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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    Some great photography by all. Kuma- you're the King of Super Robots; nice group shot. Prime looks good, but Voltron totally steals his thunder. SH900's shot of MP-44 in his natural habitat (good ole Ark) brings on the nostalgia. I like that he's not toting his gun in this shot, as the Autobots rarely had weapon in hand while hanging out at their HQ. Treatment, nice use of the blast effects parts from Seige Jetfire to spice up the action. That would look amazing with an animated cell environment in the background. Nice showcase of MP-44's articulation. RED WOLF, I've been enjoying you're stylized shots since you starting posting them- just a nice bit of flavor and color as well as homaging some memorable themes from the old toon. You're shots also bring to the fore Takara's direction of improving articulation in the MP line, a salient improvement that I absolutely adore in the latest figures. To all, thanks for sharing your pics and your talents with us.
  2. M'Kyuun
    Hope you're feeling better, Mike. Back before I finally got my hands on FT's Swoop, which none of the e-tailers of renown were carrying when I was trying to complete my Dibot collection, I gave some consideration to Volar. I like the look in bot mode, but I think his Pteranodon mode suffers a bit, more than I believed, actually, after reading your review. I'm glad I waited and found an ebay seller with a blue-chested Soar to fill out my Dibots. Like you, I just like the contrast of his blue chest to the red chests of the rest- it stands out in an eye-pleasing way, and looks nice with the overall color scheme of the character. Moreover, while I like the look of the FOC Dinobots ( the game designs were hit and miss for me, but I loved the look of their Prime and the Dinos were pretty cool looking, too), I much prefer the very G1 look of FT's Dinos across the board, and they managed to incorporate some neat mechanics in his little dino legs to give them some nice articulation, as well as his dino head and wings- just a well executed robo-Pteranodon. The only nitpicks I have with Soar are that due to an abundance of die-cast, he's very heavy for his size, but his ankles are friction joints that don't handle the weight very well, and I wish they'd designed his arms to retract into the body at more of an angle going down the body to give him a "V" shape instead of straight in giving him a boxy look. I guess it's how the G1 did it, but I don't mind a design concession if it improves the alt mode. Anyway, I'm pretty happy with Soar, with all my FT Dinos, really. I still think Animated Swoop is one of the best Swoop designs. His wings were way too small, but otherwise, they did a good job of giving him a more organic look, especially with the legs articulating forward like a modern bird. It looks cool, although, it doesn't seem anatomically correct based on a Google image search for Pteranodon. I'd love to see what a good third party company could do with some of the Animated designs- still one of my favorite TF toy lines, and one I think, that still has potential. We never got an Animated Omega Supreme, and that's my favorite incarnation of the character. Since HasTak did absolutely nothing to celebrate Animated's tenth anniversary, I've been hoping a third party somewhere would seize the opportunity. Still waiting- nuthin' but the sound of crickets.
  3. M'Kyuun
    Sucks to pay $400 for a figure only to learn it has an issue, especially a joint issue. Hopefully Takara are aware and are addressing it. Overall, I kinda dig the design, although it still slews a little too much towards the Bayformer look for my tastes. I raise a skeptical eyebrow when I see four nose landing gears being used as toes, which only cements the fact that ILM just slaps whatever where-ever on these things if they think it looks cool, without practical consideration to the actual machine in question. Just looking at it, I see no way for a practical transformation to happen without extensive CG magic, which shall ever remain my greatest beef with the all the live action designs. I applaud Travis Knight for the much improved writing and characterization he brought to Bumblebee, but even with the improvements to the designs to make them closer to a more plausibly mechanical look, and closer to the G1 aesthetic as well, there's room for improvement. As Kawamori does, I think they should start out with a practical transforming model and design from there- it'd make more sense on screen, and provide a rough model for the eventual toy. I never thought of it from a sales perspective, but, yeah, it makes sense to pump out 'army-builder' type characters, and Reflector was certainly that in the original show. So were the humanoid cassettes, and the Seekers. I wouldn't argue with multiple releases of the cassette dudes in different colors- small, and fairly cheap, they'd be an ideal toy to mass produce. Those Real Gear bots that accompanied the main characters in the 2007 live action toy line were pretty nifty. They were the brainchildren of Alex Kubalsky, who also design the Concept Camaro Bumblebee figure for that line. From interviews I've read, his design philosophy was a game changer at Takara, who until that time, generally liked to make everything square and blocky, and Alex liked to introduce curves into his designs. The influence is evident in many of the toys released over the last decade. Alex is now one of the main designers for MMC.
