The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread

[David Hingtgen]

The way they did the dino-hands, is just a deal-killer for me.  No matter how hard I try, I can't look past it (literally).  

[M'Kyuun]

Agree. As Transformers go, this one is pretty lazy. I think they bet more on the novelty of a female Dinobot , and everything else, including effective engineering, went out the door.

[anime52k8]

It really looks like an older toy that hasn't aged well, but it came out less than 3 years ago.

[JB0]

Honestly, I think they had bigger plans and then something went wrong. The hand articulation implies they are supposed to fold into the arms, but they don't. And the tolerances are all screwed up in several places, from a manufacturer that isn't known for incompetence. 

 

I don't know if budget or schedule or what got in the way, but it really feels like it was only half-finished. Hell, maybe they just blew all their engineering budget on the legs.

...

Fortunately, I like curvy robots for their own sake. 

[anime52k8]

BTW, exciting new 3P fembot: SEXYWAVE!

 

Edited December 22, 2019 by anime52k8

[M'Kyuun]

Eh, the novelty of femmebots with anthropomorphic curves doesn't really excite me as much as the level of engineering brought to bear in a femmebot. I have MMC's Arcee, which I think does a good job of capturing a feminine appearance with a satisfying transformation that results in a fairly accurate approximation of her animated car mode. She's not without her concessions, but on the whole, a pretty good figure. Arcee's a tough one to do, so a fig that turns out this well, especially with the excellent levels of articulation achieved and minimal kibble (especially compared to HasTak's Generations figure) is worthy of merit. I also have Big Firebird's Nicee PO'd, and it's overtly sexualized, which isn't to my taste exactly ( as a robot, I'd rather it was more subdued, but I get what they're going for. So be it), but I really like the overall styling, the mechanical details (like moving hydraulic cylinders at the joints), a possible hideaway gun feature similar to Robocop's, and a good car mode that has it's own style and yet is unmistakably Arcee's. It's a good looking toy so far, and I fence-sat for awhile before deciding to go ahead and get her. I probably won't display her with the rest of my MP collection, as MMC's Azalea is filling the role in that display, but I'll likely make a spot for her on my desk somewhere. I'm also looking forward to Big Firebird's rumored Windblade in the same style. 

 

Was about to post when Anime52's post popped up. Sexywave Looks suspiciously like Big Firebird's work (speak of the devil). Will have to do some research.

[JB0]

29 minutes ago, anime52k8 said:

BTW, exciting new 3P fembot: SEXYWAVE!

 

This confuses me. I love Shockwave, but platonically, you know?

[M'Kyuun]

So yeah, this is Nicee with Shockwave's noggin. I wonder if that's going to be an odd extra with the final release, if they have an actual separate fig in the works, or if they're just having a bit of fun?  This pic reminds me again of the amazing sculptwork, D-cups notwithstanding. I'm hoping she'll come with optional smaller chesticles- not a fan of big boobs, regardless of who or what bears them.

[anime52k8]

just an amusing mistransformation and some photoshop on their part for the giggles. 

 

 

[slaginpit]

Jesus. Does that thing actually have a clit 

Edited December 22, 2019 by slaginpit

[M'Kyuun]

Not a clit , per se, but there is a strategically placed slot suspiciously reminiscent of external female reproductive anatomy. Could just be coincidence....  She has a rather well sculpted bum, too.  As I said, her very feminine depiction is none too subtle.  It makes little sense within the context of her being a mechanical entity (TF's often mentioned 'rolling off the assembly line' in the original show, thus negating any conception that some form of sexual reproduction was , or could be, involved. To my practical mind, that's the only plausibility- they're built, not born). However, dudes like T&A (and some women, too), and this is definitely intended to appeal to those who like that sort of thing. I'm not into sexualized robots myself, but there are other redeeming qualities of this fig that I like enough  to warrant getting her, and a potential Windblade, who'll likely share the same attributes. As a straight male who thinks the female form is most agreeable, I can live with the aesthetic choices.

Sexualized bots is definitely a thing- it's all over DeviantArt, which kinda gives a little credence to the first part of the site's name.  You're almost guaranteed to get a few examples when Googling any fembot from Transformers. And some male bots.  I don't get the fascination, but it's out there. Such is the world we live in. A little scary if you give it any real consideration....

[anime52k8]

It's not that complicated; if it exists, there's porn of it. No exceptions.

[mikeszekely]

My Black Friday shopping arrived so I've got a bit of stuff to talk about (to say nothing of the fact that I'm still waiting on DX9's Capone, but has been in limbo since it left China on the 6th).  Between the holidays and a death in the family I'm not sure when I'll get everything out, but I have a little time tonight and I want to do this one while it's fresh.  It's Fans Toys' Goose, their MP Skydive.

Comparing the Goose with Zeta's version of Skydive feels almost unfair.  Goose is far more cartoon accurate, but even if I cut Zeta some slack and say that they were really designed to be more toy-accurate the differences in materials are stark.  The plastic feels better, there's more diecast- Goose weighs 548g, a little short of double Zeta's 298g. And everything you see on Goose in the above picture is painted except for part of his bicep and elbow joint and his hands.

One thing that is actually more Zeta, cartoon or toy, is the backpack.  Zeta copied the G1 toy, leaving part of the fuselage and the wings on the calves and only bringing the tail to the backpack, with the horizontal stabilizers making the robot wings.  Goose, on the other hand, has pretty much the entire jet folded up into his backpack, only leaving the horizontal stabs on the backs of his legs.  I might argue that Zeta's backpack is, perhaps, a little cleaner and doesn't protrude from his spine as much as Goose's.  But the thing is, if you give Zeta's a shake it's backpack will probably start to come undone, while Goose's backpack isn't going budge unless you're deliberately trying to transform it.  And that winds up being another reason why Goose just doesn't look better, he feels better.  Granted, Goose costs nearly twice as much; I'd be very disappointed if he didn't.

