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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    Aside from the overt sexualization, Nicee has merit as an interestingly stylized Arcee. From the first couple pics, I thought she was just a statue, so I'm pretty impressed that she transforms, albeit with a parts-forming shield that forms the 'boot' of her car mode. The car mode is better defined and detailed than Azalea's. Looks like she pays for that nice car mode with a fair bit of back kibble, though; par for the course for a transforming Arcee figure I guess. Overall, I think the sculpt work is beautiful, especially the face, and I dig how they broke up her car kibble into more stylish robot kibble that compliments the bot mode rather than being a big chunk of car on her back like Generations Arcee. I love Azalea, but this has my interest. Curious to see how she , ahem, stacks up.
  2. M'Kyuun
    I wonder how many years after Delores' escape this takes place. Digging the flying cars; I wish they were current technology, but then I consider how Spokane people drive, as they're already treacherous enough on the ground; having them flying around, many high on legalized weed, and it'd be unmitigated disaster the likes of which the NTSB has never seen.
  3. M'Kyuun
  4. M'Kyuun
    I mentioned before how I love the full truck and trailer transformation of Motormaster from the G1 toy, and I think FT simply nailed it with this figure. That truck mode is just amazing- even dual wheels in the hitch section like a real truck, something very few OP toys have pulled off. I have no plans to get this guy, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted; it's really a rare and remarkable bit of engineering, and I totally dig it. I wish Takara would follow suit at some point. Curious to see how FT handle the combining situation- have the other Stunticons form the limbs directly, or have them basically worn on structural members emanating from Road King? For what it's worth, I hope the former, as I view the latter method as rather pointless in a proper combiner.
  5. M'Kyuun
    So, my order with Amazon did not cancel, and I got the first update since I ordered it today, the same that everyone else is getting, which should make me happy. Alas, due to my misunderstanding and lack of patience, now I have another one ordered with AmiAmi, who do not respond to cancellations well. I really wish that notification had come yesterday. So, it looks like I'm going to have two of these things, and a big divot in my bank account. We need a self-ass-kicking emoji. I've earned it. I am oft rue that I did not avail myself of the opportunity to learn Japanese when I was stationed in Okinawa some 20+ years ago; it proves painful when watching anime in the original language, and when trying to make purchases like this when the language becomes a barrier. I guess there's still time to learn; as for my own dumbassery, I fear there's no cure.
  6. M'Kyuun
    I knew it was coming, as LEGO's been putting out teasers for about a month now. I frequent a few LEGO blogs, and that's where I saw them. Anyway, this is the first I've seen the actual set, and I have to say, it's pretty impressive. Although I'm a fan of the show, I didn't think it was a good fit for LEGO, being a bit mature for their usual demographic, or that there was really much in the show that translated well to a set. I never expected them to take the 'upside down' concept and turn it into a literal set, but it's beyond cool that they did. I wonder if this is going to be a stand alone set, or if more are planned. I think the Hawkins National Lab with a white van would be cool, with a Dr. Brenner fig and guy in a hazmat suit ready to enter the portal.
  7. M'Kyuun
    Anyone else here in the US have an issue with Amazon.jp not shipping to a US address? I had the VE-1 PO'd through them, but when I attempted to make payment, it said it couldn't deliver to my address. So I canxed it and PO'd thru Amiami instead. I'm pretty sure I've ordered something from Amazon.jp before without issue, so that seemed a bit odd to me. Anyway, I'm glad Arcadia's trickling out their releases, as this thing is so overpriced. I've been wanting an Elintseeker for a long time in 1/60 scale to go with the rest, so I bit the bullet.
