Happy Well Toys Released: Around 2006 (I got
mine at TFcon 2007) Price: Varies (mine was $10
Cdn.)
Comments: Strictly speaking,
this is not a Transformers knock-off
per
se. Since the design is originally from the Japanese Macross series, it's actually a Macross knock-off (it's actually
possible it could be officially licensed from the Asian market. I'm not
certain).
This toy stands about the same height as the original
Jetfire toy but he is grey, silver and green instead (I actually like
the color scheme. It's different but not garish).
Quality-wise, you get what you pay for. The toy has all
three transformation modes that the Valkyrie/Veritech fighter should
but the plastic is sub-par (it could be worse though. I spent $20 for a
smaller toy of this design at a Botcon and the plastic from that
licensed product was total garbage while this one is bigger, cheaper
and a bit better). One of the toy's attenae broke when I was
transforming the first time (so now he has three gun ears instead of
four). Upon my most recent attempt to change him into the fighter mode
the toy felt like it was falling apart but I managed it anyway.
Strangely, this toy has diecast metal wheels and hip/vents (one
wouldn't expect such a thing on so cheap a product). The legs are hard
to swing around from robot mode back into fighter mode though (you
really have to fight with it to get them to go the right way again).
If you don't want to spend upwards of $150-200 for an official
Masterpiece Valkyrie toy then this option is adequate. Just barely. I
just leave mine posed on the desk--playing with it for prolonged
periods would certainly cause it to break.
***
Front of the box
Back of the box
In 2000, the Fortress Maximus mold was reissued as
part of the Car Robots line
in Japan. A failed attempt to put it out in the United States for Robots in Disguise later resulted
in many getting a Korean version instead (unfortunately, I'm one of the
suckers who didn't realize it would come out for cheaper and opted to
spend $300 on an original Japanese CR release instead). As anyone who
owns this mold knows, the weapons and drone robots are not included
along with the toy (for some reason).
Enter the KOs!
At BotCon 08 I found a dealer selling red or blue guns for
this toy and snapped up the red set (which is for the Brave Maximus
apparently). More recently, I hunted down a sword for my toy to
complete it (weapon-wise anyway. I still don't have the little robots
like Cog or Sprocket).
The two guns are pretty nice and fit the mold perfectly.
The plastic is good and thick and it was a worthwhile purchase overall
(they were $20 USD at the time). (The guns came in a plastic bag while
the sword had its own box, pictured above).
The sword was more expensive (I forget how much, but it
was a lot) but it's cool too.
Supposedly the blue one is for Brave Maximus (which makes no sense to
me. How can he need red guns but a blue sword?) Anyway, I bought the red sword and am happy with it. It
also has an optional mode where it can be made into a spear instead of
a sword (for use with MP Prime or Omega Prime). Once the spear
bottom is applied to the blade it's very tight and damn near
impossible to remove (I did it once and will never try again). Ideally
someone should have one sword and another for the spear. There was a
similar set to this available from some of the online stores last year
but that was a smaller sword that could also become shields. I don't
think it could be Fort Max's sword too (or at least the pictures didn't
make that clear). A cool enough accessory if you can find it (try ebay.
That's where mine is from) and can afford it.
These
bottoms
pictures are of the more recent set (which does not have the
hilt necessary to use it with Fortress Maximus).
***
Protectrobots set
Released: Spring 2010
Price: $82 USd (www.thetoyvalley.com)
Comments:
- The box is a spot-on replica of the original.
- The toys have no rub signs on them--but they are included as optional stickers.
Furthermore, they do work!
(Unlike with my KO Shockwave).
-
Some of the toys weren't finished/filed down properly and had little
bits of plastic on them where there should've been none (extra little
gob of plastic on First Aid's leg which I removed. Others had this sort
of thing too).
- Blades plastic feels a bit thinner then my original toy does. He's
not brittle or anything--but he does feel a little bit thinner to the
touch.
- All the toys have metal parts on them (my three originals were all
plastic).
-
Some of the paint could be better. Hot Spot's eye has a black streak on
it because the paint was done cheaply. (It's hard to see but it's
there).
A decent effort, all in all. I've seen better and also
far worse. As a substitute for the real thing, this is okay (I would
still prefer an official reissue though).