  4. M'Kyuun
    I think, just by design, and by virtue of anime magic, Unicron is always going to be a difficult figure to realize in a transforming toy without losing fidelity in one mode or the other. I appreciate the comparison shot, as it highlights the two very different approaches taken, as well as what was prioritized. Although I've already backed the Haslab project, my own preference skews more towards the better engineering of the Zeta for their ingenious transformation mechanics and virtually kibble-free robot mode. IMHO, Zeta's concession of eschewing anime accuracy on the planet mode's backside was a fair trade for the final result, as I would likely never display him with the backside out front anyway. I can understand where it might be an issue for those with a fully walk-around display, in which case, if planet mode is the desired display mode, then Hasbro's definitely the way to go. For my preferences, Zeta's planet mode does a passable job, and more than likely, I'd have him in robot mode most of the time, as is my wont. The coloration differences you pointed out, Captain America, are certainly of concern, and something I hadn't previously given consideration; those paint differences, dictated by the transformation, could really throw off the look of the planet mode, and I hope that's something that the Zeta folks took into account when designing this thing. It's possible that those hip skirts, in particular, are double sided and can rotate 180 degrees to provide the proper deco. I wasn't paying attention to that aspect when watching the vid, so I may have to go back and watch it again. Harkening to the Megatron discussion, I'm in the favorable camp regarding MP-36, although I'll concede it 's not without its flaws. If I had my druthers, they would have eschewed all the origami involved in forming the upper torso and made his slide/chest a single piece while engineering the arms to swing around into position, much as X-Transbots did with Apollyon. I think the legs are really the standout bit of engineering on the figure, and had Hasui had more time and insight to design MP-5, utilizing MP-36's solution, it would have been a far better received, and certainly a far better proportioned, figure. Presently, I still like the looks of MP-36, short of the chest area, as it makes for a striking looking fig with impressive articulation. His gun mode, as everyone knows, is replete with panel lines that do nothing to hide the fact that it transforms. It's a concession, and like me, I doubt the majority of MP-36 owners keep their figure in gun mode, or even transform it, very often. I think Takara made that assumption as well, and the alt mode become a lesser priority. Still, it does transform, and from a distance forms a reasonably realistic facsimile of a Walther P-38, which is all I require. As to third party MP Megs, I still think Despotron and Apollyon are the two top contenders, and while I own the latter, I don't have the former but may pick one up if I ever see a good sale.
  5. M'Kyuun
    It truly is. And speaking of choice, having watched the Zeta Unicron transformation, that's the kind of engineering I wish Has/Tak had employed with their version. While I still prefer the detail work of the Has/Tak, the cleanliness of Zeta's is fantastic. Nice to know that there's an option if the official fails to secure backing, although I imagine they'll just keep pushing the deadline out until they reach 8000. Kinda wish I'd stalled on backing, now. A point of concern with the Zeta is the amount of force necessary to untab the legs from planet mode- that guy is exerting a scary amount of effort, especially for a test shot. But the way they form the sides of the planet is just fantastic, along with all the other folding bits. If the Hasbro ultimately fails, this will be on my buy list for sure. On the final fix wish-list, I'd hope to see the belly panel outfitted with translucent plastic abs and the outer ring extended farther from the planet surface. As a test shot, some floppiness is to be expected, and hopefully all the loose joints, especially his jaw, will be toleranced well on the final.
