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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    I never cared for the Fuzors, but due to the writing and awesome super-cheesy but noble characterization Scott MacNeil delivered, I became a fan of this guy. That said, I never bought the OG toy, so when this fig was revealed, I was onboard. In hand, he doesn't disappoint, and I have a companion for the oft reluctant but ultimately charmed Blackarachnia. Along with Silverbolt, Legacy United Sandstorm occupied most of the room in the Hasbro Pulse box. I'll leave the in-depth review to Mike, who does a far more admirable job of it. he comes in bot mode, as most do, and well, he's definitely G1 Sandstorm. Right up front, I dig him. The old Thrilling 30 fig was an interesting retool of T30 Springer, arguably one of the best triple changers Hasbro has ever delivered. However, T30 Springer's translation to Sandstorm gave us a cool VTOL mode, but a rather questionable buggy mode due to the extreme size difference between front and rear tires. and he didn't quite scratch the itch for a G1 accurate toy. This achieves that, IMHO. Unfortunately, there's really no storage for the cage in bot mode. However, the main rotor hub can be extended up for chopper mode or pushed down into his back for bot and buggy modes. If you extend the rotors, you can slide the cage under the rotors and carry it like a backpack with little to no effect upon the rotors. With every triple changer, there's usually one alt that takes the brunt of the compromises, and in Sandy's case, it's the buggy. However as compromises go, it still presents pretty well, at least from the front and sides. Move to the back, however, and the heli tail , poorly disguised as a ludicrously small spoiler, as well as the heli nose halves, are rather apparent, although the nose halves are sculpted well and rotated to blend with the fenders. As compromises go, it's not so egregious as Astrotrain's unfinished shuttle mode nor Blitzwing's half a folded tank hanging off the bottom of his jet mode. If those cockpit windows could somehow be turned red, they would have made good tail lights making for a more believable back end to the buggy. Chopper mode works a little better IMO. Sandstorm is another t-changer whose alts are severely off-scale to their RW counterparts. Likely inspired by Sikorsky's CH-53, a beast of a machine which I've seen up close, but sadly never got to fly in, the alt modes for both the G1 and Legacy toys capture a decent likeness. It's a passable representation that at the very least, puts to shame the vast majority of jetformers Has/tak have cranked out over the nigh 40 years of the franchise. Takara, for whatever reason, can make a pretty decent helicopter alt, as they've proven many times, and I wonder why they can't do the same for fighters. As both an aviation fan and a Macross fan, it's frustrating. My only niggle with the heli mode is that I wish they'd incorporated a set of retractable main gears into the arms for accuracy's sake. Unfortunately, due to how he's designed and due to his triple changing nature, there's really naught to be done about the huge back buggy wheels serving as his nose gear. As Mike pointed out, too, having the rest of his windows painted black would have been nice. Overall, though, nice copter mode. Anyway, in the accessories department, Sandstorm benefits more than most, as he comes with a rifle, a pistol, a working winch, and a cage, which gives the helicopter mode something to do in terms of utility and said cage doubles as a protective cage over the buggy's engine. It's fantastic realization and implementation. I'm down for accessories like this, even if there's little to no storage or use in bot mode. Overall, pretty neat figure, def one of the better triple changers, and overall a win for fans for how well it skews in all three modes to the G1 toy. It's a good update, and I hope Blitzwing and Astrotrain, via SS86, get theirs too. We already know Springer's coming, and IMHO, the Seige toy was nigh perfect, so it remains to be seen how and if they can improve on an already good fig.
