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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    I have the Hasbro Springer release, and IMO, he's one of the best executed triple changers. I think you'll like him. A proper triple changing G1- esque Springer was missing from the CHUG lineup, so I was really happy when this figure came out. A new Blitzwing was also on my want list, but that fig, unfortunately, wasn't as well executed. Anyway, between the Combaticons, a car, a pickup, and a jet, you'll basically have a sample of every CW mold. They're all very simplistic, but fun. They feel like toys from the early to mid-90's when ball joints were first coming to the fore as mainstay joints in TFs. I have the Jhiaxus version of the Armada Starscream mold, and it's a nice figure, with good poseability, and a nice slim jet mode, due to the legs turning sideways to form the rear of the jet. It also has retracting mains and nose gear, and, on Jhiaxus, his wings are molded to tab and slot in his dual pistols, eliminating the need to make corrections every time he's bumped. The nitpicks I have are that, b/c the knees are facing aft in jet mode, he has no engines or engine detail where a jet normally would have them (instead, he has those enormous dorsal engines), and his arms just lay alongside the fuselage, although they do tab into the wings. It's lazy, but both of these are very minor gripes, and overall I think he's a well done Deluxe scale jetformer. I have to admit, that red and blue deco looks great on Super SS..
  2. M'Kyuun
    This movie looks like a riot. Copley's accent and manner alone are great, but the whole 1P shooter view and over-the-top violence sell it. Def a must-see.
  3. M'Kyuun
    British...yeah, he has a pleasant accent, thankfully not Cockney. Watch Snatch or Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels for your fill of Cockney, or anything with Michael Caine. There's a Scotsman who does reviews as well (forget his username)...can't remember now if he reviews TFs or LEGO. I watch a lot of reviews for both. Anyway, Peaugh does a good job, and usually isn't shy about pointing out something that he feels isn't right, or could have been improved. Overall, though, he always comes across as a nice guy, sincere and passionate about his hobby. A-hole reviewers aren't worth my attention. I wish all these Takara releases were coming out closer together: I have TAV Thunderhoof, MP Shockwave, UW Bruticus, and MP Ratchet all preordered through HLJ, but I'm not sure if there'll be enough bleedover time in PW to even use the benefit of combined shipping. It's tough living in a first world country. Well, since I've taken the plunge for Bruticus, I guess I need to start looking at 3P options for better feet and hands. I'll likely go with PE. Any other suggestions are welcome, though.
  4. M'Kyuun
    Thanks, just preordered him.
  5. M'Kyuun

    Bandai Sv-262 DX valk

    M'Kyuun replied to seti88's topic in Toys

    I mis-spoke. The head within the hood can rotate a bit, but it's field of view is hindered by the hood. I was always under the impression that it alleviated that limitation by virtue of the other optical sensors arrayed around the primary red lens. I can't recall ever seeing the head and hood rotate as a unit in the animation, but it's been awhile since I've watched it. If the 262 ends up having a hoodie, I hope the whole unit can rotate freely without obstruction.
  6. M'Kyuun

