I came to the exact same result. Fans Toys got 81%, XTB got 89%. And still I kept the Fans Toys as it simply brings more presence and feels better built. Very good comparison, Bobby. Thanks!
I do like the blue paint on the XTB, but when I look at the figure as a whole (and I like toon accuracy), FT just wins by a landslide. He’s tightly packed, resembles the tubby aspect of the character perfectly and the head looks far better. The XTB is great (and I think their metallic cosmos is one of my favorite figures), but FT brought a KO punch in this one.
Just purchased Spindrift 2.0 waiting for him to ship. I had a G1 VHS that I got at a yard sale (I do believe it was recorded off the TV). I Wore it slam out as a kid, favorite episode was Sea Change.
Awesome job, love the video! I think part of what has to do with liking one over the other is certainly the aesthetics on this one. If you want a cute chubby bot that takes a lot of inspiration from the cartoon, fanstoys has that aesthetic in this release. If you want a cool looking bot that transforms into a hovercraft; looks sort of like sea spray and scales where sea spray should for your G1 masterpeice shelf but aren't necessarily looking for 100% sea-spray, then the xtb has got you.
I think you are dead on with the final comments! If a person likes the way a figure looks most of the time they will buy it. I think most people do that with a variety of lines!👍
just to throw it in, you had the feet of the Fans Toys not transformed correctly which if done would have given it a flat surface which fixes one of the points you didn`t like. other wise great VS as always.
Nice. I do like how xtransbot neptune looks. Went with fanstoys spindrift. Now that there is a restock/re-release of cliffjumper, perhaps you can do hellion vs toro? Cheers!
Really enjoying seeing the fan made stuff. 3d printing is in its infancy and it's already allowing people to make great stuff. Can't wait to see where we are in 10 years. Well. I mean I guess I will have to wait. 10 years, lol.
Very fun VS video. I've been thinking lately about how most folks never use alt mode in their displays. I prefer robot mode too, but I don't exclusively display robot mode. I feel it's adds interesting visual to a scene where one or two might be in alt mode driving into battle, etc. It's off topic, I know, but I've been thinking about it. Anyway, great video.
You got it right - the money goes to the one that looks the best. There's a certain je ne sais quoi about the FT one, a presence or a charm. The categories all get weighted equally, but really, I don't care too much about gimmicks or accessories, so if a figure wins in those two categories but loses in presence, it might technically win 2-1, but it won't be the one that goes on my shelf. Even articulation, to some extent - as long as I can get it in a good pose, I don't need it to be able to touch its fingers behind its back.
For me, the look and transformation are of equal importance. Sometimes I will choose a figure that doesn't look as good as another one, just because the transformation is so great, but that doesn't happen very often. I haven't handled XTB, but I love my FT Seaspray 2.0! I just wish FT would make the elbows double jointed. As you said, they're trading articulation for something nebulous (without distinct form). They did the same thing with Dragstrip, a figure I absolutely adore. Also very interesting, the topic of the parts being greater than the whole. As always, another great episode. Keep it up! I love how you show different poses at the end. Thanks for all the time and energy you put into all this!
I don't have a horse in this race, but FT 2.0 looks like it would fit in flawlessly with the overall aesthetic of the MP line. That consistency is the only thing I really care about.
Wow!! So True!! The look is everything to me too! A figure can do everything right! But if it doesn't have that look! It doesn't matter. As always great video!♥️
I personally wish FT came with the accessories but that doesn't make a figure for me either it's just a nice bonus. I personally am trying to collect allot of G1 accurate figures and FT does that in spades but I also agree that Xtransbots windows on the piolet house looks way way better
On one hand, I do like the FT version more, but at the same time, for this to be their second attempt at this character, I really did expect it to be notably better than XTB. I think XTB's design would have been about perfect 2-3 years ago when MP-10 was still sort of the universal MP standard to go by, but to me, it just doesn't feel like it holds up to the current releases as well as it would have previously.
I don't want to be that guy Bobby but the feet on your Spindrift are mistransformed... they should be laying flat on the ground. Sorry Mr. Skullface please don't get mad at me ;) Other then that small detail I have both and the only category I think X-Transbots wins is articulation and the only category I think the Fans Toys wins is look so in my opinion it's a tie but in the end I would've chosen Fans Toys. Thanks for the comparison Mr. Skullface.
I have Spindrift 1.0 and I'd be genuinely intrigued how he'd score in a three-way (so to speak) versus. I wonder whether this makes the case for FT being more up front about 'X' repaints. With the Gigapower dinos, you knew both finishes (chrome vs metallic) were coming and could hold fire if the other finish was released first feeling safe that your collection wouldn't end up incomplete. FT tends to not be up-front. Presumably, they want the sales from tricking people into double-dipping. In a world where there is less competition and they are tending to sell out quickly, I don't think they need these tactics. If I knew a metallic version of their Warpath and Brawn were coming, I'd've waited for them (I suspect you'd've gone for a hypothetical X-repaint of Spindrift 2.0?) but, because I couldn't be sure they were coming, I went for the Final Victory set and called it 'done'. I think most people buying FT repaints already had the original. Their repaints also tend to be very limited. I think they'd sell more total product if they made more of the repaints and we knew they were coming and then those who want the metallic paint passing on the original would open up that stock for people who are missing out on them selling out (I still think they'd sell out just slower and that more people total would buy).
