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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    Yeah, definitely not random. he did a decent job as Starscream, too. His Wheeljack wasn't there, but y'know, they had a lot of guys doing voices back in the day and even with all their talents, few VAs really have the range of Frank Welker or Scott McNeil. I wish they'd called on more of the OG VAs to do voices for this production, but some of them may be retired, unavailable, or sad to say, one with the Matrix. I enjoyed it more for the effort, but I still prefer the original voice track- I just think they nailed inflection, tone, feeling, etc so well in those first three episodes. It set the stage well for seasons to come, though I feel like they departed from that more serious tone in the second season and beyond. Anyway, it sounds like both Frank and Arif have serious reverence both for the show and certainly for the older generation VAs who brought those characters to life so vividly and memorably in the original show, and for that alone, I'm glad they had the opportunity to do the voices in place of Chris Latta and Scatman Crothers, two cartoon VA greats who definitely left lasting impressions. I'll toss Kasey Kasem in there, too. As to '86 Steeljaw, I knew beforehand what I was getting, but somehow having it in hand only deepens the disappointment at just how poorly done it really is. @mikeszekely's comparisons with Eject, arguably the best cassette bot thus far in this sub-micro-cassette scale that Hasbro created for WFC/Legacy, highlight even further just how craptastic Steeljaw is. Added to the lackadaisical engineering and lack of articulation the need to partsform part of the lion mode and the supposed esteem of the Studio Series line is dubious. The G1 toy was far better executed. It may have been a lion shaped wafer, but at least the wafer became a recognizable lion with articulated legs (3 points both fore and aft). This thing looks like a yellow Pomeranian. I can live with the accessories partsforming, though I'd rather they integrate given advancements and progression in transforming toy techniques. At this thing's scale, though, some concession is understandable. I'd have rather they just replicated the g1 toy at the smaller Legacy scale- at least it would have had more poseability and a better cassette mode. Like most of Hasbro's cassette efforts thus far, it only cements my profound hope that Dr. Wu will get around to making all the main cassettes as there's a need and a want there, at least on my end. Regarding the TF: One toys, my Wally has them, or had them as of last Tuesday. I want to see the movie, but honestly, the aesthetic, especially concerning the alt modes, doesn't grab me. My feelings in that regard aren't hurt, as space is really becoming an issue for me. To that end, any toy I feel I can skip without regret, I happily do so.
  2. M'Kyuun
    From a fellow with a stutter to becoming one of the most iconic voices in film history, James Earl Jones made an impact that few will ever eclipse. As @Hikuro mentioned, he rarely played lead roles, though he definitely made an impact as Mufasa. I still get goosebumps watching Lion King. He shone, however in supporting roles. He always had presence, a likeability to him, and that great baritone delivery. For Star Wars fans, certainly, his passing is a sad certainty that never again will we hear the true Dark Lord of the Sith utter another word. Imitators and A.I. may try, but there was only one James Earl Jones. Rest in Peace, good sir.
  3. M'Kyuun
    I think the Doc's doing a pretty good job with them as well based entirely on product pics and @mikeszekely's comprehensive reviews. My personal druthers for Dr. Wu's products rest with his impressive Legacy-scaled micro-cassette figs of which he's done a fairly limited number thus far. I have both his versions of Slamdance and Squalkbox, and for their sizes, they're well-done and easily eclipse Hasbro's sub-lackluster cassettes (except Eject who is by far the best official cassette bot they've done thus far in their inexplicably preferred undersized micro-cassette scale). Dr. Wu has more cassettes on the way: Decibel, another combiner from the Japanese cartoon, as well as his versions of Overkill and Slugfest. My hope is that he'll eventually get around to doing the primary cast of cassette bots: Rumble, Frenzy, Ravage, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, and Ratbat, as the official versions leave much to be desired. I will say, however, SS86 Rumble was almost great: They could have omitted the crappy non-functional pile drivers in lieu of working elbows, which would have made him pretty much perfect at that scale. The engineering and appearance in both modes is fantastic; cassette mode suffers a little, but it's still better than most. I was hoping some third party would make new arms for him with working elbows (and perhaps even minimally functional drivers), but to wit, nobody has, more's the pity.
