I'm a little out of the loop on these accessories. Are they worth buying as stand alone accessories? TFSource sells them individually at about $8 a piece. Are they able to be held by the US released figures? Which ones are must haves? I saw many of them requiring labeling which I don't mind doing.
if you like Microns that form animals and weapons then yes. if you want microns that are purely robot and alt mode (vehicle or plane) then no.
Hmmm. I don't mind them being animals/weapons as long as they're designed well. I preordered the Jet Vehicon so I guess that will be my guinea pig on Arms Microns. Hopefully they'll still be available in singles at TFSource by then.
I want some more. I just ordered a set from BBTS (and they're in my PoL). Mainly, I really enjoy Minicons and "Targetmasters". The assembly portion of the toy play is right up my alley, too.
The ones I've played with are really cool. The ones I ordered aren't here yet, though. The Arms Microns feel like Minicons for kitbashers to me, with the assembly and the labels.
They look good. Hell....if I had some money and paint skills,I would make some Action Master Buddies out of them. Now to the question: I think you should buy some. Not a lot....but maybe two or three for each group.
I've put together each of the first eight kits so far and will continue to purchase the others, so here's my input: Stand alone? Yes, I think so. They're a bit oversized compared to the weapons that come with the US releases, but it's not bad to me and they make more sense and/or are more fun than some of the weapons from the US releases (Cliffjumper's axe/gun thing, Bulkhead's electronic thing). The hand molds are still the same on the Japanese releases, so those that can hold weapons can hold microns by their pegs as well, plus each micron has ports that other microns can plug into to create even larger weapons (Skywarp's micron can plug into Megatron's and give Megs a drill-weapon, for example). Stickers are actually alright. Some are annoyingly tiny (the "eye" stickers on the scorpion and "Ravage" microns) but at least go over flat surfaces. Like with the larger figures, there are still some things I wish were painted instead of relying on stickers (basically anything very small should be a paint ap, not a sticker...but with these it's either a sticker or nothing). Putting them together is pretty cool...I've never built model kits before, and though these are hardly in that class (I imagine) it is easy but fun. My only problem with having to put them together (and with having to sticker them) is the parts with the clear faction logo cover thingy. So far, each micron mold has a place where a faction logo is placed via sticker and then covered by a clear piece of plastic that's plugged in. The annoying thing, from the kids I've put together, is that the stickers aren't always cut to fit exactly into that little area (a wee bit too big) and, more annoyingly, the clear plastic pieces don't clip in very easily. It's the one part I wish came preapplied. The recent Gashapon microns actually do come preapplied and the Optimus Prime Blaster and Bumblebee Sword microns come with paint aps. Mine are in my PoL at BBTS, so I can't speak to them personally but from the pics I've seen they look nice and fit in decently with the other microns, even if the two animal microns (Gob and Zad, I think) look really plain since they don't include paint aps nor do they come with sticker sets to add any detail to them. Quick individual reviews of each kit: O.P. - Nice Shockwave-ish appearance (though when you get a good look at it, it does not appear to have just the one eye), nice gun mode...the arms on my Voyager Optimus can't necessarily maintain certain poses holding the micron, but the shoulders on mine are loose. B.2 - Fun 'bot mode but much bigger than the convention dual blasters that the other Bumblebee toys have had, plus they're not show-accurate colors either. C.L. - Very Warpath-y look and a really slick gun mode (though it's red to match Cliffjumper rather than a show-accurate grey to match the arm blaster it's meant to reference)...this is the only micron I've had anything resembling trouble putting together; the legs were a pain to pop in at first. R.A. - Like B.2, a bit oversized for Ratchet's blade weapon compared to the blades that come with the Hasbro toy and unfortunately it is not made from shiny plastic or painted silver like the packaging art suggests (another nitpick about the microns...Takara's packaging art photoshops a lot of them to look metallic, but they're all pretty much plain plastic). That said, it still forms a giant blade that looks slick to me. Gora - The "Lugnut/Apebot" micron...nice looking 'bot mode (though less posable than any of the others) with the best looking weapon mode of the bunch for me. Though I don't own the previous version, it's still scaled correctly and can peg into the previous FE Megatron releases (the Entertainment pack and Takara single-carded FE deluxes) and I think it's compatible with the Hasbro Voyager as well but don't recall. The blade attachments help add some screen accuracy. Balo - A crazy giant throwing star OR a giant drill that transforms into a bull-like...thing. The one micron that reminds me of a Scraplet a little. Jida - The "Movieverse Ravage" micron that turns into a nice looking chainsaw. The peg can move, so you can have other toys hold it upright ("chainsaw on stick") or normally. Zori - The blue "Scorponok" micron...I guess it's supposed to reference Soundwave's tendrils, but since there is no micron port along the side of his abdomen (where his tendrils pop out from often on the show), you can't really replicate that function very well. For now, probably the weakest weapon mode of the bunch, but the 'bot mode looks great. B.H. - 'Bot mode that is meant (I'm assuming) to reference it's partner, Bulkhead, meaning it's comically fat but has no posability whatsoever (keeping in mind that it's a micron, but whatever), but the weapon mode makes up for it. It can turn into a blaster (not quite the one Bulkhead's been shown to use on the cartoon, but it's in the ballpark I guess) as well as wrecking ball thanks to the peg and chain it comes with. A.R.C. - A very pink micron that references Arcee or fembots in general ("high heel" like feet) that, like R.A., turns into a gigantic blade weapon. I forget it's scale compared to the FE Deluxe's oversized blade weapons, but on its own it looks nice and the pink doesn't bother me. The next four are coming at the end of this month, and Breakdown's (a rhino/hammer) looks awesome from early pics.
Yes. Apparently a variation on the one with the Vehicon. I've heard mutterings the plastic on the microns isn't too durable.
I only have a few Arms Microns, but the ones that I have are awesome. I suggest if your into target masters then you would like these. IMO there the same thing.
