M'Kyuun

Right there with ya...I discovered this place 2 years ago when I took my wife to Waikiki. I actually went to MechaHawaii first, run by Sean Akita, which was a pretty awesome store in it's own right, and he was very cool. But Toys 'N Joys was just crammed from wall to wall with Japanese toy goodness. There was so much stuff that boxes of Japanese Transformers were stacked on the floor as well as the shelves and pegs. My wife was suffering from strept throat, bless her heart, but went along with me and suffered the whole time I was gawking at all the stuff I wanted but couldn't possibly afford, let alone afford to ship back to Spokane. I bought Binaltech Prowl and a few of the Microman Aliens/Predator and Batman figs from Sean. If ever in Oahu, these two stores should be on your must-see list.

Saw the new pics of the '09 lineup. There's some nice stuff coming out. Hound looks even better than his BT/Alt counterpart, and I can't wait to see final pics of the newly designed Ravage. Blurr looks amazing in both modes. Cyclonus is an amazing homage...he does look bumpier than his sleeker original, but the overall figure captures the look and feel of the character so very well that I don't mind. He looks to be a better toy than Galvatron, at least. Inferno is an enigma..his alt mode is very realistic and looks great; his bot mode manifests G1 blockiness, as well as a passing resemblance to G1 Prime, that makes him a good Classics toy. However, for some reason that I can't quite put a finger on, he just doesn't grab me like alot of the other toys in this line. On a different note, I forget who mentioned it in another post, but I fully agree that Robot Masters Starscream was a great toy, and was much sleeker and more faithful to the G1 toy. I wish they had used that design, with the inclusion of knees, to create the Classics seekers. Aside from MP: SS, it would have been the best looking jet TF in alt mode, and his bot mode would have been pretty much spot-on without the samurai-style stab mounts hanging off his hips. Hope Hasbro/Takara keep this line alive for quite awhile longer.

I'm still on the second chapter (Raxus Prime, which sounds more akin to Transformers than SW, but I digress) and I think it's a fair game. There's nothing really new beyond the amplification of certain force abilities. I.E., push, grip, and lightning are amplified ridiculously, but he can't force jump for sh!t. The camera is a pain at times. Only certain things can be gripped and manipulated, although other objects, such as the detritus laying about on the junk world, move if your character walks over them; you just can't move them with the force. Too, if you're standing too close to a grippable object, the blue force-ueable mark disappears. The target lock does not work well, at least for me, so I just do my best to hurl stuff and hope I hit what I'm trying to aim for. The biggest complaint I have is that your character cannot move while using force grip...due to the "concentration" required. Asinine, if you ask me, since he can push objects while moving. Anyways, using grip exposes you to enemy fire; I think the creators would have made the game more enjoyable if your character at least took a defensive posture with the lightsaber to deflect some of the enemies' fire. After all, manipulating your environment with the force was one of the top selling points of the game; they didn't tell you it's suicide unless you use it behind cover when facing a a large number of enemies. Though I've been playing games like these for years, I have no skilz, so I'm not too plussed about the length, as all these games take a long time for me. I have a goldfish memory, so remembering all the confounded combos is a challenge all its own. Some of the moves are pretty cool, however. The writing seems decent so far; it's better already than the Clone Wars movie, although I realize CW is for kids while FU is more mature in tone. The voice acting is decent as well as the dialog. It's not too hammy, and already there is good use of the graphics and pauses to show "conflict" in your character during the cinematics. I'm enjoying the game, but I'm looking even more forward to seeing how the story draws out. I was going to read the novelization, but I decided to hold off until I played it through. I've read that there are two possible endings, which usually always involves choices in the game and makes it a bit more replayable. Personally, I think they should make a jedi game along the same lines as Deus Ex, where one has a group of choices through out the game in various situations..light-up the ole lightsaber, or massage the enemy's will. T'would be a fun game, methinks. In the end, your conduct in the game will determine your affinity, allegiance, and path in the game.

