The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread

[technoblue]

NewAge is fond of repaints. I suggest hanging on a bit if you want to pass on Grimlock’s toon colors and pick up a different styling like metallic, toy, G2, and so on. Chances are that NA will get to it, especially if this is a popular mold. 

I’m keen on the articulation in both modes,  but I can’t place the fish. Anyway, I don’t have a toon version of Grimlock so I’m into this. I also would love the toy version with the metallic paint, smokey plastic parts, and toy accessories. Depending on which G2 Grimlock NA decides to do, that could be tempting too.

Edit: Tfw helped me with the fish. It’s from the G1 episode where Grimlock becomes super intelligent and creates the Technobots/Computron.

I wonder if the fish is also a hint about what’s to come after the Dinobots?

Edited May 20, 2022 by technoblue

[mikeszekely]

Yeah, I don't know about Ymir.  The way Grimlock's forearm expands into the dino leg is pretty neat, and with the push toward more cartoon emphasis I can even make peace with the yellow and grays instead of gold and silver (chromed or metallic).  But the sculpt itself just looks odd to me... too smooth, too rounded, and too thin.  Even his gun is weirdly bulbous and smooth, and I'm definitely not liking how his sword is just a hilt with a flame effect, no blade.  As with @M'Kyuun I'll wait and see what Magic Square has to offer.  Or stick with the MFT OSKO of DX9's.

[mikeszekely]

Good news!  The Scourge we all knew was coming from Laser Optimus is real!

Bad news.  He's part of that Walmart-exclusive Velocitron collection that's giving us Override.

Worse news.  They kind of F-ed up his colors, with a lot of unnecessary translucent pink parts.

Almost all the black on his torso- around his windows, his lats, half his shoulders, and his crotch- should be gray.  The grill, which they painted silver here, is what should actually be black.  The teal "=" on his knees doesn't quite match the pattern his knees are supposed to have, and there's no teal on his pelvis where it should be.  There's gray panels in his forearms where he didn't need them, and there should be no red/pink showing in bot mode except his eyes.  It's wrong on his chest windows, but really ugly on his shoulder pylons.

Truck mode is a bit better.  Looks like used a nice silver metallic paint on the trailer, bumper, and grill, and the translucent pink for the truck windows and lights is actually correct here.  My one complaint would be that the teal patterns on the cab aren't correct.

EDIT: Oops, wrong TF thread.

 

Edited May 21, 2022 by mikeszekely

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

23 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

Good news!  The Scourge we all knew was coming from Laser Optimus is real!

Bad news.  He's part of that Walmart-exclusive Velocitron collection that's giving us Override.

Worse news.  They kind of F-ed up his colors, with a lot of unnecessary translucent pink parts.

Almost all the black on his torso- around his windows, his lats, half his shoulders, and his crotch- should be gray.  The grill, which they painted silver here, is what should actually be black.  The teal "=" on his knees doesn't quite match the pattern his knees are supposed to have, and there's no teal on his pelvis where it should be.  There's gray panels in his forearms where he didn't need them, and there should be no red/pink showing in bot mode except his eyes.  It's wrong on his chest windows, but really ugly on his shoulder pylons.

Truck mode is a bit better.  Looks like used a nice silver metallic paint on the trailer, bumper, and grill, and the translucent pink for the truck windows and lights is actually correct here.  My one complaint would be that the teal patterns on the cab aren't correct.

 

 

It looks terrible.  I hate al that pink.

[M'Kyuun]

Got a couple new legends figs this weekend: Magic Square's MS-B35 Blues (Jazz) & NewAge's The Warrior Tyr (Cyclonus). 

 

[technoblue]

Congrats, @M'Kyuun! Both figs look fantastic. Thanks for sharing your photos.

[Convectuoso]

Great @M'Kyuun

I'm still waiting for my Cyclonus to arrive 

[Convectuoso]

Legends scale Arcee by Mechanic Toy & Dr. Wu

[M'Kyuun]

4 hours ago, Convectuoso said:

Legends scale Arcee by Mechanic Toy & Dr. Wu

I've got her POed. The face looks a bit iffy from these pics (little blurry), but the engineering is superior to anything official, and similar to what we've seen from MMC and Fans Toys so far as folding up her car bits into a compact set of shoulder pods for a more kibble-free and animation-accurate depiction. At legends scale, this is pretty impressive. AFAIK, Dr. Wu is the first one to make a G1 legends Arcee, and he set a pretty high bar, IMHO.

That articulation is incredible. Just boggles my mind how far these toys have come, from the POV of a 13 year old kid in 1984 when these transforming robots erupted on the scene with so much promise and potential and cool factor, but the toys on offer were disappointing in their simplicity and lack of articulation. I kinda envy the kids of today who've benefitted from all the innovations and improvements made to these toys by folks like me who wanted better as kids, grew up, and made it happen, officially or non.  Glad TFs had the impact they did, and that I'm around to benefit from those innovations too. 

[M'Kyuun]

5 hours ago, Convectuoso said:

Great @M'Kyuun

I'm still waiting for my Cyclonus to arrive 

NA did a great job on him, from engineering to paint finish. The only negatives I have are:

-only 90 degree bend at the knee

- no fore and aft ankle pivot (but it does have 180 degrees of in-out rocker) However, the bit that the foot attaches to can be untabbed, which allows the foot to pivot forward. It's a cheat, but it can be used without really affecting the integrity of the fig.

