I've generally found FansToys figures to be pretty bland and lacking in 'personality', but my biggest complaint about them has been the tendency to overdo die cast. I know some people love the heft that it brings, but for me the die cast is almost always not needed and just makes the figures less enjoyable. I've owned or handled a lot of their figures, but the only one I still have is Quakewave. And that's largely through nostalgia since i prefer both MP Laserwave and Quakeblast as figures (and own them as well).

That's fine though as MakeToys, MMC, DX9, iron Factory, Perfect Effect and others are putting out more than enough product to keep me (and especially my wallet!) busy. Not to mention Masterpiece figures from Takara on top of that. Even if I don't like their aesthetic as much I'm glad that the FansToys figures are available for people who do like what they're putting out.

For any figures you're not enjoying though, I don't know why you're getting them from any company if you don't enjoy them even if you've heard the figure is somehow 'definitive'. Nobody is going to come around and audit your collection to ensure you have the fandom approved figure in every case.  

 

Fanstoys make good solid stuff but that said their stuff tends to feel "lifeless" for lack of the better word

 

I mainly collect G1 MP style figs (Hasui style, not the newer stuff) I was merely pointing out that it's a very 'meat and potatoes' design aesthetic versus some of the newer iterations of transformers. To me, they are the characters that I grew up with. But for this guy, I think something with some more visually interesting designs would be a better choice, like idw. No need to get defensive about it. People should collect what they want to collect, I don't judge. Unless it's gobots, then they are dead to me.

 

I still think where Takara shines is the transformation. I didn't like Ironhide when I saw him but I got him and when I transformed him,I really liked the transformation. The pure toon look isn't what I want. I liked the original carbot MP's because it looked like the cartoon bot but the real car. Inferno is to plain to me so Artfire will be my new Inferno.
I bought the FT bugs and even though I liked the way they look,I ended up selling them. I'd never part with my Dinos because I love them in both modes,they're what I expect to get from FT. Phoenix and Willis will always be there too. I think some of their bots do rely on the die cast overkill but I think they executed Phoenix great in that regard.

 

You are right DX9 for the win, don't want to spend over a year and $350 for a door stopper.

Well-said, FT are bland and has no personality, that's why I dropped Aegis, Stomp, Kot, Spindrift, Apache, Sixshot. Btw still no replacement from Scoria that I already sold. But gladly adding more to my pile of loot from DX9, Takara, ACE, Openplay, and maybe Kup from XTB, mehh XTB, just maybe.

 

I wasn't getting defensive about it..sometimes my bluntness comes across that way. I tell everyone when I meet them that eventually I will say something that may offend you and make you think I'm an asshole..but at the end of the day I'm always going to tell you my honest opinion. You may not agree with it though,so careful what you ask   Sorry if my post came across that way,it wasn't intended to.

 

I think that "lifeless" quality is because they are mainstream. Fanstoys color within the lines because that is where most of the G1 market is located.

The other 3rd party companies have to carve their own niche so they can take more chances. If Fanstoys designs start lurching in any certain direction away from the middle, you'd see some angry Geewunners.

 

If you're spending that kind of money and using him as a doorstop,then you need to think outside the box man..I was thinking if I buy two I could use them as end tables myself  

 

I don't know FT is actually one of my favorite as far as the feel. Like I said though,I like the G1 look of them and I know they're well made so to me they seem like I'm getting what I pay for. My XTB experience in the beginning I thought,I paid how much for this damn thing? Apollyon did not impress me a bit. I bought Terror because I liked how he looked and I think he was one of my best purchases. He may not be G1 but he's a great bot. Love my Trash Talk cuz he's just a cool little bot. Warpath,Sunsurge and Grump are great..they're just not fun tho. Same with Arkose,love him because he is Beachcomber to me.
Didn't enjoy transforming him though.

 

I do.like FT but I kinda see where you're coming from. It's that I pretty much know 100% what I'm going to get from a FT release so there is less anticipation and more a sense of ticking off a box.

Don't get me wrong they tick that box solidly and very well but there is less of a sense of discovery, of wonder. It pretty much is just exactly what you're expecting, a well constructed, well engineered not that looks like the cartoon.

