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M'Kyuun

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Everything posted by M'Kyuun

  1. M'Kyuun
    Classic Space is awesome. I just got copies of both of those last year. I had the FX Star Patroller as a kid, but it got parted out to the four winds for MOCs when I was still a teenager, so I felt it was time to get another for display and play. I never had the Cosmic Cruiser, but always wanted it, so I finally got one, and it's a simple but neat little ship. Even in their simplicity, there's a clean and lovely look to so many of those old sets. As much as I love all the new parts and techniques that have come out over the years, those classic sets still make me happy. I've been aware of the orange astrofig and the minifig book for some time now, but never thought to post it. I wish it was coming in a set instead of a book, similar to the green astrofigs in the IDEAS Exo-Suit, but I'll take them anyway I can get them. $40 for a minifig is a bit steep. Yet another missed opportunity to give us a modern CS set. It's kind of a sneaky move, as, like me, a lot of AFOLs are going to buy this just for the minifig, with no interest in the book itself. I've lived the history of the minifig, and I have thousands of the little buggers at this point, so I don't need a visual representation when I have the real things.
  2. M'Kyuun
    Here's a link to the video: https://www.flickr.com/photos/spacie-11/24035746299/in/dateposted/ And, here's a link to the guy's Flickr. His LDD instructions are available on the top-most picture of the model. Like Chronocidal said, embedding the video above broke it, for whatever reason. My apologies.
  3. M'Kyuun
    I didn't bother with the last UCS Y-Wing, as I have the previous two, and the Y-Wing was always a 'meh' design to me. This thing though. He even put the LDD instructions on his Flickr; I'm just too lazy to source the parts, but I think the model is sublime.
  4. M'Kyuun
    Understandable, under the circumstances, but disheartening, nonetheless. I've got one of their coneheads PO'd, and I hope it makes it to production, but it seems like a dicey prospect at this point. For a company already struggling, this pandemic couldn't have come at a worse time. 'Preciate the insights, Kuma.
  5. M'Kyuun
    I'm surprised that you're a CHUG fan, Kuma, as your tastes , based upon your photographic subjects, tend more towards high end super robots and Transformer figures. Not a dig at all; to the contrary, I apologize for having made the assumption, and I'm glad I'm in good company. The Hasbro mainline has been the mainstay of my collection since '84, and while I like some of what HasTak are doing with the current WFC lines, they're still hit and miss. What I want from third parties now is a really good G1 Megatron that turns into a Walther P-38, Astrotrain, and a good set of Seekers at the CHUG scale, as Earthrise didn't give us good versions of any of these. I'm sure I could think of more, but I'm willing to wait and see what else they roll out over time. I'm hoping for a Walkman Soundwave at the very least (with corresponding cassettes). That third parties seem to have abandoned CHUG scale, for the most part, is indeed unfortunate. I see what they're doing with legends, and it's incredible. Upscale some of those figures to appropriate CHUG sizes, and a number of holes in my collection would be filled. I ordered a set of New Age's Seekers and their Megatron today, as it's been a pretty slow year for purchases thus far, and having seen so many positive reviews, decided I'd go ahead and snag 'em before they become unavailable. I'm not a legends collector, per se, but I have their Prowl and their Cosmos, which I like, so why not.
  6. M'Kyuun
    I wish Maketoys would return to making CHUG scaled figs; aside from Hasbro/Takara, no one else is making toys at that scale anymore. I'd love a simplified voyager scaled Meteor from them to fit in with my CHUG collection, which has long been my primary collection of Transformers. While they're at it, they could make a good Astrotrain to make up for the crappy Earthrise version. If I were a third party company, I'd want to seize on the lack of competition in that scale, since everyone else is doing either MP or legends scaled figures. I didn't pay much attention to a lot of these CHUG scaled combiners back in the day, but that's a pretty nice looking Defensor. I like how the elbow joints are specific to the gestalt, rather than just using the the arm bots' hips to do the job. It's a shame they're a little weak; you'd think they would have put ratchets on those., especially given the size.
