What like customize a Guardia based my edit? man that'd be amazing to see go nuts. But geez that's going to be a lot of work so uh best of luck with that.

 

Worth it

 

MakeToys has seemingly given up all signs of life. The Guardia reissue was originally listed as coming in Q4 of 2019, but then didn't, and got pushed to 2020. Now production in China is severely impacted by the coronavirus. Given all of these things, is there any reason to still be optimistic about the Guardia reissue ever coming out?

Man, I wanted this set so bad.

 

Im gonna have to say this but get the YM Version of the figure if you can. This virus aint gonna go away with a snap of the fingers and MT has literally not provided any evidence at all that they still exist or not. Cut your loses and just get a slightly bigger version. Alot of manufacturing operstions have ceased in China and to get them back up and running would take a bit too. So just save the money and get one thats out already.

 

I agree with iceman above. Also you do not want to fiddle too much with MTs Groove. The metal is so brittle. From what I’ve seen the YM would be better suited to customization just from a workability standpoint.

 

I'm eyeballing this set but I have concerns about Axle. It looks like the figures are being rereleased, so does anyone know if there will be improvements to Axle? How bad are the issues with him? Is it something where if I'm careful it won't be a problem?

 

Just be really gentle on the metal, especially the handlebars. It's a shame it ended up being a problem because he is a killer robot. He just looks great.

 

They made the announcement about Guardia getting re-released over a year ago. It was supposed to be out at the end of 2019, but that never happened. The release date silently moved to Q1 of 2020. Then the pandemic happened. MakeToys has been totally silent for pretty much the entire time; most people assumed they'd quietly left the 3P business. They did suddenly make an announcement not too long ago, saying that they're still alive and that they will keep making toys, but the date of the Guardian re-release is completely unclear.

I would recommend not counting on a re-release - and if it does actually happen, you can be pleasantly surprised!

 

Yeah, I've completely given up on that.

 

Maketoys is just getting back up and running. I see this and their Premium Downbeat being released before any new molds.

 

A little off topic, but I got a question for you.

I'm interested in buying a gundam, thinking of the ver ka nu gundam. I would like the most complex one but not 100+ in price. These master grade ver ka seem like a good bet, any opinions?

Found on hlj for 50 something but not in stock yet. You have any idea if they charge for shipping and how much?

Thanks in advance.

 

just managed to pick up a nice pre-owned set locally even though I already owned rover and axle. It was still cheaper to buy this set than for me to buy the last 3 pieces from this reissue from a US retailer (again the CAD sucks ass, and makes collecting very expensive). The Vulcan I received was actually still sealed and to my surprise the metal handlebars for Axle was inside! Its great cause i broke them on my first fig lol. Cant wait to get him combined!

 

I got a Guardia from someone here on the boards. He said Axle was unbroken, but when I opened the package today, Axles waist was broken in two places. How hard is it going to be to get a replacement waist? Is it worth it to keep this set and hunt down a part or do I need to replace the entire Axle figure?

 

Holy crap guys, this figure made me a stress case. But it sure was worth it getting him combined at the end!

First off axle is definitely the most fragile of the bunch, I broke both handle bars and snapped him right in half lol! fortunately, I have a back up figure still in the box, an extra set of bars, and he still clips into combined mode no problem. It sucks to break him but cant do much about it now.
Secondly, Himed and Katana drove me nuts trying to unspring and slide his leg over to fold them up. Do you guys know a good way to do that? I dont think ill ever uncombine this guy but would be good to know.
Thirdly, he is awesome, considering this was one of the earlier combiners this is a solid figure overall, great joints, great feel in hand, super posability, super stable and balanced, tight tight joints, tight clearances (almost too tight in some places), nice paint, athletic aesthetic which makes him highly playable. He doesnt really get in the way of himself too much. None of my other combiners can do what he can.

The real frustrating bit was getting him to combine, and the rib/waist connection where the bumper tabs in. It just wont stay in place!

Highly recommend as a desk figure, you'll always play with it.

 

I saw someone in the UK had this on ebay untouched and I finally broke down due to Lockdown-induced boredome. Quantron has always been one of my favourite combiners... a touch fiddly, but pretty solid and very good looking (I much prefer imaginative "let's make Afterbruner a Tron-bike!" updates to "everyone matches their Sunbrow model sheets). I wasn't expected them to all be as good as Maketoys Strafe was, but if they manage the level of their Afterburner I'd be happy.

So opened them up one at a time. First Aid is nice. Streetwise is nice. Hot Spot is nice. Blades is nice. Groove has broken handlebars in the box but the seller warned me and the replacement set was packaged with Hot Spot/Vulcan, so that was fine. Started transforming him and the waist snapped in two. Then the kcik stand broke off. Then a bit of the leg came off. I know everyone was reporting how fragile Axle was but I didn't quite believe it until I got one in my hand and he basically crumbled. A terrible mix of Maketoys's usual obsession with ultra tight tabbing, thin parts, and a metal that seemingly has a shelf life of about two months. (I do also suspect I might have been folding the legs up wrong, but even a 3rd party figure shouldn't be THAT fragile.)

All the replacement parts on the Maketoys web-site are sold out. I've tried emailing them just in case and I'll keep an eye out for them going on eBay. I do enjoy all the other figures so I'm now sat here hoping that they do do that re-run and that they make more Axle's than anyone else because I'm sure quite a lot of people would like a fixed version that could stand more than 3 minutes of play. Also fighting the urge to get TFM's Menasor to make up for not being able to combine this guy.

 

I think part of the reviews on their Groove was what ultimately lead me to go with TFC Toys Defensor. Still can't find a Hydrant (Hotspot) that will ship to the States right now...but hoping to complete him before the end of the year. Shame that figure had such QC problems. I really liked MT designs and scale a lot better. I was tempted with the re-issues if they had fixed the problems. Really sucks yours broke. I hope you can get a replacement, but I wouldn't hold much hope with the company. They were dark for a while and only announced a month ago they were still around and put the website back up. Last thing I remember them saying before it all went down was they would no longer deal with individuals and only retailers and should have any issues contact the retailers. 

 

i broke my Groove/Axle, and it didnt take much like you said. Both sides of the handlebar and at the waist. However, I still managed to combine him, as his lower half tabs into the leg securely and the top half still slots into the combiner leg slot. Obviously not ideal, but it will still work and you can at least make him look finished.

 

I also snapped the hands on one of Blade's hands putting the weapon in. Glued it back then spent some fun time sanding down the weapon handle. As I said, I really liked their Computron, but the precision tabbing on this is fairly ridiculous. I've found that Streetwise/Rover is a million times better now that I've sanded down several of his tabs so that they don't require exteme plastic bending to get in, and he's just as stable in all modes.

 

I'm still having difficulties getting my old, broken handles off Groove to replace it when the replacement, metal ones.

 

Is there a repair/replacement guide for the fixes for Axle? I got the replacement parts just checking before I go in.