mtma wrote:So, I was watching some video review of Third-Party combiners and the Combiner Wars guys in order to make some comparisons. My main focus was the Fansproject M3 (I think that's the name) and CW Menasor, which is probably my favorite so far.
I must admit, the quality and level of detail on the FP guy is amazing. And also it is very faithful to the G1 Menasor, which, for some people, is an instant buy. For me, these factors do justify the higher price.
However, there were some things that didn't quite make it to me. One of them is the fact that the leg components are simply attached to the existing legs, made from separate parts that were from the torso guy. I like that combiners actually have their limbs made from the components, and not them as armor over existing limbs. Also the number of "partsforming" that goes into the torso...
However, my biggest gripe was the time. It took most reviews so long to put it all together, and so many small parts, and unnecessary movements. It just seemed that the toy was a bit over engineered.
Now, looking as a collector who likes to show my collection to my friends and family. I'd much prefer the Hasbro Menasor, which I can put together and transform the individual bots in a few minutes and a few easy movements; than a ROTF Prime level bot for each limb of the combiner, if only losing a little bit more articulation and more detail.
This is my opinion, of course, and I don't see anything wrong with people that prefer 3P
That's essentially my thought as well. The 3P stuff works well as novelty and display items. They look fantastic, they have great articulation, and they're engineered to perfection. But that makes them extremely complicated for their often small size. I've seen several people confess that they'd love to fiddle with their M3 more but they just don't want to take the time to disassemble him and transform all the individual parts. Meanwhile, the Hasbro toys are
toys first and foremost. They've got decent articulation, simple but effective transformations, and they're affordable. Plus they can make either an arm or a leg and they can attach to other torso robots freely, which is something that most of the 3P combiners can't boast. Hasbro's products are toys for children to play with and have fun, which is what Transformers has always been, while the 3P products are collector-oriented. I don't mind people that like 3P output, but I do have a problem with people that claim Hasbro is terrible and that they should just hire all the engineers and designers that work at the third party companies, because that kind of attitude completely misses the point of what Transformers are supposed to be and who they're for.
though I wish it was painted
)
