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Airwolf in 2026.

Iron Man Mark III (Battle Damaged).

All five Protectobots.

Received my 2 Mikimoto books. Beautiful.

Decided to finally have my First Press Limited Edition shipped out. Received today.

I'm almost tempted to pick up a third, that's about $15 lower now than I paid for my copy from HLJ at release.

I just came across this listing on eBay? Not mine, but interesting enough. Who is John Gaydos!

The thrusters aren't the problem, the backpack flap hinge is just mis-molded to the point that it doesn't even touch them. The hinge just doesn't rotate far enough to give the arms clearance. Only real way to fix it would be to modify that flap by sanding away the edge so it rotates further. If you raise the backpack, the arms can sit higher on the pegs.. but they don't stay there. They just squeeze off of them, due to the conflicting materials. The plastic just has no friction against the polished metal. If the backpack flap wasn't a problem, it might be worth roughing up those tabs with a file to see if you could get them to stick a little better. I really wish the arms didn't bother me as much as they do, but the worst part is always trying to mount the gunpod. The arms themselves I can overlook from some angles, but as soon as you add the gunpod it's like a giant neon sign pointing out exactly how badly out of alignment they are for fighter mode. The full length of the gunpod is planted firmly on the ground, front and back, when you set it on the gear, and that's frankly the only way to even get the arms to stay up in the first place. Otherwise they just dangle. Bonus points for making the gunpod look like it's going to blow out the underside of the nosecone, because it constantly tilts from the droopy arms. It just drives me absolutely bats that people can design these sorts of things, and just completely miss such obvious issues. Like, these problems were visible from the earliest promotional test shots. Why did no one do something about it? Edit: To make the problem very clear.. this isn't the arms drooping from gravity. They are being pushed downward, and standing the thing upright on its feet doesn't make any difference. This is just where the arms sit. If it wasn't for the ground pushing the gunpod up when you set it on the landing gear, the wheels wouldn't reach the ground. If I actually press the arms up, yeah, the gunpod actually looks like it's almost firing forward, but it won't stay that way without constant pressure. Bottom line.. yeah, I really want to like this figure more than I do. Would be great if we could get this paintjob and posability on a Yamato or Bandai.. but at the same time, for as easily as all of this panel lining rubs off, I'm glad neither Yamato nor Bandai decided to go that route. As it is.. just treat it as a battroid figure, and you're probably fine, so long as you don't handle it too much (and don't look at the elbows).

https://www.yoyakunow.com/en/gundam/23587-metal-build-hyper-mega-launcher-option-set.html ¥10,990.00

's all right, once really was enough for that stinker. Not really... I've played several of those songs back in my music days, and they really aren't anything particularly unusual. The Mon Mothma we've seen in Andor, in Rogue One, Rebels, and Ahsoka is a very stiff and formal person... and in this case, she's also the host of the party. Given her personality and her day job, you'd expect her to be doing the rounds and chatting up the various members of Chandrila's Great and Good. That she's drunk and dancing instead is itself a conspicuous out-of-character moment. (She pounded three shots in thirty seconds, which is definitely out of character given that previous episodes show she's very good at moderating her alcohol intake at parties.) She's also visibly upset where everyone else is smiling and laughing and generally having a good time. And we can say with certainty that it was conspicuous, because we can see characters in-story notice that something is wrong. Perrin is initially seen dancing happily with the guests, but once he catches sight of Mon we see him stop dead to look at her with a very concerned expression.

UPDATE: QAPLA'!!* QaStaHvIS ram, 'ej muSHa'choHtaHvIS, Qagh: YIdoy: ChechwI' 'e' vIchID..... *-

Yeah, was notified when it hit $215 a couple days ago. Dropped to $213 today. If it drops below $200, I think they will clear a lot out.

Nice comparison. Three Zero looks like a significantly better toy. The arms being low don't bother me, but... I wonder if you can pop off the 3 backpack thrusters to get the arms in a better position in fighter mode. Before trying that I suppose you could try and pop up the backpack and see if the arms can even sit up higher in the first place.