I 100% agree with what you're saying at in the summery, i myself went with neptune a while back and there's things i think a lot of us who have him do not like about him, but i think unless you're really going for the toon accurate look i think there's a point where many of us think is spindrift 2.0 that much better a figure than neptune? and that's probably a no in fact in many points neptune is actually better which you've covered, i think this is a bit of a lesson to fanstoys who i like but i feel have gotten a little complacent the last year or so just sticking fanstoys on the box aint always gonna be enough for people to jump ship to your products, that's just my 5 cents on it
Yeah this was an interesting comparison because it was a bit of a struggle for me. If no one else would have made another seaspray I would have been fine with xtransbots' seaspray. There is a lot of good there, but for me the Fans toys version was better enough to dethrone it. Yet the xtransbots version sticks with you because it was a top notch effort on their part.
WEird, because If you look at Toy WOrld wavebreak, it looks a lot like the cartoon as well ( as much as these do) but it has teh minibot proportions. I got my VX trans on a preorder for liek 44-49 dollars, so Im not mad.
We need a autobot of the general lee from dukes of hazzard and a decepticon Rosco police car and transformer R2-D2. Those would be fantastic and a transformer of the sea view from the voyage to the bottom of the sea, and that would be fantastic. I thought of trying to carve these out of wood.
He's against KOs, isn't he? The KO MP-47 is the only version of that figure that doesn't disintegrate right out of the box, at least until Hasbro reissues MP-47 with better plastic.
The opening shot of them stand next to each other, I decided fanstoys won for me. It looks the most like what I think seaspray should look like, that xtb long torso didn't help. I'm not sure I care enough about seaspray to spend $100 to replace the toyworld that is good enough. He's not a $160 character to me.
I'm thankful neither company nailed the cartoon accuracy. That would be a horrible looking figure. I'm still amazed that some people complain about cartoon accuracy when some of the characters in the cartoon looked so terrible. Just my opinion of course. If you like it you win.
I got FT Spindrift 2.0 and XTB Klaatu at about the same time. The amazing paint finish on Klaatu made me go out and order the XTB Neptune a few days later. The build quality of Spindrift 2.0 is good, really good. But he just looks SO PLAIN. He's boring looking on my shelf even next to other recent FT minibots. Also his head sculpt feels off to me.
Xcellent and just about perfect Comparison of 2 Great Seasprays. I have both and I prefer XTB. 1. Paint Stands Out. 2. The XTB Bot looks way better from the side and back, FT looks way too Beer Belly and too many Screws on back side. 3. Alt mode is OG masterpiece 4. And here's where FTs Fails for me...2 years later and 2nd version later and still NOT Dominate XTB is a BIG L. G2 ver of Neptune is Gorgeous.
FT - that’s Seaspray sculpt wise. Xtb- Seaspray’s younger brother. Glad I waited for FT. Accuracy still is by far in the way of FT. Come on now :). Lit’l prejudices...🙂
Where are you shopping? Xtransbots Neptune is consistently about $30 cheaper than Fanstoys Spindrift 2.0. Yeah U.S retailers usually price XTB Neptune in the $85 range but he's $65 all day long at every Asian retailer with free U.S. shipping. Those same Asian retailers charge $95 for Spindrift 2.0 which is more or less the same price U.S. retailers are charging.
The XTB re-wrote the book on what the character should of looked like in the cartoon if they put more effort into it to make it more real world realistic. XTB looks more like a boat or a yatch. It adds class and style and coolness to a character that desperately needed an upgrade in both modes. In alt mode it looks like a raft with a couple propellers. Fanstoys figure is too toon and the toon version is bad. Nobody wants to look at an ugly short and fat robot wearing a white diaper which is the vibe I get from Fanstoys version but not the other version. The FansToys figure looks like it's chug scale not MP scale. I know Fanstoys fan boys want all of fanstoys releases without exception but when it comes to this character Fanstoys is not even close to the best version.
XTB looks weird and silly...it's kinda clownish. XTB looks like a cheap toy to me. Maybe it looks better in hand. I'd give it to FT hands down for presence, alt mode and accuracy making it 5/5. Once again you're VS. demonstrates that FT doesn't always win. And yes you make a great point: just because one is technically better that doesn't mean the "better one" is the right one for your collection. Well done.
How many people already commented on the mistransformed feet on the Fanstoys, when I post this comment, ignoring all the other ones, 13 hours after the upload ?
When x-transbots actually puts out a character that the fan base will actually give 2 S#!TS ABOUT AN THEY BEAT THEM LIKE HOW THEY DID WITH SEASPRAY WHO NOBODY CARES ABOUT THEN ITLL ACTUALLY MATTER BUT TILL THEN, THEY STILL SUCK IN MY BOOK AND THEY WILL NEVER COME CLOSE 2 FANSTOYS, FANSTOYS RULE BABY 😁💪🤘👍
I tend to fair away from toon accurate crap. Even if it's a g I Joe classified major blood which now can be had for the discount price of 800,888,0000000000000000,000000 on the target app👎
