DEFORMATION SPACE DS-001 SEEKERS (G1 MP Starscream, Thundercracker & Skywarp)

Discussion in 'Transformers 3rd Party Discussion' started by williammmw, Jun 10, 2021.

  1. lord ginrai

    lord ginrai D-list Decepticon

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    I don’t see how this is even a discussion.
    It’s clear as day they used the TT CAD robot mode as the basis for their figure. The engineering and transformation will be unique, of course. But come on, it’s undeniable.

    Still very keen to (finally) see the vehicle mode on this guy.
     
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  2. fywdyl

    fywdyl Well-Known Member

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    I hope they release jet mode pictures soon so we can have something else to talk about.....
     
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  3. Shin Densetsu

    Shin Densetsu I WILL DESTROY YOU Content Contributor Veteran

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    That’s what I’ve been waiting for. I see inspiration from the New Age Seeker mold for transformation but the fact that this has the flaps leads me to believe it’ll have a better looking F-15 mode than the New Age mold. It’s puzzling why they’ve yet to show it.
     
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  4. Futureye

    Futureye NoNeedToTurnOnYourBlinkerIfYou’reAlreadyInADitch.

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    Heh, would you still want several of these, if the price of this figure ended up being the same as the MP-52? ;) 
     
  5. Liampope

    Liampope Well-Known Member

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    Lol maybe not several then! FT are playing that game, XTB maybe taking a few puffs of that crack pipe but not hooked yet, DS/TE hopefully still clean. Do hope there's good paint and would pay for that, but hoping and assuming these are more reasonable.
     
  6. Christiano

    Christiano Banned

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    Well, I probably gave you the impression that I was being more blunt than I intended because I’m hobbling around on crutches like a cripple right now, trying to get my cat to stop running from me because they supposedly hate the smell of anesthesia. But the extra pain medication is pretty much the best possible news I could get, including a package arriving today with DS-001 in it.

    He pretty clearly is supposed to be an (affordable) improvement on the push for more cartoon-accurate Seekers lately, and that is almost definitely inspired by MP-52.

    His back, wings, heels and abdomen look a lot like Meteor to me, but MakeToys and Takara seemed to be working from different renders of the character anyhow.

    This seems like a perfect balance.
     
  7. Futureye

    Futureye NoNeedToTurnOnYourBlinkerIfYou’reAlreadyInADitch.

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    I am also a little hyped for this figure. I look forward to what this figure will finally look like. At the same time i am a little skeptical, because those first pictures look too good to be true in a good way.
     
  8. Splendic

    Splendic bleep blorp

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    Super late to this party. But damn! Looks awesome, and I probably would have picked this up had my MP-52 not arrived yesterday.

    Seems bizarre this got shown off after so many collectors probably paid up on the HasTak version. Or I guess that was intentional to avoid HasTak's attention?
     
  9. Shin Densetsu

    Shin Densetsu I WILL DESTROY YOU Content Contributor Veteran

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    Nah it probably was intentional since though many preordered MP-52, I think most who did, preordered at places that didn’t require payment up front. DS knows there’s fans that are still on the fence for MP-52 and may be tempted by this as a cheaper alternative.
     
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  10. Shin Densetsu

    Shin Densetsu I WILL DESTROY YOU Content Contributor Veteran

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    I don’t know which is more accurate with regards to leg proportions but I do prefer DS’ bigger thighs and lower legs compared to MP-52. The fighter mode I’m not expecting to be as good but I’m expecting it to look better than the New Age version(which never looked right to me since the flaps were eliminated for robot mode…didn’t need them to be functional but wish they were at least molded on, it wouldn’t have made the robot mode look worse IMO).
     
  11. Enfin

    Enfin Destron

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    It would be nice if they copied all the panel lining exactly like the real-life plane has for the alt mode. That shouldn't be too hard I believe.

    Also, I would like the head for bot mode to be a little wider. I find the head that came with MP-44 to be near G1-cartoon perfect of all the MP-like Starscream figures released.
     
