REVIEW: X-Transbots Flipout

INTRODUCTION
X-Transbots Crackup only recently arrived as the first competitor in what is already becoming a war of third party Stunticons. Hot on his heels is Flipout, their interpretation of a Masterpiece-styled Wildrider, and it bodes well for the company that they seem to be planning to release these guys in quickfire succession. DX9 have yet to reveal any of their individual designs after their version of Breakdown, let alone the combined mode, whilst new competitor FansToys have only just managed to unveil rough renders of their first two attempts (and going by their history it's going to be a good long while before we see anything concrete). Meanwhile X-Transbots are busy cleaning up. With a hugely attractive price-point, Crackup has been enough to tempt many collectors along the journey, and thus far has been met with a generally positive reception (including my own review earlier this month). But how does their sophomore effort fair? Thanks to the folks at TFs Express, we can now find out.

REVIEW: X-Transbots MX-XIII Crackup

INTRODUCTION
Third party combiners are nothing new. In fact, they've been going for years, with pretty much every big-robot-created-from-several-little-robots team you can think of realised in a non-official format of one kind or another. However, Masterpiece-styled third party combiners are a bit of a more recent revelation, and there's still plenty of real estate left to be conquered as far as realising all of the various characters in show-accurate, appropriately-scaled toy form goes. So when X-Transbots first unveiled their plans to release renditions of the Stunticons, no other company had thus far attempted it in a true MP-style. Sure, there've been some very cool attempts, most notably TransFormMission's recent more-stylised effort, but nothing that screams the look and feel that many of us would be hoping for from the Menasor team.

REVIEW: Fans Hobby Master Builder MB-06 Power Baser

INTRODUCTION
Whilst still a relative newcomer to the third party transforming robot arena, Fans Hobby have already built up a pretty impressive track record. I've reviewed five of their figures so far in 2017, and have yet to see them make a misstep. So it feels rather appropriate to round off the year with the final review covering what is no doubt their most ambitious project to date in Power Baser. Many collectors, myself included, have been excited at the prospect of this particular character design being realised in "Masterpiece" style at some point, and so it's also an exciting release to close of what has been an incredible twelve months of releases.

REVIEW: KFC E.A.V.I. METAL Phase 11: A Stratotanker

INTRODUCTION
Masterpiece-styled triple changers remain a bit of a tricky prospect. Aside from there being about eighteen different attempts at a decent Springer (possibly an exaggeration, but hey) there's an argument to say that we're still on the hunt for the "definitive" version, and when you move onto the other characters it starts to look even more bleak. To their credit, Unique Toys / DX9 have previously led the charge, with attempts at Blitzwing, Sandstorm, Astrotrain and yes, Octane all behind them. However, none of those figures were particularly cartoon-accurate or reminiscent of the characters as they appeared in their respective animation models, and so don't quite scratch the itch for me, personally speaking. Then KFC unveiled their own attempt at Blitzwing, with Ditka, but you may recall that turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. I actually reviewed two versions of the Ditka test shot, but sadly found that the second version (which was much closer to the retail release) took several backwards steps and overall felt like a missed opportunity, to put it kindly.

REVIEW: Wei Jiang NE-01 New Evolution Megamaster

INTRODUCTION
Megatron. Has any character caused as much debate or created as much focus in discussions around the Masterpiece line? I certainly doubt it. Whether it’s the now legendary story of how MP-5 was rushed into existence and a comment on the subsequent disappointment that figure created, the longstanding absence of a version 2 Masterpiece figure and the rather colourful debates that created in years now gone by, the polarising opinions on the previous three third party options and in particular the wildly varied schools of thought on X-Transbots Apollyon, or indeed the reactions and disagreements that are still raging today about MP-36, I’m pretty sure that most collectors have been sucked into it at some stage or another. Clearly this is a character that people care quite a bit about, and perhaps with good reason - we are talking about the Decepticon leader after all. Add to that how challenging it appears to be to do Megatron justice - it’s widely acknowledged that the transformation is a difficult thing to do well whilst achieving two decent modes, and that’s to say nothing of the headaches of producing a realistic gun mode in the first place - and perhaps it’s no great surprise that the character is such a common topic in online discussion forums and social media.

REVIEW: Fans Hobby Master Builder MB-05 Flypro

INTRODUCTION
If I haven't yet made it abundantly clear during my reviews of Fans Hobby's previous figures, I'm immensely impressed with their work-to-date. Four figures in and we don't have a duff one among them. Instead, the company is quickly carving out a well-earned reputation for solid, interesting and above all FUN figures. Not to mention that they're picking some interesting characters, which helps to make their output feel a world away from the factory line of Springers that is currently domineering the third party scene elsewhere. So it is with great anticipation that we come to the final release in their not-Monsterbot trilogy, Flypro. Will he measure up to the bar that they have set for themselves, or is this their first misstep? The answer may not surprise you, but it's still a fun journey to get there!

