The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread

[mikeszekely]

2 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

I'm looking even more forward to their Berserk; Blitzwing has always been my favorite triple changer (more by design than character, and I like his alt modes- they seem more apropos to each other relative to most of the other triple changers). Hopefully, he'll be their next release.

I have a pre-order for him at $145, figuring even if I don't really care for him I can sell him for at least what I paid. If the price goes up before then I'll probably cancel. I already have Ditka, and while the quality could be better he looks fine, posing with his football.

[Scyla]

51 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

I have a pre-order for him at $145, figuring even if I don't really care for him I can sell him for at least what I paid. If the price goes up before then I'll probably cancel. I already have Ditka, and while the quality could be better he looks fine, posing with his football.

I have a preorder with BBTS for the same price. It is like a decade old. I wonder if they will honor the price whenever Berserk comes out (if ever).

[M'Kyuun]

MY PO is with TFSource at $219. I didn't put it in at the onset b/c I didn't care for their first iteration. The update looks much better, although I still don't like the downward taper of the intake ramps, as it takes away from the Mig-25 look. Too, with all that boxy plane, they couldn't find a way to tuck the arms inside somehow? Oh well, still looks better than it did originally, and arguably better than the contenders. Of them all, I think FT struck the best balance between modes. I hope it's not a nightmare to transform.

[mikeszekely]

56 minutes ago, Scyla said:

I have a preorder with BBTS for the same price. It is like a decade old. I wonder if they will honor the price whenever Berserk comes out (if ever).

Mine's with TCP. The preorder page even says in red "Price not final" so I'm not holding my my breath.

[Convectuoso]

I got Newage's Agamemnon today, and it came not just with a lot of accessories inside the box, but other things too.

I would've preferred Decepticons logos, though

[Convectuoso]

cool stop motion video

 

[M'Kyuun]

I'm trying so hard not to fall down the legends rabbit hole, and you're not making it any easier!  Cool vid, though.

NA and MS both made nice looking Soundwaves. IMHO, NA's Soundwave looks better, but MS made better cassettes. It's a shame they're off-scale with each other. I was going to pick up NA's Soundwave, and MS' Megatron (already have NA's), but I need to limit my collecting a bit, so I'm abstaining with these legends figs. It's difficult. They're done so well.

 

[mikeszekely]

11 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

I'm trying so hard not to fall down the legends rabbit hole, and you're not making it any easier!  Cool vid, though.

NA and MS both made nice looking Soundwaves. IMHO, NA's Soundwave looks better, but MS made better cassettes. It's a shame they're off-scale with each other. I was going to pick up NA's Soundwave, and MS' Megatron (already have NA's), but I need to limit my collecting a bit, so I'm abstaining with these legends figs. It's difficult. They're done so well.

 

Seconded.  I actually did buy a few Legends figures... MS Prime, Blaster, and Sideswipe, New Age Bumblebee, and Iron Factory's Bruticus and Tarn.  But I don't have the space to display them (most of the Siege/Earthrise/Studio Series stuff I buy actually gets reviewed here then goes into boxes in my closet), and I'm already spending a ton of money on MP-scaled stuff.  Maybe someday (especially if 3Ps quit doing combiners, I'm a sucker of those).

[M'Kyuun]

I've been pretty selective over the years as to what 3P figs I've bought; that said, I have more 3P than official in my MP TF Detolf. The only MP combiner I own is Toy World's Constructor, b/c it was, and remains , the most G1 faithful set of MP Constructicons, and they were too good to pass up. I was very tempted to go in on MMC's Bruticus, which is my favorite combiner next to Devastator (the original), especially with the all-inclusive design, which is right up my alley. I'm not a fan of partsforming; it's tolerable with combiners, but a combiner that eschews it strikes a resounding chord with me. In the end, I relented. I have no space for another large combiner; heck I barely have any space left on my CHUG shelves, but they keep making more, and I have to have them! I should sell some stuff, but I've always been rue to part with my toys. I keep all packaging, too, which doesn't help. I probably need an intervention. 

As for the legends figs, I've bought all three of NA's Seekers (in a boxset), their Megatron, Prowl, and Cosmos, and MS' Huffer. I also have IGear's Huffer and Cosmos, if those count. With all the talk about MP Starscream V2, I find the NA Seeker to be a better figure all the way around. I wish they'd upsize it to voyager scale, as it's better than the ER Seeker as well.

