M'Kyuun

This is a licensed product, and a pretty cool one, at that. It'll set you back something like $500, but it's a self-transforming Optimus Prime that walks, talks, and is drivable all by RC/voice command. I don't have a copy myself, but that doesn't stop me from marveling over the tech that's involved and just how well it turned out.😍

They are a tad bit wide, but I think that was due to the thickness of the ring that attaches the wings to the shoulder. It's translucent plastic, so they probably wanted to make that ring a little more robust. Too, the outside parts of the shoulder extend out past the biceps by several mms, which also makes the shoulders look wider. Honestly, I wish they'd just molded the wings in opaque plastic and painted them silver to replicate the original toy's chrome wings. The clear wings are nice for realism, but nothing else about Kickback's locust mode ever looked realistic, so the clear wings on a clearly very robotic locust is moot. too, I wish they'd put the wings on joints to allow them to splay for flight- I realize they're going all out G1 with this, but a concession here and there would be nice.

Been watching from the beginning, and environmentally, I think they've got it down pretty well. To put the story and main character into perspective this is set 17 years prior to 2049, and the production of Replicants has been banned. But, someone is still making them illegally, which sets the stage for our protagonist. Too, that's shared knowledge by certain people in high positions, not to mention there is still at least one active Blade Runner on the job. Lotus is trying to get to the root of who created her and the others. I'm enjoying the show thus far; it's well written, well acted, the action is well done, the music is appropriate, the CG is good, and I like the two main characters (Lotus and Officer Davis, who is investigating BL). Hopefully it'll get a second season.

Given your attachment to the originals, what are your initial thoughts of Legacy Kickback? I wish the thighs collapsed into the lower leg, but otherwise, I'm digging it. I have to confess, however, that the legends fig has a better grasshopper mode. but I think Hasbro was really going for maximum G1 callback with this Legacy fig, and as such, they succeeded.

I've seen the same train of thought over on the TFW boards. It's an apropos way of keeping those figs relevant in your collection. Love the Insecticons, more from a design POV than character, but I still loved the way they were portrayed in the old toon and '86 Movie. Of all creatures, arthropods lend themselves exceptionally well to being rendered as robotic entities, and I've always been a big fan of that treatment. Zoids, TFs, and some of the latest from 52Toys pluck my heartstrings due to their wonderfully creative versions of insects, arachnids, and crustaceans. It would be great to get an updated set of the Deluxe Insecticons, but their license holder is Bandai, and since they and Takara are competitors, I doubt we'll see that come to fruition, more's the pity.

Transformers Legacy Deluxe Kickback In-Hand Images - Transformers News - TFW2005 Kickback was my first Insecticon (I only owned him and Shrapnel, and my Shrapnel disappeared once I reclaimed my old toys after returning from Okinawa many years ago), and I've had a soft spot for him ever since. This fig definitely channels the G1 toy- strong nostalgia looking at it. My only niggle is that I wish they'd collapsed the thighs into the forelegs, as it would have looked better, IMHO, and prevented the knees from bending awkwardly in alt mode. And ditch the useless purple energon weapons. While I really enjoy the legends versions of these guys, especially the way the arms form the grasshopper's abdomen on that Kickback, Legacy Kickback looks more like a modified version of the G1 toy than a new fig. I dig it. I'm curious to see how the other two fare if they maintain this direction.

I didn't have a lot of Playmobil as a kid, but I did have some of their Space stuff, and I thought it was awesome. I wish I still had it: I think my Mom sold it all off at a yard sale when I went into the military. Anyway, I'll attest that they make a high quality product, and strangely, they and LEGO often produce similar things at the same time. Anyway, I've seen their Scooby stuff and their Ghostbusters set, so it's kinda neat that they're continuing to mine 80s properties (who doesn't these days?) for ideas. They made somenew neat space stuff around five or six years ago that I thought was pretty neat, but I passed on it, as I already collect too much stuff. However, if they do make an Airwolf, it's almost certainly bought, especially if it has the retractable weapons and landing gear.😍

I still think this is the most underwhelming Batmobile design; nothing about it says Batman, but that red sensor up front screams K.I.T.T. So maybe K.I.T.T. got a new body style and Michael Knight now wears a mask and cape as the Dark Knight Rider, as he embarks on "a shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a man who does not exist".

