The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread

[slaginpit]

Maybe but it would look out of place with since most other toys don't have them. I'd say the inside of the helmet/head would definitely benefit from that. I would prefer if the area behind the faceplate and below the eyes would be painted in a dark gray tone.

Here is how Maketoys did it:

I think also the leg armor would benefit from more paint.

I do like maketoys version more now. Problem is its the same price as Masterminds. And it seems to never go on sale.

[mikeszekely]

I fixed your MADLAW review. Don't know what happened exactly---the links and pics were still there, I basically just shuffled back and forth between regular and full editor until things started working again.

Thanks David!

[slaginpit]

Holy crap

Edited June 22, 2016 by slaginpit

[mikeszekely]

Hmm... I don't collect MPs, but I do have an MP-10. Could use a Megatron to go with him. If the price is good and the QC is better than Apollyon, I might have to pick Despotron up.

[slaginpit]

[technoblue]

My v1 Apollyon is an okay 3P Megatron statue but it isn't a great transformer at all. There are just too many issues with my copy.

Despotron looks sweet, and I'm curious to see what another company might do with an MP Megs (kind of like how I'm curious to see another company's take on the VF-2SS). And as much as I would love to see him released soon, I hope Maketoys takes the time to get it right.

[slaginpit]

My v1 Apollyon is an okay 3P Megatron statue but it isn't a great transformer at all. There are just too many issues with my copy.

Despotron looks sweet, and I'm curious to see what another company might do with an MP Megs (kind of like how I'm curious to see another company's take on the VF-2SS). And as much as I would love to see him released soon, I hope Maketoys takes the time to get it right.

With the Chinese completely ignoring IP and Japan since ToyWorld and Mak "eh" toys are Japanese companies and now branching off to Gundam and Ninja Turtles I foresee that eventually Macross will also some day see IP infringement and toys. Its a bad thing but not bad for collectors because it gives 'Options' and isnt that what a free market is all about

[Dangard Ace]

My v1 Apollyon is an okay 3P Megatron statue but it isn't a great transformer at all. There are just too many issues with my copy.

Despotron looks sweet, and I'm curious to see what another company might do with an MP Megs (kind of like how I'm curious to see another company's take on the VF-2SS). And as much as I would love to see him released soon, I hope Maketoys takes the time to get it right.

My v2 is great. No issues at all. Only nitpick is the legs are a bit too stubby for Meg's. Which means I dislike MTs Despotron because the arms and legs are chunky monkey.

Okay one issue. That damn orange plug in the silencer is slathered in superglue and won't come off.

[slaginpit]

My v2 is great. No issues at all. Only nitpick is the legs are a bit too stubby for Meg's. Which means I dislike MTs Despotron because the arms and legs are chunky monkey.

Okay one issue. That damn orange plug in the silencer is slathered in superglue and won't come off.

IT will come off. It took some time to finagle mine off. Just keep torsioning it and it will pop off. Take your time tho.

[technoblue]

With the Chinese completely ignoring IP and Japan since ToyWorld and Mak "eh" toys are Japanese companies and now branching off to Gundam and Ninja Turtles I foresee that eventually Macross will also some day see IP infringement and toys. Its a bad thing but not bad for collectors because it gives 'Options' and isnt that what a free market is all about

Interesting. I didn't know that Maketoys was branching off in that direction. That might encourage me to pick up one or two of their combiners after all. I mean, if they are going to move away from Transformers and get into other products. I also miss seeing more releases in the battle tanker series. They were small and fun armored figures that I thought they would continue building up and improving.

My v2 is great. No issues at all. Only nitpick is the legs are a bit too stubby for Meg's. Which means I dislike MTs Despotron because the arms and legs are chunky monkey.

Okay one issue. That damn orange plug in the silencer is slathered in superglue and won't come off.

I probably would have done better waiting for the v2 Apollyon. I let my excitement for an MP-10 scaled 3P Megs get the better of me. The blocky look of Despotron doesn't bother me in the shadowy images, but I do want to see more detail before committing to it and I may wait for a review or two this time. I do think the alt mode looks a little better than X-Transbots alt mode, which I felt was too chunky unless it was dressed up with the scope, stock, and silencer/suppressor.

