The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread

[mikeszekely]

Where there's a Kickback and a Shrapnel, you can bet that a Bombshell isn't too far behind.  So here he is, Dr. Wu's Beetle Horn, their Micromaster-sized version.  Once again, next to the Legacy version for scale.

From the knees up, I think Beetle Horn is coming across how you'd expect.  The silver details on his yellow torso panel are cartoon-accurate.  The rest of the torso goes for purple, as to date I believe only BadCube has tried to pull off Sunbow's bizarre decision to make Bombshell purple in alt mode but gray in bot mode.  His arms, unlike the Legacy toy, are properly solid black.  And his thighs have to circle details on them.  Like Claw Worm, he's got a bug leg molded into his shoulder, but in his case that is cartoon-accurate.  Also like Claw Worm he trades his usual wrist gun/bug leg for a more insectoid bug leg on his forearm.  His remaining bug legs (also part of his shoulder on the G1 toy and vestigially present on the Legacy toy but just kind of vanishing on the animation model) are on his robot legs.  Unlike Claw Worm, though, they're on the backs of his legs, mostly out of sight.

Despite keeping the bug legs out of the way, things do go off the rails a bit on his legs.  There are silver ribbed bits that seem to mimic some molded detail on the G1 toy, but that detail was never stickered or painted, and flat out doesn't exist on the animation model.  And to cap it all off, they painted his feet purple, which is a waste of paint because Bombshell's feet should be black.

Beetle Horn comes with a tiny gun.  Again, the sculpt is a bit soft, due to it's very tiny nature, but I think of the three his gun came out the best.

Beetle Horn's head swivels.  The antenna is down about as far as it goes; it can be aimed upward more.  His shoulders are ball joints that swivel and can move about 75 degrees laterally before his bug legs poke into his collar.  Ball joints in the elbow give him bicep swivels and 90 degrees of elbow bend.  No wrist or hand articulation.  Waist swivels, and ball-jointed hips go 90 degrees forward, backward, and laterally.  His knees bend 90 degrees.  He's totally missing any kind of foot or ankle articulation, and he doesn't have thigh swivels.  Those would be my biggest complaints with the articulation, but his legs are very small, and I might guess that the hinges and mushroom pegs needed for that articulation are perhaps too delicate at that size.

After all, tiny, delicate parts are why his gun doesn't peg into his fist.  Like the other two Insecticons, his gun clips around the fist instead.

Instead of covering his face with the too of his head, Beetle Horn's head swivels so his face is under the alt mode.  His arms fold back, like the G1 and Legacy versions, and his legs fold over his thighs like the G1 toy.  However, first you have to rotate his waist 180 degrees; unlike the G1 and Legacy toys, Beetle Horn's beetle butt is made from his shins, not the backs of his legs.  Panels also open on the backs of his legs.  This gives his legs the clearance to fold the whole way around, but it also moves the rear bug legs into position as well as gives the arms something to tab into.

Aside from the extra purple robot toes and unnecessary silver details on his butt, I think the insect mode comes across pretty well.  The shape of his robot legs is a bit flatter and rounder than the Legacy toy, so the shape feels a bit closer to the G1 toy.  The extra flaps that tab into his forearms blend in well enough that they don't really affect the alt mode shape.  The rear bug legs are a bit more insectoid than the G1 toy/animation model, but I don't necessarily hate that.  I think the only thing I'd really change would be to paint a line over the bug eye to simulate the hinge on the original toy.  To be fair to Dr. Wu, though, I had the exact same complaint with the Legacy toy.

Once again, no alt mode weapon storage, and one again, the alt mode doesn't really do anything.  You have very limited up/down articulation on the horn, and limited swivels on the rear insect legs.  The other four legs are fixed.

Now, it could just be because Bombshell is my favorite of the Insecticons, but Beetle Horn is my favorite of the three Dr. Wu Insecticons.  His articulation is about on par with Claw Worm and a little better than Grasshooper, and his insect legs are a bit more out-of-the-way that Claw Worm's.  I do wish he had a tad more articulation, but that goes for all the Insecticons (and most of Dr. Wu's little guys, honestly), and there are a few odd deco choices, but nothing too egregious.  Another easy recommend from me... assuming his pack in partner is good.  Tune in tomorrow and I'll let you know- for all three Insecticons!

[sh9000]

DK-56T.

