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Knightdramon
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Post by Knightdramon »

Small TFnation haul:

Takara Legends Skids: Aka more accurate MTMTE Generations Skids. Looks killer...does not handle that well. The mould is a bit awkward with those outward moving ankles, heavily ratcheted knees [why?] and the very limited arms. Rounds up the MTMTE shelf well but would not hesitate to pass him along if MMC comes out with one in...8 years?

Titans Return Rewind: Not terribly impressed with the quality of this. The sticker is a bit sloppy [and the instructions tell you where to apply them, but they are already there?] and the figure's toes and one arm came apart on my hands. Kudos for the neck downwards tilt and the expressive shoulders, but everything else is a downer. Why is one of his arms moulded hollow, unlike the other? I thought it was to save space for the transformation but no, they don't tab together that way. Won't really complain for a tenner.

Maketoys Rear End & Hurricane kit: Fun little figure along the lines of Trash Talk and Cog Wheel. Very expressive, although some joints are a tad wobbly as part of the assembly [knees and waist on mine]. Transformation is far easier than I thought, locks together solidly. 2 out of 2 figures/sets from MT that I overwhelmingly like so far.

[You can tell this was a MTMTE centric purchase spree]

Movie 1 Legends Ratchet and Bumblebee (classic camaro) and possibly movie 1 or 2 Modern camaro: Small, fun toys to give away to colleagues. Impressed with Ratchet's swiveling torso transformation.

MMC Backdraft : Was enchanted by the piles of Backdrafts and my love for all things MMC pushed me towards the purchase. In two minds about this---the packaging and presentation make this look like a museum collectible instead of a toy. He is massively hefty. He has neat gimmicks in truck mode.

Transformation could be refined a tad more, or rather researched a bit more due to poor tolerances. Everything tabs in so solidly that it ultimately pushes something else out of it's tab, especially on the back end of the vehicle. Part of it has to do with the wing fins, so possibly the Grapple version will tab in better.

Robot mode is a very anime heavy interpretation of Inferno, in line with studio ox drawings. He is decently articulated with a good mix of ratchets [sot and heavy] and swivels and ball joints. He even has a proper ab crunch, which is impressive considering his size and heft.

Some QC issues hamper the full enjoyment of the figure. The crotch plate does not tab in place as intended [MMC are aware and are working on it]. The arms on mine [and others, as I have read] were not fully snapped together/glued so some joints were substantially looser than intended, and there's no screws on those areas so I had to resort to squeezing them together and praying for the best.

I would overall rate him very highly but all the tabbing and tolerances issues bring the score down. He was delayed for a few months because things were getting worked on but that is still a mediocre job in regards to putting him together.

Will fiddle with him more for a more concrete outlook but so far he's very "oh pretty" but picking him up is more "hmm...let's not mess with this too much".
Few stuff in the UK to trade/sell. Measly sales thread.
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Flimflammery
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Post by Flimflammery »

Knightdramon wrote:Why is one of his arms moulded hollow, unlike the other? I thought it was to save space for the transformation but no, they don't tab together that way.
It's to store his gun when he's in mp3 player mode, and then to forget about it and nearly break it when you try to transform it again (see my post above).
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numbat
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Post by numbat »

I really wanted a Brainstorm, and had sold a fair few Transformers lately... But I couldn't decide between the Takara Legends (Generations) Voyager version or Hasbro Titans Return Deluxe version (folk on Twitter didn't help much - seemed 50/50). So I bought them both.

Having had them for a week or so, I can't decide between them still.

Takara Legends Brainstorm: This guy has the feeling of a 3P figure in terms of IDW design inspiration, particularly in robot mode. The attention to detail is superb! Articulation could be a little better (wrist swivels are really key but missing), and the spaceship mode is better than I expected but still a folded up robot. Arcana makes a good head, but a pants robot (although the smirk is a nice touch!). The paint job certainly looks better than the Hasbro version. Overall, I really like him - great display piece - but I was very annoyed to have to file down Arcana's head so he didn't get permanently stuck on Brainstorm. That is disastrous QC for 3P, let alone official. You shouldn't have to fix your Transformers straight out the box, especially not something so fundamental as the Headmaster attachment!

Hasbro Titans Return Brainstorm: Very impressive wee figure. It's amazing to think this is a retool of Blurr (which I don't have). The robot mode is superb, and the tampo sticker detail is amazing. Articulation is also superb (blowing the above Voyager version out of the water, although lacks the ankle tilts of the former). Transformation is good fun, and more involved than the Voyager. However, the alternate mode does look a bit like Blurr stretched out into a spaceship... And the gap at the back of the canopy is not ideal for a spaceship either. Arcana is miles and away better than the Voyager version though! I think this version of Brainstorm is more fun than the Voyager (and you can swap his head out with other Titans Return figures of course, whereas the Voyager is a one-off gimmick incompatible with any other Transformers). Not as great a display piece though.

