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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    At this point, I think the enlarged eyes are a forgone conclusion. It's a little jarring, but I'm thinking I'll get used to them watching the film; it'll be part of her character, and it's a nod to her anime roots. I can live with it. I'm hoping it doesn't end up being another GiTS; while I thought it was ok, it just wasn't that engrossing. I'm hoping that the writing and plot offer more in Alita.
  2. M'Kyuun
    Hmm. Got mine yesterday, and the arms don't tab in very well on mine, either. I'm a bit resistant, as it seems like quite an oversight for all of them to have the shoulders misassembled. My POTP Brawn came with two left thigh pieces, but I figure that's a human error one-off; however, to have a whole batch of a toy be misassembled seems fishy. My own two cents is that it is assembled correctly, but that tolerances weren't just so in the correct configuration, as with any number of TF figs over the years, and it just happens that inverting them has the unintentional bonus of providing the necessary clearance for the arms to tab. My theory, anyway. I'm curious to see if Has/Tak will release any kind of acknowledgement of the issue. In the meantime, although my copy's arms don't want to stay tabbed very well, I can still get it into car mode with a minimal of fuss, so for now, his shoulders will remain as they came. Another issue I have with mine is that the car fender on the right shoulder does not like to stay tabbed-in in his Punch mode. I wish they'd made those shoulder ball pegs just a bit longer, as Punch's shoulder mobility is severely hindered with the fenders tabbed; untabbing them allows them to swing about, so the issue became a serendipitous boon to achieving greater arm movement. I also wish they'd found a way to give him actual toes in either bot mode, as his feet look a little odd as-is. Overall, despite the tabbing issues and other minor nitpicks, he's a pretty decent update to the original (which I had as a kid), and one I've been awaiting for a long time. I love the car mode they created for him (the original was a Pontiac Fiero), and both bot modes are close enough to the source to be recognizable while still imparting today's level of detail and poseability. Is he worth $25 as a deluxe? not really, but given that this is a character that seldom gets updates, I was willing to bite the bullet, likewise for POTP Grotusque, whose original I also had as a kid. Nostalgia is a powerful influence. Just the same, I'm not a fan of exclusives, as they're just a way of taking advantage of the fandom.
  3. M'Kyuun
    I've gained a heightened respect for Unique Toys; Challenger is an incredible feat of engineering. I vehemently dislike the TLK Prime design; in bot mode it has no semblance whatsoever to a Transformer- remove the red and blue and those stupid flames, give it a new paint job, maybe a new head, and you could drop it into any sci-fi show as a general mech and few would be the wiser. So, to take a design that had nothing indicative of transformation and have it come out as well as it did in truck mode is an impressive feat. There are so many moving parts in this figure, and the alignments, some curved, are remarkable for their precision. Really just a stellar job; I think Challenger is a good handle for it, not just for the folks who buy it, but also for the design team who figured it all out. Always enjoy Wotafa's reviews; his enthusiasm is infectious, and although I don't know what he's saying, he still gives a clear review with a well done transformation.
  4. M'Kyuun
    JBO- did your Punch/CP have an issue with the arms tabbing? In anticipation of receiving mine (it's late, just got an update this morning), I've been reading up on him over on TFW and on Seibertron, and apparently the ball pegs that form the shoulder joints were installed upside down thus preventing the arms from tabbing in properly. https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/how-to-fix-your-transformers-prime-wars-trilogy-punch-counterpunch/42039/ Anyway, nice to talk about something other than Bumblebee.
  5. M'Kyuun
    And therein lies the problem; if they're going to reboot the series, then divorce it entirely from the Bayverse, and start fresh. I enjoyed those scenes, as the G1 depictions are pretty spot on to how I wish they should have been done from the start. At least they're recognizable- in the Bayverse, nobody knew who was who until they slapped a name on them, except perhaps Prime. I'm ready for a hard reboot. I don't even care if they use the G1 designs, per se, but just the prevailing look of Transformers over the last 30+ years of toys, toons, and comics, Bayverse excluded. New Transformer-esque designs wrapped in a good story with good characters (many of them the eponymous sentient mechanized beings we all love) would be a nice refreshment of the movie franchise. I think Knight is paving the way, but he's still tied to the Bayverse, and as long as that remains, I don't think he or any other director will have a chance to make the Transformers films us old guys would like to see, or that they want to make. The light I see, though, is that Knight, and perhaps other directors to come, have a connection to Transformers from childhood, so I have hope that the spirit of the old show will come through, even if we're still seeing the Bayformer design aesthetic.
