The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread

[tekering]

I had no interest in upgrading my MP-10 until I saw those new Transform Element pics.

They just took TakaraTomy to school, yo!

[nhyone]

If Takara's OP v3 doesn't sell well, it is going to crack down on 3Ps! 

All three OPs look good (with some compromises), but then Optimus Prime is one of the easiest design.

Does anyone else have OP fatigue? I didn't even get MP-10 until a few years later, and that's after a number of car bots were released.

[tekering]

8 minutes ago, nhyone said:

Does anyone else have OP fatigue? I didn't even get MP-10 until a few years later, and that's after a number of car bots were released.

Despite the obsolete scale, ol' MP-1 is still my favorite.

The ideal blend of cartoon and toy aesthetics, this is the toy that started it all for me.  If it weren't for this guy, I wouldn't have spent the last fifteen years collecting Transformers...!

[M'Kyuun]

Still a masterpiece in the truest sense.

[technoblue]

53 minutes ago, nhyone said:

Does anyone else have OP fatigue? I didn't even get MP-10 until a few years later, and that's after a number of car bots were released.

No fatigue for me. If companies want to make a good Optimus Prime (or any Prime, for that matter), I'm interested. 

At last count, I have eight different versions of Optimus (at various scales). Collecting Prime isn't exactly like collecting Macross Valkyries, but I do have about as many versions of Optimus in my Transformers collection as I do seekers. I think that's funny in a good humored way.

I agree that the new pics from Transform Element are improved from the initial static snapshot. My original concerns have been bumped down to nitpicks. I'm looking forward to the colored samples now. This could definitely be a contender if Takara drops the ball on v3 Prime.

Edited July 9, 2018 by technoblue

[M'Kyuun]

Must concur- he looked pretty statuesque in the first pics, but these put him in a good light all the way around. I still doubt that he, or the Magic Square version, will equal the articulation of Takara's, but both of these third party figs clean up much better than the official and eschew the shellformery nature of V3. Brilliant design on the TE for providing wipers for the truck, but stowing them out of sight as part of the transformation- very cool. Got my attention, now.

[Kuma Style]

13 hours ago, nhyone said:

 

Does anyone else have OP fatigue? I didn't even get MP-10 until a few years later, and that's after a number of car bots were released.

Yep! To the point where I'm about to sell off my Optimus collection even.

 

 

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

 

17 hours ago, Kuma Style said:

Yep! To the point where I'm about to sell off my Optimus collection even.

 

 

Great picture of Dinoking.

[Kuma Style]

Thanks brother.

 

 

 

[sh9000]

MAAS Toys Air Soldiers.

http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Search?SearchText=Air+Soldiers&utm_source=Marketing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=marketing&utm_content=

[Dobber]

I’m curious why Thundercracker appears to be different from SS and SW with the engines flipped up on his back. 

Chris

[Kuma Style]

7 minutes ago, Dobber said:

I’m curious why Thundercracker appears to be different from SS and SW with the engines flipped up on his back. 

Chris

They all share the same mold so it's likely just to show off display options. 

 

[Kuma Style]

What gets me is that just ordering all three Coneheads at retail isn't even $20 more than pledging for them. It's hard NOT to say "just wait" at this point.

[Kurisama]

29 minutes ago, Kuma Style said:

What gets me is that just ordering all three Coneheads at retail isn't even $20 more than pledging for them. It's hard NOT to say "just wait" at this point.

That's a really silly way to go about it. If everyone gets on that bandwagon, it won't get funded and no one will get them. Clearly that particular retailer went for the retailer retailer incentive, so they're supporting in the hope it'll get made.

4 hours ago, Kuma Style said:

They all share the same mold so it's likely just to show off display options. 

 

Correct. Each tetra has in addition to the null rays, another weapon or option that is specific to them - energy blades, impact cannons and in not-TC's case, a set of rockets. The coneheads do not have the energy blade option, but a missile launcher in addition to the impact cannons. Just check out the images. Of course they are all interchangeable and also, not pictured - each weapon can be arm mounted OR hand held as a blaster.

