The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread

[mikeszekely]

 

Utopia is my definitive choice for Metroplex. I was hoping MT would've done their Trypticon by now but they went with Scorponok instead.

Yeah.  Did you happen to pick Pandinus up?  As much as I do like Utopia I can't bring myself to pull the trigger on that one.

[JB0]

Utopia is probably the most COHERENT take on Metroplex I've ever seen, and I think I actually like it as a toy rather than as an homage to Hasbro and Takara's original brick.

...

Pity I'll never own one.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

 

 

Yeah.  Did you happen to pick Pandinus up?  As much as I do like Utopia I can't bring myself to pull the trigger on that one.

When I saw Pandinus' grey test shots, I was sold on his stocky appearance. That appeal diminished when I saw his final colors, which is a mess imo. That combined with a steep asking price led me to pass up on Pandinus. I figured I would save the cash for MT's Trypticon who I preferred over Scorponok anyways.

[tekering]

I'm waiting for Yes-Model to release an upscaled Utopia knock-off, once they're finished releasing their upscaled Guardia knock-offs.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

 

I'm waiting for Yes-Model to release an upscaled Utopia knock-off, once they're finished releasing their upscaled Guardia knock-offs.

I've been waiting for their final piece, Vulcan, for a long time now.

[Kuma Style]

 

[Kuma Style]

[sh9000]

[tekering]

Those are X-Transbots MX Series "Berzerkars" Stunticons.

I don't know who to credit the photography to.

[derex3592]

Anyone heard anything about the supposed reissue of Transform Element 01?   I believe I heard reissue was supposed to be this month.   TF Direct (where I ordered from and paid up front) says delayed until March, and March is almost up. I really want this guy!  

 

 

[sh9000]

I’m going to wait until TFSource has Deadend and Dragstrip for preorder.  Or maybe get them from another store besides BBTS.

[Tking22]

I don't like this figure for Optimus personally, I went with TE-01 for my new Prime, but White Prime/Magnus? Um, frakking yes please? This is so bought, looks fantastic.

 

 

[mikeszekely]

On 3/27/2019 at 7:02 PM, sh9000 said:

I’m going to wait until TFSource has Deadend and Dragstrip for preorder.  Or maybe get them from another store besides BBTS.

Tfsource has them up for preorder now.

[sh9000]

Thanks.  Yeah I preordered XTB Deathwish, Overheat, and Boost yesterday at TFSource and cancelled Boost at BBTS.

[mcfly50]

‘Merica!

https://www.showzstore.com/pre-order-lewin-resources-lw-01a-lw01a-mp-10-mp10-optimus-prime-op-captain-america-style-oversized-71cm-w-led_p1324.html

[JB0]

5 hours ago, mcfly50 said:

‘Merica!

https://www.showzstore.com/pre-order-lewin-resources-lw-01a-lw01a-mp-10-mp10-optimus-prime-op-captain-america-style-oversized-71cm-w-led_p1324.html

I kinda love it.

 

[southpaw]

On 3/29/2019 at 2:29 PM, mcfly50 said:

‘Merica!

https://www.showzstore.com/pre-order-lewin-resources-lw-01a-lw01a-mp-10-mp10-optimus-prime-op-captain-america-style-oversized-71cm-w-led_p1324.html

Have you anyone from Macrossworld shopped at showzstore before. I think they are from china?

[mcfly50]

I’ve bought from them a lot.  No issues. 

[mikeszekely]

2 minutes ago, southpaw said:

Have you anyone from Macrossworld shopped at showzstore before. I think they are from china?

Yeah, I started doing business with them last year.  I'm kind of weird that waiting for a package to come from China is harder for me than waiting for a domestic store to get it in stock and ship it to me, even if the domestic option takes longer, because I know it'll only take a week or so after a domestic store ships but Chinese packages are at the mercy of customs.  That's a roundabout way of saying that I still buy most of my stuff from domestic stores, but if there's a big price difference or I'm shopping for something that the US stores don't usually carry ShowZ has become my go-to place.  Competitive prices and good service.

