The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread

[Tking22]

I don't think it's that no one cares about 3P MPs, it's just that I've been buying a lot of 3P combiners and sharing my thoughts here.

Yeah I didn't mean anything by it, I just thought it was weird that the last couple of pages were all combiner talk, I almost had to check the thread title and make sure I wasn't about to post like an idiot about MP style stuff in a third party combiner specific thread. All this new Badcube news seemed pretty juicy so I had to post it, I thrive on MP style stuff, it's the only thing Transformers related that keeps my interest, I loved G1 and I need to complete my original Arc crew in MP scale.

[mikeszekely]

Yeah I didn't mean anything by it, I just thought it was weird that the last couple of pages were all combiner talk, I almost had to check the thread title and make sure I wasn't about to post like an idiot about MP style stuff in a third party combiner specific thread. All this new Badcube news seemed pretty juicy so I had to post it, I thrive on MP style stuff, it's the only thing Transformers related that keeps my interest, I loved G1 and I need to complete my original Arc crew in MP scale.

No offense taken; my combiner discussions are kind of dominating this thread lately, but that seems to be because this thread has gotten pretty quiet lately. I think a big part of that has to do with 3P's announcing stuff and hinting at more stuff before finishing stuff they already announced. I'm personally a little frustrated with Maketoys, because they had that show to show off their stuff while simultaneously teasing their new Cross Dimension line, but I'm still waiting for them to release Vulcan (you can't even preorder him yet!) so I can complete my not-Defensor.

In any case, though, I'm glad you're enjoying the 3P MP stuff, but I guess I'm on the opposite side as you. I'd started collecting the MPs as Hasbro was releasing them, but getting the Hasbro MP-10 and Soundwave was a nightmare, and that was before TRU started jacking up Hasbro's prices ($80 for Prowl?!). I'd long been a CHUG collector, though, and there's something about combiners that makes them so appealing that I have to replace all the Hasbro Combiner Wars toys with better 3Ps (and get 3Ps for the ones Hasbro didn't make).

[mikeszekely]

Continuing the 3P combiner party, today I'm present Last Chance, Fansproject's version of Dead End.

Aesthetically speaking, there's stuff I like about both CW Dead End and Last Chance. Since I never had the Stunticon toys, my vision of them is very much the cartoon, so I do wish that Last Chance had a head more like CW Dead End's, although I wish CW Dead End's was darker. All of the blacks and grays look better on Last Chance, really. Dead End's chest is more G1 by virtue of not having most of the hood on it, but it wastes it by being mostly burgundy instead of white, silver, or light gray. Meanwhile, Last Chance has large bits of kibble on his arms, his torso is very un-Dead End by way of aforementioned hood, and (nitpicking) he could use more burgundy on his forearms. Despite the departures from a more G1 cartoon Dead End, though, I really like what Fansproject did with Last Chance. Some of that might be coming off Combiner Wars, where Wildrider was just a head swap from Dead End, but I really appreciate how Last Chance has a very distinct look from T-Bone. He's also the tallest of the team, and he compares more favorably with his CW counterpart.

Articulation is pretty much the same as the other cars. His arm kibble doesn't even get in the way much. One thing worth noting is that his hood does come down past his waist joint. To swivel his waist, you have to push the hood out a bit. It can give him a bit of a pot-bellied look, but the hood isn't tabbed down so it's not much trouble. Some people have complained about Last Chance's feet, but I actually dig them.

Going to alt mode, Last Chance transforms into a Ferrari XX, which is kind of ironic because, A, it's a Ferrari instead of a Porsche while the guy who actually was a Ferrari is now a Lambo, and B, the XX is a track-only car after the traditionally track-only Formula 1 car is now a street legal car. Personally, I'd definitely have preferred it if Last Chance was a Porsche, like a 918, but there's no denying that Last Chance is looking good here. He nails the burgundy with black windows look of Dead End with none of the extra gray the CW toy added, and his stripe is more gold than the CW's bronze. The silver stripe breaking up the gold isn't toy accurate, but he didn't have a stripe at all in the cartoon, and I think the addition of the silver makes the stripe really pop. Last Chance really compacts into alt mode, making the size difference between him and CW Dead End more apparent. He seems to fit together in alt mode a lot better than the other not-Stunticons, which helps a lot. Like the other not-Stunticons, his weapon hides away underneath in alt mode, and like Down Force his transformation would be a little easier if he had the waist extension that Car Crash and T-Bone have.

One special thing I'd like to note... in arm mode, the instructions that come with Diesel specifically tell you to take that extra chunk that hung off Diesel's trailer doors and clip it between Last Chance's legs, like this:

That's all well and good, but those parts are needed to form M3's gun. Now, Diesel came with extra parts to make the gun, but not enough extra parts to make the gun and still fill in Last Chance's legs. If you look at pictures in the instruction booklet of M3 wielding his gun, though, you'll see the sides of Last Chance's legs folded in like this:

This is, officially, how they're supposed to be in bot mode to fill in the hollow backs of his legs (although I actually prefer them left folded out to give his legs a thicker look). On the plus side, M3 can have his gun now, and it also adds more burgundy to his forearm, which I enjoy. It makes his arm look a little thin, though.

