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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    Just saw it, and liked it for what it was. Lots of action and a basic Terminator narrative. It kept me entertained for a couple of hours, and that's all I really expected from it. Everyone played their parts well...Linda falls right back into the Sarah Connor persona from T2, only more wrinkled, and more angry.
  2. M'Kyuun
    Segueing from all the fighter talk, I'm currently reading The Dream Machine by Richard Whittle which chronicles the difficult development of the V-22 Osprey. I'm only about a third of the way through the book, as it goes in depth concerning all the politicking and such that was going on in D.C., as well as difficulties in the working relationship between partners Bell and Boeing, and it can be a bit dry. However, it's an amazing story nonetheless, as it took any number of folks, from Bell, later Boeing, to heads of the military, most specifically the Marines , to congressional members to get the thing off the ground, both figuratively and metaphorically. It's a tragedy, both in human terms, but also in historic terms, that it has had a number of high-profile incidents which have negatively colored its general portrayal, especially in the media. Personally, I'm a huge fan of both the V-22 and the idea of the tilt-rotor. Through related V-22 searches, I just recently learned that a second tilt-rotor, the Bell V-280, is in development as part of the Future Vertical Lift program to create viable future helicopter and VTOL technologies for military applications. It looks to be comparable in size to the UH-60. There's also an unmanned multi-role version in development. Neat stuff, and I'm glad to see tilt-rotor technology still being advanced and developed. I wish we had them for commercial use, too, but that ship has yet to sail. I'd love the opportunity to fly in one. As a related aside, Bell had a quad tilt-rotor concept that would have had a cargo capacity comparable to the C-130 planned around the turn of the millennium. It never came to pass, but I think it would have been cool to see in action. I'd be remiss if I left out another contender for the FVL competition, the SB-1 Defiant, which incorporates coaxial counter-rotating main rotors, along with a pusher prop mounted perpendicular to the tail. Although not a new idea, this will be the first use of that arrangement in a US military helicopter if it proceeds into full-scale development for the Army, who historically favor choppers over tilt-rotors. Ok, I've bumped enough- back to Russian fighters and their odd NATO nomenclatures.
  3. M'Kyuun
    So bought on release day. Hopefully, LEGO will sweeten the deal with double VIP points, but just getting the smaller Batmobile for free is a lovely bonus. Honestly, I can't remember their ever having given a set that size away as a freebee. I've been wanting this Batmobile above all others for a long time, so I'm stoked that we're getting two versions for the price of one. I hope they do the Animated Series version, and the Arkham Knight version at some point. Very different interpretations, and yet each is cool in its own way. Lots of nostalgia for the Animated Series.
  4. M'Kyuun
    Almost certainly so. Fan-made sets usually go for a premium compared to sets of a comparable part count. That's why Ideas is a good , well, idea. Speaking of which, I just built the newly released Dinosaur Fossils Ideas set (21320) yesterday, and I found it to be a rewarding experience- the set comes in at a hefty 910 pieces, and I really enjoyed seeing the various bits of skeleton take form until completion. The final models look great, especially when displayed together as a nice tableau. The designer, legendary Niels Milan Pederson, who helped design many of the Classic Space sets many of us (Me!) cherish, happens to be a part-time archaeologist with a life-long passion for dinosaurs. His office is replete with dino skeleton models he has built over the years for his own pleasure, so when this particular Idea was accepted for production, he was the obvious choice to design the set. The only disappointment I felt was that they stopped at just three skeletons. I hope the set sells very well prompting LEGO to maybe release a couple more, perhaps a nice Apatosaurus, a Stegosaur, or an Ankylosaur to round out the collection. I really, really want a Sauropod, and Niels had several on his shelves, so fingers crossed, it'll show up as a future Creator set. The only possible negative some may feel about the set is that the Triceratops and T-Rex are built in place, so you can't take them off their stands and pose them. That would be great fun, IMHO, but beyond the scope of what was intended for the set. An intrepid MOCer could overcome this limitation, I'm sure. I enjoy it for what it is, so I won't be modding mine, but I'm sure someone out there will eventually, and I look forward to seeing how they turn out. Cheers!
