The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread

[mikeszekely]

Wow! You guys are rich! Those things are expensive =o

It's less about being rich and more about where you budget. Like I mentioned, I don't buy Macross toys and for every one I don't that's like one or two 3P figures I can get. I don't buy any toys, actually, except for Transformers. I haven't bought any Gunpla since... well, 2015, actually. I don't buy any Hasbro MPs, and definitely no Takara MPs. I've cut my video gaming down to whatever I grab for cheap on Steam sales. That means more of my personal fun budget can go to 3P transforming-toys-of-which-any-resemblance-to-Hasbro's-characters-is-purely-coincidence*, and even then all I've bought this year are the Feral Rex and Ordin dudes (although I do have Seraphicus Prominion and his trailer on preorder). Most of what I talk about is more like "at some point between now and my eventual death I want to buy this figure."

But yeah, buying 3P is kind of the most expensive way to buy Transformers, but for me it's about getting what you pay for. I mean, I'm not into MP-scale figures, and when you compare actual Transformers Deluxe or Voyager-class toys to 3P it's like night and day. I mean, none of the Combiner Wars toys have wrist swivels, most of them don't have ankles, and the Optimus/Motormaster mold is the only Voyager with a waist swivel. I'd guess most of the Deluxes wouldn't if it weren't for the fact that they have torsos. Meanwhile, it's pretty much expected that 3P have all those joints (guys like Mania King, Alberich, and Hagen get ripped for not having wrist swivels). More 3P toys are turning up with ab rockers, butterfly shoulders, and double-jointed elbows and knees. And that articulation isn't just expected on the individual figures, either... Feral Rex and Ordin both have ankle tilts, they both have thigh swivels, they both have dedicated elbows that aren't the arm-bots's hips, they both have waist swivels, and they both have hands with individually-articulated fingers. Plus, if you've handled a Combiner Wars combiner, you know how crappy the joints can be. Most of them can't even hold up their guns up without a hefty dose of floor polish on some ball-jointed hips, but 3P toys have a reputation for lots of quality ratchets with lots of clicks and tightness when they're not. Lastly, especially in the last couple years Transformers have gotten really hollow. Some figures, like Voyager-class FoC Grimlock even had big empty gaps in their torso, most have hollow spots where a hand or leg folds out, and may even have deliberate hollow spaces in biceps, waists, and thighs just to save on plastic (and we won't even mention how unpainted they're getting, but feel free to look at Combiner Wars Wheeljack to see what I'm talking about). And there's the endless repainting and retooling of figures... just with my Combiner Wars, I've got six torso bots from three molds, three deluxe helicopters, three trucks (not counting First Aid), three Prowl-type cars, two jeeps (not counting Rook), three Fireflight-style jets, etc. 3P toys use better plastic, aren't hollow in spots just to save money, and in hollow spots like where wrists fold out they've usually got flaps or panels to fill in gaps. Straight-up repaints are rare, and remolds are usually the difference between Alberich and Hagen instead of just slapping a new head on an existing mold.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that, as an adult collector, once you go 3P it's hard to go back because as expensive as a 3P figure is you're getting so much more quality when you buy a 3P toy that mass-retail Transformers start to feel like cheap garbage.

[David Hingtgen]

Because if there's one thing the fandom is asking for, it's EVEN MORE 3P MP DINOBOTS. ::rolleye::

(though I'll admit, I've yet to see a Snarl or Sludge that I like enough to buy---IMHO most all have sucky dino modes, and dino mode is the main mode for a dinobot---kind of like how combined mode is the most important mode for a combiner----yet almost every Dinobot toy seems to focus on robot mode for some reason...) Ironically, I see the most good Slag toys, yet he's about my least-fave. Yet one of the few I actually owned for G1.

[mikeszekely]

Still on the fence about Ordin? How about a group shot (mind Felisaber in the background).

[anime52k8]

We have how many 3rd party slags now? 20? 30? and yet nobody has made a 3rd party skylynx.

