M'Kyuun

It would be so much more wallet (and space) friendly if I could narrow my transforming robot obsession to just a certain type, but I'm pretty equal opportunity in that regard. 😄 Glad for you that you found your niche and that, while not as prolific as other types of transforming toys, it's still fairly well-served across any number of anime and other themes/genres. I didn't see RT growing up; that said, the Ride Armor never appealed to me and still doesn't. Case in point, when I bought the Monogram "Leader One" Legioss kit back in the 80s, they were also selling a Ride Armor kit decoed and marketed as "Cy-Kill". It just didn't strike a chord, and those kits, IIRC, were my introduction to Mospeada designs, although I didn't then know what Mospeada even was. I did, however, have the wherewithal to recognize that they were something other than Gobots designs. That said, the lovely "Leader One" went home with me and all those "Cy-Kill" models remained on the shelf. I will say if the "Cy-kill" model was even halfway as well-done as the "Leader One" kit, then I'm going to assume that it was a cool kit with some impressive features and articulation, especially for the time. For reference: All transformers that were MOTORCYCLES | TFW2005 - The 2005 Boards Some other notable Transformers bikes are TFA Oil Slick, an amazing figure with a lot of character; Combiner Wars Groove (a superior repaint of Takara's TAV-26 Override); 2009 Knock-Out whose bike mode is excellent while the bot mode sports a bit of annoying kibble, especially on the legs; 2014 Generations Chromia, a retool of the regular deluxe Prime Arcee mold; the excellent First Edition Prime Arcee; 2010's Hunt for the Decepticons Brimstone, whose classic bike mode is fantastic at the expense of his gangly, awkward looking bot mode; Energon Arcee, who was the very first official Arcee toy made by Hasbro and whose bike mode presents very well again at the expense of her bot mode; 2011 DotM Tailpipe, whose bike mode is interesting for its secondary flying attack mode. Again, the bot mode suffers a little but given the core-class size of many of these older transforming bike figs, the execution of the bot modes is often forgivable for how well the bike modes are. Wish the same could be said for their jetformers. Other notable bike dudes are the 2011 Reveal the Shield Wreck-Gar whose dirt bike alt mode is gorgeous, one of the most realistic and unique bike modes Takara/Hasbro have ever released. The bot mode was pretty good, too, although on my copy, the rivet on the right handlebar assembly was so tight that it broke the entire mount off and I had to superglue it back on. I don't think I've transformed it since. Love the look of it in both modes, though. And finally, SS86 Wreck-Gar and his Junkion repaint/retools, whose stylized bike modes and abilities to be ridden by their fellow Junkions (and other TFs), as seen in the '86 Movie, make them fun, cool, and interesting toys. The bike modes are pretty solid, too, which is always a good thing. We've definitely veered off topic, and perhaps general transforming bikes are due their own thread. Anyway, I thought the Unrrustables were interesting designs although I never bought any. I prefer the G1 design for Afterburner over the Unite Warriors toy (I dig that funky 'futuristic' look to the OG's bike mode), and that Diaclone Tri-Rambler gives me huge Cy-kill/ Bike Robo vibes. Concerning the Ride Armor, I think my biggest beef with it is that it's more of a folding bike whose various bits form some armor for the rider. It's not a mecha in the truest sense, not like the Motoslave, which can function autonomously without the rider, or the Garland variants which are true mecha designs. That distinction, plus the fact that it's not really a great looking motorcycle, just turn me off to it. Now if it was more like the Motoslave, a complete armor sans driver, I'd be more receptive. That said, for those who like it, I'm glad they're being served with modern versions. back on topic, as to transforming trikes, honestly, I wasn't really aware of any until this thread. The Tri-Charger is interesting, if only for its rarity amidst the transforming bike genre, but I'm finding its overall execution to be much less refined than designs like the lovely Garland. I'm glad that Pose+ is making it for fans of Zillion, but it's an easy pass for me.

