Valkyrie Hunter D

Yup, they're doing it again: check out the blinged out Takara TFA toys at BBTS.

Ooh, you found Overkill? That was the only one I couldn't find despite going to to two different stores. I dunno, but do make sure to check every nook and cranny. I found Prime lying on top on top of oven rack in the kitchenware dept. Organization doesn't seem to be priority at the Marshalls I've been to. At its worst, Marshalls reminds me of an indoor flea market.

Yeah, it's a great book. I'm glad they showed the "americanized" depictions of Mega Man and Roll in the later half of the book!

Not too long ago, Capcom released the R20 book to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Rockman. As video game-based books go, it was a behemoth of a book filled with illustrations, sketches, and design works that dealt with every Rockman/Rockman X game release. Udon Studios have finally translated and released R20 by publishing two books: Mega Man: Official Complete Works and Mega Man X: Official Complete Works. I don’t know why R20 was split into two books, but if you are a Megaman fan, these two books are not to be missed. I got my copies today and it’s just awesome to see the unused/altered characters and read some insight from K. Inafune, the series producer himself.

Yup, in the US-I'm in NorCal btw. At the second Marshalls I went by, I think I found a scalper's hidey hole because inside a leather ottoman were 10 of the figures. Or maybe its just the way Marshalls is; that place can get really messy. If you still can't find a Dragstrip, lmk as I could probably snag one for you tomorrow.

So the rumors are true: Marshall's stores DO have the special edition Universe figures for $10. I found the last boxes of Prime and Megs sitting around at different location in the store. I was hoping to find Dragstrip as well but grey and black Megs was a better find I think. Happy hunting!

Seeing that thing always makes me glad the live action movie never got made.

Heh, I used to get Machine Robo toys as gifts and I loved the styrofoam packaging along with the mini-comic and full color catalog they came with. I never knew a lick of Japanese, but it was still awesome to gape at. Go-bots were never cooler.

I lucked out finding Bludgeon and I am liking it a lot-it's hard for me to not like a toy tank that turns into an undead samurai. It's clunky in bot mode and not very flexible, but I was able to get it into poses holding its sword with both hands-awesome. A great TF imo, I'm glad I picked it up .

I hope there is a Swindle limb, but as it is it looks fantastic. The tank mold is still an anti-aircraft tank instead of a main battle tank, but its a minor quibble. You already ARE whining. Just suck it up and move on.

FansProject update their site with pics of a new limb for Bruticus and his new add-on parts-pretty sweet!

Yup, Bay Area Fry's stores should have District 9 on Blu-Ray for $19.99. Comes with God of War III demo too!

Road Buster Ultra Magnus? I prefer the original color scheme, but still not a bad find for $20. Word on the street is that Japan will be getting the Animated toy line next year to go along with the series broadcast. Does this mean better paint apps and blinged out chrome on the TFA figs we've already bought? Considering the comparisons between the Henkei and Classics lines I say yes. Would I buy those toys again? No way. However, if Ultra Magnus gets gets a better color scheme (i.e. true white instead of grey) with the Japanese version, I'd be willing to buy it again. Now I can only wonder if TFA will get extended episodes with the Japanese broadcast...

I'm glad they're going through with Sprin *ahem* Defender. There were rumors going around regarding some C&D action, but I guess it may still happen. I wonder if their Crossfire project is an add-on kit for one of the Bruticus toys or a whole new sculpt of the big brute.

Ack! Just my fricking luck. But holy smokes, $20 for a MP?! Wisconsin Wal-marts rule!

Aw c'mon, it was a really small blanket-there are only two or three good fight scenes in there. Dare I say Daniel vs. Johnny in the first Karate Kid? I swear the first time I saw that fight scene I just had to kick someone in the face.

The fight scenes in Equilibrium made me a firm believer of Gunkata.

I threw in the towel. I got tired of doing little side trips to Wal-Mart looking for MP Skywarp, so I stopped...and just ordered it online at Wal-Mart's site. I should've checked their site to begin with, but I remembered MP Starscream not being available online so I thought it'd be the same with Skywarp. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20 but I was at least able to get some X-mas shopping done too.

Holy frickin cow. Did anyone call Hobby Japan about this? I can't wait to see where you go with this MaveRick. Man, I really should go to this section of MW more often.

I'm late to the Destroid party, but Overdrive came through and I just opened up my Olive green Defender. I've got nothing but praise for it. I like my mecha blocky and industrial looking and the Destroids have always filled that niche. Chunky, yet flexible with a crapload of stickers that I'll probably never have time for-simply awesome. It's THE best Destroid toy I've owned, and it just sucks that Yamato won't go on with the Spartan.

No Nanase figs yet, eh?

As soon as I heard about these things I had a feeling it wasn’t going to look too good. I love playing with my non-transforming revy valks but these new ones are going to be a definite pass.

Good stuff!

Maybe if I was opening a Macross museum I would risk the $2000, but as a normal bloke, I guess I will just remain is disbelief. 2k...jeezum crow. I think I'll just go back to the old plan of modding an old Matchbox SDF-1.

After going through it once, I could finally have a solid opinion of this game. The translation seems to be a very literal one. There are some in-game lines that come off as odd but I think they were based on Japanese jokes or customs that may simply have no English equivalent (What the heck is a "Five-count"?). Despite the lack of localization in some minor spots, there is more than enough translated to follow the main story. A big chunk of what is not translated is seen when your character is scouting for new recruits for your wanzer squad. There is also a lot of conversation that you miss out on in the Ready Room where the squad is constructed, and I think once the translation team gets to the aforementioned parts, each squad member's personality will be fleshed out even more. I do have have some gripes with the game itself. The timeline of FM5 goes over a good 50 years going back to incidents from the first game, but with the way it’s presented, time doesn’t flow right. As an example, after completing a mission, three months supposedly pass but if you go back to the mess hall the people still have the same lines as three months prior. It doesn’t help that character models don’t show their age as time passes either. Well not until the end of the game anyways. A bigger gripe of mine is that the cooler parts and weapons from past FM games that were easily bought in shops can now only be found in the tedious Survival Simulator. Remember Parasite Eve and the Chrysler Building challenge? Well, the Survival Simulator is worse. I just can’t spend hours and hours grinding through a 100 floor dungeon just to farm parts. I hear the rewards are worth it, but I just don’t have the time. As for the good stuff; the combat is great, graphics are on par (maybe even better) than FM4, organizing skills and links are easier to do, and friendly fire is now a BIG factor in making battle formations. Story-wise, FM3 still seems more epic in scale as opposed to FM5’s where the personal life of the main character takes center stage with the events of past games in the background. Oh yeah, every FM fan should give this game a shot just to play the final map-it’s one of the better final stages in FM. Overall, it’s another great FM game, but I just wish my fave parts were easier to access. Many thanks to the team that made this translation possible!