[mikeszekely]

As I've been telling you guys, the three Dr. Wu Insecticons are sold separately from each other, but each one comes packed with a different character.  And we're going to cover all three (and @M'Kyuun will want to tune in for this one), because they're the three Datsun brothers- Patrol Man (Prowl), Silver Lightning (Bluestreak), and Smoke Dust (Smokescreen).

For the most part, these guys came out pretty much how you'd expect.  Dr Wu prioritized Prowl/Bluestreak, so while Smokescreen does have a remolded chest and head he's got tires on the backs of his shoulders instead of the tops and otherwise retains the same proportions.  While I think they mostly look fine (Dr. Wu's figures have always had a bit of chibi proportions), I am a little disappointed in the overall fit of these guys.  The chest and backpack kind of just sit there.  They don't lock in, so it's easy to move them around when you don't really want to while handling them.  I don't know if the scale is too small for reliably sturdy locking tabs or what, but it leaves them feeling a bit half-done.

You may have noticed that Silver Lightning and Smoke Dust are equipped with their cartoon-accurate shoulder weapons.  It's most cartoon-accurate for Patrol Man to not have any shoulder weapons, but he does come with a set of toy-accurate ones.  Also, all three Datsuns come with the same rifle.

Articulation will be the same on all three figures.  Their heads swivel.  Their shoulders swivel and move laterally almost 90 degrees.  They have hinged elbows, not ball joints, so while their elbows bend 90 degrees they have no bicep swivels.  Nor do they have wrist swivels.  They do have waist swivels, though.  Their hips can move about 90 degrees forward and backward, and about 60 degrees laterally.  No thigh swivels.  Their knees bend 90 degrees.  Due to their transformations they have some up/down foot tilt, but no ankle pivots.

The rifles and shoulder weapons alike have tiny pegs on them.  These pegs can plug into holes near the shoulders, or in their fists.

Transformation follows a lot of the usual rules... the waists rotate, and the feet fold down and line up with the shins.  The roofs rock back and into place.  The chests lift up over their heads, and a flap folds over the gap the head passed through.  The arms tuck under the hood, and the doors close.  There is some novelty here, though.  The arms don't simply tuck up under; the backs of the forearms form part of the side of the car.  Flaps on the doors have to fold in to make space for the arms, but rather than fold flat they kind of sandwich around the heels.  You really have to make sure everything's lined up right before you squeeze them together.

All three feature painted windows and lights.  I think Patrol Man came out the best here; he's only really missing the badge on his roof.  Smoke Dust is mostly fine.  The "38" on his sides is too small, but that's so they could keep it on the doors and not the back of his forearms.  I personally would have liked some black or dark gray paint in the cutouts on his bumper, too.  Silver Lightning is caught between a rock and a hard place, though.  Dr. Wu opted to keep his legs an animation-accurate silver/light gray, but the side effect of that is that the the black that should run across the entire top stops just past the roof and side windows.  To be fair, that's how the Earthrise and MP toys did it, too, but for some reason the contrast seems more noticeable on Silver Lightning.

These guys can't store all three of their weapons, but the shoulder ports are still available on the hood of the car.  And it turns out that the pegs on the shoulder weapons are the same size as the pegs that make up the handles one the rifles.

My usual caveats about Dr. Wu's stuff is applicable here... they're not perfect, but I'm more inclined to forgive minor issues and subpar articulation on two-inch figures that come two to a pack for under $30.  They're still adorably tiny, relatively simple bots you can play with and pose with Titans or combiners to make them seem extra huge, and they still do so better than Hasbro's defunct Core-class.  That said, the lack of bicep swivels hurts more than the lack of thigh swivels or ankles, and the fact that the chest and backpack don't really lock into place is frustrating and makes them seem like they could have used a little more time to cook.  They're not the worst figures Dr. Wu has put out, but after some bangers like Magnus or the Fusos they're not the best, either.  Here's hoping the upcoming Lambos are a little more polished.

[davidwhangchoi]

WOw! Dr. Wu beat Missing Link to the punch.

[JB0]

On 3/17/2026 at 8:35 PM, mikeszekely said:

Despite keeping the bug legs out of the way, things do go off the rails a bit on his legs.  There are silver ribbed bits that seem to mimic some molded detail on the G1 toy, but that detail was never stickered or painted, and flat out doesn't exist on the animation model.  And to cap it all off, they painted his feet purple, which is a waste of paint because Bombshell's feet should be black.

I suspect the purple toes were brought in from the toy to keep the lower legs from looking too simple.