So, would I recommend Last Chance? If, like me, your mental image of Dead End is from the cartoon I can't really say that Last Chance is a definitive Dead End, but I'll still say yes. He's a fun little toy that looks great in both modes. Besides, you're in it for the combined mode anyway, right?

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

If you end up liking Intimidator as much as I did, do consider getting the DMY D-06 upgrade kit. The main reason to get the kit was to give Down Force a G1 makeover, but I liked the parts for combined mode even more. The kit gives Intimidator a filled out, defined abdomen, stronger ratchets for his ankle tilts, arm filler parts for the elbow + forearm, and a small red chest piece. (I forgot to replace the Shadow Fisher elbow filler parts with the DMY ones in my pic!) The kit also gives you additional pieces so you can choose if you want the ab piece, arm fillers, and elbow fillers to be black or gray. As far as the Down Force parts go, it's ingenious and gives DF yellow, wider feet to replace his dainty purple ones. Unfortunately, you have to remove them for alt mode to be stored in the rear of the car, with its black ball joints sticking out. The additional set of wheels and front wing is nice, but it just makes DF more fiddly in bot mode.

[raptormesh]

Thanks for the reviews mike et. al.. The 3P designers are moving more and more towards the aesthetics that I can bear with.

[mikeszekely]

If you end up liking Intimidator as much as I did, do consider getting the DMY D-06 upgrade kit. The main reason to get the kit was to give Down Force a G1 makeover, but I liked the parts for combined mode even more. The kit gives Intimidator a filled out, defined abdomen, stronger ratchets for his ankle tilts, arm filler parts for the elbow + forearm, and a small red chest piece. (I forgot to replace the Shadow Fisher elbow filler parts with the DMY ones in my pic!) The kit also gives you additional pieces so you can choose if you want the ab piece, arm fillers, and elbow fillers to be black or gray. As far as the Down Force parts go, it's ingenious and gives DF yellow, wider feet to replace his dainty purple ones. Unfortunately, you have to remove them for alt mode to be stored in the rear of the car, with its black ball joints sticking out. The additional set of wheels and front wing is nice, but it just makes DF more fiddly in bot mode.

Funny you bring that kit up, I was considering it before M3 even arrived and after PMing with David H I'd puked the trigger on it.

Down Force didn't seem like he'd be much worse, since the wing clips onto the parts that are already hanging off his arms. I might just leave the extra wheels off. Mostly I want the kit for Last Chance's rear wing, the torso filler, the arm and elbow filler, and the flat spots to put Decepticon emblems on M3 and Down Force.

[David Hingtgen]

Remind me to write the easy way to separate M3's shoulder connectors from Diesel. "Twist, yank, and tug until it gives" is NOT the way to do it.

[mikeszekely]

Remind me to write the easy way to separate M3's shoulder connectors from Diesel. "Twist, yank, and tug until it gives" is NOT the way to do it.

I was following Breaux Man's advice to kind of pull toward the spring tab. If you have a better way, I'm all ears.

[David Hingtgen]

Hmmm, I don't recall him mentioning that but it sounds similar to my method. Let me rewatch his vid. Is it in the Diesel vid or M3's?

[mikeszekely]

M3, unless they're the same.

[David Hingtgen]

He has a Diesel-only vid, and an M3 vid.

::edit:: Hmmn, I didn't see him remove the shoulder connectors at all. I'm talking about this situation:

Once the combiner shoulders are attached to Diesel's connectors, they like to stay on. And many have stressed, and a few have broken, trying to remove them by yanking/tugging:

But if you do like I wrote earlier, they come off EASILY.

The only other part to really watch for on Diesel, are the black tabs (drive wheel section) that hold the "wings" onto the back. Just be sure to always peg and un-peg "straight" and not angle them. Protip: the wings are on sliders. Get the angles right first, them move the sliders.

[mikeszekely]

And now we wrap things up with the combined form of Military Motorsquad Multiplexer, or M3, whom you might know better as Fansproject's version of Menasor. Bear with me for a minute, though, because I want to talk about the process of getting him combined and how we're going to use every piece of Diesel to do it (BTW, you don't need the cars' guns for combined mode, but each car has a place to store their weapons still).

If you took them off, put the hip panels back on Diesel and set him aside for a minute while we look at the other half of the trailer. We'll start by taking the doors, the chunk on the doors, the wheels, and the sword hilt off. At this point, the trailer is the same upside down as it is right side up, and if you wanted to you could put the wheels and sword hilt on the other side and flip it over. But don't do that. That's the opposite of what we want to do.

Instead, pull the trailer apart longways, using the seams as a guide. One side will have the fists and a sword tip, but once you pull those out you're left with two identical sections of the trailer and two pieces of panel.

The panels stick together, then the sword tip clips around and pegs into one side while the other slots into the sword hilt to form M3's sword. The trailer doors fold and combine with the the disassembled chunk, just like when we made Diesel's sniper rifle, but in a slightly different configuration. Now it's M3's gun.

