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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    Sheesh! These look like cheap toys you'd get out of one of those coin-operated dispensers where the little toys come in plastic bubbles. Can't believe these are part of AotP line. Fortunately, I've no interest, so money saved. Lots of vitriol and criticism toward SS86 Astrotrain, much of it earned, alas. As more pics of it surface (especially screenshots of Hasbro's stop-motion video) showing it from different angles, I fear I must agree with a great deal of the criticism. I'm coming around to wishing they'd done a heavy retool of the Siege toy to address its most glaring deficiencies instead of producing this figure. SS86 Astrotrain is simply not a good capture in virtually any context. Train mode is his only redemption, and only just.
  2. M'Kyuun
    Well, we can argue the impracticalities all day. 😄 No denials here. But, to my very core, I have always loved the idea of robots, especially bi- or multi-pedal ones, and most especially, those that transform from one form into another. A real-life valkyrie would likely inspire an aneurism of pure joy in my brain were it to manifest for real. For me, that would be the pinnacle of technology- nothing else would summit that advance except perhaps cybernetics at the GitS level. I'd love to see either-or come to fruition in my lifetime, but I'm dubious of both. I definitely don't trust Elon Musk's Neuralink, mostly due to my distrust of Elon Musk and his motives. If this was happening at MIT or some other high-level institution of learning and science, I'd be less apprehensive. However, even if Neuralink proves moderately successful, we're still in the embryonic stages of that technology. We're still a loooong way from GitS level cybernetics, although folks like Tilly Lockey and her incredible cybernetic arms developed by Open Bionics are advancing the technology in impressive ways. Ms. Lockey strikes me as a rather impressive young woman; she's conquered what for most would be a debilitating condition and with incredible optimism, grit, and technology, has emerged as a positive and capable influence for amputees and those born with congenital lack of or disfigured limbs. I think it's no hyperbole to say she'll be a leading figure in the advancement and co-opting of bionics as we've only known it in sci-fi.
  3. M'Kyuun
    Well, a lot of what makes sci-fi fun is indeed its speculative nature. In other words, the concepts proposed are cool, but often have a dark bent to them, especially in the hands of unethical corporations or politicians who'll take even the most benign technology and find a way to twist it for gain at the expense of society's welfare. In a fictional setting, that's great fun. However, when those technologies emerge for real, caution and apprehension are necessary lest we find ourselves collectively in a quagmire. I think a lot of these corporate execs and politicians feel like they're above it all, as if their wealth can insulate and protect them, and in the short term, it likely can. But they're human, too, they have families, and we all live on this ball of rock with no other options. Eventually, the consequences will reach them or their successors, and that's reality. One need only consider the proliferation of micro-plastics in nearly every body of water on the planet or climate change (I don't believe for a second that thousands of scientists got together to create a phenomenon on false pretenses. There may be a bad egg here or there among them, but I'm inclined to believe that most scientists are diligent in their methods, well-meaning and honest in their ethics, and are evidence driven. They're curious by nature, guided by the scientific method, and interested in putting forth the data as they make discoveries. OTOH, a bellicose wealthy politician with no scientific background nor interest therein, but only an interest in furthering profits for fossil fuel companies, with a long history of prevarication and convictions for fraud inspires no confidence whatsoever).
  4. M'Kyuun
    Man, sci-fi is becoming science reality way too soon. In a way, I'm excited to see it, but OTOH, there's an element of fear that the price of ignoring countless tales of rogue A.I. and robot uprisings may be dire consequences for humanity if these advances continue to progress. Perhaps that's all the dystopian sci-fi that's coloring my perceptions, but maybe it's better to err on the side of caution. I'd love to see bipedal battle mecha become a reality, though. Totally impractical compared to wheeled and treaded vehicles, but just so unbelievably cool!
  5. M'Kyuun
    That is a historically poignant observation. For nigh everything that man has invented, if it could be weaponized, it was or has been. It's not for nothing that we regard a great deal of science fiction as prescient warnings- it oft speaks more about the mind of man than the technologies involved.
  6. M'Kyuun
    Both impressive and just a little unsettling. Imagine those things connected to an advanced AI. At that point, you're not far from a Terminator-like potential. I do have to wonder if the robots are acting under programming, or if they're being motion controlled by haptics or some other remote technology.
