Unique Toys Warlord (Not Predaking)

Finally, managed to put the not predacons together into Warlord, not Predaking.

Final build looks good. back with the wings are somewhat heavier so it tends to lean backwards.

Legs are bait wobbly, because of the looseness on the legs of Sharpclaw. The Rhino and Bull is ok.

The process of building it sucks…especially on Sharpclaw himself.

The instructions are unclear on how to mount crotch plates and the abdomen piece in the combined mode. The crocth plates with the yellow side panels are supposed to be mounted onto the waist from the back, then the abdomen piece from the front…i ended up breaking the rear crotch plate. Have to glue it back.

Violence (Not Rampage) in the combined mode is blocking the Warlord wings, the wings have to be pushed back….As like any 3rd party gestalt, the legs cannot come together, the bots at the legs will hinder each other.

mugshot..

Here's a comparison with TFC's Hercules (Not Devastator)

The plastic is somewhat of a lower quality. Gives me a feeling that it is very brittle and breaks easily. (I already broke the crotch piece…) Compared to Hercules, i feel this is more like a display piece. Hercules on the other hand, i can safely pass it to my five year old kid to play with.

This is one piece going straight into the display and all boxes discarded.

Don't think i would take it out to play and transform into the individual bots for fear of some tabs breaking. The combiner joints and the tabs holding the gestalt in position are a tad too tight for me.

Snug is nice, but too tight takes away the fun of fidgeting with the toy…there is more fear than fun.

Unique Toys Sharkies (Not Gnaw)

These came today, together with other unique toys stuffs. the not gnaw, Sharkies.

Came in a set of 3 pieces. if one wants to do a display with the sharkticons versus a MP Grimlock, this is the set to get. Generally, i find UT stuffs losing out on quality of their products, but they seem up bail themselves out with this set.

The box art….

Then the back of the box.

some art at the sides...

the 3 musketeers...

Since they came in 3 pieces, easy to display and show both modes…

transformation is not difficult….

Individual alternate sharkticon mode…look at those gold, protruding reflective eyes….evil lurks...

Bot mode.

Compared to his G1 brother, a lot smaller...

one bad thing (maybe not so bad) about these sharks are, that the horns in the alternate mode drops easily. Before you think too much, it doesn't just drop when you invert the toy. It's snug but if there is a push here and there, it'll drop off. I had it dropped off once each when i handled it for 2 pieces….so not that bad, just thought i'd mention...

Like this set very much. Though smaller than the G1 version, it looks more fiercer with the sharp teeth and all….and those gold reflective eyes make it look really evil and hungry. One of the few UT stuffs i would recommend to get. iGear is also coming out with their own not sharkticon, we'll see by then.

Unique Toys Sharpclaw (Not Razorclaw)

Just gotta hold of the last piece of Unique Toys not predacons, Sharpclaw (not Razorclaw)…just had enough time to transform the bot to alternate lion mode…combined Warlord (not Predaking) form in abit….

The box, bigger than the normal not predacons…why?

Because it had to house the wings of Warlord, the combined form. The difference from G1 is that Predaking uses the wings from Divebomb….Here, there is a set of separate and bigger wings…the crotch piece is a bigger piece which adds mass to the abdomen area as well..

The poster that came together with Sharpclaw…not too bad i should say…there's abit glimpse of IDW artwork there...

 Sharpclaw in bot mode.

Alternate Lion mode.

The quality so far for this piece is not exactly good. The first, Warhawk (not Divebomb), was really bad. The subsequent warlord releases actually picked up in terms of quality. The box, the toy everything improved. BUT, for this last piece, the quality seems to drop…not as bad as Warhawk, but it has taken a step back, playing with it for awhile, it feels like i'm playing with a K.O…some loose joints, legs that cannot be aligned are some issues i see on my piece..

Still i'm excited about the combined form. Stay tuned!

Some Acquistiions and IDW Trailcutter

Some recent acquisitions from a local seller.

IDW Trailcutter, ehobby Tigertracks, Million Publishing 2013 magazine, Ultraman Ace (my favorite ultraman since childhood!), Unique Toys Ironhead (not Headstrong) and Savagebull (not Tantrum).

Quite a few stuffs to talk about, i'll start with the simplest (in my terms), Trailcutter.

A deluxe size figure that comes along with an IDW comic. The cover of the comic serves as the Artwork for the card. in other words the card is plain. Didn't take a photo of the card though.

Instruction sheet is huge, unlike the usual deluxe figure tiny sheets where you have to strain your eyes. This one here, you can use the instruction sheet comfortably.

Some random pages of the comic.

Alternate car (SUV) mode. Somehow, i still miss those rubber wheels from G1 cars. Without rubber, cars nowadays can't roll half as well as their G1 counterparts. Ha! Newer and younger doesn't mean you're better! G1s are like more than 30 years now!

Light piping works well, when the head is not looking straight. When straight, the light is actually blocked by the launcher behind....what a pity.

Bot mode. Overall build is quite okay. I find the shoulders a tat too broad, but not a big complaint. G1 resemblance? Yes. See how the light is blocked from the light piping when the head is straight?

The rear canopy of the SUV is used as a battle shield for the bot mode. 

Overall, the figure is cool. Nice transformation. I like it. Nice toy to play with, nice toy for display.

As a handsome G1 face. Hasbro/TakaraTomy probably didn't think that light piping would be much of a concern...but they are wrong. If there's light piping light should be allowed to go through.

Hey, nothing's PERFECT!

3rd Party Unique Toys UT-W01 War Hawk (Not Divebomb)

3rd party Unique Toys War Hawk (Not DiveBomb)

Will form Warlord (Not Predaking) with his 4 other beast friends.

Let's look at what Unique toys has to offer...

The box is not exactly TakaraTomy or even some of the better 3rd party boxes.

Spelling errors all over the box.

Overall feel of the box is like a cheap K.O

The photo print at the side of the box is of a low resolution.

Back of the box...don't really know what the words are saying: " No member of the war hawk has struggled with a sense of identity quite like war hawk."  ???

Artwork spans from the front to the side. Art work is nice but the printing disappoints.

The Bio card. Card is of lower quality.

Instruction cum comic booklet.

a 4 page comic...3.5 to be exact.

Transformation is very easy. How difficult can it get when there only 5 steps for each mode?

War Lord's (not Predaking) left fist/hand...

The sword for the bird man...

 Now, for the bot...Articulation at the shoulders, elbows, waist, knees and feet. "Feathers" on the wings can be spread open.

Head sculpt is rather clean.

Not much details on this piece.

CHUG fists...no open fists/hands.

Alternate Hawk mode.

The talons.

A closer look at the hawk's head.

Beak can open/close.

Like i mentioned earlier, feathers can spread open.

War Lord's left arm.

The connector that fits into Not Razorclaw.

The design is not bad but i have to comment on the box etc.

Printing is poor. The plastic used for War Hawk is crappy. the figure feels very light, probably some cheapo plastic. Of coz we welcome the articulation. This is fighting directly with MMC's version of Predaking. Is this better or MMC? I'll wait til all 5 figure are out than decide. We have to see Not Predaking first!!