Back to the remaining pieces of the trailer. There's a shoulder connector in each half, take those out, and I recommend attaching them to Down Force and Last Chance before attaching them to Diesel. Meanwhile, the trailer sections split one more time. One piece folds up to become a foot, complete with little rubbery nibs to prevent the feet from slipping and sliding, and the other folds up to become half of a lower leg.

All that should be left is the part with the wheels. It goes on M3's chest. Then it's just a matter of attaching the legs (backward, then rotate them around to lock them on), sticking the cars on the legs, and sticking the arms on.

M3 holds his weapons with no problem, at least on my copy, but he has storage for them if you prefer. As I mentioned in Last Chance's review, the chunk that hangs off of the trailer door fits into his forearm. The leftover shotgun parts clip onto the outside of the panels on his back. The sword can be clipped on the inside of either panel.

And so, the grand reveal! Here he stands next to his Combiner Wars counterpart.

Let's ignore articulation or the quality of the individual bots a moment and just focus on looks. Right away, M3 has a huge advantage over CW Menasor in that he actually looks like Menasor. The crest is the same as the G1 toys instead of having oddly Unicron-ish horns, he's got a boxy torso that's longer than it is wide, and he's got the boxy chunks on his shoulders. He's got more black, too; CW Menasor already has gray thighs and would be showing a lot more gray if it weren't for Blackjack on his chest.

Of course, we're not going to ignore the other factors. CW Menasor is a loose, fiddly mess with a tiny waist and awful hips that can barely stand. M3, on the other hand, is tight and secure. Technically, from the waist up, both figures are similarly articulated. Both have heads that turn from side to side and can look up and down. Both have shoulders that can rotate and swing out to the side. Both have bicep swivels from the arm-bots's waists and elbows from the arm-bots' hips and/or knees. Both have waist swivels, although CW Menasor's is more for transformation and his crotch armor moves with his top half. Both have wrist swivels and finger articulation, but due to how they connect M3 has a little bit of a wrist hinge, plus each finger on M3's hands are individually articulated with a ball joint where they connect to the hand and one knuckle at the midpoint of each finger. M3 has slots on his palms to fit tabs on his weapons and actually curls his fingers around the handles, too, instead of having a 5mm peghole at the thumb.

Below the waist, M3 really starts to leave CW Menasor in the dust. He's got actual ratcheted thigh swivels, as opposed to simply turning the lower legs at the connector port (although he can do that too, if you wish). His ratcheted universal hips work, in theory, the same as CW Menasor's, but in practice they have more detents and stronger ratchets so they actually support the weight of the figure, and his thighs aren't held together by a single thin tab that won't fall apart when you play with it. Both have ratcheting knees, but M3's finishing blow is that he actually has ankles. The lack of ankles is a problem for the entire CW line, and between them and looser joints in general they tend to look best and are most stable standing straight up, maybe holding up a weapon if the arm doesn't droop. Now, M3 has two joints in his ankle, a ratcheted forward/backward joint for transformation that holds a big ol' ball joint. Combined with better jointing all around M3 can get some action poses for sure, and the rubber on his feet and strong hip joints means he won't be doing the splits.

Before we get carried away, there are a few issues I should point out (beyond issues I mentioned in the individual figures' reviews). He's got a bit of a gap in his chest. His chest plate covers it from the front, but from the top it's still open around his neck. Also, under his chest plate, there's a really obvious screw. Worse, that screw is actually the on the back of Diesel's head, and depending on how it's sitting it might show some additional gaps. The way the wrist pegs on Down Force leaves that wrist a little loose. I haven't had any problems with him holding his sword (be sure to lock the wheels!), but I've heard others tell of drooping. And, although it doesn't bother me personally some of you may not like the way that the leg bots are really more like shin bots and are basically clipped on in car mode. There's also his size. He's about the same height as a Combiner Wars figure, which I like, but if you want a bigger Menasor you might want to see how TransForMission's shakes out. I'm hearing a Motormaster that's as tall as MP-10, as long as MP-10 in truck mode, limbs around the size of MP cars, and a combined mode taller than Ordin. Finally, the ball joints in his ankles could have been a shade tighter. If he stands up straight, he has a tendency to lean a little forward or a little backward, although you can get him to do it without leaning.

So do I recommend him? I'm giving him an enthusiastic yes. Unless the legs really bother you or you want MP Stunticons, he's a better Menasor in every conceivable way than the one that Hasbro actually gave us for your CHUG shelf.

[Scyla]

I'm always wondering why the arm bots on most combiners don't have ratcheted waists. This is one of the few things I don't like on Feral Rex and it is baffling because MMC showed that they can do that with their Airborne Squad (still best 3rd Party toy in my opinion). Same goes for the hips and the knees if they have the dreaded transformation scheme (like M³). It just makes it hard to hold the massive weaponry they carrying.

[edit:] Mike, if you are happy with M³ you should take a closer look at Quantron instead of the Warbotron one. It has the same quirks that M³ has but I think he is a more fun transforming toy compared with the Warbotron one. Since you are getting some iteration of WB Bruticus you dissect him and see if you like their style.

[edit2:] I think I watched/read three to five guides on how to get the arm connects off of Diesel but I still can't do it in a way where I don't get the feeling that I break the joint.