  12. jetrobo

    jetrobo Well-Known Member

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    Based on the pics, it looks like the plane will have full panel lines and details. I'm typically for maximum realism for the alt mode, but in this case I worry the full wing detailing won't fit in with the smooth simplistic cartoon aesthetic of the rest of the robot mode. I think MT struck a good balance on the amount panel lines for Meteor (assuming the bot mode must be cartoon accurate).
     
  13. Ribimus Prime

    Ribimus Prime Well-Known Member

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    I get that. Personally though, I’d much rather it look like it came right off the G1 screen in either mode.
    Like, if I’m going to have a realistic alt mode then give me a realistic detailed bot mode too.
     
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  14. Liampope

    Liampope Well-Known Member

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    Several people seem concerned about the alt mode. Personally I'm not worried at all and really don't think terrible alt mode is the reason we haven't seen it yet. Let's break it down...

    First, they don't have any other companies jet mode drawings to be inspired by, but they dont need it. Accurate F-15 drawings complete with cross section profiles are readily available to make an accurate model from. When I was making my MP-52 bot mode 3D model and needed some accurate F-15 parts for the kibble it was easy enough to find or create them with what is readily available. So I don't think there will be any problem making an accurate F-15. Maketoys did a pretty good job and so did FT, so I'm sure DS/TE can.

    Being MP scale they wont have to make as many compromises as legends scale so yeah definitely better than New Age. Finally, without a faux canopy and a cover for said faux canopy to carry around there's really not anything that should give it a thick underside. In fact I think they'll struggle not to improve on TT in that aspect! Maybe the topside sculpt and detailing wont be quite as spot on as TT, but nobody can quite match TT when it comes to recreating real vehicle modes since being licensed they will have access to official reference data. XTB comes a close second, imho. But still I think it will be fine.

    I'm all for the full real jet panel lining and other details. I think it looks fine on MP-52 and I don't find it a clash of styles to have real alt detail on a toon bot. But then I don't mind that in general - never mind the real vehicle parts visible on toon MPs. For example I hate MP Inferno's toon chest and much prefer the real vehicle chest. It would only look bad to me if the panel lining was picked out in dark paint like some model kits do, or old Walmart MP-3 Scream. The lines on the real jet are subtle - it doesn't look like a drawing of itself! So subtle realistic lines like MP-52 are good with me. And it looks like that's what they are going for.
     
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  15. Starganderfish

    Starganderfish Well-Known Member

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    Unfortunately, this contradicts the idea that almost all MP collectors will want some kind of Starscream in their collection, a very high majority will also want a Skywarp and a Thudercracker, and a signififcantly smaller percentage will want Rainmakers (who at least had brief split-second appearances in the toon).
    That percentage probably drops into fractions of a single digit when you talk about characters who's TFWiki page lists appearances in My Little Pony/Transformers (and thats not a joke, it's literally one of three appearances alongside a Manga and IDW for Slipstream.)

    Not trying to be snarky, but several have questioned: "why Starscream?" It's the same reason we get a new Optimus Prime mould every 30 seconds. Starscream sells. Skywarp and TC are the next most profitable. Always have been, always will be. They need to rake in enough money from the big three to fund remoulding for the three Coneheads. And the big six generate the profit that allows for tiny runs of the rest.
     
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2021
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  16. SquishyOH

    SquishyOH Spelling Chekcer

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    I agree that the original 3 Seekers are the most popular and as you dip into Coneheads, Rainmakers, Welcoming Committee, and then deeper into more recent cartoons and comics that the popularity goes way down. You won't get nearly the same sales with a Cosmos as you would with a really good Megatron. I'll counter with the idea that in order to compete with TT, that 3rd Party may need to have a "gimmick". For years MakeToys Meteor has been the "more toon Starscream" compared to MP-11. With the debut of MP-52 I'm seeing a lot love for Meteor vanish and TFSource jacking the MakeToys Acid Swarm Seeker mold to $199 makes it nearly as much as TT. I'm loosing hope that that MakeToys' return from the dead is going to last long enough for them to finish their last two Coneheads. I like my Endgame/Dirge and would get the last two, but am adjusting my expectations.