  7. M'Kyuun
    For some reason unknown to me, neither Robotech nor Voltron played on any of our stations. Granted, this was the 80s, channels were quite limited, and the channels you got depended on the cable company you bought your cable subscription through. I know my friend got channels we didn't, as that was how I was able to see Galaxy Rangers clearly and in color. I had a small B&W tv in my room, as I recall, and I had to meticulously arrange my 'rabbit ears' just to get a grainy staticky signal to watch it. Needless to say, not all cable packages were equal, not then, certainly not now. My wife watched Voltron, and she grew up about an hour north of me, so again, cable varied. While I watched a few eps of RT when I was stationed in FL in the early to mid 90s, I caught it midstream and never got into it. I ended up renting it from the Shoppette at Mildenhall, England in the early 00s to assail both boredom and morbid curiosity, as by that point, I'd already become a die-hard Macross fan via Macross Plus in the 90s, fully aware of Harmony Gold's shady shenanigans and editing to the original SDF:M for the RT series. At that point, I believe I had yet to see the original SDF:M, so I got through the entirety of that part of RT and enjoyed it for what it was. Once I moved on to the Southern Cross portion, it completely lost me, as the blocky transforming conveyances seemed like such a step backwards from the gorgeous VF-1 that I immediately lost interest and never finished it. Moreover, I never moved into RT's Mospeada portion. I've since watched the original Mospeada and enjoyed it. I also eventually bought ADV's dubbed version of SDF:M, with Mari Iijima reprising the role of Minmay, and I enjoyed seeing the OG series as intended by its creators, English dub notwithstanding. Circumstances being what they were, had I seen RT as a kid, I very likely would have become a fast fan of it, of the SDF:M portion, anyway. having now seen both versions, I'm glad I own the original take; I don't own RT at all and never will. I continue to hope for HG's demise and the freeing of Macross in its entirety. I still have memories of seeing Jetfire both on shelves at the store and once at a neighbor's. house. They were rough kids and chances are their Jetfire didn't survive long intact. He was, however, still in one piece and functional when I got to see him, and yeah, he was f##king glorious. Alas, I never had him as a kid. I did, however, find a well-preserved copy, still with his box, insert, accessories, at a used toy shop in Pittsburgh back in the early 00s. Still have him tucked away in storage. I also bought a brand new 1/55 VF-1, "J" series I believe, which has also been tucked away. So, I've a couple of the old "Chunky Monkey" valks. Cool old toys. I definitely hope Takara will do a Missing Link version of Jetfire, although they may have to make some sort of deal with Bandai to do so. And, of course, b/c of HG, no US e-tailers will be able to sell it. Grrrr! As to the toon, the first season is my go-to. It's the only season I own or have seen in its entirety and it pretty much informs my love and good feelings towards the Sunbow cartoon. Second season drifted too far from the more focused and mature overarching narrative of the first season, added silly characters, and just became so frivolous that I lost interest. I didn't get to see the Movie in the theatre, so it was probably a year or so after that I saw it at a friend's house on VHS. I remember not being too impressed with a lot of the silliness in the film (nothing's changed in that regard), nor how easily so many beloved characters were so easily dispatched. I continue to cling to my first season characters as the core of my G1 fandom, with a smattering of S2, 3 and Movie characters thrown in for good measure. Sometimes a cool design stands on its own merits regardless of lore or characterization, and for me, it has always been about the robots, first and foremost, although many of those S1 characters remain near and dear.
  8. M'Kyuun
    Funny how in some scenes he's drawn with his shuttle tail hanging off of his back, which is contrary to his toy, and then in other scenes, no tail. Character montages like this really put a spotlight on how inconsistent and poorly executed the old toon was. For my part, I started losing interest in the toon in second season, and had completely stopped watching by third, so many of those eps are unknown to me. One thing this does show, however, is how much this new Astrotrain does not look anything like his animation model, which honestly, I'm fine with. I'd rather he was more toy-centric, but they didn't even manage that well. I think he fails to capture either look in any satisfactory way. Admittedly, I POed him out of a feeling that he's better, IMHO, than the Classics and Siege Astrotrain toys and is likely to be the best main line version we get for some time. He's not what I wanted, hoped for, or expected, but since there are no other CHUG+ scaled options (damn it third parties, seize the opportunity!), I reluctantly parted with my $60. I hope he's a fun toy at the very least, as he's winning no prizes for accuracy.
