The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread

[Scyla]

I got Fans Hobby's Fright Storm (G1 MP Style Power Master Dreadwind) and before I talk about the figure two remarks:

First, as a child I had few Transformers (less than 10) and I seldomly watched the cartoon or read the comics. But I had G1 Dreadwind and the gorgeous box art which left a big impression on my child self.

Second I dislike all Fans Hobby releases. The ones I own and the others I watched and read reviews about. In broad terms their toys lack sophistication in sculpt, engineering, proportions, materials and transformation (sometimes in multiple categories at once).

Having said that you can imagine how joyful I was after Fans Hobby announced a new iteration of one of my childhood's favorite toys.

To start with the bad stuff: everything below the knees is emblematic of that lacking sophistication I talked about earlier.

The lower legs have that cool feature to shift the shins forward to give them more mass; but there is no mechanism to lock them into position so you collapse them every time you mess with the legs.

And you will mess with them a lot since the ankle design is utter trash. They are ball stems with almost no friction making the toy unstable and hard to balance.

Also, for a company that gave Armada Megatron a recoiling cannon gimmick and Armada Optimus spring loaded guns I can’t fathom why they didn’t replicate the spring loaded door that was a key feature on the Power Master toys. Didn’t need to unlock the transformation just retract while putting the Power Master into place.

Small nitpicks: the outward hip joints are spaced to far apart and too strong and the guns feel too hollow (again lacking sophistication).

Luckily the rest of the figure is stellar. The materials feel great, the powdered look on the teal and gray looks awesome in person (can’t tell if paint or bare plastic). The transformation is easy and clever; the designer even managed to include a working waist. The sculpt is great, having the right amount of stylization and update to the G1 toy.

TLDR: Good figure but short of greatness. If you are a fan of the original toy I would recommend it.

 

 

 

 

[sh9000]

Bird of Dawn Phantom Kalavinka.

[mikeszekely]

5 hours ago, Scyla said:

Second I dislike all Fans Hobby releases. The ones I own and the others I watched and read reviews about. In broad terms their toys lack sophistication in sculpt, engineering, proportions, materials and transformation (sometimes in multiple categories at once).

I own most of Fan Hobby's molds (I've been cutting back on 3P and never got around to their Cab/Hosehead, Doubledealer/Clouder, Energon Op, or this guy), and I do like them for the most part, but I can somewhat agree with this statement.

[CoryHolmes]

*pokes X-Transbots*  C'mon, gimme my Punch Counterpunch toy already...

[shazam]

I purchased Grump/Gears by Bad Cube a while ago and think it still looks great. The Fans Toys Variator/Gears vehicle mode is closer to the animation where Grump/Gears by Bad Cube vehicle mode looks like a normal vehicle.

Edited September 13, 2023 by shazam

[shazam]

 

[shazam]

 

[sh9000]

If FT Variator is still in stock at The Chosen Prime tomorrow I might order it there.

[Convectuoso]

NewAge Wheeljack

 

[Convectuoso]

 

[mikeszekely]

When I reviewed Legacy Evolution Prowl I wasn't super thrilled with him.  In the process of G1-ifying him they did away with the tall, thin design with the massive chin that Derek Wyatt drew, making him shorter, chunkier, with bigger eyes and a shorter face.  To me, it looked really off for an Animated Prowl, and I didn't need a G1-ified Prowl because, well, I we already got a G1 Prowl in Earthrise.  Among the wider Transformers community, though, it seems like Legacy Prowl has his share of fans, but those fans lamented that he didn't have the samurai armor of the late Animated Prowl retool.

Well, DNA to the rescue, with their DK-42 kit for Legacy Prowl.  The kit comes with the main unit, a wheel with a blade on it, and a helmet.  It also comes with two halves of a spear, and a gray clip.

