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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    Double dipping- they're still milking the MP-10 mold for all it's worth while trying to make the most of the licensing fees they paid for Ghostbusters. So now there's Ectotron, a way overpriced shellforming Combiner Wars figure and Ghostbuster Prime. I wonder if he's going to come with a properly sized proton pack instead of his usual weapon. At least it'd be unique, as well as apropos. Wonder if there'll be exclusive Ghostbuster Star Wars, Marvel, GI Joe, or Ponies down the line? We need a milking cow emoji. I'm thinking they're getting all they can from MP-10 b/c they know they'll never sell MP-44 repaints like this guy, not at the pricepoint they're asking.
  2. M'Kyuun
    Yes, he is. Supported the SD VF-25. Even if it gets made, though, it'll only be for the Asian market, as Harmony Gold still has Macross locked up here in the West and in Europe. Hopefully, that'll change in a couple years. Len-d69, your SD VF-1s look great, too. Voltron turned out really well, although I wish the designers had been able to put more articulation into the final model. From the many test model shots included in the instruction manual, they tried valiantly, but ultimately too much of the look was compromised by the hinges, so they went for toon accuracy and stability instead. I can't fault them, as safety and stability are important in such a tall and heavy model. It looks great on my shelf, so thanks for submitting. It gives me hope that more anime-inspired models will get made.
  3. M'Kyuun
    I guess I can understand the allure of statues, although for my money, I'd rather have a transforming figure. To that end, MP BW Megatron looks fantastic, and could no doubt be similarly arranged if one was enterprising enough to build a detailed base or diorama for him. I'm not that guy, but just sayin'. Harkening to Mike's Power Master Prime/Ginrai review, I also bought the Takara version in lieu of the Hasbro, as I already had Ultra Magnus, and didn't fancy another near copy of the mold. The Takara version has posable feet, and though they look odd, it's an upgrade to the Hasbro. Moreover, it has the more G1 accurate cab , although in truth, I kinda liked the stylistic take of the Hasbro. Overall I think it's a decent figure. I really like the PE Prime figure that they made for PMP, but at $50, it was just a bit too much money, even if it does look nice and add accuracy to the figure. I have no association with Godbomber, and quite frankly, I think it looks terrible all the way around, so I entertain no second thoughts on skipping it.
  4. M'Kyuun
    My comment goes back to the Fast interview with J.J. Abrams and the direction of the SW cinematic universe so far as there really is no overarching direction. IMO, EP 7 definitely felt like there was a plan set to span the following two films, which was utterly discarded to allow Rian Johnson to go his own way, to the detriment of the series IMHO. Whether you like Force Awakens or not, I think most can agree that it did a good job of setting up precedents for following chapters. I think Abrams is a competent director; I know he has his share of detractors, but I like Force Awakens, I liked the questions it posed, I liked the look and feel of it, and I thought he and the writers had a good grip on how to write and portray the characters. I could have lived without Finn, but towards the end of the film he was starting to grow on me. Then Johnson ruined him, and my enthusiasm for the new films, altogether. Anyway, I hope JJ is able to create some semblance of order from the chaos in the short time he has to make the film, and perhaps salvage a thread or two of his original intentions. I really wish Abrams had directed all three for a unified vision and feel, but that's water under the bridge now. I hope Ep 9 turns out ok.
  5. M'Kyuun
    A bit lighter reading than the rest of you guys, but I just finished Ransom Riggs' fourth installment of his Miss Peregrine series, Map of Days. Great series, made all the more interesting as he builds his stories around vintage photos, often odd ones. Looking forward to next book. Got some Hawking I need to try and absorb as well.
  6. M'Kyuun
    I was kinda wondering why they didn't bring back the majority of original actors to voice the characters. Glad James Earl Jones is playing Mufasa again- such an iconic voice, irreplaceable IMO. Would have been nice to have Jeremy Irons back as Scar, too. Anyway, this last trailer fills me with hope- a lot of notable scenes in there that match the original, and Timon sounds like , well, Timon, singing anyway. Sounds like all the original songs are going to be in there, too. Looking forward to it. I'm not a big Disney fan, as they're hit & miss for me, but I saw the original Lion King in the theatre, and it was a powerful experience. I hope there are some folks in the audience who watch this movie without having seen the original so that it's a fresh experience, as I think it'll have an impact like the original had on many of us watching it for the first time years ago.
