M'Kyuun

5 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Agree to disagree.  To be fair, though, I'm not sure how well the finish on the green and purple parts is coming through on my photos.  As I said in my review, it's not the plain, flat green plastic that MMC used for their Constructicons, but it's not the in-your-face polished metallic that Fans Toys uses either.  It's just suggestive enough of metal to make it look like it could be a green construction turned into a robot, and not a plastic toy of a construction vehicle that turns into a robot.

Speaking of plastic toys of construction vehicles that turn into robots, when I picked up Gravedigger as part of a trade deal I also got X-Transbots' Razor, their version of Bonecrusher, too.

For a lot of people Bonecrusher is probably their choice for the least visually interesting Constructicon, because cartoon accuracy demands an almost entirely green dude, save for the head, hands, and some minor details on his chest.  And, for better or worse, that's what XTB delivered.  Minus a point on cartoon accuracy, though, for using silver of the rectangles between the red details on his chest instead of purple.

XTB also opted for a whitish paint on the round details on the sides of the legs.  Why?  In the cartoon they're green.

So I guess XTB decided to copy the most boring aspects of Bonecrusher's extremely boring cartoon design, but they didn't get it totally right?  To be clear, I find it odd, but I actually like Razor overall.  It's very minor deviations we're talking about on a robot that honestly does a pretty good job overall of capturing the cartoon look.  What's more, like Ground Bite and Gravedigger I think XTB really nailed the proportions.  This isn't always easy; we've seen a ton of 3P's skip actually putting the shovel on their Bonecrusher's chest, and when companies have go for a more traditional G1 design we've ended up with some really wonky proportions, like ToyWorld's version here or the official Studio Series toy.  What's more, not only did XTB do a pretty good job of doing a cartoon-accurate Bonecrusher with good proportions, they did it with one of the smallest backpacks I've seen on the character.

Razor comes with a couple of accessories.  As Devastator's other arm, he's got a chunk of that arm and a green connector part, just like Gravedigger.  He's got his expected gun and trumpet.  But he also comes with an extra head and some extra faces.  There's a cartoon yelling face, and a cartoon blowing face that go on his stock head, replacing his neutral expression.  Then there's a neutral face on a green head, and a replacement smiling face for the green head.  If I'm not mistaken, the blue faces with the yellow eyes are a Marvel somics thing.  I guess it's cool that they included the Marvel head, but in the Marvel comics Bonecrusher also had blue and white arms, blue hands and a blue pelvis, so you're not going to get a totally Marvel-accurate look (though, ironically, the silver rectangles on his chest is closer to Marvel-accurate than cartoon-accurate).

Once again, XTB is delivering on the articulation.  Razor's head is on a hinged swivel that doesn't have a ton of upward range, but his more downward range than Gravedigger.  His shoulders swivel and move a bit over 90 degrees laterally.  His shoulders also have a joint for transformation that, if you untab the shoulder from the body, you can use as a butterfly joint.  His biceps swivel, his double-jointed elbows bend 180 degrees, and his hands are identical to Gravedigger's (his wrists swivel, and they can fold back into a "stop!" pose, his thumbs have a hinge that moves the thumb across the palm with two other hinges for bending the thumb's knuckle's, and his fingers have hinges at the base with one additional knuckle hinge- the index finger is separate so it can point, but the other three fingers are molded together).  His waist swivels, and he's got an ab crunch that's just short of 90 degrees.  From the waist down he's basically the same as Gravedigger... his front hip skirts are hinged so his hips can ratchet 90 degrees forward, but the rear is fixed so his hips only get about 45 degrees backward.  They also fall a little shy of 90 degrees laterally.  His thighs swivel, and his double-jointed knees ratchet a little short of 180 degrees.  His feet can tilt up and down, and his ankles pivot about 90 degrees.

Also like Gravdigger, his pistol has a tab on either side of the handle that lets you plug it into either hand, but the trumpet on has a tab on one side and must be held in his right hand.

In broad strokes, Razor transforms like a lot of Bonecrusher toys.  The pelvis has to split and spread so the legs can become the treads.  The shovel has to get out in front, his head has to tuck in, and his backpack forms the roof of the cab.  And his arms have to shift into the space between his torso and shovel to form the bulk of the vehicle.  Where things get a big different is in just how much of his torso shifts outward with the shovel, so his arms are more like the top of most of the vehicle plus the grill.  I like how the shovel also expands, allowing for the more humanoid Sunbow proportions in robot mode but with an appropriately wide shovel for alt mode.

The end result is not quite as effective as Gravedigger, though.  The treads, shovel, and the top of the vehicle are mostly fine, but the bottom leaves us with visible gaps, leftover shoulder hinges, and the faux shovel hinges from the torso.  Plus, unless I'm doing something wrong, the torso bits don't seem to want to stay tabbed in, causing the back of the vehicle to pop loose.  Dark gray spot where the head was on the G1 toy is a nice touch, though.

Razor rolls, and the shovel has a little bit of articulation.  There's no steering column or controls, but there is a seat under the roof.  As with Gravedigger, there doesn't seem to be any way to store Razor's pistol in his alt mode.

In theory, the transformation to arm mode is a lot like Gravedigger's.  You have to open up the legs a little to work the partsforming shoulder joint between Razor's legs and around his feet.  Then, you take the other partsforming part part and slide it into the gap you made in Razor's pelvis when you spread it out for alt mode.  In practice, I have some concerns here.  On Gravedigger, the partsforming green joint and the rest of the arm actually connect together, and both are connected to Gravedigger, so the combined arm mode feels nice and solid.  Here, the partsforming green joint and the rest of the arm do not touch.  The result is that, while the green part seems very secure and I'm not worried about Razor falling off of the combined mode robot, the rest of the arm doesn't feel as solid.  I'd be worried that if you have this arm holding anything that the weight could cause the arm to slide out of Razor's pelvis, but I suppose time will tell on that.

