The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread

[mikeszekely]

Review of MakeToys Vulcan and Guardia:

I'm not agreeing with Bobby Skullfaces assessment of the 3rd party scene. While it might be true that Masterpiece alike toys are selling better than other stuff I think the reimagening of Transformers characters like Guardia is what they should do. The Masterpiece craze might be over someday so I think going the route of own design would lead to a more stable and loyal customer base.

Sadly I think I'm in the minority here.

I haven't seen the Guardia review yet, but I was happy he liked Vulcan. He's usually pretty critical, so for him to admit that he's just nitpicking and can't think of a reason not to recommend it must mean it's really good.

I totally disagree with his assessment, too, and posted as much in the Guardia thread at TFW. It's a huge leap to assume that 3P collectors are only into MP, and CHUG-sized collectors prefer cheaper toys. I prefer CHUG-sized; I only have so much shelf space. Can you imagine if every 3P combiner was as big as Constructor? That's a size preference, not a money issue. I quit collecting Hasbro toys because of the lack of quality. I'm perfectly willing to spend more for quality. That's why I have Quantron, it's why I have M3, and it's why I'm waiting for Vulcan to complete my Guardia. I have no problems with Maketoys releasing MP-ish toys in their ReMaster line, but I like what they're doing with the MTC line just fine.

[JET7]

cheap and fun!

[anime52k8]

At least you didn't pay Wednesday in a ship-it-now order that is still waiting to be shipped.

funny thing, I ordered something from a company in japan the same day I requested my BBTS order ship, right now they're in a race to see which package gets here first. (it's looking like the international package is gonna beat the domestic one somehow).

[warrhead]

My life NEEDS a 3rd party Whirl, Powerglide and a RoadBuster... all G1

Military re-paints are highly encouraged.

[Scyla]

cheap and fun!

*snip*

Oh, you got the new Masterpiece Devastator?

[Swoosh]

I haven't seen the Guardia review yet, but I was happy he liked Vulcan. He's usually pretty critical, so for him to admit that he's just nitpicking and can't think of a reason not to recommend it must mean it's really good.

I totally disagree with his assessment, too, and posted as much in the Guardia thread at TFW. It's a huge leap to assume that 3P collectors are only into MP, and CHUG-sized collectors prefer cheaper toys. I prefer CHUG-sized; I only have so much shelf space. Can you imagine if every 3P combiner was as big as Constructor? That's a size preference, not a money issue. I quit collecting Hasbro toys because of the lack of quality. I'm perfectly willing to spend more for quality. That's why I have Quantron, it's why I have M3, and it's why I'm waiting for Vulcan to complete my Guardia. I have no problems with Maketoys releasing MP-ish toys in their ReMaster line, but I like what they're doing with the MTC line just fine.

Agreed about the size, I think TW Devy is the only MP sized combiner I would buy. For all the rest, I prefer M3 and Guardia sized.

[Silverstreak]

Review of MakeToys Vulcan and Guardia:

I'm not agreeing with Bobby Skullfaces assessment of the 3rd party scene. While it might be true that Masterpiece alike toys are selling better than other stuff I think the reimagening of Transformers characters like Guardia is what they should do. The Masterpiece craze might be over someday so I think going the route of own design would lead to a more stable and loyal customer base.

Sadly I think I'm in the minority here.

Haven't watched the reviews, but I agree with you. The thing I liked about Classics back in the day is that it was, mostly, reimagined Tramsformers. The alt modes were different, the bot modes varied from G1 and gave us some great figures. Now it seems like the main goal is to be as G1 as possible and anything outside that box is almost unanimously panned.

I love G1. I like that that is where the Masterpiece line is going. But chug I prefer to be a modern take just keeping a few design cues to enable us to recognise the character. It's 2016. Stop making Soundwave and Blaster Cassette players! TF: Prime did a good job with Soundwave there.

[mikeszekely]

Concrete, Shovel, and Code arrived today. Reviews forthcoming.

