Third party toy discussion (stuff that's been released)

Figures, collectables, customs and collecting.
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Knightdramon
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Post by Knightdramon »

Yeah...same with the previous review, perhaps it's the inbetween medium, but I don't like his tone.

Had a laugh about one line at the end though---"enough with the by fans for fans bullshit--we want your money".

Finally, even f*cking jokingly, somebody said it. People can actually be good at what they are doing without doing it as a "charity". People can actually have a passion for designing figures without being hailed as charitable gods that rose to the occasion to present us with the fruits of their labour and passion.

I believe their "MP style" line will backfire [they already showed a CAD for their Mirage yesterday], at least initially. They have a limited pallette of characters [ie are there many people who will buy THEIR MP Prowl when Takara's is available for cheaper?] and they always run the danger of being cancelled out by a single announcement from takara.
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Post by Denyer »

Magnus didn't cancel Stack, nor do official Grimlocks seem likely to cancel the various 3P ones in the offing.

TW Roar is probably my fave 3P dino to date -- it's an updated original, basically. The stego plates on the legs are nowhere near as distracting as photos suggest and the chrome works a treat. Not sold on what the producer has done with their Sludge homage to give it backpack legs but I wouldn't completely rule out going all-in at a later date, as I'm sufficiently impressed with the Snarl.

Speaking of which, ended up going with regular deco Cubrar to round out voyager 3P dinos in the interest of moving on to other stuff and liking the goofy Animated styling, horns and all.
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Knightdramon
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Post by Knightdramon »

Yeah, some clarification on my end---by cancelled out, I don't mean actual cancelling of the release [although this did happen with acousticwave], I mean the sales interfering with each other.

Grimlock is a special case as the original came out in...mid 2008? Early 2009? So it's "old news" by now, no matter how terrific it still is.

Azalea is out for a while now, and all across reviewers hail it as "not fun to transform, only fun to pose", which is sad, considering the near excellent track record of all the Feral Cons.
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Post by Denyer »

Has there been any indication sales have suffered all that much from several attempts at Magnus being offered? I think FT just play it safer, including not wanting to be in the centre of the radar. With Stack it's made more difficult to judge because QC will have affected sales -- but it did get more than one run, apparently.
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Post by Knightdramon »

Any real indication? Besides first and second hand discussions here and there, not really. I know *I* might have gone for Stack if MP Magnus was not in the pipeline at that point. But Stack is from KFC as well, who have a very bad reputation in general.

Of course there's people who double dip, so you can't say for sure. Some companies do play it much safer---FT had bad luck and timing with Soundwave, but nailed their timing with Quakewave, and I sincerely doubt that Takara will go for the other Dinos.
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Post by AndrewDTurnbull »

I had a fiddle with a Citizen Stack at AA. Not great, quite flimsy and cheap feeling. It's MP scale, but in terms of the transformation process feels as if it had been conceived as a smaller toy and then upscaled.

I wouldn't encourage anyone to go out of their way to find one.
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Post by Knightdramon »

Stack was designed by Cassy/Cassey Stark, the guy who did that 3rd party panel, who also designed the majority of Feral Rex.

From what I've been gathering, KFC as a company had a very laid back/almost counterproductive stance against what they were doing, and many people/customers bailed on them.

Their "revamped" self is X-Transbot, and some UK retailers even dropped their preorders and made a big fuss over how unprofessional they are.

That being said, knock wood their Transistor [not Blaster] looks and handles great and is on my shortlist of "may purchase" items.
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Post by Denyer »

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Post by Knightdramon »

Hmmm...hasbro's latest offerings aren't such hot sellers, it seems.

Plus, knee jerk reaction to omegabridge's price on jetfire :lol:
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Post by numbat »

Generations Leader Jetfire just cost me £35 GBP all in preordered from Robotkingdom way back when (think he may be even cheaper now). So £38 from Kapow doesn't seem a great deal on sale...

I'd recommend the Omega Supreme upgrade kit for YOTS Omega Supreme. It's really very very cool! One of my most fun purchases ever I think!