Oh, and once again the arm part has the little storage cubby.  Interestingly, there's a small rectangular port on the inside of the flap that I don't recall on the arm that comes with Gravedigger (I suppose I'll have to double check that).  Turns out that the port is exactly the side of the bottom of the handle on Razor's pistol.  And note how it's kind of angled?  It seems deliberately designed so that you can plug the pistol in and have the right clearances to close the flap, locking the pistol inside.

Of the three XTB Constructicons I now own, Razor is my least-favorite.  Which, I supposed, kind of works since Bonecrusher is generally my least-favorite Constructicon.  His alt mode feels a little less polished and doesn't hold together as well, and since his combined mode basically is his alt mode all that carries over with the added worry that the forearm connection isn't going to be solid enough.  However, I've already indicated that I'm doing MMC for combined mode, and combined modes are always a separate review.  As standalone MP Bonecrusher, Razor's alt mode flaws are disappointing, but also completely outweighed by how good the robot mode is.  Especially when I think about how MMC is going to have to cram all the connecting joints and the entire gestalt forearm into their Bonecrusher... don't get me wrong, MMC's engineering is pretty amazing, but there have been little concessions to the all-built-in gimmick across both their Bruticus and their Defensor, so it's reasonable to assume their Devastator will have some as well.  I'm going with MMC because I'm banking on them being the best overall across all three modes, but I think there's a very good chance that Razor will wind up being the best individual Bonecrusher.  So I guess, based on my suspicion that MMC will be the best across all three modes, or even that FT will have a better Devastator mode and that's what most people will care about, you might be better off selecting a different set.  But if you're the type of collector that wants one set for combined mode and one set for the individuals, then I'd strongly urge you to consider Razor for your Bonecrusher. 

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.

1 hour ago, Mog said:

Do any of the parts light up?

Nope. I was wondering that myself, figuring the chest might, but it doesn't. I thought the print might be glow-in-the-dark, but nope to that too. I'm not a big fan of toys with batteries, so it doesn't bother me, but i can understand wanting that feature. The arc reactor print is shiny, though, so it shows up nicely when light hits it.

I was more upset that the elbows were fixed in place. there's no meaningful weight or stress placed on the arms, so they could have used clicky plates or  and to affect a working elbow within about the same space. I could mod it, but eh. I'll just enjoy it as the display piece it was meant to be and not worry about the articulation.

12 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

How much was it?

$130 on the LEGO Shop site. With 1297 pieces, it's priced well considering it's a licensed set.

LEGO Iron Man Mark 3 Collector's Edition (set 76344)

I built this this evening. Iron Man Mark III Collector's Edition, set # 76344

I love the design of the first red and gold suit Tony wore in the film franchise. Let's face it, the suit design was paramount to the movie's success, so they had to get it right, and IMHO, they succeeded beyond expectations. This is the first such set of a regular IM suit, and like the Hulkbuster sets before it, it's mostly a statue, although it does have a limited waist swivel, the shoulders can rotate through both abduction and flexor arcs, the wrists can rotate and flex upwards for the famous repulsor blast pose (as you can see), and the fingers are all posable thanks to a compact and ingenious design. I didn't take a pic of the back, but he also has two panels behind his shoulders that can raise up, similar to how the various panels moved in the film. I'm not sure if that was the intention, as there's no call out in the instructions and the hinge is required to accomplish the proper angle for those panels, but it's there if you want to use it for effect. There are a number of drum lacquered gold pieces in this set, and eight printed parts: two 3x3 round tiles at the hips with mechanical design, two 2x2 round tiles with repulsor prints, two 2x2 round tiles with mechanical design for his audio receptors, one 2x2 round tile with arc reactor printing for his chest, and one 2x6 tile used for the placard. The IM Mk III minifig has new torso printing front and back as well as arm prints, and printed legs. The head is double printed but I'm not certain if its unique to this set, and I'm not concerned enough to verify.

I do want to call out the designer, Aaron Newman, one of the contestants on the first season of LEGO Masters. He may not have won the final round, but IMHO, he scored a far greater prize by becoming a set designer at Billund. If this set is representative of his future projects, we're in for some amazing sets. This set utilizes a lot of assemblies positioned at complimentary angles; placing those bits on the model and seeing those perfect alignments is so fulfilling. I wish I was that good with angles in my MOCs. There is a little bit of repetition, since the arms and legs are built similarly only mirrored, but everything goes together smoothly which makes for an enjoyable build. I wish these sets were more action figure and less statuesque, but the focus with this type of set is both capturing the subject as accurately as possible within a manageable scale (about 12") and achieving stability. IMHO, Aaron understood the assignment and carried it out brilliantly. Definitely recommend.

44 minutes ago, Chronocidal said:

Finally caved and picked up the Countach from Walmart since they had a stack of them.

Going to probably burn my VIP points on a pair of the Enterprise sets once they get over the stock issues.  Maybe having two sets will give me enough parts to rebuild the saucer into something that doesn't look like a mid-90s polygon model.

Though, funny enough, I feel like the "All Good Things" upgrade might actually be a solid improvement, since the lower phaser mount might help cover some of the janky shaping of the underside.

I've thought about getting the Countach, too. Like most of the icons sets, it's done beautifully. I can easily recommend the Shelby Cobra- great build experience and gorgeous model.