[mantisfists]

Anybody know if IT is going to do another run of their Megatron KO?  I'd like to pick one up but don't want to pay a premium price for a KO toy.

[Chronocidal]

Just got my Nicee delivered, and while the tolerances are pretty tight, it's really impressively engineered.  Also, after the plain brown box my oversized Greenscream came in, the packaging is impressively done.  I might need to go toss out an order for their not-windblade soon.

I think the part that surprised me the most was how smoothly it rolls.  There's not a lot of clearance underneath, but even with all of the individual wheel axles on individually aligned hinges, everything locks together to produce a freely-rolling car.

Edited October 14, 2020 by Chronocidal

[M'Kyuun]

I agree. It takes a little effort to get her legs locked into place with her ankles pretty deep into the front wheel wells, without touching the tires, as well as getting her hands into a good position where they're not dragging, but that effort is pleasantly rewarded by a smooth rolling car mode. The car mode looks nice, too. I do like the official Arcee transformation with the front of the car forming her chest, but given the heavily anthropomorphic style of Nicee's design, the departure is easily overlooked. The extra utility of her shoulder pods as hip skirts or a stylized bow is also pretty cool. I appreciate the innovation, even if my preference is to leave them on her shoulders. I do lament the omission of the hip weapon storage as originally seen in the concept art; that's a Robocop inspired feature that I was really looking forward to, and it's sad that it didn't make it into the final product. Too, the omission of the Arcee inspired head was dismaying, but hopefully it'll be among the accessories with their Windblade release.

The fit and form of this figure is really impressive, though, and it raises my interest in how their Windblade is going to turn out. I thought we might see a proto at Wonderfest this year, but AFAIK, it wasn't shown. I'm not sure what the next Asian Con or toy show is, but fingers crossed their Windblade will be among the exhibits (along with Bandai's long awaited YF-21). Anyway, I absolutely love the art style BFB went with; she's just a beautiful figure.

[Kuma Style]

Edited October 14, 2020 by Kuma Style

[Kuma Style]

[Kuma Style]

[M'Kyuun]

She's a fun one to pose, eh Kuma. BFB did such a great job with sculpting, painting, and articulation that she looks good from just about any angle. Really glad I got her.

Every time I see your pic of the two Jazzes, the one on the right always strikes me as playing air guitar. Not sure if that was your intention, but it's actually apropos to the character, and for me it adds levity to the shot.

[Kuma Style]

There's nothing about Downbeat's pose that insinuates holding/playing anything so I don't know how to respond to that in particular but glad you enjoy the photography in general.

[Scyla]

I would say that it is not the pose of Downbeat that invokes the imagery but rather the angle of the picture because I can see it too. 

[sh9000]

https://www.hlj.com/annihilator20-j-20-alloy-transformable-action-figure-sfi82888

 

[Firefox]

Someone needs to show this to Takara Tomy on how to make transforming jet robot without super bulky underside (sneering at MP-52 Strarscream).

[Chronocidal]

2 hours ago, Firefox said:

Someone needs to show this to Takara Tomy on how to make transforming jet robot without super bulky underside (sneering at MP-52 Strarscream).

See, on the one hand, yes, there is a lot they could learn, but on the other, I think the problem is that they are fully committed to making transforming figures that resemble the characters in the cartoon.  They're working backwards from robot to jet, and don't have the freedom to innovate around a design that compliments both.

Or, they're not taking the freedom.. they tried with MP-3, and while I think that's the best-looking Starscream ever made, all I ever seem to read on transformers-focused sites is criticism over not following the character design.

Edited October 17, 2020 by Chronocidal

[Kuma Style]

6 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

See, on the one hand, yes, there is a lot they could learn, but on the other, I think the problem is that they are fully committed to making transforming figures that resemble the characters in the cartoon.  They're working backwards from robot to jet, and don't have the freedom to innovate around a design that compliments both.

Or, they're not taking the freedom.. they tried with MP-3, and while I think that's the best-looking Starscream ever made, all I ever seem to read on transformers-focused sites is criticism over not following the character design.

This is actually a great response. People don't take into account the natural limitations when having a specific subject that you have to stay aesthetically accurate to. 

