| Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 8,131 Location: NC News Credits: 50 | FansProject Assaulter - General Release
BBTS Order page: WB003 Warbot Assaulter - Third Party Transforming Toys & Accessories FansProject
TFSource Order page: Warbot - WB003 - Assaulter - by Fansproject
CapturedPrey Order page: [Links are hidden for guests. Please Register.]
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UpgradeCommander Order page: [Links are hidden for guests. Please Register.] SOLD OUT - FPC Pre-order page: WB-003 Warbot Assaulter | FansProject Core
Tips/Fixes: Quote:
Originally Posted by mx-01 archon  Picked mine up from the post office over the weekend.
I have to admit, I was initially a little disappointed in him. The figure just felt clunky, slightly inelegant, and slightly lacking in the usual FansProject polish, what with the well-reported issues of many of the locking tabs being next to impossible to use.
Then I gave him another go the day after, and all was good in the world. A little more awake this time, I took the time to figure out what was going on, and with a better understanding of the transformation scheme, things went way smoother that time around.
First off, the shoulders do lock together for jet mode properly, and no, you shouldn't need to trim anything down. That might actually be detrimental. The problem is that they're not straight pegs, they're actually clips. Trying to force both sets of clips together at the same time proves to cause too much pressure on the panels, and they wind up flexing and bowing, instead of slotting together. Instead of pressing the shoulders together straight, you need to "roll" them together, angling them slightly so you can tackle one clip at a time. Hook one clip in place, and the other one will follow in short order. The shoulders will lock together cleanly, without excessive force.
Locking the side panels to the hips for carrier mode is a bit more work. I suspect that the extra layer of paint on those hip joints narrowed the slot just a tad too much, rendering that connection super tight. I would just scratch away at the inside of that slot just a bit to loosen the connection. I was able to simply force the panels to lock in, but that took a lot of doing.
Lastly, I would definitely recommend loosening the two screws behind his hip joints on the pelvis. While the ratchets are spring-loaded, I think FansProject used too stiff a spring on them. The ratchet tabs don't give as easily as they should, and in neutral position, they're actually already at half compression. I opened the pelvis on mine up after a bit of use, and already found minor signs of wear. Nothing crippling like Heavy Labor's insta-break hip ratchets (despite the weight of the legs, the ratchets are still effective at holding them stable with only minor pressure, which I found out when I was re-assembling him. Even just loosely holding the two halves of his pelvis together, the legs didn't slip), but it shouldn't be happening regardless. Unscrewing the pelvis relieves a significant amount of the pressure, effectively creating a second spring by letting the waist piece flex subtly with the force of the ratchets.
No difficulties with the outwards hip ratchets or thigh swivels. While they're tight, there's no feeling of them being worn down or anything.
So yeah, while I had some initial misgivings, those went away pretty quickly. He's a solid, beefy, incredibly heavy figure (holy crap I could kill a man with this thing), and once you take the time to understand the transformations, it actually goes together very smoothly and cleanly.
I don't know why, but I absolutely loved the carrier mode once I saw it in person. Maybe it's just realizing how incredibly long it is, makes it really feel like a workable carrier of sorts (as crazy unrealistic sci-fi as it is). Jet mode's still the strongest of this two alts of course, but carrier isn't something I'll be neglecting either. Certainly the easier of his two alt-modes to transform him into. But either way, he's not Defender, with his crazy parts-origami. Both transformations are relatively straightforward. | LOOK!: FP Warbot Assaulter Fanmode compilation 
Latest photo stream posted by thelastson82 here: FansProject Assaulter - General Release 
from FPC: WB-003 Warbot Assaulter Preorders are now available! | FansProject Core Quote:
Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - 1:06 AM
After some back and forth with the manufacturer, we have confirmed that the bonus mini bots will be packaged with FPC versions of Assaulter together with the box. Due to the huge interest in these, the manufacturer has also noted that these minis will also be available with all retailed Assaulters, but packaged separately.
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from FPC: WB-003 Warbot Assaulter | FansProject Core
Price: $94.99 Quote:
WB-003 Warbot Assaulter Preorders are now available!
After some back and forth with the manufacturer, we have confirmed that the bonus mini bots will be packaged with FPC versions of Assaulter together with the box. Due to the huge interest in these, the manufacturer has also noted that these minis will also be available with all retailed Assaulters, but packaged separately.