Cool; hope you get it soon, and more importantly, that the thing itself was worth the wait.👍 (I'm hoping the same thing)

Sir Sidney Poitier changed the tapestry of entertainment, adding color, both literally and figuratively, in a positive light by portraying Black characters who were intelligent, articulate, and just decent human beings in a time when extreme bigotry and inequality plagued our country, especially in the South. His accomplishments in cinema opened doors to aspiring African-American actors and entertainers, and his contribution to the same can't be overestimated. Few people have such a legacy, and the world is the better for Mr. Portier's contributions to the arts. RIP, Good Sir.

Good review, Mike. The only other official Blaster that I think they did a good job on was the leader class Titans Return toy, which, IMHO, got the base aesthetics right, and was just a big, fun, and imposing toy. The big drag for me with that fig was that he wasn't designed to accommodate the regular micro-cassettes, although his chest hatch was certainly large enough to do so. So, this guy is more appropriately scaled for the rest of his WfC/Legacy brthren. I'm not bothered by his greater height compared to Soundwave, for example; I think it stems back to G1 where his OG toy was huge compared to the others, and that size difference between the toys has always colored my view of how he sizes up. I remember him from the '86 Movie, of course, but honestly, he makes so few appearances after the attack on Autobot City that I don't really recall getting a clear view of his standing next to other bots for comparison. So, in my mind, he suffers from a bit of gigantism. Of course, the other prevalent feature is his ability to carry the Autobot cassettes, and though Has/Tak haven't done the most commendable job with them looking at the Decepticon roster, Eject is a nice improvement for having better articulation. Still, when compared to what third parties are bringing to the table in terms of articulation first and foremost, followed by complexity and detail at small scales, the Micromaster scaled toys seem an anachronism ten to twenty years removed. Def room for improvement, Hasbro. Alas, I hope Dr. Wu will seize the opportunity to make improved versions of all the cassettes at the WfC scale. I'm not at all happy that Hasbro ditched the realistic scale of the micro-cassettes, but they did, damn them, and so this is what we're apparently stuck with going forward. And because I'm a sucker for the cassettes, my hope is that A) Hasbro will make the rest of the Autobot cassettes and they turn out at least as well as Eject articulation wise, as well as in opaque plastic going forward, thank you very much, or B) third party remedies the shortcomings of the official offerings with improved offerings of their own. As for Blaster himself, the lack of individual and pressable little buttons, not to mention the odd method of opening his chest hatch, is lamentable for the little bit of playability they would have provided. But at least he can hold his cassettes. The additional knob detail doesn't bother me, either, as JBO mentioned, it adds a little realistic detail to his alt mode. It would be cool if those knobs could turn, but I imagine, like the Ark's plethora of hull cannons, they're just molded detail, signifying yet more lost opportunity for playability. I'll give that to the 80s toys; what they lacked in articulation they made up in working details like this. All things being equal, however, I'd rather have the articulation. His weapon storage is terrible. Such a large fig and they couldn't somehow figure out a way to integrate it somewhere into the alt mode? Sigh. If the gun separated into two parts, each half could probably fit into those big gaps next to each arm in alt mode. It wouldn't be the prettiest solution, but better than just tacking it so obviously onto the back of his boombox mode. Half-measures like this are just so frustrating, especially when they get so many other things right. I might sound embittered, but honestly, like Mike, it's the fact that they come this [ ] close to delivering a nigh perfect toy, but the little things niggle and lessen it. Although I've never been a big Blaster fan (it's a shame he wasn't included as part of that first wave of toys to be a counterpoint to Soundwave in both toy and toon form- imagine had the Autobots been able to send their own cassette spies out to report on Megs and the Decepticons from the beginning), I still think he's a neat character and I love the scenes with him in the '86 Movie, especially when he unleashes his own minions to do battle in the comm tower. 😍 To that end, I'm hoping to get a copy to round out my G1 Autobot forces. Hopefully, too, 2022 will see an Autobot cassette pack with Steeljaw, Ramhorn, and Rewind. Because, we always need more TF cassettes in our lives. 😉

