So what's the verdict on Xtransbots and Badcube?

[Sir Prime A Lot]

I skipped Apollyon and Brawny because I didn't trust the quality of a new company, can anyone tell me how the quality is? I'm looking for reports from persons whom have transformed their figures 5+ times, not persons whom have put theirs on the shelf and left it there.

[elburrito]

Didn't get Appolyon. Have Brawny though and he is great. I've transformed him at least 20 times and so far so good. The roof hangs behind in robot mode and it is difficult to remember not to squeeze it when handling the toy. Plastic is about 75% the quality of takara.

Originally Posted by Sir Prime A Lot

I skipped Apollyon and Brawny because I didn't trust the quality of a new company, can anyone tell me how the quality is? I'm looking for reports from persons whom have transformed their figures 5+ times, not persons whom have put theirs on the shelf and left it there.

[justinrj]

Originally Posted by Sir Prime A Lot

I skipped Apollyon and Brawny because I didn't trust the quality of a new company, can anyone tell me how the quality is? I'm looking for reports from persons whom have transformed their figures 5+ times, not persons whom have put theirs on the shelf and left it there.

I don't have any BadCube and only have Apollyon from Xtransbot and am not impressed by it. The cannon arm cannot stay up even after multiple coats of Future. Also, the upper portion of the right leg tends to dislodge and get stuck inside the lower portion of the leg. The swing arm on the back of the figure also tends to get stuck inside the torso when collapsing it to transform. Overall, I'm not impressed with either their engineering or quality control processes as there seems to be a lot of lemons out there for Xtransbot products.

[Sun Swipe Prime]

^^didn't you get the replacement shoulder joints that fix this?

As for the swing arm, if you pinch the sides of Apollyon, the chest unlocking mechanism pushes the chest forward to expose the swing arm for easy access.

Overall, IMHO, Apollyon is a solid figure with some issues. Mileage may vary from figure to figure. I got one that's shoulders were good enough that I didn't have to swap them out with the replacements. I only had a few niggling issues. I had to remove one screw from the left forearm so the bicep swivel worked properly. The left hip doesn't stay pegged in as tightly as it should, and its left wrist is a bit lose.

Again, is Apollyon perfect? No. But it's nowhere near the mess MP Rodimus is. It's solid, and I don't worry about handling it or transforming it. I haven't transformed it 5+ times only about 3.

[Masta_Skidz]

In all honesty doesnt matter if it is 3rd party or tt or hasbro they all have shitty figures and they all have their lemons of great figures it all depends on who out it together

[Goaliebot]

I have BadCube Wardog (Warpath) and XTB Appolyon.

Appolyon is beautiful and a feat of engineering design. He looks awesome on my shelf and poses wonderfully. I got a v1 with almost no QC issues.
*BUT*
I transformed him to alt mode and back once and may never do so again. It is an incredibly demanding, picky, and unforgiving transformation. Now I can live with tough transformations: I still transform MP05, ROTF Optimus, FP Diesel pretty regularly. The main difference for me with Appolyon is that he's insanely difficult *and* I constantly fear breaking things during transformation. Partly because some parts don't -feel- very strong but also because there are some tiny parts and screws and rivets that seem to take a lot of potential stress during transformation. To be fair, nothing has broken yet. Maybe I'm just being scared and it's in my mind, but there it is. I recommend Appolyon as a "shelf piece and highly poseable robot figure" but I hesitate to recommend him as a transformer to anyone who wants to transform him a lot.

BadCube Wardog, on the other hand, feels very sturdy. He is also a tricky and advanced transformation, especially figuring out his shoulders the first couple times. But I don't worry about breaking him when I transform him, which I've done dozens of times now. I mean, sure he could break - there are some delicate-ish parts that shouldn't be forced hard, but he doesn't feel like a glass puzzle like Appolyon.

Hope this helps!

[justinrj]

Originally Posted by Sun Swipe Prime

^^didn't you get the replacement shoulder joints that fix this?

As for the swing arm, if you pinch the sides of Apollyon, the chest unlocking mechanism pushes the chest forward to expose the swing arm for easy access.

Overall, IMHO, Apollyon is a solid figure with some issues. Mileage may vary from figure to figure. I got one that's shoulders were good enough that I didn't have to swap them out with the replacements. I only had a few niggling issues. I had to remove one screw from the left forearm so the bicep swivel worked properly. The left hip doesn't stay pegged in as tightly as it should, and its left wrist is a bit lose.

Again, is Apollyon perfect? No. But it's nowhere near the mess MP Rodimus is. It's solid, and I don't worry about handling it or transforming it. I haven't transformed it 5+ times only about 3.

The replacement shoulder pieces were too small and the ball couldn't move inside and was causing a lot of stressing. As for the swing arm, I was compressing the sides while transforming it. Unfortunately, when transforming it back into robot mode, the swing arm gets caught inside the torso and I nearly broke it off the first time transforming it. It does seem that mine is a bit of a lemon, but it doesn't change the fact that I think the overall engineering isn't great. Aesthetically, it looks great as a robot and is okay as a pistol. When it comes to transforming it, Apollyon is a terrible experience and there is a constant fear that it will break into pieces when transforming it. Mine is now sitting on a shelf patiently waiting to be replaced by another attempt at a MP-style Megatron.