  6. M'Kyuun

    BANDAI DX YF-19!!

    M'Kyuun replied to seti88's topic in Toys

    I don't own the new YF, but I have the Advance, and although I haven't handled it in quite some time, I do know that when I first got it, I transformed it full through all three modes without incident, and I've kept it in battroid ever since (fave mode). That said, I don't recall feeling any trepidation towards transforming that particular toy, certainly not as much as the SV-262 (the wing joints are a major PITA on that bird). Agree that the heels on the Advance look better. The only real gripe I had about the Advance was the bulging panel under the chest- still don't understand why they didn't give it a nice gentle upwards curve. I see they fixed that for the YF- good. Heartfelt sympathies to Onnasake; something like this simply shouldn't happen with a $300 toy. I realize he used a bit of force, but that tells me things with the toy probably weren't toleranced well- I've certainly run into it, but this is why every toy should be put through a couple transformation cycles as part of the QC process before being packaged, so the owner doesn't end up with an unbalanced, overly-tight high end toy. Just my two cents. Coming from an aircraft maintenance background, we would never repair something without testing it before signing it off, but I think, as a point of pride and craftsmanship, the same should be true for these expensive mechanical toys.
  7. M'Kyuun
    Well, I'm starting to see a glimmer of hope for this movie, both for the revelation of these new images, and by Travis Knight's talking about his love of Transformers from childhood. So, there's a chance he'll convey that with the Transformer characters in this film. Bay had no ties to Transformers when they hired him; Hasbro gave him a crash course in the lore for some familiarity, but basically let him do his own thing with it, which is why it was Transformers in name only and bore no resemblance to what we grew up with, knew, and loved about the franchise. I'm hoping Knight will change that. Still, if Knight was going to bring his movie closer to the G1 look and feel, why keep the Bay version of Bee's head? Give him a proper face and let him talk. I don't think anyone likes mute Bee, or the speaking through the radio BS they've been running with all these years. I certainly don't, and to make your title character voiceless when he's in all other ways a technological wonder just makes no logical sense. It's good that Knight is trying to inject some feels into this movie, especially between Bee and the girl, but I hope it comes out more reminiscent of Spike's friendship with Bee in the original show, where they were on equal footing. I hope Bee's more than just a pet in this film. True friendship doesn't seem to be something that Bay understood/understands, as all his characters , human or bot, just seemed to be antagonistic, demeaning, rude, and uncaring towards everybody. Not really the Autobot way.
  8. M'Kyuun
    RIP, Sarge.
  9. M'Kyuun
    Me too...this is a change for the better, at least aesthetically. Hoping they get the personalities down, too, with some decent dialog. Anyway, it's starting to look much closer to what I always wanted in a live action TF film.
  10. M'Kyuun
    There's certainly an antisocial aspect to Leon's character, and he's almost singularly focused on his work, with little attention given to much else. In those respects, his behavior could be likened to that of autism, in general. However, I think the intent was more towards his being the cliched absent-minded professor. All the characters in this show are clichés, really; Leon aside, they all follow typical anime character themes. The absent-minded professor theme has been around for a long time and is pretty universal. The show doesn't break any new ground from the eps I've seen thus far; it's unremarkable, beyond being pretty, mildly enjoyable, with some cool mecha, even if the battles aren't that remarkable either. It feels like the typical 80's half hour advertisement cartoons- lots of cheese, cliched characters, technospeak, and yes, a very Power Rangers-esque baddie. What's missing is the merchandise- where are all the toys and models of the mecha? I'd like to have a few nice toys of these things.
  11. M'Kyuun
    Eva Unit One? You're giving JP way too much credit. Leon & Co are saving a city; Shinji stopped Instrumentality. That sounds so nerdy.
