The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread

[VFTF1]

I can't wait for my TFC Minos and Thanatos to arrive. Anybody got them already?

[mikeszekely]

I can't wait for my TFC Minos and Thanatos to arrive. Anybody got them already?

Nope. They do look like pretty cool toys, especially Minos, but I've never watched Victory (I didn't even manage to finish Masterforce), so I wasn't even aware of Liokaiser as a character until talk of an official Combiner Wars Liokaiser started popping up. Now that I'm getting into 3P toys, there's too much other stuff I want before I start collecting characters I don't even know. I might try to get Lonewolf (anyone have him, or any thoughts on him?) to replace my CW Menasor, then I'll probably take a look at some other characters before I start working on Ordin.

[Dio]

Nope. They do look like pretty cool toys, especially Minos, but I've never watched Victory (I didn't even manage to finish Masterforce), so I wasn't even aware of Liokaiser as a character until talk of an official Combiner Wars Liokaiser started popping up. Now that I'm getting into 3P toys, there's too much other stuff I want before I start collecting characters I don't even know. I might try to get Lonewolf (anyone have him, or any thoughts on him?) to replace my CW Menasor, then I'll probably take a look at some other characters before I start working on Ordin.

Lone Wolf had some pretty bad reviews, you might think twice about that one. I went with the upgrade set for the Hasbro figure and am pretty satisfied, though it destroys the leg articulation (haven't figured out a good fix for that yet).

Personally, for starting on a 3P collection I recommend Perfect Effect's Warden figure if you can find it. Closest thing to perfection I've seen in a 3P non-combiner figure.

[mikeszekely]

Lone Wolf had some pretty bad reviews, you might think twice about that one.

That's disappointing. CW Motormaster doesn't really look much like G1 Motormaster, and makes for a combiner that misses a lot of Menasor's look. Lonewolf looked like it nailed both of those things and is pretty posable to boot, but reading up on him it sounds like it's pretty much ruined by a simple lack of tabs for a lot of the folding parts. Bummer.

Personally, for starting on a 3P collection I recommend Perfect Effect's Warden figure if you can find it. Closest thing to perfection I've seen in a 3P non-combiner figure.

Technically, I started with Toyworld's Hegemon and UT's Mania King. Hegemon gets some credit for still being the best Voyager Megatron you can get, but overall I think he's kind of mediocre. I love my Mania King, though. Back when I got them, I hadn't planned on doing much with 3P Transformers, I was just trying to fix what I saw as two major flaws with Hasbro's CHUG line, a mediocre Voyager Megatron and crappy Deluxe Megatron and Galvatron. I decided to try 3P again recently for pretty much the same reason; this time, it's the absence of Predaking in the Combiner Wars line that has me buying up the MMC Feral Rex guys.

[Scyla]

There is a group that is doing a whole new Menasor based on the IDW comics. It has a great head sculpt and looks the part. At the moment there are only gray prototype images so no idea how it will turn out. FansProject M³ set on the other hand is a great Menasor in my opinion but does not go well together with any other combiner besides the FansProject/Maketoys ones.

I second that Warden is a great toy but it ins rooted deeply in the IDW style and the alt-mode (tank) is kinda so so. It is awesome if you thinking in terms of a transformable Super Robot Chogokin toy.

[mikeszekely]

As expected, Felisaber arrived today. Felisaber is MMC's take on Catilla, an Autobot Pretender whose sole appearances in Transfomers fiction are limited to appearances in the UK-exclusive original Marvel comics where he was initially a Decepticon who eventually joined the Autobots and was killed, and a few cameos in the IDW series. Like Bovis and Fortis, Felisaber is comfortably Voyager-sized, seen here with Combiner Wars Cyclonus.