-no separate hinged heel to make up for lack of fore/aft ankle pivot, which would help with dynamic poses.

-no main landing gear- just nose.

Otherwise, it's a beautifully executed Cyclonus; both modes are brilliant and accurate to the toon. the metallic purple finish is lovely to behold, and the articulation is very good, certainly adequate to a wide range of poses. I wish his ankles had some intended fore and aft, as mentioned, but it's not insurmountable. Of the legends Cyclonus figs on offer currently, this is the best, IMHO. Can't go wrong getting him, IMHO.

Edited May 23, 2022 by M'Kyuun

[tekering]

24 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

Dr. Wu is the first one to make a G1 legends Arcee

Looks like someone hasn't been keeping up. 😅

[Scyla]

57 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

NA did a great job on him, from engineering to paint finish. The only negatives I have are:

-only 90 degree bend at the knee

- no fore and aft ankle pivot (but it does have 180 degrees of in-out rocker) However, the bit that the foot attaches to can be untabbed, which allows the foot to pivot forward. It's a cheat, but it can be used without really affecting the integrity of the fig.

-no separate hinged heel to make up for lack of fore/aft ankle pivot, which would help with dynamic poses.

-no main landing gear- just nose.

Otherwise, it's a beautifully executed Cyclonus; both modes are brilliant and accurate to the toon. the metallic purple finish is lovely to behold, and the articulation is very good, certainly adequate to a wide range of poses. I wish his ankles had some intended fore and aft, as mentioned, but it's not insurmountable. Of the legends Cyclonus figs on offer currently, this is the best, IMHO. Can't go wrong getting him, IMHO.

You can also flip out the panels on Tyr‘s shins that can double as rear landing gear. They don’t have any dedicated sculpting for wheels though, which is odd.

I got my Tyr too and he is great. It had a FansToys like QC sticker on his nose and the box art is featuring Lemon Tree‘s Purple Potato.

Is it time for baseless conspiracy theories already?

[Convectuoso]

What Arcee is the one from the right, @tekering? Is she the one from DX9?

What are your thoughts on her?

Edited May 23, 2022 by Convectuoso

[tekering]

1 hour ago, Convectuoso said:

Is she the one from DX9?

Yeah, that's X14, "Leah."  She's just a little too large and ungainly to scale well with most of my "Legends" figures -- think MFT size, rather than Magic Square/Iron Factory size -- so I instead display her with other awkwardly-scaled figures that don't necessarily fit with their lines, either:

[Convectuoso]

More pics of "Amie"

[M'Kyuun]

7 hours ago, Scyla said:

You can also flip out the panels on Tyr‘s shins that can double as rear landing gear. They don’t have any dedicated sculpting for wheels though, which is odd.

I got my Tyr too and he is great. It had a FansToys like QC sticker on his nose and the box art is featuring Lemon Tree‘s Purple Potato.

Is it time for baseless conspiracy theories already?

Yeah, mine had the FT QC sticker, too. Of course, I noticed the engine from the Revenge, but didn't more thought into it.  Seems though, among these third parties, there are any number of freelance designers who do work for various companies, so perhaps the same designer works or has worked for all three companies.

1 hour ago, tekering said:

Yeah, that's X14, "Leah."  She's just a little too large and ungainly to scale well with most of my "Legends" figures -- think MFT size, rather than Magic Square/Iron Factory size -- so I instead display her with other awkwardly-scaled figures that don't necessarily fit with their lines, either:

I knew of the IF fig, but b/c her alt mode was a very stylistic interpretation, I didn't consider her. Her bot mode is certainly based on the G1 animation model, so from that POV, I guess she has 50% qualification, but I was only considering G1 Arcees with both OG car and bot modes.

I have to admit, tho, I like IF's styling for both this fig and their Windblade. They're adorbs.

I confess I wasn't aware of DX9's Leah, though, so that's my bad. I have to say, DX9 pulled off a well done G1 Arcee, and like the T30 toy, I like the fact that her thighs form the rear fenders of the car rather than having the shaped pink fenders that have to fold into the backpack. I really wish that had been her design from the beginning so that more of the bot mode was involved in the car.

Amie is shaping up to be a great looking legends Arcee. I still don't care for the face, though. Something about it makes her look evil. I love how her car panels compact so cleanly into her shoulder pods. IMHO, it's better executed than the MP fig both proportionally, esp the chest shape, and by how cleanly the backpack folds. 

[technoblue]

NewAge has revealed H44-EX Ymir with some updated Constructicons on FB. I saw this posted over on TFW.

Yeah, it's a toy-based legends Grimlock. 

 

[Convectuoso]

Here's a video of Aimee

 

[Kuma Style]

Iron Factory IF EX-55 Surfing Arrow Review is Up: https://wp.me/p4WQhE-65t

Full Breakdown in Article but overall I gave this one a 9.5 out of 10. I think it plain delivers on all fronts and things like the articulation and the like are something I really hope becomes a standard going forward. It's just... good.

Few pics from the gallery portion:

 

 

Edited May 24, 2022 by Kuma Style

[mikeszekely]

I know Iron Factory does more stylized designs, and I'm not necessarily against that... but I just can't get over that alt mode.