[slaginpit]

Interesting. I didn't know that Maketoys was branching off in that direction. That might encourage me to pick up one or two of their combiners after all. I mean, if they are going to move away from Transformers and get into other products. I also miss seeing more releases in the battle tanker series. They were small and fun armored figures that I thought they would continue building up and improving.

I probably would have done better waiting for the v2 Apollyon. I let my excitement for an MP-10 scaled 3P Megs get the better of me. The blocky look of Despotron doesn't bother me in the shadowy images, but I do want to see more detail before committing to it and I may wait for a review or two this time. I do think the alt mode looks a little better than X-Transbots alt mode, which I felt was too chunky unless it was dressed up with the scope, stock, and silencer/suppressor.

Sorry, let me rephrase. Make eh toys is not branching off into Macross. Yet. But I meant to say is other manufactures are penetrating the market that is on the whole owned by Takara, Bandai, hasbro. IE the thread I created on 3rd Party Gundams. MO SHO is now into the market of Gundams. I cant recall but a company that did Model upgrades for MG Gundam's is now making the Dinobot combinors -Shuraking. Its only a matter of time before it spreads to Macross Hip Hip Horray. I mean we already have another company building the VF-2SS

[Scyla]

If Takara don't announce an MP Megatron soon I will probably go with Despotron. One being that I need an MP Megatron in my collection and two I have the desire to see what Maketoys does with that aesthetic. The bots that the releases till now never struck my interests but their take on Megatron looks good.

I'm actually less ok with 3rd party companies homaging other IPs than Transformers but I don't know how I can rationalize that for myself without sounding like a hypocrite. When it comes to 3rd party items I prefer the re-imagining stuff to the slavish G1 MP style because there I think that more original ideas come from the companies. Engineering, design and aesthetics are mostly influenced by the designer and not the original IP. Sure MMCs Leo Dux is a black and yellow and red lion that transforms into a robot with a lion head as his chest and a faceplated mouth but he is clearly not G1 Razorclaw. Not the toy, not the comic nor cartoon character. The closest thing I could find was the IDW incarnation.

The 3rd party Gundam is clearly the Strike Gundam and the 3rd party Krang is clearly Krang, there is no beating around the bush. With transforming robots at least they came up with a their own transformation scheme. So while it is probably still pretty close to IP theft I think the Gundam and Turtle stuff is much closer to that.

On the other hand it is a crying shame that there is no good Shredder toy from the 80s TMNT series.

I'm still sounding like a hypocrite am I not?

[slaginpit]

If Takara don't announce an MP Megatron soon I will probably go with Despotron. One being that I need an MP Megatron in my collection and two I have the desire to see what Maketoys does with that aesthetic. The bots that the releases till now never struck my interests but their take on Megatron looks good.

I'm actually less ok with 3rd party companies homaging other IPs than Transformers but I don't know how I can rationalize that for myself without sounding like a hypocrite. When it comes to 3rd party items I prefer the re-imagining stuff to the slavish G1 MP style because there I think that more original ideas come from the companies. Engineering, design and aesthetics are mostly influenced by the designer and not the original IP. Sure MMCs Leo Dux is a black and yellow and red lion that transforms into a robot with a lion head as his chest and a faceplated mouth but he is clearly not G1 Razorclaw. Not the toy, not the comic nor cartoon character. The closest thing I could find was the IDW incarnation.

The 3rd party Gundam is clearly the Strike Gundam and the 3rd party Krang is clearly Krang, there is no beating around the bush. With transforming robots at least they came up with a their own transformation scheme. So while it is probably still pretty close to IP theft I think the Gundam and Turtle stuff is much closer to that.

On the other hand it is a crying shame that there is no good Shredder toy from the 80s TMNT series.

I'm still sounding like a hypocrite am I not?

Yes I agree. When it comes to Transformers I have enjoyed the liberty in Stylized designs. And overall, I love what they are doing. So much choice and competition means continuous improvement in design and layout.