[anime52k8]

I'm not sure how I feel about this:

http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=MMC10044&mode=retail

anyways, big box coming tomorrow...

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

That is stupendously awesome. And to think, it can still hold weapons in its hands.

[anime52k8]

Concrete, Shovel, and Code arrived today. Reviews forthcoming.

oh, quick warning on shovel in case I forgot to mention it. don't try to plug his gun onto his vehicle mode. it says you can in the instructions but that's a lie, if you do it'll get stuck and there's a good chance you'll break the peg off the gun.

That is stupendously awesome. And to think, it can still hold weapons in its hands.

The movie lockdown gun-face is so stupid, yet so awesome.

I kind of wish you had an option to get it without the trophy case thing and save like $20~$30 though.

Edited May 27, 2016 by anime52k8

[mikeszekely]

oh, quick warning on shovel in case I forgot to mention it. don't try to plug his gun onto his vehicle mode. it says you can in the instructions but that's a lie, if you do it'll get stuck and there's a good chance you'll break the peg off the gun.

I'd see that in emgo and Bobby Skullface's reviews of him. It looks like the peg hole should be uniformly wide to accommodate the gun, but for some reason the peg hole is wider in the back where it's taller, then uniformly narrower from the height at the front. Bummer. But thanks for the warning.

BTW, did you see that TFSource is taking preorders for a purple mixing barrel for Concrete?

Regarding MMC's not-Lockdown, you guys saw the Predacon faces he comes with? They're available to preorder sans-Jaegertron for $15 and can be used on the Feralcons.

Edited May 27, 2016 by mikeszekely

[anime52k8]

I'm trying to not want that purple mixing drum but that looks so good.

[mikeszekely]

I'm trying to not want that purple mixing drum but that looks so good.

I put it in a stack. I'll buy two more Constructor guys next month, put them in the stack, and ship them with the drum whenever it comes in, then get the last two guys in July.

[mikeszekely]

I keep swearing off Hasbro Transformers, then my OCD need to complete sets kicks in, and I wound up picking up Deluxe CW Groove. So, as an addendum to my Axle review awhile back, here's pics of him (now with Reprolabels) with the Deluxe Groove, who I'll be talking about in the regular TF thread.

Axle on the left...

Axle on the right after I transformed them.

[mikeszekely]

Ok, tonight we're taking a look at Fansproject's Function-X0 Code, their second take on Chromedome. See, this figure is actually a re-release of their original Function-X1 Code, with the colors tweaked a bit to better resemble G1 Chromedome. As far as I know, the molds are identical; the only differences are tweaks to the paint on the chest/hood, his head is gray instead of white, his thighs are brown instead of tan, his pelvis is red instead of tan, and his guns are red and black instead of red and white.

Aesthetically, there's no mistaking Code for anyone but Chromedome, especially with the G1 color tweaks. I do wish the head was a lighter gray, or (less G1 but ultimately better) the same tan-ish color used on his arms and feet. Code also seems to be packing more of gut than G1 Chromedome.

I'd heard he was Deluxe-ish and was worried that he wasn't going to stack up well with Function-X4 Sigma L, who was definitely Voyager-sized. The height difference isn't as bad as I thought, though. He is about a head shorter than Sigma L, but half a head taller than Deluxe Groove.

Articulation on Code is, for a 3P figure, pretty poor. His Headmaster port is a square piece on a hinge set into a rotating disc, so he can turn his head and tilt it in one direction. If you want to tilt it in the other direction, you have to pop his head out, put it in backward, and rotate 180 degrees. His shoulders are on ball joints that rotate fine, but there's not enough clearance for lateral movement... maybe 30 degrees. His biceps and wrists do swivel, and although his elbow is single-jointed but can bend well over 90 degrees. His waist swivels, and his hips are on ball joints. He can swing his legs forward or backward as much as you like, but again due to the shape of his hips can do much better than a wide A-stance. He's got thigh swivels below the hips, and double-jointed knees that'll go until his feet start banging into his butt. Most damning in my eyes, though, is the lack of ankle articulation.. Due to his transformation, he can bend his foot downward but there's no ankle rotation or sideways tilt.