Also on the subject of unnecessary combiners and stuff 3rd parties aren't doing; why hasn't anyone thought to make an insecticon combiner?

[mikeszekely]

Because they'd have to include the other three Insecticons no one likes?

[anime52k8]

I think it's less that people don't like them, and more than everyone forgets they even exist.

[Dangard Ace]

Looks like FT's is out for their fans wallet again. Since dalianjj posted that, and he's FT's rep, it looks like PerfectFusion is an offshoot of FT made to a) fix the potato and b) go after the bigger Dinobot market or challenge GigaPower.

[technoblue]

I'd be more interested if this were the beginning of a scaled down non-MP run of the dibots. Guttur proved that MP sized dinos are not for me.

[Scyla]

so um... I managed to break Scavenger, and somehow that made the toy better.

I had mentioned earlier that the left shoulder was WAY too tight. Well I decided to take it apart to try and loosen the joint, and in the process sheared off the peg that the shoulder pivots on. The thing is when I put the arm back together it works just fine and actually has the perfect amount of tension and feels incredibly smooth. so basically breaking it accomplished exactly what I was trying to do anyways.

IMG_0062.JPG

It seem like the arms on their Bonecrusher and Scavanger break rather easily (see 1st post):

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-3rd-party-discussion/1048783-toyworld-constructor-devastator-constructicons.html

According to daimchoc replacement parts will be included with TW-C04.

[Tking22]

Okay guys I'm pretty psyched, I recently got in my very first Third Party figures and I love them, they're amazing and everything I wanted, that said, they need Autobot badges on them. I recently grabbed these two guys.

I've got the logo placement pretty much figured, Sphinx right on the front covering those two tampo bits just below the 26 on his chest, and Sunsurge is getting one on the hood on that small tab that ends up going behind his head and finishes off the back pack, and of course one right smack dab in the middle of his smaller, fake lambo roof when it bot mode. The only issue I have is I have absolutely no idea where to start for high quality Autobot stickers, I assume reprolabels but once again I'm not sure where to start. I need two sizes of red for Sunsurge, clear backing so it just sits nicely on his yellow paint, but for Sphinx I was hoping to find red logos but with some kind of white backing, due to where his badge will go it has to have a white backing it can't be clear like Sunsurge. Any help would be appreciated. like I said clear red would work for Sunsurge, but Sphinx is a a bit more tricky since his Bot logo will have to cover some tampo stuff.

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

It's less about being rich and more about where you budget. Like I mentioned, I don't buy Macross toys and for every one I don't that's like one or two 3P figures I can get. I don't buy any toys, actually, except for Transformers. I haven't bought any Gunpla since... well, 2015, actually. I don't buy any Hasbro MPs, and definitely no Takara MPs. I've cut my video gaming down to whatever I grab for cheap on Steam sales. That means more of my personal fun budget can go to 3P transforming-toys-of-which-any-resemblance-to-Hasbro's-characters-is-purely-coincidence*, and even then all I've bought this year are the Feral Rex and Ordin dudes (although I do have Seraphicus Prominion and his trailer on preorder). Most of what I talk about is more like "at some point between now and my eventual death I want to buy this figure."

