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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    I haven't gotten mine yet, but having watched a review or two, the articulation is indeed lacking by current standards. Due to the design, I'm not sure 3P will be able to improve it either. It's unfortunate- well, downright crappy, really, and at this point in time, inexcusable. Pointblank's no main character, but I've liked his design since the 80s so I was pretty excited when he was announced. My excitement waned a smidge when I learned about the articulation limitations, but I still ordered him. I think the toy still looks good, but my hope is that this step backward in articulation isn't going to become a trend as Hasbro potentially becomes even leaner in their use of plastic and parts allocations per class. And while I support their branching out to other continuities in Transformers, at this point in time, G1 stuff still seems to sell out faster on Pulse than any other continuity My SS86 Ironhide is on its way and should be on my porch this week. 👍 Crankcase, TLK Hot Rod, Pointblank, Dead End, and Predacon Inferno should be shipping within the next few days from Pulse (got the 'check your address/pay method' email). I was at Target last night, and they had a couple of Crankcases as well as Skullgrin and Red Cog, along with a copy of leader Galvatron marked down to $40 ( wish I'd waited to get my copy, as the shoulders were misassembled like so many others), a Bulkhead, core class Wheelie, which I picked up, and Spike's Exo-Suit. I'm sure there were a few others, but I don't remember. My local Wally has had pretty much the same as you're seeing along with a copy or two of Galvatron, the rest of the Velocitrons minus Cosmos and Clampdown, as well as the copy of Override that I'd bought and returned after my Pulse copy showed up. I've never seen Cosmos in the wild, so I continue to be exceedingly grateful for sending me a copy. Store exclusivity at limited numbers was such an incredibly poor decision but thank goodness we have plenty of Velocitron Blurrs. I think Velocitron Blurr will decorate the celebrated Halls of Clearance well into the next year. Instead of making some of these less desirable figs, I wish they'd put that budget towards improving the sure-thing figs. Ah well.
  2. M'Kyuun
    Still have both my original Greenscream and the later toon-colored Walmart exclusive of the MP-03 mold. Good toy, still holds up. My biggest beef with it was always the placement of the hinge for the forward fuselage which sat too high above the intakes in bot mode. Had they lowered that down about a quarter of an inch, it would have looked amazing. And while Kawamori's reworked feet aren't G1 toy or toon accurate, they smoothed out the shaping of the jet mode beautifully and still, IMHO, looked fine. As for Hasbro hiding the stabs in bot mode, I like New Age's solution. Granted, you can see the stabs on the inside lower legs, but it's a simple solution that would likely be more cost effective on a retail toy than having any number of armatures and folding panels and such to hide them. Third party can get away with it, but Hasbro and their ever-present toy budget limits make the simpler but effective solutions more appealing. I'd happily take an upscaled version of New Age's Seeker for my CHUG collection. Neat design. As for the arms- I'd love to see Hasbro fold the arms into the spine of the plane like the G1 toy- always seemed like the best solution to me and have often wondered why nobody has done it outside of the G1 toy and Takara's Robot Masters Starscream, a neat little toy for its time. Kinda sad that this old small fig looks better than the both the most recent Seeker in the main line and MP-52. That canopy sits too low, but otherwise, the rest is pretty good.
  3. M'Kyuun
    I caught an ep in the middle, but have it recorded to watch in full. From what I did see, it is definitely targeted at young kids- it does have a Cyberverse vibe going on, and the focus is going to be on two siblings, a 13 year-old boy, his 9 year-old sister, and two Cybertron-Earth hybrid Transformer characters (Terrans) who start off as essentially protoforms. Both of these TF characters are youngish in their personalities and each shares a bond with one of the two kid leads. They're also 'adopted' to be part of the kids' family (the dad character is a huge TF nerd). From what I gathered, it does build upon some of the G1 story, and at this point, Cybertronians have been living amongst humans on Earth for some time. Their war is over, in no small part due to Megatron's joining the Autobots. Weird, but ok. I'm curious if they'll tell more of that tale as we go on. I didn't see the G1 styled animation, but I'd love to see them continue to do G1 styled flashbacks with Cullen and Welker reprising their roles to tell the story of the end of the Autobot-Decepticon war. Of course, they'd have to explain why their voices have changed, but whatever. Curious to see where it goes.
