holy shit he’s huge. Damn I have literally nothing in that scale

 

Best Shit

 

So what's the situation with his thumbs? I remember them looking super awkward on product photos. Are they on a ball joint or mushroom pegs?

 

No change. The base is on a ball joint with a hinge in the middle. The problem is the base of the thumb is positioned too close to the weapon slot which made it impossible to form a closed circle on the sword. This is the best you can do.

 

That's a bit unfortunate at this scale... But I guess if you pose him right it won't really be visible.

 

Here's a video with the blue decals applied in alt mode and then transformed to show what he looks like in bot mode. I'd like to see how they survive the transformation back though.

 

Finally! Good to see it, and honestly i kinda dig it. Not comic accurate, but only the shoulders really show in bot mode.

 

My Drift has made it to the U.S.!! ;-)

 

Got mine in today in NL. Came with a cloack, water slide decals, one katana, two broadswords and faction symbols. Even white backed ones.

The figure feels solid and has tight joints. It's fully painted say for the hands and some internal hinges. The paint seems to be fairly durable, no blemishes.

Everything feels tight, but no real hardware (ratchets) Hips were way to tight on mine, but are easily loosened up with some screws in the pelvis.

Articulation is OK, the head is a little limited, arms are fine and I wish the legs kicked up higher.

The feet lack up and down but it can be cheated
Haven't attemted to transform it yet tho.

Displays beautifully. In the photo it's next to MP Sunstreaker and KO transcraft beetle (King Bee)

Clear reccomend from me 4/5

 

Packaging & Accessories
The boxart is bright and sharp in color.


Drift is kept within a transparent casing while the accessories are packed within a plastic bag


WT puts lots of plastic sheet to protect the paint of Drift. You can find it at the bottom and top of the casing and the chest of Drift. Out of the box, you will get Drift, a cloak, 2 blades, 1 sword and an adapter to store the sword in bot mode. There's also a card that shows QR code for video transforming guide. My seller forgotten to pack the decals for me and will send me a replacement but I don't plan to apply it.


Those weapons are not flimsy but without any paint on it. Only the sword has a minimal paint for the blue detail.


Alt Mode
While the transformation is not complicated, it definitely not an easy one. I'll suggest to watch some video guide before starting it

The transformation is using lots of sliding parts and rotation. You don't have to worry about limited space to maneuver the parts. The tabs are waiting for you at the right place. If you couldn't tab in, this simply tells you didn't transform it correctly, especially the sliding mechanism. Some of the sliding parts are very stiff and you need to use quite some force.

The 2 potential risks that I found during transformation is the pointy edges of headscupt. Its very thin and you may break it if you are not patient. Another potential risk is the roof of the alt mode involves a lot of flipping, rotating and sliding but the roof seems to be thin. The plastic used is good but if you apply the pressure at the wrong part you may break it.

Once you manage to go through it, you will be very happy and satisfying with the end result. Although there's many panels, however the overall alt mode looks sleek and seamless. The undercarriage is very clean. The ground clearance is very very low but if you transform it correctly, all 4 wheels will be touching the floor however it doesn't rolls well.


Bot Mode
The reverse transformation will be getting faster but you have to take note on thr roof panels as you need to slide and flip and rotate to compress it to be come the chest

View from all side


Headscupt and upper body details


Lower body details


By default, the elbow piece / armor is facing backward but I prefer it to be at the side to give Drift a better look. As emgo says, it's your toy, display in whatever way you like.


Here is how it looks with all weapon stored on Drift. I'm really liking how the 2 half of the hood form as a side skirt and as a stoage for the 2 blades.


Articulation is average. You get double jointed elbow and knees but the shoulder outward movement is quite hindered by the shoulder pads. I always would much prefer a butterfly joint for a sword wielding character. Furthermore some of the joints especially the shoulder and knee are very tight and this make it not fun for posing. As you can see, the super hero landing pose is quite unnatural.