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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Post by Knightdramon »

For me the best deal of that sale is PE Guardian. If I had any attachment for RID Maximus I'd be all over that thing. Apparently it criminally undersold and PE are cancelling the "regular" release.

HLJ [if the site is not down] had the japanese version of leader jetfire [preorder] for around 30 pounds. In fact I preordered whirl, roadbuster and jetfire [all japanese] for around 62 pounds total.

Only then, it dawned on me that maaaaybe I'll need to cut back down on my 3RD party planned purchases. I ain't saying that 3 hasbro figures are of equal or better value, but damn...lots of money per figure for so frequent releases. MP Magnus only cost me 82 pounds before shipping, and he's takara's big money item [the ONE per year].

Hmmm.
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Post by Heinrad »

I'm seriously thinking about getting the Speedoo and Guartinel set.

Has anybody gotten these? They look like they're about the same size as the Generations Legends Targetmasters.
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Post by Denyer »

Also some 3P bits on sale in http://masterforce.co.uk/specials.php
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Warcry
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Post by Warcry »

So my Hexatron arrived today! After spending some time fiddling with him, I find myself both impressed and underwhelmed.

First, the positives:

The toy is a great likeness of Sixshot in all six modes. It looks really good, and manages to capture the hulking badassery that most of the modern art of the character tries to convey. He seems huge and imposing, even compared to something like MP Grimlock.

The beast mode in particular is a lot more impressive than what I was expecting from a Sixchanger with all the requisite compromises that entails. The limbs are unrealistically bulky, but he's still quite poseable and even manages to look fairly fluid in spite of being basically a collection of blocks. The other alt-modes are what they are, and range from "okay" (the jet) to "ridiculous" (the tank). But they're pretty solidly accurate to the original, and weren't any less silly in 1987. The robot mode has good articulation and solid balance. The limbs are so bulky that it hampers range of motion a bit, but again, that's just how Sixshot is. The designers definitely made the most of what they had to work with. His shoulders in particular work way better than they have any right to.

The transformations are also quite intuitive. As someone who's never touched the original Sixshot, I had no idea how some of the configurations worked. And after hearing a lot of horror stories about how tough some of the modes can be, I wasn't expecting it to be a toy I could transform without instructions, but I more-or-less did. Admittedly that's partly due to the instructions being totally useless, but I still managed to get them all figured out with minimal headache. The leg flaps were a bit dicey going into jet/plane/APC modes, but other than that everything moved exactly the way I thought it should.

And obviously I haven't tested this hypothesis too strenuously, but he seems like a really well-built, tough figure (with one exception that I'll touch on in a second). The price tag means that I'm not liable to let a kid get their hands on him, but if I did I'd be very confident that he'd survived unscathed.

But there's also negatives:

The hands are the exception to the above and look ridiculously frail. I don't mind individually-articulated fingers in general, but there's a good reason why even official MPs usually avoid it. Even on a relatively big set of hands there's the potential for breakage, and Hexatron's hands aren't very big. In fact they're practically dainty considering his bulk, and those fingers look really fragile.

There's also some major tolerance issues -- his right hand is really tight when I try to put either of his cannons in, and a lot of the small tabs that are supposed to hold his alt-modes together don't actually fit together. His joints are tight enough that the latter isn't really a huge issue, but it's still an annoyance. Out of the four hundred or so Hasbro TFs I've owned in my life I've only had a handful with such poor "fit" right out of the box, so it's not a great first impression even if it's not unprecedented in official figures.

I'm not sure whether it's the plastic they used or the paint, but his torso and lower legs (basically all the teal and purple parts) feel extremely slippery. I almost feel like I'm going to drop it if I pick the toy up by any of those parts.

Last but not least, the figure really is overdetailed. It isn't as obvious in person as it is in pictures, but whether you put him beside an MP figure or a Generations one it's immediately obvious that he doesn't "belong". Luckily my collection is a bit of a mishmash of different lines, so he's not alone in that regard. Still, I suspect that once I've got a permanent display set up he'll either stay in beast mode or have a couple smaller figures strategically positioned to hide his heavily-ribbed legs.