  6. M'Kyuun
    Well stated, Mike. Personally, I was enthralled with MP-01 from the start, although he was a bit large for a practical collection of similarly scaled figs, so I think Takara's decision to downscale with MP-10 was a good one. MP-10 didn't sell me at the beginning, either, as I really disliked the protruding wheel wells and crappy wheel covers on his legs as well as his ape arms. However, over time, I kept seeing pics of him pop up during searches, and I repeatedly found myself liking how it looked overall, not to mention his truck mode was a notable improvement over MP-01's, and he came with the trailer. Eventually, I got a copy, with no regrets. As Mike mentioned, he's still a solid figure, although I agree with his observation that either MS-01 or TE-01 is an improvement in almost every way, and having one of those figs negates the need for MP-10 IMHO. However, as a Transformer collector, I can understand the allure of wanting to own a copy, especially at a decent price. Ultimately, if you have one of the third party MP Primes or MP-44, and you still want the MP-10 mold, then a paint variant might be the way to go for variety, and the SG version looks pretty nice.
  7. M'Kyuun
    My Recon Team is to be delivered on Wednesday, but I also have three of the regular Refraktors, as well, so best of both worlds I suppose. Normally I wouldn't double dip on a set, but I couldn't resist having an updated G1 Reflector, as I still have the original, and I'm glad they added the extra parts to make the camera mode more accurate.
  8. M'Kyuun
    Yeah, straight on from the front is really the only good angle. I like that they gave him his SD Beetle alt mode, but the bot mode turned out pretty bad, especially the backs of the feet and the huge kibbly backpack. While I'm usually impressed by Takara's engineering, this figure is a complete letdown.
  9. M'Kyuun
    I watched Bobby's vid concerning insurance, and he gives some useful info. He has a large and rather valuable collection of stuff, and he seems to have the disposable income requisite both for his collection and the insurance to pay for it. My toy collection is rather eclectic, the vast majority of which is LEGO. But, I also have hundreds of Transformers across just about every major line since the 80's, as well as about 20 or so third party figs, somewhere around 30 Macross figs from early Yamato to present Arcadia and Bandai, as well as a few Toynami RT offerings (I regret the VF-1 purchases, but I still have the blue Legioss on my desk-I love the sculpt, but as a toy, it's crap), lots of Star Wars figs, the large AT-AT, and the fully articulated AT-ST, and just a bunch of other miscellaneous toys across a variety of lines/franchises. By far, though, I'd say my LEGO collection would command the lion's share of my collection's value, and putting a value on stuff like that or something like third party Transformers is largely subjective, and unless the insurer really knows their stuff, I'd be afraid of getting egregiously lowballed should disaster ever leave me bereft. Like Mike, I have no collection insurance, although I'm given to consider it from time to time. I doubt the cost/benefit ratio would be in my favor. As to the question of replacing a lost collection, I suppose just about anything can be replaced with enough patience and money, but would an insurer look at the cost of replacement within the context of secondary market sources in figuring the value? I don't have a list of LEGO sets I own, but they would easily number in the thousands, not to mention all the minifigs, individual parts I've bought from Bricklink or other sources. And then there are limited edition Bricktober sets from TRU over the years, and other exclusives. In short, I think it'd be nigh impossible to restore my collection to completeness, even with a 2-300K insurance payout, and certainly not all in the same condition. The vast majority of my collection is sets which I build and then break down enough to put back in their boxes and store, or sets which I buy for parts. Most are near mint, and some are still MISB. Needless to say, it's an expensive collection, and I doubt that I'd ever receive an adequate payout to cover complete recovery without also investing large sums of money in the insurance. Add to that my Transformers, Macross, and other stuff, and the cost of collection insurance would likely eclipse my mortgage. And so, I leave my collection to the Fates.
