Alright, so I was reorganizing my shelves and realized that I have 9 3P Gestalts on display, and by this weekend it'll be up to 11 (adding Ares and Quantron retail). Having the first three Warbotron bots and troll, it'll be 13 with a blink of an eye.

But, looking at my shelf, the one that just stands out is Feral Rex. It's not my favorite aesthetically, I can't stand playing with or posing it in combined mode (But the individual bots are SO FUN), but the sheer size and heft of it just dwarf the other combiners on my shelf.

Looking at the first three Warbotron WB01 bots, as well as UT's Troll, I do see what seems like a new "standard" in terms of size, bulk, and even plastic used for these companies in comparison to previous combiner teams, and it's left me at a hard (and very first world) spot in terms of what to do with Gestalt teams going forward. I've got Quantron en route, but I find myself leaning towards WB03 (Computron) as well just because of the sheer size and the quality I see in the WB01 bots. Going forward, I don't think I'll even be double dipping on characters if the choice is like this... but then, what will I do with all of the previous combiners that are no longer in scale?

So, I'm wondering what you guys are doing with the seemingly new age "shift" in terms of overall bigger, bulkier Gestalts that are showing blatant improvements in standards like plastic and durability? Are you sticking with the previous FP/MT scale? Mixing and matching? Leaning towards the newer standards?

Thought it'd make for good discussion.

 

I'm going bigger all the way. I have M3 and had Giant. While I love Diesel and M3, I don't care for the cars on their own, and just didn't care for Giant at all. I am getting Quantron, but to be honest I expect to sell him too. It also helps that the larger ones come individually rather then one huge cost.

I like all of the TFC figures I have, I love the Warbotron figures. Admittedly I don't really care for Rex though.

 

I'm happy with the FP/MT scale. Don't think I'd have room for all the Warbotron and similar sized combiners anyway.

I think Rex fits in nice with the FP/MT combiners in my mind. I always viewed the Predacons as being all torso-sized vs the torso and 4 small limbs of the other combiners, so it all displays nicely for me.

 

I'm staying FP/MT scale, personally. Both for money and space reasons, and I just find the less-huge combined forms easier to physically handle (pose, photo, and play with).

I'm also not huge on scale, so I don't worry in that regard.

The good news is that both are good directions - It's a great dilemma to have.

 

Well, as someone who's been collecting and reselling Transformers for quite some time, but who only really just joined this community a few weeks ago I'd first like to say: Great topic for discussion TJ, you and the other reviewers here do a great job of showing off all these great figures.

Now, to the topic at hand. As cool as the Warbotron figures are I don't care much for their aesthetic as a combiner. The individual members look great, I just don't like the combined modeI have the same issue with TFCs combiners and MMC's Predaking, the 'look' of them just doesn't suit me when combined. So my plan, for the moment, is to stick with the MT/FP scale of combiners.

On my shelf right now I have Green MT Giant, UT Warlord <love the look of it, even if the quality overall is only middle ground> FP Intimidator and MT Quantron on the way. I plan on adding MT's Guardia to the display as well as Microblaze Creations' kit for FoC Platinum Bruticus.

My only out-of-scale figure on order is Troll from Ordin, probably not going to display that team combined but I love the Terrorcons as a group and think the set looks promising.

 

Im letting Hasbro set the scale, like other companies have been doing.

Energon combiners set the basic limb scale of comp and m3. Now its deluxes and voyagers. Guess what Guardianis (Deluxe and voyager). I sold superion and will be selling intimidator soon in anticipation of the improved combiner war figures. I have computron on the way, but im not going to buy an all voyager set of them, so this is "good enough." Microblaze will replace the colossus I just sold.

I will buy bigger if it fits. Predaking should be big so Im waiting on the last bots for feral. Ill buy guardia in time (or hasbro if the rumors are true). Im interested inb odin, but have a custom abominus halfway completed that I mightbe happy with when done. I love the seacons I made last year and theyre using foc brut as a base. Might or might not but them when that day comes.

It all depends. Theres not enough of anything to stay in one concrete scale and Im a classics guy.

 

I'm comfortable mixing and matching.

Classics, which these third party combiners are largely fit into (though I know some use a couple as MP substitutes) has long had a varying sense of 'bot mode scale within its official and unofficial/third party releases. A varying sense of scale being found within Classics combiners is natural to me. They don't all have to be of the exact same size and bulk.

 

From talking to a few fans here and there, most seem to want to go bigger, not smaller, as long as it fits in their dtoff I guess  

 

I lean to the FP/MT teams but I will probably end up with Feral Rex for my Predaking.

 

I don't care about a scale. Got Rex and Giant, love them both. I like it when the size varies between combiners. As long as my Optimus and Megatron are bigger then deluxe I'm happy.