REVIEW: X-Transbots MM-IX Klaatu

INTRODUCTION
It wasn’t so long ago that I sat down and wrote up my thoughts on another not-MP Cosmos homage, and so it should perhaps come as relatively little surprise that a competitor follows right around the corner; it seems to be our perpetual fate to be gifted waves of the same character one after the other, to the point where you expect that another might be just around the corner. Still, despite enjoying Toyworld’s Spaceracer for the most part, I did definitely feel that he left enough on the table for someone else to have a crack and even improve on him (you can read the full review here). Step forward X-Transbots with their attempt, Klaatu, named after a character from the classic sci-fi film, The Day the Earth Stood Still (or the somewhat less classic 2008 Keanu Reeves remake, if you really must).

REVIEW: FansToys FT-20 Terminus Giganticus

INTRODUCTION
Where to begin with this one, eh? There are certain releases that can only be considered "event" figures, and I'm sure you'll agree that the idea of a Masterpiece-inspired Omega Supreme definitely qualifies for that honour. I mean, seriously - it's ridiculous when you think about it, isn't it? The size of the thing by itself is seemingly crazy, and for the longest time it seemed like such a release would always be merely a pipe dream for MP collectors. But what's this? We now have not one, but two third party offerings on the horizon representing that very character. First out of the gate is of course FansToys Terminus Giganticus, with DX9's Gabriel soon to follow. What a time to be a collector!

REVIEW: Unique Toys M-01 Archimonde & M-02 Ghaz'ranka

INTRODUCTION
Masterpiece combiners. There're two words that are a hugely exciting prospect for a large majority of collectors, and yet remain one of the few untapped areas of the first few years of G1 Transformers. Sure, we’ve had plenty of third party combiner teams, but precious few that have adequately scratched the itch for those of us looking for an accurate representation of the original cartoon designs. Seemingly though, that's about to end, with several companies now throwing their hat in the ring to bring us their take on various versions of several teams. And as with most things 3P, it's all about to happen at once, with two versions of both the Combaticons and the Stunticons already revealed and on the way. I'm sure there will be more to follow.

REVIEW: ACE Collectables ACE-03 Trident

INTRODUCTION
ACE Collectables is still a new and fledgling company, although one already with a bit of notoriety under their belt. For one thing, they were the very first (and as of today still only) third party producer to put out a Masterpiece-styled Cliffjumper (or Hubcap for that matter) with their debut release, ACE-01 Tumbler, potentially plugging a rather gaping hole in a number of collections. Unfortunately that release turned out to be met with a rather lukewarm response, to put it politely, and it was sadly not enough for many fans to be convinced to jump on board.

REVIEW: KFC E.A.V.I. METAL Phase Nine: A Kingorilla

INTRODUCTION
Keith's Fantasy Club continue to be a subject of much discussion in the third party world of Transformers collecting. I don't think any other 3P producer has confounded people as much when it comes to knowing what to expect from each of their releases, whether it's well-received prototypes undergoing undesired changes prior to release, perplexing decisions made on final colour schemes, or a still-present concern from some corners over consistency and quality of final product. Perhaps the one thing that you can say with some certainty is that they're consistently inconsistent. Thought to be fair, that belies the fact that when they want to be they're more than capable of putting out great figures, and they've no doubt been on a mostly upward swing throughout their E.A.V.I. METAL line.

REVIEW: Fans Hobby MB-04 Gunfighter II

INTRODUCTION
Regular readers of this blog might have come across some of the previous reviews I have done of Fans Hobby’s figures. Though still a new and fledgling company, they’ve made quite the impact so far, and are already building up a reputation for solid, interesting and fun releases. So, naturally I jumped at the chance to check out their latest offering, Gunfighter II, which is of course a repaint of their first figure, Archenemy. Except putting it like that really doesn’t do Gunfighter any justice at all, as we shall find out!

REVIEW: KFC E.A.V.I. METAL Phase Seven: A Ditka (pt2)

Regular readers of this blog will know that this is not the first test shot of KFC's Ditka that I have reviewed. In fact the previous test shot was only about two months ago, which perhaps makes it all the more surprising just how different the two of them are, as we shall see! Still, what I plan to do here is more of an update and comparison between the two, rather than another full, flat-out review, as despite some changes it's still fundamentally the same figure.

REVIEW: FansToys FT-10 Phoenix

INTRODUCTION
For many collectors in the world of so-called third party “Masterpiece” Transformers, FansToys reign supreme. They were one of the first to usher in this current era of collecting of course, with Quakewave having been the figure to lead many of us down the rabbit hole initally. Since then they have bolstered an extremely loyal fanbase and a strong reputation, so it’s perhaps no surprise that each new release is met with almost unparalleled excitement. Add to the mix that their success seems to be allowing them more and more daring efforts, which brings us up-to-date with Phoenix. It wasn’t so long ago that the idea of a quality, full-size Masterpiece-styled Skyfire to fill out your Autobot ranks was the stuff of dreams. Now, here we are, and I for one couldn’t be more excited!

