Cool. Thanks for that. It wasn’t the only reason to skip. I have zero interest in bayverse stuff, and have never bothered with the last few movies. I collect unique Optimus and Megatrons so threw a few bay-bots in there for a “what the hell” addition. Really wasn’t interested impatient g big bucks for the pair, not when Rendsora did good enough and was cheap. But UT doesn’t scale right with Rendsora so TW was a perfect alternative. But delays etc makes me just think “f#ck it, just get the UT ones and be done that much sooner”
And each to their own of course but LOL, Challenger is a LLLOOONNNGGG way from being best of the year for a season that included the likes of Perfect Effect Doragon, Lewin Resources HUGE Prime, FansToys Quietus, to say nothing of finishing off the Maketoys Seekers. And I passed on it myself but Takara’s Dinobot is pretty impressive. I got a lot of really nice stuff this year.
But bayverse stuff has never been a huge draw fro me so my focus is probably a little different to many others in this thread.

 

Dude I said figure of the year FOR ME. I would never compare it to something I don't own, which is what you just did.

You mentioned twice that you don't like bayformers but some of us do and Challenger is an amazing representation of what should be an impossible design to translate into a fun figure but they did, and it looks like they're going to do it again with Dragoon so if you want the best looking scaled pair I suggest you go with UT. Or just wait and weigh all the options but I like to get stuff I'm interested in then sell what doesn't meet my expectations.

 

Sorry, I get folks like different stuff.
Just was surprised to see someone rate this so highly. It's received decent enough feedback but hadn't seen anyone give it such high praise. Glad you like it, and yeah, I'll probably pick it up.
Reason I mentioned I don't like this stuff was to make it clear my standards and expectations are very different. A casual G!, MP collector is going to want very different thiings from a figure to a hard core toon guy like myself. For me, this needs to look good on the shelf and pair well with a matching Megatron. I don't really care how accurate it is to the source or that sort of thing. I also want it to be eye to eye with the Megatron, not have it be shorter, as most of the movies seem to want to protray these guys as different heights. Do you know if I UT have revealed comaprative sizes for their Prime and Megs?

 

It's OK, just be careful not to jump to a conclusion about the quality of something you don't own and admittedly aren't even that interested in. And if you talk to people who actually own challenger most are very happy with it and a lot of people think it's awesome like I do.

Sounds like these two will check all your boxes. I seem to recall Dragoon being confirmed as the same height as Challenger. In the movie they were basically the same size. I like it when Megatron is bigger (G1 is basically the only time he's the same size) cause it emphasizes his menacing nature, but that's just me.

I like the darker paint for Nemesis Prime. V1 and V2 might even look good next to each other!

 

That prime head... beautiful.

 

I love how natural and organic the figure's neutral stand looks, the pose really makes the figure look like a living being.

 

Let’s just hope he’s got enough articulation to pull off another look because this figure just went from a ‘Nah, I don’t really like the knight look’ to ‘Woah, I need that intimidating SOB guarding my other bots on the shelf!’

 

The detail on this figure is pretty funomenal. There are obviously some areas that could/ may be improved upon, but there is some impressive attention to detail on the figure as it is. Just comparing the pictures we have of him so far with the highly detailed, non-transforming statue you can purchase, it's incredible the replication they have accomplished.

 

FTFY  

 

Haha thanks! Missed that

 

Yeah, this figure is honestly miles ahead of what Hasbro and Takara has done so far, and I think that those guys really need to step up their game if they wanna beat ut in the engineering department. I really hope that this guy has universal ratchets on both his arms and his hips, cause it would be a shame for this figure's looks to be hampered by it's lack of stability.

