nhyone

I noticed that we have moderation actions: hide and delete.

I tried out 'hide' in the Test forum. It works, but then I can't find my post to unhide?

Takara sacrifices too much in the name of articulation and their so-called toon accuracy -- which is only accurate from certain angles only.

(MP-45) The feet looks unfinished. It's so lazy. I'm out.

I like the chibi vehicle mode, though.

On 2/8/2019 at 2:23 AM, derex3592 said:

Yeh, I knew it was probably to good to be true, but I rolled the dice...

The cheapest you can get is ~US$83 on TaoBao. Plus shipping to US, it'll be around US$100.

This is a new figure. No one would sell it for less.

Because PayPal more-or-less guarantees a refund, there is no incentive for buyers to be cautious.

Heads, I win. Tails, PayPal loses.

On 2/8/2019 at 1:37 PM, mikeszekely said:

If you're using other hands with her, like the gun hands, they'll peek out from underneath.

It looks kind of creepy. 

Azalea is about 10-20% too small for me. Also, her pelvis is too undersized for her hips.

11 hours ago, derex3592 said:

Guys!!! My $49.99 Transform Element TE-01 from China arrived today!!!  Isn't it the greatest toy EVER??!!   The transformation IS complex but totally worth it!       

 Yeeehhhh...Ok, take your shots... ....lesson learned....LMFAO.   Paypal dispute claim filed. 

Isn't $49.99 a little too cheap to be real?

21 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

The more I look at TE, the more it just looks off to me.

I'm the opposite. I used to think MS looks better in bot mode, now I think TE looks better in both modes. But as a result, TE makes some compromise in posability.

I'm not choosing between MS and TE.  MP-44 is definitely out of the race for me.

I'm also thinking if there is any point to keep MP-10... (MS-01 is a tweaked MP-10.)

8 hours ago, eXis10z said:

I can't decide between MS and TE

Don't, get both. 

22 minutes ago, RavenHawk said:

Again, it looks gorgeous, it looks impressive, and maybe it needs to be that complicated in order to look so good in both modes, but it just doesn't look fun to me.

The reviewer says the transformation is complicated, but is logical, satisfying and can be "memorized" after one transformation.

14 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

That said, Magic Square's stuff is looking more appealing to me than Iron Factory's, so if I we're going to jump in now would be the time...

I like MS's G1 look, but the products look quite low quality (gaps and paint app). IF looks very polished, but is too stylized for me.

I can't get over the price, though. MS costs some $23 each on TaoBao before International shipping.

Maybe that's for the better. Just in MP-scale, the multiple Optimus Primes and Stunticons are so good that it's not just a either-or choice. They are good enough to collect-them-all.

On 12/11/2018 at 1:09 PM, sh9000 said:

Pretty cool.

Cool but not 50,000 yen MSRP cool.

The backpack is way too big (as noted by many people), but I find the lower legs too thick as well.

But the main reason I'm out is the price.

On 11/5/2018 at 8:00 AM, David Hingtgen said:

A well-colored/on-model Cyclonus, has SLIGHLY more reddish forearms/knees. 

Before Eligos, I never noticed Cyclonus had two-tone purple. I thought XTB got him wrong. 

I agree the colors should be closer.

On 11/4/2018 at 1:27 AM, M'Kyuun said:

Instead, we've got almost the entire torso, which is hollow in the back for Blitzkrieg to plug in to.  I'd say something like, "what's next, the whole combined mode is a complete robot and you just plug the team members onto it?" but that seems to be exactly what XTB is doing with their Menasor, and people seem really into that, so what do I know.

Well, something got to give. Of the three Bruticus you showed, Armageddon has the most humanoid proportions, although not quite there.

(And it does cheat too much! )

We have seen Zeta's and XTB's approach. We have not seen FansToys take on this.

I thought it was a neat idea for Motormaster's trailer to form Menasor's backbone. You get that extra mass you need in combined mode and it gets folded away in alt-mode (no spare parts). But FansToys uses the trailer for Motormaster himself. Unless it is dual purpose?