Edited April 22, 2016 by Scyla

[sh9000]

I wish M3 could have his legs the other way like G1 Menasor.

[technoblue]

You guys and your combiners talk. Stop tempting me to the dark side!

In other news, I noticed that tfw2005 updated the teaser images for Maketoys Despotron.

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-3rd-party-discussion/1047083-maketoys-mtrm-08-despotron-not-megatron.html

One thing that Appolyon proved, I think, is that an MP-10 scaled Megs is a difficult project, but not an impossible one. I've been looking forward to more news on Maketoys' version and I hope that they can come up with a complex transformation that is more durable and fun. Appolyon at times can be overly frustrating. Sometimes I think it is better to just keep XTB's Megs in robot mode and not mess with it.

Anyway, the new Maketoys silhouettes look good. I think Megs and Prime are the two Transformers that I don't mind double dipping on.

[sh9000]

I'm ok with Apollyon until an official MP Megatron v2 comes out.

[mikeszekely]

[edit:] Mike, if you are happy with M³ you should take a closer look at Quantron instead of the Warbotron one. It has the same quirks that M³ has but I think he is a more fun transforming toy compared with the Warbotron one. Since you are getting some iteration of WB Bruticus you dissect him and see if you like their style.

I was sort of having the same thought, so I went and watched all 12 Bobby Skullface reviews for both sets. I'm left with basically the same impressions; that I prefer the more G1 aesthetic of WB-03 (seriously, what's up with Overheat's head?, that transforming the Maketoys figures is actually more work than fun, but the WB-03 figures are too big for my liking, that the Maketoys figures are more fun "action figures" in bot mode, that Quantron is way cheaper and more the size I want from a Computron, and that Blindfire looks so good in both modes that he could be the deciding factor. I'm still kind of torn, but I'm leaning toward Quantron based on price alone. No reason to spend Warbotron prices when Computron is probably my least favorite combiner.

And regarding ratcheted waists on arm bots, I assume because it'd provide minimal benefit, and since the arm bot waist is usually the combiner's bicep swivel, loss of fine arm posing. The trade off just isn't there. I mean, even the Hasbro combiners don't really have problems with bicep posing.

I wish M3 could have his legs the other way like G1 Menasor.

I know you're not the only one to think like that, but I actually prefer the cars on the front of the legs.

Thanks for the reviews mike et. al.. The 3P designers are moving more and more towards the aesthetics that I can bear with.

You're very welcome! I'm taking a night off, I think, but I'll try to wrap up the limbs for Guardia this weekend because I have plenty more 3P combiner stuff coming!

The only other part to really watch for on Diesel, are the black tabs (drive wheel section) that hold the "wings" onto the back. Just be sure to always peg and un-peg "straight" and not angle them. Protip: the wings are on sliders. Get the angles right first, them move the sliders.

Sadly, that's already happened on mine. Ironically, not pegging or unpegging it, either. The boxes for these guys, the Guardia limbs, and Ordin had kind of piled up, so I wanted to put the in storage before the next round of stuff came. And before that, I wanted to make sure I could transform them without the instructions so that I could keep them and the cards in the boxes. I was having trouble getting Diesel back into truck mode, and I think it broke while I was moving the panels out of the way so I could mess with the cab end.

Fortunately, that tab isn't particularly important, doing nothing in bot or truck mode while the ball joint and the tabs at the top of his back do most of the work in torso mode.

In other news, I noticed that tfw2005 updated the teaser images for Maketoys Despotron.

Yeah, yeah... this, Contact Shot, Pandinus, etc. I kind of wish they'd finish Vulcan so I can complete Guardia before announcing a zillion other things they're working on that aren't Vulcan.

Anyway... I've heard some good things about the Fansproject's Function X line. I know it's not a combiner and I shouldn't, but Sigma L (not Mindwipe) is on sale at BBTS. Worth $60?

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

I have Smart Robin and Code from the Function X line. Both are great figures that have fun and clever transformations. I'd go so far to say that they made me a Headmaster fan. I've been meaning to get their Mindwipe as well, but other things kept popping up.

[mikeszekely]

I have Smart Robin and Code from the Function X line. Both are great figures that have fun and clever transformations. I'd go so far to say that they made me a Headmaster fan. I've been meaning to get their Mindwipe as well, but other things kept popping up.

Well, now you have your excuse! $59.99 at BBTS.

I ordered one. Mindwipe was my favorite Headmaster, and while the upcoming Hasbro one looks more G1 accurate, it also looks like a Happy Meal toy compared to Sigma L. In any case, the bat mode is plenty accurate enough, and I dig how Fansproject made him look like a vampire.

Besides, I could always get both, and Sigma L could always be my Senator Ratbat.

[technoblue]

LoL! I would be really surprised if Despotron or even Contact shot arrived before Vulcan, although I guess May is looking a little optimistic for those who are anxious to complete Guardia. Of the combiners, Guardia and Quantron are the most tempting to me for various reasons.

But Fansproject's Ryu-Oh (Dinoking) looks cool too because the whole TF: Victory thing is a big unknown for me, and mixing things up is fun.

