Have you ever seen a transformer with bad reviews, but figured man ... this looks great ... and buy it anyway? That's what I did with the XTB G2 Menasor. I've heard horrible combining issues and stability, but the set looks so good imo!

What figure (if any) have you done this with?

 

My first 3P bot, Fansproject's Cubrar. They were mostly right, but he's not as bad as they say. Just has a super-loose waist swivel and his kibble really affects his posing. Not awful, though, and I love the way he looks. His paint job is fantastic, too. So far he's my favorite non-G1 representation of Slag.

 

Every single time -> Someone always has something bad to say, no matter what figure it is. Boom.

 

IE: every single BSF review,  . He's savaged a number of bots that I absolutely adore. I guess someone needs to be the nitpicky contrarian reviewer out there, lmfao.

 

Bold Forms Gladius. I have every intent of disassembling him to tighten all his joints, but good Lord the Jobby review is kind to it.

 

Yes, DNA Susanoo

 

He looks incredible in both modes, but I'm told that trying to pose him is like trying to pose water. Is that true?

 

Xtb ollie/wheelie. I needed it for my '86 gang.

 

Here are a few I got in spite of watching more than one (ie not just Bobby, but others too) bad review before I bought them, not counting that stupid trailer which does look better than it is:
MMC Insecticons (still, much better figures than people give them credit for, only replaced them because I got a great deal on the FT bugs)
Fans Toys Rouge (probably appropriately savaged)
Takara Bumblebee 2.0 (it was this or the first version but the first version looks like a friend's asshole ex husband so I refuse to get it, even if the figure is better)
Maketoys Visualizers (to this day I think this is the best MP Reflector available)
KFC Stratotanker (again, worthy of the negative criticism)
XTB Ollie (what a piece of shit, but what can ya do)

I was going to also do "figures that got good reviews that I think are bad" but only got as far as Toyworld Constructor and the Fans Toys Dino Bots before I looked at the list and realized that luckily, there aren't many of these in my collection.

 

It is flimsy, fragile, but it looks amazing, just don't touch it...

 

I bought Susanoo despite the... unfortunate reviews. He looks so damn good. It's a tragedy that you can't really do much with him otherwise.

I got the Banzaitron one too.

I have a problem.

 

Yeah that was my first thought. Definitely a figure I only got for completion's sake.

 

I got XTB Locke because he looks so much better than FT Kup. Haven't had any issues with him but definitely won't transform. Same goes for XTB Janssen.

 

I think it's fair to say that this might be the worst figure in the collection of any collector who owns it, that we all know it, and that we all just bought it to fill that hole.

 

Xtransbots Virtus/Springer, out of morbid curiosity. After replacing his diecast shoulders for plastic ones and the various parts that broke during transformation, I sold him. What a piece of crap.

 

I like XTB Menasor. I haven't had stability problems other than him being a bit back heavy. He's mostly used as a display. I love the individual bots, cars, and combined mode. I just hated the act of combining it...that was awful.

And as someone else said XTB Wheelie. He's bad but has no alternative.

Most reviewers are really positive about everything. It's hard to find truly negative reviews. Its hard to even find reviews that talk about negatives in all but the most brief obligatory ways.

 

X-Transbots figures have all broke on me.

I got their Fuzz thinking it would be a fun challenge and that other people just didn’t know what they were doing. Now, I see I was wrong and hate that fucking thing.

 

For me it was FT's Jabber. Lots of reviews were about how it breaks easily and isn't correct. I bought it anyway, knowing I am not nearly as discerning and pedantic as some collectors.

 

Before the 4th party versions were in abundance (and cheap) I went ahead and bought an omnigonix (Sunstreaker) figuring I could "deal" with all the bad and just have it on display. I got into the game late so the bad news was carved in stone real bad (and in abundance). Got it anyways...  

 

I very rarely watched reviews at all until BSF appeared. For all of his faults, he's still the most informative IMO. That said, I often preorder in advance so reviews aren't often part of my decision making process. I tend to stick with what I know and feel safe with.

Sometimes I'll watch a review looking for things that I know I don't like. For example, nobody mentioned it, but most of Zeta's mini Aerialbots have asymmetrical transformations. I hate that, so I didn't buy them (except Air Raid). I also watched alot of XTB reviews in general because some of their preorders looked interesting but they have a mixed reputation. I don't care about the toys being reviewed so much as the recurring themes. Speaking of which, I wish they'd hurry the hell up and release the couple that I took a chance on so I can know if it's worth ordering others that I didn't.