The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread

[M'Kyuun]

Got my MMC Ocular Max Remix condors and Furor (Rumble) yesterday. Both are pretty awesome, but their take on Rumble is especially impressive. If you're a fan of the Cassette bots, I highly recommend.

Interesting note on Furor; he comes plain with enclosed decals for a more accurate cassette look. Wish he was painted like the condors, but still nice that they come with the figure.

[Scyla]

They are also stickers on the condors. I wa s very dissapointed finding this out.

[M'Kyuun]

Huh, I only glanced at it, too distracted by transforming it. I'll have to take a second look. But yeah, kinda wish it was paint or tampo.

The toys themselves are pretty neat, though. Want the rest.

[Kuma Style]

On 2/18/2018 at 5:13 PM, M'Kyuun said:

Got my MMC Ocular Max Remix condors and Furor (Rumble) yesterday. Both are pretty awesome, but their take on Rumble is especially impressive. If you're a fan of the Cassette bots, I highly recommend.

Interesting note on Furor; he comes plain with enclosed decals for a more accurate cassette look. Wish he was painted like the condors, but still nice that they come with the figure.

I keep going to purchase these but then I just can't. Hoping something pushes me over the edge before they're sold out! 

... MakeToys' Thunder Manus is out for delivery today... label me hyped!

[Kuma Style]

[slaginpit]

On 2/4/2018 at 12:53 AM, mikeszekely said:

Ok, my wife is back, it's my birthday, and I could finally get some pics!  This, finally, is Gigapower Grassor (chrome version), their take on a Masterpiece Slag.

 

Dam that paint app is crisp

[M'Kyuun]

Kuma, is that one of the FoC/WoC Dinobots? Love the ankle articulation there; I wish FT had found a way to accomplish better foot articulation, as it's difficult to get most of their dinos into any kind of walking pose that'll hold- feet are just too big and there's no fore and aft ankle pivot, just minimal A-stance. Nice looking fig, although the black paint job throws me off- variant or the regular scheme? Anyway, lovely figure, beautiful photography as always.

Giga makes some lovely Dinos; if I hadn't started down the FT path, I'd likely have a shelf full of GigaPower Dinos. I think either way you go between these two companies, you're getting a good product. I love my FT dinos, but I confess that I prefer some of Giga's aesthetic choices. I enjoy the photos of these guys, as I'll probably never get a chance to see them in person.

Edited February 20, 2018 by M'Kyuun

[Scyla]

12 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

Kuma, is that one of the FoC/WoC Dinobots? Love the ankle articulation there; I wish FT had found a way to accomplish better foot articulation, as it's difficult to get most of their dinos into any kind of walking pose that'll hold- feet are just too big and there's no fore and aft ankle pivot, just minimal A-stance. Nice looking fig, although the black paint job throws me off- variant or the regular scheme? Anyway, lovely figure, beautiful photography as always.

Giga makes some lovely Dinos; if I hadn't started down the FT path, I'd likely have a shelf full of GigaPower Dinos. I think either way you go between these two companies, you're getting a good product. I love my FT dinos, but I confess that I prefer some of Giga's aesthetic choices. I enjoy the photos of these guys, as I'll probably never get a chance to see them in person.

The Snarl is FansProjects Pinchar from the Lost Exo Realm line. 

Seeing Mikes excellent reviews of the Giga Dinobots I feel like I made the wrong decision going with FansToys. At the time they showed Guttur I already had bought Scoria and was not impressed with them since the dino legs weren't able to hide away and Scoria had a painted red torso.

Since then I think the design of the Giga bots has advance and I feel I missed out on the superior Dinobots. FansToys are great but I'm missing the finish on the red and gray parts. I can't understand why FT decided to paint the red and blue on Scoria and Soar respectively and to me this is missing on the rest of Dibots. On top of that I am disappointed that Grinder is just a more solid MP Grimlock. 

Again FansToys offerings are not bad they just could be much better and I think GigaPower delivers in the finish department.

On other 3rd Party news I received today my replacement parts for FTs Spindrift and Apache. Even if I'm critical of the FT Dibots their customer service is top notch and makes me confident for future purchases.

[M'Kyuun]

Thanks for clarifying, Scyla. I've looked at those guys before, too, esp their version of Swoop, but not enough to know them on sight. Nice designs.

I passed on Scoria in favor of Perfect Fusion Cesium, who's heavily influenced by the G1 toy, although he's a chunky fellow. I had him PO'd for quite some time, but after looking at comparison shots of him with Scoria, he was worth the wait- pretty much an overall improvement.

I don't recall what influenced me to go with FT over Giga, beyond reputation. I liked what I saw on the FT side of things, besides Scoria, but I think Cesium had already been announced. Sever (Snarl) was my first FT dino, and it impressed me greatly. With that as my starting example, I bought the rest, never really looking beyond the FT dinos.  I have no regrets, but there's always that curiosity about the thing you didn't buy and how it compares to what you did. Alas, I have neither the room nor finances for another MP scaled team of Dinobots, so I'll remain content with my FT Dibots and enjoy the pics and reviews of the others. To all contributors, esp Mike and Kuma, thanks!

[Kuma Style]

Thanks for helping there, Scyla and yea it's the Fansproject Pinchar. Honestly, it's a decently looking line but it feels like it took until this last release for them to finally get things right with all of the q.c. niggles that the line had to that point. It's really unfortunate. 

Striker Manus came in yesterday and I really can't want to open it. 

[Scyla]

2 hours ago, Kuma Style said:

Thanks for helping there, Scyla and yea it's the Fansproject Pinchar. Honestly, it's a decently looking line but it feels like it took until this last release for them to finally get things right with all of the q.c. niggles that the line had to that point. It's really unfortunate. 

Striker Manus came in yesterday and I really can't want to open it. 

Hope you do a review on him soon.

Do you know if Maketoys will release an add-on set for Thunder Erebus? 

[Kuma Style]

21 hours ago, Scyla said:

Hope you do a review on him soon.

Do you know if Maketoys will release an add-on set for Thunder Erebus? 