There's something we can do with the kit before Prowl even tries to wear it.  Built the spear, and you'll find a tab on the shaft that fits into a slot on the clip.  Take the butt of the spear and stick it into the 5mm port on the wheel.  Now, there's an armature on the main unit with a 3mm peg that fits into a hole on the back of the helmet.  Meanwhile, the 5mm port on the other side of the clip will first fit into the LEFT half 5mm port on the bottom, while a tab on the left side of the armature fits into a notch higher on the spear shaft to lock it into place.

It's not the most amazing thing in the world, but it allows the entire kit to be set up as a display stand for Prowl's samurai armor when he's not wearing it.

Of course, we do want him to wear it!  So, on the side of the main unit opposite from the helmet armature is a 5mm peg.  You plug that into a port on Prowl's back.  The lower panels can rotate so the gold paint is on the outside, then they slide forward to cover Prowl's thighs.  Armatures swing the shoulder pieces around his body under his arms, then curl the armor up in front of his shoulders.

With the main unit attached, you can plonk the helmet on Prowl's head.  The wheel blade can plug into a 5mm port on one of his arms.  The clip can plug into the other, although it's kind of weird to have a spear attached to your arm.

If you prefer, you can have Prowl hold the spear by separating it into it's halves, sliding the top into his right hand (as the left isn't shaped to hold 5mm pegs), then connecting the bottom.  Note that Prowl's forearm armor doesn't really give you enough clearance, though, so I had to bend Prowl's hand inward.  Also, the clip's 5mm peg can again fit into the half port on the bottom of the main unit on his back for storage.

Aside from the spear and clip, which seem to exist largely to give the set the display mode, the armor works almost exactly the way the Animated Samurai Prowl did 14 years ago, with the spinning hip flaps and shoulder armor on armatures that wrap under the armpits.  On that old Prowl toy even the helmet was connected, and to be fair you can still leave DNA's helmet on the armature and assemble it as one piece, too.  But that means DNA's set comes with some of the same issues that the old Samurai Prowl toy had, namely that the shoulder armor hampers his arm articulation, and if the helmet stays attached to the armature he looses his head/neck articulation.  Which actually brings me to another point- people seem to be pretty critical of how chonky Prowl is with his armor.  In the cartoon, even armored Prowl was pretty svelte, and he had tire armor on both arms.  But the thing is, due to the late decision to retool the original Deluxe toy with the samurai armor, the original toy for Samurai Prowl was also pretty chunky and also had wheel armor for just one arm.  Given how much thicker Legacy Prowl is over the Animated Deluxe in the first place, I think this looks about as good as could be reasonably expected.

Well, as long as DNA is copying Hasbro's 14 year old homework, sure enough the armor has an alt mode.  If the helmet's already on the armature, flip it over so it's upside-down on his back.  The shoulder pads fold back and tab into each other around the helmet.  Slide the hip armor back on the sliders and turn them so they can fold over the shoulder armatures with the gold paint on the inside.  Note that there's a tab on the armature hinges that'll go into a slot on the hip armor, and a tab on the hip armor that'll go into the shoulder armor to lock everything in place.  Split the spear in half, and turn the main unit so you're looking down at the top of the helmet.  You can find the two half 5mm ports, and slide the halves the the spear into them so they lay over the helmet.  The spears are now the bottom of the sidecar.

The blade on the wheel is hinged so it can fold 90 degrees.  Use the 5mm peg on the wheel to plug into a 5mm port on the sidecar such that the blade folds along the bottom of the sidecar.  Now you just have to attach it to Prowl, and that's where the clip comes in again.  On the side with the slot, you may have noticed a trio of angled tabs.  These tabs fit into cutouts on the Prowl's rear wheel, and it'll leave him with a 5mm peg poking out.  That peg goes into a port on the side of the sidecar opposite its wheel.

Due to having to fit between Legacy Prowl's wings, the seat of the sidecar seems narrower and less sheltered... less purposeful, I guess, than the original Samurai Prowl's.  I'm not sure how I feel about the gold paint on the fender and minimal gold on the seat, for that matter.  But, again, it's ultimately what Hasbro did 14 years ago, and it works fine.

