The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread

[M'Kyuun]

10 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

 I know the boxy robot under a plane thing is a peeve of @M'Kyuun, but I'll allow it here.  You can make a case that it's G1 accurate for the Aerialbots, and Air Raid in particular probably needs a certain level of brickishness to make for a solid leg.

 

 

Ah, you know me so well. It's an issue I take with most of HasTaks jets. For the sake of accuracy to the original toy/toon depiction, I can grudgingly forgive it with combiners, given that they need the extra volume of the bot to fill out the limbs. But looking at this guy, and comparing him to the original Seeker design, the Seeker comes off as a much sleeker design in which the fuselage of the plane is the body of the bot as well, rather than a cubish bot hanging underneath a partial F-15 fuselage like this guy, and the majority of HasTak's jetbots.  It's one area where I give the old Machine Robo/Gobots high marks over HasTak, as their jets were nearly always fairly accurate, and their bot modes created out of the aircraft, rather than being slung under them. It's the main reason I'd hoped that Action Toys' line would do well enough for them to possibly expand beyond Revenge of Cronos into the main line, as I would have loved to have seen them do all the aircraft figures, especially Harrier Robo. Alas, not to be.

In other 3P news, Nonnef is creating a trailer upgrade kit for Earthrise Prime that fixes a number of inaccuracies with the official release, thus bringing it closer to the G1 toy/animation model. They're also planning an upgrade kit for Prime later. I PO'd the trailer upgrade kit, and if the Prime kit replaces all the grey bits in his legs, I'll be onboard for that, too. They're already warning that shipping is going to be costly, so there's that (about $5). But the trailer kit itself is $25, a great deal considering all that comes in the kit to really dress up the trailer, including Roller. One notable thing about Nonnef is that they are an American company, so it's nice to see a domestic party making accessories and upgrades. 

[Kuma Style]

[sh9000]

The FT Aerialbots look good.  I just want a set of Aerialbots with their robot modes the same height as the XTB Stunticons.  Hopefully one day.

Edited June 1, 2020 by sh9000

[mikeszekely]

@Kuma Style Fans Toys has been pretty prolific lately, and a lot of the discussion seems to be focused on them lately.  Seems like they're releasing stuff with more QC or design issues, prices are creeping up on their stuff faster than other 3Ps, their stuff is selling out super quick, scalpers are having their cake and eating it too, and their fans are defending all of it.  It's been sucking the joy out of this hobby for me lately.  But you've been posting these pics of some older stuff, especially Maketoys, Fansproject, and MMC.  It reminds me of when these things were fun toys and not necessarily premium collectibles, when we were excited to get a character (or version of a character) Hasbro neglected and weren't obsessing about how much paint or diecast was on it.  Thanks, buddy, for reminding me what got me into 3P in the first place.

[M'Kyuun]

Not to mention a great eye for lighting and shooting these things. Carnifex never looked more ominously vogue.  Lovely shot, Kuma.

[Kuma Style]

9 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

Not to mention a great eye for lighting and shooting these things. Carnifex never looked more ominously vogue.  Lovely shot, Kuma.

Thank you, man.

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Now question just in the sense of getting to know the community and how it works a bit better; why do people here not like pressing the like/kudos button? Nicest board I'm a part of but just noticed that in comparison to other boards with a similar feature it isn't much utilized.

[mikeszekely]

Speaking of Fans Toys, early reports of QC issues held me back from buying their Warpath and it seems that it sold out anyway.  I picked up BadCube's version recently, but while there's stuff I liked about it and I don't think the transformation was as bad as I people were making it out to be I'd be lying if I said I was totally satisfied.  So I decided to explore one other option, but that option came in a pack with three other guys.  Guys I had figures of that I actually was pretty satisfied with.  Was my lack of interest justified?  Let's consider the one I was the least interested in, Final Victory's Reckless Combat, an MP-scale take on Huffer that comes in a set called the Mighty Warriors.

