by shajaki » Tue Jun 26, 2018 6:59 am
- Motto: "A man who wants nothing is invincible."
So, they're in.
To be perfectly honest, I'm pretty disillusioned.
First off, Recon (Alert) is missing pieces. He was packaged with no face (his neutral face), and doesn't have his shoulder cannon installed, nor was it in the box. So right off the bat, I'm pretty choked, though these aren't knocks against the figures themselves. Those will come all on their own...
Now, I don't want to say the phrase "KO quality", but it's pretty close. The plastic in general just doesn't feel great. And most of my issues with these guys are in the heads and legs. Their interchangeable faces almost don't seem to fit their faces, and look slightly out of place. Not to mention their heads are made up of 3 movable pieces (4 if you include the faces themselves) and are floppy as all hell. And their legs look hollow, and feel hollow. Not only that, the plastic for them is especially thin. There aren't enough gap filling pieces, and at almost every angle there is some part of those legs that you can see through. And look at their knees. There is a gap, designed into the knee. I thought I was just transforming it wrong, but nope, it's supposed to look like that. On top of that, I hate their guns. They're hollow, look small, and weird. When displaying these two, they're probably going to be holding the official MP's guns.
Does anyone remember my review of FT's Rouge (MP Arcee)? I said it was alright, but lacked the refinement we get with official MP's. These feel like they're a step beyond that even. Badcube's Sunsurge lacked refinement, but he was a MUCH more solid figure than either of these two. By the time I dealt with the missing pieces, and disappointing robot modes, I couldn't even be bother to take pics. Perhaps later.
In spite of all this, there are still positives. Their car modes, I think, are perfect. Though with how impressive MP-39 was, I think Takara can match it if they ever make a Sideswipe V2. And the transformation (while still kind of explode'y) wasn't the nightmare that Sunsurge was. And even though it didn't really pan out, I give them props for trying to integrate the weapons. Also, they are very posable.
I was absolutely smitten with these before release. So I can't believe how it went so wrong. My advice, is pass.
Wow. Im having a hard time believing we got the same figures. Aside from the legs, I've had none of those issues. 
