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M'Kyuun

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  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. M'Kyuun
    I was blissfully unaware that the PS3 played media outside of Blu-Ray, DVD, and games. If I want to play music, I either use my wife's old boombox, or I Youtube it on the PC. I'm curious to see the upgrade in graphics from the PS3: Batman's gonna look awesome.
  7. M'Kyuun
    Play-Asia got me once, when the VF-25S was being reissued. I'd read all the caveats, but they were the only open preorder, so I dived in. Needless to say, I didn't get my VF-25 from them, but I did get my refund and a Paypal fee. It's a shady practice, and I'll reiterate what's already been said: avoid them, at least for valk preorders. Incidentally, once they notified me that they didn't have my item, they offered me the choice of refund with Paypal fee, or store credit. That's how they roll; buyer beware. Yep, looking forward to comparing it with the Arcadia. Scale, honestly, doesn't bug me as much as design, and so far she does appear to be complex, interesting, and pretty.
  8. M'Kyuun
    Thirding the comments concerning Yamato's/ Arcadia's -19 line. The engineering, and subsequent achievement in aesthetics, is remarkable. I hope they bring this kind of innovation to an eventual, and all around improved, YF-21. The YF-19 is my favorite valk design, followed by the VF-25( I like the lanky battroid), so I was ecstatic to have scored a recent preorder for the Advance. I'm really hoping this will be a solid figure, although it already looks to be slightly more involved due to the chest and leg panels. From the pics, though, she's looking quite lovely. Bandai definitely scores huge points off the bat for all the tampo, a practice I hope Arcadia adopts for their future releases.
  9. M'Kyuun
    Ooooh.
  10. M'Kyuun
    Eh, while it's not necessary, I think it's cool that they incorporated the waist swivel; it's a first for a -19 toy. The folding nose gear is an interesting innovation, but I wonder how the mid joint will hold up over time, esp if you extend and retract the gear often. I also like the retracting inner leg panels to preserve the look of the inner leg, but I hope it doesn't become a floppy mess down the road. I don't even have the thing yet, and already my stress level is climbing. Mine will spend the vast majority of its existence in battroid, so it's not much of an issue for me. The hip ball joints are my big worry. I'll likely leave the wing packs off to preserve the wing shroud joints' integrity. Glad I just put up some new shelves, as my current valk display space is full. Need some Detolfs.
  11. M'Kyuun
    I was going to wait until possibly Christmas to get the PS4 ( my wife owes me a nice present; I got her a Samsung Galaxy 5 for her birthday), but with the next Arkham Asylum game coming next week, I caved and got the Batman Bundle. Can't wait to wreak some havoc in the Batmobile. The Gamestop dude also told me that this is the last year for PS3 games. I haven't confirmed it, but I have no reason to doubt it, either.
  12. M'Kyuun
    Nah, some of the Bayverse movie toys are more complex, at least to me. Actually, I find most valks to be pretty straightforward. It's the odd transformation steps, like the CF VF-171 knee locks, or the moving chest pieces and leg panels on the 19 Advance, put in there by the designers, that complicate the original design. The VF-9 Cutlass is a different animal, though. Probably why nobody but Experten has attempted it in toy/model form. Agree completely. The transformation is what makes these things unique and sets them apart from other toys. There's a puzzle aspect to them that requires ingenuity on the part of both designers and consumers. That's always been a great part of the appeal, not to mention getting 2 cool toys in one (I don't count GERWALK). I also share your concern of this devolving into floppiness, esp those wings, the wing shroud joints, and the hips.
  13. M'Kyuun
    I like how the chest bits move negating the big gap in the inner thigh; granted, the thigh will still be hollow, but it will only be apparent from behind. I'm a little surprised how many transformation techniques they borrowed from Arcadia, but when something works well, I can't blame them for copying. Glad they didn't copy the ball jointed ankles or the crappy canard design from Yamato/Arcadia. I was so hoping they would do a single rotation point on the wings, as I'm not a fan of Arcadia's sloppy linkages, and have neither the interest nor desire to ever put my 19 in high speed mode. Hope they stay tighter than my Arcadia. While I think the neck shield built in to the shield is innovative, I really wish they could have designed the neck shield into the transformation without removal. IIRC, there was a custom model or toy some years ago that did it well, so that the neck shield rotated 180 degrees and sat under the neck joint in battroid. I don't remember where I saw it, just that I did. I love how the Japanese do demo and review videos: no opinions or jabbering, just putting the toy through its paces to music. I like how they reinforced the trickier transformation bits with explanatory lineart. I'm looking ever forward to transforming it myself.