[mikeszekely]

Yeah, I don't expect any of the stuff I named to actually see the light of day before Vulcan, except Pandinus. Guardia is the first combiner I've collected, though, where I didn't start with at least the torso and both legs. I mean, I'm still waiting for Talon and Tigris, but I can at least make a one-armed Predaking with the four I have. M3 and Ordin are complete. But I can't get no-armed, one-legged Guardia without a torso. So I just get a little frustrated when all the news out of Maketoys is "check out this awesome stuff we're making!" while being really tight-lipped about Vulcan. I mean, last we heard was he might be out in May, which is only a week away and neither BBTS nor TFSource has so much as a preorder up yet.

Anyway, I took apart all my 3P combiners and rearranged my combiner display which was originally Autobots on one shelf and Decepticons on another, to Hasbro on one shelf and 3P on the other. Collecting combiners, it turns out, will make your 3P collection grow fast. I mean, I'm just thinking to myself, "Predaking, Abominus, Menasor, and Defensor" but that's really 20 figures on myself, 18 of which I bought since January (Rex minus Talon and Tigris, plus Felisaber, Guardia minus Vulcan, Orin and M3 complete at five a piece, along with Mania King and Hegemon whom I bought two or three years back). Add nine more in the mail, and one more I just ordered, plus two preorders, and how the heck did I afford all that?

PS~ Waiting really does suck. When I get my WuKong Warbotron Bruticus limbs, I think I'll probably buy the actual Warbotron not-Onslaught, since the WuKong KO has been delayed until July.

[mikeszekely]

So, those of you with M3, did you put Decepticon symbols on them, and where?

My DMY D-06 kit came today, so I went with the following (all silver-backed Reprolabel Decepticon symbols, TH309, and I'll say they're 1-5 with one being the smallest, 5 being the biggest):

Diesel: a 1 on the silver bit on his chest, a 2 on the red piece from the DMY kit that fits onto the combiner chest, a 2 on each of his cab doors, and a 5 on the trailer side of each of the sword panels at the widest point.

Car Crash: a 1 on his abdomen between the silver, a two on the red strip on his right foot (that is, the American driver's side of the hood).

Down Force: a 1 on the yellow bit from the DMY kit, a 2 at the tip of the car nose before the wing that I cut so it'd split with the arms.

Last Chance: a 1 on the dark square that shows on his chest in bot mode or his hood in alt mode

T-Bone: a 1 in the middle of his chest and a 1 on the silver stripe on his right foot.

[Dio]

[edit2:] I think I watched/read three to five guides on how to get the arm connects off of Diesel but I still can't do it in a way where I don't get the feeling that I break the joint.

The stress-free way I do it is to disconnect the car bot from the shoulder block first, rotate it to align the slot with the peg, and then stick the sword hilt through the block to push the peg out, rather than yanking and twisting. Pushing the peg out eliminates the possibility of stressing the joint that was posted earlier, which IMHO is not designed to be pulled on anyway (too much of a stress point because the peg is offset from the disc-shaped portion and causes a bending moment when it is pulled on).

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

So, those of you with M3, did you put Decepticon symbols on them, and where?

I got their respective sets on reprolabels, and while I used them sparingly, I did end up putting the con symbols where they were supposed to go. Except for DF and TB. DF is sporting black transparent symbols from a vendor in etsy, and TB is wearing a silver con symbol from reprolabels. My Diesel got the same placement as yours, but I used a raised, silver-backed symbol for Intimidator's chest. In general I don't like splitting markings when they have to go over two separate parts for transformation, even if it goes against what they look like canonically.

Oh yeah, I ended up getting FP Mindwipe. That sale price was good enough for me.

[mikeszekely]

Well, I got kind of sidetracked with M3, but let's get back to our not-Protectobots with Katana, MakeToys' version of Blades.

Well, in bot mode I suppose we have to start by admitting that CW Blades is actually closer in appearance to G1 Blades. Katana is lacking the blue face, white biceps, hands, and thighs, and red shins, despite actually being closer to the G1 design with his feet as the rear of the chopper instead of the cockpit. That said... I dig little things that MakeToys did here. His chest retains the basic colors of G1 Blades, but is designed to look like he's wearing a flight harness. Similarly, his eyes look like goggles and there's some molding around his chin that looks like a chin strap.

With engineering borrowed from Himed, Katana turns into a pretty good helicopter (an AugustaWestland CH-149 if I'm not mistaken) that nails G1 Blades colors a lot better than the red-with-white-stripe CW Blades. No missile-covered arms hanging off the side here! Plus, little panels on the back open up like the rear ramp on the real thing. There's a few things that could use changing here... I wish it had some Coast Guard or Rescue markings, and if it was meant to be a US Coast Guard chopper they might have picked a model like the Jayhawk or the Dolphin instead of a chopper that's only used by Canada and I've only seen in yellow. As David said either here or at TFW, perhaps something with a fenestron, since Katana's rotor does spin but will collide with the tail rotors. There's molded landing gear (making clever use of the combiner port), but he doesn't roll.

