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mikeszekely

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  1. mikeszekely
    Maybe they're not ships, but airplanes.🤔
  2. mikeszekely
    Disagree. The best Macross games were on the PSP.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. mikeszekely
    Animation version.
  6. 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.
  7. mikeszekely
    I transformed mine into a ball. ...I just never turned him back into a robot.
  8. 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.)
  9. 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.
  10. 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).
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. 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.
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. 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.
  17. mikeszekely
    I dunno, I loved all three of them, but I was like 5-6 when the second season aired. Beachcomber sucked, though.
  18. mikeszekely
    But they did manage to ensure that he has his most important feature.
  19. 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.
  20. mikeszekely
    Man, I didn't know anything was going up today, since I'd originally heard the 17th. Maybe the 17th will be Studio Series. Anyways, my furnace broke and I hadn't slept well all weekend because it got too cold overnight and I can't safely keep the fireplace going. The guy came to fixed it today, and it was warm and comfy and I fell asleep and Powerglide is sold out. Luckily I preordered everyone but Cliffjumper (already have two) on Amazon.
  21. mikeszekely
    Yeah, I mean, I like to think of myself as pretty deep into the Transformers lore and I personally have always found the Thirteen to be a fascinating concept... but Fub Pub's stuff was always kind of mid-tier fan-fiction at best and personally had no desire for Hasbro to be beholden to that pseudo continuity. A guy that can combine with other combiner dudes works for me. Nexus Prime himself (like most of the other Thirteen) would be neither, as he left Cybertron long before they split into factions. But yeah, I wonder about the implications of having him combined with a mix of Aerialbots and Combaticons. Do they willingly join with Nexus, or is he basically enslaving them? I find the mix of limbs Mark used as curious for another reason... I mentioned that the Fun Pub version had a tank, a helicopter, a jet, and an A-10-ish plane for limbs. And Mark gave Nexus a tank, a helicopter, a jet, and... well, I guess he thought a space shuttle looks more like an A-10 than a fighter jet.🤷‍♂️. There is a lot of speculation without any leaks or real evidence that Hasbro may release a Gen Selects-style box set with a frame and some repainted Aerialbots/Combaticons as dedicated limbs for Nexus. I mean, the Geewunner in me wants them the most, but I'm in for everyone but Prime Cliffjumper... and that's because I not only bought the boxset that he originally came in, I ebayed an extra one to customize.
  22. mikeszekely
    I'd buy a WST Megatron, if they weren't going for $50+. Oh, and I should maybe clarify something I said about Nexus Prime earlier, for those unfamiliar. Nexus Prime, according to the Covenant of Primus, is the guy with the Enigma of Combination for his artifact, and is described as "the first combiner." Which doesn't exactly make sense to me, since there were only Thirteen Transformers at the time and none of them combined with Nexus... I guess it's like each part of Nexus is also Nexus? I dunno. I've said before that while the Covenant solidified and canonized a lot of the lore of the Thirteen, the idea of the Thirteen had been kicking around for awhile and Fun Publications ran with it during their time with the Official Transformers Collector's Club. For the first few years that Fub Pub ran it, if you joined the OTCC by a certain date you got a free figure that was a repainted Energon conbiner figure... first Skyfall (the A-10-ish plane from Superion Maximus), then Landquake (the tank from Bruticus Maximus), then Breakaway (the other jet limb from Superion Maximus), then Topspin (the helicopter from Bruticus Maximus), and finally Heatwave (the torso bot from Bruticus Maximus). The accompanying story explained that these guys, though they didn't know it, were created when Alpha Trion, Vector Prime, and Solus Prime split apart Nexus Prime to hide the fragments of Prima's Star Saber from the Fallen. So the reason why a bunch of people at the other board are mad is that we're getting Nexus as a Voyager-class dude who turns into a jet and looks vaguely like the Covenant depiction instead of a whole entire combiner... as if we haven't known for like a year that Nexus was going to be a Voyager, or as if Hasbro would have realistically dedicated more than a Leader budget in the first place. Well, courtesy of Mark Maher's Instagram, we do know that Nexus is, in fact, capable of turning into a torso that works with at least Superion's frame...
  23. mikeszekely
    Near as I can tell someone actually designed it and is selling the files so you can 3D print one.
  24. mikeszekely
    New product pics. Prime Smokescreen (who we already saw) Liege Maximo. I kinda prefer the robo-Loki in The Covenant of Primus, but it's G2 accurate. And finally, Nexus Prime, and though I suspect a lot of you will just see this and shrug, I can feel the rage from the other board that shan't be named and I haven't even swung by there yet.
