Jump to content

M'Kyuun

Members
  • Posts

    5059
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by M'Kyuun

  1. This. Just like G1, sell them as a two-pack. I wish they would sell all the cassettes as either individual releases or two-packs. But I also wish the engineering was better on them too- the G1 toys are still superior to the crappy WFC/Legacy cassettes. I hope they at least go back and redesign Ravage- the current fig is absolutely awful, especially when you consider both Newage and Magic Square were able to do it better on a much smaller scale. I have the Magic Square cassettes, and those things are tiny. MS' Ravage is the weakest of their cassette modes, but the jaguar mode is fantastic at that scale- def evocative of G1 Ravage, which can't be said of the Hasbro effort. Hasbro Newage Magic Square
  2. I love the Hulkbuster Armor, but LEGO seems to have a hard time nailing it. I bought the previous UCS set, which was a bit disappointing due to its lack of articulation below the waist. Sure, I could mod it, but the point is, with all the joints at their disposal, and moreover, their ability to craft new joints up to the task, I shouldn't have to. It, like this new entry, was targeted at adults, not little kids, so the stability argument loses weight with me. Additionally, like this version, the proportions of the torso and legs seem wrong- the Hulkbuster should have a stubby looking torso due to its girth, and much larger thighs and lower legs, as well as larger arms. Even more than the previous model, this Hulkbuster, which admittedly gets far more of the superficial details correct, is proportionally off. I posted a pic of Hot Toys' Hulkbuster for comparison. I appreciate that this model can accommodate the Iron Man buildable character set released earlier this year, but the tradeoff is a slight lengthening of the torso which seems too tall and too thin to my eye. For the asking price of $549, I expect a nigh perfect replica , especially if it lacks articulation below the waist, which it almost certainly does. Too, while I appreciate that the buildable fig can fit in it, I'd much rather they eschew that feature in lieu of doing all they can to nail the thing as it appeared in the movie, concentrating on proportions since articulation is not much of a consideration. Here's a nice MOC that comes closer to true at the original UCS HB's scale. this one has full articulation to boot.
  3. Y'know, for probably a few cents more, they could have given this dude some ball jointed elbows, which would have given him a pretty impressive range of articulation in a core class fig. It's immensely frustrating when anything in any size class in 2022 still shares the same articulation limitations of toys from 20-30 years ago. Too I'd prefer elbows over those pile drivers. Yeah I get why, but they take up a bit of space on the shelf, and I'm already pretty much out of space as it is. If I get this guy, those drivers will just stay in the box for perpetuity. Hopefully Dr. Wu will eventually get around to doing all the cassettes in this new crappy size class. Still don't understand why they shrunk the cassettes instead of maintaining the real mini-cassette scale like G1 and MP. At least then there was cross-compatibility so if a particular cassette in one line bested his line-mates, one could mix & match to favor the collection of choice. Too, the larger scale gave them a little more room to work in.
  4. I was at my local Wally last night and happened upon this set. I absolutely adore the design of this thing, at least LEGO's take. Hasbro has a version that's a bit...underwhelming. That's often the interesting factor with LEGO sets based on IP based vehicles and such: sometimes they hit a homerun, sometimes they're in the ballpark, and sometimes they're not even in the stadium. I get the sense, Looking at Habro's, that this is ballpark, with a little license (for the better IMHO). I tried to find a movie still or some official image as it appears in the film to no avail, so a comparison with true source is impossible for now. The nature of these things, too, is that LEGO is often given scant early concepts to work from and the designs change, sometimes quite notably, from those concepts, resulting in sets that don't look like their namesake. Alas, the toymaker's dilemma. I'm not going to do a full review- plenty of those on YT. What I am going to do is wax a bit wistful, as this would have been an excellent midrange ship in a Blacktron 3 line. I grew up with Classic Space and beyond, so designs like this always evoke within me a deep longing for LEGO to return to those old themes with, much like the glorious 10497 Galaxy Explorer (2.0), a modern sense of design and use of all the new parts that've come about over the last 30 years. I also want to tip my hat to the designer of this set- fun build, a little repetitive due to the layered wing design, but otherwise fulfilling at the end for the lovely little VTOL craft your efforts yield. Good stuff. The discerning eye will notice garage door slats used as trailing edge details on the wings. Initially I thought they were going to be installed in the opposite direction, effectively giving the