Yea man! Trying to knock it out ASAP! And I don't know if it's specifically FOR Thunder Eberus but they're doing a GodBomber on its own which also turns into the armor parts and they showed it combined with Eberus so it'll definitely have an armor option.

---------------------------------------------------------

 

The Review for GCreation's GDW-02 Rebel is up: http://kumastyledesigns.com/gcreation-rebel-review/

Honestly, the review goes into detail but I absolutely love the robot mode. The transformation and alt. aren't as hot for me, but once you get it there, the alt. is fun too.

Here are a few pics from the gallery:

[Scyla]

21 minutes ago, Kuma Style said:

Yea man! Trying to knock it out ASAP! And I don't know if it's specifically FOR Thunder Eberus but they're doing a GodBomber on its own which also turns into the armor parts and they showed it combined with Eberus so it'll definitely have an armor option.
*review snip*

Yeah I know but I was confused if they still planning to put out the God Bomber with the Thunder Manus bundle released. I also love the fin on the back of the upgraded Thunder Manus so I would be fine to buy one of each for Thunder Erebus. 

[Kuma Style]

[Scyla]

Great shot. I think the only thing I dislike is the flat toe top. I wish the transition from the regular toes to the new ones was smoother. Not sure why Maketoys felt the need to chrome certain parts but they still look stunning. 

With the exception of the Macross Valkyries, the Cross Dimensions line is probably my favorite transforming robot toy line at the moment. Outside of the Masterpiece and Reformatted line I usually only buy certain characters but MakeToys won me over so I had to get the Rioter Despotron as well. 

Edited February 22, 2018 by Scyla

[Kuma Style]

 

[M'Kyuun]

Referring to Kuma's group-shot of Drift, Prime, and Prowl, that Drift just looks amazing (absolutely love the shoulder design). As for Prowl, the showcase figure, I dig him as a toy, but I'm not feeling him as Prowl. I so, so love G1 Prowl's design that I'm forever biased. However, I get that he's a Cybertronian version of the character from the comics (IDW?), and to that end, it's a really good design. I'm generally not a fan of Cybertronian alts, as they're often unrecognizable as anything real, look like a robot doing yoga, have exposed bot parts here or there, or are just so far out there as to lose their appeal. Often, but not always. Just as a stand-alone transforming toy, apart from his association with Prowl or even TF, I think he's an excellent figure with a really nice sci-fi car alt mode. As Prowl, well YMMV. Had they made him his own character, I'd totally be down. But, that's my opinion, which is worth nothing; what does matter is that you plunked down money for this guy, and judging by the pics, you scored an impressive action figure that just happens to transform into a believable car with sci-fi flare- all good things. Hope you enjoy him, Kuma, and as always, thanks for sharing pics of these guys.

Edit: I got so caught up commenting on Prowl that I forgot I was going to ask if that Lost Exo Realm Snarl's tail can unfurl to sit like wings, similar to his G1 toy. I hadn't noticed the first dozen times I looked at the pics that the tail halves were folded into a backpack. Actually, it's a nice option if they do unfold.

Edited February 23, 2018 by M'Kyuun

[Kuma Style]

Whether or not someone likes what IDW is doing with the designs is subjective; you either do or you don't. However as a product this is an AWESOME aesthetic license and a damned dun and poseable toy to play with. I understand the general theory on Cybertronian alt. modes but Prowl's in particular is very blatantly a vehicle and doesn't show any robot "kibble" at all. If it were just a standalone "space car" the aesthetic of it is strong enough to be sold as such. I think a lot of my gravitation towards Cybertronian stuff is that it's more "mecha" looking than necessarily Transformers and I'm a mecha collector first and foremost. Natural bias for sure.

I'm give or take on IDW stuff but Prowl's design is one that I absolutely love compared to honestly not giving a flying deuce about the G1 iteration. I definitely understand that it's not for everyone. I honestly agree with everything you said and can see your perspective very well, @M'Kyuun! I really appreciate the way that most of you guys here relay thoughts. It's extremely well-written and refreshing.

On my review of Pinchar I have pics of different configuations of the backpack/tail and yes he can certainly do the G1-styled look. 

 

[mikeszekely]

I'm in sort of the same boat as @M'Kyuun.  I grew up in the '80s, and as a kid the only thing better than a toy car or a toy robot was a toy car that turned into a robot.  That's not to say that I can't enjoy a Cybertronian mode, but I'm always going to prefer a realistic earth mode.  I mean, I remember even as a six year old thinking that it was kind of lame that the movie/Season 3 cast had futuristic alt modes instead of actual Porsches, Lamborghinis, and Datsuns.  Besides, I don't think Prowl kept that mode for long, anyway.

(I'm also a bit put off of Rebel just because I've been fairly dissatisfied with every GCreations toy I have bought, but that's another story.)

So, while I'm glad that @Kuma Style is enjoying his copy, Rebel's a pass for me.  Now, if you get a company like Generation Toy to give me this IDW Prowl:

Then I'll probably bite.

[M'Kyuun]

Geez, how many iterations of Prowl are there in the comics? The version Mike posted looks like a cross between a Hummer and a dune buggy (the hood section). It's not bad, but if we're going with alternate Prowls, I think I prefer the space car, which is odd given my own bias. As Kuma mentioned, the alt mode is done so well that it could stand on its own, and that's really a litmus test for a good alt, IMHO. Plus, I dig the styling of it, the circular details on the wheels, the overall shape of the car, etc.  It's definitely one of the nicest Cybertronian alts I've seen- kinda growing on me. I'll have to poke around Kuma's gallery now- too nice a figure not to see more.  Moreover, I'd like to check out more of Pinchar's pics. Thanks for the info on his tail, Kuma.

'Preciate the kind words, Kuma. TFW2005, this is not- some very rude, profane, and often aggressive posters over there- a rather unpleasant lot. While we've had one here a time or two, they generally end up banned, and the vast majority here conduct themselves like rational adults, which makes it an enjoyable place to come and share thoughts/pics and ask questions. I've been here for around 14-15 years- I lurked more than posted for about ten of those. However my collecting blossomed a bit in the mid 2000's (I was an AF TSgt with no kids, so a nice bit of disposable for the hobbies), and this place was always the hot spot for info relating to Macross (of course), but additionally, the Transformers conversation grew to encompass official and third party offerings, so again, it became a great place to share. I have nothing to do with running this site, but after a visit to TFW, I always feel a spot of pride for being a member here, even if my contributions are minimal. Hope you find a 'home' here, Kuma, and continue sharing your ideas and hobbies, not to mention photo skills.