[Dobber]

I bought from them too. No problems.

Chris

[southpaw]

Thanks for remarks about showzstore. 

i have a different question being from Canada. I still don't own a Masterpiece Megatron V2. I dont see anyone in ebay or store websites selling them with an orange plug.

Did any of you guys who ordered overseas had problems with Masterpiece Megatron V2 from customs.

And would asking for it to ship without packaging and just in robot mode (since im thinking of getting a KO  vers) makes it easier to pass customs.

 

Thanks

[mcfly50]

All of them should ship in robot mode. Can’t speak to Canada, but I had good luck with my IT version without an orange plug. 

[technoblue]

1 hour ago, southpaw said:

Thanks for remarks about showzstore. 

i have a different question being from Canada. I still don't own a Masterpiece Megatron V2. I dont see anyone in ebay or store websites selling them with an orange plug.

Did any of you guys who ordered overseas had problems with Masterpiece Megatron V2 from customs.

And would asking for it to ship without packaging and just in robot mode (since im thinking of getting a KO  vers) makes it easier to pass customs.

 

Thanks

Hi.

I bought my copy of Takara's MP-36 from Anime Export back in the day. I had no issues with US customs and AE didn't add an orange plug. I picked up MP-36+ recently from Toy Dojo, which is a domestic shop in the US. No orange plug from that shop either. I think domestic shops in the US and Canada add the plug on a store by store basis, with some stores following closer to the letter of the law than others.

Not sure how tough Canada customs would be with MP-36; however, if you are curious about the packaging, then you can check out this thread on TFW2005. It has some good shots of the official Takara box and the plastic clam shell showing Megatron in bot mode with his accessories. 

https://www.tfw2005.com/boards/threads/masterpiece-megatron-mp-36.1104543/

KO packaging, like that from Infinite Transformation is similar (Megs comes in bot mode).

Edited March 31, 2019 by technoblue
shots not shops :p

[Dangard Ace]

4 hours ago, southpaw said:

Thanks for remarks about showzstore. 

i have a different question being from Canada. I still don't own a Masterpiece Megatron V2. I dont see anyone in ebay or store websites selling them with an orange plug.

Did any of you guys who ordered overseas had problems with Masterpiece Megatron V2 from customs.

And would asking for it to ship without packaging and just in robot mode (since im thinking of getting a KO  vers) makes it easier to pass customs.

 

Thanks

 

No issue getting mine into Canada without a plug.  I'm in Toronto.

[mikeszekely]

I didn't buy either MP-36 or any of the KOs (I bought Despotron, no plug).  But years ago, when I bought the first MP Megatron, it did come with a plug.  For what it's worth, though, they plug wasn't glued; you just had to pull it out.  So even if you do get a plug, it's probably not a big deal.

[derex3592]

My MP36 plug on the figure itself wasn't glued and came right out, the one on the silencer was however and it was a bear to get out. Not that I care much as I display him in robot mode. 

Good news!!! Woke up to shipping notice from TF Direct to see that my long awaited reissue of TE-01 has shipped! Should be here in about 12 days. Looks like they got the March reissue date in under the wire! 

[Tking22]

3 hours ago, derex3592 said:

My MP36 plug on the figure itself wasn't glued and came right out, the one on the silencer was however and it was a bear to get out. Not that I care much as I display him in robot mode. 

Good news!!! Woke up to shipping notice from TF Direct to see that my long awaited reissue of TE-01 has shipped! Should be here in about 12 days. Looks like they got the March reissue date in under the wire! 

Lucky you, it's a damn fine MP Prime. Also, it was confirmed the second batch of TE-01 comes with the second head as well. For us first batch buyers, contact the shop you bought it from and ask them about it, I bugged TF-Direct and they said a batch of just heads would be on the way sometime after the second batch of the entire figure comes in, then they would be emailing all first batch buyers to see if they wanted one, which yes, I most assuredly do.