Every success with your Enterprise mods. I like Star Trek, and Next Generation is my favorite of the various series (TBF, I've not seen any of the new shows on streamers, although I wouldn't mind seeing Picard at some point); however, I have no interest in getting the set. I've never really been a fan of ST ship designs (except the Klingon Bird of Prey- I like that one), and besides, I've nowhere to display the thing if i did get it, and it's definitely a display piece. That's also why my 2nd UCS Millennium Falcon remains unbuilt in its box years after I bought it- nowhere to put it when I'm done. Nowhere to comfortably build it, for that matter.

I never took issue with the original Hot Rod's coloring, but then, I'm not stuck on the toon-centric thinking that many fans embrace. The OG toy is good enough for me.

If anyone needs a copy of SS86 Hound, I have one unopened. PM me. 

6 minutes ago, Robin-11 said:

I own the tread and the legioss from Sentinel and i love them. The two toys, combined together, are stunning. But i also have a lot of toys from Pose+ and most of them are incredible. And judging from the adds-on for the Gaogaigar a Tread  would be amazing. But yes, i understand what you are saying and i am with you: no clue of where to put it and spending so much money on a toy that i already have a version which i love it is...hard to justify. 

I'm in the fortunate position that I'm financially able to afford these toys, although $500 is pretty steep and bears some consideration before I commit. However, space to put new acquisitions has become the bane of my existence. Between a rather voluminous LEGO collection (2-3000 sets), a respectable Transformers collection (I estimate 3-400 toys), around 30 Macross toys, and an assortment of other toys that I've accumulated over the years, not to mention all of their boxes intact, much of my available space has dwindled. My wife generally doesn't care what I buy; she knows that I'm financially responsible and the bills are always priority and paid. The dwindling space for stuff and her lack of a personal space to call her own is her general complaint, which is totally fair. Eventually, I want to build an outbuilding in my back yard to use as both storage and studio; my backyard isn't huge, but it could accommodate a 20x40 building nicely. Unfortunately, I live within a small town that limits outbuilding size to no more than 50% of your available backyard, which is crap IMHO. It's my land, I'm paying for it, I don't use my backyard for anything (my dog uses it to do his business, and I mow it occasionally) and I should be able to use as much of it for whatever purpose I deem necessary so long as I'm not endangering anyone else (fire codes and such). I'd love to just put a big building back there using all that space to put all my crap, but I'm going to have to compromise so I'm hoping I can go vertical with it instead of horizontal. I just need to find a good contractor to build it for me as I'm no carpenter.

I was going to buy a Sentinel Tread, but fearing what this administration might do to my VA disability, I passed. There's since been more clarity, so for now I'm safe. Consequently, I've been once again indulging in my hobbies, which are pretty much what I live for. That Sentinel Tread still appeals to me, although I remain far more enamored with the Legioss. I just love transforming jets if they're done well, and although Kawamori's realistic valks are peak, there's something alluring about the Legioss' design that has always struck a chord. It's just a cool sci-fi design with more than a smidge of believability. That said, given my druthers, with space at a premium and given the choice, I'd prefer to have more Legioss toys in lieu of a Tread. If I get my building, though, oh there will be a Tread in my future! 😄

Just now, Robin-11 said:

I agree, me too. And still, i wish Pose+ would release all the three variants of Legioss and Tread. I know, i have issues.😂

I'll third, especially when the much smaller Legioss sets you back $500+, and yet, if their Legioss is a good judge of what's to come with their Tread, it stands to be the pinnacle of that design in a toy. That said, I'm still trying to figure out where I'm going to put my Pose+ Legioss, big chunky thing that it is, let alone a Tread that will dwarf it. Too, not sure I want to spend around a grand for it, either. If I get a Tread eventually, it'll most likely be a Sentinel version to go with my Eta.

22 hours ago, Froy said:

This gotta be about the Tread I guess

Initially, I figured this referenced the standard Eta, Iota, and Zeta versions, but yeah, it'd be cool if these initial. more imaginative, Legioss relaseses got Treads to match. I've yet to own a Tread, and with an Omega on PO, I may just have to indulge in one for it if the design isn't too far out there. 

11 hours ago, WhatBoutMyStar said:

Note that the Legioss foot configuration is not the same for diver and soldier modes. The Toyrise appears to have more limited foot articulation that doesn't allow the front of the foot to splay out and flatten in diver mode as it typically would.  It also looks like the heel cannot be extended back like the Sentinel does with a slider mechanism. Compare the Toyrise to Sentinel below, pic courtesy of Jenius' site

I see no reason why you couldn't leave the feet configuration and use it diver for soldier as well and I doubt it would negatively affect balance.  It just wouldn't be accurate to how the feet are supposed to be configured and look for soldier, which is the heel flipping down and not extended back like for diver.

Using the diver feet configuration for soldier would also reduce the height of the figure and the figure is pretty small as is being smaller than the Sentinel.

Regarding the feet, I'm wondering if the heels and toes line up if you configure the heels for soldier, but splay the toe out as seen in diver mode. Best option if so. I'm just not at all crazy about the weirdly high arches of the feet as they've been depicted in most of the promo shots. If I have to keep them in diver config while in soldier mode, so be it. Shame they didn't go just that little extra in the design process to allow for clearance for the toe to move forward a tad more like the Sentinel or the Toynami, both of which did it beautifully, especially the Sentinel. That small additional arc of motion makes a big difference IMHO.

Hard to believe the Toyrise figs are smaller than the already small Sentinel figs. I'm getting the sense that these will feel comparable to a voyager/leader class Transformers figs in-hand, which isn't a bad thing, especially if they have that level of sturdiness and playability. It also keeps them space-friendly for the space-impaired, like me.

