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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    Just perused the marvel Wiki for some background; Captain Marvel is a rather storied character having had at least seven different characters bear the mantle, starting with Mar-Vell, who in the comics was a male Kree sent to observe Earth and becomes its secret protector, and in a revamped series assumed the identity of Dr. Phillip Lawson. Moreover, Carol Danvers, who bore the mantle of Ms. Marvel, assumed the 'Captain' part of her hero name in 2012, one of the latter characters to be Captain Marvel. So, what I'm getting from the Wiki is that license and cherry-picking played a huge part in crafting the story and character for the movie. All that aside, I thought it was enjoyable, and I thought everyone played their parts well. I liked the Air Force background they gave her (I'm obviously biased). Everything pretty much made sense, in a sci-fi way, so I didn't really leave the theatre with any burning questions. And while Brie Larson is no Gal Gadot (I refer to Myk's earlier criticism), I thought she brought enough sass to the role to make her character, and the movie by extension, enjoyable to watch.
  2. M'Kyuun
    Y'know, they chose a really cool alt mode for Rampage; it's a shame that, in true Bay form, it's bot mode is a tragedy. When Hasbro did the Constructicons for Combiner Wars, it wouldn't have hurt my feelings if they'd taken some liberties with the alts, and given them far better bot modes than what they actually gave us, similar to what they did with much of CHUG. Even with Hasui-san designing them, the CW Constructicons were really disappointing to me, even with the somewhat improved articulation of the Japanese releases. I really wanted a nice official set of those guys for my CHUG collection, but it was such an underwhelming group of figures that, even when the Japanese version went on sale, I just couldn't bring myself to get them. I spent my money on Toy World's Constructor, which of course, is in a different line and scale altogether. I'm hoping maybe Siege will give us better Constructicons at some point. Not holding my breath, but it'd be nice if we got something a little higher quality in the mainline. Likewise, Dinobots- all voyager scaled and very G1 without the pesky combining gimmick to complicate things. And a new Astrotrain that actually looks like G1 Astrotrain. If they wanted to update his train mode to look like a modern engine and made it work without compromising the other modes, I think I'd be ok with that, too.
  3. M'Kyuun
    Same here. I saw the Clone Wars Movie in the theatre, and it underwhelmed me, especially all the 'Snips' this and 'Sky-guy' that. I thought if this was a portent of things to come, it was going to be a giant cheesefest. But, as the series went on, it just got better and better, albeit with a clunker ep here and there (esp the Jar Jar eps). Overall, the toon was worlds better than the Prequels combined, and I think Filoni and Co. did a pretty good job of trying to explain some of the holes or just dumb stuff that GL did in his movies. They did a better job of showing Anakin's tendency toward the Dark side that would lead to his eventual turn in a much better fashion than the GL did. And, they developed Ahsoka into a character that I came to care about, as I initially found her a little annoying. My overall feeling about the series was that Filoni and his crew understand Star Wars better than its creator, and can tell more engaging stories in that universe. Lucas' strength, generally speaking, is in visualizing his universe and choosing really talented people to pull it off, and that certainly played a huge role, too, in Clone Wars, which is why I think it'd be good if he remained a part of it, if only as an idea man. Just don't let him write any dialog. Filoni and Co. went on to demonstrate their SW storytelling prowess with Rebels, which was also an excellent series full of great characters, and an emotional ending that should have garnered an Emmy. I've only watched one ep of Resistance, which, TBH, didn't grab me, but I've got the eps on DVR and at some point I'll get around to giving it more attention. With two amazing SW shows under their belts, I feel any endeavor by Filoni's crew is worth spending the time to become engaged.
  4. M'Kyuun
    Glad you like it, Technoblue. I thought it was rather well done, especially given the scale. Reading comments in his Flickr, it sounds like he has instructions somewhere for it, but when I clicked the link, I pretty much got a blank screen. I wouldn't mind building it as a little deskoration to stand alongside all my Yammie valks. As to the parts in question: the blue rounded parts are the small 2x2 dishes (4740), often used as small radar antennas, and any number of apps requiring a small rounded surface, as seen brilliantly applied here. The printed pink round tile is in fact official; it came in the General Greivous' Wheel Bike (75040) from 2014. The set came with an extra one, so I have one ready to use if I find instructions or attempt to reverse engineer it. It's pretty complex within the main pod, so I think instructions will ultimately be necessary. My Kung-Fu with micro-builds is non-existent.