  5. M'Kyuun
    In all fairness, a lot of MOCs look better than their official counterparts, as fans are under no constraints but their imaginations and inventory. LEGO designers work under many constraints, from safety to the cost of using one part over another, and with input from any number of agencies within the process of creating a set, changes occur that aren't always what we as fans would consider the most favorable. It is what it is, I'm aware of the process, and I'm glad that the sets are as good as they usually are. That doesn't mean I don't have my criticisms- I do, especially in the element palette, but also with choices made in some sets where I feel something could have been done better if a different part, or technique, was used. But again, LEGO has a process, so I accept it and carry on. As a child of the &0's and coming up through the classic era of LEGO, watching it decline in the 90's, nearly fail in the early 2000's and then rise again and become the world's leading toy company, I've had the opportunity to see a lot of changes in set design, part design, paint, graphic design, etc, and while I love my Classic Space stuff, the set design and part palette has become very impressive- much like Transformer toys today compared to the bricks we G1 folks had, LEGO has improved by leaps and bounds. So, even with their limitations, I still love collecting and building sets across many themes, and I'm generally pretty pleased with most, especially with nearly fifty years of hindsight to inform my opinion. I look forward to another half century of building,
  6. M'Kyuun
    Thanks for the info, Mike. After I posted my second edit, I watched a couple of vid reviews of Battalion Shockwave and Jetfire, and yeah, these were made to gain brand appeal in foreign markets, they are made cheaply with fair to poor articulation, and they're around voyager scale, although I encountered a bunch of legends scaled figs during my visit to Walgreens, who happen to be, as you mentioned, the sole retailer for these things. They've been around since 2017, but Saturday was the first time I'd ever seen them. It's a shame that the build quality and articulation are so poor, as Shockwave looks pretty nice, with some nice paint apps, and I like the spaceship mode, simple as it is, better than the Siege. Anyway, the large figs are just shy of $17, and with large hollow areas and basic articulation (Shocky has no knee joints), I'm glad I put him back. Gotta admit, there was a slight thrill of discovery, though, and with a little more articulation, he would have made a nice stand-in for CHUG. Target has Siege Shockwave on sale for $30, so I went ahead and ordered him online, and he should be on my doorstep next Tuesday. Like the vast majority of Siege figs, I think I'll like him much better in hand. If nothing else, he has a nice bot mode.
  7. M'Kyuun
    Thanks for the reviews, Mike. It looks like Jackson Pollack went apeshit on both Soundwave and SoundBlaster with that excessive battle damage. Sheesh! I skipped on the Siege Soundwave in anticipation of a second release with a dedicated cassette player mode. I'm guessing that'll probably confuse some of the younger kids who collect these things, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it'll come to pass. G1 Soundwave was one of my favorite characters in the series, and remains so today. He had, arguably, the best gimmick, aside from transforming, with his cassette minions popping out of his chest to do his bidding. Pure awesome. I checked out EmGo's Ratchet review yesterday, and, though I had seen or read a previous review and knew that there were quite a few remolded parts, it was a nice refresher that made me appreciate the figure more. I've been to one Walgreens thus far, and they didn't have him, so I'm going to have to check again or resort to online. I may try another one in my area today, as I have an appointment, and there's one located nearby. While the mold didn't exactly floor me with Ironhide, it's still pretty good, and I must admit I'm a sucker for the 'box on the hinged stick', which is meant to be his cannon, or rocket launcher if you will, that was part of the G1 toy's sled, and was actually depicted more with Ironhide (deployed from his back in the third ep when he's "tired of sucking their vapor trail" and flies after the Decepticon ship; and again in the second episode during the Sherman Dam scene, he and Bumblebee "make a new river" with Bee manning the said cannon in