The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread

[mikeszekely]

3 hours ago, Kuma Style said:

Honestly Hellion is so "perfect" to me in bot mode except for that exposed, gray waist section. It's painful because it's eye-sore'ish for me on top of being that one thing that takes it away from just 10/10 aesthetically for me. Still the one I'm going with because it's the best of the bunch to me but that little piece just really brings me down about it.

In a way, the waist is sort of cartoon-accurate.

The problem is that Hellion's pelvis is too small.  But I think that's a "smaller" problem than than Toro's backpack.

But, like @Tking22 says, it's good to have options.  We're really living in a golden age where we get multiple versions of a lot of characters and we can decide on an individual basis which figure best meets our individual subjective criteria.  Plus 3P QC has gotten to a point where we can complain about things like engineering or face sculpts but it's getting less common to buy a figure with truly terrible quality.  I know a lot of people were giving Gabriel some grief because a leak at the factory caused some water damage on some of the first batch, but by now I'm definitely hearing a lot more people getting copies with no problems so hopefully that was an isolated incident.

[Kuma Style]

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

In a way, the waist is sort of cartoon-accurate.

The problem is that Hellion's pelvis is too small.  But I think that's a "smaller" problem than than Toro's backpack.

You know.. I think I'd like it a ton better if the piece were just "flat" and a bit moreangled inward like that... like an actual waist vs. a random block of plastic with unnecessary paneling. I appreciate the picture comparison btw. 

[M'Kyuun]

There's some pretty impressive origami going on with his arms to form the interior of his car mode. Reminds me of Gundog's arms, only more complex. The backs of his fists form the seat cushions. Anyway, found some various pics. Scroll down a bit on the link.

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/threads/ocular-max-hellion-cliffjumper.1123991/page-35

Edited May 31, 2018 by M'Kyuun

[Tking22]

Definitely a pretty nice looking bot mode, I just prefer Toro overall, monster hiking backpack included. Toro has the nicer face and chest to me, his face in particular has the face color going above his eyes whereas Helion bleeds straight in to red above his eyes. I also find the lack of a more defined spoiler on his chest disturbing. Both killer looking bot modes honestly so I feel you really can't go wrong, it's just that alt mode that loses me...

 

[Mechapilot77]

FWIW i did hear or read somewhere mmc's will have face colored plastic above his eyes and below the helmet line.  that being said...toro just evokes the feel of g1 cliffjumper to me more...especially the spoiler on this chest right under his chin.  mmc's looks....updated in a way.  the "feel" is off to me but not that far and its still nice, just not "my" cliffjumper.  I cannot through it "meet myself from the past, in which I can find a toy i have been dreaming of" whereas with toro i think i could.

[M'Kyuun]

It's a shame that Toro utilizes a fake chest, and that apparently the majority of his car accordians into that backpack, rather than just letting his torso be the aft section of car, like the G1 toy. Toy World nailed the bot look, but that backpack is a sizeable concession.

Waiting for someone to come along and marry the bot look of Toro with the car mode of Hellion; I think that'd be the ideal, or as close as you can come, to replicating the G1 toy as an update. Fortunately, for those who dislike the idea of a chibi car mode, Toro seems the perfect CJ for you.

[Kuma Style]

[nhyone]

On 5/26/2018 at 4:07 AM, mikeszekely said:

As others have noted, yeah, there's definitely a crowd that FansToys' approach appeals to, but other companies like Maketoys, Generation Toy, and Fans Hobby are making toys that look nearly as good but are much more dynamic and have transformations that don't suck all the fun out of the room.

Count me as one of them -- generally, I put looks over transformation, as the latter is something I do rarely. But X-Transbots crossed that line for me.

MakeToys did not appeal to me in the past. They take que from the cartoon, but something is always off. They are now more cartoon "accurate", perhaps because they realize it sells.

I think Phoenix looks spot-on, but still, I passed him up due to the size and cost. He seems too big, IMO. Let's see if I change my mind in a future re-issue.

I'm slow to make up my mind and that usually means having to wait for a second or third reissue (could be years later or never). But the good thing is that I'm sure I want that figure!

