mikeszekely

While you can't throw a rock these days without finding some kind of 3D-printed add-on kit for official Transformers these days, but they mostly seem to be coming from China. And with the pandemic affecting shipping prices the kits can often cost as much or more than the figure itself, if you're in the US. And unless it's coming from Go Better it might not even be worth it. Well, it turns out there is a cheaper alternative... get your 3D-printed kits from a US-based source. New kid on the block JRC Design recently opened up an e-shop (jrcdesignstore.com), and I decided to give him a look. I wound up grabbing four small kits. First up we have this little orange bit. It's for the Gen Selects G2 Megatron. What you do is fit that notched end into the groove on Megatron's right shoulder. This puts a 5mm peg on the top, that you can then plug his fusion cannon into. Not quite as good as having an actual tank barrel, but it's closer to G2 than simply G1 Megatron in green and purple camo. Despite the abundance of sculpted detail the only place I could find to stick it in tank mode is under the partsforming back end. All-in-all, it's a simple thing that doesn't totally fix G2 Megatron, but it helps. Next up we have another small, simple part for a tank. This one's for Kingdom Warpath. You take his partsforming shield/tank front and plug the part onto it like this. The idea here is that if you don't want Warpath using it as a shield, and you don't want the shield sticking up so far behind his head, this part lowers how it sits on his back. You don't even need to remove it for transformation, as it sits in the hollow void between his legs. As with the G2 Megatron kit, this kit isn't going to blow you away but it does provide a simple solution to a minor irritant. Next we have a part for Kindgom Ultra Magnus (sorry, doesn't work with Siege). This one is less about fixing a problem and more about adding utility. See the peg in the middle? It works with the Matrix that came with Earthrise Optimus, Studio Series Hot Rod, and presumably Kingdom Rodimus Prime. If you open Magnus up you'll find two raised posts where the clear windows are screwed into the white plastic. The holes in the part grab onto those posts, Matrix side down. You should be able to fold the white Optimus head in behind it, so it can stay in for all three modes. Emphasis on should. The peg on my copy was a little too thick for the Matrix, so I couldn't get one to sit low enough for the Optimus head to get the necessary clearance. I'll work on filing it down later. If everything fits properly, you should be able to see the Matrix through the truck's windshield in truck or white Optimus mode. It's kind of a novelty, though, because you won't really see it in Magnus mode, and the entire part has to be removed to take the Matrix back out. Still, it's something. Lastly, we have a small pack with guns and spoilers for Spinout and Cordon. You'll recall I already picked up Nonnef's kits for those two, and yeah, the 3D-printed guns are looking a lot less polished than Nonnef's rifles. They'll do in a pinch, though, when you consider that JRC's kit supplies both figures for slightly less than a Nonnef kit with guns and spoilers for just one of them. Of course, we have to consider the spoilers, too, and that's were JRC fares a bit better. The color match seems to be about the same as Nonnef's, and in bot mode you can store them on the back of the leg, same as Nonnef's. Because the holes run the whole way through the calf you can push them in flush. They pull ahead in alt mode, though. Recall that Nonnef's spoilers didn't plug directly into the car. You either had to use some obtrusive black riser pieces, or some included 5mm to 3mm pegs. If you went with the risers you didn't really have a good place to store them in bot mode. If you went with the peg adapters they were extremely difficult to remove from the arms in robot mode, and the sides of the spoilers were switched so that it was wider at the ends than in the middle. JRC's have none of those complications, just simple 5mm posts in the right spots so that the spoiler looks correct. Now, I'll still say that the Go Better kit for Sunstreaker is the best way to add a spoiler and gun to him. However, Go Better hasn't made that kit available in Spinout and Cordon's colors, and even if they had it's a pretty expensive kit. You might be cool splurging on a main character like Sunstreaker, but a cheaper option for the repaints is definitely welcome. Of course, if you don't want to splurge at all JRC does have a version of this kit with a gray spoiler for Sunstreaker. Ultimately, I think that comparison with Go Better doesn't just apply to spoiler kits. JRC's stuff is still a bit rough and lacks the paint and polish you'd find in one of Go Better's kits. If there's a figure you really want to improve and money is no object then you might want to take a look to see what Go Better is offering. JRC's biggest advantage, though, is price. I paid $23 for my Go Better Sunstreaker kit. I paid under $20 before shipping for everything in this review. The majority of his kits are under $5. So give him a look, you might find a cheap solution that fixes a minor issue you have with a figure.