  2. M'Kyuun
    Great review, Mike. I agree on all points, but I still think he turned out better than expected, compromises notwithstanding. Woulda been nice had they found a way to hide that bot chest within the truck, but I appreciate the "Changing Gears" gimmick. It's a nice nod to the toon and shows that Hasbro and Takara are paying attention to what third parties have been doing for a long time now. Def agree with that last sentence, as that's what I've been wanting since the early 90s when articulation standards started to improve, and especially when Classics was introduced. Been a long wait, but has/Tak is finally giving me, for the most part, what I want in the mainline concerning updated G1 figures. Oh yeah, and you can add new improved more accurate F-15 alt-moded Seekers to the list, as well as better versions of Blitzwing and Astrotrain with much better alt modes than the last pair. Glad I'm not into the Japanese Transformers; that Ginrai looks all kinds of terrible to me.
  3. M'Kyuun
    So, I initially missed the PO window for this guy on Pulse and secured a PO through Target instead. Then this Sunday morning past, I just happened to click on Pulse and Wheeljack was once again available so I POed him there as well with the intention of canxing my Target PO. Unfortunately, I hadn't logged in when I made my order and had no receipt in my email, so I just figured I'd get two copies and perhaps sell one of them off. So yesterday my Target Wheeljack showed up. After messing about with him, I discovered to my chagrin that the left elbow had been improperly drilled and pinned which causes the elbow to rub against the forearm and limits the elbow bend to under 90 degrees. It's also harder to move the elbow in general. I decided to try and remove the pin and see if I could potentially redrill the joint, but I could only get the pin to pull out about an eighth of an inch before it was just kinda stuck. I didn't want to damage the arm irreparably, so I just tapped the pin back into place. In all other respects, the figure is fine and I enjoyed transforming him into his Cybertronian mobile cube mode. 😄 Perhaps that's the Cybertronian version of the minivan; in hindsight, given that that's the alt they gave him on Cybertron, it seems like a van or truck mode would have been more suitable for ole Jacky. For an inventor who likely often scrounges for junk and materials to build his gadgets, it seems most fitting, certainly more so than a racing car. Alas, history. Anyway, in light of the unfortunate elbow, I'm glad I have a second copy on the way and I vehemently hope it'll be assembled correctly. In regards to the figure itself, as a fan from the very beginning, this is one of those unexpected figures that I didn't know I wanted until they did Bee in his og Cybertronian form. At that point, Wheeljack was an absolute must. Although the bot mode is compromised a bit by a lot of kibble to achieve that blocky alt mode, the arms forming the front just like the animation, the little ramp in back, the propellers out front, the shield, and best of all, the ability to fit Origins Bee inside like the animation all conspire to make this figure a triumph. In hindsight, it's a shame that the cartoon bot modes weren't tailored to reflect their Cybertronian modes, but in the 80s, toons were 22-minute commercials and the focus was on reflecting the toys. Too, most toy lines only enjoyed popularity for a year or two, maybe three tops. Had they the foresight to see that Transformers was still a flagship property 40 years on propelled primarily by its now global adult fanbase, perhaps more consideration would have been given to how these characters were depicted. Different time, different way of thinking. Happy to report I managed to get a PO for SS86 Swoop. Although I have my reservations about the overall design ( undersized and improperly shaped wings, non-compressing arms that don't partially retract into the body, chubby beak, barely-there toes, no tail, back thrusters sit too close together- all in reference to the OG toy), I think he looks great in bot mode and also alongside his fellow Dinobots. I'm sure there'll be a handful of third-party upgrades to make him look more like his G1 toy self, but stuff like the arms likely won't be addressed. A longer curvy set of wings will go a long way to making him look Swoopier, though, so I welcome that. Compared to the other four, it feels to me like there was far less investment in his design, as the majority of the others were almost over-complex and changed for the sake of change (looking at you Sludge). Swoop, by contrast, is less complex than his G1 toy, and that just shouldn't be the case in a leader class toy priced at nigh $60.