  4. M'Kyuun
    Although not on the same level as Macross, Mospeada, etc, 52 Toys has some interesting stuff, especially their more recent figures over the past two years where their engineering has been improving. Most of their toys are robot animals that convert into cubes, but they've also produced teams of vehicles (construction, submarines, jet fighters, and most recently a racing car and sci-fi motorcycle) that can combine in different ways to form humanoid robots. They've also partnered up with a couple of Japanese designers who created a line of creatures called BeastDrive that can transform into vehicles, such as their inaugural figure, a sporty car that turns into a Velociraptor. They come as kits which contain the central articulated frame and several sprues of add-on armor bits to flesh out the model. I have this one and I was surprised by how clever the transformation is and by the level of articulation. It was easy to assemble and looks good in both modes. The only gripe is that the deco is achieved via waterslides. I'd never really done waterslides before, but I took my time and got them all applied. IMHO it makes a huge difference over just a plain white car. I have their rabbit/stealth plane and Ptero/car on order. Chinese company Sci-Figure Industry made a transforming J20 fighter jet and a WZ-10 attack helicopter, both licensed Chinese aircraft, that are very well-crafted toys with complex transformations and highly articulated robot modes. The realism of the vehicle modes is the real plus with both designs, giving little indication of their transforming nature. I have the Aegocopter WZ-10 figure and it is a very impressive fig in-hand. Transformation is rather involved, but man is the chopper mode impressive. Touchtoys is another Chinese company producing very realistic licensed Chinese vehicles with complex transformations. Among their designs are a Y20 transport plane, an HQ-9 Mobile SAM launcher, a J-35 fighter, a 055 type Destroyer ship, and a J-16 fighter.
  5. M'Kyuun
    Zero hope at all that this will in any way even come close to the actual VF-19 design, or be anywhere as clean or as elegant. You can already see that the entire forward fuselage is slung on his back, a design trait of exactly zero of Kawamori's valks, especially the VF-19. With licensing possible now in the West by Big West for any Macross series outside of SDF:M, of which Harmony Gold has the rights, they could have simply paid the licensing fees for the M7 designs and a la G1 Jetfire, incorporated yet more Macross designs into the Transformers universe. Primus knows we could do for some actually good jetformers, and when it comes to transforming jets, few do it better than Kawamori. Takara, OTOH, has a pretty dismal track record and this looks like it's keeping with tradition, alas.
  6. M'Kyuun
    Honestly, I think Pratt would make a better Bumblebee in the same vein as TF One's or the Animated character, where he's more brash. Honestly, though, as much as the G1 characters are iconic at this point, I'd love to see a show with a whole new cast of characters much like we got with Beast Wars, only with Autobots and Decepticons. I think it'd be cool to see an old grizzled Rodimus Prime at the end of his days as leader passing the Matrix to a new up-and-comer and a whole new crew of bots, both Autobot and a post-Galvatron Decepticons who share a truce and fight against other threats to Cybertron and Earth. One of the reasons for fatigue in the franchise is that they continue to repackage the same main characters over and over and maybe it's time to introduce new characters and move the story along to a future where other bots are the focus. I say this as an unabashed G1 fan.
  7. M'Kyuun
    My only reluctance with using A-listers to do the voices is if there's a tv series in the works, as they'll undoubtedly resort to using pro VAs. I'm sure the VAs would do a great job, but the difference in voices would be awkward, at least initially. Kinda like Frank Welker's high pitched whiny Galvatron voice after Leonard Nimoy's deeper gravelly delivery. I hated Welker's Galvy voice and his unhinged characterization in the toon. I wouldn't want to see the same annoyingly flagrant differences in the voices and characterizations in a tv show. As a one and done, though, I'm fine with getting Hollywood actors to do the voices.
  8. M'Kyuun
    Congrats on early screening and thanks for the heads-up concerning end credits. My wife and I usually stay til the end anyway, but nice to know it won't be for naught. Guessing you liked it/ thought it was good?
  9. M'Kyuun

    Bandai Sv-262 DX valk

    M'Kyuun replied to seti88's topic in Toys

    By far. That's pretty sharp.
  10. M'Kyuun

    Bandai Sv-262 DX valk

    M'Kyuun replied to seti88's topic in Toys

    Love the Sv-262's design but my god that color scheme is fugly. 🤮 I'm not crazy about gold either, but at least the blue and gold were complimentary and looked sharp.