model working stabilizers, although in hindsight, positioning three per wing would get a little tedious, even if it did look wicked cool. The photo makes them look like they're glowing, but in fact they and the 6x6 dishes used to fill out the engine ducts are cast in iridescent plastic, albeit in different hues, which responded in glowy fashion to my camera's flash. Nice effect, methinks. The engines are mounted on ball joints, and so can be positioned in any number of configurations, although the current config, per instructions, seizes on the rounded shaping of the leading edges of the wings which create a nice 'pocket' for them to inhabit. It's all very purposeful, complimentary, and dare I say, lovely to behold. The wings themselves are mounted on EXO-Force era 2-axis ratcheting joints, which allow them to pivot back giving them a sublime rake and opening up that pocket for the engines. I initially thought the wing layers would open up X-Wing style, but they're held together at the tips with three droid arms a-piece, making it clear they're intended to stay sandwiched. Regardless, it's LEGO, so one can do with it as he or she pleases. I'm ok with it as designed; I think it's a lovely kit and whether or not you give a lick about Black Panther (I do), if you like LEGO (you probably do if you're reading this thread) and you like cool sci-fi ship designs, I don't think this will disappoint. The price is a little steep: $50 for only 355 parts. Of course, part of that is licensing, some new molds (I believe the three hair molds and the headdress are all new), and some large pieces like the quarter round bits that make up the engine cowling as well as the large plate to which they're attached. It's worth the wait to find it at discount, but I really wanted it, and my wife was kind enough to get it for me. Price notwithstanding, recommended.
  5. Very much enjoyed the first film. There's a huge hole left by Chadwick Boseman who owned the eponymous character (RIP sir, gone too soon), but I'm curious to see how Shiri steps up to inhabit the role. I'm not a comics reader, so I don't know if there has ever been a female Black Panther prior, but given her and T'challa's differing personalities, it should be interesting. The introduction of Prince Namor should be interesting as well- looks like they're borrowing heavily from ancient South American cultures to inform the look of the Sub-Mariner's people. Little odd, but ok.
  6. Odd decisions that generally affect the fandom detrimentally. Personally, I'm not at all familiar with Detritus; I just want my G1 Hound to complete the first season roster. And any other original minibots they want to throw in in deluxe scale, especially Gears, Windcharger, Brawn, and Powerglide.. And all the cassettes. And better triple changers with equally good alt modes as well as good bot modes. And a new far, far improved Devastator where all the Constructicons have full articulation. And for Primus' sake, a better Seeker mold with an actual decent F-15 mode. And Omnibots- C'mon Hasbro- it's been nearly 40 years- give 'em some love please! And..... I think I'm done. Well, the rest of the Dinobots and the Insecticons, but I think we all know they're coming. But between TR, PotP, the WFC series, Legacy, and now Legacy Evolution, they've given me just about every G1 bot, and then some, for my collection. I still think there needs to be a better Mirage- the ER mold sucks (still hanging on to my Classics Mirage- love that fig, too). I honestly wasn't crazy about Siege Hound either, even imagining it with a more earthy alt, but seeing the pic and pulling the Siege toy down for the first time since I bought it, I'm changing my opinion. I think it'll do nicely.
  7. Yep. Long wait- didn't think it was gonna happen, frankly, but Earth-mode Hound looks good. Figures it's going to be an exclusive- way to screw the fans and help the scalpers, Hasbro. Wish they'd put some silver paint on that winch instead of molding it or painting it whitish-grey. Quite the extensive retool, though. Curious to see the Jeep mode to see how close they come to the Mitsubishi J59. The example pic is of a 1986 model, but close enough. Looks like they eschewed the iconic vertical slots in the grill to avoid any possible legal blowback- guess Jeep is pretty sensitive about that. So one strike already. The feet's taking up a huge chunk of the center part of the frame is another hit on OG accuracy, but IIWII- due to transformation, it can't be helped. kinda wish, too, they'd gone with the darker green of the OG toy, but it's actually pretty close in hue with the example pic (not sure how accurate that is, but likely more than coincidence). I've held Classics Hound up for all these years as The Hound toy to beat, at least so far as the main line goes (comparing to other lines seems unfair as both MP and 3P legends would have that old toy beat in nearly every category these days). But as main line deluxes go, Classics Hound is still a pretty amazing fig, one of my all-time faves. However, I think this may be the one that unseats it as 'Best Hound' in my CHUG collection. Worry not though, I'll be keeping the Classics fig on the shelf close at hand- love that fig.