  9. M'Kyuun

    Hi-Metal R

    M'Kyuun replied to joppewo's topic in Toys

    If done well-the caveat- I'd most definitely be down for an SV-51, one of my favorite valks. I wish they'd also do a VF-14, a VF-5000, a Variable Glaug, and a VF-9 Cutlass, just to name a few.
  10. M'Kyuun
    Well put.
  11. M'Kyuun
    Congrats on both securing POs and the savings. I pay for a membership with Pulse, so I try to take as much advantage of that as I can- the prices may be a little higher, but all the shipping is free, so it balances out the more I order. Too, I've heard of Walmart spontaneously canceling orders, and with how difficult it remains to find certain figures in the wild, Pulse is a sure thing comparatively.
  12. M'Kyuun
    Got Skywarp right out of the gate; the F-15's far from perfect, but I thought Thundercracker was a decent enough figure. I spent some time looking at the correctly transformed pics of Astrotrain on Hasbro marketer Nate's Instagram before somewhat gudgingly preordering him, too. Unfortunately, the shuttle mode seems to be transformed correctly even in the terrible product shots, so that's disappointing. But, for all the reasons you elucidated, I pulled the trigger. The alts, even shuttle, are improved over the Siege, but the bot mode took a definite step backwards. It's a shame they designed it with so much obvious, untuckable kibble on the legs, which just ends up plastered along the sides on the shuttle's flanks. At the very least, they could have sculpted the grey linkage and some of the lower edge of the train cab in a subtly rounded manner to affect the suggestion of OMS pods instead of just leaving it squared and awful looking. Perhaps that'll be DNA's contribution to improving this guy. Pity they didn't paint his abs- I mean it's like, what, ten cents worth of paint? At least the train mode cleans up far, far better than the Siege's and the rolling wheels with functional connecting rods is a really nice touch. Too bad more of that consideration wasn't given to shuttle, my preferred alt mode, but at this point asking for Takara to make any sort of flying alt mode anywhere in the neighborhood of good is an effort in futility. I'm curious to see what sort of improvements by way of add-on kits do come, but honestly, at $60, I already feel like I've spent far too much on this fig for what it offers in contrast to my expectations. Perhaps had they jumped him to commander class, those deficiencies in bot and shuttle modes would've been addressed satisfactorily, but they didn't and they weren't. I'm not sure why the designer felt he had to reinvent the wheel; just stick to the traditional transformation schema of the G1 toy while improving the proportions and articulation, like MFT and Fans Toys did. Apparently, he felt the need to put his own spin, and well, look at the results. At the very least, I hope it's a fun fig to mess about with. If I ever win the lottery (I won't b/c I don't play and I've no rich relatives dying to give me their vast fortunes) or somehow come into money, as it were, I'll reach out to you, Mike, as I've been saying the same thing for probably two decades now. I've no skills along those lines, but I definitely have an eye towards what I want as ideal figs and I could give insights as well as help with transformation mechanics. I build my own transforming bots with LEGO, so I've some practical experience in that regard. I can't understand the reluctance of third parties to jump into the CHUG space. I give props to Newage for Romulus, even if that scale difference, which was beyond their ability to foresee, may have thrown off some fans and perhaps Newage themselves from trying again. I wish more third parties would take up the challenge of making improved figs when the official figs prove subpar. In some cases, like Magic Square, Newage, and MFT, upscaling their existing designs would suffice. Again, if I had the resources to back such efforts, I would. There would also be a lot more Macross designs, especially those that never got toys before, in the works.
  13. M'Kyuun
    We're losing so many of our 70s and 80s film icons. They're only mortals like the rest of us but given the breadth and profundity of their impact on culture, it always seems harder to see these folks pass on. Godspeed, Mr. Duvall, and thanks for all the memorable performances.
  14. M'Kyuun
    I didn't go in for this variation, but I'll add my two cents and compliment the good changes that the DNA kit make towards making him more Godzilla-y. As you said, TT should have released it like this themselves, especially with Gojira being a Japanese icon.
