The Energon Pub

I'm not really a "shelf" kinda guy. I like to pull my figures down, transform 'em, and pose 'em pretty frequently. I don't worry so much about my Hasbro figures because, face it, most of 'em were $15-$20 and it's not a big deal.

If I start down the road of plunking down $75-$130 a figure, which of them do you guys think put up with the indignities of actually being handled frequently?

I thought the Herc set was excellent in this arena. Superion seems to be pretty solid as well, but as they are planes, there are a few more panels etc.

I got the components of Herc as they came out, so the early ones got transformed a lot as the next members of the set showed up. I'd go from alt to bot to some combined form several times before the latest one arrived at my doorstep. All that playability was one of the things I LOVED about collecting that set.

I also find the Toyworld stuff holds up very well to transformation. Hegemon maybe less so, his transform is a bit fiddly and there are some panels that like to pop off, but that is the nature of Megatron's gun form. The throttlebots & headmasters are as solid as anything. I keep them to the front of my collection to mess with. Honestly, every one of their figures that comes out I WISH was a Hasbro release. They fit perfectly with CHUG figures and designs.

Some items from MMC tend to be more like museum pieces. This is not true for the Predaking set, but VERY true for the Hearts of Steel stuff. Their HoS figures are like Faberge eggs; yes they move, but they are expensive & gorgeous, and you worry you might damage any of the fine, detailed craftsmanship.

I feel FP falls somewhere in the middle. A lot like some of the movie transformers, there can be a lot of moving parts that can be tough to line up exactly right, but still pretty solid overall.

Hope this helps!

Happy shopping.

TFC figures are playable, but Herc needs that hip fix. Bovis was pretty sturdy. I have FP's Code and also found him very playable as well.

The Mech Ideas Apex and Geminus are great to fiddle with because the are well built and not too complex or delicate. FP Munitioner is also one of my favorites for the same reason. Explorer is a bit more delicate with the thin wings, but still really fun to play with.

FP Warbot Defender (Springer). I still fiddle with it from time to time.

MT Green Giant is a lot of fun to play with. Either gestalt mode or individuals.

MMC Hexatron of course. Just don't think anything of him will easily break.

FP Bruticus upgrade and FP Superion upgrade are pretty much display pieces now. Don't touch them often, especially Bruticus due to his quality issue concerns.

To add to the previous statements, the FP Insecticons are not only cool to look at, but incredibly fun. They feature loads of articulation, their transformations are fun, and they come with great accessories.

paul053 wrote:
FP Warbot Defender (Springer). I still fiddle with it from time to time.

MT Green Giant is a lot of fun to play with. Either gestalt mode or individuals.

MMC Hexatron of course. Just don't think anything of him will easily break.

That's pretty interesting as I have all of these and do not Touch them much.. Defender's Knees gave out after a few transformations and can no longer stand I just leave him in one of his ALT modes. Green Giant I've yet to taken him out of Gestalt mode. And I've only put Hexatron in 4 out of his 6 modes...

I find the FP Stunticons fun to pose and Transform (with a few annoying/scary steps)

I am a huge sucker for combiners but I really don't want blow $500 on something I can't use regularly. I love the aesthetics of the MMC stuff (esp not-Predaking and Hexatron) and FP (not-Stunticons). I like TFC's not-Superion but he's looking kinda dated at this point, what with only 2-3 of those planes actually seeing active duty any more... I like how FP chose new cars... At least one of the not-Aerialbots shoulda been updated to an F-22 or something...

Dead Metal wrote:To add to the previous statements, the FP Insecticons are not only cool to look at, but incredibly fun. They feature loads of articulation, their transformations are fun, and they come with great accessories.

I especially like the Deluxe versions.
As far as playbility goes i've been having fun with my Quakewave.

Perfect-effect not Reflector

Igear Hench and Igear Rager.

I don't disagree with what has already been said. Here's my top 10 3rd party playability pieces/sets.

10. Not-reflector. Sure, he's small, but he's a LOT of fun. I'd love to see an up-scaled version. I have a pic of Unicron taking a picture of Primus using these guys. I wanted to make a photo comic, but I thought it might be a little risque for here. U: "Crystal city is causing glare. Can you just slip it off?" P: "That's what you said about Iacon. Pretty soon I won't have any cities on..."

9. FP Superion set. Are we counting add-ons? I'm counting add-ons. I love how Silverbolt looks with the combiner feet on his wings.

8. Herc. This should be 8 through 3, I guess... He looks good taking on Encore G1 Omega in my display. But I had a lot of fun as the pieces came in.

