The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread

[M'Kyuun]

Man, I've been wanting Omnibots for so long, and XTB struck a perfectly updated toy look that appeals to me. I have no where to put these, and as I'm in the process of looking for a new house in a strong seller's market, probably shouldn't spend the money on something so frivolous, but the temptation is strong. Sooo strong.

 

[Mechapilot77]

XTB knocking it out of the park with renders of the omnibots (they updated some of the other 2 as well as i've seen them on social media etc).  The last one (the toyota) is tehe best i think but no battle/3rd mode shown yet as far as i see.  either way i'm cheering for XTB to deliver on the battle charger and omnibots becuase ever since mp sideswipe...i've wanted mp omnibots and battlechargers.  the punch/counterpunch is icing on the cake for me as i feel less connected to the charactter but he looks pretty awesome and a fricken fiero is pretty nostalgic.  everything coming up xtb for me recently.  now if they'd actually release all these QC free i think i'm like 98% done with MP (i mean i've said that before i'm sure).  maybe they'll do MP jumpstarters or MP dovrack TFs i can like really really say i'm done (meanwhile i keep replacing stuff lol, like the DS seekers probably will get a spot on my shelf despite the derpy alt mode thats barely better than takara's mp-52) soon.

[Ignacio Ocamica]

Deformation 001 pics:

[anime52k8]

that's surprisingly nice; now lets see the jet.

[tekering]

10 minutes ago, anime52k8 said:

now lets see the jet.

[M'Kyuun]

6 minutes ago, anime52k8 said:

that's surprisingly nice; now lets see the jet.

As with MP-52, the Classics Seeker, and the Earthrise Seeker, the entire forward fuselage is too shallow vertically, as the bottom where the nose gear are mounted should sit only slightly above the bottom of the standard intakes, or right about where the gap is between the white bits between the red chest areas. The Maketoys fighter is pretty accurate in this regard; it's a shame they didn't copy MP-03's rotating chest intake gimmick to clean up the bottom even further.

[JB0]

10 hours ago, Mechapilot77 said:

The last one (the toyota) is tehe best i think but no battle/3rd mode shown yet as far as i see. 

Just saw a render turn up, courtesy of one of the toy retailers spamming me.

I am genuinely impressed that they made the doors both open like car doors AND fold out like wings.

[nightmareB4macross]

I must buy those Omnibots.

They look amazing!!

[sh9000]

Yeah all 3 XTB Omnibots have the third mode.  I think I’ll buy them from The Chosen Prime as I’ve been buying other 3P Transformers there.

[Dobber]

Ma ma ma MASK!

Chris

[M'Kyuun]

9 hours ago, JB0 said:

Just saw a render turn up, courtesy of one of the toy retailers spamming me.

I am genuinely impressed that they made the doors both open like car doors AND fold out like wings.

Yeah, pretty impressive. I found him and Overdrive on BBTS and POed them. I looked, but couldn't find a listing for Camshaft. Guess I may have to look at Chosen Prime.  I realize they're renders, and thus idealized, but XTB are hitting all the right notes so far such as capturing the real vehicles, the flight/weaponized modes, and the the strong nods to the G1 toys in the look and details of the bot modes. Nostalgia just pours out of the screen when I see these things, and let's face it, the Omnibots , for some unknown reason, have received little love over the years, both officially and non. With so many obscure characters getting toys in the TR, PotP, and WfC lines, I figured we'd finally get mainline updates, but that hasn't happened.  Getting them at MP scale and complexity is even better, though, and I sincerely hope they turn out well. The only other XTB toys I own are Apollyon and Eligos, both of which have their issues, but still look pretty good on the shelf, especially Eligos. I just love the look of that fig in either mode; it's the transformation that's frustrating. Too, one of the pegs that holds the cockpit section down snapped off years ago and remains embedded in the hole (crappy design IMHO).  But for the few warts, they've both held up as decent looking figures. If XTB had come up with the leg mechanism that Takara used on MP-36, I most likely would have skipped MP-36 altogether. Maybe. 

Anyway, from my experience with two older XTB figures, the transformations are involved and not in a fun way. But they do a good job on sculpt and paint. I haven't kept up with how they've evolved, and I certainly hope they have. I hope these guys not only look good across modes, but also have interesting and fun transformations that make it enjoyable to go through the process.

Edit: BBTS now has XTB's take on Camshaft. Got him POed now as well, so at long last, I'll own all three Omnibots. (I only got Downshift when I was a kid- I had to bust him out yesterday and do some comparisons to the XTB version- nice update, IMO.)

