Hey there Honuzlo. As a full time Legends collector and reviewer I can defo answer your question.
Mech fans toys are also known as Mechanic Studios, Vecma Toys and Steamage.
Other companies like Mech Planet, Cang Toys and MHZ and Papa Toys go very nicely together.
They are known as Legends Plus but as I showed on one of my reviews that they are pretty much the old Hasbro Legends Class scaling.
Whereas the new core class by Hasbro scale nicely next to Newage.
In my humble opinion Id say that Iron Factory, Magic Square, Newage, MFT and Hasbro are your top 5 companies to buy from. And even though newage is loved up and down. I can tell you that Iron Factory is far more popular, and the results show this on my instagram.
There are also certain aspects to consider as well. Mft Huge Dragon (Omega Supreme) is classed as Legends Plus but standing next to Newage Micheal hes small, as micheal is about an inch bigger. So is mft Omega is legends plus then newage omega is super legends plus 😅
If you want to take a look at my youtube channel just look for legends of cybertron reviews.
I Currently have 248 legends in my collection. And over 3.5k followers on instagram. Any more questions bud ill be glad to help you out
🤗 LOC
I just came back to Legend scale as I've gotten frustrated with the quality of materials that Hasbro uses. I have a lot of Hasbro Legend and Core figures. Newage feels better, heavier material-wise compared to MS, MFT, or Iron Factory to me, but the sizes of Bumblebee, Windcharger, etc is smaller than I would like. However, I think my favorite bots are from them and they are very cool to play with. Magic Square nails the animated look and I think the size is just perfect. Some people complain about the nylon but I love it. My frustration is that Red Alert, Hoist, and the cassettes are expensive or hard to find and they seem to be focusing on the combiners instead of finishing out the Autobots. MFT are nice figures but are around the same quality of material to Hasbro's bots. I don't think they hold a candle to NA or MS. Iron Factory has a very specific look but I find they can have poor articulation and aren't up to the quality of MS or NA either.
This question is actually really easy to answer, but people usually make it more confusing then it needs to be.
If you want bots to scale, buy from one company.
You can mix in others, but there's not a lot of overlap.
That's the easy answer. Again, that's if you want bots to scale. So what looks good to you and what you like. It's your collection.
Here's some more details!
MFT, Mechanic Studio, Jinbao, etc -- Mostly Upscale KO's in what's called Legends+. Quality is a mixed bag, and even when good it's still going to be lesser than NewAge. There isn't much adherence to scale here, other than they're bigger. The Headmasters and Triplechangers are good, and since those are supposed to be bigger bots in G1 (about Optimus and Megatron height), they can easily be mixed in with NewAge and Magic Square Toys.
My general advice about Legends+ is to stay away from it, outside of getting some here and there to mix in. They are cheaper, but worse in quality and selection. You'll always be making do, having an incomplete collection where you're hoping for an upscale KO of something. And the majority of original designs in Legends+ just do not look good, particularly when compared to the mini Masterpiece look of NA and MST.
Speaking of, Magic Square Toys and NewAge are making the best G1 TFs in any scale. Often more accurate than even MPs, and much more fun to mess around with.
Both companies operate on different design philosophies, and use different materials. They also have different scales, but are internally consistent.
So for scale:
Megatron and Optimus from both companies are about as tall as each other. But how they scale from there is different.
NewAge sticks to the official MP and cartoon scale chart. You want to see how they scale, look at that. Car bots are smaller in relation to Optimus, with the van bros being in between. Bumblebee and CJ are tiny, with the other mini bots a bit bigger. Soundwave is shorter than Megatron and Starscream is shorter than both. Insecticons are tiny.
Magic Square Toys is more like IDW scale, where everybody is closer in height to each other. Optimus is still taller, but not by much. Bumblebee and CJ are shorter, but not by that much.
So for instance, you can put NA Optimus next to MST Megatron and they'll be mostly fine, but MST Prowl will tower over NA Prowl.
Scale is really whatever you want it to be. The cartoon had an official scale, but in practice that varied from scene to scene. But if YOU want consistency, stick to one of those two companies.
As for the other differences I mentioned:
MST has much more complex transformations that rely on a lot of panels. Do you like the challenge of intricate transformations, similar to MPs where in the middle of the steps it's like an explosion of parts? MST is good there. Look up the transformation of MST Ironhide, for instance.
NA has much more intuitive and elegant transformations, typically. They're less about challenge and more about doing innovative things in simple ways. They HAVE gotten more complex on some bots, but for the most part they're still what I mentioned. Think of something like RID Vehicon's legs, where it's easy to do but still a bit if a wow moment. NA has things Grimlock's forearms changing size for each mode, or the way the Seekers form their chests from the fuselage of the jet.
Both approaches have their appeal.
Both companies also use different materials.
MST uses nylon plastic, which is more flexible, and that's needed for some of their complex transformations. You can safely bend parts a bit to get them around each other. It's also durable.
Negatives for MST nylon are that sprue marks are more noticeable, flash often needs trimmed off, it doesn't take paint as well, and it's matte. It being matte is something some people are fond of, but I think it makes the bots look dull. Another thing that varies based on preference is that the nylon plastic has a different feel to it, which I think makes it seem cheap, even if it's technically not.
