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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    The camaraderie between Carrie, Mark, and Harrison is so genuine...very much looking forward to more Star Wars. I'm glad they didn't show anything; this is a film I really don't want spoiled. Given the personal and professional investments of Kathleen, Lawrence, and J.J. in Star Wars, I'm feeling hopeful that these will be the movies I'd hoped the Prequels would be. It's a shame GL so marred his own creation that many of us fans, myself included, are happy that his influence on this film is merely tangential.
  2. M'Kyuun
    I liked the 2007 movie. It was far better than I expected for a film of this type. And, Olga.
  3. M'Kyuun
    Looking forward to unobscured pics of MP Hound. Happy to hear that TT are still producing the G1 characters in light of their MP Beast Wars plans. Some busy designers over there. I hope Shogo Hasui is still involved with the G1 MP designs.
  4. M'Kyuun
    And don't forget the music CDs! More Reba, Please! As far as Mospeada is concerned, if there was interest in producing and distributing the Legioss and Tread under the Mospeada license here in the US by a non-HG/ Toynami affiliated company, could HG do anything about it? It's not Robotech, even if that's the association many Westerners would make. I'm sure they'd sue, but in the end, Mospeada is a separate and distinct entity. Going back to the video, I was surprised how full the auditorium was for the RT panel. Apparently, there is a following, although by now, after all the setbacks and poor quality stuff HG has shoveled out, I would have expected that the majority of RT fans would have become jaded. My feeling is that most were there b/c of HG's new store site J/K ; I mean for live action movie news. Just another setup for failure and disappointment, which will only be compounded by the fact that none of the iconic mechanical designs will be present. I'm curious to see what Tommy Yune dreams up to replace the VF-1.
  5. M'Kyuun
    That panel was nothing but a 20 minute commercial. Gotta say, I wouldn't mind having one of those Macross t-shirts. I wish the one with the VF-1 cutaway said Macross instead of Robotech. I'd get one with the kite, though. For all their bluster concerning the live action movie, I like how they don't tell the audience that pretty much all the mecha will have to be new designs. Then again, Bay's designs don't look like Transformers either, and he made billions from his exceptionally sh!tty movies. Given that precedent, the Robotech in-name-only movie is gonna be a blockbuster. I doubt, given HG's sketchy history, that Bandai or Arcadia would ever enter into a contract with them. I think HG and Toynami have a blood pact. It's a shame Toynami's quality is so poor, as I still think their Alpha design was the best looking/most faithful. If either Bandai or Arcadia ever get a Mospeada license, apart from HG, I'll be excited to get an Alpha that doesn't fall apart.
  6. M'Kyuun
    Like Takara did? just sayin' And yeah, there are a number of LEGO sets similarly priced that are better values than Hasbro's Devi, IMHO.
  7. M'Kyuun
    Yeah, Japan all the way. That American mech is just embarrassing.
  8. M'Kyuun
    I think Takara nailed the proportions on Sideswipe, esp the thighs ( the wide hood doesn't bother me). While I absolutely LOVE MP Prowl, the thighs are just a touch too skinny, but the rest of the figure, and all his articulation, more than make up for it. But the skinny thigh design carried over to Wheeljack and Ironhide as well, and I'm sensing a bit of a trend, although Tracks' thighs look proportionate to me so far. However, it's interesting to see two very good interpretations of Sunstreaker, but with slightly different proportions, and I wonder which way Takara will go if and when they produce their own. I'd hope they'd try to match MP Sideswipe's proportions, but I have a feeling theirs will be closer to Badcube's. Comparing Willy and Gundog, I was intially sold more on Willy, but the more I look at Gundog, the more he just looks right- a really great take on the character IMO. Given its resemblance to Classics Hound, one of my top 10 TF toys of all time, I must admit bias. However, since Hound remains one of the more popular G1 characters, I think he'll get an official MP release eventually ( hopefully on the heels of Ironhide/Ratchet).