    Bandai DX VF-31

    M'Kyuun replied to UN Spacy's topic in Toys

    Davidwhangchoi, you can put me down for the VF-31F.
  7. M'Kyuun
    I've never heard of Bobby Skullface, and apparently ignorance truly is bliss in this instance. Peaugh is usually my go-to reviewer...he's pretty fair in his opinions, and has a pleasant manner about him. Emgo's alright, too. I've watched Vangelus here and there...he tries way too hard to be funny, but his reviews are fair. No mention of Optibotimus? Or, Sean Long? I'm usually put off by overly critical reviews, or ones where they toss the box and other items offscreen instead of just setting them aside. Just b/c you're reviewing a toy doesn't mean you need manifest a 7 year old mentality in the way you handle the various items. It's simply bad form. Back to TFs, I really wish Takara had eschewed those terribly inadequate hand/foot/weapon parts in lieu of proper hands and feet that are scaled to the combined figures. I realize there are 3P products, but my point is, there shouldn't be a need. I understand why Hasbro goes with them, since, despite overwhelming evidence that alot of adults buy these toys, their firm marketing focus is on kids 5-12. Takara seems to recognize a more discerning audience for their products, hence numerous enhancements, better paint apps, additional whole figs to ensure toon accuracy, etc. Given that mindset, I'm surprised they didn't make proper hands and feet for their Unite Warriors line. It's a badly beaten dead horse, but holy crap do I hate those shamefuly sh!tty uni-appendages with a passion. Anyway, I'm waiting for HLJ to open preorders for UW Bruticus. I've never been a huge fan of combiners, but Bruticus, and Devastator, of course, always struck a chord with me. I didn't care for how most of the individual Constructicons for either version of Devy turned out, but Bruticus is looking pretty good to me.
  8. M'Kyuun
    After seeing that last trailer, Affleck is no longer my concern for this film. Not sure if Snyder is trying to be ironic with casting Eisenberg as Luthor, as he's pretty much 180 deg from how I picture the character. The Superman Animated series, and subsequent animated series and movies as well, have done a great job portraying the character as a strong intelligent, arrogant, and highly capable businessman and villain. Someone said 'clownish' earlier to describe Eisenberg's portrayal, and I couldn't agree more. There's nothing imposing or threatening about this guy, no reason to take him seriously. It's more like Man of Steel vs Dark Knight vs Scrawny Uber-Nerdling Grand Poobah of the High School Chess Club. Again, I have to wonder if the choice was ironic, that the dorky behavior and unimposing stature are inversely proportional to the level of evil he's capable of. Even so, I think it was a misstep. Even if he does manage to come across as somewhat evil, if I was Superman, I'd flick his dorky little annoying ass into orbit, like a big booger. Or just give him the Zod treatment.
  9. M'Kyuun

    Bandai Sv-262 DX valk

    M'Kyuun replied to seti88's topic in Toys

    That makes 3 of us. At least the VF-14 can turn its head; the 21/22 variants, not so much. It's a poor design choice, esp on a highly maneuverable combat mech. Kawamori's awesome, but sometimes he allows aesthetics to interfere with practicality in his designs. I forgive him, though. I haven't seen the aforementioned fan depiction of the 262's battroid, but I have to agree that, except for the Sv-51, which has a bit of a cowled head, albeit a highly posable one, I'd prefer a more standard noggin on my mecha.
  10. M'Kyuun

    Bandai Sv-262 DX valk

    M'Kyuun replied to seti88's topic in Toys

    Tough crowd here for the VF-14 (which I would love to see in 1/60 scale fig). I like your idea for the GERWALK...make it unique. I doubt that'll be the case, though. While Space Popes don't bother me as much as some, I hope it just has a standard head. More and more, I find myself hoping for a chunky battroid...it'd be a noticeable change from all the lanky Frontier valks.
  11. M'Kyuun
    Long chest aside, I just don't care for Hot Rod's overall bot mode. To my eyes, he would have been much improved if they'd shortened that hood just a little and maybe left the fenders out to give him a curved 'V' shape to his chest. But then his waist would look too small, so that's probably why they went with the long straight hood. His car mode is nice. TF Animated Hot Rod still has the best looking car mode among the various incarnations, IMHO. Kubalsky did a great job translating the art into toy form. He has big hood, skinny waist and leg syndrome, too, but he still looks better to me than MP HR.
  12. M'Kyuun

    Bandai DX VF-31

    M'Kyuun replied to UN Spacy's topic in Toys

    VF-31F, A, and possibly the J are looking pretty good to me. Love the colors on the F, and I'd like the A just to have the wing variation, although it's color scheme is looking pretty good so far. Hopefully I'll be able to score these after the initial preorder madness.
  13. M'Kyuun
    Huh, y'know, I didn't even notice that VF-1 outline until I read your post. I'm kinda VF-1'd out, but it'd be really cool if they made one where the various panels were removable to allow highly detailed inner mechanical workings to be revealed. It'd be prohibitively expensive for me personally, but somewhere someboby would buy one and hopefully post a couple hundred pics of the thing on Flickr for poor schlubs like me to drool over. Vicarious toy enjoyment and I are old pals.
  14. M'Kyuun