 

Ah, no, I stopped watching that guy years ago. His opinions are way too blatantly biaised and his skits annoy the crap out of me. I barely watch any reviews anymore, just scroll through the main guys for transformations (I suck at transformation and can't use instructions, so need a video - I dont really enjoy Optimbotimus as he annoys me and is again kind of biaised, but at least he usually does both transformations)
The hands on Challenger just really seem to stand out on every picture I've seen and I keep having to double check whether it's a pic of a half finished proto or not. It's a weird one, but as someone pointed out, should be an easy fix. I'm happy to paint, modify and customise so it's not really a biggie. At this point I think Challenger is now on my to-buy list from TaoBao, I'll pick him up in the new year, fix the hands, and will get their Megatron whenever it arrives.

I do own Quietus but have not yet transformed him. He's going to go into alt mode when I have the gut's to brave the transformation and will then remain that way. Eligos is going through a full repaint for bot mode.

Thanks to all for the suggestions, and apologies again if I offended anyone with my critiques... it's been a long year and mood swings are becoming more frequent...LOL

 

It is because of what it accomplish that he has my vote for figure of the year even if I think that Megadoragon is prettier.

Challenger is a sight to behold, but Megadoragon is superior on that aspect in my opinion, but engineering wise Challenger is the clear winner.

Quietus is good but it doesn't do anything too spectacular, it looks nice and the jet mode is gorgeous but that's it.

I own the 3 of them by the way, and I am a Bay, G1 and Beast Wars fan.

It's a head and a bit taller.

 

If there’s paint on a figure then paint chipping is a possibility. It just depends on how and how often you handle your figures. If you’re the type of collector who’s only after a good looking display piece then a custom paint job should survive because you’ll just pose the figure and let it shine for the majority of your ownership of it.

 

I painted my challenger's hands (and neck area) after the first day of having him and although if you look closely it's not perfect anymore from any reasonable distance it looks perfectly fine. I even added gold into the joints as is movie accurate.

 

I've painted a number of hands for figures of various sizes. There is a chance of paint rub, and it mainly occurs in the joints between knuckles etc. I use Lacquer based paints which are a lot more durable and have better adhesion but evn then it 's not perfect. I tend to pose figures and not manipulate much though so shouldn't be too bad. Fortunately, the paint tends to wear in the joints so it almost ends up as an empahsis or almost like panel lining to define the fingers, so it's not too bad.

Thanks for the feedback, I own Quietus and Doragon also. Quietus is gorgeous to look at but too short for me and the paint rub is a concern. But he is lovely. Doragon just blows me away with the detail, poasbility and most of all the shelf presence. WIth those wings spread and the tail arching over his head, he's a show stealer.

Damn, that sucks that the heights are different. I'm sure it's probably accurate to the source but it's not something I like. I was back and forth a lot on even adding the TF Animated versions of Priome and Megs to the collection due to the massive size difference. They're cool figures but the discrepancy between them still bugs me . This may as well.
Hmmn, think I'll hold off and do some more research, height comparisons etc. I really want a pair that faces off against each otehr and see eye to eye. Like I said, it's less about accuracy to source and more about meeting the requirements of the pairing for me.
Thanks again

 

True that. I can't even justify buying any of their SS line anymore. They all look so cheaply made, but still cost $20+. Half of them are shell formers too. Of course, from what I can tell UT is more about the premium experience while Hasbro and Takara are primarily focused on just getting a figure out for the masses (aside from their MPM's).

Yeah I'm hoping we can get some decent poses out of him as well; though he looks BA enough just standing here haha.

 

Wonder if the articulation will be good enough to let someone aproximate this as a stop motion:

 

Eh, there's a lot of mass shifting in the actual transformation itself, and the massive vehicle has to compact into a much smaller robot. And we don't get to see any visible jet parts in robot mode either, so It's gonna be hard. Also, the wings in the movie fold into his back where the wings on this guy fold into his legs instead. Obviously this is no fault of Unique toys. They just had a hard design to adapt, and I'd say they've pulled it off tremendously well.

 

One of the coolest transformations in the movies, but it looks so damn stupid because of the blatant mass shifting.