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Scyla

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  1. Scyla
    Nice review @mikeszekely interesting reading your thoughts about a toy originally released 2008-ish. Yes, they really felt super high-quality back in the day (I think I got my first copy around 2017-ish) bin ut the world moved on with merciless speed. Regarding the toy itself, I have no idea who this is for. I assume it is exclusively for Transformers fans, so why not go all the way and remove the Jolly Rodgers and U.N.SPACY logos and lean hard into the G1 Jetfire toy. I think you had one chance to release this before Hasbro‘s lawyers shot your operation down so go all the way. I can’t imagine that this will make a Transformers fan happy as a "Masterpiece" G1 toy Jetfire, once the initial endorphin rush is gone.
  2. Scyla
    Even if I‘m not interested in Studio Series 86 Devastator I was looking forward to the reveal and how the second Combiner after Menasor was going to turn out. The repaints wave really is underwhelming.
  3. Scyla
    So I was really looking forward to the PS5 Pro announcement both replacing my old PS4 Pro and my ancient gaming PC (the phone I‘m typing this post with is probably magnitudes better than my PC) But damn, what a letdown. $700/€800, no disc drive, same old ginormous, ugly box. I would have been ok with the price if it came with a disc drive and had a slimmer design (similar to the PS4 to PS4 Pro). I think I would rather buy a new gaming PC instead of this. Disappointing: https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/console-gaming/ps5-pro-confirmed-new-playstation-will-cost-dollar69999-on-november-5-with-larger-gpu-and-pssr-upscaling
  4. Scyla
    If you plan to open them I would be interested to hear how they are quality wise compared to other Marvel Legends (especially build quality). I‘m looking for a Sentinel for my MvC2 collection but couldn’t find one I like.
  5. Scyla
    Preorder for MPG-14S at Anime Export (¥35800 pay now): https://www.anime-export.com/index.php?product=83592
  6. Scyla
    Well, at least it seems to have the VF-19 canards, so that would indicate that the nosecone section will resemble the source material. But it will be for sure a robot tucked to the underside of a VF-19 shaped fighter jet. And it won’t be the Kai or Basara but rather Blaster or Soundwave cosplaying as VF-19 if the Godzilla crossovers are any indication.
  7. Scyla
    That is true but given that the Godzilla homages use rather recent molds I would say CW is not likely. Given how little retooling is going on with Godzilla Megatron and Kiryu Optimus I don’t think we will see a complete new mold. Maybe it is a retool of Maverick (the Top Gun collab) but with the torso 180 degrees rotated around. That would explain the slender silhouette.
  8. Scyla
    I still believe this is a re-shell of Legacy Needlenose. Given the nosecone and forward fuselage that seems to be hanging behind his back: The Needlenose’s robot makes almost no use of alt-mode parts. Kingdom Cyclonus hides the nosecone in his chest. What gets interpreted as bat ears are probably the head lasers and head fin of the VF-19 Kai head. The two bumps behind the shoulders of the silhouette are probably the shoulder pads of the original VF-19 resting on top of the engines. Looking at the alt mode with the legs just hanging below the fuselage you could easily re-shell them to resemble the ones on the VF-19. Also the feet on Needlenose already look like they could be thrusters (not like the ones on the VF-19, more in line with the SV-262). The biggest problem I see is how to give the VF-19 head fin enough room in the chest cavity and how to remold the chest into something that looks like the mono boop of the VF-19 but also provide enough clearance so the jet lies flat on the ground. I guess the latter might not be that big of a problem given the robot mode is already a big derivation from the source material and BigWest/Kawamori probably made sure that at least the Fighter-Mode looks proper (although the VF-19 Kai has the most prolific Battroid-Mode in all of Macross). I wonder were the wings go. From the screenshot above it looks like the main wings could be on the legs while the tailfins fold onto the back.
  9. Scyla
    While I have little faith that Takara can surpass the Yamato one (haven’t shipped my HMR one yet), I think a Soundwave VF-19 is a great idea. It looks like the nosecone (with canards) is folded onto the back with the tailfins on the legs and the wings nowhere to be found. So it probably won’t look anything like a VF-19 but the color scheme. Maybe it‘s a re-shell of Needlenose?
