amcgrath929 wrote:JRFitzpatrick7 wrote:Out of curiosity, do you guys who take jabs at iGear own any iGear products?
From the PP 01 series I've got:
Optimus Prime
Ultra Magnus
SG Optimus Prime
Nemesis Prime
Clear Optimus Prime
Gold Optimus Prime
Silver Optimus Prime
Are they scaled down MP Optimus Primes? Absolutely.
Does that bother me? Not one bit.
The quality control is amazing. Seriously. My favorite part you ask? The chest panels line up perfectly. Every one of my MP Optimus Primes have misaligned chest panels. They aren't weighed down with diecast, I can pose them however I want. They don't feel cheap, they feel like quality, tested and perfected transformers. This company, like KOToys, is producing figures for collectors who feel that Has Tak isnt giving them what they need.
The market doesn't want coneheads, it wants Bumblebees. Transformers fans who have been with the franchise since before the movies hit theaters are the customers iGear is selling to. No kid that jumped on in 2007 knows who Thrust, Dirge and Ramjet were. These figures are for guys like me. They fill a void in my collection, they do so perfectly.
I own the Kup replacement head and the IG-001Wreckers Leader upgrade for City Commander. Like you said, great quality and excellent pieces. But, that isn't really the debate that has been going on. It's not that iGear doesn't put out quality items, it's not that they fill "voids" left in people's collections, it is how they go about doing it. Had iGear created their own mold and used some originality for the MP seekers, most of the people that don't care for them wouldn't have a problem. Now there are some who don't want anything to do with 3rd party companies in general. Like Seibs himself said, in theory they are all "stealing" from HasTak and he is correct. Personally, I'll buy 3rd party items that are original and of good quality regardless of the manufactuer. IGear has proven they can make decent sets without having to con ideas. That is what they need to focus on.
Here's the thing though, i don't want a new seeker mold, I positively love the Takara mold, it really fantastic. I've enjoyes seeing it used in comics recently and i enjoy taking them down from my shelf to transform them. I want the MP-03 mold repainted as many times as are toon, comic, and everything else accurate. the problem is that Has Tak will never produce all of them. I will probably never see an official masterpiece Acidstorm, I won't see a Sunstorm either. I have supported Has Tak by purchasing every release of their masterpiece molds, some even twice (for display vs. MISB purposes). I have don my bit to give them the money, to buy the paint, to paint my new seeker. Instead, they produce Last chance Optimus. They produce King Grimlock. And how much more was King Grimlock than his original release? I gear has done something new with the seeker mold that eliminates the "scabards" from the figures, never really minded them myself, but this alteration to the mold allows poses for the seekers that would otherwise not be possible as well as a more cartoon accurate silhouette.
If anyone was wondering, i have MP-10 preordered...x2.
If and when Has Tak gets around to making my Sunstorm, Rainmakers, and Generics, I'll be there, front and center to buy them.