I can relate to backwoods redneck PA...I'm from Ridgway, in Elk County. It's a cultural black hole if ever there was one. Now I live in Spokane, Wa, which is damned near the same...we don't get stuff here until weeks or months after everyone has already been there, bought that. It's pretty hick here, too, despite being the second largest city in Washington. Anyway, although there's nothing too noteable about TFA Jazz's transforming sequence, I think HasTak nailed it for looks...he's stylin in both modes, and quite articulated, which is a big deal to me as well. It'd be great if Classics Mirage was the new standard for articulation, but I guess you can't have everything. I just hope Alex Kubalsky has a lot of involvement in designing the Animated and Universe lines. Universe Prowl is prob one of my favorite T-formers this year, if not all time. He is unmistakably a G1 homage to that character, very poseable, although I wish he had double jointed elbows to match his knees and a ball jointed head. I also wish the windows on his legs were translucent with mechanical detail showing through like the original. But these are my only gripes. Prowl was the first TF I owned as a kid, and I'm pretty happy with his upgrade. I was diappointed with the Prowl in the BT line, as his transformation scheme was completely different. The Mazda RX-8 mold would have suited the character beautifully.

Read that...guess mom and sis must be his biggest critics. seriously, if it's true, I hope he gets a little justice, as Hollywood types always seem to slide right out of these situations without any repercussions. I hope it doesn't hurt the film, as it was excellent. I didn't really care for any of the 80's and 90's Batman movies, esp Schumacher's neon, campy tragedies. Unlike most, i didn't care for Nicholson..while he played the "crazy" ok in some parts ( you are a vicious bastard, Anton, and I'm glad you're dead ), ultimately his performance felt like a performance to me. Furthermore, Jack's chubby and the prosthetics used to make his smile just looked terrible. Batman Returns' script was, to me, inappropriately ribald and inappropriate for a PG movie. Some of the lines, esp Penguin's, just made me cringe. I liked Pfeifer's take on Catwoman and her interaction with Keaton, but again, I think the script was the weakest part of what could have been a far better movie. However, I'm glad Tim Burton renewed the franchise with a darker take on the franchise, as all most kids my age knew of Batman was the ridiculously camp 60's series and the Superfriends, where he lost his utility belt in nearly every episode rendering him useless. I hated Carrey's riddler...i don't even think they gave him a script, but gave him free reign to say or do whatever he felt like doing. Jones did a terrible Two-Face, seeming, to me, only to compete with Carrey for laughs. If not for the campy script and neon, I think Arnold could have played a better Freeze. I'm glad the Nolans are helming the new darker, more realistic take on Batman. These are good movies, not just good superhero movies.

Well,it is a Japanese take on Batman, and the bishi-type character is popular in anime now. I need only point to Princess Alto.

Absolutely would buy. Love the look in all forms. If they make it, I hope the shoulders rotate at the wings like TFA Lugnut. One of Kawamori's coolest designs, IMHO.

I voted YF-19 b/c , to me, it looks better between all three modes, while the 21 looks great in fighter, but it's battroid and gerwalk just don't look as good. Plus, i like how the cockpit section is integrated and hidden in battroid on the 19, instead of out front where it can take all the direct hits. The cockpit-out-front-of-the-bot look has become a transforming jet cliche of sorts, so designs like the YF-19, SV-51, VF-25, VF-4, VF-5000, and VF-25 are appealing b/c the cockpit has a more functional use in the transformation as well as being protected by parts of the battroid. If the 19 and 21 were non-transforming jets, however, I'd have to go with the 21..it's gorgeous, and very reminiscent of its YF-23 inspiration.