  8. M'Kyuun
    So, it looks like Bobby Skullface was the first of the more popular reviewers to get an MMC Ocular Max Saltus review up. I've been waiting for Peaugh's review, as he's had it in hand since last week, and mentioned posting a review over the weekend, but for whatever reason it never materialized. For what it's worth, I hope that's b/c he's busy and that all's well with him and his family. Anyway, I've been waiting for a good review, and as I happen to like Skullface's approach, minus his obsession with paint, the verdict was far more good than bad. It's solid, well-painted, even by Bobby's standards, fun to transform, has good materials throughout, and chock full of all the articulation that we've come to expect in the more recent MP figures. Negatives for Bobby were lack of knee ratchets, lack of a more 'v' shaped abdomen, weak car mode in his opinion, fidgety feet, esp the heels which are hinged and can become unflushed from the toe, and the backs of the shoulder guards, for lack of a better term, which are multi-hinged and a bit unsightly on the backside. For my taste, I actually prefer Saltus' car mode, as I've never much cared for the skinny rear end of Springer's canon car mode, which, to me, has always looked like an afterthought thrown in there to make him a triple changer. Saltus' wider rear fenders make his car mode look more aggressive, and more like an actual car. It is really the deciding factor for me. I'll agree with the necessity of more ratchets, especially with the die-cast content comprising the chest and thighs, giving him a high and heavy CG. IMHO, ratchets on a large figure, regardless of die-cast, should be the rule, anyway, as joints wear over time, and gravity is a harsh mistress. As to the body shape, he does look a bit blocky, and a gentle taper would have helped his look a bit, but in light of all the other stuff they got right, it's easily forgivable. Moreover, Springer was always depicted as chunky in the toon, so while it would look better with more taper, the blockiness suits the character. For my tastes, I 'll add that the forward fenders look a bit messy to me in car mode, what with the helo gear folded up. As much as they tried to make it look contiguous, it doesn't come off that way to me, making it look a bit panel-y. However, it's a minor nitpick, and after looking at three different vids of this guy, I'm pretty well sold. For those who don't like MMC's approach to the car, and haven't picked up any of the other 3P Springers, XTB's Virtus looks pretty amazing thus far. I'm immediately struck by how clean everything looks on it, especially in contrast to Saltus's front fenders. Both car and helo modes are closer to the toon, and look good, as well as the bot mode. While I'm pretty much sold on Saltus, I'll be keeping an eye out for reviews on Virtus. I hope it turns out to be a solid entry.
  9. M'Kyuun
    I'm not so certain that UCS is the right nomenclature anymore, as I think they're reserving that term for the large non-Minifig scaled models, and System models meant for Minifigs will fall under a different classification, the name whereof escapes me at the moment, and Google is failing me. Semantics aside, the new Tantive IV is a benchmark set due to its inclusion in the 20th anniversary of LEGO Star Wars collection of sets. I believe every set in the collection illustrates the homage of the current set to an earlier release either on the box or in the instructions, with even more information given in the Tantive's instructions, as it's essentially the flagship of the collection. I appreciate touches like that which give background on the set's development. The new Tantive's instructions also have several photos of the original filming model for reference, which is also nice. I'll respectfully disagree with Scyla's preference for the use of gray rather than white. One could easily argue that, within Lucas' 'dirty universe', a light tan would be apropos to give the impression of wear and tear. However, I like the use of the white, and to me it just seems appropriate. I will say that the designers snuck the odd light yellow bits here and there throughout the exterior, which I thought was a nice subtle way of breaking up all that white while giving the impression of wear. It may not be to everyone's taste, but I thought it a nice inclusion. I couldn't agree more with Scyla's assessment of the lack of printing on those large cones. I do ok with decal application, but, at least for me, it is a slow precarious procedure which interrupts the smooth flow of building. Moreover, while putting stickers on small parts, like 1x2 and 2x2 tiles isn't too bad, trying to get decals to line up and look copacetic on a curved surface can be taxing. I'm of a firm belief that large panels and any sort of complex curved part