The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread

[anime52k8]

Oh my. One of my wishes for a 3rd party creation might come true. I thought ROTF Bludgeon with the 3rd party head was good, but this Bludgeon takes it to another level.

let me know when They do a Banzai-tron repaint, then I'll be interested.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

let me know when They do a Banzai-tron repaint, then I'll be interested.

My Magic Ball says it's "Most Likely".

In the meantime, I think I found my new Classics Prime. It's Megatron counterpart looks quite svelte.

Edited July 7, 2016 by Valkyrie Hunter D

[M'Kyuun]

Looks too Mad Max-ish for my tastes, but if it floats your boat, great. I tend more towards realistic alts.

[David Hingtgen]

FT's Blitzwing has an inferior jet mode to Gewalt, but Gewalt's tank mode is SO bad, that despite being a jet fan first and fore-most, I'll have to wait and see how FT's turns out due to the million times better tank. (really, Gewalt pretty much is a MiG-25, though of course there's some issues--mainly the back half of it---but FT's jet isn't really ANYTHING. It's MiG-25-ish, but it's almost just as F-15-ish, especially the nose/canopy area)

I do like Gewalt's robot mode though, to me it's the best Blitzwing by far in that mode. (yes, the shoulders are weird, but everything else is quite nice---and "animation-accuracy be damned" the half-nozzle feet on the other 2 bots look awful and are also nothing like either the toy's or real MiG-25 nozzles)

[mikeszekely]

My Magic Ball says it's "Most Likely".

In the meantime, I think I found my new Classics Prime. It's Megatron counterpart looks quite svelte.

The real question is, do I want a new Classics Prime? Because that is Classics Prime, right down to the roof gun, paneled arms, faux grille-abs-because-the-real-grille-is-on-his-back. The resemblance is even greater when you compare Manus to Classics Prime with Fansproject's Parallax add-on.

Personally, I think for my CHUG shelf I'm going to get Ku Bian Bao's MP-10v Voyager-sized MP-10 KO. It scales fantastically with Hegemon, whom I already have.

FT's Blitzwing has an inferior jet mode to Gewalt, but Gewalt's tank mode is SO bad, that despite being a jet fan first and fore-most, I'll have to wait and see how FT's turns out due to the million times better tank. (really, Gewalt pretty much is a MiG-25, though of course there's some issues--mainly the back half of it---but FT's jet isn't really ANYTHING. It's MiG-25-ish, but it's almost just as F-15-ish, especially the nose/canopy area)

I do like Gewalt's robot mode though, to me it's the best Blitzwing by far in that mode. (yes, the shoulders are weird, but everything else is quite nice---and "animation-accuracy be damned" the half-nozzle feet on the other 2 bots look awful and are also nothing like either the toy's or real MiG-25 nozzles)

It's moot to me, since I'm not into MP-sized figures. If I were, I'd definitely wait awhile to see how FP's and KFC's come along, but I'd be leaning toward KFC's Ditka, because screw MiG-25s, I want my Blitzwing to be the weird sort of short, wide bi-plane the animation model wound up having, and Ditka's the only one going for that.

BTW, you guys, I should have some more reviews for you soon. Got the 10-day notice on MT's Vulcan yesterday, and I ordered the last two Constructor guys. But I also went a little nuts before the holiday so I'm going to have a few other figures in the next couple of days that we can look at.

[ChaoticYeti]

Hey! I haven't looked in this thread before. Picture overload to make up for it. I reprolabel-ed my Chigurh recently, and took a slew of pics. Excited for Gewalt to get here. DX9 is killing it.

[ChaoticYeti]

[Scyla]

FT's Blitzwing has an inferior jet mode to Gewalt, but Gewalt's tank mode is SO bad, that despite being a jet fan first and fore-most, I'll have to wait and see how FT's turns out due to the million times better tank. (really, Gewalt pretty much is a MiG-25, though of course there's some issues--mainly the back half of it---but FT's jet isn't really ANYTHING. It's MiG-25-ish, but it's almost just as F-15-ish, especially the nose/canopy area)

I do like Gewalt's robot mode though, to me it's the best Blitzwing by far in that mode. (yes, the shoulders are weird, but everything else is quite nice---and "animation-accuracy be damned" the half-nozzle feet on the other 2 bots look awful and are also nothing like either the toy's or real MiG-25 nozzles)

The issue I have with the FansToys version is that it seems to follow Takaras trend with smoothed out surfaces. At least that is what it looks like form the initial renders. I'm not a fan of those and would prefer if the 3rd party companies follow the path MP-10 laid out. That is also why I'm totally jazzed for Backdraft who should be here any day now and not so much about the official Inferno. Maybe the MP mold will look better as Artfire with more paint apps but now he just looks very plane.

I was very impressed with Gewalts transformation. There are a couple of things that I don't like. The head showing in tank-mode, the tank barrel having no place in jet-mode and the look of the torso in bot-mode. They should have integrated the nosecone better to give the torso a better proportioned look. And while I like the idea of the panels that form the upper abdomen they also give Gewalt a non-aesthetically pleasing look. In addition they seem to not peg safely into the chest at least on the test shot peaugh reviewed.

[M'Kyuun]

KFC's would be nigh perfect if they made those shoulder slopes open into MiG-25 style intakes, and made a full round exhaust nozzle. Their tank mode is pretty impressive for a triple changer, and the fighter , while sacrificed a bit, still looks pretty passable. Gerwalt's is well done, rather complex, but I think they could have found a better solution for hiding the head and fighter canopy in tank mode. Their tank mode just doesn't look that good to me, either. If I were looking to get one of these not-Blitzwings, I think I'd go for Keith's design.

[Scyla]

So I've opened him up and transformed him back and forth. I'm not gonna lie, Backdraft has issues. One smaller issue is that it is a red toy. The red color has different shades of red and it is all over the place. I give Takara a lot of crap for their spotty paint jobs but MP Ironhide is done very very well.

