Community theme - some like it, I don't. But if you aim performance it would be the best one to choose.
I doubt mdekker has personal interest in that theme, he most probably helped someone with it.
I would stay away from so popular template, if you want identity I don't think transformer is your theme. I read many times the author is devoted and supportive, but the thirty bees template is missing some of the main features, which I don't find very promising ...
Same for panda theme, except I'm not sure if the thirty bees version has all features.
Why you need to upgrade the 1.5 shop? I decided to keep mine on 1.5 because it is working properly and I personally find it faster even than thirty bees. Yes, it has some bugs but it's not something I can't live with. One thing I understood in my life is: if something works, don't try to repair it.
All my new projects will be on thirty bees. I struggled very long with premade templates and finally found someone to make me a custom theme based on the community one. That way I will keep the best possible performance and go away from that basic look. I am also waiting 1.0.4 like you.
And I tried many 1.6.1.x themes on thirty bees and so far all work as expected. So if you go for premade one, I don't think you have to limit your choices to the ones you mentioned above.