Yeah, I looked a bit closer and you're right. Dang. Well, I don't know about G2 Sideswipe, Deep Cover, the other Deep Cover, Tigertrack, or Clampdown... but Earth-mode Red Alert sure looks like a thing...

If you never picked up Siege Refraktor BBTS, TFSource, and Entertainment Earth are taking preorders for the toy-colored 3-pack with the extra camera parts.

I don't disagree. It's why I skipped Brawn and Beachcomber, and I'm skipping Huffer. I actually did get Spindrift 2, but he's still in my pile waiting to ship. At this point, I'll still probably get Dead End, and I might do Cliffjumper. But then I'm probably done with FT. I'm not getting Chomp, so I'll almost definitely sell Dracula and Lupus. I'm thinking about bailing on the Aerialbots, too.

Eh. Articulation looks good, but aesthetically I like the original better.

I might still get Magic Square's, but I pre-ordered the first two New Age Constructions. In other 3P news... what kind of crack is FT smoking? $120 for Huffer, $250 for Skullcruncher, and if the rumors are to be believed over $300 for Blitzwing.

I mean, you could probably just sell Skywarp (and Grimlock, for that matter). I'm sure that there's someone out there thinking "it's irritating that they're releasing BW Skywarp, but double packing it with a G1 figure I don't want". I'm crossing my fingers and hoping the spoilers Nonnef made for the Siege version work on the Earth version. Right now I'm passing Siege off as an Earth mode, but if I have an actual Earth mode I don't mind a spoiler-free Cybertronian mode. Now can I get an Earth-mode Hound, please?

This. Also kind of irritating that I need Hasbro to release Tigertrack, Deep Cover, other Deep Cover, Red Alert, and maybe Clampdown, or else Sideswipe is going to stick out.

I still have that Lockdown with my WfC stuff (though I wouldn't mind an updated one). Still kicking myself for missing that Lugnut not once but twice, during it's original run and on discount at TJ Maxx. Agree, on both points. And while Shawn and the mods have done a pretty great job keeping the trouble off this site, I think we've been extra lucky that most of said drama has occurred outside the Transformers threads considering how toxic a certain other Transformers-related board I visit can get. But yes, misunderstandings do still occur. And hey, if anyone's not sure what I mean, feel free to ask for clarification. All-in-all, I'm glad that even when we disagree on stuff that at least here we try to articulate our feelings and are still respectful of other opinions. I mean, I don't think I dislike MP Arcee, although I admit I haven't handled her. I just don't see anything there that makes me want to shell out another $140 or so on her when I alredy have MMC's. If I was still stuck with Fans Toys', though, I'd gladly trade up. FT's was probably my least favorite adult-collector-oriented toy I've ever had the displeasure of looking at.

It does. And it looks really good. Actually, I think both NA and Magic Square have Devastators that look better than any of the larger options. I wonder how they scale with Iron Factory's Bruticus? Or maybe I'm obligated to get both because- EDIT: Dang, these 3P Legends figures are getting expensive. $100 for two Constructicons... that's like half the price of two of ToyWorld's, for figures a tenth the size.