My initial impressions out of the box weren't exactly favorable.  It's partly because he has three flaws that immediately jumped out at me- an ugly head sculpt, arms that are the same light blue as his thighs instead of a silver color, and a lack of that light blue on his chest.  It's partly because I have BadCube's Huff (the second version, not the original Cubex one), and it's just about perfect (in my opinion) in robot mode.  Other issues that have been brought up are the visible tires on his legs and the non-articulated hands.  While I'll concede that hidden tires and articulated hands on BadCube's are better I can't honestly say that either of those are a big deal for me.  The head I guess I can get over, the arms can probably be painted.  The biggest deal for me is the chest.  What were they thinking?  Did they watch the cartoon, or were they just going off of the first image at TFWiki?  I can't quit tell, but it looks like the part that should be light blue might be a separate piece, so perhaps I can take it apart and paint it.

But let's not just focus on the negatives.  Head aside aside, I think the overall sculpt is pretty good.  I like the bigger feet and more detailed shins.  His backpack is no worse than any other Huffer's.  He's actually got a little diecast, and you can kind of see it in shins that don't quite match the yellow of the rest of his legs.  While the robot mode isn't as good in my eyes as BadCube's I do think it's better than X-Transbot's old Krank figure.  Really, a little more paint, a better face, and some new hands and I wouldn't have had to listen to usual "it's not MP" snobbery from certain segments of the fandom.

Oh, and about that head.  You can actually pull his Magneto helmet off, and turning his helmet-less head around will reveal a second face.  Thing is, with a slight (and uncharacteristic) smile and eyes that aren't painted as neatly the second face might actually be worse.

Since Reckless Combat comes in a set with some other characters there seems to be some confusion about what accessories belong to him and what accessories belong to the others.  Going off of the pictures on the box I'm pretty sure that the accessories intended for this guy are just these two pistols.  They're molded in the same color plastic as his arms/thighs with no paint (and some sprue marks on the one handle).  I think the sculpt is pretty good, though.

Another area where Reckless Combat shines is articulation.  His head is on a ball joint at the base of the neck, which gives him plenty of foreward/backward/sideways tilt and rotation.  His shoulders can rotate and hinge outward 90 degrees.  His biceps can swivel, and his elbows bend 90 degrees.  His wrist swivels, as does his waist.  Interestingly enough the upper part of his torso is connected to the lighter part by a ball joint in his back, so he not only has a good ab crunch that doesn't break his sculpt but he can also lean to either side.  His hip skirts hinge out of the way so his hips can ratchet forward 90 degrees, backward about 45 degrees, and laterally 90 degrees.  His thighs swivel around the hip joint, and his knees bend just a tiny bit under 90 degrees on a soft ratchet.  His feet can tilt up and down a bit, plus a double-hinge where his foot connects gives him some deep ankle pivots.  His joints are tight, even the friction ones, if a little squeaky like an older Fans Toys figure.

The handles on his guns, despite the little slots in them, are really 5mm pegs.  And they fit snugly into his hands, which are shaped like 5mm ports.

Reckless Combat has a transformation that's pretty simple.  What I find interesting here is that BadCube used panels to cover the thighs and keep an overall shape that seems more like a realistic truck.  He winds up longer, to the point that he doesn't even bother to hide his head.  Meanwhile, Reckless Combat leaned heavily into the G1 toy's Choro-Q influence and shrinks down into a compact chibi truck.

Sure, the truck could have used the covers for the top of the arms that BadCube's has, and maybe some more paint for the taillights and behind the transparent headlights.  Unlike BadCube, Reckless Combat does at least sport rubber tires, and I prefer the angle of the front windshield on the cab.  I actually think it's both more toy and more cartoon-accurate than BadCube's in truck mode, and I kind of prefer it.

There are a some hinged parts on the back of Reckless Combat's truck.  If they're folded up you'll see they have hollow slots in them.  Those slots allow him to pull MP-10's trailer.  What he doesn't have, though, is any way to store his guns in this mode.