When it comes to articulation, Katana's pretty much identical to Himed, right down to the combiner elbow ab-crunch, which is very good. Even with the tail boom on the back of his legs, articulation isn't really hindered except for a little where his left arm might run into the tail rotor. He comes with a pair of what appear to be submachine guns. Unfortunately, like Himed's gun, Katana's guns have an unfinished look that screams "I'm part of something else!". Fortunately, you're not likely to pose him with them. See, Katana's coolest feature is how he stores his rotors. They fold up and clip together, and the ball peg that connects the rotors to the engine can also clip into a socket on his left hip, like a scabbard.

One of the rotor blades can be unclipped and removed from the scabbard, giving Katana his namesake weapon.

So, would I recommend Katana? Frankly, at the prices these guys are going for, I'd say go for it. He's a steal even if you don't want the rest of the set to make a not-Defensor. His transformation isn't too hard or too difficult, he's one of the better looking helicopter alts I've seen, and the bot mode plays like a high-quality non-transforming action figure. Blades was my least-favorite Protectobot and I thought I was getting Katana more to complete the set than anything else, but Katana surprised me by ending up one of my favorites.

[mikeszekely]

Is Quantron worth $300? Also, every pic I've seen of him (and Warbotron's Nonputron) have Afterburner as the left arm. In the cartoon, Afterburner was always on the right. Can they be switched on Quantron?

[Scyla]

They can be switched you just have to replace the hand connector since they are specific for each arm. It's pretty easy you just have to remove two screws from the hand disassemble it and replace the hand connectors. This way it exposes a screw on the arm connector on Overheat and hides the screw on Blindfire. So nothing is lost or gained there.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

After much time and drama, it looks like Spinout is finally hitting the market. Despite the changes, I still prefer its look over Sunsurge's.

[Scyla]

After much time and drama, it looks like Spinout is finally hitting the market. Despite the changes, I still prefer its look over Sunsurge's.

Yay I need to find a budget for this (I still think the unpainted yellow plastic looks terrible). Too bad MMC will release Backdraft and Seraphicus Prominion this month.

[Tking22]

After much time and drama, it looks like Spinout is finally hitting the market. Despite the changes, I still prefer its look over Sunsurge's.

I never thought this would see the light of day, I thought it was dead in the water. A few months back when I first started looking into third party masterpiece figures I said I wanted a Mirage and Sunstreaker first. Sphinx was an easy choice, no other MP style Mirage on the market, Invisible is not MP, and genuinely looks terrible, and then I looked up and decided between Spinout and Sunsurge. Sunsurge won out, Spinout looks too terrible in too many ways, the only plus on the figure is that the actual car roof becomes the chest, other then that his alt mode is awful and he doesn't blend with mp-12 very well, painted on vents, stubby, fat chest, he just looks so awkward and disproportionate overall. I'm glad I stuck with Sunsurge, but it's nice to see those who waited will be getting what they want.

[mikeszekely]

Alright, tonight we'll be looking at Axle, Maketoys take on Groove. I don't have the Takara Deluxe-class Groove, although it's looking like he'll be for sale through online stores this May as part of the Combiner Wars line in the States. I do have the Legends-class toy, though, and it's surprising how similar they are.

My big complaint with the Legends-class Groove was that it didn't look enough like Groove; it was too spindly, had too much black, and not enough gold. Axle is also too spindly, also has too much black, and also is lacking in gold. Both toys also have wheels on the inside of their shins, weird feet, and handlebars behind their heads. Those features, at least, are G1-accurate, although Axle's seat makes up his abdomen instead of his feet. Axle does have some good things going for him as well, like a red visor and serious face that sort of remind of Robocop, sirens on his shoulders, and the use of the saddlebags to fill out his lower legs.

He's lacking a little in articulation compared to Himed and Katana, mostly due to how he transforms. He's got a ball-jointed head that's also on a swivel, ball-jointed shoulders, bicep swivels slightly hindered by bike kibble, double-jointed elbows, and wrist swivels. He can pivot a little at the mid-torso, but he lacks a true waist swivel. His hips are on pins that can swivel out to the side all the way around 360 degrees back to where he started, and he can kick forward enough to rest his foot on his shoulder. However, he can't really swing them backward. He's rounded out with thigh swivels, double-jointed knees, and ankle tilts. It's enough that you should be able to get him into some good poses. The in-and-out movement of the hips could give him some good John Woo-style jumping-sideways-and-dual-wielding poses, if only there was a place to connect him to a stand. Or if he came with two guns. Speaking of his gun, it's similar to but the opposite of Himed's. Looks like you can take one of Katana's submachine guns and and clip it between Axle and Himed's.

On to the alt mode.

Axle's alt mode hits all the right notes. White police motorcycle with black seat, check. It's got the saddlebags of the G1 version with the sirens of the Deluxe-class CW version. And, it's actually modeled off of a real police motorcycle, the Honda VFR800P. The white shield on the exhaust pipe is removable, but there's nowhere else for it to go. It can stay on the exhaust in robot mode, although it came packaged on his back. I'd put it back in the box and forget about it, but I'm thinking maybe it has a role in his leg mode? We'll find out when Vulcan comes.