Now onward to the messy stuff. Sadly the factory was not up to the job assembling Backdraft. The fit and finish of the toy is not up to MMCs usual standards. I don't know if they switched factories or payed their usual factory less money to keep the price down but it is bad. I think the design of the toy is sound with maybe the exception of some areas of the toy that are too thin thus not having the solid feel while handling that other MMC products have (mostly their Reformatted line). So back to the factory. The toy has ugly sprue marks all over it. Either they weren't cut off all the way or they cut to much away resulting in junks of plastic missing. Paint overspray is all over the toy where the masking was not done properly.

The toy has good sides to. Articulation is ace, the joints are ratcheted where they need to and the transformation is easy and fun. Everything fits together well in robot mode and cleans up amazingly well. The chrome color they uses is stunning to look at.

Final verdict: I really hope this is an outlier from the MMC releases and there was something wrong with the factory they contracted for doing the molds and assembly. I hope it is NOT the beginning of MMC trying to reduce manufacturing costs to a minimum and outputting sub par product from now on. I would have payed more for the toy so it doesn't have the issues it had. I have all the MMC releases beginning with the Knight Morpher Annihilator and I have to say this is one of their weakest releases when it comes to fit and finish. Sorry MMC but you messed up. I still love you and eagerly awaiting Carnifex.

There is much to love about Backdraft but compared to other MMC releases it is a letdown.

[Tking22]

So I've opened him up and transformed him back and forth. I'm not gonna lie, Backdraft has issues. One smaller issue is that it is a red toy. The red color has different shades of red and it is all over the place. I give Takara a lot of crap for their spotty paint jobs but MP Ironhide is done very very well.

Now onward to the messy stuff. Sadly the factory was not up to the job assembling Backdraft. The fit and finish of the toy is not up to MMCs usual standards. I don't know if they switched factories or payed their usual factory less money to keep the price down but it is bad. I think the design of the toy is sound with maybe the exception of some areas of the toy that are too thin thus not having the solid feel while handling that other MMC products have (mostly their Reformatted line). So back to the factory. The toy has ugly sprue marks all over it. Either they weren't cut off all the way or they cut to much away resulting in junks of plastic missing. Paint overspray is all over the toy where the masking was not done properly.

The toy has good sides to. Articulation is ace, the joints are ratcheted where they need to and the transformation is easy and fun. Everything fits together well in robot mode and cleans up amazingly well. The chrome color they uses is stunning to look at.

Final verdict: I really hope this is an outlier from the MMC releases and there was something wrong with the factory they contracted for doing the molds and assembly. I hope it is NOT the beginning of MMC trying to reduce manufacturing costs to a minimum and outputting sub par product from now on. I would have payed more for the toy so it doesn't have the issues it had. I have all the MMC releases beginning with the Knight Morpher Annihilator and I have to say this is one of their weakest releases when it comes to fit and finish. Sorry MMC but you messed up. I still love you and eagerly awaiting Carnifex.

There is much to love about Backdraft but compared to other MMC releases it is a letdown.

This is a bit depressing to read, unfortunately it seems to line up with what a lot of others are posting as well, very lame. PS-01A Sphinx was beautiful, and pretty much flawless for me, this guy being sub-par is quite disappointing, I may cancel for now and just wait for some more in hand reviews and impressions. Oh well, Willis/Hound is FINALLY on the way, I passed on Gundog because he just didn't do it for me, I've been waiting on Willis for a while so I'm stoked for him, early buzz on him has been almost universally positive.

[CoreyD]

So did folks just dismiss Hellfire entirely? Or did that not-inferno fly under the radar?

[Tking22]

So did folks just dismiss Hellfire entirely? Or did that not-inferno fly under the radar?

Oh people know him and Wrestle exist, just for me personally he was way too short, squat, and fat to ever even consider.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

So did folks just dismiss Hellfire entirely? Or did that not-inferno fly under the radar?

Still keeping mine. I like to have a semi stylized Inferno to mess around with. Hellfire is quite a good figure, and it certainly did not come with all the issues that I've been reading about with Backdraft.

Edited July 8, 2016 by Valkyrie Hunter D

[mikeszekely]

Oh people know him and Wrestle exist, just for me personally he was way too short, squat, and fat to ever even consider.

Kinda this. I dig fire trucks, so I thought about it, but he's just not Inferno-ish enough for me. I think Wrestle makes a great Grapple, though... but I also think Grapple the character sucks and have no desire for MP Grapple in my collection.

[mikeszekely]

Well, my lust for things that combine got the better of me. Despite having never seen Transformers Victory, despite having to be told by David Hingtgen who the Breastforce was, tonight I give you Rhadamanthus, TFC's version of Leozack.

Now, when I talk about aesthetics, I tend to compare a lot to G1, both toys and 'toon, because that's what I grew up with. But this time, I didn't grow up with him. I can tell you that I think he looks pretty cool. I like the white and teal, offset with gold and red accents. I dig the that his head is a face peaking out of a lion's mouth, although he doesn't turn into a lion and I have no idea why his head should be a lion. I absolutely love the smirk on his face. I don't know how to explain it, but he looks all-around better and crisper than TFC's previous efforts. For the record, the plastic feels a lot better than the Uranos guys, whom I like to compare Rhadamanthus to because they're all jets made by TFC. And... he's taller than a Uranos limb, but smaller than Blackbird.

For other references, Rhadamanthus is a head shorter than the ToyWorld Constructicons, and pretty even with a tall Hasbro Voyager like Brainstorm.

OK, I did some googling, and I guess the Leozack toy had an orange face and white head. Otherwise the toy looks like the cartoon. Rhadamanthus here has the cartoon's blue head and silver face, although his mane is a lot smaller. He's got a few color flourishes, like some extra green on his lower legs, some black on his chest, and red lines on his shoulders, he's got red accents on his knees instead of gold, and he's got black hands and gray biceps instead of white, but for the most part he's a very spot-on Leozack. It is curious, though, that for all the red accents TFC slipped onto Rhadamanthus they didn't paint the lion's eyes on his head.

