Came to notice that pretty huge G1 main autobot characters
such as jazz, cliffjumper, mirage, blaster aren't released yet
neither by Takara nor Fans Toys...


What i've heard so far is that best MP scaled figures for those characters are

• Jazz - Make toys Downbeat
• Blaster - KFC Telecaster
• Mirage - MMC Ocular Max Sphinx
• Cliffjumper - MMC Ocular Max Hellion

There's nothing revealed about the Fans Toys version of these characters besides the 3D modelings..
but do you guys think Fans Toys will outdo every one of these characters
compared to the other 3rd party manufacturers?


The reason why i'm asking is that the figures listed above are now selling at a pretty high price these days....
and also extremely hard to find in the market...

What do you think would be the best choice here?
1) overpay and go with the listed figures
2) just wait for the Fans Toys versions.....?

 

None of them are worth paying a big late tax on, I'd recommend just waiting.

I own all of them, of the 4 downbeat and sphinx are easily worth their retail prices, hellion is an ambitious but deeply flawed figure, telecaster looks good but is very cheaply made.

 

I suggest you to be open to the posibility to buy from other companies as well, not just those two.

Not necesarelly. There are other companies that are as good or better than Fanstoys. FT strong points are sculpt and paint. Build quality is good, but not better than other companies. Their bots are heavier than usual, that makes some people to believe that their figures are of better quality than the competition, which isn't always the case.

Wait for whatever version from any company you consider to be the best and that it is also affordable. If the figure comes from FT then that is fine, if not I think it's fine too.

 

Worth the wait? Yes. Keep in mind the wait will be a long one.

 

For mirage transform element is making one that will most likely be out before the end of the year, and honestly it looks more MP than FT’s at this point. For Jazz I honestly think there have been enough that waiting for FT’s is pointless.

 

How long are you willing to wait? Because those figures are all 3-5 years away at best.

Personally, the only Fanstoys figure I'm waiting for is Tesla 2.0, and that's only because Tesla 1.0 apparently self destructs over time and yet still sells for outrageous prices.

 

FT isn't worth waiting for in my opinion. The KFC blaster is nice ere, downbeat as well. I have mmc sphinx and will prob swap out for the TE version. Cliffjumper needs a new figure. I own the XTB one and it looks dumb anywhere near bumblebee 2.0. FT is solidly built and look pretty, but I've come to discover that they tend to lack in posability and offen times are unnecessarily heavy. I was so disappointed with the FT arielbots when I got them because of their lack of posability

 

I went looking for Sphinx some time ago and was surprised how bare eBay was. I think that says more about how irrelevant eBay is than how rare 3P toys are.

That said, I'd probably wait for FT if I was comfortable waiting 2-3 years. Downbeat is great but I wouldn't pay $200. That's the problem with the aftermarket. Everything is super expensive because so many sleep through reissue after reissue. I tried to sell toys for a few years and I seriously moved _more_ stock at aftermarket prices than retail. Collectors just aren't interested until supply runs low and smarter businesspeople than me have figured that out. Production runs seem smaller and I would not be surprised if half the "aftermarket" listings are carefully controlled backstock.

Anyway, FT rarely disappoints so they're a safe bet. Do not sleep though their releases though or you will pay through the nose.

I will be all-in on FT's minibots. Their deluxe cars will depend on how likely it looks that they'll keep up with regular releases. For years they only had Hound and an abandoned Trailbreaker prototype. That's why I have Downbeat, Lorry, Toro, etc.

 

Yeah man Downbeat and Sphinx aren’t going anywhere. Glad I got all the carbots that I want already made so I don’t have to worry about it

 

If you are willing to wait, I'd wait. After market prices on existing figures are through the roof, and while many people like them there are plenty who are waiting for better options. I don't think Downbeat or Sphinx look all that great, to be frank, and I skipped them both in the hopes of something better coming along. I do like the look of Transform Element's Mirage, so that is certainly an option I'll consider depending on reviews and such. But it will be hard to make that decision when I know FTs has a figure coming out, even if it's a few years later.

There is a tendency among collectors in our fandom to grab anything that comes along simply because it's the only option, and then to try to justify their decision in the face of new alternatives. Downbeat and Sphinx are probably great figures, but they didn't do it for me personally. I skipped them because I try to avoid what I consider place-holders. I'm sure Takara or Fans Toys or Transform Element will release figures that feel better to me aesthetically. I replace figures once in a while when something is clearly better, but ultimately I try to get a character once.

If you like what is available now and are willing to pay for them, then get them. If you prefer the look of Transform Element or Fans Toys and can wait, then wait. If you don't like any of them then my recommendation is to wait even longer. Someone will eventually make the figure that you like and that does it for you. But get what you like, not what is available now simply because it's available.

 

I have the others you listed but I went with XTransbots Toro for CJ instead of Hellion due to his stubby feet, less-than-premium finish, and possible breakages.

They're all fine stand-ins but FT's will probably surpass them all for shelf presence and G1 Toon accuracy.

Recommend you wait either way and not over-pay for any of the stand-ins today. When FT's are closer to reality, you'll see the stand-ins come down in price significantly as people sell them to replace with FT's versions and you'll also have a better idea of what FT's will look like in physical form, so you can make the best decision for the least price premium.

 

Take a good look at the images that have been released so far, compare them to the versions already available, ask yourself which one looks better.
Buy that one.
No point in getting something now if you prefer the Fanstoys version
No point in waiting for the Fanstoys if you prefer one of the current offerings.
Personally, I’ll be looking at getting Cliffjumper and Blaster, keeping an eye on Mirage to see how it looks as they progress and keeping with Downbeat for Jazz, but that’s just personal preference

 

They're going to be nice if they get to production and you like FT's style. That said, it's going to be a LONG wait. A long, long wait. Ask people who are still waiting for their FT's Trailbreaker and skipped the other 3 options or a Blitzwing and skipped the other 2 options.

Not faulting them but they have a lot of their plate and with everything going on right now, who knows when any of these might see the light of day.

 

Well said, where have you been hiding by the way?

 

Haha, I've been around. Just posting less, I guess. I still keep up and read threads for figures that interest me.

 

There isn’t an exceptional Mirage or Cliffjumper, so the odds that FT’s surpasses them are very high. Here that speculation is valid. Those would be worth waiting for.

Jazz and Blaster have objectively great figures available by all interpretations of existing reviews, so it’s simply personal, subjective preference for FT product that declares a FT version likely to be better. For these, it’s simply a matter of do you want to wait for them, but you can’t go wrong with the KFC Blaster or Maketoys Jazz.

 

If you have another hundred years to wait, sure... go ahead and do that.

 

If swapping out bothers you, yes

if you don’t mind upgrading, no

 

Apparently there is a new, very limited version of Downbeat available for sale:

MRTM-09R Downbeat Premium Version Limited Edition | Make Toys | TFSource

So if you like that you can get it now. As I mentioned above I'm not really a fan of the figure's aesthetics, but that's just my personal preference.

 

Worth mentioning that MT is doing a "Premium" reissue of their Jazz, if you don't feel like waiting.

What I think it really comes down to is how you feel about FT. If you're one of those people who think paint and weight make up for any other flaws and everything FT releases is gonna then you might as well wait. Me personally, I think FT's really hit-or-miss with their engineering, and if the existing figures you mention (all of which I own) there only ones I'm particularly interested in upgrading are Cliffjumper and Blaster.