The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread

[mikeszekely]

Have we seen images of the alt mode of Rioter Despotron? Looking at the bot-mode pictures I can't imagine how he could transform into a cohesive alt-mode. He looks neat though. I hope Maketoys does some recolors of him and Striker Manus (preferably black/purple and black/teal). I really like their Nemesis Battle Tanker toy.

Not yet, but someone close to Maketoys claims he'll have a space gun alt.

[Scyla]

I received Maketoys Guardia yesterday and had some time to mess with him. I have to say I'm not as taken away by him as I thought I would be.

First there are qc issues. The ankles are so loose that they are rendered unusable. Guardia always leans forward even standing still. I'm not sure why the designer thinks ball joints on the feet are a good idea. At my Quantron they are at least stiff enough to be used in posing. Also one of my hip armors for Guardias legs is so stiff that I can't turn it forward limit his leg movement to 5 degree forward. I'm not sure if a dab of shock oil can fix it since it is unwilling to move in this direction and trying to turn it will probably break the strut. Also some joints on the individual bots and in the combiner arms are looser than I would like.

Which brings me to my biggest criticism the arm bots. I like their styling (Hi-Meds head looks really sharp) and the paint finish the articulation is also good. What I don't like about them is the rest. First they are very panel-tastic which is not a bad thing in itself but all the panels feel like they are too thin (a criticism I also have with other bots like MMCs Backdraft) thus making them incredibly fiddly to transform. While they pose well in bot-mode and lock together in alt-mode the way to get there is frustrating. The downfall of Hi-Med and Katana are their arm-modes because there the issues of the transformation spill-over. Nothing feels secure and when trying to pose the arms you most probably knock everything out of alignment because the shoulder ratchet joints on Vulcan are much stronger than whatever keeps the arms lock together even if there are a plethora of tabs on them. Combined with pieces that are too thin and the general design of the elbow joint posing the arms is no fun at all. While I think that the design of the elbow joint is sound the bot around it needs to be much sturdier make it useful.

Additionally the lower arms are also kind of a mess. First you have gigantic holes in the forearms. Since Guardia is very partsformery by nature I don' understand why they didn't include forearm fillers. Maybe have the canisters where the hands store be used for that since they make the back of Guardia kind of a mess. Their hollow nature also fortifies the fiddly feeling while manipulating the arms. It is not that big of a deal (since you can rotate the forearms so that the hole doesn't show) if it weren't for helicopter tail fin of Katana. It looks ok in limb mode but it would be much better when you could rotate the fin to the back.

The issues with the tail-fin are much more prevalent in bot mode. It just looks unfinished and prevents the legs form posing. It is also hard to handle the toy because they prevent a solid grip on it and you might break the tail rotor someday. The knees have also a weird joint that lets you see into the hollow lower legs. Continuing with design flaws to the upper body. Per design the combiner elbow joint is folded together into the torso of the bot. Because that the outer torso doesn't lock together with the inner combiner joint which devalues the playability of the bot.The way the arms are designed is also a critique point of mine. The rotate around a joint but don't lock in in their final positions securely which again makes it not fun to handle. The joint looks ok at Hi-Med because it is connected with a rivet. With Katana the designer opted for a clip-on connection like you could find on Hasbro retail toys. This not only looks bad in robot mode it also leads to holes in the outer shell in alt-mode. I'm puzzled by that decision.

In general all the toys rely heavily on transformation steps where you have to bend the plastic and rotate the parts to free or lock them into place. You can find this all over Guardia but it is most prevalent on the arm-bots. While nothing has broken yet for me this makes transforming not enjoyable. This design was present in the past (see the knees of the M³ leg bots) but not in the amount you can find on the Guardia bots. There is also a bunch of places where you ought to tab something in but the piece is so thin and wobbly with nothing to support the pressure coming from your hands behind the piece. It makes me fear that I will break something. This is especially the case with the torso tabbing Vulcans arms into the back and locking Guardias head into the chest plate.

Having M³ and Quantron in my collection which I believe where all designed buy the same person I can say that the designs where always excentric but they never distracted from the play value once you figured out how everything works. With Guardia I feel that this is not the case so I would rank him on the bottom, while M³ is in the middle with Quantron being the best. Of course this would change when I have more time to play with Guardia and trimming the tabs inside the cap which prevent the torso form locking together properly. Basically the whole upper body is a floppy mess.

