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tekering

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  1. tekering
    The wand is $125... The backpack it attaches to is $400 (provided at least 7000 people pre-order one)... Presumably, the hose to connect the wand to the backpack will cost an additional $75, and will be a Hasbro Pulse exclusive.
  2. tekering
    Villeneuve's Dune is a lot more restrained than Lynch's vision. While it shares (and often exceeds) the epic scope of the '84 film, the production design is considerably more muted in its color schemes and architecture. It's a much more convincing future world, but it's not nearly as striking or memorable as how Lynch envisioned it... particularly given the absence of a monstrous third-stage Navigator. Think of it less like Star Wars and more like Blade Runner. Knowing the film was only covering the first half of the book -- and thus had twice as much run time to tell the story -- I was actually shocked at how much material was excised, far beyond the mere absence of characters like Princess Irulan, Feyd, or the Emperor himself. While I was happy to see a lot of awkward dialogue removed ("mood is a thing for cattle and women," "no woman-child ever withstood that much," "the sleeper must awaken," etc.) I was equally dismayed by how much exposition and backstory was sidelined, if not outright ignored. As a sci-fi geek, I know full well about the Butlerian Jihad, but isn't the average viewer likely to wonder why there's no artificial intelligence in Dune? Or what a Mentat is? What about the Navigators, or the Spacing Guild? The art of Kanly? Suk Imperial Conditioning, and why Dr. Yueh would've been above suspicion? Hell, they barely even mention the function of the spice, the central concept that drives the plot. I'm surprised viewers like @mikeszekely weren't left cold and befuddled by the lack of proper world-building.
  3. tekering
    So they are. Cheers, dude! I stand corrected. Yeah, and now that I've ordered one I'm sure it'll turn out too small to scale with the 1:10 figures...
  4. tekering
    1:10 scale? One-TENTH? 🤨 If it were 1:12 scale, like my Justice League Batmobile, my Animated Batmobile, and my R/C Tumbler, I'd have been all over this. It would've scaled with Mattel's Batman figures from The Dark Knight trilogy... It would've scaled with McFarlane's retro Batman '66 line (and Mattel's, too, for that matter)... It would even have scaled with Hot Toys' massive replica of The Bat from The Dark Knight Rises.
  5. tekering
    With all due respect, the resolution and clarity are far beyond what DVD upscales are capable of: While I prefer the contrast ratio on the Japanese BDs (which were clearly struck from higher-quality prints), these Robotech Blu-rays are clearly true 1080p remasters as well. But what of the Southern Cross episodes...?
  6. tekering
    This is about as heavily-weathered as I'm willing to go: I don't imagine any other areas will show nearly as much impact damage.
  7. tekering
    Thankfully, Robot Kingdom often sells Target and Walmart exclusives through their Hong Kong-based Web site, so those of us outside the US don't always have to rely on the secondary market. I see they have the Target-exclusive Droids repaints available now: https://www.robotkingdom.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=Droid+Animations
  8. tekering
    That's precisely why I asked, see. That's how the kit was designed; those light grey parts are molded in that color, just as the two-toned yellow boxes on the hip skirts are, and the vac-metallized silver on the back of the knees, and the shiny gold of the vulcan cannons on the head... If he did paint it, he painted every part exactly the same color the kit came molded in! 🤨 It doesn't reflect the animation, or any of the video game renders, or any other Gundam reference material. It's a distinct color breakdown unique to the Perfect Grade Unleashed, intended to provide depth and detail without requiring any actual painting. That's exactly how the stock kit looks -- with all the stickers applied -- and painted versions I've seen locally don't look like that. I mean, if you're happy with the aesthetic, I suppose it doesn't matter if anything was actually painted or not... I just want to make sure you're getting what you paid for.
  9. tekering
    He'd already moved on to the sake.
  10. tekering
    I don't collect Dragonball merchandise, but I was somehow compelled to buy that particular set...
  11. tekering
    No, you'd never get an exact color match to the original fists. I think repair is your best (if not your only) option here... Drill a hole through the center of the ball-joint, at least far enough in to provide the leverage you need to pop it out of the forearm. Drill a matching hole through the fist; there's a clear circle there where the joint snapped off, so you can center your hole in that circle to assure a proper alignment. The holes should be identical in circumference to whatever metal pin you use to secure them together, and a decent CA glue should help weld everything together. I demonstrated the approach in my last YouTube video, where I made custom ball-joints for a resin kit: It's at 14:30 (if your browser doesn't automatically take you to that point in the video).
