This is the one, among all of the Infernos released to date, this one has the most realistic alt mode, every month I see the real life version of this truck parked outside of the Fire station near my house, nowadays they use it there for training rookies, I even have come to step onto the ladders on the sides, X-transbots nailed it.
Just got mine in today - I gotta say, except for the hands that don't stay in place, this is one of the nicest 3P figures in my collection. And I also must say "thank you" for helping me sort out the minor issues I was having - namely how to remove the head, and the fact that it does actually have double jointed elbows. And I'm glad it does, because they're fantastic. Great review, thanks a lot!
Excited for that VS. video! I remember a while back on a livestream asking you and Mike Rogers if I should wait for this figure or just get the Takara and you both enthusiastically recommended getting the Takara. I never did, and now I'm kinda glad I waited. Also hello! I took a breather from Transformers for a little bit but I'm easing back in now. Thanks for continuing to make good content!
@@michaelpolston5240 Well between TMReviews upcoming Vs and some other's opinions on the Transformers E.R.C. Facebook group, which if you're on FB and haven't joined I highly recommend, That will help you in your decision making process!
6:50 This did it for me. I’m buying XTB Grapple. The Takara looks like a toy robot that’s been transformed into a vehicle that resembles a fire truck. The XTB looks so good, you’d never know it could transform into a great looking robot. I’m buying the Da Vinci/Grapple to go with my XTB Paean/Hoist.
Few tips for anyone interested: 1. A thin line of superglue applied and allowed to dry on the inside of the wrist socket will thicken up the edge enough to make the wrists tab in more securely. Literally to the point where I can now pick my figure up and dangle it by just the hand and the wrist hinge doesn’t come untabbed. 2. You can use a 1.9mm drill bit (no bigger!) to carefully drill a hole in the tip of his arm nozzle. Use a hand chuck not electric. The water effect can then be used in robot mode. Great review dude. I’ve only bought Tirador and Da Vinci so far, but you’ve convinced me to triple dip on Dante as well. Actually I should say QUADRUPLE dip as I’ll be going in on the Bulkhead version too which also looks awesome! Such a refreshing surprise from XTB in terms of quality and finish.
Going to be honest I fast forward bcause I wanted to see how the ladder folded up. Well it’s a bunch of noodles. And it’s still hanging there! Really good review.
Looking at him he's got some things I heavily love and things I could do without easily... I highly prefer the 'old' designs of MPs with details that weren't so G1 toon accurate, but I do love the fact that Takara is the only one that's actually collapsed the ladder/crane armature (Grapple, obviously) into the chest of the robot to give it a clean backside. I don't really care for the armature that this Inferno's head is attached to as it's pretty unwieldy from the look of it and sticks out like a sore thumb in the vehicle mode, but I love his more realistic looking fire truck. And while the water effect may look nice, there's no way it should be transparent like that. If you were using your garden hose to water something sure, but coming out of a hose meant for fighting fires it's under a hell of a lot more pressure which causes much more of a consistent shotgun blast of millions of droplets and air pockets.
I'm so glad this turned out well. I'm in for Hauler and probably Artfire. If I like them enough, I might even replace my official Inferno and Grapple, since the only thing I like about those two are their accessories (and the transformation is clever, to be fair).
As a kid I had/have G1 Grapple so that is the character that appeals to me the most from this mould. Also Grapple interacts a lot with Hoist my favorite character so seeing him done so well is great to see. I love the Takara engineering for stowing the crane/ladder inside the bot but honestly this version looks way better in my opinion even with the ladder sticking out on his back. One of the things I love about Transformers is when elements of their alt mode incorporate into their Bot mode. I am also a big fan of when real world details of these vehicles are found in the toy. I think the strong push for extreme cartoon aesthetic has gone too far in erasing the appeal of the original toys and the details that build visual interest for both modes. The original line of car bots had these details and the cartoon lacked them because they lacked the artist and time to add all of this the animated version. It was a limitation of the medium and I for one don't enjoy when these toys oversimplify their look to match the show when so much more is possible. The transformation has a few X-Transbots moments where you're forced to push parts past other ones but overall this is a good transformation. If I had this guy I would be worried about the connection that links the head/ladder with the rest of the body but it does seem sound. I do like the narrower hips below the body compared to the Takara one. That seems like one big box from chest to hips. Overall the joint hardware looks great and the alt mode is beautiful. Thanks for the review. I am really looking forward to the verses on this one.
