http://ameblo.jp/digitamin/entry-12201981382.html









http://www.takaratomy.co.jp/products/di ... eries.html

I never should have opened that link. ughhhhhh. So tempting.

...You have no idea.

Never have I, as an adult collector, ever had such a rabid, near-frothing-at-the-mouth "WANT! NO! NEED!!!" response to a toy... until I saw the super-poseable Dianaut in reviews, unboxing videos, Instagram posts.

They are easily my favorite toy of 2016. Takara has done something truly fun AND innovative. Somehow both nostalgic AND ground-breaking/forward-thinking.

Not even my love of GI JOE/Star Wars can compare.

For me, it's not so much the big Diaclone robots themselves... it's EVERYTHING ELSE the little buggers fit with:

ahem:

-Action Fleet vehicles & playsets
-Star Trek Inner Space vehicles & playsets
-Scopedog mech suits
-Mega Rigs
-Transformers G1 & G2 (various)
-Mini Z Bots
-Kenner Micro playsets
-Capsela
-Various mini/micro playsets
-Various scale import mechs & models
-Legions of Power
-Schaper Mega Star

...And there's the third party stuff inspired by Diaclone, but not officially official.

100% no BS, these little dudes are essentially the only thing I'm really collecting on any sort of reliable level. I've also pretty much stopped collecting anything that won't somehow, someway, work with Dianauts.

Now something really needs to be special to catch my eye.


EDIT:

Now that I've established how this toyline has spoiled me (with ONE product, no less!), I neglected to mention how they've really opened up both my toy collection (A LOT of stuff works with 'em), but my creativity and customizing as well.

So many stories, characters, allies, villains, IDEAS popped into my head, and I'm still working through them all. Stuff not usually in my wheelhouse (6" custom figures, custom modular playsets, etc.) is now inundating my brain.

Crazy as it sounds, the new scale and new ways of working/creating have made me a better toymaker for it.

2 cents from an unabashed fanboy.

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Effffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff .......

*sigh*

This could end badly for me. Doctor Robert Strange i need to know..this is very important lol.....what is the range of motion in the shoulders of the Diaclone reboot pilot figures? Can the pilots arms go out 90 degrees from its body ( ' T ' shape)? What about the hip range of motion? How durable is the 1.25 '' figure? Pictures would help a ton.

*cursing under my breath*

I could write a NOVEL in response to your reply. Lets just say we have *very* similar taste.

* Do you remember Manta Force?




The only thing that stopped me from collecting that line was the lack of fully poseable pilots . Diaclone stops me from using that excuse.

* I liked Diaclone mini figures enough to build custom diaclone pilots with full articulation years ago using 2 different techniques.
* I liked them enough to make molds and cast them because i wanted an army / a base crew.
* I did the same thing with Star Wars Action Fleet figures ( only scout troopers i believe although i may have made some snow troopers)
* I ultimately moved away from both because of the lack of swivel bicep ( the exact reason i embraced the slightly larger but still micro Mega Bloks)
* I own small scale Votoms Scopedog mechs (to be specific i own the X-ATH-02-DT Rabidly Dog and the ATH-14-WPC Snapping Turtle) & bought them with the intention of customizing them to seat mini pilot figures (which both come with)
* I used to use my Legion of Powers figures on the back of my Transformers Dinobot Swoop because i had no Inchman / Diaclone figures as a kid
* Schaper Mega Star (and Future Force !) - i own the insert comic and planned on making mega bloks scale versions of the drivers ( green and red bucket head guys)
* I've seen various KO Capsela Spacelink ( i didn't know that's what they were called ) toys at dollar stores and thrifft stores over the years and always wished a fully poseable pilot could fit inside of the ships instead of the static figurine.
* Those ubiquitous Hap-p-kid MARS Walking Robots that have been out for decades? They have a sub line of mechs that have micro scale static pilots that need replacing.
* Hap P Kid red dinosaur / kaiju / dragon / robot hybrid / KO godzilla figures ? They have areas in their chest for pilots and include a static pilot.

Everything starts and ends with a figures pose ability. I have a bare minimum requirement but if it's met i'll buy all of the peripheral items associated with it (like giant robots ). The smaller the figure the better.

Where you are currently is where i might end up . I moved to Mega Bloks for this reason. I won't ever give up MB figures completely but I'd move down in scale again if the Diaclone figures were good enough.

http://static.seibertron.com/images/toy ... inifig.jpg

That pic gives a good idea of the range of motion.

So they don't do the 90 degree/T thing with the arms, but they're extremely poseable for their size, with ball-jointed hips & shoulders, and hinge arms & legs… in this scale, nothing even approaches them, let alone able to touch.

Oh, AND they're magnetic, too!

Haven't exactly put mine through any durability tests, but I will say that they do feel light and almost seem smaller than they are, if that makes any sense. I was expecting some weight from the magnets, but nada. They hold up just fine with normal play, posing, taking them in & out of various vehicles, etc., but I do handle them with care.

Once my 8-pack of pilots comes in, I'm contemplating custom color ways, but that all depends on if I get any doubles of the four I have… I do feel it's inevitable, though. Sooner or later, I'm making 'em.


