The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread

[David Hingtgen]

Maybe MMC's will look better with arms, but right now it looks so mis-proportioned it isn't funny.

It'll probably look a lot like this, but without Arcee on his shoulder:

[anime52k8]

It'll probably look a lot like this, but without Arcee on his shoulder:

or including Arcee on his shoulder if you're feeling extra spendy.

[CoryHolmes]

Its calves looks way too big imo.

That's what I meant by hoping the arms will balance out the beeeeeeeeeeeeefy calves.

[anime52k8]

That's what I meant by hoping the arms will balance out the beeeeeeeeeeeeefy calves.

they're giant boots of stop-the-sh*t-out-of-everything.

[David Hingtgen]

Also a full reveal of Tigris but I can't paste that many pics via phone.

[slaginpit]

Edited May 10, 2013 by slaginpit

[slaginpit]

[David Hingtgen]

Still just renders, but new pic of "Bovis and Fortis" with the reveal that Bovis/Fortis have such "all-around well-formed/detailed" molds that you can actually flip everything around, and swap the top/bottom in beast mode, to make them look more different:

[Valkyrie Magnus]

Thanks for the pictures. I was starting to worry that Skydive and Slingshot were not going to be released soon.

[David Hingtgen]

You might like this newer pic, too:

[Valkyrie Magnus]

Sweet! I can't wait to complete it!

[Hikuro]

http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=TNT10000&mode=retail this should up today. Looks like another third party group is trying to make a trailer armor upgrade for FOC Ultra Magnus. Right now, it's a pass for the 170 dollar price tags.

[CoryHolmes]

Any add-on set for Ultra Magnus is going to have to measure up to Fans Project's first armour set. IIRC, that was the first real GOOD transforming 3rd Party toy, correct? Either way, it still set the bar so high that it'll be hard to match it.

[Valkyrie Magnus]

http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=TNT10000&mode=retail this should up today. Looks like another third party group is trying to make a trailer armor upgrade for FOC Ultra Magnus. Right now, it's a pass for the 170 dollar price tags.

I already have the FP armor for my classics UM as seen in my profile pic. $170 for an add on for an okay deluxe figure? Easy pass.

Any add-on set for Ultra Magnus is going to have to measure up to Fans Project's first armour set. IIRC, that was the first real GOOD transforming 3rd Party toy, correct? Either way, it still set the bar so high that it'll be hard to match it.

Yeah for that price to match the FP, it would have to have actual silver and gold on it.

[Vermillion One]

Has anyone here collected the TFC Uranos figures to date? Are they on par with the Hercules figures for quality? I am on the fence between picking them up now and wait for reissues or a box set.

[Hikuro]

Has anyone here collected the TFC Uranos figures to date? Are they on par with the Hercules figures for quality? I am on the fence between picking them up now and wait for reissues or a box set.

I've heard mixed things about the set. I'm sure some people love the figures. But I've heard of floppy parts, mainly the wings, and of course the SR-71 figure being just like Jetfire's ROTF self, really junky underside that tends to be a bit of an eye sore for the rest of the jet mode, and the ridiculousness of this added sixth member robot/drone.

Personally for their prices I've passed these guys up. Someone else will do a more classics scale Superion I'm sure. But I'm also pretty happy with my Energon repaint with the old Fansproject parts.

[David Hingtgen]

IMHO, for Superion to be "done well" (read: acceptable amounts of kibble in jet mode, and not having horribly deformed versions of the jets to start with) he simply cannot retain his G1 alt-modes. Or at least, not all of them. F-16 and Harrier---just no. Not EVER going to get a decent jet-mode out of them, not while transforming into a robot. Note that even Kawamori, master of transforming aircraft, avoids single-engine jets. And while the VF-4 is sorta SR-71-ish, it also has the least-Transformer™-ish battroid mode. So even if you went with that type of transformation, it simply wouldn't look like Silverbolt, nor make a torso mode.

Reasons for making Silverbolt an XB-70 have been discussed ad nauseum, so I'll just leave it at that. But for the 4 limb bots----

My suggestions are a Tornado, MiG-31, Su-24, and Super Hornet. Because the first 3 are "boxes with wings". Despite their popularity/coolness, the MiG-29, Su-27, or most any Eurocanard are NOT an option (especially not the Rafale, god no). The bellies are just all wrong for what the goal is. The Super Hornet, while not a "box", is my best attempt at a "modern, recognizable plane that most fans will accept as an update and think looks cool"---it is "boxy enough", and I think it could work.