  8. So, a few days have passed since I posted my initial thoughts that only Breakdown appealed to me out of everything shown at PulseCon. I happened to find Breakdown available again on Pulse and POed him. But, having seen someone post about the upcoming Lio Convoy on Twitter, and being a BW fan, my curiosity took me back to Pulse to check out his prod pics, and more and more, I was liking what I was seeing. First, I really dig the more realistic lion face as opposed to the doofy lion face , cartoon accurate though it may be, on the MP toy. I dig the lion alt, and that's just one more nice-looking big cat to add to the menagerie, as it were. Too, Has/Tak loaded a few hidden weapon gimmicks into the fig, which reminds me of the original Kenner BW toys- not a bad thing when implemented right, and I think they did ok here. The lion's articulation looks decent, too- not as good as it should be for a 2022 toy, but decent enough to get some poses. POed him. Next, I took a second look a Tarn, a character with which I have zero familiarity outside of having seen various toy interpretations, mostly 3P, over the years. Honestly, his tank mode just wasn't grabbing me; I've long harbored a general abhorrence of Cybertronian alts, as I generally perceive them as lazy manifestations of a robot in a weird yoga pose, not really concealing the nature of the thing nor appealing as something realistic. Tarn's tank alt isn't nearly as egregious as some Cybertronian alts I've seen. The overlapping redundant treads and odd cowcatcher are a bit much, but overall, the more I looked at it, the more it appealed. But it's the clean, highly articulated bot mode with little in the way of hollow bits that sold me. This is the way, Hasbro. POed. Finally, Hot Shot. I vacillated about this fig the most. Again, I'm not a Unicron Trilogy fan by any stretch of the imagination, although I do remember picking up a few toys from that era, including Hot Shot. Still have that toy in storage. I looked at the pics of this guy for some time, comparing it to the original to see if the big shoulder pads were right (they are), and some other details. Barring the lack of a few painted details, most notably the ring details on his shins, Has/TT got pretty close to the mark. The legs are hollow and look unfinished, but they pretty much nailed the silhouette and salient features of the character. I finally threw up the white flag to Hasbro and POed him. If my wallet had a head, it'd be doing the slow shake at me. I'll throw in an honorable mention for Armada Starscream. I have the OG toy in storage, but it never left much of an impression on me. Fast forward to the Legacy toy, I was initially unimpressed when he was revealed. The design still doesn't really grab me and y'know, it's really, compared to the vast majority of Has/TT's abysmal jet alt modes, not bad at all. Maybe it's the color scheme- IDK. I don't care for the lazy bent arms in full view, either, but admittedly, it's no different than Powerglide, and from the front, they look like additional engines. I watched Prime vs Prime's review and was further impressed by the mechanics and cleanliness of the fig. In the broad scheme, it's a damned good jetformer, and yet something I can't quite put my finger on is keeping me from POing him. I think if they did him in Skywarp's colors, I'd be all over it. Here's hoping that Hasbro, in their usual custom, will release repaints ad nauseum including a certain purple, black and silver variant. That I will have.
