Takara Transformers

[nacho]

After looking at my shelf, the MP3-mold Thundercracker and Skywarp looked really bad next to DS Starscream. He ruined me.

Thus I looked all over for the other two seekers from Deformation Space, and the best price I could find was about $120/ea. Real bummer. However, while searching Aliexpress, I found TC and SW MP52 KOs for around $66/ea. Thus I pulled the trigger on those, as they look very toony, much like DS, so aesthetically they'll fit right in.

I love and hate this stupid hobby!

Now if only I could find that stupid Kingdom 2-pack Sideswipe for less than $50... I refuse to pay that much for a $20 figure and some beast wars bot that will go in the trash.

 

[ThunderDan19]

It’s a sickness, and you got a couple of them…

 

[nacho]

You're telling me!

Been working on my Hot Wheels '84 autobot project lately. I've planned it forever, but when Mattel announced they were actually making a Bumblebee and Prime, I knew it was time to get my butt in gear. I've only finished a couple, but I'm making progress. Right now, I'm resin-printing Sunstreaker's air intake and spoiler and some countach rims.

So far... (probably going to do another wheel swap on Prowl, but these will do for now). Jazz came out particularly well given that he started life as a basic mainline with a different deco.

 

[nacho]

I've been enamored with some of NewAge's toy-deco legends figures and broke down and ordered several I'd skipped from Ali. But I started looking at reviews online and re-stumbled across this video, and it just makes me happy.

I'm sure I've posted this before, but I watched it again, and it's still incredible. What's even more impressive is that he did it with tiny legends scale figures, mostly New Age. You can tell he got several figures during the shoot, as the toys used change, faction symbols come and go, etc. But still, it makes me want to do something like that.

HEAVY METAL WAR 4K Remaster Ver. (1984 Transformers G1 S1 EP16）[Transformers Stop Motion Animation] - YouTube

 

[nacho]

So I picked up Yolopark AMK Pro series Prime and Megatron 20cm model kits. They're really cool. Yes you have to put them together, but they're so simple, you don't need instructions (peg in the feet, legs, arms, shoulders, head, couple of panels... easy peazy).

They're about an inch taller than their MDLX counterparts, and they're about as G1 you can get. Mostly plastic with a small amount of diecast, painted, weathered, and plenty of accessories (flight stands, energy axe/mace, pistol for Megs, metal key to Vector Sigma, battle-damaged chest for Megs). Both have light up eyes too.

For $60-something retail each, these are a steal in terms of articulation and shelf presence, like mini-MPs that aren't compromised by transformation gimmicks. I'm going to have a lot of fun photographing these. I am going to have to really consider which brand of highly articulated non-transforming bots I collect. MDLX are great, but they're very stylized. These ooze G1 out of their ears.




Starscream has been announced and PO'd. He looks even better than these two.

 

[Marlene321]

Nice Optimus

 

[nacho]

Nice Optimus

The kits make really nice figures if you're not bothered by the lack of transformation. The articulation is very good, the likenesses are spot-on, and the paint work is premium. I highly recommend if they fit in your budget.

Also, there is a new Prime/Megs 2-pack coming out that's a bit cheaper than buying them individually, but I think it has less accessories (most of which you'd never use anyway).

 

[nacho]

During a search for some specific HTF legends figures (more on that later), I found a 4th Party Omega Supreme that is super awesome. He's roughly 10" tall, has a nice metallic paintjob, comes with all kinds of accessories, clicky ratchet joints... for $35.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256807426270339.html

He just came today (only took 9 days from asia), and I couldn't be more impressed for the price. He's made by Pangu (same folks that made the 18" knocked-up copy of MP-44), and I'm sure the design is another 3P that they copied and scaled down, but I think they also improved it. So if you need a 10" Omega Supreme, the bang for the buck with this one is off the charts.

 

[nacho]

Totally weird... I posted in the TFW Pangu Omega discussion, and the Aliexpress seller I bought from actually commented in the thread... said that the price was so good because the item was subsidized by the platform and that he'd have other super deals in the future. I had no idea Ali subsidized some of their sellers' items, but it's china, so i'm not TOO surprised.

I'd object to the practice if US sellers actually made/sold this item, but it's pretty much exclusive to chiner, so might as well let them make it cheap for us.

 

[nacho]

The last month or so, I've been on a catch-up binge with tiny, tiny overpriced Newage Legends-minus figures. A lot are out of production, but a few Ali sellers still seem to have stock with minimal late-penalty on most characters. And NA does a lot of re-issues, repaints, toy/cartoon/comic/G2/SG/clear variants, etc, so that helps. (still more on that when I get them all in-hand).

But in my searches, much like Pangu Omega above, there are a lot of great TF deals on Ali during their BF sale, and there are sitewide discounts that increase with size of purchase. One of the best deals I've found is on an MP scale figure, an impressive high-quality KO of FT Cyclonus. The reviews are stellar, and the fig is selling for $45 + 12 shipping. That's a crazy price, since people were impressed when it was $75. The actual FT figure typically costs $175. So fifty-something is insane!

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256807743315660.html

Another ultra-cheap deal is some really nice high quality (I have some) faction stickers of all styles for 44-cents per sheet:

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804601332806.html

And of course, lots of Legends (Newage, Magic Square, MFT, Iron Factory, etc), best deals I've found coming from these guys:

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/1101378643

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/1101985852

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/1101598855

I know we don't have a ton of TF collectors here, but I just wanted to make sure any of you don't miss out if you have holes you need to fill.

