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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    Now that you mention it, my neighbor said he bought the Lepin set and I've never asked him how it was. I've seen reviews on other Lepin sets, and the comparisons were usually decent, although some parts wouldn't have good fit or functionality. One specific example I remember is that the canopy wouldn't close all the way flush on their version of the blue and grey X-Wing from TFA. The reviewers even swapped canopies between the actual LEGO set and the Lepin. The LEGO canopy worked perfectly on both models, but the Lepin wouldn't sit flush on either, so definitely some mold issues. I believe there were other issues as well, but I can't recall them now. Suffice to say, quality wise, you get what you pay for with LEGO, in most cases (some sets are a little high priced for the parts count or for just what the model offers). LEGO has really good customer service in my experience, so if there are any issues with parts being broken, distorted, or only partially molded (I've had all three issues), they'll replace the parts no questions asked. Doubt you'll get the same service with Lepin. Just sayin' Mileage varies greatly in this area, methinks, depending on what you like, how you value a set (price to parts ratio vs the appeal of the model itself, etc), how much you enjoy building, rarity, nostalgia, etc. I've personally spent a fair bit to obtain a number of Classic Space sets that I wanted since childhood, and even a few that I had as a kid that got torn down and used for parts in other models and such. My CS nostalgia runneth deep, so emotionally I feel the value when I buy these old sets and put them together- it's just pure joy. OTOH, I still find joy in any number of modern sets, discovering new techniques, new parts, and almost certainly just from the models themselves. I collect across many of LEGO's themes, so at this point, after 40+ years, my collection is stupid large and eclectic, but even with house space dwindling, I consider it money well spent.
  2. M'Kyuun
    Love the personal insights that the designers have been including in the Designer vids of late; I'm always interested in the process and the people behind the sets. I wish someone would write a biography on Jens Nygaard Knudsen, the creator of the minifig, Classic Space, the first LEGO trains, and numerous other advancements and themes during his 32 year career at LEGO. That said, it doesn't change my disappointment that, once assembled, Voltron is immobile from the waist down, and involves parts-forming of the chest and thighs to change their orientation instead of hinges. Vehemently wish beyond words that they'd found a way to make this sucker super poseable, even at that scale. Alas, modding. Edit: As for David's observation, I've got a rather large box of "stupidly expensive" Millennium Falcon sitting in my living room, which I managed to get for the bargain basement price of $525, nearly the same price as the 2003 UCS Falcon, which I also have. No regrets, and thank you LEGO VIP Program.
  3. M'Kyuun
    I was mistaken earlier concerning Magic Square's legends class G1 figs; I thought they were deluxe, was kinda hoping, actually. Regardless, they look amazing. Getting a strong wave of nostalgia looking at them. Got my eye on that Huffer, since Has/Tak have been making updates to all the mini-bots but him.
  4. M'Kyuun
    Regarding FT's engineering, I have all their Dinobots and Phoenix, and none of them is really much of a chore to transform. It seems like there was a change in design philosophy after these guys released. I was totally down for Rouge until I saw some reviews; I find patience in shorter supply as I get older, so something that trying just doesn't work. Aesthetics-wise, gappy chest notwithstanding, I think she's still the best looking MP scaled Arcee available, with MMC's Azalea being second (not sure what TW were thinking with their version's car mode-unfinished mess, that). That said, I find Azalea's arms and legs to be a little too stick-like; perhaps its due to transformation, but it lacks the more pleasing curves of Rouge. Curious to see reviews. Rouge aside, just from pics, FT's Hot Rod looks really nice, vibrant shades of better than Takara's. Hopefully it proves to be a solid figure in all other areas. Personally, I have no interest in a MP Hot Rod/ Rodimus, but I can appreciate a nice looking figure, and hope for those who do want him that this'll be an enjoyable toy. On the heels of Kuma's having seen MT's Rodimus, I hope the same. Good to have options. I have Skycrow PO'd and I'm still waiting for a notification. Hope it comes soon- this'll be my first MT figure, so I'm excited by the dual prospects of finally having a seeker that looks like he walked off the screen (a good thing in this case), as well as trying a product from a company that enjoys a good reputation and has made some really nice looking figs over the years.
