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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    That's a very well-elucidated critique, Lechuck. I like Skullface, but even by his own admission, transforming stuff isn't his forte, and I've watched any number of vids where he missed things on a review that earned his ire, and were later pointed out in the comments or by people he knows. He's generally good about admitting mistakes, though, which speaks to his character. However, your point that he's often overly critical and misses salient features of a toy he's reviewing is certainly valid. Bobby has his particular standards and opinions, so one must go into his reviews knowing that. Again, I appreciate your point-by-point critique- clear, concise, with well-stated counterarguments. Excellent. For transformations, EmGo is generally my go-to. Some may not care for his brand of humor (sometimes it's a bit much for me, too), but so far as skill in handling and explaining the toys he reviews, he's thorough, positive, and also willing to admit when he makes a mistake, which in my experience, isn't too often. Em comes prepared to his reviews, having handled the toy a fair bit prior to going on-camera. He's also not shy about pointing out the things that are wonky, tricky, or just unpleasant in handling a particular toy, which makes for a fair and balanced review regardless of his personal opinion towards the toy in question. I also enjoy Wotafa's reviews. Wotafa always offers a cheerful, exuberant presentation of the toy he's reviewing, and regardless of whether or not I care about the toy, Wotafa's performance alone is worth the watch even though I don't understand Japanese. He, too, always comes prepared, demonstrating the features and transformation with great skill and attention to detail. Always a fun watch that gives me a chuckle or three by the time I'm done watching. Love his positive and enthusiastic approach.
  2. M'Kyuun
    I get you. As I said, as with most of what LEGO does in their Creator Expert, Icons, and Ideas lines, I am in awe of the sheer talent manifest in the various models, and the Atari is no exception. The subject matter, however, has little appeal for me personally. By contrast, although I'm not a car guy, I appreciate models like the Volkswagon Beetle, the Ford Mustang, and the Mini Cooper, just to name the ones I have in my own collection. I'm tempted to add the James Bond Aston Martin DB-5 to that list- I think it's brilliant. Going further, I think the Botanical line is a brilliant as well; I don't own any, although I'm tempted to pick one or two up. They have a certain appeal- not for everyone, but I think it's cool that they're doing something so outside of their traditional norms. Likewise the Murals and Architecture lines. I was playing with LEGO before the minifig made its debut in '79, so I've seen a lot of evolution and progress over the years. I also remember the dark times in the early 00s when they were producing lackluster sets and nearly went bankrupt. They've had quite the journey, and I've been along for the ride. Thank goodness for Jorgen Knudstorp and LEGO's willingness to listen to his advice. From just going back to basics and making nice looking sets again focusing on the building experience to almost twenty years later with all the eclectic themes they now offer, I'm grateful that my favorite hobby has persisted and been so successful and open-minded. As a mecha MOC builder and articulation fiend, I do wish they'd make stronger and more varied joints, as well as a fully articulated midi-fig as an analog to the beloved minifig. Alas, their open-mindedness has its limits.
  3. M'Kyuun
    I don't resent Hasbro for these multiple releases, but I get where you're coming from. I wish they'd combined the ER and SS budgets to make one perfect Arcee with a well-engineered and very compact backpack. I would have happily paid a voyager price point for that, even at deluxe scale, with her T30 rifle thrown in. However, I'm glad they made this fig, as it's a marked improvement over the primary shortfall of ER, i.e. lack of transformation, and an improvement of the T30, utilizing its strongest engineering points for the torso while redesigning the lower body to improve the look of her hips and the rear section of her car mode, all the while improving her articulation. I still wish they could have compacted that backpack better, but as its greatest concession, it's forgivable. G1 Arcee is a tough bot to do well; I still hold the T30 in high regard as the first G1 Arcee fig ever released. That they got so much right w/ that fig is impressive. Moreover, since they had a limited budget for this fig, I support the direction they took creating a hybrid fig with an end goal of improving her accuracy and articulation. I think they succeeded. Although SS Arcee has more natural looking hips and a more accurate car mode, I still love the fact that T30's legs formed the rear fenders and sides of her car mode. I can live with the inaccurate car mode for the amount of her bot mode involved in its formation. I think she's well done given the animation model Takara had to work with. Floro Dery did toymakers no favors with her meager design, and yet we've still managed to get a few decently realized Arcee figs, both official and non.