HasLab's here! Inside the shipping box was a brown box, and inside the brown box was the actual box, which had a few smaller boxes in it. Hasbro hates trees, I guess. Today we're going to get into just two of the boxes, as we look at Optimus Prime (RiD 2001). My initial thought is that the newer figure is maybe two steps forward, one step back. On the plus side, his sculpt is by-and-large better defined than the original toy. His fists are separated from the armor on his forearms, allowing you to slide it back so his hands aren't always buried (though I think they should have added a hinge to the arm kibble so it could fold up a bit). I think the new head is on-point, and the removal of the batteries and speaker means his backpack is greatly reduced. Plus he has heels now, making him more stable. I think I actually prefer that the red on his chest isn't chromed. The sort of corkscrew shape between his window pecs is an indent now, though. His abs, which are silver paint instead of chrome now, don't have quite the right shape. The lightbars on his his back have hollowed divots that make them look almost like Lego parts, a fact which isn't helped at all when you realize that they're just pegged on (and a tad loose at that). It's harder to notice, but the backs of his hands are also hollowed. I get hollowing a toy that you're trying to cram into a retail budget, but c'mon, on a made-to-order project that you can charge whatever you want for? Maybe they should make "no hollow gaps" one of the funding tiers. 😒 My biggest gripe, though, is really the size. Hasbro's made a big deal about how the mainline toys since Siege are supposed to better reflect their scale, yet Prime's even bigger than the original toy. This makes him a little over a head taller than the Commander-class SS86 Optimus, who was already pulling up taller than most other recent Optimus figures. Proportionally he's wider than the original toy, too. Too be fair, that's not the end of the world, but I feel like Hasbro had a chance to approach this design fresh and it would have been cool to see some clever engineering that could have widened him for Super Mode. As it is he kind of reminds me of that Kanye video for "I Love It" where him and Lil Pump are wearing those wide, blocky costumes. As far as accessories in the box with Prime goes, we've got his pistol, an Energon Matrix, and a Titan Master of Cerebros. Cebreros is a repaint of Legends Fortress (who was released as Emissary with the SDCC version of Titans Returns Fortress Maximus, but NOT the retail version). Transformation's the same, and you can plug him into any Titans Return body. You also get all these pieces. I mean, he's actually packaged in alt mode, but I almost always start with bot mode, so... bits. In the second box we're covering today you get these- two stands, two bases, two adapters, and two thingies. Yes, that's the technical name. Alright, so Prime's head is on a ball joint, but the shape means he's got a fairly limited up/down/sideways tilt. Note that his head is actually on a slider so you can move it forward so his chin clears the lip around his neck for swiveling. His shoulders swivel, and they ratchet 90 degrees from inside the shoulder armor. There is also a friction hinge in his chest, and it'll probably engage before the ratchet does, but it's for transformation and using it for articulation gives him Hot Rod Shoulders. His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend 90 degrees. His wrists swivel. His waist swivels, though his backpack kind of gets in the way. His hips can go forward just under 90 degrees and backward about 45 on an extremely tough ratchet. A slightly less tough ratchet gives him 90 degrees of spread. His thighs swivel, and his ratcheted knees bend a little short of 90 degrees. There's another swivel below the knee for transformation, then his feet are on ball joints so they can swivel, tilt up/down slightly, and pivot a bit under 45 degrees. Prime holds his pistol in either hand via a standard 5mm arrangement. He also has a 5mm port on his backpack between the lightbars, one on each shin, and one on each calf. If you open Prime's back (rather than his chest) you'll find a small molded compartment. That's one of the places where you can store his Matrix. The stands slide into the grooves on the bases; either direction is fine. You don't need the adapter parts for Prime, just the stand and base. I chose to position him this way to give him a more airborne pose, but if you want his feet on the base you'd turn the stand around and use the lower peg on the other side into the same spot on Prime's butt. You may have noticed the pegs on Prime's shoulders. They're so you can take these specific parts from the bits and plug them onto his shoulders as missile launchers. You may also, as was the case with the original toy, arrange the parts into a sort of defense platform. But my personal favorite use for them is to turn them into the back of Prime's alt mode. An alt mode which is, of course, a fire truck. The transformation to truck mode is almost identical, though there are a few more connection points for the bits to form the trailer, which makes it feel more secure. The main differences are that the part of the trailer with the super forearms comes off with the cab rather than staying on the trailer, Prime's pec windows swivel with his arms, and for some reason the mechanical bits over the wheels on his shins are separate pieces that have to be swiveled into place rather than just being the back of the wheels. The new version is about the same length, but slightly bigger and taller (and, as mentioned, a bit sturdier). C-001 is tampoed onto his front and rear license plates, an animation detail that was missing from at least the original American version. The rubber tires, a point of failure for the original toys, have been replaced with plastic. The cab has a slightly more exaggerated shape, there's more mechanical details on the sides, and the ladder and stairs are a bit more detailed. Prime's pistol still plugs onto the back of the front bumper, between Prime's knees. And the seat