I have mixed feelings about using the YF-23 as inspiration: I love the plane; IMHO, it was the rightful winner of the competition and should be the symbol of the Air Force, should be the plane featured in Hollywood's blockbusters, and most certainly wins the beauty contest between itself and the 22, which is a fugly pregnant, diamond-shaped F-15 ripoff. In short, I've never been partial to the F-22, and was mollified when it won against the YF-23, which was, by nearly all accounts I've read, the superior performer. So, on one hand, I'd be pleased to see it in the limelight; on the other, I'm concerned by the bastardization that would undoubtedly be visited upon it by Hollywood's special effects people, and even moreso by the thought of Toynami's subpar toys driving it even further into obscurity and shame. The YF-23 was an achievment in engineering; it was revolutionary and unconventional, and our AF officials didn't like that so they sided with the more conventional, less stealthy, ugly F-22, despite the fact that stealth and speed were the dominant pre-requisites in the competition. By most accounts, the 23 was faster, had greater range, and was stealthy in both IR and radar. The YF-22 was radar stealthy, but not IR due to its vectored thrust. As the conflicts over the last 15 years have demonstrated, stealth is a much greater strategic factor in modern warfare than the ability to do a "serpent manuever", which is so much fighter jockey, airshow fodder with little relevance to actual modern combat. Dogfighting is a combat rarity today because we destroy the enemy's ability to generate airpower before they can get a plane in the air, and if the enemy succeeds in such an endeavour, our fighters, due to the technologies employed, enjoy first look- first kill capability. Ok, rant over. Hope the Robotech production folks leave the YF-23 alone and just design their own Veritech creation. YF-23, RIP! You are <snif,snif> remembered.

Does size really matter? Actually, T-formers have never been very accurate to scale, so a size-down on the new Alternity line doesn't bother me; in fact, a smaller toy with similar engineering and die-cast means slightly lower prices and more win for the dollar. As for size differences, the Animated line is a prime (no pun intended) example: Lockdown is about an inch taller than Grimlock, all the deluxes are taller than Voyager Lugnut, who should at least rival Bulkhead in size, and on and on. The sizes of the toys don't match the sizes depicted in the toon. Still think they're nifty toys, though... personality pours out of these things. I'm with Eriku, however, when it comes to automorph...less is better, none is better still, but I don't see an end to it any time soon, or ever. Laziness is progress, I suppose; I'd rather manhandle them from one form to another, as figuring out and admiring the ingenuity of the transformation scheme is a huge part of the hobby for me. Automorph takes some of that away, and makes it, I imagine, more difficult for the designers, as they have to figure out gear ratios and such. It bugs me when I accidentally 'grind' the gears and then have to realign everything; I'm just waiting for little plastic gear teeth to fall out someday, leaving a nice floppy-former.

I spent about 30-40 minutes putting the infernal things on (mind, I don't open the instruction packets on my Yammies, so I look at box pics and employ my wits to finger it out). As big a pain as putting them on was, I thought for sure I was going to snap off a stab when removing the pods, and the belly armor took some work to get off,too.

No prob. I'd say the majority of people think of lumbering construction equipment and low riders when hydraulics is mentioned. The sophistication of modern hydraulic systems and materials is pretty impressive, and all the rapid movements and acrobatics of modern fighters is accomplished by computer controlled hydraulic systems. Slow fliers, like the C-17, also employ state of the art hydraulic systems for exceptional stability and handling, as do commercial aircraft. Manufacturing robots also employ the same technologies used in aircraft, albeit programmed for a vast array of motions and speeds, forces, etc. Now, there are electrically operated actuators, valves, etc, that can generate a decent amount of force, but they are usually employed for secondary functions, at least on aircraft, i.e. trim tabs and such. "Chemical muscles", while cool in theory, to my knowledge, have no factual basis. I know that there are artificial materials that react to electrical stimulus, but the degree to which these are functional, and indeed employable, I am not educated enough to say. I'll concede that materials like this will most likely find limited use in the future, but I doubt that hydraulic systems will fall out of use within the next hundred years. And, those chromed cylinders just look so damned cool on a mech...sorry, i had to say it.

Don't sell hydraulics short..it's my specialty. Computer controlled servo-actuators have amazing response times and aren't herky-jerky like a piece of construction equipment. There are all sorts of snubbers and regulators built in, as well as computer controlled metering valves that control the speed and range of motion precisely. And, some servos are designed to move very fast, esp those attached to stability surfaces, such as the SMCS vanes on the B-1 bomber's nose...they move so fast they're just a blur. Any near future large machane is relegated to the use of hydraulics because, to date, there's nothing else more efficient, economical, or physically feasible to produce the forces required to move a large mass with fluidity and precision. Trust me, I'll be happy when a cleaner alternative comes along...I've been soaked in f**king hydro more times than I'd care to remember..it's nasty, smells bad, and it's a known carcinogen.

