Raving Toy Maniac

The last TF I bought was MP Rodimus. I wasn't wowed by any of the TF: Prime stuff, and what I've seen of those are seriously lacking in paint apps and look cheap, so I wasn't tempted. Once I realized they've gotten smaller too I was already out of TF's. I'll buy the US versions of the MPs as long as Hasbro keeps up the quality, but other than that, I've given up on TF's and sold most of them.

Yeah, the size change and the ever-increasing prices are a bummer (though I still think, via engineering alone, Transformers are the best bang-for-the-buck toy on American shelves). TRU has a buy 2 get 1 free sale right now that brings prices down a bit, but then you have to find three things you want to buy.

I passed on Shockwave because it's so darn small. I would've dropped $20 on one (probably two) in a heartbeat had the figure been the size it should've been. :/

That shockwave a disappointment.

How Is the quality on those 3rd party figs?

Shockwave was my most wanted figure from Toy Fair, but after actually holding in my hands, it's no longer in this year's Top 10. It's too bad because I love the sculpt & the transformation.

The 3rd party stuff can vary in quality. Here's my take on some of the various companies that I'm familiar with:

Fansproject-- sort of the granddaddy of the whole unofficial Transformers scene. Their stuff is very high quality, basically on par with official Hasbro stuff. They're currently developing a set of Stunticons. They're also making their own wholly original transforming robot toys now, so I think they have the most potential to go legit if the unofficial Transformer homage thing goes away.

TFC Toys-- Some QC issues popped up on their Hercules (Devastator) set, but they were quick to include replacement parts with the next figure in the set. And even with those couple issues, Hercules is freaking AWESOME. Seriously, it's one of the coolest things in my entire collection. They've got a set of Arielbots in the works right now.

Perfect Effect-- They specialize in tiny robots. Their Scouting Force X (Reflector) set is pretty sweet. Tiny, but sweet.

Maketoys-- Also have a Devastator set out called Giant which they've released in green and yellow versions, with the yellow being a limited release. I personally prefer Hercules to Giant, but Giant has plenty of fans.

Toyworld-- They have only released one so far, Hegemon, aka Megatron. Possibly my favorite 3rd party item to date. It looks like it stepped out of Transformers The Movie, and is by far the best Megatron toy ever released. They're currently working on the Throttlebots and a Prime to go with their Megatron.

One thing all these company have in common is high prices due to tiny production runs. So yeah, be prepared to put a hurtin' on your wallet if you decide to go down this road. Most of this stuff is kinda by fans for fans, so you just feel like they "get it" in a way that Hasbro just doesn't.

To be fair to Hasbro, in addition to needing to make figures that appeal to a wider audience at retail, they also have to conform to safety standards that the 3rd party stuff just doesn't need to care about. That, plus if they made stuff like Shockwave and Prime and Jazz "normal-sized" but raised the price, we would be all up in arms despite happily spending double or triple on a 3rd party item. The expectations are just so different.

I've really been impressed with the smaller transformers... the mini TF Prime leader class stuff is pretty cool for being so small. Of course, the third party renditions of the older scout class robots are also really awesome looking.

I believe Hasbro had Botcon ban all 3rd party stuff from the display room, so this stuff is coming to a head one way or another.

Ya, I've noticed these as well. I love the Hasbro, Takara, and 3rd party TFs. Hopefully, the 3rd party manufacturers are able to stick around.

Hasbro hasn't made me happy once this year. There have been times where I thought they made me happy, but those moments always ended in disappointment. The Fall of Cybertron figures have been a huge disappointment, especially compared to what Takara is doing with the same molds. They cost a lot more, but Takara at least had the sense to make them LOOK like they're worth more, unlike Hasbro cutting the quality AND raising the price. I'm thinking I'll pass on the Combaticons at retail and see how accurate Takara's version is. For now I've got the G2 version of pre-order.

Sad thing is the most recent release that's made me really happy is the Fortress Maximus candy toy. It's very solid for a model kit, you can actually play with it without feeling like it'll fall apart. Best part is he's roughly the same size as the G1 Headmasters making him Marvel comics accurate. On top of that I've got Masterpiece Sideswipe and Red Alert on pre-order along with Cap Bots Captimus Prime and Capticon which were just cheep and goofy enough not to pass on. I'll get Masterpiece Soundwave in the second batch.

I do have a Takara Darkness Megatron, but I still haven't opened it yet.

Emerje