  4. M'Kyuun
    Oh!!!! I didn't see it in action, just the pics. Watched the vid. Yeah, a herky-jerky mechanism controlling a surface that large with a sizeable and potentially fragile load, no less, should definitely be smooth-acting. Until a certain point, it seems as if there's a spring-loaded mechanism helping to propel the bed up. At the lower end, it seems like the spring is held in check whilst the motor moves it to a certain point at which point something releases and the spring, or potentially compressed air in those cylinders, gives it that rapid upward jerk. I think it'd be better served using gear-driven linear actuators. It would be a slower ascent, but at least it'd be a smoother action. Catapult action FTW! 😁
  5. M'Kyuun
    Actually, they make a toy version with chromed wings and a clear (not smoked unfortunately) beak. NEWAGE H57EX FREYR TOY VERSION,New arrival (tf-direct.com) I would have preferred the toy version if it had the blue chest, however despite making a few other color variants, sadly they don't make that. Anyway, I was posting the pic just to show the differences between Hasbro's version and one that skews closer to the G1 toy in its sculpt and transformation. In other words, what the Hasbro leader class toy should have been. Sadly, Hasbro doesn't do chrome anymore, probably due to its tendency to chip and flake over time. I miss it.
  6. M'Kyuun
    No intention of buying, but just to insert my $.02, that truck is amazing, and while I also generally eschew electronics in my toys, the implementation is simply stunning, especially the tilting bed. It's amazingly realistic and adds that extra bit of cool to an already cool vehicle. Now if the Ingram was also RC and you could walk it off the truck, that would really be something! I imagine that's where toy tech is headed in the next 50 years. We already have walking, talking, self-transforming Transformers courtesy of Robosen. Love the Griffon's design. Threezero's is gorgeous, but with LEGO and Transformers central to my collecting and display space extremely minimal, I'll continue to be content with my little Kaiyodo.
  7. M'Kyuun
    QFT. The SS86 Dinobots have been, on the whole, really well done with some surprising engineering and departures from the traditional transformation schemas. When it comes to the Dinobots, I'm more in the, "if it ain't broken, don't fix it" category, as other than adding additional articulation in both modes, I really don't need them to reinvent the wheel. However, reinvent they did, especially with Sludge. The result is an elongated body and a longer tail section, which is more accurate to the real animal than the OG toy. I wish they'd stuck more to the OG toy, which was my only Dinobot fig as a kid. I have nostalgia driving my bias there. But, as I said, the first four Dinos have been pretty good, enough to pique my interest and anticipation for Swoop. That this is how they realized him compared to the previous releases is disappointing. As you said, I'll have as much, if not more than the toy itself costs, invested in upgrades to try and hopefully bring him closer to how the OG toy's Pteranodon mode looked. Unfortunately, there probably won't be much of a fix for his arms so far as their partially retracting into the body to give him a slimmer profile. But if he has longer properly shaped wings, that'll go a long way towards making him look better.
  8. M'Kyuun
    Got me- I was scouring HP for it, but it wasn't there. However, I have a copy in storage, and at this point, I'd be inclined to wait for a potential Missing Link version if they could work out the details with Bandai. Of course, Harmony Gold would do their utmost to forbid sales in the US, but most of us are no strangers to Asian online stores. He looks ok, like most jetformers, from the top-down, which seems to be their favored viewpoint on most aviation alts. However, he's very boxy in Pteranodon mode if stood upon his barely-there toes. Those wings are far too small and the wrong shape. Newage did it better and exemplifies what I was expecting from the SS86 toy. Newage even spread the bot legs in Ptero mode to widen the space between his jetpacks and allow the tail to be seen. I don't think SS86 has a tail at all, but the G1 toy did. Unfortunately, this figure skews close to the terrible animation model allowing for the least complex engineering of any of the SS86 Dinobots. It's a disappointing disservice to the line and a rather meh ending to collecting the team. Hasbro above, Newage below. Which one looks right to you?