[mikeszekely]

7 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Geez, how many iterations of Prowl are there in the comics?

I mean, it's still the same Prowl, but assuming some variation is just due to different artists and not actually different bodies... four, maybe five.  Pre-war Cybertronian, a Nissan Z-car (350Z at first, 370Z later, but still basically the same, so you decide if it's the same body or not), post-Chaos Cybertronian (the version that Rebel is based on), and then this form when he goes back to Earth.  His last comic book appearance (that I recall) was in the Titans Return story, and he seemed to be drawn as a car, but his robot mode is still identical to this one so it might just be an art thing.  Anyway, I dig it because it's very visually Prowl in robot mode but a tougher (yet still realistic) police alt mode.

As for the alt mode, I don't know if it's supposed to be anything specific, but it reminds me of the kind of armored SUVs that were popular with the police when I was in China.  Something like a Rhino or an INKAS.

Speaking of cops, I got my hands on Sarge, Generation Toy's new take on Streetwise.

As is usually the case with GT, Sarge is a Classic-esque "updated" G1-ish design.  It's not straight up G1 and uses (as we'll see in a bit) a newer model car for his alt mode, but a lot of the visual cues are still extremely G1, even more than his IDW appearance.  We've still got a chest dominated by the front windshield, still has panels on his arms with tires, red thighs, and his shins are still made from the rear window.  His feet aren't made from the light bar, but they're still red in color.  The rear bumper on his knees adds the same dark stripe his spoiler provided on the original toy.  Some silver near his wrists, biceps, abs, are similar to G1's white (ok, very light gray) but helps break up all the other white on him.  Good proportions and sculpt help him look dynamic even when he's just standing there.  My one and only complaint is that I wish GT had put some red paint on his forehead and ears, although there's some discussion as to whether or not his head could be a connection point for combined mode and was left white to prevent scratching (my guess is that it's white because the G1 toy was white from the front).  I could always paint it myself later; what I want you guys to take away from this is that I absolutely love this design.

Curiously, while GT/TFM's Stunticons were basically the same size as the official MP cars, Sarge is a head taller.  That does make me wonder how that will affect the gestalt; one of the things I like is that the GT/TFM combiners have been the same size as the two Warbotrons, the ToyWorld Throttlebot and Dinobot combiners, Ordin, Hades, and Poseidon (with the lifts) and only a little taller than Feral Rex, Uranos, Prometheus, and Poseidon (without the lifts), allowing one to have a collection of 3P combiners that cover nearly all of G1 that are roughly the same size.  That's something the ToyWorld/Zeta/DX9/XTB/FansToys "MP-sized" combiners haven't delivered yet.

Sarge just comes with one accessory, his gun.  If you've seen the guns GT gave to their Constructicons you basically know what to expect; black plastic, silver-painted barrel.  Assuming the combined-mode stuff like hands and feet come with their Hotspot (or their First Aid), I don't think Sarge really needs anything else.

Sarge's articulation is good in some areas, but not-so-good in other areas.  His head is on a hinged swivel with an actual neck (which I love), so he can rotate his head, look up about 45 degrees, look down a shade before his chin hits his chest, no sideways tilt.  His shoulders move laterally 90 degrees on hinges, and can rotate 360 degrees.  Two issues here, though; the hinge for lateral movement is in the torso, before the rotational joint.  So in shades of the old Warbotron guys (or FansToys' Apache) you can raise his arms forward on the rotational joint or laterally on the hinge, but not both at the same time (unless you raise the hinge all the way).  This kind of design is dated, and there's no excuse for not building a hinge inside the shoulder.  The other issue is that the hinge is far too loose.  If you raise his arm the full 90 degrees and then position the arm so the weight is more foward then you might be ok, but if you raise his arm anything less than 90 degrees laterally his arms immediately droop back to his sides.

Continuing on, he's got bicep swivels, double-jointed elbows that get slightly over 90 degrees, wrist swivels, a joint that lets you bend his wrists in towards his body, and a pin through the base knuckle of his fingers that lets him open and close his hands.  The index finger is a separate part from the other three.  His waist can swivel.  His hips can move only about 45 degrees forward or backward due to the lack of moveable hip skirts, and about 90 degrees laterally.  His thighs can swivel, and his double-jointed knees can get maybe 110-120 degrees of bend.  His feet have a pair of hinges so they can tilt down a little, up about 30 degrees, and pivot to a ridiculous degree (nearly 180 degrees).

A thin ridge on the back of his gun's handle fits into a groove in his palm, and by itself it's not a secure connection.  However, his fingers have plenty of tension to hold the ridge in the groove, so overall he holds his gun very well.

Sarge's alt mode is a Nissan 370Z police car.  It's been suggested that it's a better alt-mode for Prowl than Streetwise (in the IDW series, when Prowl was a 370Z Streetwise was a Nissan GT-R), but G1 Streetwise was a Nissan 300ZX (Z31), the successor to G1 Prowl's 280ZX, so a 370Z is as much an updated version of Streetwise's alt mode as Prowl's.  Based on a quick Google search on the length of both cars Sarge is slightly too large (a 280ZX is around 9 inches longer than a 370Z, but Sarge and MP Prowl are basically the same size) but I don't think they look too out-of-place together.  Certainly closer than TFC's tiny Mustang.

Even if you allow that a 370Z is as logical a choice for Streetwise as it is for Prowl, the other complaint you're likely to hear is that the white-on-top, black-on bottom paint job with the shield and "POLICE" printed on the sides is definitely more Prowl than GT Streetwise's all white (very light gray) paint and sheriff star.  I'm of two minds on this; most countries don't have sheriffs, and this white-on-black color scheme is how almost every police car in Japan is painted.  G1 Streetwise has a pretty boring paint job anyway.  On the other hand, there are plenty of other police paint schemes used throughout the world that are still similar, like China's white with a blue swoosh, that would have still been mostly white but visually more interesting than G1 Streetwise and more visually distinct than Prowl's Japanese scheme.