The other side of the bike has a kickstand instead of an exhaust.

His fellow Guardia members don't look too hot riding on him.

In any case, this is simply one of the best bike-modes I've seen on a transforming toy, and I've seen crappier motorcycles turn into crappier robots. So do I recommend Axle? I'd have to say that I do, especially if you're into motorcycle Transformers.

[mikeszekely]

Well, this will be my last Guardia post until Vulcan comes out. It's Maketoys' Rover, their version of Streetwise.

He's a little taller than CW Streetwise (mine of which is sporting Reprolabels). He's got red hands and abs and a black crotch, but his bot mode is actually much closer to G1 Streetwise than the CW version, with the windowed chest and shins. Even the lightbar, which made up the G1 toy's feet, are a part of Rover's feet. The head sculpt is very Streetwise as well, although it's oddly asymmetrical. While we're on the subject of windowed chests, I think that Rover pulls it off better than TFC's Gumball, since it doesn't jut out or come up higher than his collar. I feel pretty comfortable saying that, aesthetically, this is the best-looking version of Streetwise you can get, at least as of this writing.

Articulation is on par with the other Guardia team members, which is to say very good. His ball-jointed head can rotate all the way around, look up, look down, and tilt his head as if confused by Vulcan's absence. His ball-jointed shoulders can rotate all the way around and get his arm about 90 degrees to the side before his shoulder starts poking his head. He's got pretty standard waist, bicep, and thigh swivels, and a double-jointed elbow. His wrists are on tiny ball joints that swivel fine and give him a little waggle. Ball-jointed hips that can swing out 90 degrees in any direction His knees are double-jointed and soft ratcheted. His ankles are also ball joints.

Rover comes with a pair of guns that are identical (and look just as crappy) as Axle and Himed's. And that means that they can clip together around Katana's other gun. From what I can tell, Vulcan will come with a gun that splits and half, and each half will attach to one of the combined guns to form a pair of guns for Guardia.

Rover's alt mode is still a police car, but one that bears very little resemblance to spoiler-toting, mostly white Nissan that the original G1 toy was. However, rather than slapping a lightbar on a sports car and calling it done, Rover is actually, right down to the paint job with the generic "Sheriff" on the side, clearly meant to be Carbon Motor's E7 concept police car. It even has the wrap-around lightbar built into the roof, although the led panels above the doors are painted instead of clear plastic, and the lights painted into the front bumper. Like Axle's Honda alt mode, I think it's a pretty good choice for an alt mode.

So, do I recommend Rover? Well, like I said, I think it's the best version of Streetwise currently available in toy form, so I'm going to say yes. Which, on the whole, makes this a very good set.

Looking good together. Now, we wait for Vulcan...

Edited April 26, 2016 by mikeszekely

[mikeszekely]

Before I move on to bigger (but not necessarily better) things, let's revisit M3 for a bit. Now, you'll recall that I recommended M3, but he wasn't without his problems. Well, some guys from the TFW2005 boards got together and, under the label DMY, released their D-06 kit that attempts to address pretty much every complaint I had.

When you open this box, this is what you'll get:

A: New front wing parts for Down Force to help make him look more G1.

B. A filler part for M3 that fills in his neck and abs and hides Diesel's head.

C. Rear wing for Car Crash.

D. A part the does double duty as back filler for Diesel that hides M3's head, and forearm filler/new ball socket wrist for Last Chance in arm mode.

E. A ball joint wrist part for M3's left hand.

F. Extra wheels that replace the fenders on Down Force to give him his six-wheeled G1 look.

G. A darker replacement canopy for Down Force. Unlike the original, it can supposedly turn either way.

H. Wheels that clip onto Down Force's back wheels, bringing them in line with the front wheels and altering his arm mode slightly.

I. A part that clips between Last Chance's legs in arm mode, filling in M3's elbow.

J. A part that clips onto Last Chance's legs in arm mode, filling in M3's elbow.

K. Small tabs. The yellow clips onto Down Force's collar, and the red onto M3's chest piece. They provide a flat area to put a Decepticon symbol on them.

L. A part that clips into Down Force's legs in arm mode to make a new ball-socket wrist for M3.

M. Larger replacement feet for Down Force.

N. Parts that go inside M3's ankles.

O. A peg that clips onto B that allows Diesel to hold B with M3's chest attached as a shield.

P. (supposed to be closer to L) A ball joint wrist part for M3's right hand.

Q. A bag with duplicates of B, D, I, J, L, and P, except molded in gray instead of black.

DMY took care to make sure as much of the new parts as possible could still fit in Diesel's trailer.

The new attempt at a shield works, but I don't really like it any better than I liked the chest piece as a shield without it. Down Force is looking good from the front with his new feet, and as you can see I did indeed get a Decepticon Reprolabel onto the new collar tab.

Part D is working wonders filling in the gaping hole that was on Diesel's back. Down Force's new tires are working fine folded up on the backs of his shoulders, but the new wing adds a ton of kibble to his arms.

