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The newest action figures (and other toys) thread (NSF56k)
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https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/132145
Give me the ramps!
I'll probably check area Targets anyway just in case, but if there's one thing that's constant, my corner of the state ends up normally being a wave behind everywhere else.
That has to be the worst alt mode. Look guys, I transform into a ramp! I could be replaced by a piece of plywood or a couple of two by fours!
It reminds me a lot of this old Wonder Twins spot from Cartoon Network. "I could be beaten by a sponge. It wouldn't even have to be an evil sponge!"
I oddly want the snake one. Not sure why, but it just calls to me. That video made me laugh since I always wondered about the Wonder Twins.
Steam: betsuni7
I had to get this set. The spiderman is the rarest and I'm about to destroy his value by opening the box to free the figure haha. But it's so pretty
Look
That sounds pretty sick ngl
So I'm guessing the Spiderman one doesn't have a window to see it?
Steam: betsuni7
It does have a box within the box that looks like the other ones, but it's worth a lot more sealed. Well, like 70 sealed or 50 opened. I'm gonna open it, but I'm gonna savor every second lmao. Might even film it.
The Spider-Man one is part of a set with a t-shirt in it, not interested in the shirt so I'll leave it there for if I ever want to sell it unsealed
Steam: betsuni7
Side story; went to display them in a row, and the protectors are too large to display them evenly. I had to push the others back to put Spidey front and center. I have smaller protectors, but the seller I bought from kindly included his own protectors and they're nice ones. Just slightly too thick for my shelf. I may swap the protectors later.
I also had to steal the extension cable for my PS Classic controller for the blacklight, so it can rest next to it. Worth it in the end, it looks pretty awesome
Cool af glow Pops btw
XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL
Given "Fire Department" is upside down, I imagine there's a different altmode they're not showing.
Edit: I'm actually tempted to pick this one up since I figure I won't have a chance to find Airwave. Plus I already have some neat aircraft carriers with Broadside and Tidal Wave so a fire station would be neat.
Double Edit: Well that went fast. Hasbro Pulse already sold out of their pre-orders.
Steam: betsuni7
(It's the Combaticons.)
(It's also a very long post with lots of photos.)
Mastermind Creations is a 3rd party company that's made its name mostly with its Reformatted line, which consists of toys based on character depictions from the IDW Transformers comics (I think they're the only company that does it? Or, anyway, that does it with consistency and regularity?). However, they also have a line of Masterpiece-scale G1 toys called Ocular Max. Last year, they launched their first combiner - Assaultus (not-Bruticus) - and with it the All Built In sub-line. The gimmick of All Built In is that there's no loose combiner kibble; all the combiner parts fold out of the individual bots themselves.
This comes with sacrifices, of course:
- ToyWorld's Constructor (not-Devastator) started the trend of having the thighs, hips, and crotch be a separate piece that doesn't do any transformation, and instead just plugs in for the combined mode to add height and stability; this has become a bit of a standard, with Zeta taking the same approach with their takes on Bruticus and Superion. Those combiners are around 21-22" tall, which I think is considered the "correct" height for an MP-scale combiner. Assaultus, by contrast, doesn't have the luxury of pantsforming. Since the individual members are MP-scale, there's only so much height they can achieve. As a result, Assaultus is around 18", for which it is ridiculed by detractors (geeks are the worst).
- Since the combiner components are parts of the bodies, they need to fit somewhere. As a result, some of the proportions end up being kind of off (Fraudo's feet are large because they form Assaultus's foot; Incursus has a very long torso because his torso is also Assaultus's torso, etc). Some of the combiner parts also peek out a bit in individual bot modes.
None of that is even remotely a problem for me, because the All Built In gimmick is exactly what I've always wanted from combiners. I'd be willing to overlook some flaws if it meant getting to have that feature, but fortunately for me I don't even see those things as flaws. I find the proportions of the individual bots great, and a shorter combiner is easier to handle and fit on a shelf. Everything's coming up Delduwath, tbh.
(I took a LOT of photos of these toys, mostly a lot of shots from different angles that no one cares about. I don't want to bombard the thread with all of them, so I'll post a bunch and then drop a link to the album at the end of the post.)
So, let's look at the team, starting with...
Fraudo (not-Swindle)
I feel like he's quite expressive with his poses
...but something doesn't feel right. The personality's off a little. What if...
Ah, there we go! Much more fitting.
Alt-mode:
Leg mode:
The weapons all store on the back of the leg, which I love.