  7. M'Kyuun
    Shame to hear that there doesn't seem to be any improvement to V2's hip articulation, especially if they changed out ratchets for ones with smaller/more teeth. That was certainly an area in need of improvement. I think it was cool of them to include a different head sculpt, depending on one's sensibilities. I know the original had its share of detractors. personally, I think both look good. It's a beautiful mold; the articulation, or lack thereof in certain areas, was really what edged me over to the MS. Well, that and I prefer the chunkier MP-10ish look. However, both are good MP Prime figures, so ultimately, especially for the price, you're a winner regardless of your choice. I continue to be well pleased with my Magic Square. It's a good mold, and really, the only two criticisms I can levy against it are the lack of a Matrix cover and the lack of a trailer adapter for MP-10's trailer. The latter isn't as important as the first in my case, as MP-10's trailer has been boxed up nearly from day one, and is now buried under so many other boxes of TFs I've bought since then that it's not worth the effort to dig it out. My Detolf couldn't accommodate it, anyway, so it's relatively moot. All that said, addressing the upcoming repaints, cool for those who really like the mold but want either completion or something more than the original offered. I prefer the matte finish of the original, but I still look forward to seeing how the shiny version stacks up. As for the Ultra Magnus version, he's only half Magnus without the trailer to complete his look, IMO. If they made the trailer, and it became his armor, then that'd be damned impressive. He'd be huge, but cool nonetheless.
  8. M'Kyuun
    I saw one on clearance for about $40 awhile back- I thought the clearance price was crazy. Add another fifty bucks and you can pick up a Magic Square or Transform Element MP scaled Prime. I just can't see paying exorbitant prices for these old 80's toys. Different strokes, though. And speaking of high priced toys, I got my big purple dinosaur on Wednesday. I managed to nearly snap off one of the tabs on his back panels (purely my fault for not looking at directions or checking a transformation vid beforehand- I wanted to be surprised for a change, and I paid the price). A little Gorilla Glue and time put Megatron back together again, yes. Once again, Takara impresses with the overall sculpt and paintwork- he looks like he stepped right off the screen. They followed the original toy's transformation pretty closely (as far as I can remember- been a decade or so since I last had him out of storage), but then I'm not really sure there's really any other way to make him transform and maintain his overall appearance. He's definitely the easiest MP BW figure to transform, but not without a caveat. I watched Skullface's review, and I'll echo his sentiment about the extending bit in his abdomen- it was crazy tight on mine, and I ended up using a small flathead screwdriver to start the sliding process until I could move it by hand. Def could have used a second pair of QC eyes on that bit of engineering. Most of the panel joints were really stiff too, scarily so in some cases. The back panels, which involve about six different folding maneuvers apiece, rotate on double hinges, and some of those things were nail-biters. Too, there are tabs aplenty on these things, so that's another area to be especially cautious about, especially when breaking apart the dino mode. (As I found out the hard way) The bot mode is about as good as it can be following the original toy/ toon designs for the character. The dino mode captures his toon look to the 'T', but poseability is pretty limited, which is one of the nitpicks I have in general for both Dinobot and Megatron- the transformation limits the leg articulation at the hip on both figures, which is kind of a sticking point to me on a MP toy. I wish they'd figured out a way to give these things full leg articulation in their dino modes, but it's an issue going back to the original toys as well. It's something that would have really elevated both in terms of engineering, which, IMHO, should be a hallmark of Masterpiece. Subjectivity aside, it's a pretty amazing figure, one that was necessary to fill out the roster for BW collectors. I'm looking forward to Blackarachnia- her bot mode already looks amazing; I hope her black widow mode is equally so.
  9. M'Kyuun
    For me, tone wise and by having a completely Asian cast, it hit all the right notes. With a bigger budget, I think these guys could pull off a pretty faithful Akira.
  10. M'Kyuun
    Likewise. And in a couple of years, I hope Tutsunoko refuses to renew Harmony Gold's Macross license, thus killing Robotech for good, and hopefully opening the way for Macross in the West, finally.
  11. M'Kyuun
    As manga/anime adaptations go, I feel we got a winner with Battle Angel and a 'meh' with GitS. I thought Kaneda's bike looked pretty cool in Ready Player One, which incidentally didn't appear in the novel. So, I think the bike part is definitely doable. It's everything around it- the plot, writing, and casting, for which I'm dubious concerning a fairly accurate adaptation. I imagine it'll be massaged, Anglicized, and denuded of all the gore and violence which set it apart in order to maintain a PG-13 rating. Thus it'll likely be Akira in name only, sharing little with its inspiration. Furthermore, Taika Waititi has thus far directed much lighter fare, often with a humorous bent, so the violence, gore, and psychodrama of Akira is a bit outside of his wheelhouse. He's also shooting within a restrictive amount of time (71 days due to CA film tax-credit allocations), and as of today, casting has yet to commence. No pressure. Personally, I don't feel the need for a live action adaptation, although the prospects of what can be done with special effects is appealing. But, Alita aside, I just don't think the vast majority of Hollywood gets anime, and until more talented fans of the genre become directors, producers, and writers at a level where they can achieve the finances necessary to make high budget films, Hollywood will continue to fumble around with anime based films. Right now, I think Cameron, Rodriguez, Del Toro, Jackson, perhaps Blomkamp, and potentially Travis Knight, are the directors who I feel can translate animation to live action pretty well, and all of them have made films with anime influences, directly and indirectly. If any of these guys were given the reigns to Akira, especially Rodriguez and Jackson, neither of which are strangers to gore and violence, a I think decent adaptation could be made. As it stands, under the current director, I don't have high hopes. I hope he proves me wrong, though.