I find it a bit curious, though, that Goose is taller than Zeta's version. One of the arguments for Seeker-sized Stunticons was because they're rivals with the Seeker-sized Aerialbots, yet Goose is larger than a Seeker or FT's own Stunticons.  He's not as tall as your various options for an MP Prime or Megatron, though.

Moving along, Goose doesn't come with too many accessories, but what he's got is perfectly adequate.  You've got at alternate, yelling face, and a pair of guns.  Even the guns are painted.

Again, per FT's rep, all the extra parts needed to make Superion will come with the final team member.

Now we're starting to get to the trouble in paradise- articulation.  His head is on a hinged swivel that can look up a bit, nothing really down, and even the swivel is a little to about 60 degrees to either side.  His shoulders rotate on ratchets, but the joint is both weirdly far forward on his torso and weirdly set in the upper forward corner of the cube that is his shoulders, so rotating his shoulders kind of looks weird.  They can also extend laterally 90 degrees.  His biceps can swivel.  His elbows bend a little short of 90 degrees.  His wrists can swivel.  His thumb is a solid piece on a ball joint.  His other four fingers are all individually articulated, pinned at the base knuckle with another hinge at the middle knuckle.  His waist has been the subject of some discussion.  He has a ratcheted waist swivel, but due to a flap that covers over the backpack hinges in jet mode his waist only turns to his right.  It's irritating, because the flap is actually connected to his butt, but if they'd simply put the hinge higher up so it was connected to his back it'd have turned with the rest of the backpack instead of impeding it.  However, I should point out that you can rotate his waist almost 360 degrees, so if you want him posed turning his waist to the left you can turn him to the right until his torso is in the same basic position.

Continuing, his hip skirts have hinges, and with them folded up out of the way they ratchet forward 90 degrees, backward 45 degrees, and they can move laterally on friction joints 90 degrees.  His thighs can swivel around the hip joints.  His knees are ratcheted and bend 90 degrees.  His feet have a slight up/down tilt, and very deep ankle pivots.

His pistols are standard MP fare, with tabs on the handles that fit into slots on his palms.  They fit nice and snug, no issues there.

To my untrained eye, Goose looks better in F-16 mode, too.  More of the nose is black, the cockpit seems more proportional, and the fuselage isn't quite as wide.  The gunport is molded on to the left of the cockpit, and the fixed portion of the trailing edge of the wings have little static dischargers on them.  While Goose does have those two hinges near the back of the cockpit the wings aren't marred by unpainted gray nylon hinges, leaving room for larger, more accurate lightning bolts.  The vertical stabilizer also has its lightning bolts, but the rest of the stab is a beautiful metallic blue which, again, makes it more accurate to both the cartoon and the G1 toy.  As for the bulk of the fuselage I do kind of like the silver paint, although I'm fairly certain that real F-16s don't sport such metallic colors.  The silver might be more accurate on the afterburner nozzle, but that does leave me wishing FT had painted it a different color like gunmetal just to separate it from the rest of the fuselage, especially since it was a little darker in the cartoon.

When you could see how much of the jet was crammed into his backpack you had figure out much robot would be chilling out under that jet once you transformed him.  Goose enjoys none of the extra engineering that FT used to try to flatten their Silverbolt.  I can't say that I'm really mad at that, though.  For one, I'd imagine that the brickish shape will help with his leg mode.  For two, the aggravation that extra engineering caused when transforming Silverbolt wasn't really worth it, in my opinion.  Sure, the brick was thinner and less obviously a folded-up robot, but it was still present.  Goose, by contrast, is pretty easy to transform, with the bulk of the transformation being unfolding the backpack into a plane or folding the plane into a backpack.

The handles on Goose's guns can fold back, revealing small pegs that can fit into peg holes under his wings.  Be careful, though; I'm not sure FT accounted for paint, so the tolerances are pretty tight.  I'm good so far, but I know of at least one person who's sheared that peg off trying to remove the gun.

Goose's canopy can open, revealing a little seat inside.  Opening the canopy and moving the seat and console are actually necessary steps in the transformation if you want to get the front landing gear out when you transform him.  If you want to stow the gear you have to partially undo the transformation to fold it back in; because Goose's head is hiding in the intake the landing gear isn't a small piece stored in there, it's a long rod hinged above the intake, and the bulk of it winds up behind the seat in the cockpit.  Fortunately there's no issues with the rear landing gear; they're just little wheels on hinges that store behind his knee pads.

I've often said that Fans Toys has a habit of making hefty robots that look nice but often have horrible engineering and/or articulation issues that make me loathe to handle or recommend them.  With their Stunticons, though, I thought they were turning over a new leaf, giving us robots with fairly intuitive yet clever transformations and good articulation.  Their Silverbolt was, for me, a disappointing backslide to the old Fans Toys.  I didn't think it was fun to transform, plus it had fairly limited articulation.  I told myself I'd try one of their Aerialbot limbs, and that if I didn't like it I was going to sell the two I have and be out on this set.  Well, it looks like I'm still in.  To be clear, I do think Goose has some quirks, and no, I don't think he's as good as FT's Breakdown, but I'd still say Goose is pretty good on the whole.  Time will tell if Fans Toys can pull of the combined Superion, but I'm still content with Zeta's Superion.  It's their individual Aerialbots that I'm not as fond of, and as a standalone Skydive I'm much more satisfied with Goose.  I'm going to give Goose a recommend.

