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Scyla

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  1. Scyla
    It is interesting to see that Devastation Prime has the same problems as MPG Super Ginrai when it comes to painting red over blue. I‘ve been a vocal critic of the quality of Takara‘s MP and MGP collector focused lines. My main point is that they are not the same quality as other collector focused toy lines because the designers are also the ones designing the mainline toys thus they are designed with the same mindset behind them (which is not collector but rather toy focused). Similarly their production values are low because the same factories that produce the mainline toys are also manufacturing the MPG/MP toys with the exact same constraints that they have for things like Devastation Prime (like paint not being opaque enough, nub marks on prominent spots etc.). I think this is also the reason why we are seeing MPG-17 Style Gen convoy. Takara‘s engineers yearn to go back to a toy focused approach and not the collector focused one they had with MP-44. If you want to believe some of the commenters on the board that shall not be named MP-44 was too complex for their manufacturing resources (my reading: the Vietnam factories that also produce the cheaper toys). I don’t know if this will change with their dedicated T-Spark line (the Takara analog to Bandai‘s Tamashii Nations). While AM Rodimus seems to be a stellar product (from a Takara baseline, I didn’t buy it since I have the superior Flame Toys one). MPG seems to be plagued by the same issues as before (see MPG Raiden and Ginrai).
  2. Scyla
    To put your mind at ease Mike I think Hasbro did a reasonable good job with Slingshot‘s alt mode. I think the expectation towards Hasbro should be what is feasible design and what is just plain lazyness. For having a realistic alt-mode you almost never will have the budget for at Hasbro. Especially not for established character designs. The designer of Slingshot at least put effort into making it a Robot in Disguise, even if it is not a realistic Harrier. And I think with a different design goal you could make a fairly convincing Harrier jet out of it. Air Raid is just lazy to me. The fact that the arms don’t tuck in is just lazy design (same with Breakdown not being the right car shape but a slight retool of Wildrider). So good job on Slingshot unknown Hasbro engineer I guess.
  3. Scyla
    I don’t know, the Earthrise seeker is pretty bad. At least the version I have. The transformation is unimaginative, the proportions are wonky with that huge torso block and articulation is just ok. The alt-mode is frustrating since it is again a box with wings (at least the arms tuck away nicely) and while the fuselage looks somewhat like a F-15 the thrusters just throw off the look too much. And I don’t like how it feels like handling the toy. Maybe it’s just mine but the plastic used doesn’t feel nice. If the significantly retool the Earthrise one I could see it fitting in the 86 line but I think just a reissue of ER Starscream feels off to me. The Earthrise Seeker mold can definitely needs some improvements.
  4. Scyla
    Metal Build God Gundam at Anime Export (¥49980, pay now): https://www.anime-export.com/index.php?product=90320 [edit:] sold out now
  5. Scyla
    I hope the Studio Series 86 Seeker is a new mold. I don’t want to be overly negative but the Earthrise one is trash.
  6. Scyla
    I think one problem is the naming of the set. I think this set - albeit with less yellow highlights - would be a good homage to the Blacktron 1 theme as a whole if they just gave it a different name. Like the Pirates of Barracuda Bay and the Lion Knights Castle sets were homages to the first Lego Pirates line and the Lego castle sets of the 80s respectively. Wisely they were not named the Black Seas Barracuda (6285) and the King‘s Castle (6080) separating them from the original sets. The new El Dorado’s Fortress (10320) and Galaxy Explorer (10497) wore the exact names of the original sets and were faithful updates to these sets. For something that sports the name Lego Renegade this just falls short of expectations Another thing that made the design of the original so great is that you have a hard time grasping, what the ship actually looks like. The mostly black color, the asymmetrical design and the shape of the wings made it hard too read. The shape of the ship is obfuscated by its design which is quite fitting for an spy-organization like the Blacktrons. I remember, when I first saw a picture of the set (see attached image) I had a hard time understanding what it actually looks like. Only after looking up more pictures on the Internet and watching Jang‘s review of the set I understood how the set is assembled. Maybe that undefined nature of the ship is something that the Lego designer tried to rectify with the new one, missing the point completely. But maybe that is something that I‘m reading into the set.
  7. Scyla
    During the last recent double insider points promotion I bought the icons Renegade set. This set is frustratingly bad. Not from a build experience (which is good) but from a design perspective. Now that I have the set build myself I think I can narrow it down to three main points: 1. The color scheme: the original set was a black spaceship with yellow accents (like all of the Blacktron 1 line) but this is a black and yellow ship with red highlights. Way to much yellow and the gray on the fuel batteries makes it miss the mark. It makes the whole set too bright of a vehicle. When I think Blacktron I think black! Then the transparent lights on the front and the mechanism throw off the black-ness of the ship even more. 2. The buggy (and its integration): while the original set had a small rover the integration of the buggy makes the center mass of the ship look off. You have the obnoxious gap in front of it when mounted. The translucent canopy (through which you can see the pilot) and more of the yellow color. The original set (like many Blacktron 1 sets like the Alienator and the Invader) had that half a hexagon shape on top that connected them to the aesthetic of Blacktron (made out of two 3 x 3 x 6 Corner Wall pieces) which is missing here. That brings me to… 3. The silhouette: this is what makes this set not a homage to the original Renegade but a new spacecraft to me. It is all wrong. The shape of the canopy section too elongated (due to making it a two seater) the neck section connecting the cockpit to the main fuselage too wide (for the sake of integrating somewhat questionable landing gear). It needed to be two studs thinner. The engine section being in line with the cockpit/sensor part where they were closer to the center of the vessel on the original set. And the sensors being too un-greebly. The fact that the ship‘s tallest point isn’t the center section where the cargo bay is supposed to be. This is just sooo frustrating. Especially since the previous set, the Galaxy Explorer was so faithful to the original. And - to me - the Renegade is the ship were Lego had to get it right since it was limited to North America and not available elsewhere making it hard to come by on the aftermarket. If they want to have a bigger buggy included why not give as an extra shipping container in the set that completes the silhouette of this "iconic" vessel and tones down the yellow-ness of the color scheme. If they want to have landing gear why not a thinner design than these 3 x 3 plates that don’t store away completely when collapsed to be able to give us the swan neck proportions of the original. All the other parts like the engines being in the wrong position, the overabundance of yellow pieces and the wrong shape of the sensor array is something that could be changed without messing with the core of the spacecraft. It feels like the designer missed the assignment or tried to design a new spaceship with his own design proclivities in mind. Such a shame. I recognize I‘m probably extra salty but not having an original Renegade in my Classic Space collection is a gaping hole. And I needed this one to be good. But this set is trash and a waste of effort and resources: I give it an "F" for fail. I guess there is nothing else to do to pony up the $300 to import an original Renegade from Bricklink.