Regardless of the deco, like GT's Jazz or TFM's Stunticons the alt mode has plenty of realistic, painted details and makes for a great-looking car.

A quick peak at the underside does reveal a visible back of the head, but for the most part hides his robot bits very well.  His gun clips to the underside, and we've got rubber tires here that roll just fine.

What the pictures don't illustrate well is the transformation.  It's one of the better ones GT/TFM have come up with.  There's enough twisting and rotating to be fun, but nothing frustrating the way some of the Stunticons were.  Everything locks together great in both modes.  A lot of the engineering is quite clever, with panels that hide robot parts in car mode filling in gaps in is torso in robot mode where his arms were collapsed.

There's so much good in this figure that it really makes the issues with his shoulders that much more disappointing.  Hinges inside the shoulders with better tolerances than the torso hinges he does have, and I think this really would have been the best figure that GT/TFM have made, besting even their Optimus, Motormaster, and Megatron.  I'd have recommended him in a heartbeat.  As it is, while I don't think his shoulder issues are necessarily a dealbreaker I would suggest waiting a bit and seeing how some of GT's other Protectobots turn out before deciding whether or not to jump in on this set.

[Kuma Style]

9 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Geez, how many iterations of Prowl are there in the comics? The version Mike posted looks like a cross between a Hummer and a dune buggy (the hood section). It's not bad, but if we're going with alternate Prowls, I think I prefer the space car, which is odd given my own bias. As Kuma mentioned, the alt mode is done so well that it could stand on its own, and that's really a litmus test for a good alt, IMHO. Plus, I dig the styling of it, the circular details on the wheels, the overall shape of the car, etc.  It's definitely one of the nicest Cybertronian alts I've seen- kinda growing on me. I'll have to poke around Kuma's gallery now- too nice a figure not to see more.  Moreover, I'd like to check out more of Pinchar's pics. Thanks for the info on his tail, Kuma.

'Preciate the kind words, Kuma. TFW2005, this is not- some very rude, profane, and often aggressive posters over there- a rather unpleasant lot. While we've had one here a time or two, they generally end up banned, and the vast majority here conduct themselves like rational adults, which makes it an enjoyable place to come and share thoughts/pics and ask questions. I've been here for around 14-15 years- I lurked more than posted for about ten of those. However my collecting blossomed a bit in the mid 2000's (I was an AF TSgt with no kids, so a nice bit of disposable for the hobbies), and this place was always the hot spot for info relating to Macross (of course), but additionally, the Transformers conversation grew to encompass official and third party offerings, so again, it became a great place to share. I have nothing to do with running this site, but after a visit to TFW, I always feel a spot of pride for being a member here, even if my contributions are minimal. Hope you find a 'home' here, Kuma, and continue sharing your ideas and hobbies, not to mention photo skills.

In terms of the amount of variants, I'm not sure. This is the one I'm most familiar with as I started around the "dark cybertron" series and remember him getting this upgrade around them. And yea, Cybertronian alts are a bit give-and-take. I think that this is one of the nicer ones, for sure. The current Optimus (shown in that pic with rebel) has a really clean alt. mode as well for being Cybertronian, but honestly it's just a step outside of being a sleek earth mode, if that. 

And yea, I've been very impressed with how well-versed the conversation is here on non-macross items. It's awesome, and I really, and truly appreciate you (and others) being welcoming. It's also nice to be able to have fairly direct conversations without 50 "any updates" spam posts in between. It's a very nice vibe.

In case you didn't get a chance  to check out the gallery, here's Pinchar with the tail in the other configuration. I was just home on break from work and didn't have time to search through my site for it.

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, Kuma Style said:

The current Optimus (shown in that pic with rebel) has a really clean alt. mode as well for being Cybertronian, but honestly it's just a step outside of being a sleek earth mode, if that. 

You mean GT's Op Ex?  It's not Cybertronian, it's Don Figueroa's design from the beginning of the Transformers ongoing, right after All Hail Megatron.  He just kept it for a long time, including during Dark Cybertron when you jumped in.

And it's not exactly current anymore.  While some artists, like Alex Milne and Andrew Griffith, tried to stay true to Don's design when they were drawing Optimus, Livio Ramondelli started drawing him a bit differently during his run on Robots in Disguise.  I don't know if Ramondelli's changes were intentional or not, but Griffith started copying them when Robots in Disguise switched to just "The Transformers" to avoid confusion with the cartoon.  Fast forward to today, in the Optimus Prime ongoing, and he's got his smokestacks back, the gap is gone between his window pecs, and he sort of looks like they kept some of Don's elements but toned them down to be more G1-ish.  Like this:

I guess, depending on the artist or the story, characters can change their appearance a lot in IDW, and that can make doing an "IDW" version of a character tricky.  Megatron's a really good example: he's had six different bodies in the IDW comics, and while Don Figueroa's "bomber" Megatron pops into a lot of people's heads when they hear "IDW Megatron" due to having a distinct look and a Hasbro toy, a lot of people are going to say that Alex Milne's Megatron from More Than Meets The Eye was their favorite.

[M'Kyuun]

Ask a question, get a deluge of info.  Thanks Mike, and you, too, Kuma. I appreciate your posting those 'tail-out' pics of Pinchar. I dig it. Like I said, that's a nice option.

Sarge is nice looking figure in his own right, and he has a sweet car mode. Reminds me a little of RtS Jazz.

When it comes to the comics, I'm pretty ignorant. I get a vague sense of the varying designs when Hasbro releases comic based toys, but I've no idea who designed what in most cases. It's conversations like this that enlighten me. Subsequently, I'll chime in a preference for Don Figueroa's stealth bomber design over the various tank designs for Mighty Megatron, and even though it's a complete departure from his G1 look (which I love), all around I think it fits ole Megs. I guess a tank mode does, too, and that's been around since G2, but I like aircraft, and that's an undeniably cool alt mode. I'm biased.