7. FP Insecticons. I love the Ninja idea. I don't know why. It is very neo for even my classics ideas.

6. FP Broadside. Mmmmm...Macross yumminess.

5. Hexatron. I have done all of the modes, and the hardest thing is that I think he looks so awesome each mode that I find it hard to switch to another. He spends so little in gun mode, but the rest are fun to switch between. I can almost do it now without referencing the instructions. Okay, not really...

4. Bovis. He. Is. Just. Awesome!

3. Topspin and Twintwist. These guys shocked me with their playability. Really, it's tough to pick 2, 3, and 4!

2. Hardbone. Lots and lots of fun. Plus, I can't help but be a 7th grader and snicker every time I say/read his name.

1. FP Code. I love this figure and have done tons with him. I have to put him away at times or I just continue to fiddle and fiddle. I need to go to work to support this plastic crack habit. (Quad U kinda goes here too, but Code is more fun!)

Honerable mentions, City Commander and Protector. They are at the back of my display right now and I haven't played with them in a while. But I liked to fiddle with them in the past. Also, MakeToys Battle Tanker is almost as good.

The future? I am so looking forward to finishing Feral Rex. And in a week and a half or so, I will finally get Chaos/Paladin in hand. Woot!

Apex & Geminus are my absolute favorite 3rd party items. Full of articulation and detail, highy posable, solid, in scale (well, sort of) with other available Wreckers and with a really fair price.



Maketoys' take on Nova Prime and The Fallen are amazing too, just not THAT playable in my opinion. Perhaps they just feel a bit more like you can break them or something. But they look SOOOO nice



Also, while KFC's Micro Robo (not-Magnificus) may feature a simplistic transformation, the robot mode is absolutely kibble-free and amazingly articulated and posable. So, while I'm quite happy with my Takara Perceptor, KFC's effort looks great among my decepticons

mooncake623 wrote:

paul053 wrote:
FP Warbot Defender (Springer). I still fiddle with it from time to time.

MT Green Giant is a lot of fun to play with. Either gestalt mode or individuals.

MMC Hexatron of course. Just don't think anything of him will easily break.

That's pretty interesting as I have all of these and do not Touch them much.. Defender's Knees gave out after a few transformations and can no longer stand I just leave him in one of his ALT modes. Green Giant I've yet to taken him out of Gestalt mode. And I've only put Hexatron in 4 out of his 6 modes...

I find the FP Stunticons fun to pose and Transform (with a few annoying/scary steps)

My Defender couldn't stand the first day I got him. So I made him a pair of heels and he is perfectly fine wearing them. His knees aren't very tight but still tight enough to be able to hold the weight of his body. Hexatron.... Oh, you should really try them all. I even invented a 7th mode.

paul053 wrote:

mooncake623 wrote:

paul053 wrote:
FP Warbot Defender (Springer). I still fiddle with it from time to time.

MT Green Giant is a lot of fun to play with. Either gestalt mode or individuals.

MMC Hexatron of course. Just don't think anything of him will easily break.

That's pretty interesting as I have all of these and do not Touch them much.. Defender's Knees gave out after a few transformations and can no longer stand I just leave him in one of his ALT modes. Green Giant I've yet to taken him out of Gestalt mode. And I've only put Hexatron in 4 out of his 6 modes...

I find the FP Stunticons fun to pose and Transform (with a few annoying/scary steps)

My Defender couldn't stand the first day I got him. So I made him a pair of heels and he is perfectly fine wearing them. His knees aren't very tight but still tight enough to be able to hold the weight of his body. Hexatron.... Oh, you should really try them all. I even invented a 7th mode.

I will definitely mess with Hexatron again. Just that the desire isn't there. all those modes are makes the idea of taking him from his display a daunting task.

I agree with synapse about MakeToys Chaos/Paladin. So much stuff you can do!

Igear PP05W (weapon specialist) is great, sturdy, and comes with tons of accessories (he's like a GI Joe Crossover all on his own)
Igear rager
ToyWorld.jp TW02 Orion
MMC Knight Morpher Commander

Art Feather Bee I like the look of but he feels delicate
Hench and Duneraker do too. UFO kind of has one pose for me

warzon3 wrote:Perfect-effect not Reflector

Igear Hench and Igear Rager.

Definitely! great value for money and lots of fun too. FP's Insecticons have a lot going on too.

I have to agree with what someone else said about the FansProject deluxe Insecticons. They are loads of fun to play with and are charmingly garish. Most other FansProject figures I don't particularly enjoy, down to their propensity to build in flaws which ham-fisted people like me have a tendency to exploit. My UT Sharkies are good fun. I also luuurve my Giant.

That iGear weapon specialist figure looks awesome! Too bad he's out of stock everywhere.

The Hexatron toy seems like it's strong enough & durable to handle the stress of constant transformation The Six easy to transform modes increases the extreme playabilty of this toy.