Transformers 3rd Party: Maiden Japan - Generations Inferno add-on kit

Third party Transformer products are everywhere now.  Unless you've been living under a rock then you've probably seen some of the products or at least heard of companies such as Fans Project, iGear or TFC Toys.  There are plenty of smaller companies out there that produce great items that just don't have the same exposure as the big guys.

One of these companies is called Maiden Japan.  I had never heard of them until a friend of mine pointed out a thread on TFW2005.com with custom armor for your Reveal the Shield Wreck-Gar.  Slap these pieces on and bye-bye Wreck-Gar and hello random Junkion!  I never had the cash at the time so those sets came and went.  I hadn't heard of Maiden Japan again until when they recently resurfaced with a simple upgrade for Universe / Henkei! Inferno.

Inferno received an excellent upgrade with this new voyager size mold.  He is missing a few key components from his G1 days however and I believe TFC Toys was the first to try and remedy this.  The Gears of War set included (among other things) a white extending ladder.  Since then I've seen several custom mods with various ladders and they all look nice, but since I display my TFs primarily in robot mode I felt the ladder was an unnecessary purchase.

Take a look at the awesome head sculpt.  Notice anything missing?  The white wings!  Yeah, I never understood the significance of them during the G1 days either, but they are a part of his look.  This is where Maiden Japan's latest effort comes into play.

  

  

This simple, yet beautiful piece is color matched near perfectly for your Universe Inferno.  Have the Henkei! version instead?  No worries as the same piece was made in those colors as well.  In fact there is even a kit already made for the forth coming Million Publishing exclusive Artfire...which reminds me I need to order (the kit, not the figure).

I'm not a handy or adventurous collector.  I don't custom or mod toys.  I'm too afraid I'll screw up the toy or once it's taken apart I won't be able to re-assemble it correctly.  That's why I was thrilled to find that this piece just slips on the back of Inferno's head.  No assembly/dis-assembly required!

I know it's not a glaring change, but it looks great once applied to the figure.  Sorry for the flash as it kinda washed out the white wings.  The red used matches the rest of the toy really well.  The whole head piece is a one solid piece and the level of detailing is fantastic.

The only downside to this piece would be that it takes away from the ability to rotate Inferno's head.  I believe it would also block light from entering the back of the head for the eye's light pipping.  Neither one of these "issues" really effect me.  I think this is a simple, yet awesome little upgrade kit.