Also the big chunky kneecaps, which seem to be from Soundwave more than any version of Bombshell. I suspect THAT was done to make Bombshell's legs look meaningfully different from Shrapnel's. It isn't really a good change, they look out of place on Bombshell's very-rounded body and absolutely wreck his beetle mode. It is, however, better than the original toy legs in robot mode, but I'd be very impressed if they managed to be worse.

[M'Kyuun]

13 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

As I've been telling you guys, the three Dr. Wu Insecticons are sold separately from each other, but each one comes packed with a different character.  And we're going to cover all three (and @M'Kyuun will want to tune in for this one), because they're the three Datsun brothers- Patrol Man (Prowl), Silver Lightning (Bluestreak), and Smoke Dust (Smokescreen).

For the most part, these guys came out pretty much how you'd expect.  Dr Wu prioritized Prowl/Bluestreak, so while Smokescreen does have a remolded chest and head he's got tires on the backs of his shoulders instead of the tops and otherwise retains the same proportions.  While I think they mostly look fine (Dr. Wu's figures have always had a bit of chibi proportions), I am a little disappointed in the overall fit of these guys.  The chest and backpack kind of just sit there.  They don't lock in, so it's easy to move them around when you don't really want to while handling them.  I don't know if the scale is too small for reliably sturdy locking tabs or what, but it leaves them feeling a bit half-done.

You may have noticed that Silver Lightning and Smoke Dust are equipped with their cartoon-accurate shoulder weapons.  It's most cartoon-accurate for Patrol Man to not have any shoulder weapons, but he does come with a set of toy-accurate ones.  Also, all three Datsuns come with the same rifle.

Articulation will be the same on all three figures.  Their heads swivel.  Their shoulders swivel and move laterally almost 90 degrees.  They have hinged elbows, not ball joints, so while their elbows bend 90 degrees they have no bicep swivels.  Nor do they have wrist swivels.  They do have waist swivels, though.  Their hips can move about 90 degrees forward and backward, and about 60 degrees laterally.  No thigh swivels.  Their knees bend 90 degrees.  Due to their transformations they have some up/down foot tilt, but no ankle pivots.

The rifles and shoulder weapons alike have tiny pegs on them.  These pegs can plug into holes near the shoulders, or in their fists.

Transformation follows a lot of the usual rules... the waists rotate, and the feet fold down and line up with the shins.  The roofs rock back and into place.  The chests lift up over their heads, and a flap folds over the gap the head passed through.  The arms tuck under the hood, and the doors close.  There is some novelty here, though.  The arms don't simply tuck up under; the backs of the forearms form part of the side of the car.  Flaps on the doors have to fold in to make space for the arms, but rather than fold flat they kind of sandwich around the heels.  You really have to make sure everything's lined up right before you squeeze them together.

All three feature painted windows and lights.  I think Patrol Man came out the best here; he's only really missing the badge on his roof.  Smoke Dust is mostly fine.  The "38" on his sides is too small, but that's so they could keep it on the doors and not the back of his forearms.  I personally would have liked some black or dark gray paint in the cutouts on his bumper, too.  Silver Lightning is caught between a rock and a hard place, though.  Dr. Wu opted to keep his legs an animation-accurate silver/light gray, but the side effect of that is that the the black that should run across the entire top stops just past the roof and side windows.  To be fair, that's how the Earthrise and MP toys did it, too, but for some reason the contrast seems more noticeable on Silver Lightning.

These guys can't store all three of their weapons, but the shoulder ports are still available on the hood of the car.  And it turns out that the pegs on the shoulder weapons are the same size as the pegs that make up the handles one the rifles.

My usual caveats about Dr. Wu's stuff is applicable here... they're not perfect, but I'm more inclined to forgive minor issues and subpar articulation on two-inch figures that come two to a pack for under $30.  They're still adorably tiny, relatively simple bots you can play with and pose with Titans or combiners to make them seem extra huge, and they still do so better than Hasbro's defunct Core-class.  That said, the lack of bicep swivels hurts more than the lack of thigh swivels or ankles, and the fact that the chest and backpack don't really lock into place is frustrating and makes them seem like they could have used a little more time to cook.  They're not the worst figures Dr. Wu has put out, but after some bangers like Magnus or the Fusos they're not the best, either.  Here's hoping the upcoming Lambos are a little more polished.