Photo taking time


The cloak that came with Drift is very nice. It's quite thick and there's metal covered at the side of the cloak. This alow you to position or angle the cloak as you wish to give it a more dynamic looking. My opinion is the cloak is too clean to my liking and I prefer it to be more weathered or damaged but nonetheless I'm liking it very much


Conclusion
Despite some of the minor negatives that I have on Drift, overall this is a solid figure and plastic used is very good and the pear white paint used is very good as well. Yes, you might loose some pose-ability but the articulation given is good enough for a simple posing. If you like IDW Drift or a fans of Drift, better grab it and I can't wait for their Optimus Prime

 

My Drift is about 30 miles away from me, I should have it tomorrow (probably Monday or Tuesday, the way USPS works). I'm loving the subtle details they've incorporated into the figure; the outer calf details, shoulder joint on the shoulder pads, the back has great details and is clean. If I have one complaint...I wish the nose guard was tapered.

 

Uh. I transformed mine into car mode, and the transformation probably gave me PTSD. It’s terrifying that the upper body is connected to the lower body by a very small screw that goes through the windshield piece, which is a very thin piece of clear plastic. When going from robot to car mode, any motion puts pressure on that screw and that piece. It isn’t until the final step, tabbing the legs into the car, that the upper and lower body are locked in place.

Does this get any easier? I thought I had purchased the most frustrating figure of 2022 when I received Meta Gate Haiku, and then I received X-Transbot Commander Stack two weeks ago, which frustrated me even more than Haiku, and now Ronin is even more frustrating. I actually think the comparison to XTB Commander Stack is quite appropriate, because Commander Stack also has its upper body and lower body held together at one rather small point, but the difference is that that point is a long joint that bends and twists in multiple places, so you won't be putting too much pressure on it. Although Commander Stack is a complicated transformation, at no point is a huge portion of the figure connected to a small joint that is stressed anything you move something. Commander Stack gets a lot of flack for its transformation, but Ronin was far more frustrating to me.

Ronin certainly has no shortage of die-cast, but I don't think it was wisely utilized. I really think die-cast should be utilized where a figure receives the most stress or pressure, and that the point that receives the most pressure really seems to be the windshield. Again, it's a very thin piece of translucent plastic connected with only a very small screw. I really think the entire windshield piece should have been die-cast metal, and held together with a much more sturdy screw.

 

I agree that spot at the windshield and the sliding area for the roof of the car are definite weak points. I transformed it three times and I think this is one where you transform a couple of times and pick the mode you want to display. It is definitely not the type to go back and forth as you will wear out those points and possibly get paint scrapes

 

Last day of the year and this bad ass shows up. He's a lot heavier and bigger than I thought he'd be. The ankle joint is a poorly thought out design, but other than that hes superb!!!

I'm fuzzy on Drift's character origins....isn't he a fan conceptualized character?

 

I thought so as well, but upon further research he's an OC by Shane McCarthy and the first to get significant promotional push as a character. WindBlade is the first fan-created character.
Also, transformed mine. Had to rest his entire body on my lap while I slowly do the torso, lol. That windscreen connection is really sus; I genuinely hope it's strong enough to last multiple transformations.

 

Still....he is an excellent representation of Drift! His shelf presennce is outstanding!!!

 

Indeed he is! Though personally I'd love his head to be like, a smidge smaller(10% maybe?), and a straight out opaque die-cast painted windscreen just for the sake of structural integrity  

 

I tried transforming him, but couldn't manage to get him into alt-mode (transformation is just too difficult, which is fine, I am not mad about it), but I can't get him properly back into robotmode. This is not because I am missing a step or doing it wrong, it's because part of his chest is not aligned the way it should and there is NO way at all to fix it. No sliders, no tabs, no panels to flip...

How it should be:


See how the outer chest (with the blue lamps) are lined up with the centerpiece?


This is mine:


I just cannot get this lined up, and the transformation video doesn't even show that this can be done. As it transforms it just goes into the vehicle as is, without changing position, but SOMEHOW I managed.  
This is a huge problem because it stops me from finishing the transformation. Advice/help is appreciated.

 

It took me more force than I liked to slide that piece with the autobot symbol up. That's the first thing different that I see here.