something more than “Trypticon’s chest plate” and made him a visually interesting character. The main set is also full of incredible details, adding windows to city towers, airlock doorways to the base mode, adding landing pads, and even giving the much-forgotten “USS Trypticon” starship mode some love by adding missile bays and escape pods. This set does what the best Toyhax sets do; they make the entire figure more fun.

Predaking, center. (Image: Anthony Karcz)

This top spot was a hard toss-up between Trypticon and Predaking. The only reason Predaking doesn’t grab the top spot here is because the labels are so perfect, I often forget that they’re not factory. They truly finish the set in the way it should have been finished by Hasbro. But at the same time, they don’t add any surprises like the Trypticon set does. And so the big purple dino wins by the slimmest of margins.

Honorary Mention: Voltron: Legendary Defender Lions

Voltron, Legendary Defender (Image: Anthony Karcz)

Yeah, yeah, I know. This is a Transformers list. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention one of the best sets that Toyhax has put out in the past few years. The lion figures released by Playmates were wonderfully show-accurate, but they lacked serious “oomph” when it came to the deco. Parts that were shiny metal on the show were replaced with dull gray plastic in the toy, and all that cool holo-glow you saw on screen was nonexistent. The Toyhax lions stickers added all that and more.

And while the stickers they used to chrome out the lions were a little flimsier than the ones I’m used to for their Transformers sets, the results are undeniably gorgeous. It was so good, I picked up the Classic Voltron lions when I saw them at the store just on the off chance that they’d create a set for them as well (sadly, they never did). Truly a masterpiece.