But yeah, buying 3P is kind of the most expensive way to buy Transformers, but for me it's about getting what you pay for. I mean, I'm not into MP-scale figures, and when you compare actual Transformers Deluxe or Voyager-class toys to 3P it's like night and day. I mean, none of the Combiner Wars toys have wrist swivels, most of them don't have ankles, and the Optimus/Motormaster mold is the only Voyager with a waist swivel. I'd guess most of the Deluxes wouldn't if it weren't for the fact that they have torsos. Meanwhile, it's pretty much expected that 3P have all those joints (guys like Mania King, Alberich, and Hagen get ripped for not having wrist swivels). More 3P toys are turning up with ab rockers, butterfly shoulders, and double-jointed elbows and knees. And that articulation isn't just expected on the individual figures, either... Feral Rex and Ordin both have ankle tilts, they both have thigh swivels, they both have dedicated elbows that aren't the arm-bots's hips, they both have waist swivels, and they both have hands with individually-articulated fingers. Plus, if you've handled a Combiner Wars combiner, you know how crappy the joints can be. Most of them can't even hold up their guns up without a hefty dose of floor polish on some ball-jointed hips, but 3P toys have a reputation for lots of quality ratchets with lots of clicks and tightness when they're not. Lastly, especially in the last couple years Transformers have gotten really hollow. Some figures, like Voyager-class FoC Grimlock even had big empty gaps in their torso, most have hollow spots where a hand or leg folds out, and may even have deliberate hollow spaces in biceps, waists, and thighs just to save on plastic (and we won't even mention how unpainted they're getting, but feel free to look at Combiner Wars Wheeljack to see what I'm talking about). And there's the endless repainting and retooling of figures... just with my Combiner Wars, I've got six torso bots from three molds, three deluxe helicopters, three trucks (not counting First Aid), three Prowl-type cars, two jeeps (not counting Rook), three Fireflight-style jets, etc. 3P toys use better plastic, aren't hollow in spots just to save money, and in hollow spots like where wrists fold out they've usually got flaps or panels to fill in gaps. Straight-up repaints are rare, and remolds are usually the difference between Alberich and Hagen instead of just slapping a new head on an existing mold.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that, as an adult collector, once you go 3P it's hard to go back because as expensive as a 3P figure is you're getting so much more quality when you buy a 3P toy that mass-retail Transformers start to feel like cheap garbage.

man, this is convincing me to get a few 3ps

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

snip

I got the reprolabel set for Sphinx; overall it's a great set. I didn't use all the labels, there were some markings that seemed unecessary. There is no dedicated Autobot logo for the front of the car/bot chest. You will have to get a set of their plain Autobot symbols to cover up the "26". Problem is I don't know if there is one that is big enough to cover it up properly. The same goes for the tampo printed "ell".

Edited April 4, 2016 by Valkyrie Hunter D

[Mechapilot77]

not that i need to replace him but that slag looks better than scoria in terms of proportions. the details are not as nicely sculpted though....but dino mode's proportions are way better...bot mode proportion are slightly better.

[anime52k8]

It seem like the arms on their Bonecrusher and Scavanger break rather easily (see 1st post):

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-3rd-party-discussion/1048783-toyworld-constructor-devastator-constructicons.html

According to daimchoc replacement parts will be included with TW-C04.

yeah, I saw that but didn't realize until now that they were gonna include specifically the part I broke. I emailed BBTS about and they're sending me a new arm anyways, and like I said before, the arm still works fine so I'll just have a pile of scavanger shoulders to go through at some point.

Bonecrusher also shipped today so

[Dio]

Ben of Benscollectables reviews Spark Toys ST-01, not-Optimus, from The War Within.

(snip)

Glorious indeed. And Megatron is next, with Grimlock not far behind. I think I'm going all in with this line, but I want to make sure that the quality is solid with Optimus first.

Dang it, I watched that video, and after hearing the plastic feels like Maketoys quality (and it has rubberized tires!) I just had to pre-order it. I really like my Titanium WW Optimus, and this will be a fine upgrade.

[David Hingtgen]

I've got the logo placement pretty much figured, Sphinx right on the front covering those two tampo bits just below the 26 on his chest, and Sunsurge is getting one on the hood on that small tab that ends up going behind his head and finishes off the back pack, and of course one right smack dab in the middle of his smaller, fake lambo roof when it bot mode. The only issue I have is I have absolutely no idea where to start for high quality Autobot stickers, I assume reprolabels but once again I'm not sure where to start. I need two sizes of red for Sunsurge, clear backing so it just sits nicely on his yellow paint, but for Sphinx I was hoping to find red logos but with some kind of white backing, due to where his badge will go it has to have a white backing it can't be clear like Sunsurge. Any help would be appreciated. like I said clear red would work for Sunsurge, but Sphinx is a a bit more tricky since his Bot logo will have to cover some tampo stuff.