[JB0]

I think the flying wing is a great design, but it doesn't suit Megatron well. "Stealthy" is not an adjective I would ascribe to the guy. He is someone that makes his presence known.

I'd rather see him as a Stratofortress or an XB-71 Valkyrie. You know he's coming, but you still can't do a darn thing to stop him from unleashing ALL THE HURT on top of your head.

[Kuma Style]

8 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Ask a question, get a deluge of info.  Thanks Mike, and you, too, Kuma. I appreciate your posting those 'tail-out' pics of Pinchar. I dig it. Like I said, that's a nice option.

Sarge is nice looking figure in his own right, and he has a sweet car mode. Reminds me a little of RtS Jazz.

When it comes to the comics, I'm pretty ignorant. I get a vague sense of the varying designs when Hasbro releases comic based toys, but I've no idea who designed what in most cases. It's conversations like this that enlighten me. Subsequently, I'll chime in a preference for Don Figueroa's stealth bomber design over the various tank designs for Mighty Megatron, and even though it's a complete departure from his G1 look (which I love), all around I think it fits ole Megs. I guess a tank mode does, too, and that's been around since G2, but I like aircraft, and that's an undeniably cool alt mode. I'm biased.

Honestly, the "Bomber" Megatron is a favorite of mine (particularly because of the colors... Black with "tron" paneling is just something that seems to always look good no matter what it's on) as well but I do have a strong preference towards his Tank iterations as well (My favorite was actually the "Galvatron" coloring of Armada Megatron.) Overall, I think I'll take any version of Megatron that isn't a gun. 

[mikeszekely]

Sunday Twofer!  Today we're going to look at the latest from Ocular Max's Remix series, Furor (the blue one) and Riot (the red one).*

*FIRRIB, you guys.  If Rumble had been blue in a few episodes then they fixed the "mistake" and started calling him Frenzy or started recoloring him red and black, then sure, it's an animation error.  When the blue tape keeps appearing, and they keep calling him Rumble in all 98 episodes plus a movie it's not longer an animation error, it's a misprint on the toy's packaging.

Anyway... yep, that sure does look like Rumble and Frenzy to me.  Furor's colors are a little more vibrant than the official MP, they have the extra band of color around their wrists, and both have patterns on the pelvis and shins that are more cartoon accurate than the officials.  Actually, for super cartoon accuracy, MMC even went with white paint for their toes and faces, although their weapons and the markings are Furor's chest and pelvis are still silver.  Oh, and speaking of toes, it's impressive that MMC even managed to nail the cartoon shape of the feet.  They also went with a softer sort of shape for their heads.  That also increases their cartooniness, but the softness also has the side effect of making the face sculpt a little indistinct.  Finally, while the officials had the same holes in their chests that the G1 toys had for the tape spools, Furor and Riot's chests are solid, like the cartoon.

As good as they look, I do have some aesthetic complaints.  Their torsos are too long, the forearms are way too long, and their biceps are basically down to an elbow hinge with the swivel at the top.  There's also a hugely noticable seem on their shins.  Both issues can be chalked up to the difficulties of getting a robot out of a tape cassette, I suppose.  One issue I'm not as sure they couldn't have avoided, though, are the tabs on their wrists.  It's not the tabs themselves that bother me, it's the fact that the color on their wrists is painted on.  On both Riot and Furor the paint is wearing off of those tabs.

Another pic, this time with Soundwave and Bumblebee, to help show off the scale.  Now, I've looked at some episodes, and I've looked at the scale chart, and officially Rumble and Frenzy should be roughly human-sized, smaller than Bumblebee.  In other words, the officials are actually correct.  However, the scale chart isn't exactly gospel; it was a guide for the animators to use, and one that was frequently disregarded.  You're memories may vary, but I remember him being taller, and in many episodes he was.  He was, especially in the first season, one of the main Decepticon cast; to me, he was probably the fourth "main" Decepticon after Megatron, Starscream, and Soundwave.  Accurate or not, the officials were always too small and not "MP" enough.  Riot and Furor are probably a head taller than I'd like, but I'd say this is closer to what I want than the officials.

Both Riot and Furor come with the same accessories, just in different colors.  For starters, you've got my favorite part of the Remix experience, the packaging.  Just like they did with Jaguar, Riot and Furor come in a casette case, and the instructions are printed on the cover liner notes.  Now, with Jaguar, I'd considered this packaging that was like an accessory.  This time, it's definitely an accessory.  Although the figures come in tape mode and in their cases, the cases themselves are placed in a larger box with more accessories.

Those accessories are a stand, painted to look like the dry earth of the Oregon desert where they always seemed to be fighting, piledrivers, their gun/wings, and an alternate head.  Again, the sculpt is very soft and I don't think you can see the difference from my photos (it doesn't help that I'm shooting with an old Nikon point-and-shoot with focus issues), but the difference between the heads is that the installed heads have kind of a smirky smile, and the extra heads are stoic.  I'm leaving the smirky face installed on Furor, but swapped Riot to the stoic face.

Not pictured, each tape also comes with stickers that you can apply to give them cassette labels.  They seem kind of cheap, though, and don't offer faction symbols for the indented space on their tummies, so I'll probably wait and see what Reprolabels comes up with.

Their heads are on ball joints, and although they don't have much lateral tilt they have really good range both up and down.  Their shoulders are ball-jointed, too, and rotate freely.  Their shoulder armor is close to the body, though, so it resists being moved laterally.  At the ball joint, it'll either snap back down or snap to 90 degrees.  However, joint inside the torso moves the whole assembly up to 90 degrees, so you can still get the poses you want.  Their biceps swivel, and they've got double-jointed elbows good for maybe 120 degrees or so.  Their hands do have a pin at the base knuckle, so you can open and close their hands, but they don't have wrist swivels.  Then again, neither do the officials.  The officials also don't have an ab crunch or a waist swivel, but these guys have both, although the swivel is a little awkward due to how much wider these guys are right to left versus front to back.  The ab crunch is good for about 90 degrees forward.  Their hip skirts are on swivels, and the hips themselves can go 90 degrees laterally, just under that backward, and just over that forward.  They have thigh swivels, and single-hinged knees good for 90 degrees.  Their ankles are ball joints so they can tilt up slightly, down a fair amount, and pivot a little less than 45 degrees.  Technically they can swivel, too, but they have to be at the just the right angle to clear the back of their calves.

