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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    All three have really good bot modes that capture their G1 looks well. The alt modes are where they take the hits. Since Megatron can no longer be a gun due to our asinine laws, a tank mode has become the accepted alt mode, and FWIW, scale wise it makes far more sense. I'd still love to have a CHUG scaled Megs that turns into a Walther P38, but since that seems unlikely and no third parties are jumping at what seems a primo opportunity, tank it shall remain. Shockwave was a complete copout- I doubt his original extremely sci-fi gun mode would fall under the same scrutiny under the law as Megs' Walther, and yet they made him into some really crappy spaceship that needs help from a bunch of add-on bits that only raised his price. As to Soundwave, for whatever reason that makes no logical sense, they decided to make his lower legs transform backwards leaving his specifically shaped knees, which corresponded with his waist shape on the G1 toy to fill in the front of his recorder mode, hanging out. The original toy had a simple but elegant and effective transformation that even allowed for his weapons to be stored as batteries. It was perfect, and why few to no Soundwave figs since have copied that feature is questionable. It's not the best recorder alt mode, and I hope they redo him in the SS86 line with an improved mold that borrows more liberally from the G1 toy, but I'll concede that his recorder mode is a far cry better than the whatever-he's-supposed-to-be alt mode from Siege.
  2. M'Kyuun
    Looking forward to this. I very much like Watchmen and 300, so I'm hoping it'll be good. The action is there, I just hope it has a decent story too.
  3. M'Kyuun
    I didn't go in on Deathsauraus, but I look forward to your review. Thanks for the offer, Mike. I got a copy quite a while back. Apparently I forgot to post it and forgot that I'd even made any comments to the effect of having missed her on Pulse. It's been several months, but I believe I ended up ordering her from Walgreens' website. I currently have Elita-1, Minerva, and Strongarm together on one of my TF shelves. It's neat to see the similarities and differences among the shared molds. I was at Target recently, and I caved to a purchase of WfC Game Edition Optimus Prime. Quite a beefy fig for a voyager. I'm still not as fond of him as I am of FoC Prime (the overall design in both modes) but in-hand, he's a pretty cool fig. I do, however, dislike that he can't just simply hold his gun in his hand; having to remove the forearm and peg it on his butt is a terrible solution. I know they simply transformed their arms into weapons in the game and that this fig homages that feature rather faithfully, but I'm just not a fan of it. My takeaway from the last fanstream is that I'm not alone in that sentiment and the designers are aware and may put some sort of handle on these GE guns going forward. A folding handle would be optimal to preserve the current arm-off-gun on feature, but allow the gun to also be pegged into the hand while keeping the guns streamlined. The only other complaint I have is the lack of panels to cover his hands in truck mode- even the 2010 WfC fig had the rear end filled in with taillight details, and it was merely a deluxe. It also had many more paint apps, but with budgets seemingly stretched much further these days, IIWII. I absolutely love my little deluxe FoC OP, and I'm cautiously excited for an upscaled version, hopefully next year.
  4. M'Kyuun
    I think the bicep shape is largely a product of their ugly double elbow joint. While I welcome increased articulation, I wish it had been done more visually appealing, even if the second joint had to extend out of the bicep. nevertheless, I'm in for a copy when they go up for PO. Visual warts aside, I hope it's at least a solid and durable toy.
  5. M'Kyuun
    Just finished Blue Eyed Samurai on Netflix- my wife and I started it yesterday and finished it today. Just wow. This show is superb, from writing to animation to voice acting, to the motion capture work. The plot is a little boilerplate for a revenge show, but the pacing is well-done. If this show doesn't warrant at least another season, somebody making decisions at Netflix needs to be fired.
  6. M'Kyuun
    Honestly, none of these is really grabbing me, except Prime to a small extent, and I'm not really sure why a cabover truck needs a cowcatcher. Starscream suffers from the usual arms-at-the-side-of-the-plane syndrome, like they can't even be bothered to try and integrate them into the plane mode. Soundwave's 4x4 Jeepish truck mode is ok, but I think the bot mode is a bit too thin-limbed- I'm just not feeling it. Not seeing any minions for this guy, but if he has them, what exactly would they turn into? - parts of an engine block? I wish they'd find a more suitable alt for him where, like his original cassette player mode, both his alt and his minions are relevant on their own and to each other. That was the appeal of Soundwave and his minions in G1, and I wish they could find a modern equivalent. Bee's alt is ok, but it's not really grabbing me either. Overall, pass on all of these. If they end up selling Prime on his own, I may pick up a copy, but if not, more money for future G1 and Animated Legacy figs.