  5. M'Kyuun
    This popped up on Flickr today. I thought it was adorable and too good not to share. Aside from a plethora of VF-1s, Macross rarely shows up in LEGO form. This was a nice surprise.
  6. M'Kyuun
    Not feeling Siege Starscream in the least, as he shares all the traits that I generally loathe in TF aircraft. I think they tried too hard with Screamer to adhere to his G1 F-15 alt mode- influenced bot design rather than taking a more stylistic approach as they did with Ironhide. The design is lazy in the extreme, and I wonder if they even tried to actually make him transform into a tetrajet before resorting to their old plane on a bot's back routine. In retrospect, I imagine the designers at both Hasbro and Takara curse their lack of foresight (although, in truth, they had no reason to believe that the franchise would be stronger than ever 30 years on- most toons didn't last beyond a season or two) so far as giving our favorite Cybertronians bot modes to reflect the alt modes for the characters that were shown on Cybertron in the first episode. It was something that I noticed back then, but y'know, as a whole I think we just accepted stuff like that without questioning it too hard or letting it spoil the experience. Obviously, the toon, plus the toys, struck a note with a few folks. That bit of backwards design for the original toon no doubt poses challenges for toy designers today, and I think Starscream here epitomizes the lowest common denominator of that particular design philosophy. It's funny, as they seem to do a good job with cars, but planes are the bane of their existence. They need a Kawamori protégé to push design in a more elegant direction.
  7. M'Kyuun
    Yours make more sense, especially 'boss'. I guess Small( for scout class), Med (deluxe), Lg, XL, and XXL, and XXXL are too generic. But the current labeling is a bit misleading, especially leader, which should be swapped with voyager, since most of the leader characters are done in voyager scale. Silly Hasbro.
  8. M'Kyuun
    Well, they're still hit and miss in my area. From the quantities I've seen, my local store only gets maybe a box of deluxes every couple of months, and the pegs are generally empty. I've yet to see a single leader, and they've had Optimus and Megatron a few times that I've been there (only a copy or two of Megs the last time I visited). Sorenson's upcoming TF book sounds interesting; might have to pick up a copy at B&N. On a sad note, Larry Ditillio has passed away. He was one of the principal writers for Beast Wars, but his writing career spans to the 70s, and he worked on any number of shows that many of us will remember fondly growing up in the 80s and onward, including He-Man and She-Ra. Captain Power stands out to me, as it was a dark, mature, and edgy show with CG characters at a time when CG was still a fledgling technology. He also wrote an ep of Transformers: Animated. Thanks for the memories, Mr. Ditillio. RIP.
  9. M'Kyuun
    Addressing your question, Mike, while Shockwave sorta looks like his G1 gun mode when you turn his weird spaceship mode upside down, it just doesn't do the job for me. It's more a happy coincidence (purposeful or not), but it's not a dedicated mode like the MP. Gun laws be damned, he turns into a very unrealistic looking purple sci-fi ray gun, and there's really no viable reason why they couldn't just give him his G1 gun mode. Megatron's Walther mode, ok- I can see where that could cause confusion as it's based on a real gun. In that case, a tank mode is acceptable- not my preference, but I understand why, and MP-36 covers that base for me. Shockwave's spaceship mode, with all of its add-ons, turns me off to the figure completely, regardless of how well they did the bot mode, even if he is only voyager sized. I have the same beef with Soundwave's alt, although I'll extend some leniency to Has/Tak, as, other than his ad hoc street light transformation, his actual Cybertronian alt mode was never shown in the original cartoon. I simply can't bring myself to believe that the street light was his alt- pretty weak. So, I'll give Has/Tak a minor kudo for effort, but the results are arguably terrible. They nailed his bot mode, and that seems to really be the strength of this series- great G1 bot modes, but some of the alts are just awful. And Starscream- could have been a really cool sleek tetrajet, but in true has/Tak style, they cocked it up by having half of his bot parts hanging off the bottom. After 30+ years of designing these things, you'd think they could design any alt mode to be comprehensive without bot kibble hanging out. Guess not. I keep saying it, but I've got a lot of hope vested in a potential Earth alt mode release of most of these guys with , digits crossed, much improved alt modes that homage the G1 toys/cartoon characters we grew up with. Except Megatron, for reasons. Despite sounding negative, I'm actually enjoying the line thus far; I cherry pick the figs I like; I have no compunction to be a completionist, and I never have for much of anything, really. So far I have Ironhide, Megatron, Hound, Chromia, Flywheels, and Prowl, with Springer, Skyfire, and Ravage/Laserbeak on order. I'm eagerly anticipating the release of Refractor, as I've been waiting a long time for an official update to G1 Reflector, who currently sits on my CHUG shelves. Overall, I think Has/Tak are doing a pretty decent job of capturing the essence of the characters, and these are by far the most G1 mainline toys since, well, G1. I applaud the effort, and keep my hopes high for eventual Earth alts while still maintaining the great bot modes we're seeing currently. Ultimately, these are toys, ostensibly aimed at 7 year olds, so I suppose I shouldn't be too critical. Nostalgia's a harsh mistress at times, though. I imagine one or two of you guys know what I mean.