  9. M'Kyuun
    A little disappointing. The arms don't compress to foreshorten, nor do they compress into the body to give him a thinner more streamlined body profile like the OG toy. The beak is a little too fat, there doesn't appear to be a tail, and the Pteranodon feet are barely there. Finally, the wings are quite short and have the wrong shape. This is supposed to be an update, but the all-important dino mode got the shaft (hmmm, similarly to most jet alt modes- Has/Tak just seem to have a thing against good flying alts). It boggles the mind how Takara produced a much better looking and accurate Pteranodon 40 years ago and then by way of 'update', produces this utter brick with inaccurate wings. The bot mode looks good, though. I'll still get him to finish the team but given how well the previous SS86 Dinobots have been done overall, this is a letdown. Hopefully, third parties can at least address the wings.
  10. M'Kyuun
    Iron Eagle and Enemy Mine are the two stand-out films for me. I've never seen Officer and a Gentleman. Many a year has passed since I last saw either of the former films, but I remember Louis Gossett Jr. disappeared into the role of Drac in Enemy Mine (the heavy makeup probably helped). Perused his IMDB- he has been acting non-stop professionally since 1957 and has a prolific list of credits including voicing the Vortigaunt in Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One and Lucius Fox in three eps of The Batman cartoon. You definitely left your mark Mr. Gossett. RIP
  11. M'Kyuun
    I'm a helo fan in general, so a Blue Thunder Transformer would be awesome; however, it simply doesn't enjoy Airwolf's popularity even though the former was in a theatrical film and a tv show (which simply lacked the depth of Airwolf). As helo designs go, the heavily modified Gazelle still stands as one of the coolest, most unique helicopter designs ever, even if it was only used in a film.
  12. M'Kyuun
    The only way I could see a General Lee being made is if they either remove the Confederate flag entirely or create a facsimile thereof due to its dark history. And both of those options would likely not sit well with die-hard fans, so, yeah, it's a safer bet to avoid it on Hasbro's part. K.I.T.T. OTOH is a total win. The only thing I fear is that they're going to try and make the bot look like the Hoff, 80s hair and all, and TBH, even as a kid, I wasn't too plussed about Michael Knight. The car, however, was awesome. I'd love an Airwolf crossover, and in keeping with her "Lady" moniker, make her a fembot.
  13. M'Kyuun
    Breathing a huge sigh of relief that nothing I was interested in was shown/ for sale today as I was out on an obligation until 1:30 PST and I would have missed the POs on Pulse. I only caught about 8 minutes of the stream, and the coins and music stuff were pretty yawn-worthy. For those wishing for a TMNT crossover, hopefully this scratches the itch. From an objective POV, the bot is a little kibbly, but I get that they're trying to represent samurai-style armor with the vehicle bits. The approach is interesting, including the heads and weapons for all four Turtles, especially if you're only buying one copy. Buying four copies will set you back, but if you're a die-hard TMNT fan, perhaps it's worth it to you. For my money, if I were interested in TMNT, I'd be more inclined to go with 52Toys Turtles, which simply convert into cubes but have cleaner, more accurate Turtle forms, with Donnie and Leo and Raph and Mikey able to connect in cube modes to form the Party Wagon. Different tactic, similar result, although Party Wallop's Party Wagon is much better looking. Hopefully, SS86 Swoop and perhaps Windcharger will get leaked soon. Getting ever closer to having a complete First Season roster of really good quality figs. I passed on him when he was a Target exclusive, and I'll likely pass on him now, but I have to say Ecto 1 is definitely one of the best realized crossover figs- just really well done in both modes.
  14. M'Kyuun
    Thanks, man. I got mine through BBTS. I could have waited for my local Wally to get him and spare myself the markup and shipping, but my FOMO is strong. I do have to say that the situation has improved dramatically over the last few years so far as finding TFs in the store, and I likely could have waited to find it in the store without much worry. Old habits, however. Thanks Mike. I went ahead and got one with BBTS.