  9. M'Kyuun
    To me, Badcube's Sunstreaker looks closer to what I'd expect Takara to make, but I'm more drawn to Omnigonix's version. The beefier proportions look better to me, and I like the detail on the back of the ankle area, and the deep tinted glass.
  10. M'Kyuun
    While I doubt Takara will do anything as elaborate as making Blastoff become both chest and arm, I do suspect they'll make a proper shuttle mode for him as an arm. Hopefully their Swindle will be a Hummer as well. However, you're right; Takara pay far more attention to cartoon accuracy, so they may pull off some cool engineering to make him how he appeared in the show. I think that's really the difference in mindset between Hasbro and Takara: Hasbro just wants to sell a toy, while Takara is more interested in selling a replica. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing Takara's take on Bruticus.
  11. M'Kyuun
    It's all in what you like, I suppose. But at the very least, if Takara can put proper elbows on the figs, why can't Hasbro release those versions as well? For a brand they love to boast about supporting and protecting, they sure seem willing to settle for second best for their market, while Takara regularly attempt to make improvements for their market. I'm not sure what the pricing difference is comparatively, but I doubt the Japanese fans are paying much more than the North American fans. Hasbro's far more concerned about their bottom line than putting out a quality product.
  12. M'Kyuun
    Well, in FansToys' defense, there's only so much you can do with a G1 styled Perceptor. If you're going for either show or toy accuracy, the final product is going to look like a robot 'raising the roof' in a half lotus position, with a big scope where his head normally sits. A cooler option would be to completely redesign him as a mobile laboratory truck, complete with removable workbench with microscope. Just an idea.
  13. M'Kyuun
    Well, the elbows on the Takara versions look like afterthoughts, anyway. For Voyagers, the majority of the individual bots are serious steps back. Whether or not you liked the overall aesthetics, the third party Constructicons were all superior designs, which is a shame, since this was an awesome opportunity for has/Tak to roll out a really impressive set of figures. Instead we get Playskool level articulation on 4 of the figs. We fans have been waiting since 2007 for official CHUG Constructicons, and the majority are sub-par by today's standards. Disappointing. Edit: Mikeszekely's list of issues already being addressed by a third party just adds fuel to my argument that these are not the Constructicons we've been waiting for. It makes me sad, too, b/c I've long looked forward to a Classics style Devy, with both gestalt and individual bots designed to today's articulation standards. I actually expected them to be Deluxes, so the fact that they're all voyagers just increases my incredulity and disappointment.
  14. M'Kyuun
    Well, the way I look at it is: the issues with Apollyon don't outweigh the good. Moreover, it's an excellent take on Megatron, and whether or not Takara will produce a new MP G1 Megatron is an unknown. Apollyon isn't too badly priced, comes with a number of accessories, and fits the current MP scale, and looks great (IMO). If Takara doesn't produce a new Megs for whatever reason, I'm covered. If they do, and it looks good, I'll get him, too. If Takara makes a new MP Megs, and it's too close to their first attempt, then, again, I'm covered. As of BotCon, it seems Takara's focus is shifting to MP Beast Wars due to the 20th anniversary. While I'm curious to see what kind of innovation they bring to the line, I'm a little meh. I want to finish my G1 MP collection. I'd love to have the entire '84 lineup, as those are the core characters, and first season remains my favorite out of all the G1 TF toons. I found the show to be increasingly unwatchable after first season, even when I was a kid. To me, the first season had a more serious, slightly more mature, undertone than the successive seasons, and it really appealed to me. It just got silly after that. Anyway, I know MP Ironhide, and Ratchet by default, are coming; I just hope they continue to produce the G1 figures along with Beast Wars. Speaking of G1 figs, Fans Toys' Willy is mighty tempting. However, I'm of the mind that Takara will eventually get around to making him, and judging by the previous releases, he'll be worth the wait.