I always regretted not getting MMC Jaguar, but I still couldn't pull the trigger for the re-issue due to its price...

Edited June 1, 2018 by nhyone

[Kuma Style]

 

[M'Kyuun]

4 hours ago, nhyone said:

Count me as one of them -- generally, I put looks over transformation, as the latter is something I do rarely. But X-Transbots crossed that line for me.

MakeToys did not appeal to me in the past. They take que from the cartoon, but something is always off. They are now more cartoon "accurate", perhaps because they realize it sells.

I think Phoenix looks spot-on, but still, I passed him up due to the size and cost. He seems too big, IMO. Let's see if I change my mind in a future re-issue.

I'm slow to make up my mind and that usually means having to wait for a second or third reissue (could be years later or never). But the good thing is that I'm sure I want that figure!

I always regretted not getting MMC Jaguar, but I still couldn't pull the trigger for the re-issue due to its price...

I'm in the same boat, esp as I get older, I find I tend more towards more fun transformations. But the aesthetics are definitely the selling point.

I currently own no Maketoys figures, but they make a number of them that do appeal to me, and I may just add a few to my collection. Been eyeballing Meteor and his variants pretty hard. Also like Gundog.

I have MMC's Phoenix, and in hand, I think he scales well against official figures. He has some heft, transformation makes sense, lots of articulation, and a lovely alt mode. If I have gripes, I'm not crazy about the ball peg that forms his neck- kinda limited, and the linkages for his front wheels are a little looser than I'd like. Beyond that, he's as good a Mirage as you could hope for.

Jaguar is such a nice toy; as a long-time fan of the cassette-bots, Ravage in particular, I sat on the fence for about a year before picking him up. No regrets whatsoever. The neck/head articulation is limited, and that's about the only weakness of the figure, beyond not fitting in MP Soundwave (if that's a requisite). It makes a believable, if nondescript, full sized cassette out of the box- but let's face it, who's going to keep this guy in cassette mode?  Toyhax/Repro make a really nice label sheet for him that gives him his full G1 cassette livery. It looks sharp. Gets a 'recommend' from me, especially if you like the cassettes.

Prices are high on all this stuff- it's the concession for hopes and dreams made manifest, at least in theory. As in, 'Man, for what I paid, I hope this thing is as least as good as how I've pictured it in my mind for the last 34 years'. That's kinda my view on all this stuff, official included. I wish it was more affordable; I'd definitely have way more 3P figures. Budgeting realities at the fore, I sit on the fence, watch and read plenty of reviews, look at pics, consider the possibility of official versions, and make my decisions. Nothing wrong with keeping your money safe in your wallet; I can enjoy these things vicariously. It's not as much fun as in-hand, obviously, but still kinda enjoyable. I liken it to folks who watch extreme sports- most people will never participate in such activities, but they still get a certain rush from watching others do it. That's the world of poor toy collectors.

Edited June 1, 2018 by M'Kyuun

[Kuma Style]

 

 

[Kuma Style]

 

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

My Downbeat is an excellent Jazz, but I still couldn't count out Coolsville, so I ended buying the Ricochet repaint to mix things up a bit. Aside from a couple aesthetic nit picks, I like him as well.

On a related note, it seems T&R is STILL releasing their Jazz MP.  Better late than never I guess.

[M'Kyuun]

Hova doesn't look too bad- I like that they also included the silver torso detail, which matches the sticker on the G1 toy better than Coolsville's similar detail. For me, it's a toss-up between Zeta Toys Jazzy (exact same toy as Coolsville) and TnR Hova.  I've watched a number of vids, and read a number of reviews, including the negative ones on TFSource's product page concerning Jazzy. I still find it appealing enough to remain seriously interested. However, I'll see how Hova turns out. 

So far, I'm not crazy about how the thighs look for some reason, I think his hip skirt is one piece (hope I'm wrong), and his hands seem too small proportionally. All nitpicks, though. I'm willing to give it a fair shake.