New sale thread added with a range of Transformers including Masterpiece, Botcon, CHUG, RID, Movies etc.

Looking for MP-11T Thundercracker and MP-9 Rodimus v2 (Takara version with as few QC issues as possible).


Check out my new sale thread now!

Also items on eBay.
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HotShot81
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Post by HotShot81 »

Well I got two bots recently, one which will lead to a load of people wanting to kill me for finding him.

First off, the man who is deals on wheels. Swindle!
Second, the mad doctor himself, Shockwave!

Both of them from Combiner Wars.

I guess this is a good time to go into hiding?;)
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inflatable dalek
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Post by inflatable dalek »

TFNation haul!



Sticks and Stones: The love of Rock Lords was an incredibly elaborate running gag across the convention (fanzines, posters, panels...) so I had to pick up the one I had as a kid for a fiver. Good toy, I do wonder if Furman (or Ron Smith) had seen this toy before coming up with Rack'N'Ruin. Or is green just the colour for horribly conjoined twins?

As good as a Transforming rock can be, and makes an excellent bookend for my shelf of books and magazines I've written for (why yes, I am an egomaniac. But Stephen King has a shelf of his own books in the living room to impress visitors you know).

https://twitter.com/InflatableDalek/sta ... 3169468417


TR Rewind!:

Pretty much agree with Warcry here, lovely take on the character and the not-tape mode is as impressive as a not-tape mode ever can be and the out of character tank can be safely ignored. The robot mode is the MTMTE bot, and as such is awesome.

https://twitter.com/InflatableDalek/sta ... 7873719296

TR Scourge and Blurr!:


Pleasantly surprised by these, they're actually better Headmaster toys than the two actual Headmaster toys I got during the week. Both feel very right for their characters, are more solid feeling than they should be considering how light they are and have fun transformations. It's nice to have a good Scourge at last and I'm mildly surprised how much I have discovered I needed a Blurr in my life.

Masterpiece Shockwave:


If I could have sex with a toy, I would have sex with this toy.


Actually, considering the gun mode shape...




Blimey he's good. Looks great in every mode, has fun accessories (the little gun), a workable transformation and poses wonderfully. Lovely stuff.


https://twitter.com/InflatableDalek/sta ... 2796972032
REVIISITATION: THE HOLE TRUTH
STARSCREAM GOES TO PIECES IN MY LOOK AT INFILTRATION #6!
PLUS: BUY THE BOOKS!
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Flimflammery
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Post by Flimflammery »

Finally got around to opening the Takara Legends Skids i purchased at TFN this evening. Very pretty, but wow: he really doesn't like standing up unless you bend him almost double, does he?
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Denyer
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Post by Denyer »

Dunno if any of the Takara ones have the hip joints accidentally switched, but it may be worth looking at;

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/tutorials ... error.html
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Flimflammery
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Post by Flimflammery »

Thanks for that! I think I'd seen it before but forgotten about it. I think mine are the right way round, but the tips in there about adjusting the knees are invaluable. He can now almost stand normally without looking like a permanent hunchback.
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Warcry
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Post by Warcry »

I got a Combiner Wars Mirage recently. I'd meant to grab a Drag Strip a while ago, but he disappeared while I was still collecting Aerialbots and I didn't care enough to track one down. So I grabbed the repaint instead. It's a good toy, though not all that Mirage (transforming it backwards changes that, but then the toy isn't very good). Still a better Mirage than the Classics toy, I'd say, but a worse figure overall.

Also found a TR Wheelie. The robot mode is great, very possible and nice looking. The transformation is very complex by the standards of recent figures this size, and unfortunately it doesn't translate great in the real world. Parts don't fit great in alt mode, which I hear is a common issue, and the sheer number of moving parts only makes it worse. It's an okay figure overall, I guess, but with better QC it could have been so much better than that.
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Brendocon 2.0
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Post by Brendocon 2.0 »

c/o the Denyer I have myself a FansProject (Six)Knight.

He's... I can't decide if it's awful or awesome. The engineering present to get the transformations is at a level which might be genius, but the robot mode is a sort of semi-hilarious hodgepodge of parts that don't really seem that coherent.

The transformation steps are all logical and intuitive, and the modes are about as plausible as you'd expect given the limitations of faithfully recreating that design. He's got a wacky charm to him which I like.