Felisaber is a good-looking robot, no doubt. He's got a slimmer figure than Bovis and Fortis, and less stuff on him than Leo Dux. Like Leo, he's actually got a hatch to hide his bot hand behind when he transforms, has ratchets in his shoulder for forward/backward and inward/outward movement, double-jointed elbows, a ball-jointed head, and a rotating waist, although unlike Leo his tiger claws don't fold back and peg on to his arms, which is a little bummer. From the waist down, he's actually a bit more like Bovis or Fortis. He's got similar feet that tab onto his legs in cat mode the same way, similar pieces on this thighs that a weapon can peg into that rotate to the back of his thighs, and his legs transform by opening a flap, folding the lower leg over the thigh, and closing the flap, just like Bovis and Fortis. And, just like Bovis and Fortis, his back animal legs are folding up into a decorative bit and pegged onto the side of his lower leg. Articulation in his lower body is identical to Bovis and Fortis, except that since Felisaber doesn't have the hip armor bits his legs are less restricted when swinging out to the sides. As an artifact of also being an arm for Feral Rex, his he also has a bit of bend in his mid-section.

Felisaber's accessories are a gun and a "gauntlet". Since it doesn't have to become any part of Rex's weapon, the gun is a nice G1-inspired design. It's good that the gun is good, because the gauntlet is terrible. In fact, it's on the ground in the picture because I couldn't get it on him. There's a flip-out tab that's supposed to peg onto the tiger paw. The way it's designed, though, trying to push it in place is 99% more likely to flip the tab back in instead of pegging the tab onto the paw.

Felisaber's alt-mode is pretty great. Again, due to the midsection bend that comes with being an arm and the lack of stuff on him that Leo has, he's afforded extra articulation, plus his cat head is on a ball joint. Like the other Feralcons Felisaber's cat mouth opens, and like Leo he doesn't have to show his bot face to do it. That said, the cat mode doesn't have the neck flap that Leo has, and doesn't really hide his bot head as well.

In cat mode, the gauntlet can fit onto his head. This is a homage to Catilla's Pretender shell, and it helps to hid the robot head. However, it's very difficult to get off. I wound up popping the entire cat head off the ball joint. Also his gun can peg into either shoulder.

As far as being a homage to Catilla, Felisaber is a bit of an odd duck. He's got a lot more yellow and black and a lot less gray that Catilla, and the cat's head sits on this chest like Rampage or Razorclaw instead of G1 Catilla. It's also got red eyes instead of blue. Thing is, though, the G1 Pretenders weren't the most complicated figures even by G1 standards. So while a lot of it is due to the fact that MMC was remolding Tigris (I think) instead of trying to make a truly-accurate Catilla, I think the changes actually make Felisaber a better-looking figure than he would have been if they had gone for G1 accuracy. And the colors help his alt mode strike a balance between Catilla's inside robot's alt-mode and Catilla's Pretender shell.

As a "bonus" figure who isn't necessary to complete Feral Rex, MMC has tossed in a few extras with Felisaber that are unnecessary but cool. For starters, there's a hatch on his abdomen. Open it up, and inside is a small robo-penguin, a play on the fact that MMC's logo has a ski-jumping penguin.

In addition to the penguin, Felisaber comes with little silicone pads you can put on the bottom of Feral Rex's feet, G1-accurate red hooves for Bovis, a yelling face to replace Bovis' snarling face, and a snarling face to replace Fortis' frowning face.

Felisaber's a really great figure. My complaints are pretty limited. As I already mentioned, I'm not a fan of the gauntlet/helmet accessory, since it's too hard to get on in bot mode and too hard to get off in cat mode. Fortunately, you can leave it in the box and not really be missing out on anything. Aside from that my complaints are limited to the fact that his tail doesn't really stay pegged in place in bot mode. There's a little hole on the tip of the tail that pegs onto a little peg on his leg, but on mine it pops off immediately after I peg it into place and let it go. Also, as I mentioned previously, I wish his tiger claws pegged onto the back of his arms like Leo Dux's instead of just sitting there. Finally, I wish that MMC had included a way to hide his robot head better in cat mode. I think these are fairly minor complaints in the face of how good the toy is in every other way. Felisaber is a good toy on his own merits, and I'd say he's worth getting even if you don't plan on using him as part of Feral Rex.