  15. M'Kyuun
    I just got home from my appointment, and of course Gears is sold out already. I did get Silverbolt and Sandstorm though, so there's that. I'll get Gears elsewhere. Since I'll miss next week's fanstream, I kinda hope it is the TMNT crossover, as I have no interest in the Turtles and I won't miss yet another PO window for stuff I want. Cowabunga, dudes!
  16. M'Kyuun
    Yep. I'll likely still be at my appointment or making my way home. I have little hope I'll get home before Pulse is sold out on the figs I want, especially Gears.
  17. M'Kyuun
    I hope they don't go up right after the stream, as I'll be at an appointment, and once again, I'll miss my opportunity to get my POs on Pulse. Between myself and my mother-in-law, our appointments unfortunately fell on Thursdays for the last three weeks of March. ☹️ This morning I'll likely get to see the full stream, but I need to leave for my appointment in about 20 minutes, and if POs go up right after, my chances of getting my desired POs on Pulse are nil.
  18. M'Kyuun
    Origins Wheeljack is already sold out. I didn't know it was going up for PO today, and I was up at 0630 PST, as I have an appointment this morning. but I keep missing all these POs on Pulse which negates the only positive of membership, namely free shipping on everything. Anyway, I got my PO on Target's site. I have several Targets in my area, but I rarely go, and usually any 'hot' item is long gone by the time I get there, so it's better to just endure the $5 shipping cost to ensure I at least get a copy. Good luck to anyone else looking for this fig.
  19. M'Kyuun
    Unfortunately, between my mother-in-law and myself, I'm going to be at appointments right when these streams are happening every Thursday this month. I definitely want to be there, if not for the fan streams, then for the POs on Pulse, most especially for Swoop and the commander OP. Gotta make that membership fee pay for itself! I'm excited to finally finish off the Dinobot team, and as excellent as I think ER prime is, I'm intrigued to see how this commander class fig turns out. If they go too toon slavish, though, it's not going to fit with the rest of Generations/SS86, so I hope the bot mode has some nice surface detail, as well as judicial use of mechanical details.
  20. M'Kyuun
    I hadn't seen or heard anything about a B:TAS Batmobile, but I was hoping for it with the announcement of the lovely Gotham cityscape. $59 is a lot considering last year's '89 Batmobile came in at $48 with 438 pcs with two minifigs. I'm guessing the Animated Series Batmobile is going to be substantially longer than the Keaton-mobile, which itself is a relatively long car model at minifig scale. Ever since LEGO acquired the Batman license in 2006, my two grails have been the '89 Batmobile and the Animated Series version. LEGO has exceeded my expectations for the '89 with the awesome UCS model, a nice minifig scaled GWP set, last year's stand-alone Batmobile set, and the Batcave Shadowbox. Seeing them now leaning into The Animated Series warms my heart and ignites my hope for some great vehicle sets, especially that iconic Batmobile. I wouldn't mind them going further into Batman Beyond, giving us a Terry McGuiness Batman, Batmobile, and an old Bruce Wayne minifig. They've already done sets from the Nolan films, Reeve's Batman, and Snyder's Justice League. They even did a low key Batmobile set from Beware the Batman, a far too short-lived animated series from 2013. I wonder if they'll make sets from the Schumacher films, The Batman animated series (which also had a nice Batmobile design), or Batman: Brave and the Bold, which had a Batmobile that transformed into a mech. That last one would be awesome.
  21. M'Kyuun
    Really wish this had been the original release, as the plastic color choices and paint apps are better all-around and Eject looks so much better in opaque plastics. Eject is IMHO the best of the cassette bots in this scale- full basic articulation and they even managed to use 5mm peg holes to simulate his cassette reels. All he's missing are his G1 toy's weapons, and as big as Blaster is, it's a shame they didn't just utilize the hollow areas in his legs to store them. I don't plan on POing him, but if I happen to run across him at Target, I'll probably grab a copy.
