Anyone who has been collecting Classics figures knows we need more minibots, Hasbro just hasn't delivered the goods in this department. For those not in the know the minibots were small basic figures that were easy to transform released during the original Generation One run. Despite this they included some of the most important characters in the franchise including Brawn, Cliffjumper and Bumblebee. If there was ever an opportunity for Third-Party companies to fill an opening it is this one. And so far Maketoys and IGear have delivered nicely even if there is a bit of overlap.
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| Stab some Decepticreeps with that harpoon! |
Oddly both of these companies produced Seaspray updates at almost the exact same time. It is kinda like when you went to see Deep Impact in the theaters and then three months later Armageddon came out. Since then how many asteroid disaster movies have we had? Why can't they just space them out a bit more, but I digress. Personally I like IGear's Seaspray better and that is the one that I'm showing here. Maketoys must have realized they wouldn't be able to sell their Seaspray once IGear's came out so they packaged him with Powerglide to make customers buy both at the same time. Regardless all three of these guys do an excellent job updating their G1 forms. I especially like Huffer. I know there is no way we'll ever see a new Huffer toy because Hasbro probably thinks people might confuse him with Optimus Prime since, ya know, kids are stupid and whatnot (end sarcasm).
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| They finally gave Huffer a weapon other than his mouth. |
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| A lot of people say the head is too big for the body and I tend to agree. But it is better than Hasbro's ultra sized version. |
I'm not sure if Maketoys is planning any other figures, but IGear has Brawn, Cosmos and my personal favorite, Gears (!!) in the works. Although I probably won't be happy until we get Tailgate and Outback.
The head on Maketoys' "Powerglide" doesn't look any bigger than the G1 version so why the hub-bub?
ReplyDeleteI think it is more the tiny legs and large arms that tend to emphasize the head unnecessarily thus making it appear larger than it is. I wouldn't mind the head if his bottom half was a little more substantial.
DeleteHow are the quality for these? I generally tend to stay away from iGear stuff due to the shoddy quality. They are pretty expensive for what they are too at about $30
ReplyDeleteThe quality is pretty good, I would say right at or just barely below a standard Hasbro or Takara figure. Powerglide's quality is a little weaker than the others but that is probably because he is from Maketoys. But it isn't a lot, I'm being really nitpicky about it. Huffer and Seaspray were only $15 each on preorder I think, I don't know what they are now; but I do know the new ones from Igear are about twice the price.
DeleteThanks for the info dude. I'm still on the fence with these since they are now around the $30 mark on TF Source at least. And even though they are made in China, very little shops here are actually interested in stocking them (well, iGear stuff at least).
DeleteAnother question - is the quality comparable or better than a FansProject piece?
I would say it is comparable to Fansproject, very close if not exactly the same.
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