The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread

[sh9000]

I can't wait to own the entire set of XTB Stunticons.  I might even buy one set to open and one set to keep MISB.  The G1 Stunticons were some of my first childhood Transformers.  I still have a loose set of those and this beautiful set MISB.  

 

[M'Kyuun]

I'm down for all of MMC's full sized cassette figures; I hope they eventually do the dinos and maybe the combiner ones as well. 

Transform Missions' Stunticons look amazing, especially that Motormaster.  I think that's the first MM I've seen that allows the trailer to rotate realistically; usually they just connect them as one solid piece in vehicle mode, with little to no gap between cab and trailer. High marks for the engineering on Transform Mission's version, at least for that.

I wish I'd known FT were doing a Cyclonus. I have Eligos, and I like him quite a bit, but transforming him is a chore, with some terrible clearance issues and some questionable tabs. In either mode, though, he's a great looking Cyclonus. But then, so is FT's, although part of me still likes Eligos' styling better. Of course, mileage varies.

 

Edit: Just got my Fans Toys Stomp, and it's another home run.  Beautiful figure, remarkably evocative of the G1 toy (I felt a strong surge of deja vu after extracting him from the styrofoam, with his arms rotated straight forward zombie style- he looks just like my original). Everytime I look at my growing FT Dino lineup perched on my fireplace mantle, the 'squee' in me sounds off. So worth the money.  Now I just need Cesium to complete the team. 

Edited July 18, 2017 by M'Kyuun

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

Transform Missions' Stunticons look amazing, especially that Motormaster.  I think that's the first MM I've seen that allows the trailer to rotate realistically; usually they just connect them as one solid piece in vehicle mode, with little to no gap between cab and trailer. High marks for the engineering on Transform Mission's version, at least for that.

Hope you're looking forward to a review here.  Mine should be arrive this week.

[M'Kyuun]

4 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

Hope you're looking forward to a review here.  Mine should be arrive this week.

Ah, cool. I'll be popping in from time to time, so, looking forward to it. Thanks, Mike!

[David Hingtgen]

XTB's Menasor is ridiculously toon-accurate (same as MP Inferno--not in a good way).   DX9's Breakdown looks great, but combined mode has yet to be seen---it could also be "4 grey blocks for limbs, with cars as decoration"---which'd kill it for me.  I want the cars AS the limbs.  (as was always intended, but oft-misinterpreted by the animators--to the point that it was done wrong more often than right).  Menasor has the worst animation-model of all the combiners, and about the hardest to pull off (pure silver Motormaster turns into all-black torso).  Why such an awful model seems to be "followed so closely" I don't know.   Regardless of everything else, I think FP did a very good job in blending toy and toon aesthetics, for the "look" they went with.    

Generations Defensor---not bad, Blades looked great long ago when first leaked, but I am NOT liking the alt-mode for First Aid.  It's totally not his "style" of ambulance.  Also, colors will be important.  Defensor is very easy to get wrong, since it's all "subtleties".  HotSpot is a quite pale blue, Streetwise is light grey, Blades is right on the red-orange border, etc.  Just doing "red, white, blue" is "close, but actually the palette of something else..." 

[sh9000]

I might get XTB's Cliffjumper as well.

[mikeszekely]

2 hours ago, David Hingtgen said:

XTB's Menasor is ridiculously toon-accurate (same as MP Inferno--not in a good way).   DX9's Breakdown looks great, but combined mode has yet to be seen---it could also be "4 grey blocks for limbs, with cars as decoration"---which'd kill it for me.  I want the cars AS the limbs.  (as was always intended, but oft-misinterpreted by the animators--to the point that it was done wrong more often than right).  Menasor has the worst animation-model of all the combiners, and about the hardest to pull off (pure silver Motormaster turns into all-black torso).  Why such an awful model seems to be "followed so closely" I don't know. 

And yet a hanful of people at TFW2005 will tell you it's the greatest thing ever, that you're not really a G1 fan if you don't love it too, and/or that you're a hypocrite for thinking it looks bad while liking something like MT's Starscream.

2 hours ago, David Hingtgen said:

Generations Defensor---not bad, Blades looked great long ago when first leaked, but I am NOT liking the alt-mode for First Aid.  It's totally not his "style" of ambulance.  Also, colors will be important.  Defensor is very easy to get wrong, since it's all "subtleties".  HotSpot is a quite pale blue, Streetwise is light grey, Blades is right on the red-orange border, etc.  Just doing "red, white, blue" is "close, but actually the palette of something else..." 

I assume you meat GT, not Generations like Hasbro.  In any case, I'm very much looking forward to this set.  I've really liked just about everything GT/TFM has done so far, and based on how they've done their other combiners I think it's fair to assume the limbs will be at least MP carbot-sized, have fun but not overly complicated transformations (two things that one up Maketoys), look good in all three modes, and be fairly stable combined (two ways it ups TFC).

As far as First Aid's alt mode goes, I don't mind it.  I'd mind it if it was something like this, like a truck with a box on the back.

That said, GT has a habit of using real-world vehicles, and First Aid looks an awful lot like this Mercedes Benz ambulance they actually use in Beijing.

I'm ok with that.  I'd probably like it a little more if he were the smaller MB ambulance or a Hi-Medic, but it could be worse and at least he'll look more visually distinct from Ratchet.

As for colors... I'm definitely with you on the red they have on Blades being too dark, and I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for a Hot Spot that's closer to CW Hotspot than TFC Hydrant in colors.  As far as Streetwise goes... I totally agree that G1 Streetwise is a light gray.  GT goes for more IDW-ish, "updated" designs than straight G1, though.  To help prepare yourself for inevitable disappointment, I can all but promise you that Streetwise will be white.  For one, he was white in IDW.

But for two, China's not like the US, where different city/township/county/state/etc police departments have different decos.  More or less every police car in China, regardless of the city or the model of the car, looks the same: white with a police shield on the door and a blue swoosh running from behind the headlights down to the bottom of the (front) doors, starting thin and getting thicker as it gets lower on the vehicle.  On the hood and the rear doors will be the name of the city; Beijing, Shanghai, etc.  I don't think it'll even occur to GT that Streetwise is actually a light gray.

12 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

I might get XTB's Cliffjumper as well.

It does look a lot better than that ACE one, doesn't it?  I think I'll pick it up, too, but I'd be lying it I said I wasn't worried about XTB's reputation.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

Damn, MMC has been quiet about THEIR Defensor.

[mikeszekely]

13 minutes ago, Valkyrie Hunter D said:

Damn, MMC has been quiet about THEIR Defensor.

Considering we haven't seen anything but lineart for Hotspot, and considering how much stuff they've announced, manufactured, and released since then, I gave up on that one.  It's vaporware.