For accessories, he comes with a pair of rifles.

Being a Headmaster, he also comes with his little head guy, who does bear a striking resemblance to G1 Stylor. We can see that, although Sigma L is taller, their heads are the same size. I don't recommend swapping heads, though. Codes was able to fit into Sigma L's, but it was too tight. Sigma L's doesn't fit into Code. The articulation on the little guy isn't great, but it's better than the G1 toys. His shoulders rotate- no other arm articulation. His hips rotate forward, minimal backward and no lateral movement. His knees can bend well past 90 degrees. No thigh, ankle, or neck articulation. Due to his transformation, he doesn't have a waist swivel but he does have a bit of an ab crunch.

Code, naturally, turns into a car. He's got some new exhaust pipes and the back doesn't clean up quite as nice, but it's still a really obviously Chromedome. Size-wise, he's a bigger car than Fansproject's M3 guys like Car Crash here, but a little smaller than CW Prowl.

Here's where Fansproject really impressed me; the attention to detail. Just like with the G1 toys, the head robot can sit inside the car's cockpit. Fansproject totally could have just made a space, or maybe a little molded bit that sort of looks like a steering wheel. Instead, they put a post that's just the right size to peg into the gap between the head robot's thighs, securing him in place. The steering column is on a hinge, so it moves out of the way when you're putting the head robot in then folds down in front of him. And if that weren't enough, there are three painted screens inside the cockpit.

Code's guns can plug into the back of the car. Now, the back of the car is at an angle. In another nice touch, the handles are on hinges, so once the guns are plugged in you can tilt them so they're pointing forward instead of up in the air.

Alright, so I have some gripes with Code. For one, QC was pretty shoddy. I don't know if this is unique to the X0 version or if it's true for the X1 version as well, but my Code had a ton of sprue marks, plus some minor stress marks on his left thigh just above the knee. For two, there is a surprising lack of tabs, especially considering that this is from the company that brought us M3. Vehicle mode secures together quite well, but in robot mode his wrist isn't secured to his forearm except by a hinge, and there's a flap on the back of his arm that doesn't tab in. The car hood that dominates his visible torso doesn't tab down onto his body at all. The cockpit isn't tabbed onto his back, and while his sides seem secure it's because the cockpit is holding them in place. His shins don't peg onto the his lower legs. Not tab-related, but the transformation joints in his feet are supposed to be soft ratchets. His right foot clicks just fine, but the clicking in his left foot is almost imperceptible... I almost thought it was just a regular friction hinge. And of course, there's the matter of his articulation...

With those kind of issues, you might think I'm going to tell you to stay away... but I'm actually going to recommend him. Now, granted, not at the $95-$100 price that places like BBTS and TFSource want for a new one, but at around the $60 I paid I say go for it. Because, here's the thing... his transformation is fun. It's not complicated at all once you know what you're doing, but it's that special kind of transformation that you know Hasbro or Takara wouldn't come up with in a million years. And for adult collectors, we don't really "play" with our figures by sitting on the floor and having make believe battles, we play with them by fiddling with them while sitting at a desk or something. And in that sense of play, Code is a fun toy.

[JB0]

oh, quick warning on shovel in case I forgot to mention it. don't try to plug his gun onto his vehicle mode. it says you can in the instructions but that's a lie, if you do it'll get stuck and there's a good chance you'll break the peg off the gun.

Sounds like a good reason to get the tools and widen the hole a tad.

'S an easy fix, though whether it should be necessary at that price point is another issue.

The movie lockdown gun-face is so stupid, yet so awesome.

So true. So very true.

[mikeszekely]

Sounds like a good reason to get the tools and widen the hole a tad.

