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Third party Transformer figures are often a gamble. Sometimes they're incredibly bad - sometimes they're very impressive, like with that tiny Arcee a few weeks back.
But most of the time, they're kind of in the middle, such is the case with Night Countess aka Transformers Prime Airarachnid. Not exactly a character I'm familiar with, but I was aware of how the original toy didn't exactly do the character design justice... or most of the cast, if I'm being honest.
So when the prototype photos showed something that actually resembled the onscreen counterpart, I decided to get one just to check it out.
I think the best way of summarizing this figure is if Hasbro decided to remake the character as a modern day Deluxe class release, but somehow not quite hit all of the Hasbro/Takara Tomy QC points.
The overall sculpt is quite nice, in particular the head sculpt. Transformation is effectively a shellformer, but at least it isn't one that has an obscene number of loose parts - it's mainly the two variations of the copter blades - actual rotor form, and spider leg form. Robot kibble is present in vehicle mode, but it's not too bad and is really just the undercarriage.
Articulation is.. weird. I mean, it does hit all the Deluxe class points, save for a functional waist and for some odd reason, there is no ankle articulation. The upper torso can be rotated due to a the need for a joint there as part of the transformation sequence. Also a consequence of the transformation sequence is the use of double jointed elbows. The shoulders let you raise the arms to the side when they're straight down position only.
So overall, it's not great, but it's not the worst I've seen.
From a design perspective, however, there are some questionable items. Really questionable. For starters, the connection point for the spider legs and the figure are some really small and shallow pegs, which, provided they don't break off, just aren't really strong enough to actually ensure that they'll stay in place in a variety of positions. Speaking of breakages, I can forsee the part that secures the arms to the torso being bent and broken over time if you're not careful, as the transformation sequence seems to rely on the flexibility of the plastic and you not snapping the swivel joint at which the part is attached. The waist pieces are held on with pins, which could also be a problem going forward.
Then there's the material choices. The figure feels pretty flimsy, like pre Siege flimsy. It's not the greatest on the main figure, but the material is at least hard enough such that they could sculpt in some fine details. Where it really hurts is in the spider legs, making them pretty flimsy, adding unnecessary difficulty to standing the figure in Spider mode.
Don't get me started on how well the "instructions" turned out...
(Image: Jared Rodriguez / Truthout)
Image paired with the article:
Third Parties Eager to Disrupt the Presidential Race and the Two-Party System
www.truth-out.org/news/item/36024-third-parties-eager-to-...
Rok Lox Micro Comp Tires (right) mounted on Lego 56145 wheels vs Lego balloon tires mounted on stock Lego 42010 Off Road Racer (at left). The Rok Lox Micro Comp Tires are available from RC4WD ( store.rc4wd.com/Rok-Lox-Micro-Comp-Tires_p_739.html ), along with three other types of Losi Micro Tires on the RC4WD website ( store.rc4wd.com/Losi-Micro-Tires_c_88.html ). For more discussion about using Third-Party RC tires on Lego wheels, see the Eurobricks Technic Forum topic www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=70865&st=0 .
This is a kitbash kit from Top, with a WorldBox body. Really nice set, actually. The jacket is particularly nice, and the headsculpt is quite good. Yes, I know I don't have a proper Winter Soldier hand on him. I need to get him a couple. I could use those from my HT sets, but I just don't want to.
am loving Snapture!
like CameraPro but better & more elegant lookin'.
1. shutter button = whole screen or volume buttons
(sheer genius! listen up, Apple!)
2. icons like for the colour mode are beautiful!
although i wish the colourwheel would change to suit the mode.
3. the whole package, gratis!
BUT
sadly, i've found that images made with this doesn't contain any EXIF information, sigh.
starting the 5 second self timer
Hongdae
update 12 april
latest version has collapsible menu & b&w colour ring, yay!
update 18 april
have asked peeps what their fave third party iPhone apps are here...
For... reasons, 2020 was the year of Arcee, that lovable female Autobot that most of G1ers are familiar with. There was the recently released MP, the unofficial Nicee, and now, Magic Box Peach Girl.
A dainty little thing, measuring around 4 inches in robot mode, "Peach Girl" is an articulated figure, with a vibe that reminds of what Choro-Q might have been had Takara marketed it towards the more hardcore collector crowd.
The figure was around $40 USD from a store overseas, shipping included. Not too many accessories, just a gun and a dagger/sword.
While Nicee was ironically going for the naughty look, Peach Girl is going for the nice. Cute aesthetic including those much adored Super Deformed proportions. Same experience you'd have if you have a toddler... except one that listens to you and can turn into a car. Peach Girl has the added bonus of actually looking like Arcee - not that it's a huge selling point or anything for me, but I mention it because I remember several Nicee patrons complaining how they couldn't go forward with the purchase because it no longer had the Arcee head.
