Transformers Third Party: Dr. Wu - Duel DW-P02

One of the nice things about my toy collection being set is that I can finally properly review some of my toys.  Now that the filming is out of the way I can move on with posts here on the blog.  After all, this is called Random Toy Reviews.

Third party companies are a major player now in the Transformers universe.  Like 'em or not they appear to be here for the long haul.  I say why not embrace them?  Some of the companies have had some great ideas.  Hasbro and Takara/Tomy should take note and even hire some of these guys/gals as their products have taken official Transformers releases to the next level.

Looking back at the various third party companies the progression has been wild and varied.  Some companies have bit of a lot and designed their own figures while other companies have kept it small with various add on and accessory sets.  Dr. Wu is one of these smaller companies.  New to the scene they seem to have some good ideas.  You can tell they are thinking outside the box.  I like that.

We'll take a look at their DW-P02 set simply called Duel.  It is designed for your Classics/Henkei! Hound and Ravage figures.

I was surprised at how small the packaging was.  I'm not sure why I was surprised seeing how you're getting 3 small weapons.  The packaging is a small black plastic container about the size of a jewelry box.  On the lid is a colorful label affixed to the lid of Hound and Ravage brandishing their weapons located inside the box.

Inside the little black box is a new G1 inspired gun for Hound and a set of G1 inspired rocket launchers (or boosters) for Ravage.  Hound came with a gun of sorts, but it looked better as shoulder mounted rocket launcher.  Ravage came naked.  You could use the original G1 launchers, but they still looked dated on the new updated Ravage.  Both weapons are of a semi-flat silver paint.  I should mention that the inside barrel of Hound's gun wasn't painted.  It's small and not all that noticeable, but I was still a little disappointed.

This is an excellent gun for Hound and very much needed if you ask me.  Yes - you can use his rocket launcher as an hand held weapon.  This gun however looks much more natural in his hands.  The tip of the gun is hollowed out and there are two notches in the side.  The handle of the gun is square.  This surprised me a little since the peg holes in Hound hands are round.  Thankfully though the gun fits snuggly in either hand.

Ravage's rocket launchers are a nice update to his originals.  To be honest there really isn't much else to be said about these.

I know it doesn't seem like a little gun could make that much of a difference, but once you get this in your hands and into Hound's hands you'll see how awesome it is.

The same can be said about Ravage only that the launchers make a BIG difference.  I'm sure I was not the only one that was let down when HasTak didn't sculpt new weapons for Ravage.  Thankfully Dr. Wu has come to the rescue (hey, that rhymes!).  These guns are pretty darn cool.  The rounded pegs fit nicely inside the hip holes of Ravage.  They aren't so tight that you can't move them however so you have some play in how you position the launchers.  I have mine angled up ever so slightly as I liked the look of them.

Bad kitty.

This is the only 3rd party accessory kit I own and I'm pretty impressed.  I believe the asking price is around $13 and available at retailers such as Robotkingdom.  That may seem a little steep for a set so small, but in my opinion it's worth it.  The weapons complete both figures and take them to that next step.