Ocular Max have had a very successful start to life as a Mastermind Creations sub-brand. The Masterpiece-style Perfection Series and the Remix line have been well received with figures PS-01 Sphinx and RMX-01 Jaguar taking plaudits for quality, design and aesthetics. While not everyone agrees with the apparent melding of cartoon, toy and Studio Ox vision that Ocular Max are going for, it’s fair to say they’re on a roll. The newest mould aimed at filling a (short-lived) Masterpiece gap is PS-03 Backdraft, based on the original heroic transforming fire truck. With competition already established in the form of MakeToys MTRM Hellfire, together with upcoming releases from TakaraTomy Transformers Masterpiece and KFC/XTB Dante, Backdraft’s got a lot of work to do in convincing people to go unofficial – specifically Ocular Max – with a confirmed official release on the horizon. Ocular Max PS-03 Backdraft | Source Blog <- CLICK TO READ All the best Maz
Some amendments I will be making to my Backdraft review: 1) tightening the 4 screws nice and snug on the back of the waist virtually removes all floppiness and looseness in the legs I was experiencing, and this is a huge deal that makes the figure infinitely more enjoyable to handle. 2) Made sure that when going back to vehicle mode, both hands were reverted to the hose/missile hands because they must actually peg on to 2 circular protrusions in vehicle mode that I previously missed. This increases stability and improves the tabbing at the vehicle rear. MUCH better overall. This increases my rating of Backdraft quite a bit now, but I did have to go right to the source to get this info and advice. Common sense to solve problems clearly deserted me on this occasion. All the best Maz
Great writeup and review, man! Thanks for your honesty and helpful hints. I've been eyeing this guy for a while now. I don't really dig the aesthetics of the other MP Inferno offerings compared to this guy, and it's good to know that he can hold his own against them.
You're welcome dude! Wow over 2 years ago, reviewing 3PMP products seems like a completely different lifetime and hobby for me now All the best Maz
Sorry for resurrecting this thread, just have a question about this mold: I've only recently got into 3rd party stuff, so I'm not very familiar with quality and such. Does this mold handle like a masterpiece or is it solid enough to hold up to posing and general messing with?
Way better quality than a TT masterpiece. Backdraft is solid and extremely well made. The plastic is thick and durable, and the feet are die-cast with great stability. Considering you can often find this guy for $50-60 now, he's an absolute STEAL.
I haven't handled Takara's Inferno so I can't speak to that but otherwise I wholeheartedly agree. I love this figure. I chose him over the Takara version partially because of price, but also partly because I just liked his overall aesthetic better. Definitely pulls off the truck mode better than Takara's with its licensed truck up front/visible arms in the back look.
