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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    American ignorance is beyond stereotypical, as we keep proving it. Alas, I'm glad they went the extra mile to have both younger actresses who played Diana, as well as her fellow Amazonians, speak with a similar accent. It may not be ancient Greek, but different enough to sound foreign, as it should. And, I must concur, that Gal Gadot is absolutely striking to behold. Before BvS, I'd never heard of her, but mad kudos to the casting people who gave her the role. Now I can't imagine anyone else filling it.
  2. M'Kyuun
    Dobber, oops, thanks for pointing out my gaff there. Ahem, not Nazis, but Germans, although the portrayal of said Germans was rather stereotypical of their later Third Reich brothers. As for the German ship coming through the barrier, it was listing to starboard and I just assumed it sank and never gave it another thought. As for never returning, I was thinking it may be out of fear that she'd inadvertently give away the location of the island, although in many of the WB toons over the years, she's returned many times to Themiscyra without consequence. So, shrug. IDK. And for the third question, I'm with Dynaman. According to the movie, she was created by Zeus as he was dying to be a weapon capable of killing a god, making her a god, or godlike. I was under the impression that all of the Amazons are demigods, fathered by Zeus, as they all have heightened abilities compared to man. Zeus was the original player.
  3. M'Kyuun
    There's soo much to keep track of now- LEGO have expanded, and continue to expand, their product lines and themes, adding the odd licensed theme here or there along the way. In a way, I kinda miss the old 2003 time frame a bit, as there were probably only a third of today's sets on shelves at any given time, which made it easier on the wallet. But, then again, I like having all these options, and now that LEGO has been steadily hiring AFOLs to be designers, we're seeing many more interesting and complex techniques being employed, especially in the sets geared towards older, more experienced builders. I'm learning the value of patience, as most of these sets eventually get marked down, some significantly, at Walmart, Amazon, and other retailers. I've got enough unopened sets to keep me busy for awhile, not to mention I need to get off my butt and build something to take to BrickCon this year. So much to do.... Concerning the Ultimate Batmobile, it breaks down into a smaller Batmobile, a tank, a motorcycle, and a small Batwing. All but the Batwing have physical locking mechanisms. The Batwing has an area on top of the tank where it sits very snugly. It won't move unless you physically pick it up or roll the whole thing over. It's really a brilliant bit of design, and all the detail put into the engines on the Batwing, the headlights on the Batmobile, all the rotating bits and pop-up rotary cannons on the tank, etc, make it a fun and striking model when complete. The minifig assortment is cool, too, although the inclusion of the Wizard of OZ Wicked Witch and two of her flying monkeys (each with its own facial expression) is an odd choice in a Batman set, but kinda goes with the precedent set by The LEGO Movie for inclusion of all LEGO's licensed lines. Referring back to the Making-of book, there are a plethora of minifig designs and concepts, some of which were used and others that weren't. I'd love to see some of them realized in future waves. One in particular is Egghead, who was played by the late great Vincent Price in the 1960's Batman. There's a fully realized minifig of the character in an egg-shaped mech, all completely brick-built in the book. There are pics of it floating around on the web. You can also check TheBrickfan.com, as they have scans of some of the pages in the book. Hope the info's useful. Cheers!
  4. M'Kyuun
    Saw it this morning- really good movie. I do wish, however, that the actors playing Nazis would speak German instead of badly accented English when they are among other Germans. It's a nitpick, but one that always bugs me in these movies. I had the same complaint about Captain America. On the bright side, Gal Gadot owns this role, and the movie all around does a great job of rounding out Diana's character and showing why she's every bit the hero as her male counterparts, maybe even moreso, as her goodness and idealism are so pure. Kudos to the filmmakers and actors who did right by the character.
  5. M'Kyuun
    An update to my Sunstreaker double-order dilemma at Anime Export: I requested a refund for one of them, and they kindly made it happen without any questions or hassles. As a first time buyer there, they've made an excellent first impression with their customer service. I just wanted to share a positive experience, as all too often all we hear are the negative ones. Anyway, they've made a repeat customer of me.
  6. M'Kyuun
    Yes it would. On the topic of LEGO, I built the Ultimate Batmobile, and what a cool set. It breaks down into four vehicles, all of which are cool on their own, and it even comes with Alfred in a mask and cap. Gotta build the Batwing set now. Good stuff. I've also been paging through the making-of book for the LEGO Batman Movie, and there are any number of concept drawings, cg models, and actual brick-built models, some of which may become sets, as they are pictured alongside other models that have already been released. I hope.