*sigh*.
Articulation wise, Peach Girl is packing some good stuff. Before I forget, she actually ankle spurs that help her stay standing... completely missed those and as you might have guessed, they were never referenced in the instructions. She's got ankle side tilts, single jointed knees, hips with thigh swivel, mid torso rotate with some ability to tilt up, ball jointed shoulders with "shrugging" capabilities, bicep swiivel, single jointed elbows, wrist rotation, neck tilt and head rotate.
Not a bad package for such a little figure, though as always, the extra articulations is brought to you by the transformation. Pretty much all you'd want in a typical figure is here, with the exception of a waist... oh, and I guess forward tilting ankles too.
Paint wise, there isn't really a whole lot to write about. It's mostly coloured plastic, though at least it's nice coloured plastic. Paint apps are alright. They're clean and evenly applied, with some minute masking errors. Nothing that would immediately be drawn to your eye. The colours chosen are generally bright and lively, which matches the tone of this figure nicely.
Build quality is always a key factor when discussing tranforming toys and, well, it's generally hit with some misses. You're generally alright in robot mod. There's no issues with limb lengths, joint strength, material choices. QC on assembly gaps is not bad, and finishes are at least on par with the newer Hasbro stuff. The gun's handle is a tad too big and doesn't want to fit into either fist whereas the knife/sword fit in perfectly.
Much like the Hasbro stuff, however, any inherent issues with build come out in vehicle mode. First, a quick blurb about the transformation - it's super fun. You can probably tell from the photos, but this is an Arcee-esque vehicle mode as opposed to the more overtly Arcee that Nicee gunned for. That's because half of her transformation involves you stuffing Peach Girl into her head cavity.
So as I was saying transformation is pretty neat, unfolding parts of her head then having the car shell appear around her, and is relatively simple. Tabbing parts together isn't as flawless as I'd like, though accomplishable. Also, positioning of the wheels is finicky, as if they're not just right they won't spin. It IS really neat, however, that Peach Girl's earmuffs become wheels. There's spots for the weapons in vehicle mode as well.
Overall, not bad. Not perfect, but it holds and plays just as well as your typical mainline release. It's a third party figure that I don't need to worry too much about its fragility, and it's an Arcee to boot.
A neat toy with loads of personality.
Unofficial Transformers "Cosmos." For more on third party Transformers toys and accessories please visit:
Images from 5th anniversary party of “Don’t Let Daddy Know”
Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam
March 3 & 4, 2017
Client:DLDK
Check out my book on 20 years of dance music photography!
When Transformers Armada/Micro Dentetsu was released, the show was OK but they toys felt like such a giant ste backwards after the excellent offerings of the Car Robots 2000 lineup. But, there were a few gems in that pile, one of which Optimus Prime, which further refined the combining trailer concept by making them turn into a pair of pants.
The actual toy was fun, but engineering wise it was effectively a giant brick, especially the trailer part.
Now, as luck would have it, the most exciting part of the Legacy Evolution line we're currently living through is the upcoming Commander Class Armada Optimus Prime, which so far looks good, at the very least not being watered down class wise like other recent Primes are.
There was also, a few years ago, a third party Fans Hobby attempt at the Armada Prime toy. I'd never gotten any third party of this size, and was figuring that one day I'd get a nicely priced Power Baser (Powermaster Optimus Prime) at TFCon.
Well, turns out if you snag them at preorder from your friendly neighbourhood online toy store, they're actually not horrendously priced.
I didn't take my original out, but I think this Fans Hobby version (Naval Commander... for Amada, get it?!?!) is slightly bigger than the OG figure. Conceptually it's the same (core figure, trailer, mini-con) but with a few premium tricks and twists.
From a high level, visually things have changed, part due to modernization and partly due to desire not to get hassled by the lawyers. The truck mode seems a bit longer, proportionally, compared to the original figure.
The trailer is probably where you see the greatest difference. Gone is the motoorized transformation gimmick, which was expected and fine with me. Certainly more firepower this time around with the inclusion of two rocket launchers... spring loaded rockets I might add. Prime's hand cannon extends to a much larger size for mounting in trailer mode. The pontoon things on the side of the trailer are now removable and can be mounted on several spots, specifically in robot mode.
Trailer turns into nonsensical alt modes, which is par for the course. There's extended trailer mode, which is basically fancy trailer with ramps, and then there's base mode which is... fancy trailer with ramps AND platforms. Shout out to the Fans Hobby team for including semi functional knee cannons, which was a spring powered missile launcher on the original toy.
the transformation scheme has been drastically changed, which should be expected. The core robot probably has about the same amount of articulation, where as the combined mode certainly has more than before.
