Open And Play Big Cannon

The second figure release from Open And Play came pretty much out of nowhere. Big Cannon - a Masterpiece-scaled Galvatron - is a very different proposition to Big Spring. For a start, it is clearly a larger and re-tooled version of Transformers Titans Return voyager class Galvatron. This beefs the figure up to Leader class (and a little bit more), removes the Headmaster and mask gimmicks as well as the third spaceship mode and adds a few refinements to make the overall design a bit more appealing to collectors, or at least that is the thinking behind it.

FansToys FT-06 Sever's New Head

Thanks to the release of FansToys FT-08 Grinder (MP-style Grimlock) and FansToys' newly discovered talent for creating fantastic Transformers head sculpts, collectors now have access to brand new face sculpts for FT Sever (Snarl), Soar (Swoop) and Scoria (Slag). The original head for Sever was so widely panned that once they'd found their feet with the sculpts (Stomp was marvellous), FT went back and re-did them. Great if you've bought Grinder, frustrating if you haven't.

FansToys FT-06 Sever - Production Version

Here are a few images of the production version of FansToys' FT-06 Sever (MP Snarl), the third of their Iron Dibots (Dinobots) released just in the last week or two. The paint application is a little different, as in there is no paint on the vertical vents at the bottom of the outer robot feet, the red on the chest seems ever so slightly different and even the grey plastic seems darker than the test shot I had and reviewed. In terms of tightness, everything is mega tight, with the thighs being too tight for sure. It's scary to transform them or pose them. Sword grip is much improved, gun grip has deteriorated from the test shot. Overall it improves on the review sample I had, which was already a very accomplished figure, meaning that in my opinion Sever is now the most polished product FT have released in virtually all departments. The robot face is still odd though, different, but still odd. Have some pics.

FansToys FT-06 Sever - Extra Pictorial

I noticed the other day how awesome FT-06 Sever looks with the dino legs folded out and stored on the outside of the robot legs like Guttur or G1 Snarl. I also noticed the lower dino legs at the front actually rotate outwards higher up the leg than I was expecting. As a result, here's a little coda to the whole Sever story. 

FansToys FT-06 Sever - Full Pictorial

Here is the full gallery pictorial for FansToys FT-06 Sever, the 3rd party Masterpiece style Dinobot Snarl - now with correctly transformed dinosaur hind legs! Yesterday's photos are also included for completeness. All dino group shots have the mis-transformed legs, I'm sure you guys will forgive me... 

FansToys FT-06 Sever - Teaser Pictorial

FansToys carry on giving us the Dinobots - or Iron DiBots - and the third in the series is FT-06 Sever. This is of course their version of Masterpiece Snarl, racing to win hearts and pre-orders from GigaPower's Guttur. No review yet, that you will find on TFSource Blog this week, but for now here's a teaser pictorial.

GigaPower HQ03 Guttur - Production Sample Review

It's been in the works for a very long time and a significant number of collectors didn't even believe it was ever going to see release, but the time has nearly come for new 3rd party company GigaPower's HQ03 "Guttur" to take centre stage. GigaPower's shot at a line of Masterpiece Transformers Dinobot-inspired figures begins with their interpretation of Desert Warrior Snarl. GP will offer this figure in metallic colours and also with chrome finish for a later release version. My own preference, even from the first line-art drawings of Guttur, has been to collect the FansToys Iron Dibots but I'm at the stage now where I believe putting one hundred collectors in a room will result in 50 of them choosing Guttur and GP's vision.

GigaPower Guttur - Extended Pictorial

A few more pictures of this beast, now with all the fantastic array of accessories utilised. Apologies for the lack of details and opinion, but there has to be something to come back for in the review, right?

FT-05 Soar is coming!

It seems like an eternity since I posted the FansToys FT-05 Soar (Not Swoop) pictorials and the TFSource article/review. Finally FT have shipped final production versions, and mine has arrived. I wasn't expecting it at all, so when I opened the parcel and this was staring back, my heart raced. This is a huge deal, Scoria has been my favourite release of the year so far and Soar seemed an improvement - plus it's Swoop vs Slag and that's no contest at all. FT were kind enough to let me use a Hi-res version of their packaging mock-up images for the Source Blog, but here's the in hand item. 

New Arrivals - Late November 2014

A sales list I might have added, but the odd new figure does creep in the other direction now and then. In the picture above you can see the Mastermind Creations Reformatted R-08Z Zinnia, extra Masterpiece Wheeljack with hypno-lunchbox and coin and a Takara Tomy Japanese Animated Blurr. I finally added a new 1/55 Macross figure as well after months off from that project. Here's a quick run-through.