[M'Kyuun]

Taking another look at TFM's Bruticus, it appears that , like XTB's,  Motormaster forms the inner legs and feet and the car bots just attach. It also looks like part of the trailer detaches separately and forms a little two-man gun station of sorts. For that MM, I think I could live with it, even though the cars aren't forming the legs themselves. And if I'm wrong, all the better.

I'm kinda digging the Iron Factory figs. Correct me if I'm wrong, but their stuff is usually on the smallish size, like legend class or so. I like small stuff like that, esp in transforming toys. I'll likely not get any of them due to budgetary restraints, but I'll be sure to check pics and vids when they start showing up. They took some stylistic license with all the figs shown, but every figure is still recognizable and homages it's G1 counterpart well.  It's a shame that price points are generally high on 3rd party- if these were all $10-15, I'd get them all.

 

And speaking of smaller transforming figures, there's been no news of any more Machine Robo releases since Blackbird and Mixer earlier in the year. By now I figure Shuttle and Turbo would be released.  So, I just checked their Facebook page, which they've updated, and it looks like the next releases will be Missiletank and Shuttle. I didn't see any mention of Turbo or Blue Jet.  These guys are overpriced, but there's just something I like about them. I still play around with Blackbird a fair bit- just a fun little figure, and he's an SR-71. 

[mikeszekely]

7 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Taking another look at TFM's Bruticus, it appears that , like XTB's,  Motormaster forms the inner legs and feet and the car bots just attach. It also looks like part of the trailer detaches separately and forms a little two-man gun station of sorts. For that MM, I think I could live with it, even though the cars aren't forming the legs themselves. And if I'm wrong, all the better.

TFM's Motormaster does use part of the trailer for himself, and part of it is basically a big chunk of combiner parts, very much like FansProject. The combiner part of the trailer does indeed form a base.

For Menasor mode, Dragstrip and Dead End form the biceps and shoulders, with the forearms being separate parts stored in the trailer. Motormaster's legs kind of stretch to make Menasor's legs, and Breakdown and Wildrider attach to the shins. Without the cars, Menasor wouldn't have been most of his arms and his legs would be skeletal. That's entirely consistent with the IDW source material.

As for XTB, and the reason some people are complaining, is that Motormaster seems to transform into Menasor by himself. His arms and legs look like they're just white blocks made from the trailer, and fully formed enough that the cars aren't necessary. From the renders it looks like Breakdown and Wildrider plug onto Menasor's calves, not his shins, which makes them even more superfluous. We're not exactly sure about Dragstrip and Dead End, but it kind of looks like they split in half, with half on Menasor's shoulders and half on his forearms. That's consistent with the cartoon, depending on the episode, but it's certainly not how the G1 toy was. It boils down to the old Hasui-style vs the current ultra cartoon accuracy MP trend. The problem at TFW2005 is that the "I like it because it's cartoon accurate" crowd is getting nasty with anyone that dares to have an opinion that doesn't feed their confirmation bias.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

17 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Considering we haven't seen anything but lineart for Hotspot, and considering how much stuff they've announced, manufactured, and released since then, I gave up on that one.  It's vaporware.

Yeah, it's probably kaput at this point.  It's a pity, that Hotspot looked like it had promise.

[valhary]

After the null response of toyworld and robotkingdom

I could clone the missing part and looks pretty good now my primorion back to life 

I make an extra pair so if someone has the same problem send me a pm

[sh9000]

On 7/17/2017 at 8:55 PM, mikeszekely said:

It does look a lot better than that ACE one, doesn't it?  I think I'll pick it up, too, but I'd be lying it I said I wasn't worried about XTB's reputation.

ACE's Hubcap looks tempting at $39.99.

https://tfsource.com/ace/hiccups/

[mikeszekely]

Well, I said I was going to do it, so here it is... this is Powertrain, TFM's version of Don Figueroa's IDW Motormaster.

As with the other Stunticons, TFM has done a pretty good job at bringing Figueroa's design to life.  Most of the details, from the boxy missile launchers, the silver on his shoulders, the way his cab folds to form not just his feet but aslo his shins and thighs, and even little details like the dark cylinder on his pelvis (and the angle of the slot on it) are present.  He's missing the wrist guns shown the the cover of The Transformers #5, but they weren't present on Motormaster's arms when he appeared in issue #4, so I won't hold that against him.  There are a few departures that make him less accurate than the other three TFM have released, though.  For starters, there's his head, which in addition to having some different details from the nose down eschews the comic's silver face for a G1 lavendar.  The other big difference is his chest.  Figueroa's design was kind of like a robot chest that blended with his abs with a border around the torso, all in silver.  Out of necessity due to his transformation, Powertrain's chest is segmented from his abs, and TFM decided to use some black with a G1 cartoon purple square.  Really, I'm not complaining, though... Motormaster appears with this design for all of two panels and one cover as himself with this design.  As much as I like IDW's comics, my biggest impression of Motormaster was the G1 cartoon, so if anything I'd have liked to see even more black on his torso.

One of the reasons Motormaster made such an impression on me was because his alt mode was a tractor trailer truck, which to my six year old self made him an evil analog to Optimus Prime long before Scourge/Black Convoy/Nemesis Prime became a thing in Transformers fiction or an excuse to sell me a black Optimus repaint.  And just as TFM was scaling the Stunticon cars with the MP cars, TFM opted to make Motormaster scale with MP-10.  That said, the Figueroa style looks a little odd with MP-10, so if your collection is strictly G1 MPs Powertrain might not do it for you.  He looks pretty great with GT's Op Ex, though.

Furthering the notion that Motormaster was doing the evil Optimus before Nemesis Prime made it cool, pulling Powertrain's chest flap down reveals some molded and painted detail that could be a spark chamber, but does rather evoke a Matrix.  I have to give big kudos to TFM for including this detail, because it's not from the comics, and it's not like they had two.  There's just a point where you fold down part of the front of the trailer to reveal his head, then another part of the trailer folds up over the first part.  It does sort of look like his robot chest is open mid-transformation, so putting and painting some molded detail is a really nice touch.

