Transformers questions by newbies, and not-so-newbies

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I'm considering branching out into some of the third party stuff, this might be a newb-ish question but who are the main players in the market, who make the best quality figures?
I know Fansproject is one of them but who are ones to look at and are there any I should avoid?

I'd be inclined to have a dig around the Unauthorised TFS section for best results as there is plenty of discusiion of various kits from Fans Project, Mastermind creations, etc etc.