I like BadCube's Huff a lot, and no, Reckless Combat isn't going to replace him on my shelf.  However, where I initially thought I might try to sell off or bin Reckless Combat I'm finding that I'd rather leave him on my desk because he's just fun to mess with, and not nearly as bad as I thought he'd be.  Given that BadCube's is hard to come by these days I actually think that Reckless Combat is a solid alternative, especially if you've got some talent for customizing your figures and can paint the arms and chest.  His low price and 5mm-compatible weapons/hands make him an attractive buy for customizers in general, really.  Just keep in mind that Fans Toys also has a Huffer coming, if you're into more paint and diecast.

[mikeszekely]

28 minutes ago, Kuma Style said:

Now question just in the sense of getting to know the community and how it works a bit better; why do people here not like pressing the like/kudos button? Nicest board I'm a part of but just noticed that in comparison to other boards with a similar feature it isn't much utilized.

I think it's a mix of the age of these boards, the smaller size of the community, and the average age of said community.  These boards have been around forever; I joined probably around twenty years ago and there were guys who were considered long-time veterans even then.  The number of active members is smaller than a lot of other boards I've visited, so there's kind of a sense that we know each other and we don't have a problem just saying if we like something or not.  Plus I think we're a little older than some other communities, and kind of set in our ways.  The like/kudos feature is actually pretty new and came with a board update maybe two or three years ago, and I think a lot members who were used to not having it are content to ignore it now.

[Kuma Style]

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

 content to ignore it

Absolutely unfortunate.

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

[mikeszekely]

6 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

In other 3P news, Nonnef is creating a trailer upgrade kit for Earthrise Prime that fixes a number of inaccuracies with the official release, thus bringing it closer to the G1 toy/animation model.

Expect a review soon.

56 minutes ago, Kuma Style said:

Absolutely unfortunate.

Can't speak for everyone, but I'm making a point of liking your pictures.

[Kuma Style]

@mikeszekely I wanna' trek back a bit to what you wrote earlier because when I first saw it I was a little busy and wanted to actually give a clear response because it's a great point you  brought up...

Everything you listed in regards to the current status of Masterpiece both licensed and non is absolutely correct and why I frankly just stopped buying most current transforming TFs. It's a bunch of q.c.-ridden, paint-drenched junk to me on an objective level and focuses way too much on being slavish to animation that I find pretty poor on a subjective level. I stopped having fun with it so outside of honestly Flame Toys really just left TF stuff behind. Then I randomly got the bug to start re-shelving and buying things I really loved or had interest in back in what I considered the heyday of unlicensed stuff and honestly man I'm having so much more fun with it than I've had in years. So much creativity and general "soul" has been lost in these products now that I honestly just think it's a shame.

Even most of the 3rd Party companies that are still around are a shadow of themselves.  I saw a picture of MakeToys' Dirge in hand on facebook and holy crap it looked like a KO. PerfectEffect went from Warden and Leonidas (the sculpt and creativity more so than q.c. with that one) to making retail combiner updates like it's 2011 and 200 versions of midget Optimus to get by. Fansproject has people wondering if they're going to release the last part of a combiner repaint that's been ongoing like 6 years.

Things are just... different. Maybe I'm a 3P Boomer but the best way for me to sum it up is that they seriously just don't make em' like they used to, lol. It's nice to have the "space" of not having to keep up with all of the latest to really fill out the stuff that I love and really rekindle a lot of what brought me to the fold in the first place.

With that being said, even though I don't really interact with them a lot not being my cup of tea I really appreciate what you do with the in depth reviews of more current stuff. I do follow and keep up even not really responding.

Edited June 1, 2020 by Kuma Style

[M'Kyuun]

Question; Does anyone know if the upcoming Perfect Effect DX-11 Honor Warrior will work with Titans Return Ginrai? It looks like a slight remold of  PC-16, which makes me wonder if it'll work with it, too. I've been lamenting not getting PC-16, as it was a cool little Prime figure, just a bit pricey. Honor Warrior is also $60 for basically a deluxe figure, but I like the IDW inspired legs and chest. None of the promos show it with Ginrai, but I thought it'd be a nice bonus if it worked with it.

edit: I've never owned a black Prime, and their Dark Warrior looks sharp. May have to get that instead of the traditional red and blue.