    DS starting with Starscream makes perfect sense since he is one of the "evergreen" characters, but they need to be able to compete with TT and MakeToys. I think DS does have a good figure here and as MakeToys Meteor fades this figure has the potential to be the "low cost alternative to MP-52". Of course Zeta EX-15/16/17 has tried the same thing this year with their own Seekers and looks like they're going to be a flop. I've been watching this thread and have seen little mention of the Zeta alternative. The Zeta Seeker thread itself is half the DS thread length and has been mostly silent for the past month despite a new video from daimchoc. It seems that going with an popular character is no guarantee for success. The figure needs to actually tick some kind of box for somebody to want to purchase it.

    I think a lot of companies can make good money by having unique offerings. Some really good, some really average, and some really shoddy figures get perennial re-issues simply because they have no competition.
    Unique Toys = Sworder/Sandstorm (reviews say it's trash, but still getting re-issues)
    XTB = Boost/Windcharger, Ollie/Wheelie, Andras/Scourge (I own all 3 and Andras is the only "good" one of the bunch. The other two are placeholders for me)
    Fans Hobby = PowerBaser/Ginrai/PowerMaster Prime, Double Evil/Overlord (MMC Carnifax competes at another scale)
    KFC = Blaster, Apeface, Snapdragon, Junkions

    None of these are top tier "evergreen" characters, but since they are unique offerings there seems to be enough support for a single 3P to make some decent money off of them and re-issue them every two or three years. Depending on the price of the DS Seeker they may need more of a gimmick themselves. If they want to charge $200 then they're only going to get a tiny slice of the MP-52+/+SW pie. If they can charge $90 for this then they'll likely do quite well. If they can capitalize of the success of MP-52 and offer their own alternative to upgrade the MP-11/ToysRus Sunstorm and Acid Storm figures and get to some of the more obscure/Army builder Seekers first then they have a window of opportunity. Based on the success of MMC Eris:Kulture there is apparently some support for female versions of mostly male characters, and Slipstream is at least a real Hasbro character (Cyberverse) needing only RoadRage level tweaks out of an existing mold (MP25/26). At $100 - $125 DS has the potential to trounce MakeToys AcidSwarm and go on to capture the rest of the 3rd tier Seekers before TT eventually rolls out a $250 TT Mall Exclusive 3 years from now.
     
    Last edited: Jul 2, 2021
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  17. Christiano

    Christiano Banned

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    MakeToys was always my preferred Seeker mold until the new wave came out, but if they end up going under, I have zero sympathy for them. They shut down every web presence they have, released pre-orders that then went silent for over a year before announcing release dates at a major convention only to seamlessly delay those figures for almost another full year.
     
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  18. Alph

    Alph Well-Known Member

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    I can't be the only person who only wants the rainmakers on the condition that they have a toon accurate tetrajet mode, right?
     
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  19. Christiano

    Christiano Banned

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    You're definitely not the only one because I see people mention this all the time, but I definitely prefer the Earth-model Seekers. I also largely only want the three off-brand Seekers if they are all available in the same exact models. The characters mean very little to me, just the completionist aspect.
     
  20. SquishyOH

    SquishyOH Spelling Chekcer

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    There were quite a few "Army Builder" Seekers in Season 1. Therefore I can just about live with some inexpensive F-15 Seekers in crazy colors. Pus Hasbro/TT started us down this road of Acid Storm and Sun Storm using the MP-11 mold instead of proper Tetrajets. I picked up one of the CHUG Siege Bitstream figures that Hasbro did just to have a look at their attempt at the Tetrajet.
    But, man o man, if anyone ever does get us proper Tetrajet Welcoming Committee and Rainmakers I'd likely be the world's biggest sucker for them. When Zeta saw they were going to fail against MP-52 I would have switched those older looking bots into Tetrajets just to be a bit different. I've got zero interest in their EX-15/16/17 as-is, but had the trio been Cybertronian versions then they could have had my interest.
     
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