I wish her hands were in sheaths, much like Prowl's, that rotated 180 deg to form the spider leg and hid the hand in spider mode. The rest of her was well designed, and then they just got lazy with her arms.

Moreover, due to the amount of fragmentation of the vehicle's panels and such, no toy will ever match the CG images, so I give Takara a nod for what they were able to accomplish, although there's always room for improvement. Now that the designs for the characters from the first movie are complete, I'm sure the toy offerings for those characters will be superior to the old, and the new charactes' designs will suffer the lack of complete designs and time constraints, but still give us a few decent toys. I hope Blackout gets a better toy..I was pretty disappointed with the Voyager version. And for those who like the Raptor(I don't), I hope Starscream receives a better more accurate sculpt without massive undercarriage, skinny nose syndrome. Other than the possible toys, I'm pretty meh about the second movie. The first had a few cool scenes, but the cheesy humor, focus on Sam, and sparsity of the bots made it groanworthy for me. I'd almost rather see it done FF:SW style with much much more focus on the title characters, but still preserving a sense of realism.

QFT! The Binal-Tech/Alternators, with some small tweeks to increase poseability, was what I hoped would be the look for the movie. G-1ish enough to please the fans, but still transforming into licensed vehicles with features(steering, opening doors, hoods, etc). Just on its own, the Alternator line cranked out some pretty nifty toys...many of them more complex than Yamato's Valks, IMHO. Grimlock's infernal arms come to mind.

The first movie wasn't what I'd hoped it'd be, but I think it could have been much worse had it been handed to a different director. Bay loves cars, explosions, and frat humor, and that's what we got. From reading the previous posts, I gather TF2 is taking the same road, using Allspark fragments to animate new minions. As an aircraft mechanic, it's fine in a cartoon, but just uses a little too much Pure F 'n Magic for me in a live action movie. I wasn't crazy about the whole scanning business in the first movie, either, as it borders more on magic (yeah, I know, nano-technology..but it's a sci-fi shortcut that's easily overused and abused). That said, I'm ok with he bots possessing the tech to scan something and reformat, but to place a magic crystal on a pre-existing machine and its becoming something alive and capable of shifting its atomic structure so radically just seems a stretch to me in a live-action movie. It's a writer's shortcut, and a way to introduce new characters, but I don't care for the approach personally. For those who like Bay's take on the franchise, great for you, and I hope you get as much enjoyment from the second. I'll see it expecting more adventures of Shia and S7 with a few more cameo appearances of the Barely Recognizeable Transformers. Having seen a few of his movies and interviews, I get the feeling Bay was one of those 'too cool' guys in school who made fun of the kids who bought and played with Transformers, and now he has to turn a 180 and make a movie about something with which he has no personal connection or familiarity, and probably not just a little loathing. So, cover it with glorious car shots, immature antics and dialog, explosions! Lots of em!, and, best of all, glamour shots of Megan, and maybe, with all that distracting everyone, nobody will notice how he dodges any prolonged scenes or character development of those yucky robots. I noticed, but more Megan isn't a bad thing, either. We need a spring break shot of her at the beach; Shia can stay home and play with his robo-buddies.

Due to the way it slides, I don't think it goes completely flush. Mine was like that out of the box, and after I transformed it. It's so thin and close to being flush, though, that it's not really to noticeable. Overall, this thing is amazing in fighter mode. i had some trouble hiding the hands as well, but a little fiddling with the fingers made it fit better and allow the covers to mostly cover them. It's a very small issue, and one I won't cry about. I do wish the feet were a tiny bit bigger to give it more support in battroid, but I'm cool with it as-is, b/c clown feet would look pretty odd jutting out the tail.

Quirk with the toy, I think. The belly plates could have benefitted from a small lock at the anterior position, as that's where mine splits the most. There was more gap in mine straight out of the box than after I'd transformed it to battroid and back. If there was was a little clip and indent type lock, mine would hold perfectly; as it is, there's not much gap now. My biggest beef is with the hip joints; they're just a little too loose to support anything more than a standing pose on mine. Hope everyone else's are stronger. I'd almost rather they make the hips ratchet, although poseability would be a bit more limited.