[derex3592]

SWEET!!! I really didn't have a problem with the original head, but hey! more heads the better! 

Edited April 1, 2019 by derex3592

[JB0]

6 hours ago, derex3592 said:

SWEET!!! I really didn't have a problem with the original head, but hey! more heads the better! 

You can re-enact that scene in the comics where Shockwave has Optimus's head operational on a stand!

[RavenHawk]

1 minute ago, JB0 said:

You can re-enact that scene in the comics where Shockwave has Optimus's head operational on a stand!

I really did enjoy those classic Marvel Transformers comics as a kid.

[mikeszekely]

Seems MMC had a hard time moving their Insecticons, the Malum Malitia (forgive my poor Latin, but isn't that something like the "bad badness"?).  First BBTS started taking preorders last fall for them, then TFSource, both at $99.99 (down from $185), while Planet Steel Express dropped the price from 1440 HKD (around $183.48) to 780 HKD (about $99.38).  At around $33 per Insecticon, I decided that price was worth troop building even though I already have both the Fans Toys and BadCube Insecticons.  MMC is one of the few companies with a reputation close to Fans Toys (truthfully, I tend to prefer MMC's stuff a lot more than FT's), but even before the price drop there were some worrying signs when MMC moved them from their Masterpiece-style Ocular Max label to more standard Reformatted line.  So how do they stack up?  Let's take a look, starting with Potesta, aka Shrapnel.

Well, Potesta is certainly a bit more svelte than Fans Toys' and BadCube's offerings, but in terms of height he's still very much in the Masterpiece scale.  That skinniness is probably a relic from when they were going to be in the Ocular Max line, as the Studio OX artwork had rail-thin Insecticons, while Fans Toys' is probably closer to how Shrapnel looked in the cartoon.  Still, the overall sculpt is pretty strong, and the use of chrome (even on the thighs) is appreciated, as I did have the Insecticons as a kid and still do have a G1 set lying around.  I do wish that the chest were translucent amber, though.

Unfortunately, those Ocular max relics are just that.  The move to Reformatted must have taken the paint budget, because unless you count chrome as paint Potesta has none of it aside from his face.  FT and BC both have some blue on the chest and FT has yellow on the toes that mimic stickers on the G1 toy, and they both have other small yellow, red, and/or silver accents.  Those features are small, but they do make a difference.  Potesta looks rather bland in comparison.

Oh, and not that it matters as much as some people would have you believe, but Potesta is pretty light.  He's the lightest of the three, in fact.  If you're part of that Fans Toys crowd that's convinced that heft matters more than a transformation that doesn't make you want to throw your collection in the trash and find a new hobby then I should probably caution you that Potesta and BadCube's Shrapnel combined still weigh less than Fans Toys'.

I know I don't often show the view from behind, as I don't think it's of huge importance, but the cluster of bug legs on the back is often cited as the biggest issue with Fans Toys' version.  Potesta's legs don't fold away quite as neatly as BadCube's, but it's nowhere near the mess that Fans Toys' is carrying.  Part of that is because Potesta's rear-most legs actually tuck into his robot legs.

Unlike FT and BC's Insecticons, MMC's only come as a set.  These are the accessories specifically for Potesta; a very G1 toy-style gun, and an alternate face with a subtle smirk.

Postesta's articulation is about on par with the competition's.  His head is on a hinged swivel, so he can look up and down a little in addition to turning his head.  His shoulders rotate and can shrug/slump on a ball joint inside his torso, while a pin hinge lets him extend them a little over 90 degrees.  His biceps swivel, and his elbow bends about 120 degrees on a single hinge.  His wrists can swivel, and despite their small size his hands do have a pin hinge at the base of the fingers so his hands can open and close, although the fingers are all one molded piece.  His waist cans swivel.  His hips can go just under 90 degrees forward (although a little reverse bend at the knee lets you fake the full 90), 45 degrees backward, and slightly over 90 degrees laterally.  His thighs swivel around the joint, so there's no thigh cut.  His knees are stiff and have points of strange resistance.  I almost thought that they were extremely limited, but when I pushed past the resistance I found he can bend them nearly 90 degrees.  His ankles can pivot over 90 degrees, and although his whole foot can't title up or down his toes and heels can tilt down as needed.