Yesterday and today the new Batman Vs Superman and The Batman Batmobile sets arrived, respectively, at my door and I just got done building both of them this evening. I didn't get the Batman and Robin Batmobile set (yet) as I'm not really a fan of its design, or the movie for that matter, but I may cave and grab it if I see it in the wild as I like Batmobiles and I may just use it as a parts set. Anyway, of the two I got, I'm by far a greater fan of the BvS Batmobile, but I think the "B" team worked on it and the The Batman car got the "A" team.  

The BvS Batmobile's split canopy is absent in this new model, which is a step down from the 2016 set which featured specially designed canopy parts to replicate that functionality of the film car. Surely they could have resurrected those molds, but they didn't. The 2016 set was very much geared at kids, and although the build is much simpler than the new set, it's still a good capture IMHO.  It's a shame they didn't try a little harder to replicate the front wheel armor, and this new model simply carries over the same solution for the rear wheel armor after ten years and a ton of new parts. Disappointing.

Here they are.  I'll start with the BvS car. It has much better side sculpting to capture the contours of the film car. They used a complex motorcycle fork piece to replicate the front wheel armor to so-so effect. At least it's there. I'm no too crazy about the flags as front tire armor, but I guess it was a simple solution. The dark grey color scheme of the new model matches the film car, though, so that's a nice improvement. I really like this Batmobile design, and I wish more effort had been put into this set. 

Like the BvS Batmobile, this isn't LEGO's first go with The Batman movie design. The original set came out in '22 with the premier of the film.  It was also a simpler set than the new take, but still a good capture, IMHO. It was also a good parts set, but I digress. My major gripe with this Batmobile is that it lacks any characteristics whatsoever that signify it as a Batmobile and IMHO, it would be more at home in a Fast and Furious film, as it's essentially a heavily modified Dodge Charger. However, if you've ever built a Speed Champions 8-wide set in the last couple of years, then you'll feel right at home with this set, which employs some slightly advanced techniques to really capture the shape and details of the car, quite beautifully I must say. Between the two sets, this one enjoyed the larger parts count, a more fulfilling build experience, and the more refined end product. I wish it had been the other way around, but it wasn't.

Both figs look great with crisp, nicely detailed prints. I was more focused on the cars and didn't take any close-ups of the figs. The Batman fig features dual molded legs to capture his black boots, and the BvS Batman has a nice armor piece (not sure if it's new). Both have soft-goods capes, which allow them to accommodate sitting the figs in their respective rides without crinkling like the old stiff capes. Both cowls are dual-molded with the eyes molded white, a preferable solution over LEGO's original cowl design. Oddly, neither fig comes with any accessories, not even the ubiquitous batarang.

The engine and hood detailing are sublime on the Batman Batmobile, with trans-red bricks under those ingots on the hood to represent the light effects of the movie car. Sorry I didn't capture that detail well with these photos. 

It's a great year thus far for LEGO Batman fans, as we're already served three Batmobiles from three different movies with very different aesthetics. I hope there are more in the pipeline, specifically the Arkham Knight Batmobile, a design LEGO has yet to do and one that's number one on my want list. With the new LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight video game releasing in May, encompassing the whole of Batman history in various media, I'm vehemently hoping the Arkham Knight Batmobile will be announced.  Guess we'll see.

Surprising, the wings are configured differently than the green one, although in soldier, they both appeared to share the same wing assemblies. I like this better, however I'm content with my Omega PO for now.

On 3/2/2026 at 12:32 PM, RavenHawk said:

I pick up just about every transformable bike I can get my hands on, and very much agree with the love for the Yamato Motoslave.

As for the Garland, I'm pretty happy with the Arcadia ones, and pretty underwhelmed (verging on disappointed) by the Pose+ Tri-Charger. Based on my experience with the Tri-Charger, I think that the Garland would end up more fragile, pretty much at Yamato level (Yamato's Garlands, not Motoslaves), and would probably be priced at double what Arcadia is charging.

 

As for the Tri-Charger design, my understanding is that Aramaki had nothing to do with it, and it was, in the end, Ammonite. That said, I also understand Ammonite to have been formed, at least in part, by people who had been working on Robotech II: The Sentinels. Thus, alien mecha, alien vehicles, and human vehicles were also salvaged and slightly redesigned from the Robotech designs. You can see shades of the Inorganics, Invid ships, the GMU, and, most importantly (to me) the Tri-Charger seems likely to have been a reworking of the Proto-Cyclone from Sentinels. My point being, since the Tri-Charger is a reworking of a design meant to be a proto version of what was an Aramaki design... It sits on my shelf along with the Yamato Garlands and Motoslaves and CMs Ride Armors (along with the original Sega Tri-Charger) as a sort of honorary Aramaki cousin.

Just read your interests under your avatar and you're far more ardent than I am.  Everyone has their "thing", though, and at least yours is fairly well-served betweeen anime, Transformers, and other independent toylines. I like transforming motorbikes, but I'm choosy- they don't all spark my fancy, and some I just feel meh about and chock them up as another interesting take. The Mospeada Ride Armor never interested me one bit, so I'm an outlier regarding that design. I'm feeling about the same for the Tri-Charger- it's just not grabbing me, although it's filed away in the recesses of grey matter as a thing that exists. I felt the same way about Bayformers Arcee and the other female Autobots who became bikes- those designs were absolutely atrocious, just god awful. TFP Arcee and TFA Prowl, though, just prime.