A rear wing is exactly what Car Crash needed! I'm a little lukewarm on Down Force's new parts, though. As you can see, I left the dark canopy in the box and kept the blue one. The wheel extensions on the back tires are fine, and necessary if you want to use the new wrist. The extra front wheels and wing definitely give Down Force a more G1 Dragstrip look, but to be honest I kind of dug the Caparo alt mode, and I can't decide which is more kibbley in bot mode. I may go back to the stock front end. Down Force's new feet don't fit under the canopy in alt mode, so they have to parts form. There's a tiny peg on the bottom of each foot that allows them to slide into the gaps on the back of the car and grip on screw holes there. It works fine, and actually makes it easier to transform his legs, but it does leave the ball joints poking off the back of the car.

Now, I have to mention that up until this point all the new parts have snapped on, and even the removal of Down Force's old feet and fenders was as simple as popping them out of their ball sockets and popping different parts in. However, if you want to use the new wrists you'll have to unscrew the backs of the hands, take the old connector out, put in the new ball pegs, then close them back up. Notice that one peg is longer than the other- the longer peg goes with the hand you use with Last Chance (usually left) and the shorter one goes with the hand you use on Down Force (usually right). Likewise, the ankle parts require you to open up the feet to get at the ankle joint. There's one piece for each side of both feet. On one side, you're replacing an existing part. On the other side the part installs the same way, except there's no part to replace. The result seems to be a slightly stronger ratchet but, more importantly, seems to squeeze the ball joint tighter so M3 doesn't lean anymore.

Here you get a clearer look at the tab on the chest that let me put a Decepticon Reprolabel on him, as well as the filler bits and new wrists. I love the new torso filler. It doesn't just fill in his neck, and hide Diesel's head and some gaps on his abdomen, it's molded into abs and looks killer on him. The combination of parts that make up his left wrist are nice and secure and supports the weight of M3's gun like a champ. Unfortunately, the ball joint on the right is loose. I tried with both the black and gray parts, neither can support the weight of the sword. Looks like I'll be breaking out the floor polish. On the plus side, that droopage does a good job of illustrating how the new ball joints increase the wrist articulation, allowing you to get poses where M3 can point the tip of his sword toward the ground or at an enemy.

Zooming in, we can get a better look at the elbow filler. I went with gray on Down Force and black on Last chance to match the color of their thighs. As you can see, they do a good job filling in the gap between their thighs, and the parts attach quite securely (better, I'm told, than the Shadow Fisher ones). Down Force's has pegs on it that you can attach his gun to. Now, Down Force actually did have space in his legs to store his gun when he was in arm mode, but it meant you had to leave the little bits around the wheels unfolded, and they were kind of a pain to get the gun into and out of. I didn't check to see if you can still use them with the new parts attached, because it's easier to store the gun on the filler.

Or, if you prefer, there's four peg holes on the forearm filler on Last Chance. All four guns can be pegged in there.

So, do I recommend the DMY D-06 upgrade kit? Definitely. This kit is absolutely essential of you own M3. Even if you're not sold on all the parts (I myself am debating on whether or not to remove the front wing and extra wheels from Down Force and going back to the stock fenders), the torso filler and ankle parts for M3 correct what I consider to be M3's biggest flaws. If you transform your toys and sometimes display them in individual robot mode, having back filler for Diesel is almost as good as the torso filler, and even though it's small I think Car Crash looks way better with the wing. The extra wrist articulation makes a good case for using those parts, and while I don't mind the thighs-for-elbows as much as some people I must admit that M3 looks better with them installed. And if you're like me and want faction symbols on your 3P toys, the tabs for Down Force's collar and M3's chest are much appreciated. So even if you don't use all the parts, chances are good you'll use enough and see enough of an improvement that you'll feel you got your money's worth.

[David Hingtgen]

So, those of you with M3, did you put Decepticon symbols on them, and where?

Diesel: Chest, on center silver "block" (need to replace with smaller one, as the indentations lead to peeling "crown points"---gah, if only it was SMOOTH there with no depressions, it'd work so much better---but that's my #1 irk with all 3P figures----lack of smooth areas big enough for an insignia. Cab doors, hollow chrome (so black shows through). Trailer, center of "main sword" section.

T-Bone---tiny one bent across middle of chest that keeps peeling up due to acute angle of chest-plate. (see complaints abovee). Center of doors in car mode.

Last Chance---center of hood, center of doors.

Others:

I wanted T-Bone's hood insignia to be off-set like the G1 and CC/Breakdown's, but you have to use a tiny one to do so. So I went with a big one in the middle.

[anime52k8]

I've always disliked visible faction symbols in alt mode. It's like the whole idea of an alt mode is a disguise on earth, so wouldn't you kind of ruin that disguise by plastering a giant logo on yourself that says "hi, I'm a bad guy"?

I've noticed a lot of newer 3p figures have VERY specific spots molded in for faction symbols now though.

anyways; BBTS just emailed me that not-scrapper and Not-mixmaster are gonna be in stock in the next ten days. kind of exciting but also kind of disappointing, mostly because they're supposed to be numbers 5 and 6, but 3 and 4 don't seem to have a release date yet.

also, not-hook is supposed to be coming with the fixed shoulders I need for scavenger so...