Now I have one small dilemma. If Felisaber is going to be a CHUG Catilla, do I make him an Autobot or a Decepticon? Since he goes so well with the other Feralcons, who are my CHUG Predacons, I'm inclined to make him a Decepticon, which G1 fiction backs me up on even if the toy was clearly an Autobot. Second, where should I put his faction symbol? G1 Catilla had it on his cat forehead, which is doable on Felisaber, but may not look as good since Felisaber's cat head faces forward instead of folding down like Catilla's. I'm slightly more inclined to put it on his shoulder, like I did for Leo Dux. So what do you guys think? Autobot or Decepticon? Forehead or shoulder?

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

Autobot. Then put a chain link leash around his neck to be Predaking's pet.

It's a great toy for sure, Felisaber is quite articulate for all the blockiness he's got going. I just don't add him him to Rex though.

Edited January 18, 2016 by Valkyrie Hunter D

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

I can't wait for my TFC Minos and Thanatos to arrive. Anybody got them already?

Nope, I gotta see the full combined mode to be fully sold. The jets do look cool, but I reckon they have the whole "jet-parts strapped on a bot's back" thing going on like the Aerialbots.

[mikeszekely]

I guess, if I think IDW, I actually have a third choice- Catilla could be a NAIL.

Oh, quick question for the MMC fans... with Bovis, Leo Dux, and Fortis their instructions had issues 3, 4, and 5. Felisaber had 7, which prompted me to look at the Reformatted line and see that Tigris is 6 and Talon was 2, with Terminus Hexatron in the 1 spot. Is the story in the Feralcon's instructions continued from Hexatron's? Like, do I need him if I want to read the whole thing?

[David Hingtgen]

I don't think so. The numbers indicate original planned order of release of the figures, but don't imply a continuous comic story.

PS----Mike, did you get batteries to light up Rex's visor?

[Scyla]

Quick side note. You can peg Felisabers gun onto the underside of the main barrel of Feral Rex arm cannon if you want to have everything combined.

[mikeszekely]

PS----Mike, did you get batteries to light up Rex's visor?

No. I think they're 396 button cells, yeah? That doesn't seem to be a common size. I was originally thinking to just pick some up at a local store, but it looks like I'll have to order some.

Quick side note. You can peg Felisabers gun onto the underside of the main barrel of Feral Rex arm cannon if you want to have everything combined.

Yeah, I saw that in Felisaber's instruction book (along with that alternate sword configuration David mentioned to me). The thing is, Predaking's arm cannon has a certain look, and Bovis and Fortis (and, I assume, Talon, Tigris, and Leo Dux's) weapons were designed not just so that they'd combine, but that their combined look would still have the look of Predaking's arm cannon. Felisaber's gun doesn't have that limitation. Sure, they included a way to clip it to the barrel of Feral Rex's cannon, but it didn't need to look like it's integral to the cannon, and wound up looking more like G1 Catilla's gun. I think it benefits from that.

While I have no intention of building Feral Rex's ultimate mode, for fun I built a one-armed, no-winged Feral Rex with Felisaber in Tigris's spot, to get an idea of how large the combined Feral Rex is, how sturdy he is, and how much articulation he's got. Some initial thoughts are that he's a good size, comfortably between the five-member CW combiners and CW Devastator. I think it's also impressive how much articulation they've managed to build into a robot made of other robots. For the most part, the Hasbro CW dudes are pretty well-matched in terms of knees, head, shoulders, and hips, and to a degree the wrists., but Rex has a better ball joint on the head, ankle tilts, a little bit of toe bend, more articulate fingers, and he can rotate at the waist. Plus, he manages to get his elbow articulation without exposing the arm-bots' legs and using their knees. And good gravy is Feral Rex sturdy. The Hasbro combiners can't even hold their guns without their elbows drooping, but Rex is staying in whatever pose you stick him in. The only thing you have to watch out for is that you put his sword in his hand so that gravity pulls the blade in the direction that Leo's tail joint doesn't bend in.