  10. M'Kyuun
    I have yet to see any of these guys at retail, although, in truth, I don't plan on getting any of them due to really poor alt modes for all three. I'm hoping better versions are planned in future releases.
  11. M'Kyuun
    Given their size, I don't think they're too bad, although that size difference is the issue I take; why not just make them the same size as a real micro-cassette? There's not that much difference in size there, but enough that they won't work with any other version of Soundwave except the Siege. I think the cross-compatability is a nice selling point. I still plan on getting the cassettes, though; I have them PO'd through Hasbro Pulse, along with Skyfire and Springer. I hope, but I doubt, that these will get remolds if/when they shift to Earth modes to better reproduce the look of a cassette. I'm hoping the same treatment will be given Soundwave to make him a Walkman. Soundwave and his cassette minions still stand out to me as one of the best toy gimmicks ever conceived. It's a shame there's really no analog to it today, except something like a Nintendo DS with its game cartridges.
  12. M'Kyuun
    Even as a reboot, it's still a soft reboot, as Bee and the other bots still share the Bayformer look, albeit not as shardy. But Bee's face is still the same. If Hasbro had balls at all, they'd have given Knight complete autonomy and let him go full G1 throughout instead of just a teaser scene at the beginning of what could-have-been. I hope any following movies continue to distance themselves from Bay's films until they are naught but a cinematic tragedy best left buried and forgotten in the past. Anyway, it's quite clear they were hedging their bets with Bumblebee, tying it enough to Bayverse to consider it a continuity, but allowing just enough differences to let it stand on its own merit, and then sitting back to see which way audiences leaned. After waffling, I guess they're now saying its a reboot. While I enjoyed Bumblebee, those opening scenes really do give a sense of what the whole film could have looked like, and that makes it bittersweet. I have hope for future films, though.
  13. M'Kyuun
    I wish they'd designed his feet to rotate 180 to allow the angle of his feet to compliment the van mode. Too, they could have given the feet an extra joint to allow for up and down as well as the rocker. Mine, fortunately, hasn't manifested an issues with the rocker joints, but the one side panel falls off of mine with the merest provocation. Agree with Mike's assessments both on lack of plastic throughout (just about every part of him has a hollow section, making him quite light for his size), and lack of paint on his wheels. Still, he's the best incarnation of Ironhide we've gotten in CHUG thus far, at least in bot mode. If/when they transition the line to Earth alts, I hope they make some marked improvements. They can reuse that head, though. Like Mike said, it works. One other thought regarding his odd weapon- I wish they'd given him his retractable back cannon as seen in the show, as there's definitely room for it, and it'd be more fitting than his rocket launcher hammer gun with poorly placed pegs. In other TF news, there's debate going on at Hasbro concerning doing a live action Beast Wars. The issue, however, is the exorbitant cost- $450M. Execs aren't sure there's enough fanbase, or knowledge base, for that matter, to support a Beast Wars movie, and I must concur. While secluded monks high in the Himalayas could probably tell you who Optimus Prime is, I doubt that Optimus Primal has the same recognition factor. Personally, if they wanted to do a BW movie, I'd be content to have it animated at a much more affordable production cost. Even then, I'd be concerned about its making a profit, quite honestly. For my money, stay on the trajectory that Travis Knight started with Bumblebee, and I think the films will continue to find an audience.