4 hours ago, Dobber said:

I’m curious why Thundercracker appears to be different from SS and SW with the engines flipped up on his back. 

Chris

As advised above! 

[mikeszekely]

Big Bad Toy Store is (or was) doing a summer sale.  I picked up KFC's Ditka, their version of an MP Blitzwing, for under $100.  So how does he fare?

Well, size-wise he's about the same height to the head as MP-10.  Blitzwing's a bit of a bruiser, so I think that works, although scale charts seem to indicate that he should actually be Seeker-sized in height.  For what it's worth, as of this writing the only alternative is DX9's Gewalt, and that's even bigger.

Aesthetically he's very close to the cartoon.  Definitely more accurate than Gewalt.  You can quibble if you like about the specific shades of purple and tan KFC used, but aside from some gray on his backpack and the gray panels on his chest that should be a darker purple, everything's pretty much as it should be right down to the red trapezoids and triangles on his chest, the red line on his chest, the purple stripes on his shoudler pads, and the purple on the sides of his head.

That said, you may notice the fin on his left shin isn't sitting proper like the one on the right.  The joint it's on has no basically no tension.  And loose joints are definitely a problem with Ditka.  In fact, he arrived with a little baggie that had replacement parts for his knees and ankles.  Before I swapped them in he couldn't even stand up on his own, collapsing backwards under the weight of his backpack.

He comes with a ton of accessories.  You have a flight stand that, as near as I can tell, is the same one that comes with Andras (and maybe other KFC/XTB figures).  You get the little KFC/XTB screwdriver.  You get a sword with a light up feature, but I didn't even check to see if I had the fight batteries.  You get a gun that's fairly similar to the one he had in the cartoon.  You get a pair of spring-loaded missile launchers (I think the launchers were built into the G1 toy?).  You get a football, which is my favorite accessory ever.  You get two sprues that I guess you can use to build some extra missiles.  The instructions aren't super clear.  And you get a replacement head.  The head is kind of an odd choice.  Aside from the face it's still G1 Blitzwing, which is what you'd expect from a MP G1 Blitzwing.  But instead of including an alternate facial expression, or a G1 toy-style dark purple face, they used a face that's clearly modeled after Animated Blitzwing.

Ditka's articulation is, to be frank, sub-par.  His head is on a hinged swivel and can rotate and look down a little, but he can look up a full 90 degrees.  Be advised that manipulating his head does tend to pop open his chest panel, though.  His shoulders rotate on stiff ratchets, but because his shoulder pads can't rotate backwards due to the backpack being in the way he can't quite even manage 90 degrees of rotation.  Lateral motion isn't any better.  A flap does open on the side of his shoulder pads, but his arm stops when his bicep hits some molded lights for the tank mode, at just under 90 degrees.  They're also ratcheted, and there's only four clicks between flat against his side and his maximum extension.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows are double-hinged for nearly 180 degrees of bend; that's nice at least.  His wrists can swivel.  And his hands... they're KFC hands, which of course means tiny ball joints at the base and a pair of hinges on each digit.  So his hands are fully articulated, but in the usual floppy, messy style that makes me actually prefer the oft-derided "flipper" hands a lot of other companies use for hands this size.  He has a ratcheted waist swivel that can turn less than 90 degrees in either direction (three clicks) before running into the backpack.  While that's limiting compared to a lot of other figures, I think that range is still fairly natural.  Lateral hip motion is ratcheted, and I only wish it were as tight as the shoulders.  You get four clicks to just under 90 degrees; a few more clicks would have been nice.  Where we really start to run into trouble is the forward/backward motion of the hips.  The top of the white part of his thigh actually gets caught on a lip under his hip skirts on his pelvis.  If you stop there, you'll only get about 45 degrees (two clicks) forward.  If you work at it you might get part of it to slide under the lip and get one more click, but you're always going to be short of 90 degrees.  And one is all you're going to get backward due to the backpack.  His thighs swivel, and again they're limited because the white part of the thigh collides with his crotch.  If he's standing straight you'll only get a little swivel, but if you move the legs out a click he at least has a fairly natural range.  His knees are double-jointed ratchets.  The bottom ratchet can get about 90 degrees, then the top ratchet can squeak it a little over 90 but is ultimately limited by the shape of the cutout on the back of his thigh for the joint.  Finally, we come to his feet.  They can bend up and down a little on ratchets, and swivel slightly.  A ratcheted pivot is good for about 45 degrees.  Thing is, the up/down ratchet isn't quite strong enough, and the transformation hinge in the middle of his foot is actually quite loose.  And his backpack is really huge, so even with some crazy long heels it's very hard to keep his feet flat and to keep him from leaning.  In fact, in the first picture he's actually leaning backward and his hips are bent forward a click.  Between being extremely back-heavy, not having adequate joints to deal with the back-heaviness, and limits in the articulation due to poor clearances around the hips and shoulders I found the task of getting Ditka into a dynamic pose to be rather difficult.