Articulation is fairly standard 3P. His head is on a ball joint. Due to his transformations, his shoulders are on a hinge in his chest as well is inside the shoulder armor. That gives him a shade over 90 degrees of lateral movement, then he's got the usual bicep and wrist swivels and a double-jointed elbow that will let him touch his shoulder. Despite carrying a good chunk of plane on his back, he has a waist swivel, as well as friction universal hips with built-in thigh swivel. If you move the skirt armor, he can kick 90 degrees forward and he can do the splits laterally, but back kibble limits how far backward he can swing his leg. The same kibble limits his waist swivel, but he can still turn bend enough to get "natural" poses. His knees can bend 90 degrees. His feet are a little weird... they're on a hinge and can tilt up and down, but the pin is simply capped on one side, so it's really only attached to the inner side of his leg. That spot itself is on a hinge, and that allows it to turn inward and give him ankle tilt.

One thing I'll note here... none of those joints are ratcheted, and the friction on some of them is a little loose. Not Hasbro bad, but something to be aware of.

Rhadamanthus comes with a single accessory, which is his gun. Which, in Breastforce fashion, transforms.

For starters, it can become his animal partner, Lionbreast. Like Leozack himself, Lionbreast had a white head as a toy and a teal head in the cartoon, and TFC went with the 'toon look. The cartoon again had a bigger mane, but I think the realities of toys don't necessarily lend themselves to the stylized manes of the anime. It is curious, though, that TFC's unnamed lion has a white body and a lot of teal on his legs, though, when both the toy and 'toon had all black legs and a teal body. Also, I think Lionbreast is supposed to have wings. I have a soft spot for the little guy, though. He reminds me of Ravage.

The other thing with the Breastforce guys is that their animal partner doesn't just turn into a gun, it can turn into a breast plate... because why wouldn't you carry your pet around on your chest when you're not using him as a weapon? Well, I'll say this, he's a pretty good breast plate. He blends in with Rhadamanthus' own details and adds more splashes of teal red, and some shiny metallic gold. However, this is also where Rhadamanthus has the greatest departure from G1, where Leozack's breast plate was pretty much teal with white-striped wings. I get that the G1 toy was pretty simple, but I kind of wish TFC had just rolled with it instead of coming up with a totally new split design.

While we have him in robot mode... the combiner pegs are the same ones TFC has been using. So, that means that you can use Hades', Ares', Hecules', Uranos', or Prometheus' torso with each others limbs, if you're into that sort of thing. Personally, I'd have preferred they give up that compatibility for ports with modern engineering.

On to the alt mode! As you'd expect for someone with a robot with a lion motif, Rhadamanthus turns into an F-14. Again, it's a good likeness for Leozack, opting for the 'toon's red canopy. The only real deviations are replacing the white-edged yellow stripe with a more white stripe and a metallic gold stripe, plus the tip of the nose is black instead of all-teal. From the top it looks decent, and fits nicely with the Uranos team.

From the side, though, we can see that he suffers from the common jetformer problem of basically being a jet with a large chunk of robot hanging on the bottom. It's cool that the canopy opens, though, and non-Lionbreast can peg underneath.

Things get really ugly when we look at the bottom. His head is hidden away and his legs tuck nicely up, but what the heck are his arms doing? If they were just held in against his sides, it'd look bad but I'd kind of accept it and move on. But instead TFC tried to engineer and awkward transformation that doesn't even leave them flat. They they get really weird by having you fold out panels on his legs to cup around his forearms. For what? They hide his arms about as well as a broom hides a fat kid.

It's hard for me to give an opinion on Rhadamanthus that I think is useful to others. I can tell you that there are plenty of things that annoy me with him. I've already vented about his alt-mode and the ludicrous attempt to hide his arms, and I touched on his loose hips and lack of ratchets. I'll also mention that the vertical stabilizers are on ball joints and super floppy and I hate the way the combiner pegs are just chilling on the backs of his arms. There's also some issues with transforming him. Basically, the only way his hands fit into his forearms is so that the fingers will catch on hinge when you try to flip them back out. Also, his legs transform in a very Combiner Wars style, but the way his legs are built mean that the hinge for the horizontal stabilizers bump into the hinge for the arm-hiding leg flaps, preventing you from opening the back of his legs very wide. You really have the barest minimum of clearance necessary to transform his legs.

However, considering that this is a TFC product, I have to stress that he's really improved from at least the Uranos team. Better hand sculpts, better plastic quality, gorgeous head sculp, nicely detailed, and hewing much closer to the source material than their previous combiners.

I want to say that don't recommend him, but that's definitely me taking a figure of a character I know nothing about and digging at its faults. I have a feeling, though, that if you're more familiar with the character that you'll probably be pretty satisfied with Rhadamanthus. In either case, it's worth stressing again that this is NOT the TFC you love to hate on. The engineering could have used a little more work, but the quality is much better all-around.

EDIT: While playing with him, I realized that Rhadamanthus has tabs inside his shoulders. You have to push his shoulders so they click past the tabs in his alt mode. It straightens out his arms and cleans them up a bit better, which alleviates some of my complaint. I do still think the leg flaps are dumb, though, and I stand by my belief that Rhadamanthus isn't quite good enough to recommend outright, but good enough that fans of Victory will probably dig him.

Edited July 9, 2016 by mikeszekely

[Scyla]

This is a bit depressing to read, unfortunately it seems to line up with what a lot of others are posting as well, very lame. PS-01A Sphinx was beautiful, and pretty much flawless for me, this guy being sub-par is quite disappointing, I may cancel for now and just wait for some more in hand reviews and impressions. Oh well, Willis/Hound is FINALLY on the way, I passed on Gundog because he just didn't do it for me, I've been waiting on Willis for a while so I'm stoked for him, early buzz on him has been almost universally positive.

I have to state that I'm super picky when it comes to fit and finish. I constantly ranting about Takara being unable to paint a white surface on colored plastic because it is not a smooth surface or they aren't able to design sprue runners where the gate marks are not visible on the toy. Others just seemingly scrub it up with the explanation that Takara is not Bandai of Japan.