But I do like we are getting "other companies" doing other franchises. I mean the Strike at 1/72 is great with the LEDs and now the Double 00 and Buster soon on their way. The price points just shows how much Bandai is milking us for their products. And the other bigger companies enjoy economies of scale. So if the smaller one can make a nice healthy (not OBSCENE) profit with lower price points that goes far in saying that the original stuff is way to overpriced.

[technoblue]

Sorry, let me rephrase. Make eh toys is not branching off into Macross. Yet. But I meant to say is other manufactures are penetrating the market that is on the whole owned by Takara, Bandai, hasbro. IE the thread I created on 3rd Party Gundams. MO SHO is now into the market of Gundams. I cant recall but a company that did Model upgrades for MG Gundam's is now making the Dinobot combinors -Shuraking. Its only a matter of time before it spreads to Macross Hip Hip Horray. I mean we already have another company building the VF-2SS

Ah! Thanks for clarifying that point on Maketoys. I wouldn't mind if they did branch off into other areas too, but I also wouldn't mind if they went back and built upon/improved some of their more interesting Transformer lines like the Battle Tanker series. It would be cool to see more armored bots. I have hope that they are going to do something like that with the Cross-Dimension line, which looks to be smaller than MP scale too.

Evolution Toy, I think, needed more time smoothing out the kinks with the VF-2SS. It's a functional toy, sure, but it is another toy that really could use a v2 release. I do wonder what a veteran company might do with it, especially if Bandai decided to release that HMR variant it teased.

Edited June 22, 2016 by technoblue

[danth]

I mean we already have another company building the VF-2SS

Are you talking about Evolution or am I out of the loop? If Evolution is the "another" company what was the first VF-2SS toy?

[Dangard Ace]

Just picked up MPP10. This is a beautiful OS OP. Taller then MP1, MP10 aesthetics, better paint ap. Love this thing. What Autobot decal are people buying to put on his shoulder? Plus any after market hands? Can't believe they didn't include more articulated hands on this KO.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

Damn, and just like that, we have three MP styled Blitzwings to choose from; DX9's Gewalt, KFC's Ditka, and now Fanstoys' Berserk.

[mikeszekely]

Damn, and just like that, we have three MP styled Blitzwings to choose from; DX9's Gewalt, KFC's Ditka, and now Fanstoys' Berserk.

Well, options are nice. Kinda funny how everyone's doing the same figure, though.

[CoryHolmes]

They've been doing that since the first 3P Devastator's came out. Since then, it's just been copy, copy, copy.

[mikeszekely]

They've been doing that since the first 3P Devastator's came out. Since then, it's just been copy, copy, copy.

Yeah, but I guess I'm just more used to them coming in pairs.

Anyway, having seen some reviews for Gewalt, I guess I'm glad to have more options. I want to root for DX9/Unique Toys has made some of my favorite 3P toys to date (Mania King and Ordin), and Gewalt definitely has some cool engineering tricks going on without being ridiculously over-engineered like Sworder... but he just seems off. In all three modes. In tank mode, there's the exposed head/jet cockpit and too much purple showing. In jet mode he pulls off a respectable MiG (25? 31?), but I think that's actually part of the problem. The cartoon model was pretty close to the G1 toy, so it was shorter with a stepped look to the spine and a sort of biplane thing going on with the pseudo-delta wings. Then in bot mode his torso looks like everything's holding together too loosely, and the way the "intakes" move over his shoulders but just hover there looks sloppy.

As for Fans Toys... I genuinely don't get the insane devotion from a lot of fans. I'll grant that a lot of that probably has to do with the fact that they haven't made anything I've wanted since Quakewave, but I've noticed that they have a tendency to announce stuff that doesn't have a release years later *cough Jetfire cough* because of their other tendency to announce (with preorders) stuff right around the time that rivals are launching theirs, banking on their (deserved? undeserved?) reputation that you'll pass on Gundog/Tyrant/Gewalt and wait for Willis/Sovereign/Berserk. In any case, I guess you can't really compare some hastily-drawn lineart to an actual product, but that jet mode looks an awful lot like Gewalt.

