The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread

[Scyla]

Does anyone know what happened to the Omnigonix Spinout toy? I thought it was scheduled for release early 2015 but I haven't seen anything yet (preorders, painted prototype, testshot review, etc.).

[Silverstreak]

Apparently it's still happening, there has just been no news.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

More Insecticons, courtesy of Badcube. They would look great next to the Fansproject renditions from a couple years back.

[David Hingtgen]

The Insecticons are easy to do because their robot modes inherently have tons of alt-mode kibble, and their insect modes were always "bug-styled robot machines" and not *insects*.

[Valkyrie2008]

MP Insecticons, this is what I've been waiting to hear! With FT Reflector, BC Insecticons, and XTB Megatron, this is the year of the Decepticons.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

The Insecticons are easy to do because their robot modes inherently have tons of alt-mode kibble, and their insect modes were always "bug-styled robot machines" and not *insects*.

With Insecticons being simplistic, I thought the original G1 versions would be alright hanging out with MPs, but I would miss the articulation.

And now I just learned of MP scaled Hound and Inferno. INFERNO! By Maketoys no less. A big red and chromey fire engine for the MPs would be awesome. And Hound too .

[Mechapilot77]

those badcube insecticons gonna replace my FP ones. who wants em hehe?

if TT stopped doing MPs it seems badcube and FansToys and a few others could carry the torch quite well. lol. i hope TT never stops making them though. its nice to have an offical "template" for style and scale as well as 1st party prices and jp retailer discounts!!

Re: Make toys "Re:Master" series. Its unclear whether those are MP scale or not as the text says "and maybe a new scale". new to them? or new entirely? also MP scale...but MP (retro g1) style or MP/FP sylized versions?

its surely an exciting time to be into G1 TF MPs. getting refelctor and the insecticons will sooooo help fill out the mp cons shelf (in fact it completes season 1 along with xtb's apollyon megatron homage).

[Valkyrie2008]

At the rate TT is going, most of the 3P will take away the founds. I like the official release, as Mechapilot77 mentioned, it's more affordable. I'm just glad most of the 3P are now all doing MP figures. Even MakeToys is now on the bandwagon and I welcome their Hound and Inferno to the table.

[technoblue]

And now I just learned of MP scaled Hound and Inferno. INFERNO! By Maketoys no less. A big red and chromey fire engine for the MPs would be awesome. And Hound too .

Cool. Hound and Inferno will be a fun addition to the Maketoys lineup. Chromedome in Maketoys's style will be interesting too.

Is anyone else looking forward to TF02 Godarmor (not-Godbomber)? I like how he can be his own thing and turn into armor for Xovergen's own TF01 or MP-10. I think it'll be neat converting one of my Convoys into God Ginrai to stand with Star Saber.

[dapro]

There is more test shot of XTB Apollyon on facebook. Looks good. Anyone getting it?

https://www.facebook.com/daniel.g.bellido/posts/10155191655890014

[valhary]

surely I will get one at least also I already preorder the godbomber

[Valkyrie2008]

I got XTB Apollyon on paid preorder. Looks pretty cool, lots of diecast, although I'm not too fond of the feet.

[Dangard Ace]

Anyone use robotkingdom before? Guttur/Not Snarl looks amazing and I'm tempted to get one.

[CoreyD]

Yeah, I have. No problems at all.

[Valkyrie2008]

Anyone use robotkingdom before? Guttur/Not Snarl looks amazing and I'm tempted to get one.

I've order stuff from them before, they're reliable, but their shipping and handling rate is over the roof.

[RD Blade]

There is more test shot of XTB Apollyon on facebook. Looks good. Anyone getting it?

https://www.facebook.com/daniel.g.bellido/posts/10155191655890014

I have it pre-ordered as well. I would have held out for an official release, but with the promo shots of the upcoming Leader Megatron standing next to MP-10, I figure an official gun Megatron is off the table.

[technoblue]

There is more test shot of XTB Apollyon on facebook. Looks good. Anyone getting it?

https://www.facebook.com/daniel.g.bellido/posts/10155191655890014

I'm waiting for reviews from the usual suspects. It's getting to be very hard to wait, though.

[Scyla]

So I received FansToys Soar yesterday and had some time to check it out. I took all parts out of the box because I feared that the styrofoam of the package would melt itself into the painted parts of the extra wings.

Out of the box my toy needed a bit of tweaking. Fist I sanded down the pegs of the golden detailing on the thighs so they could fit into place a bit better without the fear of braking the pieces.

After the fist transformation I noticed that none of the joints where too tight out of the box. Sadly I noticed that the red detailing on the left side of the chest has a gate mark left that was scratching the chromed beak. It is only a small blemish but and after I smoothed out the piece it doesn't touch the beak any longer. However if you own this figure I would advise some extra care while handling the piece.

Other than that the toy is great. Definitely a step up from their Scoria. At first I wasn't fond of the extra face but now I put him into a Buddy Jesus pose for which it is perfect. I question the design decision to put die cast into the shoulder pieces and not in the feet but whatever. I love that you can store all his weapons on the toy an feature Scoria was sadly missing.