  12. M'Kyuun
    While Bee Movie Bee hasn't grown on me yet, I'll give Takara credit for cramming a lot of stuff into a small space. Seems like there are more moving parts for both articulation and transformation mechanics in the Studio Series compared to the Generations deluxes of late. I guess that justifies the $20 price tag, although I'm increasingly finding the price tag on deluxe figs, and moreso voyagers, to be a bit high for what you get. I wish the engineering was more complex on voyagers instead of less, or at least a improvement in articulation over deluxes, as it should be.
  13. M'Kyuun
    Thanks for the pics, sh9000. Those are the only clear pics I've seen of the JP mecha designs. I wouldn't mind having toys, and I imagine Bandai would be the company that makes them, but as far I know, there are currently no toys or models out there. I imagine they'd sell on their own merits, though, being variable mecha designed by Kawamori. His writing leaves somewhat to be desired at times, but the guy can sure design a cool transforming mech.
  14. M'Kyuun
    Cute vid. As much as I'm pretty much over Bayformery stuff, the MP version of Bee Movie Bee looks intriguing, much better than the Studio Series. I'm already down for Studio Dropkick when he finally releases. Still hate the Bayformer Bee face, though; I wish they'd changed it, given him a faceplate or at least a mouth like the rest of them.
  15. M'Kyuun
    Looked up uguu; annoying. Like the running joke in Juushinki with Chloe being addressed by pet names rather than Chloe and her objections, as well as the military dude who the sniper always addresses by a mildly pejorative term. It's funny the first couple times, but wears thin over the series. As for the fanservice in Juushinki Pandora, I noticed it, but it only crops up here and there, and the princess/mayor is always showing cleavage in her outfit, so after awhile I stopped noticing. Even the nudity is kept pretty tame (usually females viewed taking a shower from the side or 3/4 view behind- no full frontal IIRC). I'm guessing this is aimed at the newly pubescent crowd in Japan, so nothing too revealing. The show's a little boring to me. The characters really aren't that interesting (they're anime archetypes, nothing that stands out), the story is a mish-mash of meta and quantum physics, and the big bad is cheesy and laughable. Honestly, I think I laughed the first time he announced his bad guy name. It's like an 80's James Bond villain. I'm waiting for Roger Moore to show up in a transforming Aston Martin. Kawamori's transforming designs are cool, as always, but they can't save this show from the mediocrity of its story, characters, or dialog.
  16. M'Kyuun
    It's still a far cry from the animated versions, but it's the first real transforming car I've seen that actually has separate legs and can walk. Def a step in the right direction. Note that this real transforming car has more in common with the 80's toys than with the Bayformer designs. Just sayin'.
  17. M'Kyuun

    BANDAI DX YF-19!!

    M'Kyuun replied to seti88's topic in Toys

    I'm passing on this, already having the Advance and the Arcadia 19. As far as the tampo goes, I appreciate it, as Arcadia's was just a little too plain (I mean they didn't even put intake markings on it- pretty much a gimme for all valks), but looking at both my Advance and the new YF-19, Bandai could stand to scale back a little. There's a point where it just becomes gaudy, and they've gone past that point. Too, I wish they'd simplified the intake markings to just a sideways V. Their graphics dept must have been given carte blanche, and they're going all out. Pretty neat how they were able to collapse the arm cannon for transformation. I always figured that'd be one of those add-ons that either gets put on for a battroid display, or stays in the box. Given that Plus was an obvious homage to the real world competition between the YF-22 and the YF-23 at Edwards AFB only a few years prior, I love that Kawamori mirrored that in the setting of Plus, even if it was on another planet. It's still one of my favorite anime. I'm hoping Bandai will follow up with a YF-21 and variants, but yeah, I'm sure it'll be plastered with tampo too. I'm just curious what kind of engineering they'll pull out of their asses to make a better all-around proportioned toy, unlike the old skinny-legged Yamato.