[Kurisama]

Hey everyone - just thought I might post this as it may be of interest to some of you - especially if you can like Cybertronian-type designs and can handle a new/modern take on the Tetrajet:

https://maastoys.com/projects/air-soldiers/

MAAS Toys is doing a crowdfund for their line of not-cybertronian-seekers. They're not official MP scale but they do go toe-to-toe with MP Starscream, only off by 1 to 2mm to the top of the head. Wingspan in alt mode is the same as MP-SS's alt mode wingspan. There is also more articulation than the MP-11 mold. If you have a question, feel free to post on that page for answers regarding the project.

[Kuma Style]

2 hours ago, Valkyrie Hunter D said:

My Downbeat is an excellent Jazz, but I still couldn't count out Coolsville, so I ended buying the Ricochet repaint to mix things up a bit. Aside from a couple aesthetic nit picks, I like him as well.

On a related note, it seems T&R is STILL releasing their Jazz MP.  Better late than never I guess.

I wish I could check out Coolsville in-hand just to see if it has some redeeming qualities as a toy because I just really can't with the robot mode look. 

22 minutes ago, Kurisama said:

Hey everyone - just thought I might post this as it may be of interest to some of you - especially if you can like Cybertronian-type designs and can handle a new/modern take on the Tetrajet:

https://maastoys.com/projects/air-soldiers/

MAAS Toys is doing a crowdfund for their line of not-cybertronian-seekers. They're not official MP scale but they do go toe-to-toe with MP Starscream, only off by 1 to 2mm to the top of the head. Wingspan in alt mode is the same as MP-SS's alt mode wingspan. There is also more articulation than the MP-11 mold. If you have a question, feel free to post on that page for answers regarding the project.

I was all in on this while I thought it was Classics scale and now it's kind of like... eh? Especially after having just gotten Meteor. On the flip side I really like Cybertronian designs so I may get the Thundercracker and Skywarp to flank Meteor and have some mold difference.

[derex3592]

1 hour ago, Kurisama said:

Hey everyone - just thought I might post this as it may be of interest to some of you - especially if you can like Cybertronian-type designs and can handle a new/modern take on the Tetrajet:

https://maastoys.com/projects/air-soldiers/

MAAS Toys is doing a crowdfund for their line of not-cybertronian-seekers. They're not official MP scale but they do go toe-to-toe with MP Starscream, only off by 1 to 2mm to the top of the head. Wingspan in alt mode is the same as MP-SS's alt mode wingspan. There is also more articulation than the MP-11 mold. If you have a question, feel free to post on that page for answers regarding the project.

I might totally bite on Skywarp and Thundercracker in this setup! 

[tekering]

4 hours ago, Kuma Style said:

I was all in on this while I thought it was Classics scale and now it's kind of like... eh?

Yeah, there are precious few Cybertronian figures at that scale, either unlicensed or official.  The War For Cybertron line was all deluxes, and even Fall of Cybertron had only a few voyagers, even...

...although they might scale well with those Spark Toys "War Within" figures:

[Kuma Style]

19 hours ago, tekering said:

Yeah, there are precious few Cybertronian figures at that scale, either unlicensed or official.  The War For Cybertron line was all deluxes, and even Fall of Cybertron had only a few voyagers, even...

...although they might scale well with those Spark Toys "War Within" figures:

 

Honestly, the release has been another let down with every new piece of information... I thought it was a Classics-Scaled, G1 StarScream on seeing it...

First reveal: NOPE... it's a Cybertronian alt. mode... ok, cool; well I display my bots in bot modes so it'll be an easy filler... 

Next Reveal: NOPE... it's actually Masterpiece scale. Well, frakk me.

Good call on it going next to the War within bots; unfortunately my Optimus (whatever his name is) is on the Optimus shelf so I'm kind of out on that unless I buy a second.