  11. M'Kyuun
    Oh man, that's inexcusable. I ordered mine through BBTS as well (it's in my Pile of Loot waiting to see if any of my other POs come to save on shipping) and I'm most definitely curious to see how they'll handle this for you in the event I have the same issue. Best of luck!
  12. M'Kyuun
    I hope you all enjoy it. I'm looking forward to it. I figure every iteration of Transformers has been someone's G1, their intro to the franchise. Hopefully the naysayers will get something positive from it, too, b/c you know they're going to go see it regardless. 😄
  13. M'Kyuun
    I think a renewal version is highly dubious; they had five or so years to tweak and massage the various kinks out of this toy and yet they seemingly did little to improve it. It's a second fiddle valk toy manifesting any number of departures and odd decisions, especially all the partsforming involved. It smacks of one-and done, just get it out there so we can wipe our hands and move on to something else, like Gundam!
  14. M'Kyuun
    Cheers @jenius for a great series of reviews and show-n-tell vids on the DX YF-21, and on Macross toys in general over the decades. Always super helpful and greatly appreciated! Honestly, due to the craptastic and capricious nature of Kawamori's original lineart, the fighter proportions don't bother me as much. I honestly prefer the forward fuselage be a bit smaller to favor battroid, my preferred mode for display. Granted, Yamato found a good fix years ago and Bandai could have shamelessly copied it; I doubt anyone would have faulted them and it would have given the bird an appropriately longer nose section. Alas, no. I like the copious tampo, especially in contrast to Yamato's YF-19 which didn't even have the intake markings. The lack of the canopy V-cut is lamentable but I can live with it. The shelf and the methodology of handling the backpack is another matter entirely; on a high-end toy commanding a $300+ tag, and with a decade+ old toy available to use as a framework for what works, Bandai made inexplicably poor choices that fall short or far short of what Yamato accomplished with their version in terms of engineering, accuracy, care and diligence. For the price, especially in terms of what we're getting from third party companies making Transformers these days at similar or lesser price points, the DX YF-21 feels like a half-hearted effort. However, as a battroid fan, it definitely addressed my primary gripe with the Yammie, those skinny legs and wobbly hips. Proportionally, the DX looks really good in battroid, and as Jenius pointed out, it has apropos stability allowing for posing. Mostly though, from most angles, it just looks really good to me and the fact that it'll stand on its own makes me anticipate my copy. I hope I won't suffer the bent laser, but time will tell. It's a hell of a bitter pill to swallow for those who have suffered it, and other flaws, on an expensive new release. I hope Bandai ultimately does right by their consumers.
  15. M'Kyuun
    So many grumbles! I'm 53, watched G1 's premier in Sept '84, and have been a fan since. I'm also a fan of Beast Wars, Animated, and Prime as well as Cyberverse. I vehemently despise the Bay films, but I liked the Bumblebee Movie- at least it had heart and wasn't dominated by a psychopathic Optimus Prime. This looks to have heart, and humor, abounding. It's decidedly not G1, and I'm fine with it. Between the various series, films, games, and comics over the years, this franchise has proven to have room for many iterations, generally only linked by virtue of the main characters' names if little else. I'm hoping it'll turn out to be a good film- I already like it far, far better than any of the thoroughly abysmal Bay films, and I think if one gives it consideration outside of the lens of G1, it'll prove to be a fun addition to the Transformers lore and filmography. I'm keeping my outlook positive.
  16. M'Kyuun
    I was excited for this film having only seen a trailer or two and not spoiling it for myself beyond that. I'm a longtime fan of Alien and consider Aliens to be one of the few sequels in the history of film to 'better' its original film. Empire Strikes Back is another, but I digress. I also liked many of the historical elements of Prometheus as well as the character of David 8 whose machinations fall well shy of Asimovian standards. I barely remember Covenant, which tells you how much of an impact it made on me. Scott's films were beautiful to look at, but elements of story and many of the characters just lacked appeal (except Noomi Rapace, whose presence and performance is nearly always memorable) Of the other Alien sequels, Alien 3 resonated with me for its story, characters and setting and for introducing the Xenomorph's ability to take on the attributes of whatever creature it impregnates, in this case a dog. That Fincher killed off Hicks and Newt right at the start, two characters who deserved more stories in the Alien universe, is his greatest disservice to the franchise. So Romulus looked like it had promise.
