Iron Factory: Tyrant’s Wings Clone

Here’s something that’s a little different. There has been a vein of the third party mine that has focused on making small, Legends scale figures as opposed to the larger variety. As an idea, this has been one that has been well received, and one that at times has piqued Coffin interests as well. One such company is Iron Factory, and when their TFCon USA 2017 exclusive Sunstorm repaint of their Starscream was announced, it seemed like as good a time as any to jump in to this area of third party merchandise.

So, Iron Factory’s Legend scaled Starscream is called Tyrant, and the other Seekers fall under the group moniker of Tyrant’s Wings. Sunstorm, as established by the Dreamwave G1 continuity, was a religious zealot who identified Starscream as his brother, so it kinda makes some sense that here, in the unofficial realm, that would translate to Clone.

Kinda.

Apparently patterned after, or at the very least designed to evoke, the Generations Legends class Seeker figures, Clone is not the G1 typical F-15 design, but rather something much more hi-tech and futuristic, seemingly like the F-22 of the live action movie Starscream design. At least in jet mode. The robot mode has all the visual cues of both Seeker and this particular type of airplane, and is clearly a Seeker in body type. For all the Transformer characters that get updates or makeovers or whatever over the years, the Seekers generally always fare well in terms of looking like themselves, as well as reflecting their alt modes in the trademark or characteristic ways. Except the live action movie design. The intention here is not to malign that particular version, but it is one of the only Seeker looks that really fails, outside of flat out nameslaps as seen in repaint-centered lines (Machine Wars) or English dubs (like Thundercracker in Cybertron). But all the usual Seeker cues are here: arm mounted blasters, angular over the shoulder wings, shoulder intakes or pylons, jet engine feet, cockpit chest, helmet head.

First off, a general comment. From pictures, it is easy to dismiss figures of this size in general as being blocky and poor looking. Many examples of these guys look like attempts at small toys that retain the complexity of larger toys, which leads to these smaller ones looking like overly complex messes. At least in stock photos. In hand though, this is a really classy, efficient figure that possesses a simple and fun transformation, and looks good in both modes, with neither sacrificing anything in favor of the other. Some official Hasbro figures in this scale, like the Generations Legends Seekers, look good as jets but that comes at slight cost to the robot, the flipping wing part making the robot seem a little high waisted.

As a third party Sunstorm, it should be no surprise that Clone’s paint scheme is a real strong orange and a real bright white. Thin lines of red and silver accent the wings, but the general look is of the two main colors, and they are gorgeous colors. Both are thick and strong, so the figure really pops and gets attention. The transformation is really good, and very intuitive. Maybe ‘intuitive’ isn’t the right word; it’s a fairly normal Seeker transformation pattern, so by this point it has become intuitive because of familiarity. The lower legs push up towards the torso, the shoulders and arms fold downwards towards the torso, the wings flip over the back and attach in a way that unifies the jet fuselage. It has all been done before, and it works just as well here as it has for years.

Since this is the first experience with a third party figure of this size, the part that is most surprising is the poseability the figure has. This toy is jointed like a Deluxe class figure, with ball jointed shoulders and hips, bicep, wrist, and thigh swivels, and a slight ankle rocker. That one may be more of a transformation joint than a posing joint, but it still gives a little more movement. The wings are also attached via ball joints, which provides great opportunity to position the wings in all manner of expressive fashions. The blasters plug on to the arms in typical Seeker fashion, and are the only removable parts on the figure. The fully integrated and attached null ray continues to be an elusive development, but at this point in the converting robot experience, this is either not an issue or something that is probably being taken too seriously.

The jet mode is nice and detailed, with a lot of lines and grooves molded onto the body. Different from the official Legends sized Seekers which are generally much smoother and not as detailed. The jet is reminiscent of the F-22, or some other high tech concept fighter, and it is a good design. Everything pegs together well in transformation, making for a sturdy jet, but there is a noticeable gap between fuselage and wings owing to the wings being on stalks in order for the ball joints to be functional. This is not a big issue, but it does break up the solid look of the alt mode; once more, however, this is by now a regular and normal part of the Seeker look, so it doesn’t bother that much. We’ve had gappy Seeker wings since the G1 days, after all. There is also a gap on the underside of the jet, where the robot head sits in alt mode, but the figure comes with a small plastic block that not only fits into this opening to obscure the head, but also has a 5mm hole for a flight stand to attach to. The null rays can attach to either the underside of the wings or the same pegs on the biceps, and in one configuration they sit more forward under the wing that the other. Neither is better than the other, so which one is employed is basically a matter of personal taste.

The truly amazing things about this figure are the poseability and the overall quality. The poseability is really great, as all the ball jointed limbs and their swivels afford a great range of expressive movement. The fact that the biceps swivel as well as the wrist lets a more natural arm movement happen without having to use the bicep joint to overcompensate for the lack of wrist. You know what that means: that syndrome where the arm needs to be at essentially a 90-degree angle from the torso in order to have the figure point a blaster out to its side, like this can only be achieved through holding ones arm out immediately away from the body. Most of the official figures in this size class have solid, one-piece forearms, without a wrist, so the presence of one on this figure is definitely noticed.

As is typical to be skeptical of, but also increasingly typical to assume, the quality of this figure is excellent. The plastic is nice and thick feeling, and the entire toy feels good and durable in hand. There is nothing flimsy or cheap feeling about Clone, which makes it reasonable to assume that the same could be said about the other uses of the mold for the regular Seekers, as well as the impending Iron Factory Coneheads. Clone here is just a repaint, with apparently no remolding or different parts or anything, so assuming that this is representative of the other Seekers as well as the general quality of the Iron Factory products at large speaks positive volumes about the company and their offerings. This figure represents not only a new third party company but an entirely new third party figure experience, as it is the first of this smaller size to enter the Coffin collection. If this figure is what can generally be expected out of this type of product, then there may be a real future in this scale for my collecting, as it represents another untapped avenue of the third party experience. The lower legs on Clone do show signs of separation after transformation, like they split ever so slightly up near the top, but a light squeeze closes the gap. It seems to be a tension issue, and not like something is misaligned or misassembled. it is because the legs are not a single piece, as may be more typical of a figure in this scale, but it is not the sign of an issue or defect or anything untoward.

 

The only thing that doesn’t feel good about this figure is its price: Clone will set you back $40, and was (or is, depending) only available through TFSource. A US TFCon 2017 exclusive, this one may be more expensive than the other Wings of Tyrant figures, like their Skywarp or Thundercracker. A few dollars more is generally expected for convention or otherwise exclusive toys, but the average price for figures of this size is around $40 or more, depending on the figure and the company. The size class seems to be a hotbed of activity as well, and getting more ambitious all the time: Iron Factory has recently released combining Combaticons, and have prototypes for a combining Decepticon Justice Division from the IDW comics. A number of combining Constructicons are also on the market currently. A few IDW characters are starting to get figures as well from the various companies working in this scale. So, big things are happening in the smaller figure world, and that is pretty cool. Whether or not the pursuit of this sized figure continues is as of yet unknown: a number of other pieces have made the Coffin’s shopping list, but it is not really known yet whether the costs are justified by the products themselves. There are really no negatives for Clone except for the cost, but how many more or different figures of the kind are obtained is as of yet unknown. The Coffin is always up for more Seekers, but what of other characters? It’s hard to think of which other characters $30-40 or more will feel good spending on.