M'Kyuun

Well I concur, but I also look at these particular affected sets in the perspective that they are aimed at young children (ages 6, 8, and 9 respectively). The problem, of course, is the costs of these sets. Already, you're dealing with the Lucasfilm markup, but then the additional cost of the new technology makes them a hard pill to swallow. For AFOLs/TFOLs who are more advanced in their tastes and building ability, these sets, admittedly offer little bang for the buck, with simpler builds and low piece counts. If kids are interested, I feel bad for the parents, grandparents, aunts, or uncles buying these for them due to that high price tag. And if the kids lose interest after five minutes, like many do, it'll be a monumental waste of money for a so-so gimmick. It's a shame that LEGO didn't introduce this technology in a homegrown theme like Creator or Friends where costs could be minimized by virtue of the lack of licenses. The smart tech would have affected prices, sure, but perhaps the financial impact wouldn't be so severe. That said, I wouldn't judge the entirety of the year's success based on one new technology. LEGO has plenty of very successful themes, and if the January wave is anything to judge the rest of the year by, I foresee another successful and profitable year for them, as they can afford to absorb some amount of loss through experimentation. Friends was an experiment, too, after multiple failures, so I wouldn't write anything off yet. Who knows, SMART Play may end up being a roaring success, especially if they unveil AFOL oriented applications of the technology later in the year.

Impressive work, @F18LEGIOSS2. I haven't the wherewithal to produce my own toys whole cloth like this (which is probably a good thing b/c I barely have room for all the toys I own that other companies have produced). The closest I come is designing my own transforming mecha with LEGO, a completely different approach, and one that's nowhere nearly as refined or complex. I wish you continued success on this project. Thanks for sharing the process with us; it makes the final result all the more impressive for all the work we see being put into it.

I don't mind that color scheme. However, I don't like the fugly beavertail behind the wings. I think it would've looked much better had they just continued the angle of the trailing edge all the way in to just behind the arms. Those canards are ludicrous. 😄 Not at all a fan of the giant jousting lance, either, but then I've never been much of a fan of melee weapons with mecha. It seems to me if you have the tech to build a mecha, the weapons should be equal to or surpass that technology, so clubs, swords, axes, hammers, etc, no thanks. Give me energy weapons or those that fire projectiles. I do like that these are being made to be playable- more toy than collector's pieces. However, from what I've seen, I'm not crazy about the foot design nor the apparent lack of a retracting mechanism for them in jet mode. They did an admirable job elsewise capturing the look of the Legioss, so it boggles why they'd make such a departure with the feet. Anyway, props to Toyrise for making Legioss, er, Alpha toys that are indeed meant to be played with. As for me, I'm gambling, most expensively, on the Pose+ scratching that itch, as it, too, seems to be made with easier handling in mind. It offers quite a bit more than that, but then it should for the asking price. It's a very faithful capture, building, IMHO, on the advances manifest in the Sentinel Legioss, and that's what I want on my shelf. I am curious, however, to see a review of the Toyrise Alpha, especially to see if, in fact, the feet can spread to achieve a normal Legioss standing pose. If so, I may have to nab one of their variants down the road as it looks like a fun line with many a liberty taken. If they did a low-viz, I'd definitely be interested in that.

Well, SS MTMTE Hound is yet another PO I had no idea about and missed on Pulse and Target. I really wish Hasbro would send some kind of notification the day before POs go up for members- it's the least they could do since we're paying for the privilege.

I've not read any of Shirow's GitS manga, but I'm not surprised by the content judging by the GitS film or by the Major's meager apparel in the first season of SAC. Shirow obviously likes the ladies as near to nekkid as possible. His mechanical work is brilliant, though, and I love breakdowns, so that aspect of his work is appealing. It's commendable that he shouts out his inspiration as well. As to Moebius' work, there's much to love. The nigh-dreamy atmospheres his works evoke invite you in and make you want to visit. That's an impressive accomplishment. Some of his landscapes incorporate a bit of the everyday in them, which imparts a hominess, as well. That's a very appealing aspect I also like about Simon Stalenhag's works- a mix of the everyday with sci-fiction elements blended seamlessly. Thanks, and I'm happy to see it bearing fruit. I figured we're all a bit nerdy here and there ought to be a centralized place where we can just post cool sci-fi stuff. Moreover, as an international fandom, there are sure to be artists and artworks that those of us across oceans or even across borders have never seen or been privy to by virtue of geography or a lack of popularity outside of the artists' regions. Hopefully, this will be a place for them to be become better known and appreciated.