He holds his weapons ok.  They have tabs that fit into slots on his palms, then you wrap his fingers around them.  As is common with KFC hands, though, the fingers don't really have any strength so the weapons only stay in his hands by the friction of those tabs in those slots.  They're not going to fall out on their own, so he's doing better than MP Sideswipe, I guess, but a slight bump while trying to pose him will definitely knock them out of his hands.

As for his other accessories, he can hold the football with his right hand just fine by using a tab on the football into the same slot on his palm you'd plug a weapon into.  The missile launchers can plug into one of four ports on his wings.  His gun also folds up for storange, and you can plug it into one of the unused wing ports.  There are also ports on his biceps and on the inside of the treads under his wings.  The launchers can plug into the ports on the treads, which I think is the most cartoon/toy accurate way to do it.  The gun doesn't fit in those holes, though.  I couldn't get anything to fit into the ports on his biceps, but maybe one of the pieces on the sprues does.  As for the sword, it has a smaller peg on either side of the cross guard, and those pegs fit into the small holes on his back.

He also has a rectangular slot on his crotch.  You can use that to mount him in a flying pose on the flight stand.  I don't think he looks all that great there, though.

Ditka has a huge tank mode.  It dwarfs even Zeta's Brawl.  I think the tank mode is very good, perhaps Ditka's best mode.  It's got plenty of molded detail to give it a fairly realistic look from some angles, and like the G1 toy (and unlike Gewalt) it does a great job hiding the purple.

Where it deviates from a real tank are mostly looking at it straight on at the front or straight on at the back, where a folded up jet nose and folded up feet thrusters can be seen.  While real tanks don't have that, I do feel like it's cartoon/toy accurate, and I'm inclined to let it pass.  There's also a flap on the back of the turret, but it's not hateful, and if you look a little closer you'll see some landing gear for the jet mode.  I'm ok letting those things slide, too.

The turret does have a pair of opening hatches, and the launchers on the sides of the turret can swivel in and out.  the barrel can move up and down, but the clearance isn't quite right and you kind of have to force it.  The turret also rotates, on a ratchet no less, but for transformation the turret is on a slider.  Unless the slider is centered the turrent looks a little off when it's swiveled, but if the slider is centered it looks like it's sitting too far forward on the tank.

The treads are just molded and painted.  There are little wheels on the underside, but the tank doesn't roll very well.  Aside from that, my only real tank complaint is that there's really nowhere to put Ditka's weapons in this mode.

And jet mode.  I think this jet mode is probably a little divisive.  After all, Blitzwing's jet mode was supposed to be a MiG, presumably a MiG-25, and fans of the Hasui-era Takara MP's with realistic alt modes may prefer a jet mode that looks like an actual MiG for Blitzwing (something DX9 attempted to do with Gewalt).  However, the animation model was rather accurate to the G1 toy, and both looked less like a MiG and more like a short-nosed, delta-winged jet bi-plane.  KFC chose to go the cartoon route, and frankly I prefer it that way.  It's not perfect, though.  For one, both the cartoon and the toy actually had a gray piece between the wing and the rest of the jet.  KFC could have easily painted that part gray on Ditka, too, without affecting the other modes, so I'm not sure why they went with purple.  The slope of the fuselage is too much, and looks weird.  I wonder if it wouldn't have looked better if they just left the tan parts off, since tan isn't accurate anyway.  Then there's the nose.  I'm ok with it being short, but it's also too thin.  It looks like it belongs on a smaller Blitzwing toy.