  17. M'Kyuun
    This was the swan song of designer Niek van Slagmaat (Toothdominoes) who has been working on Ninjago for years. He is changing positions, but as a love letter to Ninjago fans coupled with his love of robots and mecha in general, he wanted to create a mecha set with as many bells and whistles as possible and IMHO, as both a mecha fan and a Ninjago fan, I think he succeeded. The head design, light piping notwithstanding (I hadn't noticed it, so thanks for pointing it out) is probably the weakest part of the whole build. The articulation is amazing, especially the sliding kneecaps which echo any number of Gundam and other modern mecha designs. The ankles are of note as well, as on most LEGO mecha, they are severely limited in their range of motion for stability's sake, but on this model, the friction actuators add the requisite stability to the ball jointed ankles enabling a decent range in all directions. It's an impressive set that hopefully will inform future mecha sets.
  18. M'Kyuun
    The lack of news on Arcadia's front concerning their VF-5000, which already seemed to be in final phases of development, and no news at all in light of Bandai's YF-21 is a bit troubling. Are they done with Macross? It would be a huge loss to the fandom if they were quitting the franchise, having given us some incredible toys over the last several decades as well as some innovative solutions to making them work mechanically, enjoy full articulation, and appear very close to Kawamori's art. I hope they're still in the game, but their silence of late is a bit concerning.
  19. M'Kyuun
    Do we really need a review when a picture says it all? It's a wonky, mostly static and all-around pretty craptatstic toy. It had the novelty of being the first combiner TF fig back in the day, but the individual Constructicons and the combined robot Devastator were mostly immobile janky toys that left much to be desired. I was 13 when Transformers premiered in Sept 1984, and after getting Prowl, my first TF toy, I was thereafter mostly disappointed with the toys due to the lackluster robot modes and the overall lack of articulation. I had to wait nearly thirty years for the toys that I wish had been released when I was a fervent cartoon-watching teenager indulging in the first season of Transformers. The toon went downhill after that and I quit watching, but I still bought a toy here or there hoping for improvements that never came in any of the G1 lines. I get the nostalgia aspect, but it holds no appeal for me regarding the old TF toys, with few exceptions. I do, however, confess a mild interest in seeing where Takara goes with the Missing Link line. I've never owned a G1 Megs, and for some reason, that toy has always appealed to me. Likewise Soundwave, who I do own, which was already a pretty darned good figure but would be really cool with additional articulation. I wouldn't mind a ML version of Prowl to hit my personal nostalgia sweet spot. Perhaps that's a bit hypocritical of me, but I'll own it. As much as I'm down on the G1 toys, even I have my fanboy kryptonite. IDW makes sense since Whirl also took inspiration from the same. I didn't mind the 2014 Generations Whirl, but I'd love to see some honest to goodness G1 updates for both Whirl and Roadbuster.
  20. M'Kyuun
    That's a great idea. With all the third parties making upgrade kits for Transformers, it'd be pretty cool if at least one of them took a stab at this solution.
  21. M'Kyuun
    They did and I have them. Whirl was actually pretty well done and harkened somewhat back to his G1 counterpart, although he was more of an amalgamation of the IDW and G1 designs. IDK what they used, if anything, as a basis for Roadbuster, but it most definitely wasn't the Dorvack design and I was quite disappointed after Whirl was released. Honestly, if no one holds the license for Dorvack designs, with Tatsunoko's demise decades ago, then there should be nothing stopping Takara (b/c let's be honest, Takara does all the design heavy lifting- there would be no Transformers toys without them, at least not as good as what we get from Takara) from recreating that design with modern articulation in a, hopefully, voyager scaled fig. That would truly be awesome (I say with cautious optimism).
  22. M'Kyuun
    I'm in the same boat as Twich having ordered mine from BBTS. I've yet to see anyone post who has received theirs from them, but I'm hoping it's good news so far as straight antennas and unbroken bits. For the price we're paying, anything amiss is unacceptable.