  14. M'Kyuun
    So true..we're, like, 15 years behind the projection, and not even a damned hoverboard, let alone a flying car. Actually, the way they drive here, it's probably a good thing. Just got back from seeing it, and thought it a good sequel to the original. There are some nice nods to Jurassic Park throughout. I was hoping there'd be at least a cursory mention of Alan Grant or Ian Malcolm, but sadly, no. While the basic formula is still in place, what I liked best was the mirroring of real world amusement park mentality: always looking to create a bigger, better thrill to lure more visitors in and liberate them of their hard earned money. As with all these movies, there had to be Kids-In-Peril so kids in the audience had someone to relate to, I guess. Wish they'd been eaten, but no. Chris Pratt made a good hero, albeit quite watered down compared to his Star-Lord. I got a little bit of an Indiana Jones-ish feeling from some of the scenes. Anyway, seeing the dinos up on the big screen reeking havoc again made for a nice Sunday afternoon.
  15. M'Kyuun
    Both versions look good to me; there's no mistaking who they are, but there's something about the Maketoys that I like better. Not liking the price tag, though. I understand why, but the high cost of most 3rd party stuff has deterred me. If I do go for a 3rd party toy, it'll be Apollyon. Great looking figure for a decent price at the MP scale.
  16. M'Kyuun
    He's keeping one, and selling the other. But as Valk-1S mentioned, there's 1 per customer limit at HLJ, so he may only receive one. If this ships on the 20th, I should get mine about a week before my b-day. Heck of a nice gift, even if it is from me.
  17. M'Kyuun
    The trailer looks pretty good..some of the irreverent humor is there and...potatoes! Looking forward to this.
  18. M'Kyuun
    Listening to the hydraulics technician describe the system is amazing to me, having been a career hydraulics tech in the Air Force. The highest pressure system I ever worked on was the B-1B's 4000 psi / 5 gpm system, which, when married with servo-actuators, whose movement is dictated by accelerometers, is capable of incredibly rapid and precise motion. It's also quite hazardous should a rupture occur. Pinhole leaks were especially hazardous, as the stream can remove fingers or create a life-threatening injection scenario. By his statement, the T-Rex was a 9000 psi /60 gpm system, which boggles my mind. That's an incredible amount of power being harnessed and controlled. The jaws of life, by comparison, is a 10,000 psi system. The rupture of a hose, tubing, or component is certainly fatal to anyone standing nearby. The amount of achievable force is also remarkable; the entire horizontal stab of the B-1B, nearly the same size as an F-15's wing, is a moveable surface. I can still recall the days hanging out on the stab, watching F-16s taking off, while we replaced the stab actuator. Glad I'm retired. The tech in the hydraulics field continues to become more and more impressive, and with all the other motion control technologies being developed, it still remains the best option for lightweight extreme power, control, and precision within a confined area. I don't work in the field anymore, but from a young age, I have always retained a fascination for hydraulic applications. The T-Rex is pretty high on the list. Hope they used a practical model like this for Jurassic World...the realism can't be matched by CG.
  19. M'Kyuun
    Probably b/c they know it's essentially the YF-19 and it will sell itself without promos, so why waste the money.
  20. M'Kyuun
    Man, I wish this line had been out 5 or 6 years ago when I had more disposable income to buy toys. Pretty impressive sculpts, esp faces, for an affordable line. I wonder if Hasbro has any plans to make ships for them.
  21. M'Kyuun
    Ravage was my favorite cassette TF, but I only had a knock-off of the G1 version. Classics Hound and Ravage was my first official Ravage, and then MP Ravage with Soundwave. It's amazing what they've accomplished with the engineering of these little figs while maintaining the original micro-cassette scale. I always figured that they'd go to the full sized cassette if they ever did a MP scale, but I'm kinda glad they stuck with the original. Definitely makes more sense scale wise, esp next to MP Bee. The Japanese always get the best versions of TFs, not only with paint apps, but also the odd realistic feature, such as G1 Megs could fire pellets, and both Soundwave and Blaster had radios installed. I'm sure there are more examples, but those two always come to mind.