As for the transformation it is pretty simple and I would've liked to add an extra transformation step for the arms besides collapsing on itself and pegging into the side of the torso. Maybe some fold out panels to hide the gab in the abdomen but that's it.

Soar is also pretty fun to handle where Scoria was bit too big and too heavy to handle easily. I don't know why people like big toys because for me after a certain size they either get to heavy for the joints (Scoria) of feel very hollow and cheap (Maketoys Utopia). Also I my hands are not that small but I have issues handling bigger toys because they just don't feel right. Macross 1/60 Valkyries are on the upper end of being acceptable. So GigaPowers Dinobots are not for me (also I have problems fitting Scoria into my display cabinet ).

I'm looking to their Sever and not-Sludge and not-Grimlock. I wonder how the transformation for Sludge will work because the lazy way would be to mirror Scorias transformation. I also curious what their Grimlock looks like and if he is very similar to MP-08. However I'm happy if he is in scale with the other Dibots and doesn't have the light up and tail wiggle gimmick and has two articulated hands. A new transformations for the shoulder section would also be pretty great as well as a bulkier lower torso and hip area.

[technoblue]

I'm looking to their Sever and not-Sludge and not-Grimlock. I wonder how the transformation for Sludge will work because the lazy way would be to mirror Scorias transformation. I also curious what their Grimlock looks like and if he is very similar to MP-08. However I'm happy if he is in scale with the other Dibots and doesn't have the light up and tail wiggle gimmick and has two articulated hands. A new transformations for the shoulder section would also be pretty great as well as a bulkier lower torso and hip area.

Thanks for the review, Scyla. Did you get Red Soar or Blue Soar?

Once FanToys gets to Grimlock, I hope they tweak the design a little bit so that it improves on MP-08. I think I'm in the minority as one who wasn't impressed with TT's version, letting my copy go. I do like how not-Snarl is coming along and I'm also looking forward to not-Sludge.

[Scyla]

I got the blue toon version of Soar.

I would like to add that had I known at the release of Scoria that FansToys is planning to do a version of their Dinobots painted in silver instead of the dull gray plastic I would rather had ordered them even if they are $30 more. Oh well, after two releases in I will continue to buy the gray version. Maybe they won't do a Grimlock so this releases fit better with my MP-08.

[edit: ] Now that I look at the toy as it stands on my desk I notice all the little paint apps on the gray plastic to make these big areas of color visually more interesting. SOMETHING THAT IS SADLY MISSING ON MP-22!!!

Edited January 28, 2015 by Scyla

[David Hingtgen]

[edit: ] Now that I look at the toy as it stands on my desk I notice all the little paint apps on the gray plastic to make these big areas of color visually more interesting. SOMETHING THAT IS SADLY MISSING ON MP-22!!!

'cuz having no details makes it animation-accurate, which is the TRUE GOAL OF THE MP LINE.

[mikeszekely]

Hegemon wasn't the most impressive toy I'd come across, but have you seen Toyworld's new Devilstar ("Not-Astrotrain")? Not sure about those ankles, but it's pretty impressive how little train shows on the shuttle and vice versa.

[David Hingtgen]

It's definitely my fave of the two Astrotrains coming. But the colors they picked---is like the worst combo of real-world and toon. Do one or the other. "White shuttle with random purple chunks" just plain doesn't look good. Either do white/black, or grey/purple.

(or if you want to do G1 toy colors, then make it look INTENTIONAL, with the white and purple placement---G1 had a clear delineation between the white and purple areas, looked good/intentional----how Toyworld did it looks like random parts on random sprues were molded in different colors, all the color-separation-lines are "jagged")

[slaginpit]

Brawny is just full of awesome. Badcube has really turned it up a notch in terms of design and engineering

[slaginpit]

Anyone use robotkingdom before? Guttur/Not Snarl looks amazing and I'm tempted to get one.

Yes they are good. Although their boxing is questionable

Goddammit. I want to stop but crap they just keep dragging me back in!

[Silverstreak]

^Does Devastator fit in the shuttle?

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

The other Astrotrain has a slightly better looking shuttle mode imo.

[JB0]

^Does Devastator fit in the shuttle?

If I were making an Astrotrain clone, I would include a tiny Devastator figurine in the cargo bay, just so I could answer with an affirmative.

[Valkyrie2008]

Brawny is just full of awesome. Badcube has really turned it up a notch in terms of design and engineering

You need some Autobot insignia

I got Huffer, it's a great looking figure, but the quality sucks. I have Brawny and Wheelie on order, I've heard Wheelie's QC sucks too, but it's a great looking figure, good enough for me to order one.

The Astrotrain about looks nice, but I don't like that tail fin on the chest. The shuttle and the train mode looks nice. The other Astrotrain, the bot and the shuttle mode are nice, but the train mode is killed it for me.

Edited February 1, 2015 by Valkyrie2008

[David Hingtgen]

The other Astrotrain has a slightly better looking shuttle mode imo.

