The 3rd party acquisitions thread!

[Cat]

MFT Astrotrain came in today. Really nice figure, even comes with an extra head in case you don't like the purple. Really nicely done. He's quite big, which makes sense considering his size. Definitely recommended.

[Cat]

Newage Ratchet came in today. I'm still not a huge fan of the Newage vans' transformation, but it beats the hell out of the Magic Square versions, so it's easily the winner. Definitely a good little figure overall, I'm just not fussed on the transformation.

[KELPIE]

Anyone all in on the NA Dinobots? They're pulling me in. So far all looking great and Magic Square are lagging behind.

[JJJ]

Nah. I'm still happy with my MFT (OSKO DX9) Dinobots, and the way NA do their toys disagrees with me (conversely I have very few issues with how MST do their toys). I'll be giving whatever MST do a good look over (whenever they get there, and with luck they'll finish their promised Ark crew presently - only three to go, after all), but I honestly don't expect to be replacing what I've got.

[KELPIE]

I only ended up with Sludge from MFT's set and he is nice.

However I'm just really liking this NA output for their Dino's.

Is there some controversy I'm not aware of with NA, or is just all the colour options?

[JJJ]

No, no controversy. The end result of their design philosophy just doesn't match what I want. I guess the best way to convey it would be to make a side-by-side comparison of New Age's Cliffjumper with Magic Square's Cliffjumper.

It's a lot of things, and many of them are subtle, but you could crudely boil it down to this - NA (as I see it) doesn't even try to hide gaps and hinges and so on, leaving the toy looking much less finished than MST's toy (and conversely MST do make quite an effort with lots of little flaps and some cunning technical choices). And this isn't a chance thing, NA are very well aware that some people don't like the look (they got a lot of complaints about the insides of Grimlock's legs, which they did in their usual fashion), but they do it anyway, because that's their design preference (and even more people are perfectly happy with it, so why change?). Also, like Emgo, they often don't seem to care about what a toy looks like from angles other than the front (see their Megatron's hideous back).

Their toys are perfectly servicable and well-made (I have their insecticons, because MST has never shown any sign of making some), I'm just not their target market (I am, being someone who always wanted toys that looked like they fell right off the TV screen, precisely Magic Square's target market instead). And that's fine

[KELPIE]

No, no controversy. The end result of their design philosophy just doesn't match what I want. I guess the best way to convey it would be to make a side-by-side comparison of New Age's Cliffjumper with Magic Square's Cliffjumper.

<Snip>

All good stuff JJJ. Thanks for the thought process.

I guess I was pretty dissapointed with MST's Beachcomber and haven't really gone back to them. I do have their Sideswipe on order so I guess I might be starting to come back. I just think apart from Grimlocks inner calf's and Swoops neck, the NA Dino's will be hard to beat.

[jimoinj]

Anyone all in on the NA Dinobots? They're pulling me in. So far all looking great and Magic Square are lagging behind.

Absolutely I'm all in. I mean not for all decos for sure, but certianly for all the characters. Love their Dinobots. Hard to resist the toy and comic deco version though. I already have 3 Grimlocks.