Which brings me to Ditka. The prototypes look the most like what I expect Blitzwing to look like. But, it's KFC, and their toys tend to be pretty cool toys that wind up done in by one or two flaws I can't overlook. I'd hold off for some reviews before deciding that Ditka is the Blitzwing for you.

[technoblue]

Why do people like Fans Toys? For one, as I think you were alluding to, Quakewave was a great toy for its time. People noticed. Their MP-scaled dinobots arrived after that, and Fans Toys has been improving each of them as they go along. I'd speculate that the aggressive nature of their dinobot schedule is what kept them from their other interesting projects (like Jetfire/Skyfire). I mean, outside of dinos they've released what? Tesla, Reflector, and their Insecticons. And some of those releases have been received with criticism, so I wouldn't say Fans Toys receives blind praise:

• Scoria is panned because of the QC issues in the hips. Depending on which version you get, the chrome may not match the other dinos.
• Telsa is panned because of the face sculpt, and not being G1 enough. I think this is silly, but what do I know?
• Forager is panned because of QC issues with the arm clasps
• Willis was delayed so that Fans Toys could fix an issue with the side mirrors.

I have only two Fans Toys figures in my collection at the moment (with more on my pre-order list). Going by the numbers, I buy more MMC bots than any other third party. For quality, I would rank Fans Toys close to MMC, and they are also like MMC in that they include upgrades/incentives for older figures with their newer releases. Fans Toys may be trying to compete some with other company's announcements. Of course, it could be coincidence too. They haven't had much to announce aside from dinobots for a long time. Now, the new projects may start seeing the light.

Edited June 27, 2016 by technoblue

[mikeszekely]

Why do people like Fans Toys? For one, as I think you were alluding to, Quakewave was a great toy for its time. People noticed. Their MP-scaled dinobots arrived after that, and Fans Toys has been improving each of them as they go along. I'd speculate that the aggressive nature of their dinobot schedule is what kept them from their other interesting projects (like Jetfire/Skyfire). I mean, outside of dinos they've released what? Tesla, Reflector, and their Insecticons. And some of those releases have been received with criticism, so I wouldn't say Fans Toys receives blind praise:

• Scoria is panned because of the QC issues in the hips. Depending on which version you get, the chrome may not match the other dinos.
• Telsa is panned because of the face sculpt, and not being G1 enough. I think this is silly, but what do I know?
• Forager is panned because of QC issues with the arm clasps
• Willis was delayed so that Fans Toys could fix an issue with the side mirrors.

I have only two Fans Toys figures in my collection at the moment (with more on my pre-order list). Going by the numbers, I buy more MMC bots than any other third party. For quality, I would rank Fans Toys close to MMC, and they are also like MMC in that they include upgrades/incentives for older figures with their newer releases. Fans Toys may be trying to compete some with other company's announcements. Of course, it could be coincidence too. They haven't had much to announce aside from dinobots for a long time. Now, the new projects may start seeing the light.

Yeah, all I know is that I hear stuff from some 3P's being descried as "Fans Toys good," there's are threads on TFW2005 called "Thank you, Fans Toys", "Is Fans Toys the best 3P Company?" "The I Wish Fanstoys would ________ thread", "Fanstoys is pretty darn solid," and in plenty of threads for non-Fans Toys' toys I keep hearing stuff like, "I would love it if Fans Toys did this character!"

So blind praise? No, not blind praise. More like devotion bordering on religious.

Now, I'm NOT griping about this as a knock on Fans Toys. Like I said, they haven't done anything that's interested me since Quakewave, and I'm sure that they deliver a fine product to be regarded so highly. I'm just griping about their fans, fans who have adamantly declared that they have no interest in Gewalt or Ditka now that Fans Toys has released... a drawing. I mean, I wish they'd at least pretend they're going to wait for at least a resin prototype before they decide that Fans Toys will have the best version.

[Dangard Ace]

FT is apparently bringing the prototype of Skyfire to TFCon next month so the wait for that might be over. My 3Ps are a mix of FT(reflector, and insecticons), Gigapower, MT, Badcube, MMC etc. Whomever makes the best representation for the G1 season 1 cast that I like gets my money. I like the look of some of FTs toys but as far as I'm concerned they aren't the be all end all. That said I like the way their Hound looks better then MTs and they're doing a Skyfire. The only other Skyfire out there was by a guy infamous on these boards and I wasn't going to support that product (and thank god I didn't. The drama!)