I'll probably talk about Rex in more detail when I complete him, but these are the basic problems I've found. First, the barrels on his back cannons. One is perfect, the other slides back in a bit when fully extended. I've gotten around that by pushing the other barrel back in to the same length. Two, while folding up the legs on the arm-bots keeps Rex from having that elbow gap from the arm-bot thighs common on Hasbro's combiners, it sort of makes his arms seem short. Finally, it's a good thing that Rex has ankle tilts because Bovis and Fortis are so thick that Rex's legs kind of have to spread a bit. Like my complaints about the individual Feralcons, though, these are pretty minor issues that are completely overshadowed by how amazing MMC's engineering really is.

Oh, and hey, no one else has any thoughts on Felisaber's emblem? So far I've got one vote for an Autobot emblem and no thoughts on where to place it.

[Dio]

Oh, and hey, no one else has any thoughts on Felisaber's emblem? So far I've got one vote for an Autobot emblem and no thoughts on where to place it.

I don't suppose there is a Decepticon logo with claw marks through it? Sort of like RotF Jetfire's emblem, but purple. That would get you the best of both worlds.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

Speaking of labels for Rex, the last time I looked at Reprolabel's offerings, the designs were way over the top. I just wanted plain Decepticon emblems, but in red or black, which I think would look great on the Feralcons. Just today I found TFsticker who had exactly what I was looking for. My Rex has gone on without any sigils for too long!

[mikeszekely]

I don't suppose there is a Decepticon logo with claw marks through it? Sort of like RotF Jetfire's emblem, but purple. That would get you the best of both worlds.

That'd be awesome! But no, I didn't see any.

Speaking of labels for Rex, the last time I looked at Reprolabel's offerings, the designs were way over the top. I just wanted plain Decepticon emblems, but in red or black, which I think would look great on the Feralcons. Just today I found TFsticker who had exactly what I was looking for. My Rex has gone on without any sigils for too long!

If you look at their labels for pretty much any specific toy they're over the top. That's why, aside from faction logos, I've only ever bought their sets for CW Prowl and CW Streetwise.

If you just want faction logos, though, they're pretty cheap, which is why I like 'em. You can get Decepticon or Autobot symbols on white or silver (which work on pretty much anything) for around $3.50 a sheet. If you just want outlines, I didn't see any in red or purple, but $4 will get you clear emblems with white or chrome lines.

[mikeszekely]

Hey, it seems that GCIToys' (aka Dr. Killenger) web store went live today. They've got three products up for preorder so far; Gulper, a figure based on IDW Guzzle from the Wreckers series, and two upgrade kits for Combiner Wars Bruticus. One's a set of weapons (two guns and a knife), the other is new feet, new back cannons, and a new Blast Off head. They're doing first-come-first-serve on their orders, and there's some early bird pricing if you order before March.

EDIT: Quick question for the Feral Rex owners out there... when you have Fortis in rhino mode, how many of you put him the official way (robot back and feet are the rhino's back) and how many of you just transform him like Bovis (robot chest and shins are the rhino's back). I think the official way helps make Fortis more distinct from Bovis but I think it looks messier, so I'm inclined to transform him like Bovis.

Edited January 20, 2016 by mikeszekely

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

I prefer the black parts on his underside for a cleaner look from above, so I do it the unofficial way.

I was so sure that Reprolabels would have emblems in plain solid colors but nada. I ended up getting some of these:

I wanted the emblems to match one of each Feralcon's colors with no silver border, so I'll end up using solid black or red Decepticon emblems on their chests and/or shoulders.

And to answer your question, I say put the emblem on Felisaber's shoulder. It would make the cat head look cleaner.