Well, I think the sounds will vary, and I doubt kids, or adults for that matter, will ever stop vocalizing engine sounds, pew-pews, etc. I still do it at 54, and I've no intention to quit. As to the useless stuff, I look back at all the little fig bases for Dimensions (I've got a Tupperware container full of those figs and the little builds for that game), and the myriad brick separators that I've attained over the years. Granted the separators are useful, but at this point, I have a lifetime supply of them already, and 20-30 more years of buying sets and accumulating more separators.

Joe Meno, AFOL, friend, and most notably the creator and chief editor of Brickjournal, an AFOL based LEGO magazine, elucidated on the properties of the new "smart bricks". Here's a quote from his Facebook page: Did some reading on the LEGO Smart Play system (nope, not at Vegas to see it - and won't be at New York either for Toy Fair to see it) and have some thoughts on it. The first thing to note is that the system is not targeted to AFOLs - it's specifically pointed at kids. The system is basically a very tricked out Light and Sound System from the 80s (I think) that got sized down to a 2x4ish brick. It looks 4 plates high, so it's a touch larger than a brick. It's an action/reaction system using minifgures and tags that has the potiential of lots of interactivity on a certain level. The tags are on tiles and specialized minifigures with RFID chips, which is pretty clever - that places memory on the tiles, which reduces the overhead of the smart brick. The smart brick is a slave to the tags - it has some basic startup functions at the start (shake to activate and blinky LED to indicate activation) but needs the tags in the minifigures and tiles to react. The actual chip is less than the size of a stud, which is pretty impressive on a tech scale, considering there's a accelerometer and a processor to load the tag info. There's also a light sensor and a speaker in the brick. This appears to be a closed system, so hacking may not be allowed. That would be a reflection of target market. However, the other implication is that all the hackable areas would be in the RFID. Memory, firmware...it could all be done in the RFID. This makes it easy the brick to stay relevant for years - it's the tags that get updated. The interaction shown was dogfighting or lightsaber duels, which is okay, I guess. Would like to see other ideas, especially for groups. The set seem to expect individual play. But the wierdest thing is the charging pad. It's not LEGO compatible. That makes NO sense. A user has to place the brick into this tray on the charger plate to charge....why couldn't the charger be a piece or baseplate? That is a trip in design process.

I mostly avoided the TFOne toys- to wit the only ones I own are Elita 1, Prime Changers Alpha Trion, Starscream, and Airachnid. Of the four, Airachnid is my favorite. Her alt mode is odd, but I like it. She's a hard design to make into a toy, especially at deluxe scale, and I think Takara did an excellent job, all things considered. Got my copies of SS86 Thundercracker and Windcharger today. I struggled a bit with the leg transformation on TC- I wasn't getting those internal bits to snap into the inner shin in jet mode, and thus the nacelle covers weren't closing fully, and the wings weren't lining up right. I fussed with it for a while, reading and rereading the instructions. Finally, I consulted a random reviewer's transformation vid and I noticed his just clicked nicely into place. So I fussed a bit more with it and finally found the sweet spot. Overall, it's a nice fig. It's still a far cry from the clean F-15 I wish it'd become, but it looks nice and I'm glad they changed up the transformation a little bit from the Classics/WFC figs. I wish they'd been able to rotate his chest bits into that huge hollow area to minimize the jet's side profile, and make the feet snap in flush to the legs instead of having the toes hanging out. I have other niggles as well, but I'll just leave it at that. IMHO, he at least looks marginally better than the latest MP Seeker in jet mode. Windcharger's not the best of the upscaled deluxe minibots, but I'm glad he's finally here. He's still a good-looking figure, but all that roof kibble doesn't tab very securely at all and with my copy's knee joints being very tight, the feet unfurl almost every time I try to change his pose. Too, as others have pointed out, the mostly hollow interior feet cavities are a bit of an eyesore. Again, despite his flaws, I'm glad, after what seems a very long wait, we finally have him.

True. My younger self had no idea about the dark side of that flag and what it symbolized. The show was just stupid goofy fun, typically 80s.

Admittedly, I own a copy of Chariots of the Gods, which I bought many years ago and read only that once. I've watched numerous eps of Ancient Aliens, and my wife and I like to laugh about some of the outlandish stuff they all come up with. However, I never noticed the subtle, or perhaps not so subtle in retrospect, racial demeaning of certain cultures while leaving others out in their alleged necessity for "otherworldly" assistance in creating their monuments. I appreciate your enlightening insights. Suddenly, it all eaves a bad taste in hindsight.