Backdraft has a lot of those issues. Here an overspray there a not cleaned well gate mark which stem all from manufacturing and not the design of the toy. The only issue with the design is that the legs don't have enough room in the back of the fire engine because the wings are too wide everything else is great.

A major part in my disappointment of the figure is that Sphinx and to a lesser extend Jaguar are almost perfect renditions of what I have in my mind as a Masterpiece Transformers toy. Had Sphinx ratchets in his pelvis joints and locking front wheels in alt-mode he would have been a perfect design. Fit and finish on Sphinx was immaculate too with the smooth white surfaces, all the crisp tampoo printing and the excellent painted red pin-stripe that runs along the edges.

I thought Backdraft would be a continuation of the quality Sphinx set out but sadly he is not.

[edit 1:] If these issues are a deal breaker to you I'm not sure Takara can produce a better product since there QC if often very spotty. Im happy with Backdraft since he fits much better into my MP collection than Inferno. He just has not the finish that I'm expecting from a MMC product.

[edit 2:] I've added a few images with issues I have on my copy. Those are the most glaring ones but similar (but smaller) issues are all over the place diminishing my enjoyment of the toy greatly. As I said I have one of every mold from MMC and even with their earlier stuff these where never issues. Their Hearts of Steel Cyclops has small cogwheels picked out with paint and they are all cleanly done. I don't know what happened with Backdraft and I hope this is not the beginning of a trend.

Edited July 9, 2016 by Scyla

[mikeszekely]

If Backdraft isn't up to MMC's usual standard but still better than Takara, then I'd still say go with Backdraft because I happen to think MP Inferno looks like butt. Of course, you could always wait for reviews.

Speaking of reviews, here's another treat for you guys. Today we're going to look at another TFC product, but not another Hades guy. Today it's Bigbite, their Skalor (for US G1 fans) or Gulf (for Masterforce fans).

While Rhadamanthus indicated that TFC was really improving their aesthetic design and plastic/overall quality, there was enough goofy engineering that still made it apparent that it was a TFC toy. I gotta tell you, though, that if I were unaware of the Poseidon project and you gave me a Bigbite and told me it was MMC I'd probably believe you. The feel and engineering is really good here. Aesthetically, he's fantastic. He keeps the general appearance of G1 Skalor but replaces some of the G1 blockiness with an angled, techno-organic look befitting of an aquatic-themed robot. Discerning eyes may notice that his hands and thighs are gray instead of purple¹ and blue, and he's got blue feet instead of pink². However, with his yellow face, blue head and shoulders, pink forearms and shins, and pink torso broken up by a swath of blue, it's still very much Skalor in appearance. I'm not always a huge fan of translucent plastic, but I have to say that where TFC used it for yellow, purple, and blue accents it's pretty nice.

¹ Darker purplish-pink... whatever you want to call it. Magenta, maybe.

² Very pale pinkish-purplish... whatever you want to call it. Coral, maybe.

Curiously, he's a little shorter than Rhadamanthus or Voyager Brainstorm. He's thick, though, and I'd still say he's closer to Voyager-sized than Deluxe.

Bigbite comes with a bunch of accessories. He's got two guns, which can either be wielded as smaller guns or you can open them and fold out a longer barrel to give him longer rifles. And he's got two swords cast from that pink plastic with some nice silver details. Don't hold me to this, but I think the swords will combine with future weapons to form the combined-mode sword. There's also the right combined-mode hand. It's a nice hand, with the thumb on a ball joint with two hinged knuckles, the fingers connected on a hinge with two more hinged knuckles, and a wicked looking spike on the back of the hand. It's a little odd, though that we have a hand since traditionally (if tradition is defined by box art King Poseidon's appearance in Masterforce) he's the right leg. I mean, even the box art shows Bigbite as a leg, albeit the left one. No worries, though, since Bigbite's manual has bot, monster, arm, leg, and gun mode. The other two accessories are the handle for gun mode, and a new piece used for his wrist/foot/gun barrel connections.

Nothing out of the ordinary as far as articulation goes. His head is on a ball joint whose upward tilt is a little better than his downward due to his chin hitting his chest. He's got a decent amount of lateral tilt, too. His shoulders have a hinge for lateral movement that'll extend past 90 degrees and nice ratchets for his shoulder rotation. There's also a second hinge that's really for transformation, but you can get a little play out of it if you need to for posing. He's got a bicep swivel, and double-jointed elbows that'll go until his forearm sculpt runs into his shoulders. A nice attention to detail is the way that the sculpt continues in the exposed joints when his elbows are bent. His fingers are fixed, and his wrists do swivel, as does his waist. He's got universal hips with soft ratchets for forward and backward movement and hard ratchets for lateral movement, and his hips will go all the way forward and back and just shy of the full splits. His thigh swivels are just below the hips. His ratcheted knee will go about 90 degrees- be sure you're bending the actual knee and not the transformation joint. His heels on ball joints that provide a little ankle tilt but are mostly fixed, and the front of his foot is on a separate ball joint. He can turn his toes inward or outward, tilt them upward or downward with good range either way, and he has a little ankle tilt. In any case, he's got a wide enough base that balance isn't really an issue, and between the smart use of ratchets and the tighter friction joints he feels better all-around than Rhadamanthus.

In addition to holding his accessories, his tail is pegged on and can be removed and held like a weapon. However, due to the spikes on his forearms, you have to turn his fist. One other little bummer is that, not counting his tail, he's got four weapons but no storage that I could see. You're kind of stuck letting him hold two of them and setting the other two aside wherever you store the combiner parts when you're not using them.

Bigbite turns into a monster fish with stubby arms and legs... just like G1 Skalor/Gulf! Again, it's pretty close to the G1 design, but with some flourishes like bigger jaws and teeth. The gray joints are showing in his knees, he's got a little extra blue on his nose and gray on his back, he's got translucent blue toes, his lower jaw is pink instead of purple, and his underside could use a little more pink, but none of this is particularly hurtful. Indeed, I'd say TFC did a good job of keeping the head and lower legs pink, upper legs, body, and tail blue, and his monster arms and the fin on his back purple- even where they used translucent plastic.