  15. M'Kyuun
    My wife got Apollyon for me for my birthday. I'm looking forward to getting him. RobotKingdom has him for $139, but they take their pound of flesh on the shipping. Ouch!
  16. M'Kyuun
    Awesome figure; hope you enjoy. The only negative I really have with him is the covered wheel wells in bot mode. I think he looks better with his back wheels uncovered and exposed. Either that, or they should have rotated the whole wheel assembly into the leg to keep the legs looking animation smooth. Still a really impressive Prime figure.
  17. M'Kyuun
    Don't forget Trailbreaker, Mirage, Sunstreaker, the rest of the mini-Autobots, and a new improved Megs. Once all these guys are made, that'll be the original '84 lineup. I hope TT continue to produce G1 MP along with their BW. I think by now they know the G1 figs are definite sellers; Beast Wars is kinda iffy. Somewhat OT: I've searched the net a bit to see if any progress has been made on Bandai's Gokin Machine-Robo (Gobots) figs, to no avail. I was hoping by now there would have been finalized pics and preorders, but nothing. The prototypes looked good. At the very least I wanted that Leader-1 and SR-71 fig. Hope these make it to production, that they sell well, and more of the line get made. I'd love to get a Road Ranger and Royal-T done in this style.
  18. M'Kyuun
    Despite my earlier misgivings, I decided to put the packs/armor on mine in battroid, including the wing packs. I kept them on overnight unsupported, and there was no apparent droop on either side this morning, so that's a plus. Today, I decided to transform it back to fighter with all of its gear on. What a Pain. The two major issues were 1) trying to keep the hips tabbed into position while manipulating the legs into position to accommodate the armor, and 2) those little grey pieces that tab into the calves fall off with the merest provocation. I finally managed to get the arms into fighter position, and then get the legs into their position, and then ever so carefully reattach the grey calf pieces for the 50th time. Not the best design, since the little white flap in the shoulder pauldron has to be pre-positioned so as to slide under the grey calf part. I absolutely could not get the shoulders to go into fighter position without their knocking the calf parts off, so I spent a very frustrating hour or so trying to get them into place with tweezers and my fingers. I have small hands, and had trouble, so you guys with sausage fingers, good luck! The only other issue I had after that was getting the left aft wing shroud to tab into the leg armor. I finally got it, but not without some finagling. However, after all the handling and invective, the final product is beautiful. Once everything was lined up and pressed into place to close the gaps, it was quite sturdy. I have to admit, those wing boosters, which are indeed a challenge to attach, look great on the fighter. I wish Kawamori could have found a way to get them to swing behind the shoulders, as they're just too bulky and awkward looking on the battroid, esp if the wings are left extended. I managed to get them to attach with the wings in their normal battroid config, but they fall off very easily. I also wish the designers had made the gunpod hinge from the grip; IMO it would have looked better and been more effective at keeping the gun level with the underbelly. I think they could have also simplified the canard rotation joint. I have to concur with some of the other folks concerning the tampo; while I'm extremely appreciative that they went so far, it's almost too much. I also agree with Chronocidal about inappropriate markings, although I honestly haven't looked at all of them closely yet. I wish they'd just done the basic intake marking and made it a little smaller. Compared to real aircraft, the font on some markings are a little large. I think it's funny that there are 4 jack pad attachment points on the nose and 2 apiece on each leg. Most fighters only require 3, sometimes 4 jacks. The B-1B only requires 4 jacks, and I'm pretty sure it's much larger and heavier than a real world VF-19. I think they got carried away with the "cool" factor, and practicality went out the window. Still, no regrets. Overall, it's a fine toy, and I think the transformation will be much smoother with the armor and packs removed.
