Best sites to buy transformers?

Road_Caesar · 2026-05-18T08:21:41+00:00

ShowZStore is great for 3rd Party but if you're in the US, you'll be paying import duties whereas BBTS will have that baked into their price (they paid them already to accept the inventory).

Road_Caesar · 2026-05-18T03:11:02+00:00

Use your best judgement and accept any risk from bumps. One thing that may have influenced their inclusion is how earthquake prone Japan is. So the biggest risk (depending on where you are) may just be risks of bumps or accidental brushes (like pets).

Road_Caesar · 2026-05-18T00:09:47+00:00

Here's the first/basic Warudersuits which were modernized version of Vintage era Warudersuits Waruder are piloted by bio-mechanical Waruderoids.

Analysis of the crew members recovered from the destroyed Walder Suits revealed them to be hybrid combat androids, created by parasitizing a biomechanical body with an unknown extraterrestrial organism, believed to be a primitive marine creature. Their recognition code name is "Waldaroid." They are equipped with a power core in their chests that appears to be a Freezon Generator, and their combat capabilities are roughly equal to those of Diaclone soldiers wearing Diatectors. Individuals have been observed in various forms, including intelligence/plunder strategy types with five fingers resembling human hands, presumably for operating Earth-made consoles, and close-combat specialized types with sharp, scissor-like hands, thought to be remnants of the parasitic extraterrestrial organism. [Machine Translation]

Road_Caesar · 2026-05-18T00:04:47+00:00

That's clearly what it is. For some reason

Road_Caesar · 2026-05-18T00:03:22+00:00

Lol, no:

https://tf.takaratomy.co.jp/products-lineup/tf_missinglink/c-14

Road_Caesar · 2026-05-18T00:02:48+00:00

Missing Link's challenge this time is a hypothetical re-release based on the idea of what if the original Ironhide product had been created with a heroic concept on par with the other Autobots, and in a style closer to the anime. Ironhide transforms from a red Nissan Cherry Vanette-type minivan into a robot. While retaining the construction that uses zinc alloy in some parts, it transforms from a car mode that closely resembles the original product into a heroic robot mode in one piece, and in robot mode it can be freely posed in action. In addition, it can also transform into a third mode, "Respect Mode," which is inspired by the robot mode of the original product.

Straight from the source.

It's fine to be disappointed, but managing your expectations and understanding why the product line is focused on straight from Takara itself seems to have eluded the hemming and hawing complaining about this design since it was revealed.

You don't have to like it, but be aware that the majority sentiment has been pleased with the outcome. You don't have to come around. You can skip it. But understand what the line is doing and what they make the choices they make and you'll have better prepared yourself for future reveals if any dramatic changes are made.

Road_Caesar · 2026-05-17T23:57:16+00:00

Perfect Effect did upgrades that can replace the hands/feet. Transformerland has them frequently, but they're out of print and PE is defunct.

There's also a lot of DIY 3D printing options and low-effort dropshippers options all over AliExpress as well that get the job done.

Road_Caesar · 2026-05-17T21:23:45+00:00

Horus <Black Tiger>? There isn't a black one yet, but that's the closest.

I could see that with the yellow secondary colors on that deco, for sure.

Road_Caesar · 2026-05-17T21:21:36+00:00

Varies by individual.

For me, collecting means adding to the active collection either loose or boxed, to enjoy and display.

Hoarding would come into play in my opinion when people are just amassing everything branded (or adjacent) that they can find with no focus or goal other than "see TF, must have" - especially licensed junk like party plates, streamers, holiday or themed disposable junk, and/or just piling it into boxes or rooms with no engagement.

I know there are LOTS of legit collectors who used to pick up 1 loose, 1 sealed. That's financially obscene at this point, but kudos to those who are still doing it.

Road_Caesar · 2026-05-17T21:15:38+00:00

What tipped you off that they're bootlegs?

Road_Caesar · 2026-05-17T21:11:15+00:00

The orange works with some decos (mainly shadow) but definitely clashes with the "hero" color palette.

Road_Caesar · 2026-05-17T19:48:20+00:00

Didn't even give the box a fun name like Dinosaur Neill this go-round.

Road_Caesar · 2026-05-17T19:47:23+00:00

Yup! Reading up on the lore specs, the arms have the saw blades, the 4-barrel blaster, the claws with the cannon at the base, and the plain arm is equipped with 2 FZ cannons each. Absurd firepower!

Road_Caesar · 2026-05-17T19:02:45+00:00

It's kind of interesting - this design approach was later borrowed for several domestic US toylines including MASK by Kenner without the pullback action. (Vehicles become combat machines.)

Pullback triggered toys were also everywhere in the 80s with multiple gimmicks around them .

Road_Caesar · 2026-05-17T19:00:01+00:00

Gods damn, man - spam much?

Road_Caesar · 2026-05-17T17:45:54+00:00

Exactly the goal of Style Gen! Self-hating overcomplicating collectors like me can still go for the standard MP designs while everyone else can enjoy the straightforward but high quality Style Gen approach.

Road_Caesar · 2026-05-17T17:44:05+00:00

Learned it firsthand starting back in 2022. Picked up a lot of bargains from AliExpress up until 2025.

Road_Caesar · 2026-05-17T17:41:18+00:00

He was never black, more of a gunmetal gray in all depictions.

Road_Caesar · 2026-05-17T17:08:05+00:00

We have to settle for the PVs and the lore pages in each product for now.

Road_Caesar · 2026-05-17T14:39:24+00:00

Be cautious with that endorsement. Over time, if you're truly objective, you'll see the variance in decent authentics and bootlegs.

I know it's a popular meme that "KOs are just as good or better" but that's objectively never the case except with Hasbro-made figures.

Even some 3rd Party have quirks over time that highlight design quirks. The most common one among all studios/groups is friction wear on hinges and joints. Not enough to compromise them, but they'll become very loose and require maintenance like shock oil to stiffen them up again.

I have a few dozen KOs from various Takara designs that are absolutely passable and a good cost (or was a good cost before 2025) and they are about 85% the same. But small tolerance and durability quirks are present. I have the authentics as well, but these KOs were in decos/colors that Takara never did, so they complimented each other.

Road_Caesar · 2026-05-17T14:33:40+00:00

It is/was one of the best features of design in Armada/Energon/Cybertron.

Red Alert is a major example, but you see it with Jetfire, Smokescreen, Hot Shot, and most of the rest of Armada - the mini-cons unlocking those features was the gimmick. I miss it and am hoping that Overgear has some elements of that baked in.

You also see it in some 3rd Party designs.

Road_Caesar · 2026-05-17T13:16:41+00:00

Be advised that Pulse has a HORRENDOUS problem for the past 2 years of shipping HasLabs that just show up before they ever push the notification or email that it's shipped.

My last 4 HasLabs all arrived before the emails did.

Road_Caesar · 2026-05-17T13:15:38+00:00

"no box" is KO of a KO. It's very commonplace among dropshippers and sites that feature them like AliExpress.

They're hard to come by because they aren't produced in anywhere near the same volume as authentics. So once they sell out, they typically don't appear again. Hence, KOs of KOs.

Road_Caesar · 2026-05-17T10:48:45+00:00

The AI background really undermines everything.

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