megatronus wrote:But (Hercules is) the only true, modern Devastator on the market, and for that I am thankful.
Um... did you forget the existence of Giant or something? Even if you don't like him, kind of hard to deny he's a Devastator homage, a more modern take on the characters, and on the market.
I'm trying desperately not to turn this into "Hercules vs. Giant Discussion #1864," so I'll avoid going into how awesome I think Giant is...

But to imply that Hercules is the
only recent take on Devastator is such a gross inaccuracy as to almost be laughable.
Anyway, back to the original poster's line of questioning... Are TFC Toys products worth it? Well, as far as personal experience, I only have one of their products to judge from. I have their first Gears of War set, because I really,
really wanted Inferno to have a ladder.

So much better!
That all being said, even though I loved the ladder, thought the Autoscout that came with the set was pretty cool, and liked some of the other bits and pieces included, I still feel that the set was somewhat overpriced for what it was.
And the build quality on some of the pieces seemed off. The ladder's plastic does have that "cheap" quality feel to it that many people seem to complain about with TFC toys, although on a supplemental ladder that seems a bit less worrisome then on a whole figure. And any of the chromed pieces seemed to have been sized without taking into consideration the slight extra thickness they would have once the chrome had been added. Thus, Inferno's new chromy hand thingie barely fits onto his fist, and none of the fireable missiles included for other figures are able to be fired. Heck, good luck if you even want to manually disassemble them, so it is best just to be very sure the first time when choosing the color combinations you want to go with and leaving them together forever.
Do I regret buying the Gear of War set? No. Yes, I think it should have been cheaper, but at the time I bought it I was a bit more flush with funds, and I did
really want a ladder for Inferno. Will I never buy TFC Toys again? Not necessarily. But nothing else they've done has really appealed to me all that much. Even before Giant became an option, I wasn't really liking (aesthetically or price-wise) what it looked like they were doing with Devastator.
Other combiners they've done since then seem to follow a similar aesthetic and price plan, and so I find myself with similar feelings towards purchasing (or rather,
not purchasing) them. (I suppose, aesthetically, their Superion's limb-bots weren't bad... but I think their Silverbolt looked like a mess.) Also, I continue to be unimpressed by their sets needing additional add-ons to achieve a less extremely revisionist look... I'll be most unsurprised when they announce one for their Defensor! I know for people who like the TFC aesthetic, this is not a problem. But I, for one, would rather not feel I am getting an incomplete product that I need to buy an additional set from TFC toys to fix, especially after already paying between $500 - $600 for the combiner in the first place!
If other companies give me combiners that I think look better, and the end products only set me back around $370? (Still a
lot of money in my opinion, but over $100 less is not an insignificant savings.) Well, I think I know where I'll be spending my money. I know TFC Toys has their fans, and if they can afford and enjoy TFC's products, then I wish them the best in their enjoyment of their hobby. But I'm still surprised TFC Toys manages to do as well as they do, and doesn't have more detractors.