  5. M'Kyuun
    I'm watching it on watchcartoononline.com. The sub is pretty decent, although the translation is off every now and then. Still, it's far and above the terribly subbed version of Macross Zero I own. About 5 eps in and I'm following Juushinki Pandora just fine so far. Hope this helps.
  6. M'Kyuun
    Popped over to TFW to see what's on display at TFCon. Some neat stuff, for sure. Looks like Magic Square are making a number of deluxe scaled G1 figs. Their Huffer has my interest. ToyWorld's making voyager scaled Onslaught and a proper tractor trailer Motormaster to replace the CW versions. And, though not TFs, Action Toys have their Supercar and Blue Jet Machine Robo figs on display. I think I saw their Loco in there, too. Kinda surprised they didn't have a DX scaled Eagle on display. I'm curious to see it when they do. That Quinjet Jetfire is pretty neat looking- an interesting take on the character, and a nice compromise for a more realistic looking alt mode. Although not my cup of java, MMC have a respectable looking Sky Lynx on display. Still can't understand why Has/Tak didn't make their Generations version split into the cat(box) and bird (shuttle) like the original. Still early in the Con,so hopefully more revelations are coming.
  7. M'Kyuun
    Just watched the first ep of thirteen out so far. Just on the strength of the first ep, I'll continue watching. Did a search, and came up with zip as far as toys/models. Leon's transforming car is pretty cool (no familiarity with Nobunaga the Fool, so the design is fresh to my eyes)- I want a toy of this thing. The variable ground military vehicles and that chick's flying vehicle are pretty interesting, too. This show has toy /model fodder all through it- can't believe Bandai's not pushing the plastic crack for this series- it's got yen making potential all over it, esp with Kawamori's name attached. Regardless of how the story progresses, the mecha are sure to please. It's a weird nitpick, but the dude's cat is obviously voiced by an actor and it bugs me. Not like there aren't plenty of cats in the world to sample. If you're gonna use a human, get someone like Dee Bradley Baker who has an incredible talent for producing legit animal sounds ( he did most of the critters in the Avatar series). His Kiwi accent is pretty good, too. wink
  8. M'Kyuun
    http://news.tfw2005.com/2018/07/13/transformers-generations-war-for-cybertron-figures-revealed-367323 So, they're not from the War for Cybertron game that came out a few years back, but sharing the name for some reason Hasbro-only-knows. I'm liking that Sideswipe; looks better than the CHUG version, at least in bot mode (very G1), but that car shot is at such a low angle it's hard to say yet; the back end may be a trainwreck, so creative photography to the rescue. Time will tell. That Prime looks nice in bot mode, but not feeling that truck mode. Much prefer the Fall of Cybertron game version to this.
  9. M'Kyuun
    That video: lots of tell (in German), short on show. Skip to about 6 minutes in if you want to see him unbox the parts and do a speed build. I was hoping he'd show off more of the functionality, but once he forms Voltron, just more talking. Anyways, it's even more of a parts-former than I originally surmised. Dismayed and disappointed; I really hoped this would be the impetus for some much needed new joints, and given the long development time, I was quite hopeful. I wish they'd stayed more faithful to Lendy Tayag's submission; his version is fully poseable without need for parts-forming. On a positive note, pics of a few LEGO Movie 2 sets are popping up-scroll down a bit: https://www.thebrickfan.com/ Looking forward to that Friends Spaceship. Hoping for lots of space stuff from this movie.
  10. M'Kyuun
    Aw man, you just had to mention Blackarachnia. Ok, so maybe room for one more, and then that's it. Until the next one.