[Kuma Style]

 

[mikeszekely]

Way back in 2014 I bought my first two unlicensed, third-party figures.  One of those figures was ToyWorld's Hegemon, an alternative to Classics Megatron with a more G1-inspired appearance.  I even posted about it here, although the more uniform structure of my later reviews was still a ways off.  A few years ago, after dealing with some frustrating distribution issues that had a lot of the Thrilling 30 figures just never turning up in stores, a dissatisfaction in the quality of the Combiner Wars and Power of the Primes lines (that partially caused me to skip a lot of Titans Return, only to later discover that Titans Return was pretty decent), and a sense that 3P was moving toward MP and I was never going to have the collection I wanted from CHUG-style stuff I swore off the mainline and sold a lot of the 3P stuff that I had that actually did work, like my iGear Vannettes, iGear Raptor Squadron, my Reformatted DJD, and, yes, Hegemon and started collecting MP-style figures.

In the years since I bought Hegemon ToyWorld had a fallout with their designers, who split off and became Zeta Toys.  While Zeta made a name for themselves by releasing both a Bruticus and a Superion at the MP-scale, they also quietly began reissuing figures they'd designed for ToyWorld under their own Zeta EX label.  Interestingly, the Zeta EX stuff is coinciding with another shift in my collecting habits.  Hasbro launched the greatly-improved (for the most part) War for Cybertron lines while the unlicensed 3Ps began focusing more on Legends-scale stuff.  Suddenly my dream CHUG-style collection seemed like a very distinct possibility even as I found myself less than thrilled at watching X-Transbots and Fans Toys duke it out for the last few gaps in my MP collection.

War for Cybertron did give us a new, G1 Megatron, at least in robot mode.  Two, actually, with Siege representing a more Cybertronian alt mode and Earthrise representing his Earth alt mode.  Except, of course, those alt modes were both tanks.  In some ways, the tank alt mode just makes more sense; it's powerful, doesn't require mass shifting, and doesn't require a minion to wield him.  It's the alt mode that was pushed in the G1-ish Devastation game, the sort of G1, sort of Prime War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron games, and the G1-adjacent evergreen Cyberverse.  But as much as Hasbro wants to retcon it, it really isn't G1 Megatron's alt mode.  And on a whim, I found myself looking through the Zeta EX line for their reissue of Hegemon, and I came away with the awesomely-named McTron.

McTron seems bigger than I remember.  He's a full head taller than Siege/Kingdom Megatron and taller even than Classic Megatron.  Kingdom Megatron technically scales more correctly with other mainline figures since Siege, but if you don't mind Megatron being a bit taller than Prime and you did mind Megatron being shorter than Galvatron than McTron will be a good fit for you.

McTron isn't a straight re-release of Hegemon (even if the inside of his chest compartment still says "ToyWorld 2012 TW-01").  There's actually a few deco changes.  For one, all of the translucent plastic on Hegemon has been replaced with a (hopefully sturdier) solid red.  For two, all of the gray swirly plastic used for the head, torso, arms, thighs, and feet are painted silver on McTron.  For three, small details that were painted red on Hegemon's feet, crotch, and chest are not painted on McTron.  Likewise, the gunmetal paint on Hegemon's lats and shins is not present on McTron.  However, the little rectangles and circle molded onto the abs that weren't painted on Hegemon finally are on McTron.  Finally, I'm not totally sure on this one, but I think McTron might have a slightly re-sculpted face, as it seems like the mouth looks more natural, but I could be mistaken.

While Zeta might have released McTron in more recent times, the figure is still largely a ten year old design now, and it shows as you turn him around.  He's not worse than the old shellforming wings and trigger on the back of Classics Megatron, but his trigger and butt flaps are definitely a bit more kibbly than the backpack on Earthrise Megatron.  The gun barrel doesn't look particularly integrated, either, but at least it's G1-accurate.

McTron's solid red plastic means that the light piping on the original Hegemon isn't present, but the entire back of his head is still red.  Fortunately it should be a trivial matter to remove his head and repaint the back of it myself.

If it really bothers you the gun barrel and trigger can be removed, as they just fit on to 5mm pegs on his back.  I guess, if you're going to get into partsforming on this guy, you can technically pop his butt flaps off, too, as they're just on ball joints.

Speaking of removing stuff, although is fusion cannon is designed to stay on throughout his transformation it is, in fact, removable.  The rest of his accessories are consistent with the original release of Hegemon*- a sword, a mace, a stock, and a silencer.

*ToyWorld actually reissued Hegemon themselves in 2014, and that's the version I'd bought the first time.  It still came with the mace, but it lost the sword, stock, and silencer and replaced it with an alternate black helmet, yellow-eyed head based on the old Marvel comics.  McTron doesn't have the alternate head.

The sword is actually made from four separate pieces: a translucent purple blade and Kylo Ren-style crossguard pieces meant to look like they're made of energon, and a solid black hilt.  As for the mace, there's a chain connecting the ball to the rest of it, but if you line it up right you can slip the chain down into the ball and then plug the ball onto the tip.

