Takara Transformers

[Mandingo Rex]

There was significant retooling. The entire legs are new from the knees down, and so are the arms, eyes, crotch, and various other bits. It looks much better, although the Starscream mold doesn't latch together in the original Takara release. They fixed it with the MP-11SW Skywarp.

 

[nacho]

I sold off all my original Takara and domestic seekers of the original mold. It was just terrible by comparison. All I have now are TRU TC and igear SS & SW. I might replace the igears with newer domestic releases of the new design, but only if the prices aren't crazy.

MakeToys is supposedly making 3P seekers, and there is much hope that they'll do coneheads too. I sold off my igear coneheads b/c the market got so hot I couldn't justify keeping them. Part of me wouldn't mind recollecting seekers if the design looks less clunky and has better articulation. The HasTak seeker design, even the new one, looks really dated to me.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

I'm with you, nacho. In spite of all the added articulation and wonderful sculpting, they still, somehow, look clunky.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

I don't really need another Reflector set, but man, these guys look great.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GUE2GFdhxA[/ame]

 

[nacho]

Yeah, they look pretty good. I'm skipping them in favor of the FT set though, as I find them to be more to my liking (slightly taller, slightly more toon accurate IMO). The open shoulders on the MT version just look cheap, that and the swimcap heads look odd. But I do like this one better than the KFC set.

The only reflector sets I currently own are a KO G1 set and the PE set that are too small even for Legends-scale (they're like an inch tall!). So I definitely need one of these 3P sets to pan out for my MP shelf.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Haven't looked into the FT set much. I'll have to though.

But yeah, I have the PE set too. It's novel but fits in with pretty much nothing.

 

[nacho]

Haven't looked into the FT set much. I'll have to though.

But yeah, I have the PE set too. It's novel but fits in with pretty much nothing.

I use the PE set with my Revoltechs who are a little scale-agnostic anyway. But even then, they are small, but acceptably so.

I might transition them to my growing Legends collection. Between hasbro, DX9, and Iron Factory, there are a ton of cool little figures coming out.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

I originally got them because, along with the Revoltechs, I liked how they made my combiners look more massive. Really wish there was an all encompassing WST line.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Yeah, FTs set does look good. Pros and cons for both.

 

[nacho]

Agreed, they both look good. KFC's set isn't bad either, but I don't think it's quite up to these other two options. That, and KFC, while improving, still doesn't have the best QC reputation.

I'd probably pick the MT set if not for the open shoulders and knees. They bother me more than they probably should. FT's products always seem more polished/refined, and I have a hard time passing them up for another 3P if the FT version looks good.

 

[CoreyD]

I weighed the MT version vs. the FT, but now that I'm seeing a better comparison, it looks like I made the wrong choice. Oh well.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Yeah the MT knees and heads bother me too. The open shoulders I don't care much about. I like the chests on MTs better. I like FTs longer legs. But I think the biggest factor for me is the unnecessary detail on FTs. The simpler MT design fits the MP aesthetic better to me.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Yeah the MT knees and heads bother me too. The open shoulders I don't care much about. I like the chests on MTs better. I like FTs longer legs. But I think the biggest factor for me is the unnecessary detail on FTs. The simpler MT design fits the MP aesthetic better to me.

Those shoulders kill it for me. They look so cheap.

 

[nacho]

Finally took a shot of my S1 MP display.

 

[PROVOST]

^^

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

That's incredibly cool!

 

[nacho]

Thanks gentlemen. I'm incredibly pleased with how it turned out.

I almost didn't get the background, as the dude @ the WM photo center gave my wife a lot of grief when she went to pick it up. He insisted that we didn't have an artwork release and that he couldn't allow us to have it. She demanded to see the manager, and after 10 minutes of not being able to find one, the clerk reluctantly relented.

When is it simply "derivative" and subject to original copyright holders, and how much do you have to change for it to be an homage, which gives you the right to print your homage work? I thought the fact that it contained no characters, no logos, nothing trademarked would make it such that no one really cared. But no, not the asshat at the Wal-mart.

Note to self: use a different WM, preferably one with an old lady in the photo dept!

 

[Mandingo Rex]

One of these days (meaning likely never) I'd kind of want to make a 3-tiered display, or somehow make 3 different displays in my nerd cave. One for TF, one for Joes, then one for Marvel Legends. At the very least, one for Joes and TF. But... that'll likely never come to fruition.

That's a cool backdrop for sure. It was probably just some annoying cunt employee trying to be difficult because he rarely gets to be in charge of anything. Kind of like the annoying "I audited a film appreciation class once" sales associates at Blockbuster back in the day who were obnoxious about telling folks to rent only indies and not "pop culture garbage". Not everyone who works in a video shop becomes the next Tarantino, kid.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Next time avoid the 30-40 year old nerdy white guy at the photo center.

 

[nacho]

Thing is, I didn't choose him per se. I just ordered online, uploaded the art, paid, and had it sent to the WM near where my wife was going to be running errands the next day. Who knew the photo guy was going to be a TF fan with a broomstick in his colon!

Next time I'll send it to the "nobody gives a shit" WM down in the sticks. Either way, I was prepared to claim I was the artist, as I did enough photoshop on it (combining multiple images, adding effects, etc) that I can certain say there isn't another like it.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Who knew the photo guy was going to be a TF fan with a broomstick in his colon!

:lmao:

 

[Videoviper]

that background looks awesome I did a smaller one for Joes (prints on legal sized paper)

Surprised more background posters like this aren't available.