  9. We really, really do. So many great designs coming from these companies, especially designs like Magic Square's Doomsday, as we're likely never again to see a true G1 Megatron with his Walther P-38 alt, or Newage's excellent Seeker design. Moreover, the triple changer designs from Mechfanstoys (MFT) are vastly superior to the official releases, and with some upscaling, could likely improve further on those toys' weak areas resulting in some nigh-definitive figs. I guess legends scale remains a safe zone for them, as there's really no comparison between what companies like MFT, Newage or Magic Square are releasing as opposed to Hasbro's lackluster budget-hindered core class, and they can operate in that size class without spurning much ire from Hasbro. Once you get into the deluxe and larger classes, though, then you're treading on the bread & butter of their main line, and that likely just won't do, and 3P knows it. Still, it's fun, and frustrating, to think of the possibilities. As to these new Velocitron releases, I'm not a big fan of the ER Mirage mold (still love my Classics Mirage), and Astrotrain had far too many concessions in both alt modes for my liking. I was really hoping this Astrotrain toy would be their piece de resistance within the line so far as triple-changers go. I concede that they're not easy to pull off, but sheesh, the G1 toy did it better, bot articulation notwithstanding. My expectation is that a 20xx toy is always going to be superior to a nigh 40-year-old toy. Unfortunately, such is not the case with Hasbro/Takara-Tomy. I wonder if they do it on purpose, just to create an opportunity to make a better toy some 5-10 years down the road, as I don't expect to see another G1 Astrotrain toy in the mainline any time soon. In which case- perfect opening for third party to fill that most-wanting void. Hope there's someone here from one or all of those companies lurking.
  10. Every success in finding what you're looking for. If you find something fit to task, feel free to share it with the rest of us dusty brick clickers. Cheers!
  11. Speaking as a fan with a multitude of sets on display all around his house, the short answer is I don't. It's a nigh impossible chore, and living in dusty eastern Washington state, a task made all the more monumental. I do, however, store some sets and minifigs in tupperware-like storage cases that are roughly about 2' x 1' give or take as a way of achieving more vertical storage as well as preventing dust buildup. But that method is certainly not optimal for display. As to what you're describing, I've yet to encounter any proper display solution that is clear but closed. Walmart has recently been selling some clear drawers and boxes (I forget the brand name and my hotel's internet is abysmally slow) which I've been buying to display my Transformers, but I'm not sure that any one the ones I've seen are large enough for the Galaxy Explorer 2.0. However, have a look at Argos' site- they may have something. Wish I could be of more help, as I could also use some better solutions for displaying my LEGO.
  12. Most likely midnight. It's a lovely set- saw one in person here at BrickCon. Good luck getting a copy, Dobber!
  13. @mikeszekely you're so not wrong about my opinion of Needlenose. It's a travesty, but not an atypical example of Hasbro/Takara's nonchalance with just tacking a robot on the bottom of a plane and calling it good. I want to get excited about the two Prime jet characters (Dreadwing, I think and the other guy--I'm terrible w/ names), but if they, too, follow a similar pattern, I'll be passing on them as I did with the original Prime toys. There's just no excuse for that level of laziness in a world where Macross valkyries exist. Overall, not much among the new reveals that excites me, which means a more merciful year on the wallet. I'm currently at a LEGO convention, and while I caught the TF panel yesterday morning, I was otherwise engaged in the afternoon and didn't get any POs in on Pulse, as is my custom. TBH, the only one I really care about is Breakdown, and I honestly don't think I'll have a tough time finding him at retail once he starts gracing the pegs. As an aside, I agree with you, Mike, about their putting funds into a new weaponizer class that nobody asked for in lieu of fixing things on other figs (Sludge's toe udder & Breakdown's all-wrong alt mode, not to mention the weird separating hood sections on both Wildrider and Breakdown b/c why?). I think there were better budget and design decisions that could have been made to optimize the toys, but I'm just a 40-year TF fan w/ a propensity for designing and building transforming mecha with LEGO, so what do I know? However, while UT and much of the comics-based character figs don't interest me personally, updates to these toys have been a long time coming and for fans of those properties, I'm happy that Hasbro is finally producing them. What's more, it warms my heart personally to see guys like Mark Maher, whose enthusiasm is always palpable, working on these toys and giving us glimpses via social media of the BTS process. I appreciate that greatly, even when the toys aren't everything I want them to be. For me anyway, it makes some of the toys' shortcomings more digestible knowing both the constraints the designers are working under, but also the all the stuff they do try to cram into the toy. That said, Breakdown's alt is still a WTF? situation. 😒
  14. In lieu of what option? If you want to complete Menasor, there's not really an alternative unless 3P steps up and makes a proper Breakdown w/ his Countach mode. Given 3P's reluctance over the past near decade to dip their toes in Hasbro's sacrosanct Generations line, Hasbro knows they've got at least that market cornered, which kinda gives them license to do what they did w/ Breakdown despite their knowing it's not accurate to source. Sucks, but that's the reality of the situation. I'm still buying it too.
