Dang! I was gonna sit on it because their quantity drop down box had the option to select up to 10 but maybe all these retailers only received a few copies each. Flame toys must be doing relatively low production runs of these figures. Gonna have to pay through the nose for drift if I want him or settle for shattered glass version.... Edit Could take a while to show up at your door step but it looks like it's still in stock here. Flametoys Sentinel Kuro Kara Kuri Tarn
BBTS has two preorder slots open. It was three until I slid in. I'm still in a bit of disbelief that I decided to drop this much money on a toy but it looks positively GORGEOUS.
Just opened him up. Messed around for a bit and I gotta say, this guy has me rethinking my entire collection if not just questioning everything I’ve been doing with my entire life up to this point. Flame toys has truly mastered the art of what is required to make the finest possible robot toy. Ever.
So. Got Flame Toys Drift. Love Drift. Lots of QC issues for many fans who purchased. Lights not working, joints collapsed, no ratcheting where there should be high quality ratchets etc. After very little play time, my drift flops around like a rag doll. Going to need to fix his joints. Still love him because of the sick design and comic accuracy...and .. Drift. Decided I wasn't going to get Tarn for these reasons, but I caved and got Tarn anyhow. Because.. these toys look insane and I mean..Tarn...and I am weak for Transformers. After opening him. It was pure joy. Lights work, bigger than Drift, moving hands, cool gimmicks, heavy, what's not to love? The QC appeared amazing, very tight joints oob ( like, Iron Factory tight ) After only about a week though and extremely little play time, he is already flopping around. Just no effort to fix the legs that don't support him without some posing effort as a result etc. Going to need to seal up those joints too. I find this worst in Drifts hip connection and Waist. With Tarn it just seems like the legs. Both D and T, right at the top of the leg connection. Almost like after that initial leg move oob, the joint relaxes and immediately gets on a course to start gettng soft and unsupportive, or an arm just falls down etc. Ankles are still tight..just super flop on the upper leg. No Flame T, this does not mean make your figures feather light plastic and leave the joint system the same.. I love this figure for so many other reasons.. and in the defense of Flame Toys, the lights work this time, and they did movable fingers. So bad ass I can't stop just staring at him in the room or wanting to play with him, but for the prices they are charging, I would say Caveat Emptor as I am still in a camp that says they need to QC better and engineer better joints. Not feeling too bad saying that after paying $578.00 plus tax ( CAD ) on a pre order and still not getting the bonus goods. So. Love your stuff Flame Toys, but.. fool me twice and what not. ..
Friction joints and diecast are not the best combination! If the designer is going to use diecast, it better be for a good reason, not just to add heft, which a lot of people mistakenly asociate it with quality. For a bot at this price range I would have expected better! I think these figures are meant to be poseable statues, not toys to mess around with too often.
I was interested in Star Saber but reading this makes me question it. I like to play and mess with my figures and I already am annoyed when a $50 Bandai SRC figure has loose joints, it would be extremely aggravating if it happens on a $400 figure.
well sounds like i dodged a bullet not buying this yet no matter how good this looks if its going to go to pot just standing there its not worth the money...hopefully it gets ko'd at some point to better quality and cheaper whats this got to do with mp-44?
I think my point is that there's no free lunch. An expensive transforming bot that's not as articulate is still better than a non transforming one. By better I again don't mean that a transforming figure is BETTER, it's more that the tech is more proven.
Divinecomedy is just a giant shit poster who gets kicks from being a contrarian. Just look at his post history.
Some Christmas money and $30 in Chosen Prime gift certificates later, I finally caved. Now I just gotta wait for that Staracream model and the DNA Predaking kit to come in and I'm gonna have a great shipment of stuff.
I wasn't arguing against models either, just saying that perhaps Flame Toys is too ambitious. There are models that can be made at a certain price and then there's models that need to be priced higher to account for higher complexity.
It's called diversification. Attracting new customers from the PLA community. Technically, the transforming ones are also "models", just pre-built in the factory.
What the hell, I meant to say "but why male models", not make. Was going for a Zoolander joke, not a serious question. Bloody autocorrect
The Starscream model is pretty cool. I think the style lends itself a lot more to Seekers than the Optimus one. That said, buyer beware, I build a lot of everything, so I don't mind modding or fixing to get what I need. This kit is definitely easy and low skill level though, so it's not at all intimidating. Just it is only about 7" and a model and not a toy. Really love it though.
I got Tarn. Price is obviously ridiculous but I've decided to stop collecting regular TFs and just have a top shelf for these. Tarn is almost too good to be true with tons of diecast, tight, non-ratcheted joints and just incredible paint and polish all around. QOL is improved from Drift with easier switch placement the light gimmick and better accessory attachment options, . I miss all the light gimmicks in Drift but Drift looks more Vanilla next to Tarn's detail. I never, ever, thought I'd want a non transforming TF-Figure but after going largely to 3P and having such a mixed in experience in overall quality I like the idea of knowing I'm getting something best in class for what it does.
Is there a way to get the butterfly joint to come out more than what seems to be a meaningless amount? I see there's a pinned joint in the metal part near the back of the arm/shoulder when you butterfly it out, is that just the extended butterfly joint? It seems less like a butterfly joint and more just like an extra joint to make double sure the arm never scrapes against the body.
