I ordered my Xovergen "Trailerforce TF-01" Power Master Prime homage from Robotkingdom the week before last, and it arrived today. I know many people who read about (or experienced) Xovergen's first dabbling with 3rd party products were a bit leery of Trailerforce. A fellow I spoke to at TF source admitted that it was due to the issues with "Grand Patriot" that they weren't carrying Trailerforce yet. Thankfully, this figure doesn't share any of the flaws that plagued that particular toy. The plastic quality feels on par with Fansproject's City Commander / Explorer | Munitioneer-era plastics, and the chrome is a nice touch. There's no diecast, but everything moves the way it should. As per Encline's recommendation in his video review, I unscrewed the hip-screws slightly so the rachet joint there wasn't frightening to move. My only complaint about the figure would be how the guns mount in the MP-01-esk hands. There's a 'groove' (read: 2mmx5mm rectangle) but that doesn't hold the weight of the weapon. It would have benefited from a Maketoys Green Giant/FansProject Bruticus hand-slot -- or have incorperated a 5mm peg design, similar to Fakebuster's articulated hands. I still might replace them with something like that later on. Despite this, this is still a phenominal toy for anyone who has fond memories of Powermaster Prime. I'm currently using a Henki Classics Prime KO from Toymoda - it's chrome matches Trailerforce's nicely, although the reds on the KO are actually a bit deeper than Trailerforce, but not too noticably. For the last 2 photos, I sub'ed in my (Revised mold) Classics KO Shattered Glass Prime (implying that SG Prime in an 'Earth 1' PM Body drives both insane, heh - I 'shopped the eyes green). ::: Fan mode!: I love to mess around with a stock figure to create better transformations. I designed one for FOC Bruticus a little while back that I'd never seen before, and it really added to the play/display value of the figure for me. For Trailerforce, to maximize the Powermaster Prime homage, I did the following: -In bot mode, take the 'gun rack'/trailer shell, and disconect the two sides. They pop off, and fit easily back into their respective grooves for vehicle mode if desired. -Unscrew the plastic mushroom-screw from the center trailer shell-piece (by default it's on the blue-plastic side), and re-screw it in on the gunmetal gray side. -Using the two pegs facing outward (this is if you're using Trailerforce with a Classics Optimus), carefully press them into the trailer piece. They line up really well, and cover up the Classics Prime legs hanging out the back. This works for both play/display, and survives the shake-test. -On each arm, I also removed the blue gauntlets, and unpegged the balljointed hands, then reattached them to the red forearms. To my suprise, the balljoints are the same diameter as the forearm's gauntlet ports. I rotated the forearms around, so the top-rectangle gauntlet plug faces inward. -For Trailerforce's legs, I popped the bot-mode balljointed feet off, and set them aside. The balljoints can act as heels, and let the figure stand with the wheel assembly mounted forward, rather than off to the side. -Now, the left/right sides from the trailer partforming kibble can be put to use. Line up the lowest peg with the 5mm port on the 'ankle' area on Trailerforce's outter legs. This attaches/pegs in well enough that it can be displayed like this, and immitate PM Prime's bulky tailer leg-feet. If it's handled (due to other pegs interfering with an even plug) it'll pop off. I'd love for (and would hire!) someone to design a 5mm port laticework (+ a mirrored copy) that lets this part correctly mount / attach to the three (3!!) 5mm ports on each leg. They have corresponding pegs on the trailer-shell pieces -- which really puzzels me. It feels like Xovergen planned this initially, since the peg-layout seems to line up reasonably well -- but it's off by a little bit in each instance except for the ankle area. While I know the original PM Prime would come up to about the right of Trailerforce's windows in bot mode, the new height with the feet removed (and optional trailer shells mounted on the legs) is just about the right height for me. It matches how tall the original was in my childhood's "minds eye". That's about it. It's a fantastic figure, and I'm happy I bought it. For more awesome pics, check out Sioce's great pictoral review.
Here's my contribution: Thanks for confirming the badly designed gun handle pegs, man. That's one of the biggest things that I don't like about this set. Still love it overall, though. I will try some of the things you mention here when I get home. Removing the blue forearm guard, particularly. I hate how the back piece bumps into the black shoulder mounted double guns when posing.
In all the pictures, his neck looks really high off the figure making it look like there is a huge gap. Is it just the way he is being photographed?
In my pic there's just an additional neck height because I need to use a neck plate to fit the G1 PM Prime cab.
Thanks, now i will sit here for another hour pondering this. I have such a love for this figure it is hard to pass on.
The version that I'm using (with a Classics Prime - so the red neck plate tucks behind the 'chest' truck) has a single 5mm peg + balljoint inside the head. It might appear that it sits higher than the original PM Prime -- but that's because the original didn't have a neck - just a plate that was molded into the head. The clearance is about ~4mm, which isn't that noticable. If you have the figure looking up, or at weird angles, you might notice it, but it's not too bad. Once I have an Original PM prime head/plate I'll see if I can fit it on the bot mode Trailerforce. Might make for an interesting combination.
Update July 2013: While browsing a really neat Shapeways add-on for this set, I remembered that I have combined the Xovergen Set with the original PM prime parts. Particularly the Original PM head + Classics Chest (and the Xovergen head on my original PM Prime). Both look great! I really like the original PM prime head on the Xovergen setup, and it fits well. No neck articulation, but bulkier and closer to what I played with as a kid.
It's currently @ $160 + shipping over at chimungmung.com. To the US is $25 shipping, so that's $185. Still, it ain't cheap.