Takara Transformers

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Please tell me you took pictures during the making of this giant. I'd love to see what was handcrafted from wood, etc and how you chopped up the vehicles. You did such an excellent job, it's hard to wrap my head around what was actually involved.

Most structural stuff is wood. Crotch/hips/thighs/knees, the skeleton of Mix Master and Scrapper, the small elbow parts sandwiched between the upper arm and elbow/forearm, the joints that connect the arms to the blocks on Hook that the arms peg into, the cab on Long Haul that the bolts go through that connect him to Hook. I didn't take many pics of those parts because they were kind of boring. Though, they were fun to engineer. A variety of nuts and bolts hold it all together so I can tighten things up to add friction as needed.

The hands, forearms/elbows, chest shield, crotch flaps, thigh covers, Scrappers bucket and some other odds and ends are all EVA. Provost posted a pic of a WIP Hulkbuster Ironman costume made entirely of the material in the cosplay thread last October. When I saw what was possible with that stuff, I knew what I was going to be making the listed parts out of. It was challenging at first, but I got the hang of it.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

EVA stuff

Head is Shapeways designed by my buddy at TFW, echotansformer. I have a solid red one and a clear red one.

Styrene stairs/ladder/rails

This is what the visor looks like in person. The other lit up pics make it appear washed out.

 

[Goldbug]

 

[pcsguy88]

That's incredible.



The picture of your wife that is.

 

[Rider]

Ooh !
Ferrero Rochers !
Miam !!

^^

 

[Mandingo Rex]

So nacho, I saw that you posted in the TFW thread that you got the Omnigonix fix parts. Let us know how they are, because I wanna get them too. (And surprise, like you, I'm not butthurt about the price or having to buy a part to fix an otherwise decent figure.)

Also, fuck these Trailbreakers. They all look amazing. I'm actually leaning towards the FansToys one now, although the MMC one was my slight winner over BadCube's, and I'll admit that every time I see BadCube's, I get annoyed at how good they all are.

I don't think there's been another figure that multiple companies put out (like the Insecticons, or Reflectors, or Megatrons even) where I couldn't easily select a clear winner. Each one's pretty strong.

 

[nacho]

Absolutely. The parts just came in today, so whenever I can get them installed, I'll report back. It'll probably be this weekend.

Trailbreaker.... I'm leaning MMC at this point. BC's looks good, but their explode-y transformations and the fact that the MMC chest doesn't look quite so potbelly-ish is what's pushing me to MMC. As for FT, it also looks good, but there's just something I can't put my finger on. Maybe it's the chest hinge. All in all though, three good worthy choices. It comes down to taste I suppose.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

I loved this pic...

Why WHY put TW's "effort" in there? It almost seems mean at this point.

But yeah, like you, nacho, the potbelly look of the others has me going MMC. I do like the chunkiness of XTBs. I also like that they left the truck bed sides on the sides of the legs. I think my perfect version would have MMCs upper with XTB legs and MMC feet. I hate the BC and FT legs. The taper at the BC knees is awful and the FT legs are just too plain.

Which truck? Honestly, they all look great...except TWs.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Toyworld's is not even a valid effort. And I forgot about XTB's, but they need to stick to larger bots and mini-bots. I'm not feeling theirs.

FT's couldn't be more toon-accurate if they tried. Well, maybe if they closed the chest gap more. That's the only thing that looks "off" to me with theirs.

Now, the Hoists are all over the place. I dislike enough about BadCube's now after spending some time looking at pics, and MMC's is heroic looking but doesn't look much like Hoist, to me. I may hold off on him for a bit, or maybe not worry as much about his "heroic" build and just not stick to my usual toon-accuracy OCD like I normally do. Hoist is super low on my list, and I wouldn't even register him if he wasn't a remold of Trailbreaker AND had less screen time.

 

[nacho]

FT's truck mode is off, as it sits too low. His character has clearly always been the 4x4 version of the truck, but they show it like the low-riding 2wd version that looks gimpy. That's probably a stupid reason, given that I'm a professed "bot mode" guy, but having grown up driving one of these trucks, I always carried a lot of disdain for the puny 2wd version. It just looks sad on the road, and it doesn't evoke the strength of a character like Trailbreaker.