On one hand, it's pretty obvious that DNA basically took the armor from the original Samurai Prowl and redesigned it to fit on the Legacy toy, devised a clip so it could attach as a sidecar, then came up with a spear accessory that could also combine with the rest as a display stand.  As I mentioned, that means it's got the same issues with chonk and articulation that came with the original toy.  On the other hand, I think that's maybe exactly what a lot of people wanted.  I think it's kind of hard to recommend a kit that costs as much as the base figure it's for, especially when I wasn't super enthusiastic about the base figure and told you to pass at the time anyway.  That said, it 100% accomplished the thing it set out to do, and if you want the armor from the original Animated Samurai Prowl but for your Legacy Evolution toy I don't think there's any real downside for me to not recommend it.

[Convectuoso]

I just got NewAge Swoop (Freyr)

Simple to transform and looks way better than the MFT one.

 

[Alex GS]

not sure where to put it, but since it looks like a transformer so I hope is ok to put it here, it came out of nowhere and it really grab my attention how slick it looks in all three forms , and it seems is made out of quality materials and diecast, let's see how it goes, in the meantime I preorder it a few minutes after checking all the pictures.  

 

Even thou the below inner part of the jet mode looks like this, it looks way better than Bay Form Starcream jet mode, this looks more aerodynamic  

 

if someone interested here are the links:

hlj

https://www.hlj.com/trans-age-series-ct-df-01-huntpow-transformable-action-figure-cna26161

AmiAmi

https://www.amiami.com/eng/detail?gcode=FIGURE-161594

[Chronocidal]

Ok, that is.. wild.  I'm used to seeing transforming planes smuggling a robot under them, but never a car.

The car and animal modes look great, and the plane is at least hidden in those, but the aircraft mode just looks really funky with that much junk under it.  Still.. not really any worse than what the official releases usually come up with.

[tekering]

1 hour ago, Alex GS said:

it came out of nowhere and it really grab my attention how slick it looks in all three forms

I see it, but I don't believe it.

 

[mikeszekely]

It's a licensed car, too, though I guess not too many people here will be familiar with Guangzhou Automobile Group Motor Co (GAC), or in this case their subsidiary Trumpchi.  Last time I was over there, GAC was one of the domestic brands I saw a lot of, along with BYD, Changan, BAIC, and Wuling, but at that time imports were much more common.  I haven't been there since before then pandemic, but I've heard that electric cars are more popular there now.  Tesla is apparently super popular there, but domestic brands like BYD, Xpeng, and Nio that got in on electrification early have enjoyed a surge.  Anyway, that one there would be the Empow, a 168HP turbocharged i4 sedan.  It's designed to appear kind of sporty yet practical... kind of like a Nissan Maxima or a Kia Stinger, but with way less actual performance.  I have no idea how well the Empow sells in China, but I've heard they're kind of popular in the Philippines.  

Well, enough about that.  For the toy, quite frankly, I think it's impressive as heck that they managed to get a licensed car that looks that good to turn into a Shenyang J-11 (a Chinese KO of a Su-27), even with the visible kibble on the belly, and a third cat mode on top of it.

[JB0]

For a triple-changer, that's damned impressive. Off-hand, I don't see any evidence of jet on the car or Not-Ravage. And the pile of garbage under the plane is more forgivable in a three-mode toy(and frankly, more effort was expended on the jet's underside than most TWO-MODE jet-robos.)

[Scyla]

Images of a fully combined Fans Toys Superion leaked.