20 hours ago, Roy Focker said:

Also if they went with their usual brutal and comedic takedowns it would just look like more man child hate.  When it comes to certain movies you have to tone down the hate or even your legitimate criticisms will be dismissed.

Let me retract my statement a little. 

Unlike other YTers who merely analyze what's wrong with the film, RLM also tried to explain what caused it to go wrong in the first place.

Many people were expecting it to be a retread of ESB, so RJ wanted to "subvert expectations". There are still many elements similar to ESB/RotJ, just way out of order/context.

Not to mention JJ's mystery boxes.

Sadly, the RLM review is as lackluster as the film. 

One reason is that it had been covered too death by other YTers and they were late to the party, ie they didn't bring anything new to the table.

I like the wine short, though.

If Takara's OP v3 doesn't sell well, it is going to crack down on 3Ps! 

All three OPs look good (with some compromises), but then Optimus Prime is one of the easiest design.

Does anyone else have OP fatigue? I didn't even get MP-10 until a few years later, and that's after a number of car bots were released.

4 hours ago, David Hingtgen said:

Also, checking in on the FT Menasor thread over at TFW---it's 3x as big now, and not one comment about the alt-modes.  Every single post since mine, has been about SCALE.

I missed that thread. 

I like how they look in both modes! 

If anyone is concerned enough, you might want to contact their (official?) representative there. It might just work.

Scale will be an issue with combiners. Most combiners are too small, so making each bot bigger is good, IMO.

But more importantly than scale (size, really) to me is proportion. I've not seen a combiner with good proportions. Constructor is passable (except for his giant forearms), and it was done with extra parts. (I don't mind it at all.)

11 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Even though I don't like the design, it's not so much a shellformer as a turn-inside out former, which involves some clever engineering.

"Turn-inside-out" is a good term. 

If I don't see any alt-parts in bot mode, I automatically think the bot parts must have been hidden within the alt shell.

I wouldn't have guessed it transforms either. That's a real Transformers!  (hidden disguise)

But taken too far, it's hard to relate the two modes. It could have transformed to anything.

Looks like a shell-former...

What molds are used for the other characters?

Not being a car person, I think the car modes look "close enough". 

MakeToys MTRM-09 Downbeat (Jazz) is slated for an re-issue in August. This is a couple of weeks-old news, but my go-to seller just put up the pre-order this morning.

I gave him a pass previously because of the unpolished rear in car mode. Now I think it's an acceptable compromise.

A bit stout. I like the back cleaning up so nicely.

I think their hand is forced by the official remake. It's like MP-36, suddenly a rash of releases before the original was announced.

On 5/26/2018 at 4:07 AM, mikeszekely said:

As others have noted, yeah, there's definitely a crowd that FansToys' approach appeals to, but other companies like Maketoys, Generation Toy, and Fans Hobby are making toys that look nearly as good but are much more dynamic and have transformations that don't suck all the fun out of the room.

Count me as one of them -- generally, I put looks over transformation, as the latter is something I do rarely. But X-Transbots crossed that line for me.

MakeToys did not appeal to me in the past. They take que from the cartoon, but something is always off. They are now more cartoon "accurate", perhaps because they realize it sells.

I think Phoenix looks spot-on, but still, I passed him up due to the size and cost. He seems too big, IMO. Let's see if I change my mind in a future re-issue.

I'm slow to make up my mind and that usually means having to wait for a second or third reissue (could be years later or never). But the good thing is that I'm sure I want that figure!

I always regretted not getting MMC Jaguar, but I still couldn't pull the trigger for the re-issue due to its price...

Finally received my FT-24 Rouge. Was tempted to buy two to display in bot and alt mode together. But that's a Pandora box I do not wish to open!

So ended up preordering Blurr and Cyclonus instead. 

While I mostly display in bot mode, the Dinobots, Arcee (finally a good one after 30 years!), Blurr and Hot Rod are exceptions. The futuristic car modes look good. I didn't get FT-22 Koots (Kup). 

At least the faces are now gray color.