REVIEW: Badcube OTS-09 Grump & OTS-10 Slick

INTRODUCTION
When TakaraTomy released Masterpiece MP-10 Convoy, a new goal was set in many collector’s minds. Suddenly, it seemed like completing a set of scaled, animation-accurate figures representing the G1 cartoon cast might become a reality, even if it was one likely to take some time to come to fruition. That was six years ago, and whilst we still have some distance to go in terms of the official line, it’s incredible to think that collectors who bolster their ranks with third party additions are actually nearing at least one particular finish line - the season 1 Autobot Ark crew. In producing Grump, arguably the first Masterpiece-styled Gears, Badcube have given us what could be considered the final piece of this puzzle.

REVIEW: KFC E.A.V.I. METAL Phase Seven: A Ditka

INTRODUCTION
There was a time, not so long ago, when third party companies stuck to relatively safe bets in the Masterpiece-styled Transformers arena. If TakaraTomy was likely to do it, they seemed to steer relatively clear, and rarely did one company take a poke at a character that had previously been covered by another. Oh, how innocent we were.

Of course, those days are well and truly gone, and here we are about to examine the second of three (at current count) attempts at Blitzwing to make it to market. Some of you may know that I previously took a gander at Gewalt, DX9’s take on the character, and found him to be fun but a bit lacking overall for my taste (though that opinion wasn’t very popular!). Let’s see if Keith’s Fantasy Club can take the lead here.

REVIEW: FansToys FT-08 Grinder

INTRODUCTION
To many, including myself, the FansToys Iron Dibots represent one of the highlights of third party Transformers collecting so far. Despite only being a few years ago, the scale & ambition of producing an entire team of massive high-end figures like this was relatively unheard of outside of combiner teams when Scoria was first revealed, and it’s insane to think that it’s only just coming to an end now. Or is it?

I only ask as of course, we’ve been here before, haven’t we? Many of us thought we were done with our Dinobot-collecting after Stomp arrived last year (to a significantly warm reception, it must be stated!), as FansToys had already provided a solution for Masterpiece MP-8 Grimlock’s comparatively diminutive height with a set of platform shoe-type lifts as an accessory with Scoria. I think if we’re being honest though, this was never really a definitive solution, even if I will say that I was certainly happier with it than most.

REVIEW: Toyworld TW-M01

INTRODUCTION
I have to confess to being a Toyworld newbie. Despite my relative experience in the world of third party not-Transformers, there are still a few companies that I have yet to experience, and so when I was offered the opportunity to check out Primorion, I jumped at it.

That said, this figure is a bit of a curiosity for me. Like many people, I absolutely love TakaraTomy’s Masterpiece MP-10 Convoy, and would certainly count it as one of my favourite Transformers figures of all time. So, it was sort of hard to imagine what an alternative Optimus Prime figure might offer above & beyond what I am already familiar with. I’ve also discovered that I am not alone in wondering this, as since I started sharing pictures of Primorion, I have been inundated with people asking how it compares to MP-10, but also questioning the need for such a figure in the first place.

Questions abound. Is this figure Masterpiece-scaled? Is it Masterpiece-styled? In fact, is it even intended to be sat alongside the official Masterpiece line, or is it something else entirely? As I attempt to answer at least some of these points, I am approaching this with an open mind and actually quite a bit of excitement – it is Optimus Prime after all!

REVIEW: FansToys FT-16 Sovereign

INTRODUCTION
There are a handful of characters that, by their very nature, will always be more desirable to Transformers collectors than any others. Obvious names like Optimus Prime & Megatron are obvious examples, but for many the Autobots & Decepticons who made their debut in the 1986 animated movie are near the top of that list too, such is the impact of that particular piece of fiction on our collective childhood years. Galvatron is a character that many collectors have been hoping that TakaraTomy would tackle as part of the official Masterpiece line for some time, and remains a frequent namedrop in any conversation speculating future characters that will be released. Still, so far there's been no indication that this is about to happen, and so of course many of us are naturally turning towards third party efforts to fill the gap.

Thus far, only one contender has arguably come close to hitting the spot: DX9's Tyrant. Tyrant proved to be something of a divisive figure, with arguably as many ardent supporters as vehement detractors, though he still remains the bar to beat as far as crafting the ultimate Masterpiece-styled Galvatron goes. Naturally, many people were overjoyed when FansToys threw their hat in the ring and unveiled their design for Sovereign, but can he live up to the hype? Let's dig in and find out.

REVIEW: FansToys FT-18 Lupus

INTRODUCTION
Ask most Transformers collectors what their favourite third party company might be and there's at least a relatively safe bet that they might mention FansToys in the list of names they give you. The company has achieved a level of reputation that most can only aspire to, and perhaps with good reason - they do put out pretty consistently good figures. Clearly their success has allowed them the confidence to experiment a little more, as we have seen them recently branch out into more and more unusual choices for the characters they've been recreating. And so we come to Lupus, which sees them attempting something outside of the arguably safer territory of the first three seasons of the G1 cartoon for the first time. Let's take a look at what is also the first "Masterpiece-styled" Weirdwolf on the market!