[Scyla]

I usually don't put Decepticon logos on my unofficial toys. The reason being that, while I have a few sheets of Reprolabels, they look terrible. I prefer the solid ones with the white outline but from Reprolables they weren't able to cut it in a way where you have a sharp white outline that is consistent in width around the spikes of the head crest. For the smaller symbols it is even worse because there are not coutures whatsoever. I even asked them if they can offer some better cut ones but this doesn't seem to be possible which is weird because I think the clear ones with the white outlines are better cut. I haven't messed with the Ocean Design ones yet but from what I gathered they are try transfers so less room for mistakes. The Autobot stickers are way better.

The second issue is that Thrid Party companies seem to be unable to create emblem spots that fit the stickers. They are either not the right size (Bovis chest spot) or have an awkward shape (I'm looking at you FansToys). Having just a plain area where I could stick the emblem seems to be an impossibility for those companies.

As for the Fortis alt-mode I have him the same way as Bovis because the hand-food mortar is more secure that way and I can slot his melee weapons into the ridges on the bottom.

[David Hingtgen]

I do Fortis 50/50. Robot feet on top, robot chest on top. Like so:

[mikeszekely]

I'd seen the post that picture came from, and I don't like that method for a couple of reasons. One, it still leaves him looking messy on top. Two, you can't attach the foot cannons as it leaves both connections on the bottom. And three, going from leg to rhino you have to open up the legs to rotate the waist without popping his hip armor off. I feel like, if you're going to put the robot chest on top, you might as well put the robot feet on the bottom.

[VFTF1]

So I got both Minos and Thanatos. Generally cool. Thanatos is a pain in the butt to transform, Minos is much much better. I was a bit dissapointed by the tank tread shoulder panel coming off, but I think I must have twisted it or something. Nothing broke, I put the screw back in and it works fine. But generally gotta be careful. The panels make it all BW Big Convoy to transform.

On the plus side, the transformations are fairly simple, not complex, and so fun...but getting all the parts lined up...

My only other 3rd party is PE Warden and I never even transformed him...

Overall, I'm happy, just gotta be patient with Thanatos...whoever thought of that peg on the Hades foot needs to burn in Hades. There must be some trick to it...youtubers can't seem to find it. Relying on the flexibility of the plastic seems to be a bad idea in the long run.

I might just remove the stupid Leokaiser feet and screw them back on when forming Leokaiser...if that's possible...they are such an unnecessary pain. Perfect transformation is not worth this level of hazard.

Can't wait for the others.

Minos is ace.

Thanatos has issues...demands patience.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

MMC's Ravage looks quite good. Not that there's anything wrong with the official MP Ravage, but this one certainly has a more sinister look to it.

[JB0]

MMC's Ravage looks quite good. Not that there's anything wrong with the official MP Ravage, but this one certainly has a more sinister look to it.

Looks way better than my third-party Ravage, which is a chinese flash drive. A flash drive that doesn't work properly.

On the other hand, I paid five bucks for it.

[Scyla]

MMC's Ravage looks quite good. Not that there's anything wrong with the official MP Ravage, but this one certainly has a more sinister look to it.

Holy Jiminy Cricket, I ordered one.

Surprising I know.

[edit:]

Edited January 22, 2016 by Scyla

[anime52k8]

I'm confused as to why this is supposed to be 1:1 scale. are they saying his alt mode is cassette tape and not a micro-cassette? that honestly seems really weird and kind of pointless unless they're making an oversize g1 Soundwave that's going to take cassette tapes.

[M'Kyuun]

I'm confused as to why this is supposed to be 1:1 scale. are they saying his alt mode is cassette tape and not a micro-cassette? that honestly seems really weird and kind of pointless unless they're making an oversize g1 Soundwave that's going to take cassette tapes.

Yep, looks like a full sized cassette. Sucks in part b/c he can't be stored in Soundwave, but, wow, that jaguar mode is exactly what I was hoping a MP Ravage would be.