Got mine today. Mine's pretty tight; the hip ball joints could stand to be a tad tighter. Transformation was pretty straightforward and not too complicated...the 21, IMHO, has the least complicated transformation scheme of Kawamori's valks. Like all my Yammies, I never cracked the instruction packet, and still transformed it from fighter to battroid in about 25 minutes first try. Everything lined up well and snapped into place on mine. The gunpods are well designed and fit so well in the new, beefier hands..I damn near giggled. The head's pretty limited in it's rotation, but it's just cool that it does. I rotated the seat manually going to battroid, and it rotated back automatically when I returned it to fighter. I still haven't looked at the fast packs...will check them out this weekend, along with the stand. Lessons learned going back to fighter: make sure the arm swing bars are all the way rotated; mine are not quite all the way in, but I still managed to make everything fit. Also, make sure the little fore and aft side panels which cover the the arms are deployed; I had everything positioned and snapped tight, then realized the side panels were still folded in their battroid positions. Doh! Fortunately, nothing broke and I was able to position them correctly and finish the transformation. She now sits proudly next to my other Yammies. I wanted to display it in battroid, but it topples a bit too easily, so until I dig out the stand, she'll grace my living room in fighter mode.

Don't feel bad, I live in Spokane,WA and nobody has them here, either. Where in western PA? I'm originally from Ridgway in Elk County.

I'm not as well read on aircraft as David, but I've spent some time around aircraft. To my knowledge, most aircraft do not have variable intake covers, nor permanently mounted covers at all, with the F-117 being the only exception that I'm aware of. the F-117 has a permanently mounted permeable mesh cover over the intakes to reflect radar and hide the fan, but the downside is that they restrict airflow making it a subsonic plane. I've seen the B-2 up fairly close, and did not notice whether there were intake covers or not, but I don't believe so due to the "s" ducting to prevent the fan face from giving a radar return. There are some aircraft, most notably the F-15, whose intakes, or ramps, are variable, but not covered. Actual intake covers are separate from the aircraft and must be removed before flight(hence the red tags), then reinstalled after to prevent foreign objects from entering. Kawamori's intake covers are a fictional, yet realistic detail, since his valks are intended for space flight(no air means no need for an intake) and transform( the covers protect the intakes from foreign objects as well as lend a nifty aesthetic to the battroid). I doubt we will ever see intake covers permanently attached, as the possibility of failure would potentially choke the engine at best, or break off and become ingested, endangering the aircraft and pilot. Hope this helps.

QFT. Heck, the Classics seeker design seems arthritic and blocky next to Classics Mirage. Wish they were all made like him, with double jointed knees, elbows, and ball jointed toes/feet to allow better stability in all sorts of stances. Of course, the YF-21 is a different class of toy altogether, and from the pics, it looks gorgeous; very sleek, very accurate to Kawamori's designs, skinny legs notwithstanding. There had to be a tradeoff, and, though I'm a battroid guy, I can definitely see the need to keep everyting slim in order to prevent the chunkiness of the 1/72. In Macross, they're variable fighters, so the fighter should be the primary focus. Just my $.02 It's amazing, and depressing, that the shipping and import taxes on overseas products costs much, much more than the products themselves. I keep hoping Bandai will bring its considerable resources to bear and establish its legal ability to produce and sell the Macross Frontier products in the US at much lower cost. It's a dream, just a dream.

Well, his wouldn't be the first "cheat" in a toy's transformation. Animated BB's roof(chest) in bot mode is deco since the roof of his car mode actually becomes his calves. Sentinel Prime's chest is also a stylized deco to resemble the front of his truck mode, which actually becomes his back, and his legs actually become the bed of the pickup and look quite different from the way they're drawn. This show, probably more than any other TF series, takes alot of liberty in proportions and transformations, although Beast Wars took alot of artistic license, too. The toys are pretty damned impressive though, the majority of them looking extremely close to the artistic renderings. Anybody know which came first, the art or the toy designs for Animated?