Hmm, ok. I check tracking on most of my stuff, as I like to have a general idea of where it's at and when it's due on the ole doorstep. Just about everything from Asia comes through California. I would have thought, given its size and the size of its docks, Seattle would be a port for that stuff as well, but apparently not, more's the pity, as I'm only five hours away by ground, and an hour away by air.

@Dobber My Fiery Thunderbolt is currently at LAX presumably awaiting customs. Given the weather we've been having here in the Pacific Northwest and the general travel time, I figure I'll have him in hand towards the end of next week, or early the following week. I also have Iron Factory's take on Beachcomber enroute; it's currently in Las Vegas, so I'll likely get him early next week. I'm curious: Do your orders from Asia arrive at East Coast air/seaports, or do they come through California as well? I figured stuff on that side of the country probably came though Atlanta, but I'm hazarding a guess.

Same boat as far as Acousticwave; there just wasn't that much improvement over MP Soundwave, which remains one of the best MP releases to date, IMHO. Since the MP cassettes and the G1 cassettes share real world scale, FT's Cassetticons will fit in nicely. I haven't checked to see if they'll fit in G1 Soundwave, but that would be cool. I still don't understand or like Hasbro's decision to downsize the cassettes for the WFC line; had they maintained real world scale, everything would have been universal, and the slightly larger scale would have lent itself to better engineering. When the G1 toys are superior to modern releases, there's something wrong. Anyway, I look forward to hearing your thoughts on these guys after having had a chance to handle them yourself.