Takara's is still my go-to MP Inferno but if you're unhappy with or if you're not a fan of it, you've got lots and lots of good options. Looking forward to your comparison video, Sony!
I went in on the Artfire variant because I have Takara Inferno & Grapple & I'm happy with them...the Artfire variant is going on display with my Japanese figures...that said I may have to bite the bullet because of this review & the fact that at their size if I get 1 of the 2 G1 variants I would have to get both because of the size...This is how to make ppl will think about replacements...good review
Was watching mangmotions video and thinking how simple the transformation was for XTB and then he got to that insane backpack step😂 sure it’s not as crazy in person as it looks haha
I'm commenting before the transformation so I might be back. One thing seems kind of off to me is they went super realistic on everything and then the ladder is just plain white plastic. Now I know that's accurate for him but it clashes with the realistic nature of everything else to me.
I like this, especially truck mode. Personally I think I like maketoys and takara better for robot mode. But I have no beefs with owning multiple versions of characters/designs I really like.
That ladder and head section is using *SIX* different armatures just to avoid "parts-forming", even tho it's still just parts-forming. Manufacturers and designers, please listen: parts-forming is preferable to 2+ armatures in place of parts-forming.
16:53 I think the front stabilizers are meant to fold up in robot mode, not back down. It may take some spinning of them though to fit them in. You can see Mangmotion did it in his video.
It looks really nice, unfortunately it's just not toon accurate enough for me to replace my Takara, but for the people that don't really care for toon acuate figures, this is a win
I used to think I needed to buy everything Xtransbots puts out, even if Fanstoys or Takara had already done it. Not anymore, Takara did this guy and I’m good with it. I just want the green one, the rest are up for everyone else.
@@GareWorks to be clear, wasn’t insinuating that the engineering was stolen. Just found it interesting that HasTak mainline is incorporating MP style engineering
This reminds me of the more detailed version that MMC did. I have that version for grapple and the takara version for inferno. I like this one too, may get this mold for a hauler stand in when the redeco comes out.
@@TMReviews oh of course cool, thanks.. Are you reviewing any of the other color releases? I assume its a bit of a remold too for the grapple crane version?
straight outta 2017... weird things is that all the detail in the alt-mode goes away in bot mode. without the ladder hidden in bot mode, scale issues, and it being an xtb product super easy pass for me but if you like it you win
I got the Artfire from XTB and it’s almost amazing… those thumbs are the reason I didn’t pick up the rest of them… ooooof they’re terrible. Cant put a gun in without them popping off. Can’t believe this is still an issue with XTB/KFC. Xtb keeps hitting homeruns… just to run the wrong way on the bases😂
Still beats me WHY they left the armature that holds the had in white, when they could have made it in red t hide it better? Or green, orange, etc. depending on the character (Caravaggio, daVinci or Matador)
Great review and this is one of the best XTB figures personally looks way better than the Takara as 100% toon can be too plain. This figure is a great balance of real life alt mode high details while the robot mode is toon accurate. Will be getting this along with XTB Artfire.
Nice review. Since I already have the Takara this will be an easy pass for me, but I can see the appeal of an accurate real world firetruck. I do find it odd that the water effect is in 2 pieces but cannot work with the robot mode nozzle hand. It kind of makes me wonder if there was supposed to be another piece that you could swap out for robot mode that they scrapped for some reason.
Plain and simple there is no versus, Takara has the Superior engineering having the ladder collapse and literally disappear how can you even compare the two.
Depends on whether you value the clever engineering and toon accuracy over a more realistic alt mode and nicer G1 toy aesthetics. I think a versus is entirely appropriate.
The only criteria for me personally to do a VS is if they are going after the same character in the same scale. This fits that bill, so here we go 😅. Engineering is only one factor of several that I look at.