  15. M'Kyuun
    IMHO, both T30 Springer and the WFC/ SS86 retool all represent best efforts towards realizing triple changers with a good balance of concessions. I also think the Generations and Titans Return versions of Blitzwing, both going for very different looks, managed the balance between modes and the concessions thereof far better than the Legacy figure, especially in jet mode. That thing's carrying half the tank on his undercarriage, and it looks terrible. Blitzwing's my favorite TC, and I passed on the Legacy toy initially until I found him on sale. I like Astrotrain quite a bit, too, but I've passed on every single toy of him since owning the G1, as they've all been terribly compromised. Unfortunately, the SS86 toy carries on the tradition. I also thought Legacy Sandstorm was done pretty well. It has compromises, but most triple changers do, and I thought they struck a decent balance with him between modes. I'm content with the design. Octane, like Astrotrain, is due a really good figure, as pretty much every iteration has sucked. I got the TR version, but it leaves a great deal to be desired. Broadside is one in which I've very low interest due to the ridiculous scales of his alts. Out of the bunch, his alts make the least sense, and he just never really registered with me. Nonetheless, he's likely never had a toy that did him much justice, either. The TR fig's jet mode (shockingly!) takes the hit between alts for awful compromise, and AFAIK, he's the only other official Broadside triple changing toy besides the original G1. In hindsight, Takara's track record with triple changers isn't very good. I realize triple changers are inherently difficult to design. Nevertheless, there are some good examples of well-done triple changers between both official and, moreso, third party iterations. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'm compelled to point out Mech Fans Toys' versions of Blitzwing, Astrotrain, Sandstorm, Springer, and Octane, all of which, at legends scale no less, pull off what are arguably some of the best iterations of these characters with well-balanced alt modes and very 'toon accurate' bot modes. I'd love to have versions of each upscaled and improved to fit CHUGL, as I doubt Takara will ever rise to the level of execution MFT achieved with these toys.
  16. M'Kyuun
    Yeah, but has he stopped eight or more unspecified wars that may or may not exist in this reality? OTOH, he does an impression of our wannabe despot "unlike anyone's ever seen before!" Bigly!
  17. M'Kyuun
    Oh, Evan, Mark, and the others know when they've got a turd on their hands, but it's their job to sell it. Funny how they'll judiciously point out flaws in a previous fig years down the road when a new one is coming out, and of course they gush over the new one, even if it, too, has visible flaws that don't quite meet the hype. Naturally, they're going to downplay or outright quell any harsh criticism; they want to sell these things and project the Takara-Tomy designers, who actually do the heavy lifting design and engineering-wise, in the best light possible. But these guys are fans, too, and credit where due, they do a good job of masking their disappointment, b/c as fans, you know they feel it as well when TT puts out a stinker and they have to churn up hype for it. I'm officially nominating the Hasbro Transformers Team for the Academy Award for their performances. Best I've seen all year. đŸ‘ŋ
  18. M'Kyuun
    Astrotrain is such a disappointment. Of all the new reveals, he was the one I was most looking forward to, especially after the terrible Siege figure. I was hoping for nice clean alt modes and a good looking bot mode, but this new fig is so encumbered by inelegant kibble as well as yet another poorly executed shuttle mode. How is it that Takara was able to deliver fairly clean alts and a nice-looking robot mode in 1985 and yet, with all the experience gained over the last 40 years, produce something this bad?
  19. M'Kyuun
    I'm completely blown away by how fast the Omega has sold out pretty much everywhere. I guess the desire/demand for Legioss toys, especially one at this level of affordability and playability, is far beyond what I anticipated. I figured these things would linger a bit. I would have considered going in on a Delta instead, as I like the green color scheme and the AWACs aspect, but I'm not at all fond of the wing design (too skinny and I don't like the big unsightly beavertails at the inboard trailing edges). I don't like the lance gun design either (it would've been much cooler if the lance splayed open like Michael's sniper rifle in Macross: Frontier). Anyway, given how well this thing is selling, I'm hoping TT and Toyrise will do a reissue at some point for those of us slow on the trigger. Thus far, I only own a copy of Sentinel's Eta and I have a copy of the Pose+ Eta preordered so I may try to jump on either Toyrise's Iota or the Zeta when they release, even though the Eta's my favorite color scheme. I'm hoping the Pose+ turns out to be a fairly easy toy to manipulate and transform. It's a pricey beast, and along with all the detailed interior stuff, ease of playability seems to be one of their foot stomp points as well. My first issue Sentinel Eta, with its super tight shoulder joints, small-fidgety nature, and loose ankle joints isn't the most accommodating toy in-hand. It's beautiful and I love it, but it's just not much fun to handle and I'm hoping the Pose+ will be. The Toyrise Legioss offers a playable toy, too, and while I chose the Pose+ over Toyrise, I'm thinking I might have to go in on at least one of their Legioss variants just for the fun factor it offers. I'm looking forward to in-hand reviews of it. Congrats to all who managed to snag copies before they were sold out.