[M'Kyuun]

Condolences for your loss, Mike, and thanks for the review. FT did a fair job at translating the F-16, although I can't judge them too harshly for the boxiness of the undercarriage, as that's just the nature of just about every aircraft, especially fighters, in the Transformer universe since the 80's, and certainly true to the Aerialbot aesthetic, such as it is.  TBH, I wasn't a fan of them back then, and I'm still not much of a fan, at least of maintaining the 80's design philosophy. I'd love to see the Aerialbots receive the same kind of engineering that Unique Toys have been applying to the Bayformer figs, and actually make accurate looking aircraft that unfurl into these boxy bots. Heck, I wouldn't be bothered if some license were taken to make the bots less boxy, as that's really just a holdover of 80's limitations. So, I'm still waiting for that 'perfect' set of Aerialbots to come along, and then I might get excited, as I like all the aircraft involved, especially the Harrier, the F-15, and the Concorde. Given the state of toy tech, and the rate that it continues to improve, the more I believe it's an achievable goal, and I hope one of these companies is up to the challenge.

Props to you, good sir, for your proper references to aircraft bits. I wasn't aware that the protuberances on the wingtips were static dischargers, so I learned something as well. I worked on a base with F-15s &F-16s for three years (I worked on B-1B Lancers at the time, just down the flightline from the 16s. Crazy loud little SOBs when they start their takeoff runs. We used to joke about hanging F-16s from the bombers' wings as guided missiles). F-16's are so cute.

Edited December 22, 2019 by M'Kyuun

[mikeszekely]

4 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Props to you, good sir, for your proper references to aircraft bits

After the discussion we had about flaps? I had a parts diagram of an F-16 in front of me when I was writing! 

[M'Kyuun]

I often hear teachers say, "If I only reach one person, it was worth the effort". My job here is done.

[mikeszekely]

In 2017 I reviewed Archenemy (RiD Scourge) and Gunfighter II (G2 Laser Optimus). Even though he came out the same year, I didn't get a review up for Power Baser (Super Ginrai/Powermaster Optimus Prime) until January 2018.  And Double Evil (Overlord) is in my top five figures for this year.  At this point, although I did question the value of Archenemy and the necessity for Gunfighter, it's safe to say I'm a fan of Fans Hobby.  So, when they had their holiday sale around Thanksgiving I used the opportunity to get caught up on some molds I missed (and at this point I've now skipped most of the repaints but I think I do own at least one of every mold they've produced).  So let's finish out 2019 looking at some stuff from years gone by, starting with MB-09... which is a trailer.

Technically, MB-09 is two trailers.  MB-09A is meant for Archenemy, and MB-09B is meant for Gunfighter II.  Externally the only difference is some of the detail on the sides; A is silver, B is red, to match the original RiD/G2 toys.  Both trailers roll on rubber tires, and both have fold-down support legs for standing the trailers up without a tractor under them.  They both have some chrome parts, including ladders on the rear, and painted tail lights.  I could mention that A is painted silver instead of chromed up, but the silver paint on the trailer matches the silver paint FH used on Archenemy.  And silver paint is an improvement over the gray plastic on the original Laser Prime.

Perhaps expecting that they might have a hard time moving trailers for trucks most people display in robot mode, Fans Hobby loaded them with a ton of accessories.  The A version comes with a double-barreled gun similar to the one used in the Robots in Disguise anime; the B version doesn't because Gunfighter already has the same gun.  The rest of the accessories are (basically) the same.  You get a pair of arm reinforcements, a satellite dish, six shells, five discs, six blast effect parts, six missiles, and an alternate head sculpted a little more like the anime and the original toys (Scourge-colored for A, Prime colored for B).  There's also three adapters for pulling the trailer.  One is, of course, for Archenemy/Gunfighter, since it would be kind of silly to make a trailer for them that they can't pull.  One is for Power Baser, in case you wanted Ginrai to pull a tanker instead of his super-mode trailer.  And the last one is for MP-10, which kind of makes sense since there were plenty of variants of that mold that were sold without a trailer.

You may have noticed that the B trailer is silver like the A and thought, "didn't Laser Optimus have some crazy stickers on his trailer?"  He did indeed, and Fans Hobby has you covered there.  Both the A and B trailers came with this sticker sheet, featuring artwork by none other than the Marvel comics Transformers G2 artist Geoff Senior.  Now, if your thinking that Laser Optimus' trailer said "Optimus Prime" and not "Gunfighter II" and would prefer something more copyright-infringing but more accurate you'll also find coupons for 50% off the Reprolabels set for the trailer, which also has artwork by Geoff Senior (just be warned that 50% off is still over $30).

I like the new, more anime-accurate head for Archenemy.  However, especially since Laser Optimus hasn't appeared in any media (to my knowledge) I'm keeping the original head on Gunfighter to make them more distinct.

Archenemy can hold the new gun just fine, which shouldn't be a surprise, using the same Maketoys-style system of sliding a notch on the back of the handle into rails in his palm.  The new arm reinforcements, which just clip into the molding of his forearms, happen to have peg holes on them that allow the rifle, Gunfighter's G1-style rifle, and presumably Power Baser's rifles and shoulder cannons, to be mounted onto Archenemy or Gunfighter's forearms.

For the rest of the accessories we're going to have to look at the trailer itself.  The trailer splits open, similar to but not exactly like the original toys.  MB-09 has a bit of a ramp at the front, and in place of the air-powered missile launcher you have a large gun.  Also new to MB-09 are some small fold-out guns near the tires on the sides and a double-barreled gun in the front.  You can attach the fire-effect parts to the small guns or the double-barreled gun.  You can also attach them to either of the rifle that came with MB-09A or either of the guns that came with Gunfighter, or the four circular bits on Gunfighter or Archenemy's shoulders.  The satellite dish plugs into the front of the ramp, and if you have Gunfighter his G1-style rifle can also plug into the ramp.  The rifle that came with A or the G2-style rifle that came with Gunfighter can plug under the big gun.  Speaking of the big gun, the shells can be loaded into it and fired with a spring-loaded mechanism.  Likewise, the missiles go into the square missile launcher on the one side of the trailer and are similarly spring-loaded.  The discs go in the disc launcher on the other side of the trailer, and once again it's spring-loaded.

