While I haven’t had much to say lately. I have been keeping my eyes open on new things. One of which is this Combiner Wars Upgrade which gives PerfectEffect a bit of a run as it is SO Much different and in my opinion better… Ignoring the head, which I can get over and even replace later… Check this thing out…

And if you preorder right now TFsource is giving an additional 10% off. ($44.99)

Finally after months and months of waiting. A DECENT upgrade kit beyond what we can already get on Shapeways which is “ok” but requires tons of painting/sanding and filling to make it smooth like a normal toy. Least not forget trying to match up the paint colors…

This is from Bonnatron’s Tinkering and not related to the Beelzeboss’s version…

S.N.D. Primo Vitalis upgrade kit follows the look and feel of the current IDW comic book series. Even with this upgrades attached he is fully transformable, and is still able to combine with other  others!

He includes the following:

• 1x Gun
• 1x Sword
• 1x Axe
• 1x New Head
• 1x Combiner Mode Head
• 2x Shoulder Pads
• 1x Chest
• 1x New Waist
• 2x Extended Thighs
• 1x Pair of articulated hands.
• 2x New Feet

The Chosen Prime says he should be ready by November, but with all these things it really is hard to say if it will be here… So hopefully definitely by Christmas!

Perfect Effect has released additional photos of the up and coming PE 06  (Devastator hands, mix-master cab, new shovel for Scavenger, Hook extension for Hook, new heads including a Prowl head.) and PE 07 (guns and hands for individual figures…)

Overall the improvements here are VERY impressive. Making for an interesting option for those who went with Hasbro’s. I myself was able to get him for under $100 which makes for him to be just as awesome as the SDCC and Takara’s which will not offer as many unique changes to the figure.

PE has been a reliable source of 3rd Party Addons that have had excellent QC with no complaints that I am aware of. So this upgrade is one to not skip out on. Even those going with the SDCC or Takara may find parts to this upgrade that are a cannot miss.

Still no release date, but knowing PerfectEffect they are probably not far from an official date.

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Combiner Wars Optimus Prime has received some of the most criticism for being really a overall terrible voyager figure. This year we received a Leader Class Megatron and Galvatron (Same mold.) But yet we only received a (ish) Voyager Optimus Prime that combines. This upgrade set from Beezleboss Studios brings the figure to a closer size of a Leader Class (no conformation yet…) However even still it looks incredible!

This is so far the second group / person I have seen to work on moding him. And let me say this one is the ONE!

Source: Weibo (Beezleboss Studios)

So as it has become abundantly clear and I think Hasbro has taken notice to how many 3P, 3D printed, and so forth add-ons have been thrown at their Combiner Wars figures… Hasbro’s hands and feet straight up are ugly! Combating this for the first time… They have given us a new set of feet and hands for Victorian.

TFW2005 shows a few nice detailing pictures of “Ankle Tilts!”

While the up and coming Combiner Wars Devastator has had a lot of good and bad publicity. Even more so in the customization realm has been the idea of “enhancing” its parts for the better… Perfect Effect has done just this! It is also know that Dr. Wu is also working on some, however Perfect Effect seems to be beating them to the punch!

It appears there may be “two” upgrade kits here. One for the hands of each individual combiner. And then another for the main devastator form. Which will include a Prowl head for those who follow the IDW universe.

DX9 posted last night that they now have in the upgrades! Which means more than likely within the next week or so most 3rd Party retailers should start receiving and shipping! *Crosses Fingers*

This is one upgrade I know I preordered on sight…!

So I have had these guys in hand (pun intended) for few days now. Still working on getting them cleaned up, but here is a little preview. Along with a few snapshots of the process to get them ready for use on a Combiner War Transformer.Steps are a lot easier on this set, while they do require a good bit of cutting and cleaning. For some reason this round came out nearly spotless in regards to no dust…

My initial checks are showing this round could definitely be released and ready for others to print. However, I do have a few notes.

– Thumbs I am NOT happy with “still” – heavily considering going back to the single joint vs the double joint for this release.

– Thumbs really need to be revised entirely. I feel to make this stand out with the other hands that are out there they need to rotate and have more mobility than what they currently allow.

– Sprues… I hate them… When you have 34 parts and having to cut through 2mm of plastic it gets rather difficult and time taking. Shapeways I believe has a 2mm sprue requirement and more than one… They are a hot mess to clean. My knives may be getting dull, but even still it sucks. Going to contact them to see about reducing the connection points to 1.5mm like most Gundam model kits do.

– Other notes to follow as I continue working on them. I

Here are some of my first snapshots. I hope to have them done this week as I am in the final phases of painting and about to glue the knuckles in.

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It is hard to compare the two really because they focus on two different realities of Megatron. One from the early days and the other from IDW. Which both give great homages to G1 days, but take a different swing when it comes to the alt mode. CW Megatron transforms into a tank, and Apollyon into a gun. Price point is also a big difference. CW Megatron by itself is priced from $40-$50 and Apollyon is around $149.99. Hopefully the pictures below will help in deciding for you.

Here are some pictures mirrored…

Do you have more comparison pictures? Let us know! We would love to share them to help people in the mix of deciding which of the two or other Megatrons to get…

Ok so this was definitely on my list of things to work on… However Dx9toys has beat me to the punch… It is interesting to see the response it is getting on the fan sites, and fan pages as its VERY mixed. Apolloyon is releasing soon and people still seem to be bias towards the 3rd party route.

Me… Ill take Combiner Wars Megatron over an expensive version. Why? Because the difference is minimal and I actually like CW Megatron better in just about every way. Thats my opinion…

This kit includes.

– 2 Hands

– Shoulder Cannon

– 2 feet

– Cannon muzzle

Total height – 24.5CM (That makes for a decent MP!)

Just take a look at him…