Just bought this set and picked it up from the stores yesterday and did a quick review.... Here

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Review extract

Went down to YMT after work today and discovered that the Maketoys "Microbots" Bomber and Hover MIB has been released (aka not Powerglide and not Seaspray respectively).

Thought they looked interesting and would fit into my Henkei collection, so I bought a set. Price? HKD$250 (USD$32.10).

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The plastic quality of these 2 pieces are actually quite good. Certainly not as dense and high quality as early year G1 plastic quality and has a certain roughness (ruggedness) to it, but is highly acceptable and certainly no poorer than the current type of plastic used by Hasbro in recent releases.

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The transformation for both are actually fairly simple but yet effective. I didn't need to refer to the instructions at all and transformed both in under a minute. This is actually a good thing because it economises playtime - complex transformations are actually less desirable (ie: think Commander Class Powerglide or Guzzle).

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Overall
Generally, I think both are very enjoyable toys and nice to play with. Both are accurate to their G1 designs as well. I would rate them each 8.5 out of 10.

For the price vs their roughly Scout class size, I think they're just a tad expensive, but worth it due to the really superior articulation (ie: better than Scout class Windcharger at least), their quality and their sheer G1-ness.
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Some pics




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Detailed review and a lot more pictures Here.

 

Nice review! Is there a chance you could take a picture with RTS Windcharger if you have him? If they look good with him I might just go for these guys...

 

If you want to link to a pictorial review of yours, please post a substantial amount of it here. We frown upon threads that are merely redirects to a review on another site. The whole point of this feedback/review forum is to share you're thoughts here.

What you can do is post a substantial amount of the review including images here, and leave a link to your review blog in your sig. The more you post, the more exposure your site gets.

 

Sure thing, will do it when I get home tonight!

Yes, got you and agree. I apologise, was posting the review this morning before leaving for work so was pressed for time. Fixed first post!

 

As promised.

 

Nice review. It's a damn shame they're selling these guys in a two pack; I guess I can live without that not-Seaspray.

 

They look very nice. Can we see them together with not-Huffer?

 

I don't have a not Huffer, sorry!

 

Hey Heroic, I'm off to Hong Kong in January, care to tell me where in YMT you picked these up? I'm thing either CTMA or Animate? Or did you nab them at Hobbybase? I'll still probably not buy them, but I would like to see it in person before deciding for real.

 

Thanks for the pics! Unfortunately they look a bit too small for my tastes.  

 

I think you're getting confused with the Igear version one. Maketoys and Igear have Not Seaspray... Maketoys does not have a Huffer, just Igear...I get confused as well.

Although the Igear version of Spray looks better than this one.

 

Honestly, after seeing those pics I'm glad I went with the deluxe sized X-Transbots Powerglide. This one is just way too small. The Universe version was way too big.

 

I ordered these guys from TFSource late on Wednesday and received them in the mail today. I'm fairly impressed so far. The minibots were a favorite subline growing up, so getting a faithful update to their original incarnations was a no-brainer for me.

I'll say right off the bat that both of these guys are more complicated than I expected. They're certainly far above what I'd expect from a legends/legions figure, and I'd say they're easily less nerfed than the commander class I really enjoyed from the DotM line. Off the top of my head I'd liken them most to the discontinued scout class, scaled down to about commander size.

Plastic quality is good. I was initially a bit hesitant with these guys as this is my first exposure to MakeToys figures, but after fooling with them for a while now they seem to be fairly durable. The texture and quality of the plastic used reminds me very much of Fansproject figures, specifically their "Swindle" and "Blast Off" releases. Paint apps are as carefully applied as you'd expect with a collector-focused release like this.

A few specific notes on each figure:

Bomber: Warthog mode is nice enough for what it is, but the jet mode on the original was decent as well. This guy really shines in transformation, again doing more than I expected. The cockpit window pivots up to release a tab that prevents his head from rotating in alt mode. The legs are also more complex than I expected, with bits of the tail rotating 180 degrees to form the feet, and the tail fins hinging back up and on to the jet engines on his calves. Clearance here is very tight if not transformed in the correct order, and I'm wondering if the hinges might snap if the transformation was forced. His hips also transform in a way that's very reminiscent of the cyberverse commander Powerglide figure.