on the other side of the ladder has been widened to accommodate Cerebros or another Titan Master. The ladder can swivel and extend. It has sort of has the missiles of the original toys... they're folded out manually and do not fire. In fact, they're molded right onto the red parts of the launchers. They have nubs on the ends that make them compatible with post-Siege blast effects, though. The removal of the firing gimmick means that a button was no longer necessary, and it's been replaced with more mechanical details. The gun/hose barrels still fold out of the end of the ladder, but they're now on ball joints for some reason which gives them some wiggle. Note that when the end of the ladder is folded down there's a space on it that Cerebros can stand in. For displaying Prime in his vehicle mode you can set the stands and adapters aside, and connect both bases together using the thingies (again, technical term). This makes a road-like platform that's modeled after a segment of the Autobots Global Space Bridge seen in the cartoon. In what was already becoming the standard after Ultra Magnus and Powermaster Optimus/Super Ginrai, the reason there's so much truck left after Optimus turns into a robot is because once it's split into bits it becomes an armored power-up. Again, the combination is nearly identical. Some minor changes include the torso piece not only plugging into the top and front of Prime's torso, but onto his backpack as well for added stability, and the shoulder parts are now identical (vs the pipe only being on one side) so it no longer matters which shoulder you put them on. He's also tall enough now that you don't have to fold the end of the ladder. The biggest change, though, is a new part of the backpack (which I didn't realize I'd missed in the above photos, sorry). Those of you with the original toy may recall that Prime's torso has two levels of expansion, one fully extended so he can transform, and that's sort of halfway for Super Mode. A hinge swings to bits at the bottom of his backpack around the sides of the exposed transformation hinge, better locking the torso in place. This makes the new toy feel much more solid than the original, which I'd describe as "rickety." Here's another quick size comparison. In Super Mode he's coming in slightly taller than Commander-class Armada Prime's Super Mode. And I can't help but note that the thickening of the base robot I complained about actually makes for a less skinny, more proportional Super Mode than the original RID toy. Prime's new head seems to be on a ball joint, but I'm not totally sure. He can look up about 45 degrees if you collapse his neck back in, and down about 45 degrees if his neck is out all the way. It also swivels and has a decent amount of sideways tilt, but that sideways tilt only works if his head is turned a bit. His shoulders, biceps, and elbows are the same joints as before, though the pegs on his elbows limit the outward range slightly. With his shoulders expanded he's also go a slight forward and excellent backward butterfly joint. His hands are basically the same as the original toy's; they swivel, and his wrists can bend inward, a hinge folds his thumbs down over his palms, and his fingers are permanently curled with a hinge at the base. His pelvis armor just hangs over his normal pelvis and doesn't plug in, so if you lift it he's still got his waist swivel. It's actually slightly better, due to the bottom of the backpack being folded into his waist. Hips, thighs, and knees are the same. A hinge on the platform his feet plug into provides him with a solid 45 degrees of ankle pivot. The ladder can still fold over his shoulder. The guns on his forearms swivel, plus the barrels are hinged. Because the hands are basically the same as the original toy he doesn't have any way to hold his pistol in this mode, something I would have liked even if this way is truer to the original toy. There are a few other 5mm ports, though; two on top of each shoulder, one on the front and one on the back of each shoulder, two on the back of each hand, one under each foot, and two on the side of each leg, in addition to the one on his backpack, one on the side of his legs, and one on his calves that are still available in Super Mode. What he's lacking, though, is the port the original had to the side of his head for adding the pistol as a shoulder weapon. Instead, there are 3mm pegs on the sides of his backpack that plug into ports on the pistol. The section of his bandolier with the Autobot insignia flips open, revealing another spot (and my preferred spot) to store his Matrix. Prime can use the stand by plugging it into his butt, same as before, except this time you have to use the the taller port on the other side of the stand (refer to the earlier picture). Aside from holding him up taller for a natural standing pose, the taller peg has space in front of it to rest his crotch on. That will keep him from tipping to the side, like so. HasLab RID Super Optimus gives me a lot of mixed feelings. On one hand, RID Optimus has been one of my favorite non-G1 Optimus designs, combining signature details like the head with the mask and ears, the primary red color, and the chest with pec windows and silver abs with excellent Japanese super robot anime vibes. The original toy is, like I said, a tad rickety now, and a sturdier modern version with improved engineering and articulation has been extremely high on my wish list since I started collecting. But, while I think Hasbro delivered on a lot of my wishlist there, I'm not convinced they lived up to the "improved engineering" part. Yes, they did make some changes that result in a figure that's sturdier across all his modes, but that's kind of where they stopped. The design, especially in the transformation, remains extremely similar to the original toy. This means the passed on some improvements I might have made, like folding up the arm kibble on the core robot better, but also has the effect of making him seem not quite compatible with modern Generations figures. So is he worth it? I guess you'll have to tune in for part 2 to find out.