  15. Got a nice haul of Legacy yesterday from Pulse (Tarantulas, Knock Out, SS86 Arcee, and Wildrider). Considering a lot of folks have already got theirs at local retail, I'm little late to the party. I was stoked when they revealed Tarantulas, and compared to Blackarachnia and worse, Scorponok, the concessions aren't nearly as noticeable or affecting. I love him- his spider mode, purple shade aside, is quite realistic and suitably creepy. I have a love-hate relationship with spiders; I find them endlessly fascinating, but at a comfortable distance, for the most part. But I absolutely love toys, particularly robot toys, of them, and Tarantulas was well-executed in both modes, but especially that tarantula mode. As Mike mentioned in his review, Knock Out is a really nice retool of SS86 Jazz. As G1-ifications go, this one isn't too bad, although die-hard fans of Prime likely won't be impressed as there's a marked difference between the smooth-yet-spiky Prime aesthetic and the chunkier, somewhat blockier G1 aesthetic. I don't mind the G1-ification if it successfully carries over enough of the character to make them recognizable, and I think they've done that here, as well as with Bulkhead and Arcee. FWIW, compared to many of the other well-done figs in the Prime line, Knock Out got the short end of the stick engineering-wise. This toy, aesthetics notwithstanding, is better executed. Until now, T30 was not only the first, but the best G1 Arcee in the mainline. I think the decision to use a hybrid of T30 along with some extensive retooling to update the former toy's articulation shortcomings was a smart way to go. I wish they'd chosen a similar method to MMC's Azalea for minimizing her backpack, but overall, I think they did a pretty good job. Hasbro did well with joint tolerances; unlike ER Arcee, her leg joints are all nice and tight and can handle any pose. Last note: under-car weapon storage! Internal or under vehicle storage should be the standard at this point, not the occasional happy exception. 😒 Wildrider feels very G1 in-hand. His transformation is straightforward, his shoulders remain close to the body with his arms just going straight to form the sides of the car, the entire hood just flips back to become a backpack, and his legs just do the old 180 degree rotation, albeit on a separate transformation joint (that has some nice car detailing to boot). Shoutout to @sh9000 for sharing that the windshield can indeed push down lower than 90 degrees- lets the backpack sit lower, which looks better. The only beef I really have with him is nigh zero ground clearance due to his low hanging feet in car mode. I wish they'd done his feet like Sideswipe's- fold them into the car instead of on the bottom. He could have stood a second hinge at the top of the windshield, too, so that it could lay flat against his back, but ya can't have everything.
  16. With this Prime setting the bar, they need to upscale and add similar articulation improvements to Doomsday, arguably the best transformable G1 Megatron to date.
  17. Ah...a continuation then. That ep title sounded familiar- confirmed it was the one I was thinking of. Typical post-first season dreck that diminished my interest in the show even as a kid. That a purely throwaway character like Devcon would get a fig ahead of Gears or Windcharger is undeniably wrong.
  18. I figured Legacy was going to be the long-term branding since it essentially encapsulates all-things Transformers from all previous continuities. Guess I guessed wrong. I never heard of this character, but I do agree that an earth-mode Hound is overdue in the current line. For my money, though, Universe (Classics) Hound remains the toy to beat, and I just don't see that happening. Absolutely love that fig- one of my all-time top favorite TF toys. Same boat. Give the first season minibots their toys and then move on to lesser characters like Beachcomber. At least we're getting Brawn. Inevitable and most welcome. No recollection of this character. Since they're doing obscure characters, I wish they'd do the Omnibots. I've been wanting them for my CHUG collection since Classics kicked off in '07. If Shattered Glass is the big reveal at PulseCon, then I'm not missing anything if I happen to miss the panel while I'm attending another convention in-person. I just don't want to miss anything Legacy or '86 SS related, especially if first season characters, Powerglide, or the Autobot cassettes are being revealed.