(I'm not going to bitch about the price. Yes it's high, but official figures in the same size/complexity bracket go for about the same. I can't honestly say he's worth the money, but then I have a hard time saying that about $100+ MPs either...)

Overall, I'm pretty satisfied. Hexatron's not fantastic, but he'd probably merit a solid 7/10 if I was reviewing him for the site.
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Post by Clay »

Warcry wrote: The other alt-modes are what they are, and range from "okay" (the jet) to "ridiculous" (the tank). But they're pretty solidly accurate to the original, and weren't any less silly in 1987.
Yep! The idea that all six modes would be stellar is akin to idea that the new voyager Whirl wouldn't be gangly and ugly. It wouldn't be true to the character design if they were prettied up.

The hands are the exception to the above and look ridiculously frail. I don't mind individually-articulated fingers in general, but there's a good reason why even official MPs usually avoid it. Even on a relatively big set of hands there's the potential for breakage, and Hexatron's hands aren't very big. In fact they're practically dainty considering his bulk, and those fingers look really fragile.
I also found the tiny hands strange. At least the 5mm slots are entirely in the palms though. It's nothing like trying to get Alternators to holds their guns if their hands get loose, even with the tiny little pegs in the gun handles.

But the general fragility of some parts of third party figures is also a result of their intended audience: older fans. Whereas the mainline stuff all has to be engineered to survive a six-year-old's play, the niche stuff can be more intricate and delicate by benefit of its target market not chewing on the figures or slamming them on the ground.
There's also some major tolerance issues -- his right hand is really tight when I try to put either of his cannons in, and a lot of the small tabs that are supposed to hold his alt-modes together don't actually fit together. His joints are tight enough that the latter isn't really a huge issue, but it's still an annoyance. Out of the four hundred or so Hasbro TFs I've owned in my life I've only had a handful with such poor "fit" right out of the box, so it's not a great first impression even if it's not unprecedented in official figures.

I'm not sure whether it's the plastic they used or the paint, but his torso and lower legs (basically all the teal and purple parts) feel extremely slippery. I almost feel like I'm going to drop it if I pick the toy up by any of those parts.
Hmm. Don't have any of those problems with mine, but it's an older production run with different guns. Did you try plugging in other figures' weapons to see if it's the holes or the pegs? No ideas about the paint, though.
Overall, I'm pretty satisfied. Hexatron's not fantastic, but he'd probably merit a solid 7/10 if I was reviewing him for the site.
Yeah, I have a few nitpicks about him too (bigger hands, bigger wings for the jet), but I really like him. It's as good as Sixshot can really be without deleting half of the alternate modes.
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Post by Warcry »

Clay wrote:Yep! The idea that all six modes would be stellar is akin to idea that the new voyager Whirl wouldn't be gangly and ugly. It wouldn't be true to the character design if they were prettied up.
Exactly! I mean, you could probably use modern engineering to make a better sixchanger with the same modes, but if the end result doesn't look like the character you're trying to evoke then what's the point?
Clay wrote:I also found the tiny hands strange. At least the 5mm slots are entirely in the palms though. It's nothing like trying to get Alternators to holds their guns if their hands get loose, even with the tiny little pegs in the gun handles.
The only thing I can think of re: the tiny hands is that they figured the forearms were already so huge that they didn't want to make them any bigger. An extra millimetre on each axis would have made a world of difference, though!

The "half-socket" 5mm slots in the hands are a brilliant touch, though! It's a simple solution to a problem that Takara hasn't been able to deal with over ten or more years of making toys with articulated hands.
Clay wrote:But the general fragility of some parts of third party figures is also a result of their intended audience: older fans. Whereas the mainline stuff all has to be engineered to survive a six-year-old's play, the niche stuff can be more intricate and delicate by benefit of its target market not chewing on the figures or slamming them on the ground.
Honestly, I don't think we should let manufacturers off that easily. I've heard the same thing used to defend used all sorts of companies making toys for older collectors, from third-party Transformers groups to high-end Japanese figures to DC Collectibles' recent Batman figures. But in the end I don't think it matters who a figure is designed for. Accidents happen, and toys that shatter if you look at the the wrong way are crap no matter who they're marketed to.