One other "accessory" I guess I have to mention is the orange safety plug.  I remember it came pre-installed in Hegemon's barrel when I bought it.  Curiously, it seems Zeta included it because it came with Hegemon, but it wasn't actually installed on McTron out of the box. Instead, it was stuff in it's own little slot in the foam insert.

As with some of his kibble, McTron's articulation shows his true age.  His head can swivel, and he can look up a bit on his transformation hinge but not so much down.  His shoulders rotate on ratchets.  Rather than moving his entire shoulder, flaps on the side move out of the way so a joint inside can move his arms a bit under 90 degrees laterally.  His biceps swivel.  His elbows again fall a bit short of 90 degrees, and they're ratcheted.  All of that arm articulation can be a bit hindered on his right arm due to his fusion cannon and large shoulder getting caught up on each other.  His waist doesn't swivel at his actual waist, that is, not where the silver meets the black.  Due to his transformation, though, he has a limited swivel under his chest, and another (ratcheted?) swivel between his waist and crotch.  His hips can move forward and backward 90 degrees on ratchets.  They move laterally 90 degrees, too, but here's the weird thing.  His right leg his ratcheted, but his left is friction on my copy.  I don't know if that's just a quirk of the design, or if maybe some underpaid factory worker forgot to put in a spring or something at the factory.  His thigh swivel just below the mid thigh, and his knees bend 90 degrees on ratchets.  His ankles are hinged ball joints, with gives them a slight upward tilt, plenty of downward tilt, and limited swivel.  They also give him an ankle pivot, but due to the cutout of the ball socket it's pretty limited.  You can keep his feet flat in a slight A-stance, but not so much in more dynamic, wider poses.  The ball joints are themselves fine, but the transformation hinges at the base a little loose on my copy, so he has a tendency to want to lean.

His fusion cannon is attached to his arm first by a 5mm peg that plugs into a hole on the back of his arm, then with a pair of slots that grab onto two tabs on the outside of his forearm.

Alternatively, he can wield his sword by sliding the handle into his 5mm port hand.  The mace works pretty much the same way, with a 5mm peg that slides into his hand.  The difference is that the peg is recessed inside a box that wraps around his hand.  Not much else you can do with the mace, but you'll note that there are 5mm pegs on the sword's hilt.  There's a peg hole on the trigger that's on his back, and you can use it to store the sword there.  It sits a bit lower than you'd expect a sword to be worn on a back, but it works.

A better place to stow it might be on the stock, though.  Much like the G1 toy, you can combine the stock, silencer, and scope/fusion cannon to form a larger gun emplacement for McTron.  Thing is, there's a ton of peg holes on the stock, so you can take the sword apart and store it here; I have the blade and crossguard parts plugged in facing forward, and although you can't really see it the hilt is on the back side.

When almost every version of Megatron for the last 38 years has been a tank/space jet/space car/helicopter/T-Rex/dragon I have to give the old Classics Megatron major kudos for having a gun mode.  The reality , though, is that to avoid running afoul of regulation in the US (and probably other countries) the purple, white, and orange gun with tranlucent green accents resembled a Nerf gun more than the G1 Walther pistol.  Subsequent CHUG Megatrons went back to tanks, like Earthrise Megatron here, the overly-large Combiner Wars Leader-class, and one of the Titans Return Blitzwing premold's.  Hegemon was an attempt at a more G1-accurate gun mode, and to date it and McTron are still the most G1 Walther-esque option for a Megatron at this scale.

The transformation is mostly obvious and designed so that the fusion cannon/scope, barrel, and trigger do not need to be removed or partsformed.  However, there are some clearance issues when it comes to moving his right arm on a swing bar under his chest but around his abdomen, including the hinges for the kibble, that can be a bit frustrating.  I usually wind up pulling the trigger off just to get it out of the way.

That isn't to say that Hegemon/McTron is totally accurate, mind you.  The robot-mode proportions have the slide a bit short, and there's no P38 mark (although he does have the molded vents and a moving safety.  Under the slide is McTron's very visible abdomen, and a trigger you can click with the guard marred on one side by a hinge and by being unnecessarily hollow on the other.  But mostly, the worst bit is the grip, which is abandoned the shape and texture of the original for something chonkier so that the robot would have better proportions.  The grip is further blemished by a gray hinge made of unpaintable plastic and red spots left from the red plastic in the backs of his legs.  Perhaps I'll remove them and paint them black.

The chunky proportions of the grip are much less noticeable when you install the stock and silencer accessories.  Once again, the stock is a bit weird.  I don't know why ToyWorld/Zeta didn't try to make it work more like the original G1 toy  What you have here plugs into the bottom of the grip instead of clipping on the back.  That's ultimately fine, as it still protrudes out from the back.  Instead of being of the back being vertically oriented, though, the instructions indicate it should be flattened horizontally, as shown.  There are hinges that you can use to move to try to get another look; I've seen some people rotate it and curl it around their forearm, or fold them backward at an angle.  The only way to arrange them vertically, though, will leave each side offset from the other.

