KFC Ditka. Love his tank mode and his jet mode is... a thing that exists, and I love love love his linebacker bot mode. I found his issues easy to deal with - he came with the replacement parts to fix the looseness and a slight mistransformation of his heels fixed the balancing issue, giving me a wonderful representation of the character.

 

Yeah I got that one too. Mostly because of the awesome gun mode. Don't think it's all that bad though... feels kinda cheap but not too fragile.

Got it for 40 bucks on black friday. No way I would pay full price.

 

Toyworld Evila Star, AKA Astrotrain. Alot of people have there issues with this figure and compared it to Chigurh when it first came out. The figure had alot of tolerance issues and clear plastic in weird places such as joints and hinges so it rightfully deserved the criticisms. Also everyone talked about the over complicated and panely transformation as a nightmare. Bought one anyways as I adored the the Alt modes looks. I found the transformation quite fun and came up with a few configurations to make him more solid in bot mode. Made a more G1 accurate head for him and still to this day flip him between his altmodes as they look so good.

 

Maketoys Axle in 2021, after having read that it explodes. Not even tried to transform it and exploded like if it was made of cheese, handlebar, waist ala Movie Jazz, and then a foot while boxing it.

Guilty for XTB Wheelie too, but it's pretty garbage and hasn't exploded.

 

Maketoys Cupola (OK, it was a gift, but I didn't sell it) - not that it got bad reviews, but the reviews ranged from mediocre to less-than-stellar.

It has balance issues but overall I really like it. It's over-engineered, but I don't ever feel like I'm going to break it.

Also, XTB Fuzz. It actually took a tumble the other day and nothing broke. It's not good, objectively... But I still like it. I wish I could combine the MMC build and sculpt with XTB's paint finish and materials.

 

Magic square legends size seekers and coneheads. What can I say? ShowZ had a sale and they are more in scale with the rest of my legends figures than Newage. I will say this though - you should absolutely believe all the criticisms that BSF and others have about these. They are hands down the worst feeling and sloppily designed Magic Square figures I own. Well, maybe tied with the Ultra Magnus 2.0 armor upgrade.

 

MMC roadbuster, Unique Toy Ordin, to name a couple.

The only lesson I learnt over the years is that never judge a figure purely based on video reviews. Many figures are much better in hand that in video, particularly if you are like me who seldomly play with them.

 

Unless only one review says it’s bad while everyone else says it’s good, or all the complaints are needs more paint, no I don’t. I tend to try and spend my money a bit more wisely than just assuming everyone sucks at reviewing things and that it’ll magically turn out to be good. Generally if most reviewers are actually saying something’s bad, it is and isn’t worth it.

I still dislike watching a lot of 3p reviewers because they never mention the actual important things. Is the transformation smooth or enjoyable? How is the plastic quality? Does the paint chip? All they ever talk about is how pretty something is.

 

Bad Cube Bug Corps - People at the time were spending crazy amounts of cash on the FT Insecticons, but the Bug Corps, while not completely MP quality (they feel more like CHUG quality in-hand), they fit the bill quite nicely and look good together.

Bad Cube Brawny - Same thing as above regarding price, but besides his penguin, flappy feet, I like him and IMO, he fits the bill better than his too lean FT counterpart.

DS Blaster - Many complaints about paint (or lack thereof) the cassette part locking up, and lackluster Ramhorn, but he looks fabulous on the shelf. Plus for under $70, I couldn't go wrong.

Also, another vote for XTB Wheelie.

 

More unstable than Charles Manson on riddalin, but he looks amazing.

 

XTB Virtus. It wasn't as bad as I anticipated but I had to get a replacement sword because a bunch of silver was rubbed off. Oh, and more plastic shoulders because the halves just don't line up, and I screwed the first pair by using a lacquer after I sanded them flush. After that the chest liftarms scratched off some of the metallic green around the neck and I'm just living with the yellow rubbed off the "belt buckle." After having worse issues with Stack I'm probably not buying anything else XTB anytime soon unless I really feel like suffering the long repair process.

 

Well, these are also toys I bought after seeing bad reviews, but conversely I see nothing wrong with them and am rather happy with them. The chests can be a bit fiddly if you are, as I think certain video reviewers are, hamhanded, impatient, and not particularly interested in working with how a toy works rather than how they assume it ought to, but I've had no trouble with them.

Of course, this site is also bursting with people ready and willing to slam a toy without ever having had it in hand on the basis of prototypes and photos. I rarely pay attention to reviews and those comments these days; I'm well aware of what I like, and as in my other hobbies have developed the ability to evaluate things based on what I know of the manufacturer and my preferences. Ignoring people with unreasonable preconceptions is a vital skill in any hobby, and this one is no different in that respect.



I did buy IF Tarn after the issue with the right arm became well known - but I figured it was worth chancing it, and it turned out just fine in the end (mine was stiff, but loosened such that it wouldn't snap off when I applied silicone oil), possibly because I didn't just bull ahead.

 

Toyworld WW2 series. All their product is a floppy mess except for the bulldog.

 

It depends on price and what the reviewer didn't like. If it's expensive and it had durability quality issues than no I wouldn't buy it. If it's cheap and was just an issue of engineering transformation and/or aesthetic than I would buy.

 

Bold forms Gladius - it's even worse than they say. I knew what I was getting into though, and he's a unique enough take on Megatron to earn a spot on my Optimus/Megatron shelf.
KFC Mugan Scope - their old, crappy Chug Perceptor. Wanted him to repaint as an IDW-style Sniper Perceptor. He's decent enough at that but his plastic is insanely cheap and flimsy.
Unique Toys Sworder - is just a stunningly mediocre rendition of Sandstorm. Lame in all three modes. But he's still the only MP rendition of the character we have and was on deep, deep discount at BBTS. I think the cost of international shipping was almost as much as the figure itself.

 

Bold Forms Gladius, despite seeing Jobby attempting to flush it into the toilet. Got one new for only USD 20.

Bold Forms Gladius "The Dark Emperor" (Triple Changing Megatron)

 

XTB Fuzz was the first and last figure I’ve pre-ordered. It took me less than 15 minutes to decide to box it back up and sell it on.

I don’t suffer from FOMO, so I just wait until these toys are released and evaluated before I make a purchase. I don’t necessarily take the word of the reviewer, but I can at least make my own observations and draw my own conclusions from the footage.

 

All transformers are bad and we keep buying them.

But seriously I guess the right answer would be MS Seekers. I knew of the issues, still bouht them. Not bad but not worth the 100€ I overpaid on MS store.

 

Wonderful Trans Drift was the first I bought despite many people saying how they hate the transformation.

I love both modes, and the Asurada GSX is such a cool alt mode I'll deal with whatever it takes to get there and back.

 

Like others have said, it depends on what is "bad".

Lots of figures and their reviews have ended up being all over the place, with some loving the figures, others hating them... I tend to watch a lot of reviews muted and skipping the rants parts, and just watch the transformation and comparisons parts, and if that passes the "test" of appealing to me, then I will check forums for the feedback, even ask particular questions if needed, and will return to the video reviews to get "closing" takes on the figures depending on the reviewer, as some barely have any integrity from the moment they open their mouths.

So unless it's a real physical (quality) problem that can be confirmed by multiple sources, I tend to take any such comments/reviews with a grain of salt.

And the opposite is also true where a reviewer gushes over a figure that I just end up finding mediocre (or worse)...