the back of Ironhide's van mode. Good stuff.). As an aside, I was so, so hoping that cannon would be integrated into MP Ironhide's back to reenact those scenes- alas, no. Anyway, hopefully I'll run across a copy of Ratchet today as the total package, IMHO, is superior to what we got with Ironhide, and it'd be nice to have both. Edit: Walgreens run was a success. Amazing sculpt-work all over this figure; it's really a shame they didn't give it a wash, or some dry-brushing, or just a spot of paint here or there to pick out details. The accessories in my copy are all in perfect shape (no warping of the hinged stick for his cannon), but the back wheels have a little too much play and don't turn very well, almost not at all on a smooth surface. Lamenting the omission of rubber tires. Nice looking Ratchet figure. I'm not a big fan of plugging weapons in all over the vehicle mode, and I discovered that all of his weapons will fit snugly in his legs, just in case there are any like-minded souls out there. Edit2: On Saturday, I mentioned coming across a Shockwave and Sideswipe figure in Generations packaging that I couldn't identify. Well today, as I picked up my Ratchet, a shelf tag next to him had the info: Generations Cyber Battalion. I never heard of this line before today, nor have I ever seen the toys anywhere but Walgreens. Anyway, they look a little simpler than the Siege toys, similar to the Cyberverse toys, based on the eponymous cartoon. I guess they're a continuation of that line. Anyway, I won't lie: Shockwave doesn't look too bad, nor does their Jetfire, which I probably would have bought had they had it. Anyway, just thought I'd follow up.
  8. M'Kyuun
    Agree on all counts. I'm not a big fan of exclusives or limited editions. Moreover, I'd surmise that the majority of folks who collect Batman or LEGO Batman stuff have been waiting for this set, in particular, since LEGO first got the license in 2006. They've made a number of sets that looked inspired by the '89 Batmobile, of which Jokerland and Batmobile Pursuit of the Joker come the closest, but, until now, never the actual car. So, to make it limited or tie it to another set as a promotion instead of putting it out for wide release is a poor move on LEGO's behalf, if, in fact, that's what they plan to do. I hope not. If it does end up being a difficult set to obtain, the bright side is that it should be fairly easy to Bricklink the parts, and eventually LEGO or a dedicated LEGO fansite will post instructions. This smacks of the Batpod giveaway that LEGO did, a very limited release. Hope I'm wrong.
  9. M'Kyuun
    Maybe he has a heavily modified DeLorean. Anyway, I'm definitely down for a sequel if they can match or better the first. They set a high bar.
  10. M'Kyuun
    Looks like there's a UCS 1989 Batmobile coming. https://www.thebrickfan.com/lego-batman-1989-batmobile-76139-found-at-billund-airport-lego-store/ There's also a Limited Edition System scaled '89 Batmobile that some are speculating will accompany the UCS as a free gift. It's all speculation for now, as there's no official word from LEGO. https://www.thebrickfan.com/lego-batman-1989-batmobile-limited-edition-40433-official-images/ I'm stoked for both-will definitely get the UCS, and hopefully a copy of the second if it turns out to be a very limited release. In truth, I'd almost prefer the smaller one, but I look forward to all the details in the UCS.
  11. M'Kyuun
    Nice find, Mike. Both figs hit the mark for a good blend of toon and toy. Shame the articulation isn't quite up to current standards, or these would be nigh perfect. With Earthrise on the horizon, and a nice looking Cliffjumper with Siege level articulation being shown, I'm hoping that all the minibots will get the same treatment in this line, as they really seem to going full-bore G1. This would, IMHO, be the line to just knock out all the original cast with faithful G1 versions so all of us 'GeeWunners' finally get the definitive official mainline toys we've been wanting for years. After Siege, though, I hope they do something completely different- kinda like they did with Animated, only a whole new cast. Put G1 to bed for awhile. As for my CHUG shelves, for now I'm letting Magic Square's Strong Man and New Age's Max (Cosmos) fill the voids, though both are undersized for official legends, esp Max-he's tiny. But, both look really good, and are fun little versions of their respective characters, so I put them out there b/c they make me happy.