So what do I like about him? I really dig everything below the waist in combined mode. The way the legs and leg-bots transform is awesome. In general the leg-bots are much (MUCH) better compared to the arm-bots. Everything fits well together in all modes they look the part and I love Axels transformation and design. Minus the ankle joints everything ratchets and clicks satisfyingly while moving. I also am a big fan of the MakeToys FansProject aesthetic. Guardia looks just stunning. The materials feel also great and solid where they are not too thin. The paint applications are plentiful and immaculate where applied. They mixed in some translucent parts for windows and red lights which look good even If I wish that the painted on windows where either also translucent or painted in a color that would match the clear plastic better.

The clear winner of the set is Vulcan (bot- and alt-mode) itself. Easy transformation, hefty and quality feeling when holding and manipulating him. The full armored mode where you add all the combiner bits is stunning. Alt-mode looks the part. I hope the combiner torso locks better together once I trimmed the pegs on the bumpers and free the skirt joint so I can have at least a combiner that is solid in 80% of the bot. I don't think I can do anything to make the arms more stable.

Do I regret the purchase? I would say no even if it is a bit early to tell that. Once I know him better I think he will grow on me. In addition he will look stellar next to M³ and Quantron on the shelfs.

[slaginpit]

Could not agree more with the above review. I was careful as crap and I still broke off the small brake handles on Axle. Still trying to glue them on. The other thing is that the plastic panels are wafer thin. So thing that I think they will erode over time and just flake off. Looking back I think TFC would have been the better choice. It was blocky but it was solid too.

[mikeszekely]

I think I covered my thoughts pretty well when I reviewed him, but yeah. I love how Guardia looks, I hate how Guardia feels.

Oh well. I'm either going to sell my M3, Guardia, and Quantron, or I'm going to get Giant and Pty the four of them in their own separate display. As I keep collecting combiners, the MT-sized ones are starting to look and feel too small.

On the flip side, I'm thinking Constructor has gotta go, too, for the opposite reason. Too big.

[slaginpit]

aaaaaaannnnd


Cancelled.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llyB3siJnh0

Maketoys will join his twin from XTransbots

[mikeszekely]

I'm waiting to see how Maketoys' Despotron shakes out. And, I guess I could see cancelling Mightron if you already have Apollyon; I agree with Ben's review that Mightron isn't a huge upgrade. That said, I do think he's an upgrade. From the front, he looks better than Apollyon in every way possible. He's got a awful lot of kibble on the back, sure, but even then from the waist down he's looking better than Apollyon, and the kicker is that he's looking to be at least $35 less than Apollyon.

In other 3P news, I finally got replacement parts for ToyWorld's Long Haul. I pulled Devastator apart, put everyone into bot mode, and did the surgery on Long Haul. While I was working, I was thinking... ToyWorld's Constructicons are probably the best-looking Constructicon toys (GT's Scrapper is pretty good, and their Long Haul might actually trump ToyWorld's, but I digress). They look great in robot and alt mode. But... the more I look at him, the more I think I don't like their combined Devastator. I'm not a fan of the Studio OX head, I'm not a fan of the silver Studio OX thighs, and his proportions are just plain goofy. So... I ordered GT's Scrapper. He's sitting in a pile, waiting for the last Hades guy to arrive before shipping. If I like him, I'll probably go all in on GT's Devastator.

Oh, but that still wasn't enough for me! TF-Direct has a sale going on right now, and I ordered a KO Green Giant. Well, it's listed as KO, but there's a lot of rumors and speculation going around about this particular KO as it's supposed to be identical to the non-KO right down to the Maketoys gift box, and I haven't heard anything worse about the KO than a weak joint here and there (which actual Maketoys products aren't immune to, as us Guardia owners can tell you). I'll be sure to review everything as it comes in, and I'm looking forward to eventually doing a special series to compare Devastators (if anyone has a Hercules they'd be willing to loan out for that, PM me).

[technoblue]

I like how DX9 solved Megatron's leg transformation problem by figuring out a neat way to compress the legs down to size when transforming them into the stocks/grip. It's just too bad that they were unable to avoid the same problem that XTB has with the grip being too wide in alt mode. I also agree with Ben when he discusses kibble. That will come down to a matter of preference, but DX9 has the kibble on the back and XTB has the kibble in the legs.