On, and the loose fin is now a loose vertical stabilizer, and just as problematic for its looseness.

Like the G1 toy, the tank turret is chilling out underneath the plane.  It's not too bad, with the barrel hanging way out the back, though.  The barrel collapses  almost the whole way into the turret.  The front landing gear folds down in front of the barrel, and the rear landing gear opens on top of the turret.  With just the landing gear, though, Blitzwing is so back-heavy from diecast in his feet and lower legs that he'll tip over backward.  That's where the flap comes in; you fold it down to act like a kickstand and prop the rear of the jet up.  And at least doing so reveals two thrusters, so the turret is almost like some kind of underbelly FAST pack.  But if it really bugs you the turret can be removed entirely.  Just remember that you're taking most of Ditka's landing gear with it.

As for the weapons, you can store them in pretty much the same places you did in robot mode using the holes on wings for the missiles and and gun.  The holes for the sword are between his vertical stabilizers, and it just lays across the top of the jet.

As for other features in jet mode, the cockpit can open and close, tiny as it is.  The flaps on the wings can also fold up.  Finally, you can mount him on the flight stand, although you'll need the tank turret since the slot for the stand is on it.  I'd advise caution using the flight stand, because again Ditka is very back-heavy, and the stand doesn't feel particularly sturdy.

Buying an MP Blitzwing today is a bit of a Kobayashi Maru, I think.  While I haven't personally handled Gewalt, from what I've seen he's got superior joints and articulation to Ditka.  Aesthetically, though, Ditka has him beat by being more cartoon and more toy accurate in all three modes.  Neither is perfect, but that's basically all we've got right now.  Everyone's got to decide for themselves where their dealbreakers are.  For me, Gewalt's aesthetics are a non-starter for me.  Thing is, Ditka is flawed enough that I can't really recommend him either.  I'd be mad if I paid full price for him.  If you really feel like you need an MP Blitzwing in your collection right now, though, I can't say I regret this purchase at the $97 sale price.  He'll do until something better comes along*.

*Yes, FansToys has been working on one, and for a lot of people just knowing that FansToys was working on a Blitzwing was probably enough to skip both Gewalt and Ditka.  But, FT supposedly delayed their Blitzwing indefinitely to majorly rework the design, so I don't think you can count on it anymore.  And even if it does still come out, based on their last couple of releases I have serious doubts about whether or not it'd actually be any better than what we've already got.

[Scyla]

I backed the Maas Toys kickstarter yestetday. I hope it picks up some steam during TFCon this weekend and gets funded.

I‘m only in for Wraith to add another Skywarp to my ever growing collection of black and purple jets.

[Dobber]

Thanks for the info on MAAS TC guys, it was confusing me when I couldn’t see those engines on the back views of the other seekers.

Chris

[Kuma Style]

9 hours ago, Kurisama said:

That's a really silly way to go about it.

It's not silly at all and I'm not speaking for anyone but myself. This crowd finds was started in the heart of TFCon and Wonderfest/ACG season where a number of collectors are more concerned mentally and financial with exclusives and reveals there than anything else.

 

[Kuma Style]

Put in my order for the two other MT Seekers yesterday and they should be here Monday along with Black Power Baser from Fans Hobby. I'm stoked.

[Kuma Style]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[tekering]

Wow, that's desperate.  FansProject has decided to resurrect their Steel Core mold from six years ago, stick a new head on it, and pretend it's Grimlock?

And to think they used to be an important part of the third-party market...

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.  

[Kuma Style]

Not desparate and looks fantastic. 