Even with the issues with the stock, just having it and the silencer makes McTron feel more cartoon-accurate than than even some MP attempts like MP-05, DX9's Mightron, and Maketoys' Despotron, which didn't have them.  Or, for that matter, my old Hegemon.  And, yeah, it kind of makes a difference.  Without those bits the gun mode feels kind of dinky, to the point that the Classics Nerf gun mode feels cooler to hold.  With the silencer and stock, though, I had a much stronger desire to point McTron at objects around the room and go "pew pew!' at them.  What's more, I don't know if it's Zeta using better manufacturing than ToyWorld originally did or the extra layer of paint, but the gun mode feels more solid all around.  The panels that make the upper part of the grip especially seem to fit more snuggly and, with one small exception on the back of the grip, don't flop open on me.

To be clear, when I first wrote about Hegemon nearly eight years ago I was even then a bit cool on the figure.  I'd gotten him in the same shipment as Unique Toys' Mania King, which was a much more impressive figure to me.  In 2022 McTron is really showing his age with limited articulation and some awkward kibble.  Siege or Earthrise Megatron are probably a bit easier to transform and pose.  But, I think the sculpt and proportions on McTron are still pretty good, and McTron retails for around half the price Hegemon originally did, which is an even better deal when you also factor in a decade of inflation.  Flaws on a Hegemon that cost $80 more than Classics Megatron are a lot more easily forgiven on a McTron that costs a mere $20 more than Kingdom Megatron.  With all that in mind, if you're into the Megatron-is-a-tank retcon then Siege or Kingdom Megatron are arguably better toys that fit better with your War for Cybertron/Legacy figures.  However, if you want a Megatron for that collection that turns into gun because that's how it was in the cartoon, then McTron is still worth picking up today.  Considering the paint and accessories and a price around $50 I really feel like you'll get your money's worth.

[M'Kyuun]

On 5/24/2022 at 10:21 AM, Kuma Style said:

Iron Factory IF EX-55 Surfing Arrow Review is Up: https://wp.me/p4WQhE-65t

Full Breakdown in Article but overall I gave this one a 9.5 out of 10. I think it plain delivers on all fronts and things like the articulation and the like are something I really hope becomes a standard going forward. It's just... good.

Few pics from the gallery portion:

 

 

Enjoyed the review, Kuma. I have to agree with you on that alt; I daresay I like it better than his original G1 alt mode, although the OG is a more realistic take on RW hovercraft. I have several G1 Seasprays at this point so I'm good on the G1 front. IF's stylish take sings to me; I adore the look of that bot mode; it's G1 Seaspray+, as if he received an upgrade. And that rakish pontoon boat look looks fast and fierce. I love it. Needless to say, I have this guy sitting in a pile of loot ready to be shipped; I'm just waiting for another more expensive item to be released for free shipping. Looking forward to having him in hand.

Too, one can always expect some cool dynamic posing during your reviews, and you didn't disappoint. Hasbro's marketing team could learn a thing or two by watching your vids.

On 5/24/2022 at 11:38 AM, mikeszekely said:

I know Iron Factory does more stylized designs, and I'm not necessarily against that... but I just can't get over that alt mode.

Kinda surprised you don't like the alt, Mike. Alas different strokes.

As to Bayrazor, this is yet another stylish IF take that really caught my eye, and despite my indifference towards Beachcomber's character, a cool toy is a cool toy, and this interpretation also grabbed my attention for the almost kawaii beach buggy mode and great looking bot mode. Transformation is a bit fiddly, even a little frustrating, but regardless, I dig him.

Regarding Hegemon AKA McTron😄, I remember this guy from back in the day- seems like a long time ago now- back before I started buying 3P but kept a loose eye on 3P stuff that was coming out. Although having a CHUG scale Megs w/ a pistol alt was an appealing prospect, since it'll never happen officially, this design just never quite grabbed me. Looking at it now, it betrays its age, IMHO- kinda blocky, stiff, and lifeless looking bot mode. I don't like all that red on the backs of his legs or head (granted, those could be painted). IDK, it should appeal to me, but the kibble and the look of the bot mode kinda put me off of it.  I want a Magic Square Doomsday blown up to voyager scale- to me, that's about the best Megs you could ask for.

[mikeszekely]

2 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Kinda surprised you don't like the alt, Mike. Alas different strokes.

To be totally fair, as a concept I don't hate it, and if it were the alt mode for another Transformer, say, Nautica, I might dig it.  I just don't see it as dumpy old Seaspray.  To me, it's akin to making a red and white F-16 and calling deciding it's Powerglide.  Just doesn't work for me.

[M'Kyuun]

11 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

To be totally fair, as a concept I don't hate it, and if it were the alt mode for another Transformer, say, Nautica, I might dig it.  I just don't see it as dumpy old Seaspray.  To me, it's akin to making a red and white F-16 and calling deciding it's Powerglide.  Just doesn't work for me.

Ah, from that perspective, I get it.  I wouldn't be crazy about that either. IF's take on Powerglide retained enough hints of the A-10 to make me happy, but had it been more like any other jet, I would have balked. If you're fond of the G1 hovercraft, then that's what you like- I can't argue it, and it is the original. I don't hold a strong fondness for Seaspray, so the changes that IF made feel to me more like an upgrade to his old hovercraft mode, or a Cybertronian take on it. Either way, I dig it.  If I had a soft spot for him, though, I might feel differently.

Options are good.

[JB0]

13 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

To be totally fair, as a concept I don't hate it, and if it were the alt mode for another Transformer, say, Nautica, I might dig it.  I just don't see it as dumpy old Seaspray.  To me, it's akin to making a red and white F-16 and calling deciding it's Powerglide.  Just doesn't work for me.