Edited June 2, 2020 by M'Kyuun

[Kuma Style]

@M'Kyuun it was asked over at TFW and it looks like the answer is no. They're similar size-wise but it doesn't  transform however it needs to to fit:

https://www.tfw2005.com/boards/threads/perfect-effect-dx-11-honor-warrior-dx-11b-dark-warrior.1194301/page-2#post-17945960
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[M'Kyuun]

@Kuma StyleHey, thanks for the FYI, man. Kind of a bummer that it's incompatible, but it's a rather sharp looking fig on its own. Be nice if it was compatible with ER Prime's trailer, but that's probably asking for too much, too. I think I'm going to get the Dark Warrior version; it's a thing of beauty.

Edited June 2, 2020 by M'Kyuun

[Scyla]

Regarding the upvote feature I would like to add that the initial implementation allowed to downvote posts you dislike (also I think you could see who gave you a vote for what).

That led to a series of unfortunate events (as you would imagine) where board members where bombarded with downvotes (mostly unjustified ).

After that the system was changed so you don‘t even see who upvoted what. Even the post itself doesn’t show if it attracted any likes. It is only a number next to your account. This created a situation where giving and receiving upvotes is discouraged.

If I’m wrong with the current implementation of the upvote system please let me know. But I don’t get any feedback if someone likes any of my posts. 
Of course it could be that I never received any likes for anything. 
 

[edit:] Oh, the likes show up in mobile view. Shows how much attention I pay those.

Edited June 2, 2020 by Scyla

[Kuma Style]

10 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

@Kuma StyleHey, thanks for the FYI, man. Kind of a bummer that it's incompatible, but it's a rather sharp looking fig on its own. Be nice if it was compatible with ER Prime's trailer, but that's probably asking for too much, too. I think I'm going to get the Dark Warrior version; it's a thing of beauty.

Well it was made for their God Force Warrior sets which came with their own "power up" components that exceeded retail formers, IMO. Look into those if you want a Ginrai using that mold because that's exactly what the trailerforce variant is.

[Scyla]

6 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

@Kuma StyleHey, thanks for the FYI, man. Kind of a bummer that it's incompatible, but it's a rather sharp looking fig on its own. Be nice if it was compatible with ER Prime's trailer, but that's probably asking for too much, too. I think I'm going to get the Dark Warrior version; it's a thing of beauty.

*snip*

I will totally get the black one for my Nemesis collection. Bummer that he doesn’t come with the trailer. 

Oh well MaleToys never released a Godbomber trailer for their Nucleon Quest homage so I will live.

[M'Kyuun]

1 minute ago, Kuma Style said:

Well it was made for their God Force Warrior sets which came with their own "power up" components that exceeded retail formers, IMO. Look into those if you want a Ginrai using that mold because that's exactly what the trailerforce variant is.

Yeah, I saw that; they also have a version based on the Bay movie where he combines with Jetfire. No interest in those. Since I already have Takara's Ginrai, I thought it'd be cool if he worked with it. I checked out the TFW board ('preciate that link), and they're definitely scrutinizing it to see if they can make it work, although the stacks are in the way and there's no large head inside for the Super Ginrai mode. At this point, I'm thinking the same as Scyla, wishing there was a trailer that came with him- just a regular OP trailer in black with appropriate deco. I don't know what it is, but Prime always looks better in truck mode with a trailer. Anyway, I've got him PO'd, so he'll be my first Nemesis Prime.

[Kuma Style]

2 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

Yeah, I saw that; they also have a version based on the Bay movie where he combines with Jetfire. No interest in those. Since I already have Takara's Ginrai, I thought it'd be cool if he worked with it. I checked out the TFW board ('preciate that link), and they're definitely scrutinizing it to see if they can make it work, although the stacks are in the way and there's no large head inside for the Super Ginrai mode. At this point, I'm thinking the same as Scyla, wishing there was a trailer that came with him- just a regular OP trailer in black with appropriate deco. I don't know what it is, but Prime always looks better in truck mode with a trailer. Anyway, I've got him PO'd, so he'll be my first Nemesis Prime.

Doesn't the Jet Prime turn into a regular, black trailer??

