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M'Kyuun

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  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. 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.
  14. 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.
  15. M'Kyuun

    Bandai DX VF-31

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

    Personally, I don't need Delta's narrative to make me appreciate and want a few of its associated mecha on my shelf...I like transforming mecha for their own merits apart from the stories in which they're featured. That said, I am a Macross fan, and I don't have a problem with singing and dancing per se; I thought the presentation of Minmay, Sara Nome, Sharon Apple/Myuung, Ranka, and Cheryl made sense within their associated stories. I've not seen M7, so I won't make commentary. The presentation of the singers in Delta, from what I've inferred, goes beyond any sort of practicality, of which there was at least a kernel in SDFM, Zero, M+, and Frontier that made their inclusion somewhat grounded in reality. To suddenly have these singers floating on magic boomerangs and surfing the backs of fighter jets in flight battling with song is too much of a stretch, at least in my mind. I hope to get a chance to see at least a few eps to judge it fairly, but for now, all I have to go on is the commentary here on the forums, and so far, the prognosis is not very appealing.
  16. M'Kyuun
    Yep, $50 preorder price is rather high for such a small figure. That's $15 off asking price. It's cool, but not $50 cool, and certainly not worth $65. If it was closer to $30, I'd bite, and that's still a bit pricey for something this small. I'm thinking, give it time and someone will make a mini-cassette sized KO of this thing for about half the price.
  17. M'Kyuun
    Yep, looks like a full sized cassette. Sucks in part b/c he can't be stored in Soundwave, but, wow, that jaguar mode is exactly what I was hoping a MP Ravage would be. When MP Soundwave was announced, I was hoping he'd be designed around full sized cassettes, since that'd give the designers more area to utilize, and we would get cassette bots of this caliber. It wasn't to be, but this thing looks absolutely amazing. Ravage has always been my favorite of the cassettes, and the MP version was so-so, kinda disappointing after what they accomplished with Laserbeak. I might have to get a copy of this, just b/c it's awesome.
  18. M'Kyuun
    Actually, I am a G1 fan, but I'd completely forgotten that episode. I love the first season for its slightly more serious tone. After that, the writers were given license to pretty much do whatever, and I lost interest, only catching an ep here or there. It became too ridiculous and cheesy. The first season and the Movie are the only G1 TF DVDs I own.
  19. M'Kyuun
    Oops, respectful apologies for the offense. I came into this thread hoping to see some Filipino transforming toys; instead, we're turning into Food Network! I'm waiting for Andrew Zimmern to turn up and start posting.
  20. M'Kyuun
    CW Devy is in the same scale as CW Bruticus. The difference in their comparative sizes lies in that all six Constructicons are voyager class, whereas Bruticus has a single voyager class fig for his torso/thighs, and the remaining four limbs are all deluxe class. I'm curious: why do you want Bruticus to fight Devastator? They're both Decepticons.
  21. M'Kyuun