Bomber really shines in bot mode, where he is very clearly G1 Powerglide. His head appears to be on a ball joint, though articulation is somewhat limited by his wonderfully blocky head and body. He features ball jointed articulation in his shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees. The biggest downside I've found so far are the elbow joints, which seem to pop off too easily. Interestingly they also become completely floppy if you face his palms directly forward or back, but are nice and tight when his arms are in a more natural position where his thumbs face forward. I'd be curious to find out if that was intentional to aid in transformation.

Lastly, the colors on him are nice. The red is a much deeper color than the original, and I like the darker grey compared to original light grey. Very sharp.









Hover: Hover is probably the weaker of the two figures, but he's very decent in his own right. Again the alt mode stays true to an already solid G1 design. Interestingly, his propeller blades ARE molded at an angle like actual propellers and unlike the G1 version, which allows you to get them rotating by blowing on the figure. Don't ask why I actually thought to try this.  

Transformation is again simple, but a hair more complicated than I expected. I don't believe the legs can be extended before being separated, and rotating the fan blade assembly around his shoulders and onto his back is pretty tight.

Bot mode is again a faithful update on the original. The boat shoes are present and delightful! His head has extremely limited up and down movement, and 360 degrees side to side. On the plus side, the face sculpt is incredibly accurate to the G1 cartoon. Shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles are all ball joints. Elbows are a simple hinge joint, and the shoulder ball joint is attached to the body via a pivot that allows about 45 degrees of movement as part of the transformation. The latter joint gives his shoulders the ability to do a bit of a shrug.

Colors are again good, with the blue being a beautiful dark blue that I prefer to the original light color. The yellow has less of an orange tint than the G1 colors, but it's really a wash as both look pretty good to me.

Lastly, I'm looking forward to comparing "Hover" to the forthcoming iGear "Spray" release as I do feel he is the weaker of the two offered here, which makes the fact that these are only available as a 2-pack regrettable. That being said, this little guy has been growing on the more I fool around with him.












Conclusion: Again, overall I'm fairly impressed and rate these guys as a solid buy if you're as enamored with minibots as I am.  

 

Wow. They're small.

I really like my Cyberverse Powerglide and my generations or HFTD or whatever the hell line he was from Seaspray (he's "classics", and I give you a raspberry if you don't agree), though... and while I would like more scouts, these guys make Windcharger look like a deluxe.

They really look fantastic, though. I can forgive lack of scale indefinitely - but the tininess (tinyness?) of these guys just doesn't do it for me, especially since I have other representations of the characters already. Cyberverse Commanders are already bordering on too small to fill slots in my mainline collection. So these guys are a regrettable pass for me - They look great, but it's just not for me.

 

Something just still seems off to me about Powerglide.

 

Nice but too small!

 

Snapped some quick pics this morning and added them to my review above: http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/trans...-not-powerglide-not-seaspray.html#post7051511

 

Optimusfan, very nice review and very detailed too!

I picked these up from In's Point, though I'm pretty sure the other places you mentioned might have them too (ie: CTMA, but probably not Animate).

I have maps of the various toy places here.

 

My Maketoys notSeaspray and notPowerglide arrived today from TFsource, and I'm very happy with the set. Plastic quality on both is excellent.

I'm *extremely* happy with notPowerglide. He's just as good in person as he is in the pics. The transformation is what you wish the original G1 figure would have done. I love that the head's on a ball joint to allow just enough expression without being obvious that its on a ball joint. If there's one flaw, it's that because of the transformation and how the arms collapse, the forearms are hollow, and I could probably do without the screw being in the middle of the forehead too. That said, I bought the set for notPowerglide and I feel he didn't dissappoint.

notSeaspray, I like. I really like his alt mode, and I really like his nicely articulated bot mode especially the head detail. I just can't figure out how to transform him without the arms wanting to pop off. It's like there's not enough clearance between the arms and the yellow back piece for that piece to fold backwards like it should.

 

^I agree with this. I am glad I went with X-Transbots Powerglide too. This one is too and the head is too big. Thanks for sharing the pics and review but easy pass for me