[mikeszekely]

Much better.

[technoblue]

FT is apparently bringing the prototype of Skyfire to TFCon next month so the wait for that might be over. My 3Ps are a mix of FT(reflector, and insecticons), Gigapower, MT, Badcube, MMC etc. Whomever makes the best representation for the G1 season 1 cast that I like gets my money. I like the look of some of FTs toys but as far as I'm concerned they aren't the be all end all. That said I like the way their Hound looks better then MTs and they're doing a Skyfire. The only other Skyfire out there was by a guy infamous on these boards and I wasn't going to support that product (and thank god I didn't. The drama!)

I've been looking at Insecticons lately and can't decide between Fans Toys' and Badcube's releases. Dangard Ace, what do you think of the Fans Toys' bugs and have you run into any of the same issues with Forager that others have noted over on TFW?

Edited June 29, 2016 by technoblue

[Dangard Ace]

FT's version of Bombshell and Shrapnel are nice and transformation holds together really well. You'll have to live with the leg backpacks but they're not in the way much. Head on they're gorgeous toon replications. Forager/Kickback I've only played with in bot mode. First thing I did was loosen up the screws on the shoulders as I too read about the problems with him on tfw2005. He's doing a superhero landing pose right now. Haven't transformed it so don't know how much of a pain it is.

I like BadCubes Warpath, Brawn and Sunstreaker. Couldn't get myself to buy their version of insecticons as they look too boxy and stumpy to me.

[nhyone]

Much better.

I don't understand why they didn't do this in the first place?

[Hikuro]

I do like maketoys version more now. Problem is its the same price as Masterminds. And it seems to never go on sale.

God I love the make toys variant and I even have the upgrade parts for the rts Optimus so I thought the robot would be a real similar design to the hasbro style and boy was I wrong on that. That's a figure I really like.

[mikeszekely]

I don't understand why they didn't do this in the first place?

Take your pick.

A. Because the G1 toy has a green barrel.

B. Because ToyWorld was actually going for a Studio OX style Devastator, and OX Devy doesn't have a purple barrel either. (Technically it's gray or silver)

C. All of the 3P Devastators that came before had green barrels. Only GT's comes with the purple.

For what it's worth, though, I'm with you. You need that purple barrel to break up the green.

[Mechapilot77]

Yeah, but I guess I'm just more used to them coming in pairs.

Anyway, having seen some reviews for Gewalt, I guess I'm glad to have more options. I want to root for DX9/Unique Toys has made some of my favorite 3P toys to date (Mania King and Ordin), and Gewalt definitely has some cool engineering tricks going on without being ridiculously over-engineered like Sworder... but he just seems off. In all three modes. In tank mode, there's the exposed head/jet cockpit and too much purple showing. In jet mode he pulls off a respectable MiG (25? 31?), but I think that's actually part of the problem. The cartoon model was pretty close to the G1 toy, so it was shorter with a stepped look to the spine and a sort of biplane thing going on with the pseudo-delta wings. Then in bot mode his torso looks like everything's holding together too loosely, and the way the "intakes" move over his shoulders but just hover there looks sloppy.

As for Fans Toys... I genuinely don't get the insane devotion from a lot of fans. I'll grant that a lot of that probably has to do with the fact that they haven't made anything I've wanted since Quakewave, but I've noticed that they have a tendency to announce stuff that doesn't have a release years later *cough Jetfire cough* because of their other tendency to announce (with preorders) stuff right around the time that rivals are launching theirs, banking on their (deserved? undeserved?) reputation that you'll pass on Gundog/Tyrant/Gewalt and wait for Willis/Sovereign/Berserk. In any case, I guess you can't really compare some hastily-drawn lineart to an actual product, but that jet mode looks an awful lot like Gewalt.