Looks great. Can’t wait to complete mine, even if that means that I have to get the other Aerialbots out of storage:

More images here: https://www.tfw2005.com/boards/threads/fanstoys-ft-30a-e-ethereaon-masterpiece-superion-aerialbots.1128276/page-652#post-21817462

[M'Kyuun]

On 10/25/2023 at 10:44 PM, mikeszekely said:

It's a licensed car, too, though I guess not too many people here will be familiar with Guangzhou Automobile Group Motor Co (GAC), or in this case their subsidiary Trumpchi.  Last time I was over there, GAC was one of the domestic brands I saw a lot of, along with BYD, Changan, BAIC, and Wuling, but at that time imports were much more common.  I haven't been there since before then pandemic, but I've heard that electric cars are more popular there now.  Tesla is apparently super popular there, but domestic brands like BYD, Xpeng, and Nio that got in on electrification early have enjoyed a surge.  Anyway, that one there would be the Empow, a 168HP turbocharged i4 sedan.  It's designed to appear kind of sporty yet practical... kind of like a Nissan Maxima or a Kia Stinger, but with way less actual performance.  I have no idea how well the Empow sells in China, but I've heard they're kind of popular in the Philippines.  

Well, enough about that.  For the toy, quite frankly, I think it's impressive as heck that they managed to get a licensed car that looks that good to turn into a Shenyang J-11 (a Chinese KO of a Su-27), even with the visible kibble on the belly, and a third cat mode on top of it.

 

On 10/27/2023 at 3:32 AM, JB0 said:

For a triple-changer, that's damned impressive. Off-hand, I don't see any evidence of jet on the car or Not-Ravage. And the pile of garbage under the plane is more forgivable in a three-mode toy(and frankly, more effort was expended on the jet's underside than most TWO-MODE jet-robos.)

As a vocal critic of most jetformers, given that this triple changes, and that the car mode looks incredible, the jet mode isn't as compromised as we often see in single alt mode jetformers, which speaks to the level of engineering. Obviously, it's not perfect; those intakes are wider than the chines, hang too low with an obvious gap, and just don't really look like intakes, TBH. From the side, it suffers, and it's a shame they couldn't find a way to improve it. From the bottom, the car bits are obvious destroying any illusion. However, I do like how everything packs up compactly on the bottom; it's a shame they didn't make it all snug up closer to the bottom of the plane, but, considering its nature, I give props for making it as good as they did. It's a cool concept, reminding me of Binaltech/Alternators Ravage, who converted into a licensed Jaguar and didn't have to contend with a second alt mode. IMHO, the designers did a pretty good job overall, and even the jet mode looks ok, especially, as most do, from above.

[mikeszekely]

6 hours ago, Scyla said:

Images of a fully combined Fans Toys Superion leaked.

Looks great. Can’t wait to complete mine, even if that means that I have to get the other Aerialbots out of storage:

 

More images here: https://www.tfw2005.com/boards/threads/fanstoys-ft-30a-e-ethereaon-masterpiece-superion-aerialbots.1128276/page-652#post-21817462

It looks good, especially with the cartoon chest, but not so good that I regret selling the three FT Aerialbots I bought or that I suddenly feel like replacing the Zeta Superion on my shelf.  Frankly, I didn't think the three I bought were very good on their own, and FT is pricing themselves out of my collection.

[Drad]

Baiwei TW-1027. Not bad for $23.

[mikeszekely]

3 hours ago, Drad said:

Baiwei TW-1027. Not bad for $23.

I had just ordered one of those. I'll post a full review once it arrives.

Despite the silver sun visors and the extra gear on the bumper it's apparently based on another toy that was supposed to be Bumblebee Prime. If the bumper kit is removable (which I believe it is) I might add a bit of paint and use this as a replacement for SS38 instead of SS102, as 38’s not looking so hot these days and my gripes with 102 should be fixed with DNA's upgrade kit.

[Drad]

[Axelay]

On 11/4/2023 at 1:24 PM, mikeszekely said:

I had just ordered one of those. I'll post a full review once it arrives.

Despite the silver sun visors and the extra gear on the bumper it's apparently based on another toy that was supposed to be Bumblebee Prime. If the bumper kit is removable (which I believe it is) I might add a bit of paint and use this as a replacement for SS38 instead of SS102, as 38’s not looking so hot these days and my gripes with 102 should be fixed with DNA's upgrade kit.