PS
The guy is a TransFan, & knows if you don't pick it up he can keep it.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

What are you guys thinking about Toyworlds Devastator?

 

[nacho]

I like the size, and I like the look a bit better than the CW version. But I don't know if I like any of it to go through the two-year process of buying six $100+ figures, hoping the QC is good, finding out it's not, having replacement parts come in subsequent figures, and then needing three $50 add-on kits to actually make it useful or proper looking. And then after you buy five of them, the sixth is interminably delayed and something better gets announced making you wish you'd skipped the set altogether.

I bought Herc, Uranos, and PE Menasor.... and quite frankly, I have combiner burnout. None of them were particularly good figures, they were all fiddly, the combined modes were hard to get together/keep together, the gestalts were hard to get into anything other than a wide-stance pose, etc etc. I ordered CW Devy (Takara version), and while I expect this to be a neater looking set of figures, I have a hard time thinking that this will be $400 better or that the QC will be any better at all.

So while I'm intrigued, I'm content to wait for all six to be released and for a ton of reviews to convince me that I need this. I would like to own both Warbo combiners as well, but when I look at what they cost vs what you really get, I struggle to justify getting them either.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

What I'm worried about most is something bigger and better. I thought nothing would be topping Gravity Builder for a while. But now this equally awesome Devastator comes along. Will there be another even cooler surprise set? Ugh.

 

[nacho]

I'm just about Devy'd out. I have G1, Herc, CW, CW Takara (on order), Hulkie (legends scale, on order), and Engineer General. Even choosing to skip Giant and Gravity Builder, now we have this. I lie awake at night and question how many Devastator toys I really need in my life.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

i only need one. The best one. Unfortunately (fortunately?) they keep making him better and better. I'm even considering the deformed ones!

 

[Goldbug]

It is red Bumblebee!
http://tformers.com/i-cant-believe-...e-red-body-coming-in-december/27420/news.html
and people were surprised by this?!

also Ironhide is pretty large
http://tformers.com/ig.php?mode=vie...chnia-qtransformers-masterpiece-diaclone-more

 

[Mandingo Rex]

I'm sure someone will make a Cliffjumper head for that, but was anyone clamoring for a red Bumblebee? I don't want a red Bumblebee, I want a damned Cliffjumper proper.

And yeah, Ironhide should be a lot bigger. He was always somewhere between the carbots and Prime.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

That Ironhide...ugh. Waist up, perfection! Waist down, yikes!

 

[Mandingo Rex]

That Ironhide...ugh. Waist up, perfection! Waist down, yikes!

I'd be doing 50% better with the ladies if that was merely my case.

 

[nacho]

That Ironhide...ugh. Waist up, perfection! Waist down, yikes!

Idk, that head is damn fugly. I'm 83% sure I'm skipping TT Ironhide for the Voodoo one or maybe something else that could come along. Both TT and Voodoo IH are ridiculously tall. I agree they should be between carbots and prime, but they put these figures on the extremely high end of that range. Prowl and Sideswipe look like little children next to IH. I'm sure it was in the name of van-scale, which should make you happy, but I am really bummed the bots look like shit together.

And as for red bumblebee, I feel I need a meme gif of a fat african american woman waving her finger and saying, "oh, hell no".

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

As long as IH and Ratchet are shorter than OP, I'll be happy. Heights were all over the place on the toon, so I'm not partial to one slightly taller or shorter version than the other. If they can scale the alt modes correctly AND still keep some semblance of toon height accuracy, perfect. It's too bad that they made Bee so ridiculously tiny. If he woulda been made slightly larger to scale with the other cars, he still would've been shorter than the rest in bot mode.

 

[nacho]

While I suppose Bee could have been larger, I have zero issue with the size they chose. He's a beetle, in a class of cars that are ridiculously small. And he's the smallest bot, so it kinda fits.

But when Bluestreak is looking at Ironhide's crotch, I can't help but feel there is a scale discrepancy somewhere. I'll have to pose IH in the back of the crowd next to Kronos so he's not dwarfing everyone.

 

[nacho]

Question of the day: How many people are going to buy red bumblebee and swap the head for a custom/shapeways/DrWu Cliffjumper head, only to have HasTak release a proper version within 12 months? I'll bet the percentage of red bumblebee figures customized, frankensteined, and completely ruined will be staggering.

Then they will be discarded the minute official Cliffy shows up. But no doubt, Radicons will be covered up with that nonsense for a year or so. I can see the asymmetrical sculpy details and globby paint now.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

I want a CJ but not a Bumblejumper. I'll wait for a 3P company, who will likely tackle it first. I just don't see Takara getting to a proper Cliffjumper as a priority anytime soon.

Not that I don't expect them to tackle it one day and knock it out of the park. I just expect a 3P to do it sooner.

And yeah, gloppy customs galore.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Even if a CJ gets made, I don't want that tiny, out of scale bastard anyway.

 

[nacho]

Oh snap, here we go again!

Just to piss you off more, I hope they make him chibi!

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Hah!

I actually want a chibi Devastator.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

This might already be known, but I just now discovered it when I watched this trailer.

It's really disappointing that they either didn't try because they're too cheap or tried but couldn't get the licensing of the alt modes.

[ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wDQr4MgcE9o[/ame]

It now kinda comes off as a TF knock-off game. I may be waiting for deep discount now whereas before I wanted it day one.