  22. M'Kyuun
    Wow, exceptional paint job, so crisp! Agree with you about the mold- it works, but I still prefer the look and transformation of Classics Hound over this version. I didn't buy Detritis, but if its tolerances are similar to the Siege version, untabbing the legs from the hood of the jeep mode requires the use of a prying tool (I use a LEGO brick separator). That tolerance is way too tight. Happy to pass on the info. Beyond Optimus, I'm not sure what models Joe has been involved with, but he certainly has the acumen to bring some creativity to whatever projects he works on.
  23. M'Kyuun
    I'm also onboard with rereleasing figs, especially those that were once exclusives or just hard to find. Additionally, I have no issue with Earth jeep mode Hound being a part of this multipack; it's the fact that he didn't receive a regular Legacy or SS86 release that rankles. I figure he'll get an eventual release, although it may be a year or so down the road, at which point there may be an even better mold out.
  24. M'Kyuun
    I wouldn't doubt it. Brick Clicker is a reliable source for upcoming sets. Moreover, OP was done pretty well within the limitations of a retail LEGO set. That he can even transform is an amazing feature as Hasbro seldom allows other licensees to make their TF products transformable, keeping the salient feature to themselves. G1 Bee makes sense as LEGO has had dealings with Volkswagen for years, the simplicity of the G1 toy works well, as it did for OP, and Bee remains one of the most popular characters. It's pretty much a no-brainer from LEGO's POV. Too, Joe Kyde, former Hasbro TF designer and now LEGO designer, who designed LEGO OP will likely work on this Bee set as well. Kinda cool to have a designer with one foot in each world.
  25. M'Kyuun
    Hey, thanks for the info, Mike. I don't remember that 4-pack at all, so my interest must have been pretty low. Honestly, the only reason my interest in Ransack was piqued is due to Chop Shop and Barrage, but with all the retooling done to make them more closely resemble the original toys, a simple repaint of Kickback just doesn't quite measure up. If they were to give him a completely new body similar in appearance to the original, reuse the Ransack head, Kickback's legs and arms, then I think it would work better. I doubt they'll do it, but they've gone back and redone figs before, so never say never. Well, TBF, Hasbro have indicated that size classes are more price points now as it pertains to budget. That said, YMMV if the budget/ asking price/final toy was worth it. IMHO, many times, yes. I'm an aviation fan, and in about 98% of cases, Has/Tak's aircraft alts are inaccurate, disproportional (generally, undersized forward fuselages), lazy (robot arms just tacked on the sides of the plane), lacking full landing gear, with said gear rarely retractable (usually just the nose), lacking opening canopies or detailed cockpits (a lesser gripe-relatively speaking, few car bots have any car interior to speak of, and I'm fine with it). Dreadwing/Skyquake has a bulky but well-done jet mode where the arms are hidden Macross-style between the legs and form the lower surface of the jet. His tricycle landing gear all retract, although the wheels, as usual, are just molded into the struts- pretty much gone are the days when they put rolling wheels on retail Transformers planes, more's the pity. Again, he's bulkier than most jets, but I love the integration of his shoulder pauldrons in jet mode. He carries his weapon, again borrowing a page from Macross, on his centerline. One complaint is that the main gear aren't sufficiently long enough to provide adequate clearance for the gun in that position. Transformation of this fig spawned a great deal of discussion on the TFW2005 boards. I modded my Skyquake, which still doesn't lock together as solidly as I'd like, but my copy of Dreadwing I left unmodded and it works fine and seems to be a little tighter/less fiddly. I think it's a neat transformation schema, but tolerances and internal locking mechanisms could have been better for a more consistently solid figure. That said, I love the bot mode as much as the fighter mode. For me, it ranks as one of the best jetformers they've done. Too, I agree about the heels- some sort of folding heel or putting the exhaust nozzles on an off-center rotation peg to allow it to rotate back would have helped stability in bot mode. Overall, though, my opinion of this fig remains highly positive.
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