I love this guy, he might be my favorite of the set. I love the smiling face (apparently the last member of the team will have an alt head for Fraudo with a smirking expression, which will be even more appropriate than just a smile). I think the colors are really nice, the vehicle mode is like a sturdy, solid brick, and the bot looks great. The arms are a little thin, and the lower legs a little bulky, but not so much that it ruins the aesthetic (for me).
The biggest flaws are related to transformation. The backs of the legs have two sets of latches that need to be opened to slide the lower legs up/down the thighs, and there's really no way to open them up without a tool. They do lock the legs in place very firmly, which is important for combined mode stability, so I'll give this a pass. The other tight part is in the chest. See those panels in the purple part of the hood-slash-bot-chest? They slide out to the left and right, and bring the arms-and-wheel assemblies away from the hood, so you can rotate them around to hide whichever set of those you don't need before sliding them back in. Well, it takes an incredible amount of force to pull them out, and there's really nothing safe to pull on. I think they might tab into a tab that has paint on it, which makes it a tiny bit too thick. I keep meaning to see if I can shave those tabs down a hair with a hobby knife; it's also possible that they'll loosen up with repeated transformation.
Like I said, this guy rules. I think this is an excellent representation of Swindle, and I love both the car and the robot mode. Chef kiss.
Impetus (not-Vortex)
Here's what I meant about the peekaboo combiner parts: the legs hide combiner hands, but not completely.
Alt-mode:
Arm mode:
This is the best helicopter transformer that's ever been made. I've only handled a couple of them, but I feel absolutely confident making this proclamation. You know how most helicopter transformers have no idea what to do with the tail section? It sticks out, or it splits apart and hangs down like some bulky awkward cape, or whatever? You know how MP Grapple/Inferno have an articulated ladder/crane that folds up to neatly tuck away into the torso? Well, Impetus is in the same school of transformer. His tail splits apart into a left and right section, both of those sections fold in on themselves, and then rotate into his torso. I was blown away by it. The combiner wrist is super-impressive: the hand is split in two, with one half in each leg, but when it all tabs together, the hand still gets wrist rotation! Not 360, I think not even 180, but it's way more than you need for posing, and the engineering is unique.
Flaws: One of the smoky, translucent grey windows keeps falling out (I'll probably just glue it in place eventually). The head is on this tiny arm with two ball joints at opposite ends that are slightly offset from each other (one goes into the head, one goes into the torso); the ball that goes into the torso joint is a transformation joint, and it's a little too large. It pops out every single time you try to rotate it, and it's maddening. Lots of folks have opted to just put a screw from the inside of the torso up into the ball joint. I don't trust myself to do something like that, but maybe I'll sand the ball joint down a little (read: I am super lazy and will never ever do any of that). The tail collapses into the torso in a clever way, but the two halves have to rotate around an armature to get inside, and the clearance isn't great; I haven't figured out how to do it without having to flex the plastic a bit, although YouTubers seem to have no trouble. The hips, which collapse in towards the middle for helicopter mode, unfortunately don't lock in the out position, which makes it easy to nudge them back in when posing him (making him look like he needs to use the bathroom, and is fighting to hold it in). The mount for the weapon below the cockpit is impossible to swing out without splitting the cockpit in half, and that requires a bunch of transformation steps to do.
Everything else about him is great! I really love how clean the bot mode is, you can get some great poses, the transformation is very smart.
Incursus (not-Onslaught)
You can really see that long torso at work:
I mean, I can't deny that. I still think he looks cool and very imposing
Alt-mode:
I need to emphasize that this is a very long boy.
The cool thing is, there's a hidden pseudo-hitch, which lets you turn an absurdly long truck into a reasonable truck with a trailer:
Torso mode:
This is the guy that detractors really like to poke fun at. The torso is long and disproportionate, and that's the main point of contention. Honestly? I think it's fine. I think a bigger issue is that he has these panels on the insides of his arms, just between the elbow and armpit, that prevent his arms from laying flat against his body. His size, especially in vehicle mode, is actually his biggest drawback for me. He is just flat-out difficult to store! I don't really have many complaints about him, other than those two points.
On the other hand, his size makes him feel really menacing. The leg transformation has a bunch of panels and flaps rotating, but it doesn't at all feel like a shellformer. Quite the opposite, the panels are all very well-integrated into the legs, and peg in securely in every position. There's even a thoughtful bit where you can open up the foot to fold in a tab to get an ankle rocker in bot mode, or fold out the tab to lock the foot in place for combined mode. The pseudo-hitch is a great idea to make such a long truck a bit more manageable and poseable.
