UNBOXING: FansToys FT-44 Thomas

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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: 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: Unique Toys Y-04 Allen

INTRODUCTION
Springer fits into a relatively dwindling pool of somewhat periphery G1 characters who, up until now at least, have yet to be tackled by either the official TakaraTomy Masterpiece line or by an enterprising third party effort.

Of course, such third party attempts are often like buses. You wait forever for one, and then several come all at the same time. So it is with the green Autobot triple changer, amid cries of “the Springer wars have begun!” across the internet. First out of the gate is Unique Toys, who came from nowhere to surprise us with Allen. However, there's also a figure from 3P heavyweight FansToys on the horizon, as well as at least one new enterprise who've already shown off their own version.