The handle of his gun slides into his hand with that same sort of rectangular handle instead of a 5mm peg that MP Bumblebee uses.  The guns on the outside of his forearms can swing around to the back of the forearm if you want a more cartoon-accurate look.  And MMC did put a pin hinge on the yellow chest door so that you can open it... there's just nothing behind it.  Again, it's a real shame that MMC didn't use one of those nubbin hinges or a clip hinge instead of a pin.  Then they could have included swappable translucent doors.

The transformation from robot to bug is fairly clever yet also pretty simple.  It's on par with Badcube's, and much easier than Fans Toys'.  And the result is... eh.  It's much flatter than the others, again in keeping with the Studio OX design but not exactly cartoon accurate.  I do like how the flaps that the bug legs are on wrap around his robot arms.  Again, it's not the most accurate design, but combined with his butt flaps and some fold out bits near his robot knees it gives him a very cohesive appearance.  Once again, he's held back a bit by being entirely colored plastic aside from the chrome parts.  I might have to pick up the Reprolabels for these guys.

But more than the flatness or the drap appearance, the worst thing about the alt mode is undoubtedly the legs.  It looks like MMC was trying to give him more articulated bug legs, like Fans Toys did, but they're very poorly implemented.  I could start with the obvious and say that they're neither OX, G1 toy, nor G1 cartoon accurate, but I could let that slide if they worked well.  Here, they just don't.  For starters, aside from one ball joint per leg (at the second from the tip joint) there's no swivels.  You can't splay them out like FT's; matter of fact, due to the angles his rear legs are tucking in tighter at the toes.  The pinned hinges only bend one way, unlike FT's.  And, worst of all, they have these ridges to give them a pseudo-ratchet feel, but they wind up just being too stiff.  You feel like you're going to break them sometimes.  Matter of fact, you might notice that his right front leg is kind of stuck up in the air.  That's because the hinge that swivels it from the robot-mode position down to the bug position is cracked, and looks like it came that way.

Oh, and I really wish they hadn't used yellow.  Yes, I know the G1 toy had yellow legs.  It's one of the things I really like about the BadCube version.  But the rear legs were purple, not yellow, and the G1 legs had a jointless, mechanical appearance.  I think Fans Toys made the smart call going with black for their insectoid legs.  Making them yellow just calls attention to how awkward Potesta's are.

Aside from some barely working joints in the bug legs you can open and close Potesta's pinciers.  His gun is also supposed to be able to peg onto his back, in a little slot between his robot legs.  The trouble is that his legs don't peg together quite tightly enough to create enough friction on the gun handle, so it's sitting in there quite loosely.  If you turn him upside down the gun will fall out.

I'm not sure why MMC ultimately moved these guys from Ocular Max to Reformatted, but it's a shame that they did.  You can see the potential that Potesta had, with a strong sculpt, solid articulation, and an effective transformation.  With a little paint, a little better fit and finish, and a different, more accurate design for the insect legs and I think MMC had a real chance to run away with this one.  Ultimately, though, he comes across looking a little cheap, and those fit and finish issues and my strong dislike of those bug legs drag him back down to "he's just ok."  I honestly think that BadCube has the best Shrapnel, and Fans Toys' has a more premium look and feel even if it's my least favorite of the three to transform.  If you have the money (and can even track one down) they're both better MP options.  However, if you're on a budget I can at least say that Potesta isn't really a bad figure.  Aside from a cracked hinge I feel like I got my money's worth.  Assuming the other two are as good or better than Potesta then I can recommend them for the price, if not recommend them outright.