should be printed, not to mention large clear canopies. The recent UCS Snowspeeder required the application of stickers to pick out the frames on the front and sides of the windscreen- it's a PITA to get both window frames to align across the ship. I digress. The 2009 Tantive IV, which was also minifig scale, featured clear cones with all details printed, and I liked that solution. Shame they didn't do that this time, too. However, the overall ship is a nice upgrade to the 2009, except for the crappy aircraft stabilizer parts that they used to represent, rather poorly, the structural vanes that extend from the large central section to the aft cylindrical docking ports (which LEGO used as escape pods for our intrepid droids on the '09 and '19 sets). The best improvements over the '09 are the new larger cones for the bridge section, a better shaped neck leading to the cones, a more accurately shaped fuselage section in front of the engine section, and a built in retractable carry handle. As always with these capital ships that are made for minifigs, but well below scale, is the issue of how to use what little available space inside to good effect. Neither version used that section to illustrate a scene from ANH; rather, the '09 has Leia's desk with some computer monitors for the crewman, and the '19 version has a console of sorts which acts as a table over which she and Bail Organa can discuss their Rebel activities. The '09 had a larger cargo space behind the 'office' section which could carry a small hover sled, whereas on the '19 version, that area is much smaller and is simply used to hold a couple spring-loaded projectiles. The '09's cockpit area was hinged and could be easily opened; the upper cones on the '19 snap into place and have to be removed in order to place a crewman at the controls. Even with the larger cones, ergo more bridge space, the seating area for the two pilots (one on either side of centerline) is meager and that space probably could have been expanded slightly to maybe allow for a couple of Rebel soldiers to hang out. Alas not to be officially, but LEGO is plastic in both senses of the word, and I'm sure it could be modded to make better use of all that space. My final thoughts are that the '19 wins for overall aesthetics/accuracy, but the '09 wins for playability and easier assembly due to the printed cockpit cones. Both are lovely sets and present well. The inclusion of Bail Organa is a nice, if odd, selling point for the set. Leia comes with both regular legs and one of the new dress pieces that has some nice printing on it, so that's a nice option that LEGO didn't have to do, but they did, and I appreciate it. Like most LEGO sets, and especially licensed sets, the new Tantive IV come in at a hefty tag of $199.99 for 1768 parts, although, to be fair, there are any number of large parts throughout the model, especially the 4 large cones which form the bridge, and numerous cylindrical parts used to create the engines, along with five minifigs, which all have nice prints along with Leia's dress piece. I have to add that I got double VIP points, a free mini 20th anniversary Hoth scene (about a $20 set) and a free poster depicting all the 20th anniversary sets in appropriate settings. So, I'm a pretty happy customer.
  10. M'Kyuun
    Looks great! I have no faculty for building at such small scale, and am ever impressed by folks who do, and can cram a lot of detail into their small builds. I've thought about trying my hand at a Garland at this scale, but LEGO doesn't really make anything that allows for an accurate mechanism for the front wheel to split. I've seen some neat small builds of the Garland, but all of them employ a non-accurate method of swinging the wheels into shoulder position. I'm still trying to find a viable solution. Anyway, Kaneda's bike looks amazing; all you need now are a bunch of small decals to plaster on it to finish the look, and a custom Kaneda to take it out for a spin!
  11. M'Kyuun
    While they're not plates, they do make these parts, which are reminiscent of your render: But as far as wedge plates with cut-outs, that doesn't seem to be something that LEGO wants to produce. It honestly doesn't bother me that much, as I've learned to work around it or live with it. Obviously, mileage varies.
  12. M'Kyuun
    Chronocidal, I agree about the old wing plates with cut-outs- they were really useful for making seamless angle changes that really enhanced the smooth look of models. Not sure why they retired them, but they were useful. But, the variety of new wedge plates has grown. One of my favorite new additions is this: I wish they'd made this years ago, but I'm glad they finally did. It's a wonderfully versatile part, and can help smooth out changes in angles. The three studs allow for more anchoring, as well.