  11. M'Kyuun
    Very true. LEGO created those quarter curves specifically for the Volkswagon Beetle set, as nothing in the current inventory served. So yeah, it's absolutely possible to see new parts, if not some nifty techniques, come into play for this. I'm excited to see the final result. I'm not as into Bond as TKing22, but I like to watch a Bond film from time to time- the cars with all their special modifications have always been a highlight for me- love that sort of thing. It's also why I enjoyed M.A.S.K. when I was a kid. Never had any of the toys, but boy did I drool over pics in the Sears and J.C. Penny catalogs- yep, I'm old.
  12. M'Kyuun
    I have time, but neither the room nor the finances. After Dinobot and Megatron, I might have to call it quits on these BW MPs. Just getting too expensive, and I have no room for displaying them anymore.
  13. M'Kyuun
    More precisely, the prevailing opinion is that it'll be the Aston Martin DB5, with all of it's gadgetry. Never in a million years did I think LEGO would ever do Bond, but they've been making some surprising choices for licensing over the past couple decades, moreso just in the past four or five years. Still, I doubt we'll ever see official Terminator, Predator, or Robocop stuff, even though by today's standards, the first two movies would probably be PG-13. Too many F-bombs and wetwork in Robocop.
  14. M'Kyuun
    PO'd BW Megs through Anime Export at 24,500 yen, which came to $228 at today's rate. Of course, that doesn't cover shipping, but a decent price comparatively. Man, I was hoping to curb my spending for the rest of the month, too, as I just forked out a little over $500 for the UCS Millennium Falcon (I had $275 saved up in VIP points) over the fourth weekend (double VIP points, including the UCS Falcon- a rare opportunity I didn't want to pass up.) And LEGO Ideas Voltron is coming out this month for VIP members, too. Might have to wait a bit on that now. Had I given it any thought at the time, I may have waited for an eventual G1 toy colored MP Megatron, but at the time I wasn't thinking about it, and I was just trying to get my order in before everyone was out of stock. Guess I needn't have worried. Anyway, I'm happy enough with toon colored Megs.
  15. M'Kyuun
    I can get behind that idea. Moreover, Sludge was the only G1 Dinobot I owned, so soft spot. But yeah, if they'd actually scaled the dinos according to paleontological finds, Sludge, an unspecified sauropod, most likely intended to be an Apatosaurus, would have dwarfed the rest.
  16. M'Kyuun
    Must concur- he looked pretty statuesque in the first pics, but these put him in a good light all the way around. I still doubt that he, or the Magic Square version, will equal the articulation of Takara's, but both of these third party figs clean up much better than the official and eschew the shellformery nature of V3. Brilliant design on the TE for providing wipers for the truck, but stowing them out of sight as part of the transformation- very cool. Got my attention, now.
  17. M'Kyuun
    Saw it yesterday with the wife. We both liked it. I didn't think it had as much humor as the first- the interplay between Scott and his convict buddies, especially Luis, really made up a lot of the enjoyment of the first film and its not nearly as present in the new film. I liked the new villain- her motivation is pretty straightforward and, right or wrong, justifies her actions. Quantum physicists may do some eye-rolling, but I'm sure scientists of such heady disciplines often find major holes and implausible leaps in sci-fi films built around such areas of science and technology that are difficult to fathom. So, yea lots of flashing rays and blinking lights. The father-daughter parallels were nice. Paul Rudd was a great casting choice- he just comes across as a genuinely good and likeable guy, and by extension, a good dad, and that goes along way towards making him a hero, with or without the suit. Kudos to the special effects/CG folks who make the impossible possible in these films. As a kid growing up in the 80's in the age of blue-screening, stop-motion, rotoscoping, etc, films today are just magical to behold, and I think we take it for granted sometimes. I very much appreciate how far we've come, and look forward to where we're going.
  18. M'Kyuun
    Still a masterpiece in the truest sense.