  4. M'Kyuun
    Unlike the majority of my fellow geeky Americans, I did not grow up playing video games, so I have no nostalgia to anchor me to these console sets. They're cool, from an artistic standpoint, but considering you could probably buy the real thing from a Gamestop for less than the set, the appeal is somewhat lost on me. Alas, different strokes. For fans of Cameron's Avatar, LEGO's making a spate of sets (under the general Disney theme) due to release 1 October. I intend to get the AMP Suit set and the Samson VTOL from the first film. While I feel Avatar is an average sci-fi movie, regardless of the bucketloads of cash it made, there are any number of elements present that I like (mecha, spaceships, the VTOLs, floating rocks, alien critters/people). Too, I personally thought it a beautiful film to watch, regardless of the 3D effect. I like how LEGO captured some of the odd and colorful fauna of Pandora in these sets, and the Samson set disguises a flight stand for the eponymous craft as a floating rock. I dig it. I wish the designer had put articulated knees on the AMP Suit (it uses new non-articulated perma-bent 4+ leg elements instead, which sucks in a set geared towards older builders). Alas, non-articulated knees is the norm and a bit of a running joke at this point. LEGO seems permanently stuck in an 80s articulation frame of mind, and I wish they'd modernize their approach when it comes to mecha and the minifig. Speaking of which, Sigourney Weaver finally gets her own fig. 👍 But before October brings Avatar stuff to shelves, 1 August will see the release of the new 10497 Galaxy Explorer 90th Anniversary set, which is probably my most anticipated set for 2022, edging out Optimus Prime by an atom or two. Actually, it's probably my most anticipated set in 30 years- really excited to see Classic Space on shelves again, if only temporarily. (pics shamelessly leached from Bickfanatics.com) 2022 has been a momentous year for LEGO, and we're only halfway through. 😍
  5. M'Kyuun
    I'm with Mike so far as wanting at least the rest of the core mini-bots in deluxe scale, Shrapnel & Bombshell, a proper Earth mode Hound, Omnibots, and a new improved G1 Seeker design with a good jet mode. Pointblank looks decent, but what's up with that spaced out crotch? It definitely detracts. I didn't have the original, but I remember pouring over the toy brochures that came with the G1 toys and thinking PB had the coolest looking alt mode of the six '87 Targetmasters, Hot Rod coming in a close second. I'm glad they made him, but the bot mode's looking a little wonky. As for this wave, I'm down for Inferno, Pointblank, & Dead End.
  6. M'Kyuun
    I think he's got all the bases covered. Some of those variants I'm not familiar with. I've got the G1 pink version POed. Looking like she's going to be a fun little fig. Yesterday, I received my Go Better kits for ER Sunstreaker and the rotating toe mod for the upcoming Sludge fig. Upon installing Sunstreaker's various bits and transforming him into car mode to check out his snazzt new spoiler, I discoverd to my dismay that they installed two left spoiler linkages, which makes the right spoiler angle improperly and overlap the left. I fired off an email to TFSafari about it and hope to have a satisfying outcome. Not a bad kit beyond that bit of assembly error. The bits for both the legs and the spoilers that slide over the 5mm posts are a bit looser than I'd like, allowing them to pop off quite easily. I could glue them, but I won't. There's enough friction as to where they don't just fall off, but it takes very little to unseat them and I wish there was a little more friction there or some sort of snap to give them better purchase. This is my fist, AFAIK, 3D printed set, and I'm amazed at how solid it is. If weren't for the mild striations caused by the layering process, I'd swear it was injection molded. Def a great use of the technology.
