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[Denyer]

Certainly helps the smaller Alternity figures... would be interesting to see if metal helped the MP designs, or more deluxes or voyagers, provided it was done in moderation and not like the Titaniums.

It works well in the Chinese KOs I've had/got with metal parts. Purely a subjective weight = satisfying for the most part, but it's obviously something Hasbro or Takara could do more of and relatively cost-effectively if it didn't affect shipping too much.

[Cliffjumper]

Works nicely on that AoE Hound KO I never shut up about. Probably got to be (close to all) or nothing to me, though - Takara's paint matching has alwatys been terrible and I'm not sure I'd be crazy about, say, MP Sideswipe having metal legs and not much else... The engineering of Binalt just lends itself to having that car shell that's nearly all diecast with plastic innards. The MPs tend to break up the car bodywork a bit more and quite often need thin plastic to really work.

[Denyer]

The same effect is doable with more dense and less hollow plastic if a design has anywhere to put it, but that's more a luxury had by 3P voyager and up figures or original series bricks like PM Prime.

I think waists/torsos and feet in some of the MP designs could benefit. Keep the centre of gravity lower than whole chest metal.

[Knightdramon]

For MP Sideswipe in particular, I think his collapsible spine and feet would be good places for die-cast content.

Glad to hear that Meister has arrived safely.

Die-cast in sensible places and in sensible quality makes a figure "feel" more premium. The Hot Toys die-cast releases are pretty spot-on and hefty.

Alternity would have had amazing figures if they had not focused that much on automorph gimmicks on such small and complex figures. In the end it hurt them instead of benefiting them, but the die-cast content was great. Too bad each figure progressively had less metal than the previous ones!

[Warcry]

You know, I've never understood the fandom's love affair with die-cast. It has a certain nostalgic allure, sure, but it also played a big role in the early G1 toys being so fragile and bricky. And that's on top of paint chipping and the problems we've seen matching paints between plastic and metal. I really think it's obsolete in modern toys aside from a few very specialized applications, like metal in the feet to lower the centre of gravity and improve balance on larger toys like Soundwave and Rodimus. I certainly think that stuff like MP Sideswipe or Prowl would be worse figures overall if all their car parts were a big chunk of metal like some fans seem to want. All that metal in the upper body would make them a nightmare to pose and handle.

But when it comes to the Alt/BT molds, I totally get it. If any Transformers deserved to have die-cast parts, it's those guys. With them being such slavishly-detailed vehicle models, it only feels right to have as much of their alt-modes as possible be made of painted metal to add to the authenticity. And most of them are too static for the extra weight to really hurt their poseability anyway. Though ironically, I say that as someone who's only ever owned the all-plastic ones...

[Denyer]

Smokescreen and Meister carry it pretty well. Hound's somewhat top heavy.

[Tetsuro]

You know, I've never understood the fandom's love affair with die-cast. It has a certain nostalgic allure, sure, but it also played a big role in the early G1 toys being so fragile and bricky. And that's on top of paint chipping and the problems we've seen matching paints between plastic and metal. I really think it's obsolete in modern toys aside from a few very specialized applications, like metal in the feet to lower the centre of gravity and improve balance on larger toys like Soundwave and Rodimus. I certainly think that stuff like MP Sideswipe or Prowl would be worse figures overall if all their car parts were a big chunk of metal like some fans seem to want. All that metal in the upper body would make them a nightmare to pose and handle.

Same, if there were to be any die cast in the MP line, it's better off in the lower body where it can serve a practical purpose; didn't people learn anything from MP-1? All that articulation rendered useless because the massive hunk of metal in the torso and too weak leg joints made it barely able to stand.

[Skyquake87]

I like the die-cast in the Binaltech line. It just works in those figures. The die-cast in the Alternity figures is sensibly placed, although I agree the needless auto-morphing and amount of tiny moving parts harms what could have been a stellar set of figures. The Convoy Super Black and Banzaitron figures are my favourites. I like the Megatron figure, with his swords and whatnot, but he is a bit of painful fiddle-fest. And you really have to watch out for those pointy lights (and I managed to break one last time I played with this. sad face).

I can't say as I miss die-cast from the regular retail stuff though. I do miss touches like translucent plastics, chromed parts and rubber tyres and, er, paint applications. Some of these things can be mitigated, but I can't say I care for how plain and unfinished a lot of mainline stuff now looks. Or worse, the 'half done' looking stuff where the front's all painted up and the back isn't. Somehow that's even worse, like it's been thought about, but not too hard. Plain colour and the prominence of boring grey plastic = unappealing toy, to my eye anyway.

[Warcry]

Smokescreen and Meister carry it pretty well. Hound's somewhat top heavy.

Hound is top-heavy in all plastic too, so it's not the die-cast causing problems in that case. My Alt Hound sags forward constantly even in a neutral standing pose. Or at least I think it does, I honestly haven't taken it out in seven or eight years beyond taking pics when I tried to sell it.

Same, if there were to be any die cast in the MP line, it's better off in the lower body where it can serve a practical purpose; didn't people learn anything from MP-1? All that articulation rendered useless because the massive hunk of metal in the torso and too weak leg joints made it barely able to stand.

Or MP Megatron for that matter, with his rust problems...

I can't say as I miss die-cast from the regular retail stuff though. I do miss touches like translucent plastics, chromed parts and rubber tyres and, er, paint applications. Some of these things can be mitigated, but I can't say I care for how plain and unfinished a lot of mainline stuff now looks. Or worse, the 'half done' looking stuff where the front's all painted up and the back isn't. Somehow that's even worse, like it's been thought about, but not too hard. Plain colour and the prominence of boring grey plastic = unappealing toy, to my eye anyway.