    Bandai Sv-262 DX valk

    M'Kyuun replied to seti88's topic in Toys

    Oh, I'm sure he had that figured out before or during his design phase. He builds sketch models of most of his designs with LEGO to test transformation, and I'm sure this case is no different. Besides, he'd have to let Bandai know how the transformation works, for obvious reasons. Pretty sure all this secrecy is to build anticipation and hype, but he must have the same people who keep the Roswell wreckage and the official Kennedy assassination files under above top-secret protection to have kept leaks from occurring thus far. Those Chinese factory workers are notorious for letting the cat out of the bag for any number of toys. Given all this secrecy, though, alot of speculation and anticipation are growing around this thing, which is a setup for potential disappointment should it not be what fans have built up in their minds. There's always a danger to artificially creating anticipation... Personally, I hope it's unique enough to set it apart from the other valks, but still nice looking (no more fugly VA-3 Invaders, thank you), and still recognizable as a Macross variable fighter.
  15. M'Kyuun
    Ooh, that E=X Garland looks nice. I hope they do a Proto-Garland, too. And, I really hope I can afford at least one of these when they finally release.
  16. M'Kyuun
    Very cool stuff; thanks for sharing. I like how he frames everyday events across a spectrum in such a way that the sci-fi elements, which are portrayed beautifully, if somewhat disturbingly in some paintings, that their presence is downplayed, often seeming commonplace. It's a unique take, executed well.
  17. M'Kyuun
    Takara posted a video featuring an unpainted proto of Optimus Primal. From the front he looks pretty decent, but his robot thighs are clearly visible from behind, and the robot feet are also quite noticeable, moreso, in fact, than the original Voyager fig, which hid the robot feet via transformation. Here's the link: http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/best-look-at-mp-31-beast-convoy-optimus-primal-in-new-video-and-still-images/34669/ Honestly, I expected better from Takara on a Masterpiece figure. Robot parts showing in a CHUG voyager or even leader class fig would be tolerable; people would still raise holy hell over it, but at those price points, it wouldn't be surprising. I'm surprised they couldn't find a solution to fix that, even if they just made a two sided rotating panel ensconced within the thigh...something, anything besides doing nothing. Disappointing.
  18. M'Kyuun
    My Ironhide came today, and I was surprised by the heft when I liberated him from his tray...very solid in-hand. I questioned whether there was some die-cast in him, but, sadly, there isn't. Otherwise, Golden Arms, you're on the money with everything you said. Perfect? no, but still a damned fine Ironhide figure that eclipses any other version ever released of his G1 cartoon representation, esp his weird G1 toy. The transformation sequence is brilliant. I was surprised to see his large cannon and the smaller gun that adorned the front of his G1 treaded platform both chromed, along with his front and rear bumpers. Chrome is such a rarity with TFs these days, so it's nice to see it, if only for the homage to the original toy. Articulation wise, I'll echo the sentiments that his elbows and knees would have benefited from double joints, and his ankle articulation fore and aft is limited. I wish they could have made the hinges on the insides of his legs a little smaller, or found a way to make them fold flush, as they stick out a bit noticeably, esp if he's standing with his legs close together. These nitpicks notwithstanding, this is a really nice figure, and I'm glad we finally got an official figure that homages the original animation so well. Now, I'm ready for Ratchet.
  19. M'Kyuun
    Kawamori designed a number of the Diaclone toys; I wonder if G1 Ironhide/Ratchet was one of them. Honestly, even by 80's standards, who would have really thought this looked good after finishing the design? And yet, I own G1 Ratchet, so it kinda tells you where my standards were in around '84 or '85. Even then, though, I thought the pseudo-head was terrible. Checked my tracking today, and my MP Ironhide just departed San Fran on its way to WA. I should have him in my grubbies by Wednesday.
  20. M'Kyuun
    Good find, David. I wish I could find a sale like that in my area. I've never been much of a comics reader, but there are a few of the TF comics I wouldn't mind reading. The problem I've found is that no particular comic is complete, and missing issues is a bummer. So, I just live in blissful ignorance. Honestly, my only connection with the comics are the toys based off of them. Scyla, it's regrettable that the nitpicks w/ the MP toys seem to ruin your enjoyment of them; I guess I'm more forgiving, as I enjoy all of mine, although I'm certainly aware of their flaws. As for what constitutes a bad toy, the VF-2ss kinda falls in that category for me. As much as I'd like to have a 1/60 scale version of the Valkyrie II, there are too many glaring issues with this toy to justify paying what I'd pay for a far superior Bandai release. I suppose it comes down to what you're willing to overlook, level of expectation, desire to own it, and willingness to pay what they're asking. It falls short, IMO.
