Fans Toys FT-14 Forager (Masterpiece Kickback)
Fanstoys items usually come with an outer plastic baggie to protect the box.
The 2021 reissue version comes with new markings on the back of the box.
Protective film cover included.
Originally, Fans Toys included a screwdriver for this set, in order to swap out the chest piece. The reissue no longer comes with said screwdriver. Aww…
When you first open up the tray, this is what greets you. Lol… many people were shocked, thinking there was an error with the figure. Turns out, for some reason, Fans Toys decided to release the figure with it’s head in insect mode.
An easy enough fix, just flip the heads.
You can also open his helmet open to push the insect face back down for transformation.
Forager stands roughly 7.75 inches tall (counting wingtips) and weighs 239 Grams.
Diecast parts include:
-Torso
-Thighs
-Lower legs
-Feet
Alternate clear chest panel included. Requires unscrewing the default plate though.
Since this is a Third Party, non-official item, it doesn’t come with a faction symbol. It’s best to get some stickers from Reprolabels/Toyhax.com to make this guy more “toon-accurate”. Alternately, you can also use “water slide decals” to make them look even more flawless (you won’t see the edges, unlike with stickers) but I’ve never really had the proper skills, or time (usually needs to be individually cut first) to work with those.
For water slide decals, most folks recommend the one from Ocean Studio. Here:
http://www.unclebillyshop.com/decals-poster/ocean-logo-decals.html
To apply stickers, I find the best way to stick the stickers on is to use the tip of a blade, or a flat, small-tipped object, this way you have more control over the application, as compared to using one’s stubby fingers. You can also use the blade to help gently peel off a corner of the sticker in case you didn’t center it right and need to re-apply.
The most charming amongst the trio of Insecticons, Kickback pretends to be friendly, while digging up intel to use to blackmail his targets into doing his bidding. His primary function is that of an espionage agent.
Personally, transformation headaches aside, I think this guy is my favorite among the FT bugs. He looks really good in both modes.
His chest panel can be opened to reveal some nice tooling on the inner torso.
Thanks QC30, for rolling out a problem-free figure.
I forgot to take a photo, but he comes with three Enegron cubes, just like the rest of the FT Insecticons.
He comes with his “Electro Blast Tube” weapon.
After hearing a lot about the horror stories that plagued transforming this figure, I had to look up Youtube videos just to be sure I didn’t break his wings. Remember to always push or grip onto the thickest part of his wings (marked red) when transforming him, otherwise the wings will break (VERY EASILY) if force is applied to the wrong spot. They really should’ve used metal here or something. The green part indicates a lock that has to be flipped open to rotate the wing assembly.
When returning him into his robot mode, this is the orientation of how the inner pieces are supposed to look like (before you push the whole thing into his back).
Insect mode (grasshopper)
Fans Toys did skip a beat here, his “visor” is actually his mouth in insect mode and it should be colored red.
His weapon plugs into his insect mode for storage.
The Insecticons!
Since each figure comes with 3 Energon cubes, you can pool them together for a total of 9 cubes.
Originally, the Insecticons were the only bad guys back in the old Diaclone days, called the “Waruder”, while the rest of the toyline (Autobots and Decepticons alike) were the good guys .
Overall, like his other FT Insecticon brothers, this guy looks and feels really good, all thanks to the diecast, solid joints and good paint finish on him. From what I understand, nothing here has been intentionally modified or improved from the original release (unlike FT-12 Grenadier/ Bombshell).
The only really downer here is how transforming him can result in serious breakage of the wings, particularly when it comes to where to grab hold onto with the rotation of the wings. That said, I probably won’t be transforming him ever again myself (lol) and will most likely relegate my Badcube Insecticons into their insect modes for display next to the FT versions in their bot modes.
Gold