  10. M'Kyuun
    Yep, still an amazing figure; I love all the mechanical details, especially the simulated hydraulics in the elbows and knees. His truck mode was a bit compromised, but that bot mode was simply gorgeous. Not crazy about the toon-accuracy-above-all design philosophy that Takara has so vehemently embraced, as the compromises are becoming too many for my liking. I loved the approach of keeping the real world vehicle details in bot mode- it made them feel more 'real', and added character. That said, having watched an MP-44 transformation vid, I'll give Takara props for their engineering prowess, but at the end of the day, MP-44 is basically a shell-former (cab area), and, as David H. mentioned above, the pains taken to flip his windshields for an iota more toon accuracy just seems superfluous. Moreover, for the first time in a G1 OP, they've eschewed the classic transformation sequence in favor of shell-forming to better simulate the bot mode's toon proportions (which varied from scene to scene, ep to ep) He's missing his iconic silver stripe, and his fuel tanks are now just chromed flat planks. They didn't even paint his windshield wipers. I dunno- it takes the toon-design adherence too far for my liking, and cements my confidence in my purchase of Magic Square's MS-01, which takes the best elements of MP-10 and marries them with a minimalist toon look, especially in the legs. It retains all the truck detail in the cab section, and even uses the same grill for both modes. It's pretty much everything I wanted in an updated MP Prime, so I'm happy with my choice. For those who prefer MP-44, I hope it satisfies; I still think Takara, for the most part, are the masters of the genre, but the current obsession with toon accuracy is becoming increasingly counter to what I want in collector grade Transformer figures, and it saddens me a bit to think that way.
  11. M'Kyuun
    Just got back from my vacay in PA, and while I was there, Wally had the vintage cassette packs, so I caved and bought one of each. I'm torn on whether to open them or not, as all I ever owned in the 80's were KOs of Ravage and one of the Decepticon humanoid cassettes molded in red and white. I have G1 Soundwave, so I at least had Buzzsaw. I have MP Soundwave with all the cassettes he came with. MP Laserbeak is brilliant, Rumble and Frenzy pretty good, and Ravage OK. BUT, they all have markedly improved articulation over the originals, especially Rumble and Frenzy, so my desire to handle the old toys wanes a bit. I say this, but there's still just something about them that brings out the 13 year old me and makes me want to bust 'em out and play. Collector's conundrum. I didn't have much access to internet while in PA, so I was a bit surprised to learn that Unicron's deadline had been bumped. I have a feeling that giving the fans that extra time to raise the funds might clench it. Guess we'll see. Haven't had time to watch the transformation of MP-44 yet, but I did check out the voice vid- sounds a bit tinny for a modern toy. Still, nice to hear Mr. Cullen's iconic delivery. Guess I'll watch the transformation tomorrow- little weary from traveling tonight. Nice find, Mark-1s. Never saw it for less than $40 around here, and there's no way I'd pay that for just the cab portion of G1 Prime. I think I bought the reissue of G1 prime with his trailer for less years ago.
  12. M'Kyuun
    Glad I checked out the thread, as I wasn't aware that the Proto-Garland was available for PO. Got mine through Anime Export. I've been wanting a PG for years- I skipped the Yamato due to breakage concerns, but the Arcadia Garland seems to be improved upon by comparison. I'm not crazy about the truncated driver figs, though- seems a bit of an engineering cop-out. Small concession if the Proto-Garland turns out well.
  13. M'Kyuun
    Which makes me glad that, Dropkick and Blackout aside, I've no interest in the Studio Series figures. My opinion notwithstanding, your review is appreciated, especially when you're prepping for travel out of country. Have a great trip and take care, Mike. And if you're headed to Hong Kong, y'might wanna take a gas mask, just in case.
