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mikeszekely

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Everything posted by mikeszekely

  1. mikeszekely
    Yeah, but to buy digitally. It's not part of the Prime Video sub I already have (nor Netflix, Paramount Plus, HBO Max, Hulu, or Disney Plus).
  2. mikeszekely
    Seeing this thread bumped reminds me again that BSG isn't available on any of the myriad streaming platforms I subscribe too...😒
  3. mikeszekely
    I mean, that applies to MW, too. But that's ok, we Gen Xers know we're the best generation.
  4. mikeszekely
    Someone pointed out that SS86 Skywarp's shoulders are black when they should be purple, and it's driving me nuts because I know it's wrong but I kinda think black looks better... EDIT: And yeah, Shockwave is WAY too small. If I were Newage, I'd make a Shockwave that's the same size as SS86 Megatron with none of the Siege holdovers like those heels. Get one over on Hasbro for making SS86 Optimus bigger so Romulus wound up too small.
  5. mikeszekely
    Well, not particularly interested in Ironhide at that price, but I suppose I'll have to get Prime...
  6. mikeszekely
    18cm is Voyager-ish sized. I don't have a ruler to double check, but iirc Hasbro listed SS86 Optimus as 18.5cm, and Megatron (despite being the same head height) as 21.5cm.
  7. mikeszekely
    Maybe they're not ships, but airplanes.🤔
  8. mikeszekely
    Disagree. The best Macross games were on the PSP.
  9. mikeszekely
    Legacy of Kain: Defiance remaster, another Metal Gear collection, new Silent Hill, new Castlevania, and a God of War Greek Trilogy remake (I guess they forgot that there were six Greek games😒). Not sure about Control Resonant; I loved Control, but very unsure about the shift from atmospheric third-person shooter to a DMC-style action game. Here's hoping Sony keeps supporting PC. I do want that GoW Trilogy, but I'm absolutely done with PlayStation hardware.
  10. mikeszekely
    Well, @sh9000 just beat me to it. Dang dance class. Kranix is fine, if you really want those minor characters. I had to compare side-by-side with Siege, Shockwave is retooled by barely. I'm not happy, he really needs to be bigger to scale with the new Megatron. No surprises with Skywarp, and I guess I already own Wheeljack and Sunstreaker because they're the same as the ones in the Target five-pack. I don't know how I feel about Astrotrain, to be honest. Train mode is a huge improvement, shuttle mode seems a little worse at the front, better at the back, still not great. The robot mode looks noticeably worse, but I'm thinking that the chest is mistransformed and those purple panels need to be folded down. Oh, and here's the Matrix I mentioned. No SS86 Unicron.
  11. mikeszekely
    Animation version.
  12. mikeszekely
    I promise if they do a Studio Series Unicron it'll be smaller and cheaper than the Haslab. Anyway, the teaser was for the Matrix.
  13. mikeszekely
    I transformed mine into a ball. ...I just never turned him back into a robot.
  14. mikeszekely
    Well, the new HVAC company seemed a lot more thorough. He put cameras in the different pipes and junk, took a bunch of pictures, checked the inducer with a multimeter, etc. He found that the inducer is running at a higher amperage than it should be, and there was a bunch of water in places where water shouldn't be (including in the inducer). So he took the inducer out and apart, cleaned the water and the lines again, the put it all back together. Lo and behold, the furnace has now gone almost 30 hours without a fault (though the fact that it's gone from negative temperatures to almost 55 (or around 12.5 for those of you who value base ten more than precision). It's not all sunshine and rainbows, though... the tech can't figure out how the water got in there in the first place. So we've decided to replace the inducer and the collection box, which means I have to wait for the parts to come in and for him to come back and install them, while kinda hoping that more water doesn't build up and cause issues in the meantime. And even at that, with some corrosion in the heat exchanger and the fact that the furnace is about 14 years old, it was also suggested to me that I might want to start budgeting for a whole new furnace in the next five years. Still... I was able to enjoy my first night in my actual bed in two days, and my first morning waking up to an alarm clock instead of an uncomfortably low temperature in the house in two or three weeks. So, feeling a bit refreshed, I can finally give you my thoughts on MMC's Ocular Max REmix Forte, their take on Ramhorn. Can we just take a minute and marvel at MMC's ability to take a flat rectangle and turn it into a three-dimensional shape for a minute? The engineering makes Jaguar (Ravage) seem almost primitive... like, in Jaguar's case, you could think of the cat's spine as a line from the top of one side of the tape to the bottom, and everything sort of folds along that spine. Forte, a bit like Tempo (Steeljaw) here, has a spine that runs like an imaginary line through the tape from one face to the other, and the cassette has the fold around that imaginary line. But the process seemed to feel a bit more refined than Tempo. And, again, it's really amazing that they got this form out