Photos are the closest representative of final WB-003 colors, however final product may change. We will do our best to update photos as they become available.
Special Flat Rate Shipping available within the US and Canada! You can purchase up to 3 pieces for 1 low flat rate... Just $12.99 within the US and $17.99 within Canada. International Flat Rates will be $49.99 for up to 3 pieces. The estimated release date of this product is November 30th, 2012. However, dates may change depending on the manufacturer.
All US and International Shipments will be shipped via USPS using Priority Mail and Priority Mail International with Delivery Confirmation (tracking will be provided to customers via email). All shipments destined for Canada will be shipped via Canada Post Expedited Mail (tracking will be provided to customers via email).
Payments by credit card and PayPal will be accepted through the PayPal Payments system.
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c/o Quinjester:   [Links are hidden for guests. Please Register.]
BBTS posted: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?p...d=100983336710
c/o Kapowtoy's FB page: Facebook
More pictures here: First look at Fansproject Menasor, Insecticon Repaints, Assaulter
and here: First look at Warbot Assaulter! | FansProject Core
EDIT: Quote:
Monday, October 1, 2012 - 4:01 PM
Thanks to all our fans for all the patience with so many projects going on. We have many announcements to make starting with this one. FPC will be releasing pre-orders soon for Assaulter and has confirmed with FP that members of FPC that order will receive a bonus with their figure.
This is FP’s thanks to FPC and it’s members for their support with Steel Core's first roll-out. We’ve done some refinements to the system as per feedback and will have those covered in another announcement.
The pre-order date will be announced soon, so stay tuned!
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Update from FPC: FPC? Where are you at? | FansProject Core Quote:
Wednesday, October 3, 2012 - 2:08 PM
There has been a lot that has happened in a few months with Fans Project Core (FPC) - some very exciting announcements, a great outing at TFCON and a release of a particular blue robot too on top of all this. This is just the tip of the iceberg and we are looking towards the next stretch.
But first, we would take this opportunity to talk about FPC and this new direction that we’ve been trying to take Fans Project (FP) products in. From individual emails to some very public discussions about the site’s purpose and its future... the feedback has been very active and generally very positive.
As a collective, there have been many discussions and debates on how these kinds of announcements should be handled and what the focuses should be. We’ve spoken with PR reps for larger companies and consulted with professionals in the industry to give us more insight. In the end we concluded that the best route was to observe some of the etiquette in doing PR, but ultimately just keep it simple and speak unfettered from the heart whenever it’s right. FPC is just simply not that kind of company to create the most politically correct and expected general statements of other companies.
So here goes...
Many have asked us about the relationship between FP and FPC. It’s very simple... FPC is its own registered company in North America - not just a website, and it is not a division of FP. FPC was given a kickstart by Boris Chow, an owner of a technology development company and toy enthusiast who has been active in promoting independent toy products in the industry for the past 4 years.
FP has a relationship with FPC in that we know the people heading up FP very well and have the same spirit and enthusiasm for the production and releases of exciting independent products. FP is a team of fanatic toy enthusiasts and designers that had one purpose when they started... make awesome products for the TF community to enjoy in their collections. What started with add-on accessories became more than they dreamed - full-featured figures.
The Start of Fans Project
With that said, FP started with a very small footprint and had no idea it would become what it is today. Along the way of this organic discovery, they realized that as their dreams were becoming a reality, so was the other reality of a growing business. Communications and resources to handle more than just being crazy and creative became more of a focus - something the main team could not afford if they were to continue creating great products.
That’s when FP enlisted the help of Boris to kickstart what is now FPC, a community that would be able to run itself by offering exclusive products and help to facilitate consumer-based feedback and responses, without over-extending FP as a company itself.
The Start of Fans Project Core
Fast forward to this year and you can see that FPC has finally brought something to market. Much like FP, FPC was also founded on some crazy ideas and enthusiasm. We didn’t know if it would work and have been taking it slow to make sure we can manage the response. We too have had many budget issues as without a product, we had no way of supporting the resources we needed. So despite all the big ambitions, we had to start with a small footprint as well.
FPC has been two years in the making already and although it seems trivial to set up a site and sell things on it, there was much more to the logistics of what goes on in the background. Everything from language barriers of dealing between two regions, to finding the right platform for the technology of the member-driven site, and just basic budget and resource constraints made getting this off the ground a major effort in itself.
