The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread

[Convectuoso]

Upcoming repaints of MFT/Dr. Wu's Arcee

[M'Kyuun]

1 hour ago, Convectuoso said:

Upcoming repaints of MFT/Dr. Wu's Arcee

I think he's got all the bases covered. Some of those variants I'm not familiar with. I've got the G1 pink version POed. Looking like she's going to be a fun little fig.

Yesterday, I received my Go Better kits for ER Sunstreaker and the rotating toe mod for the upcoming Sludge fig. Upon installing Sunstreaker's various bits and transforming him into car mode to check out his snazzt new spoiler, I discoverd to my dismay that they installed two left spoiler linkages, which makes the right spoiler angle improperly and overlap the left. I fired off an email to TFSafari about it and hope to have a satisfying outcome. Not a bad kit beyond that bit of assembly error. The bits for both the legs and the spoilers that slide over the 5mm posts are a bit looser than I'd like, allowing them to pop off quite easily. I could glue them, but I won't.  There's enough friction as to where they don't just fall off, but it takes very little to unseat them and I wish there was a little more friction there or some sort of snap to give them better purchase.

This is my fist, AFAIK, 3D printed set, and I'm amazed at how solid it is. If weren't for the mild striations caused by the layering process, I'd swear it was injection molded. Def a great use of the technology.

 

Edited July 22, 2022 by M'Kyuun

[Convectuoso]

 

 

 

[Hikuro]

On 7/22/2022 at 10:29 AM, M'Kyuun said:

I think he's got all the bases covered. Some of those variants I'm not familiar with. I've got the G1 pink version POed. Looking like she's going to be a fun little fig.

Yesterday, I received my Go Better kits for ER Sunstreaker and the rotating toe mod for the upcoming Sludge fig. Upon installing Sunstreaker's various bits and transforming him into car mode to check out his snazzt new spoiler, I discoverd to my dismay that they installed two left spoiler linkages, which makes the right spoiler angle improperly and overlap the left. I fired off an email to TFSafari about it and hope to have a satisfying outcome. Not a bad kit beyond that bit of assembly error. The bits for both the legs and the spoilers that slide over the 5mm posts are a bit looser than I'd like, allowing them to pop off quite easily. I could glue them, but I won't.  There's enough friction as to where they don't just fall off, but it takes very little to unseat them and I wish there was a little more friction there or some sort of snap to give them better purchase.

This is my fist, AFAIK, 3D printed set, and I'm amazed at how solid it is. If weren't for the mild striations caused by the layering process, I'd swear it was injection molded. Def a great use of the technology.

I've only bought like one set of any upgrades and t hat was for my G2 Megatron. I wanted to get more but the cost of those things are just to much for what I honestly feel you get. But then I stumbled on a website that lets you print those exact files and one of them I got was the feet for Ironhide and ratchet. I made mine using my Elegoo Mars, airbrushed them and gave them a light clear coat. The only regret was the shade of Red I used for Ironhide, some reason it looked good before clear coating now it's several shades darker. Probably the same issue the people selling them are having. Still, new feet and wheels on these guys really helps a ton. I was also able to get files to make my own Eject and Rewind, Rumble and Frenzy that'll work with Soundwave and blaster. So for now, I feel pretty content with my collection thus far. 

[Convectuoso]

 

 

[M'Kyuun]

That's a clever transformation system. I'm not crazy about the huge hump her car has as a result of using her legs to form the back of the car, but using her feet for seats is pretty cool. It's yet another clever take on one of the more difficult G1 characters to translate into toy form. Her bot mode is ace, and the compromises to her car mode are minimal. New age did a good job. I wonder if Magic Square has one in the works. I usually like to look at both offerings and make a decision on one or the other.