[Kuma Style]

[sh9000]

Lumitent looks good and seems to be around 1/82 scale.  I would have considered getting it if it were a little smaller.  The price is high though.

I’ll probably buy Kalavinka as it seems that it might fit in with my HMR and 1/100 aircraft.  The price is not bad either.  It can be used as enemy mecha.

[M'Kyuun]

11 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

See, on the one hand, yes, there is a lot they could learn, but on the other, I think the problem is that they are fully committed to making transforming figures that resemble the characters in the cartoon.  They're working backwards from robot to jet, and don't have the freedom to innovate around a design that compliments both.

Or, they're not taking the freedom.. they tried with MP-3, and while I think that's the best-looking Starscream ever made, all I ever seem to read on transformers-focused sites is criticism over not following the character design.

Yet, there are precedents for it's having been done better:

Maketoys' Meteor

New Age's Leviathan (sorry so blurry- I took this freehand, and the camera is extremely sensitive to vibration)

[technoblue]

I don't know. Leaving out the Legends-sized figure, I can see the appeal to both Maketoys' and Takara's MP versions of G1 Starscream. Both designs had constraints that required creative solutions to get the mechanical transformation just so. Takara's take was to preserve the goofy (makes me young again) look of the G1 animation model—right down to that alt mode with triangles for thrusters. Alas, some of the mechanics become alt mode kibble but it's no big deal to me. I can go elsewhere if I want a clean fighter that transforms into a robot. In this case, Takara's take does what I want it to.

Maketoys is no slouch either. Re:Master does a good job of leaning into the toon aesthetic without compromising on their unique style. I love having representative figures in my collection too, so I guess what I'm saying is my grievances with their G1 seekers are water under the bridge now. I decided to pick up MT's G2 Screamer. With him and MP-52, it'll be the best of both worlds.

Edited October 17, 2020 by technoblue
Re:Edit to Re:Master (thanks for the catch, Kuma)

[Kuma Style]

38 minutes ago, technoblue said:

I don't know. Leaving out the Legends-sized figure, I can see the appeal to both Maketoys' and Takara's MP versions of G1 Starscream. Both designs had constraints that required creative solutions to get the mechanical transformation just so. Takara's take was to preserve the goofy (makes me young again) look of the G1 animation model—right down to that alt mode with triangles for thrusters. Alas, some of the mechanics become alt mode kibble but it's no big deal to me. I can go elsewhere if I want a clean fighter that transforms into a robot. In this case, Takara's take does what I want it to.

Maketoys is no slouch either. Re:Edit does a good job of leaning into the toon aesthetic without compromising on their unique style. I love having representative figures in my collection too, so I guess what I'm saying is my grievances with their G1 seekers are water under the bridge now. I decided to pick up MT's G2 Screamer. With him and MP-52, it'll be the best of both worlds.

Re: Master*

[technoblue]

10 minutes ago, Kuma Style said:

Re: Master*

But of course. My mistake mixing up the Sentinel and MT marketing.

Edited October 17, 2020 by technoblue

[Kuma Style]

3 hours ago, technoblue said:

But of course. My mistake mixing up the Sentinel and MT marketing.

It's nbd at all, man. 

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I got a third Battle Sentinel in today so just showing off how I'm displaying them as well as a custom Nemesis Tanker I did myself:

 

[Kuma Style]

 
 

 

[Kuma Style]

[Convectuoso]

Great pic, @Kuma Style

Here's another pic I took of Newage's Agamemnon

There are two things I don't like about this figure:

1. The way the legs are connected to the main body looks as if they hadn't been pushed all the way in.

2. His back is just a mess

[M'Kyuun]

I have Agamemnon, and I agree on both points. Aesthetically, Magic Square's Doomsday is superior. It's a fun little Megatron figure, though. The transformation is pretty cool.

I'd love for either MS or a 4th party to upscale Doomsday to voyager scale to fit in with CHUG, since we will never get a proper G1 Megatron again officially in the mainline.

Edited October 19, 2020 by M'Kyuun

[Kuma Style]

Nice pics @Convectuoso. The NewAge stuff captures that "mini masterpiece" look so damned well.

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[sh9000]

I just learned of MPF-12 Sideswipe even though he's been released for a while and that he's 1/18 scale so I'm definitely going to get one.