  7. M'Kyuun
    Don't forget about IDEAS; there are a number of projects based on classic space themes. IMHO, many of them are worth supporting, as that's about the only avenue to getting a potential classic space set. In this case I'm referring to all space themes from '78 into the 90's. I've recently supported a number of sets in the hopes that lightning will strike a second time, since we already got the CS themed Exo-Suit through IDEAS. I bought five copies of it, and I'd likely buy more than one copy of any other CS themed set they ever released. The recently released Classic Pirate themed Barracuda Bay IDEAS set is very well done, and gives me hope that eventually a classic space themed set in the same vein will reach the 10K mark and see production. Digits crossed. Disney is going to milk the Star Wars teat as long as they possibly can; it's a long-term investment for them. Too, even if the numbered movies have fizzled, the side stories are carrying the franchise in different directions by varying mediums and by different creative teams, with success. So, it's not going away anytime soon, but I don't think any of these side stories have had the same weightiness as the numbered films, as it concerns LEGO tie-ins. In time, we may see some fatigue effect sales, and hopefully that'll provide an opening for LEGO to consider doing some homegrown space stuff. I just hope it's within the next 20-30 years so I'm still around to enjoy it.
  8. M'Kyuun
    I was thinking the same about those trans yellow dishes. I'm kinda over Star Wars, too. That said, and I'm contradicting myself here, I 've seen neither the Mandalorian nor the last season of the Clone Wars cartoon, but I want to see both. The Clone Wars was really good, and the Mandalorian looks interesting from the little I've seen. I think the spin-off stories have become much more interesting than the major films. I like Force Awakens, but TLJ, and then JJ's cleanup effort in Rise of Skywalker just made me wish they'd leave that part of the universe alone. In the right hands, the offshoots are just done better. I thought Rebels was fantastic, and that ending was sad and fulfilling all at once. Just some excellent SW storytelling. But, the OT has been done to death over the last 20+ years that LEGO has had the license, and being a sci-fi nerd growing up in the age of Classic Space, I yearn for their homegrown sci-fi space themes. For whatever reason, they just don't seem interested in doing it, although, IMHO, there's room on the shelves for both SW and an independent Space/sci-fi theme.
  9. M'Kyuun
    Nice case, Kuma. First time I've seen Uni-Metal Prime; looks like they took some design cues from MP-10. Nice.
  10. M'Kyuun
    In the USAF, we have an Egress backshop that specializes in maintenance, removal, and installation of ejection seats at the field level. Crew chiefs often assist in the removal and installation, but it is a dangerous bit of business. I've seen pics of the aftermath of an occupied seat having ejected inside a hangar, and it's unpleasant. The ACES II is designed to propel the rider approximately 300 feet straight up very rapidly, so there's an enormous amount of thrust being generated by those rocket motors. I've sat in them numerous times, having limited work experience on the F-15, and about three years on the B-1 Lancer, and the first thing you want to do is make sure the safety pin is installed to prevent any unwanted trips. The fact that the ejection sequence seems to have failed, going by comments (I didn't read the article), is a huge red flag. If the pilot was able to land the plane due to his seat not firing, it's good that the plane was salvaged, but the larger issue is that a critical crew safety system failed. Had it been a real emergency, the pilot would have been lost. We can always build another plane.
  11. M'Kyuun
    Same boat; concerning transforming toys, characterization means little to me if the toy is cool. Bayformers Jetfire had a double dose of bad. The Action Toys version pretty much shares the same transformation, albeit with a few changes to allow for the improved articulation. besides size, the other main difference between the Machine Robo toys and Transformers was that, in general, more of the alt modes were used to form the robots without hidden arms and such. Gobots wasn't the best show, but I liked how the transformations mirrored the actual toy transformations, unlike Transformers that usually fudged them. Yep. That's why Kawamori's designs work, in most cases. Some of his transformations can be a little dodgy, but overall, he designs his mecha with an eye to engineering that could realistically work, at least in a toy. I think Takara do a fantastic job with ground vehicles, everything from motorcycles to big trucks. Jets seem to be their Achilles heel, for whatever reason. Kawamori designed the original Seeker mold for Diaclone, which is why I think it managed a modicum of accuracy in jet mode, and continues to be one of their best jet designs. I often wonder why they take so much care with preserving the alt modes of cars, but jet alt modes nearly always fall to concessions for the bot modes- a very unequal balance of priority. I'd love to see an interview with them addressing that dichotomy.
