Henkei VS Hasbro

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Originally Posted by 5FDP

You seem to do alright getting free stuff from Hasbro as well ;)

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There's a bit more to that Hasbro story than meets the eye but I don't want to discuss it too much on a public forum. It's nothing illegal or nasty or anything, but I'd rather avoid discussing it in detail on the interwebs. :)

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Originally Posted by Darth_Conlan

Is there anywhere in Australia that you can buy either if these type of toys?

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The Hasbro toys are/were all sold in regular stores in Australia (e.g. Kmart, Target, Toys R Us, Big W, Myer etc.) but the Henkei ones are only sold in Japan (or in local Australian importers, but they tend to be expensive)

Not much in the way of Australian sources, so you'd probably need to look online - like Robotkingdom, BBTS, or even just ebay.
I think both Transfigure toys and Figuresdirect (both in AUS) have the JP toys, but probably not any of the Classics though.

Ok guys, you have been all brilliant with this discussion. I getting the feeling that its personal preference. So maybe to settle this a little lets get opinions on following seekers. Tell me which one is the best and why?

Starscream

Skywarp

Thundercracker

Dirge

Thrust

Ramjet

Cheers again DC

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Originally Posted by Darth Conlan

Ok guys, you have been all brilliant with this discussion. I getting the feeling that its personal preference. So maybe to settle this a little lets get opinions on following seekers. Tell me which one is the best and why?

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Starscream - The latest Universe release seems decent but I recommend Henkei. I felt the original Classics version was a bit of a poor effort. I prefer the Henkei version.

Skywarp - The Classics version was excellent and the Henkei version is good too. Its about preference but both are now expensive, specially the Classics two pack with Ultra Magnus (due to City Commander motivated demand). Both Classics and Henkei are equally as good.

Thundercracker - Both the Botcon (classics) version and Henkei are excellent but Henkei is likely to be more affordable and available even if still high priced. Both Classics and Henkei are equally as good.

Dirge - Henkei version is more accurately molded to represent the original toy but the Botcon (Classics) has a superior paint job even though its a straight repaint of Ramjet. Like Thundercracker, the Henkei version is likely more affordable and available but still expensive. Hard to call this one, I prefer the Botcon one but Henkei is probably better due to the wing molding. Good chance of Universe (3.0?) repaint being released.

Thrust - Botcon (Classics) has the superior molding and paint job. Henkei has different molding but still represents the character well but is lacking in the paint job department. The new yet to be released Universe (3.0?) version shares the same mold as Henkei but has a superior color scheme. I prefer the Botcon version by far but the new Universe seems pretty good.

Ramjet - The Classics version is pretty good with more subtle but well applied colors. The Henkei version has brighter and more cartoon accurate colors. I like them both equally but have a preference to the more subtle Classics version as he looks more G1 toy accurate than cartoon.


Most of the toys you mentioned are either Hasbro Classics releases or Botcon not Universe. The Classics were before the steep downfall in manufacturing quality from Hasbro so most of them are pretty competent and comparable to Henkei. Naturally Botcon toys would also have pretty competent paint jobs.

It would probably be of more help if you ask us about the Universe vs Henkei releases.

What Kup said, except avoid Classics Starscream like the plague, mine had thick runny grey paint all over his face. It looked like Starscream was worried about his age and applied to much foundation. I ditched mine for the Henkei version which is IMO the best, though the Universe repaint looked ok, if you like your Starscream white as opposed to light grey.

Outside of Thrust and Dirge, the Henkei versions seem to be the more cartoon accurate, but the classics are fine too.

Hmmm I wonder if instead of Sunstorm G2 Ramjet will be the next repaint?

I prefer the Classics version of Ramjet over the Henkei one which has too much chrome (that looks out-of-place) for my liking.

On a personal note, Classics Ramjet is right up there with my top 5 toys released in recent memory.

Just My opinion, but I prefer Hasbro's releases rather then TakTom, I don't like the chrome too much. To me, it looks tacky and out of place. But that is just personal preference.

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Originally Posted by 1AZRAEL1

Just My opinion, but I prefer Hasbro's releases rather then TakTom, I don't like the chrome too much. To me, it looks tacky and out of place. But that is just personal preference.

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How about figures such as Sunstreaker, Prowl, Streak and Smokescreen?

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Originally Posted by kup

How about figures such as Sunstreaker, Prowl, Streak and Smokescreen?

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The darker shade of yellow on Sunstreaker does look a bit better, but I can't get passed the tacky look of the chrome. I haven't seen them first hand, but I think I would still have the same view of them if I did.

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Originally Posted by 1AZRAEL1

The darker shade of yellow on Sunstreaker does look a bit better, but I can't get passed the tacky look of the chrome. I haven't seen them first hand, but I think I would still have the same view of them if I did.

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Sunstreaker's chrome is very well applied and matches that of the original G1 toy nicely. The yellow is also even unlike Universe which has different shades. If you see the Henkei compared to Universe you do see a considerable difference and not just with the chrome but the overall paint job.