[mikeszekely]

I've got something a little different for you this evening.  Years ago, in the heyday of 3P MP-style figures, we often found ourselves in the middle of "wars" where one character would get a release by multiple companies, stuff like KFC, Maketoys, and Fans Toys all doing Reflector or XTB, Maketoys, and DX9 all doing Megatron (before MP-36 came along).  One of the biggest was the Springer Wars, where shortly after Unique Toys released Allen five other companies announced they were doing a Springer.  Three of those (Fans Toys, Open and Play, and ToyWorld) came out in 2017, and with so much competition on the market one company (MMC) decided to sit on theirs for awhile, eventually releasing in 2019, while the last one (XTB) had its design re-worked a bit and just came out within the last month or so (summer 2022, for anyone reading this in the distant future).  I myself wound up buying Open & Play's at the time due to the fact that it looked relatively decent in all three modes and had a very low price tag, then I replaced it on my shelf with MMC's Saltus due to the better materials and excellent robot sculpt (but I'm considering replacing again with XTB's, which I think looks the most accurate across all three modes).

Anyway, this got me involved in a discussion about which of the six Springers was the worst.  Now, for me personally I think my vote would go to Fans Toys for it's chunky, lifeless sculpt, terrible shoulder articulation, terrible transformation, and terrible car mode, but ToyWorld's Spanner was the Springer that was cited most often as the worst.  At the time, Spanner's Studio OX design kind of ruled him out for my MP shelf- while I like the heavy toy influence on OX's designs, especially now that I've picked up a few more G1 toys, I was just starting my MP collection back then and I was more interested in figures based on the cartoon- but I don't recall Spanner seeming particularly bad.  Were Spanner's critics right, or was ToyWorld retroactively getting hate for not being Sunbow enough?

Well, there was only one way to find out, and that was to get my hands on a copy.  So here it is... ToyWorld's Spanner.

Let me start by saying that I'm not this Spanner's first owner, so some of the details you're seeing (like, in this picture, the blue in his chest and the mechanical details on his shins and hips) are Reprolabels.  I'm only going to focus on the toy's original details, especially as I think I'll be removing most/all of the stickers.

Anyway... I'm surprised how short Spanner is!  If you'll recall, ToyWorld's other MP-esque figures from this era, like their Prime, their Coneheads, and their Seaspray were bigger than the competition, suggesting that ToyWorld was using their own scale and not conforming the Takara's MP-scale.  And yet, Spanner is is a good head shorter than MMC's Saltus (left) or Open & Play's Big Spring (right).  However, while Springer was around the same size as Rodimus and taller than Kup or Blurr on the Sunbow scale chart, in what OX artwork I was able to dig up Springer was drawn around the same size as Kup and Blurr.  This might again be the toy influence on OX- Springer's G1 toy is shorter than all the other new '86 movie toys except Wheelie.

Speaking of that toy influence... while OX included a number of toy details on their artwork of Springer, including the shoulder pads that go over the top instead of around the sides, the yellow chest, and the helicopter tail on the sides of his legs (something Spanner actually cleaned up), and while OX often used toy colors for other characters like Wheelie, Ultra Magnus, Blurr, and Rodimus, aside from the yellow chest Springer seemed to be more cartoon-colored with white thighs and hands, light green biceps under darker green shoulders, green biceps, yellow belt buckle, and yellow and green shoulder pads.  Spanner's gray shoulder pads, gray arms and hands, green belt buckle, and green thighs are very G1 toy, though, and I'm actually a fan of that.  It's a shame his face isn't the same color green as his thighs, really.  But generally-speaking, while I'm not loving the unpaintable gray hinges near his knees and his pouty lips (face sculpts were never ToyWorld's strong suit), I honestly really like the heroic proportions and toy-ish colors ToyWorld went with.

Speaking of faces, Spanner is actually supposed to come with an alternate face.  According the manual and a few reviews I double-checked with, it's a pretty ugly bared-teeth face I wouldn't have used anyway, so I'm not really bent out of shape over the fact that this copy was missing that one.  The rest of Spanner's accessories are here, though- one of ToyWorld's pretty handy chain bases, of which I have another orange somewhere I got with their Seaspray and of which the black ones I got with the Coneheads makes up my review surface, two identical rifles with a fairly OX-accurate sculpt and Toyworld's then-penchant for adding little red lines, and a sword.