As a monster fish, he can't use his swords but his guns can mount onto his back. His jaw can open and close, and his stubby arms can rotate on his shoulders and his claws can turn in (mostly due to his transformation. You can unpeg them to cheat some lateral movement, but no elbow, wrist, or bicep swivel. His monster legs are his bot arms and have the same ratchety articulation. Then there's his tail. Each segment is on a ball joint so they can bend a little up/down or side-to-side, plus the can all rotate. It's a decently dynamic fish-monster mode.

All-in-all, I'd say that Bigbite is an easy recommend, especially if you're into Seacons. I think TFC did a fantastic job hitting all the right notes that make you say "this is Skalor" while giving him an updated look that really suits and ocean-monster-robot. Everything here feels better than the Hades team. Bigbite's got none of the weird tolerance issues that plagued them, and there's a lot of smart engineering in the way the various flaps and covers on the fish body fold and collapse into his legs, but nothing feels complicated or over-engineered either. He's a toy that looks good, feels good, and is fun to play with even without taking the whole combiner thing into consideration.

[technoblue]

After spending more time with Spark Toys Alpha Pack, I think the shine is wearing dull for me. The paint work is some of the best I've seen on a figure to date but like Takara's recent releases there are delicate spots to watch out for. The chrome stacks on my copy, for example, are touch and go. On the left arm they appear to not have cured as well as the right and the chrome is starting to peel/chip away with transformation.

Speaking of transformation, it is very simple and bot mode doesn't do much to hide the alt mode accents. That could be due to the fact that Spark Toys is trying to get as close to the comic book look of War Within Optimus as possible, but the transformation seems to me like it would be a better fit for a smaller classics-scaled figure.

Mechanically, I'm concerned how in bot mode there is just one locking tab fitting the chest to the rest of the body. I had a similar concern with MP-22 Magnus, and at Alpha's current size the issue is more visible since that one tab breaks loose constantly when posing the figure. Basically, that one little connection can't hold the weight of both halves. In alt mode, Alpha does not roll easily. For me, rolling things need to roll. Alpha is finicky and has to be transformed just right to get his front tires moving. His back tires are set in a fixed plastic wheel well. The only way you can reposition them is to move the entire leg and hope for the best.

There are good points. Spark Toys made sure to give us as much articulation as possible given the physical limitations of this beefy version of Prime. The universal joints in the legs have solid ratchets back and forth, and side to side. And the arms, although blocked by the chest, have no problem holding the weight of his weapons. You also get that mini matrix. But as someone who has no nostalgia for The War Within, this Cybertronian design didn't wow me.

[mikeszekely]

One more review before we get around to finishing ToyWorld's Constructor... today it's Minos, TFC's Hellbat.

If you'll recall just a few posts ago to when I did Rhadamanthus, you'll remember that I said I didn't even know who the Breastforce was. For most people, you'd think that'd make the Hades team a pass, but I was intrigued when I saw this guy. The mix of dark blue and white, the sinister eyes, the bat-face helmet, well, really, the very idea of a guy named "Hellbat" I found intriguing. Like Rhadamanthus, Minos seems to take some of his design cues from the Victory cartoon rather than the original toy, including the blue head and silver mask, the white biceps, and the blue crotch (unless you count the sticers on the toy). The gold paint on his hip skirts does hew more to the toy's stickers than the cartoon, though. His torso seems to be where he departs the most from either toy or 'toon Hellbat. If we stick with the cartoon look, the white piece in the center of his chest should be blue, and his lower torso should be either white or white with blue abs. Like Rhadamanthus, his helmet is a little more subtle than the cartoon, but in this case I prefer it. Minos' helmet looks like a bat; cartoon Hellbat's helmet looks like a fish. It is, however, lacking paint on the bat eyes.

Size-wise, he's fairly close to Rhadamanthus in height and therefore still bigger than a Uranos limb. His a much more svelte bot than Rhadamanthus, though. All-in-all, I wish they'd have colored the torso more correctly, but Minos is definitely a design I'm digging.

On thing worth noting is that the directions and box art have you transform Minos' wings like the one on the right here. I personally prefer the way I've set the left wing, which is more like both toy and 'toon Hellbat. This being TFC, though, the wings are on pegs and can be removed entirely if you prefer. Also (not show) you can split the nose cone and flip the halves around so they don't hang past his butt (this is also true for Rhadamanthus).

Minos' articulation is basically the same as Rhadamanthus: ball jointed head, shoulders hinged for lateral movement where the armor connects to the body and where the arm connects to the armor and mushroom pegged for rotation where the armor connects to the body, double-jointed elbows, bicep, wrist, and waist swivels, universal hips with thigh rotation, single-jointed knees, zero ratchets. The key differences here are that the shoulders have ridiculous levels of lateral movement, like 180+ degrees, but his backpack actually impedes his shoulder rotation. Also, he doesn't have the goofy feet that Rhadamanthus does. Instead, his thrusters are nice, fixed heels and his toes are all ball-joints for some up/down tilt, faux ankle tilt, and faux ankle rotation.

Minos comes with a "gun," but the handle is too short and the pegs on his forearms too high, so he can't hold it securely at all.

In typical Breastforce fashion, Minos' gun can also turn into a breastplate or an animal partner, in this case a bat. He's very stylized, reminding me more of a robotic version of the first boss in the NES Castlevania, the giant bat that was all face, rather than Koumoribreast. The red-painted eyes and the gold paint on the wings is nicely done, but they really should have painted the lower part of the bat's body blue where it lays over Minos' abs. All-in-all, he's kind of disappointing compared to Rhadamanthus' little buddy.