of a flat rectangle. He's got a humped back and a low chest that tapers back to a thinner waist, and his head is at the end of an actual neck. The silhouette is less rectangular than either the cartoon or the G1 toy... it's almost organic. And he does all this while maintaining a shoulder-to-shoulder width that's probably triple his alt mode thickness. Speaking of alt modes... like all the non-humanoid cassettes MMC has done, Forte's missile launchers are permanently attached to his body and are incorporated in the transformation. So I guess the only real accessory here is the box he came in... a clear cassette case, with a wrap-around box that has the instructions attached and collector's card tucked into. Getting back to the rhino mode, Forte's neck has two black hinges that attach it to his body. These hinges allow for a slight side-to-side movement. Meanwhile the head is attached to the neck via a ball joint. That joint gives a little more side-to-side range, plus a little up/down tilt and a swivel. His mouth can open, and his ears are on little ball joints, too, so you can swivel them or tilt them a bit. The middle of his torso can move to give him a slight ab crunch or back arch. His shoulders and hips have swivels for forward/backward movement and hinges for lateral movement. The knees and elbows are hinged to cover about 90 degrees forward or backward. His feet are on hinged ball joints for more than enough up/down tilt and ankle pivots. Finally, the base of his tail has a hinge for some up/down movement. And I know I kept alluding to it, but yes, that rhinoceros really does turn into a cassette tape. As always, MMC eschews that microcassette size favored by G1/MP/Robot Parasides/X-Transbots for a standard cassette size. This of course means there's no Blaster toy that these guys will fit into, but frankly I think the microcassette figures transformed into robots/cats/rhinos that were too small. For an MP display, I think this size works better. Also, likely to keep the rhino mode more cartoon-accurate, the cassette mode has no labels. I would have liked to think that Toyhax would be on it, but I just checked, and while they did labels for all of MMC's versions of Soundwave's tapes they have done any of Blaster's. I think that some of you will find the barren cassette modes a little disappointing, but without a robot with a chest I can store the tapes in I don't see myself transforming them very often anyway. No robot chest, but Forte does of course fit in his case. As will the last several OX tapes, the instructions aren't liner notes that fit inside the case with the cassette, which is a bummer. Rather, the instructions are like a fold-out cover on a box that wraps around the case. Not my preferred way of doing it, but I wonder if there are tighter tolerances involved. Gonna be honest here... I was never really into Blaster's tapes as much as Soundwave's. What's more, I feel like MMC's Ravage, Rumble, and Frenzy came out at a time when I was very much invested in building up a Masterpiece Collection, and I was willing to give up the ability to fit in Soundwave's chest for better-looking, better articulated versions that (to me) scaled better. Fast forward to the present, where it's looking increasingly likely that Hasbro really is going to give me (mostly) cartoonish versions of the entire G1 cast and my MP collection is starting to look like a waste of space. Couple that with the fact that Ramhorn is, for whatever reason, one of my least-favorite of the cassette bots. So I've actually had Forte sitting on my desk for awhile, unopened, as my purchase felt more like an obligation than a general desire to have the figure. But after messing with him I'm really glad I did! The engineering to get from a cassette to a reasonably-shaped, reasonably-proportioned rhino with reasonable articulation feels like witchcraft. And while I don't see myself transforming him often, he's fun to put into poses and does look good displayed with your MP Blaster of choice (I've still got KFC's, little disappointed I slept on Deformation Space's). If you've been enjoying MMC's line of OX REmix cassettes then you should enjoy Forte too, as he might very well be their best one yet. Now if I could just get MMC to release their Ratbat that they announced back in October... of 2023. (Side note, kinda bummed now that I never got the condors. Unlike Ravage and Rumble/Frenzy, I thought the MP ones were an ok size and the REmix ones too big, but now it feels like a shame that I have that hole in the collection.)
  15. mikeszekely
    Yeah... so he made a Transformers post today. I'm thinking no. If there were, they'd have gone up at 1:00pm ET/10:00am PT.
  16. mikeszekely
    I know that they're gonna be there showing off some new stuff, and I've heard that there's gonna be some preorders on Tuesday the 17th. Haven't heard anything about a Hasbro stream, though. AFAIK the Takara one is T-Spark, not specifically Transformers. I mean, they're definitely gonna show off some Transformers stuff (I'm thinking Overgear for sure, maybe some Missing Link), along with some Zoids and Diaclone, but I wouldn't expect any Age of the Primes or Studio Series stuff you haven't heard from Hasbro first (unless it's some Takara-exclusive repaint, like that green Lio Convoy).