  14. M'Kyuun
    I liked that the Autobot symbol was offset on his hood, with the other symbol on the opposite leg, as it homages the G1 toy. I also don't mind the Cybertronian writing on his doors (which, I agree, would have been even nicer if they could angle up a bit), since this is supposed to be a Cybertronian alt, and definitely one of the better ones. Agree that his headlights seem incomplete- could have used some paint or a translucent inset. Also agree that this is the best Prowl fig we've gotten in the mainline, like, ever. If/when they end up doing Earth alts, I'm curious if they're going to recycle the mold with different paint, or make a whole new toy. If the latter, I hope they maintain the spirit of this one with minor changes to make it more 'Earthy'. On the whole, though, it's a really good representation of Prowl, and I'm really enjoying the Siege line for its attempts to be faithful to the G1 designs.
  15. M'Kyuun
    https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/interview-about-siege-omega-supreme-with-new-image-of-details-and-gimmicks/43070/ Here's a link to a brief interview with Hasbro's John Warden concerning the upcoming Siege Omega Supreme. I've never really been a fan of the G1 design, but this figure has me intrigued, I must confess. I'm not a fan of partsformers, and this new version, like his predecessor, breaks down into all the requisite parts, but the improvements to both his alt and bot modes are becoming more appealing to me as more info is revealed. I don't own any titan scaled figs yet (honestly, I don't have the room), but I think I'll keep a wary eye on this guy as more disclosures come to the fore. Anyway, if it interests you, enjoy the interview, courtesy of Hasbro Pulse by way of Seibertron.com. One other aside, per the article, it sounds like interviews like this one will become a regularity from Hasbro Pulse. If you're like me and toy specific info as well as some backstory interest you, this is good news, indeed.
  16. M'Kyuun
    Made a late sojourn to Wally tonight to pick up a few things, and I had to make the obligatory trip to the toy section to see if they had any Transformers. Lo and behold, they had a few wave 2 Siege deluxe figs hanging on the pegs! Specifically, 2 Chromias, 2 of the red and white guy that breaks apart into guns and stuff, one Prowl and one Ironhide. So Ironhide, Prowl , and Chromia came home with me. If you have Moonracer, you already have a pretty decent idea of how Chromia works. She still has the huge backpack on an otherwise feminine humanoid body, but minus the combiner port. She also has car fenders attached to the outsides of her calves. Her hands can clearly be seen at the back of her car mode with no attempt to conceal them. She comes with two small cylindrical things that appear to be thrusters of some sort; in bot mode, their square tabs can peg into the round holes in the car fenders on her back, and in car mode, stowing her head reveals two small pegs to which the cylinders can attach, which continue the look of thrusters just above her hands. I can't help but wonder why they couldn't have come up with something better than this, but as fembots are rather rare, I went ahead and got her. One additional note; unlike Moonracer, Chromia has ankles with a pretty good range of fore, aft, and rocker, enabling some pretty dynamic poses. One other detail is that her gun comes with an accessory that can attach either as a suppressor or a scope. Weird, but, you know, options. Ironhide is an appropriately chunky bot. Transformation is pretty simple, but it gets the job done. Two detractors in Cyber-van mode are that his head is clearly visible through his clear windshield (why they didn't go with a dark colored translucent plastic is anyone's guess), and the back of his van are basically big feet. However, as this is a Cybertronian alt mode, and likewise Chromia's, I give both some levity as they're ostensibly not using their alt modes for disguise, so visible bot bits isn't as detrimental as they would be on Earth. Moving along, Ironhide comes with a large gun whose business end looks like a 6-pack rocket launcher. Said business end can rotate 90 degrees and the weapon 'transforms' into a war hammer of sorts. the gun has two pegs for hammer mode and one for gun mode. It's a fun little feature. One negative with my copy, and also with my Prowl, is that these things have the plastic tires with the split peg that snaps into the wheel mounts, and due to too much flop or too much friction, at least one wheel on both doesn't or barely turns on a smooth surface. Rubber tires would have alleviated the issue, but now I'm just