Edited August 6, 2016 by technoblue

[mikeszekely]

Heads up, TFSource has Fansproject's Function-X6 Knight on sale for $50.

[JB0]

Heads up, TFSource has Fansproject's Function-X6 Knight on sale for $50.

Sweet. I really don't know why I love six-changers so much, but I do. I love them to hexadeath.

[mikeszekely]

Does anyone have any opinions on the iGear Con Air Raptor Squadron? Not the MP-ish ones they did, the ones that turned into F-22 (or F-22-ish, in the case of the Coneheads) planes? I've had my eye on them, and with iGear out-of-business I'm worried that they're going to become harder to find and more expensive over time, but for right now I have a line on all six for around $500, and I'm trying to decide whether or not to pull the trigger on that.

[Vermillion One]

Does anyone have any opinions on the iGear Con Air Raptor Squadron? Not the MP-ish ones they did, the ones that turned into F-22 (or F-22-ish, in the case of the Coneheads) planes? I've had my eye on them, and with iGear out-of-business I'm worried that they're going to become harder to find and more expensive over time, but for right now I have a line on all six for around $500, and I'm trying to decide whether or not to pull the trigger on that.

I have them and enjoyed them. They dont fit in my collection at this point so you should totally buy them from me.

[mikeszekely]

Have we seen images of the alt mode of Rioter Despotron? Looking at the bot-mode pictures I can't imagine how he could transform into a cohesive alt-mode. He looks neat though. I hope Maketoys does some recolors of him and Striker Manus (preferably black/purple and black/teal). I really like their Nemesis Battle Tanker toy.

I believe this is care of Maketoys' Weibo page, but I found it on TFW.

I'm a touch disappointed. G1 Megatron is a classic, but outside of that I'm not a fan of gun-mode alts.

[Scyla]

Thanks for the image. I'm not that big fan of Megatron (I'm more the Galvatron type) but if Maketoys wows me with the transformation I might take a second look. I really hope they release the Striker Manus in a Nemesis color scheme so I can check him out. He looks like a fun to play with toy.

Quick question mike. Did you clip the pegs on MakeToys Vulcan? I have real difficulties keeping the torso of Guadia together but cutting stuff of is usually my last resort. If you did what where the results?

[mikeszekely]

Thanks for the image. I'm not that big fan of Megatron (I'm more the Galvatron type) but if Maketoys wows me with the transformation I might take a second look. I really hope they release the Striker Manus in a Nemesis color scheme so I can check him out. He looks like a fun to play with toy.

Quick question mike. Did you clip the pegs on MakeToys Vulcan? I have real difficulties keeping the torso of Guadia together but cutting stuff of is usually my last resort. If you did what where the results?

Well, as someone who doesn't collect MPs, I'm hard up for a Megatron and Optimus that sizes well with my 3P collection. I have Hegemon, but he's a little short. So, while I'm not sold on the alt modes for either Cross Dimension figure, I've got Manus preordered and I'll get Rioter Despotron, too. If the AR view of them in the Maketoys app is accurate, they should be about the size I want, they look very articulate in bot mode, and I kind of dig the Cross Dimension's look. Unique, vaguely Cybertronian, but both characters are still instantly recognizable.

Regarding Vulcan, Maketoys isn't coming out and saying they screwed up, but they're giving instructions for how and where to cut. So yeah, I cut the tabs, and yeah, I'd tell anyone with Vulcan to do the same. Contrary to some speculation, they don't lock the wheels in bot mode; cut or not, the wheels just rest against them, and cutting them is the difference between, "Why do they keep popping out?! THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!" and everything fitting snug and secure the way it's meant to. Just make sure you're only cutting the thin part of the tab, not the whole tab.

One other thing I did, and it's a little harder to describe because I don't have the toy in front of me right now, but remember how Vulcan's arms fold up and plug into his back? There's a blue panel that covers most of the forearm, and it it has a smaller hinged flap that covers the top? That flap has a slot on the underside, a tab on the edge, plus Vulcan's arm has to tab onto the back, and that's a little tricky. My advice is to pose the arm so the large blue panels are facing out to the sides, fold the smaller panels down onto the tabs on Vulcan's joint (elbow? Shoulder? I can't recall), then rotate the joint so that the tab on the edge of the panel and Vulcan's arm can both connect to the back.