  7. M'Kyuun
    Glad I could help; you've been quite helpful to me over the last few days, so it's especially pleasing that my story led you to getting the set, too. BTW, I also saw that new Thrawn book by Zahn. I read his trilogy way back in the 90's, and found the character intriguing, a very different take on a villain. Recently, Thrawn has made an appearance in Rebels, and they've kept the character pretty true to the books, so I guess Zahn saw an opportunity to expand Thrawn's story. I'll likely check it out from the library when they get a copy. Anyway, glad you got your Saturn V!
  8. M'Kyuun
    Initially, I was going to skip Primal as well, but after looking at reviews, and considering that I already had Generations Rhinox and Rattrap, and with Cheetor being announced and looking good, I went ahead and got him. I can say honestly, no regrets. While he's not perfect, he's still a pretty neat figure, and his bot giveaways in gorilla mode (white thighs and his wonky feet) are pretty minimal. Admittedly, the original toy hid his bot parts a little better, IMHO, but in order to capture his screen likeness in bot mode, I don't mind the concessions. Concerning all these BW figs, one may as well accept that design concessions for one mode over another are going to happen, as so much CG magic was used in the animation. Short of using space age memory materials and nano-technologies, which I think would be neat to see employed in toys within my lifetime, right now they are beyond feasibility for Takara, and designers are going to have to make tough engineering decisions and prioritize one mode over another to create the most balanced figures they can. I accept it, and while I don't think they're on the same level as the main line TFs, they're still pretty neat in their own right and I like having them. Yeah, the pricing has taken an abrupt hike, and, personally, I'm not seeing justification for it. For the quantities of these things they sell, the car bots, depending on size, should range between $60-80. To suddenly charge nearly twice that smacks of pure greed with no other justification, especially, as you said, for a secondary character with minimal screen time outside of the first season. As always, shop around, and vote with (or without) your wallet. To that end, my thanks once again to Technoblue for pointing me to Anime Export.
  9. M'Kyuun
    Never been a fan of Westerns, but this show had a cool fusion of sci-fi and Old West that worked well. I've only seen a handful of eps, as it came on a channel we didn't get when I was a teen, and I had to try and rabbit ear the station on the little B&W tv in my room, so reception was hit and miss. But it definitely made an impression, and I loved the idea of the C-5 implant enhancing their innate capabilities. The animation was above par for the time, and Gooseman, a blatant Clint Eastwood caricature, was awesome. The main ongoing storyline of the team leader trying to find and rescue his wife was a novel sort of storytelling in animation back then (think of the running Alien plot in X-Files). Just a lot of goodness all around. And yeah, this show and Pole Position had two of the best opening theme songs. And Mighty Orbots, b/c catchy. All three of these shows stood out to me as a kid due to the excellent Japanese animation, mature storylines, running plots with stand-alone eps, good music and overall production values. The 80's was such an awesome time to be a kid- the toys are much better today, but we were spoiled by all the various animated shows full of imagination and cool concepts that really only exists in Japan now. American animation in general has declined greatly, which is sad. I cherish the memories of all those shows and how they colored my childhood. It is a monumental shame that Cartoon Network pulled the plug on the Thundercats show. I wasn't the biggest fan of the original, although I watched it, and have probably seen every ep. The new show was done so well; my wife and I both enjoyed it a lot, and were bummed when we learned it had been cancelled. What's worse, it was allegedly cancelled in favor of LEGO's Legends of Chima, which was terrible, IMHO, especially in light of Ninjago, which continues to be a well written and enjoyable show. I've hoped for years that the folks behind Thundercats would continue the story in graphic novel form, much as Avatar: The Last Airbender has continued. They had a whole season or two planned that never got animated, and that would have tied up various plotlines. A graphic novel or two would be welcome. As for Silverhawks, I honestly never cared for that show as a kid. Perhaps watching it through older eyes might give a different (better?) perspective. IDK. Anyway, I was unaware of the tie-in in Thundercats. It's cool when stuff like that is inserted, and thanks for pointing it out, Mazinger.