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

 

Got the full review of MakeToys MTRM-09 Downbeat up. http://kumastyledesigns.com/maketoys-downbeat-review/

The robot mode is just something else and honestly I don't really see myself even thinking about another Masterpiece-scaled Jazz until Takara announces one. I do wish that the alt. mode was more kibble-free for sure but it gets the job done. Review goes into much more depth but here are some pics from the gallery:

 

 

 

[mikeszekely]

Got a giant box and a tiny box today.  Let's talk about the tiny one!  Inside was Crackup, X-Transbots' MP-style Breakdown.

Credit where credit is due, X-Transbots has been doing a pretty good job of capturing the cartoon appearance in a lot of their recent figures, and Crackup here is no exception.  The colors are nearly perfect; I'd argue that the white paint should have been gray or silver, and although the peach-tinged off-white color of most of the plastic seems to be a very close match to the original G1 toy I personally would have preferred the off-white to a peachless color closer to the Combiner Wars version.  The blue is spot on, both in color and in the molded detail on his chest.  From dead on that means his shins look fine (ignore all my pictures; I missed a fold out flap until I started tying this), but from the outside some of the car doors are showing, and the inside has a cutout that lets you see some off-white inside.  But he's got the lines on his pelvis (with painted-in panel lines!), the rectangles with circles on his knees (probably could have also used some of that panel lining), the wheels on the insides of his calves, the wheels for shoulders, and cartoon-accurate lavender eyes.  At some point in development XTB even put the spoiler on a swivel so that it would hang off of his back in the cartoon-accurate direction.

I think the elephant in the room, though, is size.  See, as far as I know none of the Season 2 combiners were on an official scale chart, either as individuals or in combined mode.  This means fans are left to make their own inferences based on different cartoon appearances, alt modes, and their rival combiners.  For the Stunticons, a lot of people feel like they turn into cars, so being the size of an Autobot car makes sense.  In that case, Crackup fits the bill just fine.  However, there's another camp that figures that since the Stunticons regularly fight the Aerialbots that they should be equal to them in size (and these people seem to think that the Aerialbots should be Seeker-sized since they're jets; no one ever seems to suggest that the Aerialbots just be carbot-sized).  As you can see, Crackup's quite a bit smaller than Zeta's Aerialbots, and I think it's a safe bet that FansToys' Aerialbots will also be bigger than carbots.  Personally I'm in the "Stunticons should be carbot-sized" camp (how else would the Autobot impersonate them in "Masquerade" without mass-shifting?), so I'm fine with Crackup's size.  Just know that if you're in the "Stunticons should be Aerialbot and Seeker-sized" camp that DX9 got that covered.

Crackup doesn't come with much in the way of accessories, but if most of the combined-mode stuff is going to come with their Motormaster I guess you don't need a lot.  You've got a cartoon-accurate gun for him, an alternate face with a less-defined nose and mouth and more-defined cheeks but the same stoic expression, and a small screwdriver necessary for face-swapping.  You also get instructions... now, I don't usually mention the instructions or collector's card, and pretty much everything I've bought was at least supposed to have instructions, but Crackup's instructions are something special.  See, on the one hand it's a booklet with lots of steps that have text and pictures, so I want to give them props for that.  But, the booklet is smaller than the ones that used to come with NES games, and with six picture-steps to a page each one is roughly the size of a (US) postage stamp.  You're probably going to see this booklet bigger in my photo on your browser than it actually is in person.  So the instructions aren't super helpful, and it's very easy to miss steps.  I already mentioned that I missed folding out a panel on the front of his shins in every one of my pictures for this review.  If you want some YouTubers another step I see missed a lot is that there are two triangular pieces inside his back that you fold out to fill in the sides of his torso.  At least I didn't miss those!

Crackup's articulation is pretty good.  His head is on a hinged swivel so he can look up about 15 degrees, down about 30, and turn his head, but no sideways tilt.  His shoulder rotate, although a little care must be taken to keep them from getting caught on his backpack, and they can move laterally 90 degrees on soft ratchets  There's only three clicks between 0 and 90, but you do have some friction between the detents.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows are double-jointed and get you basically 180 degrees.  His wrists can swivel, and his hands are basically the same as an MP carbot with all his fingers molded together as one piece on a hinge at the base knuckle.  His waist can swivel, and he's got about 45 degrees of ab crunch.  His hips move forward 90 degrees, with his skirts hinging out of the way, and backward almost 90.  He's got soft ratchets for lateral movement, this time giving you 8 clicks from 0 to 90 degrees.  His thighs swivel, and his knees bend 90 degrees.  His whole foot doesn't bend up or down at the ankle, but his toes or his heel can bend down if you need it.  He's also got about 45 degrees of ankle pivot.