Anyways, TFCon has a linet of good exclusives so surprised at how dead this thread has been. Anyone excited for any of the exclusives or pros revealed so far? I'm getting all of the exclusives and it's a tie between maestro and enmitus fir excitement there and that mmc skylynx shown has me stoked@

- Good tf haulage coming this week. So far fans hobby black power baser, maketoys skycrow and lightning, dx9 Gewalt, and the tfcon exclusives. Finally placing an order for ocular max frenzy today as well.

[sh9000]

Big Computer is $40 off at TFSource.

https://tfsource.com/x2-toys/bg-a2-big-computer/

[M'Kyuun]

Popped over to TFW to see what's on display at TFCon. Some neat stuff, for sure. Looks like Magic Square are making a number of deluxe scaled G1 figs. Their Huffer has my interest. ToyWorld's making voyager scaled Onslaught and a proper tractor trailer  Motormaster to replace the CW versions.

And, though not TFs, Action Toys have their Supercar and Blue Jet Machine Robo figs on display. I think I saw their Loco in there, too. Kinda surprised they didn't have a DX scaled Eagle on display. I'm curious to see it when they do.

That Quinjet Jetfire is pretty neat looking- an interesting take on the character, and a nice compromise for a more realistic looking alt mode.

Although not my cup of java, MMC have a respectable looking Sky Lynx on display. Still can't understand why Has/Tak didn't make their Generations version split into the cat(box) and bird (shuttle) like the original. 

Still early in the Con,so hopefully more revelations are coming.

[technoblue]

Very excited for Skycrow and Lightning. I received my pre-order invoice late last night.

Cross-Dimension Buster Skywing is a day-one pre-order for me. I love the modern look of the unpainted prototype. Although I'm not expecting anything, it would be pretty awesome if MT had time to mock up a color prototype for a special reveal later during the convention. I wonder what else is planned?

Also, I think MMC's Skylynx has won me over. That, and I'm up for more of those DJD bots. Nickel and the Pet look good. Sometimes I wish we had more of a selection from third-party companies in this smaller Reformatted-ish scale. It seems exclusive to MMC, Planet-X, and FansHobby. Speaking of Planet X, I'm in for those Insecticons too. And are they dipping their feet into IDW?  Deathsaurus looks very good to me! 

Wow. Did SND finish their Nova Prime kit? It's been three years in the making and I gotta say it looks fantastic. 

FansToys isn't really speaking to me. I think that's the first time they've shown Hoodlum, but I find that I like Takara's face and paint more (even though the official version sits low in alt mode). I'll save final judgement until I see FT's future car, but I was burnt by Rouge--once bitten, twice shy and all. I was hoping to see Quietus in another pose. The A-stance seems limiting. 

How many companies are doing TM2 Megatron? 

Here be dragons.

[mikeszekely]

3 hours ago, technoblue said:

Very excited for Skycrow and Lightning. I received my pre-order invoice late last night.

Still waiting for mine, and with TFSource's free shipping I'm guessing I have while to wait until they're in my hands anyway.

6 hours ago, Kuma Style said:

Anyways, TFCon has a linet of good exclusives so surprised at how dead this thread has been. Anyone excited for any of the exclusives or pros revealed so far?

None of the exclusives are really catching my fancy, no.  I thought I saw somewhere that Maketoys was going to have Rainmaker repaints of the Meteor mold?  I do kind of want those, but in the last year and a half I've really switched from buying mostly CHUG-style figures of everything I liked to mostly G1 MP-style figures.

Honestly, there's not a ton of surprises for me at TFCon.  Most of what I want I knew was coming, although it's nice to see some more prototypes.  I'm mainly interested in MMC's Azalea (anyone want to buy a Rouge?) and Hellion, X-Transbots's Skids, Seaspray, and remaining Stunticons, Zeta's Onslaught and their remaining Aerialbots, and the last two Giga dinobots (I didn't see anything new on their Swoop, though).  I was thinking about getting FansToys' Cyclonus, because it looks better to me than Eligos, but given how much I've disliked FT's season 3 bots I'm not so sure about that anymore.  I'm also on the fence with MMC's Bruticus.  It looks pretty good, but I don't know if I need another one.

