Takara Transformers

[nacho]

Yeah, I put a pic in the haul thread, but my PoL came in too, lots of 3P MP figures.

Andras (XTB Scourge) - Outstanding, a major step up for XTB. Apollyon was controversial, but even though I actually liked him, this is clearly XTB taking their design and quality to a new level. Not necessarily better than MT or FT, but this shows they can play with the big boys. Everything nice and tight. clicky joints. great paint. And the 539 design aesthetic is second to none in the 3P world at the moment.

Grenadier (FT Bombshell) - Agree MR, incredibly impressive. Best 3P figure I've ever held. The weight, quality of plastic, incredibly toy/toon accurate look. I've never been a huge Insecticon fan, but hands down this is the best figure of the year.

Gundog (MT Hound) - Nearly as good as Grenadier. Genuinely solid, hefty, and quality figure. Can't say enough good things about Hounddog. Got the toy version, big chunky feet, dark green color, and lots of chrome. I'm sure the FT version will be nice, but there is no way it's any better objectively, as this figure is just that good. It comes down to aesthetic preference at this point.

Transistor (KFC Blaster) - Not the same heft/quality as the others, but nothing wrong with him either. Looks really good. I think this figure gets a bad shake just b/c it's KFC. If anyone else had produced it, it would be far more praised and accepted. I'm perfectly happy with him, and the metallic red paint really is nice in person.

Ironwill (TFC Ironhide) - pretty much exactly like you'd imagine. Solid but not great. Fantastic head sculpt, busy TFC design aesthetic. Limited ankle articulation and fragile side mirrors that seem to always be in the way are the only two design issues; no QC problems. Plan on customizing him closer to my ideal MP look, but he's a better starting point than the two alternatives, IMO. Will be getting VooDoo ratchet b/c this mold is too buff for the resident medic.

Carry (DX9 Rodimus Prime) - Really nice figure, clever transformation, looks and feels great. Only downside is the useless targetmaster weapon. It looks weird and he can't hold it well. Gonna have to find an alternative weapon, but main figure is top-notch. Really excited to have a proper Rodimus.

Sphinx (MMC Mirage) - Was going to skip him and stick to Invisible. Then the reviews came back all roses and I caved. Then while I was waiting for him to arrive, the QC nightmare began for a lot of people. Fortunately I got one with no major issues, but I'm in the minority given that I don't love him. Nothing major, but just lots of little things that irritate me, most notably the shoulders not locking in position, inability to roll properly, and his derpy face. It's not better in person. This is the only one that's given me a tinge of buyer's remorse.

Got two sets of clearanced iGear sharks. Haven't opened them yet. Got an extra TW Hardbone for a custom. And of course, TFCC/GIJCC exclusives b/c I needed Old Snake and Flint & LJ's love child. They were overpriced, but it's not like I'm spending any other money on Joe this year...

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Yeah, Gundog is by far one of the coolest figures I've gotten in a while. Not only does he look super cool, alone and with MPs, but he feels cool. Like the difference between holding two identical 1:18th cars except one is a hollow plastic Big Lots toy and one is an Art Auto metal masterpiece.

Waiting on light blue Sphinx.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Gundog is an easy pass for me just like Invisible or any of the non-FT Insecticons, Dinobots or Reflectors. I'm waiting on the FT versions of all of those. The others all look off or totally not-MP aesthetics.

As much as I love Badcube's other mini carbots, their Sunstreaker is baaarely hanging on in lieu of Omnigonix's. I have both of those on preorder, but the rest are FT buys easily.

I just wish FT would get more out before revealing anymore.

 

[nacho]

I didn't know you were such a FT fanboy!

 

[Mandingo Rex]

I didn't know you were such a FT fanboy!

They have their flaws. But they have the best track record of any 3P company in spite of the shortcomings, at least when it comes to matching the MP aesthetic (which is all I collect, so I'm pretty conscious of the style). Their faces are hit or miss, sometimes the joints are waaay too tight... But overall they seem to fit with Takara figures rather seamlessly.