  7. M'Kyuun
    The SDCC fanstream was done and over quickly. All they showed was Shattered Glass Flamewar, a repaint of Legacy Prime Arcee. Rather disappointing. Walmart link I didn't even see Cosmos listed. Hoping Pulse will restock, or that I stumble on him in-store. Shouldn't be this hard to buy a retail toy.
  8. M'Kyuun
    Unbelievable that Pulse is sold out on these new figs after only two hours. 😠 I wasn't even aware they were dropping today; just saw the posts here by happenstance. I managed to get Override on PO, but Clampdown and Cosmos, the fig I really was anticipating, is already sold out. Hopefully they'll do a restock. Not holding my breath, though. At least, fortunately, I see these things in stores with more regularity now than I have in probably the past 3-4 years. My Wally has been carrying core, deluxe, voyager, and leader class figs for the last year or so, so I do see them in the wild. That said, I prefer a sure-thing, so an early PO is much preferred. Looks like Pulse is doing a live SDCC thing today. Still waiting for them to start broadcasting at this time.
  9. M'Kyuun
    I I get your meaning; no disrespect taken. I'm retired Air Force and have had the opportunity to be around a rather eclectic array of aircraft, working on some, and seeing many more in action. The C-5 Galaxy is a standout in my mind; it's a building with wings on a giant set of wheels. It's positively cavernous inside the cargo bay, and the upstairs pax cabin is reminiscent of an airliner. The C-5 is notoriously high maintenance, often being down and delayed for maintenance issues. It's a comfortable ride, though. Looking at it from the ground, it's tough to wrap your head around the fact that this behemoth can fly- there's just so much aircraft to take in, and the engines, although huge, look undersized by comparison to the thing they need to propel into the sky. I live near a base, and I'm awed anytime I see a C-5 or a C-17 coming in for a landing. I highly recommend visiting an Air force air show to anyone who's never seen one of these aircraft, and many more, in person. Not all air shows may have it, but many do, and generally they have the plane knelt with both fore and aft cargo ramps extended so you can walk through from end to end. It's a neat experience. I also can't recommend the Air force Museum in Dayton, OH enough. If you like aircraft, you owe it to yourself to make the trip. I've been twice and enjoyed both trips thoroughly. While there, I got to say hello to the most beautiful fighter ever conceived by man, the YF-23 PAV I. The chubby bald guy sporting, ironically, a LEGO brick patent t-shirt is yours truly. My wife's there in the background. Planes aren't her thing, but she was cool about letting me geek out and looking at stuff that interested her.
  10. M'Kyuun
    I think so, too. The voyager SS fig was far better executed, which seems backwards given the disparity in budgets and scales.
  11. M'Kyuun
    I beg to differ; Fairchild built a lovely beast in the A-10. She was purpose-built to do one thing well, and she's proven her salt in war, with a rather impressive survivability record, many of which survived battle damage that would have incapacitated other aircraft. I see beauty where others see ugly. The tapered spine on that model is sublime. Kudos to the designers; they know their stuff. No interest in any of the tv show tie-in sets or the Atari. I grew up in the 80s during the video game boom, but the only console we ever had was a hand-me-down Atarai, which I sucked at royally. As such, I have little in the way of nostalgia for 80s video games. That said, for the millions who do, I'm glad they're making sets like this that speak to that nostalgia- it's a pretty neat thing that even a decade ago, I never would have thought we'd see from LEGO as an official product. Likewise Optimus Prime, but now it seems like nearly anything, barring real world military vehicles and weapons, are fair game for the set treatment. So many possibilities. Hoping a Macross submission will make the grade and become a set now that its available outside of Japan.
  12. M'Kyuun
    I hope so; this bot mode is absolutely beautiful and judging by the accuracy and virtually uncompromised alt modes, especially the Aegocopter, of their previous two figs, I'm totally down for a copy if it comes to fruition.