Also had TFC's version of Overbite (Cyberjaw) turn up. Some fiddly sharp edges to him, but overall I think they've done a great job. Transformation has steps that are clever without being complicated, and he looks absolutely ****ing badass in both modes. That's two for two on their Seacons so far.
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HotShot81
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Post by HotShot81 »

All Canadan Transformer Fans know this pain.

Prices have gone up.

As a treat to myself I was going to get one new Deluxe Figure this week (they usually cost $20 a pop). They were on sale for $13! so I got two.

Scourge, and Hardhead.

Last time I saw Hardhead he was butting heads with the Dinobots as Furos was wondering why he had a dummy as a partner.
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Tantrum
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Post by Tantrum »

TR Mindwipe, Weirdwolf, Highbrow, Rewind The QC on the Deluxes seems to have improved a bit. I haven't had to fiddle with Nebulon heads at all, and none of the joints are floppy.

I lucked out at a flea market, and got ROTF Jolt, Prime Leader Predaking, and Construct-Bot Predaking all MISB for less than half of original retail. Another vendor had some open TFs in bins among some other acton figures, but it was hot, I was thirsty, and my arms were already too full, so I didn't bother to inspect them too closely to see if they were worth getting.
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inflatable dalek
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Post by inflatable dalek »

TR Mindwipe!

Actually not the toy I was expecting, I think the one in my head with too elaborate wings in robot mode must be a 3P one.

This guy though is good fun, continuing the small but neat trend of the TR toys. I especially like how the budgetry requirement for the toys to be more hollow these days is put to good use with the way the legs fold out to be the wings. Though that does leave him with two sets of wings in bat mode, but that's just the sort of guy Mindwipe is.

https://twitter.com/InflatableDalek/sta ... 5642251264
REVIISITATION: THE HOLE TRUTH
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PLUS: BUY THE BOOKS!
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Skyquake87
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Post by Skyquake87 »

G1 Mindwipe!

Given that the TR version is pushing £30, I thought f**k it, and went for one of the G1 Chinese KOs that's clogging up flebay for the same price inc shipping. Bootleg though it is, this is good stuff. Plastics are nice and solid, and this feels as good as the real thing. Nice repro stickers and box.
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HeavyArms
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Post by HeavyArms »

Energon Constructicon Maximus - Bought from an eBayer locally. Been hunting this guy on/off since I bought the other two Energon combiners re-released during the Revenge Of The Fallen toyline.
Destruction is my specialty
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electro girl
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Post by electro girl »

Picked up TR Hardhead but he came at a price.

That price was 20 quid.
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HotShot81
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Post by HotShot81 »

electro girl wrote:Picked up TR Hardhead but he came at a price.

That price was 20 quid.
You got taken to the cleaners. I paid close to £7 in Canada for him after currency conversion.
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electro girl
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Post by electro girl »

HotShot81 wrote:You got taken to the cleaners. I paid close to £7 in Canada for him after currency conversion.
That's about standard price now though. Prices go up like Fredo bars.
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Tetsuro
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Post by Tetsuro »

Skyquake87 wrote:G1 Mindwipe!

Given that the TR version is pushing £30, I thought f**k it, and went for one of the G1 Chinese KOs that's clogging up flebay for the same price inc shipping. Bootleg though it is, this is good stuff. Plastics are nice and solid, and this feels as good as the real thing. Nice repro stickers and box.
Honestly tempted to pick up Weirdwolf myself. I already got the original but it seems it's damned near impossible to get his sword separately, plus my Monzo's arms are glued on.
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Tantrum
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Post by Tantrum »

Both waves of CW Autobot Deluxes and the Combaticons are at TJ Maxx/Marshall's now for US$10, but with collector's cards instead of comics If you're lucky, you'll also find an Onslaught there for $15 and can get a complete CW Bruticus for $55.

I grabbed Prowl since I'd originally skipped him. It turns out I like Sky Reign a lot more than I thought I would, so I've been looking for extra limbs to rebuild Ultra Prime. Now, the only mass retail CW Deluxe I'm missing is Ironhide, the only one of his wavemates TJ/M didn't have.

I also got duplicates of Wheeljack and Sunstreaker so I could swap some of SS's black parts for WJ's white parts, and have a WJ that was less bland looking. It's my first time kitbashing, so I wanted spares in case I screwed up. I don't have the tools to remove the pin that holds the hood to the car, which also hold the front and back halves of the torso together, so I could only swap the elbow joints.

Even that's a major improvement over the all white arms WJ had originally. I made a dent in WJ's upper arm trying to use a screwdriver to pop the elbow joint out. Now that I know what I'm doing on those, I may just swap my other WJ's upper arm in, since he's probably going to stay a limb now anyway.

The next steps would be red paint for the wheel rims, and black or blue paint on the bot mode windshield. Any thoughts on paint brand/prep work?
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