The guns can be held in their hands, or pegged onto their backs, same as the G1 toys and the official MPs.  The connection to their backs or in their hands is quite secure.  They're not a solid piece, though.  There are hinges at the base of the wing and the barrel.  I've found that the hinges are strong enough that they'll stay in the position that you put them in, but loose enough that the slightest tap will move them.  It's frustrating, but I think stronger hinges would increase the changes of breaking such small, thin parts, especially the barrels.  The stands have depressions with pegs in them for the feet, and the feet have peg holes that allow them to snap securely onto the base.  The piledrivers work very much like the officials.  You bend the arm so the bicep is horizontal, the forearm is pointing up, and the fist is tucked away, then slide the piledriver around the forearm.  They do have a fold-out panel on the top to cover up the gap where the forearm goes in, which is nice.  They also have working electrionics.  Pop two LR44 batteries into each piledriver, hit the switch, and the piledriver will start pumping.  It's been suggested that MMC could have left the electronics out and sold these guys at a lower price to entice more buyers, and I think they're probably right, but it's still kind of a fun gimmick.  Just head the warning on the packaging!  MMC says that you should try to hit the switch and stop the piledrivers in the closed position.  If you stop them in the open position and try to push them back in yourself you could damage them.

If you don't want them using their piledrivers, but still want them to carry them, MMC has you covered.  The filler panel folds underneath the cap at the top, and you can slide a gun down inside.  Then you plug the gun into their back, and presto, piledriver backpack.

Riot and Furor both transform into cassettes.  Not microcassettes, like the G1 toy or the official MP, but a 1:1 audio cassette.  I happened to find one I had in a closet from a local band I listened to when I was in high school for comparison's sake (I doubt enough people would know Dawson High that the band would show my age... but the fact that I listened to casssettes in high school probably does).  I'm sure they'll look even more cassette-like with labels.  Going with a 1:1 cassette alt-mode is undoubtedly why they're bigger than Bumblebee in robot mode, but I think the alternatives would be to try to cram this engineering into a microcassette-size (which would still leave those yearning for a bigger Rumble and Frenzy unsatisfied), or to go with a totally arbitrary size, so I think MMC probably made the right call.  What I think is really impressive, though, is that the spool-holes that they didn't have visible on their chests in robot mode are totally still present in cassette mode.

Another impressive feat, something that the officials couldn't manage, is that their wing guns are tucked inside the cassettes.  I though it was cool that the official MP Laserbeak/Buzzsaw and Ravage worked their engines/rockets into their microcassette modes, because it made for an all-in-one tranformation.  Unlike the G1 toys, you didn't have to worry about where to put their stuff when they were in tape mode and stuffed into Soundwave's chest.  Takara gave you places to store Rumble and Frenzy's guns, either in the piledrivers or in Soundwave's feet, but they seemed like less of an update over their G1 toys since you still had to pull the guns off their backs or out of their hands and put them someplace else.  It makes me really happy that Riot and Furor don't have that problem.  You can pop them out of their cases and transform them into complete, armed little guys.

Speaking of caes, they and their liner notes are the only other accessories that work with this mode.  You do still have to find a place to stash their piledrivers and their stands, but I'm cool with that.  In fact, I think Furor looks much better with his piledrivers than the official toy did, and my plan is to display him with piledrivers while Riot dual-wields his guns, to give them a little extra visual distinction beyond color.  Basically, how I put them in their articulation picture is how they're going on my shelf.

In any case, unless the size really bothers you, I definitely recommend them.  The bigger size, the greater cartoon accuracy, the improved articulation, and the diecast all work to make them feel like worth "MP" versions of Rumble and Frenzy, and they're a huge improvement over the official toys.  They're more solid, and their transformation is also more straightforward and less fiddly than Jaguar, and I'd have to say that Riot and Furor strike me as an improvement over Jaguar for those reasons.  They're so good that I'm seriously starting to think about picking up their condors, and unlike Rumble, Frenzy, and Ravage I definitely feel like MMC's are too big and the official versions were actually really good so that's really saying something.

I seriously hope MMC gives us a Remix version of Ratbat.  Well, I'll take all of Soundwave's remaning tapes, and all of Blaster's too, but I was into the old Marvel comics when Ratbat took over the Decepticons ("Carwash of Doom," anyone?), so I really want a bigger Ratbat as good as these Remix guys have been.

[locidm]

Nice review. Thanks for posting. I have their ravage from few years ago and liked it very much. These look really nice too and I agree with you about the torso and forearms. Still it’s oretty impressive engineering. 

[JB0]

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

Furor (the blue one) and Riot (the red one).*

Surely those are purple and black.

 

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

  If Rumble had been blue in a few episodes then they fixed the "mistake" and started calling him Frenzy or started recoloring him red and black, then sure, it's an animation error.  When the blue tape keeps appearing, and they keep calling him Rumble in all 98 episodes plus a movie it's not longer an animation error, it's a misprint on the toy's packaging.

But the toys came first. And in every other 80s outlet except the cartoon(in America, as Japan swaps the names back), Frenzy and Rumble use something approximating their toy colors. Intent seems very clear here.  In the end, it just means that Frenzy and Rumble have different colors in different continuities(except that IDW apparently swaps their colors on a regular basis, so good luck figuring THAT universe out).

While the cartoon does consistently call the purple one Rumble and I wouldn't call it an animation error, I WOULD call it a production error. Particularly as the show's production bible specifies toy-accurate naming.  

 

Honestly, I suspect the show's producers took a practical approach to things. Frenzy was easier to paint, but Rumble was easier to say, so they swapped the palettes. And thus Rumble took the foreground, but wearing Frenzy's paintjob, and Frenzy became an occasional character, but wearing Rumble's more complex color scheme. 

It is just a dumb toy ad, after all. It isn't like anyone will care thirty years later whether or not they mixed up a pair of plastic robots that were packaged together anyways, right? ...  Oh. Well, crap.