Spanner's an older figure, and I'd suggest that while his articulation won't blow anyone's socks off today that it was decent for the time and still meets my minimal acceptable standard.  His head is on a hinged swivel that can look up around 30 degrees, down a little, swivel, but lacks sideways tilt.  His shoulders rotate and can extend 90 degrees laterally when they're down at his sides.  If you rotate his arms first his shoulder pads will get in the way, however, you still have options.  The first is that his shoulders are attached via a double-hinge, so you can shift them down and away from his body to get a little more clearance.  Or, there's a transformation joint that hinges his bicep in and out from his shoulder, so you could rotate his arm and then use the transformation hinge to get the full 90 degrees of lateral movement outward, plus the inward bend will bring his arms across his body like a butterfly joint.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend nearly 180 degrees on a double-hinge.  His wrists swivel, and he has finger articulation but it's a tad odd.  His thumb is on a ball joint, no additional hinges.  His fingers are pinned at the base and molded into a curve with no additional hinges, which was pretty common for a lot of MP-esque figures at the time smaller than MP-10, but usually either all the fingers are molded as one piece, the index finger is separate and the other three are one piece, or all four fingers are separate.  With Spanner, though, his index and middle fingers are one piece and his ring and pinkie fingers are one piece.  His waist swivels, no ab crunch.  His hip skirts can move so that hips can go forward, backward, or laterally 90 degrees.  His thighs swivel around his hip joints, which is the way you'd want to do it, but for transformation there's a second thigh swivel just above his knees.  His knees bend 90 degrees, then for reasons I'm not totally clear on they can also bend 90 degrees the wrong way; the knee pads are even on double-hinges so they get out of the way, and before you ask, no, it's not for transformation.  The front of his foot is on a hinged ball joint, so he gets some tilt up, 90 degrees down, the ability to point in/out like an ankle swivel, and roughly 45 degrees of faux pivot.  Note that, on my copy at least, two minor issues are that the kneepads keep popping off and that both the hinge and the ball joint in his toes are a little on the loose side.  There's a tendency for him to lean backward, but his heels are fixed and do a good job keeping him standing.

Despite the semi-articulated hands, Spanner eschews the more typical tabs on the handles into slots in the palms that most other MP-style figures use or even the tabs on the palms, slots in the hands you'd see on stuff like their Constructicons in favor of a simple 5mm port being cut into Spanner's palms.  His guns and sword both have 5mm handles that just slide right in and hold very securely (and are also compatible with WfC figures, making Spanner's sword look like a really attractive replacement for the two swords with the extra middle piece that Siege Springer uses, and I'm actually going to see if I can track down a few spare swords from junkers for that reason).

You can also store Spanner's weapons on his back.  The guns just use their handles to plug into 5mm ports on the sides of his backpack- it's a bit awkward, but it'll do in a pinch.  What I like is that Spanner's sword has a second 5mm port on the hilt, so you can plug it onto his back like he strapped it there without using a separate accessory the way Big Spring or Saltus do.

Messing with Saltus and Big Spring for this photoshoot reminded me how pleasantly fun they are to transform, especially Saltus, but I have to say that Spanner's actually easier than both to transform.  My only complaint is that the parts with the rear tires fold around and are supposed to tab in, but the tabs are so loose that it's entirely friction that holds them in place.  I'll note here that I'd seen some reviewers complaining that Spanners legs don't like to stay tabbed together- this is technically true, if you're only relying on the legs themselves to stay together.  However, there are pegs under his backpack, which slides back from the cockpit and pegs into the bottoms of his legs near his ankles, locking everything into place. 

Of all Springer's modes, the car is usually the one that comes out the worst, even in the animation and on the G1 toy, and I have to confess that I think Spanner actually looks pretty good here.