I'm betting few people spend as much time deciding where to put, and as much money in buying different variations, as I do for 3P insignia. That said---if you just need Autobot logos, Reprolabels should have everything you could want. Clear-backed, white-backed, white outlines, chrome outlines, silver-backed, chrome-backed, and gold-backed.

Now, there are the dry-transfer and metal ones from Eness/Ocean, but they will not "float" at all--as in, if there's any sort of groove/detail where the insignia goes, they will not cope with it at all--they need a perfectly smooth even surface to go on. But they do look "painted on" when applied, they have practically no thickness to them and are more crisply printed than Reprolabels'.

[mikeszekely]

man, this is convincing me to get a few 3ps

I'm glad my sorta-rant was sorta-helpful.

And for those of you 3P shopping, I bought my Feralcons and Siegfried and preordered Unite Warriors Bruticus at BigBadToyStore based on feedback from members here, but I bought the rest of the Ordin team and preordered Seraphicus and the trailer at TFSource because they have free shipping over $150.

Now, I want to stress that I absolutely didn't have a bad experience with BBTS... everything arrived FedEX within the time frame it was supposed to, packaged similarly to Amazon in boxes with those big air pillows. But TFSource has kind of impressed me. For one, each individual toy was positively encased in bubble wrap before being placed in the box. But, two, you'll recall my Fenrir came with two left hands. I contacted TFSource, and within 48 hours I got a reply that they were sending me a replacement hand USPS first class. The hand arrived today, in a small box. The hand was in a ziplock back and wrapped in a ball of bubble wrap to fill the box. What's more impressive is that they really could have included just the hand, but they actually send the entire rotating part with the hand and the beast claw, making the repair much easier.

So anyway, I'm not saying don't order from BBTS, but I am saying that TFSource's service was pretty good for me, so feel confident to buy wherever you're getting a better deal.

[technoblue]

Dang it, I watched that video, and after hearing the plastic feels like Maketoys quality (and it has rubberized tires!) I just had to pre-order it. I really like my Titanium WW Optimus, and this will be a fine upgrade.

Isn't that the truth, Dio? Ben has a contagious enthusiasm when narrating his reviews.

(small edit)

Edited April 5, 2016 by technoblue

[anime52k8]

TFsource and BBTS both have excellent customer service.

[sh9000]

Both stores are good. My experiences with their shipping boxes:

A huge pile of loot from BBTS has individual items placed like Tetris inside a large box with a lot of space for them to bounce around. No individual bubble wrap for each item. One large bubble wrap goes around all of the items piled inside the box.

A large order from TFSource has individual items bubble wrapped. The inside of the box has extra cardboard holding items in place.

[Scyla]

TFsource and BBTS both have excellent customer service.

Personally I have a much rougher time with the customer support from TFSource. I had to contact them several times for one issue (lost package and broken part right out of the box). For the broken part I sent them the first mail immediately after I got the toy early December. Several mails later in March I finally got a mail that the replace parts only in a specific time frame after I received the package (which is perfectly fine) so I had to mail them again saying that my first mail was sent in December. After that they sent me the part free of charge.

With the missing package I was able to get it 9 month later but I received it. In that case I also had to sent them several mails until I got a response of the current situation. I sent them maybe one mail every week for several weeks until I finally got a status update.

I have to emphasis that TFSource was able to sort out both of the issues so from that side it is fine however with shops like BBTS or HLJ I get a response from their customer support max 24h after I contacted them and they also resolved the issues I had every time.

[Tking22]

I'm betting few people spend as much time deciding where to put, and as much money in buying different variations, as I do for 3P insignia. That said---if you just need Autobot logos, Reprolabels should have everything you could want. Clear-backed, white-backed, white outlines, chrome outlines, silver-backed, chrome-backed, and gold-backed.

