COUNTDOWN: 10 new 3P toys to look forward to right now

The world of unofficial ‘third party’ Transformers continues to throw up all kinds of weird and wonderful projects to tempt us but as ever, it can be very hard to keep track of everything going on at any particular time! So, for your consideration today, here are 10 upcoming 3P projects that have caught our eye, all of which present something a bit new or unusual versus what’s come before. Enablement alert!

 

#10: Cyber Factory CF-01 STAR STORM

Who is it? Bumblebee Movie Starscream

Estimated release: December 2021

Kicking us off today is this rather tantalising effort from Cyber Factory, as they look to ride the wave of high-end Bumblebee movie homages that are being pumped out right now. This figure has made it into some collectors’ hands already and the early reports seem to be pretty favourable, which is great as it looks stunning and boasts a very detailed weathered finish that suggests they’re intending for this to slot in alongside some of ThreeZero’s non-transforming efforts. The bonus here is of course that this has an alternate form too, and seems to be a fairly good representation of Starscream from the film. Can’t wait!

 

#9: FANS HOBBY MB-17 MEG-TYRANNO

Who is it? Armada Megatron

Estimated release: December 2021

If there’s one third party company that can consistently be relied upon to both produce fantastically fun toys but also go for character choices that are a little off the main path, it’s Fans Hobby. That was ably demonstrated by their Naval Commander take on Armada Optimus Prime not so long ago, and now here we are with the inevitable Megatron companion piece. This is a robot design that remains very dear to a lot of fans, especially those that grew up feasting on the Unicron Trilogy in the early 2000s, and it appears as though the company have gone to great lengths to capture a lot of that magic with their figure. Oh and yes, this is the first of a few Megatrons on this list…

 

#8: OCULAR MAX PS-21 MEDICUS

Who is it? G1 First Aid

Estimated release: February 2022

Yep, Ocular Max is doing Protectobots. And yep, I genuinely cannot wait. Whilst the combined mode may have had some compromises, there’s no denying that as an overall set, their Combaticons were a real highlight of third party collecting in recent memory, and now they’re all set to give us a team that has yet to be fully realised in MP-styled form. Kicking us off is the fan-favourite ambulance and he is looking exceptionally swish, as ably demonstrated by Hard Return’s incredible photography below…

Ocular Max Medicus Transformation sequence pic.twitter.com/oAf7Wu29w6

— ian reid (@ian_reid) December 2, 2021

 

#7: BINGOTOYS BT-01 SILENCER

Who is it? Bumblebee Movie Shockwave

Estimated release: March 2022

The second of our Bumblebee movie figures and the second one to seemingly chase the ThreeZero look and feel, this figure from new company Bingotoys is a very screen-accurate take on iconic one-eyed bad guy, Shockwave. Arguably this is a design that ThreeZero themselves might see fit to tackle at some point too but even then, you have to admire how good this thing looks, right? Especially as they’ve even attempted an alternate form of sorts, taking inspiration from the character’s classic ray gun mode. Hopefully this ends up being as good as it looks!

 

#6: TRANSART BWM-05 FOUR FORMS COMMANDER

Who is it? Beast Wars Optimal Optimus

Estimated release: April 2022

Transart has earned a great reputation with their 3PMP Beast Wars Transmetal toys by now, with takes on Optimus Primal, Cheetor, Transmutate and Ravage all having landed to a warm reception on the whole. Now they’re working on one of the most celebrated designs of the entire beast era with ‘Optimal’ Optimus, which is also notorious for being the biggest character of the cartoon, too. What’s maybe slightly sad is that they’ve chosen a smaller scale for this one, instead of making it in line with their previous MP-styled offerings, but still, it looks like a very worthy new attempt at the classic design all the same.

 

#5: MOON STUDIO RADIATRON

Who is it? G1 Raiden

Estimated release: December 2021

Always the way with trains, isn’t it? You wait so long and then two turn up at once. Or is that buses? Either way, here’s another Raiden for your consideration, as TakaraTomy’s upcoming official effort hasn’t been enough to dissuade Moon Studio from giving theirs a go too. Although this is being sold as six separate figures, it’s worth taking a step back and appreciating just how immense that combined mode promises to be, especially as it comes from the same design origin as stuff like Toyworld Constructor and Zeta Bruticon, meaning that not only will it be BIG but it will hopefully be very solid, too.

 

#4: FANSTOYS FT-51 CHOMP

Who is it? G1 Skullcruncher

Estimated release: December 2021

FansToys have a lot going on right now, as always seems to be the case, and the temptation to just slap their Fort Max on this list and call it a day was palpable. Yet in truth, the upcoming figure from everyone’s favourite third party company (unconfirmed) that really has us chomping at the bit (eh?) right now is this hot pink lad, and not least because it ends a journey that was begun all the way back in 2016(!) with Lupus. Yes, we might finally be able to get a complete set of the third three FansToys Headmasters, to say nothing of their tease of the Autobot crew recently, mind you. Make it snappy, FansToys!

 

#3: X-TRANSBOTS MX-20 ZEUSAURUS

Who is it? G1 Deathsaurus

Estimated release: September 2022

I already highlighted this impressive-looking beast in my recent round-up of everything X-Transbots is working on right now, but it bears repeating, especially as we’ve had new pics released since then! And hey, they make it abundantly clear that this is the first MP-styled Deathsaurus that will scale with Masterpiece Star Saber (not to mention with KFC’s Simba thrown in), to the point where Zeusaurus is looking quite shockingly massive, all told! I don’t know if I fully appreciated from the initial renders that this would be such a sizeable robo-death-chicken but here we are. I need that big bird.

 

#2: ALIEN ATTACK A-01 MACKRON

Who is it? Dark of the Moon Megatron

Estimated release: February 2022

Oh hey, another Megatron! And not just another Megatron on this list but actually, the *final* one needed in MP-style to complete the line-up of Movieverse Megatrons available for your shelf! The Dark of the Moon take on the Decepticon leader was one that I know a lot of people have been looking forward to, and Alien Attack’s design seems to be bringing the goods from the pics we’ve seen so far. Still, they have a bit of a mixed track record so far and they’re up against some stiff competition, with Unique Toys also having recently unveiled their own grey prototype design, so let’s hope this one sticks the landing, shall we?

 

#1: TFC STC-02 TYRANT

Who is it? G.I. Joe crossover Megatron

Estimated release: December 2021

Which brings us to what must surely be one of the *hottest* designs in 3P land right now, with TFC’s Tyrant just oozing appeal with every new image they treat us to. What exactly is this thing, you ask? Well, it’s based on a design by legendary Transformers artist, Don Figueroa, who reimagined Megatron as turning into a classic G.I. Joe toy, similarly to how he did with Optimus Prime x Rolling Thunder, which was also the inspiration for TFC’s popular ST Commander release.

Ok for those wondering, this is a TFC toy based on an original design by Don Figueroa, which crosses Megatron over with a classic GI Joe toy. They did the same thing with Rolling Thunder & Optimus. pic.twitter.com/RzPuOirm0l

— Sixo (@SixoTF) December 9, 2021

Having ST Commander in hand, I can confirm that it was one of the most solid and enjoyable 3P products from that year, so I absolutely cannot wait to see what TFC deliver with this follow-up figure. No doubt it will dominate.

 
So that’s our list! Are there any other third party toys you’re excited for right now?

TTFN