'S an easy fix, though whether it should be necessary at that price point is another issue.

A lot of people were wondering how TW was able to make big, detailed toys that come with all the extra parts and gimmicks like Concrete's spinning drum without charging more than GT. The answer seems to be a lack of QC. Shovel seems ok, minutes a few sprue marks, but my Concrete has two left hands.

What is it with left combiner legs? I had this same problem with Fenrir. Hopefully it's as easy to replace...

[spanner]

Finally all arrived!!!

WOW!!! that looks devastating! Hehe!

[anime52k8]

holy crap is putting devy together a chore. My hands hurt so much.

:edit:

he's so big, dear god hes so frakking big...

still not the tallest toy I own though.

Edited May 28, 2016 by anime52k8

[mikeszekely]

So here's a review I'm pretty excited for... ToyWorld's Shovel, their version of Scrapper, my favorite Constructicon.

Shovel's a big dude. Honestly, one of the reasons I've held off on going in on this set vs the Generation Toy one is because they're so big. Shovel is clearly more than a head taller than his Combiner Wars counterpart, who was already a Voyager, and a lot of people have been saying that this set is MP-scale. While that's probably true, he doesn't necessarily scale poorly with a lot of other 3P combiners. Here, you can see that he's similar in height to Feral Rex, so yeah, he's bigger than any of the limb bots I have (especially the Fansproject and Maketoys ones), but he fits pretty neatly with other torso bots.

Aesthetically, I love the look. He could use a little more silver and red detailing on his chest, his thighs could be a lighter silver instead of the darker gray, and it'd be nice if his hands were green instead of black, but I almost feel like that's nitpicking. The head is perfect Scrapper, everything's where it should be and there's no kibble in odd places. He's just beefed up, especially in the lower legs. Seriously, from knee to ankle his lower leg is really more of a square viewed from the side than a rectangle. But, with the big scoop and tires, it really doesn't look as bad as you'd think. Plus, something I appreciate is that nothing is visibly hollow on him. His legs, especially, a riddled with panels to give him a solid appearance. Probably the only problem I do have is that the scoop doesn't really tuck away all that neatly. The instructions and artwork show it basically just resting against his back with the open end of the scoop pointed straight up, but I actually like to fold it up the way it goes for leg mode.

Shovel's articulation is a big improvement over CW Scrapper's, and not just because he has elbows. So, his head is on a hinged swivel. Due to the shape of his head and the relative lack of a neck, he doesn't have a ton of up/down tilt and no left/right tilt, but he can look around just fine. His arms are attached to his chest on butterfly joints, which have a rotating peg on the other end for shoulder rotation. That peg has a hinge on the end that is connected to the shoulder with a second hinge. This gives his shoulders both the range of lateral movement and the clearance from the body to get his arms up a hair above 90 degrees. His biceps swivel, and he's got ratcheted elbows that bend 90 degrees. His wrists swivel, and each finger his connected to the hand on it's own ball joint with no additional knuckles (I'd have preferred a hinged pin, and at least a knuckle on the pointer finger, but whatever). His waist swivels, and like the CW version he can tilt left and right at the abdomen (although this is more so that the combined robot has an ankle tilt). His hips are universal joints, and his skirt armor hinges out of the way. His hips go all the way forward, all the way back, and he can easily do the splits. On my copy, the forward/backward movement is a little loose, but the lateral movement is rock solid. His knees are ratcheted and can bend 90 degrees- be sure to bend his actual knees, and not at the similarly-ratcheted transformation joint, otherwise his knees will move back toward the back of his legs. His feet are connected to his legs on a multi-hinged armature that's hard to describe, but suffice to say his ankles rotate, his feet can tilt up and down, plus he has some pretty extreme ankle tilt in either direction. He can even bend his toes down, although it's really for transformation and I'm not sure how it'd be practically useful.

