3rd Party 101

I'm gonna jump ahead on the review to start introducing 3rd Party product. But first, let's dive in a bit about the manufacturer. 3rd parties are a term used commonly by TF Collectors for independent (no ties with neither Hasbro or Takara) that produce items from simple parts, weapons, add ons, convert kits to full-fledge figures.

The first company that set up the trend and win the heart of fans would be Fansproject with their first 3 releases.

HKTFP-001 Cliffjumper Conversion Kit
Pic Credit : Web

Crossfire I Set
Pic Credit : Web

TFX-01 City Commander
Pic Credit : Web

Basically, 3rd party companies produce items that held high by the fan, most by sheer memory of the said characters or upgrading the playability of the said figures. 4-5 years back, only a couple of 3rd party releases were put out in the market as time goes by, more and more companies established, releasing their very own unique view on the TF fandom.

Huge debates erupted on the ethic of the said company releasing figures/add ons of a characters that are clearly belongs to Hasbro and Takara. However, what if the said product doesn't really copying any of the official products (which mean the design itself is original)? Albeit some easy cases like iGear PP01 that's directly copied and shrink down of MP-01/MP-04 mold.

Personally, I know there are certain figures that won't be release under HasTak banners. Repaint and reusing of the same mold aren't something new to HasTak, releasing a half-a** design of fan's favourite characters. Don't get me wrong, I supported the official releases, not to mention Botcons and TFCCs figure.

2012, Hasbro released Fall Of Cybertron's Bruticus, a homage long awaited by fans alike, including myself but the final product? Pure disappointment. But on the other hand, Toyworld released their take on Classics Megatron, Hegemon that is spot-on G1 Megatron but I'll opt to the official one.

To each their own.

Saw a new trend in local TF Community here in Malaysia. People with buying power but no idea on what they have in their hand. It's a hype kind of a thing. Maybe I should find around 20-30 peoples, show them that collecting wood is the new s**t, maybe they'll jump into the bandwagon

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