Transformers UFO War Axe and Shield

Presenting the Transformers UFO (Get this - Unknown Factory Originals) War Axe and Shield.

I had a discussion from a few members of Cybertron Philippines while setting up for the Toykingdom Toy-Expo 2012 regarding the third-party accessories being released into the market and how Hasbro and Takara were bringing the full weight of the law down on them.

My argument was that both Hasbro and Takara should end up working instead with these small organizations since there is absolutely no such thing as a perfect toy. 3rd Party manufacturers are one of the reasons why collectors like us continue to patronize original toys. 3rd Party manufacturers make "props" that keep things interesting and fun.


And it's also Hasbro and Takara's fault. Take a look for example at the Striker Optimus Prime. This is a concept Optimus Prime born of the fact that Optimus used a shield in the Dark Side of the Moon Movie. Unfortunately the Striker Prime's shield does not even come close to looking like the shield that Optimus used in the movie. Optimus also engaged in a duel with both Megatron and Sentinel Prime with a metalic-red-hot War Axe. None of the Primes released in the DOTM Toy Line bore anything close to resembling the used axe.

So can you blame third party groups like Unknown Factory Originals (gotta love that name) in coming up with the correct "props" for your enjoyment?

I mean be honest: Which looks better?

What's to like about the Transformers UFO War Axe and Shield?

They're both movie accurate - down to the runes on the War Axe. AND they're both not made of cheap plastic. There's even a certain heft to both of them so they really do feel like original Hasbro/Takara toys - hence the "Originals" name of Unknown Factory Originals.

Let's concentrate on the Axe first.

There are actually two UFO War Axes in the market. One is a fully transparent "glowing" orange variant, and the other is what I have, a UFO War Axe coated in steel gray paint.

What's so nice about having the Gray UFO War Axe is that if you've seen the Transformers DOTM movie, then you know that Optimus Prime used a War Axe that seemed to have glowing orange edges - closer in color appearance to the one used by the Transformers DOTM Fireburst Optimus Prime - so having a gray variant allows you to actually customize it because - look closer, particularly at the photo with the pommel removed - the Gray paint sits on translucent orange base. A few hours with paint remover and you should have a movie paint accurate version of the Axe.

The bad news is that the UFO War Axe sits rather loosely in either hand of the Transformers DOTM Striker Prime. You can wedge in in place if you want to or just find the right balance somewhere on either the head or pommel of the War Axe to create nice poses.

The Transformers UFO Shield is incredibly movie accurate and it's build and feel is slightly akin to the shield of Sentinel Prime's but slightly heftier. It's heftier than the original  Striker Prime Shield.

As with the Striker Prime Shield, the UFO Shield can be mounted on Striker Prime's arm or hand-held:

Combine the Transformers UFO War Axe and UFO Shield look incredible in the hands of Striker Prime:

What's NOT to like about the Transformers UFO War Axe and Shield?

Both items did not come with a box - sounds like Unknown Factory Originals doesn't want to leave any paper trail as to their origin so that Takara and Hasbro can't go after them. There are days when is feels like it was made by someone in his basement and he mails them out in paper envelopes to distributors.

Other than that? Nothing! They're perfect add on's to any DOTM Optimus Prime.

The Transformers UFO War Axe and Transformers UFO Shield are sold separately. I purchased these two from Victoyoyoys E-bay store (He's a very nice guy who I readily endorse - even for foreign transactions. Victor is easy to talk to and very, very efficient.). The UFO War Axe set me back PhP 850 (US$ 19.76), and the UFO Shield set me back PhP 1,000 (US$ 23.25). Definitely well worth it.