  13. M'Kyuun
    Blackarachnia didn't translate nearly as well to her beast mode as the others have, although I guess it's to be expected with such a lithe bot mode. Still, with what Unique Toys did with Challenger, I would have thought a little more inside-out engineering , or legs splitting in half kinds of engineering would have been employed to better realize her spider abdomen so it doesn't look like a robot folded up. Weakest of the bunch, IMHO, but I'll still get her. Bot mode is spot on. Can't help but be a little disappointed, though.
  14. M'Kyuun
    Great to hear, man. That's some high praise, and I can totally relate to waiting 30ish years for a figure- FT's Dinobots, Phoenix, and Takara's MP Prowl all check that box for me. Can't believe none of the major reviewers have a review of this guy up yet. I found a silent transformation vid, as in no sound at all, not even background sounds of the toy being manipulated, on YouTube. That's it. But, the transformation is pretty smooth between modes; intuitive is an overused word, but in this case I think it's applicable. I 'm pretty sure the guy doing the vid is transforming it for the first time on camera, and he only gets hung up once figuring out some elbow bits that separate for transformation. As I was writing this last part I heard something thump behind me; when I turned to look, my cat had retrieved and brought upstairs to me a bag of catnip. It was gifted to my wife by a really nice coworker, and this, as far as I know, was our cat's first introduction to the stuff. Her first hit, and I think we may have to stage an intervention. It's dark in my man cave, so when I figured out what she dropped behind me, I couldn't stop laughing for a few minutes. Damned cat's a junky. Back to Transmutators (b/c Transformers is an IP) So yeah, I definitely appreciate the endorsement. I'm already a fan of MMC/Ocular Max stuff, and Saltus has been my choice for MP Springer for quite some time. I think I'll still wait for a 'talkie' review, but in my heart, I'm pretty much sold. Glad to hear that Phoenix is getting a re-release for those folks who couldn't get him the first time around. I know a lot of folks are probably on the fence with the upcoming Siege version, but if you're a fan of Skyfire as he appeared in the cartoon, and you want something that scales well with the rest of the MP figs and just has that premium feel, fit, and finish, then I can't recommend him enough. It's about as close to perfect as you can get in a figure this size, not to mention rarity.
  15. M'Kyuun
    Thanks, Mike! That's some promising sentiment. I only became aware of Virtus through your previous post, so I took a look at some promo shots, most of which looked like renders to me, but good ones nonetheless. XTB stayed truer to the toy and animation design for the car mode, which I don't care for. If you're in for a faithful version of the G1, then I think XTB is the best contender, as it looks really balanced through all three modes. FT's looked too long and skinny in its canon car mode. In terms of bot modes, I haven't really seen one that stood out to me as just bad. I'm sure there are differences in articulation levels and such, but with a casual look, they all look like Springer to me. For me, the non-canonically flared rear fenders give Saltus' car mode a much needed upgrade. Saltus' helo mode is the weaker of the two alt modes, IMHO, but still does the job. I like how seamlessly the tail boom folds to form the inner leg- MMC do a lot of neat design work like that, which is probably why I have more of their stuff than any other third party. I've long shared my admiration for Alex Kubalsky's work when he worked for Takara, and I'm happy that his work with Transformers continues through MMC and Ocular Max. Anyway, I may hold out for a video review by one of the major reviewers just for a nice in-depth look at the figure, good, bad, and otherwise, before throwing some cash down. This has really been the only contender in my mind, for my preferences, for quite some time, so a good look and a good word will seal the deal.
  16. M'Kyuun
    Tekering, what are your impressions of Saltus? I held off on getting a PO for this guy until reviews came out, and as of this writing, I can't find any. Anyway, this has been my choice for a MP Springer for some time; if it's solid, I'm getting him. Be interested in hearing your initial impressions.