  12. M'Kyuun
    Last night was the season finale of LEGOmasters, and it was a good cap to an enjoyable season. The three finalist teams of Marc & Boone, Tyler & Amy, and Sam & Jessica are given 24 hours to build whatever they want, and the winning model will be showcased at LEGOLand New York. In LEGO news, LEGO has announced the next UCS set, and it will be the A-Wing Fighter. I know there are probably a lot of folks cheering this, but the A-Wing never really stood out to me as particularly interesting, as far as ship designs go. I'm still holding out hope for a UCS AT-AT, an ETA-2 Interceptor, or a redo of the Imperial Lambda Shuttle. Two things of note concerning the A-Wing are a new cockpit canopy piece, and four 6x6 dishes in trans-yellow, which will make Classic Space builders happy- we'll take anything in trans-yellow, especially if it can be used as a canopy or window of some sort. Those things will likely sell out quickly on Bricklink.
  13. M'Kyuun
    Growing up in the 80's, Mr. Dennehey seemed to show up in everything. He was a big guy who, as everyone has noted, made his presence known regardless of the nature of the particular character he was portraying. His is another great loss to cinema. RIP, good sir.
  14. M'Kyuun
    Likewise. I've seen handles in different forms, like the black and yellow pull cords on either side of the head or between the knees, and and as a pull-up handle on the seat, but never a push-button or toggle switch. You definitely don't want to be stretching your arm out to the instrument panel to activate an ejection sequence, as you're likely to severely damage or lose it as you rocket out of the plane.
  15. M'Kyuun
    Holy cow, Mike, you know how to compose an argument. I feel like I'm sparring with a lawyer. I'm not sure I can conjure up a more persuasive argument to support my view, so I'll leave it be. I still believe it's possible to get a decent Bayformer Starscream from a reasonably accurate F-22, but until such a time as some third party comes along and does it, b/c we all know HasTak never will, it's all conjecture on my part. I'd like to see Unique Toys give it a go, as they've done some impressive work thus far, and among the third parties, I think they've demonstrated the chops. Or perhaps Wei Jiang. Sad situation, that. Both the characterization and the toy. Thus far the best transforming SR-71 toy I've seen is the Action Toys Machine Robo Blackbird. It's not proportionally accurate, but overall, it integrates the robot much better than pretty much any other version I've seen, and the resulting SR-71 is passable. And it's a fun little toy to boot.
  16. M'Kyuun
    Definitely hints of the original GitS Movie opening in there. I like the robot hands reaching for the robo-eagle; it's a nice not-so-subtle metaphor. Looking much more forward to WW third season than I am to the new GitS show, even with the original Japanese creators on board. Based on the trailers, it just seems too kiddified for my liking.
  17. M'Kyuun
    I've been aware of those Lego-like 'studs' on the standing stones for years, but it's still neat to see it recognized so analogously in the article. Honestly, I'm surprised it hasn't been pointed out before, as the basic LEGO brick design has been around since 1949, based on the British Kiddicraft bricks from the mid-40s, invented by Hilary Fisher Page. Perhaps Page got his inspiration from Stonehenge. The design was borrowed and later bought by LEGO in Denmark, and now this article brings it full circle.
  18. M'Kyuun
    Mike, I respectfully disagree; the F-22 is a rather large and very boxy fighter, which ameliorates the ability to hide robot parts, especially with some well done panel-fu. The F-15 is also a boxy jet, and we've gotten a number of decent seeker designs, mostly from third parties, but still, it's been done. The 22 is larger than the F-15, which is itself a large jet. I think where the issue lies is that, where it concerns Bayformers, from the beginning, the transformations were accomplished not as a matter of practical mechanical design, but by CG artists taking bits of alt mode willy-nilly and assembling them hodge-podge into a 'cool-looking' robot without concern as to how such arrangements make any logical mechanical sense. For an entity trying to make a working three-dimensional translation of such designs is challenging from the onset b/c they inherently, by design, make no sense. Ergo, the need for faux parts, either bot or alt mode; fudging the transformations to try to make some sort of visual sense from one form to the other; using panels in a variety of ways to facilitate the transformation; and making deliberate choices to prioritize one mode over the other. Takara has a pretty good track record for making reasonably convincing ground vehicles of all shapes and sizes, but not so much with aircraft, specifically fighters, and I think that's a deliberate choice on their part. Kawamori's valks prove that a sleek fighter can turn into a nice looking robot. Takara, for whatever reason, just don't seem to be bothered to try. Contrarily, they've done an admirable job with any number of rotorcraft alt modes: RotF Blazemaster, Incinerator, Voyager and SS Blackout, Bumblebee Movie Dropkick, and to a lesser degree, DotM Skyhammer, to name the best ones that come to mind. Why can they fit all that bot into a reasonably realistic and accurate heli mode but not a jet? IMHO, they've been making poor TF jets since the eighties, they seem to sell regardless, so why change or improve? There's no incentive to try so long as people accept the lazy engineering and continue buying these things without meaningful protest or critique.