Though other than the tiny hands I don't think there's a single thing on Hexatron that I'd call fragile. I'm not about to try it, but I suspect he'd be no less safe in a child's hands than most Hasbro toys.
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Post by Knightdramon »

Interesting take on what is a figure I find myself going back and forth a lot.

On one hand, Hexatron is one of my fave figures. Undisputed. On the other hand, I've for some reason likened him to the MMC Predacons, so not having the entire bunch somehow takes away from him. Weird I know.

Hex is tad odd, proportion-wise, when next to any other figure his size. He has a TINY head [his helmet fits MP Rumble, but is tiny next to MP Starscream's head], slim and elongated torso and generally looks thin and lanky next to other bots.

I've come to terms with his modes---spaceship and wolf are my favourite, with the tank [legs used as cockpit, not cannon] a close 3rd.

Robot mode is fairly poseable for his size and bits in the way [seriously, the fins off his chest do not limit the articulation of his arms almost at all], and surprisingly stable too.

I have the black version and some issues with it are more prevalent than others---both his guns are painted over with gloss dark green paint---the handles flake like crazy because they are so TIGHT on the hands. The semi-painted handles of his cleavers somewhat suffer of the same deal. Both guns and cleavers are too heavy for his BALL jointed hands---I'd happily sacrifice the half milimetre of all around movement for nice tight swivel joints. One hand of his sags limp with the cleaver on.

While very finely detailed, this is one mould that paint works against it---the black version has fully painted glossy lower legs [knee down], which adds a layer of thickness onto many tabs down there. Accordingly, the continium version suffers similarly but has different paint all over.

And lastly, while the continium version looks it's the best deal, it's actually the worst---the chest wings are now ugly stumps, and the new head is too square and blocky in my opinion. Guns I could go either way, but the lack of swords is a bit hit against this mould.

:up:
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Denyer
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Post by Denyer »

Think I prefer the original, TBH -- and found someone selling a downsized version yesterday that looks like it'd fit with other stuff I've got. Boxy works.

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Although the new one's definitely a nice revision IMO.

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Post by Warcry »

The original Sixshot is pretty cool as well, though I think I actually prefer Quickswitch on the grounds that he's so bad that it's hilarious. I can't say I've ever had much ambition to own either one, though. When it comes to G1 my tastes have always skewed towards the small, cute stuff.
Knightdramon wrote:Hex is tad odd, proportion-wise, when next to any other figure his size. He has a TINY head [his helmet fits MP Rumble, but is tiny next to MP Starscream's head], slim and elongated torso and generally looks thin and lanky next to other bots.
His head is tiny, but so many Transformers have super-tiny heads that I find myself desensitized to it. I honestly didn't even notice until you mentioned.

I love that he's got a more slender build than Grimlock or the like, though. It makes him stand out a bit from the crowd.
Knightdramon wrote:And lastly, while the continium version looks it's the best deal, it's actually the worst---the chest wings are now ugly stumps, and the new head is too square and blocky in my opinion. Guns I could go either way, but the lack of swords is a bit hit against this mould.
I actually feel exactly the opposite -- the mods made to the Continuum version were what finally convinced me to get one. The new head is a better likeness of the character and fits the blocky mold better, the old, blade-like chest wings were unsightly, the random Drift-sword bootlegs were silly and the silhouette is much sleeker without the scabbards. But I vastly prefer the original guns.

I suppose that's part of the appeal of limited-run collectibles, though. It's much easier to cater to the tastes of different segments of the target market.
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Post by Denyer »

Well, the leg extensions for Perfect Effect Warden look gangly, particularly if he isn't being displayed with the treads on his back, so I've just added the new kneecaps and leg guns and given him the shotgun...

It's sort of like a real-life Dreamwave effect if the clip-on bits and new feet were used;

https://www.flickr.com/photos/foibless2k/16055716768/

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