He uses the standard MP method of using tabs on the handle of his gun to fit slots in his palm.  They work fine and he holds his gun with no issues.

Crackup's alt mode isn't quite as cartoon-accurate as his robot mode, but that's OK with me.  I mean, it's closer than the Combiner Wars version and way closer than TFM's, right?

Actually, most of the deviation from the cartoon comes from things that give the alt mode more actual Countach details; Countach rims, black vents, black around the door handle, black around the window seems, the small lights in front of the front fender, lights on the grill, an empty shield where a Lamborghini bade should be, etc.  Frankly, I prefer a more realistic Countach alt mode than the simplified cartoon model, so I think Crackup looks great.  That said, there are some places around the windows where paint on the clear plastic doesn't quite match the peachy off-white plastic.

Of course, the question a lot of people are going to have is, "How does he look with other MP Lambos?"  And I'd say he looks pretty good.  Compared with Red Alert he's minutely longer and ever so slightly narrower at the back end, but not by enough that I think too many people will be bothered (especially compared to DX9's which looks to be 20-30% larger).  He's even got his exhausts on low-hanging leg panels with a gap between them, just like the Sideswipe/Red Alert mold.

Crackup's tires are rubber, but he rolls kind of poorly due to minimal clearance with some panels on his underside and the ground, and minimal clearance between his wheels and fenders.  You can plug the handle of the gun into a square-shaped hole on his rear for alt-mode weapon storage.  Interestingly, there's a hinge where the handle connects to the gun, allowing it to fold backward.  That serves no purpose in either robot or car mode.  I wonder, then, if it'll have something to do with the combined mode?

I'm going to level with you guys, I'm not sold on the idea of a cartoon-accurate 49 cm "MP" Menasor the way X-Transbots is doing him, where you can basically make Menasor out of Motormaster alone and the cars just stick to his calves and shoulders.  But to undercut a KO (that actually beat Crackup to the market) XTB decided to price him at just $40, and since Breakdown's my favorite Stunticon I figured I'd roll the dice on at least him.  I gotta tell you, this is probably the best figure KFC/XTB has released.  The materials are good, the engineering is good, the aesthetic is excellent, the articulation is good.  This is a figure that XTB could have charged $80 for and I'd tell you it was worth it, so at $40 he's a no-brainer.  He's a great figure on his own merits.  The only thing I'd caution you about is that combined mode is up-in-the-air still, and we have no idea how much XTB is going to want for the other four.  But if you're cool with Breakdown and just Breakdown, then Crackup's highly recommended.

[Kuma Style]

With Downbeat being knocked out figured I may as well review Bounceback too. Review for this piece will be up tomorrow.

 

[Kuma Style]

 

[Kuma Style]

Got the full review of MakeToys MTRM-09ST Bounceback up. http://kumastyledesigns.com/maketoys-bounceback-review/

Overall it's a sick repaint and I love the included Target Master but just wish that damned shoulder adapter pegged on better. The full review goes a bit more in depth but here are some pics from the gallery section. Full thing is about 30 pics:

 

 

 

 

 

[sh9000]

Crackup is in my pile of loot with FT Rouge.  I’m all in on the XTB Stunticons.

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, sh9000 said:

Crackup is in my pile of loot with FT Rouge.  I’m all in on the XTB Stunticons.

Sorry to hear about Rouge, though.

Anyways... I'm surprised no one asked me what was in the big box.  I'll tell you now, though.  It's Gabriel, DX9's Omega Supreme.