AFAIK, all the guys in this set come with their own gun, which all seem to be black with nice red accents, and slots in the handles that match with tabs on their hands. Each one also comes with an additional part for use in combined mode. In Shovel's case, it's the chest shield. The wings can collapse and the shield can fold up a bit, but I can't seem to find a use for it in bot mode. The little guns on the bottom are on swivels.

In alt mode he really shows his size against the CW version. The big rubber tires roll great, he's got lots of little painted details, and Shovel's shovel has three points of articulation. I kind of prefer the closed-cab of the CW version, but it's worth noting that the open cab with just the roof is G1-toy accurate (I don't remember if it's 'toon accurate and can't find a screencap, so...). But hey, if anyone wants to make an "upgrade" kit for this guy, a cab for Shovel is one idea (there are hinges on the existing roof and supports, and the instructions for bot mode tell you to fold the cab down onto his butt, but it's not necessary, and the supports have hollow spots on the back that tabs could slot into... just saying).

Speaking of G1... there are pegs on Shovel's legs that exist for no purpose except to fit into peg holes on the back of the chest-plate. So, Shovel retains the "Attack Payloader" ability of the G1 toy and can totally be a flying construction vehicle. This mode would be super cool if you could peg his gun in to his alt mode. ToyWorld intended it, and it's show in the directions. However, the hole for it doesn't seem to have been cut right on the mold, so the gun doesn't actually fit. Boo! Even if it did, there's no place to store the gun in leg mode, which is a bummer. I really prefer it if the weapons either combine (Feral Rex, Ordin, Quantron, Guardia, etc) or can stow away somewhere (Warbotron Bruticus, Uranos, M3). But I digress... we're not going to look at leg mode now, since we'll cover it as part of the whole in two months or so when I complete this set and we look at combined mode.

Anyway, I'm totally going to recommend this guy. He's not the fanciest... his transformation is absurdly simple, there's no real gimmicks here... but he doesn't need that stuff. What he needs is to be an awesome Scrapper, and there's really no question that ToyWorld really nailed that. Without Maketoys', TFC's, and GT's to play around with I can't definitively say that he's the best Scrapper ever, but he hits a lot of the right notes. Seriously, the only reason I can think of not to get Shovel is if you're turned off by the size, because he's bigger than any HasTak Deluxe or Voyager, but he's not overly huge compared to other 3P toys and (so I'm told) scales nicely with MP toys.

[Scyla]

I think I have to cancel my VF-2SS preorder in favor of the MakeToys Guardia set.

[mikeszekely]

I think I have to cancel my VF-2SS preorder in favor of the MakeToys Guardia set.

You could wait for my review...

Seriously, I'm checking my email constantly hoping for a 10-day notice from BBTS.

[technoblue]

I think I have to cancel my VF-2SS preorder in favor of the MakeToys Guardia set.

Dodged a bullet, you have.

If the things I've been reading are true about Guardia, then it will be a more impressive toy (with all the separate bots) than the VF-2SS. My VF-2SS, in particular has a number of disappointing niggles. The fitment of the chest tabs is just out of whack in fighter mode creating a gap. The legs do not tab in well, and this is well documented in the corresponding thread on this forum. The problem here is that the "polish" fix is a fussy one, and it can hurt how things tab together in other modes (like batroid mode). Also, any dynamic posing is out of the question.

[David Hingtgen]

Heck, Quantron even without all its tweaks/fixes, seems to be far better than the VF-2SS turned out. Guardia should be another level better than that...

[mikeszekely]

Stupid TFSource Memorial Day sale... I'm over budget on toys already, and while I'm into Fansproject's Function-X line of Headmasters I swore I wasn't going to buy XV or X6 because, one, I'm not familiar with the characters they're supposed to be, and two, they're not Headmasters. But TFSource had to go and put him on sale for $53. I tried reminding myself of the reasons why I didn't intend on buying him, but my brain wouldn't listen. I mean, one of his modes is a boat...

[Scyla]

Regarding the VF-2SS. I really want one just not the version ET released.