  10. M'Kyuun
    Kaneda's Bike, I'm in the same boat regarding Dinobot's bot mode. I never cared for it either, but aesthetics aside, he was certainly one of the best characters in a show full of character and personality. The voice talent and writing behind that show really elevated it from being just another cookie-cutter kid's cartoon. First season of G1, Beast Wars, Animated, and Prime all stand out to me as favorites within the animated side of the franchise for both storytelling and character development. The various aesthetics in each informed the toys, but it's the personalities within each show that draw me in and make me want to watch and be part of that experience.
  11. M'Kyuun
    For those interested in the MP Beast Wars figures, early CG renders have shown up for Dinobot, courtesy of Twitter user Chromless via Seibertron. https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/cg-renders-for-takara-tomy-transformers-masterpiece-dinobot/38359/ Compared to previous releases, it's much, much cleaner than I would have anticipated, although bot parts can be seen filling out his raptor body. He's probably one of the hardest characters to translate into plastic, as his toon incarnation benefited greatly from CG magic. Like Cheetor, it looks like the dino head chest is a facade, and the actual dino head folds into the bot mode. Considering how well they pulled off both modes, I'll accept a few concessions. It'll be interesting to see him in plastic with paint apps, if only to see how well the bot parts are camouflaged, or not. All things being equal, I look forward to adding Chopperface to my growing Maximal team. I'm starting to wonder if Takara are just going to finish the Maximals before moving on to the Predacons, and whether they're just going to do the original characters from first season. That'd be fine, although I'd love a well done Blackarachnia.
  12. M'Kyuun
    I agree. New stuff always sees a mad rush at the onset, and once the fervor fades, availability resumes to normalcy. That said, my wife and I took a trip to TRU this morning hoping they'd have it in stock, but they didn't. Non-plussed, I wanted to see if Barnes and Noble had the Making of the LEGO Batman Movie book, as it gives insight into all aspects of creating the movie, and I dig that sort of thing. What I didn't expect was to see the Saturn V sitting there on the floor in their LEGO section. It was the only copy they had, and it came home with us. So, I rest easy with it in-hand, my wife didn't have to brave getting it online, and , bonus, we actually got it for less than MSRP due to our B&N membership. As it's a b-day gift and that's not until next month, I get to look at it for a month before building it. Fortunately, I have other diversions: While at TRU, I picked up the new MClaren 720S Speed Champions set and a newly released City cargo set. I also wanted to let folks know that, at least for now, TRU online have the Saturn V at MSRP with free shipping. http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=125641126
  13. M'Kyuun
    You are full of handy info for my benefit this morning, Technoblue. It's very much appreciated. I wrote them a polite message explaining what happened, and I hope everything gets resolved to mutual satisfaction (i.e., I only pay for one order). Concerning security, this was the first I encountered it on the part of Firefox. Had me a little apprehensive. I appreciate the vote of confidence for AE. For what it's worth, it's done now; hopefully, while I was fumbling through my order, the hackers were out on a smoke break or fetching some Cheetos from the cupboard.
  14. M'Kyuun
    Thanks, Technoblue. Got my PO in for $75, far better than $120. Firefox keeps flagging AE as an unsecure site, though. The site itself claims to be secure. I took a chance and paid my PO via Paypal, but even the 'return to merchant' message on Paypal flagged as unsecure. Not getting a warm fuzzy there. I made an initial payment via Paypal, which didn't reflect on thier site, so I reaccomplished with the same results. So, pragmatic chap that I am, I checked my email, and sure enough, two receipts for Sunstreaker. I've already contacted AE to let them know what happened, and if the monies have transferred (not reflecting in my bank account yet), I'm hoping they'll be agreeable to refund one of those transactions. Don't really need two Sunstreakers.
  15. M'Kyuun
    HLJ still doesn't have a PO for Sunstreaker; I'm guessing it'll go for around $90 USD, since their retail price is usually a little higher than RK. RK gets you on shipping, though. HLJ are usually my go-to for MP figs, and I believe they offer free shipping if your order meets a price threshold. I might have to check out AE. Are their shipping charges reasonable? As far as Lambor goes, I was under the impression he was going to be a straight reissue. If anything, they'll probably put something extra in the box, like his jet pack, and charge an additional $40-50, or it will be a straight reissue without any additional elements and they'll still charge an additional $40-50. Sorry, my cynicism is running off scale high at the moment. I'm still incredulous over the $120 that the Stateside stores are charging for Sunstreaker.