The only other companies who manage this with single figures (as in some but not all offerings) are Badcube, KFC, and XTB with products that I've been able to buy. Omnigonix's Sunstreaker is close, perhaps no farther off mark than the upcoming official Ratchet, Ironhide, or Hot Rod with slightly-off proportions.

But even with FT's weakest offering to date—Perceptor—it's still a pretty solid figure once it's in hand. I don't regret buying it, and I rather think it's still a decent representation of him. Of their offerings shown or released so far though, I think the KFC Reflector or Gundog give them any decent run for their money. Otherwise, there's no competition as far as batting average goes. They consistently put out figures that are 80-95% on target.

The only other single offerings that I've seen from any other 3P trying their hand at the MP look and feel that even come close to matching the Takara official line are Sphinx, Spinout, Transistor, and Apollyon (I despise all the movie Decepticons so I'm discounting Andras because I loathe the character and design) and Spinout hasn't been released yet, and the others have widespread issues with QC that have divided the fandom. Perhaps it's because I'm extra careful with my $200 figures or I'm not retarded, but I haven't had that many issues because I take my time with said pricy Transformers.

 

[nacho]

Yeah, I'm not the type to nitpick my figures with a microscope, and I don't transform them a lot. As such, I've never had any significant QC flaws from any of them. So in that regard, while FT figures in general feel very solid, I'm not going to pass on a really good looking figure from another company, even if I think FT might do it someday. I'm just not that dedicated to them or anyone else. Whatever looks good.

I love what XTB is doing with S3 characters, moreso than DX9 or FT at this point. The designer seems to have a fantastic grasp of getting G1 looks on a modern figure. I like S3/Movie guys despite their departure from earlier characters and designs. As XTB's quality and engineering have been steadily improving, I find that "waiting on FT" is no longer necessary, like it once was a couple of years ago.

It's S2 that I don't care for. I bought Transistor and Tesla b/c of their prominence in the movie, thus they have a place with the S3 cast, but I'm skipping all the regular S2 guys. Tracks, Beachcomber, Warpath, Inferno... ugh, my contempt is palpable for the one-note impostors that pale in comparison to the Ark crew. When we see an industry-wide shift to making S2 wannabes, my collecting will decrease dramatically.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Movie and S3 characters can be made all day and I won't waste a dime on that trash.

I barely tolerate Hot Rod, and besides Ultra Magnus and Springer, I hate all the others including Arcee and Kup. Utterly despise Galvatron and his purple cadre of pink-fingernailed lipstick spacejets or whatever the fuck they turn into.

S2 bots pale in comparison to S1, and I admit the variety starts to waver but as much as I hate characters like Warpath, Badcube turned him into a badass figure. I won't likely get all the S2 bots released, but I'll go for quite a few of them. At least they still turn into realistic vehicles! That S3 bullshit is all silly "future" crap that looked silly in 1987, let alone 30 years later.

 

[nacho]

That's interesting, I never saw them as futuristic earth vehicles but rather cybertronian alt modes, as they clearly were no longer concerned with disguises at that point.

As for the decepticons, if you accept the premise that they did away with all the originals except soundwave, I have no problem with Galvatron and crew. I really see TFTM/S3 as almost a separate property, as it barely relates to the original mythos. I like them both but don't really mix. Whereas S2 characters just appear out of nowhere without explanation to hog screen time and showcase their obnoxious accents and personalities.

But I suspect, like it or not, as soon as we get a tolerable Jazz, Trailbreaker, and Cliffjumper, we're about to get a healthy dose of S2 & S3 b/c all the S1 guys will have been done. No doubt, we'll get some alternate takes on a few S1 guys, but they won't be the focus anymore. Then we'll get Headmasters, Targetmasters, Powermasters, Pretend Masters, Beast Masters, Fart Masters, and Everyone-Stopped-Giving-a-Damn Masters. I see my TF collecting drawing to a close in the next few years, much like SW, Joe, DC, Marvel, and MOTU have in the past couple of years.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

... So in that regard, while FT figures in general feel very solid, I'm not going to pass on a really good looking figure from another company, even if I think FT might do it someday. I'm just not that dedicated to them or anyone else. Whatever looks good...