[Kuma Style]

The video and article get in depth but I'll definitely say that this one's worth a pickup whether it's your first or latest Iron Factory figure. Outside of the sword fitting tightly and rubbing the paint on the handle, I don't have a single damned complaint even being as nitpicky as possible. It's good looking, insanely articulated, and FUN.

Here are some pics from the gallery:

[M'Kyuun]

On ‎2‎/‎24‎/‎2018 at 10:45 PM, JB0 said:

I think the flying wing is a great design, but it doesn't suit Megatron well. "Stealthy" is not an adjective I would ascribe to the guy. He is someone that makes his presence known.

I'd rather see him as a Stratofortress or an XB-71 Valkyrie. You know he's coming, but you still can't do a darn thing to stop him from unleashing ALL THE HURT on top of your head.

Or a B-1B.  While the BUFF is still an impressive aircraft, she's showing her age, and the B-2 is more apropos to this generation IMHO. I think it'd work great as his alt in an alt-universe Cold War story, though. But I get what you're saying about the contrast between alt mode and personality where Megatron is concerned, at least G1 Megatron. TF:A Megs was more subtle and calculating. He was shadowy.

Great review for Furor and Riot, Mike. Funny, I didn't even notice the near lack of upper arm, although mine has the same limitation on the shoulder where it catches. Guess it's endemic to the mold, unfortunately. However, for such a small thin figure, I was really impressed by how much articulation they imparted, and the transformation is ingenious. There's certainly more to love than not.

Along with Furor I got the condors, and in hand they don't feel nearly as refined as Jaguar or Furor. The cassette doesn't really lock solidly, at least with my Volture (Laserbeak). It tends to want to flex since the lower two-thirds of the cassette splits into the engines and wings, with only one small tab to peg the engine sections together in tape mode. Moreover, one of the wings refuses to tab down flat, and I'm not sure why. I don't recall having that issue with Buzzard, however. Anyway, the outer wing half is supposed to tab into a tiny post sticking up from the inner wing structure; all but one on my Volture tab securely. I don't recall having these issues with Buzzard, so MMV from toy to toy. As I mentioned, the outer wings are comprised of two halves that simply lay over each other, with nothing tabbing them together in condor mode, thus requiring constant readjustment if you're handling the thing. On both of mine, compared to Furor and Jaguar, who have tight joints throughout, the joints in the neck, head, and wings on the condors feel loose. It holds a pose, but things move at the slightest touch. The leg joints are all sufficiently tight and support the weight well. The leg attachment points, which swivel down out of the body, are pretty tight, both joint-wise and clearance. Pulling those things out is a tense moment, hoping they'll come out without breaking anything. I was disappointed that the wings could not swing back further than 90 degrees perpendicular to the body. No sleek wings-raked-back poses for these guys- just straight out, or raked forward. One odd bit of articulation is the breast-crunch, where the breast section of the bird can rotate down if the rest of the body is perched in a more erect pose. It's unnecessary, IMO, since the neck can rotate at the base accomplishing the same thing, essentially.  Finally the aft body is split into two sections, each containing a faux tape reel which acts as the inner wing pivot on either side. Both aft body sections are mounted on a slider to close the gap in condor mode, but without any locking mechanism, exhibit a bit of longitudinal rotation, albeit with light friction, which may be intentional for posing. IDK. So, yeah, a few flaws. The good: They look like Laserbeak and Buzzsaw, have some nice paint apps or tampo approximating the look of cassette labels on one side, just like the 80's toys and the MPs. Note that Jaguar, Furor, and Riot do not come with cassette label apps and require decals to give them the appearance of real cassettes. On with the positives, the legs and feet from the knee down are all die-cast, giving them a stable base. Moreover, the feet are broken into four hinged segments which allow them to be wrapped around a small object for perching or grasping. The engines also feature a yellow-reddish engine glow tampoed on the exausts- kind of a neat thing- I dig it.  Both inner and outer wings are painted (topside only) , and paint apps are pretty crisp.

FYI: I just realized that there are small silver circular magnets installed in the outer wings, which are intended to hold them together. Unfortunately, both of the lower wing magnets had fallen out of their holes while still sealed. I've recovered both and temp installed them in the wings, which is a marked improvement, although adjustment to keep the wings in alignment is still necessary. At least the wing halves stay together now..

My final thoughts are that the quality evident in MMC's other cassette releases just isn't here. If you're on the fence, honestly, unless you're a completist, or you just really love the condors, pass. I hate to say that; I really want these all to be high quality releases, but in this case I have to say that the excellent Takara MP condors are superior. Hope this is a one-off, as quality goes. 

Edit: After posting I took another look at my Buzzard; he's much tighter in the joints and overall fit than my Volture. Which is the prevalent example of the overall line remains to be seen. I also noticed that one of the lower wing magnets had fallen off of Buzzard ( the joints are tighter, so his wings stayed together regardless), so this is definitely an issue to be aware of if you're getting these guys. 

Regarding Kuma's post, I find it interesting that the alt mode for Crystalys has more in common with a Gundam Waverider than pretty much anything in TF lore (that I'm aware of, anyway). It's a little too jumbled robot in alt mode for my liking; if it was closer to the Delta Plus, I'd be more interested. I'm glad you dig it, though- I know you're more into mecha/ super robot stuff, so the aesthetic is more to your taste. Dif'rent strokes. 

Edited February 27, 2018 by M'Kyuun

[Kuma Style]

13 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Regarding Kuma's post, I find it interesting that the alt mode for Crystalys has more in common with a Gundam Waverider than pretty much anything in TF lore (that I'm aware of, anyway). It's a little too jumbled robot in alt mode for my liking; if it was closer to the Delta Plus, I'd be more interested. I'm glad you dig it, though- I know you're more into mecha/ super robot stuff, so the aesthetic is more to your taste. Dif'rent strokes. 

Well, technically Dai Atlas is a Transformers character and the alt. mode is pretty slavish to the original's jet (it has three modes,) so it is like something out of TF lore being part of TF lore itself. I honestly just wish it could do the tank mode as well, and I think it'd be my "fig of the month" easily. I understand that there isn't as much general familiarity with non-G1 series, but they're still considered part of the Transformers universe...