Where did you order yours? For that price, I'd be sorely tempted to get one as well!

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, Axelay said:

Where did you order yours? For that price, I'd be sorely tempted to get one as well!

TFSafari. Look for "Cybertron Commander". It was actually $23, but I cashed in points for $3 off. Either way, cheaper than a Hasbro Voyager, so yeah. Probably worth rolling the dice on it. 

[M'Kyuun]

Just discovered this today. This is an excellent example of how a transforming jet should be executed. Bit involved, and the weapons bay partsforms, but otherwise, it's a brilliant bit of engineering resulting in a cool looking bot and a jet mode that looks realistic from all angles with little to give away its transformative nature.

[pengbuzz]

On 11/5/2023 at 6:38 PM, mikeszekely said:

TFSafari. Look for "Cybertron Commander". It was actually $23, but I cashed in points for $3 off. Either way, cheaper than a Hasbro Voyager, so yeah. Probably worth rolling the dice on it. 

TFSafari, eh? I'll have to check them out later today...

[Chronocidal]

12 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Just discovered this today. This is an excellent example of how a transforming jet should be executed. Bit involved, and the weapons bay partsforms, but otherwise, it's a brilliant bit of engineering resulting in a cool looking bot and a jet mode that looks realistic from all angles with little to give away its transformative nature.

Ok, yeah, that's insanely good for a jet.  Bit of a pity it's the knock-off F-35, or I'd put it on my desk at work.  

Is this actually available anywhere though?

[derex3592]

That thing is just EFFIN COOL! and that display base??!! ARE YOU LISTENING BANDAI????

[mikeszekely]

4 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Bit of a pity it's the knock-off F-35

Just to clarify, you mean because the FC-31/J-31/J-35 was almost definitely developed with stolen JSF data, right?  Because, for anyone that doesn't know, the Shenyang J-35 is a real Chinese fighter, and I do believe this figure is licensed.  You guys do what you want, I'm not judging, but for me personally I'm a bit hesitant to contribute to the Chinese military.

4 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Is this actually available anywhere though?

Supposed to be out around the end of the month.  Here's a ShowZ store link.

[M'Kyuun]

30 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

Just to clarify, you mean because the FC-31/J-31/J-35 was almost definitely developed with stolen JSF data, right?  Because, for anyone that doesn't know, the Shenyang J-35 is a real Chinese fighter, and I do believe this figure is licensed.  You guys do what you want, I'm not judging, but for me personally I'm a bit hesitant to contribute to the Chinese military.

I don't know if contributing to a Chinese toy company furthers the CCCP's agenda, although I get what you're saying in principle. I'm not at all a fan of the Chinese government or their shady practices, but as to the talents of the Chinese people, there's no question. The Japanese may have invented the transforming toy, but over the last decade or so, Chinese toymakers have dominated the market with their many third- and fourth-party companies as well as the add-on/upgrades markets. While I confess to being tempted, I'm likely not going to buy this; that said, I felt it was worth posting simply as a showcase of what can be done with a modern jetformer, as this should be the standard and not the exception. It's still not the standard even among most 3P jetformers, but my hope is that this will inspire the other companies, Takara included, to step up their games. Takara's MP-52 is a travesty writ large in comparison, just shameful.

As for Kawamori, he's been looking down his nose at all these other companies making crappy jetformers since 1982. Too bad more companies didn't follow his long and venerable lead.

[mikeszekely]

52 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

I don't know if contributing to a Chinese toy company furthers the CCCP's agenda

A Chinese toy company, no, and generally speaking I don't have a problem buying Chinese toys.  But if said Chinese company is producing the toy under license from Shenyang Aerospace (I *think* it is, I've seen AVIC's logo on some images), and SAC is a division of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (it is), and AVIC is a state-owned company (it is), then money from this toy is going more directly to the PRC.  And again, I'm not interested in making a moral judgement for anyone, but I do think it's something people should be aware of.