I'm the same way. I don't care who makes it. I don't owe any manufacturers anything (except Ford ). I'll buy what I like. If it's from a less reputable company I'll just be more careful. I don't even care what season it's from, or the characters personalities on the toon. For instance, I think Grapple and Inferno looked cool. It'll be really difficult for me to skip them.

And I don't think any of them have 100% nailed the MP aesthetic. Not even FT. They even have their own design style.

Movie and S3 characters can be made all day and I won't waste a dime on that trash.

Yes! I hardly considered it Transformers. They were all just, weird. It almost feels like anime nonsense.

Utterly despise Galvatron and his purple cadre of pink-fingernailed lipstick spacejets or whatever the fuck they turn into...

Right there with ya. Of all that post real-TFs, I hate them the most. Totally ridiculous and forgettable.

I see my TF collecting drawing to a close in the next few years, much like SW, Joe, DC, Marvel, and MOTU have in the past couple of years.

Yup. Kinda sad. All these wonderful collections are dying off. I mean, it always has been an inevitable conclusion, but yeah, bummer.

 

[nacho]

Yup. Kinda sad. All these wonderful collections are dying off. I mean, it always has been an inevitable conclusion, but yeah, bummer.

Well, I'm not implying that TFs are going anywhere. I think offical and 3P figures will be popular seemingly forever. It's just that once I get MP-caliber figures of all the characters I like, what else is there? I might upgrade one here and there, but I'm not going to care about most of what they're putting out... unlike those other brands/lines that literally have gone nearly-extinct.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

I dunno. As far as TF MPs go, I could see myself sticking around awhile once the initial crew is done. There's still not a single MP combiner, and we're missing decent triplechangers. I'll completely skip anything -Master related as they'd completely jumped the shark by that point, well past the movie silliness of it no longer being robots in disguise. All the too-Japanese shit just got fucking dumb and beyond the original premise.

I think the only pre-movie characters I'd skip would be a couple of the mini-bots such as Cosmos, or some of the dumber ones like SkyLynx. Not sure I could stomach the price tag or space for something like Omega Supreme, either.

I feel ya on the Joe front. Even though I have several post-89 figures and redos I'd love to see, The Club being the only venue has sucked all the fun out it. Wait-wise, price-wise, and patience-wise concerning QC and parts use, etc.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Well, I'm not implying that TFs are going anywhere...

As far as I'm concerned, after season 2 characters are done, they may as well be.

 

[nacho]

As far as I'm concerned, after season 2 characters are done, they may as well be.

Eh, aside from a MP Jazz, a proper MP Springer would be at the top of my list. Even if you hate S3, it's tough to not like Springer. He's such the Han Solo of the series...

Actually looking at it, the animated movie is basically a SW ripoff. There are so many parallels, it's undeniable. Again, it's a huge departure from the original premise, but I think it's pretty neat in the context of Robots-do-Star Wars

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Springer can wait awhile as far as Takara's concerned. They already annoyed me by doing yet another fucking Hot Rod, and besides an official Galvatron they better not waste anymore time on any movie-S3 characters until they do some more of the prominent S1-S2 guys first.

3P, sure, go right ahead. So long as it's not FT. They need to get the Dibots wrapped up, along with Hound and Reflector before they start fucking with anymore characters.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

I can see Hasbro stretching out S1-S2 characters like they did with Joe. They know that there is a big chunk of the collecting community that will be washing their hands of the MP line once their S1-S2 collections are complete. They'll be stringing everyone along for a long time.

Fortunately, 3p isn't interested in doing that. Too bad Joe didn't have a 3p support system.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

TFW has become the new HT to me. If they weren't the place posting pics of 3P stuff, I'd never go there. Reading all of the crying, asinine comments makes my head hurt.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

"It's not cartoon accurate enough" irritates me every time I read it.

 

[Goldbug]

TFW has become the new HT to me. If they weren't the place posting pics of 3P stuff, I'd never go there. Reading all of the crying, asinine comments makes my head hurt.

Well they are part of the same network.