Indeed, my interest is piqued. My copies of Prowl and Kickback are on their way and should be here any day, but I appreciate the advanced review with all the pros and cons. I wonder why, on such a tiny fig, Wu didn't just give this mold ball jointed elbows. The non-locking chest is a bummer, too, harkening to the barely-there connecting tabs keeping his takes on Graphy and Noise combined. But, as you said, on such tiny bots, some forgiveness is in order along with acknowledgement of what he got right. I'm looking forward to getting these little guys in hand. I doubt I'll get any more, as I'm far more interested in Wu's cassettes, but these will be some nice novelty figs in my collection. Cheers for the review and the shout out, Mike!

[sh9000]

DK-56S.

[tekering]

13 hours ago, sh9000 said:

DK-56S.

What figure is this upgrading, and what character does it represent?

[Scyla]

1 hour ago, tekering said:

What figure is this upgrading, and what character does it represent?

It is the Animated Nemesis Prime that was released in the most recent five pack. It is a repaint (and slight remold having a faceplated head) of the Legacy United Animated Universe Optimus Prime (what a mouthful).

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, tekering said:

What figure is this upgrading, and what character does it represent?

It's upgrading the Nemesis Prime repaint of Age of the Primes Animated Optimus Prime.  It's basically DNA deciding to repaint a kit they were already doing for the regular version.  Apparently there were plans to turn the Jetwing upgrade we saw in Season 3 (and that DNA already did, and I already bought, because that kit was fire) into a more permanent upgrade based on God Ginrai.

I'll go on record as saying that, while I don't hate the idea, as noted I already bought the upgrade to give him the Season 3 Jetwing gear.  I don't see myself replacing that with a different kit for an upgrade that never happened in a season that never happened.  If I'd kept the Nemesis version I might have, just to differentiate, but I sold my Nemesis version to @Scyla.

[tekering]

4 hours ago, Scyla said:

Legacy United Animated Universe Optimus Prime

4 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Age of the Primes Animated Optimus Prime

Thanks, guys.  Whatever Hasbro called it, it seems TakaraTomy didn't give it a Japanese release... 

...which is ironic, given the original Wingblade Optimus Prime never got a Hasbro release. 

[mikeszekely]

5 hours ago, tekering said:

Whatever Hasbro called it, it seems TakaraTomy didn't give it a Japanese release... 

 

My original reply was like the last thing I did before I went to bed at like 2:00am, and I made some mistakes and am concerned about I wasn't entirely clear.

The robot getting upgrade is Nemesis Prime.  He was released (at least in the US) in a Target-exclusive multipack along with Horri-Bull (retooled from from Titans Returns Skullcruncher), Bumper (new head on SS86 Bumblebee), and Ultra Magnus (a white repaint of the Deluxe-class toy-style Optimus).

That Nemesis Prime is a slight retool of Legacy United Animated Optimus (which I remembered as being a recent enough release to think it was Age of the Primes, but I was wrong).  I reviewed that figure here.  I thought it was kind of mid, since the Animated characters in Legacy were all a bit G1-ified, which meant he wasn't totally cartoon accurate and also redundant because we already have G1 Primes.  While I got my copy in late 2023, as best I can tell the figure did release in Japan sometime in 2024.

DNA released an upgrade kit (DK-54) for Animated Optimus, which I reviewed here.  It gave the figure the gloves, wings, hammer, and shoulder cannons of the original Takara Wingblade Optimus, but also new boots based on concept art for Wingblade Optimus and some extra head gear.  The upgrade parts transformed into a more complete, more cartoon-accurate trailer with a ladder.  I quite liked that upgrade kit, as I felt it really elevated the toy.

DNA later released another kit, based on DK-54 but modified extensively, for the Animated Motormaster repaint of Prime.  It used the same boots and gloves, but modified the wings so that in alt mode they looked more like a box trailer than a fire truck.  It replaced the hammer with a large gun and the shoulder cannon with boxy missile launchers, and added a sword.  That was listed as DK-56

DNA released a repaint of DK-56, DK-56A, that repainted the black trailer wings to gray, repainted the black gloves, boots, and boosters to be colored like the other Stunticons, and included a new Menasor-style head that fits over Motormaster's.

DNA is now further retooling DK-56 into 56T (for Optimus) and S (for Nemesis). It looks like they're retaining the sword, big gun, and redesigned trailer wings from the original DK-56 kit, as well as the gloves and boots from DK-54/56, now they're including new God Ginrai-style chest armor, feet guns, and new head armor.  These kits are available for preorder now.  The idea is for DNA to make more money to look more like concept art that was developed for a 4th season of Animated that never happened.  And, like I said, I guess that's cool, and I might have bought the Nemesis version if I'd bothered to keep that figure, but I'm content with the DK-54 kit I already bought.