Or making Bumblebee turn into a real Volkswagen instead of a puffy chibi one. Except that toy was as wrong as it was official.

[Convectuoso]

Magic Square's Ironhide. I may replace my current NewAge with this one

 

[Scyla]

Got my IronTrans Star Blade. It’s bad, don’t buy it and hope that HasLab Star Saber delivers. Or, if you don’t need it to transform and you have the budget for it, get the Kuro Kara Kuro one. It’s great.

How bad you ask? I think it sits firmly on the third spot right after the MP one and the PlanetX Kadmos.

Compared to Kadmos at least his joints can support poses and it feels more solid than the MP one.

Star Blade shares the non-transformation of the others. Given that Star Blade is a big toy and fairly stylized I wonder why they didn’t come up with a more involved transformation. Since the company has not many releases under their belt it could be inexperience.

It is just plagued with a lot of paint imperfections. But, to be fair, it has a lot of paint. Many people, myself included, had the hands fall apart on them but nothing a bit of super glue couldn’t fix.

I could write more but I’m strapped for time at the moment.

Edited June 6, 2022 by Scyla

[sh9000]

Preordered Volatus, the remaining Ocular Max Combaticon that I needed at The Chosen Prime.

[Mechapilot77]

On 5/20/2022 at 2:34 PM, mikeszekely said:

Yeah, I don't know about Ymir.  The way Grimlock's forearm expands into the dino leg is pretty neat, and with the push toward more cartoon emphasis I can even make peace with the yellow and grays instead of gold and silver (chromed or metallic).  But the sculpt itself just looks odd to me... too smooth, too rounded, and too thin.  Even his gun is weirdly bulbous and smooth, and I'm definitely not liking how his sword is just a hilt with a flame effect, no blade.  As with @M'Kyuun I'll wait and see what Magic Square has to offer.  Or stick with the MFT OSKO of DX9's.

totally agree.  ymir is gonna have cool deco choices but the sculpt itself is too thin, smooth, and yeah rounded.  we are seeing the same thing.  to be fair he DOES look a lot like the character model which is thin in the arms, and smooth etc.  his color scheme  looks like studio ox though...note where the red is for evidence.  dinobot toys have always modeled themselves somewhat after the original toys because the original toys were so very popular.  the MP ones available all have toy details (from hastak to FT to Gigapower) in some form or another.  that was before MP leaned in on "2D to 3D" full toon nonsense though.  the DX9 set has a toon color deco but its sculpted much in a way that recalls the MP efforts adn therefore the g1 toys.  much like the predacons....most dinobot sets take inspiration more from toy than toon.  i'm sure a lot of the full toon guys will like ymir though.

[technoblue]

*shrug*

I would say it's debatable how close each Dinobot release skews to toy versus toon. The FT Iron Dibots were not perfect and the non-X releases were definitely considered more toon-centric. I think GP did a better job with their hybrid look of merging the toy and toon styles. I have the FT X Dibots, but even these make concessions given what designers were able to engineer at the time. Alas, that meant bot modes with oversized moon boots, two versions of Slag/Slug, a variety of add-on pieces for those who wanted the more toy-like alts, and multiple fixes for Soar. 

NA Ymir H44EX looks close enough to me to the toy. More so than any of the MP-scale releases we've seen to date.

I only had Sludge and Swoop in my G1 toy collection as a kid. Looking at pictures, I don't get the sense that toy Grimlock was as much of a brick when compared to his G1 toy contemporaries. He did have the same limited articulation and the odd G1 proportions and squared off bits to make him look like a 'mechadino' but yeah...I don't miss those features in NA's remix. That said, I think if people prefer DX9/MFT, then that's all good too. 

(NA vs G1 comparison from TFW)

[Mechapilot77]

its correct that g1 toy grimlock was proportionally not as huge as the 3pMP releases.  We can thank takara and mp-08 for that direction.  also the FT and GP dibots/gigasuars were released in the "hybrid style" MP days and everyone was kinda following takara's lead.  i think newage does reflect the toon model proportions and the ex reflects the toy deco mostly.   that being said, its the sculpting is i guess the part  of the toy that has always carried over but did't to the newage.  For instance, look at the robot outside lower legs or the forearms on the newage you posted.  they are flat whereas the g1 toy has features molded in...and i think i like that.  see this photo of the dibot grimlock (the less toy centric of the mp releases even) from sixo's blogspot .  note the sculpting present there.  dx9's wat in pocket dinobots have less but still some more sculpted detailing. 

 

 

[technoblue]

2 hours ago, Mechapilot77 said:

its correct that g1 toy grimlock was proportionally not as huge as the 3pMP releases.  We can thank takara and mp-08 for that direction.  also the FT and GP dibots/gigasuars were released in the "hybrid style" MP days and everyone was kinda following takara's lead.  i think newage does reflect the toon model proportions and the ex reflects the toy deco mostly.   that being said, its the sculpting is i guess the part  of the toy that has always carried over but did't to the newage.  For instance, look at the robot outside lower legs or the forearms on the newage you posted.  they are flat whereas the g1 toy has features molded in...and i think i like that.  see this photo of the dibot grimlock (the less toy centric of the mp releases even) from sixo's blogspot .  note the sculpting present there.  dx9's wat in pocket dinobots have less but still some more sculpted detailing. 