Manta Force I've only seen via other collectors' Instagram feeds, but man, I woulda gone buck wild for anything like that if I saw them. I distinctly remember having the Mega Star dudes in preschool, but losing them. Had tons of Legions of Power, though no idea what my parents ended up doing with them. Capsela Spacelink sets I really only had access to at Epcot Center in Orlando. I don't ever recall seeing them carried locally in Miami, so I had to try my luck every year or two. The few Capsenauts I did get ended up breaking, which only really sort of fueled my obsession with them as a teenager. Didn't collect nearly as much Action Fleet as I should have (since I was more about the 3.75" Star Wars stuff by that point) but I'm making up for lost time now. My wallet hates me.

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The shoulders are pop'em balls like the older MBs, yes? They should be carvable to allow wider arm spread, imho.

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Probably not the right place (working on it Suntzu - lol), but since you guys are killing it in this scale, would an old army men set like the Marx Guns of Navarone playset work with the MB and related type figure you guys are doing?



One of my favorite toys as a kid.

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**** that looks cool . Sets like that and the old Robotech mech repair base sets are pure gold to me. Most plastic army men are 1:3X scale ( at least that i come across) so @ 1.5 to 2 '' tall. That would make it fit in with HALO Mega Bloks figures . COD would work as well but you might need to make some accessories like fences and caves somewhat larger to accommodate the 3mm difference in height .

Exactly what i was thinking.

I may even 3D print some metal torsos if i go all in but that's a thought for another day.

Basically i have to come up with a stable / durable bicep twist for these figures that's easy to duplicate. In the past i used the "Major Matt Mason" technique which works but takes time to build. If you guys have ideas let me know.

Right now i'm thinking of the usual suspects:
1) magnets
2) ear ring pin and back clasps
3) 3d printed micro swivel joints

Thank you for the feedback Doctor Robert Strange. I'm probably gong to order the 8 pack of figures and based upon that i'll decide if i want the expensive vehicles. BTW how much did you pay for the Diaclone – Dia-Battles V2? I've read of prices as low as $109 up to the current high of $170

BTW..Thanks again DrBindy

BTW Doctor Robert Strange...since you're already an owner of the Diaclone series you might find these of interest on the Mechanauts website

http://mechazone.storenvy.com/collectio ... ilon-buggy

Why this site is so evil......too many cool things you guys find. Looking real hard at the 8 pack - any recommendations on best site to preorder from?

Ugh. Successfully convince myself I don't need these after reading about them all the time on one of the TF boards I go to, only to have this place wearing me down on them. lol I'm really thinking my CHUG TFs would like some little human friends...

If you're willing to go to the expense&effort of 3D printing, why not do pop'em ball elbows as well, Sunny?

Also, can the DiaDudes' torsos be simply drilled in with shoulder sockets for the nu-style MB arms?

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That's an option but when you get down to that / this scale material properties get funky.

**** that's supposed to pop and flex starts sliding , warping and cracking. Mark don't you have a 3D printer on hand? What would it take to get you to test print a ball and socket piece at this scale ? A ball tip on the end of a vertical rod encased in the mid arm would work (like ARAH joes but without the mushroom tip swivel piece).

With regard to the MB style shoulders on these ...that crossed my mind a few hours ago ( can you say obsessed?) . A half sphere shoulder at this scale would be tiny but...i think the smallest revoltech joints that i sent to a board member here were 4mm in diameter. It might be possible but Doctor Robert Strange would have to let us know what the diameter of the stock shoulder is. It looks like @ 3 mm based upon that picture of the figure next to the ruler. I have some swivel joints sitting in my shapeways account that i could reduce in size .

All of this printing might be overkill though. A plastic bb cut in half , a plastic rod, a flame and superglue would produce the same results for damn near free. On that note...here is a random image of a robotic octopus that splits in half and seats new Diaclone scale dudes..

Wow, mech-in-a-box is awesome.

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-AV, the arms and legs seem pretty secure… no popping on & off, unfortunately. BUT that DOES yield a much more high-end feel to the little guys. They don't just fall apart. I think, as American consumers, we're used to toys this size either feeling cheap or an afterthought, or both. While dreaming of how awesome they COULD be, they fall apart in your hands.

The Dianauts are not like that at all. I'm actually sorta worried about paint rub on these guys, since the articulation is so well-made. If it turns out that they don't get along with paint, I thought of a quick kit bash that could be a lot of fun.

My dudes, approach these like 1" action figures, because that's what they are. They've completely shaken up my collecting, customizing, and CREATING habits. It's crazy.


-Morian Miner, I either use bigbadtoystore or hobbylinkjapan for import stuff like this. eBay's just too risky, especially for the more expensive Diaclone sets. Ended up ordering mine through BBTS, since I couldn't take the gamble on a shady international dealer.


-Suntzu, been a big fan of his for a long time. I love his take on the Sophia III so much I'm thinking of asking the missus of ordering it for my birthday (since she's always asking). His Instagram feed is ridiculously awesome, especially now for Inktober.

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