  22. M'Kyuun
    When I was a kid, I liked any TF that had separate legs, and even better, leg articulation, which was a rarity with the 80's and early 90's toys. Ironically, I don't think I owned many, except Sludge, Soundwave, knockoffs of the Decepticon humanoid cassettes, and Tracks. I'm not aware of your Tracks experience, JBO, but it sounds bad, and you have my condolences. The majority of my 80's TF toys have survived to the present with little in the way of wear, as I didn't really play with them. From an early age, I generally always took care of my toys; I never really had a destructive inclination. I was always aghast when I'd hear of kids shooting their GI Joes with BB guns, and such tales of wanton destruction. Purposely breaking your stuff never made sense to me; still doesn't. I cringe a little inside when I see a perfectly well made model of a ship or such blown up in a movie, knowing how much work was put into the model to make it as photorealistic as possible. In a thousand years, archaeologists are going to find all these caches of toys and naturally presume that they were our gods; I want my god collection to be in great shape so they know my devotion was strong. And the Ancient Astronaut Theorists, led by Giorgio Tsoukalos' umpteenth great grandchild with unruly hair, will still proclaim that my valk collection clearly shows that aliens were developing transforming jets to build skyscrapers, and that they took the valks with them when they left, which is why no physical evidence of a transforming fighter has ever been found, beyond these small representations. Ya know it's true.
  23. M'Kyuun
    I'm thinking that was a design choice by Bandai to facilitate transformation. Until it was shown here, I hadn't noticed how much of a hump the fighter has due to the upslope of the chest and head. I checked the lineart, and in some of the drawings, it looks like this, and in others, it looks like a nice continuous tapering slope from the rear of the aft canopy down to the head, so either is correct based on individual interpretation. My preference is for the latter, which Arcadia did well, but I'm honestly not bothered by it. I'm usually more concerned about build quality, tightness of joints and their durability, overall durability, solidarity of each mode, etc. As for the droopy lower fuselage in a couple of those pics, I'm thinking that they either forgot to snap it closed, or the demo model is worn out and that panel just pops open due to gravity. I hope it's the first, as the latter presents an issue. Really hoping this thing is a home run design-wise.
  24. M'Kyuun
    Hikuro, I'm also curious to see how your Delta Plus turns out, having bought a MG copy recently. Of the variable suits, I think it has one of the better waverider modes. I also bought a Methuss, which is one of my favorite Gundam designs...there's just something about it that strikes me as really cool, just not the color.
  25. M'Kyuun
    When I was a teen, Prowl was my favorite TF, but I couldn't abide his unileg. So, I removed the plastic piece connecting them, all the metal pins, and cut the plastic part connecting the legs in the crotch. Unfortunately, I had no experience modifying toys at the time, and it was a doomed venture leaving my G1 Prowl in pieces. I never bought another G1 Prowl, hoping instead for updated versions of the toy. The Alternators version was a serious WTF, esp when the Suburu WRX or the Mazda RX-8 molds were far more fitting for his G1 look. At that point, I really anticipated the eventual CHUG version, esp after Mirage, Bumblebee, and Hound were so well done; it was a little disappointing, esp since it was based on the IDW design, and the head sat a bit too high due to the spring-loaded reveal mechanism. So I waited, and then MP Sideswipe was announced, and looked amazing. Hope burned within me like a 1000 suns for Takara to make Prowl, and when they announced it, and it looked absolutely awesome, it was like closure. I rarely by multiples of any mold, but I got Prowl, Silverstreak, and Smokescreen, I just so love the basic figure. Have to agree with Mikeszekely concerning RiD Grimlock; nice rendition of the character, with a different yet similar take on the original transformation, with a look that's reminiscent of Animated. There's very little in the way of kibble on the bot mode, and I also like the green and black color scheme. One caveat: the grey ratchet piece was too loose in my copy's right arm, and caused the elbow to lock up at 90 deg. I used a little more force than I should have to straighten the arm again, and sustained a little cracking of the plastic which houses said ratchet. I ended up pushing out the elbow pin, removing the forearm, and epoxying the ratchet mechanism in place. Once reassembled, it works great without stressing the plastic anymore. This seems to be a recurrent problem with this figure. Drift is the only other RiD fig I've bought, and while it seems to get a bit of criticism, I like him. Granted, Hasbro seriously skimped on paint apps (as seems to be their SOP these days), but I like the look of both his modes, and his articulation is decent. My only criticism is that the connection point for the waist skirts whould have been attached to the hips so they can move with the legs, rather than being attached above the hips, which hinders leg movement. I may get RiD Sideswipe if I see him in the store. Beyond these figs, the line and the show don't really grab me.
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