In addition to his breast animal, Minos comes with hands for the combined mode. That's hands, plural. At first glance, I thought they reminded me a little too much of Uranos' hands. They even have the same palm connectors, so Hades can hold Uranos' gun. However, there's more difference than color and the nicely-pointed fingertips. Each finger has an additional hinged knuckle versus the Uranos hands, and the thumb has one on the ball joint. This gives the Hades hands more articulation, although a little splay would have been nice. The wrists are the same as Uranos, although the connector part for the Hades hands is a little longer.

In alt mode Minos becomes a Dassault Rafale multirole fighter jet. I'll note that TFC did a good job capturing the details of the original toy with the white mark on the tail and the gold stripes on the wings. Like Rhadamanthus, they opted for a red canopy instead of orange, and that's fine. TFC also picked out some details from actual Rafale's, including the intakes and the bar on the tail, that the original toy was lacking (no refueling probe, though). On thing that's kind of interesting is that the tips of the wings look like they should have had missiles like TFC's F-16.

If we look at the underside, though, we've still got the problem of having a folded-up robot chilling out down there. I'll note, though, that there aren't any stupid leg flaps wrapping around Minos' arms. Oh, I'll also point out the peg holes on the bottoms of the wings, which Rhadamanthus also has. Looks like you could put some missiles there. Could TFC be planning an add-on kit, like the Wings of Uranos?

As with Rhadamanthus we've got a working cockpit and landing gear. The instructions indicate that you can put the breast animal underneath, as I've done in this picture. However, there isn't enough clearance for both the breast animal and the landing gear. That's not the only design tolerance issue Minos has, either. It's quite tricky to turn and flip the cockpit around from Minos' back to it's jet-mode position and vice versa.

All-in-all, I do like Minos better than Rhadamanthus, but I feel like that's probably because I think he's got a cooler look and "Hellbat" is a cooler name than "Leozack." In reality, they have a lot of the same pros and cons, so my recommendation is going to be the same: if you're into Victory or the Breastforce he's good enough that you'll be happy with him, but if you're not interested in the character I don't think he's good enough to recommend outright.

[ChaoticYeti]

Just received mine from TFsource. Wanted to take some time with a bunch of photos, but it looks like I lost the QC lottery. Nothing too terrible, and I hope TFsource can help. Overall a really sweet figure. The QC stuff can get annoying on 3rd party figures, but as long as it gets worked out in the end. The only thing that really bothers me is that the front landing gear doesn't lock into place. That is a big flub that could have been resolved.

[sh9000]

Recently ordered DX9 Tyrant. Passed on Chigurh.

[ChaoticYeti]

Tyrant is great. Getting the legs just right in alt mode can be a pain, but for me he is Galvatron.

[technoblue]

Backdraft arrived at my door today along with something I didn't expect to see so soon: MPP-10. There goes half my free time tonight.

Edit: Backdraft first look.

This toy is heavy--a real paper weight--and I'm not sure how I feel about that. The prototype pictures showed blocks of diecast metal, so I had an idea of what to expect. Based on MMC's other releases, though, I was hoping for a nice balance of diecast and quality plastics, which is more to my preference. The paint quality is good on mine. And Backdraft does look the part of an MP-scaled G1 toy. I have only a couple minor paint niggles where I think the turn signals on the front of the cab could have used another coat, and the faces could have had sharper lines.

What concerns me more than the paint is how finicky the parts are in both modes. For instance, the sliding cover pieces for the arms are made of a thin plastic and I'm afraid that over time these pieces will show stress marks because they are involved in some of the more complicated transformation steps. And although the outriggers incorporate a nice gimmick where they can be deployed, on my copy they do not move in and out smoothly. Again, I am worried about accidental breakage.

The transformation is a nice one, but it is held back by tolerance issues. Getting the arms and legs back in place for truck mode is a real chore. The tabs don't want to line up, and when they do the rear end of the truck no longer looks like a bumper. For bot mode, there are universal joints for the hips but no side to side ratchets and no ratchets in the knees. If there was less diecast in the legs, this wouldn't be such a pet peeve for me. The skirt piece is not fixed but is part of the transformation. On my copy, the tab for this piece likes to pop out of the slot.

In the end I have mixed feelings about this one. For those who like MMC's design, it might be worth waiting to see if they release Backdraft: Part Fixed.

Edited July 14, 2016 by technoblue

[mikeszekely]

Tyrant is great. Getting the legs just right in alt mode can be a pain, but for me he is Galvatron.

I was a huge fan of Mania King, so it makes sense that I'd love Tyrant. I know a lot of people are waiting for Sovereign, either because Tyrant isn't "Sunbow G1" enough or because a large portion of the community seem to worship the ground Fanstoys walks on, but from what I've seen so far it's no contest to me.

I got Unearth and Bulldozer today, plus a shipping notice on Vulcan. I'm pretty happy because they complete my Devastator and my Defensor, and Devastator and Defensor complete the combiners that were in the US G1 cartoon.

[Scyla]

Backdraft arrived at my door today along with something I didn't expect to see so soon: MPP-10. There goes half my free time tonight.

Edit: Backdraft first look.

This toy is heavy--a real paper weight--and I'm not sure how I feel about that. The prototype pictures showed blocks of diecast metal, so I had an idea of what to expect. Based on MMC's other releases, though, I was hoping for a nice balance of diecast and quality plastics, which is more to my preference. The paint quality is good on mine. And Backdraft does look the part of an MP-scaled G1 toy. I have only a couple minor paint niggles where I think the turn signals on the front of the cab could have used another coat, and the faces could have had sharper lines.

What concerns me more than the paint is how finicky the parts are in both modes. For instance, the sliding cover pieces for the arms are made of a thin plastic and I'm afraid that over time these pieces will show stress marks because they are involved in some of the more complicated transformation steps. And although the outriggers incorporate a nice gimmick where they can be deployed, on my copy they do not move in and out smoothly. Again, I am worried about accidental breakage.