I'm thinking you may be at the same stage as me where the "main" figures you want are done and now it's a question of filling in the gaps,

 

Eh, I'm not a fan of the overly toon-accurate stuff as I feel like the Hasui-era cemented what the aesthetic that I would deem to be "Masterpiece" but both Takara and Fanstoys have put out nice figures in a very similar but noticeably different aesthetic, like Takara's Inferno and Fanstoys' Galvatron. I mean, for the most part I do agree about Fanstoys and that often overly-faithful, very simplistic aesthetic a lot of people are so keen on these days, but they've definitely put out some figures that "do it" for me more than others, though admittedly those are usually the figures that deviate more from the animation. I feel like this fandom and the companies that provide us with our toys (I'm not innocent of this ether) too often paint themselves into an aesthetic corner, so to speak, but I want designs updated with modern sensibilities and detailing, not something that replicates the work of an over-tired overseas animator just trying to get out the door at the end of the day.

 

I like the silhouette that they showed us some time ago... He looks cool and less lanky than ToyWorld's offer

 

Yeah..Constructor is an impressive bot but he just doesn't hit the mark for me personally. I'll wait to see if FT does or not

 

Well it's the Internet! Everyone is offensive/defensive! My fault to for assuming and being defensive as well.

 

I'm leaning at getting Gabriel because I just feel it looks like Omega Supreme where Fans Toys seems to be a generic Guardian Robot in my eyes.

This bothers me a lot because I usually would ALWAYS get Fans Toys if they were among the offering of specific characters. I keep hearing this little voice going "You might regret it because you know how good Fans Toys stuff is"

But I just don't "feel" the character in this one...at least not yet. Same for their Seaspray. I REALLY don't feel Seaspray there at all...maybe his jock brother or something but it's not the chubby little character from the show I want in my collection.

I think it's ok to get something else if it does it for you. If FT's isn't hitting the numbers you need, grab something else that does. Maybe the next FT's release will make you go "That's the stuff right there"

 

No worries at all. Unfortunately technology has made it to easy to assume the worst. I should probably use more blue in my replies sometimes. Sarcasm is my second language,sometimes my first. Reading my b post,I can see why it may have come across.

 

I've found that most of the cartoon style official mps as boring and bland...

 

I agree. I think you need that little bit of extra detail to just make it pop. You can make it "toon" accurate to the extreme, but adding that little bit more is just icing on the cake for me.

 

Yeah anyhow, where were we?

Oh yeah....I agree with you...sometimes taking a gamble on some other company pays off or is just more "fun" and I say go for it. I know DX9 is good stuff but it's almost against the grain for me to buy that as I said. It'll be more anticipated getting their OS than my last 2 Fans Toys. I got Grinder and was like "Meh....nice but yeah...just is. Onto the shelf you go". Same with Phoenix really. I love them but don't get excited to get them so I really do get what you're saying honestly. It's hard to explain.

My wife and I were watching The Movie and she said "You don't have an Alicon do you?" and I was like "No never got one". She bought me a Corbot Mugger and an Impossible Toys Alicon off Ebay as a surprise. I was more anxious to get those and just "See" what I was getting than my last Fans Toys stuff. The IT one is a piece of crap too *LOL* but I still love it in my display with my sharks and quints.  

 

Man, you sure got quite a few of those on the first page, alone.

Some salty people up in this piece. All over a brand. This brand loyalty thing's going to have to stop if you want to be decent people. *laughs* Who am I kidding? No one in this fandom wants to be decent. I'll stop dreaming of fantasies, now.

I love FT stuff, but it is somewhat bland in spots, but then needlessly detailed in others, kind of throwing off the visual balance. I like my CHUGs to be show accurate as possible, when possible, but I also like them having wiggle room. My MPs, on the other hand, I want them to be show accurate as possible. My exceptions are DX9's Carry and Tyrant. Neither one of them are show accurate, but they're just solidly good TOYS. That's possibly my only wiggle room on the look of my figures and collection.

Man, you guys have got to ease up on people like Scurv for having a different opinion. Perhaps people should start treating you all the same way. A bit more venom and viciousness, though, to really drive home the point.

Terrible behavior over a brand's loyalty.