He posed interesting questions, but rather than allowing credit to go directly or indirectly to aliens, the results of his books and tv offshoots, archeologists should be more fired up than ever to find scientific solutions to the hows and whys of ancient constructs. One thing's for certain, ancient humans were far more capable than we like to think they were. I do enjoy all the globetrotting on "Ancient Aliens" as I've been introduced to far more ancient sites through that show than through traditional historical programs, which is disheartening given the scale and sheer numbers of monuments around the globe, and the spurious nature of AA.

My handle is essentially a stylistically phonetic way of saying my last name with a Scottish pronunciation. My real last name is both spelled and pronounced differently. However, I suspect that it was probably originally McEwan, or something similar and, like many immigrants, my ancestors were likely illiterate, and somebody wrote the name down with its current spelling, or the family itself changed it over time as well as the pronunciation. Regardless, I came up with that particular sobriquet over twenty years ago and have been using it ever since. It's easy to remember, and easier to pronounce than my actual last name so, there you go. My avatar is my LEGO VF-4 that I built between 2010-11. It was my first complex, non-partsforming, fully transformable model, and I chose it as my subject b/c at the time, there were no toys of the lovely VF-4 (until Yamato revealed theirs). Mine still has the distinction of having fully articulated shoulders, an omission on both the Yammie and the HMR that boggles my mind in a combat mecha. At some point, I'd like to redo this thing in the proper FB2012 color scheme, but I'm lazy and just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Sorry to hear that, Graham. That really sucks. I've not broken anything on mine yet, but my copy is a first release with the super stiff shoulder joints. It's not the friendliest thing to transform and I gave up on it the last time I made an attempt due to some resistance. I don't recall the exact issue now, but I quit out of fear of breaking it. I keep my copy in Soldier mode, as I generally favor the robot modes of all my transforming toys, and that suits me fine as I love how the Sentinel Legioss looks. After watching the Pose+ designer review vid, it seems like this toy is being designed with ease of transformation in mind, which suits me just fine as well. Sometimes I want to transform my Legioss, and my other expensive complex toys, but the fear of breaking them gives pause. I'm more Skullface than EmGo when it comes to finesse, so I tend not to handle them all that often. I'm hoping the Pose+, despite all the opening panels and such, will be easier to transform and robust enough for handling without that constant fear of stuff just breaking.

Ah, ok. I haven't used Walmart for too many, if any, preorders that I can recall. I'm leery of using Target as well as they've cancelled preorders I've placed more than once which leaves a sour taste. Of late, my local Wally has been getting figures in more plentifully, but SS86 Soundwave remains elusive. I have to wonder if one of the employees is in the know about the demand and scarcity and is taking advantage of their access. Anyway, it is what it is, and I'm curious if he'll get some sort of a toy-deco rerelease, which would be my preference anyway. I'm assuming it's a rerelease of the Siege figure, perhaps with some minor retooling. I'd prefer a whole new mold that fixes everything that was wrong with the Siege. Guess I'll wait for the official reveal to see what, if any, changes have been made. And too, like you, if the changes are substantial and improve the figure's alt modes considerably, I'll try to secure a PO with Pulse as well, or Amazon failing that.

Where'd you find a PO for SS TFTM Astrotrain? I've been looking for pics and POs with no sign of either. I even checked Tomy's site to no avail. Same for Hasbro Pulse. My sincere hope is for an all new mold to correct the WFC toy's many issues, but since Hasbro likely won't, I hope they'll at least give the Siege toy a much-needed overhaul to correct the glaring flaws of the original release. Likewise the inevitable Blitzwing.