Fun fact... even though I was poor as a kid, one year I ended up with Omega Supreme for Christmas (I think it might have actually come from my uncle), and I didn't actually care for him.  For one, even though he had some prominent episodes in the show it bugged me that only the rocket part of his alt mode seemed like it got any use.  As for the toy, it was blocky, it had poor articulation, and was way too much partsforming for a five year old.  Mostly, as I was super interested in space as a kid, I played with the rocket, but mostly ignored the rest of him.  So even though I'd decided I was going to build a G1 MP-style collection, and even though Omega was a prominent character, I wasn't particularly interested in an MP Omega Supreme when FansToys announced theirs.  Then DX9 came along and announced that they were also doing Omega, and under $300.  That's not exactly cheap, but it's also seemed sort of affordable for a robot this size.  He is, in fact, taller than Constructor, who was the reigning champ for biggest bot in my collection.  And Gabe does it without being six smaller robots combined!

Aesthetically, I think he's spot on, too.  There's enough molded detail to keep him from looking too plain, but overall he's extremely cartoon-accurate.  If I may be so bold, I think he looks better than FansToys' Omega, especially in the hips.  I'm trying to find something about his looks to criticize, but honestly DX9 nailed this one.  And to think, I was prepared to settle with my Platinum Edition Omega Supreme...

Gabriel doesn't come with much in the way of accessories, which kind of makes sense because G1 Omega didn't either.  I guess he's made of out his accessories.  Anyway, you do get an alternate, open-mouthed face to replace to stock stoic one, but Omega is kind of a stoic character so I'm good with the default.  You also get a sticker sheet, but the instructions don't indicate where they're intended to go.

You have to pull up on it, but Gabe's head is on a hinged swivel so he can look up and down a little in addition to turning his head.  His shoulders rotate on ratchets, and can move laterally 90 degrees on ratchets.  He's got ratcheted bicep swivels, and ratcheted elbows that bend 90 degrees.  He actually does have a ratcheted wrist swivel on his claw hand, and the claws themselves have ratcheted hinges at the base and in the middle for opening and closing.  His waist can swivel.  His hip skirts are hinged and can move out of the way so that his hips can move forward, backward, or laterally 90 degrees on ratchets.  His thighs can swivel.  His knees can bend 90 degrees on ratchets, revealing big pistons inside.  And (although my picture doesn't really illustrate it well) he's got some pretty extreme ankle pivots.

The tolerances of his joints are mostly pretty good.  His shoulders had some trouble bearing the weight of Platinum Omega, but I think he'll have no trouble with most figures.  The outward motion on his hips and his elbows feel a little too tight, but the rest of his joints feel fine.  But what's really nice is that there's basically no play between detents.  Gabriel isn't moving unless you want him too, which I understand was kind of a problem with FansToys' where some play in the hips had him leaning.  Despite the adequate range and strong ratcheting joints I found posing him to be something of a chore.  Basically, while the scale seems to fit with official scale chart when you line him up with MP-10, practically it's just too big.  At some point, I think you're better off having MP-quality figures of big guys like Omega that are 6-8" shorter and displaying them on a different shelf than, say, a carbot, and just saying that the shelves are in different scales.

But I digress.  Gabriel has red LEDs, both in the barrel of his cannon and the rocket exhaust in his claw-palm.

The shield around his face can open.  This would be how you'd pop out his face to swap them if you're so inclined.  Was opening something the G1 toy could do?  I can't recall.  Speaking of opening, you can open Gabriel's crotch.  I have no idea why, as it's not necessary for transformation.  I guess you could stow something in there.  Weirdly, there's even some molded detail in there.

Normally I'd talk about the alt mode now, but Omega breaks up into so many pieces that I think we'll tackle them one at a time.  First off, as is the case with the G1 toy, his head and midsection turns into a tank.  He's got lovely molded treads, but they're just for show.  He does have some rolling wheels underneath, though.  There's a gimmick for spinning Gabe's face around to reveal some computer consoles, and it's nice that his face isn't showing in this mode.  His turret can rotate, and both the main cannon and the two side cannons can swivel up and down.  Aesthetically he could have used a little more yellow to be toy-accurate on the sides, or a little less to be cartoon-accurate, so I think the amount he has is a fair compromise.  He definitely needed more red on the turret around the cannon, though, and if I'm being picky it would have been nice if that barrel could have been extended.  Mostly, though, I think he's fine.