Of course. I still haven't figured out why nobody seems to make REAL space shuttle alt-modes any more. But this is still closer to the real thing than anything else any company has done in 15+ years.

I mean, stuff like this just makes me ask--"why?":

Either totally do your own thing, or flat-out do a real one. Don't "uglify" NASA's---but that seems to be the #1 option the past dozen years...

[M'Kyuun]

+1

Realistic alt modes is a huge part of the allure of transforming toys. I've always disdained Cybertronian modes b/c it generally seems to give license for shitty alt modes with lazy transformations, with a few exceptions.

That shuttle and train mode look good to me, but I'm also not caring for the split vertical stab on the chest, nor the open areas in the abdomen. Fix those two areas, and that will be a fine Astrotrain.

I'm also on the fence about preordering Apollyon; I have a feeling Takara/Hasbro are going to shy away from making another Walther alt mode. Moreover, if this thing turns out to be pretty solid, it'll be a challenge for Takara to do better, IMHO. I think I'll wait for some reviews, but more than likely I'll get him eventually. The G1 Megs will always be my favorite version, and MP-05 was a bit of a letdown. I hope Apollyon turns out awesome.

[Mechapilot77]

Of course. I still haven't figured out why nobody seems to make REAL space shuttle alt-modes any more. But this is still closer to the real thing than anything else any company has done in 15+ years.

I mean, stuff like this just makes me ask--"why?":

Either totally do your own thing, or flat-out do a real one. Don't "uglify" NASA's---but that seems to be the #1 option the past dozen years...

you don't think the devilstar one is pretty close? i mean airburst is off...but i think the devilstar shuttle mode looks pretty good especailly condsering it has to also turn into a robot and a train.

[Scyla]

+1

Realistic alt modes is a huge part of the allure of transforming toys. I've always disdained Cybertronian modes b/c it generally seems to give license for shitty alt modes with lazy transformations, with a few exceptions.

That shuttle and train mode look good to me, but I'm also not caring for the split vertical stab on the chest, nor the open areas in the abdomen. Fix those two areas, and that will be a fine Astrotrain.

I'm also on the fence about preordering Apollyon; I have a feeling Takara/Hasbro are going to shy away from making another Walther alt mode. Moreover, if this thing turns out to be pretty solid, it'll be a challenge for Takara to do better, IMHO. I think I'll wait for some reviews, but more than likely I'll get him eventually. The G1 Megs will always be my favorite version, and MP-05 was a bit of a letdown. I hope Apollyon turns out awesome.

I looked at the Apollyon pictures the past weekend and my problem with the toy is the silver paint. The hue is too bright swallowing all the details of the mold. To me it looks pretty cheap. I think if they would go with to different shades of silver and darker colors overall it would look much nicer.

To me it looks like on of the semi-realistic water guns I had as a child that I spray painted with a color that looks exactly like the one shown in the prototype images. That looked also very cheap and not really realistic.

I will wait for reviews and final pictures on this one to decide if it is worth a purchase. The face sculpt looks pretty good (the most important part to me) but the paint just make it look terrible. Maybe paint the head crest (eyebrow) in a darker color or do a wash or something.

[slaginpit]

You need some Autobot insignia

I got Huffer, it's a great looking figure, but the quality sucks. I have Brawny and Wheelie on order, I've heard Wheelie's QC sucks too, but it's a great looking figure, good enough for me to order one.

The Astrotrain about looks nice, but I don't like that tail fin on the chest. The shuttle and the train mode looks nice. The other Astrotrain, the bot and the shuttle mode are nice, but the train mode is killed it for me.

I think people are complaining QC in the wrong way. Its more about build Quality. I have no issues with Wheelie or Huffer. The issues come when the materials used ie plastic are thinner than it should be. But if you take care in the transformation they are very good. There is a lot of flex in Wheelies plastic. The twists tucks and turns are phenomenal in such a such small compact design. However, I think if they used thicker plastic in such a complex transformation sequence in the small package you would actually experience more breaks as the plastic would not flex. I think its just more of an issue of man hands and lack of patience

Of course. I still haven't figured out why nobody seems to make REAL space shuttle alt-modes any more. But this is still closer to the real thing than anything else any company has done in 15+ years.

I mean, stuff like this just makes me ask--"why?":

Either totally do your own thing, or flat-out do a real one. Don't "uglify" NASA's---but that seems to be the #1 option the past dozen years...

we get it you have a hate on for 3rd party transformers and a hard on for official hasbro transformers.

[slaginpit]

you don't think the devilstar one is pretty close? i mean airburst is off...but i think the devilstar shuttle mode looks pretty good especailly condsering it has to also turn into a robot and a train.

Airburst is appropriate for a gestalt composed of military vehicles. The original had two blasters off it. I like the color change on this one and how they uniformed the look of the other military vehicles. Combinors are a real thorn as they have to be able to hold poses, weapons and look like appendages while trying to pull off decent alt modes and cool looking and flexible robot modes.

Edited February 2, 2015 by slaginpit