 

I will lean to the larger, but as long as I like the figures, I may not stick fully to scale. I have TFC Uranos, and am working on TFC Herc. I also have one Warbotron figure and have preordered Troll.

 

For me the plan would be to have Feral Rex in their individual forms and then have Warlord combined to display. I like that the individual bots for Warbotron and MMC are looking so good, its awesome. I'm glad things are going this way. Its super super cool. Feral Rex looks amazing and awesome and the individual figures look just as good. With a person being able to display Warlord and having the MMC bots as individuals I think a person gets the best of both worlds. Warlords looks a little more agile to be honest   The individual figures are just as important as the combined figure and its good to see they are finally getting the attention they need and the detail they deserve. There is so much more potential and I'm glad companies are seeing it

 

I'm double dipping. I display all my 3P separate from Has/Tak (not for any other reason except that I don't think they match aesthetically), and I have my 3P display split between MT/FP and everything else. I really like the larger sized stuff that Warbotron, MMC, and FT have been putting out, but I prefer MT/FP's sharp and angular aesthetics over everything else. So I'm stuck with spending a shit ton of money collecting two different size classes within 3P as well as all the official stuff I buy. My wallet hates my guts

 

Warbo/UT Troll scale for me.

Luckily, I only have Feral Rex with regards to 3P combiners.

All of FP/MT scale figures seem to small for me. I prefer them big, as in I wish all toys were scaled to MP01, but maybe in another lifetime.

 

To me, Rex is in scale to FP/MT, so no prob.

 

This is a question i have been asking myself lately too TJ.

I have Herc, M3, Uranos, and Colossus with Quatron coming in soon and the last 2 Rex figures coming now.

I am starting to lean towards FP/MT with the newer ones (Defensor in particular) because i think they are great figures and i like the aesthetic and engineering compared to the alternatives.

I like the Warbo figures, dont have any. But getting WB-01 would present me with a general scale issue in the other direction (too big vs too small for bruticus). I love M3 and how he looks, cant say anything about Wb-02 yet, so M3 is it for now. As far as WB-03 vs Quatron, I think i like Quatron better, also considering Guardia coming out looks amazing i want them all to be in scale together.

Having Herc and Uranos i think scale well with the others since they are big vehicles to begin with and together scale very well. Rex also fits here and in my mind should be big. Same goes for other monster combiners like UT's and possibly MMC's next one, so those i dont mind being big.

I am not sure what I will do, i think for each character I have now the scale works between them all (as gestalts except colossus). If WB-01 wasn't 18" tall to his shoulders and more inline with Rex and Herc i think i would be more interested now. Maybe in the future after he is all out i may decide to pick him up, but something about the Warbo figures seems rushed and unfinished, maybe its just my perspective on them. I do really like most of their figures, and their prices, but they are missing something for me at the moment.

 

I'm in the same boat as you TJ. I however only recently started collecting with M3 and Green Giant being my first two combiners. While these were initially impressive, MMC and Warbotron's offerings have completely changed my perspective with UT seemingly following suit.

Scale is a big factor for me. Now I'm fully aware that combiner scale being masterpiece in size is very subjective, many people arguing they should stand even taller. I however am perfectly content with my combiner limbs scaling to MP car bot heights and the torso/leader scaling close to MP10. I know it doesn't meet the holy grail of scale that people like to site but to me, I always wanted my limb bots to stand eye to eye with autobot cars. Thus warbotron and rex fit very well to my needs, although I do wish that Rex's torso was a bit larger. From photos it seems that Warbotron has nailed my ideal scale, limb and torso bots hitting that sweet spot.

Having Feral Rex completed and 3 Warbotron bots standing next to Giant and M3, I can't help but feel they're out of place.. In fact I've been contemplating selling Giant since I feel his height needs to be on par with the other combiners. M3 I'm willing to give a little slack being more of sleek warrior but, his individual bots are so lackluster standing next to other offerings.

I guess in the end, I'm trending towards larger combiners. I think MMC, UT, and Warbotron are going down the path that fits my wants. I do love my Giant and M3 but I'm finding it tougher to justify keeping them in my collection and I certainly do not for-see any purchases from those companies in the future unless they scale larger. I really do love the updated looks and unique takes that Maketoys and Fansproject offer and am glad they're out there to scratch other people's collecting itches.

 

I'm not double dipping unless it's something pretty major...G2 Menasor and Guardcity are the only likely candidates. I'm also not too worried about relative scale...with all the crazy sizes of my chogokins, vinyls, TFs...the overall look on the shelf is much more important than size compared to each other.

 

Hmmm....very good topic and lots to ponder, if there is a new wave of combiners coming out, then I might just have to hold out on getting any of these guys ie ordin and warbo's computron, who knows there might be another third party which might come out and be even more slavish to the G1 MP aesthetic that I crave and desire so much!

Hmmm....decisions, decisions!