  18. M'Kyuun
    I agree; it still has good presentation overall. The only two things that ever bugged me were the wheel housings on the legs and the slightly too-long arms. But, it's not gappy and has an honest transformation, unlike V3 which is quite gappy, and has a large backpack to contain the panels that comprise his cab shell. V3's strengths are foremost, excellent range of articulation throughout, good proportions with his limbs, hidden back wheels and more cartoon accurate shaping of his lower legs. I just can't get past the need for shellforming his truck mode. Moreover, I don't like how the fuel tanks look, as well as the kibbly nature of his cab mode. I definitely like MP-10's truck mode better. They could have re-engineered his legs to hide the wheels and maybe addressed his arms somehow, and kept the rest of him the same and I would have been happy. Still, I'm looking forward to seeing reviews of V3, as Takara is doing some impressive engineering with some of these latest figures, and I find that aspect appealing, even if I'm not completely taken with the final product.
  19. M'Kyuun
    Contrary to most, I've never been a fan of GERWALK; however, of all the valks, I find the GERWALK of the VF-9 and the SV-51 both to be really interesting and lovely in their own ways, perhaps because they're both a bit unconventional. I wasn't aware until now that the VF-9's cockpit section could rotate in GERWALK-that's awesome; it'd make for a good recon valk. Anyway, mad kudos to Xigfrid for producing a fully transformable model of one of Kawamori's more challenging designs. Other than Experten, who works at a smaller scale, you're only the second person I'm aware of to produce a fully transformable VF-9 (not sure about HalfEye), and it looks brilliant, so kudos well earned. She's a pretty little bird. Love how the legs collapse and create a smooth line from intake to exhaust- beautifully realized!
  20. M'Kyuun
    Even as a long time LEGO fan (I'm seven years older than the minifig, which just celebrated its 40th birthday), I'm astonished by that life scale Bugatti. Just building a static model is impressive, more so in Technic, but to make it a functional driving car using only LEGO elements to do it is a monumental engineering accomplishment. I do have to wonder, though, if it's not at least supported by a steel spaceframe, like many other large LEGO models. The tires and rims were supplied by Bugatti, I believe. The powertrain is what I'm really curious about- I hope they show pics, as that has to be an extraordinarily complex system of electric motors and gears to afford the functionality on display and maintain integrity. It's a seemingly impossible challenge achieved brilliantly.
  21. M'Kyuun
    Looks cool; I prefer FPS styled games, although 3P is also fun (the Uncharted and the rebooted Tomb Raider games are excellent examples). I hope what is shown is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg so far as what sci-fi subject matter is delved into. It does have a feel close to GiTS, which is a good thing, as well as Deus Ex, which I also enjoy. Keeping an eye out for this game.
  22. M'Kyuun
    I'm a big fan of Chubbybots' mech builds, and his take on Gypsy Avenger is pretty sweet. He submitted it to LEGO Ideas. https://ideas.lego.com/projects/e6fe97d6-43dc-48bc-a444-c7653c4b9148
  23. M'Kyuun
    Is there a video somewhere of Kawamori demonstrating his LEGO prototype? I've been searching to no avail. As for Juushinki Pandora itself, it's ok, nothing really groundbreaking. It's an odd mix of metaphysics and quantum physics. As usual, though, the mecha designs are interesting.
  24. M'Kyuun
    Recently finished some planned improvements to my Classic Space Konig Monster. I thought it'd be neat to take a group shot with my other Konig toys. Hope you like.
  25. M'Kyuun
    Hasbro gets no love from me, either, as the only SW related merch I buy is LEGO. Curious how JJ's going to handle Ep 9, as Johnson all but shot down all of JJ's setups from Force Awakens. I wouldn't want to be the writer/director to follow The Last Jedi. Kinda makes me wish they'd just let JJ do the whole trilogy, as it seems he had a vision, and it would have been a uniform transition throughout. Like him or not, he respects the franchise, maybe a little overly, but TLJ was a jarring film that upset the flow from the Force Awakens, at least to me, anyway. I like Force Awakens; even with its warts, it still feels like a decent SW film to me; I just don't feel the same about TLJ. Ep IX is probably going to end up being a salvage op for JJ, trying to circumnavigate a lot of what didn't seem to work in TLJ, not to mention tie some of those unused or explained away threads from TFA back into the new film, Rey's background especially.
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