  12. M'Kyuun
    Beat me to it, Tekering. Thx for the comparison pic. The official legends figs are not only taller, but also chunkier compared to the Magic Square, which hues much closer to the animation, and which, I believe, is in its own scale apart from official toys. In truth, my old IGear matches proportionally better with the recent legends releases, but Strong Man is such a beautiful fig that I have him displayed as well with the rest. Unlike most collectors, I have multiple versions of characters on my CHUG shelves- it doesn't bother me, and space is at a premium. I could put up a dedicated shelf somewhere I suppose, for a 'definitive' assortment, but my care factor is off-scale low. Anyway, I keep hoping, as they churn out these G1 inspired legends figs, that they'll eventually give us a faithful version of Huffer, as I don't think Has/Tak have produced one since the original. He was a rather notable character in the first season, showing up and playing active roles in any number of episodes, especially hauling Prime's trailer in the ep where Megs uses all the Decepticon power rectifier chips to cheat in one-on-one combat. That gives me hope, as Earthrise Prime is coming with his trailer (it's such a useless accessory, and yet such an integral part of the whole character), and it offers the perfect opportunity for Hasbro to release a Huffer fig that can haul it too. Fingers crossed.
  13. M'Kyuun
    Nice rundown on the official legends class figs from the last few lines, Mike. I've been really happy with how well they've turned out, even Wheelie. Warpath turned out to be such a good fig that I doubt anyone has an issue with his being a deluxe. Cosmos, to me, was the one standout due to his departure from the G1 model, which I'm assuming was based on one of the comics' interpretations, but he still retains enough characteristics to be recognizable, and honestly, he's fun a figure. Huffer is the notable omission in the G1 legends updated figs, and one I've been waiting for. I finally filled the void, previously occupied by IGear's version, with Magic Square's Strong Man. I also supplemented my CHUG shelf with New Age's Max, their G1 interpretation of Cosmos. Official versions are welcome, however. Slowly but surely, the '84 roster is filling up with some nice updated figs. I'm anticipating the upcoming Cliffjumper, a character who for years has been relegated to Bumblebee repaints. Nice to see him get his own mold that's fairly faithful to his G1 look, minus the spoiler. Nice, too that they gave him his cannon from the first episode of the series, and water skis from that other episode. I think third party is having an influence. So, I checked out one of the Walgreens in my area today for Siege Ratchet, with no luck. They had a couple other Siege figs, as well as a Shockwave and a Sideswipe fig which I can't identify. They were in fully enclosed boxes marked as Generations, but the figs themselves looked more in line with the Cyberverse figures. Did a Google search, but didn't find them, so I'm wondering if they're Walgreens exclusives too. This Shockwave turned into a spaceship, different from the Siege toy, but it looked decent enough that I almost picked it up. I left it there, and, after a fine lunch of fried chicken, headed to Target where I found Siege Thundercracker on sale. I've been critical of the mold from the get-go, as the obvious folded legs forming the undercarriage bugged me in his tetra-jet mode. However, since he was marked down a bit, I figured I'd grab him. Glad I did- while the undercarriage is still unattractive, in hand it doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would. He locks together pretty solidly, and he's quite swooshable. Bot mode is where this figure shines, though- it should be the benchmark for articulation- the feet pivot fore and aft as well as tilt inwards a little, the fists, which rotate into the arm for transformation, also rotate at the wrist, elbows and knees both bend well beyond 90 degrees. The legs have a spring-loaded panel that allows the thigh to bend deeply into the calf for transformation, but it serves double duty by allowing for some deep kneeling poses. His thigh incorporates the waist skirt, and thigh rotation occurs below the skirt line, which works very well. His elbows are double jointed, and bicep rotation occurs below the cubed shoulders. The wings are jointed to allow the wings to sweep back, but also rotate back, kinda like a cape in the wind, allowing for ample clearance for arm posing. The transformation is clever for turning his G1 F-15 robot mode into a Cybertronian tetra-jet. The only negative I have, and this may just be my copy, is that his guns peg into his shoulders somewhat loosely, although they peg into his wings firmly. Not sure if that was a mold issue, but it's a very small detractor from what is otherwise a really standout figure. If the Earthrise mold has the same articulation, I'm looking even more forward to snapping up all three original Seekers when they release. I must admit, I was wrong about this figure; while I still wish they could have incorporated the legs into his alt a little more conformally, as a total package, the bot mode more than makes up for the alt mode deficiencies, and I've always felt that the bot mode should take precedence, as they're robots in disguise, not the other way around. Definitely a recommend. Cheers!