Keeping Air Raid and Fireflight as their original alt-modes certainly works, there's almost no plane better than the F-15 for turning into a robot--it's why it keeps getting done and re-done--it's BOXY. The F-4 is also pretty good---it's even flatter than the F-15 on the bottom, and has so much fuselage volume above the wing you can tuck in almost anything you need. But I think it'd be odd to keep 2 members the same and change the other 3, so my vote is to change them all. The F-22 is of course the "logical update" to the F-15, but it's over-done and is now Starscream, as much as the SR-71 is now Jetfire. While the YF-23 is awesome and a personal fave and equally good option as an F-15 replacement---it'd be hard to get a good robot and limb out of it--certainly possible though, but not as easily as the -22 IMHO.

As for who gets what new alt-mode----basically, do you go for comparable looks, or comparable role? The Tornado has a single big tailfin, so could work for Skydive, or maybe Fireflight. The MiG-31 is insanely fast/powerful---Air Raid? Super Hornet is multi-role, carrier-based----Slingshot? Su-24---I got nothing, it's totally unlike anybody really----if anything, a mud-mover like the Phantom in Vietnam---Fireflight again.

[Chronocidal]

Could possibly do a JSF-based limb.. that thing's nearly as much of a brick as the F-22, and the wings are much smaller.

[raptormesh]

David's got some very salient points but the ROTF Thrust/breakaway was decently done imo and is based on the F-35 which is what Chrono is alluding to I believe.

[David Hingtgen]

Yeah, they made it quasi-workable by making it into a twin-engine version and hanging both engines under the tailplanes as kibble...

[raptormesh]

If you were referring to the ROTF Thrust it only has a single engine.

[Falcon]

IMHO, for Superion to be "done well" (read: acceptable amounts of kibble in jet mode, and not having horribly deformed versions of the jets to start with) he simply cannot retain his G1 alt-modes. Or at least, not all of them. F-16 and Harrier---just no. Not EVER going to get a decent jet-mode out of them, not while transforming into a robot. Note that even Kawamori, master of transforming aircraft, avoids single-engine jets. And while the VF-4 is sorta SR-71-ish, it also has the least-Transformer™-ish battroid mode. So even if you went with that type of transformation, it simply wouldn't look like Silverbolt, nor make a torso mode.

Reasons for making Silverbolt an XB-70 have been discussed ad nauseum, so I'll just leave it at that. But for the 4 limb bots----

My suggestions are a Tornado, MiG-31, Su-24, and Super Hornet. Because the first 3 are "boxes with wings". Despite their popularity/coolness, the MiG-29, Su-27, or most any Eurocanard are NOT an option (especially not the Rafale, god no). The bellies are just all wrong for what the goal is. The Super Hornet, while not a "box", is my best attempt at a "modern, recognizable plane that most fans will accept as an update and think looks cool"---it is "boxy enough", and I think it could work.

Keeping Air Raid and Fireflight as their original alt-modes certainly works, there's almost no plane better than the F-15 for turning into a robot--it's why it keeps getting done and re-done--it's BOXY. The F-4 is also pretty good---it's even flatter than the F-15 on the bottom, and has so much fuselage volume above the wing you can tuck in almost anything you need. But I think it'd be odd to keep 2 members the same and change the other 3, so my vote is to change them all. The F-22 is of course the "logical update" to the F-15, but it's over-done and is now Starscream, as much as the SR-71 is now Jetfire. While the YF-23 is awesome and a personal fave and equally good option as an F-15 replacement---it'd be hard to get a good robot and limb out of it--certainly possible though, but not as easily as the -22 IMHO.

As for who gets what new alt-mode----basically, do you go for comparable looks, or comparable role? The Tornado has a single big tailfin, so could work for Skydive, or maybe Fireflight. The MiG-31 is insanely fast/powerful---Air Raid? Super Hornet is multi-role, carrier-based----Slingshot? Su-24---I got nothing, it's totally unlike anybody really----if anything, a mud-mover like the Phantom in Vietnam---Fireflight again.

This is an interesting idea. But I am curious about why the Su-27 wouldn't make a good robot? Has 2 Engines and a similar profile to the F-15 too...

[David Hingtgen]

Sorry, was thinking of Armada Thrust. As for the movie JSF---my god that thing is hideous. Are you serious about that being a good example of a jetformer?

This is an interesting idea. But I am curious about why the Su-27 wouldn't make a good robot? Has 2 Engines and a similar profile to the F-15 too...