But, before you do, consider trimming those edge tabs on the smaller blue panel. They're probably twice as long as they need to be; I personally took off maybe a third of the tab. It'll make it a little easier to get everything tabbed together back there, but more importantly, it'll make it a lot easier to undo when you want to transform him back to robot or alt mode.

If you have questions, let me know and I'll try to grab some pictures tonight.

[Scyla]

Thanks Mike, this was very helpful advice. I will try this tomorrow. Pictures are always appreciated.

[slaginpit]

I believe this is care of Maketoys' Weibo page, but I found it on TFW.

13925098_1728456357404544_5623934198340504036_n.jpg

I'm a touch disappointed. G1 Megatron is a classic, but outside of that I'm not a fan of gun-mode alts.

i LIKE IT

[slaginpit]

Oh I like it.

[JB0]

It is a weird friggin' gun, but it looks cool nonetheless.

[CoryHolmes]

It looks like it has the Bayformer influence, which is odd given how most people feel about them.

[mikeszekely]

Thanks Mike, this was very helpful advice. I will try this tomorrow. Pictures are always appreciated.

For you, and anyone else who winds up getting Guardia...

This pic has everything transformed and ready to go, I just need to plug the bumper into Guardia's torso. Notice the tab I've marked- it's cut. If your tab isn't cut, you'll notice that it has a little notch on it. Maketoys isn't coming out and admitting that it's supposed to be cut, but sources close to Maketoys say yes, it's supposed to be cut. So just trim it down so it looks like mine; you're life will be a lot easier.

Some people have suggested that the notches I've cut off have a purpose, and you should instead cut into the red plastic on Guardia's torso. I, as well as Maketoys, tell you not to do that.

Ok, so forming Guardia's back out of Vulcan's arms. Do the front bumper tabs first. Then, start with everything like this picture. Tab 1 goes into slot 1, 2 to 2, 3 to 3. Maketoys has been more mum on this than the bumper tabs, but myself and others advocate you trim the tab I've marked as "2." It will make fitting things together a tad easier, and you'll be less likely to stress those tabs when you change Vulcan back to robot or truck mode. You could probably take as much as half the tab off, but err on the side of caution and take maybe a quarter to a third off.

Fold the flap down so that tab 1 goes into slot 1.

Switching to the top view. Rotate the arm on the joint so that tab 2 goes into slot 2.

Finally, sorry for the blurry pic, but once the flap is secured to at slot 1 and tab 2 and the arm is in the correct position, push the arm so that tab 3 fits into slot 3. Double-check that the bumper tabs are still secure.

If you cut the tabs I told you to (without taking too much off), and you follow my instructions for transforming Vulcan's arms into Guardia's back, you should find that Guardia's torso fits much better and more securely with minimal headaches and frustration.

[slaginpit]

For you, and anyone else who winds up getting Guardia...

01.jpg

This pic has everything transformed and ready to go, I just need to plug the bumper into Guardia's torso. Notice the tab I've marked- it's cut. If your tab isn't cut, you'll notice that it has a little notch on it. Maketoys isn't coming out and admitting that it's supposed to be cut, but sources close to Maketoys say yes, it's supposed to be cut. So just trim it down so it looks like mine; you're life will be a lot easier.

Some people have suggested that the notches I've cut off have a purpose, and you should instead cut into the red plastic on Guardia's torso. I, as well as Maketoys, tell you not to do that.

02.jpg

Ok, so forming Guardia's back out of Vulcan's arms. Do the front bumper tabs first. Then, start with everything like this picture. Tab 1 goes into slot 1, 2 to 2, 3 to 3. Maketoys has been more mum on this than the bumper tabs, but myself and others advocate you trim the tab I've marked as "2." It will make fitting things together a tad easier, and you'll be less likely to stress those tabs when you change Vulcan back to robot or truck mode. You could probably take as much as half the tab off, but err on the side of caution and take maybe a quarter to a third off.

03.jpg

Fold the flap down so that tab 1 goes into slot 1.

05.jpg

Switching to the top view. Rotate the arm on the joint so that tab 2 goes into slot 2.

06.jpg

Finally, sorry for the blurry pic, but once the flap is secured to at slot 1 and tab 2 and the arm is in the correct position, push the arm so that tab 3 fits into slot 3. Double-check that the bumper tabs are still secure.