Which brings me to Ditka. The prototypes look the most like what I expect Blitzwing to look like. But, it's KFC, and their toys tend to be pretty cool toys that wind up done in by one or two flaws I can't overlook. I'd hold off for some reviews before deciding that Ditka is the Blitzwing for you.

honestly I DO understand the fanstoys love but i get the criticism too.

let's look at their releases

quakewave - undisputed shockwave champ until the takara one came out like 3 years later and even so, some prefer quakewave for the IN HAND FEEL and the more detailed aesthetics.

dibots- scoria's hips, not sure its a QC issue...more like underdesigned. they also didn't understand the need (at the time) for it to be able to hold a kung fu pose. i mean...it holds any normal two footed pose you could want. each dibot since...better and better but not without hiccups. what remains constant is it feels great in hand and the aesthetics fit nearly seamlessly into the hasui era MP line. present day we have stomp and i doubt i'd want any MORE from an MP sludge.

-tesla - this one....i like but i have to say its one of the worst releases. the face sculpt IS bad although i can deal with that. i don't lik ethey halaf assed the tank mode (which is kinda a big deal...but hey at least it has one), but again the in hand feel and solid aesthetics (face aside) won me over in the end.

-the insecticons - kibbly backs but great overall. forager....is fragile and i do think a warning from them is insufficient....i think they said "good enough" and gave up on that...worst release to date even though guess waht....he feels good in hand and looks the part...noticing a pattern here!

-spotter - IMO best bot mode and camera mode (though less accurate to g1 camera) of the 3 3rd party reflectors. i don't like the transformation and parts forming but everything works, looks great with the other MP decepticons and also...feels good in hand.

so....yeah. looks good, feels good. some have issues...others don't. they are the first 3p MP and have a solid record. as far as other 3P MP goes i think XTB is knocking it ouf of the park aesthetically and are turning the corner on feel (andras was awesome). MMC's aesthetic is a bit less consistent (though still very good), but phinx's lower body looks wooden somehow....also they don't have that many mp figures out so hard to judge. backraft is coming soon and looks great (but does it look better than XTB;s?)..i prefer it to the takara except takara has a neat ladder trick (it vanishes!). DX9...they make mp scaled figure but kind of do their own thing...it overall doesn't work for me that well. their devastation looking blitzwing has a terrible tank mode for one. KFC's actuaolly looks the best (better than FT at the moment though FT may revise) as it stays true to teh g1 aesthetic and looks great in 2 modes and passable n the other.

[Tking22]

Oh boy, oh boy! I got my 10 day notice from BBTS for Backdraft and Willis! I can't wait, I've had a pile of loot that's got over $400 worth of goodies in it sitting for months now waiting for these two guys, they both kept getting delayed and I just I just kept waiting. Can't wait to finally get Hound and Inferno into my collection.

[sh9000]

Seeing all of the 3rd party Transformers on display in glass cases from The Chosen Prime look pretty cool.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

Oh my. One of my wishes for a 3rd party creation might come true. I thought ROTF Bludgeon with the 3rd party head was good, but this Bludgeon takes it to another level.

[mikeszekely]

Oh my. One of my wishes for a 3rd party creation might come true. I thought ROTF Bludgeon with the 3rd party head was good, but this Bludgeon takes it to another level.

Eh. Don't get me wrong, I'm cool with the whole modern tank that turns into a robot that looks more like Bludgeon's pretender shell than his epically generic inner robot. But that head has gotta go. Do the G1 skull face, or do the IDW melty face, but don't do cranky robot jack-o-lantern face.

[technoblue]

Oh boy, oh boy! I got my 10 day notice from BBTS for Backdraft and Willis! I can't wait, I've had a pile of loot that's got over $400 worth of goodies in it sitting for months now waiting for these two guys, they both kept getting delayed and I just I just kept waiting. Can't wait to finally get Hound and Inferno into my collection.

Toy Dojo sent out my copy of Willis before the holiday, and he arrived with the mail on Tuesday--very cool figure.

Backdraft shipped out today and should be here sometime next week. With what I was paying after shipping, I didn't feel right canceling and changing over to the official one. The price tipped the scale for me this time around. Maybe the exchange rate will be in a better place again when Takara gets to Grapple?