I recently received Fans Toys' Robot Paradise RP-01B Cassetticons set which comes with Corvus (Laserbeak), Shadow (Ravage), and Firrib (Rumble). Fans Toys are obviously aware of the red or blue debate between Rumble and Frenzy, as they give little bios on the box, and for Firrib they state, "Firrib, the red robot, who is almost certainly blue. The demolitions expert can use his arm pile drivers to cause earthquakes that bring down buildings and enemy encampments". 😄 I got a nice chuckle out of that, and I heartily agree- Rumble will always be blue, or bluish-purple, in my mind. Upon opening the package and sliding the tray out, my first reaction was to the weight of these things; in true FT fashion, there is ample die-cast employed, and while they feel good in hand, and are painted superbly, ultimately my concern is with how well the joints will last on these figs. On small highly articulated toys like this, I think I'd prefer the die-cast was used sparingly for high risk-breakage parts, like Laserbeak's cannons, and plastic used for the rest. Since these have been out for a while now, and any number of the usual YT reviewers have reviewed them, I'm going to focus more on comparing them to the Takara MP cassettes that came with MP Soundwave back in 2013. MP Laserbeak (L) and FT Corvus (R) Arguably the best of the MP cassettes, Laserbeak set the fandom abuzz in a good way when pics were first released, and eight years later, it's still an impressive design. The ability to fold his jet packs into the cassette was remarkable and groundbreaking, and the addition of the little retractable camera in his head was the proverbial icing on the cake. FT's Corvus not only copies those features, but adds additional articulation to the wings, as the inner wing is free to rotate back further than the MP, flap up and down through an arc of maybe 10 degrees, as well as rotate on a mushroom peg to change the angle of attack. Like the MP, the outer wing is on a double hinge which allows for a generous range of poseablity. Corvus' outer wings are also longer than MP Laserbeak's. On both toys, the feet can rotate on a pin joint, and the legs can swivel down independently. FT chose to put Corvus' neck on a slider like the G1 toy, but, like the MP fig, only used a simple pin joint to allow the head to rotate up and down; a ball joint would have been great here to allow Corvus to turn his head sideways. Neither has an opening beak, but Corvus' beak is more robust and toon accurate than the MP. The retracting camera on the MP was molded so that it's looking straight ahead with LB's head angled down, whereas Corvus' camera is supposed to be pointing straight ahead in line with the top of his head, but it can't quite open to 90 degrees on mine, so it's always angled slightly down towards the top of his head. IMHO, Takara did it better, and who can say why FT didn't just copy it. Too, IDK why they chose to mold it in light grey instead of black to match the head. Both are odd decisions that didn't favor the toy's accuracy. Cassette mode: Right up front, pertaining to all three cassettes being discussed, Takara did a more convincing job with their cassette modes. That said, FT put in a good effort, and while I think Takara aimed more for balance between the modes, FT opted far more in favor of the bot modes. Since most of us will only keep them in cassette form for storage, that's fine. FT's cassettes are 2-3 mm thicker than the official cassettes. I was able to put two FT cassettes and an official in MP Soundwave, but I was unable to close his chest hatch with all three FT cassettes on board. Rumble and Firrib: Both of these toys have strengths and weaknesses: Rumble looks great from the waist up, but the thighs were very thin due to transformation, and they rotate below the hip skirt, which looks a little awkward. The shoulders on the Takara are on ball pegs, which allows them natural movement in an excellent range, and the arms are proportionate and aesthetically pleasing. Conversely, Firrib's shoulders are mounted on sliding pins which allow for some slight clearance between the arms and the body, but only allow fore and aft rotation in a single plane. Shoulder abduction/adduction is achieved through a body mounted joint like that used in SS86 Hot Rod and Kingdom Rodimus, which makes any lateral posing of the arms an awkward affair. Moreover, the shoulders mount low on Firrib due to the aforementioned joint's use in transformation. There's a transformation swivel above the natural elbow which allows the forearm to rotate 90 degrees laterally; it looks like his arm is broken, but it's something you can do. There's unfortunately no bicep swivel, but the elbows can rotate a little beyond 90 degrees. His head, like the Takara toy's, flips out of the body on a rotation joint between the shoulders and can rotate 360 on a swivel. He can hold his back cannons in his hands; the peg that holds the cannon into the cassette reel hole is truncated into two half-moon posts, the aft smaller one fitting into the hand while the valley between posts rests over the hand. The cannon can also fold up and store inside the leg while in cassette mode. Like the MP fig, Firrib's waist extends down out of the torso for transformation, but also like the MP, there's no waist swivel. The waist joint is pretty loose on mine, retracting into the body with very little pressure. The hip joints mount at the pelvis via mushroom pegs and can rotate just a touch over 90 both fore and aft. They can abduct to 90 degrees on pin joints, which are already