FT-05 Soar - Comparison with Diaclone and WST "Swoop"

This will be an incredibly short pictorial just comparing the FansToys FT-05 Soar test shot with the Takara Diaclone Dinosaur Robo No.5 Pterandon (Diaclone Swoop) and the World's Smallest TF Swoop from Justitoys, the latter both courtesy of the very kind Ben "Swoop" Hazard, a UK Transfan with a passing interest in this figure... 

FT-05 Soar - Matte Wings Pictorial

Another FansToys FT-05 pictorial, this time both modes but using the matte silver wings instead of the blinding chrome 'blings'. We'll start off with the fully matte wings, and then what we'll do is change one wing to shiny chrome and you can see the comparison on the figure and decide what you like best. Removal of the wings is very simple, three screws and the top holding panel comes off, then you slot out the undesired wing type, replace with desired wing type, then place the top panel back on and replace the three screws. Literally as easy as you could want. I still think it;s such a shame they didn't send me the clear beak to review, I was quite looking forward to it. So let's begin with fully matte wings. 

FT-05 Soar - Dinosaur Mode Pictorial

Following last night's FansToys FT-05 Iron Dibots Soar robot mode pictorial, here is the dinosaur mode follow-up. The transformation was pretty straightforward and easy to follow for the most part, especially the arms, head, feet and chest. Flaps open to hide extremities, die cast panels fold in and out and compress and the robot head folds into the dino head and is secured with two red pegs that clip into the side of the robot head. The feet and knees are where things get tricky and require excess force. There are chromed sections along the base of the shins (what would have functioned as the gold wheels on the Diaclone Swoop) that must be looked after and un-tabbed when folding the connected sections around the robot knees/dino feet. Getting the knees to slide back and allow full leg fold onto the back of the dino was very difficult too. I suspect much of this will be refined for final release. The four clips around the knees/dino feet must also be engaged/disengaged when transforming. Basically, on this occasion it won;t hurt to read the instructions! Anyway, hopefully these pics will tide you over until the first video reviews or my article next Tuesday.

FT-05 Soar - Robot Mode Pictorial

Here is the FansToys FT-05 Soar from their Iron Dibots series, a Masterpiece-style Dinobot Swoop homage that is due to be released soon I hope. Here is the pictorial of robot mode pictures leading up to next Tuesday's full review and pictorial on TFSource blog. I have no embargo on posting images for this figure so I am free to share my photography in lieu of an actual full article for the time being. This beauty - and it is a beauty - arrived today after a bizarre detour across Europe and a hold up in DHL Hong Kong due to an accident. Dino mode pictures should be available tomorrow for posting, but for now I hope you can enjoy this utterly spectacularly magnificently excellent rendition of G1 Swoop by FT. 

FansToys Scoria Pictorial

FansToys rocked the world with FT-03 Quakewave, which at the time was widely accepted to be the best 3rd Party product available to collectors. Then they announced their range of Dinobot homages, the "Iron Dibots" series starting with FT-04 Scoria who would be Slag. Cartoon accuracy was chosen instead of toy accuracy and thus we had swathes of chrome and a red robot face to choose from over a silver face. Toy coloured Scoria will be out in due course. I reviewed Scoria in depth for TFSource Blog a couple of months back, but it still stands as my favourite acquisition of the whole year and sits closest to me on my home desk every day of the week since it arrived. Here's the pictorial using larger pictures than seen on the Source Article.

New Arrivals - Early July 2014 (Part 3)

That's right, another couple of boxes arrived. One was from TFSource containing my MP-18S Tokyo Toy Show exclusive Masterpiece Silverstreak, Hyper Hobby exclusive Animated Black Rodimus, a bunch of teeny tiny figures (thank you Jeremy!) and the Animated special edition "Cool" manga book that comes with a clear Activators Optimus Prime. And right at the back is the completely unsubtle show-stealer that came in its own special package, FansToys FT-04 Scoria. 

Canadian G1 "Red Slag"

If you're interested in time-honoured, well-known, much-loved vintage Generation 1 Transformers variants that seem to have been around longer than the hobby itself, you won't get much better than the Hasbro Canada late 1984 release of Dinobot Flamethrower Slag, or "Scories" as he was called on the Canadian packaging. Often considered cartoon-accurate (although he isn't completely), 'Red Slag' seems to become more popular as the years go by as folks take the opportunity to polish up certain corners of their near-complete G1 collections. Inevitably, its price has gone up too.

3rd Party Issues

This time last year, 3rd Party Transformers were not on my radar at all. I saw them as a dirty little insect on the Transformers floor that needed squashing. Let's just say I've since been educated. As thrilled as I am with my foray into this offshoot of the hobby, now that the initial gloss has worn off some of those acquisitions and they've been 'used', I've noticed a number of issues and niggles with what I've got.