David Hingtgen

Looks like an airport firetruck.

The pic that wasn't there back when I made my post 3.5 days ago? Yeah, NOW there's pics showing more of the trailer and RP's back, but when I originally posted--there was little more than "that's a lot of back kibble" and "that one bit looks like Hot Rod's rear tailight/fender"--which could still of course, be what RP's rear tailight/fender looks like. Nobody wants there to be a perfect car-mode Hot Rod in there than me, but I'll wait until Takara says/shows it.

Is there a bigger version? Hard to follow some of the lines.

protostar--you can't quote my 3-day-old post and then say "no, the latest is this"... It was the latest at the time I posted. RDblade--as I said before, simply having HotRod-esque details doesn't mean it's HotRod---what does the back end of Rodimus' cab look like? Probably a lot like Hot Rod's, just not as sleek. At the moment, I'm still pessimistic, but slightly hopeful, that a perfect Hot Rod vehicle is in there.

I keep wondering--are the prototype pics they show the actual ones Wheeljack made, or their own versions? I know Wheeljack put noseart on most of his, but the pics igear show usually hide where it'd be. (of course, I still have serious issues with the Dirge one--Thrust and Ramjet were done much better IMHO) (not real fond of Thurst having Bullpups, but it's better than Dirge's obvious "stabs as canards, with nav lights and ECM still attached"

Germany also did the "model name is the year of design" thing, at least for WWII ship armaments.

I just found the easy way to open the canopy: Open the nosegear doors. Look up inside the gear bay. Almost dead center, in the most-recessed part of the bay, will be a little rectangle. It's the canopy's lock-tab. Push a toothpick in there and the canopy will open right up. Much easier than trying to open it from above, and with no risk of scratching off the paint.

Stickers match the tampo printing better than I thought they would--not a perfect match though---but impossible to tell on the tailfins as there's nothing nearby to compare it to. Stickers are the thinnest I've encountered I think. Trim the ones for the legs VERY closely--even then they'll overlap the striping a bit. BTW--it's nigh-impossible to get the tailfin ones on straight--the swept, angled fins and italicized numbers really mess with your senses--they'll look different if you move your head even SLIGHTLY.

Graham, to clarify for region-locking: Hong Kong, Japan, and the USA, are all the same region when it comes to Blu-Rays. A great boon to anime fans. Now, a PS3 will not retroactively allow DVD's from all those different contries to be played on it (DVD region locking is entirely separate), but it will take any game or Blu-Ray movie from them equally. (a further note is that many Blu-Ray movies from the major studios are region-free anyways, and all PS3 games themselves are region-free) In short---having "region-locked" issues are fairly rare for a PS3. 20th Century Fox is notable for region-locking their movies--but again, US/JP/HK are all the same for Blu-Ray.

IMHO the 1/60 YF-21 is too bright--should be darker to match the anime. First release of the 1/72 was the best-colored YF-21 toy. The VF-19F/S should be the color the 1/60 YF-21 turned out to be.

LOL, the latest latest theory/discussion at TFW2005 actually fits with what I thought when the wheels on his legs were first seen: Not Hot Rod, but merely a "very complete" vehicle mode/cab for Rodimus, that is of course Hot Rod-esque in style/design. Or in other words--if you remove Rodimus' trailer, there's still a vehicle left, and not half a vehicle with legs sticking out.

My beef with PCC isn't the lack of robot modes---it's the lack of limb modes! Seriously, even most of the worst of G1 combiner limbs, were more limb-like than these. You'd think that not having a robot mode, would lead to better limb modes. But I don't think ANY of these have decent hands/arms yet, and very few are decent legs/feet. I would buy a combiner that had no individual robot modes in a second--if combined mode had decent hands and feet, and not a collection of long gangly hinges with a sideways-mounted claw on the end.

That F-22 shot is well from below. As for the -23----yup, pure awesomeness there! Shows the 50-degree cant well. (plus the fact that the fuselage CURVES up to the tailfins---a lot of models/drawings/people seem to show the tailfins as just being stuck on to the fuselage at an angle)

Well, the latest pics show that it just might be a magical Hot Rod/Rodimus toy: http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/generation-1-1/clearer-pictures-of-masterpiece-rodimus-prime-170307/ That's a LOT of back kibble and hinges in robot mode. And the kibble does have a whole lot of Hot Rod's car-mode parts.

I'll agree with that. Now, the YF-23---that looks awesome from EVERY angle.

THERE it is--got my TRU "30 days notice" for Grimlock. So much for being a birthday present...

The REAL issue with a VF-11D, is the heatshield. The current method just won't work. Frankly, I imagine it could only be done with part-swapping.

I was going to post something similar---I was checking like the first 4 rows---you know, where you can identify facial features.

Numerous reports of QC issues with Thrust's eyes---usually just 1 being painted, or paint on his forehead that was intended for his eyes.

Yet another "cool F-22 pic for wallpaper" http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Air/Lockheed-Martin-F-22A/1749411/L/

The V1 VF-1 may have detached parts, but it didn't actually SWAP any parts like the VF100 VF-25, which is I think what was implied.

Heck yes! It'd be nice if it could use the original fold booster though...

I highly doubt it---Yamato's the most anti-partsformer company there is. (I wish they HAD made the YF-19 a partsformer---the nosegear bay alone would have helped a lot)

Those hood pins are huge, and stick up really far above the hood. I like thin, flush hood pins. (like the ones on my Dad's '69 Charger)

Those would be the same pics everyone's been talking about, that were posted 2 pages ago...