[M'Kyuun]

Yes, but it comes with a regular red and blue Prime instead of Nemesis.  Just the same, I'm not crazy about all the jet stuff hanging off of Prime, but it's cool that all the armor condenses into a standard G1 looking trailer, albeit in black. It's certainly an option if I change my mind. 

[mikeszekely]

32 minutes ago, Scyla said:

If I’m wrong with the current implementation of the upvote system please let me know. But I don’t get any feedback if someone likes any of my posts. 
Of course it could be that I never received any likes for anything. 

I'll get a "someone liked one of your posts" pop up and a red mark on that globe on the toolbar at the top of the page, and if I click it it'll take me to whatever post was liked.  It's usually one of my reviews, and not just a generic good post or anything.  It doesn't tell me who did it, or even if more than one person did it, though.

[Scyla]

3 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

I'll get a "someone liked one of your posts" pop up and a red mark on that globe on the toolbar at the top of the page, and if I click it it'll take me to whatever post was liked.  It's usually one of my reviews, and not just a generic good post or anything.  It doesn't tell me who did it, or even if more than one person did it, though.

Thanks Mike, I checked my account and those notifications are disabled. I wo der if this is the default setting since I can’t remember tinkering with the settings.

[Kuma Style]

54 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

Yes, but it comes with a regular red and blue Prime instead of Nemesis.  Just the same, I'm not crazy about all the jet stuff hanging off of Prime, but it's cool that all the armor condenses into a standard G1 looking trailer, albeit in black. It's certainly an option if I change my mind. 

You've gotta do what you've gotta for your shelves but man all of this talk about it has me a second from buying the Jetwing prime myself this week, lmao.

[M'Kyuun]

Go for it, man. Festooned with all that armor, Ginrai and Jetforce Prime take on a strong super robot vibe, which I know is totally your jam.  Personally, I find them a bit too busy for my tastes, but I'd be remiss if I didn't admit that there are elements of it that I think are cool. The overall look just doesn't grab me. BUT, that's me, and I'll happily concede that I'm probably in the minority so far as my preference goes.

I wish they had a pic of Dark Warrior wearing the Jetforce armor, as, colorwise, it seems more fitting for him. Certainly, the black trailer is a better match. But I get they're going for a Bayformer Prime wearing Jetfire's carcass look, and, actually, they did a good job of it. After watching Emgo's vid review, I think PE succeeded in what they were going for rather well; it's just not my thing.

Edited June 2, 2020 by M'Kyuun

[Scyla]

It probably won’t match well. A lot of armor parts are color matched to the Optimus livery (i.e blue and red) in addition to the Bayverse flame pattern. 

Maybe if enough people buy the black one PE can be convinced to release a trailer for the Dark Warrior. I will certainly preorder mine this week.

[Kuma Style]

2 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Go for it, man. Festooned with all that armor, Ginrai and Jetforce Prime take on a strong super robot vibe, which I know is totally your jam.  Personally, I find them a bit too busy for my tastes, but I'd be remiss if I didn't admit that there are elements of it that I think are cool. The overall look just doesn't grab me. BUT, that's me, and I'll happily concede that I'm probably in the minority so far as my preference goes.

I wish they had a pic of Dark Warrior wearing the Jetforce armor, as, colorwise, it seems more fitting for him. Certainly, the black trailer is a better match. But I get they're going for a Bayformer Prime wearing Jetfire's carcass look, and, actually, they did a good job of it. After watching Emgo's vid review, I think PE succeeded in what they were going for rather well; it's just not my thing.

I'm a big fan of movie aspects integrated into classics pieces so it works for me. Even these Primes themselves are in the "middle" aesthetically. If they were more G1 (or cartoon/anime in general) then I'd be with you 100% on the business.

Regardless I think it'd be hard in general for me to have a Prime knowing there's an upgrade and not get said upgrade. 

[M'Kyuun]

Oh man, you're definitely in the target demographic. It's like Mattel putting out umpteen million outfits for the latest Barbie. Like Pokeman, gotta catch 'em all! 

