Any chance ya want to sell the left over inferno/parts ? I broke my official a couple weeks back while transforming him to pack him up.

 

Well, assuming it comes in and isn't a box of rocks, maybe. I need to look at the thing first but I will reach out and let you know once I crack it open.

 

Big Spring is a much more substantial toy. Far more work went into its design and engineering, it has far more parts, and it legitimately works as an MP toy (especially once you upgrade the face). Big Cannon is very nice for what it is, but ultimately it's an upscaled, reskinned KO of the Hasbro Voyager figure. It's far simpler in terms of engineering, parts count, everything. They're both made of similar materials though.

I will say that Big Cannon suffers mainly from the quality of its competition (FT Sovereign is just SO nice looking as a robot, DX9 Tyrant looks GREAT as a cannon, both have better paint and materials)... as a stand-alone piece, it works surprisingly well next to either Leader or MP Rodimus, and it's the only Galvy at that scale I don't hate transforming.

Big Spring, on the other hand, is right there with the other ones except when it comes to paint finish. It looks better as a robot than UT Allen, doesn't make you want to kill yourself rather than transform like FT's (and also has better altmodes), and everything about it is better than ToyWorld's. For what it's worth though, I don't use it in my 'definitive' MP collection, and the reasons why are the face and the lack of finish. UT Allen is standing in my Detolf for the time being, awaiting either MMC or XTB's Springer.

 

He absolutely fits in with MP bots. That said, I got him and Allen and thought Allen fit in better (notwithstanding being LESS accurate in many ways) mainly due to the paint and finish. And the face! Dear God, the face.

 

Personally, I find them to be excellent, cheap starters for a custom if you're so inclined.

WIP

 

Yup, I bought Big Cannon with the express plan to dust off my Airbrush and paint that sucker up. I have some extra articulated hands I will slap on him as well.

Did you paint the hands, by the way? Any difficulty getting the paint to stay on the fingers after repeated use?

 

I painted the hands while still assembled (those things would blow away if a mouse farts, let alone paint blowing at 'em). I used the Acid Storm ones so the charcoal color would look like shading where the paint didn't cover (such as in the joints) and intentionally went lighter. So far the matte clear coat seems to be holding just fine on the outside, and the joints where they move were lighter anyway. Overall, it's working pretty well.

 

I have him with thf magnus, mp 28 ko, wj ko arcee and think they look good together. now i need to figure out a kup/blurr/wheelie and ill be good with all the autobots i want from the animated movie on.

 

Damn, mate, that looks really good. Apart from the hands and the lovely paint job, is it pretty much the stock figure? I'm looking and it seems to be the unmodded figure but with a beautiful paint job. I really like the matt effect. MP stuff looks great in a nice glossy finish, but sometimes the matt look can really pop and this one definitely does.
Can I ask a couple of questions?
Did you disassemble the figure to paint or just keep it in one piece and mask it up? I pretty much always disassemble and it can be tricky sometimes, especially on cheaper figures where the pins, screws and sometimes even plastic can be a little more fragile.
Did you prime it or just paint straight on the figure, and what paints are you using?
Any other mods apart from the hands?

The hands look really good. I always paint the articulated hands as assembled - the pieces are too small to take apart and the thickness of the paint means they won't reassemble properly. I've started using Lacquer paints as they tend to stick to the plastic better and so far the painted hands are holding up well.

This custom has made me tentatively interested in Big Cannon again. I need an alt mode Galvatron and Sovereign doesn't cut it for me while Tyrant is tough to track down.

 

Thanks, I really appreciate the kind words!

The figure was completely disassembled for painting. Mostly screws, but there were still plenty of pins. BC may be financially cheap, but the plastic is not...I found the parts to all be pretty resilient.

The wrist joints were custom sculpted and cast in epoxy resin, as the stock hands have a mushroom peg and the wrists have the cutout, while the KFC are the opposite.

I use Rustoleum Painter's Touch 2x for just about everything. Goes on smooth and even, bonds beautifully to plastics, and the primer is built in so no need to prime first. Honestly one of the best paints I've ever used. The purple is Grape, and the silver is the Aluminum. I hit it with the 2x Matte clear coat after. Once properly sealed with that, I can barely scratch it unless I use metal.

 

I haven't read the whole thread, so forgive me if this has already been answered.
Do we know who openplay is? Is it someone from any of the other companies, or someone new? Have they announced anything after the two we've already got? Or even just said "hey we're still around"?
I think Big Spring looks amazing. He blows the Fanstoys version out of the water imo. All three modes are so clean and kibble free. I get that that's way easier to do when the alt modes aren't based on real vehicles, but still.
I need both him and Cannon.

 

Please PM me if you are interested in selling the stock face. I mangled mine trying to make it fit the head better, and then trying to paint over that.

 

As far as we know, they're a Chinese 3P that popped up around the time of the 3P Springer wars. Since designers get around, there is a possibility they've employed artists whose work we have seen on previous 3P projects, but there is no way to be sure.

They showed off a sketch of Arcee a while back, but since then there has been nothing from them. Their weibo seems to be dead.

 

Ya, its a shame. I am not sold on current MP scale Arcee options and would have been very interested in an O&P MP scale Arcee.

 

Thank you. It's a shame if they're done for good. I'm more than happy with my Zeta Arcee, but I'd love to see openplay tackle other movie/S3 characters like Kup, Blurr, Cyclonus, Sourge erc.

 

Same here. I got TW Leia used and like her but she and the others are not good enough for me.

I'm getting that Firebird Arcee, but that's obviously not G1 styled.

Based on how 3rd Party companies pop up now, is Open & Play even going to make another figure? Or will they leave that shell
and make another bot under a different company name?

 

That sucks. I was really happy with the two they put out, especially since I nabbed both on sale at eBay for just over $80. I was really looking forward to their next offering but getting a little apprehensive when there was no news at all in 2018

 

I really hope they're not dead or renamed or absorbed into something else... The two figures they have put out are excellent, as-is, but beyond amazing at the price points they released them in. If they do end up being over, I'll definitely hold onto these two for the foreseeable future because they're really just amazing figures that deserve better than to be a footnote in history.

 

@Starganderfish
Just realized I forgot to mention I also moved the cannon from his upper arm to the forearm where it belongs. It's a hex peg so that involved drilling a hole and lining it with epoxy for grip.

 

Hey could you detail some of the work you did here, pretty please? I think this is one of the better looking options and I'm willing to order that Inferno spare face if thats where you started.
Thanks!