Guardia seems like a stellar toy that caters exactly to my preferences so I don't think I should give it a second thought...

But them image of a VF-2SS is so strong in my head that I'm having a hard time pulling the trigger. As I said objectively it is clear as day that I would have much more fun with Guardia that I ever have with the ET Valkyrie.

[F360]

Stupid TFSource Memorial Day sale... I'm over budget on toys already, and while I'm into Fansproject's Function-X line of Headmasters I swore I wasn't going to buy XV or X6 because, one, I'm not familiar with the characters they're supposed to be, and two, they're not Headmasters. But TFSource had to go and put him on sale for $53. I tried reminding myself of the reasons why I didn't intend on buying him, but my brain wouldn't listen. I mean, one of his modes is a boat...

you are not the only one, the sale price is very tempting.

[mikeszekely]

But them image of a VF-2SS is so strong in my head that I'm having a hard time pulling the trigger.

So print a picture of a VF-2SS and tape it to your monitor. From what others are saying, you'll probably enjoy it more than the toy. And there's no way that you're not going to love Guardia.

[Scyla]

So print a picture of a VF-2SS and tape it to your monitor. From what others are saying, you'll probably enjoy it more than the toy. And there's no way that you're not going to love Guardia.

I know! And if it weren't for toys I would probably say that it is TEARING ME APART!!!! But they are just toys so I will live!

On the other hand. I rearranged some toys this weekend and found my MMC Commotus buried behind some Iron DiBots. Of course this was an indefensible crime so I put him onto the play area on my office desk so I can fiddle with him. Such a nice toy to handle.

[technoblue]

I opened the power armor for MMC's Seraphicus Prominon (Nova Prime) on Friday, and I have been messing with it over the weekend. It's a fun, albeit expensive armor set. As a trailer, I find that it doesn't have many uses. In alt mode, for instance, the trailer is stretching my imagination. It doesn't carry anything like MP-22 or open up to take cars like MP-10.

In bot mode, the power cradle is a little more useful, but that use is still limited. It reminds me of how you can utilize MP-10's trailer as a repair bay. The real deal is the armor, itself, which is a completely parts-forming affair. Think of how the GBP armor for the VF-1J works and you will get a good idea of how MMC's armor set works for their Nova Prime. Standing next to the armored VF-1J, MMC's Nova Prime is just a head smaller.

Hikaru: Cool sword!

Nova Prime: Hands off!

The armor pieces all attach securely, and some even have clever tab-in points. I was impressed with how much of the core bot articulation was preserved in the armored mode. The waist still has its complete swivel (even with the added wing backpack), the arms keep their articulation, and the legs and feet keep most of their articulation. The only piece that made any noteworthy difference was the armored gauntlets. The fingers have the same articulation as the core bot, but the wrist appears to lose articulation. It makes certain dynamic poses a little more challenging to pull off.

Nova Prime: By the power of...

The only complaint I have with the armor set is with the two-piece helmet. It's a loose fit with the larger front half and a smaller back half coming together over the core bot's head with locking tabs. It gets knocked off easily if I bump it while setting up a pose. I don't know if that is due to a QC issue with my copy or a design issue with all copies. But it is only a small annoyance that I can live with.

Where the Seraphicus Prominon core bot was an easy recommendation, especially considering its price, the power cradle is not an easy recommendation for similar reasons. It's just so expensive, and you are only really getting an armor parts package. If this set was priced close to the core bot (around $100), then I would say go for it. Since it is priced higher than that, I think it may only be worth the extra cost to die-hard Nova Prime fans or collectors who need to complete the set.

In other news...My replacement for Guttur arrived with my pile-o-loot on Saturday from BBTS. FT-06X Sever (Snarl) is my second MP-sized dinobot, and my second attempt to add Snarl to my MP collection. He looks wicked in hand, but my copy arrived out of the box with a defect (the right arm panel was warped on that side and the ratchet was also defective). I've sent a note to BBTS to get that sorted.