  13. M'Kyuun
    So, this guy is a mixed bag. I don't think the bot mode is terrible, but it's not great either, especially for some of the proportional differences you mentioned, Mike. The tiny hands and the huge feet especially look off-putting. I'm also not crazy about the deco, but I think the paint apps are pretty well done, and if it's an ancient Chinese armored warrior look they're going for, in my very limited knowledge of such things, I'd say they succeeded. Articulation sounds adequate; it very much has a dated quality to it, more of an early 90s feel than a post-millennial toy. That may be what they're going for, as well; for those who like vintage toys from the 80s and 90s, this would fit that niche well. Jet mode. So, I appreciate that it's a licensed toy, and I definitely appreciate the info concerning the J-15. My knowledge of foreign jets, especially China's, as well as all the variants of both theirs and the Soviets' fighters, is lacking, as I don't do much reading on the subject. However, gauging the toy by its own merits in correlation to my knowledge of the Flanker, one of the most beautiful fighters in existence, I'd have to give this thing a B- for its fidelity to the source. The top-down view, as with many of Has/Tak's fighter TFs, is the best view, betraying little of its true nature as a transforming bot. Sure, some seams can be seen, but overall, the silhouette is uninterrupted by bot bits, and it looks quite nice. From the front view, the intakes are not easily made out, and given their size and prominence on the real fighter, it diminishes both the accuracy and the aesthetic, IMHO. From the side, your copy looks stooped with the spine seemingly too bowed, but I think that's subsequent to a partial collapse of the front gear. Looking at pics of the real plane, if their gear bowed forward, the same effect would be in evidence. From that standpoint, intakes notwithstanding, I think Cangjiao does a good job of capturing the lines of the real jet in profile. It falls apart, however, with those protruding arms. It's a shame Bowu School couldn't or wouldn't find a better solution for secreting the arms into the fuselage in a manner that was flush and non-obtrusive. It's such a pretty jet and having those things jutting out from the sides diminishes it greatly. Looking at this, I'm reminded of TFC Toys' Craft Series in which a Flanker, or Flanker variant, has been teased, and I very much hope that figure will eventually see production. I passed on Lumitent, but I have their Aegopter, and it's an impressively engineered toy for its transformation and nigh seamless alt mode. I digress. Cangjiao, it seems to me, would appeal to most TF fans who've long grown accustomed and unperturbed by gross inaccuracies and egregiously obvious amounts of bot kibble visible in jet mode, and to fans of 90s era transforming toys. The arms being the major concession, I don't think it's all that bad relative to the many compromised jet alts we've seen both official and non over the years with Transformers. The quality doesn't sound the best, and the bot mode aesthetics don't grab me either, so it'd be a pass for me. But again, it's not the worst we've seen in terms of compromise, and as something different for a collection, it fills a certain niche for more cosmopolitan collectors looking to add some flavor to their display. Thanks for sharing, Mike, and for keeping me in mind. Also, linguistics fascinates me. While I have little faculty for picking up languages naturally, language itself is ever intriguing and I appreciate the in-depth explanation of the hanzi involved in the name, as well as probable explanations of how that hanzi may be interpreted.
  14. M'Kyuun
    Yeah, the splitting hood is a big question mark. It's not G1 accurate, serves no purpose for combined mode, and as you said, just makes it look unnecessarily busy. I intend to keep the hood together on my copy when it arrives. For toon accuracy purposes, I understand why they went with the frame design for Menasor; I'm not crazy about that approach, and I hope he's the only combiner where the limb-bots merely snap on rather than forming the limbs themselves. While it mimics the toon look, IMHO it negates the point of their being a combiner if all four limb-bots can be detached with little effect to the gestalt beyond aesthetics.
  15. M'Kyuun
    Sorry to hear it. I have my Prime's right arm extended with the gun and it's holding fine. The joints are strong enough to hold up both arms on my copy, although the one with the gun will lose tension at both the shoulder and elbow with the merest touch or jiggle. They're just not made to handle much weight.