In these "wars" between 3-4 different companies making the same character, I usually lean FT by default, as I know they'll refine the sculpt and have good quality, but in this case, I just can't.

 

[nacho]

Ok, I finally got around to installing the Omnigonix shapeways parts, and like everything with this figure, it's a mixed bag.

Shoulders:
- shoulder mod is easy; just need to shave the backside of one panel.
- I had to loosen the screws when I reassembled the shoulder b/c fully tightened doesn't allow the part to slip/rotate.
- shapeways sent me two right shoulder parts, so reinstalling the shoulder pylon on top was not possible on the left side.
- shoulder ball joints with new parts are a tad loose, but I assume future should take care of that.
- range of motion outward is vastly improved, although I question how often I'll pose him with arms stretched that far outward.

Waist/chest:
- screw holes for the side screws on the new waist were way too large. The screws never tightened at all, but since they can't back out b/c the side of the car is snug against the screw head, it still acts as a peg, and that seems to be more than sufficient. (eh...)
- getting the bottom waist screws aligned and back in was harder than it should have been, but with a little fiddling, I worked it out. (more eh....)
- the chest snapped in nicely on both sides and is very secure now (hooray!)
- it does nothing to help the neck plate stay in place (boooo!). I'm not sure what I expected, but I thought something magical would happen to help that problem too. It did not. I'm about convinced that my neck plate is likely to meet my friend kragle.

Final Verdict:
Depends on your expectations and use of the figure. If you're going to play with it and pose it on your carpet or shelf regularly, I would think these parts are a must. If this is a shelf piece for static display only, my recommendation is "don't bother".

I'm going to post this over yonder for the unwashed masses, but I fear it'll only bring on another round of "it sucks" trolls.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Hmm. Not sure I'll bother then. The shoulders, I honestly don't like how it looks when the arms are extended out and the peg is a super weak point (it's way too skinny). While I do wish they'd kept that articulation, it's one of the few original design points (besides the missing headlight-looking turn signal pieces) that I think weren't fully cooked ideas. Part of me sees why they omitted it, for stability's sake. But the arm does seem like it needs to move at least 45º more.

The waist, though... I might get just that fix and not buy the combo kit. (BTW, how'd they fuck up sending you 2x of the one shoulder fix? Are they all like that?)

 

[nacho]

Hell if I know. The cad drawings show them being mirror images, but I got two that were identical. So I don't know if they just hit a wrong button or what. Probably some intern that didn't realize they weren't the same. They said they'd reprint it for me though, so hopefully it works out.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Weird.

Also, wtf is the hard-on with the various repaints of MP-10? I realize they're KOs, but aside from the white Ultra Magnus (which I semi-sorta wish I hadn't skipped when it went up... although if Takara doesn't release one at some point for ~$120, they're idiots) why the fuck does anyone want an Optimus Prime in that weird BAPE color scheme, or Shattered Glass, or even Nemesis Prime?

I don't even think Prime looks good in any of the KO colors besides the military green, but even then I simply don't want him because that character doesn't exist. At least with the Seekers, there's the original 3, the coneheads, and various schemes of the "rainmakers" but holy shit, I think MP-10 repaints are closing in on the MP-11 rainbow nonsense.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Ya got me. The multi colored desire is especially mind bottling.

 

[nacho]

Yeah, I bought the white KO of MP10 and the white version of MPP10. But I really hate that every prime has to have a Nemesis black version, a bape green one, a bape red one, a shattered glass purple one, a different evangelion purple one, etc etc etc. None of those are real characters. They've tried to make Nemesis a character, but even that fell flat IMO. The others are just ridiculous, yet some people have to buy half a dozen repaints.

"You're not a real fan unless you have all teh rainbow Primes!"

The white one has a basis in G1 lore (as UM and as spore-proof Optimus), made cooler by the Dreamwave comics. The rest can take a flying leap. On the other hand, the repaint potential probably makes some of these projects far more financially feasible than they'd be otherwise, so as long as I don't have to buy them, let the fools piss their money away.

As the old timers around here like to say, "That ain't my pig."

 

[nacho]

I posed the question "over there". We'll see if anyone has a response that makes any sense as to why they need a Prime in every shade.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

I suspect some berating for even having the nerve to ask...HOW DARE YOU!!