If you cut the tabs I told you to (without taking too much off), and you follow my instructions for transforming Vulcan's arms into Guardia's back, you should find that Guardia's torso fits much better and more securely with minimal headaches and frustration.

Thanks for that. I was having the same bloody issues

[Scyla]

Thank you Mike, these will be very helpful for the next time I transform Vulcan into torso mode.

[mikeszekely]

Thanks for that. I was having the same bloody issues

Thank you Mike, these will be very helpful for the next time I transform Vulcan into torso mode.

[Scyla]

Thanks to the help of Mike the torso of my Guardia fits together much better now. I was even able to get the stuck hip skirt moving again. Now I'm much more satisfied with it. And after some time with Hi Med and Katana is was able so peg them together better in arm mode so they are not that floppy anymore. The ankles are still crap and loose as hell so I need to find out what I can do about that.

My main points of criticism still persists but I don't think he is a bad entry in the MT/FP Combiner Series. Speaking of the Combiner Series, has your Green Giant from TF-Direct arrived yet Mike? I still need to get one but after the dent Guardia put into my toy budget I need to wait.

Edited August 9, 2016 by Scyla

[mikeszekely]

Thanks to the help of Mike the torso of my Guardia fits together much better now. I was even able to get the stuck hip skirt moving again. Now I'm much more satisfied with it. And after some time with Hi Med and Katana is was able so peg them together better in arm mode so they are not that floppy anymore. The ankles are still crap and loose as hell so I need to find out what I can do about that.

My main points of criticism still persists but I don't think he is a bad entry in the MT/FP Combiner Series. Speaking of the Combiner Series, has your Green Giant from TF-Direct arrived yet Mike? I still need to get one but after the dent Guardia put into my toy budget I need to wait.

The MT/FP Combiners are what they are, I suppose. They've got a fantastic aesthetic, but their engineering just isn't on par with what others are doing these days.

As for Giant, no, TF-Direct is based in China. My order shipped, and in theory could arrive later this week, but I'd guess late next week. I'm very much looking forward to reviewing him.

[mikeszekely]

Finally! I'd ordered this guy from a reputable Chinese seller (whom I got the others from) like a month ago, but apparently Chinese customs is backed up or something. But at last, we're taking a look at Hypnos, TFC's version of Drillhorn.

Hypnos is a retool of Thanatos, so a quick glance might have you think he's aesthetically a purple Thanatos. I even have the treads on his shoulders arranged like Thanatos, which looks more Killbison than Drillhorn. You can arrange the treads to run along the side of his bicep, but the tread will get in the way of his articulation. Hypnos is also more noticeably purple than at least the cartoon, but I actually prefer that. It helps make him look more distinct from Minos/Hellbat. His face is a little too dark, though. In a lot of ways, he follows the trend set my the rest of the set; blending toy and 'toon details, using a chest design that is less like either the toy or the 'toon with color on either side of a white panel vaguely recalling his look with his breast partner even though said breast partner isn't there. It's not entirely accurate, but definitely recognizable (as a character I had to look up on the Transformers wiki).

Instead of throwing in the usual stuff for size comparisons (I think by now you know about how big these guys are), I wanted to compare him directly to Thanatos. Because, while Hypnos is a remold with the same engineering and basic transformation, when you look closely you can see how many parts are actually different molds. Even stuff TFC could probably have gotten away with, like the forearm panels, thighs, or abdomen, are actually different parts. It's a nice touch, but one that unfortunately isn't very effective at preventing them from having nearly identical silhouettes.

Hypnos comes with his breast partner, a little unnamed rhino that looks as much like Hornbreast as the rest of the TFC breast partners look like the Breastforce's breast partners... which is to say not very. The white body was a good start, but purple legs instead of black and a purple head instead of white throw things off.

Hypnos also comes with a weapon for combined mode. It's supposed to be Liokaiser's electromagnetic nunchuck. It's tough to say how accurate it is... I don't think the original Liokaiser had such a weapon, and it's very inconsistently drawn in the cartoon. As you can see here, though, it's black with some silver detailing, has surprisingly sharp spear points at the ends, and is made of three segments attached by a chain.