  14. M'Kyuun
    Um, how about a little film called Terminator- Judgement Day : Aug 29, 1997.
  15. M'Kyuun
    Yep. Apologies for the misspelling, and for mistaking the nature of the pics. It really looked to me like it was a single figure with multiple forms. Anyway, thanks for setting me straight. Those are some great looking alt modes. I'm also hoping that the MMC Autobot cassettes will be available for PO soon. I wonder if they have any plans to do the combining cassettes? I still remember the KFC versions, but I never got any of them, as their quality always seemed to be an iffy proposition. I have a lot more faith in MMC, and I already own Jaguar, Volture and Buzzard, and Furor. The condors could have been better, but Jaguar and Furor are excellent. I can't wait to have Steeljaw and Ramhorn in the same scale.
  16. M'Kyuun
    While FT's Fortress Max seems to be the hot topic around the proverbial water cooler this morning, the city bots never did much for me. Moreover, I still need to build a shelf for Unicron, and I've no idea where I would put a city bot that's the size of an 8 yr old child. Some of the things that caught my eye from TFCon are Gang Toys' quadruple changer (bull, big cat, crab, and bot). I have no idea who it's supposed to be, but the engineering looks amazing from the pics. All the animal forms look distinct and Zoidlike, which is a plus in my book. Of everything shown, I think that made the most impact on me. MMC's Bulkhead repaint looks good. The more I see of FT's Astrotrain and Brawn, the more certain I am that both will adorn my shelves eventually. Their Warpath looks good, too. I prefer BC's more stylistic approach, as it looks appropriately badass, but FT's is a nice clean looking bot, and I may consider picking him up if reviews are solid. HTB Toys' TF/GI Joe mashup figs have me intrigued, and although their cassettes look rather poor, the HISS Tank TF art caught my eye. That's a mashup that should have happened in the official toyline eons ago- it's a no-brainer, and a bit of a shame that it's coming from a third party (that I've never heard of). Noticeably absent, and the figs I looked most forward to seeing, were Ocular Max's RMX Autobot cassettes. I am eagerly awaiting their releases.
  17. M'Kyuun
    Like most, I felt the LAM was a bit disappointing. But, I don't think it was entirely horrible. I liked the callbacks to the original animated film, and I think the overall look of the film was pretty close. Some things that bugged me were: Using 'Major' as a name rather than a rank- made me cringe every time. Changing her origin- I've grown attached to the back story they created for her in SAC, and I wish they'd stuck to that. Her brain is organic- No, just no. Full cyborg with a cyberbrain that is also manufactured. As she said in the original, the govt pretty much owns her, and her other cyborg comrades, until they can pay off the hardware. I realize they were trying to humanize her for the film, but I think they should have stayed true to the original character in this regard. Too much focus on the major and her journey of self-discovery. I think a bit of exposition to give the audience an idea of who these people are, either through dialog, or discoveries along the way through, gasp, storytelling, would have proved a better way of introduction into the world. Meanwhile, as in the original and SAC, we see Section 9 doing what they do as a special ops team. And throw in a Tachikoma for good measure. As for whitewashing, the fact that she's a cyborg and her features aren't necessarily, like most anime, Asian, I'm not really bothered that they hired Scarlett. I think she did a decent job with what she was given. What, again, took me out of the experience was having a single Japanese speaker among an otherwise all English speaking cast. I don't object at all to having a Japanese actor, but I think it's odd when one character speaks a different language from everyone else, and even odder when everyone understands him and he understands everyone else, but no one speaks to him, even a little, in his native tongue. There's a disconnect there that doesn't gel with me. Rooster Teeth did the same thing in their current show Gen-lock, where there's one Japanese speaker among an entirely English speaking cast, and yet everyone understands him and he understands everyone else. It's a bit far removed from my reality, so I struggle with it. Maybe in the future, we all become expert linguists. Anyway, the LAM wasn't the film I or most hoped for, but I think it's far from the worst anime based film out there. there are enough callbacks from the original film that I like, but my list of bothersome things gets in the way of my really enjoying it. I think Battle Angel did a far better job, but then Cameron, and Rodriguez by default, were quite steeped in the manga to inform the story and look of the film, and I found it to be enjoyable and infinitely rewatchable. I hope it gets a sequel. As for the new toon, I hope they recapture what made the original film and the SAC series so good- Excellent writing with a dash of requisite philosophy thrown in, good VA's to bring out the humanity in these intriguing characters, and visuals that push boundaries in creating the world these people inhabit. The trailer fails in these regards, but again, it's only a trailer. I'll reserve judgement until we're a few eps in.