  7. M'Kyuun
    I stand corrected. I was thinking the Navy's was the VTOL version, completely forgetting that the Marines have a variant as well. If a company were to make a transforming F-35B, I'm curious how they'd work around that forward fan- perhaps a jet pack for the bot mode. That would be my solution.
  8. M'Kyuun
    I think so, too, and the fact that money has been awarded for a scale demonstrator shows the seriousness of its consideration. I worked on KC-135s for many years; those planes were built in the 60s and many are 60 or turning 60 and slated to fly for at least another decade. I have no experience with the KC-46, the newest tanker based on the Boeing 767, but the fact that the Pentagon is willing to fund development of yet another tanker, one that's rather forward thinking in its shaping and proposed use of hydrogen for fuel with zero emissions indicates open-mindedness that we didn't see back in the late 80s, early 90s when the ATF competition was happening. I applaud that and hope BWB designs become reality within the next decade.
  9. M'Kyuun
    The F-15 and F-16 are both impressive aircraft from the 70s, such that they're both flying along with the likes of fifth generation fighters like the F-22 and F-35, and may still be flying with sixth gen. Segueing from old to new, I've been looking at blended wing designs and stumbled on Jet Zero's Z5 USAF Tanker concept. Jet Zero Unveils Midmarket Airliner And Air Force Tanker BWB Plan | Aviation Week Network. Knowing how conservative the AF is when it comes to forward thinking designs, after all they passed on the YF-23, oft considered to be the superior design, for the more conventional YF-22, learning that this blended design is actually being considered was pleasantly surprising. I hope it proves out in testing and development and makes it into service, as, from my reading, it seems that blended designs like this are being considered by the commercial developers like Boeing and Airbus as well. Supposedly, they're more economical, using less fuel and featuring more interior space for pax and cargo than the conventional tube and wing design. From an aesthetic POV, IMHO, they're also more elegant and graceful in addition to their utility and economy. I hope I live long enough to fly on one some day.
  10. M'Kyuun
    I did no background, but your info about its licensing gives serious pause, as it should to anyone in a country targeted one way or another by the PRC. It's a shame, as it's a cool toy, but I'd rather not support the CCCP directly or indirectly. I wish it was a true F-35, too, especially the Navy's F-35C with VTOL capability. I wish we had an American company of talented toy designers who made transformable toys at this level. Alas, Hasbro is the only game in town, and they're sadly not up to the task. It's odd, too, b/c we have a huge Transformers fandom and a decent Robotech/Macross fandom, a lot of very talented artistic and mechanically inclined people, and a growing culture of people doing independent design with 3D printing. One would think some of them would get together and form a company making custom transforming toys. I'd love to be part of something like that, although my skills are meager. However, like Kawamori himself, I could at least create a practical template with LEGO as a proof-of-concept to illustrate the transformation process. As to the J-35's bot mode, I'm not crazy about the face or the nose gear on its crotch, but otherwise I like the look of its bot mode, especially the leg design. The transformation is quite involved, a bit too much for my liking, but that seems to be the way for a lot of these modern transforming bots. I agree with your assessment of Zeta's Blitzwing- well done in both modes judging by pics. I'm also impressed with Metagate's Red Fantasy (BBM Shatter) for how well they pulled off the vehicle modes, especially the Harrier. Usually, as with both Has/Tak's and Toyworld's versions, the jet mode, as usual, takes the brunt of the compromises; Metagate's car mode, IMHO, suffers more than the Harrier mode. And while the Harrier mode isn't perfectly accurate, it's decently passable, esp from a distance.
  11. M'Kyuun
    I don't know if contributing to a Chinese toy company furthers the CCCP's agenda, although I get what you're saying in principle. I'm not at all a fan of the Chinese government or their shady practices, but as to the talents of the Chinese people, there's no question. The Japanese may have invented the transforming toy, but over the last decade or so, Chinese toymakers have dominated the market with their many third- and fourth-party companies as well as the add-on/upgrades markets. While I confess to being tempted, I'm likely not going to buy this; that said, I felt it was worth posting simply as a showcase of what can be done with a modern jetformer, as this should be the standard and not the exception. It's still not the standard even among most 3P jetformers, but my hope is that this will inspire the other companies, Takara included, to step up their games. Takara's MP-52 is a travesty writ large in comparison, just shameful. As for Kawamori, he's been looking down his nose at all these other companies making crappy jetformers since 1982. Too bad more companies didn't follow his long and venerable lead.
  12. M'Kyuun
    Just discovered this today. This is an excellent example of how a transforming jet should be executed. Bit involved, and the weapons bay partsforms, but otherwise, it's a brilliant bit of engineering resulting in a cool looking bot and a jet mode that looks realistic from all angles with little to give away its transformative nature.