3 hours ago, MKT said:

 

I was curious about Triple Jim because it seems much time has passed without any news. It could be the project has been shelved for time being since there's been no updates.

Action Toys is affliated to Pose+, via Awaken Studios. I always enjoy the videos this studio puts out, as the designer explains the design philosophy behind the stuff they put out, and so for better or worse we can appreciate why certain aspects of the toys are what they are. I wish Bandai would do more of these sorts of communication behind their Macross products, but alas the rare ones they do are usually some light fluff segments or interviews. 

 

I'm curious, too. Before they prematurely ended their Machine Robo line (still wish they'd released Supercar Robo, aka Turbo, for whom they had a prototype right out of the gate), they were reportedly working on a Triple Jim figure. If they are affiliated with Pose+, then that Triple Jim that Pose+ had on display may be the one Action Toys intended to release but never did. I'd have much rather had TJ over Tough Trailer who I passed on. As to the Pose+ guys detailing their thoughts behind design decisions, I love that sort of BTS exposition, even if your personal opinions differ from choices they made. At least you understand the reasoning behind the decisions. LEGO has been doing it for many years now, Hasbro has jumped on the bandwagon with their fanstreams, and I watched the Pose+ vid on their upcoming Legioss, which was informative. It would indeed be cool if Bandai would do the same. They've got a lot of 'splaining to do over the YF-21.

31 minutes ago, Big s said:

I had a friend that grew up around there. He said you had to search the odd spots , kinda like out here with Swapmeets or mom and pop hobby shops. But my understanding was that it was more common on the west coast because troops often brought them back to sell that came from overseas. 
As far as the Robotech show, he said it did air over there, but on a three hour difference. I guess he only discovered the show when he was sick for a week with the flu and the show aired at a ridiculous time when he would normally be in school and unable to watch. I think he said he eventually found a friend that had a vcr to record the show and would watch it over there when he’d stop by.

TBF, my parents weren't into sci-fi at all (I'm the oddity in the entire family, even extended), and we made few trips out of town. My mom didn't drive, so we were reliant on my dad to take us anywhere, and as recreational interests go, he and my mom were both far more into country-related stuff like county fairs. Can't tell you how many tractor-pulls, cows, pigs, chickens, goats, etc of all breeds and variants I saw as a kid. So, my access to stuff was extremely limited, and of course, there was no internet. There may have been more anime related stuff around, but I had neither the knowledge of nor access to it. Contrarily, my buddy's dad was into sci-fi and it was always a treat to go to his house b/c he was an only child and they bought him all sorts of toys from a range of sci-fi. I was jelly.

Makes sense that the most anime-related toys in the 80s were found near ports and military installations. Unfortunately, we have no major military installations in PA. I only know of the AF Guard unit at the Pittsburgh airport. I did come across a vintage toy store in Pittsburgh where I picked up a G1 Jetfire complete with original box and a G1 Steeljaw. I don't recall any other anime related toys, but back then in the early 00s, my knowledge of anime wasn't as broad. I would've definitely known Macross or Mospeada stuff (or at least recognized a Legioss on sight), but I don't recall seeing any.

As to tv, I think the cable company and the package you chose determined a lot of what you'd see. My future wife lived only an hour north, but she and her brother watched Voltron regularly. I never saw it at any point growing up. Too, one of my closest friends who lived about a five-minute drive from me got Galaxy Rangers clear as a bell on his tv, but I had to arrange rabbit ears on my little B&W tv to get a staticky and barely discernable signal to watch it. So, I think the service had a great deal to do with the programming. We were never well-off, so I think we likely had minimal service. Still, I got to see Transformers, GI Joe, MASK, Thundercats, not to mention all the cartoons on Saturdays (Mighty Orbots, Pole Position, Bionic Six, just to name a few) with clarity, so I still carry a fondness for those days. I feel sad that today's kids don't have that experience. Then again, they have the internet with the glut of availability that it offers, so feeling less sad for them. 😄

On 2/27/2026 at 9:11 AM, danth said:

Story time.

Somewhere around 1990, I was at the supermarket in my hometown in California, and on the way out, I saw mother-f***ing MOSPEADA gashapon figures in the gumball machine. I knew how impossible it was to find Robotech anything in 1990, so my jaw dropped. My penniless ass had no way of acquiring these other than begging my mom for some quarters, which she immediately declined. No amount of beseechment moved her. I was so pissed! Those toys would have made my year. 

I did find that crappy smallest scale transforming Gakken Legioss & Ride Armor set at an import store a few years later. But honestly those were so bad. I preferred the non-transforming gashapon that at least looked good in a single mode. 

I still, to this day, eye the gumball machines on my way out of the grocery store. I know it's never going to happen, but I can't stop. 

On 2/27/2026 at 11:27 AM, Big s said:

I still drive by an old spot that used to be my favorite hobby shop because they would get old school kits from Macross and Dougram and Mospeada and a bunch of other cool stuff I had never seen before. I think it’s unfortunately just a nail salon now, but I still look over to that spot and have my memories of how cool the place used to be back in the day.

