Transformers Henkei (Takara Classics) Review

[Pulse]

Sorry people but at the end of the day a new colour scheme and a slight remold will not make me fork out my money all over again, I have better TF's to spend my money on

It's like you read my mind exactly. Why would I wanna get doubles of, essentially, the same figures.

I'm going to double up on all of them.

Does that mean you'll have triples of basically the same figures? 1 Hasbro & 2 Henkei?

[Pipesqueak]

STL, would it be possible to create a better looking Grimlock dino-mode - ie reduce the number of different greys - by using the classics tail and maybe forearms and attaching them to the Henkei version?

[GoktimusPrime]

Why would I wanna get doubles of, essentially, the same figures.

Well it all depends on whether or not you consider the variation to be significant enough to get another version of it. I think the Henkei repaints are really nice, but for the most part the Hasbro ones are nice enough that I'm not really pining to get Takara versions of them - the two exceptions to this are Henkei Astrotrain and Megatron, whom for me personally are significantly different (and IMO better) enough to warrant me wanting to get them. Classics Megatron's clown colours look gay (as in merry).

"Get your cousin outta that clown costume. Havin' that heat stroke again. Scarin' white folks."

"I'm hot! Makeup's melting, hurts my eyes!"

Does that mean you'll have triples of basically the same figures? 1 Hasbro & 2 Henkei?

That's entirely dependent on how you choose to count figures. Under the substitution rationale they would count as 2 and under R.E.C.T.U.M. and the UCM they count as 3.

[STL]

Geez, I don't even think this was supposed to be a how to count doubles thread. What Pulse said was a statement about me possessing so many duplicates. Not how I was counting them. Let's just not jump at an opportunity to talk about how you should count and degenerate the review thread into a discussion about counting methods. There's a link here if anyone really want to address the question.

http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?t=252

Otherwise, no one really cares.

It's like you read my mind exactly. Why would I wanna get doubles of, essentially, the same figures.

Does that mean you'll have triples of basically the same figures? 1 Hasbro & 2 Henkei?

You'd be surprise at my Classics count so far. I have 3 Hasbro Grimlocks and 4 Hasbro Skyfires. Doubling up on Takara's versions is only the beginning.

In all seriousness it boils down to the type of collector I am. I am hardcore G1. I would rather have 2 spares of my favourite figures lying around. I'm a heavy poser and transformer of my toys. That type of wear worries me because of joints like those in knees on Skyfire or ball joints on Grimlock. Couple that with my desire to have an MISB version available of my favourite toys to display, you can see buying multiples comes pretty easy to me.

I can see where others are coming from saying I could spend the money better. I could have chased down a Desaurus, Sky Garry or Metalhawk with the money I've spent on doubling Classics. But for me personally, I get way more satisfaction out of G1 than I do out of rare HTF figures. These are characters and toys that I care about. The others are peripheral.

Takara here has provided superior repaints in many cases and for the life of me, I couldn't settle with an inferior and lacklustre version of Starscream, Megatron, Optimus or Bumblebee when I knew there were betters out there. I'd almost equate it to possessing a KO to the real deal. It's just not good enough.

Ironically however, I don't care for the TFM Premium line. I doubt I'll get doubles of most of those characters unless I like the toy enough (Ironhide), or the toy in the first instance was that woeful (Megatron), or I need an extra mod (Bumblebee's helmet).

STL, would it be possible to create a better looking Grimlock dino-mode - ie reduce the number of different greys - by using the classics tail and maybe forearms and attaching them to the Henkei version?

That's a great idea! I just tried it. These are the results:

Without Hasbro tail (IE. w/ Takara tail):



With Hasbro tail:



There's still a difference in the grays. I do definitely prefer your idea Pipesqueak. The difference isn't as pronounced and gives a more well rounded Grimlock. Not perfect but definitely a better alt mode for Grimlock.

[jaydisc]

That combined Grimlock does look a bit better from the pics. I'd consider unscrewing the arms and trying to keep the gray as consistent as possible. Nice suggestion Pipesqueak.

STL, what figure/mold do you have the most of?

[STL]

STL, what figure/mold do you have the most of?

In terms of figures: TFM Ironhide/Classics Skyfire are tied at four. I dread to think of how many Takara Skyfire's I'm going to end up buying.

In terms of molds I'm positive its the WRX from Alternators/BT. Were there enough of those or what?

[lcz128]

Didn't Don Figouera(sp??) help design the classics? I'm attaching a pic that I found years ago to the post This as far as I recall was part of the beginnings of the whispers of classics

[kup]

Didn't Don Figouera(sp??) help design the classics? I'm attaching a pic that I found years ago to the post This as far as I recall was part of the beginnings of the whispers of classics

Isn't that concept art for last year's Botcon comic?

[Paulbot]

I'm pretty sure I recall Don doing some designs for Classics Hot Rod. But I think there's a difference between designing the look of the toy and designing the engineering of it.

[sifun]

Can someone post more of those design pics? Awesome!