  12. M'Kyuun
    Too true. I also prefer that the armor look like armor with overlapping plates and the more squared or angular bits from earlier versions. Still love the Mk2 from the first movie.
  13. M'Kyuun
    Mixing the animation with real toys so seamlessly is craftsmanship at its best; very cool. I've come to really enjoy all these stop-motion movies using modern Transformer toys (official and otherwise), as modern levels of articulation make the action so life-like when done well.
  14. M'Kyuun
    From the message of the trailer via Vera Farmiga's character, the Titans have awakened due to a threat to Earth, humans. So all these kaiju are gunning for humanity, and yet they show everyone in wonder of these things as they lie dormant. I guess it's like a biogeneticist becoming enamored with the structure of the Ebola virus. Anyway, the cynic in me would love to see the movie follow through with Vera's dire message, all but wipe out humanity, except for little pockets of people here and there who don't dare emerge as they once did for fear of the Titans' return, and after a century or two have passed, an alien species comes to this seemingly uninhabited world that bears the signs of a long lost civilization. And the whole thing starts over again, despite warnings from the now subjugated humans, until they reach similar levels of global pollution, and we see some bubbling on the surface of the Pacific near Japan. Cut to credits.
  15. M'Kyuun
    Yeah, that scene wasn't heavy laden with foreshadowing. However, ridiculous blimp refueling platform notwithstanding, refuelers all have shut-off valves installed to prevent just such an occurrence. Even the MPRS pods have SOVs if memory serves; if not, then there are SOVs within the wings that can stop the loss of fuel from a leaking or damaged hose/drogue assembly. The refueling pods I worked on with the MC-130s back at Hurlburt had a guillotine that would cut the hose off and simultaneously plug the leak. So, having a platform just doing huge donuts in the air all the while spewing JP into an aerosolized cloud just primed for some incendiary to spark it into an epic ring of fire that Johnny Cash would be proud of is naught but an enormous steaming pile of movie-making bull feces. It didn't impress me much. After getting off here yesterday, I was looking at some of our other drones, and the X-45 and X-47 caught my eye. Pretty birds, those. Considering the age of these things, circa 2011, I wonder what DARPA, the CIA, and other more clandestine agencies actually have now for snooping and Secret Squirrel ordinance deliveries. Probably closer to the Ghost than we think.
  16. M'Kyuun
    The new Valkyrie drone, aside from the possibilities it offers to operators in theatre, really doesn't do much for me visually. It's fairly cookie-cutter by modern drone standards. Kawamori's Ghost design was much prettier, but I'm assuming that design-wise it's pure sci-fi fantasy, or we'd see development along those lines with real aircraft. Regardless, still love me some Macross Plus. Stealth was kinda meh, aside from Biel in a bikini. I actually liked the design of E.D.I. I recall there being a lot of criticism concerning its design around here when the movie was in development and stills were floating about to build hype. The fighter designs didn't bother me; the atrocious refueling platform OTH- WTF?? That thing was pure ridiculousness. At the time it came out, I worked on KC-135R and T model tankers, so perhaps I was a little too close to the reality to suspend my disbelief, but IMHO it wasn't even a good sci-fi design.
  17. M'Kyuun
    Good run down on all the inconsistencies/inaccuracies, Mike. I appreciate the legwork you put into the review. Overall, I have positive feelings about this figure. From watching previous vid reviews, I hadn't really noticed the black area behind the front wheel, but now it's hard to un-see. What has really bugged me from day one about his alt mode is how the oddly shaped blue leg kibble, to which the headache rack attaches, gives the impression that the cab leans forward. I'm not sure if it actually does or if it's an optical illusion, but every time I see it in truck mode, that cab looks like it's leaning into the wind. Too, as Mike mentioned, it's a very cubic cab, even for a cabover. It looks odd. These are all nitpicks, and if I ever find this guy at retail, I intend to get him as he's still a nice G1-ish representation. All of my criticisms lie with his truck mode, and my figs don't usually stay in alt mode for long. Cheers for the review, Mike.
  18. 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.
  19. 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.
  20. 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.
  21. 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.
  22. 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.
  23. 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.
  24. 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.
  25. 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.
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