 

[Goldbug]

Megatron 2.0!
MP-36 Megatron - Photos Of Upcoming Hobby Magazine Spread Confirm New 2.0 Masterpiece Of Decepticon Leader Transformers News Reviews Movies Comics and Toys

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

So much potential, but I HATE the torso proportions and that gigantic looking head. His abdomen is so stumpy!

 

[nacho]

My exact reaction. Tiny squat torso, bulbous noggin. And the feet are weirdly skinny too. Overall not horrible, but definitely joining the ranks of official MP's that fall short.

Nope, I'm sticking with Apollyon and Despotron.

...and to all those people that shit on them b/c HasTak was going to do it better:

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Him and Urkle Sunsurge will look great together.

 

[nacho]

I wasn't going to stir that pot, but yeah they will :lmao:

FYI, my replacement shapeways Omni part came in, just the missing piece, not the full set. Sorry man, unless you want one shoulder joint...

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Heh, no, I'm good.

Combined with that new neck piece, SO might end up being perfectly solid.

 

[pcsguy88]

They got the pistol a real size. Huge props for that! If he's silver, I might have to go official unless this news pushed down the other's price. Although, I'm happy with my silver tank version.

 

[Goldbug]

I'm assuming they will make a silver version as an exclusive down the road.

 

[pcsguy88]

I'd be fine with the grey, but since my KO Prime and Quakeblast are metallic, Megs has to match.

 

[nacho]

FT Omega Supreme? MMC Springer? YES PLEASE!

FT Kup looks really good, but it's tiny

So many announcements today!

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

OS does look good, but I'm not sure I care enough about the character to want it.

An MP sized, FT Devastator, however...BOOOOOING!

Disappointed MMC/OM Jazz wasn't shown.

 

[Goldbug]

...

So many announcements today!

because
TFcon ? America's largest fan-run Transformers convention ? Chicago, Illinois | October 21st – 23rd, 2016 – Hyatt Regency O?Hare – 9300 Bryn Mawr Ave, Rosemont, IL 60018, United States

 

[Mandingo Rex]

So FT only teased an MP Devastator right? Just the shadow?

Megatron's neck area below his head is a goddamn mess, as is his back. The rest looks great but his neck looks like a jigsaw puzzle.

 

[Bravestarr]

My exact reaction. Tiny squat torso, bulbous noggin. And the feet are weirdly skinny too. Overall not horrible, but definitely joining the ranks of official MP's that fall short.

Nope, I'm sticking with Apollyon and Despotron.

...and to all those people that shit on them b/c HasTak was going to do it better:

Yes, I am also grateful for Apollyon.

I am not so sure about these two new releases of G1 Megatron.

 

[Goldbug]

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Hey nacho...

I saw that you getting the neck pieces for Spinout from that guy on TFW. Did you get them yet? I ordered them and installed them and they work great! But I never got Omni's fix-it parts and I know you did. So, do the new neck pieces and torso lock pieces work well together or should I just skip the torso lock?

 

[nacho]

I got the neck piece, but I left it at the office, so I haven't installed it yet.

The torso lock seems somewhat independent of the neck piece. The torso does lock in now, but unless you handle your TFs a lot, I'm not sure it's worth the price/hassle.

I'll update if I feel differently after I put the neck piece on.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

You get it done yet, nacho?


Unrelated...I'm sorry any fans of them here, but all these animalformer TFs are so ghey! These things are coming out of the woodwork lately!

 

[nacho]

No, I've been swamped lately, writing software for work. I've even got a BBTS box with $1200 worth of toys in it that I haven't opened... this weekend for sure....

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Wellllllll? Get to it yet? Omni has a sale going for his parts.

Unrelated, FT's Jetfire looks awesome!

 

[nacho]

Yeah, I put the neck pieces on (took 30 seconds, tops), and they do lock in better. I can pick him up without everything flopping around. Mind you, I could still shake him loose if I wanted; it's not THAT tight, but a major improvement. Plus, the addition of faux-neck muscles and the black color are both improvements over the stock version as well.

For no more than he's asking for the parts, this one is definitely worth it.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Hmm. $15 for that torso lock piece. Think I'll just skip it.