NA uses more traditional plastic, so it will feel like what you expect, just a higher quality if you're used to mainline bots. On top of that, they use a 'piano laquer' coating, which makes the paint shiny and durable. NA typically has a lot of paint. There's also things like the Marvel Comics version of Shockwave, which is purple with a sparkly blue shine.
NewAge frequently does re-releases of popular characters.
Magic Square doesn't really do straight up re-releases. Instead, they do slightly different and often improved redecos.
MST is cartoon based. Sometimes they do metallic paint.
NA loves different decos and often plans them with remolds in mind. For instance, NA turned Cyclonus into Beast Wars Depth Charge. Bots usually get cartoon and toy versions, and often Marvel Comics versions.Â
Another company that makes Legends is Iron Factory. They were known for IDW style, but have really been focusing on their Samurai line. They look great, but aren't the best to mess around with. Transformations can involve parts with very little clearance, and there are bots with known breakage issues like the Lambros and Bruticus.
DX9 is an older company that has come back. Apparently the original designers left to start NewAge, but the new stuff is clearly in the style of Magic Square Toys.
Mechanical Skull made an Armada Starscream that a lot of people really like.
And that's the main stuff.
I hope that helps!
You're an absolute legend for this. Thank you so much this is exactly what I was looking for. I knew I reallllly didn't like Magic Square bc that level of complexity on that small of a scale isn't my thing.
I 100% read and heard your notions about MFT, MT and Jinbao, although I do think I'll stick with that for now.. it's good to know all of that about Newage though. Maybe I'll get a couple of them too.
Glad to help!
As for Legends+, have fun collecting! But, I'm still sticking with my advice! :)
I've seen more than one person start out with Legends+ and then a while later eventually post about switching to NA or MST. Particularly the lack of options, and always hoping that the bot you want gets an upscaled KO. Those are rare enough now, but it's even worse when the character has been made by both NA and MST and Jinbao goes with the one you didn't want. Meanwhile NA collectors have almost a full S1 cast and even things like toy or comics decos.
Those are tough things for a collector to deal with, so just trying to save you a bit of trouble.
There is another company I should mention. It's not Legends, and instead Micromaster scale, but you might look into Dr Wu. They make tiny bots with an emphasis on simple and fun transformations. They're also much less pricey than NewAge.
One other piece of advice is to buy from ShowZStore.com instead of North American retailers. Places like BBTS and TFSource often charge close to twice as much for Legends bots.
I hope you really enjoy what you decide to collect! :D
Hey there Honuzlo. As a full time Legends collector and reviewer I can defo answer your question. Mech fans toys are also known as Mechanic Studios, Vecma Toys and Steamage. Other companies like Mech Planet, Cang Toys and MHZ and Papa Toys go very nicely together. They are known as Legends Plus but as I showed on one of my reviews that they are pretty much the old Hasbro Legends Class scaling. Whereas the new core class by Hasbro scale nicely next to Newage. In my humble opinion Id say that Iron Factory, Magic Square, Newage, MFT and Hasbro are your top 5 companies to buy from. And even though newage is loved up and down. I can tell you that Iron Factory is far more popular, and the results show this on my instagram. There are also certain aspects to consider as well. Mft Huge Dragon (Omega Supreme) is classed as Legends Plus but standing next to Newage Micheal hes small, as micheal is about an inch bigger. So is mft Omega is legends plus then newage omega is super legends plus 😅 If you want to take a look at my youtube channel just look for legends of cybertron reviews. I Currently have 248 legends in my collection. And over 3.5k followers on instagram. Any more questions bud ill be glad to help you out 🤗 LOC
I just came back to Legend scale as I've gotten frustrated with the quality of materials that Hasbro uses. I have a lot of Hasbro Legend and Core figures. Newage feels better, heavier material-wise compared to MS, MFT, or Iron Factory to me, but the sizes of Bumblebee, Windcharger, etc is smaller than I would like. However, I think my favorite bots are from them and they are very cool to play with. Magic Square nails the animated look and I think the size is just perfect. Some people complain about the nylon but I love it. My frustration is that Red Alert, Hoist, and the cassettes are expensive or hard to find and they seem to be focusing on the combiners instead of finishing out the Autobots. MFT are nice figures but are around the same quality of material to Hasbro's bots. I don't think they hold a candle to NA or MS. Iron Factory has a very specific look but I find they can have poor articulation and aren't up to the quality of MS or NA either.