I envy you guys that Macross and Mospeada stuff was existing within your sphere of availability. I grew up in a podunk town in north, slightly-west of central PA where there was very little of either, not much in the way of anime inspired stuff to speak of. We did have Transformers in relative abundance, though. I remember well-stocked shelves in the dept stores in the larger towns around ours. Our little five-and-dime carried them, too, but not in any kind of abundance, although my grandparents did buy G1 Ratchet for me there. In terms of Mospeada, one of several of our large dept stores the next town over carried the Monogram Gobots models, which were actually the Legioss (Leader-1) and the Ride Armor (Cy-Kill). I knew they weren't actually Gobots, as I was familiar with those toys, but that Legioss struck a chord and I bought it. That kit blew my mind- it had articulation far beyond anything I'd experienced thus far with any Transformers toy, its transformation was complex and brilliantly executed, and the thing just bristled with details all over, even fully retractable landing gear with real rubber tires. It was a masterpiece and I did a hasty and poor job of assembling it, having had very little experience building models up until that time. Unfortunately, the pegs that held the legs on were only plastic (should've been die-cast to better handle the various stresses) and one of them snapped off. To add insult to injury, my puppy somehow got ahold of the thing and chewed on the nose. I was really bummed about the whole situation, as for years, that model was the single most amazing transforming robot toy I'd ever owned- nothing compared for a long time. This was probably around '85 or so for reference. I never saw Robotech as a kid- it never aired on any of our channels, and if it did, I never caught it or I'd likely have been hooked like so many other Westerners. So Mospeada was unknown to me. That old Legioss model was my only brush with it, and it was at least a decade or more before I learned of its actual origin. When Toynami released their Masterpiece Legioss toys, I bought the Scott Bernard Alpha, so happy to finally have a good-looking transformable toy to replace that old model. But, over time, mine suffered the same egregious issues that plagued that toyline and today it just stands in battroid on my desk, with too many issues to really transform safely anymore. In that context, Sentinel's Eta was a godsend- just a masterwork of engineering, and I bought the Eta straightaway. It's the only Sentinel Legioss I own, and its being first edition, it suffers from the overly tight shoulders and loose ankles, alas. Still a gorgeous toy, though, and I love it. It blew my mind when it was announced, but now the Pose+ seems to take all the advances of the sentinel toy, taking engineering to 11 with all the opening panels, upscaling, ratchets throughout, a Gundam-esque forward access to the cockpit, and the promise of easier handling than the Sentinel. I'm stoked for it. And then Toyrise busted out their new Legioss line, with the express promise of playablity at the forefront, and some interesting innovations on the design. I'm in for the Omega. It's been a long road from famine to feast with Mospeada Legioss toys, but I'm glad it's happening and that I've enough disposable income to indulge a little in it. I only wish I had more space for it all.

Regarding the black, white, and red "drone" Legioss, I don't mind the color scheme or the pilot-less drone idea, but the big ugly back cannons are doing nothing for me, nor do I like the too-skinny forward swept wings with huge, weird beavertails at the trailing edges. Had they made the wings wider and nixed that beavertail altogether, I think it would've made for a more attractive fighter. In that case, I'd probably have gone for the green one, as I like that color scheme, too, plus the AWACs radome. I just couldn't abide those crappy wings. That said, I'll echo the sentiments for a proper black and grey "low-vis" or stealth look. Too, @danth makes a poignant observation regarding the gear and their dubious ability to support the toy without serious sagging and chest scraping in fighter mode. That should be an early engineering concern with the Legioss due to its design, especially with those hip joints at midships where a bit of sag should be anticipated and remedied. For now, I'm content with my single order of their Omega. I hope it's a fun toy, but for actual quality in design, I'm looking at my Sentinel Eta and, hopefully, the Pose+ to give an overall quality experience in-hand.

Gobots Model Kits by Monogram

2 hours ago, danth said:

I ordered this when I stayed up past midnight this Saturday (or technically Sunday). As a Lego Space fan it was a day 1 purchase. Apparently it went into back order the same day. 

I ended up also buying the Arcade Machine (40805), the Moon Mission Science Kit (45200, already have Mars Mission), and the Baby Construction Loader (60483, mainly because of the dark orange parts I want to use in a 2024/25 City Space MOC). The Arcade Machine breaks my No Stickers rule but it does have a decent number of large prints. 

I also splurged on the recent Bricklink Designer Program Alchemist's Shop, because it's just super great. 

I've also been MOCing myself and designed this little Spaceship (sorry for terrible quality photos):

 

Lovely little ship- those angles are great, like an extrapolation of the Horton Bros' and Jack Northrop's flying wings. This itself would make for a splendid set, just saying. I'd be in for a couple copies.

I'm a big Space fan, too, but I'm waiting for the fervor to die down, or for a double points period, or a visit to my local LEGO Store, whichever comes first. I don't have anywhere to display it, and this is definitely a display piece. I read a review saying that the head doesn't rotate, which would be fair if indeed there was some sort of hidden rocket buried within. However, the review made no mention of said hidden rocket, so it really beggars the question of why they'd leave such an easily accomplished bit of simple articulation out of the build. It's also a bummer that they used two 2x2 slopes with modern computer graphics instead of resurrecting the old CS computer graphics, a move that surely would've made a lot of Space fans giddy. Lastly, and the biggest black eye, they didn't include a proper astrofig. This would've been the perfect opportunity to officially give us the coveted light bley astrofig without resorting to piecing one together from disparate sources. The light bley fig would've been an apropos compliment to the large blue fig, recalling the old blue and grey ships. Just seems a huge missed opportunity to give Space fans an extra bit of Classic Space goodness.

On 2/25/2026 at 2:45 PM, Big s said:

Never cared for the Kai, I think it’s the face, but would’ve got the blazers

I'm not as crazy about the Kai as other VF-19 variants either, mostly due to the red and yellow color scheme. The face is an odd design choice, but I can live with it. Back when Yamato released all their VF-19 toy, I went in on the blue and yellow Blazer. I would've preferred the blue and white one, but I don't remember why I didn't get it instead. Anyway, I passed on their Kai, although I thought, and still think, the mold was gorgeous. Fast forward to present, I went in on the HMR Kai as it just seemed like a good take, the smaller scale and lower price appealing, and my desire to own a decent modern toy of it greater than my old bias. No regrets; it's well done, looks beautiful  across modes, is easy to handle, and it scratches the itch to own the hero valk from M7. I hope they eventually give us a proper VF-17 and not a downscaled version of their craptastic 1/60 VF-171 retool. 