I like that it it does look like it's meant to be a ground vehicle.  However, as with MMC's Saltus, this is an effect of being not exactly accurate to the source material, be that G1 toy, cartoon, or Studio OX.  I mean, the front half is fine pretty ok; the front tires aren't really exposed, and it goes for the OX/cartoon style of having the shoulder pads reach farther than the hood.  I like that the engine behind the cockpit has the painted exhaust (where the G1 toy had chrome), but it doesn't slide back as far as the G1 toy (the angle of the OX art makes it unclear how far back they thought it should go).  Then, while the bits with the helicopter tail do fold around the sides they don't have the sliding hinge that the G1 toy (and presumably the OX art) has, so it's sort of inside out compared to the G1 toy.  This leaves the horizontal stabilizers folded over the back instead of sticking out to the sides, and instead of acting like fins on the back of the car the rudder is in front of the rear tires and slopes the wrong way.  If I'm being nitpicky I'm not a huge fan of the exposed elbow joint, either, but on the whole it could be a lot worse (take a look at Fans Toys' Apache).

Note that this is the official transformation, but there are alternative things you can try.  Personally, instead of folding the horizontal stabs to lie along the back I like to leave them up and along the vertical stabs.  I've also seen Baltmatrix leave the rudders in their helicopter position with the top bent in toward the body.

Like oh-so-many other Springers, Spanner's headlights do open up, as does his cockpit with a pair of molded and painted seats and a control panel.  His guns can plug in exactly the way you had them for robot mode storage, and yeah, I'd buy this as some kind of futuristic armored military vehicle.  You can even store the sword by plugging the 5mm peg on the hilt into a 5mm port in front of his right rear wheel; I don't think it's intended; the peg hole is actually the mate of a peg on the other side that holds the tail together in helicopter mode, and a car driving around with a sword on the side always seemed a bit awkward to me, even a car as naturally awkward as Springer.

Speaking of helicopter... if there's one alt mode you should get right on Springer it's the helicopter mode, something I think MMC failed to do.  Once again, I think ToyWorld did a pretty solid job here.  The tail boom is longer and has bigger horizontal stabs than Big Spring, and it comes off the right spot unlike MMC's too-high one.

Spanner has some of the Studio OX art's cartoon influences, like the pointy bits on the "wings," but colored to match the G1 toy.  I dig the bit that slides out from the chin.  You can always leave it tucked in if you don't care for it, but I personally like how it helps change the shape from the car mode a makes it seem slightly more aerodynamic.  The front half of the tail boom, where most of his legs are, is a bit thick, but it otherwise is very G1 toy-accurate with the rudder above the (spinning) tail rotor and the horizontal stabilizers just in front of the tail rotor.  The horizontal stabs are pretty proportional to the G1 toy, too.  Really, it's a very good representation of the G1 toy- the only big difference is that his bicep isn't also sticking out side the shoulder pad, his hand isn't visible, and he's got the pointy bits.

Once again, we have the opening cockpit and headlights, if that's your thing, and once again the guns can plug into the sides.  This time, of course, you'll want to open the sword and plug it into the top to form the helicopter's rotors.  There's one more gimmick on Spanner for the helicopter mode, and it's one that seems to have been missed by several Youtube reviewers (actually all of the ones I've watched).  There are little panels on the tail boom, just behind the engines, that can flip open.  Inside each are a pair of non-removable missiles.  Just a cool little touch.

There are, unfortunately, a few more fit-and-finish issues in helicopter mode.  The sliding bit on the nose doesn't lock and is very easy to accidentally push back in.  Likewise, the horizontal stabs don't lock so bumping them at all will bend them on their hinges.  The entire thinner section of the tail boom isn't the most secure, and it's very easy to accidentally separate it from the fatter portion.  However, some of the other complaints I've heard seem to be user error.  Baltmatrix again complained of the legs not staying tabbed together, and again I'll say that's because he didn't tab the engines into the legs.  Both Baltmatrix and Ben of Ben's Collectibles complained that a green flap on the underside was loose, but his crotch should flip up and a tap on the green flap plugs into his crotch, securing it in place.  Ben complained that the whole arm section moved freely because it doesn't tab in anywhere, but he forgot to fold in the green side panels before sliding and hinging the shoulders down.  Had he done so he'd have found that tabs on those green panels would have plugged into the shoulders, locking them in place.  So in my experience, aside from the nose, tail boom, and horizontal stabs the helicopter mode is quite solid.