  18. M'Kyuun
    Seems like a very down-to-earth guy, absolutely exuding Japanese humility. I find it interesting that, despite his success, he chooses to remain in his hometown. However, he seems like a bit of an introvert, and home is where he finds comfort. I'm very much a homebody, and I've found my bit of peace here in a small town in WA, so I can empathize. Very pleasant vid of a truly talented fellow. The ondo voices and taiko combination from GitS is now iconic- funny how they weren't sure about it during the production. But, then again, Spielberg was uncertain of a two-note bit in a score for a big toothy fish film he did back in the 70's. John Williams had to convince him, and the rest, as we say, is history. Man, I wish we had a yakatori stand like that here in my town- YUM!
  19. M'Kyuun
    I think it's a bit early to flush the show down the proverbial toilet without at least having seen a finished episode whereby to gauge the animation, writing, voice acting, etc. They've got Kamiyama and Aramaki on board, and production IG is involved, so I wouldn't write it off just yet. As trailers go, this one is pretty poor, especially for this universe, but I'm hoping something a little more in line with what we've seen in the past will emerge to really whet the appetite for the series. Totally agree- great scene. I always loved the scene in the middle where they show all the reflections in the bus windows- it blew me away the first time I watched the original movie, as that was some of the most amazing animation I'd ever seen up to that point. Kenji Kawai's haunting music throughout that scene still gives me goosebumps. The original film is a classic for good reason.
  20. M'Kyuun
    Hope you're alright, Mike. I've done similar in the past, and yeah, Band Aids make for difficult typing. Hope you heal quickly so you can get back to posting reviews. Take care! Beautiful pics, as always, Kuma. I'm not really a fan of Fire Convoy, anything from the Unicron Trilogy, really, but you have an extraordinary talent for making these things come to life through your photography.
  21. M'Kyuun
    As trailers go, a bit lackluster, both in terms of the CG appearance, but also the action. I don't think anything will ever eclipse the iconic scene of her falling backwards off of the building in the original, but I think they could have come up with something a little more exciting than just stopping a dune buggy on a deserted road in some tropical location. Yawn. As far as the voice, the 'youthful' quality doesn't really bother me, as I'm unfamiliar with the original Japanese VA's voice (I generally choose dubbed anime, as I don't speak Japanese, and I'd rather spend time looking at all the visuals than reading. I realize that's anathema to some, but to each his own). Regardless, I thought Mary McGlynn was a good choice for the character, as there's a maturity to her voice that I found fitting. Anyway, the character is a cyborg, and so the pitch of her voice can likely be changed at a whim depending on the Major's sensibilities. In the original, after Batou transfers her ghost into the young girl cyborg body, she begins speaking in the young girl's voice but eventually modulates it to her adult voice. So as long as the voice sounds somewhere between 18 -30ish, I think it's fine. I think the cheap CG look is more of an issue, but I can understand budgets and such. I don't think this is perhaps the best piece of footage to judge the show by. IMHO, the SAC series is a hard one to beat in terms of storytelling, art, the characterization, the whole shebang, if you will. It was an excellent series, and a tough one to better. I hope the new series can at least rival it on equal terms, in at least the writing, if no where else.