While TFM clearly wants you to compare Powertrain with MP-10 or Op Ex, I feel like I'd be remiss if I didn't compare him to other Motormasters, especially Fansproject's Diesel.  I'd noted when I reviewed GT's Constructicons that they reminded me of Maketoy's Jizai-designed Green Giant, in a lot of ways TFM's Stunticons remind me of the Jizai-designed M3.  For robot mode, the comparison is a little unfair, though, as we're talking about a years-old Voyager-sized toy meant for CHUGs with a brand new toy meant to be more IDW MP.  I will say, though, that it's interesting how Powertrain looks more Motormaster-ish, with feet that ar estill made from the cab and the cab oriented the correct way (I feel like the cab feet and the box head are basically Motormaster's signature traits).  I also really like how there's no obvious combiner connections showing, unlike the pegs on Diesel's shoudlers (you could fold them down, but you lose his bicep rotation).  He's really a cleaner figure overall (I popped two kibble panels off the balljoints of Diesel's hips, after all).  And he manages to look better and cleaner while have a much easier transformation and without having the big gap in his back that Diesel does.

The Combiner Wars Motormaster just looks like trash.  Seriously, if you'd put any other head on him people would be like "who's that?"

Anyway, it's about time I got to the accessories, yeah?  Much like Diesel, Powertrain doesn't actually transform from the whole trailer.  The back half is reserved for combined mode parts, which is fine by me.  While Fansproject's idea of "use everything in every mode" meant that Diesel had to wear a bunch of combiner bits as guns and missile launchers on his shoulders and back, the combiner bits for a sort of base mode.  That's kind of a nice homage to the fact that the G1 toy had a base mode, I think.  It's got storage for his sword in the middle, and a pair of turrets.  The turrets do rotate, and they have fold out handles, but they really sit to low for even the Stunticon cars let alone Powertrain himself, and the whole thing is tabbed together fairly loosely.  There's a gun for Powertrain, which doesn't see to store anywhere on the base.  I find that oddly disappointing. There the trailer wheels, which I guess could be sort of a rolling drone, although it does have another use in bot mode.  Finally, there's an optional face and a pair of batteries that we'll talk about when we do combined mode.

So Powertrain's head is on a hinged swivel, and he can look up about 45 degrees and down a little bit as well.  His shoulder can rotate and move about 90 degrees laterally, but a transformation joint where the arm connects to the torso will get you well beyond 90 degrees.  While the missile launchers on his shoulders are actually attached via armatures with many hinges, while they're collapsed into robot mode they have a fairly small range of movement, from about level to 45 degrees up.  His biceps swivel.  A single-jointed, ratcheted elbow gets one click past 90 degrees.  His wrists swivel.  His thumbs are on ball joints, while his other four fingers are on a pin hinge at the base knuckle.  His index finger can move independently while the other three are one molded piece, but there are no additional knuckles.  His waist can swivel, but swiveling past a certain point will cause the combined-mode crotch panel to pop off his back.  His hips are ratcheted; he can basically get 90 degrees forward, backward, or laterally.  They seem a little on the weak side, though, considering that they'll also be the combined-mode hips.  The front/back ratchets are pretty soft, and while the lateral movement is stronger it's nowhere near as tight as GT's Long Haul.  His thighs can swivel.  His knees are ratcheted.  A minor issue here are the wheels on the backs of his thighs.  With them in place, you can only get about two clicks, which is less than 45 degrees.  If you open the purple flap on his shin, you can get one more click and about 45 degrees.  If you swivel the wheels back to the sides of his thighs you can get a full 90 degree bend.  One more thing I should mention here is that the front and back of Powertrain's thighs are flaps; unplugging them allows you to move his hips out 90 degrees then bend his thighs back down, giving him wider hips in combined mode.  Manipulatiing the ratchets in either hips his or knees seems to pop those flaps loose.  Finishing off the articulation, his feet are on a couple of hinges.  One hinge allows him to tilt his foot up and down.  Another hinge below it gives him a good 90 degrees of inward ankle tilts.  Then a rotating peg below that gives him ankle swivels.

For the most part, while there are a few hinderances, they can mostly be worked around and I think you can get a lot of dynamic poses out of him.

The part of the sword that plugs into the base opens up and curls around to form a hilt, revealing a handle with slots on it that fit into Powertrain's fists. The gun has similar slots, and he holds both accessories fine, for the most part.  The swords's pretty heavy, so depending on the pose I found the bicep swivel and shoulder rotation weren't entirely strong enough to support it.  As for the gun, the handle is actually on a pin hinge that could have been tighter, as the barrel droops in Powertrain's hand.  If you like, the trailer wheels can also fold up and have a handle that can be extended so that he can use it as a shield.  It can only be fit into his left hand, though, and he doesn't hold it very well.  I'd complain more, but I'm really not a fan of the look.

Taking the rear of the trailer apart and transforming it into a base every time you transform Powertrain into a robot seems like kind of a pain.  As with Diesel, I'm fairly inclined to just leave the remainder of the trailer in trailer mode when Powertrain's a robot.  However, due to how the sword is stored in there, you do have to take it apart to get the sword out, so if you don't want to take the trailer apart he can only use the gun.  Speaking of, the gun does store under the trailer, so you do have everything tucked away in truck mode.

Speaking of truck mode, you can see here just how much is stored weapons and combiner parts, and how much is actually Powertrain.  Again, I think that's fair.  It's certainly no worse than Diesel.  While there are a few tabs to line up, a big improvement from Diesel is that there are four folding clasps that lock the halves of the trailer solidly together.

And the result is a truck that doesn't look at all out of place with eitehr MP-10 or Op Ex.  Might look even better with MP-10, if I'd bothered to transform mine correctly.  The cab is more evocative of G1 Motormaster than the IDW version, though, with round headlights, second tier of windows on the roof, and the molded lines behind the molded doors.  The addition of silver smokestacks and chaning the fuel tanks from purple to silver is nice touch, though.  I definitely appreciate that while TFM was crafting a cab of similar size to MP-10's that they didn't just make the cab a black MP-10 with extra windows.  That said, I could have done without the vent-thing at the rear of the trailer.  It's a detail that G1 Optimus and MP-10 both have, but neither cartoon nor toy G1 Motormaster nor IDW Motormaster had.  In fact, a cursory Google search didn't turn up any real-world trailers with such a detail, so I'd have to figure they're pretty uncommon.  That makes it stand out as a very Optimus detail they included on Powertrain, and since it doesn't help with the base or combined modes, an uncessary one.

While Powertrain's cab is close to MP-10's in dimensions, it is a hair shorter and a little narrower.  A more noticeable detail is that the trailer is significantly shorter (and slightly narrower).  When Powertrain is by himself it's not really noticeable, but if you put him anywhere near an MP-10 trailer Powertrain starts to look oddly short.

I feel like I'm watching Seasame Street with my daughter... "one of these things is not like the other."  I know this is a review for Powertrain and I should be talking about him, but seriously, how did Hasbro make a Motormaster toy that looks so little like Motormaster?