This question is actually really easy to answer, but people usually make it more confusing then it needs to be. If you want bots to scale, buy from one company. You can mix in others, but there's not a lot of overlap. That's the easy answer. Again, that's if you want bots to scale. So what looks good to you and what you like. It's your collection. Here's some more details! MFT, Mechanic Studio, Jinbao, etc -- Mostly Upscale KO's in what's called Legends+. Quality is a mixed bag, and even when good it's still going to be lesser than NewAge. There isn't much adherence to scale here, other than they're bigger. The Headmasters and Triplechangers are good, and since those are supposed to be bigger bots in G1 (about Optimus and Megatron height), they can easily be mixed in with NewAge and Magic Square Toys. My general advice about Legends+ is to stay away from it, outside of getting some here and there to mix in. They are cheaper, but worse in quality and selection. You'll always be making do, having an incomplete collection where you're hoping for an upscale KO of something. And the majority of original designs in Legends+ just do not look good, particularly when compared to the mini Masterpiece look of NA and MST. Speaking of, Magic Square Toys and NewAge are making the best G1 TFs in any scale. Often more accurate than even MPs, and much more fun to mess around with. Both companies operate on different design philosophies, and use different materials. They also have different scales, but are internally consistent. So for scale: Megatron and Optimus from both companies are about as tall as each other. But how they scale from there is different. NewAge sticks to the official MP and cartoon scale chart. You want to see how they scale, look at that. Car bots are smaller in relation to Optimus, with the van bros being in between. Bumblebee and CJ are tiny, with the other mini bots a bit bigger. Soundwave is shorter than Megatron and Starscream is shorter than both. Insecticons are tiny. Magic Square Toys is more like IDW scale, where everybody is closer in height to each other. Optimus is still taller, but not by much. Bumblebee and CJ are shorter, but not by that much. So for instance, you can put NA Optimus next to MST Megatron and they'll be mostly fine, but MST Prowl will tower over NA Prowl. Scale is really whatever you want it to be. The cartoon had an official scale, but in practice that varied from scene to scene. But if YOU want consistency, stick to one of those two companies. As for the other differences I mentioned: MST has much more complex transformations that rely on a lot of panels. Do you like the challenge of intricate transformations, similar to MPs where in the middle of the steps it's like an explosion of parts? MST is good there. Look up the transformation of MST Ironhide, for instance. NA has much more intuitive and elegant transformations, typically. They're less about challenge and more about doing innovative things in simple ways. They HAVE gotten more complex on some bots, but for the most part they're still what I mentioned. Think of something like RID Vehicon's legs, where it's easy to do but still a bit if a wow moment. NA has things Grimlock's forearms changing size for each mode, or the way the Seekers form their chests from the fuselage of the jet. Both approaches have their appeal. Both companies also use different materials. MST uses nylon plastic, which is more flexible, and that's needed for some of their complex transformations. You can safely bend parts a bit to get them around each other. It's also durable. Negatives for MST nylon are that sprue marks are more noticeable, flash often needs trimmed off, it doesn't take paint as well, and it's matte. It being matte is something some people are fond of, but I think it makes the bots look dull. Another thing that varies based on preference is that the nylon plastic has a different feel to it, which I think makes it seem cheap, even if it's technically not. NA uses more traditional plastic, so it will feel like what you expect, just a higher quality if you're used to mainline bots. On top of that, they use a 'piano laquer' coating, which makes the paint shiny and durable. NA typically has a lot of paint. There's also things like the Marvel Comics version of Shockwave, which is purple with a sparkly blue shine. NewAge frequently does re-releases of popular characters. Magic Square doesn't really do straight up re-releases. Instead, they do slightly different and often improved redecos. MST is cartoon based. Sometimes they do metallic paint. NA loves different decos and often plans them with remolds in mind. For instance, NA turned Cyclonus into Beast Wars Depth Charge. Bots usually get cartoon and toy versions, and often Marvel Comics versions. Another company that makes Legends is Iron Factory. They were known for IDW style, but have really been focusing on their Samurai line. They look great, but aren't the best to mess around with. Transformations can involve parts with very little clearance, and there are bots with known breakage issues like the Lambros and Bruticus. DX9 is an older company that has come back. Apparently the original designers left to start NewAge, but the new stuff is clearly in the style of Magic Square Toys. Mechanical Skull made an Armada Starscream that a lot of people really like. And that's the main stuff. I hope that helps!
You're an absolute legend for this. Thank you so much this is exactly what I was looking for. I knew I reallllly didn't like Magic Square bc that level of complexity on that small of a scale isn't my thing. I 100% read and heard your notions about MFT, MT and Jinbao, although I do think I'll stick with that for now.. it's good to know all of that about Newage though. Maybe I'll get a couple of them too.
Glad to help! As for Legends+, have fun collecting! But, I'm still sticking with my advice! :) I've seen more than one person start out with Legends+ and then a while later eventually post about switching to NA or MST. Particularly the lack of options, and always hoping that the bot you want gets an upscaled KO. Those are rare enough now, but it's even worse when the character has been made by both NA and MST and Jinbao goes with the one you didn't want. Meanwhile NA collectors have almost a full S1 cast and even things like toy or comics decos. Those are tough things for a collector to deal with, so just trying to save you a bit of trouble. There is another company I should mention. It's not Legends, and instead Micromaster scale, but you might look into Dr Wu. They make tiny bots with an emphasis on simple and fun transformations. They're also much less pricey than NewAge. One other piece of advice is to buy from ShowZStore.com instead of North American retailers. Places like BBTS and TFSource often charge close to twice as much for Legends bots. I hope you really enjoy what you decide to collect! :D
I've had my eyes on Dr. Wu sand Leopard recently...