Gotta agree with the general consensus that MMC is doing a dynamite job with the Protectobots. They've never ranked very high on my list of favorite combiners, which is odd b/c I really like emergency vehicle Transformers. That said, having only watched vids for the Huey and the motorcycle, and given their all-in-one transformation, these figs are a masterclass in toy engineering. Absolutely brilliant in every aspect.

I actually didn’t even notice the cartoon model fighter doesn’t have the turret sticking out. I guess that’s how much I kinda zoned out through 7. 😆

I wish they would work those effects guys to death. It looks like they may have been sleeping on the job in a few scenes there

I just don’t think it needs a remake. That show was really fun, but it’s key to greatness was the time it took place and the look of that time was reflected heavily by the aesthetic of that time and location.

Sorry, you’re right, it was Beastie Boys. I really only watched that movie once a long long time ago The music in the og was definitely derivative, but not exactly something heard before. They kinda played with the structure a bit to make it seem familiar, yet alien at the same time. It didn’t seem very conspicuous at all. Everyone including her husband were doing the cringy dance. At least nobody danced to the scene in Mando

So cool! Nice poster.

As stated, I'm not a big M2 fan, but I'm very interested in the history of Macross in the US. Would love to watch that documentary.

Ow! Even this reference is 30 years ago now. But very appropriate for a Miami Vice remake practically since it went off the air.

I was thinking that this arrangement makes literal anti-sense, since the Fire Valk already has shoulders with round holes in them, but looking closer, it appears they didn't think that far ahead, and had to re-locate those mounting holes for the speaker fins. But still.. why would they think we need two sets? Did they not believe a peg the same size as a missile hardpoint would be sufficient to hold the fins on the shoulders? I'm not exactly complaining, since fortunately the different colors of plastic indicate they are actually separate parts, but it just feels silly.

Crockett and Tubbs

That's a great looking Huey alt mode, definitely getting one.