😄 Amazing how much stuff can be fixed by recycling power. It worked on airplanes, too, a common "fix" for avionics and other electronic systems. I worked hydraulics, so a leak or some other related malfunction generally meant we were getting dirty. I imagine it's not so different for the space plumbers who actually have to tear into the toilet. I imagine they make a good salary but, ugh, not a job I'd wanna do. 🤢 Although it's far more spacious than the Apollo era capsules, it's still pretty tight confines for four people over ten days, and perhaps a little awkward for the solo female aboard. I suspect one of the normalcies of space flight is the shedding of modesty and shame, at least to a fair degree, when it comes to bathroom use and overall hygiene. I feel for the astronauts who have to live in that environment for the duration of their trip, and for the poor folks on clean-up duty when they land, as I believe these new capsules are reusable. If not, it's going to a museum, so either way, it'll be in need of a serious wipe down. To paraphrase Alien, "In space, everyone can smell your crap". I believe it was John Young who made the "floating turd" comment. I can only imagine the grimaces on the faces of NASA's PR people when that gem came across for all to hear. That was space reality, though, and it's awkward, funny, and poignant to have it memorialized in a transmission. Probably wasn't so funny when it was happening, though. Yuck!

I vehemently hope for a successful, uneventful launch. Far too much time has passed since we dared attempt this adventure, and while we're not yet putting boots in the regolith, a manned orbit is an exciting necessary step towards landings. Godspeed Artemis II!

I think this should be the standard method for fold-away hands across the board. It closes the arm up nicely and allows for wrist rotation at minimum. It should be THE WAY.

FWIW, I've never had any interest in MOTU, but this doesn't look bad to me, based on my anemic knowledge of the OG show. It's not something I'd go to theaters for, but I'd give it a watch on streaming.

Got the shipping notification for my Omega about thirty minutes ago. Seems like it's a pretty good figure and I'll be happy to have it in hand. Folks do seem to be enjoying it, along with all the possibilities it offers. Apparently not, which is my main beef with it. I also hope the gear offer at least a little bit of ground clearance for the chest. Yeah, that's such an antithetical statement, it's laughable on its face. Obviously, it's a toy, and people seem to be having fun toying around with it, as they should.

Thus far, I'm liking virtually everything about it, minus the hollow forearms, as Shawn pointed out, but especially those high arched feet. If they'd imparted another 20-30 degrees of forward arc to the feet, it would have looked so much better, especially in Diver, as you could really splay them. It's kinda hard to tell from the angle, but I hope the gear are long enough to maintain a minimal clearance from the ground; it sucks when the chest does the job instead. Transformation wise, the ease at which everything moves, lines up, and locks seems very well thought out, very much like some of the better leader or commander class Transformers figures. It looks great across all three modes. I like the use of the cockpit-adjacent leading-edge panels housing the shoulder guns; unlike the original Legioss with the fold-away shoulder cannon, these have the option to move so that they're not obstructing the head movement. Too, due to their being mounted on what appear to be ball joints, there should be a limited ability to make said guns track with the head rotation, which is pretty nifty. Finally, the modular aspect of the weapon accessories, and perhaps even with the chest bits, should prove interesting as one collects more of these, as it allows for all sorts of combinations between them. I preordered my copy through Japan Figure, who I've never used before. Just waiting for the shipping notification. Kinda excited to get this thing in-hand as it actually looks like a fun toy to handle and transform, neither of which can be said about a great number of transforming toys these days. And then in May, I believe, the Pose+ Legioss should be releasing, and that thing just looks amazing. 😍 So much Mospeada love all of a sudden- glad I'm here for it.

+1 I like the VF-171, but that toy had issues and it departs quite a bit from the VF-171, especially in bulk and proportions. I'm content with my Yammie VF-17 for now. I hope they'll do an HMR VF-17, and if they do, as you said, it'll very likely be a scaled down version of the Yamato just like their VF-4. We really need another toy company dedicated to getting Macross right, as Arcadia is all but dead at this point, and while not everything they made was perfect, at least there was passion behind their products. We need a toy company with that kind of dedication again, as well as the finances to take chances on obscure designs along with the more popular ones. Bandai has the finances, but obviously, Macross is an afterthought.