  19. M'Kyuun
    Nice review, Mike. I'm too lazy/disinterested to do my homework so far as cartoon accuracy and such are concerned. I take them at face value, and I pretty much know what to expect from a modern deluxe, so there were really no surprises, other than maybe a transformation bit I haven't seen before, which is always nice. For what they are, they're a fun set, do what they're intended to do, and the gestalt, as Mike and I both observed, is arguably one of the best combiners Has/Tak have done since Combiner Wars started. I still don't understand why they put the spikes on the combiner hands vertical instead of pointing straight ahead, which makes more sense and is toon accurate, and I still wish they'd make the combiner feet a bit wider, both to match the girth of the bots forming the legs and for stability (these things are pretty top heavy, after all, so bigger feet would help). IMHO, had they designed Hun-Grrr's hands/beast feet to swivel the opposite direction, they would both cover the combiner pegs and serve as spikey kneecaps, improving the figure. Toy and toon inaccuracies aside, as a toy, it succeeds. The individual Terrorcons are interesting, and personally, I like the little gun-holding armature behind Blot's head, as it allows the gun to point over his shoulder in beast mode, which is better than pointing at the sky if it was back mounted. I admit though, it doesn't look so good in combined mode, but these things are generally full of tradeoffs. I'm already over it. While I think Hun-Grrr's beast mode suffers the worst, the concession at least made for a solid torso in combined mode, which is far better than Volcanicus, sadly. Like many, I've waited 30+ years for modern official Dinos, and was pretty excited to get those guys. To hear that not only were they coming, but that they were going to combine was the proverbial icing- an idea that has swirled for years, seen fan made art and kitbashes, and now finally! official toys. Alas, Volcanicus is a letdown- Grimlock's design made for a weak torso, especially the hips. If they'd designed Grim's thighs to collapse into his lower legs, I think he may have been a decent torso, but they didn't do that, and the result is awkward, gangly, unstable, and fugly. Too, I wish they'd made the whole team in voyager scale- they're dinosaurs, after all, but I guess they went that route for cost savings and for better proportionality of the combiner. After seeing the final result, I wish they'd just scrapped the combiner idea and just given us an updated well articulated team of voyager scaled dinobots.
  20. M'Kyuun
    Missile Robo is easily one of the best molds in this line. It has a really cool transformation that also imparts realistic functionality to the missile deck, allowing it to rotate as well as incline. The lack of small wheels to help it roll better may be considered its only real weakness, but I can live with it. It's a fantastic update, and just a fun a figure to transform and pose. Shuttle Robo's a nice update, but he doesn't feel as solid in his shuttle mode; there's a bit of flex due to how his arms form the backbone of the shuttle and the hip panels fill in the gap below them. Still, I'm glad they made him, and like the rest of the line, is a nice update to the old MR/Gobot toy. He also features some of the better weapon storage in the line. Hoping Turbo and Loco, for which proto pics have been shown, make it to production. I was hoping this line would succeed, as I'd love to have an updated Harrier Robo.
  21. M'Kyuun
    Between the three options, the Magic Square appeals the most to me right now. Like you, though, I wonder how limited the thigh rotation will be due to his hip skirt, which doesn't seem to have the hinged cutouts like the Takara and the Transform Element. I also wonder if the MS will basically have MP-10's articulation. That's the one area I expect Takara to excel, as that seems to be a big part of their design strategy for MP figs, along with fanatical adherence to cartoon accuracy. The idea of Prime being a shellformer, not to mention his obvious gappiness in bot mode, are swaying me away from Takara's version. Wish they'd just stop with the toonish plain Jane bot aesthetic with realistic alt mode, as the two things just aren't really compatible without resorting to doing what they're doing with OP V3. I think they had the right idea initially- nice mix of toon and toy.