We thankfully had help from the community in writing efforts, web development, fulfillment, legalities and general consulting, but even those resources were on borrowed time. In the end we had to get something going to start getting the resources we needed to manage the site and its ambitions and mostly, we needed the support from fans who would want to see something like this grow into its full potential.
It took many talks to convince FP that FPC needed a flagship product - something that also made the community different than what has already been available. Finally we got FP to take a chance on us and Steel Core, a character not based on anything. At first we must say we were nervous. However, when we saw the first run of Steel Core sell out like it did, and had skeptics that said they would never purchase or buy into this figure, we knew that we had something.
Although FP applauds FPC for its recent success and its crazy ambitions, FPC has had to earn its keep just as other organizations that represent FP products. FPC is much more than a place to retail FP products, but we are treated no different than any other retailers by the manufacturer. We have to prove we can do the numbers to keep selling products directly to the consumer.
FPC’s Goals and Mandate
Having said that, the mandate of FPC is to be different - rather than just being a retailer, we wanted to create a community around stories and push FP products in a direction that can support its designers’ own unique characters and ideas.
Our purpose is to enrich the already great products and fan base surrounding FP. What this means is that FPC is not mandated by FP to be the exclusive retailer of all things FP, though exclusive products will be something that we will be working at, to continue to reward members with, much like other fan clubs that support other toy lines.
What FPC does not want to take away from the rest of the community is the respect for the retailers that have already been and will continue to support FP products. These retailers which we do not even have to name, have supported not only FP products but other great independent products from the start. Some of these industry pros even have helping hands in supporting the resources FPC needed to get off the ground.
At the end of the day, the people involved with FPC are not only driven by FP and Boris’ vision, but are enthusiasts of independent toy producers at large. To see such art and engineering come from such small groups and sometimes even a one-person team, is not only exciting but it shows how this new online economy and evolving production capabilities have allowed companies small and large to have direct relationships with their fans and deliver these great ideas and products to their doorstep.
We know this produces a lot of demands, expectations, debates and sometimes pure frustration in a growing model, but this is one of the times that fans and the industry alike need to take a step back and realize how far it has come and what it took to get here. This is amazing not only from the perspective of a fan of toys, but from anyone that can appreciate the work it takes to bring a product from concept to what ends up in a customer’s hands.
Let’s take a moment to acknowledge that it takes some crazy thinking and enthusiasts to lead this charge and give all of these crazy ideas life, and to give credit to all the retailers that have brought these great independent and large-scale toys to market. Without all of this, the envelope certainly would not be pushed.
And most importantly, we as the industry need to take a step back and thank all the fans that have supported this and made this a reality.
Let’s all remember though what this always should be about... a great toy. This is exactly what FPC believes in and will always put as its priority ahead of sales or exclusivity... we just want to be a part of putting great toys into the hands of the fans.
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Update - 20121004: Special Warbot Bundle | FansProject Core Quote:
Offered in very limited quantity, FPC is proud to be able to let members in on a special pre-order warbot bundle that gives you the opportunity to own the whole set of this very ground breaking FP series!
This bundle includes the first fully featured FP figure WB-001 Defender, the FPC exclusive WB-002 Steel Core and the much anticipated upcoming WB-003 Assaulter!
All US and International Shipments will be shipped via USPS using Priority Mail and Priority Mail International with Delivery Confirmation (tracking will be provided to customers via email). All shipments destined for Canada will be shipped via Canada Post Expedited Mail (tracking will be provided to customers via email).
Payments by credit card and PayPal will be accepted through the PayPal Payments system.
Please note, this product is limited to 1 bundle per member per shipping address. FPC reserves the right to cancel any orders that are in breach of this policy.
Pre-orders are estimated to open online Thursday, October 4th, 2012 @ 6pm Central Standard Time. However, times are subject to change, so please check back often to check for any changes that may occur. Photos are not representative of final WB-003 colors, final product may change. We will do our best to update photos as they become available.
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Warbot Bundle will be released on November 30th - according to the FPC product page.
Updated pics c/o drillbit...         
c/o Bountyan: - Earth Mode Aircraft Carrier - Seems to be the surprise that FP mentioned. 
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09-28-2012, 04:48 AM