I digress.  The trailer also looks kind of short next to Diesel.  Then again, Powertrain's wheels are sitting oddly far back, and there's space between the cab and the trailer (ironically, while more G1 accurate, it's not how Figueroa drew Motormaster in the single panel that had in in truck mode).  The lines, seams, slots, and tabs on Powertrain's trailer that looked so bad compared to MP-10 also don't look nearly as bad compared to Diesel.

The smartest thing TFM did was decide where to put the division of "this stuff makes the cab" and "this stuff makes the trailer" on Powertrain's body.  Basically, from the waist up is trailer and from the waist down is cab.  That means that the connection point between cab and trailer is the waist swivel, allowing for the cab to turn about the trailer in a very natural way despite the fact that they can't actually be separated.  It's the single biggest improvement over Diesel's alt mode.  Rounding out the more MP-ish details, Powertrain has molded doors on the back of his trailer and a nice, painted bumper with painted lights.  That looks better on it's own than Diesel, but I'll stress again that everything for all three modes is in that trailer.  While Fansproject tried to do that, we were left with a folded-up gun bit that hung awkwardly off the rear.  Oh, and just like the other Stunticons, Powertrain has rubber tires and rolls great.

So you might have gathered that Powertrain's a pretty impressive figure, and probably the best Motormaster toy ever made (although it won't be long before he's got a lot more competition).  He's got a few issues though, and they boil down to tolerances.  I've already mentioned some, like the trouble holding up his sword in some poses, or the flaps that come loose on his thighs.  It's more than that, though... basically a lot of stuff is either too tight or too loose on him.  The turrents don't really stay in place but for gravity in base mode.  When separating the trailer into the base/combiner parts, there are two parts (not the very rear, and not the parts with the turrent guns) that I've yet to be able to separate without a tool, and I'm afraid that one day I'm going to break it.  To turn the trailer parts into the turrets (or the combined mode forearms), you have to fold over part of the trailer and tab it down, then move the top back on a double hinge.  The tab that holds it in place is loose, but the double-hinged part requires an uncomfortable amount of force to move.  I haven't tried out a one-armed combined mode, but I'm already hearing reports of enough problems that TFM is saying that they're going to include parts with their not-Dead End to address some shortcomings.  Now, I'm not saying these issues are dealbreakers by any means.  Like many of GT's other releases, Powertrain is a fun-but-flawed figure.  I can't stress enough how fun and intuitive his transformation is, especially compared to Diesel's.  I think I'm just a little disappointed by Powertrain's flaws because the previous release, Revolt (not-Dragstrip), was so good.  Time will tell how good or bad the combined mode is, but just on the strength of the robot and alt mode I have no problems recommending Powertrain or any of TFM's other Stunticons.

 

Edited July 20, 2017 by mikeszekely

[mikeszekely]

I could probably take a night off after writing a novella about TFM's Motormaster, but I have another review.  I've actually has this figure for awhile, but I've been waiting to get my hands on an MP Hot Rod for pictures... this is MMC's Calidus, their take on IDW Rodimus.

It's amazing how similar yet different these guys are.  Sure, they both have light gray faces, dark gray shins, some orange on the thighs, some yellow on teh chest and yellow wings, and they're both... well, I guess MP Hot Rod is more pinky purple than red.  Both have pipes on the forearms, and tall shoulders.  But Calidus is so... different.  As different as he is, he's actually quite accurate to Alex Milne's sketches, which should make More Than Meets The Eye/The Lost Light fans pretty happy.

Really, Calidus is lacking a bit of detail and has slighty different proportions, both necessitated by the realities of making the design an actual toy that transforms.  Of course, The Lost Light fans might be a bit disappointed that he's got the More Than Meets The Eye red/orange/yellow colors and not his current "spectralist" blue/purple colors (MMC is doing a TFCon repaint, though).  Speaking of colors, I'm not sure how well it shows up in photos (or even in person), but I feel like pointing out that he's not a massive slab of red.  If you look carefully, his hips are a different color than his inner thighs, which are a different color from his pelvis, and his abs have two different shades of red as well.

Size-wise, he's about the same size as MP Hot Rod.  While I guess that means MP Hot Rod scales with MP Optimus, I don't think that makes Calidus scale with stuff like GT's Op Ex, because I think IDW Rodimus is supposed to be bigger.  Then again, IDW Rodimus being the same size as G1 Hot Rod and IDW Optimus being the same size as G1 Optimus kind of works in my head, so your mileage may vary.

Calidus doesn't come with a ton of accessories.  Then again, considering I can't actually recall him carrying a weapon in the comics, I guess he doesn't need much.  We've got an alternate face that replaces the stock stoic expression with an ever so subtle smirk.  We've got a gun, vaguely recalling the G1 toy's, cast from a single piece of dark gray plastic, and a bow which is very much an homage to Animated Rodimus.

Calidus' head is on a ball joint with pretty good upwards and sideways tilt, but due to the shape of his chin and the relative lack of a neck he's not going to be looking down any time soon.  His shoulders are kind of ineresting.  They can rotate, but there's a double hinge in there.  This allows Calidus to swing his arm out and down, which gives him a little extra clearance so that he can get nearly 90 degrees of lateral movement and get enough clearance for his large shoulders to rotate past his wings.  He has a bicep swivel that's a little hindered by the shape of his shoulder armor, but also a forearm swivel.  His elbows are double-jointed so he can touch his shoulders.  His wrists swivel.  His thumbs and palms are molded into a 5mm port, but his fingers are also on a pin hinge at the base so his hand can open and close, and his pointer finger is a separate piece from his other three fingers.  His waist swivels.  His hips are on a friction universal and get just a little under 90 degrees forward and backward.  In what is easily my biggest problem with this figure, his hips are ratcheted for lateral movement, again falling just shy of 90 degrees.  Like oh-so-many figures that use ratchets for this joint he goes from stock straight to what I'd consider the widest A-stance that still looks natural.  He could have used a click or two in between to get more relaxed, natural poses, and it's frustrating because it's the only ratcheting joints on him, and in the one spot a figure this size absolutely doesn't need them.  Anyway... he has thigh swivels in just the right spot so that they they don't mess up the sculpt, a single-jointed knee that gets a little over 90 degrees of bend, and his feet have a little up/down tilt and dedicated hinge for inward/outward tilt.  Issue two, though, is that the sculpt of the legs around his feet come down pretty low and hinder his ankle tilts.  In fact, you get just enough tilt that his feet can stay flat at that one-click-out A-stance you're practically forced into, and that's it.

His gun slides into his hand just fine.