pissing into the wind. Finally Prowl. Prowl feels dainty in hand, especially after handling Ironhide. His thighs and biceps are pretty thin, and somehow he feels smaller than what he actually is. His transformation is pretty smooth, and I love how the center hood section inserts into his upper torso in bot mode, effectively filling the gap and eliminating what would otherwise be an awkwardly large flap behind his head. Articulation is standard deluxe with the addition of some fore, aft, and rocker on the ankles. His gun is reminiscent of the G1 toy, but not as big, detailed, nor chrome, sadly. It's molded in white plastic with nary a painted detail to be seen. His light bar is an accessory, for whatever reason, and can attach to his gun right above the gun grip peg. It looks silly, and mine shall heretofore remain on his car roof. Prowl's windows are also clear transparent plastic, but there's silver painted molded detail under the glass that's reminiscent of the G1 toy art and MP Prowl. It looks nice. He also has the Autobot symbol tampoed on his left leg just below the knee, like the G1 toy. His doors sport Cybertronian writing, which I've not bothered to research, although I'm sure someone out there has translated it. As G1 Prowl is my favorite, this figure hits all the right notes with me. It homages the original while giving him a small roadster-esque Cybertronian mode painted in Japanese police car livery (maybe the denizens of Cybertron are fans of Japanese culture, too). I think I'll definitely be picking up the Barricade repaint if I ever stumble across it, and probably every other repaint, for that matter. Other than sticky wheels, it's a pretty decent toy.
  17. M'Kyuun
    I didn't realize the treads were functional. Now I'm really impressed with it. Good job, Fans Hobby! As I said, I skimmed.
  18. M'Kyuun
    You got lucky: Abebooks wants an insane $460 for the hardback, and Amazon wants a mildly less egregious, yet no less exorbitant $198.10 for it. To Amazon's credit, though, their paperback version is only about $30, a much easier pill to swallow. Presentation was certainly a strong factor towards making the G1 toys appealing; Prowl's artwork, which I still think is one of the best examples, sold me on his toy before I ever saw the show, IIRC. I even pose my MP Prowl to match it, so strong is the impression it made on me. To that end, the artwork is still doing its job. I'm forever sold. I was hoping Barnes and Noble carried this, as my wife and I are planning a visit in the near future, but I didn't see it pop up. Might have to throw $30 at Amazon, as this looks like a nice addition to my small Transformers library. Edit: Just checked the B&N site directly, and they do have it: $50 for hardback, and $23.38 for paperback. Unfortunately, neither of my local stores has it in-store, so I'll likely order it through them and get my member discount.
  19. M'Kyuun
    As a non-comics reader, I have no connection to Masterforce; as such, my intro to Overlord and Sky Shadow are purely through Titans Return, and I opted for Sky Shadow as my single mold purchase. I'll be honest, I'm not crazy about two disparate vehicles transforming into bot bits which connect together to form a whole robot. It's also why Flywheels feels lacking to me, but Battletrap if fantastic. But I digress. Skimming Mike's Double Evil review, I have to concede that when done right, even a duocon (I use the term loosely) such as Overlord can be a striking toy, and IMHO, Fan's Hobby did a really nice job, especially with the vehicle modes. I'm impressed that they were able to give the tank a rotating turret, and the jet looks nice (I'm assuming those gear retract). Bot mode looks good, but it's a shame FH couldn't hide the tank turret in the legs like the Hasbro. Still, they get points for better functionality in tank mode. Anyway, as a nonfan of this sort of thing, I thought I'd chime in a positive opinion, as it looks like a fun figure. Thanks for sharing the review, Mike. Cheers!
  20. M'Kyuun
    Yeah, that's no longer available either. I'm hoping to find the G1 cassettes at my local store at some point, but definitely not holding my breath. I was there on Friday, and all the pegs for Generations stuff were empty. All they had for Siege were two copies of Megatron. I was hoping to land a few of the wave 2 figs, and maybe some G1 Exclusive reissue, but the Transformers section was a ghost town. I think a tumbleweed rolled by as I was looking for traces. I have a feeling ebay is going to be choked with egregiously overpriced G1 reissues once these things make it to retail. I hope nobody buys them and the greedy bastards take a loss.
