ARMORHIDE WHERE DID YOU GET THESE

 

Recent acquisitions:




Quick thoughts on these:
Wei Jiang Hide Shadow: What a BEAST. I hate the Bay movies, but I've started a minor addiction to the toys and this is maybe one of my pinnacles. Big, heavy, great joints and tolerances...I'm so glad I sprang for this guy. The add-on bottom panel for vehicle mode with the diorama inside isn't anything I have use for outside of alt mode, but I appreciate the effort nonetheless.

Aoyi Siege Megatron: Nice size for the price, great joints and tolerances. However, the plastic feels hard and cheap like it will break easily if stressed too much.

Ultra Dino Force Raptor: I love these guys. This is the third I bought out of four and it's still a fun figure (deep breath...bought one to repaint/sculpt as a Slash but messed it up, bought another to finish the custom, bought a third to have an unaltered version to go with the rest of the UDF figs, and a fourth because the third was the v2 gold one and I didn't care for it...PHEW).

KO Firage: Sweet finish, nice figure overall. The hips on mine are a bit loose, but were easily cured with a quick clear acrylic coating. Alt mode looks absolutely bitchin'.

OSKO Steelbane: Cool looking bot mode, but the alt mode looks like hot garbage. If you like the mold already, this is a nice size upgrade for a CHUG collection. Quality is very good, my issues are mainly with the original mold.

Whatever that other Megatron thing is on the left: Seriously, I have no idea what the hell it is. Looked different so I picked it up. Hard, fragile plastic (must be a Megs thing), decent joint tolerances. Feels cheap but looks kind of fun. Pretty good posability.

Brachiosaurus guy: Nice plastic feel, fun to play with. Some really stiff ratchets in the hips and shoulders. Kind of cute dino-puppy alt mode look. I'm seriously considering buying the rest of the set for fun. He's surprisingly solidly built and pretty cool.

OSKO Windblade: I picked it up with the intent of repainting it and sculpting a new head, but after messing around with it I doubt I'll bother. Joints are stiff, but the plastic feels pretty cheap and the articulation is limited.

 

I hear ya on this. I have a soft spot for Blackout too.  

In the case of this figure, I think the plastic is mixed... some of it has a nice tough soft-ish ABS feeling, and the rest of it is thick enough that it doesn't feel like it matters if it's too hard/brittle. When it comes to the range for KOs, this isn't what I'd call "cheap plastic" but I get what you mean.

I have this too, and I agree about the alt-mode... though that bot mode is pretty badass. I can't decide whether to give it a kickass repaint, or just re-sell it.  

I have this one too... does yours not have the diecast metal on the chest? This is another example where the plastic feels cheap, but is still probably very tough. The design is a bit cartoony, but sort of interesting too. The alt-mode is strangely appealing. I guess this is Megatronus (the proto-Megatron archetype). I want to do something with this, but I still haven't come up with a good custom character idea.

Slipstream custom fodder?  

I have one of these on the way. I'm not expecting much, but I had a notion to alter the design a bit. We'll see if I bother once I have it in hand. Those easter eggs on the chest need to go for sure.  

z

 

YMMV, perhaps? It feels pretty hard and flimsy on my copy. Definitely not what I expect from Aoyi. They aren't always the best, but my experience is that their figures have never felt outright cheap to me until this one. There's an in-hand feel to a bad plastic that I can't properly describe and this just hits that feel for me.

Yeah, it's weird as hell and that's part of why I like it. Despite the cheap feel, I still dig the look.

It does (my bad, forgot to call that out), but if anything that makes some of the lightweight plastic feel even more flimsy and precarious. I'll likely keep messing with him as a desk bot during boring meetings because he's pretty fun, so we'll see how he holds up, I suppose. If not, hell...it was only $12  

 

From a department store in Singapore. If you are interested to read and see more of these, I have posts spanning the previous 5 pages, starting from page 2491.

 

I have both, in hand WJ Brawl feels like a much better toy while BMB version can pose better.

 

This Megatronus is the RiD2015 version of the Fallen. The plastic on mine seems pretty tough but I got it back when it first came out. I got a Shapeways head and use it as Impactor now. I expect he'll stay in place until we see an official Voyager Impactor or an OSKO of the Siege one.

 

Yeah, I think I know what you mean by "cheap-feeling" plastic, but I don't really get that feeling from Aoyi Megatron. The joints feel weak for such a large figure, but I don't feel that the plastic is notably poor.

But also, I think I was just making the observation that when talking about cheap or weak plastics in the KO scene, it definitely gets a lot worse!  

So for something like OSKO Megatronus, I'd probably class that more around the mid-range for plastic quality. Not especially nice and I don't want to drop it on a hard floor, but I'm still not expecting it to break easily.

It doesn't seem like "laser gun on treads" would ever feel particularly novel in Transformers. Normally those types of things feel like a hand-waved alt-mode... but in this case, it has a touch of style to it. Nice how the arms become the cannon, rather than just sticking a cannon on a tank.

Z

 

I'm used to Aoyi/BMB having that nice, ABS feel so pulling this guy out and finding that hard and brittle feel was a bit jarring. He's certainly better than shampoo bottle, but I still feel that plastic isn't going to last due to the rigidity. I'm waiting for tabs to snap off during transformation at some point.

*Looks around at hard flooring throughout the entire house* Sigh...

Agreed. It shouldn't feel unique, yet somehow pulls it off anyway.

 

I disassembled mine and repainted the whole thing. If it helps reassure you at all, through that process the parts felt pretty tough to me, and not significantly different from the AOYI Optimus (or other good quality KOs) -- though overall, it certainly feels more hollow, with looser joints comparatively. Hopefully it will hold up, as it's a rather nice piece to have (soft facesculpt notwithstanding)

Haha... you and me both. I have a friend that covered the floor of his collection room with those colourful foam tiles they have for children's playrooms because he was afraid of dropping things.  

z

 

Anyone know a good Voyagerish shockwave?

I quite like the second chance one but it's like $60+ 

 

I wish there was some retooling. Add in ankle tilts and I would have been all in.

 

Anything wrong with the leader class Shockwave? He falls under the "Voyager with more stuff" Leader class category.

 

They're crazy expensive now, can't find one for a decent price

 

https://www.amazon.com/Transformers...ocphy=9007898&hvtargid=pla-606374115538&psc=1
Only $4 above MSRP

 

The base Siege Shockwave figure is barely a voyager. His "leader kibble" is not essential, and constitutes a marginal added value especially at a leader price point. I feel the Siege Shockwave is too small to fit with most pre-existing collections, and even feels a bit puny for the Siege line.

So, that's $4 above "already way too expensive"?  

Even in the retail world, WFC Leaders tend to be rather low value relative to their price tags (in respect to the price sensitivities of those of us who have been in the TF hobby for a decade or so)... but in the KO context, this disparity somehow feels even more dramatic.

z

 

The KO MP Shockwave blows them out of the water. I'm all about MP KOs now  . Of course that size is closer to combiner wars leader class.

 

Agreed... the KO MP Shockwave is a fantastic piece... though a bit bigger than what was being looked for (and also in that $60 range).

z

 

Teeeeeechnically 4$ over original retail of a figure long since gone from the shelves, (with free shipping) is a steal for anybody that missed the boat, and is having desires to go back in time and right a wrong.

 

Thanks for the link. I'm in the UK, and it becomes £75 (around $100).

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll look online at comparisons