I must confess, I was never a big Chuck Norris fan. In fact, The Way of the Dragon and Dodgeball: An Underdog Story (where he made a cameo appearance that I don't remember) are the only two films of his that I've seen. I saw the first Expendables film, but I don't recall seeing the second where he played a role (perfect genre for him, though). Anyway, while the world remembers him for his martial arts prowess and funny memes about his legendary toughness, I'm reminded of his military service in the USAF as an enlisted Air Policeman (Security Forces in today's parlance), serving two years at Osan Air Base, Korea, where he discovered and earned his black belt in Tang Soo Do and proficiency in judo. After his tour in Korea was completed, he served out his remaining two years at March AFB, CA within the same specialty. He served from 1958-62 as a military policeman, separating as an Airman First Class (A1C). I appreciate his service to the country beyond anything he did on the screen, big or small.

I had it POed, but canxed it after watching PvP's in-hand review. I was already set to pass on it and only POed it out of FOMO, the fear part being that this may be the last G1 Astrotrain we get for a long time as Hasbro moves on to other corners of the TF Universe to mine toy ideas. The G1 Astrotrain toy is the only official version I own. I passed on all the rest b/c none came close to what I wanted in a modern toy. I have the Fans Toys version, which is, IMHO, the best version of him out there in any scale, just a remarkable figure. Second place goes to Mech Fans Toys' Iron Sky, which at legends scale, also did a remarkable job of capturing and modernizing the OG toy with some toon likeness thrown in, a really good amalgamation of the two that's satisfying and good-looking in all three modes, a difficult task for triple changers. That this toy exists and did it so well (I own a KO of it) and could have served as an excellent blueprint for Takara to design from without fear of legal retribution, it's a shame they created this thing instead, which just sings of egregious compromise. TBF, though, SS86 Astrotrain's train mode looks alright, damn the other two modes. I tend to think along the lines of many other fans in that they should have just done an extensive retool on the Siege figure to address the shortcomings of its terrible train and shuttle modes. Siege Astrotrain's bot mode already looked great, and significant improvements to the alts would have been an upgrade worthy of purchase, IMHO. Anyway, I figure my cancellation is $60 saved with the hopes and many crossed digits that some third party will eventually release a CHUGL scaled figure that's a vast improvement over the lackluster SS86 figure. Sorry, no amount of red paint on the abdomen is going to fix what ails this figure- it's just proportionally wrong with the leg kibble poorly engineered and unappealingly obvious on the legs. The chest, even properly transformed, doesn't look good or correct to either his toy or toon likenesses, the arms are too thin and he appears lanky rather than stocky. The Siege toy cuts a far more fitting look in bot mode; it's a shame that his alts fell so short with too many compromises.

Indeed, my interest is piqued. My copies of Prowl and Kickback are on their way and should be here any day, but I appreciate the advanced review with all the pros and cons. I wonder why, on such a tiny fig, Wu didn't just give this mold ball jointed elbows. The non-locking chest is a bummer, too, harkening to the barely-there connecting tabs keeping his takes on Graphy and Noise combined. But, as you said, on such tiny bots, some forgiveness is in order along with acknowledgement of what he got right. I'm looking forward to getting these little guys in hand. I doubt I'll get any more, as I'm far more interested in Wu's cassettes, but these will be some nice novelty figs in my collection. Cheers for the review and the shout out, Mike!

Saw Big Convoy at my local Wally awhile back but I left it. I like BW and all, and while a Prime that turns into a mammoth should appeal, having had seen a review, it just wasn't grabbing me. Hope it brings more joy and fulfillment to you than it would've to me.