In some weird twist of fate, the combined mode actually has more articulation than the core robot, thanks to the ab crunch. However, as you can imagine, the sheer bulk of both modes does get in the way of movement, as does the general design, but with the exception of the tabs that keep combined mode together, joints are well designed, robust, and can take a beating.
Sparkplug is a big gangly looking, but sports some impressive engineering to result in a fairly articulated figure.
As with most third party figures (or at least the well designed ones) transformation involves some twists and turns that wouldn't make it to a mainline figure, and you'd be hard pressed to find them on a MP figure, though it could happen. The fascinating thing is that despite the sheer precision required to make all the tiny parts fit properly, Fans Hobby pulled it off. There's some engineering decisions I disagree with, but the QC on this thing is very impressive.
There's actually far less paint on this figure than I anticipated, but that could be them trying to be realistic on budget. Also, for those interested, the materials used feel like what we get on our modern mainline figures... or at least the Legacy stuff.
Also possible on this figure (which I didn't test) are swap out of the combined mode ears for larger, more OG design ears, the ability to swap out the eyes for clear eyes, and of course, LED lights but I didn't have the battery..
Réf. : DSC02084, v2
Rive sud du fleuve Saint-Laurent, vue du Bout-d'en-Bas de l'île Verte à travers la vitre du salon, laquelle reflète le rectangle de ciel vu dans la direction opposée par la fenêtre de la cuisine. Il s'agit d'un contre-jour au sens propre! Lignes des tiers sur lesquelles le reflet a été cadré en postproduction.
__________________________
South shore of the St. Lawrence River, as seen from Bout-d'en-Bas of Île Verte through the living room windowpane, which reflects the rectangle of sky seen in the opposite direction through the kitchen window. It's a literal "back light"! Third-party lines on which the reflection was framed in post-production.
Another quick dive into the world of Third Party Transformers. This time we have an entry from TransArts BWM8: Metal Jungle - Metal Spider Queen. Long, fancy name for effectively Transmetal 2 Black Arachnia.
The difference between TransArt and most other Third Party companies I've run into is that these products are very much influenced by the original toys. In general, it appears they're retooled versions of the OG toys to increase some functionality here and there. In the cast of Black Arachnia, she was also shrunk down in size, though I'm not sure if it was to match her MP counterpart, or because scale dictated it..
TransArt wisely got rid of her spin Kick gimmick, which has helped the figure stand better, as well as improve the overall body silhouette (no longer does she have a frame around her upper torso), Her legs are also slimmer now.
Sadly, the spring recoiling launcher is gone, replaced with just a plug in projectile (which looks nicer), and of course, so is the vacuum sealed chromed plastic finish, though their paint isn't bad. Her bra is once again removable, and is actually required for the transformation.
Speaking of which, I hope you like watching videos because there is once again no printed manual or pdf download.
There's also some parts forming required now, which I get. The original toy had some crazy big shoulder pads because in the show, her spider components would mass shift to something a bit more reasonable. So, they just made the rear spider section removable, and gave her small pads to use in robot mode. You can still attach the shell in robot mode, but it just makes things seem a bit awkward.
Now for all the improvements they made on the figure, you'd think they could have given the figure some actual wrist articulation so that she could do more than the "I'm going to grab your balls" hand motion when her elbows are positioned normally.
So, balance is improved, and articulation, despite the aforementioned quirks, is generally better than the OG toy.
I don't recall chest rotation on the original toy, which is present here (sadly no waist joint).
Because of the way the leg transformation works, this figure actually has some decent leg posing options, which combined with the metal toes and included display stand, means you can do some pretty fun things. Having said that, because of the way the arms are arranged, those cool poses are still going to look kind of weird because of limitations.
Transformation into Spider mode is reminiscent of the OG toy, but, as mentioned, no longer requires the frame that was around her torso, but there is a frame involved that flips her backpack into the right position. Arms are the same, and the rest of the body will definitely remind you of back in the day.
Presuming you didn't snap your Spider Legs (heat those things up in water and pre exercise them please) you'll be left with a pretty sweet looking Spider, though once again it's not one that can actually support itself on the legs.
Paint Wise, as mentioned, beautifully done. Yeah there's no chrome, but everything else is visually more impressive that the first toy. Build Quality, surprisingly, is actually quite impressive. There are quite a few places where weaker QC would have resulted in some noticeable visual flaws or large gaps, and this figure nails those. The bigger issue with Build is the need to properly pre treat those legs, and the fact that the magnet that holds her bra in place is kind of weak.
Overall, it's a nice glow up but man that lack of wrist articulation really hurts. Now that I know what they're all about, it's not rally likely that I'll get another TransArt product, considering their entire catalogue appears to be BW related. But hey, I guess if they do something to make Airrazor actually look female, I might be back for another round.