Note how the gun is on a rotating pedestal.  Fans Hobby calls this "base mode I."

Needless to say, they wouldn't call it "Base Mode I" if there wasn't a Base Mode II.  The only real difference his that the large gun and pedestal detach, then the handles (which are mounted on a ball joint) turn into a new mounting point that clips in behind the ramp while the pedestal turns into more gun with new pull-out handles.  So, not a huge difference, but I suppose it's at least something if you have both Gunfighter and Archenemy, you want them to both be displayed with their trailer bases, but you'd like them to be at least a little distinct visually.

Since we've established that the large gun is, in fact, detachable, the next logical question would probably be "then can Archenemy/Gunfighter hold it?"  Yes, yes they can.  The ball-jointed handle spins around to form one hand grip, while another handle with the Maketoys-style notch flips out on the rear to make a handle for his other hand.  Now, this gun is quite heavy; I had a hard time posing him without his fingers or an arm drooping.  And Fans Hobby seems to be concerned that he weight of the gun in his hands will pull open the flaps that you use to tuck his hands away for truck mode.  The real purpose of those arm reinforcements, then, is to help hold his arms closed, and the manual tells you straight up that you should use them whenever you're posing him with the big gun.

And yes, he does look awkward with it.  It looks too big for him.  Which is probably why Fans Hobby shows Power Baser holding it instead in the manual.

All these accessories are good and all, but what if you just want a trailer to be a trailer?  Well, the trailer doubles as storage for most of the accessories.  To begin, you can plug in the double-barreled rifle that came with MB-09A or with Gunfighter in behind the ramp.  You can also leave the satellite dish in place, but you'll have to remove Gunfighter's G1-style rifle.

Along the sides, in the inner wall of the liquid storage tank, are some grooves for storing the missiles and shells.  They'll stay in place as long as you put them in properly; turn the missiles until their fins are wedged in.  Both sides are identical, not mirrored.  That means you can fit three missiles and three shells on each side.  One the other side, with the peg hole closer to the inside of the base, you can store the sword that came with Archenemy/Gunfighter.  There isn't really room to store the anything in the other side.

All five discs can fit into the disc launcher at one time, and that seems to be where you store them.

With the trailer all closed up you can look at the bottom.  There's a spot where you can store the adapter for connecting the trailer to Archenemy/Gunfighter.  I didn't check to see of the other adapters fit, but they have different shapes and I kind of doubt it.  Nearby, there are four slots that you can use to attach the arm reinforcements.  Now, if you've been keeping track of everything, that means there isn't storage for the fire effect parts, the spare head, the other two trailer adapters, or Gunfighter's other gun.  I don't plan on swapping heads often or using the trailers with MP-10 or Power Baser, so I don't mind boxing up those accessories and putting them away, and Gunfighter's G1-style gun is only a problem for Gunfighter.  I do wish they'd have at least made some storage for the fire-effect parts, though.

Base modes and accessory storage is nice and all, but I think the point of the trailer is to be a trailer, especially for Archenemy to have a cartoon-accurate alt mode.  For them to pull the trailer, first you have to split the legs a little to attach the adapter.  Once the adapter is in place, you drop the little peg near the front of the trailer into the peg hole on the adapter.  The fit allows Archenemy/Gunfighter to pull the trailer, but it's loose enough that the trailer can swivel in place.  One issue I kept running into, although it's more with Archenemy than the trailer, is that the weight of the trailer starts pushing Archenemy's legs apart.  It's not enough for them to separate and for the trailer to come loose, but it is enough to bow out the cab's rear wheels.

Both trailers are well-sculpted, well-built, and add a lot of playability to Archenemy and Gunfighter II.  The catch, though, is that they normally run around $80 (although I got them for around $50 on sale).  I think Fans Hobby really went the extra mile to justify the price, but as I mentioned before it's debatable whether you need a trailer at all if you're displaying in robot mode.  But I think I do recommend MB-09A if you have Archenemy, but you can skip MB-09B.  Laser Optimus doesn't appear in any fiction I feel like a trailer or a different head sculpt isn't as necessary for Gunfighter.  And he already comes with two guns, one of which you still won't have storage for in the trailer.  For Archenemy, though, you're finally getting a rifle (which Scourge did have in the anime), you're getting a more anime-accurate head (and using it makes Archenemy a little more visually distinct from Gunfighter), you're getting a trailer that makes his alt mode more anime-accurate, and that trailer does store all of his important accessories.

[tekering]

Didn't know about the trailer.  Makes it a lot harder to pass up "Archenemy" now.  

Thanks, as always, for the stellar review.  

[mikeszekely]

Guess I can fit one more in before things get too busy.  Tonight we'll look at Megatooth, Fans Hobby's version of Repugnus.

OK, I know that even though we Fans Hobby's stuff is generally considered MP-scale that they have traditionally put out designs that are a bit stylized.  And I'm usually cool with that.  But holy mother of chonk is that a super chunky robot!  His head and waist a tiny, but his chest is positively enormous.  That chest is supported by some thick thighs and thicker lower legs.  Weirdly, I think his arms are ok.  If Fans Hobby had made the legs a little thinner, his chest not quite so large, and they'd filled in his lats he'd look great, but as it stands he just looks kind of awkward to me.  But maybe that was the point?  Maybe Fans Hobby felt that Monsterbot should have a robot mode that's also somewhat monstrous.  Although, if that's the case, why the Gundam-style tampoes?