  23. M'Kyuun
    I haven't been keeping an eye on this thread this week so I'm just catching up. Referring back to @mikeszekely's Saturday post concerning TFW's face time w/ Hasbro, the possibility of a TFA Omega Supreme in the pipeline is good news. I hope it's true, and I really hope it's well-done. I was hoping the entire team of Constructicons would be voyager scale which would make their vehicle modes scale more appropriately with deluxe scale cars. The OG Constructicons were woefully underscaled and looked awkward next to Autobots in their car modes. But then, that was a similar issue across the board for G1 combiners and one would hope they'd remedy that in modern times. However, it sounds like Long Haul and Hook will likely be voyagers and the limbs merely deluxes if the combined mode is comparable to Menasor. Disappointing. New versions of Whirl and Roadbuster would be most welcomed if Has/Tak were able to reacquire the license for the OG Dorvack models and we got proper updated Gazette and Calibur toys. I know it likely won't happen, but I can dream. I really want a nice, updated version of Mugen's Calibur. Mildly curious about the upcoming Haslab, although I admit my interest only extends to G1 or possibly Animated and I'm not sure what they'd do at this point that isn't covered under Legacy or Studio series. Just got the new Lockdown fig earlier this week and while it's so-so, it definitely doesn't compare to either the OG Animated figure or the well-done RotF figure. I also had to shake my head when I saw that only one of his boosters was painted- I mean c'mon Hasbro, would it really have killed your budget that much to paint them both to match? Pretty crappy.
  24. M'Kyuun
    I've remained forthright about my deep disdain for the Bayformers films. However, I appreciate that they're the G1 for some fans and I very much appreciate what that subset of the franchise did financially to buoy up the franchise as a whole. From Bayformers fans' perspective, the decline of Bayformers characters appearing as toys in the very line they originated must be frustrating and I can sympathize. That said, at least as long as us old fogies from the 80s are alive and remain influential through our championing G1 in the myriad ways we do, it's likely going to remain the most popular theme given its age and pervasive influence. Bay fans can complain all they want, but even they, once exposed to G1, can't deny the influences gleened from the G1 show, toys, and comics. That's the reality; nearly any main character from G1 will trump a non-Prime or Bumblebee Bayformer character in popularity and sales, especially if that character is less than first tier, and when profit drives what characters or themes get the most toys, the fact that G1 makes up a majority portion of Hasbro's offerings tells the tale. I agree with your commander class assessment, and given the slow rollout of combiners, I imagine your observation is their plan. CW didn't exactly give us the most stellar toys, nor were they G1 faithful representations which seems to be the prevailing want within a large swathe of the fandom. Ignoring demand of that level would be negligence on Hasbro's part. I think combiners will be filling out various slots in both mainline and SS86 for the next few years as they've just about exhausted all the G1 main characters between those two lines and there's obvious need for better combiners to fill the voids in the current uber-G1 Legacy/SS86 lines. I'm here for it, especially a shiny new Bruticus.
  25. M'Kyuun
    Pensburgh must be a pretty obscure suburban area as not even the mighty Google can find it; I'm consistently taken to Pennsburg which is the reason for my earlier supposition of your location. But yeah, you're not far from where I am. Indeed, it's a small world. I'm assuming the G1 naysayers are congregated on a certain well-known TF fan site infamous for vitriolic discussions, to put it politely. As my own view towards Bayverse is somewhat opposed, said naysayers can kindly "suck it" in the vulgar parlance they best understand. I'll take all the G1 Has/TT can dish out, thank you very much, especially at the level they've been achieving with both Legacy and Studio Series. Not perfect toys by any means, but still pretty darn good, and in most cases meeting or exceeding expectations for G1-faithful retail toys. I feel that qualifier is requisite as the designers are working under constraints both budgetary and safety related and likely numerous others of which we fans are blissfully unaware. And, to bookend my point, there'd be no Bayverse or any other TF continuity without the initial success and popularity of G1, so again I reiterate, the G1-haters can "suck it" whatever "it" may entail. Good review on Swoop. I echo your observation concerning his alt mode and the omissions that made his G1 toy superior so far as his alt mode's appearance is concerned. I do think his bot mode looks great but given how much (over)engineering was put into the other Dinobots, SS Swoop is a surprisingly and disappointingly lazy effort by comparison. Still, as you say, it'll be nice to have him to complete the team. Not sure that there's really much third-party add-ons can do for him either; I guess they can make his longer curvier wings, but the lack of foreshortening arms that retract into the body and a tail are precluded by virtue of the design. I wish Takara was still making improved versions of these figs for their home market as that would also give us Western fans a chance to own them too.
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