  19. M'Kyuun
    Mine came this morning, about a day earlier than I expected. Yay USPS. (Sorry for your issues with them, Loop) Anyway, having watched Bandai's video a couple times last week, transformation was pretty quick with only a couple surprises. As Macross Junkie noted, the retracting rear half of the inner leg is a cool design, esp the way it snaps out into place when the foot is extended. Mine is pretty solid in the joints ( the right leg's hip joint was so tight I was afraid I was going to snap the leg off, but it gave without incident. Sigh of relief). I was really impressed at the amount of tabbing involved in the chest and upper torso. Mine snapped together very well. The only two issues I had were getting the wing boosters on (finally got 'em, but there's not much holding them on there. Incidentally, I put mine on with the wings folded in their normal battroid configuration. It looks weird with the wings extended) , and my left canard sags a bit in battroid- there's too much play in the joint. Other than those two issues, I found the transformation fairly similar to the Arcadia. The chest has a few extra steps due to the lower sliding bits and the cannon things folding into position. The backpack on mine was pretty tight, so I took it easy extending it for battroid. Due to the ankle design mirroring that of the other frontier valks, the ankles are sturdy and can hold a pose well. The hip joints surprised me at how much the legs can spread. This is by far the most agile of the -19 toys. It also has double-jointed elbows. It also holds the rifle straighter in battroid than either Yamato or Arcadia. I didn't even notice that there's no knee rotation ( not a GERWALK fan), but the articulation it does have makes for a very dynamically poseable figure. So far, really pleased with it.
  20. M'Kyuun
    Well, my wife sent me on a mission to Wally today, and as usual, I went straight to the toy aisle before attending to my assignment. With the usual lowered expectations, I surveyed the TF area, and nearly missed the small collection of Warrior Class Protectobots sitting haphazardly on the bottom shelf (there aren't even any pegs for Generations). It looked like they had about two of each, so I snagged Rook. Not a bad fig, but characteristically simple. They also had several Silverbolts and Motormasters, but no Hot Spot. They have no Legion sized figs at all, not even a peg for them. I was hoping to get Groove, too, as I like motorcycle TFs. Anyway, just wanted to spread a little happy TF sighting news. Hope everyone else finds them too.
  21. M'Kyuun
    Overall the Arcadia still gets my vote for accuracy, esp battroid. However it's not without its faults, the most noticeable to my eyes being the huge black gaps at the knees in fighter. The Bandai gets kudos galore for the smoothness of the lower fuselage and legs...beautiful. In profile, the Bandai looks closer to the Yamato in that the nose is basically straight, and they relied on the downward tilt due to the shorter nose gear to achieve the nose-down look. Consulting the Macross Design Works, Kawamori-san provides no direct side profile art of the YF-19, although the drawings do seem indicate a slight downward slope. I'm not an aircraft engineer, but having been around fighter aircraft, I've never seen one yet that had such a pronounced nose slope as the Arcadia. For aerodynamics sake, I think the Bandai got it right, although for some reason, my eyes favor the Arcadia. If HFH was indeed on-hand to oversee the design, well I guess they couldn't get it more right. Despite my bias for the Arcadia, the more I look at the Bandai, the more I like it. The slight curvature of the shins, the smaller and shapelier lower legs, the double-jointed elbows, the single piece panel under the nose in battroid, the canard stowage, the sleekness of its fighter mode, Bandai's superior hands, and copious tampo all conspire to make this an excellent entry into the world of high end Macross collectible toys. Can't wait to get it in my grubby mitts.