  17. M'Kyuun
    You're not alone, David, so far as desiring reissues of old sets. LEGO would make a small fortune if they rereleased a number of very popular Classic Space sets and the monorails, as those things are still highly sought after on secondary market, and generally go for premium prices. I speak from experience, both as a buyer of a number of retired space sets, but also as an attendee to LEGO conventions where various vendors sell old sets, and as a Bricklink user. Pirates were never my thing, but it's true that that's another theme, along with Space, that has become very infrequent among LEGO's yearly releases over the past couple decades. Space and Pirates are two of the bedrock themes that made LEGO successful through the late 70's into the late 90's, and it's sad to see these things relegated to nostalgia when there is still, very clearly, a love of and demand for these themes. Again, as a convention attendee, Space and Pirates, far more than City, which has a very strong presence on store shelves, are always large and conspicuous presences among the MOC exhibitions. And it's not just us crusty old AFOLs building this stuff- kids build it, too, so there's still interest. Now that the Pirates of the Caribbean movies have run their course, it opens the door for more homegrown sets, but LEGO seems to have lost their interest, same with sci-fi Space, as opposed to the sporadic City Space sets we get every 4-5 years. A lot of hope was anchored to the LEGO Movies for reintroducing CS sets, and I'm thinking Benny's Spaceship was a hit (I own three copies), but, sadly, that's as far as they went. LEGO Movie 2 gave us a small CS 'battle pack' with Benny and three different colored astrofigs, including the first pink one, and a small scooter, as well as a 4+ set with a simplified CS styled ship with Benny and Emmett. For a movie that was known to be set mostly in space, I know I had my hopes up for something grander, along the lines of Benny's ship from the first film, but it wasn't to be. As to whether LEGO are aware of the popularity of these old themes, the answer is undeniably yes, as many of the set designers currently producing sets are AFOLs who, prior to their employment with LEGO, created MOCs of CS stuff, grew up with it, or became aware of it by proxy through the AFOL community. So, in short, we all wonder why LEGO won't revisit these beloved and much sought sets and themes, even in a limited format like 'Legends'. I'd love to have a shiny new Galaxy Explorer, or Mega (Magna)-Core Magnetizer, etc., but unfortunately, that interest remains with us, the fans. Incidentally, despite my 'not my thing' statement concerning Pirates, LEGO released the Imperial Flagship in 2010, and that thing is just beautiful-still have it displayed. I also bought the Brick Bounty in 2015, the last year of a homegrown Pirate line, and I thought it a rather nifty set, too. The last release of a Legends Pirate set was in 2002, the venerable Black Seas Barracuda, which I skipped, much to my chagrin in hindsight. That set now starts in the $200s and goes up from there on the secondary market. I don't think it's a question of demand, but more of LEGO's reluctance to do more frequent rereleases. I, for one, wish they would.
  18. M'Kyuun
    Nhyone, you're far more educated on who's infringing, and who's not than I am. I chose my words poorly, and will simply condense my opinion to the arrests and seizures of Lepin personnel and property, respectively, as a win for LEGO. I'll say nothing further on the matter. I'm well aware that LEGO compatible bricks are legal, and even own some (Hasbro's Kre-O Transformers and Battleship Movie sets, which were produced by Oxford). I also own a few Mega Bloks sets from their Call of Duty line, a Harrier and an AH-64 Apache. Both were impressive builds with a lot of realistic features. Moreover, I think their figures are amazing for the high level of articulation they offer, and wish LEGO would follow suit with something similar. The minifig is great, but it definitely shows its age relative to the MB figs.