There are two more figures in the set, of course, but I don't have them yet. One of them - Volatus (not-Blast Off) - released last week I think, and I actually hit the button to ship him to me today. The last one, Probus (not-Brawl), is apparently in the last stages of getting packaged and shipped to retailers, and is expected to be out later this month or early September. I'll write about them when I get them.
I wrote a lot of individual complaints for these bots, but not a lot of specific praise, and that's because the things that I love about them apply across the whole set. The plastic feels excellent. The transformations are just the right level of complexity - enough to be interesting, but not so involved that you never want to touch them. There are a few minor hitches with the transformations, but not enough to mar the overall experience. The figures are well-sculpted, very expressive, show attitude with their poses, and just overall feel fun to hold and play around with. There's not much paint and no finish, so they feel a lot like toys, unlike Fans Toys's paint-and-finish-covered robots, which feel like premium display pieces; how you feel about that will depend on your preferences, but to me it makes these guys feel more approachable, easier to just pick up and play with. And, of course, the All Built In engineering impresses me over and over every time I pick them up.
Unfortunately, I also have a complaint that applies equally to all of them: each member of the team has very obvious sprue cut marks. Here are a few, but each one has many many.
Add-on kit
By default, Assaultus follows the toon design for Bruticus. However, if you prefer the toy look, you can buy a separate upgrade kit, that has this:
... and the slippers can be used in bot mode as shoulder-mounted somethings (forgot to take a photo) and can be used in a couple of ways in alt-mode:
Here's the whole gang together:
OK, enough foreplay. You're not here for any of that. Let's show you what you really came to see:
Assaultus
If accurate MP scale, or matching the height of other combiners are things that are important to you, this set might not fit the bill. If you're OK with an 18" combiner? I highly recommend Assaultus.
On a more personal note, this set is one of the reasons I dove back into the 3P Masterpiece world so hard. Five years ago, in January of 2020, I discovered videos of this set and was completely smitten by the All Built In gimmick. I'd stayed away from MP-scale combiners because they are a lot, they take up a ton of space and I still really don't know how I could possibly display them. But, I thought, fuck it, this is so cool and so different from all the other combiners out there, and is explicitly doing away with my biggest complaint about combiners. Worst comes to worst, I can keep the separate bots in a drawer and pull them out once in a while to assemble the combiner and make stomping noises. In early February, I ordered the three members who were out at the time, and started fantasizing about the remaining two, who were supposed to be out in late February and April (if I remember correctly).
Then a pandemic happened.
Now it's mid-August, I have fallen off the wagon big-time (I have so many 3P toys now. Shopping for pick-me-ups during a pandemic is like going grocery shopping when you're hungry. I wouldn't recommend it), and it looks like I might be able to finally complete this set in the next few weeks. This is hugely exciting! I think that out of all the 3P MP-scale toys I've gotten, this set remains my favorite. All the very real flaws that these toys have pale in comparison with their strengths, and the pleasure I've gotten from them. MMC has announced that they are already working on the next entry in the All Built In series, and it's gonna be Defensor. They released some initial mock-ups a while ago, but their reps have said that he's been totally redesigned since then. From what I understand, they'll show more of him (and hopefully start releasing the toys) next year. I am all in on the All Built In line. I am already sold based on Assaultus's strengths. I really hope they keep going and do all the combiners like this, but even two will be more than I would have ever dreamed of.
(Here's a link to the photos album.)
Yup, nothing to do now but wait for the last two bots to arrive...
The only thing that bothers me, of all things, is Fraudo's head, and that's because it feels too tall and thin. It's nitpicky I know, but my eyes immediately go to it.
But, they all look pretty solid, and I wish I had the funds and display space for the 3p Combaticons.
The funny thing about Bruticus and the Combaticons are that I always wanted them growing up. My brother had Blast Off and I always thought it was cool that the Space Shuttle was used to combine into a bot. I have the Fall of Cybertron toy (SDCC version) since I had a friend who's friend brought it up from San Diego Comic Con as carry on. She then had it in her office where there were TF fans asking if she'd sell it to them till I could get it from her. It was my Bruticus till Hasbro brought out the more G1 version during the Combiner Wars. Which I had to buy the space shuttle Blast Off (luckily I didn't have to buy the entire Takara Tomy version to get it). So yeah, when I discovered the 3P Combaticons those things made me drool but I already have two Bruitcus toys sitting on my shelves. I'd get rid of both if I could get a reissue Bruticus (which I still hope for one of these days).