  25. mikeszekely
    This kit's a bit late coming, because it was sitting and waiting for Deletus to come it at TCP before I shipped. But this is DNA's DK-61 kit for Legacy Vector Prime. When I reviewed Vector I said at the time that retooling Jhiaxus didn't really do enough to properly do justice to the character, and that was when he just had to represent himself as a character from Transformers Cybertron. But with Age of the Primes giving us figures for the rest of the Thirteen, all of which have been brand new molds, it's really looking like Hasbro did Vector dirty. But is it something we can't remedy with an upgrade? We see here that DNA included new shoulder pads, new forearm armor, new shin armor, new armor for the sides of his legs, new shoes, new wings, a new sword, a sword holder, and a little gold bit. Also included with my copy was a second sword in blue plastic and a extra sword holder, though they were wrapped in a bag and tossed casually into the box rather than having a spot in the tray. To begin, we take the shoulder pads and kind of slide them over his existing ones. Note that there are pegs on one corner, those pegs should be on the back of the shoulder pad. In all honesty, they way they slide on doesn't feel great, and I've heard others complaining of breakages. Fortunately the forearm armor works a lot better. It simply uses a 5mm peg to plug into the ports on his arms. It's not perfect, since the forearm armor is kind of stuck on his arm instead of wrapping over it, but it helps. For the legs, first we're going to take these skinny pieces, and see this hinge they built onto them? They clip into the vestigial ones on Vector's leg, where Jhiaxus' little winglets went. Just plug them in and then fold them over onto the little hook tab The shin armor has little hooks that grab the bottom of the shin and the molding near the 5mm ports on the sides of his legs. The connection is very tenuous, though. If you're cool with making this mod permanent, DNA does suggest using a little glue to attach the shin armor. To attach the shoes, first you have to remove the toe guns, then the pegs on the shoes plug into the 5mm ports on Vector's feet. Plugging the toe guns back on helps secure the shoes in place. Again, not perfect, since his hips and thighs are straight ported from Jhiaxus and still missing some of Vector's details, but it does cover the wires on the stock Jhiaxus legs and gives him his gun toes. The biggest upgrade here might be the wings, which are hinged and have some paint on them in addition to being significantly larger. To attach them, first we have to pull the stock wings off the split mushroom pegs, then it's just a matter of pushing the new ones on. The new wings do a much better job of giving Vector that caped look, though they do make the figure a little more back heavy, and one of mine doesn't like to stay on. Lastly, we've got his new sword. I have mixed feelings about it. One the one hand, it's big and painted and pretty dang cool. On the other hand, not every sword needs to be some anime zweihander, and the stock sword has tabs for the Cyber Planet Key that the new ones do not. For that matter, the stock sword has a 5mm peg that plugged into the port already on Vector's back. For the new swords, you need to use this C-shaped bit. The flat tab goes into this slot above the 5mm port on Vector's back, then the sword can slide into it. The fit is, even when the sword is all the way in, kinda loose, and the fact that it connects with a tab instead of a peg means you can't angle it like the stock sword to be drawn over a particular shoulder. I think there's no real question that the new parts do bring a bit more cartoon accuracy to Vector, but how do the new parts affect his transformation? Well, that's where this kit kind of starts to break down for me... before transforming him, we have to remove the sword and holder, the shoulder pads, and the shoes. Once they're off, you transform Vector almost as you normally would, but instead of folding the wings down to the hook tabs that are now covered by the extra armor we put on the sides of his legs, we fold them down to plug into the tabs on said armor. The foot armor pegs into the leg armor with the toes pointed forward and the soles facing out. You'll notice a slot under the toes. The sword holders can plug into those slots, and the swords can slide loosely into them for alt mode storage. Meanwhile, there are these 5mm ports on the struts holding the wings. This is where the stock sword stored in alt mode. What DNA wants you to do here is take the pegs on the corners of the shoulder armor that I mentioned and plug them into these ports. You may recall we had a small gold bit that we haven't talked about yet. This fits into the T-shaped gap on the back of Vector's torso, which is the nose of the spacecraft. Near as I can tell, the two small rectangular slots on either side are all that was needed to secure the torso for robot mode, so no complaints here. And there's the vehicle mode... once again, the wings are proving to be the big improvement. The new shins don't interfere with anything, so they're fine, and the little gold filler works for me. I'm not super fond of the feet on the sides... having the toe guns pointed forward is kind of cool, but the fact that they have to partsformed, and the toes removed every time they go on and off his feet, is a pain. I think it would have been much smarter for DNA to design feet with the toe goes that simply replaced the stock feet entirely with ones that could transform like the stock feet. Partsforming the shoulder armor is similarly a pain; I get that Vector had big shoulder pads in Cybertron, but if they'd made them just a little smaller and angled them just right they still could have folded down with the stock shoulders and not needed to partsform. Ironically, the one part I would like to partsform is the forearm armor. They stick out from the already-chunky bottom of the spaceship, so it can't sit flat on the ground anymore. Too bad all the available ports are taken up by partsforming feet and shoulder pads. And here's the rub... while all of this does technically make the robot mode more cartoon accurate, that cartoon is Transformers Cybertron. Which does not necessarily have to apply to half G1-ified Covenant of Primus designs used for the other Thirteen. And here's the Covenant design. Now, if we're lucky, Vector's Age of the Primes release later this year will be a brand new mold, but I wouldn't hold my breath... I'm expecting the Legacy toy again, though possibly repainted in gold with red wings. So for now, I think I do recommend the DK-61 kit for Vector Prime- it's worth it for the wings- but as with a lot of DNA's recent kits I don't think I'll be using all of it. I'm probably going to ditch the shoulder pads, and replace the stock feet and DNA's shoes with Chinese 3D-printed feet that, as I suggested, transform the way the stock feet do. That'll still give me the improved wings, legs, and forearm armor, and I can partsform the forearm armor onto the spots where DNA wants you to plug in the shoes.
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