Alternatively, you can open his hand, then work the bow in.  Like I said, it's a nice Animated homage, but since it's not something he uses in teh comics it's not really for me.  The bow does have two hinges that let you angle the ends.  That can be useful for giving the bow a drawn look.  The bow can also peg onto his back, and the ends can bend around his torso.  I think that would almost look like a natural way to carry a bow, if it weren't for the two large protruding spikes.  If you prefer, you could also store the gun in that peg hole.

Another company, SXS, is doing this version of Rodimus, and the debate over whether their version or Calidus looks better in bot mode goes on for many pages in the usual Transformers forums.  What people aren't debating, though, is that MMC really nailed the alt mode.

Now, I was used to Rodimus turning into a space car from G1, and previously in IDW a Dodge Viper during the -ations and a Pagani Zonda when Don Figeuroa was drawing the same comics that gave us the design for Op Ex and TFM's Stunticons, so the first time I saw Milne's design for his alt mode I thought it looked a little tankish, like modern Batmobiles.  I think the design's really grown on me, though, to the point where I almost prefer Calidus in alt mode.  Just be mindful of how you transform him.  The instructions are almost entirely useless, to the point where following them will get you stuck with an alt mode that doesn't line up right.  Basically, you want to transform the upper body, then the lower body, so everything is pegged into its proper place before you collase the sliding spine.  If you do it right, you should be able to press the pipes on his torso into the pipes on his legs so there's no gap.

Still about the same size as MP Hot Rod.  Still don't know if he should be bigger.  Still works for me, though.

As far as weapon storage goes, the same peg hole on his back for weapon storage allows you to mount his gun.  The bow uses a pair of peg holes to firmly attach to the underside of the front.  The protruding spikes seem more useful in this mode, and the bow itself wraps around the front like a bumper.  As I said before, it's not something that he uses in the comics, and technically makes his alt mode less comic-accurate, so my bow is going right back in the box.  Along with the non-smirking face.

So here we are, and I don't know, guys.  I've been a big fan of the IDW comics, and my favorite ones have been the ones where this design came from.  There's a part of me that would like the entire Lost Light crew done in a comic-accurate style, and I love MMC's Decepticon Justice Division characters from the same book.  That being said... I'm kind of disappointed with Calidus.  I think he looks pretty accurate to the source in both modes, I think the accessories are good enough for a character who doesn't really have any accessories in the comics, and I feel like I should totally love him, but I think the hips are that much of a let down that I might tell you to wait and see what SXS comes up with.

[sh9000]

[David Hingtgen]

 

 

Combined with Powertrain, and Diesel, this is a disturbing trend---why does everyone keep eliminating Motormaster's main accent color?  He's supposed to have PURPLE.  Purple frame, purple tanks, etc.   The "real" Motormaster even went all-out with a fully purple frame, and it's friggin awesome:

[sh9000]

I like it.

[Scyla]

The Flametoys licensed, non transformable action figures seem to have a lot of potential. They showed three designs so far, all IDW inspired.

Drift:

Tarn:

Star Saber:

They seem to draw many inspirations from Bandais Metal Build line which is only a good thing in my opinion. They seem to be crazy expensive ($300 for a 8" Drift) but this is all up my alley. 

I begged MMC for years to do a IDW Star Saber so if they don't hurry up I might buy into this line. I'll wait till I see a review of Drift but I'm really stoked about what I'm seeing. 

 

 

[anime52k8]

Ok, that Star Saber is sexy af and I need it. Star Saber Gundam is new best Gundam.

[mikeszekely]

That Drift looks pretty cool, and I love that sketch of Star Saber, but that Tarn-gorilla isn't doing it for me.

Well, that and the whole not transforming thing.  That's kind of a deal breaker.

[anime52k8]

This Star Saber is so Gundam that non-transforming works. He'll go better with Metal Build toys this way.

[JB0]

7 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

That Drift looks pretty cool, and I love that sketch of Star Saber, but that Tarn-gorilla isn't doing it for me.

Well, that and the whole not transforming thing.  That's kind of a deal breaker.

Ditto. Except I was gonna say Peg instead of Drift.

[mikeszekely]

41 minutes ago, JB0 said:

Ditto. Except I was gonna say Peg instead of Drift.

Bonus internet points for you for remembering the whole Peg thing!

[JB0]

3 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Bonus internet points for you for remembering the whole Peg thing!

True story: In my mind, he's Peg. More than once, I've had to stop and go "Who is this Drift character people are talking about?"

[M'Kyuun]

I remember the 'Peg' thing as well, but even when it was fresh, I didn't know where it came from. My basic understanding was that it was mildly pejorative in nature. Anyway, at the time, I passed on Peg in lieu of his Blurr recolor, since there really wasn't a decent CHUG Blurr at the time, and all I knew about Drift was that he was a character from the comics who'd achieved some measure of popularity. Still have that Blurr on my CHUG shelf, although I have the far more G1 TR version out front.

I was checking out Robot Hero's new mini-cassette figs tonight on Chosen Prime- pretty well done MP styled Overkill and Slugfest (Barney and Durden, respectively). They did a nice job of making their dino modes more robust, although their Overkill's cassette form is a little more compromised. But they're cassette bots, and I dig 'em. I'm hoping eventually MMC will get around to all these cassettes in their full-sized cassette line. Love my Jaguar.  Got the condor twins PO'd, and I've seen their Rumble/Frenzy CG. It's such a great time to be a TF fan.

 

[JB0]

13 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

I remember the 'Peg' thing as well, but even when it was fresh, I didn't know where it came from. My basic understanding was that it was mildly pejorative in nature.

I never took it as pejorative, really.

Basically, someone was getting out of Transformers, one of the reasons was toys of new characters they didn't care about(back when we talked about Classics/Generations instead of MPs and expensive clones), they couldn't remember Drift's name and called him Peg, some of us thought it was amazing for some reason, and Peg took on a life of his own after that.

For most of us the hype died down after a while, but it will live forever in my heart.

 

I suppose it could have pejorative connotations. Drift was generally considered a terrible character that belonged in a bad fanfic, and Peg eventually took on the persona of "dumb anime fanboy". But that was why I bought the toy. A serious version of Drift was dumb and boring, but our parody Peg character was awesome.

Hell, in my headcanon Drift is actually Peg's self-insert fanfic character, not a "real" Transformer. Movie Drift is just a fan of Peg's work and has styled himself after the character.  And without Peg, Drift would be completely forgotten by me instead of one of my favorite characters(his alter-ego, anyways).

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

I just wanted to heap more praise upon FansToys' Phoenix which I finally received from a massive Pile O Loot.  I think it was Scyla who called it a white beast.  With a wingspan of approximately 17", that is the absolute truth.  For me, Skyfire's appeal was that he became such a blocky, goony looking bird.  In that respect, FT has accurately captured Skyfire's alt mode.  Phoenix is a solid transformer and if you ever wanted Skyfire in toy form, Phoenix is the one to get.