Now that we're all vaccinated and restrictions are starting to loosen up my D&D group is finally getting together to play again, and it seems like while I was busy playing this thread got more action than it normally does in a week! So forgive me if I missed something, but- Fair enough. I think we just have different ideas about where the goal posts should be- I think it's historic because it's a big deal within the community, you think it's not because its appeal won't extend beyond said community. However you choose to describe it, I think my point is the same. And to clarify, my point is that while I ultimately chose not to back the crowdfund I can sort of see why, given the magnitude of the release, others did. It's a price that definitely feels like too much for what it actually is, but not so much that it seems totally unjustified for that having-been-there experience. Double or more on the aftermarket? No, I'm right with you there... that's insanity. Not exactly wrong, but I should clarify. It's not that I think that HasTak did a bad job taking the on-screen designs and turning them into toys- I think they did the best they could there. It's that I personally don't feel the flat, stylized animation used in the show translates well to a three-dimensional object, period. I thought the show was great, and I liked some of the designs in concept, but yeah, not a fan of the toys. That said... I wish Blackout would get the WfC, pseudo-G1 treatment that Barricade did. In fact, one of the reasons I'm open to updated versions of Unicron Trilogy toys in the post-WfC trilogy despite hating the shows is because they're the designs that I think work best with G1. They've got that same boxy robot with visible alt mode parts design common to the franchise before the Bayverse introduced us to more organic shapes, chicken legs, and weird hands.

