Ironhidensh wrote:This makes Hasbro's look like a one step changer. I don't care about the "i's not fair to compare Hasbro and 3rd party" nonsense. The fact is, 3rd party is out there, abd I can't set awesome aside and settle for decent. Maybe it's just a problem with me.
No, not at all. Its your opinion. I look at things a bit differently though. I have 3p toys too but I actually do not like them as much as my Hasbro toys. While they do feel meetier, they also lack elegance. Especially in the transformation. There are many instances where it seems they are adding elements as they go along in a toy's process. They find that there is a hole somewhere so they add an extra small (and easy breakable) tab or panel instead of going back to the drawing board and seeing if they could integrate that elsewhere. The best example would be the small metallic pieces dangling besides Appolyon's legs. That reeks of being added later (which we can tell from the lack of them in preliminary shots). I dont like that approach, it makes for a messy transformation. What Takara does instead is make the transformation more fun. They give you a very detailed and great looking robot without the needlessly complex transformation. I am all for complexity and I love it, but I dont like when it is clumsy. Another example of how 3p can be unelegant is how tney handle cybertronian animals. I own 3p tfs of cybertronian animals (Feral rex) and in all of them, the animal legs end up being stuck to the sides (ala G1) and they end up looking puny (like in G1). Instead by turning the animal leg into the robot leg (like in beast wars), you get this elegant and sleek robot.
Of course it would be fun if these were less hallow, but that isnt too differnt from G1. The forearms in TFs were always hollow but instead of the fist folding into the arm (hence why we see a big empty space), you'd have a sliding mechanism like on G1 Gnaw. I actually dont like those because when posing and playing the fist goes back inside sometimes (Happens all the time with G1 Divebomb). And those litle tabs look just as off to me as an empty spot.
Anyways, I just meant to say that I see hwere you are coming from but I find simplicity just as hard to pull off at complexity when the idea is to get from one functional mode to the next. I also value a fun transformation that wont frustrate me. The MP line is great at that even when they add complexity, but many 3ps arent as slick. Also, I get really ticked off when I buy 3rd party and then the next year another company makes that character again a bit differently. Its a game I hate to play. I dont bust my balls as much with Takara and Hasbro.