  21. M'Kyuun
    Your points are valid. When I consider my Binaltechs compared to the current MP toys, there's a gulf in quality there, despite some of the articulation limits in the BT/Alternators. Some of those limitations are due to tech limitations, and also the fact that steering, opening hoods, trunks, & doors, integrated weapons, and interior cabins were all featured in these toys, which oft hindered the bot modes to some degree. The current MP line doesn't suffer from these limitations, but benefits from strides in technology and experience on the part of the designers. I also agree that the third parties are producing toys that exceed Takara's, much closer to what we should expect from a 'Masterpiece' line.
  22. M'Kyuun
    It would have been nice if the tray had treads, but honestly, that tray will likely stay in the box when I get my copy. It serves no other purpose but to display his accessories, and I'll just take what I want and leave the rest in the box. My display area is very small, and nearly to capacity as it is, so even if the tray did have toy-accurate treads, it'd likely still remain in the box. I need to invest in a proper display cabinet soon. As for the toy itself, I agree with Dizman. None of the MP toys are 100% perfect, and that really goes for most TF toys. Concessions generally have to be made. I don't care for the hip panels either, and wish they'd found a better solution, but looking at the figure as a whole, how well the overall character is captured, plus additional kudos for a rather inventive transformation, I'm pretty happy with what Takara have delivered. I also like that rather than doing a straight repaint of Ironhide, they made changes to the crotch area and thigh detail on Ratchet to match the animation. They didn't have to, and people would still have bought Ratchet. Sorry he doesn't do it for you, Scyla. There are still some third party offerings that you might find more appealing, but in the meantime, I hope you have an opportunity to get the official version in hand to make a definitive judgment. Pics don't always do a toy justice...and sometimes the fun factor mitigates any number of critical observations. Of course, mileage varies.
  23. M'Kyuun
    I agree.. How the rear of the van and the frame of the windshield are similarly shaped to come together to form the chest manifests some clever engineering. By all appearances, he locks together very well in both modes. I like that at least his pistols can store in his vehicle mode, and I wish that were the case with all TF toys in this day and age. I will forever lament that his large cannon isn't permanently mounted and deployable in both modes like in the cartoon ( esp since the upper portion of the rear of the van is hollow, and the toes are the only things creating any kind of interference. With just a little more clever engineering, they probably could have pulled it off, but I digress. My only other gripe would be with the 90 degree limit on the elbow, esp since there's a double joint employed there to effect transformation. But having watched the earlier Chinese pre-release video, and now Charlie's, so far Ironhide is stacking up to be a solid entry in this series, esp since the 80's toy and the animation were very different. I had 80's Ratchet, and there was a lot of WTF? going on with that toy, esp if you watched the show. I'm looking forward to his arrival at my door, I'm keeping my pre-order for Ratchet, and I'm happy that two more gaps are officially filled in the '84 roster. I will add, however, that I hope Shogo Hasui returns to the MP design team, as his previous designs, esp Prowl , are really well done, and the application of his talents and passion can only strengthen the quality of the MP line for future releases.
  24. M'Kyuun
    For those who preordered MP Ironhide through HLJ, my copy became available today, and I just had him shipped. When I checked around 10:40 PM Pacific, they were showing low stock, in case anyone's still planning on grabbing one. Something cool to look forward to next week.
  25. M'Kyuun
    I much prefer CHUG Scourge's alt mode to his odd G1 space hovercraft mode, which never made sense to me, and was generally unappealing. CHUG Scourge has one of the best realized aircraft alt modes, plus it's loosely based on a NASA concept. To me, it's not only far more visually appealing, but more practical than his G1 alt mode. He's one of my favorite figures. I would hope for a nice new Cyclonus mold, too, but I doubt we'll see that since he was just released as a remold of the terrible CW Silverbolt. The CHUG version is decent, having a far better bot mode than alt. I'm keeping my eye on a couple 3rd party releases that look really good. I'm getting anxious, and a bit impatient, for MP Ironhide to release. I believe he's supposed to release this month, but Jan is almost over and I've seen nothing to indicate that release is imminent, other than a Chinese fellow's in-hand video of a near-production model. Not sure why I'm so antsy about getting him, but I am. I hope Hound is the next MP. I loved his G1 character's personality, and his Army Jeep Willys alt is fitting.
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