  10. Scyla
    Metal Build Dragon Scale - Marishiten -Pure Elements Guren available for preorder at Anime Export (pay now ¥42800): https://www.anime-export.com/index.php?product=82821 [edit:] sold out
  11. Scyla
    I understand that people are dissatisfied that this is a remold of another 00 suite instead of a completely new toy but I‘m just glad it is not another Strike, Exia/Astraea or Astray Red Frame. This looks good, and I‘m glad we are getting the Full Saber variant. Do we know what is meant by labeling this as an Event Exclusive? Is it for an upcoming Tamashii Nations exhibit?
  12. Scyla
    I really wished they would ban questions like: "will you do character X". I can’t remember when there was extracted usefulness information out of it. Of course every character is a possible release in the future. And it takes away slots for useful questions like what is the decision process for the Commander Class releases, or why there was no remolding on Cyberverse Tarn.
  13. Scyla
    It was not just the missing paint on MP-49 (and MP-44 was fully painted) but also the quality of the black plastic (feels terribly cheap) and the plastic choices for the teal inlays on his waist. Basically the toy feels like a bad knockoff of MP-44. That‘s what I meant with a missing baseline for the Masterpiece line. Some releases are fully painted, others are not. Some are devoid of details, the next release is not. Some sacrifice everything for cartoon accuracy others just give up midway. Some have all the articulation you would need and then some, while others miss basic joints. The other "high end" lines I collect (Metal Build, Kuro Kara Kuri, DX Chogokin) usually center around a certain set of aspects that all their releases fulfill. Certain releases have spikes in both directions from the baseline but they are not as extreme as the ones in the Masterpiece line. I understand that it is more difficult for a converting toyline to keep it consistent but I have the feeling that Takara has no idea how to do that or that they even care. You say that Studio Series 86 Optimus has no MP DNA in it but what is the MP DNA that all Masterpiece releases have in common? There is none. My expectation as a collector for a high priced collector focused toy line is that they keep their releases consistent with the president the manufacturer set with the first releases. If you want to change the DNA of the line just do a new one. Takara had the chance with MPG but three releases in (Raiden, Super Ginrai and black Ironhide) it is already a hodgepodge of different aesthetics and design approaches. Maybe I am the weird one and an atypical collector but I love to collect unified sets of finite things. Both because to keep me sane and not to overspend and because it soothes my need for whatever went wrong with me as a child (for example I hate it when season 5 of a physical media release suddenly has a different box style). Thanks for the links to the press releases. I‘ve read it more like T-Spark can use characters from Transformers/Zoids/Diaclone for T-Spark but it makes sense to include them. Time will tell what it is going to be.
  14. Scyla
    I‘m so happy that Jada is doing the Mega Man Robot Masters. I hope they sell well (I‘m on board). I hope they do Skull Man and Pharaoh Man too.
  15. Scyla
    I don’t know. I own a lot of Masterpiece toys and they frequently populate the bottom of my least favorite toys list in my collection. MP-24 Star Saber is probably the worst toy I own. Other notable toys are MP-48+ Dark Amber Leoprime, MP-49 Black Convoy or MP-11 Lambor. They are so bad that I stopped buying Masterpiece toys after Raiden (another contender) altogether. The main line Hasbro toys are at least cheaper and mostly more fun to play with. There is a good chance that Studio Series 86 Optimus turns out better than MP-44. If I didn’t collect MP I probably be much happier with collecting the main line. As a bonus you actually get the characters you want. Takara just can’t deliver a consistent baseline on their collector Transformers line. And I find it funny that the MP line is not part of the new T-Spark branding that ought to be the equivalent to Tamashii Nations.
  16. Scyla
    In my opinion what people want is well written, well produced, well thought out, well acted movies/tv-shows. If they don’t get that, they start nagging about minuscule little details because the overarching story is bollocks. I don’t know what the reception of ESB was (besides people trowing a fit about Darth Vaders revelation) but I don’t assume that they nagged about how Luke had a chance of possibly defeating Darth Vader because we see him training with Yoda for five minutes on screen. To me this is what Disney doesn’t understand, that the baseline of your project needs to be good (or they understand it and can’t deliver) otherwise people won’t like it. Especially with a franchise that is now contaminated for the next decade. If they want to get out of that quagmire that they produced and earn money (and fandom goodwill) Disney needs to produce quality content. Then they can sprinkle whatever amount of Star Wars nostalgia they deem adequate on top (or their woke agenda if you believe in such stuff ).