So, bringing me back around to my original question, I think Spanner's critics are in the wrong here.  While I wouldn't call Spanner a "premium" toy compared to something like Saltus, Spanner is a fun toy to transform that looks pretty good in all three modes.  While he borrows some design cues from Studio OX and isn't 100% accurate, I think Spanner makes for a pretty good G1 toy-style figure.

That said, while I do think Spanner's haters are doing so just because he's not Sunbow accurate, the limited shelf space we collectors tend to have does mean that the lack of Sunbow accuracy is still his biggest weakness.  If you like Spanner and you can find him at a good price (I vaguely recall him going on clearance a few years back for something like $65-70) then by all means go for it.  But inventory has long been dried up and I wouldn't suggest overpaying for him on the secondary market when the fact is that there are better options for an MP Springer that are also likely a better aesthetic fit with the other MP figures on your shelf.

[Kuma Style]

The Mastermind Creations R-42 D-Zef article and gallery is up: https://kumastyle.com/mmc-r42-d-zef-review/

Unfortunately I had to rate this one "N.A./10." I don't feel comfortable giving it a numeric rating until my replacement part comes in based on faith having read an account of the replacement part not being up to snuff either. So I'll be editing it with a proper rating once that part comes in.

Here are a few pics from the gallery portion:

 

[mikeszekely]

I dig the glow in that last pic, Kuma.

[M'Kyuun]

My copy of DR. Wu's Amie came today so I thought I'd do a quick review.

Amie comes in car mode, but when it comes to G1 Arcee, I think most folks are probably more interested in how well her bot mode turned out. IMHO, Amie doesn't disappoint. While she does sport a sizeable backpack, said pack folds up quite compactly into a loose semblance of her shoulder pods. Considering the entirety of her car's fore and aft fenders comprise the pack, by comparison with other Arcees, this is pretty well executed and , IMHO, acceptable, if forgivable as a well-implemented concession.

Amie's backpack cleans up better than Takara's own MP fig, as well as any number of other erstwhile Arcee figs, both official and non.

Amie's articulation is on par with today's expectations. her head is on a ball joint, which in turn is on a neck stalk that itself is on a pinned hinge. Despite both joints, she can only manage about 10 degrees of up (without breaking sculpt- more if you do), about 5 degrees down (again more if you break the sculpt by hinging the white bit that forms her collar). her shoulders are on ball joints giving 360 rotation and 90 degrees adduction. She has bicep swivels for 360, double jointed elbows for the full range, and oddly a pinned joint that allows her wrists to bend a touch past 90 towards her elbows. It's not necessary for transformation so I'm not sure why it's there. Her wrists don't swivel, sadly. She has a 90 degree ab crunch, & 360 waist rotation. Her hips can flex forward 90 degrees, back nearly 90 (they're inhibited both by the lower posterior torso sculpt and also by the backpack if she's standing straight.  She has thigh swivel cuts for 360. She has double jointed knees for 180 bend, ankle pivots that allows 90 back (in line with the calf for transformation), about 5 degrees up, no rocker, per se, but the toe sections can rotate 360 for transformation. Despite the few limitations, I found her to be a fun little fig to pose. Her backpack is a tad heavy for her size and her rather diminutive feet, but with a little adjustment, I was able to get her to assume any number of poses reliably.

Amie comes with a pistol and a rifle, and a separate Arcee face that apparently fits a larger Arcee figure. Neither the box nor the instructions give any indication as to which fig it's for. I didn't take a pic of it, as it obviously wasn't for Amie, having left it and the obligatory collector's card (why?) in the box. As you can see, neither the rifle nor the pistol has any paint, but at this scale, I can forgive it. They're decently sculpted, however, and fit snugly in her hands.