  14. M'Kyuun
    Or make the head big enough so that legends scaled figs of Rodimus, Kup, Springer, Arcee, Jazz, Bumblebee, and Cliffjumper can crash through the eye, which has a break-away 'smashed glass' feature and a green LED to shine through the hole. If you're gonna have a big Unicron head, you may as well be able to do something with it. Oh, and have it play "Dare" along with Unicron's final words before he goes all splodey.
  15. M'Kyuun
    My wife and I recently picked up a DVD set at Walmart containing Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and Mirrormask, and I watched The Dark Crystal for the first time. I was really impressed how well Henson and Co. pulled off all the practical effects and puppetry throughout, and I agree with technoblue that it still holds up. Gotta say, the Netflix version looks like an awesome mix of CG and practical effects that really transcends the limitations of 80's effects, while maintaining the look and feel of the original. On a side note, two years ago while attending a convention in Seattle, my wife and I paid a visit to the Sci-fi Museum where they had a Jim Henson exhibition. Among the many puppets were both Jen and Kira, as well as Aughra, and one of the Mystics. Anyway, it was a little surreal to see all these Muppet and Sesame Street characters I grew up with just inches away within these glass cases. Up close, the craft and workmanship involved is just amazing.
  16. M'Kyuun
    TE-01 is definitely clever. Taking it closer to home, look no further than MP-36 Megatron. To effect a decent transformation from thin handgrip to bulky robot legs in keeping with the Sunbow animation has been something of an engineering hurdle for both Takara and third parties. But, Takara solved it with an ingenious folding-in-on-itself transformation system allowing for both gun and bot modes to look proportional. (I hope Arcadia and Bandai are both taking notes if they produce a YF-21 and/or variants). I most certainly believe that Takara has the engineering chops to make a better engineered Unicron figure that relies far less on folding panels; however, I think they were laboring under a myriad of constraints, chiefly budgetary, along with Hasbro's requirements, US safety laws, etc. To that end, unfortunately, the system of panels was the most effective way to proceed, at least in the eyes of those who make the decisions. It's not the best, but it gets the job done, and he still presents pretty well, although he's got a backpack, not unlike a certain upcoming red and blue MP figure, that's fit for summiting Everest.
  17. M'Kyuun
    I don't disagree with you; with all their experience, they should have been able to create more of a true 'transformer', utilizing more of the body parts to effect transformation rather than their far less elegant multiple-folding-panel solution. It is, indeed, a rather steep price tag, and I, too, would have liked to see commensurate engineering brought to bear. Alas, it is what it is, and given consideration that this may be the only opportunity to have a Unicron that is at least this faithful, I felt compelled to back it. At this point, I don't think it's going to see production, which is bittersweet- I keep my money, but it would have been a nice piece to have on display next to the rest of my CHUG shelves. Considering engineering, I think of Unique Toys' Challenger, and imagine the possibilities. I'm curious to see what Zeta's version is going to offer, as it seems it may soon be the only game in town, so to speak.
  18. M'Kyuun
    I'm not really a fan of the cell-shaded look, but I can appreciate both the appeal and a decent application, and that doesn't look half bad. I wonder if Hasbro will start making more figures with cell-shading if this one sells well. They do love their repaints, and this seems a cheaper, simpler way to go while still putting out a niche version that appeals to fans. Over on the TFW frontpage, John Warden has a new vid showing off a couple features of HasLab Unicron. This thing doesn't seem to picking up much momentum in backing despite the trickle of promotional vids. As of right now, they only have 2,463 backers, with only 18 days to go to reach 8,000. The light at the end of the tunnel is receding. It's a shame, for all its flaws, it's still the best Unicron figure they've ever made, and I've wanted a decent representation that actually turns into a spherical planet for years. While some may feel their Armada version is good enough, I want something better, and this, IMHO, is about the best we're going to get, at least officially.
  19. M'Kyuun
    I'm glad folks are enjoying the link- the guy is gifted, no doubt. As to your latter statement, I believe he revisits some of his models to update them as new elements come along. But yeah, some of his larger aircraft models are incredible. Having worked on the real thing, his B-1 Lancer model always astounds me with how well he captures the shapes and functional features of the plane. Just beautiful.