The only totally new stuff for me that's really got my attention is MMC's Sky Lynx, and ToyWorld's Combiner Wars-compatible Onslaught and Motormaster.  Sky Lynx looks amazing, but it's going to come down to size and price for me.  As for the ToyWorld stuff, I still have all my Hasbro combiners, and Menasor came out the worst by far because of the torso.  A new Motormaster, with new hands and feet for Menasor, would go a long way toward fixing that.  Hasbro's Bruticus was alright, but if the price turns out ok I could be persuaded to upgrade.  I think if ToyWorld replaces those guys, though, I'd kind of want them to re-do all the Combiner Wars/PotP torsos, starting with Hun-Grrr and Grimlock.

[technoblue]

Gigapower's Grimlock (Superator) is enormous! I really appreciate the scale reference with MP-10 given over on the TFW boards.

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/threads/gigapower-grimlock.1100804/page-27

I wasn't sure what to expect from this version of Grimlock at first. I mean, the old 3D print and the white prototype seemed plain to me. The latest grey prototype shows how much work GP has been putting into the figure since those reveals, though. The greebles are back (yay), and GP reshaped Grimlock's chest, and also rounded out his shoulders. I also like the accents that were added to the throne. I wonder if it will be included with Grimlock as an accessory or if it will be offered as a separate item?

Edit: Fans Toys...

The TFCon slides are up over at TFW. Hoodlum's colors look much better in the slides.

I'm curious about Hoodlum's height after seeing this image. Is it variable? can you make him short (a la Hot Rod) and then make him tall (a la Rodimus) and then add the older/mature face? If so, then FT is boldly borrowing elements from MP-09 and MP-28. I have to say, this pulls off Rodimus well, but I'm still anxious about what happened with Rouge. I hope this guy ranks closer to fun on the transformation scale.

Edit 2: Woops! Is that the KO MP-10 Voyager Prime? That would make a difference. 

Edited July 15, 2018 by technoblue

[Kuma Style]

8 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Popped over to TFW to see what's on display at TFCon. Some neat stuff, for sure. Looks like Magic Square are making a number of deluxe scaled G1 figs. Their Huffer has my interest. ToyWorld's making voyager scaled Onslaught and a proper tractor trailer  Motormaster to replace the CW versions.

And, though not TFs, Action Toys have their Supercar and Blue Jet Machine Robo figs on display. I think I saw their Loco in there, too. Kinda surprised they didn't have a DX scaled Eagle on display. I'm curious to see it when they do.

That Quinjet Jetfire is pretty neat looking- an interesting take on the character, and a nice compromise for a more realistic looking alt mode.

Although not my cup of java, MMC have a respectable looking Sky Lynx on display. Still can't understand why Has/Tak didn't make their Generations version split into the cat(box) and bird (shuttle) like the original. 

Still early in the Con,so hopefully more revelations are coming.

- MagicSquare's legends stuff really looks like miniature Masterpiece Toys to me and I want to get on buying a couple of them soon. 

- I think the same thing about Hasbro's Skylynx.. definitely a missed opportunity there.

 

7 hours ago, technoblue said:

Very excited for Skycrow and Lightning. I received my pre-order invoice late last night.

Cross-Dimension Buster Skywing is a day-one pre-order for me. I love the modern look of the unpainted prototype. Although I'm not expecting anything, it would be pretty awesome if MT had time to mock up a color prototype for a special reveal later during the convention. I wonder what else is planned?

Also, I think MMC's Skylynx has won me over. That, and I'm up for more of those DJD bots. Nickel and the Pet look good. Sometimes I wish we had more of a selection from third-party companies in this smaller Reformatted-ish scale. It seems exclusive to MMC, Planet-X, and FansHobby. Speaking of Planet X, I'm in for those Insecticons too. And are they dipping their feet into IDW?  Deathsaurus looks very good to me! 

Wow. Did SND finish their Nova Prime kit? It's been three years in the making and I gotta say it looks fantastic. 

