Edit: I just discovered another review of the set... seems to be a lot more favorable than mine! Anyway, here's my take, since it's too late to delete the thread now. I haven't seen anything about the Gear of War set go up on the main page yet, so I thought I'd mention it here. I would like to post some pictures, too, but since I'm at work that's not really possible right now. So, my preorder for the Gear of War set showed up last week (including a ladder for Classics Inferno, the auto-scout cassette, three launchers, and the funky Mirage-box). Here are my thoughts: First of all, the set didn't include the Grapple hook as mentioned in a post a few weeks back. Not a big deal, since I have no interest in Grapple. Otherwise, everything was included as expected. BUT... The manufacturing quality on these things is total garbage, with a couple exceptions. The ladder feels flimsy, but seems fairly sturdy. Attaching it is no problem. The auto-scout casette is also pretty nice, although it's a lot more purple than the photos. The articulation on its arm is nice, and there weren't any loose joints to speak of. It transforms nice and compact, no problems there. But the launchers... As recently posted, they are all chromed, so they don't match the non-Henkei figures very well. I liked the original prototypes better, with a non-chrome look. But I can get over that. The issue is that the plastic, paint, and mechanisms are totally cheap and worthless. One of the missiles was stuck in the silver launcher upon arrival and wouldn't come out until I had carefully (and forcibly) pulled on it for several minutes. Very frustrating. The black launcher doesn't work at all, and the red coating on the red launcher is flaking off like nobody's business. The launchers themselves just feel extremely cheap and flimsy. On the figures, they look OK. The launchers attach to the shoulder pegs on Sideswipe/Red Alert with some difficulty (I blame Hasbro for that, not TFC, since the pack-in gun is hard to peg in too). In response to some questions about connecting them to Mirage, there's a little angled slot on the back of the launchers that tabs on to the struts on Mirage's wheels. The Mirage box thing is just... weird. It's a single piece of very thick plastic, folded up in such a way that you need to re-fold it to make a proper box, and then stick it together with tabs. It's almost opaque... kind of pointless. So, I've got Sideswipe with the "black" (it's more a chrome brown) launcher with silver missile and black fins on the back; Red Alert with the silver launcher/fins and red missile, and Fracture with the red launcher/fins and black missile. I do like the way the launchers and missiles can be reconfigured, although they don't come apart or reattach very easily, and the entire process is rather damaging to their paint. I'm waiting on the Fansproject Prime trailer for the missile for Mirage, which, while not launching, looks to be much better quality overall. So... my final thoughts: I'm not buying TFC stuff again. They made a nice attempt, but overall it was a letdown. I'll try to post pictures soon.
Thread Necromancy! Because? Questions!! I was searching for more information on the TFC Gear of War set, and this was the only thread that kind of confirmed what I am seeing available for sale. Anyway, I recently bought a Henkei Grapple so my Generations Hoist would have his toon partner. Now my Red Alert is feeling lonely. I passed on Inferno long ago because I wasn't entirely sold on the mold, but now having Grapple in hand, I'm beginning to rethink that. I remember this Gear of War set fixing one of the things I didn't like about Inferno, ie: for me he needs a ladder and a nozzle hand. But now that I'm searching for a Gear of War set, I am seeing nothing but chromed pieces in the set. However, when I search other posts here, the "official" pics are definitely not chromed. So my questions are: Was there a non-chromed set released? And if not, how do the chrome pieces look on Classics Inferno? Anyone care to show or link a pic?
Here is the wiki page on the Gear of War set: Gear of War - WikiAlpha Here is a picture of the contents of the box: That's the chrome hand missile hand for Inferno in the top left. Here is the set being used... There was no non-chrome version of the set... BUT - CHMS did make KOs of the missiles for Sideswipe/Mirage/Red Alert in non-chrome to include with some of it's Sideswipe recolors/remolds. Oddly they were molded with the fins fitting better reversed...
As far as I know, they only did one release. I got the chromed ones when I preordered, and they sold out soon after and never did a re-release that I know of. And on top of that, the quality on these is absolute crap. It's a good thing TFC stepped up their game when they started making full bots. These things were absolutely terrible. Looked good, yeah, BUT...
Pretty awesome set, especially the ladder and the Auto-Scout figure. The chrome missiles are a mixed bag since the rockets can get stuck in the springs when you push the buttons to launch them, which screws up the whole mechanism (and may necessitate pulling out the spring entirely). The chrome can also make some of the parts a tight fit, like with Inferno's hand nozzle. If you want nicer weapon accessories for Classics, FansProject G3 Trailer includes some great chrome weapons, while Beelzeboss's Heroic Duo kit is great for Sideswipe and Red Alert. There's also MJ upgrades, provided you can get them from a reliable source.
Thank you, everyone, for the quick and great responses! You answered my question. How well does chrome take a coat of silver paint anyway? edit: also, how does that ladder go on anyway?
If I remember correctly you unscrew the existing gun, then push the ladder on the place it goes. It's a tight fit.
A followup: Gear of War set arrived yesterday, Inferno arrived today. I love the upgrade parts for Inferno. The chrome nozzle hand blends quite well with Hasbro Inferno. What really surprised me is by clipping the ladder into the folding back panel(which feels like it was designed to do just that), you not only get better bot storage for the ladder, but you can also approximate the G1 head cradle. Although no head wings, the visible white of the ladder is good enough substitute for me. I had wanted a Maiden Japan headwing upgrade, but this set has pretty much cured me of that. (plus the prices they currently go for on ebay is simply insane). Plastic quality on the ladder is fine, and attaching it to Inferno's alt mode is pretty painless. The rest of the set is a mixed bag. I wasn't really in the market for an autoscout, but this is definitely a nice replica of it with a decent transformation and good quality plastic. No complaints there. It is what it is. The shoulder mounted missiles are kind of meh. If I didn't already own the Beezleboss Red Alert set, I might feel a little differently. They're all a little too chrome-y for me, and the black launcher is more of a chrome brown, so its not going to really match anything. What has me pretty down on these accessories at the moment is that I had attached one of them to my Mirage's wheel axel assembly via the groove on the launcher as designed and it ended up chipping the paint there on my Mirage. So never again. The quality on the launchers is ok, and I'm not having any assembly or firing issues. So, in conclusion, happy with the purchase, but my primary aim was for the Inferno upgrade.
The ladder and the casset are the only thing worth a damn to me. Granted the launchers look ok but not a damn one works and all 3 have their missles stuck in them. When trying to remove one the spring came out with it. If anything get it for the ladder.
My GOW Autoscout with reprolabels and a spare set of Ravage missiles. BTW - You can get a GOW set for under $32 from Uncle Billy. http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Classic-Universe-TFC-004-Gears-of-War/613353_633610376.html