[Tking22]

On 4/1/2019 at 10:23 AM, derex3592 said:

SWEET!!! I really didn't have a problem with the original head, but hey! more heads the better! 

Yeah I liked the original head, but this new one is pretty damn great too. I love the grey on the face plate, the new head is very much Transformers the Movie, it looks pretty fantastic. Also, I saw the backs of the knees are no longer silver, they molded or painted them into a matching blue from the rest of the figure. The knees were never an issue for me, I honestly never even noticed the backs were silver, but that's cool they already made slight upgrades from the V1.

Kind of shitty but TF-Direct informed me I can get the new head, but will have to add something around $10 to the order with it to cover shipping. I figured completely free, shipping included, would be too good to be true, I mean it's not on TF-Direct to eat that cost, but still. I guess I'll add a few dry rub decals or something so I can get my new TE-01 head.

[mikeszekely]

The next member of the Malum Malitia we're going to look at is Inflecto, MMC's Bombshell.

I've already talked at some length about the move from Ocular Max to Reformatted and how that impacted this set, so I'm not going to beat a dead horse.  I'll simply start off by saying that Inflecto has a lot of the same pros and cons that Potesta has.  That is to say, I dig the use of chrome, and I think the head might actually be the best of the three MP Bombshells.  I wish they'd used more paint on little details and I wish they'd have included some option for a translucent chest instead of yellow plastic.

I'm going to add, though, that things are just a little off below the waist, though.  I'm not loving tiny feet, and considering that the G1 toy's legs were hollow I'm thinking that Inflecto's shins are needlessly puffy.  There's also a butt flap and some panels folded in on his sides that kind of throw off the silhouette.  I wouldn't go so far as to say it ruins him, though.  I think Inflecto actually looks better than BadCube's Bombshell.  As much grief as I give Fans Toys, I really do think their Bombshell was one of their best figures and still my defninitive Bombshell.

No extra faces for Inflecto, just his gun.  It's chrome, and again it's very toy accurate.

Inflecto's head is on a ball joint, with the ball in the chest instead of the skull.  He can look down a smidge, up a bit, and tilt his head quizzically, which suits a character like Bombshell.  His shoulders swivel, and they have a soft ratchet out to a little under 90 degrees.  Plus, mostly due to transformation, he has a butterfly joint.  His biceps swivel, and his elbow bends a little over 90 degrees.  His fingers are one piece pinned at the base knuckle so he can open his hand, but he lacks a wrist swivel.  He doesn't lack a waist swivel, though.  His hips can bend only about 45 degrees forward, 30 degrees backward, and 60 degrees to the side.  The hips do seem to be soft ratcheted, but I do mean soft.  If I wasn't specifically thinking about it for this review I probably wouldn't have even noticed.  His thighs can swivel around the hip joint.  His knees bend over 90 degrees on a single hinge.  His ankles pivot about 60 degrees, and unlike Potesta his feet can also tilt up and down.

He holds his gun just fine, by sliding the tapered handle into his similarly-molded fist.

Inflecto's transformation isn't all that different than... well, any of the other Bombshell toys, really.  His head with it's fake proboscis winds up inside his chest like FT and BC, and the real proboscis was chilling on his back the whole time like FT's.  His arms fold behind him and tuck underneath like every Bombshell ever.  His rear bug legs were on his calves, like FT's, and the other bug legs were folded onto his back like FT and BC.  The big differences are that Inflecto's front and middle legs are on folded panels fill in the sides of the bug mode and blend the legs in more naturally, and that his legs collapse over his thighs like MP-10's instead of folding over on themselves.

And the result is... ok.  MMC again went for more insect-like legs, and they have a lot of the same problem's Potesta's do.  But the tolerances are a bit better, they sit in a manner that looks better than Postesta's, and they're black.  So they're not as G1-accurate at BC's, and they're not as well-engineered as FT's, but they work.  I'm a bit more bothered by how noticeable his robot arms are compared to BC and FT's, and how flat he looks.  And even that flatness isn't necessarily wrong; it's fairly in keeping with the G1 toy.  It's just not how I picture Bombshell.