I'm not aware of the Monsterbots appearing on any official scale charts, but here's how Megatooth scales with TE-01 (or MS-01, MP-10, or MP-44).  If you think that the Monsterbots should be slightly shorter than Prime, you win.  Since reading IDW's Maximum Dinobots I kind of think of the Monsterbots as being Dinobot-sized.  But frankly, I'm not sure if I could handle a robot this chunky made as tall as Gigapower's Gigasaurs, though.

Megatooth comes with just one accessory.  It's a rifle, nicely molded and pretty similar to the one that came with the G1 toy.

Megatooth's head is on a ball joint, with adequate up/down/sideways tilt and swivel.  His shoulders rotate on ratchets; care must be taken to rotate just the shoulders and not the part it's connected to, and they can extend a little under 90 degrees laterally.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows are double-jointed with ratchets on both end, capable of curling 180 degrees in total.  His wrists can swivel, and because they don't really lock in they can also bend up and down.  His thumbs are fixed.  His index finger is separate from the others, hinged at the base and the mid-knuckle, although it's molded more for a trigger finger and can't straighten enough to point.  The other three fingers are molded as a single piece hinged at the base with no additional joints.  His waist is a ratcheted swivel, and due to his transformation he has ab crunch.  However, his backpack is so heavy and the joint so weak that he's always leaning slightly backward.  I compensated by tilting his pelvis a little.  His hips can go forward and backward about 90 degrees on a ratchet, and a little under 90 degrees laterally also on ratchets.  His thighs swivel, and his double-jointed knee ratchets get them past 90 degrees.  His feet are actually on big ball joints, so they can tilt up and down a little, swivel, and pivot, although I wish he had a little more pivot.

As is the case with Fans Hobby's stuff, Megatooth's rifle has a notch on the back of the handle that fits into rails in his palms.  On my copy the gun fits snugly in his left hand, but it's loose in his right.  Also, weirdly, his fingers have to be open for the gun to fit.

Megatooth's transformation is somewhat similar to the G1 version, much more so than the Prime Wars version, and I think the result is more G1-accurate for it.  I like how the mass shifts on him; his monster chest is considerably narrower, and the chunky robot shins become chunky monster thighs.  He does wind up with his robot arms just folded up and dangling off of his back, although his "wings" help fill the space between them, and I do wish they'd put that spot of red on his tummy that the G1 toy had.  Oh, and each monster hand has two claws like pincers now, instead of the single hook the G1 toy had.  I actually prefer that.  What I don't prefer is that the red part that slid up over the thigh isn't super secure, especially on his left.

Of course, if you want a more G1-accurate look, you can always leave the lower claw stowed way.

In monster mode, the head can swivel but you'll need to lift his "wings"  to clear his robot arms.  His mouth can open, and you can spread the mandibles out a bit.  His monster shoulders can rotate on soft ratchets, but again they're still stronger than the transformation joint they're attached to.  The shoulders can also move laterally, but the amount varies based on how much his shoulder is rotated, from 45-90 degrees.  The monster biceps swivel, and the monster elbow is double-jointed.  His waist can still swivel, and the monster hips and thigh swivels are the same joints as his robot hips.  He can only use the lower knee joint in this mode, which is still enough to get 90 degrees of bend, and he has the same ankles as robot mode.

I looked, but I couldn't find any place to store is gun in monster mode.

You can sort of tell that Megatooth was one of Fans Hobby's earlier designs.  Indeed, although he released after Archenemy in 2017 one of the tampoes above his knee reads "20141111," which I take to mean the design is from November 2014.  While most of the ratchets are good the friction joints are looser than I'd like, the sliding red part on the legs is inelegant, and more could have been done with the robot arms in monster mode.  I'm not a fan of the robot mode due to wonky proportions, but I think Megatooth does pull off the monster mode pretty well.  All-in-all Megatooth isn't bad, but he's probably Fans Hobby's weakest figure.

Ultimately, I think the Monsterbots are pretty obscure characters.  They had minor roles in the Marvel G1 comic and the Headmasters anime, but didn't appear in the US G1 cartoon.  On the one hand that's a weakness- how many collectors feel like they need MP-sized Monsterbots?  However, it's also an unexpected strength, because if you do want MP-sized Monsterbots no one else has even hinted at working on some.  And that's basically what my recommendation boils down to: if you do want an MP-sized Repugnus, especially if you plan on displaying him in monster mode, then this is your only option.  But if you don't have any strong feelings about the Monsterbots and/or you're limiting your collection to just characters that appeared in the US G1 cartoon then by all means pass.  There's nothing special here that makes Megatooth a must-have toy.

[mikeszekely]

Well, it's Christmas Eve, and my four year old daughter is super wound up.  I need to make sure she's definitely asleep before "Santa" can put presents under the tree.  With some time to kill, I guess I can get a quick review done for Fans Hobby's Fei Long, their take on Monsterbot Doublecross. 

Fei Long, like Megatooth, is definitely a chunky boy with a broad chest and narrow waist.  And yet, he doesn't come across as being quite as badly proportioned.  This is, perhaps, because the G1 toy's legs did look a lot like that, and the G1 toy's torso had a similar (if less exaggerated) shape.  I think the biggest departure from G1 is actually his arms.  They're definitely proportionately thicker than the G1 toy's (although the G1 toy was probably closer to Fei Long's chunkiness than to the slender appendages found on the Titans Return version).   They're also more mechanical in appearance.  With all the cool stuff Takara, Gigapower, and Fans Toys have done over the years hiding Dinobot legs and tails it's kind of a bummer that Fans Hobby didn't do more to hide the tail-halves on the sides of his legs, but at least I can say that's accurate to his appearance in the Headmasters anime.  Overall I can't say that I love the aesthetic, but it's definitely an improvement from Megatooth.