  19. M'Kyuun
    Yeah, you may wake up to find a decapitated minifig head in your bed some morning. Another new City Space set has been revealed, and it's a beauty. Credit to Brickfan.com via Playzone.com.ua for the set pics. The tracked transport looks to have more in common with Russian military vehicles than NASA's Missile Crawler Transporter Facilities, but it sings to my soul nonetheless. There's a 'clean room' , which ironically is wide open with barely any walls to speak of, for maintenance to a small 6-wheeled rover, which, of course, can be loaded into the rocket via an overhead crane from a smaller truck that reminds me of the old beloved Tonka trucks of my youth. To finish it off, there's a small launch control room. I've thus far been really impressed with what this line offered, but this set is really the complete package- just so much playability, visual appeal, cool vehicles (both ground and space), and some nice interactive peripheral builds to complete the launch from prep to control. Can't wait to build it. While it's not shown here, I hope the modules from the Moonbase set can be sandwiched between the spaceplane and the booster section, as that would be some nice crossover playability between sets within the theme, and give it a touch of neo-realism (the actual modules for the ISS had to be lofted by the Shuttle, although I believe the Russians used rockets to put Mir in orbit, so close enough ). In terms of realism, future US space endeavors, in the absence of a new shuttle system, will rely solely on heavy rockets , like SpaceX's Falcon Heavy, so I think it's poignant that these sets emphasize the rockets over a Shuttle Transport System that, sadly, no longer exists. In my mind, though, rockets will never be as cool as the Shuttle, which set a benchmark yet unsurpassed.
  20. M'Kyuun
    Small victory, as there are other LEGO-like brick makers out there, although Lepin was one of the more well known, and also known for making copies of official sets, which is what really spelled its doom legally. For some reason, I was thinking this was just a branch being shut down and it's manager arrested, rather than the owner of the entire enterprise. To that end, yeah, it's a solid victory for LEGO and a shot across the bow to other companies doing the same. Which makes me wonder if Has/Tak will start pursuing similar actions against third party Transformer manufacturers in China. I must confess to being morally torn in this case, as I have more third party figures than official in my MP collection, with an eye to keep collecting them, even if it is IP theft. Slaginpit, the new Quinjet is pretty sweet, although, for some reason, they didn't give it any landing gear, an omission that seems to affect all Marvel flying machines in 2019, as the proto-Quinjet set from Captain Marvel, Stark's jet from Spiderman: Far from Home, and the Avengers' Quinjet from Endgame all lack landing gear. However, the Endgame Quinjet is the first to accurately reproduce the wing openings for the vertical lift fans ensconced therein, so lose something, gain something. It was a fun build that captured the look of its subject very well. My favorite part is in how the various opening hatches were designed on slight angles when closed, but they close seamlessly- it's a subtle thing, but one I appreciate as a MOC builder..
  21. M'Kyuun
    Sad indeed. My heart goes out to his family, friends, and fans. As far as I know, Chewie is the only character he ever played, but wow, what an impact.
  22. M'Kyuun
    Same here. LEGO's offering double VIP points to members starting today and running through the weekend, so I grabbed this, as well as the 20th anniversary Pod Racer and Clone Walker. I think that completes my collection of the 20th anniversary of the LEGO Star Wars sets. I highly recommend the Slave I- beautifully done, and it comes with the first ever release of Zuckuss in minifig form. Now I'm looking forward to the release of the City Space sets and the 80th anniversary Batman sets. Some cool LEGO stuff coming this year.