[mikeszekely]

As I recall it, we were discussing Drift stuck on pegs, ie shelfwarming, because he was a horrible cliche of a Mary Sue (at the time). Another board member who wasn't familiar with the comics had no idea who we were talking about, and he was like "Who? Peg?" And the rest of us kind of just latched onto that. I don't think it was meant to be pejorative, short pointing out that a toy that a toy of a new, one-dimensional, comics-only character wasn't selling.

Peg has improved since then, becoming sort of a hippy spiritualist who is often paired with a cantankerous atheist Ratchet. But now that's the version I'd want in my collection, not the Shane McCarthy weeabo race car.

[M'Kyuun]

7 hours ago, Valkyrie Hunter D said:

I just wanted to heap more praise upon FansToys' Phoenix which I finally received from a massive Pile O Loot.  I think it was Scyla who called it a white beast.  With a wingspan of approximately 17", that is the absolute truth.  For me, Skyfire's appeal was that he became such a blocky, goony looking bird.  In that respect, FT has accurately captured Skyfire's alt mode.  Phoenix is a solid transformer and if you ever wanted Skyfire in toy form, Phoenix is the one to get.

Couldn't agree more. I always liked his alt mode, and actually find it more interesting than just another VF-1, the likeness of which manifested ubiquitously in all manner of toys in the 80's. Skyfire looked  Cybertronian, which is more apropos since he never took on an Earth alt. Even to my untrained eyes as a lad, Jetfire looked suspiciously like an F-14.

 

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

As I recall it, we were discussing Drift stuck on pegs, ie shelfwarming, because he was a horrible cliche of a Mary Sue (at the time). Another board member who wasn't familiar with the comics had no idea who we were talking about, and he was like "Who? Peg?" And the rest of us kind of just latched onto that. I don't think it was meant to be pejorative, short pointing out that a toy that a toy of a new, one-dimensional, comics-only character wasn't selling.

Peg has improved since then, becoming sort of a hippy spiritualist who is often paired with a cantankerous atheist Ratchet. But now that's the version I'd want in my collection, not the Shane McCarthy weeabo race car.

See, I always thought 'Peg' was a shelf-warming reference, hence the mildly pejorative implication (i.e. in charming TFW2005 parlance, the toy is a POS).  I never really followed the conversation concerning the character since I don't follow the comics, so that aspect was lost on me at the time. I thought the toy was ok, but I passed on Drift in favor of his Blurr recolor. In hindsight, just for variety's sake, and because I now have a superior G1 Blurr figure, I kinda wish I'd gotten Peg, er Drift. 'Preciate the backstory, Mike.

[mikeszekely]

Somehow, inevitably, more MP-ish figures are sneaking into my collection.  And I realized that the Autobots are kind of filling out nicely, but aside from Despotron and some definitely CHUG iGear Seekers my Decepticons were basically all tied up in combiners.  I've set out to rectify that, and tonight we're starting with Badcube's Claymore, their take on an MP Shrapnel.

Even though I watched the cartoon (and the '86 movie) as much as the next kid, the Insecticons were some of the few Season 1 toys I actually had.  So let me get this out of the way; I sprang extra and got the "Collector's Edition," which sports the toy-accurate translucent chest, chrome mandibles, and (as you'll see in a bit) yellow bug legs.  There is also some diecast in the figure, but I think just in the feet.  Badcube also sold these guys in a value pack with all three.  The value pack version ditches the diecast, swaps the chrome for silver paint, looses the translucent chest for a more cartoon solid yellow, and swaps the yellow legs for silver.  As far as I know, those are the only differences.

So yeah, that's Shrapnel all right.  He's maybe got a few details that the simplified 'toon model doesn't, like the blue marks on his chest where stickers would go on the G1 toy, if I'd applied them, and the raised lines on his thighs... lines that are also toy-accurate.  His head strikes me as a little big, and the panels on the sides of his lower legs are a little exaggerated, but on the whole he's looking very good.  Definitely more of an upgrade for me than the Generations Legends-class figure.  I think, given their reputation, the elephant in the room would be FansToys' Mercenary, but for Shrapnels at least I'm not really seeing anything that one or the other toy does obviously better, at least from this angle.

If you don't have either the G1 or Generations figures, Claymore is basically a head taller than MP Bumblebee, or a head shorter than MP Prowl.  That'd make him taller than your average Deluxe, and shorter than your average Voyager.

He doesn't come with a ton of accessories, which is fine... it's not like the Insecticons used a ton of gear in the cartoon.  We've got a gun modeled after the cartoon version (the value pack version is even cartoon purple), a small Energon cube, and a replacement face with a sort of smirk on it.  Back in the box, face.  I don't really think of Shrapnel as a smirking character.

The gun can peg onto Claymore's back when he's not using it.  It's a nice time to point out that his back side cleans up pretty well.  This is definitely an area that BC wins over FT.  From what I've seen, regardless of which legs you use on Mercenary you end up with a tangled ball of legs back there.  Mercenary's just go the cartoon-accurate wrist guns, and the cartoon-accruate legs folded up neatly across the sides of his back.

Moving right along... Claymore's head is on a ball joint, and it's pretty tight.  He can't look down or tilt his head (with the force I'm comfortable applying), but he can look up about 45 degrees and rotate his head.  His shoulders are on ball joints so they can rotate and move about 90 degrees laterally.  Double-jointed elbows allow him to curl his arms all the way up.  He does have a wrist swivel and MP carbot-style hands with the fingers molded as one piece pinned at the base knuckle.  His waist is actually a ball joint, too, so he can lean backwards or sidewise a tad.  Engaging a transformation bit just a hair will also give him an ab crunch.  His hips universal joints.  They can go 90 degrees forward or backward on ratchets.  90 degrees laterally, too, on what feel like the softest ratchets in the world.  His knees are similarly soft-ratcheted, and although they're double-jointed for transformation you can only get 90 degrees of bend due to the shape of his calves.  His thighs swivel around his hips, and although he doesn't have 360 degrees of swivel I feel like he's got a nice, natural range.  His feet have a ratcheted joint where they're connected to the leg that can tilt his foot downward, a hinge closer to his foot that can tilt up and down, and a dedicated hinge for up to 90 degrees of inward ankle tilt.  All-in-all, good articulation, but I'd have prefered fewer ball joints.

He holds his gun just fine, with a handle that's basically identical to to the squarish one used by Brawny that fits into slots on his hands.