  21. M'Kyuun
    Right there with you. That and calling stabilizers 'fins' or 'wings'. In an age where info is literally at your fingertips, why don't folks who review these things do a little research so they can at least get the proper nomenclature down? Likewise the specifics of the particular airframe so they can speak about it somewhat intelligently. There's info about pretty much every production, and many non-production, aircraft on the net- a little reading goes a long way to improving a presentation. T-38s, and F-5s by extension, are small planes, kinda like a VW Beetle next to a 70's station wagon. However, if being a Macross fan has taught me anything, there's a way to squeeze a robot out of just about any airframe- a little engineering and imagination can go a long way. Anyway, the argument for using the T-38 as a replacement airframe for Silverbolt is just laughable- I can only shake my head at the incredulity. Concerning the A-10, I thought the original Jizai Toys design was pretty sweet. It spawned any number of clone toys by other 3P companies. DX9's Richtofen is a pretty nice facsimile of the Warthog, albeit a bit thick in the middle. However, I think it favors the chibi proportions of the original toy, and they pretty much nailed bot mode, so my complaints are minimal. The Fairchild Robo (Gobots Bad Boy) toy from the 80's probably has the most accurate A-10 mold in a transforming toy. I'm happy with my Combiner Wars Powerglide, despite its numerous inaccuracies, as it's arguably the best official toy we've ever received. I just saw an A-10 up close last weekend while visiting the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, home to the Spruce Goose, so it's still fresh in my head. Some think it's ugly; I wholeheartedly disagree.
  22. M'Kyuun
    What made String stand out to me was that he was written and performed as an edgy guy who combined culture with an undercurrent of violence. Most 80s shows were fairly lighthearted, even in their darker episodes. Michael Knight, the A-Team, Street Hawk, Automan, Blue Thunder, etc were all lighthearted fare. There was something a little dangerous about Jan (he struggled with alcohol and drugs), and that edginess came through in his performance, which is why he, among his fellow tv action heroes, always stood out as someone who doesn't need the machine to be dangerous; Airwolf only amplified his tendencies. It didn't hurt, too, that they chose a beautiful helicopter to portray the eponymous machine of death and destruction. Concerning the missile/rocket launchers, while the reuse of tubes to fire volley after volley is pure make believe (missiles are surprisingly large and heavy weapons- an AIM-9 Sidewinder (heat seeking) missile is about 9 feet long, 5" in diameter, and weighs close to 200 pounds, and it is one of the smaller missiles in the US arsenal). Stealth aircraft carry these weapons on retractable trapeze systems, usually with two or more missiles attached to each trapeze, depending on the missile's size. It's interesting to think that even while Airwolf was airing, these delivery systems were under development for both the YF-22 and the YF-23, and were in use already with the F-117, albeit for bombs. I always thought it was interesting how missiles always looked like blobs of plasma when they fired from Airwolf. Ah, well, it made for fun viewing. One of the coolest things about the 80's was our collective ability to suspend disbelief, since effects were a far cry from what they are now.
  23. M'Kyuun
    I used to have the same debate with another student in Middle School. I always argued for Blue Thunder, as it was a far more realistic helicopter in the way it was portrayed. The movie was a bit of a sleeper hit, and the show was corny but fun (Dana Carvey played JAFO). Airwolf was pure tv magic, with its Mach speeds and infinite ammo, especially missiles/rockets from those underbelly tubes. So silly, but fun. What made Airwolf so engaging was the darker tone it often took, dealing with real emotional issues, especially those affecting Vietnam vets. Jan-Michael had a real talent for conveying emotion. He really carried the show, and his absence changed the entire feel of the show when Barry Van Dyke took the lead, at which point I stopped watching. His on-screen chemistry with Earnest always appeared genuine, and the two of them were one of the best action show teams (along with Jean Bruce Scott). It's disheartening that we've lost yet another talented actor who influenced many of our childhoods. RIP, Jan, and condolences to your family, friends, and fans.
