I thought defensor was going to be taller than gravity builder? It's the reason why he's getting an upgrade kit right? If so that puts him taller than TFM menasor? Though still not 18" height like CW dev

 

There have been pics of defensor with menasor and they look to be really close height wise
The upgrade kit is to make him more geewun

 

As far as I know, Gravity Builder is already really close to TFM Menasor and GT Defensor in height -- like rounding-error close. So, while the upgrade kit will help lengthen the thighs a smidgen to make GB's legs seem a bit more proportional, the goal is not to bring him into 18" scale. The current scale is effectively unchanged.

True. the upgrade's head will be a bit more Sunbow-styled. But beyond that, there's little more "geewun"-ness in the upgrade.

 

the yes model ko os is to bring it to GT/TFM/TFC size

 

I'm torn. I have a shelf of combiner...parts I guess we can call it. TFM Motormaster. Zeta Fireflight and then I want two parts of Defensor. Hot Spot and Blades. All are displayed in their alt modes but I have this thing about bot mode being close to G1 even though it won't be seen. Blades I definitely like Generation Toy more than MakeToys or TFC. MakeToys Hot Spot looks closer to the G1 toy in alt mode compared to Generation Toy, in my opinion, from what I can see. Granted I haven't seen a colored rendition. Generation Toy nailed the bot mode for me. I'm just torn. I think the alt mode front end being slighty curved on the MakeToys instead of flat like Generation Toy and TFC is what feels more G1-ish. Thoughts?

 

Odds of them finishing the set are extremely high, they haven’t not finished one yet and their stuff sells really well. They won’t ever be masterpiece aesthetic, as they tend to do IDW inspired bots with a hint of G1, such as Sarge’s windshield chest. I prefer them due to their innovative designs, good articulation, integrated combiner parts, fun transformations, and scale.

 

These guys are G1 enough for me, especially bot modes. I'm not interested in toon accuracy as such. Many of the IDW designs recall the G1 designs enough that I don't mind to mix them a bit. My objection to the design of their Defensor is mostly that I find it excessively greebly. I'd like to see someone come in and do it a bit cleaner. But for bots modes, these scratch my itch pretty well. No doubt FT - based on what we've seen of their Aerialbots - might make one more suited to my tastes, but I don't really want to wait another 10 years.

 

Idk, I feel like that's wrong. I do feel they have a masterpiece aethetic going on. I also feel there's a slight nod to idw, I think there's more of a g1 flavor in there.

 

As Transformers fans (who love the brand so much, we post on message boards about them), we can tell the subtle differences between a Hasbro and Takara version of the same toy. In fact, we even obsess over the differences between a toy and its knock-offs. So, it makes sense that we would care about aesthetic touches like the curve of the glass on Blades, or how "G1" a figure is.

I've decided that Hasui's MP-10 philosophy of "the best of the toy, and the cartoon, and our memories" (and may I hasten to add: old & new comics) is the one I'm embracing.
- I like the approachability of the cartoon aesthetic.
- I like the greebles/metal/chrome/physicality of the old Diaclone/Microman toys.
- I like the impossible shapes and action poses of (nearly all of the many) the IDW comics
- I like the size/pose-ability/build quality of modern MP/3P figures.

All of these thing combine in my mind, and make a mental soup that causes a collection that some might find incongruous. It's not hyper-focused on one aesthetic. And so I feel allowed to collect the figures that speak to me.

To address your concern, @Shaman , there's no wrong choice.
If you like something, buy it. If you don't like it after you buy it, get something else, and sell the first one. Repeat until you get something you like.

I've bought ~30 MP/3P figures, and sold 10 of them -- replacing them with other ones.

Otherwise, wait until a YouTuber buys them all and does a comparison video.

 

One thing I like about GT and TFM is that they have combiners with different heights and sizes but at the "same scale" so to speak, that makes them interesting, to me at least. Every combiner at the same size seems a bit odd to me.

 

This. I get that Marvel/Sunbow generally had combiners be the same size just for the sake of ease on the artists (and possibly narrative), but I've always felt that some Combiners were just inherently bigger than the rest.

My "headcanon" as it were (utterly hate the term, but whatever) is that Devastator, being the first, didn't benefit from any of the successive miniaturization or streamlining tech put into each following combiner. Each successive combiner seems to get sleeker, more efficient and less insane until you finally get seamless integration with guys like Predaking and Liokaiser for the Cons and guys like Raiden and Road Ceasar for the Autobots.

As a result, subsequent combiners getting smaller doesn't bug me like some people. While I generally feel that the Scramble City combiners should be at least roughly the same size, I'm ok with subsequent combiners varying. To me, post-Scramble City combiners represent further experimentation and/or refinement of the process.

 

To me is like this: The combiners are the sum of their individual components, thus their sizes are dictated by how big or numerous the teams are.

I suppose that is my headcanon, I don't like the word either!

 

I think TW/Zeta messed up the scale with those thigh pieces. If everyone else followed suit it would take care of the size and stability issues of the core bot.

I can appreciate what TFM did with their Menasor, but that leg design was terrible. It's top heavy. I would welcome upgrade kits for thighs for more height and stability to some of the combiners. I think that would solve our problems imho.

 

I'm definitely ok with variances in combiner heights, within certain limits. I can't say I have such elaborate justifications as many of you for my preferences, mostly it revolves around how powerful/cool I think a particular team is. I'm ok with Devy being on the taller end, where I think Superion also belongs because, you know, planes. I think Bruticus can be a bit bigger than Defensor, but not dwarf him. And IMO Predaking should be Omega Supreme size, which I know makes no sense since he's a a team of frickin' animals but whatever, none of this makes any sense anyway. Predaking is the baddest of all combiners and should look it.

 

I sold off my Guardia. You can OS it to any size but the engineering on that one is really crude. Only Hotspot was well engineered in my opinion.

 

shoulder shrug, engineering aside, the combined mode is a thing of beauty, from the red fingerless gloves to the double pump pressure washer cannons, all i really care about is the combined mode, most of combiners are uncombined for a day or 2 every couple of months

 

All I am trying to say is you can't compare Guardia and this one. Just because the OS Guardia is cheaper, it doesn't mean it's an apple vs apple comparison. This one's combined mode is also a thing of beauty, and knowing GT, it will be a pleasure to combine and take apart. Also if I remember correctly, some of the members of the MT's Guardia team had hollow parts, not sure if the OS ones will have them as well. They are not a real eye sore, but at the same time it's like really?

Edit: another thing I've just remembered. Blades and First Aid share too much engineering. I really disliked that.

 

if GT goes with the Guardia combiner color scheme them it'll get all my praise.....ok i just want the same color combiner hands

those hands just do something for me and really set of the combined mode, and you can compare what you want, in my case i'm comparing the final combined mode color looks and this ^ is a thing of beauty, the red hits with the baby blue and white and black just give it a phenomenal look compared to the other released Defensor that looks plain by comparison

i will say this, i'm not one of the people that was bothered by the motorcycle change and then

it will come down to the finished combiner colors for me to make the decision on best but this has a lot of MT nods to it so i'm hoping for the best like Mt to GT Devy

another thing is combiner weapons, Maketoys blows away the competition in that area every time. you'd think they had Dr. Wu designing their weapons or something lol, so that will be another thing that i will use as a determination. i still don't understand why no one has thought to take combiners that have helicopters and make the blades combine into a dagger or knife or even a short sword, i mean fireman have axes and knives to help save victims and get them safe from seatbelts and blocked doors "shoulder shrug"

 

Those bloody hands make him look like a butcher but yeah i agree the do make the figure pop.

 

Those are beautiful, they look like biker gloves.