Bug mode on this guy is pretty gorgeous.  The legs emulate the cartoon and the toy pretty faithfully, sans the toy's wheels.  Little details like the molded vents on his rear, the little triangle fins on his rear, and the nipple bumps are all present.  At a glance, he really looks like a bigger version of the G1 toy, but when you look at him long enough you do start to notice that he's a tad too thick, and the panels on the sides of his legs are now protruding awkwardly past his robot feet.  His shoulders could have done without those cuts in the side, too.

There's not a ton of bug articulation in the legs.  Basically, the front of his yellow feet can bend up and down a little, and the rear purple feet can as well, but practically you need them kind of flat.  The mandibles are on ball joints, so they can open and close without moving his face cover, from a range that puts more than 180 degrees between the tips at their widest to close enough that the inner "teeth" almost touch at the narrowest, as well as giving them a little up/down play or a little rotation.  His cockpit does open, although the way his torso collapses doesn't really leave you with room to put anything in there.  His gun tucks away neatly underneath... and while we're down there, check out that swank silver paint.  It's nice to see little painted detail that Badcube totally could have gotten away without painting.

Aside from the aesthetic nitpicks I don't have much bad to say about Claymore (and it's not like I don't have aesthetic complaints about Mercenary).  Nitpicks aside, he looks the part in both modes, and he's got plenty of articulation.  The only other complaint I really have is that his the flap to open his forearm for transformation just uses friction to stay closed instead of tabbing in solildy, but that friction is adequate.  I'm not going to say that he's better or worse than Mercenary without being able to properly review Mercenary, but I will say that I think Claymore is an equally valid choice.  If you happen to be in the US, he's also a fantastically cheap choice, with BBTS currently offering the 3-pack for $120 or the complete set of Collector's Edition versions for $140.  At that price, I feel comfortable recommending him either as an MP Shrapnel, or as an additional troop-building clone even if you already have Mercenary.

[sh9000]

[Tking22]

21 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Somehow, inevitably, more MP-ish figures are sneaking into my collection.  And I realized that the Autobots are kind of filling out nicely, but aside from Despotron and some definitely CHUG iGear Seekers my Decepticons were basically all tied up in combiners.  I've set out to rectify that, and tonight we're starting with Badcube's Claymore, their take on an MP Shrapnel.

 

Even though I watched the cartoon (and the '86 movie) as much as the next kid, the Insecticons were some of the few Season 1 toys I actually had.  So let me get this out of the way; I sprang extra and got the "Collector's Edition," which sports the toy-accurate translucent chest, chrome mandibles, and (as you'll see in a bit) yellow bug legs.  There is also some diecast in the figure, but I think just in the feet.  Badcube also sold these guys in a value pack with all three.  The value pack version ditches the diecast, swaps the chrome for silver paint, looses the translucent chest for a more cartoon solid yellow, and swaps the yellow legs for silver.  As far as I know, those are the only differences.

So yeah, that's Shrapnel all right.  He's maybe got a few details that the simplified 'toon model doesn't, like the blue marks on his chest where stickers would go on the G1 toy, if I'd applied them, and the raised lines on his thighs... lines that are also toy-accurate.  His head strikes me as a little big, and the panels on the sides of his lower legs are a little exaggerated, but on the whole he's looking very good.  Definitely more of an upgrade for me than the Generations Legends-class figure.  I think, given their reputation, the elephant in the room would be FansToys' Mercenary, but for Shrapnels at least I'm not really seeing anything that one or the other toy does obviously better, at least from this angle.

 

If you don't have either the G1 or Generations figures, Claymore is basically a head taller than MP Bumblebee, or a head shorter than MP Prowl.  That'd make him taller than your average Deluxe, and shorter than your average Voyager.

 

He doesn't come with a ton of accessories, which is fine... it's not like the Insecticons used a ton of gear in the cartoon.  We've got a gun modeled after the cartoon version (the value pack version is even cartoon purple), a small Energon cube, and a replacement face with a sort of smirk on it.  Back in the box, face.  I don't really think of Shrapnel as a smirking character.

The gun can peg onto Claymore's back when he's not using it.  It's a nice time to point out that his back side cleans up pretty well.  This is definitely an area that BC wins over FT.  From what I've seen, regardless of which legs you use on Mercenary you end up with a tangled ball of legs back there.  Mercenary's just go the cartoon-accurate wrist guns, and the cartoon-accruate legs folded up neatly across the sides of his back.

 

Moving right along... Claymore's head is on a ball joint, and it's pretty tight.  He can't look down or tilt his head (with the force I'm comfortable applying), but he can look up about 45 degrees and rotate his head.  His shoulders are on ball joints so they can rotate and move about 90 degrees laterally.  Double-jointed elbows allow him to curl his arms all the way up.  He does have a wrist swivel and MP carbot-style hands with the fingers molded as one piece pinned at the base knuckle.  His waist is actually a ball joint, too, so he can lean backwards or sidewise a tad.  Engaging a transformation bit just a hair will also give him an ab crunch.  His hips universal joints.  They can go 90 degrees forward or backward on ratchets.  90 degrees laterally, too, on what feel like the softest ratchets in the world.  His knees are similarly soft-ratcheted, and although they're double-jointed for transformation you can only get 90 degrees of bend due to the shape of his calves.  His thighs swivel around his hips, and although he doesn't have 360 degrees of swivel I feel like he's got a nice, natural range.  His feet have a ratcheted joint where they're connected to the leg that can tilt his foot downward, a hinge closer to his foot that can tilt up and down, and a dedicated hinge for up to 90 degrees of inward ankle tilt.  All-in-all, good articulation, but I'd have prefered fewer ball joints.

He holds his gun just fine, with a handle that's basically identical to to the squarish one used by Brawny that fits into slots on his hands.

 

Bug mode on this guy is pretty gorgeous.  The legs emulate the cartoon and the toy pretty faithfully, sans the toy's wheels.  Little details like the molded vents on his rear, the little triangle fins on his rear, and the nipple bumps are all present.  At a glance, he really looks like a bigger version of the G1 toy, but when you look at him long enough you do start to notice that he's a tad too thick, and the panels on the sides of his legs are now protruding awkwardly past his robot feet.  His shoulders could have done without those cuts in the side, too.

 

There's not a ton of bug articulation in the legs.  Basically, the front of his yellow feet can bend up and down a little, and the rear purple feet can as well, but practically you need them kind of flat.  The mandibles are on ball joints, so they can open and close without moving his face cover, from a range that puts more than 180 degrees between the tips at their widest to close enough that the inner "teeth" almost touch at the narrowest, as well as giving them a little up/down play or a little rotation.  His cockpit does open, although the way his torso collapses doesn't really leave you with room to put anything in there.  His gun tucks away neatly underneath... and while we're down there, check out that swank silver paint.  It's nice to see little painted detail that Badcube totally could have gotten away without painting.