I don't mind dressing up my figs with a bit of armor, but I'm more a fan of minimalist armor, like the old school FAST packs for the valks. Once they started getting obscenely obnoxious with some of the packs for the Frontier valks, I was out. Just too busy for my liking. Heck, I've never even liked the GBP armor for the VF-1- never appealed to me at all. But again, I generally feel I'm in the minority so far as my tastes for that sort of thing. Most of the time, I just prefer my bots as-is, without all the extra add-ons. 

Options are good, though, so I'm glad they exist for those who want them.  It makes the hobby more varied and fun.

[Kuma Style]

Not really as much liking accessories for the sake of them so much as this particular prime being very visibly made for something further if that makes sense? Like, you can blatantly tell it's not a standalone piece where on the flip side stuff like Flame Toys Prime and Star Saber I could give or take the incoming upgrades just because them being so solid by themselves. 

There's a big difference.

[mikeszekely]

So Reckless Combat surprised me by faring surprisingly well against the BadCube version that I'm totally satisfied with.  Y'know what I'm not totally satisfied with?  BadCube's Brawn, which has kind of stumpy legs and whose torso comes apart too easily when your manipulating the arms.  Might Final Victory have another winner on their hands with their version of Brawn, Hummer?

My initial impressions weren't too bad.  He's a little taller, perhaps too tall for a Brawn.  His legs are a bit less stumpy, which is good, but his torso is a bit more heroic, which is less good.  Instead of the silvery plastic BadCube used Hummer's arms are that same bluish plastic that FV used on their Huffer.  Visible windows sit on his toes and shins, which isn't at all cartoon accurate, but honestly none of that stuff is a deal breaker to me.  The most noticeably thing that I'm really not digging is that helmet, which is also using the light blue plastic.  Presumably FV is using light blue for silver, and silver might work for the old Marvel comics and the G1 toy, but his helmet was definitely darker in the cartoon.  BadCube has that right.  While we're on his head, it's fine, but I'm not really a fan of yelling faces.

Lucky for me Hummer has the same face-change gimmick as their Huffer.  Pull the helmet off and spin the head around 180 degrees and now he's got a more neutral expression.  Bonus, if I can find a metallic gray paint I like it should be easy to paint the helmet.

I posted an image of FT's upcoming Brawn a few days ago, pointing out how large its backpack is.  BadCube's Brawny is also ready for school with his own backpack.  Hummer, though, is surprisingly flat back there.  There's some downsides to that, though.  The main flap is relying on the friction in its hinges to stay in place, as it doesn't tab down.  And it's not really doing the best job of hiding how hollow his torso is behind that backpack.  It's here that he's starting to lose me.  I can tolerate some backpack, if it's neat.  While Hummer's is flatter it looks sort of unfinished.  If if one my my big gripes about Branwy is that his torso comes apart, well, at least it's tabbed in.  

Again, going by pictures on the box to decide which of the packed-in accessories are meant for Hummer, I think it's the following: a dark gray pistol, plus a drill and a blowtorch in that light blue plastic.

Hummer's head can swivel, but it doesn't seem to have any up/down tilt.  There is a transformation joint that could, in theory, give him some upward tilt but the back of his helmet is right up against the hood behind it.  His shoulders rotate on soft ratchets, hinge out 90 degrees, and due to transformation he's got a little forward and backward butterfly joint.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend 90 degrees on extremely soft ratchets.  His wrists swivel.  His waist swivels.  His hips can go 90 degrees forward, backward, or laterally, all on ratchets.  His thighs swivel around the hip joints.  His knees bend 90 degrees on friction hinges.  Most of his foot can't move, but the front part of his foot is on a swivel that gives him faux ankle pivots of around 60 degrees.

As was the case with their Huffer, Brawny's hands are molded into 5mm ports, and the gun handle is a 5mm peg.  I know a lot of people prefer articulated hands, but on a bot this size static hands don't really bother me, and the added compatibility with other 5mm accessories is a bonus.  As for the drill and blowtorch, when you collapse Hummer's fists into his forearms you'll see two notches at the end.  A pair of small tabs on either accessory fit into those notches.