<snip>

Right. Although I do appreciate how these Legacy releases are becoming more like mini-MPs---some of which are close in size to their G1 counterparts.

Anyway, my copy of FT-08X has the same squared-off shoulders as Sixo's standard FT-08 Grinder. I guess most people who complain that the OG FT Dibots are too toon-centric might be critiquing the paint apps? Between FT-08 and 08X, it seems FansToys didn't change much in the sculpt.

Gigapower, who I agree also uses a hybrid design for Superator, has more rounded shoulders on the sides but still retains that flat-top. On this point, it appears NA shares a few design cues with the DX9/MFT set of Dinos. It would have been cool if NA had been able to implement something similar to the GP design. I am glad to see that we are getting gold chrome, toy-like paint apps, and print detail for the stickers. I also like that we get toy-specific weapons with the NA EX release. It's too bad the missile launcher doesn't actually work. 

When looking at the official releases, we've come a long way from the G1 toy to Takara's MP to the latest Studio Series Grimlock release. On Hasbro/Takara side of things, there's no denying that the squared-off shoulders and tech greebling are a thing. I can see why fans are fond of these.

Edited June 7, 2022 by technoblue

[mikeszekely]

10 hours ago, technoblue said:

*shrug*

I would say it's debatable how close each Dinobot release skews to toy versus toon. The FT Iron Dibots were not perfect and the non-X releases were definitely considered more toon-centric. I think GP did a better job with their hybrid look of merging the toy and toon styles. I have the FT X Dibots, but even these make concessions given what designers were able to engineer at the time. Alas, that meant bot modes with oversized moon boots, two versions of Slag/Slug, a variety of add-on pieces for those who wanted the more toy-like alts, and multiple fixes for Soar. 

NA Ymir H44EX looks close enough to me to the toy. More so than any of the MP-scale releases we've seen to date.

I only had Sludge and Swoop in my G1 toy collection as a kid. Looking at pictures, I don't get the sense that toy Grimlock was as much of a brick when compared to his G1 toy contemporaries. He did have the same limited articulation and the odd G1 proportions and squared off bits to make him look like a 'mechadino' but yeah...I don't miss those features in NA's remix. That said, I think if people prefer DX9/MFT, then that's all good too. 

(NA vs G1 comparison from TFW)

To be clear, my gripes were really directed more at the regular version of Ymir.  If I were to get one, I agree that the EX version looks a lot better with the gold chrome, smoked translucent plastic, and tampographs where the original had stickers.  That said, there's still smoothness to Ymir that I'm not super into; no ridges on the dino belly, no pentagonal jaw hinge on the dino head, no ridges around the robot forearms/dino legs, no greebles on the outsides of the robot legs, etc.

None of this should be taken as a slight by anyone who's really into the super-toon stylings of the regular version of Ymir; I know there's a big demand for that ultra-Sunbow look right now.  It's just not my preference.

[mikeszekely]

I got three more sets of those little Dr Wu figures in!  Due to how they're packaged and what not, I'm going to do this a little differently than I normally do.

Ok, so first up we have Star Fear (Starscream), Blue (Thundercracker), and Dark (Skywarp).  Each of the three sets I bought comes with one of these guys and one other figure, but since they're the exact same mold I'm going to cover them all together.

So, yeah, they're tiny, but they certainly have enough detail with orange cockpits, gray faces, red eyes, some gunmetal on the toes, color-appropriate shin bumps, stripes across their midriffs that break up the solid color of their torsos, and wing stripes.  Star Fear and Blue came out quite nicely, but I do have to complain that they paint used for Dark's wing stripes is more blue than purple.  Likewise, probably because of how the parts are gang-molded, Dark winds up with black null rays instead of purple.

Indeed, with the gunmetal on the toes, the colored shin bumpouts, stripes on the robot-forward side of the wings, actual null rays in the case of Dark, and a proper red pelvis with white midriff you can make a strong argument that the Dr Wu Seekers came out better than Hasbro's own Core-class Seekers, despite being roughly half the size.

As far as articulation goes they're all the same.  Their heads swivel.  Their shoulders are ball joints for rotation, 90 degrees of lateral movement, and even a little butterfly.  No dedicated bicep swivel, but they do swivel at the ball-jointed elbows, which also bend 90 degrees.  No wrist or waist swivels.  The hips are ball joints.  Because their pelvis armor doesn't move, they're limited to about 60 degrees forward, 45 degrees backward, and just under 90 degrees laterally, but that's enough I think.  Hinged knees bend about 90 degrees, and although they lack ankle pivots due to transformation they do have some up/down tilt at the feet.  Each one comes with a pair of null rays that do not have to be removed for transformation, but they have a tendency to pop off anyway.

Speaking of transformation, here they all are in jet mode.  I think they look pretty good.  I mean, they do have some hinges that are proportionally pretty large, but that's the price you pay for making toys this small, I guess.  They also have visible hands in jet mode, but again, it's pretty easily forgiven given their size.