FansToys isn't really speaking to me. I think that's the first time they've shown Hoodlum, but I find that I like Takara's face and paint more (even though the official version sits low in alt mode). I'll save final judgement until I see FT's future car, but I was burnt by Rouge--once bitten, twice shy and all. I was hoping to see Quietus in another pose. The A-stance seems limiting. 

How many companies are doing TM2 Megatron? 

Here be dragons.

- I agree on Buster Skywing. The second I saw it my X2Toys SkyCrusher had to go. 

- Yea, SND looks to be finishing up the Nova upgrade and it looks damned good... it just sucks that certain things about that Prime mold are still present like the thick biceps and the like but I think they did what they could and made a really mediocre mold look attractive with this one.

- I think at this point it's safe to say I'm just not a FansToys person... they don't do it for me and it's possibly because I'm just not a fan of the G1 animation. What I like about Takara is that it homages the cartoon but still looks clean and refined where some of FT's stuff really just goes to nail that derpy-assed animation to the tee.

- Just PerfectEffect and some company who's name starts with a J doing TM2 megs atm. 

3 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

None of the exclusives are really catching my fancy, no.  I thought I saw somewhere that Maketoys was going to have Rainmaker repaints of the Meteor mold? 

 - Acid and Sunstorm repaints were shown on the back of the Maestro packaging.

2 hours ago, technoblue said:

Gigapower's Grimlock is enormous! I really appreciate the scale reference with MP-10 given over on the TFW boards.

 

 I saw that pic and man... that really is a big boy. I just happen to NOT have a MP Grimlock atm either so crap; that may just have to be my "heavy" for the bots shelf.

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

Man, my biggest "whoas" were definitely MMC Skylynx, the updated design on FPJ's Roller (the MMC one was just so weird looking to me) and news that the trailer portion fits Solerons

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

Updated haulage for this coming week

- 2x Severo Core (FPJ)

- 1x Maestro (MT)
- 1x Enmitus (OC)
- 1x Catcall/Uproar (OC)
- 1x MTRM Skycrow (MT)
- 1x MTRM Lightning (MT)
- 1x Power Baser (FH)
- 1x Gewalt (Dx9)
- One FPJ and one MT item to reveal on Kuma Style

This is more TF crap than I've bought in some time. I think FPJ honestly brings out the fan in me.

 

[technoblue]

4 hours ago, Kuma Style said:

- I think at this point it's safe to say I'm just not a FansToys person... they don't do it for me and it's possibly because I'm just not a fan of the G1 animation. What I like about Takara is that it homages the cartoon but still looks clean and refined where some of FT's stuff really just goes to nail that derpy-assed animation to the tee.

I'm leaning more in that direction, myself, but G1 accuracy isn't the issue for me. I think it's FT's tendency to over-engineer designs. That may be a side-effect of going absolute toon, and it might have always been there (@mikeszekely talks about it from time to time) but I just hit my limit. For their earlier releases, it didn't bother me as much. Now, I find it frustrating.

I'll keep an eye on Maketoys' Cross Dimension Rodimus. That might be a good option for something different (and they're doing Galvatron too).

Seeing more FansProject items is a welcome surprise! I like the Apeface renders, and yes FP's Roller is an improvement over MMC's. I think MMC missed an opportunity by making their version of the character a repaint.

Hm... I'm liking MakeToys' Wiseblast (Brainstorm) too.  I need to stop looking at those TFCon slides. My wish list keeps growing whenever I go back to click through them.

Edited July 15, 2018 by technoblue

[JB0]

That MMC Sky Lynx looks pretty awesome.

Or possibly I just think any Sky Lynx looks pretty awesome. Either way!

[slaginpit]

 

[Kuma Style]

9 hours ago, technoblue said:

I'm leaning more in that direction, myself, but G1 accuracy isn't the issue for me. I think it's FT's tendency to over-engineer designs. That may be a side-effect of going absolute toon, and it might have always been there (@mikeszekely talks about it from time to time) but I just hit my limit. For their earlier releases, it didn't bother me as much. Now, I find it frustrating.

I'll keep an eye on Maketoys' Cross Dimension Rodimus. That might be a good option for something different (and they're doing Galvatron too).