  19. M'Kyuun
    All I want from them this year is the YF-21. Hopefully Bandai's engineers are teleworking and working all the bugs out of the design to get the best balance possible between battroid and fighter, although if they have to make concessions, I hope they favor the battroid mode. For those that want the ultimate fighter, and piss on the battroid, Yamato already made your dream come true.
  20. M'Kyuun
    I figured I'd give Aquarion a watch, since it was created by Kawamori, with some interesting mecha designs. The metaphysical pseudo-philosophy is piled on extra thick and kinda dilutes my enjoyment of the show. Moreover, the main characters are from different backgrounds with a bit of class prejudice thrown in to artificially create friction between people who need to be mentally bonded in order to make their individual flying machines transform and merge to become one of three different robot configurations depending on who takes the lead. Said friction is maintained despite the fact that the characters in question have put aside their differences and worked together flawlessly in some eps to defeat the enemy of that particualr ep. It just feels like that friction is being dragged out to me. Throw in some pseudo Greek god mythology, heavy reincarnation themes, the uber-wise commander trope, a weird sister fixated on her brother thing, a fair bit of fan service, including the orgasmic bonding experience everytime the robots merge, the telekinetic girl trope, etc, etc, and it's an ok watch. It's pretty, and the CG for the various mecha looks good. All the metaphilosophy mumbo-jumbo gets a little stale , esp when a lesson is taught and then that same situation crops up as the dilemma of the episode thus forcing the intrepid pilots to overcome their personal differences and recognize an application for said lesson to defeat the enemy. That's just about every episode- very formulaic. I'm about 10 eps in, and I think I'll finish it out, but the formulaic nature of it, along with the slathering of pseudo-philosophy, dampens it a bit for me.
  21. M'Kyuun
    Although similar, having done some comparisons to the leader class toy, the MPM appears to be a new mold that's not even as good as the old leader class. Two things that stood out to me were the light grey bar looking structure on the bottom behind the nose gear, which doesn't appear on the leader class fig, and the side transformation structures on the leader class were much more streamlined; that section behind the intake on the MPM looks gappy and the hinged structures are noticeably different. But the end result is no different; it's yet another subpar transforming jet from HasTak. I don't collect MPM, so it's not a big deal to me, but for those who do, it kinda sucks to get another crappy rendition where the F-22 alt mode has heavy concessions.
  22. M'Kyuun
    If Hasbro saw some of these commercials, I can see why they got excited about the potential of the Diaclone figures that became Transfomers.- stop motion makes these things seem much more dynamic than they actually are without resorting to special effects aside from flying them on wires. The car robot ones are great for selling the disguise element. The Dinobot ones are cool, too. Enjoyed the heck out of these, even if some were very repetitive. That 'Di-a Crone'song gets stuck in your head. I wish Hasbro had done something like this, rather than having kids do the transformations.
  23. M'Kyuun
    Ugh, the mention of Power Rangers dampens my enthusiasm appreciably; I was never a fan of that schlock. I might give it a watch if it plays on a free pay-per-view weekend, but I won't go actively seeking it out. Funny how Japanese live-action sci-fi almost always seems to be presented as kiddie fare compared to a lot of more mature anime. I'm guessing that's a cultural bias, similar to American sci-fi in the 50's-60's.
  24. M'Kyuun
    Kind of a mix of Robot Jox and Pacific Rim. Mutants, cyborgs, big robots, kaiju- all ingredients for a fun watch.
  25. M'Kyuun
    The blue 1/48 Sentinel Riobots Legioss is already starting to sell out on various sites, so I took the plunge and PO'd a copy from TFSource. HLJ, which has an order stop in place, has it for about $20 less than most of the popular US sites, but I figured I'd make up the difference in shipping, which will be free through TFS. Anyway, I hope it's as high quality as the rest of their products appear to be. It looks good, and, at the very least, is sure to be made of sterner stuff than my old Toynami, with its plethora of issues. I've never watched Mospeada, and feel no compunction to do so, but ever since I picked up the "Leader One" model by Monogram back in the 80's, I've had a soft spot for the design, even if it's a bit chunky and somewhat unrefined compared to Kawamori's more realistic valks. I love its battroid mode- it's just a cool looking anime mech that happens to turn into a decent sci-fi jet.
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