  16. M'Kyuun
    Nah, the alien dude was white (I think a European actor) and the pic he sees of his long-lost brother is a white Jesus. I'm trying to think of more details, but too much time has passed, and I'm lucky if I remember what I did yesterday. One of my own searches turned up Brother from Another Planet, which I'd never heard of prior. Similar premise, though. The movie I watched was likely a low-budget 70s film, but I can't remember who was in it.
  17. M'Kyuun
    I can't help you with your film, but it does remind me of a movie I watched as a kid on Suspense Theater, a show which often showed B-rated sci-fi and horror films back in the 80s. In the movie, a peaceful alien, which looks completely human but w/ powers, arrives in modern times looking for his brother and discovers that said brother was Jesus. That's about all I remember of the movie- no idea who was in it or what the title was.
  18. M'Kyuun
    Agree. Big boot there in car mode to hide the legs, but I applaud the novel approach to transformation. That bot mode is remarkable. IMHO, Dr. Wu's Amie handles the car mode and the backpack cleanup more accurately and efficiently, but I think NA's bot mode has the superior proportions. Hoping this will spur Magic Square to unveil their version soon, as I'm curious to see how they solve the various issues inherent w/ creating a G1 Arcee toy . Too, options are good.
  19. M'Kyuun
    I have a lot of experience with those joints; they are not designed to bear a great deal of weight, especially the lateral joint comprising the elbow. There's simply not enough tension, provided by the Technic pin connector that marries the joint, to imbue the ratchet with much strength. The longitudinal connection, in this case where the joint forms the bicep swivel for Prime, is a stronger joint in my experience. However, both are highly susceptible to wear over time, resulting in an ever-weaker joint generally necessitating replacement. One can try to strengthen the joint by placing a bar in the Technic pin, but I advise caution in doing so, and while the results may possibly prove sturdier, it's generally short-lived. Too, if too much force is applied, one can break the Technic pin, so I advise just replacing it with new parts. For those of us who build mecha, the positives and the shortfalls are well-known; they offer a nice compact joint system with motion in 2 axes, but the weight limitation is always a consideration. I've tried wrapping them in rubber bands and using the bar method, generally to little positive effect. They simply weren't designed for any sort of load-bearing, and certainly not for any duration. The Prime set really pushes the limitations of the joint, and I'm sorry to hear of your issues with it. As with a lot of LEGO joints, mileage may vary from element to element, and simply replacing one of the parts , most likely this one may give an improved result. I've had to replace joints on my MOCs for the same reason; it may take a few before I find one that has the strength, but ultimately I know it's a matter of time before it weakens and needs replaced too. Just the nature of the beast, as it were. I keep hoping LEGO will address it with an improved joint, but I'm not holding my breath.
  20. M'Kyuun
    Agree; it's the difference between discussing the Exorcist from a film POV (production, SFX, writing, etc) or based solely on personal beliefs. Lots of films contain religious themes and elements, but one can discuss them objectively without turning the discussion into a deep and possibly contentious religious conversation. It's a matter of knowing where to tow the line, and mods will undoubtedly let you know where that line resides.
  21. M'Kyuun
    I confess I didn't who this fellow was; I followed the link (thanks @pengbuzz) and was rewarded with a pleasant article detailing the more notable of his contributions to films thru his effects work, which mostly consisted of spaceships, including numerous Star Trek films and tv shows and the mothership from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. As a sci-fi fan, I've seen his work again and again over the decades to my great joy and wonderment, and I'm saddened by his passing.
  22. M'Kyuun
    In Demand Toys released pics of upcoming Legacy Armada Starscream and Beast Wars Inferno. I have no interest in Armada Starscream, but I always liked Inferno's character, and I love robotic insects. The only issue I see with the Legacy version is that, in order to pursue a more realistic ant mode, they eschewed the use of the robot arms and legs in ant mode for faux realistic ant legs, which necessitated their hiding both the arms and legs elsewhere in the alt mode. Since the legs are housed in the abdomen, the 4 piece-petal-like rocket booster on his butt now only has three petals, and the robot mode's gun is no longer housed within the ant's head as it was on the original toy. Looking back on the animation, Inferno's gun was sometimes animated to look like his flight rockets, which is what this toy's gun resembles. I wonder if they were at least able to work in a rotating gimmick for those abdomen petals, as they spun like a propeller in the show and on the original toy. Whatever else, I think they captured the maniacal look of Inferno with that head sculpt. "For the Royalty!"