  22. M'Kyuun
    It'll be an amazing, if not practical, accomplishment if the Brits successfully develop Skylon. While it's capacity is significantly less than the STS orbiter, a single-stage aerospace plane would revolutionize how we move payloads into space in the foreseeable future. I wish them every success.
  23. M'Kyuun
    No kidding; from the 70's through the 80's, imagination really held sway and gave us many of the classics that are still being milked ad nauseum. The American film industry seems to have just about run out of ideas, which is why, in my case, anime tends to fill the void, as the Japanese never seem short of ideas, especially in the realm of sci-fi, which is my favorite genre of entertainment, especially visual. Too, the vast majority of anime I've seen generally delves into more profound intellectual and philosophical territory than do even most American films aimed at teens and adults. I just finished the first season of Dr. Stone, which celebrates scientific knowledge in both practical and humorous ways. Food Wars examines the high end of culinary education and the pressures of becoming a professional chef, even in the midst of all its ecchi trappings and humor. Still, both are entertaining in an intellectual way that most American shows, not even the reality shows, are, IMHO. Anyway, I wonder how many new proposals, concepts, and ideas end up getting scrapped by execs who'd rather bet on the umpteenth sequel or remake of something that's already been done. At least in the 80's, Hollywood had the balls to try, otherwise there'd be no Alien, Predator, Terminator, Robocop, Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, Blade Runner, Batman, Superman, Star Wars, etc. These are just some of the films and franchises I can think of off the top of my head, and there are plenty more in sci-fi, horror, and fantasy that continue to this day. Despite a handful of notable sci-fi films over the last decade or two (Inception, Interstellar, Gravity, The Martian, Ad Astra, Oblivion, Passengers, the MCU and the lesser DCU, as well as YA series like Divergent and the Hunger Games, etc) none of these films seem to spawn the kind of following that'll have sequels still being made of them in thirty years like those of the eighties. I'm sure this is the sort of thing pondered when studying cinema; I haven't, but as an eighties kid, it's poignant that I'm nearing fifty, and I still seem to see rehashes of my childhood shows and films more than I see new ideas. With such a library of inspiration to draw on, accompanied by a greater societal acceptance of sci-fi themes, I had high hopes for where sci-fi would or could go in cinema, especially as special effects and CG improved. My anticipation seems to have over-reached. It seems to me that more strides are being made on the small screen today than on the large in sci-fi. Then again, there's a good argument to be made for letting a story play out over the length of a series as opposed to the condensation requisite to a film. I guess it's a tradeoff, both in terms of finances and storytelling. It's still nice to see some cool sci-fi on the big screen, though---there's an experience there that's simply unequalled by sitting on my futon watching my 55 inch tv sans surround sound.
  24. M'Kyuun
    Out of masochistic curiosity, I decided to give Macross 7 a watch; two eps in and I already want Basara to die. Gotta wonder what Kawamori was thinking. Love all the mecha action, though. Nothing like valk on valk.
  25. M'Kyuun
    Given that this is another trilogy toy line, I'm surprised that Hasbro didn't maintain the Cybertronian theme longer exactly for that reason- there are a number of well-known characters who didn't get a figure yet. Bee and Wheeljack stand out, as they were the first two characters we meet in the original show, and both were shown in their Cybertronian alts. Would have been nice to have those two. Alas, I've never been much of a fan of Cybertronian alts, as they tend to be lazy, awkward, or just odd, in many cases. The same holds true for some of the figs in Siege- Shockwave, Soundwave, and the Refraktor dudes (spaceship mode) come to mind. While Wheeljack and Bee would have been nice additions, if they actually gave them their G1 Cyb-alts, I really don't lament an early shift to earth alts. An updated full collection of all the '84 lineup is what I've wanted for years in the mainline, and it seems like it may finally come to pass. Still wish Megs could be a gun, though.
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