I need to correct this statement, as I just remembered that I owned a small Dollar Store VF-1 toy as a kid. Mine was mostly blue and IIRC, the biceps, thighs, feet and fists were grey on my copy. Otherwise, this was the toy that I had. I grew up in PA about six miles south of a little town called Ridgway. Regarding tv, weekly afternoons from about 2;30 (about the time the bus delivered me home) until around 5PM, Saturday mornings from about 5AM until 11-12:00, and Sunday mornings from about 5-8ish I'd say, I watched all sorts of cartoons. During the weekday afternoons, I mostly watched GI Joe, Thundercats, & Transformers . I remember Silverhawks being on, but I never got into that show. My friend must've had better cable than we did b/c he had The Galaxy Rangers on his tv crystal clear, while I had to arrange the 'rabbit ears' on my little 13" B&W tv in my room to try and get it. It was a chore to get it to come in with any clarity, and when I did it was still usually pretty grainy and hard to understand. So, I think it came down to the quality of the cable package you had, and I think ours was probably on the low end. I was always an early riser, and quite dedicated to watching my cartoons, and I don't recall ever seeing Robotech or Voltron on at any time during my childhood. I knew of them only through the toys in the Christtmas catalogs, and I never got any of those toys. IIRC, my first brush with RT was when I was stationed in Florida during the early 90s. However, I only caught snippets of it here and there and never quite caught anything that really piqued my interest (like valks flying around battling the Zentradi- that would've certainly struck a chord). I've still never seen any of the OG Voltron, but I loved the Netflix show. I tried to get into the 2011 Voltron Force show (with Garry Chalk playing some military bad guy), but I just couldn't get into that show. I absolutely love the Lion designs, though. We were supposed to get toys of them from Mattel, but the show got axed and the toys never materialized, although early versions of them were shown at SDCC. And that's the closest we ever got to having toys from Voltron Force, but boy would I love to see a modern take by the likes of Moderoid, Sentinel, etc. It's still my favorite incarnation of the Lions and Voltron, and arguably, if those early mockups are a good judge of the toys to follow, would've given us some of the most articulated individual Lions in the history of Voltron toys. What a shame they never came to pass. Looking back now, I don't ever recall seeing RT Alpha toys in the catalogs. I vaguely remember VF-1s, and of course there was Jetfire. That Monogram model, though, is the only Mospeada related toy that I owned as a kid, and ironically, I didn't know it was Mospeada, let alone Robotech. I knew it wasn't actually Gobots, as branded, but as to its actual origins, I hadn't a clue. It was just something random and very cool to my younger self.

While my nostalgia for the G1 toys takes a definitive backseat to the appeal of modern toys, I must confess that I've a soft spot for the G1 Dinobots, especially Sludge, the only one I had as a kid. My hope is that the whole team will get made and I'll get my chance to own the version of Sludge as I wish he'd been back in '85. I keep hoping for Prowl to be announced, since TT will get the most bang for their buck from the Fairlady Z bros. Prowl was my first TF figure, and I kinda destroyed him in my misguided attempt to give him leg articulation. A Missing Link version would not only restore my G1 toy, but in an articulated form I wish he'd had when I was a kid.

Even the light-up lightsabers, which make more sense IMHO, were a very short-lived gimmick (that also crossed over to City as flashlights for police). It seems the build quality of the sets in which these smart bricks are being employed is rather substandard to poor; for my money at any age, I'd rather have the most accurate depiction of the subject matter over lights and sounds. However, that's just my own preference as an older LEGO fan growing up in the very analog days of the 70s and 80s. At any rate, you make a good point about LEGO's other attempts at integrating the digital into their regular building play pattern, and they've all ended with lackluster results. IMHO, LEGO is best as a construction toy, so ever-improving on that core tenant should be their focus. Edit: I'll amend my comment about lackluster builds, as I bought a few of the Hidden Side sets, and while I cared little for the digital features, the sets themselves were good to downright excellent builds, judging from the few I own personally. Looking at the other sets, though, I thought the majority were brilliantly done, as they not only had the digital features on the periphery, but most of the sets themselves had transformative features built in to represent the haunted nature of buildings and objects. It was imaginative and well-implemented, IMHO, one of their better stand-alone themes.

I've never been a big fan of lights or sounds in my toys. It just never mattered to me, and the toys usually suffer concessions for it, especially from the 70s-90s when electronics were much larger, energy burning incandescent light bulbs were the only option, and the toy required a voluminous load of batteries to affect the functions. That said I own a number that have said gimmicks, and every now and again I'll activate them for a quick thrill and to make sure the batteries are still viable. My favorite of these toys is Transformers Animated Ultra Magnus: Jeff Bennett's Robert Stack impression is spot on and his lines, taken nigh verbatim from the show, are still smile-inducing. Second runner up would be Agent Knight with his William Daniels sound-alike delivering KITT's lines, and that pulsing scanner and the whoo-whoo sound effect. Good stuff, that. However, smart bricks aren't the breakthrough innovation I would have asked for, either now or as a wee lad. A family of this, however- that would be game changing.

Appreciate the news. Hound as another frickin exclusive isn't the best, but maybe Pulse will have it for a limited time and I, and other Pulse members, can score a copy. Thanks, Mike.