  20. M'Kyuun
    As someone with a foot in both worlds, I agree. These aren't too terribly priced, especially for an anime that's even more niche than Macross. Too, compared to the ever-rising costs of Transformers, the crazy secondary market costs of the Sentinel Legioss toys, and the exorbitant cost of the upcoming Pose+ Legioss (which I've got POed), these toys look absolutely right in the realm of comfortable affordability. It's great to see the Legioss getting so much love, as I've always found it to be a cool design. While not everything that Toyrise is doing appeals 100% to me, I think it's great that they're doing their own variants, as it's a foregone conclusion that they'll eventually get around to the Eta, Iota, and Zeta. Moreover, the hard lean towards easy playability make these appealing options in addition to their prices respective to other Mospeada toys. I wish TT and Toyrise every success. FWIW, BBTS is already sold out of their Omega preorders. That was quick.
  21. M'Kyuun
    😄 Congrats. I've been finding any number of current figs since last year, so distribution must be improving, or my store's doing a better job of ordering. Anyway, I had Brawl on PO through Hasbro Pulse, but I found him twice at retail, passing the first time and grabbing him the second. Alas, I canxed my PO with Pulse otherwise I'd have gladly offered up the copy. I wish you every success in your hunt! FWIW, I think Brawl is, thus far, the best of the Hasbro Combaticons. He may be unseated by Onslaught, which looks to be an excellent figure, even if they did fudge him to make the truck and trailer two separate parts so as to indulge in their beloved frame system. Still, the execution overall looks good to me. I do wish, however, that Vortex and Blast-Off actually formed the arms themselves instead of just being accoutrement on the frame arms. The frame just renders the figs as superfluous as combiners and I'm not really a fan of that approach. At least the leg bots on Bruticus are doing some partial duty despite having some framework there as well. but I look at both my Iron Factory KO Bruticus and my excellent legends scaled Magic Square Bruticus and wonder what could have been had Takara put in the effort.
  22. M'Kyuun
    I must confesss I'm only aware of R-Type via few mentions of it, on these boards, generally in the context of LEGO MOCs. However, I do find the aesthetics of the ships alluring, and there's a nostalgic quality to them that tells me I've seen them before, but I was never aware of their origins until recent years. I congratulate you on your acquisition, however, and for R-Type fans, it's nice to know there'll be plenty of options for those seeking out toys and models.
  23. M'Kyuun
    So with all the wing variations they're doing, I wonder how that'll impact potential Tread connectivity? No skin in the game (yet) but I thought it a logical question.
  24. M'Kyuun
    No kidding. How much longer before we see a Bumblebee and Megatron? And then reiteration after reiteration of just those same four characters.
  25. M'Kyuun
    Astrotrain just does not look like a leader-quality toy, certainly not one worth $60. I'm guessing that's the proper config for his chesticles after some debate on TFW. That bot mode looks unfinished and the shuttle mode is burdened by a great deal of unsightly kibble along its flanks as well as some odd cowcatcher-like protrusion under the nose. The train mode is the only improvement, and while it still doesn't look even as good or believable as the G1 toy's, it's the best thing this toy has going for it. I was anticipating this figure the most out of all the new SS86 announcements, and I'm pretty disappointed. Shockwave was my other anticipatory figure, and he's basically the Siege toy minus all the surface detail. I prefer said detail so it looks like I'll be skipping this fig, too. I already have versions of Wheeljack, Sunstreaker, and Snarl that I like, so it looks like Skywarp is the only fig from this wave I'll be picking up. So bummed about Astrotrain, though. ☚ī¸
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