 

[nacho]

Yeah, they are most certainly TF-tank, without question. My ignore list there has no less than 50 people on it. Some threads in the 3P forum, I click on them, and the page has more hidden messages than not. As long as I don't block the 4 users that post 98% of the pictures, I should be good

 

[Mandingo Rex]

"It's not cartoon accurate enough" irritates me every time I read it.

I've ready probably 20 pages of dickheads whining about faces on the FT figures. One guy was "threatening" (offering?) to pay a sculptor to make better faces for FansToys! Haha. Yeah, go right on ahead and pony up the cash to hire a real designer so you can have your silly toy's face like you want it. Completely realistic, let's not be dramatic here, ladies.

Sure, FT doesn't have the best faces on some of their figures, but holy shit are some of them twisting their panties around their pussy lips in nerdrage over the Hound pics posted recently. It's not as good as the proto pics, but it's clearly the best Hound of all the 3 posted lately if you ask me.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Don't even get me started on how much I don't give a flying f*%# about faces. Maybe I'm robo racist, but they all look(ed) exactly alike to me. Head sculpts I get, but faces?? Really?

 

[Mandingo Rex]

I mean I'm a tad disappointed in the face compared to the grayscale proto, but goddamn. I'll still buy the fucker, it looks fantastic even with the underbite jaw. It's no worse than Sideswipe's face. FT does have trouble getting the proportions and such right on faces for some reason, and getting "personality" out of them, but not to the point of canceling a preorder over it. "PREORDER CANCELLED!"

 

[nacho]

People always complain about faces, and while it's not a big deal for me most of the time, I'm guilty on occasion. I don't mind the MT or FT Hound faces. I don't mind Apollyon or Tesla's faces that have a little bit of pouty lip syndrome. The only one I really don't like to the point of being vocal is Sphinx. The whole head is soft-edged and derpy, and I'd be very excited if an alternative ever came available.

I caved and bought some FT dinobots during the black friday sales, ending my longstanding "I-don't-like-dinobots" boycott. $100 for Soar was impossible to ignore, as he and Grimlock were the only dinos I had as a kid... then came $150 Sever.... then the gotta-catch-em-all gene made things snowball from there. Scoria came with alternate head/faces and none of them compelled me to change it from the one it came with. If you asked me a week ago what the dominant facial features are of dinobot x,y, & z, I couldn't tell you. As long as they don't look terrible, I'm ok.

Sidebar: FT dinos really are impressive figures. I had heard that, but I had not handled them. It's almost hard to imagine that the same company made Soar and Tesla. The dinos are heavy, ratchet-y, and feel like you could hurt someone with it, much like MP-01. Tesla is light, thin, and while not necessarily cheap, certainly doesn't give off that same high-quality vibe.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

The red face for Scoria is the cartoon face. That's the one I went with. The biggest annoyance I have with the Dibots is that the fucking golds aren't the same. Scoria matched MP-08 perfectly, not sure what the logic or excuse was to make them noticeably different but it's annoying as fuck. That's my only gripe, besides the looseness/tightness which can be adjusted with effort.

Tesla gets a bag rap. I'll agree he's their worst effort to date, but all-in-all isn't a terrible figure by any means, including the face. Sever is by far their worst face, just because it's completely flat and awkward. It works because it's a dinobot though. For Perceptor, he needs a better face but it's not a dealbreaker. Perceptor just isn't interesting to begin with.

 

[nacho]

Oh, I know what the red helmet is for. But the face is silver in a black helmet, and he also comes with some dark grey alternate faces (one stoic, one screaming/snarling). None of them were bad, nor were they compelling enough to make me want to change them. Until Scoria, I had no recollection that any dino had a head that wasn't black.

I like Tesla just fine. He's no worse than half the 3P figures I own. But he's astonishingly different from the dinobots and quakewave from a detail and quality standpoint. However, if there were no internet, I would have opened the box, looked at his face and said, "Eh, good enough" and never thought about it again. Tesla is perfectly adequate, just not remotely as impressive as any other FT figure. It's like it was done by the FT summer intern.