Fei Long comes with not one but two rifles, in a silvery-gray plastic.  Which is interesting, because Megatooth's gun was like the G1 version scaled up, but the generic sculpt here isn't a match for the white gun that came with G1 Doublecross.

Fei Long's head is on a ball joint that swivels and can look up a fair bit and tilt his head sideways more than you'd probably ever need, but his prominent chin eliminates any real downward tilt.  His arms can rotate on friction hinges, and they can extend laterally about 90 degrees on another friction joint.  There's a second joint, more for transformation, that can ratchet them further up/out, and he's even got a dedicated butterfly joint.  His biceps swivel.  His elbows are single-jointed and good for around 90 degrees.  With the dragon heads collapsed for robot mode it seems like he doesn't have a wrist swivel, but he actually does.  You just have to slide the dragon head down before your turn it.  His "hands" can open and close.  In fact, both the top and jaw of the dragon heads are double-jointed, allowing them to not just open but to kind of pull back, revealing a large peg hole inside.  His waist can swivel.  His hip skirts can swivel up, but they're connected so both move together.  That allows his hips to go forward about 60 degrees and backward 90 on a ratchet, as well as 90 degrees laterally on a stronger ratchet.  His thighs swivel around his hip joints.  His knees are unfortunately limited to only about 45 degrees, and they're also ratcheted.  His ankles are ball joints, so he has some up/down tilt and some ankle pivot, but the ball joint is horizontally-oriented so it can't swivel like Megatooth's.  The ankle pivot is a little less than I'd like.

Without hands Fei Long doesn't have the usual Fans Hobby/Maketoys method for holding his guns.  Both guns do have more traditional MP-style tabs on their handles, and these plug into slots in the lower jaws of the dragon heads.

Like Megatooth, Fei Long has a transformation that's incredibly similar to the G1 toy.  In this case, the biggest differences are that his head actually folds inside the torso instead of lying on his back, the torso collapses so it's not quite so broad (although the robot might have looked better if it never expanded in the first place), and the monster legs store inside robot calves and form his feet.  And the result is pretty good.  His legs and wings have some red details that the G1 toy didn't, plus his monster limbs are again more mechanical than the organic, molded fur-covered limbs of the G1 toy, but I approve of those changes.  Indeed, my only real complaint here is that the dragon heads seem a little large for the body.

The dragon necks can swivel, both where the neck meets the red part (at the robot bicep) and at the base of the dragon head (the robot wrist).  There's a pair of hinges that let the head look up and down (at the robot shoulder and elbow).  As previously mentioned the jaws open and close.  His monster shoulders are ball joints that can swivel and butterfly a little, but they can't move much laterally.  His monster elbows can curl up a little past 90 degrees, but they can't fully straighten.  His claws don't articulate at all.  His waist locks in monster mode, so no swivel there.  His hips rotate on ratchets, but he can't move them laterally without unpegging them from his body.  The knees are actually his robot ankles, ball joints that bend the knee over 90 degrees but can't fully straighten the legs due to knee caps (made from robot toes).  His beast ankles are ratcheted and bend up and down, but they have no pivot.  The wings have a hinge above his shoulders that can move the wings so they're pointed backward or folded over his body.  A second hinge mid-wing can only bend forward a little bit but folds over backwards almost the whole way.  Sadly, the tail has no articulation.

Unlike Megatooth, Fei Long does have storage for his guns.  There's two holes at the base of his tail, and the handles just peg right into them.

I think I said this when reviewed the Titans Return version, but Doublecross was always my favorite Monsterbot.  I mean, what's not to like about a red, white black, and gray robot that turns into a two-headed dragon?  So it's nice to see some improvements going from Megatooth to Fei Long.  Indeed, with Fei Long we're starting to see a bit more of what I've come to associate with Fans Hobby: simple, effective engineering that makes for a toy that's still fun to mess around with.  That being said, I wish his torso were a little narrower in robot mode, that the dragon heads were more proportional and looked a bit more alive, and that he had better articulation in both modes.  Ultimately, despite being an improvement over Megatooth, I think my verdict is pretty much the same: he's a fun toy that's worth picking up if you're a fan of the design/Monsterbots/Doublecross, especially because I don't see anyone else taking on these characters.  But if you've got no connection the character you're not really missing out on anything if you pass on this one.

[CoryHolmes]

What would be examples of really great engineering choices in 3P figures?  I finally got a Smart Robin from FansProject and the way the wings become the legs and the chest compression is sublime.

 

I adore Peru-Kill for having such a drastically sleek robot mode without a chunk of car on his back.

 

What other figures out there have amazing design choices like those?

[Scyla]

All the UT and DX9 MP movie robots (Challenger, La Heir and Dragoon).

I also like MP 44 and the Transform Element Primes. FTs Maverick, Roadking and Quietus too.

MP Dinobot, Ironhide and Sunstreaker come to mind.

I also liked all the storage for legs and tails on the FT Dinobots.

Edited December 25, 2019 by Scyla

[sqidd]

Can you guys help e out?

I'm starting to amass a pretty good size Prime collection. One thing I don't have is a MP-10/MP-44 type/size example. I'm not going to pay Takara kind of money. One, I don't really care to have the trailer (space reasons). And I will want two. One for each mode. I'm not anti 3P either (already have 3P stuff).

I have seen where there are examples that are truck only (no trailer). But I'm in option overload. There is just so much stuff out there. What would you guys say are the top three options? I know this is the 3P thread, but if let's say the Hasbro Toys R Us version is a great example, put it in the running. Thanks!