  22. M'Kyuun
    So Hasbro took the effort to make two new molds and a heavily modded Hot Spot for the Combaticons, and then said "F"-it when it came to Blast-off. I hope Takara rights that wrong, and it's available at a reasonable price. Pretty cheap of them. Edit: Looking again at the pics, I noticed that Swindle is a dune buggy instead of a Humvee. Why, Hasbro? The whole point of the Combaticons is that they are military vehicles and a shuttle. That's the appeal. Why are changing stuff that no one wants changed? Even Animated Swindle achieved a Humveeish look. At least 3rd parties get the vehicle modes right. Disappointing. Shame they couldn't make Ironhide's accessory tray fit into his alt mode somehow, with tiny retractable treads. Good to hear the hip kibble can disappear; makes you wonder why they displayed him with it out. As for Beast Wars MP; I'm kinda meh, despite how much I love the show. I've picked up a few of the recent Generations releases (Waspinator, Rhinox, and Rat-trap), all of which I love, and they do it for me for collecting purposes. Now if TT does use some kind of rubbery skin to make the figs look seamless, and it works really well, I may have to reconsider. I hope the focus on BW doesn't mean they're halting production of the G1 characters...they've got their hook in me and now I want them all. But at the very least, we'll get Ironhide and Ratchet in the forseeable future. Looking through the BotCon pics: What the heck is mini-Shockwave's alt mode supposed to be? He doesn't look like a space gun. Nice to see Chopshop, but where's Kickback? Also saw a mini-bird TF that turns into a yellow square...anybody know what the alt mode is supposed to be? I can't believe they made Sky Lynx. Wasn't crazy about him in the 80's, and nothing's changed since then. I will say, though, they made a nice looking modern version of him. He's just not my cup of tea.
  23. M'Kyuun
    Y'know, it sours me on this hobby when Hasbro will go the cheapest route possible and release substandard versions of their toys at retail, while Takara, generally, always improves the same product for Japanese retail. In the case of Devastator, the improvements are blatant, and I wonder if Hasbro knew they were going to make those improvements, but settled for the lesser articulated figs for NA distribution? If so, that's a serious dick move on their part, and they won't get my money. Actually, for all my ranting, even after the added elbow joints, Bonecrusher and Scavenger remain the best two designs out of the team, and they're the only two who weren't modified. Seems to me, they should have been the standard for the rest. My initial thought upon looking at MP Ironhide was that he looked like 3rd party, with the hip kibble and really plain red legs. Granted, hip kibble aside, he looks like his cartoon self. I am glad to see the cannon can mount to his back (would have been incrementally cooler if it extended/retracted out of there, but just glad it's included). It's also kinda neat that he comes with his mobile weapons platform, only I don't see the treads. Guess it's his stationary weapons platform now. Love all the little add-ons. This bodes well for the inevitable Ratchet, as he'll no doubt come with his welding arm and various tools. Wish they'd put some little bit of mechanical detail on the shins, as they look really plain and need something to break it up. Overall, though, that's a pretty good Ironhide, and he'll be a welcome addition to my MP collection.
  24. M'Kyuun
    'preciate the pics, F360! I still prefer Arcadia's,esp battroid, as it resembles the lineart very well, but Bandai did an impressive job on the Advance, and I'll be happy to have it. Keeping my eyes open for the HLJ payment agreement via email.
  25. M'Kyuun
    I still have yet to see any of the Protectobots. Went to Wally tonight, and all they had were 2 Motormasters, 2 Silverbolts, and 3 pegs with RID 1 step changers. That was it for Transformers. Either the store's not ordering stock, or Hasbro's not pumping it out fast enough to meet demand. Either way, it's slim pickings. I'd like to get Rook and Groove, but honestly, I'm not really into the Combiners. That said, I've always liked the Combaticons, and I definitely want to get Bruticus, if possible. My main draw to TFs are the CHUGS and MP. Since most of the main G1 cast have been done for the CHUG line, the majority of which I own, my collecting has slowed down a bit. I'd love to see an official CHUG Reflector, and all the Dinobots made to strongly homage their G1 toys (I know they made Classics Grimlock, but I didn't care for that figure very much). I'd also love to see a proper CHUG Soundwave and cassettes to round out the Decepticons. Right now, my G1 Soundwave stands tall on my Classics shelf, and he fits in pretty well. I doubt any of my wish-toys will come to fruition, since Takara/Hasbro have shied away from making non-vehicle TFs, other than Beast Wars, but I can hope. I waited 30 years for a proper Prowl; I hope it doesn't take that long, though.
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