  17. mikeszekely
    I have Forte on my desk, but I'm still dealing with furnace issues and I haven't really had the energy for other stuff right now (I mean that literally, as my furnace decided to quit at 1:00am yesterday with temps in the negatives. I tried to get it running (and keep it running), but gave up around 4:30am and wound up laying on the couch in the living room with fireplace going. The tech who "fixed" it by cleaning the lines and the condensate trap came back and replaced the pressure switch, which also didn't fix it, and when I called him Friday he seemed stumped, said he'd come by again later that day, and then ghosted me. I have a different HVAC company coming tomorrow (so I'm staying in the living room with the fire again tonight since we're going negative again), but after learning way more about gas furnaces than I cared to I'm betting it's the inducer motor. Anyway, the TLDR is that I should be reviewing Forte sometime this week.
  18. mikeszekely
    Same. I basically quit even looking at Fans Toys. Stopped one bot short of finishing their Stunticons and I sold off the Aerialbots I had. Actually, I sold most of the Fans Toys stuff I had... I think I just have their Jetfire, Insecticons, four out of five Stunticons, Scrapper (who's going to get sold), Cyclonus, Galvatron, Cliffjumper, and Springer (who's going to get sold. I toyed with the idea of getting their Optimus when they finish it, but I saw a transformation video for their Magnus and noped right out of there. I'm 100% in on MMC's Constructicons. Their Scrapper and Mixmaster are just excellent all-around figures. But, if I'm being totally honest, XTB's Scrapper has slightly better articulation than MMC's, and on a purely aesthetic level I think the robot mode looks a little better. MMC still wins on alt mode, combined mode, and the act of transforming it, but I'm very sorely tempted to pick up XTB's for a bot mode display. Only thing really holding me back right now is the total lack of space and the fact that Long Haul is impossible to come by. I'm actually planning to sell my MMC Bruticus... not because I don't like it, but because I don't really want two of the same molds. I have MMC's Ruination, so I picked up Magic Square's Bruticus. But I otherwise agree with the sentiment, I'd happily ditch DX9's Menasor and Zeta's Superion for MMC versions. Yeah, I guess on that note, if anyone's interested MMC's Bruticus (all accessories and instructions, including the toy-style upgrade kit, but without their original boxes, a stress mark on Brawl's neck, and the original loose shoulder ratchets), FT's Scrapper (complete with the box), or FT's Springer (should be complete with the box, have to double-check) let me know before I list them elsewhere.
  19. mikeszekely
    I wasn't too far off, then! I'll give it a go next time I transform him. I have him and Deletus in bot mode right now, and they look good together.
  20. mikeszekely
    Cool, I'll check this out. I've wanted to cancel Netflix for years, but for some reason my wife can't seem to grasp the idea that we have other apps. Like, if we're watching something together, I can show her something on Hulu or HBO or something, but if I'm not around and it's not on Netflix it's like it doesn't exist in her world.
  21. mikeszekely
    I'd like to see more details on the actual Overgear toys. I'm not sold on Ironhide (especially with the Overgear trailer giving me more Energon Ironhide vibes than G1/Bayverse). But if Blackout is, say, no bigger than SS86 Megatron, then I could be tempted to pick him up as a sort of G1-ified, Generations-esque Blackout.
  22. mikeszekely
    I know it's only been a week since I posted a review for MMC's Deletus, their MP Scrapper, but honestly it seemed like I was the last guy to get his copy. So I decided to try a different store for the next one, and guess what? Now I've already got Demolitor, MMC's MP Mixmaster. This time I don't have a bunch of other Mixmasters to compare with, as Fans Toys' isn't out (and I won't be buying it anyway), and I don't think we've even seen X-Transbots' yet. So, we'll fall back to the guy who was everyone's stand-in for Mixmaster for years, ToyWorld's Concrete. And boy is the difference stark, with MMC leaning hard into the cartoon. His biceps and forearms have the bumps where the animators didn't feel like drawing the actual wheels. His torso and thighs are a slab of purple, broken up by cartoon accurate lines on the thighs and some details on his torso. His knees are green boxes stacked on the larger green boxes of his lower legs, complete with lack of feet. As had as MMC is going on Sunbow, there are some concessions to his alt mode. His actual arm wheels are tucked in an under. And rather than plain green slabs with octagons on the back, Demolitor's lower legs have visible windows and side mirrors. The bump outs on his hips are minimal. I really do like how MMC compacted the mixing drum on his back. Demolitor comes with a bugle that's identical to the one that came with Deletus, near as I can tell, and a simple but cartoon-accurate gun. We also get two silver nozzles and a pair of alternate faces the stoic one is stock, and the others are a happy open mouth and a yelling open mouth. Mixmaster gave off sort of manic vibes in the cartoon, so I think I'll be using the happy face, personally. Demolitor's head is on a double-hinged swivel. So he can turn his head, but also crane it forward. This allows him to look up nearly 90 degrees and down