  17. Scyla
    I think a big problem (and I stated as much when the Acolyte trailer was released) is that the writers/producers can’t distance themselves from the Lucas movies. For the new Disney Star Wars movies I think it would have been fine if the setting was in a far off sector of the Galaxy far far away where communications are unstable. The Senate sent Ben Solo as an envoy to explore some undisclosed accident or rumors that the Empire/Sith is reforming. Hab Solo as a New Republic general, Luke as his master and head of new Jedi order and Leia as a Senator could give him a send off as he boards the ship to link the new generation to the old one and Ben is on his merry way to find his own adventure. I think everyone would be happy with that. Instead they build a story around them that was set up to fail at least a portion of the fans. And I don’t say that you can’t tell a story about Luke were he ends up in a position like in The Last Jedi but you need a dedicated movie(s) for that to believably tell that story for long time fans. Same with the Acolyte. By linking it directly to Yoda, Ki-Adi-Mundi and the Sith they invite easy criticism by social media influencers that seem to have built a career around criticizing Disney Star Wars. Just let it go… … let it go, let it gooooo
  18. Scyla
    MB Bellvine up for preorder at Anime Export (¥39800, pay now): https://www.anime-export.com/index.php?product=82202 [edit:] sold out
  19. Scyla
    I don’t understand Bandai sometimes, why are they producing Indian Spiderman but I can’t get an SHF E. Honda action figure. Did they have a pivotal role in the Spiderverse movie?
  20. Scyla
    Yeah, it was Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth. I just thought "Record of Lodoss game" was an easier to type description for it (now you made me type it out ). Anyhow, I bought the physical release of the game from amiami because I like physical media, wanted to own Lodoss war merchandise. As a bonus it turned out that the game is actually quite good.
  21. Scyla
    No, it played just fine. If it is a language barrier thing than I would definitely go with a version that has English subtitles. From your text I just thought that there is a technical reason why the games won’t play. Like with regional codes for BluRays/DVDs or how you couldn’t play NTSC games on a PAL SNES. Luckily, and to my surprise, Lodoss War came with an English language pack (but packaging was all in Japanese).
  22. Scyla
    I don’t know if this is necessarily true, I bought the Record of Lodoss War game from amiami and could play it without any issues on my EU Switch.
  23. Scyla
    I‘m disappointed that they didn’t keep the transformation of the Masterpiece version (and the animation) but I guess it helps with transformation and articulation. They probably do Dragon Kaiser next right? I wonder what the rights situation is with Brave and the designs. I always thought the character license belongs to Sunrise and this Bandai (similar to the GoBot/Machine Robo situation). I can see were the toylike impression comes from. The sculpt is very simple. I think if they went a more stylized approach (like Metal Build) it would look a lot better and "cool". For me the Masterpiece toy was the coolest thing since sliced bread for a long time. I guess Takara is trying to position T-Spark as their equivalent to Tamashii Nations. I could see this first wave as an experiment to see what sticks with the collectors. For me they all look to toy-ish to be really interested (all the screw holes in the back yuck) other than curiosity. Takara never was able to really pull of a collector focused line that is really high end.
  24. Scyla
    Few observations: It is not so far removed from the Metal Build pricing. The last retail Metal Build Gundam was the Exia Devise for ¥22000. The latest release (as far as I can tell) was the Ryuoumaru at ¥33000 and the Lancelot Albion at ¥42800. But the Metal Builds come with a lot of accessories: hands, a stand, different weapon layouts, effect parts, etc. Rodimus comes with 3.5 Also from seeing the prototype in person and from the pictures I would assume that the toy is not build the same way as the MBs. You can see exposed screws in the arms and parts like the shoulders are quite hollow and the toy could be not fun to handle. Also some of the deco and details on Rodimus is quite a bit simpler compared to the Metal Builds (and especially the K^3 Rodimus). So I would say it is a good prices (personally I‘m shocked the toy is not ¥45000 or more) it is not that big of a gap to the Metal Build line.
  25. Scyla
    It seems like Fans Toys is getting ready to complete their first combiner: I have to say no matter how good or bad it will turn out, it can only disappoint.
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