Rubber tires are nice for sure on something shiny and new, and a part of me wishes that the MP cars had them, but I can understand why some people don't like them. Most of my toys with rubber parts are fine, but I have had a few rot away on me, and it does ruin the figure when that happens. The same can be said for chrome and translucents, they're great when a figure is mint but they tend to decay pretty quickly too. I've got more than one BW figure with cracked translucent plastic or flaking chrome.

Paint, though, for sure. It's rare these days to find a figure that doesn't suffer from a serious lack of paint, and in the rare cases when you do it's usually because the mold layout let them get most of the colours they needed from the plastic. Even figures that I'm more-or-less happy with like CW Streetwise usually suffer from unpainted taillights or hubcaps.

[electro girl]

Thanks to some tips from Dalek I picked up over 100 Marvel UK comics for £75. Gonna get some reading done over Easter.

[HeavyArms]

Combiner Wars Leader Megatron - Bought from Toys'R'Us with a bit of a discount last week.

Combiner Wars
Blast Off
Vortex
Swindle
Brawl

Picked up earlier this week from K-Mart.

[Heinrad]

@ Dalek: So that's what that little gun is. I figured it was just a little blaster pistol. I gave it to Nightbeat.

Combiner Wars Ultra Magnus: having given up on finding one in the stores for a reasonable price(the not so local TRU had one, but a slightly higher price coupled with higher sales tax put me off), I went to Wal-Mart's website. I really like him, and you can almost picture the classic anime giant robot vibe going on with Minimus Ambus and his little pilot's compartment. It could use some paint or sticker apps, though.

[Tetsuro]

Or MP Megatron for that matter, with his rust problems...

That's the least of his problems if you ask me.

[numbat]

That's the least of his problems if you ask me.

As a man who's just taken it upon himself to spruce up his MP-5 Megatron, I certainly agree...

Not that it's actually rust anyway - just tarnishing. I managed to get a lot of shine back on Megatron's feet scrubbing with 100% isopropanol.

Removing the aftermarket orange plug that Epic Heroes added without prior warning was more problematic - they had well-and-truly glued that thing on, and it expanded as it went down the barrel so took some effort to remove, but now there's barely a sign of it (just the odd rough bit of glue way down inside the barrel which will never be visible so I amn't bothering myself to remove further - all orange gone).

(Roughly around: http://tfarchive.com/community/showthre ... post757149)

Now I need to work out what to do about his flimsy waist connections and weak arm joints so he can hold his cannon properly...

[Warcry]

Just sent payment for my MP Shockwave. Pretty much going to be bouncing up and down in excitement like a kid on Christmas Eve until he arrives, now.

[Brendocon 2.0]

MMC's Grandus/Greatshot gone doned turned up. It's... er. Well it's Hexatron reworked to be a character I have zero attachment to. It'll do to pad out the Cybertron side of the inevitable Victory shelf.

Also took the opportunity to pick up MakeToys version of Hardhead. He's bulky. Some proper heft to him. Still fiddling about with him, haven't transformed him yet. Range of movement is limited somewhat by a panel over his arse. Joint tolerances are a bit all over the place - loose elbows, tight knees. Shoulder cannon's really floppy and doesn't want to peg in properly. I think the range of head movement on Cupola was better.

Really like the soft plastic they've used on the tank treads, which actually roll so that's awesome.

Also some form of TakaraTomy accessory. Gold chrome shoulder-mounted cannons of some variety. Not a clue. Yay freebies.

[Ryan F]

Got the first two G2 Combiner Wars sets last week, so my CW/UW collection is complete for the time being, at least until the next set gets released. If any of you guys are on TFW2005 you may have seen these pics already.

[Clay]

Is there an echo in those pictures? lol

[Warcry]

Combiner Wars Brawl and Swindle got delivered yesterday. And holy hell is Brawl a piece of crap! It's not just the floppy waist that everyone talks about, either, although that is frustrating. But the shoulders are a mess too, his forearms disappear if you bend his elbows and nothing fits together in alt-mode. He's also the least-convincing tank ever, with a turret that doesn't move, treads that get broken up by his transformation and a giant mass of hollow bits on the rear.

I knew from the reviews I've seen that he wasn't great, but as an individual figure he's basically useless for anything beyond standing on a shelf in a static pose. Easily the worst Combiner Wars figure I've handled so far, and likely to be demoted to permanent limb duty in the future.

Swindle is absolutely great, though! Basically the opposite of Brawl in every way. He's a big, solid, chunky Deluxe with good articulation, a unique look and an inventive transformation that still clicks together solidly with minimal frustration (he basically transforms backwards from what I expected, but once the parts start moving the placement is obvious). I think he edges out the Dead End/Streetwise mold as my favourite CW toy, and honestly it's been years since I've liked a Deluxe this much -- he certainly beats out all the FoC, 30th and CW figures I've owned, so I'd probably be looking back as far as FE Prime Starscream to find something I liked as much. It actually reminds me of how good the size class used to be.

It's not a perfect figure, though. If I had to look for gripes, I'd complain right away about how they didn't paint-match his feet/bumper to the rest of the alt-mode properly, and how his hands are blatantly visible through his roll cage. He could probably use a splash of silver paint in a few places to highlight all the greebles on his vehicle mode, too.

[Clay]

If I had to look for gripes, I'd complain right away about how

Would worry about you if you didn't

Sad day about Brawl, though.