Edited August 18, 2021 by M'Kyuun

[tekering]

2 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Anyway, from my experience with two older XTB figures, the transformations are involved and not in a fun way. But they do a good job on sculpt and paint. I haven't kept up with how they've evolved, and I certainly hope they have.

If their latest release is any indication, I'd say they have:

This is their homage to the Wildrider G1 toy.

It's a substantial remold, almost a pallette-swap away from being a different character entirely...

...and it greatly resembles the G1 toy (except in articulation, of course).

For $75 USD shipped, I have no complaints or criticisms whatsoever.  All the tolerances are perfect, the paint is resilient and looks great, the tires feel like hard rubber, and the knees are nicely ratcheted.

[valhary]

Great job of deformation space! 

Once again seems the 3rd party make a better job than hasbro/takara like what happens with the MP-44 vs the TE-01

[mikeszekely]

On 8/17/2021 at 6:20 PM, M'Kyuun said:

As with MP-52, the Classics Seeker, and the Earthrise Seeker, the entire forward fuselage is too shallow vertically, as the bottom where the nose gear are mounted should sit only slightly above the bottom of the standard intakes, or right about where the gap is between the white bits between the red chest areas. The Maketoys fighter is pretty accurate in this regard; it's a shame they didn't copy MP-03's rotating chest intake gimmick to clean up the bottom even further.

I mean, you're right, Meteor's jet mode isn't as thick. But I think the takeaway is that DS-01 looks quite a bit better than MP-52.

[M'Kyuun]

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

I mean, you're right, Meteor's jet mode isn't as thick. But I think the takeaway is that DS-01 looks quite a bit better than MP-52.

I agree. MP-52 has much more pronounced lumps and bumps on the fighter's underside, as well as the big faux canopy cover, and the too small forward fuselage. For anyone even remotely interested in planes, specifically the F-15, it's a hard thing to overlook. I get that the Seekers, by design, are going to carry over some of the bot characteristics, like the prominent knee pads and chest intakes, but both the Maketoys and DS-01 versions prove that you can still pull off a pretty accurate toon Screamer  with a less compromised jet mode.  I really wish NewAge would upscale their legends Seekers, as they employed some really cool solutions and aside from parts of the forearms hanging out on the belly, it's a pretty sleek and mostly accurate F-15 (the wings need to extend back a bit more, but in a MP scaled interpretation, I'm sure they could find ways to eliminate or fix both of these issues).

[technoblue]

DS-01 has an interesting mix of design decisions, but I agree with @M'Kyuun on this one. The alt mode presentation isn't far removed from MP-52 and what is changed doesn't really compel me to swap out what I have. I like the ER comparison and think it is more apt personally, since this MP Seeker employs the standard alt-mode brick of a fuselage that is already familiar to those collecting the mainline releases.

I see that DS-01 has the arms tucked into the legs in alt mode; I have to wonder if that choice is what kept the aft end of the fighter so bulky? I mean, it's nice to see a company try something different, but why not try to push the envelope and get more of a balanced F-15 alt mode? Curious. Anyway, it could be a limitation of the design or intentional like MP-52's sculpted undercarriage that mimics the toon fighter.

There are other aspects of the design that do stand out as clever to me, and that remind me of my Newage Seekers: the split nosecone transformation, the vertical and horizontal stabs (how they fold into the legs). The real cockpit detail in bot mode. The waist swivel. All of that is nice to see but not enough to get me on board with it.

Edited August 19, 2021 by technoblue

[M'Kyuun]

While not Transformers per se, new pics of TFC's Craft series transforming Chinese attack chopper showed up on Twitter sporting a shiny silver coat of paint. Not sure if that's accurate to how the Chinese paint their military choppers, but it looks pretty sharp nonetheless.

Nice vibes of the old Boeing-Sikorsky Comanche stealth attack helicopter from the mid-90s. What is it about load out pics that speaks to coolness factor?

Anyway, I POed this guy, and seeing these pics does nothing to excite regret.  Bot mode looks a little spindly, potentially fiddly, but the overall toy looks pretty neat to me. I hope it's solid, with a mildly complex but fun transformation that doesn't require uncomfortable bending of things around other things to achieve.

OK, you can get back to discussing MP scaled Starscream toys again....😉

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

While not Transformers per se, new pics of TFC's Craft series transforming Chinese attack chopper showed up on Twitter sporting a shiny silver coat of paint. Not sure if that's accurate to how the Chinese paint their military choppers, but it looks pretty sharp nonetheless.

Nice vibes of the old Boeing-Sikorsky Comanche stealth attack helicopter from the mid-90s. What is it about load out pics that speaks to coolness factor?