[tekering]

4 minutes ago, sqidd said:

One thing I don't have is a MP-10/MP-44 type/size example. I'm not going to pay Takara kind of money.

In that case, your top three options are all third-party, and all will cost less than half what TakaraTomy's latest Masterpiece goes for:

• Magic Square MS-01, "Light of Freedom"
• Transform Element TE-01, "OP Leader"
• the v.2 MP-10 knock-off

Like Mike, I have a slight preference for Magic Square's Prime... but honestly, they're all great figures, and I'd rather have two different versions than buy two of the same figure.

[sqidd]

1 minute ago, tekering said:

In that case, your top three options are all third-party, and all will cost less than half what TakaraTomy's latest Masterpiece goes for:

• Magic Square MS-01, "Light of Freedom"
• Transform Element TE-01, "OP Leader"
• the v.2 MP-10 knock-off

Like Mike, I have a slight preference for Magic Square's Prime... but honestly, they're all great figures, and I'd rather have two different versions than buy two of the same figure.

Thanks!!!

[sqidd]

10 minutes ago, tekering said:

In that case, your top three options are all third-party, and all will cost less than half what TakaraTomy's latest Masterpiece goes for:

• Magic Square MS-01, "Light of Freedom"
• Transform Element TE-01, "OP Leader"
• the v.2 MP-10 knock-off

Like Mike, I have a slight preference for Magic Square's Prime... but honestly, they're all great figures, and I'd rather have two different versions than buy two of the same figure.

Thanks!!!

[sqidd]

After looking at all that I agree, the Magic Square is tops for me.

Looks like that standard paint job unit is not exactly "available". I found a couple eBay auctions, for too much money.

The metallic version is available new from TF Source for a very fair price. Are there any differences to know about aside from the paint? Looks like the metallic is well, metallic. And missing the yellow arrows on the forearms and the Autobot symbol on the shoulder. Anything else to know? I may pull the trigger on one of those.

TF Source Link

Thanks!

 

[derex3592]

@sqidd I just have to get my vote in for the Transform Element Prime if you can find him around $115. He blew me away with the engineering for the transformation process and how "toon accurate" he looks while still having good articulation.  Not every one's cup of tea, and a lot of people do like the Magic Square more, but for me, its TE-01 for my one and only Prime.  Well..I do have original MP-10 which nowadays is kinda whatever, BUT you can slap the MP-10 trailer right onto TE-01. 

Good luck with whichever you go with, they are both great Primes! 

Merry Christmas! 

 

EDIT - I did buy in on the 2nd round which came with the optional head which looks WAY better. I also added the cell shaded window decals from a guy on the TF2005 forums. 

 

Edited December 25, 2019 by derex3592

[Scyla]

@sqidd from what you showed of your collection I feel that both the TE and MS Prime will not have enough paint (the standard releases) and feel too light* for your liking.

I have all four molds and I feel MP-44 has the most shelf presence. After that I would put MP-10.

If you are not in a hurry you could wait if Takara will release a standalone version of MP-44.

MP-10 goes well with Maketoys Despotron. Which is the best MP Megatron. 
 

*with light I want to say too much like a toy and not a collectible.

Edited December 25, 2019 by Scyla

[M'Kyuun]

10 hours ago, CoryHolmes said:

What would be examples of really great engineering choices in 3P figures?  I finally got a Smart Robin from FansProject and the way the wings become the legs and the chest compression is sublime.

 

I adore Peru-Kill for having such a drastically sleek robot mode without a chunk of car on his back.

 

What other figures out there have amazing design choices like those?

I would recommend MMC's Stray(Drift) and Azalea(Arcee), which both have nice car modes (Azalea's is slightly more compromised, as her open cockpit is adequate, but not super detailed, and the back of her bot head is partially visible), but the bot modes both have excellent articulation, with a minimal of kibble.

 

1 hour ago, Scyla said:

 *with light I want to say too much like a toy and not a collectible.

I don't consider heft to be nearly as important in classifying a collectible as engineering, sculptwork, complexity, paint apps/deco, and features. Die-cast is nice, but, for long life of a toy, best if used minimally and more for structural integrity or where thin linkages are necessary for moving parts, or load bearing. I look at my Bandai and Arcadia Macross stuff a good examples of die-cast being used judiciously. They're light, but certainly not toys in the most common sense, as in something I'd give to a child. Just my $.02 on that subject.

[Scyla]

I think it is a fine line to walk on. Heft for hefts sake ist detrimental to a toy. A good example would be Alternity Starscreams die-cast doors. Terrible decision to make those out of metal.

One the other end of the spectrum is MP Star Saber who feels like a $7 soap bottle toy.

And it is not just die-cast it is also the plastic used, the way the joints move, etc.

Sentinel does it well, Bandai Tamashii Nations too. Arcadias VF-1 feels almost too flimsy for my likings.

Edited December 25, 2019 by Scyla

[M'Kyuun]

There's definitely a fragility to Yamato's and, by extension, Arcadia's figures that breeds caution when handling them. I find the Bandai stuff to stuff to be more forgiving, thus far, and just more solid feeling, on the whole. Regardless, I don't handle my Macross toys, or my Transformers, really, all that much, especially my higher end toys. My CHUG shelf is usually my go-to when I get itchy fingers and just want to transform something quick. Most of the MP TFs, especially the more recent ones from the last couple of years, have a complexity such that, unless one remains familiar with each transformation, the process can be simultaneously worrying (that you'll break something) and frustrating (by virtue of forgetting steps, dealing with close or tight tolerances, etc), which deters me from wanting to handle them much. I usually find a pose I like, and leave them. Likewise my Macross stuff, although recently, with Macross 7 fresh on my mind, I pulled down my VF-19S and transformed it for the first time in years. What a glorious figure, nigh perfect in just about every respect.

