Magic Square Toys Weibo account have been updated with images of the color prototypes of their new MB-49 Spider Gear & MB-50 Energy (Legends Scale Gears & Windcharger).
These are two new versions of G1 Gears and Windcharger for the competitive Legends scale market. Both toys feature cartoon-accurate design in robot and alt mode and a wide range of poseability, and they are in scale with the rest of Magic Square Legends figures.
See the new images after the jump and then sound off on the 2005 Boards!
echotransformer
Just a quick note about him standing…there are actually some heelspurs that can be folded out, if you angle them forward just a bit, he stands up really well. At least on my copy.
FieryReign
Windcharger is pretty much impossible to stand. Look at his feet. They're uneven and will automatically cause the figure to fall backwards. It looks like a cheap knockoff. The head is tiny, whilst Gears head is bigger than Omegas damn near. This seems like 2 half-assed figures they just put out there for the sake of having these figures out there. Neither one would be worth $20 on their own.
If Gears had some of that Newage paint sheen, he would be ok, but still way too big. Even in scale with other MS figures, his big ass head and body don't match.
Windcharger is a loss. They should toss that nonsense and start from scratch.
Powerbomb
Is this a known thing? Weapon storage on Windcharger/Energy?
![[IMG]](https://i.imgur.com/7xhJluZ.jpg)
It splits the car mode a bit, but it kinda works. I can see this being useful if you were moving and didn't have the box anymore or had him in your pocket (as some do?).
Artereis
Gears depends entirely on the arms. If they're even slightly out of position his alt mode will never stay together.
Tef
Got these fellas last week… and altho they both have intricate transformation… Windcharger is decent, but Gear's transformation SUCKS i just cant do it right… i stuggle so much for the doors to snap on to the back side panels, and those damn feet never stay pegged on, everything just keeps unpegging itself from everything… ARG! over intricate transformation!
Got them from @SirToys here: Magic Square MS-B49 MS-B50 Windcharger Gears – 3rd Party – SirToys.com
Enjoy the video of me struggling 15min with gear:
CryptiniteDemon
Originally I skipped buying this set for various reasons, but decided to get them for other various reasons. I'm so glad I changed my mind. Gears in particular has an amazingly intricate transformation. I don't know how they come up with some of these designs.
UltraMagnusLRLL
Got mine in yesterday and while the first conversions were really tricky, I do enjoy the clever solutions for the making these guys look JUST like on the cartoon. The animation models could not be farther from the simple designs of the original toys, and Magic Square gives another example of why they named themselves as such; particularly with Gears. I am so impressed with how they handled his ridiculous head, and included the opening chest gimmick from his singular featured episode. I feel like Windcharger's backpack could have been designed to flip over, with some Grey underneath the hood to make it look just a tiny bit more like the Animation model…
…But that's kind of a ridiculous nitpick, considering how complex these little guys already are. I have never had a huge connection to these characters, as they were both featured sparingly at best in the Cartoon. Even so, the articulation range and overall personality built into these guys is oh, so satisfying. I never knew how badly these guys were missed in my G1S1 group shot!
Now if SOMEONE would just handle Sunstreaker and Skids, I can relax and have a cigar!
gaseous clay
Got these guys from TCP today:
View attachment 29834720
View attachment 29834721
They're neat little guys. The transformation isn't particularly hard, though it does seem way more complex than it needs to be.
TFDAD
I received these guys last night from BBB and they're pretty solid. As a collector of both MS and NA, I've come to appreciate the positives and negatives of each company. As usual, the tolerances are all over the board with these guys, especially Windcharger. One of the leg sliders was so tight I sliced my thumb on the nylon. No QC issues at all, but the lack of shoulder articulation for Windcharger is a real bummer and limits posing. Gears is easily the better of the two even with the Hasbro-ish back of the head. Just a really fun transformation and a much more stable bot to pose and mess with.
All in all, these are a great buy at about $30 each if you're used to MS stuff. Glad I got them!
RootNegative
I've had a few MS figures with defects. Both times I got replacements parts from the seller (ShowZ) with no issue. While I hope when these guys show up in a week there are no problems I am confident that any issues can be fixed.
UltraMagnusLRLL
Again; good point. I hope you get 'after-sale' support from your retailer. I really have high hopes for these figures as they will help to complete my Season 1 Autobots shelf…
nhyone
It won't help, because they have all been manufactured (most likely).
I should replace the word "release" with "manufacture".
UltraMagnusLRLL
Yikes, this has me wanting to wait a couple months to pick up this set…
In truth, any purchase is a roll of the dice- but you might have a point about figures released just before/just after CNY.
nhyone
More accurately, it's misaligned panel.
When I got it, the right leg looked shorter. I was fiddling with it when the pin fell out, followed by the panel.
The factory worker must have positioned the panel wrongly when he fired the pin.
Gears has a missing panel.
Jazzymouse
oof, misfired pin? my ms shockwave had the same issue. it sucks.
nhyone
View attachment 29819939
What's the chances that both figures have issues?
I hate figures that are released just before and after CNY. The defect rate is higher, I feel.
zestymans
Does anyone have advice for transforming windcharger's legs? I can't get all four wheels to touch the ground at once.
Piggy
They really screwed up badly with that Windcharger foot design. The heel spur needed to be a millimeter or two longer as he's just too back heavy with everything folded up on his back. Yeah, you can swing them down a bit, but there's nothing to lock them that way and they collapse back easily. I don't typically display all my figures together in action poses, and I can't get him to stand in a neutral pose without hunching him over slightly or swinging the arms forward otherwise he just falls over. It's terrible. The spurs don't even need to fold away for vehicle mode as there's clearance to just insert them in the front half of the car under the roof. I've never tried it, but I don't imagine that that type of vinyl plastic will adhere with superglue, so it's not like I can just add material to make the spurs longer. Unfolding the hands going from vehicle to bot mode is also more challenging than it should be. I love the character, but this guy is easily MS's worst blunder yet design-wise. I do think the transformation is fun and clever, which makes it all the more frustrating.
Rewind
The nose is scratched on mine too, but it happened during transformation. His nose makes contact with the hood hinge in alt mode, and the paint must not be strong enough on mine. I’m just going to touch mine up myself but I haven’t gotten around to mixing the right color yet.
Craigmcgowan1984
Yeah I put in a replacement request as soon as I saw the scratch. Hopefully get replacement soon.