The transformation is a nice one, but it is held back by tolerance issues. Getting the arms and legs back in place for truck mode is a real chore. The tabs don't want to line up, and when they do the rear end of the truck no longer looks like a bumper. For bot mode, there are universal joints for the hips but no side to side ratchets and no ratchets in the knees. If there was less diecast in the legs, this wouldn't be such a pet peeve for me. The skirt piece is not fixed but is part of the transformation. On my copy, the tab for this piece likes to pop out of the slot.

In the end I have mixed feelings about this one. For those who like MMC's design, it might be worth waiting to see if they release Backdraft: Part Fixed.

I share the feelings about the thickness of the plastic. Somehow it feels like MMC tried to shave off the material on the parts and see how far they can push it before it leads to problems. The Reformatted bots feel all super solid, even if they have delicate parts like Cynicus or Azalea. It could be that with thicker panels for the parts that make up the back of the fire engine the toy would tab together more solid.

Maybe this is an unfair assessment on my side. Maybe the design of the toy prevented thicker panels. However it just feels so different to all the other releases so far. Even different than Sphinx. As an example most of the die-cast on him are structural parts (which is my favorite use of metal in toys) that are used to move one part of the toy to another. On Backdraft there are just massive junks of die-cast in the feet and front of the fire-engine while the joints and transformation armatures are plastic.

This could all be due to the fact that Backdraft was designed by a different designer and Backdrafts design doesn't have the same transformation style that Sphinx has but still. I would have preferred a solid metal ankle joint to pieces of die cast in the toes. I really like the design and the transformation on Backdraft but I think Sphinx catered more to my likings.

I tried to get some replacement parts from MMC directly so we see what comes from that. I will do an update to the toy once I got them in (if ever).

Edited July 14, 2016 by Scyla

[Tking22]

Yeah I cancelled Backdraft at the last second, I don't picture him selling out anytime soon so I'm in no rush, I will probably grab him from BBTS whenever my 2001 Monsterarts GMK Godzilla and 1/6 Breaking Bad Jesse release. He still looks phenomenal, and far better then the TT version, but the mixed reception has me in no hurry. In other news I FINALLY got Willis/Hound and damn, this thing is pure green sex that happens to turn into an incredible looking jeep. He is exactly what I wanted, and he looks exactly how I wanted my MP Hound to look, FansToys done good here, this is my first figure from them. I've seen a number of TFW2005 members post that they're having ankle issues on their releases, mine seems fine for now, I've transformed him back and forth 7 different times and everything still seems fine on my copy. I was a bit worried about the transformation itself, the arm and chest area seemed to be a hassle, and while it was the first time, I've warmed up to it now. The steps to the transformation are very deliberate, there's little wiggle room, you kind of have to follow the steps for the chest and arms exactly or clearance becomes an issue, but like I said, just follow the steps to a T and everything goes in and out of place just fine. Willis is quite incredible, his paint job is beautiful, he poses well, and his proportions and silhouette are gorgeous, he is the defining MP Hound for me. I hate to see whatever blocky green turd Takara will put out and call Hound.

[technoblue]

I share the feelings about the thickness of the plastic. Somehow it feels like MMC tried to shave off the material on the parts and see how far they can push it before it leads to problems. The Reformatted bots feel all super solid, even if they have delicate parts like Cynicus or Azalea. It could be that with thicker panels for the parts that make up the back of the fire engine the toy would tab together more solid.

Maybe this is an unfair assessment on my side. Maybe the design of the toy prevented thicker panels. However it just feels so different to all the other releases so far. Even different than Sphinx. As an example most of the die-cast on him are structural parts (which is my favorite use of metal in toys) that are used to move one part of the toy to another. On Backdraft there are just massive junks of die-cast in the feet and front of the fire-engine while the joints and transformation armatures are plastic.

This could all be due to the fact that Backdraft was designed by a different designer and Backdrafts design doesn't have the same transformation style that Sphinx has but still. I would have preferred a solid metal ankle joint to pieces of die cast in the toes. I really like the design and the transformation on Backdraft but I think Sphinx catered more to my likings.

I tried to get some replacement parts from MMC directly so we see what comes from that. I will do an update to the toy once I got them in (if ever).

I agree that the design of the toy may have prevented thicker panels on Backdraft, and I'm not completely against thin folding/sliding panels on my transforming toys (my rants on MP-22 aside). I think my level of frustration with this version of Inferno is more focused on how finicky and exact the transformation needs to be in order to get things to line up. If there is extra flash or if one of the arms is sitting out of whack, then it becomes more work than fun to put everything back in place. This is more of a criticism of truck mode, of course. The diecast is more of a personal thing, but when comparing Backdraft to Sphinx I find red to be a touch too heavy.

I have Jaguar and Sphinx. I'm happy with both of those toys from Ocular Max/MMC, so I was willing to bet on Backdraft too. And Backdraft is not a terrible disappointment by any means, he just doesn't come across as polished as the other two.

Edited July 14, 2016 by technoblue

[mikeszekely]

Let's get to wrapping up a Devastator, shall we? We'll start tonight with ToyWorld's Unearth, their Scavenger.

I think that Unearth is, of the set, probably tied with Shovel/Scrapper for the most aesthetically what you'd want in a modern toy of their respective character. I suppose that it helps a lot that Scavengers Sunbow model was pretty close to his toy? In any case, Unearth has the flat-top head, the visor eyes, the and the face plate with the extra square. He's got the predominantly green torso with silver ironing board abs. He's got the purple pants look. If we're going to quibble, we could complain that his hands are black instead of green, that the gray tops on his shoulders should be green, that they added some gray details to the front of his shoulders, that his abs could have covered a little more, or that the red details on his chest are a little difference, but that is seriously just quibbles. Bigger complaints for me are the number of folding panels on his arms, or the large brick from the combiner peg behind his head, but visually he's definitely Scavenger, and I do feel he's a better-looking toy than Combiner Wars Scavenger.

As with the other not-Constructicons in this set, Unearth is bigger than his CW counterpart and on par with the average torso-bot.