[Chronocidal]

Ah, thanks, I went looking at ShowZ and couldn't decipher the actual product name enough to find it.

And yeah, I'm very aware (at a professional level even) of how this aircraft came into existence.  I don't feel like contributing to it either.  It's more a pity to me that it's not an actual F-35, because I would absolutely buy multiples and display them on my desk at work.

All that aside though, the bot mode is kind of all over the place.  It's impressive that it transforms so well, but I'm really not feeling it as a figure.  The panels feel like they're just scattered all over, and the limbs are kind of just boxes floating between them, compared with something like the Zeta movie Blitzwing, which manages to rearrange the whole aircraft into a really solid figure.  I don't think anything has yet matched that one in my eyes as having pulled of a similar level of plastic origami to deliver such a solid jet-former in both modes.

Edited November 9, 2023 by Chronocidal

[M'Kyuun]

2 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

A Chinese toy company, no, and generally speaking I don't have a problem buying Chinese toys.  But if said Chinese company is producing the toy under license from Shenyang Aerospace (I *think* it is, I've seen AVIC's logo on some images), and SAC is a division of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (it is), and AVIC is a state-owned company (it is), then money from this toy is going more directly to the PRC.  And again, I'm not interested in making a moral judgement for anyone, but I do think it's something people should be aware of.

I did no background, but your info about its licensing gives serious pause, as it should to anyone in a country targeted one way or another by the PRC. It's a shame, as it's a cool toy, but I'd rather not support the CCCP directly or indirectly.

1 hour ago, Chronocidal said:

Ah, thanks, I went looking at ShowZ and couldn't decipher the actual product name enough to find it.

And yeah, I'm very aware (at a professional level even) of how this aircraft came into existence.  I don't feel like contributing to it either.  It's more a pity to me that it's not an actual F-35, because I would absolutely buy multiples and display them on my desk at work.

All that aside though, the bot mode is kind of all over the place.  It's impressive that it transforms so well, but I'm really not feeling it as a figure.  The panels feel like they're just scattered all over, and the limbs are kind of just boxes floating between them, compared with something like the Zeta movie Blitzwing, which manages to rearrange the whole aircraft into a really solid figure.  I don't think anything has yet matched that one in my eyes as having pulled of a similar level of plastic origami to deliver such a solid jet-former in both modes.

I wish it was a true F-35, too, especially the Navy's F-35C with VTOL capability. I wish we had an American company of talented toy designers who made transformable toys at this level. Alas, Hasbro is the only game in town, and they're sadly not up to the task. It's odd, too, b/c we have a huge Transformers fandom and a decent Robotech/Macross fandom, a lot of very talented artistic and mechanically inclined people, and a growing culture of people doing independent design with 3D printing. One would think some of them would get together and form a company making custom transforming toys. I'd love to be part of something like that, although my skills are meager. However, like Kawamori himself, I could at least create a practical template with LEGO as a proof-of-concept to illustrate the transformation process.

As to the J-35's bot mode, I'm not crazy about the face or the nose gear on its crotch, but otherwise I like the look of its bot mode, especially the leg design. The transformation is quite involved, a bit too much for my liking, but that seems to be the way for a lot of these modern transforming bots. I agree with your assessment of Zeta's Blitzwing- well done in both modes judging by pics. I'm also impressed with Metagate's Red Fantasy (BBM Shatter) for how well they pulled off the vehicle modes, especially the Harrier. Usually, as with both Has/Tak's and Toyworld's versions, the jet mode, as usual, takes the brunt of the compromises; Metagate's car mode, IMHO, suffers more than the Harrier mode. And while the Harrier mode isn't perfectly accurate, it's decently passable, esp from a distance.

Edited November 9, 2023 by M'Kyuun

[JB0]

2 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

I wish it was a true F-35, too, especially the Navy's F-35C with VTOL capability.

Marines, F-35B.

The Navy's F-35C has wider wings(that fold up), and sturdier landing gear for handling catapult launches and arresting wire landings, but no VTOL capability.