  24. M'Kyuun
    Glad you like him, valhary. I preferred him over the TE version, and I've no regrets at all- he has great presence, fantastic articulation, a decent truck mode (not as nice as TE's, I'll concede), and some nice extras to reenact various scenes. And compared to MP-44, a much easier price tag to digest. Just got my copies of Maketoys Skycrow (Skywarp) and Zeta Toys' Jazzy, two toys I've been waiting some time for. Skycrow is just sublime. He has a very animation accurate look that's smooth and lovely, far superior IMHO than the old MP mold. There are some fiddly bits that pop off a little too easily, but they snap back on easily, so not a dealbreaker. The fighter mode looks equally good, capturing the look of the venerable F-15 very well. The joints in the vertical stabs are rather loose on mine, but will maintain their position with some tweaking. The overall toy is pretty sweet, well worth the wait. I'm anticipating the release of their Thrust, as it'll come with the wing fillers for Skycrow, and I've always like the look of Thrust compared to the other two Coneheads. I'm probably in the minority for choosing Zeta's Jazz over Maketoys, but I love the way it homages the original toy better than the Maketoys. After transforming it twice now, it's a mixed bag. The upper and lower body transformations are fairly straightforward once you know how to position the bits making up his waist. the problem I have with mine is alignment of the rear and front halves of the car; the rear half sits just a little too low and just a little too far back to line up properly and connect at both doors and roof. I have to do a lot of squeezing and compressing to get the two to mate up, and I'm left with gaps between the forward edge of the doors and the front fenders when I get the doors and roof flush. I'm not sure what's causing it; I followed the instructions, which aren't the clearest I've seen, and watched a vid (Skullface Coolsville), and I'm still having the same result as the first transformation. It feels like something somewhere isn't compressed enough to allow everything to come together naturally. It's a bit disheartening because it has a beautiful car mode- mine just has gaps. Anyway, the bot mode is what really made me want the figure, and overall, it's a pretty G1 toy-faithful entry, with the toy sticker details from both the chrome torso section and the knees picked out in molded detail and corresponding colored paint. I love it. In every way that matters, he looks like Jazz. Articulation is decent- pretty standard, but no ab crunch. He does have waist swivel, though, which is good enough for me. The hands are odd- the index and middle fingers are attached together as well as the ring and pinkies. The finger clusters are typical typewriter posed and swivel at a base pin joint. The thumb is on a ball peg. The hand also has a bit of molding that forms a semicircle to help hold the gun. It looks a little odd if the fingers are open, but it does allow the gun to be held firmly. Personally, I'd prefer the standard tab-on-gun-handle, slot-in-palm method that Takara and most other third parties use, but I can overlook it. It's functional, but not pretty. I'd like it, but the transformation issues just kinda suck some of the joy out of it, especially since I've been waiting for it to be restocked for about eight months. Oh, one other criticism I've seen online, and that is true for my copy as well, is the lack of blue paint on his waist skirts that is shown in Zeta's promo shots, but missing on the actual toy. It's a small thing, but if you're going to advertise it, it should be on the actual product. It's an odd omission given how otherwise well painted the figure is. And beautifully tampoed, for that matter. I'll give it a soft recommend to folks who want their MP Jazz to favor the G1 toy. However, the transformation is a little complex, and mine has alignment issues that may or may not be endemic to the entire batch of reissues. Mine will remain in bot mode for the majority of its display time, as he fills that Jazz spot nigh perfectly for my tastes. Of course, YMMV, but that's the great thing about options. Cheers!
  25. M'Kyuun
    Just got back from a LEGO convention in Portland, and I went to the LEGO store a day too early. They were sold out on release day, so I didn't get one on my second trip. Feeling a little envious of you guys who've got it already. I did, however, pick up the new modular building set, the Corner Garage, which looks like another fun build. I'm not much of a building builder myself, MOCwise, but I thoroughly enjoy the Creator Modular Buildings. As large sets targeted at more mature builders, they're always a great mix of detail, more advanced building techniques, unique parts usage, the occasional Easter egg, and enterprises such as a detective's agency, or a pool hall, that don't generally appear in regular retail sets aimed at younger builders. In other LEGO news, the new Avengers: Endgame sets have been revealed: https://www.brothers-brick.com/2019/03/04/more-lego-sets-from-avengers-endgame-revealed-including-war-machine-buster-ultimate-quinjet-news/ Loving the new Quinjet, new Hall of Armor ( the previous version from Iron Man 3 left a bit to be desired), and the War Machine Buster Armor. I know that the kneelessness of the large armors is a turnoff to some, and, as a mecha builder myself, not just a little frustrating, but overall I find these sets to be fun just to mess with.
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