  22. M'Kyuun
    Man, Iron Factory do a really nice job on these little guys. That paint work is sharp. Hard to tell that's a legends sized fig from the pics (which are the usual standard of excellent, thanks Kuma). They look like fun toys, and fun doesn't seem to be part of the equation with a lot of TF toys these days. To that end, I'll give Has/Tak a nod, as I think they've struck a good balance with their mass retail figs, especially in the TR line deluxes, with some nice carry-over into PotP. Perfect, no. Fun, yep. Which again makes me question why so few 3Ps, if any, are producing figures at CHUG scale, considering what they could bring to the table in terms of improved articulation, paint and deco, complexity, etc. I don't know about other collectors, but it's the line I collect most, and sometimes it'd be nice to have options here, too. Actually, my druthers would be for more 3P improved voyager and leader class figs, as the official toys tend more towards Playskool complexity with each rise in class. I would expect the opposite to be true. I'm still waiting for some enterprising third party to make the Animated version of Omega Supreme. I was so hoping Has/Tak would release that on the tenth anniversary, but they did absolutely nothing to celebrate that line, which broke a lot of conventions and saw some really cool and innovative toys, not to mention a great show, whether or not you dug the aesthetic. They did something right b/c said toys go for some steep prices on ebay and the like nowadays.
  23. M'Kyuun
    They're pushing the love story hard in the trailer, and the music reinforces the tone, with only a glimpse of the violence. As TehPW stated earlier, it looks like they're trying to appeal to a female audience with this trailer. But, trailers are often deceiving, and given the very violent nature of the anime, I'm guessing they're holding back. Cameron's had a long time to think about how he wanted to do this movie, and Robert Rodriguez has done his fair share of gritty violent movies, so I think this is an example of early trailer misdirection. Hoping in the end they'll go for an R rating and realize the film as close to its roots as possible.
  24. M'Kyuun
    Right after I posted, I did a search and found Emgo's review for it. Overall pretty neat figure. He's pretty big. Concerning the tracks, Emgo's didn't seem to roll very well, but it may have just been his copy. Leader CW Megs is kinda like that, too, not to mention any number of LEGO sets I've had over the years using rubber treads. Come to think of it, my ToyWorld Bonecrusher and Scavenger (don't remember their actual names offhand) both have issues rolling smoothly, although that feature was one of the main persuaders for going with TW (that and their Long Haul was the only G1 accurate 3P version, and he's my favorite of the Constructicons). But I digress; back to MT Ironwill. Kinda funny how the cockpit glass is too small in comparison to the Headmaster fig. As Emgo pointed out, he'd have to lean to his left to see straight ahead. But, I get that they were trying to maintain the G1 look. I love the overall transformation, though. It's tough to pull off with rolling treads, which is probably why we get so few with the feature. Kind of a bummer that the turret is so limited in its rotation- only real flaw I see in the design, besides gun storage, as Kuma pointed out. Anyway, great pics of this guy; appreciate your sharing, Kuma. To Dobber, my own 3P purchases are quite limited, so I can't really speak to best third party. What I can say is that I love my Fanstoys Dinobots, my MMC Sphinx, Terraegis, Jaguar, and Furor, and to a lesser degree, my XTransbots Apollyon and Eligos. Eligos is a pain to transform, but he's a thing of beauty in both bot and starship modes. I have yet to own anything from Maketoys, but from all the reviews/pics I've seen of their stuff, they're a company to keep an eye on. Which brings me to your Seeker question: I think it depends on what you're looking for. If you like the Takara Seeker aesthetic, then official or Toy World would be your cup of tea. Personally, I'm not a fan of the Takara versions, 1 or 2, as too many things are off to my eye. Maketoy's version, even as slavishly toony as it is (I prefer a mix of toon and toy), is just a thing of beauty to me, hollow wings, notwithstanding, and I can't wait to get Skycrow in my eager little mits. AFAIK, those are your options for a G1 MP Seeker. If you want an updated IDW inspired Seeker, you can try and track down one of IGear's figures, which turned into an F-22 inspired jet. And finally, if you want a G1 bot mode, and a Cybertronian Tetrajet alt mode (based on the look of the seekers in the very first episode of Transformers before they left Cybertron), then look no further than the MAAS Kickstarter figure-scroll up to Kurisama's post for link). My knowledge is a bit limited, so I'm sure some of the other fellas can be of better service, but I hope this helps.
  25. M'Kyuun
    Perchance are those rolling treads on that not-Hardhead? I rolling treads.
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