quite loose on my copy. The thighs swivel 360 on mushroom pegs. The knees are double jointed and allow for 180 degrees of bend. The ankles are on ball pegs, the ball section attached to the leg and a pin joint at the actual ankle, which still allows for about 20 degrees of toe up, as much back as you like, and about 5 degrees of rocker. Both the backs of the thighs and the entire lower legs are hollow, which might bother some folks. At this scale, given the range of motion possible, I take no issue. The entire fig is painted crisply, except for his feet which are shiny die-cast. While the body of his back cannons are plastic, the little folding wing and barrel are both shiny unpainted die-cast as well. I didn't include his pile drivers in this review, but both are also nicely painted plastic and feature a spring-loaded feature to pop the ends of the drivers out. I wish we had an amalgam of the two toys - Rumble's upper body, and Firrib's waist and legs, as each did the one better than the other. At the end of the day, I still think Takara's Rumble is the better toy, as it has all the articulation of the FT fig, better in the case of the arms, and makes a more convincing cassette to boot. Too, after eight years, my Rumble's joints are still pretty tight throughout, whereas, after only a modicum of handling since Monday, the lateral hip joints are already extremely loose on my Firrib. Too much die-cast in a small toy with small joints that simply can't handle the weight. Ravage and Shadow Full disclosure, Ravage is my favorite of the cassettes, and after the remarkable job Takara did with Laserbeak, I was beside myself in anticipation of the exceptional Ravage they were sure to roll out. One might still call it exceptional, but not necessarily in the most positive of lights. It could have been better, and for the last eight years I've been waiting for that better to come to fruition. When FT revealed their take, I was more than just a little intrigued, and I'd be lying if I said I bought this set for any other reason. The other two looked nice, but Shadow was a step above. Again, both toys have their strengths and weaknesses, but from a purely aesthetic POV, FT hewed very close to the toon model, for the better. While Takara attempted a more unconventional transformation, FT chose to reference the G1 toy's transformation, which makes its cassette mode weaker, but results in a better-looking jaguar. Articulation-wise, the neck rotates about 180 between the shoulders, and the head itself is on a ball joint allowing for some slight up and side rotation, not as much as I'd like, but more than I ever expected. The jaw can open and close and he even has little top and bottom canines in there.😍 The front shoulders, knees, and paws are all mounted on pin joints. Ball jointed shoulders would have been nice, but not really feasible given the transformation space limitations. All offer plenty of range for decent posing, so no issues. The hips are on ball pegs, which offers slightly more range, whilst the knees and back paws are merely pinned, but sill offer plenty of poseability. The tail can swing down, but due to a very low attachment point, doing it breaks the sculpt. There's a little bit of a hollow area between the 'humps' of the shoulders, but it doesn't bother me. The body feels a tad too long to me, and I kinda wish they'd put the aft assembly where the hips connect on a slider to compress the body by a few mm. The front shoulders are also noticeably thin, but that's an artifact of the transformation. Notably, the sculptwork throughout emulates the toon very well, which was the greatest weakness of the MP version, and the point of appeal for me. MP Ravage however, betters it with superior front shoulder articulation on a ball joint with a bicep swivel. Too, the bulkier shoulder has its appeal as to defining the whole body shape, even if it's not toon accurate. Ravage's tail can be rotated without ruining the sculpt, although it's offset from center, also an artifact of transformation. From here it just gets worse: the stick-like body, the too long and thick neck, the square hips and odd-looking back legs all conspire to make it a decidedly unappealing take on Ravage's usually lithe form. I still prefer the look of the G1 toy over it- it was a walking wafer with parts-forming jets, but the overall sculpt looks much better to me. FT simply took that design and advanced it, and I think the result speaks for itself. And here's my attempt to capture the old box art pose. LEGO to the rescue when you need an ad-hoc prop. So, having had the chance to handle these guys for a couple of days, the engineering is not as refined as I'd hoped it would be, especially for $120, with the bulk of my ire directed at the poor shoulder design and weak waist extension joint on Firrib. I think the use of die-cast is too liberal, as it only serves to weaken the joints that much quicker, and I already have some loose joints after very little manipulation. As updates to eight-year-old figures, Corvus and Shadow mostly succeed whereas Firrib falls short, IMHO. Are they worth spending the high tag if you already have MP Soundwave or FT's Acousticwave? For most I'd say no, but if you really like the cassette bots or you're like me and that Ravage(Shadow) looks too good to pass up, and you can spare the ducats, go for it. Note: While I mentioned that some of the die-cast on these was unpainted, like Shadow's jets, it's my own assumption that it's just polished. If it's indeed painted or chromed, feel free to let me know.