  19. As a tradeoff for a better Battroid- I'm sold. I'd take that glorious thing as-is if they decided to just go ahead and market it. If fighter is your thing, Yamato already produced what is likely to remain for some time an unparalleled YF-21 with a focus on fighter mode. It's gorgeous. But the B-mode took the brunt of the concessions with its skinny disproportionate legs, and since I favor Battroid and display my valks as such, I want what Bandai is doing with their take. In the worst way possible. Since I boxed up my Yammie, my display isn't quite complete- need that YF-21 to make the world right again.
  20. It does look good, but you know if this version sells well, there'll be a later toy -based release with the silver stripe around the cab and the double headlights. I don't really need another MP Prime (I have MP-10 and MS-01 which are both good Primes, though I prefer Magic Square's), and honestly, I don't have room for another MP Prime, but if they do a toy-based version and I like it, I may just cave. given my ever-decreasing space and my ever-increasing collection, I wish I could have seen the future where the legends stuff was done so well, as I probably would have skipped a lot of what I bought over the years in lieu of just focusing on a more space-friendly but nigh-MP quality legends collection. Alas, I'm in deep with Hasbro's mainline, as I like the direction they've been taking w/ G1 figs in the last few lines. Cosmos, for example, turned out excellent (Thanks Mike S.!). And now Brawn has finally been announced, so slowly they're filling the roster from both the G1 toon and the '86 film, and I'm all but ready for them, smoking debit card in-hand. All is not high bliss in Hasbrolandia, though, so I'm glad these third parties exist to fix what Hasbro left unfinished, poorly designed, or otherwise unsatisfying with certain figs. For example, Pointblank, who as Prime vs Prime observed likely would have fared better w/ a voyager budget, leaves somewhat to be desired both in the lackluster design of his gun dude and more importantly, the poor articulation of his arms- no bicep swivels and less than 90 degrees of elbow bend w/ the forearms rotated per instructions. I hope third party makes a kit to fix it, if possible- not much room to work with. What I really wish and hope for, though, is a third party return to CHUG scale. So many of the legends figs have been done far better than Generations, and sometimes better than official MP, so to have those superior legends figs upscaled to match other collections, especially mainline, would be ever-welcome.
  21. I'm tempted. I have MS-01 Light of Freedom for my MP OP on display, but having recently picked up their legends Light of Justice 2.0, the upscaled version brings better articulation and a better looking truck mode. I don't really play with my MP toys all that much and rarely transform them, so honestly, I'm not sure it's worth the extra expense. Light of Freedom is still a really good looking Prime, and I like his chunky proportions. That said, Magic Square have once again made a great MP scaled Prime. Now if they'd only upscale Doomsday, their excellent legends Megatron. I'd buy that without hesitation.
  22. Gonna be juggling my time judiciously that weekend as I'm also going to be in Seattle at a LEGO convention. But, if they have anything new releasing from Legacy, especially G1 stuff, then I want to be checking in for POs, as well as general news. Wish they'd had this a week earlier or later, but that's how these things go.
  23. I doubt many monarchs throughout history in any part of the world have been witness to such vast changes in the arenas of technology, societal norms, and politics, all while weathering a number of family scandals which played out in the global media. Through it all, she maintained her poise and dignity, a true monarch to the end. A sad day indeed. My heartfelt condolences to our fellow UK members mourning the loss of their venerable Queen.
  24. Looks cool to me. I'll be watching it.
  25. So jazzed for Tarantulas. While he wasn't my favorite character, he had his cool mad-scientist moments in the show that were enjoyable. Moreover, I have a love-hate relationship with spiders; I think they're absolutely fascinating creatures, but I generally like to maintain a respectful distance from them. But in robot toy form, be it Zoids, 52Toys' Megabox series, or Transformers, I can't get enough arthropods. To that end, the I dig the realistic design direction Has/TT took w/ the Kingdom/Legacy Beast Wars figs. Compared to Blackarachnia, whose black widow is so-so, Tarantulas is a far better capture of a real tarantula, and I'm looking forward to getting my copy eventually. The hollow bits, which are by now par for the course, are still a bit dismaying, but whatever. These days, filler kits have become a cottage industry for third parties, so endemic has the practice become across retail TF lines. regardless, I think it's fairly minimal on this fig, and the amount of what was done right completely overshadows any niggles pointed out. Excited for this one.
×
×
  • Create New...