He's a big tank, too.  Here's a quick size comparison with Year of the Horse Optimus/MP-10.

The next part, my favorite as a kid, is the rocket.  There's not a lot going on here.  He does have a door that can open and fold out into a ramp, but the way his biceps and elbows collapse inside means there's not really any room for stuff in the rocket.  Also, the two arms are actually mirrored, minus the hands, so the top half of the rocket also has a door and a ramp, but it unfolds toward the rocket's nose.  One thing DX9 didn't do, maybe because of the LEDs, is make the barrel collapsible.  I think, ultimately, it doesn't matter, but it would have made for improved cartoon accuracy.  Size-wise, it's a tall rocket.  I positioned the claws open for aesthetic reasons, and it's taller than Phoenix's head and roughly even with his backpack.  Closing the claws inward would make the rocket taller still.

Like the G1 toy, the rest of the Gabe becomes the base.  The basics are actually pretty similar to the G1 toy, with the the legs and wings forming the track and his back and shoulders forming the middle of the base, with his shins forming little ramps.  The main difference is that there's less partsforming involved, since his legs transform instead of flying apart.  There are a few other differences, mostly related to making a great robot mode, that do make the base a bit less cartoon accurate.  His thighs make up the base of the base, so to speak, instead of his feet.  That leaves his toes pointing out from the outside of the track instead of in on the inside.  Also, because his shoulders and forearms don't make the side guns on the tank they fold into the cavity left by the tank torso.  As a result the they fill in the space under those yellow hooks that go over his torso, so they can really be positioned like gantry around the rocket.  That right there would be my biggest alt mode complaint, but who's going to display an MP Omega in alt mode?  Who even has the space?

Because, if you thought he was a big robot, he's pretty enormous in alt mode.  I mean, I thought the combined "battle train" mode of Platinum Omega was pretty long, but Gabriel is longer than that by a good deal and wider to boot.  By my measuring he's roughly three and a half feet long at his longest point, which is longer than my daughter is tall.  Naturally you can put the rocket with the base and put the tank on the track.  It looks about as good as the G1 toy, but the tank isn't motorized.

Now, the big question... do I recommend Gabriel?  A better question might be "do you really want an MP-style Omega Supreme that scales with MP-10?"  I think Gabriel's size will appeal to some people, sure, but I think it could be problematic for others.  Whether you keep him in robot mode or in base mode he's going to take up a lot of space.  That said, if you decide that you really do need an MP Omega, I believe that Gabriel is the one to get.  The Weijiang one seems pretty cool, and is the cheapest, but its definitely the least accurate in both robot and alt mode.  Meanwhile, while I think FansToys' looks better in alt mode, I think Gabriel looks better in robot mode.  Besides, like so many of FT's recent releases their Omega just seems frustrating to transform.  Gabriel's pretty simple; the hardest thing about him is just how unwieldy it is trying to manipulate something as large as he is.

Oh, one other thing- if you follow other Transformers-related forums, you may have read something along the lines of Gabriel being one of the biggest QC disasters in the history of the hobby.  Now, I don't mean to make light of people who have had issues, but it seems some or possibly even the majority of issues can be traced back to a leak at the factory causing issues like mold, paint damage, rusted screws, and rusted or otherwise seized ratchets.  However, by the time Gabriel started showing up at US retailers it seems like the majority are fine.  Mine certainly seems fine.  But if you're concerned about it, you might want to order with a store like The Chosen Prime or Toy Dojo who are willing to open it up and inspect it before sending it to you, or a store like TFSource that you can trust to repair or replace it without charging you to ship it back.

[Kuma Style]

13 hours ago, sh9000 said:

Crackup is in my pile of loot with FT Rouge.  I’m all in on the XTB Stunticons.

Looking forward to your thoughts on crackup. A friend sent me some pics and the off white doesn't look nearly as bad as in 99.9% of them so hoping in-hand it's much better.