Thanks, Mike.

Well, crap, I missed out on Blaster. I've been checking Pulse periodically to see if they had him available, but they never have. Figures I miss out when they do. I don't go to Target very often, and on my last trip, they were pretty much cleaned out from Christmas. I don't feel like paying a markup for this guy, but at the same time, I want him. Hopefully Pulse will restock, as I at least get free shipping.

Yep, him too. Thanks! I stand corrected. I should have looked a little harder at the screenshot, but all I was focused on was Daniel's orientation. But yeah, the toy's accurate so far as the orientation of the access bubble and the white half cones that flank it. So, I wonder if there's a little rotation mechanism that let's Spike's head orient correctly depending on mode. Even so, my interest is pretty low for this fig. Again, it's cool they made it, but it's just not really doing much for me.

I may be in the minority, but I never cared for the exo-suits that Daniel and Spike wore. I guess it's cool that they 'transformed', but it just looked like a folded up exo-suit to me. Why the heck is Spike laying on his side in wheeled thing mode when Daniel was shown laying on his belly? The toy just looks odder for the weird sideways configuration. Great for those who like it, but easy pass for me. Since they're doing stuff like this, I hope we get a new Brawn and Gears to round out the first season cast.

I'd be down with more AniMatrix style side stories; the world itself is open to all sorts of storytelling, and that's fertile ground for exploration. As to Resurrections: I think the film will exist longer and have more impact for its not-so-subtle commentary on the state of fandom, Hollywood and WB specifically, video gaming, and the expectations and banality of it all, than for the more lackluster love story that comprises the second half of the film. I think the middle finger we see on Neo's shelf alongside all his Matrix toys and collectibles was purposeful, and a reflection of at least Lana's feelings. As Matrix movies go, this one is the least Matrix-y; It feels very half-hearted, and I think the commentary at the beginning of the film says a lot about Lana's frame of mind towards the fandom, the studio, and just the nature of pop culture. Making something incredibly successful and game-changing is a double-edged sword; the benefits of such a success, both critically and financially, must be unimaginably gratifying, but on the other side, there's always the expectation to up the ante, to better it somehow, regardless of medium. Add to that the capricious, fickle, and often unkind nature of humanity, and success becomes a bit of a burden to replicate the original's success without simply retreading. From the subtext of Thomas Anderson's conversation with his boss, Warner was going to make the film with or without the Washowski's involvement, and I think Lana, although reluctant, decided to do it so that she could at least make it per her vision rather than someone else's. It's notable that only Lana was involved; Lilly seems to have stayed out of it entirely, which is a little sad considering it's an amazing franchise that they created together. Alas it's done, and hopefully it'll stay that way. But, the option of doing side stories remains intriguing, and hopefully something along those lines will come to pass, much as Star Wars has been doing. The world of the Matrix is far too interesting to let it go dormant, and there are a lot of talented story-tellers out there who can wring a good tale or two out of it yet.

Me too! Pretty excited for this fig.

I can't begin to count the hours of joy and laughter she's given me over the years, most notably as Rose in Golden Girls, but also her other film and tv appearances. She certainly had that "something" that captivates, a natural performer and comedienne. The world is poorer for her loss. RIP

Hail Mary, I presume. I got it for Christmas, and I'll start it once I finish Cloud Cuckoo Land. I love Weir's sense of humor, and his approach to writing sci-fi. I'm not sure he'll ever eclipse The Martian, but I enjoyed Artemis, and look forward to diving into Hail Mary.

For fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender, I recently read a pair of novels by F.C. Yee titled The Rise of Kyoshi and The Shadow of Kyoshi. Kyoshi was an Avatar several Avatars removed in the past before Aang. While there are moments of humor, the overt humor of the TLA and Korra is absent, but the story of how Kyoshi became Avatar and the challenges she faces very early on in her Avatar-hood make for interesting reading. I enjoyed both books, and hope Mr. Yee along with Michael DiMartino work together to bring us more early Avatar stories.

It does look good. I thought the greyscale model looked good, but that black w/ gold accents looks awesome. While I'm waiting, I need to find a home for this beauty. Space is at a premium around here.