Hummer's transformation is a bit different.  You might have noticed that he has two wheels in each calf.  Where Brawny's torso turned inside out to form the front of the vehicle and used his lower legs to make the rear Hummer uses his hood to make the, well, hood, as well as the grill and headlights, but his legs actually unfurl to make up most of the rear, sides, and front, including making the windshield out of his toes.  For the most part I think it's a bit easier than Brawny, who wasn't that difficult in the first place.

I have mixed feelings about the vehicle mode.  On the one hand, I think I've actually seen a model of Jeep that looks like this, so maybe it's a bit more realistic than Brawny.  While still kind of minimal compared to the cartoon, G1 toy, and what Fans Toys seems to be doing, Hummer does seem to to have the fender flares that Brawny was missing.  On the other hand, Hummer's missing the roof rack, spare tire, yellow bumper, and roof rails that the cartoon, toy, FT, and BC versions have.  The grill is gunmetal instead of silver, protruding instead of recessed, and fills a large space on the vehicles nose.  The headlights flank the grill on the green portions of the nose instead of sitting in the silver part.  For most people, myself included, it's just not cartoon-accurate enough, and that's before I point out that I could never get the panels that make up the rear to sit flat.

He does, at least, sport rubber tires, with diecast metal rims.  The rear ones are even on shock absorber-like springs, which is kind of neat.  The drill (and technically the blowtorch) can be used in vehicle mode.  You won't find dedicated slots for it, but the tabs fit snugly between the slats on the grill.  There's a 5mm peg hole on the roof, and you can plug his gun into it if you like.  I can't help but notice that the peg hole ends up on his back in robot mode.  I think FV could have made the spare roof tire with a 5mm peg and it could have plugged into that hole.

I can't help but be a little disappointed with Hummer.  While their Huffer wasn't quite good enough to overtake BadCube's it was still a strong showing and a reasonable alternative if you still needed a Huffer and can't find the BadCube one.  BadCube's Brawn, on the other hand, is more in need of a replacement than their Huffer, but Hummer fails to step up.  He's not a bad figure by any means, but he's definitely a placeholder.  As much as I hate to say it, if you're in the market for an MP Brawn you're probably better off waiting for Fans Toys at this point.  The only real advantage Hummer has is his price.

[M'Kyuun]

14 minutes ago, Kuma Style said:

Not really as much liking accessories for the sake of them so much as this particular prime being very visibly made for something further if that makes sense? Like, you can blatantly tell it's not a standalone piece where on the flip side stuff like Flame Toys Prime and Star Saber I could give or take the incoming upgrades just because them being so solid by themselves. 

There's a big difference.

Yep, I get ya. Again, it comes back to a trailer-less Prime; it doesn't feel complete, even if released as a standalone figure, and it's very much a part of why I'm looking so forward to finally getting Earthrise Prime. Not only does the bot finally, after 35 years and how many iterations, look like the G1 idealized toon aesthetic, but he comes with the trailer to really complete the character. Same for Ultra Magnus- a plain white truck that turns into a plain white OP just isn't Ultra Magnus; he needs the armor to truly be the character. And the same for Jetwing Prime from Revenge of the Fallen- that combined look is part of the character now.  Some of these characters need the extras to make them complete.

I do think armor for armor's sake can be cool, especially if it's done in a modular fashion, where you can pick and choose the bits you attach. I was doing some housework and thinking about what you said, Kuma, and I started thinking about the old Exo-Squad toys, where the main characters had any number of armor and weapons they could call upon to attach to their exo-suits. I can get behind a concept like that. It adds an extra dimension of playability/display value, as well as a bit of personal expression if you're not beholden to any particular loadout. Deep thoughts while vacuuming my bedroom.

[sh9000]

[sh9000]

The Junkions look cool.  Maybe I should get them all.

[PsYcHoDyNaMiX]

2 hours ago, sh9000 said:

The Junkions look cool.  Maybe I should get them all.

Hot! Bah weep gra na weep ninny bomb! TV we talk tv! You talk some tv?

[Kanedas Bike]

Those Junkions do look good. I'm not at all into the 3P releases for Transformers (or even Takara for that matter), so can anyone make any recommendations on a really good 3P Hot Rod release - old, new or upcoming?

-b.

[Kuma Style]