  23. M'Kyuun
    If they're going to do everyone in core class, so be it. I imagine I'm not alone in hoping that SS86 will give us a better set of vanette bros than the ER retool of the Siege mold. And hopefully, they'll hide the feet better. Yeesh!
  24. M'Kyuun
    This design makes far more sense in the context of Diaclone, and he's really a two-fer so far as the toy goes. That said, I'm surprised that Hasbro wanted to use this mold in their TF line, as it strayed quite noticeably aesthetically from the rest of the car-bots. I prefer Floro Derry's extensive redesign for the series, although it made the toy less appealing, at least to me (I had Ratchet) b/c of the extent of the differences between toy and toon. The toon version looked much better to me, and it's only been within the last 5-10 years that we've actually got toys that approximate the G1 design well. A modern update of the Diaclone Vanette within the Diaclone universe would be neat to see, especially the mech portion.
  25. M'Kyuun
    True, and bottomless yes. Die-hards will be die-hards, but I think once the rest of Macross becomes readily available in DVD/Blu-Ray, and RT fans see how much the OG Macross Series has grown and expanded both in terms of story and visuals, many of those RT fans will change their preference. I despise Harmony Gold, but that's for the stranglehold they've held over Macross in the West for decades. I don't hate Robotech, though I do recognize it as a censored and poor amalgamation of three separate anime into one weird series. However, although I was aware of Robotech as a kid, thanks mainly to the good ole Sears and JC Penny catalogs (likewise Voltron), for whatever reason, neither Voltron nor RT were broadcast in my area, so I never got to watch them. I remember watching the odd ep of RT when I was stationed in FL in my mid-twenties, but never the whole series. In '94 or '95, I picked up a copy of Hobby Japan magazine and inside there was an ad for the upcoming Yamato 1/72 fully transformable YF-19, and my heart was set ablaze. Not since the VF-1, which was ubiquitous in the 80s, had such a magnificent and streamlined transforming jet existed. I believe the Macross Plus OVAs released on VHS later in '95. I bought them and watched them with absolute amazement. Other than Transformers: The Movie in '86, and possibly Ghost in the Shell, I hadn't seen animation at that level before, and the story of M+ sang to my heart of hearts, as only four or five years prior, the YF-21 was competing against the glorious and in-every-way-possible superior YF-23 for the ATF contract. This was an obvious nod to that RW contest, and in M+, IMHO, the deserving plane won, if only b/c Guld sacrificed himself and the YF-21 to stop the X-9. I digressed a bit there, but had I been able to watch RT in my youth, I no doubt would have glommed onto it too, and I understand fully the draw of nostalgia. Too, it introduced the West to Macross, and even in its abridged form, I can't fault HG for seeing an opportunity to bring something cool from Japan and making it available. It's everything they did afterwards to secure their hold on it that makes them despicable as a company. Had they the good grace to be satisfied with the success of RT and move on, allowing Big West, Bandai, Yamato/Arcadia to bring Macross outside of Japan 30 years ago, Harmony Gold would likely be looked upon favorably for having introduced generations of kids to Macross and opening the door to that world. But greed, poor management of the trademark, and lots of empty promises earned them much-deserved vilification and derision, especially by fans of the real Macross Saga. I honestly didn't think I'd live to see the day in which all facets of Macross would become available in the Americas, so tenacious did HGs grip seem. I'm only 51 (tomorrow actually), but I'd about given up hope. It's understatement to say I'm ecstatic to see Macross slowly taking bloom here, and I hope to see it continue- all the media and all the lovely toys. It's been a long wait, but better late than never. Glad it's w/in my lifetime.
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