Aside from the aesthetic nitpicks I don't have much bad to say about Claymore (and it's not like I don't have aesthetic complaints about Mercenary).  Nitpicks aside, he looks the part in both modes, and he's got plenty of articulation.  The only other complaint I really have is that his the flap to open his forearm for transformation just uses friction to stay closed instead of tabbing in solildy, but that friction is adequate.  I'm not going to say that he's better or worse than Mercenary without being able to properly review Mercenary, but I will say that I think Claymore is an equally valid choice.  If you happen to be in the US, he's also a fantastically cheap choice, with BBTS currently offering the 3-pack for $120 or the complete set of Collector's Edition versions for $140.  At that price, I feel comfortable recommending him either as an MP Shrapnel, or as an additional troop-building clone even if you already have Mercenary.

Another great write-up, and this one definitely pertains to me because I currently have the BadCube Evil Bug Value Pack on the way, not this more toy centric chrome and translucent one, but the cheaper more "toon" accurate version. This guy looks pretty fantastic! I'm excited to get my hands on all three of them! The FT versions look good, but I wouldn't personally say better, I think BC nailed the bugs better then anyone else yet, and they are far, far cheaper and easier to track down. The FT bugs have gone up in price, and I believe even started at a higher retail cost right off the bat, plus as I said, two of them are getting harder to find. I never owned the G1 bugs, so I don't have much love for the chromed up translucent ones, and I've never been a huge fan of the bugs as is, so this BadCube value pack was an easy choice for me. I had the MMC bugs on pre-order for about 8 months now, cancelled, they don't look any better then the two available options, there's been no test or review samples, and they are more expensive then the Value Pack. I have no idea why I waited on them for so long and never just jumped on the BadCube bugs, hell, they could just be vaporware at this point, they obviously aren't a priority for MMC/Ocular Max.

[mikeszekely]

27 minutes ago, Tking22 said:

Another great write-up, and this one definitely pertains to me because I currently have the BadCube Evil Bug Value Pack on the way, not this more toy centric chrome and translucent one, but the cheaper more "toon" accurate version.

I'm glad you enjoyed it, because I'm definitely doing the rest of the Evil Bug Corps.  Starting right now, in fact.  This is Kickbutt, BadCube's excellently-named version of Kickback.

Once again, I went with the Collector's edition to get the toy-style translucent chest and chromed wings.  Compared to Claymore, though, there's a lot less difference between the Collector's Edition and the Value Pack, since there's no other color changes and both versions have silver-painted guns.  And, once again, we have a figure that sticks close to both the original toy and the cartoon, with a lot of molded lines in the chest and legs and some painted detail that mimics the G1 version's molding and stickers.  The most obvious difference from the toy, aside from a cartoon-style face, are the cartoon's more normal forearms.  It'll also be apparent from some angles that he's a little tubby, but not so much that it really bothers me in this mode.

His accessories are basically the same as Claymore's; a sort of smirking face to leave in the box because a smirk doesn't really say "Kickback," an Energon cube, and a fairly G1-ish gun, complete with the tommy gun drum.  As with Claymore, you can fold it up and clip it to his very clean back.

Kickbutt's head is on a hinged swivel that can look up nearly 90 degrees and rotate.  His wings and antenna can both rotate as well.  His shoulers are on ball joints that can rotate and bend 90 degrees laterally.  He's got bicep swivels, double-jointed elbows that can curl all the way up, wrist swivels, and carbot hands.  Like Claymore, his waist is a ball joint providing rotation, good lean back, tons of side stretching, and a good ab crunch.  His hips are ratcheted universals that can go forward or backward 90 degrees, or laterally on soft ratchets just a hair shy of 90.  His thighs rotate around the hip joints, and again that prevents them from having 360 degrees of swivel but a range that feels natural.  His knees bend 90 degrees on soft ratchets.  His heel is fixed in robot mode, as is the black part of his leg that he's basically standing on, but his purple front part of his feet can move up and down at the gray part inside the leg, and the purple part itself is pinned and can point downward.  Additionally, the purple part can rotate, providing a faux ankle tilt with a crazy 360 degree range.  

Needless to say, I have no real complaints about his articulation.  In fact, his knees are probably the most clever bit of engineering on the toy.  See, just like the G1 version the rear grasshopper legs fold up into the backs of his legs.  BadCube smartly used clips to lock the bug feet into Kickbutt's thighs, and the bulk of Kickbutt's knee is actually his grasshopper ankle.

As far as holding his gun, it works just like Claymore or Brawny, and he holds it nice and secure.

So the bug mode... it does a lot right, yeah?  The wings, the head, the bug legs that aren't made from his arms like the G1 version, but still have a look that calls back to the G1 toy.  He's got a nice mask that comes out to cover up his face.  Springs push the rear legs out just a bit, but it's enough that they don't fold back into the robot legs unless you're trying to fold them back up into the robot legs, which is again smart.  But, remember how I said Mercenary looked a little thick?  And that Kickbutt's bot mode was chubby.  Kickbutt's grasshopper mode is even worse, and what it really boils down to is that his robot arms are hiding in there.  And not even so much that, since I think that's how FansToys does it with Forager, too, but the way they did it, basically curling the arms up and stuffing them in there, expanding the torso to make room instead of doing simple things like making the arms just a little thinner, allowing the hands to fold into the forearms, and/or adding a transformation joint closer to the shoulder that would have allowed the arms to fit in straighter.

Aesthetic gripes aisde, the rear legs use Kickbutt's hip joints where they're attached the body, plus a knee at the top of the purple, a ratcheted bug ankle, and a hinged but toe.  The front legs can swivel where they're connected to the gray part, and there's hinges at the gray part and and where the purple connects to the gray.  His antenna and wings can still rotate.  A fold out part hangs out over the rear just enough for his gun to clip into.

Due to his thickness, especially in robot mode, I feel like he's the weakest of BadCube's Insecticons and one case where I do feel like FansToys' version, Forager, looks better.  As I understand it, though, Forager has some issues with the way the wings work that's prone to breaking, among other more minor complaints I'd have with it.  And that's assuming you could even find a copy, as retail outlets have long since sold through their inventory and he's the only FT bug I'm not seeing on eBay.  Considering the much lower cost and effort required to get BadCube's bugs you're still probably better off.  I don't regret buying him, and I think if you're buying him in a pack he's not so bad that he's dragging the other two down.  You know your own tastes, and if you think you can live with a grasshopper mode that's almost twice as thick as it should be, then go for it.  It's a great value.  That said, I'm curious to see how MMC's shakes out.