  23. M'Kyuun
    Back in late '83 or early '84 when the first teasers for the Transformers series started airing, I thought Optimus was all-in-one, and that just spiked my interest. Been a fan of all-in-one tractor-trailer transformations ever since, rare though they are. Subsequently, discovering that OP was just the cab and his trailer always just disappeared into the ether when he transformed was really disappointing. I think it was later that I discovered Gobots Road Ranger, and though I never had the figure, I had a picture of him from somewhere (probably the Sears or JC Penny catalogs-ah, nostalgia), and that sparked my enthusiasm greatly. I ended up building my own all-in-one transforming tractor trailer in my late teens with LEGO, and though it had some partsforming elements (two shell like 'wings' which would insert into the legs, which would separate on sliding mechanisms to enable their insertion. The legs formed a tanker with a hexagonal cross-section, and the upper body formed the cab). It worked well, but unfortunately, it fell apart over the years. Even more unfortunate is that I never took any pics of it. I've never been much of a photographer, but I'm better about it now since I started attending LEGO conventions. Still, for my own enjoyment, I wish I'd snapped a few pics of that thing. And , yeah, the different grills and windshields is something that kinda boggles my mind. I guess I can see why the legs are always the hitch section, as you'd have even more crazy juxtapositioning of truck parts if the legs somehow became the cab and the torso became the hitch area on an Optimus figure. It make sense, at least to me, to maintain that basic bit of the G1 design. Alternate parts for different modes are unnecessary, IMHO. That's something else I like about MS-01- no substitutions were made- the truck grill rotates 180 degrees, and the center section of the bumper is his Matrix chamber, which also rotates 180 depending on mode. It's a sublime, simple, and effective engineering design. Alas, mode-favoring substitution parts are trending, so I doubt we'll see the end of their use any time soon. C'est la vie in the world of Transformers.
  24. M'Kyuun
    I see your point, as from a toy perspective, Ultra Magnus was always a basically a white Optimus with a suit of armor made from his trailer. Motormaster, OTOH, from the beginning was all-in-one, so I'm glad that at least FT put in the engineering to make it so. I've only watched Skullface's review, but it sounds like there are two camps: one that likes the all-in-one, and one that wants the cab to become Motormaster while the trailer becomes Menasor's body. Given my druthers, I will always take the all-in-one transformation if it's done well. To my eye, it looks like FT nailed it. I'm curious if they're going to make the rest of the Stunticons become the limbs, or , as seems to be the latest combiner trend, just have them attach to pre-existing limbs, as if they're being worn rather than actually forming the limbs. I'm not at all a fan of that trend- a combiner should be just that, with every member forming a distinct body part. Anyway, Bobby didn't discuss the combiner mode at all, and I've yet to watch any other reviews, so I'm not sure how that'll work. Guess I'll stand by for your review, Mike. Hopefully it'll show up soon and prove to be a good figure.
  25. M'Kyuun
    Just checked out Skully's review of Fanstoys' Roadking, their take on Motor Master from the Stunticons. While I'm not in the market for these guys, I am pretty impressed by the engineering brought to bear to make this figure an all-in-one transformation, which is something I adore in a tractor-trailer transformation. Truck mode looks great, if a bit panel-y in the trailer. But it does have a functional rotation at the hitch, which is really impressive considering that the cab splits in half and accordions almost entirely into the sleeper section in bot mode. And that bot mode is nigh perfect in the aesthetic dept, and quite imposing in size. If memory serves, he had about 2-3 inches in height over MS-01, which would be close to MP-10 or TE-01. Considering he scales to MP-10 in truck mode, and bot mode is comprised of both cab and trailer, and that he forms the body of Menasor, the size seems about right. Anyway, I was pretty impressed with this guy and thought I'd share an impression. FT did a great job, and the transformation, while a bit tedious in the trailer section with all the tabbing of panels, overall doesn't seem difficult, even if it is a little involved. The final bot and truck modes look really good, and the trailer is hollow enabling him to cart around at least one Stunticon car. Pretty cool. Ocular Max's take on Springer, Saltus, is getting ready to release soon, and that's a figure I'm really anticipating, as in if reviews are solid, they can take my money. While I think some of the already released 3P Springers are nice, the OM design of his car mode, a departure from canon, nonetheless looks better to me than FT's more canon approach. Springer, admittedly, had a sh!tty G1 toy (I have it), and though they took serious liberties with his animation model, even in the Movie, his car mode just wasn't the best. MMC and Takara, with their upcoming Siege Springer, both chose to widen out the rear section of the car mode, making it much more appealing. It certainly swayed me. I love Azalea, and it just seems fitting to pair her up with Saltus in the display case. Fingers crossed he turns out really well with little to no issues.
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