I'd say so, yeah. It's the biggest official Transformer figure ever, it's the first time an official figure has been made for G1 Unicron, and the first official Transformer to come about through crowdfunding. It's definitely a watershed moment for the Transformers community. And I only said it was a historic release, not a good one. Anyway... I'm sure you guys are aware of the Shattered Glass Megatron that's coming. Now, the original Shattered Glass Megatron figure was based on Energon Megatron/Galvatron. And that figure's primary weapon wasn't a fusion cannon, it was a tank. A tank he wore on his arm. Of course, the new figure, a retool of Siege Megatron, doesn't come with a tank, but someone pointed out the possibility of using Core-class Megatron for Shattered Glass Megatron's tank. But why stop at one core-class... ...when I could get the rest of them! So, with the previous two (Rattrap and Vertebreak) the new size class sort of made sense... Vertebreak is a new character and could be any size, and Rattrap is a smaller guy (although I technically think he should have been only slightly shorter than Cheetor, not like half the size). I'm not entirely clear on Hasbro's logic with these three. I've heard it suggested that with the rising costs in the mainline they wanted to make more affordable versions of some of the main cast. I've also heard it suggested that Hasbro wanted smaller versions of bigger figures that you could display with the Titan-class figures to make them seem more huge. Either way, what we have here are three tiny versions of characters previously released as Voyagers.* *Yes, I know, Prime was released as a Leader... but he's the same size as the Voyager-class Siege figure We'll start on the left, with Optimus Prime. You can see that these Core-class figures are indeed quite small, as he's quite a bit shorter even than Magic Square's Legends-class Optimus. Sort of makes me wonder how many Autobots Hasbro can release in this class and still keep things in scale; carbots would be like Newage Bumblebee-sized. In broad strokes, Optimus doesn't look too bad. He's got similar proportions to the larger figure, although his forearms are a bit swole. Colors aren't bad; he's missing some yellow and blue on his pelvis, but the Leader-class figure was too before I got Reprolabels on him. Aesthetically, his biggest flaw is really the kibble on his back, which kind of dangles down behind his hips, and the fact that the insides of his thighs and the backs of his calves are needlessly hollow. Prime's head swivels. His shoulders are ball joints for rotation and 90 degrees of lateral movement. His biceps are also ball joints, providing both his bicep swivel and 90 degrees of elbow bend. No wrist or waist swivels. His hips are ball joints and get about 90 degrees forward, backward, or laterally, as well as providing some limited thigh swivel. His knees are, you guessed it, ball joints. They get slightly over 90 degrees of bend, and can be used for a bit more thigh swivel. No foot articulation. He comes with his signature ion rifle, and it looks decent enough for the scale. What's interesting is that the ports on his hands are 3mm ports, but the handle of the rifle is a 3mm peg on a 5mm peg, so larger figure can hold it too (as long as they don't have too bulky of wrist, since the 5mm part is fairly shallow). Transformation is pretty basic, and kind of a letdown after the larger figure's clever system for unfurling the front of the cab from the chest. In fact, the lower half of the cab (tires and all) is simply on his back, folded over itself so you can't see the truck's grill. It's passable, minus the huge gray "window" on the side, but holds together about as well you'd expect for something that's 60% ball joints by volume. For weapon storage you have two options. You can either use a tab under the middle of the barrel to plug it into the gray "window" I was complaining about. This is for aiming the gun in front of the truck. Alternatively, you can aim it backward by plugging the 3mm peg on the handle into a port between his shins. The first thing that struck me about Megatron was his odd colors. Like, his head and torso are fine, as is his black pelvis. As a matter of fact, it seems mostly painted, with a slight silver for his lats and face and a slightly darker silver for his abs, chest, and helmet. But then some of that darker silver seems to be covering his traditionally black hands. The rest of his right arm is a dark gunmetal gray, as is his left shoulder and bicep, but his left forearm is black. That gunmetal color was also used for his thighs. His lower legs are black, which is ok I guess, but so are his feet. The result is close enough to be recognizable as Megatron, but far enough that I'm debating on whether or not to repaint him. Megatron's backpack doesn't fold in the way the Siege/Earthrise figures' does, but it's still fairly analogous. And while he does have some hollow spots if you look for them, they're not as immediately obvious as Prime's. Megatron's articulation is similar to Prime's; head swivel, ball joints at the shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees, no wrist or ankle articulation. The big differences are the shoulder kibble that limits his shoulder rotation, and the fact that Megatron actually has a waist swivel. Megatron's fusion cannon is actually not an accessory; it's actually attached on this figure. And this version doesn't come with a sword or any of the other partsforming kibble the larger Siege and Earthrise figures did. He does, however, come with a little pistol that bears a striking similarity to Megatron's