|
Post by Maz on Nov 25, 2014 18:56:38 GMT -5
Part 1 - OTS02 BrawnyTransformers are popular, minibots are popular, Masterpiece is popular. Takara Tomy have just put the elements of that formula together and created Masterpiece Bumblebee, but not before a bunch of 3rd party companies had a stab at it first. One of those companies was Cubex, their interpretation of Masterpiece Huffer, called “Old Timer Series 01 Huff”. I felt Huff was Masterpiece worthy in design but not execution, and honestly had it not flaked I would still have it because it hit all the right aesthetic notes. Cubex have re-branded themselves as BadCube and continued the Old Timer Series of MP-style minibots, starting with OTS-02 Brawny and OTS-03 Backland, Not-Brawn and Not-Outback respectively. BadCube, Good Toys? (Part 1 – Brawny) | Source Blog <- CLICK TO READAll the best Maz
|
|
|
Post by Lejam on Nov 26, 2014 7:41:18 GMT -5
Will read tonight. For sure Badcube is giving a strong (design, engineering, quality...) interpretation of G1 characters. This is my most anticipated toys (with KFC Transistor) for this year's end... Digged this picture to demonstrate how good they are to adapt a 2d design : Brawn is strong and they gave him the props for that...
|
|
|
Post by quinjester on Nov 26, 2014 10:05:15 GMT -5
Awesome review, Maz. I've been really looking forward to these guys and I can't wait to put them with Huff and my other MP Cars
|
|
|
Post by Maz on Nov 28, 2014 12:56:05 GMT -5
Cheers dude, I really regret selling my Huff now.
All the best Maz
|
|
|
Post by Maz on Dec 2, 2014 18:04:59 GMT -5
Part 2 - OTS-03 BacklandLast week we got halfway to proving that BadCube make good toys with a favourable review of Old Timer Series 02 “Brawny”. This week we examine Brawny’s co-release, OTS-03 “Backland”, the third in BadCube/Cubex’s take on the Generation 1 minibots. Backland is of course supposed to be the series 3 minibot Outback – who was a remould of the G1 Brawn. It’s no coincidence that these two were released together, and while it’s no surprise that Brawny has proved the more popular of the two, there’s an emerging school of thought that Backland may actually be the better figure. BadCube, Good Toys? (Part 2 – Backland) | Source Blog <- CLICK TO READAll the best Maz
|
|
|
Post by mpchi on Jan 3, 2015 3:19:41 GMT -5
Just opened my Brawny. It is indeed a really good 3rd party MP. Enjoyed it more than some of the TakaraTomy car MP releases. While I am not a big 3rd Party TF collector, Brawny's design catches my eye as how close it resembles Brawn from G1 cartoon, yet looking much better. The bullet helmet also made him stand out from the rest of the 'cool' autobots, and retain his grumpy old fart personality with the proportion and nice face sculpt. While I am disappointed to the non-matching yellow paint that is much more orange than the yellow plastic, the toy itself is very well designed and very well built. Plastic grooved ratchets work well where they should, reinforcing joints where it counts and make Brawny a very sturdy toy waist down. The upper arm bicep swivel can be less tight though, as I need to open it up and apply some grease to loosen that tight swivel on both arms. And mine doesn't have any of the major flaws and loose joints in early test sample reviews. Mine also seem to work fine with no issues from one transformation. Not sure how well the figure will hold up, but looks like most of the joints have dedicated screws to tighten up, or have easy access to do some DIY fixing if needed be. Plastic quality is very good. Silver plastic has some swirls, just like what you have on TakaraTomy MP Grimlock. Paint are mostly on accent bits, so there is no worries on paint chipping or flaking during transformation, as most of the surfaces are bare plastic. And man, can this thing grab its gun hard! (TakaraTomy can learn a thing or two here...yeah, looking at you, Rodimus & Sideswipe.) They even included an extra spare metal plate for the groin area that Maz's review reported of breakage. Props goes to Bad Cube. It shows that they really care and want to keep customers happy.
Another thing that impresses me is the packaging. Brawny came with some really nice packaging box, spec cards, and instruction booklet that are well designed and well written English. Spec cards almost look like the ones from TakaraTomy, which let them blend in well enough with your TakaraTomy collection. Even showed some Brawny concept art of design variants at early stage within the booklet. It shows it is done by a team that has a good sense of graphic design with nice layouts and colors. Something I don't see in most of other 3rd Party companies' packaging. I almost always dump all my non-Takara TF boxes (the Japanese knows their packaging design well), as they usually look quite bad and not worth keeping. Bad Cube Brawny made it an exception for me however. Great job!
Really glad I've picked this up, and it is a worthy MP entry to anyone's MP collection. A very solid, well designed, well executed TF. Its one of the very few incidents that I really doubt TakaraTomy can top a 3rd Party Specimen. It has the right look, the right amount of detail, engineering complexity, and has the same aesthetic language a TakaraTomy MP would have. Its that good (as long as yours don't come with any major QC flaws). Go get one if you fancy a MP Brawn on your shelf.
|
|