There's also the matter of those robot feet.  Unlike FT and BC they don't blend in with the abdomen, they're just folded up and sticking off the back.  It's not a great look.  And something else that bugs me is that he doesn't feel locked together the way BC or FT's do.  His waist can still swivel, so his back half doesn't stay lined up right.  And the flaps that tuck against his robot torso rely on the friction in their hinges to stay in place.

You can plug his gun onto his back, and unlike Potesta the fit is very snug.  The barrel can rotate, so it can fit a bit better without to bottom prong on the barrel bumping his robot chest.  And there are two hinges in his proboscis for posing.

Inflecto's kind of a weird case, I think.  With Potesta I could really see the potential, like a some paint and a different design for the legs was all the was keeping him from being the best Shrapnel, but MMC going cheap actually made him my least favorite of the three.  With Inflecto I feel like the problems are less fit and finish and more inherent to the design.  The feet are problematic in both modes, the lack of a wrist swivel seems related to how the hands collapse into the forearm instead of folding in, the hip articulation is hindered because the chrome thighs around the joint don't have enough clearance, the shins are simply more protruding than they really needed to be.  And yet, based largely on a stronger sculpt with better proportions, I find myself liking Inflecto better than BadCube's Shrapnel.

If you want the best Bombshell FT really knocked that one out of the park.  Inflecto, for all his flaws, makes for a very affordable runner up, though.

[mikeszekely]

Meant to get this up yesterday, but, y'know, life happens.  Anyway, we're finishing off MMC's Insecticons with Calcitrant, aka Kickback.

Once again, the same complaints I had about the other two are still in force.  He still looks super bland due the to total absence of painted detail.  In some ways, that's actually a bigger problem for Calcitrant because the purple MMC used is kind of dark, and it blends in with the black without the chrome thighs to help break things up.  And I absolutely still wish that we had a translucent option for that chest.

Calcitrant has a lot of the same positives, though, including a strong sculpt, especially the head.  And, I don't know about you guys but in my mind's eye I've always seen Kickback as the skinny one.  It's something the other two have struggled with, especially BadCube, as they've tried to engineer robot arms that are separate from the bug legs.

Yet somehow MMC really nailed this.  Whether you're measuring across the chest, across the waist, or front to back through the torso, Calcitrant is the thinnest and, to me, the best-proportioned out of the three.  And, amazingly, he does this while managing a cleaner back than Fans Toys'.  

Calcitrant's accessories are an alternate, happy face and a gun that's extremely close to the G1 toy's.

Calcitrant's head is on a ball joint.  Not much down, little bit of sideways tilt, but he's pretty decent at looking up.  His shoulders can rotate and extend 90 degrees.  His biceps cans swivel.  His elbows are double-jointed and capable of curling nearly 180 degrees.  Unfortunately he's got the same kind of hands as Inflecto, so they're pinned at the base and he can open his hands but he doesn't have any wrist swivels.  He does have a waist swivel, though, and his hips can go a bit under 90 degrees forward and backward on friction joints and over 90 degrees laterally on ratchets.  His thighs cans swivel, and his knees can bend just over 90 degrees on a double joint that's frictioned at the top and ratcheted at the bottom.  His feet can't really bend down, but they can bend up, and he's got about 45 degrees or so of ankle pivot.  While wrist swivels and a little more range in the hips would have been nice I think his articulation is adequate, really.  In fact, if I could have added any articulation I wanted I'd go for the hinges Fans Toys put into their Kickback's wings that let them angle outward a bit.

What I'd argue is Calcitrant's single biggest flaw is that he holds his gun extremely poorly.  It will fall out.  Just trying to take this picture I had to be careful how I positioned his gun hand, because if it wasn't perfectly balanced it'd turn in his grip.  There's just no tension there.  I don't know how MMC screwed up the tolerances that badly.