The segments can fit together to be used like a spear. I'll point out now, a lot of the reviews I've seen for Hypnos that talk about the weapon seem like they break it on camera, so one segment or the other will come off with the chain. I'm going to tell you now, it's NOT broken, and if you find yourself messing with it and end up in the same situation 9 chances out of 10 you pulled it apart wrong. If you look carefully at the spear, you'll notice most of the greebly lines run around the circumference of the weapon. There's a thicker part, though, that has lines running lenghtwise. That's where you're supposed to grab and pull away from the middle. However, the connection is pretty tight, and it might pull the piece it's attached to with it. When that happens, the chain will come out. The fix is simple- pull that part off of the spear tip end and stick it back on the center piece.

Getting back to the breast partner, as expected he turns into a breastplate for Hypnos. And, as with the other four, it's not cartoon or toy accurate, and for the most part he looks better without it.

Of course, you could always use him as a gun for Hypnos.

This is the point in the review where I'd talk about articulation, but it's identical to Thanatos'. Their heads even have the same restriction because they both transform on a hinged armature.

Hypnos turns into a drill tank, naturally. Black treads instead of purple and white, which is fine. Likewise, red cockpit instead of white, which is also fine. The drill is in the right spot, and TFC even copied molded detail like the little guns on the back, which stand out more from the original toy because TFC painted them. While the rear of the tank does have the vented section with the tail fins, the whole thing is much thinner than the original toy, so the cockpit doesn't flow into them the way the original did. But again, I'd like to take a moment to point out how very little Hypnos and Thanatos share in the way of parts.

As with Thanatos, Hypnos doesn't have any wheels or anything in his treads, so he doesn't roll. Nor does his drill spin. The cockpit sort of opens... you can lift the assembly, but it's really for transformation. The red canopy isn't hinged but it does come off, revealing a nice place for a Decepticon emblem inside.

And, of course, you can plug his breast partner on in vehicle mode. I think it fits pretty well.

Wrapping up my thoughts on Hypnos is a little tough. While Thanatos was pleasantly surprising, I expected Hypnos to pretty much be a purple Thanatos. And while TFC took great pains to mold new parts, the truth is they're still so similar that I pretty much got a purple Thanatos. Actually, my disappointment goes a little further than that, because everything closed up nice on Thanatos' backpack, and the guns on Thanatos were articulated to flip over his shoulders. No matter what, you're pretty much stuck folding the drill onto Hypnos' back and closing the cockpit around it, and the cockpit doesn't actually fit, so it just rests around it. It doesn't even tab in anywhere.

That being said, he looks pretty sharp in both modes. And, if you're a fan of Drillhorn, it's not like you have an abundance of options. You might want to wait and see how Mech Idea's Pestilence turns out, but if you're in it for Hades chance are you've already started collecting these guys. And there's nothing particularly bad about Hypnos. So, I guess I'll put it this way... do I recommend him as a really cool transforming toy on his own, if you never head of the Breastforce? Probably not. But if you're a Transformers Victory fan and you want Drillhorn or the Breastforce in your collection, I think you'll be happy with Hypnos.

[Scyla]

Suddenly I'm much happier about my Guardia:

I still need to to something about Guardias ankle joints.

[mikeszekely]

I'm still waiting for Aiakos to arrive at TFSource, but I combined the five I have. I'll get into it more when I do the review here, but suffice to say that Skullface isn't wrong, but he's also impatient, heavy-handed, and (IMHO) overly critical.

I think that's why I like him. He's a nice balance for Benscollectibles and emgo's enthusiasm.

[slaginpit]

and here comes another megatron

Oh Vey

Edited August 12, 2016 by slaginpit

[Scyla]

New images of MakeToys Despotron:

More here: http://news.tfw2005.com/2016/08/12/maketoys-despotron-color-testshot-images-321553

Not a fan of the head. Something is not right but I don't know what. I need so see him together with Prime.

Funny enough, I think the legs now look too beefy.

[sh9000]

MC Hammertron had a big meal.

[mikeszekely]

and here comes another megatron

Oh Vey

Relax, I think that's the little one GT was giving to people who preordered all of Gravity Builder from select Asian retailers. And that Optimus is a similarly small build-a-figure that's coming with their Stunticons. Not another MP.

Speaking of the MP options, I agree with Scyla, something's off with MT's Despotron. That said, I think he might be the best over all. DX9's looks fantastic from the front, but he's carrying a ton of kibble on his back and you have a clear view into his hollow chest from his armpits. And Apollyon... well, he was better than MP-05, but that's about it.