  20. M'Kyuun
    For the aircraft enthusiasts among us, I thought I'd share a link to Ralph Savelsberg's Flickr. Ralph has long been a well known and well regarded MOC builder, who builds across the gamut of artificial self-propelled objects, and since aircraft have been the topic of discussion of late, I thought it apropos to mention him. I don't know if Ralph takes on commissions, but as with any artist of note, perusing his work is a reward unto itself.
  21. M'Kyuun
    Picked up the Blu-ray/DVD combo today and gave it a watch. I liked the story, and some of the dialog made me LOL. The focus was primarily on the complex relationship between Batman/Bruce and Catwoman/Selina, with the Hush storyline as backdrop.
  22. M'Kyuun
    I wasn't aware of Kurt's MOCs or Plane Bricks, so, naturally, I had to check them out. Impressive builders all around. Plane Bricks was started by a 19 year old who was already building at this level when he was around 16. I'm always gobsmacked by the talent many fans possess, but it's really incredible when kids have this prodigious ability. I'm a mediocre builder on my best day, so to see these Mozarts with the brick pounding out one incredible MOC after another is both awesome and humbling. Valkyrie Hunter D, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention your Hind- looking good. You'll have to share some pics of the final product. Some nice SNOT work on the lower empennage. I never realized they sat at such an incline on their gear- one of those interesting design quirks. Kinda like the Harrier.
  23. M'Kyuun
    I'm currently reading Endurance by Scott Kelly; prior to becoming an astronaut, he was a Navy pilot, flying the F-14 during the Gulf War in the 90s, and later as a test pilot. He mentioned a couple times that the F-14 had terrible flight characteristics. He makes mention of Kara Hultgreen's crash, pointing out the poor inlet airflow in turns and subsequent compressor stalls that were a known issue with the plane. Although he doesn't express it emphatically, and he's fairly candid, I think he shed no tears when they finally retired it in 2006. Kelly says he tested one of the improvements, and that, had it been installed at the time, it likely would have saved Hultgreen's life. According to the F-14 Wikipedia article, the TF-30 had a low thrust to weight ratio, and the engines were very susceptible to compressor stalls, which could lead to unrecoverable flat spins. The Secretary of the Navy during the 80's called it a "terrible engine". Not exactly a glowing endorsement. I still think she's a right pretty airplane, though. I had an opportunity to 'tour' the USS Kitty Hawk back in the mid 90's, and there was a lone F-14 parked on the flight deck with an engine removed. As an Air Force guy, I remember it's being big, cool, filthy, and forlorn.
  24. M'Kyuun
    That's some serious panel madness. I like how the arms transform essentially as they did in the Movie. My thinking is this vid comes a little late to try and stir up excitement. Then again, seeing all those panels laid out, it might put some folks off. Given the lack of momentum on the backing front, unless Hasbro finds another way of funding it, I don't think it's going to see production.
  25. M'Kyuun
    I watched Battle of the Planets and Speed Racer as a very young kid, and later, Transformers, which one could say was anime as well. BotP made a lasting impression on me- planted the seed, so to speak. It and Transformers still have a special place in my heart. However, Macross Plus was really my doorway into Macross (never saw RT as a kid), and into anime on the whole, and the anime I'd consider the most poignant to me as a fan. As much as I enjoy reading, for some reason, I never got into comic books or manga, although I greatly appreciate the talent behind both. There's so much anime out there, and I've barely scratched the surface, especially with classics like Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Evangelion, Ghost in the Shell, GitS: SAC, SDFM, Akira, Bubblegum Crisis, Gundam, Monster, Assassination Classroom, Attack on Titan, etc. it makes picking a favorite increasingly difficult. The Japanese are great storytellers, especially in the realm of sci-fi, and so I'm just glad there's this amazing medium that panders to my love of the genre.
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