  12. tekering
    It's a bit difficult to tell from those extremely low-res pics, but it doesn't look like he painted your kit... just panel-lining and decals. Is that what you were expecting?
  13. tekering
    Yeah, it's not a logical 1:72, but it's the biggest Regult I have... and it's a heck of a lot closer than the so-called 1:72 Glaug, which (by pilot scale) is closer to 1:150. And the more I look at the anime, the more I find myself coming around to your way of thinking. The Zentraedi are never depicted as 10 meters tall; they're all at least 12m when interacting with UN Spacy mecha, and much larger still when interacting with humans directly. It's just such an inconsistent mess. 🤨
  14. tekering
    And I bought the first box set release with the upgrades... ...then a yellow set... ...and then I gave up trying to keep track of all the goddamn repaints they put out.
  15. tekering
    Cheaper? You never mentioned the cost in your "Overlord" review, but I was shocked to discover that Magic Square charges as much for their Legends-scale Motormaster as X-Transbots is charging for their Masterpiece-scaled "Graveyard!" I mean sure, the XTB trailer was a separate $200, but still... Did you actually pay $130 for a 3P Legends?
  16. tekering
    The Slave I toy originally released in 2010 was repainted in Empire Strikes Back colors for The Vintage Collection in 2013. It retailed for $69.99. The exact same toy was re-released last year (in the same Vintage Collection) and is available directly from Hasbro Pulse... ...for $157.99. "Youch," indeed.
  17. tekering
    Facebook, primarily... or this thread:
  18. tekering
    Well, the robots-in-disguise thing was never taken very seriously...
  19. tekering
    1:32 scale, by Moscato calculation... which would make it nearly 1:24 scale based on the official stats.
  20. tekering
    Oh wow, I totally missed that review. Cheers, Mike!
  21. tekering
    The grey arms are toon-accurate, of course: The choice to split the cars in two, however, only makes sense if you're going the Studio Ox route, depicting Drag Strip and Dead End as the actual arms (rather than just big shoulder pads). Having half a car stuck on each grey forearm isn't accurate to anything, and just looks ridiculous. 🤨 Unfortunately, it seems to have suddenly become the default solution: Even Magic Square is doing it now.
  22. tekering
    Regardless, decals wouldn't be able to hide those grey arms... ...or do anything to disguise the fact that Dragstrip and Dead End have obviously been ripped apart.
  23. tekering
    I finally got a Menasor I'm content with... ...aesthetically, at least. XTB's "Monolith" (the so-called "youth" version) gives you the option of a cartoon-style profile with additional toy detailing, harking back to the classic Masterpiece styling of Shogo Hasui. Color, proportions, and sculpted details are all superior to the other options I've seen. However, it's virtually impossible to transform the trailer into a robot without breaking tabs in the process. It's unbelievably counter-intuitive, and the instructions are hopelessly inadequate ("fasten the five buckles of the protrusion in the direction of the arrow"). Easily the least fun I've had with a transformer in years. Remember the nightmare of MP-5 Megatron? What's worse, it lacks ratchet joints where they're most needed -- namely, the ankle joints that hold the damn thing up -- and the hollow legs barely handle the weight of the upper body. Menasor is always ready to topple forwards (or backwards), and it's difficult to find a decent pose he will pull off effectively... and that's with an empty torso! I haven't even added the weight of "Gravestone" himself. I don't dare put him up on the top shelves with my other combiners. Now, to be fair, I've had very similar experiences with smaller combiners (TFC's "Hercules," "Uranos," and "Warbotron" spring to mind), so it's nothing new for 3P. Still, ToyWorld established a new standard with "Constructor," and both Zeta and MMC have followed suit with their MP-scaled combiner teams. "Monolith" feels like a significant step backwards in engineering.
  24. tekering
    I accept your challenge, sir. 😅
  25. tekering
    I'm thinking twice at ¥15,800. I've never spent that much on a transformer that small, official or otherwise. Sorry, TakaraTomy. No sale.
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