Comparisons: L-R : MMC's Azalea (MP scale), Hasbro Thrilling 30 Arcee, Hasbro Studio Series Bumblebee Movie Arcee, and Dr. Wu's Amie

L-R: New Age's Harry (Prowl), Amie, and Magic Square's Blues (Jazz)

Sorry for changing the arrangement - I took the car shot first and then realized a more effective comparison in bot mode could be achieved with them on either side of her.

Car mode: Dr. Wu achieved a fairly accurate representation of Arcee's car mode, sans driver's cabin interior. A little seat detail would've been nice, but the car looks good and at this scale, I'm not going to quibble. There's also adequate ground clearance for her to roll on her little grey plastic wheels. 

A few transformation steps:

I like how Dr. Wu did double duty with her ab crunch joint, as it also enables her entire lower torse to fold 180 degrees. It's a smart use of the joint, and I appreciate it. I also like that her chest forms the front of her car mode, with the concession of her shoulders sitting slightly too low to accommodate the chest linkage. Her pistol tabs into the bottom of the car just behind her head- it's rather precariously placed and one hopes it won't inadvertently fire. 😬 The method of forming her backpack is simple and effective, and while a bit too large and not quite the same shape as her pods are generally illustrated, it's a clever bit of engineering that gives her an accurate car mode and a bot mode with a compact, virtually kibble-free backpack. I only wish the Hasbro versions were so well executed. 

I think Amie is a well-balanced legends scale Arcee. She's not without her flaws, but I think they're fairly minimal for how well she cleans up, for the range of articulation she offers, and for her fairly accurate car mode. With New Age's Machinenmenscsh already getting reviews, there's no arguing NA has the better bot mode, although her car mode has a camel hump due to the way the legs fold over so her feet can form the seats. Most peeps are going to get her regardless ( I may join them), but I'm curious to see what Magic Square might offer in an Arcee fig.

Final thought, if you're in the market for a well-executed pocket-sized Arcee with a good balance between bot and car modes, Amie's a good buy IMHO.

 

[tekering]

3 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

I think Amie is a well-balanced legends scale Arcee.

She looks a little too big to scale with New Age, Magic Square, or even MechFansToys figures.  What was Dr. Wu intending her to scale with, I wonder...? 🤔

[Scyla]

1 hour ago, tekering said:

She looks a little too big to scale with New Age, Magic Square, or even MechFansToys figures.  What was Dr. Wu intending her to scale with, I wonder...? 🤔

I was under the impression that the Transformers in the 86 movie where meant to be taller than the regular carbot. I never cared for scale so I might be wrong.

[mikeszekely]

I think @Scyla is right, no matter how similar Earthrise/SS86 Arcee is in height to ER Prowl or SS86 Jazz. (I think SS86 Blurr and Kup are a little short, too). Amie is probably too big for NewAge, but I think that she works with Magic Square.

[Convectuoso]

I have Amie on the way, but I may get NA's too to then decide which one to keep.

[M'Kyuun]

6 hours ago, tekering said:

She looks a little too big to scale with New Age, Magic Square, or even MechFansToys figures.  What was Dr. Wu intending her to scale with, I wonder...? 🤔

IDK. By balanced, I was referring more to how well her bot and car modes were executed.  She's one of the better Arcee toys I've seen from that perspective, especially for her size. Scalewise, only Dr. Wu knows what he was scaling to, but I'd assume he was aware that she was a bit on the tall side even for Magic Square. NewAge has their own scale, too, so maybe that's the point- there's no standardized scale, so free-for-all.  But it does make it frustrating to form a cohesive collection when you're cherry-picking figs from different companies

[M'Kyuun]

1 hour ago, Convectuoso said:

I have Amie on the way, but I may get NA's too to then decide which one to keep.

Why not keep both; each does something better than the other. And, they're small, so they take up little room.

[Kuma Style]

 

[technoblue]

On 7/29/2022 at 1:07 AM, M'Kyuun said:

My copy of DR. Wu's Amie came today so I thought I'd do a quick review.

…

Amie comes with a pistol and a rifle, and a separate Arcee face that apparently fits a larger Arcee figure. Neither the box nor the instructions give any indication as to which fig it's for. I didn't take a pic of it, as it obviously wasn't for Amie, having left it and the obligatory collector's card (why?) in the box.