  8. Scyla
    Is anyone else here looking for preorder links of the Metal Build God Gundam?
  9. Scyla
    I don’t understand the need to switch from MP to MPG either. The only thing I can think off is that Takara wanted a new designation for their Tamashii Nations knock off (i.e. T-Spark) and thus didn’t want to continue the MP line. Nothing about it makes any sense to me.
  10. Scyla
    I‘m confused by Takaras strategy for the MP/MPG line. It feels like an amalgamation off toy ideas that the engineers at Takara find cool and interesting rather a consistent line of collectibles. I thought that had a prime opportunity of unifying the line with the switch from MP to MPG. But already after three unique figures we have a highly flawed real world alt-mode accurate combiner, super toon accurate Super Gods and a Convoy that looks like he is mocking the super toon accurate style that defined the line for the past decade, going for a more Studio OX/stylized design. Mixed in you have recolors of 10 year old molds. Maybe this is a misconception on my part but I always imagined that toy collectors that collect a line value consistency highly. Like when you collect a TV show and one of the 10 seasons has a different box. It will be interesting to see how 3rd party reacts (mainly because I‘m not collecting MPG any longer due to of the points made in this post). While I am not too smitten by the super toon accuracy I was looking forward having the G1 cast in a unified scale/style.
  11. Scyla
    When I saw AotP Red Alert for the first time I was surprised to find out he is a Voyager. Given the relative simple design of the figure it is also not a case of Deluxe size but Leader class engineering (akin to 86 Hot Rod). But seeing him next to Deluxe Hotshot he is taller and has a lot of mass to it. And seeing all the details that Hasbro added to it (like the paint apps on the front and the red cross markings). However, I feel like he has an odd silhouette. Too boxy chest, not enough definition in the lower abdomen and oddly proportionate legs make him feel off to me, compared to the lineart I found online. Maybe it is the missing gray for his midsection?
  12. Scyla
    I‘m unsure when and if I should replace my OLED Switch. I still have a big backlog of games and the performance of the Switch never was a concern to me since all the indie games I played run mighty fine. I’m not a fan of TotK (but loved BotW) so I’m not that excited for a 3D Zelda game but a Mario Odyssey 2 or M:Prime 4 might make a purchase worthwhile. Mario Kart games play mostly the same for me so Mario Kart 9 doesn’t have a big draw for me.
  13. Scyla
    @mikeszekely I really enjoy all the character write-ups on the character background in the beginning of the reviews for the (hopefully) 13 Primes.
  14. Scyla
    I was talking about the F/A-XX program: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/F/A-XX_program I should be more careful with my answers on a message board full of aviation geeks.
  15. Scyla
    I‘m confused why the NGAD contract is going to Boeing. I thought they are Going to develop the F-18 successor for the Navy. What is Lockheed-Martin supposed to build once all the F-35 are built? Hopefully Boeing learned from its defeat in the JSF program and designed a beautiful looking jet.
  16. Scyla
    I think I have to binge watch the next season of Solo Leveling; after the Chimera Ant arc*. This week‘s episode was very intense but I feel like it is ramping up the shonen power creep way to quickly. The other S-Rank Hunters are already at Krillin’s Yamcha‘s level before the end of the second season. * this is not meant to be original just find it funny that it also has ants.
  17. Scyla
  18. Scyla
    I agree that a breather was needed but they decided to start the next arc, something shocking happened and the episode ends.
  19. Scyla
    These Solo Leveling cliffhangers are starting to kill me. Why do they have to end where they end. 🥲
  20. Scyla
  21. Scyla
    @mikeszekely, I can understand why Ginrai feels too small in hand compared to other MP offerings. That’s why I thought the MPG line will have a unified, smaller scale, more in line with Raiden and Ginrai moving forward. However, given that Liftticket and Black Ironhide are recolors of old MP toys and released under MPG makes me question that. I guess we will know once we see images of the rumored MPG Convoy. Maybe it will be smaller than MP-44 and closer to Ginrai in size.
  22. Scyla
    I would assume they had to redo the moulds since the original ones are probably nowhere to be found. That said, the whole M.A.S.K. line is only around 50 releases. I think I have more Gundams and Masterpiece Transformers in my collection.
  23. Scyla
    Ahw, now you are hurting me feelings. Anyhow, after these all that is left are Chrono Trigger figures and I‘m done with Bring Arts. Hm, maybe if they do FF8 figures and G.F.s I might be interested too?
  24. Scyla
    So the Loyal Subjects one are basically reissues of the original toys? Owning a Rhino has been a lifelong dream for me. But I really don’t want to start a new toy collection.
  25. Scyla
    I had hope that Square Enix would release an add-on pack that included all their ultimate weapons. But that seems unlikely now.
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