With that though, you're dead on; All things Victory, Masterforce, and Zone are my jam. Love the animation and in Victory/Zone in particular the more mecha-oriented designs are just tops. I get that they (like everything) aren't for everyone, but honestly these are the things that really keep me collecting TFs so I'm really glad they exist.

[mikeszekely]

On 2/26/2018 at 1:24 AM, JB0 said:

But the toys came first. And in every other 80s outlet except the cartoon(in America, as Japan swaps the names back), Frenzy and Rumble use something approximating their toy colors. Intent seems very clear here.

Every other '80s outlet more or less consisted of the comic book, which was poorly colored anyway.  (We're not going to count Japan; I've got Optimus, Sideswipe, and Jazz, not Convoy, Lambor, and Meister.)  Now I agree that the intent was clear, but if I tell the police I intended to pay for the TV I walked out of Best Buy they're still going to unhappy that I already left the store, right?  Well, they may have intended for Rumble to be black and red, but they did nothing to correct their production error.  After a jillion episodes and three years that production error becomes canon.

[M'Kyuun]

11 hours ago, Kuma Style said:

Well, technically Dai Atlas is a Transformers character and the alt. mode is pretty slavish to the original's jet (it has three modes,) so it is like something out of TF lore being part of TF lore itself. I honestly just wish it could do the tank mode as well, and I think it'd be my "fig of the month" easily. I understand that there isn't as much general familiarity with non-G1 series, but they're still considered part of the Transformers universe...

With that though, you're dead on; All things Victory, Masterforce, and Zone are my jam. Love the animation and in Victory/Zone in particular the more mecha-oriented designs are just tops. I get that they (like everything) aren't for everyone, but honestly these are the things that really keep me collecting TFs so I'm really glad they exist.

Ah, ok. I've heard of Dai Atlas, but I have no familiarity with him at all. The same can be said for any of the Japanese TF shows- I'm aware they exist, but have never felt any compunction to watch them. My impression is that there's much more of a super robot vibe to them, with a lot of non-realistic alt modes, which doesn't appeal to me- not my jam, to borrow a phrase. My only foray into that universe is Takara's Ginrai, which I chose over Hasbro's Power Master Prime because he had poseable feet and a more G1 cab. The feet are weird, though, but at least he has some ankle tilt. Oh, and I got TR Alpha Trion, who turns into a uni-lion, which I believe is based on a character from one of the Japanese cartoons as well. I got him simply b/c I didn't have an Alpha Trion figure in my collection, so why not.  Anyway, I know you're all-in with super robot and the Japanese TF universe, so, great that they're making that stuff too. 

In regards to your photos, and your explanation of Dai Atlas, Iron Factory just impress me with what they are producing, esp at the scale they're working in. Sorry to hear that their version doesn't do tank mode; it seems a pretty big omission, quite frankly. But, you sound happy with him regardless, and that's really the point. When it stops being fun, time to get a new hobby. As always, grateful for the lovely pics, and the elucidation. 

I'm a little bummed that Hasbro did nothing commemorative for TF:Animated on its tenth anniversary, and I've been hoping that one or more third parties would take an interest and produce some of the characters we didn't get as toys. I know one company made two Huffer-like characters in Animated style, but there's really been nothing else. Like a lot of folks, I was an early skeptic, but I loved the show and the toys that came with it. I'd love an Omega Supreme.

I've developed an interest in Peg, er Drift, of late, no small thanks to Kuma's Flame Toys Drift pics. God, what a gorgeous figure. However, my tastes run more to the transformable versions, and AFAIK, the only ones out there presently are MMC's Stray, as well as his Deadlock form, Ater Beta. I've been doing comparison's between the Flame Toys and the MMC, and while the FT obviously has the superior bot mode, the MMC is looking pretty good, and I absolutely love the car mode they made for him, kinda Batmobile-ish. I'm generally not a Cybertronian alt fan, but I can't argue with a cool design, and this one screams cool to me. Out of curiosity, I took my Blurr recolor of Peg down from my CHUG shelves (hard to believe he came out in 2010-where has the time gone?), and gave him a once over. He's a pretty respectable version of the character after doing comparisons with these latest iterations. I far prefer MMC's alt over Hasbro's more conventional Earth car mode. I did notice, however, that there are a lot of moving parts on this guy, as well as a pretty high parts count within the figure itself, generous paint apps (even tail lights), and just overall pretty good fit and finish for a retail figure. Comparisons to recent CW, TR, and PotP figures definitely shows a lowering of standards (PotP Jazz's tail lights are molded but unpainted). Anyway, I've had Drift on the brain of late and just wanted to put those thoughts and observations down somewhere. I even started working on a LEGO version of him in LDD. I'm generally not the obsessive type, but something about this guy's design has suddenly piqued my interest and won't let go. 

[JB0]

8 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Every other '80s outlet more or less consisted of the comic book, which was poorly colored anyway. 

Don't forget the storybooks!

8 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Now I agree that the intent was clear, but if I tell the police I intended to pay for the TV I walked out of Best Buy they're still going to unhappy that I already left the store, right? 

I'd use "paid for with a stolen card" as the analogy, honestly.

"Officer, I didn't know that wasn't my credit card! I don't know HOW it got in my wallet!"

 

8 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Well, they may have intended for Rumble to be black and red, but they did nothing to correct their production error.  After a jillion episodes and three years that production error becomes canon.

Honestly, I'm curious how much executive control, or even investment in the cartoon Hasbro actually had.

But it is definitely canon. And since Transformers is explicitly multiversal across all official productions, unswapped toy-accurate colors are canon too(and in more universes!).

...

Were I selling the toys, I'd go with the G1 approach. The package would just say "Rumble and Frenzy" and contain both toys. I would never attach a specific name to a color image. Let everyone make of it what they will.

 

Were I given editorial control, Rumble would have toy colors.  And Frenzy wouldn't exist, not if I had to use the cartoon palettes for Thing 2 and Thing 1.  Because black&red looks super-cool, but lavender-all-over looks super-lame(the Shockwave fan said).