Anyway, I POed this guy, and seeing these pics does nothing to excite regret.  Bot mode looks a little spindly, potentially fiddly, but the overall toy looks pretty neat to me. I hope it's solid, with a mildly complex but fun transformation that doesn't require uncomfortable bending of things around other things to achieve.

OK, you can get back to discussing MP scaled Starscream toys again....😉

I'm eyeing this piece too, transforming helicopters is right up my alley.  I'm thinking this could just be an unpainted sample. I'm hoping the PO price will go down a bit cuz the last price I saw was around $250 

[Dobber]

Already have that TFC on pre-order as well. Look sharp!

Chris

[technoblue]

I did have the helicopter on preorder but ultimately cancelled it. I’ve decided to skip this and wait for the next jet fighter in the series.

[derex3592]

On 8/17/2021 at 3:53 PM, Ignacio Ocamica said:

Deformation 001 pics:

Ok, Imma bite on this, I love the bot mode, couldn't care less if the jet is super accurate or not, still beats MP-52 hands down in every other category IMHO.   How much is this guy gonna run me???

[Ignacio Ocamica]

16 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

Ok, Imma bite on this, I love the bot mode, couldn't care less if the jet is super accurate or not, still beats MP-52 hands down in every other category IMHO.   How much is this guy gonna run me???

It cost me U$S133 shipped to USA through Show Z Store.

[tekering]

2 minutes ago, Ignacio Ocamica said:

It cost me U$S133 shipped to USA through Show Z Store.

That's what MakeToys were charging for their Seekers, which is considerably less than what XTB or FansToys would charge... and less than HALF what TakaraTomy wants for MP-52.

[derex3592]

Kinda makes it really hard not to pull the trigger. Just hope the QC is ok...

[Ignacio Ocamica]

I had MP-52 on preorder, but when I saw the first DS-01 pics, I inmediately cancelled! This is Starscream in bot mode for me, I love it!!

Nothing against MP-52 (I buy official and 3P), but sculpt and proportion wise this Starscream is almost perfect to my desire. MP-11 will be relegated to alt mode.

We have Macross for perfect figther mode anyways.

[M'Kyuun]

1 hour ago, Ignacio Ocamica said:

We have Macross for perfect figther mode anyways.

It's that attitude by the fandom at large that has given Takara-Tomy license to produce atrocious jet alt modes all these years.  If the fandom, as a whole, stopped accepting compromised and inaccurate aircraft modes, then perhaps we'd see better. But for some reason, people seem far more accepting of them as compared to car alts, which will never in this or any other universe, dimension, or otherwise, come within a fraction of the coolness of aircraft.   Aircraft superior, cars inferior.😜

[valhary]

[Ignacio Ocamica]

27 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

It's that attitude by the fandom at large that has given Takara-Tomy license to produce atrocious jet alt modes all these years.   Aircraft superior, cars inferior.😜

I'm 100% with you on this. But I've come to accept inferior jet modes from Takara. It's useless, it's like demanding Bandai paints Macross VF's landing gears white 🤣

[sh9000]

I think I’ll stick with The Chosen Prime for the 3 XTB Omnibots.  I’ll save $35.

[David Hingtgen]

13 hours ago, valhary said:

DS is the only one where jet mode isn't "bent".   (Hastak has a droopy nose, MT has the ass end sticking up)

[anime52k8]

DS actually looks the best in both modes.

[Ignacio Ocamica]

Comparison pics with MP-52:

[technoblue]

😅 Oops. MTRM-11 and MP-52 are not transformed correctly in those alt mode comparison shots. 

On second thought, I think that it's better to simply judge these things in hand with your own eyes if you can.

Kuma has his own stylized artistic angle going on in his MTRM-11 review and I thought that profile image was simply showing some of what you can do in fighter mode since Maketoys made the first highly poseable figure back in the day? From my own experience, owning the three MTRM Seekers, I can say that the back end is well-able to sit flush and straight in alt mode if you want the classic look instead. I mean, didn't @M'Kyuun already share another photo showing this up thread?   

As for MP-52, I don't know what is going on with the stock profile photo. All I can say is that it's exaggerating how the nosecone looks in hand. I'll leave it at that since I don't want to push my opinion or continue the debates which have been beaten into the ground at this point.

There is a lot to like about DS-01 too, and as long as this new "Seeker on the scene" is adding something to the hobby and bringing joy to other fans, it's all good.  

Edited August 20, 2021 by technoblue

[JB0]

7 hours ago, David Hingtgen said:

DS is the only one where jet mode isn't "bent".   (Hastak has a droopy nose, MT has the ass end sticking up)

So you're saying that the one from Deformation Space isn't deformed?

[sh9000]

XTB Youth Version Menasor.