[technoblue]

The head looks like it was modified to look older. The unpainted prototype had a younger face sculpt, IIRC. I was in the group that liked the original face with MT going its own way and ignoring the criticism. I'm not too worried, though. There was talk about optional faces, so maybe this is one of two or three.

Edit: Just caught up on the tfw thread. And so it is. Most of the new faces are good, IMO.

Edited August 12, 2016 by technoblue

[mikeszekely]

It's taken awhile, due to customs hold ups and flooding in Tianjin, but he's finally arrived! Let's take a look at Transform Mission's Disorder, the first figure from a "new" company (TFM is apparently an offshoot of Generation Toy, which itself seems to have been born from the ashes of Warbotron), and their take on Wildrider.

Before we start, though... I know I don't usually talk about packaging. I save boxes in case I want to sell or store a figure, but I don't do the emgo thing and cover the packaging, and I don't really give it a thought beyond its utility. But take a look at this:

That's an embossed slipcase for an embossed, textured, hard cardboard box filled with the good kind of foam and a glossy, embossed instruction booklet. It's easily the nicest packaging of all the 3P toys I've bought. Seriously, it's so nice that it makes me want to buy more TFM/GT figures.

Anyway, moving right along, we'll look at the toy that came in the really nice box.

I was on the fence about picking up Disorder. After all, I already have (and really enjoy) Fansproject's not-Menasor. Thing is, as my 3P collection has grown, the Fansproject/Maketoys combiners just aren't in the same scale as the rest. It was bad enough that Intimidator is significantly shorter than guys like Ordin and Feral Rex, but the worst part was how tiny the Stunticon cars were. T-Bone is smaller than a Hasbro Deluxe, while most 3P limb-bots are closer in size to Voyagers. So I figured I'd try at least one, and Disorder was the first one released. And, sure enough, he's taller than T-Bone and Combiner Wars Brake-Neck...

...and right in line with some other limb bots I grabbed for examples. (I'm told he also scales well with the MP cars; I don't collect MP so I don't have any to compare. But, someone's sending me a KO Prowl and a KO Wheeljack, so hopefully we can do a size comparison when the next guy in this set comes out.)

Aesthetically, Disorder is checking a lot of the right boxes for Wildrider. He's got the mostly silver torso with the dark gray in the middle. The blue squares on his chest are from the cartoon, and meant to evoke the toy's sticker details, which Disorder with the red circles on this abs. He's also got the gray legs and red arms of both toy and 'toon, and a very cartoonish gray bucket head with spiked ears and red face. For the record, I prefer the 'toon heads on the Stunticons to the generic and same-ish toy heads, and the toy head was my single biggest complaint with T-Bone. And the inclusion of a clean, flat space to put a Decepticon emblem in the middle is a nice touch that I wish more 3Ps did. All-in-all, Disorder is probably closer to G1 Wildrider than either T-Bone or Brake-Neck, but as the G1 MP purists at TFW are quick to point out, there are significant differences, too. Thing is, he's not supposed to be either of these:

Disorder is actually supposed to be IDW Wildrider. Very specifically, this one:

To be fair, Disorder really nails that one, and a lot of the differences between Disorder and that drawing, things like the extra silver on his chest, are changes that make him more G1.

Disorder's got average articulation for a modern 3P toy, which is to say it's pretty good. His head seems to be on a hinged swivel, but the bucket head and lack of neck means his up/down range is basically nil. His head rotation is hampered by a hinge on his back, but he's got enough range for natural poses. His shoulders can hinge outward about 90 degrees and rotate the full 360 degrees. He's got the requisite bicep and wrist swivels, and although his elbow is a single joint it gets you more than 90 degrees. His fingers are all molded as one piece, but they're on a pin so he can open and close his hands. The door wings on his shoulders are on a ball-joint and a hinge, so they can rotate and splay in ways that don't just get out of the way but can get you some dynamic poses. His waist swivels, and his hips are universal joints with the thigh swivel built in. He'll get 90 degrees forward, 90 back, and he can easily do the splits. His knee is a single joint that bends 90 degrees. His toes feet can point up and down a bit, and he's got a nice, deep ankle tilt.

Disorder comes with just the one accessory: his gun. Curiously, it's molded in purple plastic- the only purple on the figure. It's got tabs on the handle that fit very securely into slots on his palm. Seriously, I wish all my toys held their weapons this securely.