Now, there are the dry-transfer and metal ones from Eness/Ocean, but they will not "float" at all--as in, if there's any sort of groove/detail where the insignia goes, they will not cope with it at all--they need a perfectly smooth even surface to go on. But they do look "painted on" when applied, they have practically no thickness to them and are more crisply printed than Reprolabels'.

Interesting, I looked into the dry-transfer logos, they look really clean, but they also seem to require finesse, which I am lacking of. I may just go with repro labels for my first go, maybe if I'm feeling gutsy in the future I'll pull them off and try some of these out, they look good, they just look very one and done.

[Scyla]

I think Reprolabels are fine however I loathe their white bordered Decepticon logos since they are not cut correctly. Sadly the most 3rd party bots I have are Decepticons so I can't use their stickers.

[David Hingtgen]

I often trim insignia borders myself to make them thinner and more even. But cons are much harder to do than bots.

[Scyla]

I often trim insignia borders myself to make them thinner and more even. But cons are much harder to do than bots.

The problem are the spires on the Decepticon insignia is either not cut out as a corner but rather a rounded corner on the bigger stickers. On the smaller ones the spires aren't cut out at all so you got a straight line on the top of the symbol. I even asked Reprolabels if they are planning to change that but they said this isn't possible.

[David Hingtgen]

Thus, me spending way too much time carefully trimming the "crown".

[Scyla]

Thus, me spending way too much time carefully trimming the "crown".

I admire your patience and dexterity!

[mikeszekely]

So, what are the thoughts on the Warbotron Computron vs Quantron? I can't seem to find any reviews that compare them. But I've watched peaugh's videos for Quantron, and I've watched emgo316's videos for Warbotron's not-Afterburner, not-Scattershot, and the whole combiner. Some things I've noticed:

Warbotron is, perhaps, too large. For some reason, in my mind, Autobot combiners should be smaller than Decepticon ones. The Maketoys ones look like nice Deluxes with a Voyager-ish Scattershot and a combined mode maybe a little bigger than a Combiner Wars gestalt, but Warbotron looks like Voyager limbs with a Scattershot that's as tall as Leader Ultra Magnus, and a combined mode taller than Ordin (although still shorter than CW Devy).

Warbotron, at least the on in emgo's review, looked fiddlier, with arms prone to falling out and weaker elbow joints. Given stories I've heard about their Bruticus (the WuKong KO is supposed to be better quality than the original), QC seems like a concern.

Warbotron has a lot more partsforming. I find the parts you have to attach to the limbs to form wrists and ankles before you attach the hands and feet especially egregious.

So, especially with Quantron being a lot cheaper, Quantron should be the clear winner, right? Well, not exactly. The thing is, and this is a big one... I really like the overall aesthetic of Warbotron better. Even before looking at Warbotron I wasn't entirely sold on Maketoys renditions of the Technobots*, especially their Scattershot and their Lightspeed. The Warbotron ones have a deliciously blocky, updated G1 look that I find really appealing. Even if you don't like it, you have to concede that they're more G1-accurate (unless Warbotron really went off the rails on the three Technobots I didn't watch reviews for yet).

*Except Strafe. Yeah, Blindfire isn't particularly G1 accurate, but he's drop dead sexy.

Any other input?

[David Hingtgen]

Quantron has a sucky torso-bot (in all modes) which basically kills the team for me.

But Warbotron's is worse in almost every way.

I plan to just wait for a better one.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

Once I actually get to go home and unpack my Quantron, I hope to have something far more constructive to offer. All I can say for now is that Afterburner as a Tron light cycle was an excellent idea

[sh9000]

Warbotron Computron-a large scale Computron with some vehicle and bot modes that are not quite G1 looking.

Maketoys Computron-a nice looking CHUG Computron, probably even better than Combiner Wars Computron.

[mikeszekely]

Quantron has a sucky torso-bot (in all modes) which basically kills the team for me.

But Warbotron's is worse in almost every way.

I plan to just wait for a better one.

Well, like I said, Quantron seems more solid and less fiddly, but aesthetically-speaking I like Warbotron looks more like Computron/the Technobots.