When MP Soundwave was announced, I was hoping he'd be designed around full sized cassettes, since that'd give the designers more area to utilize, and we would get cassette bots of this caliber. It wasn't to be, but this thing looks absolutely amazing. Ravage has always been my favorite of the cassettes, and the MP version was so-so, kinda disappointing after what they accomplished with Laserbeak. I might have to get a copy of this, just b/c it's awesome.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

I love how Ravage's weapons are fully integrated into the transformation. It looks awesome but for the price they're asking and simply because I'm fine with the official Ravage, I'm gonna pass on this one.

[M'Kyuun]

Yep, $50 preorder price is rather high for such a small figure. That's $15 off asking price. It's cool, but not $50 cool, and certainly not worth $65. If it was closer to $30, I'd bite, and that's still a bit pricey for something this small.

I'm thinking, give it time and someone will make a mini-cassette sized KO of this thing for about half the price.

[mikeszekely]

Personally, I'm not going to bite. Too big to work in cassette mode with MP Soundwave. And while the larger jaguar will probably look nicer with MP bots, the MP cassettes are ironically a good size to fit with the CHUGs I collect.

For those of you thinking the other MP cassettes are too small, looks like they're doing a Rumble/Frenzy mold and a Laserbeak/Buzzsaw mold, too.

[sh9000]

Meh.

[Scyla]

Yep, $50 preorder price is rather high for such a small figure. That's $15 off asking price. It's cool, but not $50 cool, and certainly not worth $65. If it was closer to $30, I'd bite, and that's still a bit pricey for something this small.

I'm thinking, give it time and someone will make a mini-cassette sized KO of this thing for about half the price.

But it has free shipping!

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

I finally got to open my Wardog/Warpath by Badcube. Transforming this guy can be a real chore. Especially the shoulders; I truly believe Badcube made the joints that allow the shoulders to rotate and extend outward more complicated than it should be. All the floppy panels and parts I encountered during transformation had me worried that the result would be a loose mess. Thankfully, this was not to be-Wardog makes for solid and stumpy Warpath! His alt mode looks like a completed and unpainted plastic model of a Sheridan tank...that's been molded in brick red. There is a big partsforming cheat that involves his shield, which becomes the underside of the whole tank. It could just be left out, but it would make one hollow looking tank. Anyways, just a word of warning to anyone who hasn't transformed theirs-be mindful of those pesky shoulder joints.

[Scyla]

I finally got to open my Wardog/Warpath by Badcube. Transforming this guy can be a real chore. Especially the shoulders; I truly believe Badcube made the joints that allow the shoulders to rotate and extend outward more complicated than it should be. All the floppy panels and parts I encountered during transformation had me worried that the result would be a loose mess. Thankfully, this was not to be-Wardog makes for solid and stumpy Warpath! His alt mode looks like a completed and unpainted plastic model of a Sheridan tank...that's been molded in brick red. There is a big partsforming cheat that involves his shield, which becomes the underside of the whole tank. It could just be left out, but it would make one hollow looking tank. Anyways, just a word of warning to anyone who hasn't transformed theirs-be mindful of those pesky shoulder joints.

I think what makes Wardog a success is that a rather large tank shrinks down to such a small robot. Not the same level of the mass shifting on Animated Lockdown but still a good effort. Sadly they forgot a mechanism for the chest gun to collapse.

Anyhow I payed for my Perfect Effect Xerxes a Nemesis colored version of their Leonidas (Lio Convoy). The Leonidas version had many questionable design decisions resulting in many reports of breakages but they seem to have strengthened all the parts that where prone to breaking:

The real bummer is that he doesn't come with the die-cast swords and their sheaths (instead he has two Katar style daggers). Hopefully another company will do recasts of them one day. I just recently ordered some of the Eness die cast swords for MMCs Terminus Hexatron so maybe they will do the same for this toy.

I'm looking forward to this figure (now it sits happily in my pile of loot). I will looking at the message boards if the toy is really less likely to break so I can determine if I risk moving any joints or even attempt to transform him. If this sells well PE might have an incentive to do a (black and teal) Big Convoy in the same style. I would buy it.

[JB0]

Oh, wow. That is super hot.

[anime52k8]

so hot...