Friday, September 26, 2014

3rd Party invades the Database

I've changed my buying and collecting habits so I don't have near the amount of 3rd party items as I once had, but I still have a lot of their cards. This means new content for the Database! I'm glad that a majority of the 3rd party companies include these trading card like bio cards with their items. Some are smaller, thick plastic (think credit card) while others are the traditional cardboard. Either way I look forward to the opportunity to grab a few of these cards for my personal TF card collection, or even the scans for this project. I've got more cards to scan, but for now here with go!

Charticon

     
Aftershock D-299

OK, not a true 3rd party toy, but how can I not include a beautiful card such as this! My good friend, Arkvander, put on a fantastic show in Charticon 2013 in Charlotte, NC. It was the little touches like this bio card that made Charticon such a special event.

Cubex

     

     
Huff OTS-01

One of the few 3rd party items left in my collection, Huff is amazing. He scales perfectly with Masterpiece figures. I love how they gave him two distinct bio cards as well. Two big thumbs up to Cubex!

iGear

     
Spray MW-01

First in iGear's Mini Warriors series, Spray proved that good toys don't always have to be big.

     
Rager MW-02

Always loved Huffer so I was excited to pick up Rager. Then I was disappointed at his miniature stature. Fun toy, but needed to be slightly bigger.

     
Hench MW-03

First of the larger Mini Warriors. I never got around to picking him up, so I just settled for buying his card instead.

     
Faith PP01

I bought this card off a TFW2005 member just because.

     
Medical Specialist PP05M

I know iGear gets a lot of (well deserved) crap from the fandom, but their Masterpiece styled versions of Ratchet and Ironhide are very nice.

Keith's Fantasy Club (KFC)

     
Retro CST-02

An orange redeco of KFC's version of Steeljaw. 

Super Alloy

     
Wheelie

I don't know much about the company that made this version of Wheelie, but Super Alloy did a pretty good job. I believe this may based on an upscaled Jinzai model kit. I used to own the toy, but at the time I didn't have anything that he scaled with well so I sold him. If nothing else at least I have a cool card!

SXS

     
Continuously Variable R-01

SXS had previously only released a few upgrade sets before their version of Gears was released. I found the figure to be a fun toy, but it seemed I was in the majority as it or it's recolor didn't sell very good.

TFC Toys

     
Dr. Crank

     
Exgraver

     
Heavy Labor

      
Madblender

     
Neckbreaker

     
Structor

I was impressed with TFC's Hercules release, but had to pass as the individual toys were just too pricey for my blood. Still though one of the nicest looking 3rd party combiners to date.

Toy World

     
Hegemon TW-01

Boy did Toy World throw down the gauntlet with their first release. I took a gamble and pre-ordered this figure based on an early look of the figure alone. One of the best 3rd party releases to date.

     
Orion TW-02

Being way behind on my IDW comic reading, I wasn't sure I even wanted a comic accurate figure in my collection. I resisted the impulse to buy Orion for many months, only to ultimately cave in when a friend of mine showed me the figure. Beautiful.

     
Hardbone TW-H01

Stupid name aside this is one cool toy. Always loved the Headmasters so I was thrilled to see that someone was updating these characters.

     
Brainwave TW-H02

Traded for this guy on a whim...and I got him for next to nothing. This version of Brainstorm tweeks the alt mode into a more X-Wing type craft.

     
Aurora TW-T02

I love the "not-Throttlebots". Sure some liberties have been taken with some of the vehicle modes chosen, such as the case with Aurora / Searchlight, but I don't care. Toy World has done a great job with these. 

     
Trace TW-T03

AKA Chase. I found this toy to be an example of a great update to the G1 toy. Seems like ages since he was released though and here I patiently wait for the release of TW-T04.

XTransbots

     
Glider X1

I don't know much about XTransbots, but their Cobra Rattler repaint of this toy was always appealing to me.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

2003 Takara G1 Trading Cards

Today's entry to the Database is something I know little of and I'm hoping that someone out there can shed some light on these cards and educate me. I don't remember where I picked these up from, but they have a 2003 Takara copyright on the back. The cards feature the classic G1 toy artwork on the front and sport their animation models on the back. It also appears their tech specs are presented in a circular graph along with commentary? The cards are numbered so I know they are part of a larger set, I just don't know how many cards the set consists of. I would really love to pick up more of these, but I don't see that happening as finding info on these much less the cards has proven to be difficult.