Seeing more FansProject items is a welcome surprise! I like the Apeface renders, and yes FP's Roller is an improvement over MMC's. I think MMC missed an opportunity by making their version of the character a repaint.

Hm... I'm liking MakeToys' Wiseblast (Brainstorm) too.  I need to stop looking at those TFCon slides. My wish list keeps growing whenever I go back to click through them.

- I'm alright with FT's engineering, tbh. Never had a problem with transformations one way or another,  really.  I do wish there was more focus on advanced articulation with them,  though.  They're really starting to conne off mediocre there where specific pieces like Phoenix are plain poor.

- I just got shown the MT Rodimus thiiiiis morning! That thing looks killer. It's good to see Maketoys and FPJ still knocking out classics becayse fml outside of the Spartan mold nothing the MMC Reformatted line does works for me. The fact that literally every mold of theirs is made with 2 or 3 characters in mind ends up with not a single character being accurate. That stuff is a mess. 

- Wise Blast looks great but definitely different from the initial line art tease. He's chubby now.

-----------

Looks like MT Skycrow and Lightning are actually out for delivery TODAY so that's exciting.

 

 

 

[M'Kyuun]

Regarding FT's engineering, I have all their Dinobots and Phoenix, and none of them is really much of a chore to transform. It seems like there was a change in design philosophy after these guys released. I was totally down for Rouge until I saw some reviews; I find patience in shorter supply as I get older, so something that trying just doesn't work. Aesthetics-wise, gappy chest notwithstanding, I think she's still the best looking MP scaled Arcee available, with MMC's Azalea being second (not sure what TW were thinking with their version's car mode-unfinished mess, that). That said, I find Azalea's arms and legs to be a little too stick-like; perhaps its due to transformation, but it lacks the more pleasing curves of Rouge. Curious to see reviews.

Rouge aside, just from pics, FT's Hot Rod looks really nice, vibrant shades of better than Takara's. Hopefully it proves to be a solid figure in all other areas. Personally, I have no interest in a MP Hot Rod/ Rodimus, but I can appreciate a nice looking figure, and hope for those who do want him that this'll be an enjoyable toy. On the heels of Kuma's having seen MT's Rodimus, I hope the same. Good to have options.

I have Skycrow PO'd and I'm still waiting for a notification. Hope it comes soon- this'll be my first MT figure, so I'm excited by the dual prospects of finally having a seeker that looks like he walked off the screen (a good thing in this case), as well as trying a product from a company that enjoys a good reputation and has made some really nice looking figs over the years.

[Scyla]

Contrary to BSF believe I'm super excited for anything new Cross Dimensions. I just wished they would release stuff faster. That and doing a God Bomber upgrade set for Thunder Erebus. I need a reason to pick this toy up again it's so much fun messing with it. 

I'm also on board for the new Reformatted announcements by MMC. The line had only one dud so far (everyone involved in the creation of Boreas should be ashamed) and I think their Stray (IDW Drift) is probably the best Drift toy on the market  (I'm torn because FlameToys Drift is also an excellent offering but for a different audience). 

The Ocular Max stuff looks cool but the last few releases where all misses in the QC department so I will wait for some reviews. I'm curious about the Azalea molds. I hope they do a repaint so I can compare it to FTs Rouge.  Their Assaultus looks promising as well but I'm very hesitant for everything Ocular Max.

Are there any news for the Galaxy Meteor repaints? I really want Galaxy Skycrow for my Skywarp collection.

I'm also looking forward for the new bikes from the Unrustable Bastards. I'm not sure if I want to back their comic Kickstarter but I'm in for the next round of toys.

Speaking of crowd-funding. The MAAS Toys Tetrajets are $4500 (or two retailer pledges) short of reaching their goal. I wonder if it will get funded.  

[M'Kyuun]

I was mistaken earlier concerning Magic Square's legends class G1 figs; I thought they were deluxe, was kinda hoping, actually. Regardless, they look amazing. Getting a strong wave of nostalgia looking at them. Got my eye on that Huffer, since Has/Tak have been making updates to all the mini-bots but him.