[mikeszekely]

So by now I'm guessing that just about everyone and their mom knows that Takara is going to be releasing Optimus Prime in the MP line for the third time.  I'd gripe about them doing Prime again instead of the boatload of characters they haven't done even once, but if I'm being honest 3P has done a pretty good job of doing the characters that Takara isn't, and we could all see this coming when we saw what an aesthetic mismatch MP-10 and MP-36 were.

Now I love MP-10, and I'm not always a fan of the post-Hasui ultra-cartoony aesthetic that the official MP line has taken, but if I'm being honest MP-10 could definitely be improved on, so I was curious to see how the new version shook out.  I mean, I guess I still am, but I'm decidedly cool on him after seeing the first pictures of the full robot mode.  So imagine my surprise to see that a 3rd party called Magic Square has stepped up to the plate.  Looks like their Optimus isn't going to have the super long arms MP-10 does, and his tires all hide away nicely.  He seems to clean up exceptionally well.  His torso looks much closer to MP-10 than the new one's though, which I like.  I'm not sure I'm sold on this version; he looks a little thick, if you ask me, but so far I'm liking what I'm seeing, certainly more than the new official one.

 

 

[Kuma Style]

Saw an in-hand picture of the Black MMC CJ and the paint literally looked like someone did a shoddy custom job themselves. Extremely disappointed and if the red turns out as bad I'm just out on that one. 

On the Flip side, MakeToys SkyCrow and Lightning look phenomenal. Can't wait for those to hit stateside.

[nhyone]

A bit stout. I like the back cleaning up so nicely.

I think their hand is forced by the official remake. It's like MP-36, suddenly a rash of releases before the original was announced.

[sh9000]

Preordered XTB Flipout.

[mikeszekely]

28 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

Preordered XTB Flipout.

Ditto. Apparently he and whatever they're calling their Dead End are going to release at the same time in August.

Price isn't bad, either. We knew that the $40 price on Crackup was just because of the KO, and quality-wise Crackup definitely feels like he's worth more. I'd have probably still been in at $80, so I'm happy with $60.

Funny thing is, I'm not 100% in a Menasor that's that cartoon accurate, but if XTB keeps it up I'm going to at least have some great individual Stunticons.

[Kuma Style]

 

 

 

 

[M'Kyuun]

That's just ...adorable. IF are knocking it out of the park with these legends sized figures. 

He makes for a pretty boxy tank, but I'm loving his bot mode. Would've been worth a few extra cool points if they'd made his tank mode closer to the Sicaran Battle Tank from Warhammer 40K, one of my favorite sci-fi tank designs. I'd love a 3P go at making a transforming version of that tank.

[sh9000]

20 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Ditto. Apparently he and whatever they're calling their Dead End are going to release at the same time in August.

Price isn't bad, either. We knew that the $40 price on Crackup was just because of the KO, and quality-wise Crackup definitely feels like he's worth more. I'd have probably still been in at $80, so I'm happy with $60.

Funny thing is, I'm not 100% in a Menasor that's that cartoon accurate, but if XTB keeps it up I'm going to at least have some great individual Stunticons.

His name is Deathwish and I can’t wait for his preorder listing to go up.

[Kuma Style]

8 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

That's just ...adorable. IF are knocking it out of the park with these legends sized figures. 

He makes for a pretty boxy tank, but I'm loving his bot mode. Would've been worth a few extra cool points if they'd made his tank mode closer to the Sicaran Battle Tank from Warhammer 40K, one of my favorite sci-fi tank designs. I'd love a 3P go at making a transforming version of that tank.

Well, it's accurate the the character design alt mode so It's decent FWIW. There was some hemming and hawwing over at TFW about the use of his weapons as filler parts for tank mode but honestly I love it. To me it's genius engineering and looks as clean as a whistle. overall it's a really well-done piece and the only thing it's missing articulation-wise is wrist swivel.

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Full review up in a bit.

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The MoDEL002 Soundwave (MP) upgrades look really good. The cassette with the sound effects is an awesome piece.