  13. M'Kyuun
    Digits crossed that there are improvements, but at this stage I doubt it. Gonna get it anyway. 😜
  14. M'Kyuun
    Well, at this point, I think we all agree that this doesn't share the same level of polish as their VF-19 Advance/ YF-19. From my standpoint as a battroid guy, it fixes the main issue I had with the Yamato- the too-thin legs. However, it still has issues that could certainly do with tweaks, but at this point I think we're getting what we're seeing. Is it better than no YF-21 toy at all? IMHO, yep. Edit: Sometimes it helps to read what you've written to ensure you're expressing your thoughts properly. Initially I didn't. Fixed.
  15. M'Kyuun
    Just toys in general. Many Transformers toys these days have this kind of detail in panels and even in some of the hollow areas in arms and legs where they're conserving plastic. I love detail, especially molded detail, so it's a practice I welcome. Of course, if the toy is crap but has a ton of nice detail, it's essentially a gilded turd, so there's always that situation. 😄
  16. M'Kyuun
    This has to be one of the nicest compliments I've ever received for any of my LEGO MOCs, and I thank you most kindly. Getting back OT, I hope Bandai makes some sort of PO announcement soon. Warts be damned, we've waited far too long for a new YF-21 and overall, as I've said since this thing was frst intro'd, I'll take it as-is if only b/c the battroid proportions look better to me, at least so far as the legs go. That said, I'd be thrilled to no end if Arcadia tweaked the nigh-perfect Yamato design to have thicker legs that look more proportionally correct even if it means the jet has a slightly fatter back end; that's a concession I'll take all day long.
  17. M'Kyuun
    Massive thanks to each of you for your compliments. More than most, your knowledge and passion for Macross adds weight to your praise, and I'm touched and humbled. I hope I inspire. @rematronIf you ever have an opportunity to go to BrickCon, a huge AFOL organized LEGO convention now being held at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue in the fall, I generally attend every year and bring all my transforming LEGO models. It'd be my great pleasure to meet a fellow MWer and perhaps show off a MOC or two. 😁 Means a lot to me. My VV-1 is a custom design with obvious inspiration taken from the V-22 Osprey. I worked on realizing it for about a decade, but that helicopter cockpit piece became the nexus around which I was finally able to bring my vision to physical fruition. I consider it my magnum opus. As such, compliments are especially meaningful and you have my gratitude.
  18. M'Kyuun
    Wow, thanks! Really kind compliment.
  19. M'Kyuun
    As a vocal critic of most jetformers, given that this triple changes, and that the car mode looks incredible, the jet mode isn't as compromised as we often see in single alt mode jetformers, which speaks to the level of engineering. Obviously, it's not perfect; those intakes are wider than the chines, hang too low with an obvious gap, and just don't really look like intakes, TBH. From the side, it suffers, and it's a shame they couldn't find a way to improve it. From the bottom, the car bits are obvious destroying any illusion. However, I do like how everything packs up compactly on the bottom; it's a shame they didn't make it all snug up closer to the bottom of the plane, but, considering its nature, I give props for making it as good as they did. It's a cool concept, reminding me of Binaltech/Alternators Ravage, who converted into a licensed Jaguar and didn't have to contend with a second alt mode. IMHO, the designers did a pretty good job overall, and even the jet mode looks ok, especially, as most do, from above.
  20. M'Kyuun
    Cheers from eastern WA! 😄 On point observation regarding the 21's design. Of all his valks, this is the only one I can think of that's essentially a shellformer. And yet, even with that additional cheat, the design still suffers from an inordinate amount of animation magic to achieve its proportions between modes. This is the line art for the leg transformation. as you can see, the legs are indeed supposed to turn laterally for storage in fighter, but as you can also see, the lower legs are visibly shrunken to fit them within the confines of the aft fuselage. I never understood why Kawamori-san even bothered with the belly plates, why he didn't just tuck the legs in battroid config up into the engine nacelles, or why he didn't have the lower legs, turned sideways, feature some sort of panel fu to lessen their width and to cover more space on the bottom of the plane. Any of those options would have been better than those abominable belly plates. I hate those things with a passion. Note that he doesn't give a very clear idea of how the arm armatures work either; it's more suggestion than a clear mechanical design. This thing was fudged from the word go, all to have it be reminiscent of the Queadluun Rau, which I can appreciate given Guld's Zentraedi lineage, but the design approach was uncharacteristically hamfisted. It's little wonder that proportions tend to be an issue for toymakers. FWIW, I doubt Yamato's will ever be surpassed in its fighter mode- it's simply gorgeous. but then, that was obviously the primary focus of the design, and they executed it very well. I wish they'd compromised the thinness of the fighter just enough to allow for larger legs, but they didn't. I'd still welcome a retool of that design with larger legs and hopefully more robust hip joints. That, IMHO, would be a nigh-perfect YF-21 toy. I'm a battroid guy, so Bandai is winning me over with their version, even it, too, has its warts.