Steam: betsuni7
The #1 issue with the toys are the joints. Specifically, there are joints that should have been ratcheted in order to support the weight of the combiner mode that are just plain hinge joints. For example, for the hips. The result of this is that once combined, Predaking instantly tried to do the splits. Another joint issue is that certain major joints, like the ankles, are rather loose ball joints instead of more secure joints like hinges. The only thing that keeps Predaking from doing the splits entirely is the fact that the ankles can only tilt so far.
The frustrating thing with the figures is that there are ratcheted joints, but in places where you don't really need ratchets. Like in the shoulders of the individual bots. It makes the joint design very inconsistent feeling, because they obviously knew how to do it properly.
A second issue is the plastic quality. Specifically, all of the parts feel oily and just aren't fun to touch. I suspect that Jin Bao used a release agent on the molds for the parts, and didn't clean them up afterwards. But it makes me not want to touch them. There are also plenty of nub marks to be found.
I'm just not a fan of the proportions of the alt modes. You end up with very large bodies supported by very thin and spindly legs. This is true for both the cats and the bull/rhino. I think it's true to the original toys, but it doesn't feel right to me.
Transformation wise, I like how they transform, but they aren't any more complicated than a combiner wars combiner. The bull/rhino use the same transformation, as do the two cats that make up the arms, so out of 6 models you only get 4 different transformations.
Overall, I recommend skipping this one. I also have the Jin Bao Oversized Devastator, which is based on Generation Toys Gravity Builder (the same toy for which I own the NBK version). I am really looking forward to this, as the NBK version is really fun and is a simplified version of Gravity Builder. The upgrade kit I ordered arrived yesterday, so hopefully I don't have much longer to wait.
This connection feels really good and solid, better than the shoulder connection.
That's unfortunate that the OS is terrible compared to the original. Here I thought that the the original was already too big, didn't know they made an even bigger version. Heck, I have the Hasbro one and that thing is already huge!!! I love how there are a million versions of Devastator, and all of them look cool.
Oh that's awesome! The one thing I hate is the connectors on all of the Hasbro/Takara Tomy versions. The peg just sucks and the design for them is so limited.
Steam: betsuni7
Spoiler pack Ultra Magnus for 30% off, if you want a grubbier version of Siege Ultra Magnus with a weirdly colored Battlemaster Rung and some playdough+energon cubes.
Actually a wee bit tempting.
That is tempting since I have not yet picked up an Ultra Magnus...
Steam: betsuni7
I actually just added the DNA kit to mine, which is basically a new pair of legs for the inner bot. They transform to extend like half an inch for when you add all the armor for full Magnus, and that little bit of height just makes it look real nice
XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL
Buuuuuuut, and it’s my fault for not checking, the dude was a smoker. They’re not awful, but I can smell it when handling them
Soooo, anyone get smoke smell out of figures? Any personal tried and true techniques?
XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL
Aw that sucks... I have no idea about plastic, but I know that my brother-in-law smoked and it took time and lots of airing out for the little he did in my house. I awesome that you did get them, but guessing that is why they were such a deal.
Steam: betsuni7
The FB group is actually mostly pretty decent local people that like to help each other and avoid scalpers, so while it probably contributed some, I think he mostly just sold them at that price to be decent
There’s a good amount of paying forward in the group which is cool to see. Like, a regular got COVID, and the local toy store, which is kinda the HQ for the group, took figure donations and gave it all to him once he recovered
XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL
Then immediately turned around and bought some Venom funkos
Probably an aquarium or pet store.
Steam: betsuni7
Off of Amazon, like everything else?
Honestly, been trying not to use Amazon as much lately. Not that many companies are better inherently, but Bezos has gotten enough of my money from the last decade. Not to say I don't use it, I don't have a car so I do use it time to time for groceries. But yeah, bonk go to rich jail bezos
Edit: I came up with the pose since my wife loves making funny poses and I was making Skywarp look funny while she posed Thundercracker. Then this idea came to my mind... My wife challenged me to have my entire collection in some funny poses so now I have a goal to achieve after I finish my Lego Millennium Falcon.
Steam: betsuni7
Hopefully Starscream shouldn't be too hard to get. He seems to be decently stocked, I see him somewhat regularly
XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL
Yeah I read rumors that Starscream is packed in with another wave so he'll probably be really easy to get.