 

[Videoviper]

THAT TRANSFORMER ISN'T EXACTLY LIKE MY PERSONAL CHILDHOOD VERSION THAT ALWAYS I WANTED. (AT LEAST UNTIL A BETTER VERSION COMES OUT NEXT MONTH.)

FUCK IT

This is why I don't appreciate transformers.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Which version did you get? I don't recall having dark faces but maybe I did. I swapped out the head he came with for the red face/red helmet combo. Reminded me of a buzzard or some of those 80s dinos that had the ugly red heads.

Aesthetically the black helmet/silver face looks the best. But between cartoon and personal preference I went with the red/red.

 

[nacho]

I got the "T" version. It came with a black head/silver face installed. The red helmet and alternate silver face were in the package, and then there were two charcoal grey faces in a baggie stuffed in one of the styrofoam slots. Wasn't sure what they were at first.

I'm pretty sure I didn't get a red face, just a red helmet. However, the default black/silver is fine with me.

 

[Dr Syn]

Grabbed this guy off a local auction site, he's the Takasa Tony KO version. WHy have I neglected the Masterpiece line after MP-01? He's a terrific figure I may have to get the decal set and sponsor him up.

 

[pcsguy88]

Those Takasa Tony ko's are all wonderful and perfectly priced. I cannot tell them apart from my real ones quality wise for the most part.

 

[Goldbug]

I just paid AmiAmi for my MP Ironhide! $72.42 shipped

 

[nacho]

That's a good price.

The MP Ironhide offerings are all lacking something. The official version is my least favorite, just awkward and clunky, weird face, diaper crotch and butt wheels. I really feel like TT completely missed the mark.

I bought the TFC version, and it's pretty cool, if not the least G1 of the bunch. I'm half-tempted to get the Voodoo version and put the TFC head on him, try to make the best-of-both-worlds version. Or I'm going to customize the TFC version to an unrecognizable degree to try to get rid of some of the excess detail that plagues him.

I've got VooDoo Ratchet in my PoL, and I suspect he'll suit me just fine. I might paint the window feet white, but otherwise, I think he looks more spot-on than the TT version. I want to like the official, but i just can't.

I'm anxiously awaiting C9 QuakeBlast and oversized MPP-10 from Uncle Billy. They look amazing!

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Someone customized the official one already to correct all of TTs mistakes and it looks so much better. Whats hilarious is that the corrected parts still transform properly. It's something TT could've done.

 

[nacho]

Link it! I'd like to be happier with the official, but stock out of the box it's a hot mess.

My PoL is filling up.

-Voodoo MP Ratchet
-FT MP Shrapnel
-UT MP Blurr
-FT MP Reflector
-FT Sever

plus lots of little stuff. I'm going to have to ship soon, as it also has a couple of things for my son's b-day in a couple of weeks. X-Mas in Feb?

 

[XOC2008]

I ordered QB too. I like it better than QW or the official one's look. He looks meaner, I guess.

 

[CoreyD]

I made a huge (financial) blunder and ordered the Generation Toy Gravity Builder. Where am I going to put this gigantic thing ha ha ha...

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Heh, not only am in for Gravity Builder, but yesterday i caved and reordered Constructor. HUGE sucker for Devastators!

Anyway, heres the link for that modded TT Ironhide. Looks some pretty involved modding, but the results are great.

http://tieba.baidu.com/p/4332578414

 

[nacho]

That is a hell of a lot better. The face still looks like he's sucking on a lemon, but the rest is a dramatic improvement. Get that man a job!

The more TT releases I see, the more thankful I am for the thriving 3P ecosystem. Post-wheeljack, IIRC the lead designer changed and the whole Takara MP line has taken a huge dive. Without 3Ps, my shelves would be sparsely populated and full of character holes. Now I have tons of figures and actual hope that I'll have the opportunity to get all the characters my collection demands.

 

[Goldbug]

well it looks like one can take off those panels from his hips
I'll probably do that for his robot mode.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

The more TT releases I see, the more thankful I am for the thriving 3P ecosystem...

eeeeeyup! I'm consistently less and less impressed. Not only by their designs, but also character selection.