In the meantime, I've been looking at Sever in robot mode and running through a quick comparison with him and Guttur. Even with my out-of-the-box isssues, Sever does not have any of the design niggles that Guttur has. The good joints are tight and have smooth movements. The ratchets that are working on my version click and hold fast. On Guttur, this was not always the case. The GigaPower ratchets seem to have movement between the clicks, like there are spaces between the teeth. And since Guttur is top heavy, this can cause a bit of a bobble effect. Sever does not do that, which helps for posing.

I do think that Guttur has better face sculpting, but the FansToys faces are okay (I would say the controversial neutral face is passable in person, whereas it does look bad in pictures). If FansToys ever decides to include extra faces as an incentive with another figure or as an add-on by themselves, I would pick them up.

[mikeszekely]

Let's cap off this Memorial Day weekend (in the US) with a look at ToyWorld's Concrete, their version of Mixmaster.

Concrete, like Shovel, is significantly taller than his Combiner Wars counterpart. And again, this time compared with Warbotron's Fierce Attack (Onslaught), still scales favorably with 3P torso bots.

The differences between Mixmaster's toy and animation model are, I think, more pronounced than Scrapper's, which makes capturing a "Mixmaster" aesthetic more of a challenge. Concrete seems to split the difference; the his torso is predominantly purple and he's got the face of the animation model, but he's got silver thighs, a green mixing drum, and silver missiles over his head like the toy. His lower legs are still made from the roof of the cab (and ToyWorld even included a toy-accurate spot for a Decepticon symbol), but he's got real feet. His rear wheels, rather than being built into his arms, are on kibble bits that hang from the back of his arms. ToyWorld's biggest departures are in the dark biceps and black hands that break up the green arms. I'm glad they went with the 'toon head, and I don't mind the silver thighs, but I wish they'd used more green on the arms and ditched the missiles for toon-style green nozzles.

The missiles are spring-loaded; a switch on the side of his head cover will launch them with way more force than US safety regulations would ever allow on a Hasbro toy. But when you really get down to it, this is a gimmick I just don't need, and my memories of Mixmaster from the cartoon had him using various acids and stuff... acids that he could spray from nozzles above his head. I will say, though, that ToyWorld really nailed the head. It's got the same basic shape as the Combiner Wars version, but with an exaggerated, insane grin. The use of light-piping instead of just painting the eyes red is a questionable one, though, since all the gear around his head blocks light from getting through.

The translucent panel on his chest can be removed, revealing a second spot where ToyWorld intends for you to put a Decepticon symbol. A lot of people seem to prefer this look, although I'm not sure how the excessive silver on his chest is supposed to be evocative of Mixmaster. It is VERY similar to Maketoys' Cement Mixer, though.

One thing I really like about Concrete is that, while the mixing drum is a backpack, it's not an overly-large affair hanging off his butt like the Combiner Wars Mixmaster or TFC's Madblender.

As with Shovel, Concrete comes with a gun for himself and a part for the combined mode. Concrete's part is the combined-mode gun. Both guns have nice paint apps

Once again, Concrete's articulation is very good and basically the same as Shovel's. His head is on a swivel for rotation and a hinge for up-down tilt, of which he's got a better range than Shovel. His shoulders have two joints for lateral movement, but one is for transformation. The green armor shouldn't move, just the joint inside. Otherwise, the tire kibble is going to give you problems. His biceps swivel, his elbows are single-jointed hard ratchets, and his wrists swivel.. His hands have individually ball-jointed fingers identical to Shovel's, and he also has the sideways-leaning joint in his abdomen that's meant for the combined mode ankle tilt. He has a waist swivel, but it's not really at his waist so much as just above his crotch. His skirt armor is hinged, which is pretty much necessary for using the waist swivel. His hips are the same as Shovel's; universals with friction for forward-backward movement, ratchets for lateral movement, and thigh swivels built into the joint. His knees can bend about 90 degrees, and as with Shovel you want to make sure you're bending at the knee and not the transformation joint. His feet are on a hinged ball joint, but the hinge is for transformation. His lower legs are simply too big to give him much in the way of up-down tilt, but his left-right tilt is more than adequate and he's got anke rotation to boot. If I have complaints about his articulation, it's the low-set waist swivel and the fact that the kibble on his arms does interfere with posing. If it's tabbed in properly, tabs on the wheel kibble will collide with pegs on this head gear just from simple rotation.

