Henkei VS Hasbro

[Darth Conlan]

Hi All, Firstly sorry if there is a thread already hear for this but I couldn't find one.

OK what is everybodies thoughts about Henkei VS Hasbro when it comes to Transformers? I personally like the robot form better in the Henkei and the alternate form in Hasbro e.g. Seekers. I wish they made a Sunstorm one in Henkei as I may change over. They also look alot more plastic that the hasbro G1 figures. Is this true at all?

Anyway I'm a newby and I'm keen for everybodies thoughts and pictures if you want to.

[Darth Conlan]

Ok after a little more searching I realize that they are called Universe also to Henkei. Still loving the robots in this look. Most of you seem to have both!

[kup]

I personally think that Henkei are considerably superior to Hasbro's Universe releases of the same mold.

This particularly applies to Sunstreaker, Prowl, Hound and Dinobot among others.

However although IMO Henkei do happen to have superior paint applications and overall material quality - They suffer terribly from bad QC just like Hasbro's.

[Vector Prime]

Takara try to be more G1 cartoon accurate with their Henkei range and the quality is also better.

They also tend to have random chromed (vacuum-metalized) bits on the Henkei which (sometimes) improves the appearance.

I think it's a matter of personal taste but with certain characters, I prefer the Hasbro Universe/Classic version over the Henkei equivalent, whereas in some other characters, I think the Henkei version is superior in appearance.

For example:

Henkei Astrotrain > Classics Astrotrain
Classics Skywarp > Henkei Skywarp

[GoktimusPrime]

Overall I'd say TakaraTOMY's Henkeis and Universe USA Edition (e.g. Silverbolt, Powerglide) are better than Hasbro's Classics/Universe.

Some arguable exceptions may include:
+ JETFIRE: Henkei Skyfire's colours are more plain and arguably boring compared to Classics Jetfire. Jetfire's colours are also more faithful to the original G1 toy, but Henkei Skyfire's colours are more accurate to the cartoon (and the helmet has a red visor which is more accurate to the G1 toy). So it depends on your tastes/preference - both are good in their own right.
+ DIRGE: Classics Dirge has a more G1-accurate colour scheme, but Gentei Dirge has a more G1-accurate mould!

I'm also not fond of the chrome on Henkei Grimlock - but maybe that's just me. The best thing might be to look at photos (or real life samples if you know people who have these toys) of both Hasbro and Takara versions and see which ones you'd like to collect from Hasbro and which ones from Takara.

[5FDP]

The main difference as other have said, is that Henkei figures tend to be chromed whereas the Hasbro figures are not.

With some of the Henkei toys, this looks quite good, however there are a few that look... well, not right with all that chrome e.g. Ramjet.

Both have their strong and weak points.

I would make your purchasing decision based on which figure you are buying in order to make a fair comparison between the two.

[Darth Conlan]

Is there any good galleries where I can see the difference?

[GoktimusPrime]

tfu.info should have photos of all the Hasbro ones.
You can find pics of Henkeis on the official site and there's also an official site for Universe USA edition here.

[klystron]

With some of the Henkei toys, this looks quite good, however there are a few that look... well, not right with all that chrome e.g. Ramjet.

Both have their strong and weak points.

Not to regurgitate everyone else, but it really is a case of 'beauty in the eye of the beholder.'
Personally I think there is no comparison between Henkei Megatron vs Classics Megs. But having said that, I think Classics Prime is better than Henkei Prime.

I've never been able to make up my mind on Henkei Grimlock though...

[1orion2many]

For me honestly it was whatever I could afford at the time. Some people get all excited about the chrome but it didn't worry me one way or the other, Henkei Megatron is far superior in colouring if you prefer the G1 colour scheme and not fluro colours. I have mainly Henkei after the first wave of Universe but this was only because the Henkei line was made readily available to me from someone on this board otherwise I would have been happy with the Universe line. I must admit I am looking towards getting a Henkei Hotrod and Astrotrain as their colours seem better to me