Yes. A very young Dakota Fanning turned in an impressive performance for her age. I haven't seen it since the original airing in 2002, but I remember enjoying it at the time. My memory is sieve, not bucket, so I remember little of it, but Dakota left an impression. Funny that Elle's making more of a splash these days than her older sister, as I always thought Dakota had the stuff to be an A-lister. Disclosure day is filling me with a remarkable sense of "Meh" despite the caliber of actors and director involved. @Seto Kaiba's comments ring oh so true, especially his observations regarding the alien language and its relative similarity to the gurgles. I imagine it's challenging for sound people to come up with something that truly sounds alien, but perhaps this should have gotten the thumbs down (unless this was the best of numerous previous attempts and they finally just got tired of listening to clicks and pops). Funny how aliens' abilities always have to comport to human sensibilities. What if the aliens communicate in a frequency outside of human hearing, making them essentially silent to us? That, to me, is far scarier than snap, crackle, pop. Anyway, I agree that Spielberg hit his high note with Close Encounters of the Third Kind regarding alien stories. Unless they introduce something else more intriguing in subsequent trailers, without giving the whole movie away, I'm thinking this is one for streaming.

Showing the old ToyWorld figures next to the toony-smooth clean XTB Constructicons really shows how much liberty TW took with the designs. The TW figs were my first full set of Constructicons, and I was pretty impressed with them when I first got them. I remember their being one of the more popular options during the first 3P Constructicon wars, so in that respect, I'm in good company. I'm digging very much, vicariously, XTB's and MMC's takes on these guys and all that they're bringing to the table now. They're all so very impressive, and I feel you win regardless of which set you go with. Maybe not the Fans Toys as much if you favor the independent Constructicons over keeping them forever combined. There's definitely a part of me that'd love to go in on a modern set, but I don't have room for yet another MP scaled set of Constructicons and there are still things I prefer that ToyWorld did, like the moving treads on Bonecrusher and Scavenger. So, I'm content to stick with my old TW figs, but I'll continue to watch these new figs get highlighted for all the advances they represent.

LEGO keeps tapping into more and more game and anime related IPs, but the majority hold no interest for me. One Piece, Mario, Fortnite, Sonic, Legend of Zelda, all popular but of no interest to me personally. The IP I wish they'd expand on is Horizon: Zero Dawn/ Forbidden West with more machine sets. Obviously, I'd love a Macross theme- that, along with Transformers, are my big wants. I just don't think the requisite popularity is there for the majority of the series, and of course, Harmony Gold has SDF:M all locked up as well as the VF-1, which means LEGO would have to pay at least two licensing fees to release a VF-1 set. There's a VF-1 design in Ideas right now and even if it receives the requisite amount of votes, I doubt it'll get chosen for production b/c of these issues. It already happened once before. I hope I'm wrong, as I want that set in multiples, but I've a bad feeling that it'll get passed over even if it exceeds the 10K vote threshold. If instructions weren't such a PITA to make, not to mention all the promotion involved, I'd consider designing and submitting a YF-19, as it and the Fire Valkyrie are probably the two next most popular valks and HG has no claim on them which would simplify licensing. Ghost in the Shell is another anime that would potentially deliver some awesome sets. Alas, it's a bit too mature for LEGO's younger audience. Anyone else want to venture some anime ideas that would garner some cool sets? I know Gurren Lagann will probably come up, and while I enjoyed the anime, honestly I've no personal interest in sets. But, it is popular, falls within that level of maturity for kids, and provides fodder for any number of sets. Honestly, I think it would've been a better pick over One Piece. I'd love to see LEGO resurrect Exo-Force, or something in the same spirit. Given how far they've come with some of the large, highly detailed, and well-articulated mecha in Ninjago over the recent years, a mostly mecha-based theme with a strong story to anchor it would be wonderful. I've also long wanted LEGO to extrapolate City into a sci-fi theme, with domed buildings, flying cars, and all the other stereotypical sci-fi trappings of a futuristic cityscape. I think a theme of that nature would be great fun with lots of room for imagination and growth.