gun mode, minus the added stock and barrel parts. Like Prime's rifle, it has a 3mm peg for Megatron to hold on the bottom of a 5mm peg for larger figures to hold. If you don't like Megatron holding a gun, though, there are a pair of 3mm peg holes that you can use to store the gun between the treads on Megatron's back. Despite the reduction in size, Megatron's transformation is a similar (if simplified) version of the larger figures'. Interestingly, the extra shoulder kibble kind of negated the need for partsforming the front of the turret. The paint, again, winds up a bit different and the barrel is significantly shorter, but on the whole this little figure pulls off his alt mode nearly as well as the Earthrise version with less partsforming on a third of the budget. You may have noticed that the gun forms the tank's somewhat stubby barrel, so it's not totally without partsforming. Still, that gun makes a better weapon and stores better if you don't want to use it as a weapon than anything Earthrise Megatron carries. Plus, Megatron's turret can still rotate, and the tank's barrel can still be elevated a bit by moving the fusion cannon the gun plugs into. Starscream's an interesting case. His colors aren't off the way Megatron's are, but he's suffering the most from missing paint apps entirely. His pelvis should be red, his lats should be light gray, and he's missing both blue and black on his shins, to say nothing of the fact that he's missing the red and white stripes on his wings. However, the missing color, and the way it draws my attention, allows me to notice how extremely closely the sculpt of the Core-class copies that of the Voyager. Especially in the legs and torso, if the larger figure has a molded detail or panel line they tried to make sure the smaller figure has the same detail or line. That said, Starscream might have the worst hollow bits of the three figures we're looking at today. Starscream's articulation is right back to Prime's; head swivel, ball joints in the shoulders, bicep/elbows, hips, and knees, nothing in the wrists, feet, or waist. But the Voyager doesn't have a waist swivel either, so meh. Starscream does come with his signature null rays. Unlike Megatron's gun or Prime's rifle they have only 3mm pegs, not 3mm on 5mm. This allows them to plug onto his shoulders and sit relatively flush. Of the three figures we're looking at, Starscream might just have the most interesting transformation. Instead of the usual folding out the nose, stuffing his arms into his torso, squishing his legs, and flipping his wings over the torso on the Core-class opens vertically, allowing almost his entire upper body to rotate 180 degrees on his back before closing back up over his thighs. However, while the transformation is certainly novel and interesting, it's not without its faults. Most obvious here is that his jet mode has weird, almost SD proportions that remind me of something you might find in a Happy Meal toy. The other downsides are more easily noticed when you look under the jet. The relocation of his torso leaves a large gap in the fuselage under the nose, which itself is a bit messier with his spin and head than the larger figure. His arms also don't fold away; they're quite visible under his wings. I feel like something probably could have been done with them, but I can't exactly say I'm mad at a $10, 3.5" (8.9cm to my non-American friends) toy for not doing it. And, on the plus side, his null rays don't have to be removed for transformation as they end up in exactly the same spot in jet mode. Ok, so straight up if you're collecting the WFC figures you almost certainly already have these guys, and the figures you already have scale with each other just fine. Buying any of these is basically starting WFC over in an entirely new scale, and in that sense you probably don't need to do it and can go back to ignoring figures smaller than Deluxe. That said, I think Megatron might actually work for the purpose I bought him for. He's got a 3mm port on his butt, and that butt winds up right in the middle of the bottom of the tank. Nonnef makes some adapters that are 3mm pegs on one end and 5mm on the other that should let me easily attach the tank to the upcoming Shattered Glass Megatron's arm, no problem. Now, combine that with the fact that Megatron's actually a pretty cool little figure that does some things better than the larger figures and, yeah, I feel pretty comfortable recommending him if you want to do something similar, or just want a smaller Megatron (that whole "make the Titans look bigger thing" makes some sense). He's definitely the best of the three. Starscream's definitely got more flaws than Megatron, mostly a lack of paint and some weird jet mode proportions. His engineering is kind of cool, though, and I find myself digging him despite his flaws. Want to have a tiny army of Decepticons to display with Trypticon and Scorponok? Starscream's probably worth a look, too. (And yeah, between Megatron and Starscream I'm suddenly very interested in the announced Core-class Soundwave.) But what if you want a rival for Megatron? What if you want a similar army of Autobots to go with Metroplex, Fort Max, Omega Supreme, and the Ark? Well, so far it's just Optimus. And Optimus is decidedly meh. Among the many Optimus Primes I've collected over the last 15 years or so this little Core-class figure reminds me the most of the old Classics Deluxe. He's definitely the weakest of these three; he's like just good enough that if you really want a Prime in scale with Core-class Megatron he'll do, but not good enough to recommend on his own otherwise.