As to the use, and feel of die cast, I'll concur that a hefty fig does feel good in the hands, but time is usually harsher to those figs that have it in abundance. To that end, I find myself preferring its use as purely utilitarian when it serves to strengthen something that would be too stressful for plastic. I know a lot of third parties still use it, much more so than HasTak, who've all but abandoned it except in the rarest of occasions. As long as it's used judiciously and, for lack of a better word, strategically, throughout a given figure, with proper tolerances applied to the joints of said figure, then it lends itself well to heft and presentation. I'm thinking of FT's Dibots- good use of diecast in those guys, and they present very well, with Soar (Swoop) being the one exception, as his upper torso is diecast, and his knees are not really toleranced for how top-heavy he is. He's just a heavy figure, period.

Referring back to Mike's Monsterbot reviews, I like what Fans Hobby did with both of these. The proportions in both modes for each appeal to me. They're not exactly on my radar , but I appreciate the designs nonetheless. Personally, I only had Grotusque as a kid, and spent the additional ducats to get the HasTak exclusive, which I like. I'll give props to HasTak, as they managed to use the same basic mold for all three Monsterbots, and still managed to differentiate them through various remolded bits and transformation processes. The only one I didn't get was Repugnus, as I wasn't interested in them when they were first introduced in TR or PotP (I forget which). I later found Doublecross on discount, so I have two out of three of the official toys. Anyway, Grotusque remains my favorite of the three, and I hope there's a Fans Hobby version for review coming soon.

[mikeszekely]

17 hours ago, CoryHolmes said:

What would be examples of really great engineering choices in 3P figures?  I finally got a Smart Robin from FansProject and the way the wings become the legs and the chest compression is sublime.

 

I adore Peru-Kill for having such a drastically sleek robot mode without a chunk of car on his back.

 

What other figures out there have amazing design choices like those?

Sorry for the late reply, everyone, but Christmas is the one day of year that's a big production in my house.  So I've been looking in on this surprisingly active thread today, but didn't have time to engage until now.

Anyway, if you like Smart Robin then Code's pretty good, too.  Not quite as clever, and the robot's articulation dates him, but he's still pretty fun.  And if you like Peru Kill then the obvious recommendations are Unique Toys' Challenger and DX9's La Hire, both of which pull the same trick of having very little in the way of obvious alt mode parts.  UT has is also close to releasing a Megatron based on his The Last Knight design, and they've shown prototypes for an Age of Extinction Galvatron.

Other than that, you might want to check out Planet X's Vulcan, a Fall of Cybertron-style Grimlock that pulls off some black magic to go from having minimal game-accurate dino kibble on his robot mode to sprouting one of the best-articulated tails I've seen on a Dinobot (and I've seen a lot of Dinobots).  DX9's Carry is a Studio OX-style Rodimus Prime whose trailer is actually part of his transformation.  And even though I'm not usually a fan of their pain-in-the-rear, overdone engineering I have to tip my hat to Fans Toys for Spoiler.  The transformation is one of the most enjoyable, straightforward transformations they've ever come up with but it somehow takes a robot as tall as MP Starscream and transforms it into a car that's not longer and only slightly wider than MP Sideswipe.

10 hours ago, sqidd said:

After looking at all that I agree, the Magic Square is tops for me.

Looks like that standard paint job unit is not exactly "available". I found a couple eBay auctions, for too much money.

The metallic version is available new from TF Source for a very fair price. Are there any differences to know about aside from the paint? Looks like the metallic is well, metallic. And missing the yellow arrows on the forearms and the Autobot symbol on the shoulder. Anything else to know? I may pull the trigger on one of those.

TF Source Link

Thanks!

 

The only difference is the paint. I actually bought the regular version when it first came out, then bought the metallic one thinking it'd look more premium.  Where the metallic paint is applied it looks really nice; from the waist down it looks perfect.  Then problem is that they didn't use any metallic paint on the red plastic, and while they used it on his legs and most of his head they didn't use it on his hands and, IIRC, his ears, so I felt like the paint job looked half-finished.  Plus, to differentiate the silver on his thighs and pelvis from the bits under his chest and his cab stripe they used a darker, almost gunmetal color above the waist that didn't look quite right to me.  I wound up selling the metallic paint version.

To be fair, the metallic paint version is still very nice, and the guy who bought mine seems quite happy with it.   You really have both versions in front of you and a tendency to nitpick over the details (kind of my thing) to find enough fault with one over the other for it to really matter.

3 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Anyway, Grotusque remains my favorite of the three, and I hope there's a Fans Hobby version for review coming soon.

Soon. 

[anime52k8]

Can confirm, I bought the metallic version from him and I love it. 

[sqidd]

3 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

 

The only difference is the paint. I actually bought the regular version when it first came out, then bought the metallic one thinking it'd look more premium.  Where the metallic paint is applied it looks really nice; from the waist down it looks perfect.  Then problem is that they didn't use any metallic paint on the red plastic, and while they used it on his legs and most of his head they didn't use it on his hands and, IIRC, his ears, so I felt like the paint job looked half-finished.  Plus, to differentiate the silver on his thighs and pelvis from the bits under his chest and his cab stripe they used a darker, almost gunmetal color above the waist that didn't look quite right to me.  I wound up selling the metallic paint version.

To be fair, the metallic paint version is still very nice, and the guy who bought mine seems quite happy with it.   You really have both versions in front of you and a tendency to nitpick over the details (kind of my thing) to find enough fault with one over the other for it to really matter.

 

Thank you sir!