at least a little. His shoulders swivel and move 90 degrees laterally. His biceps swivel, and his double-jointed elbows bend about 120 degrees. His wrists swivel, and they can also bend outward due to his transformation. His thumb is on a ball joint. His other fingers are all individual parts and they're all hinged at the base. However, only they index finger has two additional hinged knuckles. The other three are molded into permanent curls. He has a ratcheted waist swivel, and 90 degrees of ratcheted ab crunch. His hips can go 90 degrees forward and 90 degrees backward on ratchets (though you'll have to spread his legs a little to clear the butt plate), and 90 degrees laterally. His thighs swivel. His knees bend about 120 degrees on a double hinge. And flaps under his leg stumps are hinged like ankles, giving him a flat surface to stand on. Actually, for those that think the entirely footless look is a bit silly, there are toes that can fold out of those flaps. Demolitor can hold his gun and bugle exactly like Deletus, by plugging tabs on the handles into his palms. The silver nozzles, which I believe are meant to look a bit like the toy's rockets, can plug on top of the cartoon-accurate nozzles above his head. Demolitor's transformation is interesting. I wouldn't say it's intuitive... you're probably going to want to read the instructions or watch a video for your first time. There's a lot of parts that slide, a lot of small locking flaps, and a lot of parts that rotate around other parts. I wouldn't necessarily say it's difficult, though. Actually, I think it's pretty easy, maybe moreso than Deletus, once you learn how things are supposed to move. And the truck mode is pretty good! Again, MMC is walking a fine line between realism and cartoon accuracy. So the grill and front bumper are pretty cartoon/toy accurate, but with more realistic headlights and some marker lights picked out in white. You can see where they've molded doors onto the sides, with silver-painted door handles and a handrail. The windows are translucent purple to match the cartoon, but MMC added the trio of windshield wipers and the side mirrors. Coming around tot he back the back of the truck has more details than the cartoon, but less than a real mixer. The one thing that does sort of stick out is that both the cartoon and the toy had the rear of the truck entirely green, save for the mixing drum on the cartoon. It's a concession to his robot mode, but Demolitor has a lot of purple under the drum, and not just on the drum itself. Demolitor's cab can turn very slightly, and he rolls on rubber tires. The mixing drum doesn't have a wind-up gimmick like ToyWorld's, but it does spin, and the pouring spout can swivel as well. As far as accessory storage goes, the tab that plugs into Demolitor's hand can plug into a slot in what is actually his robot butt, between his legs under the cab. Like Deletus, the bugle doesn't really have any storage. But the nozzles... I don't think it was necessarily intentional on MMC's part, but you can clip them together, and there's room for them to fit inside the mixing drum. They don't lock in place, so they'll just rattle around in there, but it's better than nothing. Of course, there's one other way that Demolitor is like Deletus, and that's that he turns into a leg that goes the whole way up to the thigh. Once again the realistic alt mode details leave things like visible tires, windows, and side mirrors on Devastator's foot, as well as wheels on the sides of the legs. However, MMC did try to copy the front of the Sunbow foot, with a vanishing grill and the appearance of a toe. The leg mode articulation looks to be pretty good again. We've got about 45 degrees of ankle pivot, and a ratcheted double-jointed knee that gets just a little short of a full 180 degrees. Like Deletus the foot can also tilt up. I know it was a bit of a concern on Deletus, being just a friction joint, but Demolitor actually has a mechanism that uses the unfolded butt-flap linked to small pegs on his arms to create a slider that helps stabilize the foot. Demolitor's gun moves to a different spot in combined mode... there's a little cubby for it inside of Devastator's thigh, which I probably think is cooler than it actually is, but I like how totally out of the way and out of sight it is. As for the silver nozzles, again there's no dedicated storage, but there's plenty of room in the mixing drum. Demolitor is, in my book, another win for MMC. He and Deletus are as much of an improvement over their Protectobots as their Protectobots were over their Combaticons. While no single mode is 100% perfect, I think MMC was very considerate about where compromises were made to ensure that all three modes are still very good instead of absolutely nailing one mode and leaving the other mode or modes to suffer greater compromises. It does remain to be seen how much the all-built-in gimmick will affect the other four, but so far I can safely say that Demolitor is, like Deletus, just a great toy well worth a look.
  23. mikeszekely
    I dunno, I loved all three of them, but I was like 5-6 when the second season aired. Beachcomber sucked, though.
  24. mikeszekely
    But they did manage to ensure that he has his most important feature.
  25. mikeszekely
    Yep. And when IDW did decide to do a continuation of the Marvel series, they choose to pick up with #81 of the original G1 series (Marvel ended on #80) and not G2.
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