XTB fan here, I have their Menasor next to Bruticon and it doesn't hold a candle in combined mode.

I will wait first and see how they Guardia turns out and verify that they have learned something before. The bot and alt modes are great for sure, but as a combiner Zeta just blows it away at so many levels:

-Presence
-Sculpt
-Stability
-Price

I rather have a Zeta Menasor than another XTB combiner.

 

Patience...and worrying about funds, lol.

I love Bruticus and FT has no track record, reliable or not, whatsoever when it comes to combiners but I just want to have one best representation of each character in the collection.

 

Got the Armageddon head, it even has its own little foam pack to sit in. I’m guessing the current head is painted much more metallically. Definitely needs paint for the eyes.

 

Agreed

 

Do the eyes light up?

 

Never tried, so went with solid thick layer thinned with future (to help level it). If I did it again I'd probably spray multiple coats and it'd be suitable enough to allow me to stop at the optimal point for the lights to show through. I very much doubt they'd show through what's there currently

 

I have two copies of the OG Blitzkrieg (one in combined mode, one in robot mode to go with UT swindle and MMC Vortex, Brawl and Blast-Off)... I'd be happy to trade an old Blitzkrieg and his pants for new ones. The recolored chest/pants wasn't enough for me but the RETOOLED chest probably IS.

If I do end up getting this set, I'll be putting my OG version on the market.

 

For a 5 piece combiner, like I said, sure. However their Omega combines and it's ropey as hell. Back lean from the leg connections and a backpack that is the polar opposite of secure.

I hope for all you guys that are pumping significant funds into their Aerialbots and Stunticons that there's not a hint of lean and that Silverbolt/Motormaster aren't as loose when connected.

 

I needed a new cartoon head, because I messed up mine with a eye-painting experiment, but they ask $53,- for shipping. That's outrageous, so no thank you.  

 

So, looking very closely at the BBTS close-up chest images, it looks like the toon-accurate chest piece might simply clip over the existing one, like Superitron's does. If that's the case, it's good news for folks who got an earlier Bruticon version, as I'd imagine Zeta will make that piece available separately. Maybe not though, they didn't with the Superitron chest. Hmm. Although there were two different Bruticon releases before now, so there's probably more of a market for the show accurate chest than there is for Superitron's, especially since the toy and toon versions of Superion's chest aren't all that different looking, unlike Bruticus.

 

I dont think the metal chest can go over the existing one like the way they did Superitron because those vertical wings that stick up or out rather, come out as far as the rise in the center part. On the metal chest everything away from the center is at a lower level and looking at them side by side it doesn't look like the metal piece sticks out nearly enough to cover all that. There also looks to be depressions in the metal ones center that would interfere with the original. It would be great if it was a stick/clip on like Superitron and would also be available separately but I'm not seeing it.

 

I think you're right, thanks for the close-up pics. I hope Zeta makes these pants available as stand-alone pieces for those of us who already bought into one of the earlier iterations of this combiner. But I'm lightweight thinking about snagging this for myself anyway. I preferred the V1 Armageddon and its toy colors to the V1 and V1 metallic Bruticon, but I definitely like this version better than Armageddon. The darker greys make it look far less boring, and that chest plate looks great.

 

That's definitely flush.

The chest unscrews, I've done it to replace mine with the 3d one from @TigerBlade, so all they've done is mould a new piece and screwed that in instead

 

Has anyone done a custom back piece with the 3 buttons that can deactivate Bruticus?

 

You mean they didnt incorporate that! That is like "include effects parts from that one time, one scene" 101 

 

Got a little head today
Oh and this arrived too

 

So still no word if the new one will come with one? FOMO starting to creep up.

 

Actually the description has been updated on ShowZ's website that confirms the reissue comes with the toon head. That's money saved! I know it wasn't stated at first but with how the combiners have been packaged as of late it was looking like it would include everything so I was confident to roll the dice on not buying the head separate.

 

If anyone still wants to get their hands on a toon Bruticus head, BBTS has 7-8 up for PO.