Threezero DLX Rise Of The Beasts Mirage Color Prototype

Amazon canceled my preorder. They are getting less reliable fulfilling preorders for TheeeZero stuff.

ThreeZero DLX vs Yolopark.
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Can you imagine how INCREDIBLE a DLX and or Premium scale Beast Mode Primal would be by Threezero?!?

Napalm

No, I get it and totally agree. If you were to ever change your mind, adding these sorts of apps to a figure is pretty straightforward. You could always test your hand on an unwanted, or cheaper figure first.

I've gone from having no experience with painting to biting the bullet and winging it with threezero (repairing some chipped paint on 3A Bee, adding wear and washes to a cleanly painted L8 replacement head for TLK Bee) Yolopark (repainting and adding scratches and wear to Megatron's helmet and other figures (full filthy repaint of the shiny silver IDW replacement head for the battle damaged KO of SS-109 Megatron along with his weapons).

It's a lot more manageable when you're cutting your teeth on smaller parts.

Oh I’ve experimented a bit with it, I just tend to find custom paint seems to always either rub off easier or be somewhat “sticky” afterward unlike factory applied paint. I’ve experimented with weathering before but at the end realized that all I did was make me like handling the figures less because of that feeling.

Napalm

Y'see, I wanted to say yes. And I almost did. But pulling them out for comparison I see the issue with ROTB Bee now – he's actually missing that almost signature silver dry brush wear that BBM and TLK Bee – and of course, BBM Prime – have to complement the washes.

Ah that’s a shame, wonder why it was left out. I know it’s a small thing to get me conflicted on buying it, but when they cost this much I don’t expect to do any painting myself. (I also suck at custom painting so there’s that).

Napalm

ROTB Bee is weathered, but it's much more subtle compared to his predecessor, certainly to the degree where it's quite jarring. The entire figure still has a black wash from head to toe and it's also likely that the level of it varies from figure to figure. You can see this in properly lit reviews and photos. I don't see it mentioned much but it's of note that there were definite differences in the weathering apps depending on which release of 3A BBM Bee you picked up too.

More recently, the same happened with ROTF Megatron. Mine is filthy. Probably too much so (I like it personally) and I've seen the same on a lot of the early review samples as well. They were some quite vocal detractors across the interwebs and it had an unadvertised deco revision, different enough to the point where there were two versions of upgrade kits for him produced, depending on which version you actually had.

Huh that’s actually really interesting, never knew about them doing deco changes mid run.

Would you say ROTB bee’s weathering is at a similar level to BBM prime? I think he’s the only other DLX I’ve seen that’s not got a heavy wash across the entire thing. (Also my only irl reference).

Napalm

Oooft, that's a tricky one. BBM Prime is a cast iron classic as well, so you've gone in on a high to begin with.

I don't think you can go wrong with Bumblebee from the same movie. His ROTB form is also excellent but something just lands different with the BBM lad. Siege, ROTB and TLK Prime are superb and you can't go wrong with ROTF Megatron either. Primal will definitely be right up there too, just need to spend more time with the figure. Easily one of their most accomplished to date.

There are no real bad ones to be honest, but ROTF Prime and Jetfire are probably their weakest, mainly due to the aesthetic and structural compromises both make for the combination.

Yeah I wanted to get BBM bee but they never seemed to re-issue him so I’m out of luck with him unfortunately. I’ve considered getting the ROTB one as a result, tho I keep hearing people complain about it lacking weathering so I’m not too sure atm.

I for sure wanted to get their TLK prime, but with the absurd aftermarket price I’m hoping to try to get their nemesis repaint. Primal here is really good looking, and impressive with the functional pistons. It’s weird because I didn’t care for the design in the movie or other figures, but TZ somehow made me want it. I’m just torn because with budgeting it would be either primal or nemesis.

octobotimus

Dang it you’re making me want to buy this guy.   But I need to keep my funds for nemesis/knight prime!

I know it might be early with how you just got primal, but could you possibly share what you think are the best TF DLX figures so far? I only have BB prime and have been thinking of expanding.

Oooft, that's a tricky one. BBM Prime is a cast iron classic as well, so you've gone in on a high to begin with.

I don't think you can go wrong with Bumblebee from the same movie. His ROTB form is also excellent but something just lands different with the BBM lad. Siege, ROTB and TLK Prime are superb and you can't go wrong with ROTF Megatron either. Primal will definitely be right up there too, just need to spend more time with the figure. Easily one of their most accomplished to date.

There are no real bad ones to be honest, but ROTF Prime and Jetfire are probably their weakest, mainly due to the aesthetic and structural compromises both make for the combination.

octobotimus

Dang it you’re making me want to buy this guy.   But I need to keep my funds for nemesis/knight prime!

I know it might be early with how you just got primal, but could you possibly share what you think are the best TF DLX figures? I only have BB prime and have been thinking of expanding.

Whoa, you ONLY have BBM Prime??

DLX Primal has arrived at Casa Napalm. First impressions? Pretty outstanding.

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He's an absolute goliath, a real physical presence and the asymmetry of the sculpt through scars and damage across his entire body, both organic and mechanical, give Primal not just a striking visual but make him a wonderfully tactile figure to manipulate.

The paint is top notch, the deep crevices in the organic parts on the shoulders in particular almost look wet, like actual animal hide, and the exposed robotics have multiple paint layers, washes and wear. It all comes together to really help bring him to life.

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Articulation is damn, damn good too. Lots of moving parts here, lots of piston led movement and due to the intricacies of the sculpt and the size of him in general, lots of places that can clash too if you don't read the instructions. He can get out of his own way, just educate yourself as to how. I'll be getting to grips with him properly this week and aiming at getting a full shoot done for the weekend (hopefully) but there's some great range here and it lends itself to some very expressive posing.

'We felt your sparks fighting alongside us today, Airazor. You, Apelinq.. all of our fallen brothers and sisters. Lost but not forgotten. For Eukaris. For Cybertron. For Earth. 'Till all are one.'

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Did I mention the presence that Primal has? Someone's looking a little concerned  

'Remember in the trailer when they made a big point of you sticking that gun in my face and telling me to chill out even though I'm zen as fuck and you're a psycho lol? Yeah I'm literally gonna eat you now, old man.'

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