Honestly, in my limited experience, the HMR line is so well executed, I have to wonder why the offerings in the line are so few and the variety of valk designs so sparse. They should be milking it for all it's worth, cranking out as many designs as possible with all the recolors and variants thereof for max profitability while giving the fans maximum Macross mecha love for their collections.

8 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

Studio Series TFTM Hot Rod, Hound, Scourge, and Optimus are available for order pickup at Target.  Megatron is not available for order pickup in my area.

Ordered my copy of Hound; should arrive in a few days.

3 hours ago, Negotiator said:

I cancelled Astro too.  I'll just have to look for a 3rd party option that fits in.

Unfortunately, no third parties that I'm aware of are really doing main line styled G1 figures. Romulus was a one-off by Newage, and while I think it's a really good figure and I laud them for making it, b/c Has/Tak decided to increase the scale of SS86 OP, Romulus earned more than its fair share of criticism, which I felt was unfair, and likely put Newage, and likely Magic Square in turn, off to continuing making figs to fit Legacy. I'd love to see any number of legends scaled figs upscaled, but after Romulus, I suspect all bets are off and neither company is going to feel that the effort is worth the potential blowback. This fandom eats its own and f##ks itself out of potential opportunities.

3 hours ago, m0n5t3r said:

Toon-accurate Astrotrain should also be able to accommodate at least 5 Decepticons inside Shuttle or Train mode... PO canceled! 

There are expectations and then there are dreams; I think this qualifies as the latter. 😄 They'd have to make a new size class for that- like grand piano crate scale!

edit: Was thinking about this, and since Titan is a moon of Jupiter, the largest size class could be "Jovian"class.  

4 hours ago, 26662 said:

IMHO, the SS Astrotrain design is straight garbage.  The money they wasted on the smoke effect could have been used to polish the design of the actual figure.  Feels like a money grab: "Okay, you know it's a POS, I know it's a POS, we all know it's a POS, but that's okay.  It'll sell.  Our audience can't help but buy the new shiny.  These aren't fans.  They're addicts.  And I'm building a $5M expansion on the house to celebrate!"

TBF, triple changers are more difficult to design. There has to be some built-in forgiveness for a degree of concessions. However, when we have toys like Fans Toys Thomas, which is IMHO the peak G1 Astrotrain toy to date, or something much simpler but as equally well-accomplished as Mech Fans Toys' Iron Sky, two very different toys at opposing scales that both do exceptional credit to the character, one wonders that Takara, the guys that invented the original Astrotrain, not to mention brilliantly realizing the idea of taking realistic vehicles and turning them into robots, couldn't 40+ years later do much, much better than this when a third party legends TF maker already created an ideal toy years ago. Takara wouldn't have had to copy MFT's toy exactly, although MFT wouldn't have much legal recourse if they did, but if they chose to make something very similar while adding their own slight touches, we'd all be the better for it as fans and collectors.

I think a lot of fans miss the days when Takara independently released their own versions of main line toys with better paint apps, more accurate accessories, and sometimes even slight retoolings to bring the figures closer to toy or toon accuracy. Hasbro's move to "unify" the brand, essentially asserting more control over it and wresting some of Takara's, was purely self-serving, as they knew they were losing money to Takara b/c fans wanted better versions of the toys and were willing to both pay more for them and endure longer waits for shipping. It simply assured they could continue their practice of shrinking budgets and thus quality of the toys without competition from their partner company who actually designed the things and without whom there'd be no toys. It was dick move and a slap in Takara's face if you ask me, but at least they're finding work-arounds and doing their own independent stuff, which is, of course gaining attention and increased profits for Takara. Good for them.

This clinched it for me and I went ahead and canxed my PO. It's just not a good take. I was going to skip it initially, anyway, but as G1 Astrotrain is my only official toy, I thought I'd give this thing a chance in-hand. I didn't like the Siege toy for all of its alt mode compromises (the bot mode, like Blitzwing's, looked great), and this one has far too many compromises to both its bot and shuttle modes. I wish, like Shockwave, they'd just done some serious retooling of the Siege toy to address its glaring deficiencies. I'd have happily paid $60 for that. Heck, if they'd upgraded it to commander to account for all the retooling and accessories, especially his toy accurate gun, I'd have paid it for an Astrotrain with good-looking alts and a great looking bot mode. Not sure why the designer felt the need to reinvent the wheel with the transformation; it was unnecessary and, well, the results speak for themselves. YMMV, but I decided to speak with my wallet, or in this case a judicious refund. I'll wait for better and hopefully better comes.

Really, really wish some third or fourth party would do an upscaled KO version of MFT's Iron Sky to fit with Legacy. Likewise their Blitzwing and Octane. I'm happy with Legacy Sandstorm and SS86 Springer, who is definitely one of, if not the best, triple changers they've ever released, along with T30 Springer.

8 hours ago, sh9000 said:

I would love it if somehow 3rd party Transformers companies were able to make HMR Valkyrie variants and Destroids that Bandai won't release.