Because like the F-14 and MiG-29 it has a huge belly tunnel between the nacelles, and is paper-thin there. It's where Kawamori usually puts the arms. But no matter how you do it, you can't just leave empty space there. The F-14 is so thin threre it is literally see-through when the air brakes are extended.

Really, it all comes down to one thing---"flat belly". Little else matters.

[raptormesh]

Sorry, was thinking of Armada Thrust. As for the movie JSF---my god that thing is hideous. Are you serious about that being a good example of a jetformer?

It has a serviceable jet mode. The kibble is quite minimal and there aren't odd bits sticking out. The bot mode is a bit...strange.

[anime52k8]

It has a serviceable jet mode. The kibble is quite minimal and there aren't odd bits sticking out. The bot mode is a bit...strange.

That's putting it mildly. although it does a good job of folding all of it's mass into a jet without clearly looking like a robot is strapped the bottom of a set of wings.

[Falcon]

Sorry, was thinking of Armada Thrust. As for the movie JSF---my god that thing is hideous. Are you serious about that being a good example of a jetformer?

Because like the F-14 and MiG-29 it has a huge belly tunnel between the nacelles, and is paper-thin there. It's where Kawamori usually puts the arms. But no matter how you do it, you can't just leave empty space there. The F-14 is so thin threre it is literally see-through when the air brakes are extended.

Really, it all comes down to one thing---"flat belly". Little else matters.

Might sound silly but why can't TF designs have arms in the gaps like Kawamori? Would love to see the Su-27 or a variant in TF but I suspect that's only a fantasy =S

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

Might sound silly but why can't TF designs have arms in the gaps like Kawamori? Would love to see the Su-27 or a variant in TF but I suspect that's only a fantasy =S

Well there is Cybertron Thundercracker, later repainted to be Divebomb for the movie line with Su-37 colors. Had to get him and Dreadwing just on the principle of having transformable Russian fighters.

[Chronocidal]

That would take the people in charge of transformers caring that their jet modes look like crap.

To be fair though, they're really not marketing to people who love aircraft so much as they're marketing to kids who'll go "Ooh look a jet that lights up and turns into a robot and shoots missiles!"

Macross fans are spoiled because the valks were designed by someone with an aerospace degree.

[Valkyrie Magnus]

I heard a rumor that the MMC Predaking will be delayed.

[David Hingtgen]

Really, where? I don't get that from any of Griffith's recent posts at TFW. And are we talking something like 4 weeks or 4 months? Considering there's no actual schedule beyond "2nd Quarter" for the first release, it'd be hard to quantify the entire team's timeline/delay.

If anything from their reps it sounds like MMC is rushing as fast as they can due to competition from both UT and TFC----doing Fortis right after Fortis instead of saving Bovis for last, to get as many limbs out as soon as possible, and accelerating Leo to get him out 2nd or 3rd due to Talon needing tweaks.

[Arthurius]

Not sure about delays either, but depends what you mean. I think the first toy is due in July or August. They first have to release their other figure (sixatron?), I believe in June / July. It is best they finish and release that one first, then only do the Predaking figures each month or two. From what I understood, it's Bovis, then the bird (divebomb), then Leo, then Rino, and finally the Catra, then followed by the 6th character, likely Tigra.

Also, likely that TFC's supposed Predaking will be doing a real announcement (pics) before any of the MMC figures are out, from Griffith's earlier comment.

[David Hingtgen]

Hexatron is as done as it gets without being on shelves----Peaugh got his pre-release yesterday and posted pics. The first 120 are all-white special editions, then they start making the colored ones---and Peaugh's is #103.

As for TFC---they could show finished colored pics of the entire team tomorrow and have them on the shelves next month, and I doubt it'd sway that many people. It just plain doesn't look like who it's supposed to be. Those silhouettes are simply not Predacons---no more than their "Starcats rescue team recolored into Defensor" were Protectobots.

MMC has the great equalizer----their Predaking LOOKS INSANELY AWESOME.

[Arthurius]

guys, the MMC Predaking looks awesome, but in order to get it, I need to sell some of my used Yamato toys at low prices, in fact, I would need to sell 4 of them:

1x YF-19 25th anniversary, 1x vf-0s, 1x vf-0a, 1x vf-s 25th anniversary

Would I be crazy to do this? I am losing big time compared to how much I bought them for. Buying 3rd party is not cheap, specially when not on the early bird.

[David Hingtgen]

MMC shows color render of Leo Dux: (click for full size)


And for comparison, the uncolored proto of UT's "War Lion":

[slaginpit]

It was only a matter of time