Yeah. I mean, it is sort of an historic release, so I get the allure. But after watching Thew's recent unboxing I'm really glad I went with Zeta's instead.

Interesting. I'll keep my eyes on BBTS for a few days, see if orders for in-stock Galvatrons start popping up.

The Kingdom one? BBTS did get Scorponok early last year, so it's possible. But the product page still says pre-order with a September release (my pre-order is with Pulse).

Disappointing, yes. But as long as the lines are molded into the wings it shouldn't be too hard to paint myself. Eh, I'm mostly trying to avoid these super early pre-release reviews (where do these guys get their copies?). When I review these figures myself I'm trying to keep other reviewer's opinions from even subconsciously coloring mine.

Gen Selects Artfire is up for pre-order on Pulse.

When I first heard about it I thought Kazutaka was killed, so I'm not surprised if details are getting mixed up. But it sounds like he's expected to recover.

The 60 year old Tomoko Miyatake died this after their house caught fire. Kazutaka himself was hospitalized for smoke inhalation but was able to escape the fire. A Studio Nue co-founder, Miyatake has done mechanical designs for a number of anime, including our own beloved Macross.

My household decided to run out of everything at once, so I made a Target run after dropping my kid off at school. On a whim I picked up Studio Series 74 Bumblebee (RotF). If you haven't see him on the shelf, it's because he's not in regular Studio Series packaging. Despite his box saying Studio Series, having the number 74, and having a backdrop of that village where Bee fought Rampage, this Bee has been mashed into the Target-exclusive Buzzworthy Bumblebee line. Anyway, he's a minor retool of the previous Transformers 2007 Camaro concept Bumblebee (so I guess we're down to Dark of the Moon, two for Age of Extinction, and one for the Last Knight, eh?). He's a darker yellow, he's missing the yellow trim on his feet, and his gray plastic parts are a much lighter gray, with silver paint on some of them (including some parts that were black on '07 Bee). Otherwise, most of the differences are in alt mode, and I'll cover them there, but for now I'll say the biggest disappointment here is that he's got the exact same battle mask face. How hard is it to get a modern Camaro Bee with the normal face, huh? Maybe when they get around to DotM Bee... RotF Bee has the exact same blaster as '07 Bee. He does have on additional accessory, though- a little slug figure of Sam. The pose reminded me of the slug that came with MPM Jazz. But, this Sam doesn't have a cube, and he does have a jacket (which is RotF-accurate). Like I said, the differences between the figures are a bit more apparent in alt mode. The newer figure has a hood scoop, slightly different black stripes, different rims, black trip on the front bumper, no paint on the Chevy logo in the grill, slightly different headlights, different fog lights, and very minor differences in the molded details on the front quarter panels. Unlike recent Studio Series jets like Blitzwing and Shatter, Bumblebee actually has a license from GM, which is likely why most of the mold changes from the '07 toy are to make the alt mode more accurate, and it gives you an idea of what you might expect if they do DotM Bee (different stripes again, different fog lights, the Chevy badge gets painted again, a little more yellow on the bumper, darker rims, and a rear wing). Honestly, this mold was one of the better Bumblebees, I think. Unless you're a car guy, a stickler for details, or a completionist I don't know that RotF Bee is entirely necessary if you already have the '07 one, but it's not a bad release and worth picking up if you missed '07 Bee.

See, I got into MP when 3Ps started getting really into that scene, and I felt like I'd never have the whole G1 cast in a CHUG scale. Now, though, while they're not always the best, Hasbro is getting really close to doing the entire TV cast, if you're willing to go back to Prime Wars for some characters there's really not a lot of G1 left. I think I'm closer to quitting MP than mainline now, which is a 180 from maybe 4 years ago.

I think that code was for 80s Tees. But even with it their stuff is way too expensive. I mean, I'm used to paying a bit more for T-shirts because I'm a hockey fan and the NHL has to get their cut, but even Pittsburgh Penguins t-shirts don't cost $45 dollars. I just preordered a single Gnaw for now, since I already have the Titans Returns Gnaw, the repaint that was in the Pit of Judgement, and Cyberverse Warrior-class Gnaw which is basically an embiggened TR Gnaw. I might grab extras if/when SS Gnaw turns up in stores. Hey, if you do go the replace route, shoot me a PM. I might be willing to buy the iGear ones off of you.

It's funny, when we're talking expensive MP figures I want one definitive design, because I don't have the shelf space or cash for repaints. But mainline stuff? Sure, I'll take both a cartoon-colored and a toy-colored version. Gimme all the repaints. 10 Siege Seekers! I'm down for all of it. The 4K Blu-ray, SS 86, and Starscream. I actually am not a big fan of Shattered glass, but I'm buying the Seekers in every color. EDIT: Grabbed Gnaw and Starscream at Pulse. Was going to grab Slag, too, but for some reason Wreck-Gar wasn't up on Pulse yet, so I went to check Amazon. Wreck-Gar is up, but it said that I ordered him already. That's when I remembered I wishlist-preordered him and Slag already.

-So... I guess I gotta buy Transformers: The Movie. Again. Mmm... 4K... -I mean, Hasbro has to be aware of the leaks, but there's your confirmation that they're aware of the leaks. -Interesting. So Slag's a Hasui design... -Speaking of his horns, yeah, the white/silver is cartoon accurate. But I hope that some 3rd party does the red horns. -Studio Series Gnaw. Definitely looks better than the Legends-class, especially the bot mode. Might have to buy like three of them. -Studio Series Wreck-Gar. No surprises there. -Preorders at 1:00pm EDT. -Pulse-exclusive Shattered Glass Starscream. It's based on the Siege mold, not the Earthrise one, so it'll be my... 10th copy of the mold, I think.

Thanks for the reminder. My kid woke me up at 3:30 and kept me up until 4:30. Now I feel all sluggish and brain-foggy, and I definitely would have forgot.