  21. M'Kyuun
    Considering that Kawamori-san still does his designs by hand, my thinking is that it likely would have turned out the same way. CAD existed in the mid-90s when he did the M+ designs, but he's a traditional artist who seems to prefer drawing by hand. Given that a number of his designs have been translated into toys, I don't know if he draws with that in mind, but as you said, even with Frontier and likely Delta, there's still some animation magic involved, and likely always will be. In that regard, I give props to Yamato/Arcadia and Bandai for translating those drawings into fully functional transforming toys. Having translated Kawamori-san's Variable Glaug, VF-4, and VB-6 Konig Monster into fully transformable LEGO models, I understand the challenges involved.
  22. M'Kyuun
    Doubtful. I've always thought it a waste on other YF-21 toys/models not to use those large engine bays to store the legs in fighter mode; it just makes more sense to me to do that than to lay them on their sides despite that being the way it's done in Kawamori's very skewed lineart. This valk design, more than most, relies heavily on animation magic to optimize it aesthetically from mode to mode, and I have zero issues utilizing cool engineering solutions, or just what's given in the design itself, to make the whole work more elegantly and aesthetically.
  23. M'Kyuun
    I wish the hips sat just a little lower in battroid, that the forearms were a little longer and thicker, and that they employed a more attractive elbow joint. However, overall, I think it's a pretty decent looking YF-21. I love the leg foreshortening solution (ingenious, indeed) and the halved belly plates in battroid/GERWALK. The backpack is a bit thick, too, but if the thing can hold itself up without the hip joints just going floppy, that'll be a win over the Yamato. Likewise the more appropriate leg proportions. There are other minor proportional issues, but they don't bother me as much as they do others here. Def will get a copy when it goes up for PO. Hopefully, like all the other recent Macross valks, this one will have availability through US e-tailers. It's been a long wait for a 1/60 YF-21 option besides the Yammie, and I hope this thing at least has effective joints to make up for some of its other shortcomings.
  24. M'Kyuun
    I think Evan is mitigating a bit when he says they made WfC game Starscream's canopy "slightly" larger than the game art; it's notably quite larger than it should be compared to the game art, and to the OG toy, which was more accurate. I may still get a copy, but the canopy is too big and the wrong shape and the wings look too small. Evan explains that the canopy was enlarged to accommodate the head, which beggars the question of why they didn't follow the OG's transformation schema to keep that forward fuselage looking more accurate to the game art.
  25. M'Kyuun
    Not surprised in the least😄, and knowing you're a Prime collector, I'm sure Big Convoy is on your eventual 'want' list. Hmm, interest piqued, especially for the Mini and the triple-changer. I believe there's a rumor that we're getting G1 Sandstorm, so that's my expectation then. We haven't had a proper triple-changer of that character since the T30 Generations fig back in 2013, which, of course, was a heavy retool of the IDW-inspired Springer figure, arguably one of the best triple-changers Has/Tak has ever made. Apropos of nothing, Joe Kyde was a designer at Hasbro who worked on T30 Springer; he would later work for LEGO and design the Optimus Prime set. Ah, ok, I misheard or misinterpreted what Mark and BMac were saying about it. In that case, easy pass, money and space saved. Oh no, not in SS86. Sorry if I gave that impression. As part of Legacy, though, yes. I have for Omnis at some point given that Evan Brooks also mentioned an interest in doing them during PulseCon, IIRC. I figure if the designers are interested in characters enough, they'll eventually convince their superiors to let them realize them as toys. My digits are doubly crossed. Well, out of that entire list, only WfC Starscream holds any interest, and only minor interest at that. For the most part, I wasn't too jazzed for the majority of the game character designs; I like Bee, FoC Prime (my fave of all the game designs), and the Dinobots. I didn't bother getting the new Legacy WfC Bee, as I prefer the original fig over the new one, and I never really cared for the WfC Prime design, although I'll admit the Legacy fig's bot mode looks pretty nice. I bought Thundercracker back in the day, the only WfC game Seeker I own and I think it's an ok fig. I like its Macross VF-1-ish transformation, where the arms tuck between the legs rather than just hanging out alongside the fuselage like most of Has/Tak's crappy jet modes. I'm curious, not really in a good way, to see how the new fig differs in its approach. Folks are already complaining about the size of its canopy, so I'm guessing it's not going to be seen as favorably as Bee or Prime . I'm curious about the transformation schema and whether or not they hid the arms like the OG toy. Shouldn't have to wait too much longer, and with that, I'm off to bed. A pleasant good Saturday morning to all!
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