  16. M'Kyuun
    So I'm looking at the various stores with MP-39 Sunstreaker preorders, and man, these things are getting expensive. Usually car-bots go for approx $80, but all the Stateside stores are charging $120, which is what we were paying for a large figure just a few months ago. Robot Kingdom has him for a more reasonable $89, but buy the time you pay shipping, it'll likely be over $120. Not real happy if this is the new pricing trend.
  17. M'Kyuun
    Except, this isn't a UCS set, but an Ideas set, which do have limited runs. However, they have done multiple runs of previous Ideas sets, and given the popularity of this beast, IMHO, LEGO would be wise to keep this project available for a longer production run. Of all the Ideas sets thus far, aside from the Classic Space inspired Exo-Suit from a year or so ago, this set seems to be selling better than its predecessors. From reviews I've read and watched, the model exceeds expectations, and anyone enamored of the early US Space Program would be rewarded by having this on their shelf or coffee table. I've asked my wife to procure a copy for me for my birthday next month; she is not an internet savvy person, and generally distrusts all online retail sites for fear of having her card info stolen, not to mention she procrastinates worse than anyone I've ever met when it comes to buying gifts or sending cards, so given the rabid sales of this thing, I'll have to do some diplomatic prodding to get her to order the thing for me posthaste. Chances are, I'll end up ordering it for myself, as usual. For today, however, I'll be working on the new Ultimate Batmobile set from the LEGO Batman Movie. It's yummy.
  18. M'Kyuun
    According to his Avatar, Lorinder hails from Sweden. But yeah, Europe and China share a continent, so rail freight is probably the most efficient means, aside from air freight. While living in the US certainly has its many perks, there are times when it'd be nice to live a little closer to China and Japan, if only to more easily score some goodies and take in a bit of the culture.
  19. M'Kyuun
    Captured Prey don't install the plug, either.
  20. M'Kyuun
    Somehow, Mike, I knew you'd come to the rescue. I've used RK before, and they generally have good prices, but their shipping prices to the US are high. I don't know how it would compare with European shipping, but I guess, theoretically, it could go ground all the way (hooray for trains). Captured Prey is a US based store that I've used, and they offer discounted shipping out of the US. One caveat, they generally do not allow order cancellations.
  21. M'Kyuun
    I've used TFSource.com, BBTS.com (Big Bad Toy Store), and Chosen Prime, all of which have good selection, customer service, and fair pricing. Of course, they all have mark-ups, but some stores offer free shipping once a price threshold has been met, which softens the blow a little, as 3P tend to be spendy investments. I personally don't have any experience outside of these retailers, so I'm not knowledgeable of any to avoid. Hope this helps.
  22. M'Kyuun
    Downbeat looks to be a really good figure, based on pics and vid reviews I've watched; however, Coolsville just does it for me with his more toy accurate look and cleaner car mode. I've been waiting for previews, but AFAIK, there are none as yet. With Downbeat already out there, I'd have thought TW would be trying to get a proto into reviewer circulation to build hype, but seemingly that's not the case. Hopefully soon.
  23. M'Kyuun
    I was patiently waiting to see the repaints of both these molds when they released as Prime and Megs, as they were obviously designed to be Octane and Blitzwing. I passed on Classics Octane back in '07, as his weapon, which made up a fair chunk of the rear of his truck mode, just looked like crap, and I wasn't really sold on him all the way around. Since I don't own an Octane in my collection, I was hoping for a good mold in the TR line. Sadly, it wasn't so. The same can be said for the new Blitzwing; honestly, I prefer the voyager mold from a few years ago, even with his shoulder issue. The TR line seems to excel in its deluxe class figures, but voyager and leader classes seem to be hit and miss. Blitzwing and Octane are misses IMHO. Octane could have been so much better if Takara had found a way to incorporate the truck cab into the plane's empennage instead of just swinging them under the wings. Alas, I guess I'll wait another few years for their next attempt, and hope it's a better figure. Same with Blitzwing. I'm hoping the wave 4 deluxe and legion class figs will start showing up in my area- lots of wave 3 shelfwarming, but I've not seen a single wave 4 figure yet. More and more, I'm inclined to just eat the markups and shipping costs to get these things online b/c they aren't showing up in stores. I used to enjoy the hunt, where you were apt to find at least one or two figures somewhere, but anymore it's become a waste of gas and time.
  24. M'Kyuun
  25. M'Kyuun
    Agree. Well done all the way around. I wish more movies in this vein were made.
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