Unearth comes with a ton of stuff in the box. As is the case with the others, he's got a gun for himself and a combined mode component. In this case, it's the right forearm and hand. The hand isn't attached to the forearm because you can alternately use the included drill piece. Additionally, ToyWorld tossed in a piece of replacement tread and some screw hole covers.

Now, from the waist up Unearth is your typical ToyWorld Constructicon. His head is on a hinged swivel that has no problem turning or looking up, but his chin prevents him from really looking down at all. His shoulders can rotate where they're attached to the chest, and there's a joint there that will give you a little lateral movement but it's impeded by his shoulder vent things, and it's really for transformation anyway. There's a joint inside the shoulder itself for lateral movement and a flap on the outside you can move out of the way to do so. That joint will get you 90 degrees, so if you cheat it with the transformation joint you'll get a bit more than 90 degrees of lateral movement. There's also the requisite bicep, wrist, and waist swivels. His elbows are double-jointed, allowing him to touch his shoulders. And his hands are the same as the rest of the set with individually ball-jointed fingers.

Things are a bit different from the waist down. Now, let me start by saying kudos to ToyWorld for designing a toy with working treads that turn into legs. Legs that can rotate forward or backward with ease, and ratcheted knees that can bend nearly 90 degrees with little guides that keep the treads in place. However, he doesn't have much lateral hip movement, unless you want to start unpegging his crotch, and likewise his has a thigh swivel joint but the taut treads prevent him from really using them.

His feet are pretty neat, though. They're attached to armatures that are connected to the inside of his leg. The armatures can rotate, allowing him to tilt his foot up or down, then the feet can rotate on the armature to give him ankle tilt.

Unearth turns into, as expected, an excavator. He's larger and more detailed than his CW counterpart, and as I mentioned the treads are working treads, which is pretty cool in a transforming toy. Unfortunately, his shovel lacks the articulation of the CW version. Basically, it can move up and down at the base, at the top, and at the bucket. No rotation. A nice touch is that the pistons along the boom all work with the joints. I'm not a fan of the way some junk sticks out of the front, although that's actually the way the original G1 toy was. I'd thought I might like it better if I could put screw hole covers there, but those holes are all needed to attach the forearm in combined mode.

He's got a spot for his gun, as you'd expect. And the deck can rotate, but this is actually meant for combined mode and you have to unpeg two tabs in the back. While that frees up the rotation, it also means that the deck isn't secured onto the treads anymore.

Despite the limited articulation in his legs, I'd definitely recommend Unearth. He looks good in both modes and doesn't suffer from any other glaring flaws. His transformation is relatively intuitive. He's an all-around good Scavenger toy, and in the top 3 for this set.

[ChaoticYeti]

I went all in for the GT Constructicons. I must say, though, the G2 Toyworld scheme is mighty tempting.

[mikeszekely]

I went all in for the GT Constructicons. I must say, though, the G2 Toyworld scheme is mighty tempting.

I can't exactly give a comparison review of the GT guys, but let's just say that the reasons I went with ToyWorld will be covered in the next two reviews. If I had the money to burn I'd consider doing both, though, especially since I'm running out of combiner characters and I can start to think about double-dipping. Maybe because I just finished a Devy I'm thinking my first character double-dip will probably be Menasor, though.

[anime52k8]

He's got a spot for his gun, as you'd expect. And the deck can rotate, but this is actually meant for combined mode and you have to unpeg two tabs in the back. While that frees up the rotation, it also means that the deck isn't secured onto the treads anymore.

you've got that backwards. you're supposed to unpeg the two tabs for vehicle mode so the upper portion can rotate then peg them in for limb mode to lock everything together.

[technoblue]

I went all in for the GT Constructicons. I must say, though, the G2 Toyworld scheme is mighty tempting.

Giant and Gravity Builder are my favorite looking third-party Constructicons. The tough choice would be to size down with Maketoys or size up with GT, but I only need to worry about that if I ever break my no combiners rule. Maybe... it's getting increasingly difficult to say no to these, especially with Mike's written reviews.

Perhaps I can treat myself to one Devastator and Predaking... I could use more Decepticons in the ranks.

[mikeszekely]

you've got that backwards. you're supposed to unpeg the two tabs for vehicle mode so the upper portion can rotate then peg them in for limb mode to lock everything together.

Yeah, you're absolutely right. I was thinking they needed to be clipped because the deck moves and because that's how it's packaged in the box, and for some reason was thinking it needed to be unclipped to rotate because CW Devy's treads are fixed to the chest and only the top rotates. I realized I had it backwards whenever I put the forearm on him and stuck him with the other four reviewed bots.

[mikeszekely]

Giant and Gravity Builder are my favorite looking third-party Constructicons. The tough choice would be to size down with Maketoys or size up with GT, but I only need to worry about that if I ever break my no combiners rule. Maybe... it's getting increasingly difficult to say no to these, especially with Mike's written reviews.

Perhaps I can treat myself to one Devastator and Predaking... I could use more Decepticons in the ranks.

Giant looks great combined, but even before I started building Constructor, Poseidon, and Hades I was already feeling like the Maketoys/Fansproject combiners are too small when matched with Uranos, Ordin, Feral Rex, and Warbotron. It was easier to overlook when it was 3 small to 4 large, but now I'm tossing Hades and Poseidon into the mix, to say nothing of how they're dwarfed by Constructor. It's the main reason why I'm debating picking up TFM's Menasor.

As for Gravity Builder... after their Scrapper and Mixmaster I was fairly set to go in on them. The prototype pics make GB look great and the size fits my collection better, plus I'd later see some neat features like the hidden missiles in the combiner hands. If combined mode is what you're after, GB is definitely looking like a good choice. But I take my combiners apart and play with them sometimes. GT's Scrapper looked great, but when I saw ToyWorld's it looked better. I had some issues with ToyWorld's Mixmaster, but it looked like I'd have more issues with GT's Mixmaster. Little things like that were nudging me to ToyWorld's camp, but again, the two biggest reasons I ultimately went ToyWorld will be talked about in the next two reviews.