If something comes along that's better, yeah, that'd be good. Same for a better Bruticus. But my long-term goal is to replace ALL of the Combiner/Unite War(rior)s with better 3P toys, as well as get 3P combiners for the ones that Hasbro didn't do. Feral Rex and Ordin were easy choices, and I'm not sure what I'll get next (especially since I'm kind of tapped after buying Ordin), but I'm thinking something like:

Devastator- I'm leaning toward Gravity Builder. I don't dig their Bonecrusher, and I think Toyworld's doing a better job, but I think Toyworld's Constructicons are too big for my tastes.

Superion - Well, for now it's Uranos or nothing... so I guess nothing.

Menasor - Intimidator, for sure. Good size for a car combiner, I actually like the IDW-styling, and that Breakdown is so sexy I'd almost want him alone.

Defensor - Guardia is looking REALLY good so far, and the limbs are relatively inexpensive. If Vulcan (not-Hotspot) turns out as good as he's looking, there's a good chance he'll be my next 3P purchases.

Bruticus - Warbotron's really the only game in town, although I'm not really digging their Onslaught or Vortex. Still better than using the Energon ones with the Fansproject stuff. If I go for Warbotron, I'm going for the WuKong KO version.

Computron - Hate to say it, but I'm leaning toward Warbotron again. Maybe WuKong will KO him too?

Piranacon - Poseidon is the only game in town here. I'd like to see a better one, but I'm willing to settle if there's nothing better when I'm ready to buy.

Monstructor - WHERE's MY 3P MONSTRUCTOR ALREADY?!

Dinobot Combiner - Yeah, not an official thing, but even as a kid I'd wondered why there were five Dinobots, just like most combiners had five members, but they couldn't combine. Anyway, the Toyworld one. Shuraking's bots look too big. In any case, the Toyworld Dinobot Combiner looks like it has four solid Dinobots and a Swoop that looks like Soundwave grew pterodactyl parts and seems very unstable, but that's still four good Dinobots. And, if you can get it standing, the combiner does look good.

Anybody else, like Liokaiser, doesn't matter, just the US G1 combiners. I'm not ruling out getting something like TFC's Liokaiser, but I don't have that same desire, so in addition to finishing this list I'll probably work on getting other 3P toys first... like completing MMC's ReFormatted line.

Warbotron Computron-a large scale Computron with some vehicle and bot modes that are not quite G1 looking.

Maketoys Computron-a nice looking CHUG Computron, probably even better than Combiner Wars Computron.

See, while I'm not necessarily going to disagree that Maketoys' Technobots make for good-looking CHUGs and are probably better than CW or UW Computron, every Warbotron Technobot is more G1-looking than any of the Maketoys ones. And that kind of matters to me, even if it does mean that their Strafe is a winged brick with guns on the front while Maketoys' is an oh-so-sexy space fighter.

[David Hingtgen]

Monstructor is effectively like 80% done already. FP is almost done with Dinoking, who was just a repaint of Monstructor with a new head. They just did the repaint first as its more popular in Japan.

Note that the pretender shells are utterly insanely expensive and separate. Odds are good they won't even make the shells for the Monstructor version.

[anime52k8]

and here I am thinking the only combiner I'm interested in getting after TW devy is Liokaiser.

Edited April 6, 2016 by anime52k8

[mikeszekely]

Monstructor is effectively like 80% done already. FP is almost done with Dinoking, who was just a repaint of Monstructor with a new head. They just did the repaint first as its more popular in Japan.

Note that the pretender shells are utterly insanely expensive and separate. Odds are good they won't even make the shells for the Monstructor version.

Huh. I wasn't aware of Dinoking in TF fiction, so I thought Ryu-oh was an FP original, like Steelcore. But yeah, if FP does a Monstructor repaint with a new (IDW?) Monstructor head, I'd be all for that. Don't need the pretender shells; the IDW series is the definitive fiction for Monstructor as far as I'm concerned.