Oh I'll love these guys and can't wait to transform them. Only one bag left for my Falcon so I'll play with them tomorrow.
Steam: betsuni7
The first is the Wave 2 Earthrise Micromasters (and what might be the final wave of new micromasters for the foreseeable future, with no more for Earthrise and Kingdom dropping the sizeclass altogether), the Racetrack Patrol and the Astro Squad.
Alt modes:
The Race Track Patrol is alright; Groundhog (the blue one) is your standard micromaster car; fold down the hood and fold down the legs and you're golden. Roller Force (the purple one) is a little more interesting in being a weird racecar buggy thing and having a slightly more involved transformation. Other than that, they're micromaster cars, you know what they are at this point.
The Astro Squad is a bit cooler, though I have a bit of a bone to pick with my copy of this toy. Blast Master (the bluer one) is alright with a more involved transformation with the head flipping around making a cavity for his tailfin to hide in. Unfortunately, he's VERY hard to stand-up. He wants to fall backwards and even leaning him forward doesn't help much. At best you'll get him to balance, but with zero stability, so don't bump the table! Fuzor should have been called Blast Master on account of those guns he's sporting. Usually Micromasters either get hands or weapons instead of hands, but Fuzor gets hands holding weapons, which is a nice change of pace. He has an alight transformation (his robot mode has a few elements that feel like "Well, this is the best can do to shove his piece into his body, oh well.") excepting for the fact that I was damn near unable to transform him with out his legs popping off. After popping them off like five times they eventually loosed enough to him him like 20 degrees of movement forward. On a ball joint! Seriously, I have never see a more limited balljoint in my life. (The joint itself is fine, but he does't have enough room on the upper part of his hip to actually rotate far). Feels like this could have been avoided and I wonder if it's just my version. Anywho, these two combine into a licensed NASA spaceshuttle (like Sky Lynx, who I'm going to wind up talking myself into getting, I can tell.). It's a pretty good little shuttle! They also have some extra details to allow them to be vehicles while separated, which is nice for kids who will wind up losing them. (I think I still have one of the original G1 versions of this toy.. but not the other one). If not for the stability and joint problems, this would probably be in the running for my favorite MM set in WFC. Clever transformations, unique alt-mode and Fuzor is packing heat. Neat little set, even with the problems.
They still could use elbows.
The second new arrival is Cyberverse Ultra-class Rack 'n Ruin!
Altmode:
Yes, Rack 'n Ruin! Bit of a history for this figure. Originally they were comics-only non-toy characters from the UK G1 Transformers comic, there they were two green bots joined together at the arm who have an anvil and hammer instead of hands, and were basically just there to be interesting looking characters to be used to flesh out the ranks of the Wreckers.
Rack 'n Ruin eventually got a little bit of a fan following, just because they're very unique characters in appearance, but they have only shown up a handful of times, almost always as part of the Wreckers (in IDW's main continuity, as well as their continuation of the G1 marvel comics, and a mention in a novel in the Aligned continuity). Then in the child-focused Cyberverse toyline, Rack 'n Ruin were added as minor characters, a two-headed Autobot, rather than two Autobots fused together, used for a recurring gag, but this turned into a toy which turned into a Rack 'n Ruin focused episode of the show! Not bad for a pair of minor characters (who I literally spent the entire post referring to them as a single character until I went back and fixed it) from a region specific comic!
This is their first ever toy, and while it's part of of the Cyberverse toyline, its not too bad! They have decent articulation (Which is more than I can say about Cyberverse Slipstream), their gimmick (the armor up mode) isn't TOO intrusive (Rack 'n' Ruin are kinda flat because of it. Like, 2D flat.), their alt-mode is okay (some kind of bulldozer armored car) and they even have a weapon they can hold. They're also nicely big, about a head and change shorter than ER Prime. They're a little cartoonish compared to Earthrise figures, but look at these mugs!
A two-headed character is definitely a weird one and a must for my personal collection. I'm glad we managed to finally get an interpretation of these characters in a toyline. I had a single issue where one of the mushroom pegs in their legs wasn't seated properly and was basically stuck and forcing it to move (which you have to do to transform them) would cause the peg to pop out. Forcefully reseating the peg ALL the way back in seems to have fixed the issue, so it's no longer a problem for me, but what kid is going to know to do that?
I still keep trying to refer to them as a single character.
Universe:
Me: Nice.
Also, god dammit.