Disorder transforms into a Ferrari 599XX. I know that the G1 purists won't be satisfied unless he's a Ferrari 308, but I'm actually a fan of putting G1 characters into modern cars. And unlike T-Bone, Disorder is at least still a Ferrari. He's got nice rubber tires, and the side mirrors are rubber too so that they won't break.

What really makes Disorder shine compared to T-Bone and Brake-Neck is the amount of detail TFM crammed into the alt mode. The front grill, the hood pins, the shape of the doors, the little wings on the C-pillars, the placement of the gas cap, the molding along the side, the brake cooling vents, the vents on the hood, the rear grill, the trunk pins, the rims on the tires, and the two big exhausts are all accurate to the real car. The only thing that's really missing are the vents in the molding under the mirrors. Now, a ton of people are complaining that the taillights are missing clear plastic or aren't painted, but that's actually accurate, too. The 599XX is a variant of the 599 that is track-only and not street legal. What you're seeing there aren't taillights, they're actually vents. Fans in the trunk suck in air and blow it out of those vents in bursts to separate the wake from the rear of the car.

While weapons that mount on to jets and robotic beasts are fine, I'm not a fan of plugging guns onto the hood/roof/rear fender or a car. That goes double when you have a detailed, real-life car like this one. Fortunately, Disorder's gun folds up, and a slot on the side neatly matches a tab under the car's front end.

All-in-all, Disorder's a really nice figure. He's got a few flaws- the front of the car makes a little backpack, but the backpack doesn't tab in place so it can move around on you. The way his arms transform gives them a tendency to want to bend backward just above the elbow. I'd have also liked to see some ratcheting joints, although to be totally fair the friction joints on Disorder are almost perfectly toleranced and I can't say that ratchets are really necessary here. I think his flaws are pretty minor, overall, and it's clear that TFM have put a lot of work into making Disorder a quality figure. Just on quality, I have no hesitation about recommending him. But he actually goes a little further than that, for me. See, when I started playing with Transformers as a kid, one of the reasons I was attracted to them (and Sideswipe was my first) was because they were real, cool cars that turned into robots. They lost their way pretty quickly after the first Autobot cars, though; even stuff like G1 Wildrider, that was based on a real car, was smaller, less detailed, and more simple. Newer stuff has lacked detail even without being based on real cars. Sure, there was the Alternators line, but the bots modes for Alternators seemed like more of an afterthought (and honestly, how many Subaru WRX and Mazda RX-8s does one need?). Disorder is the first toy I've played with that really reminds me of how I felt as a kid playing with my G1 Sideswipe. When you add that feeling to what is a quality figure all-around I'm finding that not only am I in for the rest of the TFM Stunticons but now I'm even thinking about checking out GT's Jazz.

Edited August 13, 2016 by mikeszekely

[technoblue]

(I'm told he also scales well with the MP cars; I don't collect MP so I don't have any to compare. But, someone's sending me a KO Prowl and a KO Wheeljack, so hopefully we can do a size comparison when the next guy in this set comes out.)

It's a good comparison to have I think, especially if you have decided to skew your collection toward larger combiners. The KO carbots that I've owned were frustrating as toys, but would have served well as comparison pieces. The upside (for me) is that MP carbots tend to be a good value in terms of price vs size and I don't mind getting the official ones. Takara also appears to be making its prices more competitive for the smaller bots.

The larger MP bots are a different story--more hit and miss in my experience--and I completely understand someone being keen on avoiding them. To be blunt about it, I think I've only been truly impressed by MP-10 and MP-13. Ratchet and Ironhide fall into the okay category, even though they are controversial for some. I ended up selling/being disappointed by MP-11 (repaints/remolds included), MP-22 (not interested in the Delta repaint), MP-29 (lilac/periwinkle?). I had no connection to MP-24, but got caught up in the hype of a transformer with armor (should've been MP-22) and I sold MP-24 too when the hype effect wore off.

Also, I don't collect any Masterpieces before MP-10 anymore. I tried that with MP-3 and MP-8. MP-3 was too fiddly and my copy of MP-8 was a royal dud. Thinking about it, for Transformers, I don't think I'll ever get as close to completing a collection as I have with my TF:Prime bots.

Edited August 13, 2016 by technoblue