 

Nice detailed review, @M'Kyuun. With regard to the face, it is meant as a bonus for those who have the official MP Arcee but are not happy with Takara’s face options. Dr. Wu’s bonus face provides a replacement for the neutral face with full cheeks and an updated eye shape.

[M'Kyuun]

1 hour ago, technoblue said:

Nice detailed review, @M'Kyuun. With regard to the face, it is meant as a bonus for those who have the official MP Arcee but are not happy with Takara’s face options. Dr. Wu’s bonus face provides a replacement for the neutral face with full cheeks and an updated eye shape.

Thanks, and thanks. I had no clue. 

[Bobby]

We now pause for a quick unlicensed station identification ...

 

[mark-1s]

I don’t know about anybody else, but this pic looks straight out of The Last King of Scotland.

[Kuma Style]

On 7/27/2022 at 9:16 PM, mikeszekely said:

I dig the glow in that last pic, Kuma.

Thank you!

[CoryHolmes]

So I went ahead and preordered X-Transbot's James//Bond figure.

 

I so badly want it to be a good MP-type Punch/Counterpunch, but at that pricepoint I'm sure I'm going to be disappointed by it merely being a "flip around, adjust the arms, try not to look at the face on the back" figure.

[JB0]

6 hours ago, CoryHolmes said:

So I went ahead and preordered X-Transbot's James//Bond figure.

 

I so badly want it to be a good MP-type Punch/Counterpunch, but at that pricepoint I'm sure I'm going to be disappointed by it merely being a "flip around, adjust the arms, try not to look at the face on the back" figure.

I think that's always going to be the big problem with Counter/Punch. The animated appearances of the character are all pretty toy-accurate, and "the market" seems to vastly prefer upgraded rehashes of the original toys and slavish recreations of the cartoons over a less-faithful reimagining.

 

I fudged it a bit with the Primes Counter/Punch. I peg the "prime armor" fist into the peghole on the "inactive" chest and declared it a jetpack, so whichever side isn't currently "live" is partially obscured. It is a suboptimal solution, but it's the best I've got.

[CoryHolmes]

Yeah, but seeing the complexity some other 3P figures get to achieve that slavish accuracy, I'd like to see some here.  I want there to be a hidden face swap gimmick and not just "twist the head around and ignore the backside".  Stuff like that.

 

But I really quite doubt it. 

[Kuma Style]

[Scyla]

1 hour ago, Kuma Style said:

Got my replacement parts for D-Zef. Need to install them ASAP. 
 

Looks really dynamic in you pictures.

[Kuma Style]

10 hours ago, Scyla said:

Got my replacement parts for D-Zef. Need to install them ASAP. 
 

Looks really dynamic in you pictures.

... oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooook?

-------------------------------------------

If anoyne gets D-Zef and doesn't need the screwdriver that came in the box I'll buy it from you.

[Kuma Style]

 

[Convectuoso]

NewAge's Elita-One from an Arcee repaint

[Kuma Style]

 

[Convectuoso]

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

Peg is gonna get a Cyber Formula inspired alt mode:

I will glady pay for this.

 

[mikeszekely]

Even though I have MS-01, TE-01, MP-10, and a KO MP-44, I'll be buying Magic Square's updated MP Prime, sure.

As for Peg... I think it's impressive that they not only made a transforming Flame Toys Drift, but that they specifically made him the Asurada G.S.X.  I just don't know that I have room in my life for an MP-scale Peg...

[Scyla]

3 hours ago, Valkyrie Hunter D said:

Peg is gonna get a Cyber Formula inspired alt mode:

I will glady pay for this.

 

It is hard to believe that this car converts into that robot. Where are the hood, front fenders and cockpit in robot mode?
And where are the bulky legs in car mode?

 I‘m not gonna buy Drift since I have two of the K3 ones but it looks damn impressive. It will be interesting to see if the company can produce a solid and well built toy.