In the interest of fairness (I did this for official toys and I don't want to be accused of being anti-Hasbro)

Here's the rules:

Nominate three toys from any third party company for worst toy of the year. They must have been released in 2012, not 2011 or before and you got them late.

You can give reasons for your choices if you like, and you can even list more than three figures but I will only count your first three choices towards the poll, which will be added on the 30th, then on January 1st the worst Third Party Toy of the Year will be announced.

Have fun!

I think this will be a lot harder than any of the other threads. I'll have to add mine later.

 

I think the term Turkey is harsh. I'd rather characterize this as the 3 figures I'd put at the bottom of my list just because I have to order them. In that case, for me:
1. Yellow Giant Crane. Out of the box unmodified. Still remember how MT actually tried to hide that big crane with some "clever" photographing.
2. Yellow Giant Excavator. Combiner connector at the back really?
3. Yellow Giant Bulldozer. See no 2.

The funny thing is that I like the other a lot even with the limited shoulder articulation of Loader.

 

Turkey is harsh, but I used that title for official figures so I carried it over for this as well.

 

Preface: I really appreciate the personal effort and expense that are behind 3rd party products. I had to really think hard for this.

that said:
Skel-e-tron - wobbly head was easy fix, but disappointing surprise.

UFO - colours and feel of the plastic were unfortunate.

Phantom, but specifically and ONLY for his feet - flappy thin plastic flaps on tiny ball joints that are wearing loose! rather ensaddening when the rest of the figure nails it.

 

Yellow Giant Crane's crane-arm really soured the entire team and even company for me. That is EXTREME deceptive photography, and just plain stupid engineering/design. It didn't take a thousand hours of work to devise an alternate method. It should have been like the green version from the start.

 

My only nomination is the iGear W-01 Upgrade Kit. In the one I got, of the five guns in the kit, the pegs on four are slightly too small and don't fit correctly in most Classics figures' standard 5 mm peg hands. Three of those four still sort of work, they just flop around a little, but one of the pistols is unusable with every figure I've tested. I'm not a fan of iGear to begin with and this kit was my first, and last, purchase with them.

I'm very careful about what 3rd party stuff I buy, so there hasn't been anything else I've bought this year I'd classify as 'bad'.

 

not too many stinkers from 2012, lol i wish i could nominate rolling thunder prime

 

MMC Cyclops was extremely underwhelming. It's nice they went balls to the wall and released a huge leader class scale figure but IMO it has some really poor design elements.

Only other one I can think of is iGear UFO...I'll echo blackavar's sentiments that the colors just weren't right. Overall I like the mold just fine though so it's a minor complaint.

 

For me it was iGear Hench. And only because mine came with no head....

 

I don't buy toys I'm not impressed with, so I'm very, very rarely disappointed.
The closest thing this year would have to be igear's UFO, but that's only because his stand broke instantly (and igear being igear, I don't get a new one) and had a little limited articulation in certain joints.
Very far from being a turkey, bit it's the closest I've got.

 

BTS-05 Minions Nightfang & Savage

GARBAGE!

Game, set, and match. Thanks for playing.

Nightfang is ok at best but Savage.....ugh

 

I wish I could vote for Sonicron again.

 

BTS Ravage. That thing looks like it'll break just from touching it.

 

Break? Maybe. Fall apart, most certainly. A gold star to anyone that can transform that piece of shit without pulling legs or tail off of it in the process.

 

BTS Nightfang & Savage were very disappointing figures so glad that my buddy wasted his money on them so that I did not have to

 

Mine is Art feather bumblebee the colers did not match and was too similer in engineering to classics bee and a pretty expensive price.

 

I know i'm gonna be in the minority, probably the only one in fact, but I did not like Steelcore at all (Release him in Grimlock colors though and i'll be a happy camper lol). TBH, he's not a turkey, but I did not feel that one one bit, sold him as soon as I could. I was also underwhelmed by the Headrobots Courageous set and am only marginally happy with Headrobots deluxe Blood kit.

 

I would have said the same thing about steelcore at the beginning but he has grown on me...just alittle though.

 

Same here. That thing is horrible.

 

Hmm...

iGear Hench/Brawn - I keep thinking I'm being too harsh in my thoughts about it, then I look at pics of it again and remember the negativity pointed toward it and remember why I didn't like the look of it at all.
BTS Toys Savage/Ravage - I keep waiting for someone to make a really good Classics-style Ravage since I wasn't happy with the actual Classics version...and BTS' attempt makes the official version look great by comparison. Yikes.
Art Feather Bumblebee - I could understand this not counting because this seems to qualify more as a KO. Either way, I was never enamored by the reshelling and would've preferred a totally original figure.