I'm 54, so I lived through the 80s experiencing some of the cool stuff from that era. Saturday cartoons as well as afternoon cartoons reigned supreme in my kid schedule. Ironically, I neither saw Robotech nor Voltron growing up. My wife grew up about an hour north of me and she watched Voltron. I guess our particular stations didn't have it. Anyway, that Monogram model was the only Mospeada/Macross/Robotech thing I owned as a kid, as I never owned Jetfire either.

Temptation won me over- I preorderd the Pose+. My inner child is all a-giggle.

I envy you your nostalgia. For whatever reason, Robotech didn't air on any of our stations growing up, or it did and I wasn't aware of it, as I would have loved both the Mospeada and the Macross portions of RT. Southern Cross, what little I've seen of it via RT, seemed like a step backwards concerning the mecha and I instantly lost interest in watching it any further than a few eps. My experience with the Legioss, oddly enough, comes via Gobots via the Monogram Leader One model kit, which blew my teenage mind with its intricacy, its articulation, and its ability to transform seamlessly, not to mention all the opening panels and retractable landing gear. It represented everything I wished Transformers toys would be but weren't. I had little experience building models, especially one this "elite", but I managed it. I neither painted nor stickered my copy, but I loved it just the same- for the short time I had it. my dog, just a pup then, somehow got ahold of it and chewed the nose up. I was bummed but I held on to the thing for years- in fact, I may still have it in a box somewhere. there's just something about the Legioss' design that speaks to me; it's definitely more of a sci-fi plane than say the Macross valks, which are far more grounded in realism, one of the traits I adore about Macross, but there's a cool factor to the Legioss. It just looks great in both modes, IMHO. Anyway, I got the Toynami Bernard Alpha years ago, craving a decent looking Legioss/alpha toy. Of course, the Toynamis were riddled with issues, and my copy was not immune. I still have it, but it's just a deskoration at this point- I try not to handle it too much and transformation is pretty much not happening. I jumped on Sentinel's Legioss, a beautiful toy that's a touch fiddly. It hangs out in my Detolf. Now the Pose+ shows up with the potential of being a more robust, easy-to-handle toy, and I'm slavering all over it. 🤤 As I mentioned, I'm extremely tempted to get it, if only to have what's basically the most detailed version of the Legioss yet produced, right after the Sentinel, which previously held that title. That they're making it with an eye to playability appeals to me as well, as I tend to be a little heavy-handed with my toys sometimes, which is why I tend to refrain from transforming the more involved ones in my collection, short of initial procurement. I have a lot of transforming toys, but most of them have only been transformed a couple times, or just once b/c I'm afraid of breaking them or b/c the process frustrates me. Patience is definitely not one of my virtues, so it's better that way and I enjoy them as the beautiful things they are. Anyway, that's my ramble. Here's a pic of the box for that model. Of course, they had a same-scaled version of the Ride Armor that they called Cy-Kill. Kinda funny now looking back. I knew these weren't actually Gobots, but I had no awareness of Mospeada, either, so for years I had no idea where the design came from. I believe I owe it to this site, actually, for educating me on Robotech, and all that's associated with it, so thanks MacrossWorld!

Great review, as always, Mike. My copy of this guy and Thundercracker are on their way, so I should have them in hand soon. It's a shame they didn't expend just a wee bit more engineering effort towards cramming more of the roof/hood kibble into his legs to clean him up a bit and make his legs look a bit slimmer in bot mode. Perhaps a third party will come up with a solution. Love the integrated weapon storage, which at this point in the franchise, IMHO, should be a standard feature for all Transformers. I hate tabbing guns willy nilly on the outside of vehicles, as it looks terrible and ruins the whole disguise aspect. The ankles are indeed weird, but as you pointed out, totally within sacred toon accuracy. 🙄 Regardless, I'm glad we finally got him. Now they just need to give us a proper G1 Mirage- the WFC figures were inaccurate to both toy and toon in numerous ways and it deserves a good representation like the others we've been getting. 'Til then, my Classics Mirage is filling the role. Love that figure but, admittedly, it's not entirely accurate either. We need a proper G1 Mirage in Legacy.

Jeepers, this thing looks amazing, and it' sounds like it's engineered to be handled and played with. I'm so tempted, but I'm having a hard time finding spots to display my HMR figs, so I don't know where I'd put this monstrosity, and the price tag is a bit steep. I love my Sentinel, but I don't really like handling it. This chunky beast looks like it might be a little handier. All the features they baked into this thing just tug at my core being- just beautiful and cool. It's a most impressive toy judging from these early looks.