    Bandai DX VF-31

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

    So wrong. I've never seen M7, b/c everything about it seemed ridiculous (although the external valk designs are cool, just not the instrument cockpits..bleh!), and Delta seems like it's leaning a little too far in that direction. I could handle that in some other anime, maybe, but not in Macross. No matter how wicked the valk design is, the cool desolves the minute they break into song and dance. Or ride magical rainbow boomerangs while singing and dancing. This thread is depressing.
  22. M'Kyuun
    When I was stationed in Okinawa, alot of guys I knew had been to the Philippines, or had Filipino girlfriends/wives. The one thing that always stood out to me was their penchant for burying a number of their foodstuffs, and then digging it up some time later to eat. Balut and kimchi are the two I remember best. Wasn't aware of pig's blood stew...hope that stuff is cooked...salmonella sucks. Egg rolls, now...sooo yummy!
  23. M'Kyuun
    Man, looking at those old 80's store pics, there's so much product on the shelves, and so many different brands of transforming toys. What's ironic is that this is the best time ever to be a Transformers fan, between official products and 3rd parties, and yet there's so little official product to be found in stores. I miss the days when the shelves were teeming, and the old 80's packaging was so striking. Miss that too. Sadly, I was only peripherally aware of Robotech in the 80's, having seen pics of the old Matchbox toys in the Sears and JC Penny catalogues. I had no connection at all to the cartoon, growing up in NW Pennsylvania with lackluster cable. I was aware of the VF-1, since it became ubiquitous in all sorts of toys, one of which I bought at a Dollar Store, and then in Jetfire. I recognized the design, but not the source, back then. Appreciate the jog down memory lane. Cheers! I haven't had skewered chicken intestines, but I did have some sort of grilled tripe in Ecuador, once. Can't say I'm a fan. Acquired taste, I guess.
  24. M'Kyuun
    I'm kinda surprised how many folks here dig the new Blast Off, and I'm glad, even though I don't. For those of us who end up getting him, and I include myself, I hope he'll turn out to be a good figure. He may even grow on me once I have him in hand. I sincerely hope so, since my shelf space is limited currently, and all my combiners spend their time uncombined in robot mode, so I'll get to see those engine toes all the time. Alas, I still need to figure out where I'm going to get him. I'm holding out for HLJ, so I hope they get him in their preorder queue soon. I watched a Sphinx (3P Mirage) review earlier today, and he seems like a really well done fig. In the review I watched, the fig's left sliding shoulder block was a little loose and had play, but the right one was solid. Overall, though, the reviewer, who calls himself 'Diecast', gave a good review of the fig and recommended him. The articulation, deco, transformation, and overall design are all excellent. Articulation is especially excellent, since both knees and elbows are double jointed. I really liked their solution to hollow arm syndrome, since they attached a small panel to the rotating wrist base which covers the hole in the arm, and also slides in a small groove to allow the wrist to flex up and down. Smart design. Take notes, Takara. MP Bumblebee could have benefited from this. I've been taking more note of the vast number of 3P offerings, and wow. It's kinda mind-blowing what's out there now for TF fans- so much stuff, much of which Takara will likely, and sadly, never produce. In the meantime, Takara has some serious competition out there. Sphinx is just one example of a company doing it better, IMHO. Now that MP Primal's been announced, I wonder if they're going to just produce him alone to test the waters, or if they have plans to release a number of them concurrently. I'm not aware of any others being formally announced, although Megatron would be the next likely BW fig made, yes. I'd be happy with just those two as MP figs. I have the CHUG versions of Rhinox, Waspinator, and Ratrap, all of which were really well done...I'm not sure what improvements could be made, honestly. Maybe Dinobot...his CHUG fig left much to be desired, he was one of the best characters on the show, had a wonderfully noble end, and warrants a MP grade fig, IMO. I'd be happy to have him.
  25. M'Kyuun
    So very true. I also hate it when a figure is either at the military position of attention or extreme A-stance due to the ratchet indents being too large or too far spaced to achieve a natural standing pose. How this passes QC by people who design these things for a living, and who arguably like action figures, is beyond me. This is especially true for the third party folks, for whom these toys are labors of love. He does look good, yes. But, I'm also struck by the similarities to the original Primal toy. For its time, it was an extremely well done figure. Concerning MP Primal, I have to admit a small bit of disappointment that Takara couldn't or wouldn't find a way to give him a furry hide. I suppose it's impractical, esp if they won't even put rubber tires on the MP cars, but part of me hoped they'd do something cool and surprising like that to make the animal modes more realistic. Ah, well, Primal still looks pretty sweet, and I'll be happy to give him a home. It's sad and disheartening when the toys you've dreamed of for 20-30 years are finally made, and so many shortcuts are taken. Those faults are only magnified when a third party comes along and makes a superior product comparatively. On that note, there's a Huge part of me that wants to just go ahead and get Sphinx and Willy, since in many ways, they exceed the quality of the current official MP toys, and I can expect no more from the eventual official Mirage and Hound. But, there's some part of me that really wants that officialdom, and I don't really feel the need to have two each of these guys, nor spend the funds which could go towards something new. First world conundrum. That said, I did break down and buy Apollyon, since a new G1 MP version seems uncertain. I do hope for an official version, and hope it will be a better design than Apollyon, but for now he does the job. Can't get behind you on that new Blast Off...too many things about it don't look right. But...I'm still going to get the UW version, as it'll likely have other improvements over the CW version. I also wouldn't be surprised if Dr. Wu, or some other third party, make their own shuttle fig that has a more realistic shuttle mode, not to mention a better bot mode. Those feet ...barf. (What ever happened to our vomiting emoticon? That thing was useful.) TRU...Price gouging -R-Us. I like that they exist, but man, their pricing shenanigans often deter me. They do get some cool exclusives sometimes, though.
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