Yeah, that'd be great. They're probably afraid of Bandai's lawyers. Given the decades of Harmony Gold's questionable shenanigans, Big West don't seem to be as litigious. It'd be great if more legit companies sought a Macross license: Sentinel, Pose+, LEGO (personal wishlist), Moderoid, Toyrise, just off the top of my head.  I'd love to see the day when Macross overtakes Gundam, but, yeah, I'm dreaming. That'd be my ideal reality, though- every retail store stocked to the gills with tons of Macross toys form numerous manufacturers spanning the roster from obscure mecha like the M7 variable Police Vehicle, the Octos, the Variable Glaug to perennial favorites like the VF-1 (eat it HG!), the VF-25, and the YF/VF-19.

Hopefully the next Macross installment whips up some popularity for the brand globally with some decent advertising and press to interest the uninitiated as well as old timers. A strong surge of popularity might induce other companies to take a gamble on the license, and further HG's journey into obscurity in the process. There's still a sizeable roster of Macross mecha that has never received a model or toy and I'd love to see that list get shorter.

28 minutes ago, m0n5t3r said:

Congrats @rsvictor1976 on getting a hound figure. That panel behind the head really does irk me... reminds me of  Universe Ironhide/Ratchet. A waste of money those two.

Guess I'll stick with my Classics/Henkei Hound a little while longer. As @M'Kyuun said, it's still a great toy even after all these years.

But c'mon Hasbro/Takara -

 

 

2027? 

 

Hey @m0n5t3r, I appreciate the validation regarding Classics Hound. Peach of a figure, he is! Also agree with your Newage Hound callout. I have him, too, and he's done so very well. The only thing I don't like between Magic Square's and Newage's Hound figures is how low the shoulders sit on both. That's actually accurate to both toy and toon, but it's a detail I'd rather they fudge on to have the shoulders sit higher, i.e. more "anatomically correctly". Expanding on your reasoning, the vast majority of the lead third party legends makers are thrashing official toys in virtually every category - aesthetics, articulation, complexity, detail, paint, accessories. They're on the pricey side for their sizes, but with Hasbro's price creep over the past year or two, the bang you get for your buck investing in legends scale grows ever more impactful. Additionally, at the smaller scale, you can fit more on a shelf, which is great if your display space is dwindling, as mine is. That said, I enjoy collecting Hasbro's main line, and I wouldn't balk if 3P legends makers started upscaling some of their figures, especially those that Takara/Hasbro totally whiffed on, to CHUGL scale as an alternative option.

An upscaled MFT Iron Sky would make so much money for them right now in light of the lackluster SS86 Astrotrain figure. In fact, they could upscale all of their triple changers and just watch the money flow in.

1 hour ago, jenius said:

With the 19Kai done, a Macross Plus line alternating with Macross7 variants would be amazing. I was surprised to see how many people were against the 19Kai mold though.

Agree- they've got the VF/YF transformation down, so I could see a YF-19, still one of the most popular Macross valks, selling like hotcakes in the HMR line. I fear they'd probably just downscale their flawed 1/60 YF-21 for the HMR line without fixing any of the fans' criticisms, despite the fact that its smaller size would be a boon. At the very least, integrate the backpack connection. A VF-11 would be welcome, too. I think Yamato was the last company to make a transforming toy of it, and that was circa 2010-11. It's well overdue a new toy, and the HMR scale offers just about everything that the 1/60 scaled toys do, minus integrated landing gear for some inexplicable reason, at a lower cost and at a more space-friendly size.

I'd love to have an Sv-51 in the HMR line, too. I have the old Yammie, but the joints are a bit loose and wobbly so I don't mess with it. At HMR scale, it'd be a little more playable, methinks.

We need some obscure designs in HMR as well: the VF-9, the VF-14, the VF-5000, the Variable Glaug, just to name a few.

On 2/24/2026 at 10:28 AM, rsvictor1976 said:

The toy itself didn’t have any issues. The joints were tight, no stress points, everything fit well. Besides the color, it doesn’t really look accurate to the screen character. I know it’s an older mould. Overall I’m happy it’s in my collection like Jazz and Perceptor but I don’t think it’s something I’ll play around with a lot and it’ll just sit in the display cabinet.

The Siege toy released in 2018 and the Earthrise retool released in 2024, although that version could only be acquired in a Target exclusive boxset. This is a single rerelease of that figure under the SS86 banner, and the most recent release of a G1 Hound in the main line. It's far more toy accurate than toon, which is my personal druthers. I'm not fan of toon 'accuracy' given the inconsistencies with that particular medium. I have yet to receive my SS86 hound, but having the Siege toy, he's not at all a bad fig just to mess about with. and the retooling brings him closer to his G1 look than the Siege version. Too, this release has his proper G1 toy pistol, in addition to his shoulder cannon, so that's a plus. FWIW, my favorite main line Hound is still the 2008 Classics figure, although it's not at all toon accurate and has any number of liberties taken in its design. Nonetheless, I think he's brilliant and he remains one of my all-time favorite TF figures.

Regarding T-Spark Lio Convoy compared to the Kingdom/Legacy fig, I'm likely in the extreme minority for preferring, by a far, far margin, the realistic lion face in lieu of the derpy anime face. The only issue I had with the Legacy face were the golden zombie eyes. Why they didn't spare just a little more paint for those, IDK. Would've made a huge improvement, IMHO. I prefer the paint apps and retools of the weapons on the T-Spark as opposed to Hasbro's cost-cutting. 😒 Anyway, whilst I have no familiarity with the Japanese Transformers toons, and thus with Lio Convoy himself, I found the kingdom fig intriguing enough to pick up and, in-hand, I thought he was a solid and well-executed figure overall. I know a lot of fans were unhappy with the realistic lion face, so it's great that T-Spark delivered a more anime accurate version. Hopefully, everyone that wants a copy can get it.