 

[nacho]

And I thought I'd mention that if anyone has a set (or wants to get one), I'm looking to split a Joe/TF Crossover Kup Triple-T set, as I only want the Joe figures, not the Transformer. So if somebody wants only the robot, maybe we can work something out.

 

[Videoviper]

In the past my o rings have gone straight to you, but I’m definitely skipping Kup, doesn’t look a thing like Kup & I had the triple T as a kid & thought it was stupid then.

If I pick up a sound wave thunder machine I’d probably send the figures your way. Those things are not showing up for $25 at either Ollie’s or Ross?

 

[nacho]

I appreciate the thought, but I ebay'd zartan and zarana last year. But if you change your mind on Kup (or find him uber-cheap), hit me up.

I haven't seen anything new at Ollie's since the Dusty/Zarana appearance 8-months ago. Truly stagnant. Same full 12-ft wall of Black Panther, D+, Eternals, & Dr Strange Marvel legends. I swear if I marked some, I would still find the exact examples front and center on my next visit.

Even at $10, they're rotting there. I pray rando grandmas clear out some over the holiday season, but on the other hand, I feel bad for the kids stuck with the Eternals "men in dresses" action figures.

 

[nacho]

TL/DR - I bought a lot of toys and this is my confession. Forgive me wallet, for I have sinned.
-------------------

It seems every few years I find some FansToys and other 3P/MP figures on super sale during the holiday shopping season, and it leads me down a rabbit hole. Apparently it was my turn again. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I already mentioned finding the KO FT Cyclonus, and Ali had a great deal on a KO HasTak Shockwave (FT Shockblast is looking really long in the tooth). Then BBTS had FT Trailbreaker on super sale as well as XTB Runamok, so I had to throw those in the pile-o-loot. Can't have Runamok without Runabout... so I had to track down a deal at Bababobo.

But all that searching led me to perusing ShowZ, and they have POs for FT Aerialbot reissues. I skipped them the first time around because I have the much cheaper Zeta team, but looking at comparisons... there is no comparison. FT are like 50% larger and far more accurate looking. But not wanting to rebuy the whole team, I just PO'd my favorite member, AirRaid. However, a seller on Ali had a killer deal on an FT Fireflight. Cut to POing the rest of the team (such a sucker). And in doing so, I realized it took five years from the first figure to the last to originally come out. That's insane. If not for the reissues coming, I'd never be able to collect the team due to prohibitive cost of getting the OOP characters.

Buuuut, FT just released the first of their Constructicons, and they look as good as the Aerialbots. Scrapper is massive... like same size as MP Megs and Prime. Devastator's size is unknown at this stage but will have to be staggering. So I ordered Scrapper and PO'd Scavenger and Hook. I figure that if the Aerialbots are any indicator, that set of purchases will be spread out over the next half-decade, so not a major financial commitment.

(if it means anything, I successfully resisted getting sucked into FT Stunticons, as I'm pretty happy with the XTB team, and the FT figs are almost TOO large - I don't think the four stunticon cars should be way larger than Autobot carbots... that bugs my OCD).

I have to stop now. Between going nuts on tiny NewAge legends in Oct and Nov... and now larger figs in the last couple of weeks, I've blown through a few years' worth of "robot budget". But I figure it's better than changing my mind a couple of years from now and having to pay the late-tax on a bunch of HTF FansToys figures. THAT would be brutal.

 

[nacho]

Sweet baby jeebus, have you guys seen the Magic Square MP Combaticons? I kinda didn't pay attention to them because I collect Magic Square legends... and although I really like both of their MP Primes, I really thought those were one-offs, not the start of a whole new endeavor. What do they know about quality MP combiners?!

Have you ever seen a TF so clean and pretty? And the articulation is stunning. Behold:


My only issue is that I'm going to want to keep them in bot mode all the time because they look so great and have such personality that it would be a shame to keep them bricked up in limb form as Bruticus.

 

[nacho]

My BBTS shipment arrived, and I unboxed FT Outrider (Trailbreaker) and XTB Fury (Runabout).

Outrider is impressive. He's large, heavy, lots of diecast, and is super-clean. No visible kibble, practically no backpack. compared to the XTB Trailbreaker on my shelf that Outrider is replacing, it's night and day. The XTB TB looks nice on the shelf, but he's light, kinda fiddly, and the kind of figure you want to leave on the shelf and not mess with. Outrider is the opposite. You just want to hold him, pose him, and actively enjoy. This figure was a steal at <$100.

XTB Fury... he's a typical XTB figure. Looks great, transforms ok, but generally isn't the kind of figure you want to grab and manipulate. He's light, little to no diecast, and feels much cheaper than the FT Trailbreaker. After a fiddly transformation requiring a video, a letter opener, and some shock oil, I finally made a robot out of him. Bot looks great, very G1, almost zero backpack, but he has a lot of faux parts while the real ones are hidden away. That's the tradeoff for such a cartoon faithful bot I suppose. My biggest gripe is that his thigh swivels were both frozen solid. Apparently that was a near-ubiquitous problem with this figure, and I had to disassemble the thighs, dremel the mushroom pegs, apply silicone shock oil, and they're still very tight (I didn't want to dremel too much). But they do move now which is all that matters. It was an easy fix, but it shouldn't be necessary. Overall I like the figure, happy to have him on my shelf, but I'm glad I only paid $59. However, given that XTB makes the only MP Runamuck and Runabout on the market, it's hard to be too picky.

FT Outrider mostly makes me extra-stoked to get the FT Aerialbots. I was never an FT fanboy, as I like all good-looking 3P MPs regardless of manufacturer... but it's tough not to notice the difference between premium FT figs and all the rest.