Aside from the overall lack of painted details and a few visible screws, Calcitrant is again arguably the best-looking MP-style Kickback.  The front legs are of a similar style and engineering as was used on the other two MMC bugs, but here they honestly work pretty well as a stand-in for the G1 toy's split arms.  He's nice and thin, unlike BadCube's.  And he's the only one of the three that doesn't have some extra unfolded bit between the rear legs.  Bigger wings, again with those FT hinges, might have been nice but they're proportionally about the same size as the G1 toy's.  Aesthetically, there's not a lot to complain about besides the lack of paint.

But perhaps the most amazing thing about Calcitrant is that he goes from this great-looking, slim robot to this nigh-on perfect bug with by far the simplest engineering among the three Kickbacks.  Flipping between modes is quick and intuitive, with almost everything moving exactly the way you think it should, in the most efficient manner, without any extra hurdles like fragile clasps or splitting his robot head open.

The trickiest part is probably making sure you have the the bug legs curled up right going back into robot mode.  They go like this, and it's actually pretty simple.  Basically, the front bug leg bends 90 degrees at the first hinge and the ball joint, curling in toward the bug shoulder.  Then the middle leg gets as close to the front leg as it can and simply folds over it.  Then it's just a matter of rotating the bug shoulder so the bug legs are settingling into his robot back, with the tips of the rear legs peeking out from the small of his back.

While in bug mode, you can store Calcitrant's gun by plugging the handle into a hole on his robot butt.  There's not really enough clearance, though, so it's going to scrape on the ground.  Irritatingly, it's super snug when it's plugged into his butt hole.  Why couldn't it have been this snug in his hand?  One other nice touch is that MMC eschewed the silver face cover that BadCube (stored inside the robot chest) and Fans Toys (stored inside the robot head) used to cover his robot face.  Instead, MMC opted for a simple black cover, stored blended into the top of his back in robot mode.  This cover has little mandibles, which I think are a nice little detail.  The only downside is that the cover just has the hinge at the base, so you're effectively locking his head into position while in bug mode.  Frankly, I don't do a lot of dynamic posing of the Insecticons in bug mode anyway.

Even with his gun-holding issue and his lack of paint, Calcitrant is the best Kickback toy, period.  Considering that you get him in a set with the other two Insecticons for just $100 actually makes the mediocrity of the other two an easier pill to swallow.  And that brings me to my final conclusion- unless you don't mind mixing and matching Insecticons across the different sets, I'd still say that Fans Toys' are the best overall as a trio.  However, they're much harder to come by, as they've long sold out and FT seems hesitant to reissue them, perhaps due to breakage issues with their Kickback.  So while I do think they're probably the best overall, I don't know that they're worth hunting down a set and paying well over their original price (I could find only one offer for their Kickback, as part of a set with all three for $750).  Despite my issues with them, and despite BadCube having the best Shrapnel, I think MMC's are definitely my second-place choice for Insecticons, and they're cheap enough that you can buy them and buy the Reprolabels for them and still be around $35 per Insecticon.  It's a pretty good deal, one I'd recommend taking if you're in the market for some Insecticons.  It's just kind of a shame because these guys were just a little paint and a few design tweaks away from being the top Insecticons.

[JetJockey]

On 4/1/2019 at 10:04 AM, Tking22 said:

Lucky you, it's a damn fine MP Prime. Also, it was confirmed the second batch of TE-01 comes with the second head as well. For us first batch buyers, contact the shop you bought it from and ask them about it, I bugged TF-Direct and they said a batch of just heads would be on the way sometime after the second batch of the entire figure comes in, then they would be emailing all first batch buyers to see if they wanted one, which yes, I most assuredly do.

This is it for Version 2? No battle damage options like on the Magic Square? Any Version 3 rumors or is it too early?