I mean, the fists are kind of visible on Hasbro's Core-class Seekers, too.  Meanwhile, I think Dr Wu's have slightly better proportions, they put some details on the vertical stabilizers, and I like that they painted the noses on Star Fear and Blue (even if it's not actually cartoon-accurate).

Oh, and speaking of Hasbro's Core-class, I was struck by the similarities in engineering.  While Hasbro's is slightly more complex, both more or less open the torso, then rotate the entire torso at the back to flip the wings and use the torso to cover over the thighs.

Star Fear's pack-in buddy is Spray, who is possibly the most adorbs Sea Spray I own.  Despite his diminutive size he has most of the detail you'd expect, including the circles on his shins.  My complaints, again minor and forgivable at this scale, are that his propellors aren't black and that they're hinged through a hollow gap in the back of his head.  Others may argue that he lacks the pudginess of the animation model, but with his chibi-ish limbs he's too cute for me to care.

Boat mode.  Again, bummer about the yellow propellors, and though you can't really see from this angle his face is actually fairly visible in this mode.  

Dark's pack-in is Sound Master, a Blaster that goes nicely with their earlier Soundwave.  Sound Master has some nice touches, like painted speakers, paint fists, and painted biceps (without getting paint on the ball joints, nice!), plus some white on his forehead, white buttons on his torso, and a yellow chest door with metallic blue on the window.  His feet are left gray, which is actually cartoon-accurate but I wish they'd have painted them and his thighs to match his hand/biceps/speakers.  Note that the buttons don't push and his chest doesn't open, but that was the same with Soundwave and I think expected at this scale.

I gotta say, there's something off about his face.  I mean, I don't expect the most detailed faces at this scale; they're usually a little wonky.  But his sunken eyes and half-open mouth make him look like he's either about to puke or just finished.

From the front Sound Master's tape deck mode looks pretty good.  Some extra flaps to cover his hips might have helped, and again I think his feet should have been darker, but it's ultimately fine.  The back is a bit messier with his arms just hanging out there, but at the risk of sounding like a broken record it's fine for transforming figures this tiny.

Do we need another reminder of how tiny?  Blue's pack in is Sky, aka Powerglide, and here he is with the Combiner Wars Legends-class Powerglide.  Sky is dwarfed by the Legends-class figure.  Despite his tiny size he's certainly a cartoony Powerglide.  The big issue this time is that Dr Wu's designer didn't seem to know what to do with the engine nacelles and tail.  They fold up and back a bit, but they don't really lock in place and I found them constantly shifting toward the front of his shins when I was manipulating him.

I dig his plane mode, though.  It's less realistic A-10 and more the Sunbow canoe with wings and a tail.  And it's so tiny, a G1 Micromaster is bigger.

Spray's head can't move at all.  His shoulders are on ball joints that rotate and move laterally 90 degrees, plus a transformation hinge gives him a backward butterfly.  Ball jointed elbows double as bices swivels and give him 90 degrees of elbow bend.  No wrist or waist swivel.  Ball jointed hips go 60 degrees forward/backward and 90 degrees laterally, and they give him a very limited thigh swivel.  Which is good, because he doesn't have any other.  His knees bend 90 degrees, and his ankles are ball joins so they swivel plus give him some up/down tilt and a small ankle pivot.

Sound Master's head is on a ball joint so it can swivel and he can look slightly down, up about 30 degrees before his head starts folding in, and tilt his head sideways a bit.  His shoulders rotate and move about 90 degrees on universal joints.  Once again, ball jointed elbows bend 90 degrees and double as bicep swivels, no wrist swivels.  He does have a waist swivel, though.  Hips are ball joints that move 90 degrees forward and backward, and about 60 degrees laterally.  They also give him a slight thigh swivel, which is all he gets.  His knees are hinges that bend 90 degrees, and his toes are on ball joints so they can tilt up but not down, and swivel to give him a small fake ankle pivot.

Sky comes off the worst, I think.  No head articulation.  His shoulders are ball joints for rotation, 90 degrees of lateral movement, and a slight butterfly.  No bicep swivel, not even at the elbow, because Sky has hinges instead of ball joints.  They bend about 160 degrees, though.  No wrist or waist swivels.  Hips are ball joints for about 90 degrees forward, backward, and laterally.  His knees are also ball joints, which act as thigh swivels.  With his engine kibble folded back he can only bend at the knee about 45 degrees, but if you fold it over his shin you can get 90 degrees.  His feet are on ball joints so they can swivel, pivot slightly, and tilt up and down a fair bit.

None of these three come with any accessories.  That's been kind of Dr Wu's MO, though; the only figure that got a gun that wasn't an arm or shoulder cannon worn on the body was their Optimus, and that seemed to be to help justify the price when he cost as much as the two-packs but instead came with just a gun and trailer.

Speaking of price, again, these guys go for around $25-30 a pack, which seems pretty reasonable when you figure a pack costs around the same as a pair of Core-class figures with similar articulation and worse paint.  Plus, they're meant to serve the same purpose- display them with your Combiners or your Titan-class toys to make those figures look larger, and at half the size they arguably do a better job of it.  My only real complaint is that we're getting guys like Powerglide and Beachcomber when I'd really love to see some carbots like Jazz and Prowl at this scale.  For what they are, I think these little dudes are pretty cool and definitely worth checking out.  Here's hoping Dr. Wu pumps out a few more.