Concrete's alt mode is a wonderfully upscaled version of the G1 toy. It's not even fair to compare it to Combiner Wars Mixmaster, which opted for the rather poor decision to change the type of cement mixer that Mixmaster was and looks odd even then. But, Concrete's got the silver grill of G1 Mixmaster, something that none of the other available 3P Mixmasters have. Between that, rubber tires, and the dark translucent purple windows it's just about a perfect Mixmaster. My big complaint here is the drum... I prefer a 'toon style purple, which is something that only Generation Toys' Mixmaster has out of the box. Fortunately, ToyWord is releasing a purple drum that Chinese customers will get for free, provided they buy all six at the same store. Sadly, here in the States I'll have to buy one, but I'm going to be in for $600 on this set- what's $18 more? I'm just glad I'll be able to get it. One other complaint about the drum... it's another gimmick. In theory, you're supposed to wind it up in one direction and it'll spin. I say "in theory" because the mechanism doesn't work on my copy, and from other boards I've visited I gather I'm not alone with this problem. Generally-speaking, I'm not a fan of gimmicks when they do work, so I'm not thrilled that ToyWorld stuff one in that doesn't.

Oh, there's those missiles I wasn't big on in bot mode, either. You have two options for alt-mode: take them out for a better-looking alt-mode and set them off to the side, hoping you don't lose them, or you can leave them in and have a ridiculous-looking cement mixer with missiles on the back pointed straight up at the sky.

There's a peg hole on the roof where you can stow his gun. Unlike the intended spot on Shovel, Concrete's works fine.

If you prefer, the handle on the combined-mode gun can fold in, revealing a 5mm peg, and you can put that gun on the roof instead. Sadly, there's no way to put both guns on the alt mode. Likewise, the peg is too small and doesn't have the slot for the tab on his hand, so Concrete can't use the combined-mode gun in bot mode.

Recommending Concrete isn't as easy as recommending Shovel. His transformation is a little more finnicky (pro-tip: the stuff at the end of the drum behind the cab/at his waist is actually pegged in, and transformation is easier if you unpeg it although it's not required and not in the instructions), and his flaws are a little more in-your-face. When I look at the other Mixmasters available, though (both 3P and CW/UW), I'm not convinced that there's a better option. Also, it's not very likely that you're buying because you really love Mixmaster; in that case, you're probably going to want to check out the rest of the set and combined mode, decide if it's for you or not, and if it is accept Concrete for what he is. I'd still say that I do recommend Concrete, but of the two I have he's a candidate for the weakest of the set.

[anime52k8]

just an FYI, the big devy gun has 5mm ports on either side. you can plug mixmasters black gun into those in vehicle mode and there's a 5mm peg on the bot modes arm that the devy gun can plug onto.

[mikeszekely]

just an FYI, the big devy gun has 5mm ports on either side. you can plug mixmasters black gun into those in vehicle mode and there's a 5mm peg on the bot modes arm that the devy gun can plug onto.

Oh...

[mikeszekely]

I think maybe I have a problem... I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but I'm thinking about collecting ALL of the combiners. Even the less-good ones. And not all as in "one representation of every combiner character". I mean all as in CW Devy, TW Constructor, GT Gravity Builder, MT Green Giant, TFC Hercules, and DX9 Hulkie should all be in my house at some point.

Maybe I'll start a YouTube channel focused on combiners. Review the pieces, review the combiners, and have comparison videos for different versions. You guys would watch, right?