He’s a cracking figure, this one. I think in terms of value-per-pound, Perfect Effect PC-16 is a little over-priced (especially if you hook him up with the even more over-priced PC-15 expansion, which I have done). There’s definitely a lot of thin plastic going on. But as a standalone Voyager-sized Optimus he’s terrific, and he definitely works wonderfully with Takara Legends Ginrai (or Hasbro Titans Return Powermaster Prime).
I forget who said to me that KFC Kingzilla is ‘very KFC’. But yeah, they’re right. I think it’s to do with the sparse paint, unnecessary heaviness, peculiar ratchets and the mix of stiff and loose joints. The swirly grey plastic ain’t great. Decent transformation, though (which should never be underestimated with a 3P) and the jet mode is a big slab of niceness. The whole thing feels solid.
I don’t have much room on the shelf for non-Tranformers: The Movie MP stuff now so this guy has gotta hit big to land a spot. It’s too early to say yet. But how can you not love that dino mode?
To Canada. With my girls. It was terrific, but the jet leg has RUINED me. It seems I can no longer brush it off as I once did when I was a nipper. I’ll upload some pics when I’ve been through them. Here’s a taster, though – our hotel view at Lake Louise:
In more frivolous matters, however, what bots arrived in the post in my absence?
Right, Fanstoys Spindrift, or Masterpiece Seaspray, if you will. Out of the box I’d say the bot really impresses. Very sturdy and hefty, with good posing. I’m impressed. That transformation though feels far fiddlier than it needed to be, as if the torso section has simply just been over-engineered a tad. And the alt is OK, but not sensational. The arms, torso and legs don’t quite line up perfectly leaving everything looking just ever so slightly wonky. Can’t say the head at the rear bothers me, though, unlike some others.
It maybe feels like a bit of a nearly but not quite in all areas except the bot, which is definitely a winner at least. And I’m definitely enjoying him a lot.
I have now fiddled with my birthday bots. I’m a lucky boy. (Fanshobby Gunfighter was actually a purchase, but as he turned up on my birthday, he felt present-y.) My knee-jerk not-influenced-by-the-fact-that-these-are-warmly-appreciated-gifts assessments:
On a side note, I’ve now handled Badcube and MMC Trailbreaker, and Badcube and XTB Hoist. They all have pros and cons but none of them nail it. I think I preferred MMC Trailbreaker and, astonishingly, I’d probably go for XTB for Hoist (as fucked as parts of the design are). But all of them will go the moment Takara announces theirs.
Maz very kindly invited me to contribute to another fine piece of his on the TF Source blog.
This was a bit of a spur-of-the-moment pre-order from a while back that come release day I wasn’t hugely excited about, if I’m honest. But I’m enjoying him a lot in hand. There are some peculiar design elements – very few ratchets, slightly unusual plastic (feels like DX9, but thinner). The transformation has a little more panel forming than I’d like, too, and as a result is a bit fiddly (although nowhere near, say, Toyworld Primorion levels). But he tidies up very nicely in both modes. The light-up eyes are great (although dead looking when off or in bright light) and he’s got a lot of character.
Thinking of buying something from Toyworld? I like some of their stuff, so I don’t blame you, but make sure you go into it with your eyes open…
ben parfitt 