  4. M'Kyuun
    Well they do move fore and aft, but yeah, no rocker, which is an odd omission since that has become the du jour bit of upgraded articulation since WfC began. Honestly, while a rocker for flat-footed posing is great, I think the fore and aft rotation is far more useful, and I wish it, wrist rotation, and opening hands became the next universal articulation upgrades across the board. Unfortunately, given their latest poor financials, my hope of seeing any improvements ebbs going forward into the foreseeable future. Hopefully, Earthspark and the eventual Rise of the Beasts film will do well and propel toy sales. The former starts today (I'm recording it to watch later) and while my enthusiasm is off-scale low for RotB, this Airazor fig gives me some hope that the rest of the toys will be decent and sufficiently different enough from their regular BW figs to justify the purchases. Too, hopefully there'll be no more price hikes or ridiculous exclusives. I probably just jinxed us on both counts. Sorry in advance.
  5. M'Kyuun
    Congrats to all the folks getting their Star Sabers soon. Hopefully, Deathsaurus won't be far behind to complete your collections. I keep hoping, if they don't eventually do him as a titan class fig, that Haslab will finally give us Animated fans a proper Omega Supreme/ Ark. I'd prefer he be done as a retail release, as they would almost certainly retool him into Lugnut, and both would likely be cheaper than a Haslab project. But, at this point, I'd take him any way I can get him. In other news, TFW2005 has in-hand pics of the Rise of the Beasts version of what I can only assume is Airazor. While I like the Kingdom mold, the new mold looks superior in terms of anatomical accuracy and proportionality in bird mode. Too, I like that the legs form the wings, the arms the bird's legs, leaving a clean and virtually kibble-free bot mode.
  6. M'Kyuun
    To be honest, I was never into Gallagher's comedy, having only seen maybe one of his routines on tv many, many moons ago. Nevertheless, it did leave some small impression on me, as well as his hair, or lack thereof. As a fellow sufferer of male pattern baldness, I've never had the same courage to grow my hair out, nor to put it all out there on stage night after night to try and bring some levity, joy, and laughter to thousands of people. Love him or hate him, his gimmicky comedy style was unique (IIRC, Carrot Top, also known for his gimmick-based comedy, worked with Gallagher BTS to craft his routine) and definitely memorable, if messy. 😄 Beyond the Sledge-O-Matic and his other fruit smashing machinations, Gallagher had a quick wit and an energetic style that appealed to audiences. Allegedly, his comedy took a darker turn towards bigoted and homophobic jokes later in his life. My brief memory is of his earlier melon-smashing comedy, and I think I'll let that be the picture I keep in memoriam. RIP
  7. M'Kyuun
    They already did. Even the bottom cleaned up very well. Of course, the bot mode took the brunt of concessions with this mold which MP-52 rectified to the opposite end concerning the jet mode. I'm waiting for a third option that takes the best of both molds and combines them in a definitive Seeker with both an accurate F-15 mode and a bot mode that, while not needing to be as toon accurate as MP-52, skews close with good proportions, articulation, and detail.
  8. M'Kyuun
    Kevin Conroy Nov 30, 1955- Nov 10, 2022 Very sad news indeed. Having grown up watching Batman: The Animated Series, arguably the most notable depiction of the Dark Knight in animation, and having Kevin's voice be the anchor that made him come alive on the screen in that and so many other Batman productions thereafter, his passing is no small loss to generations of fans for whom Kevin was the definitive voice of the Caped Crusader. Kevin in no small part made me a Batman fan, and I am enormously grateful for the gravitas, the humor, and the humanity he brought to the Dark Knight for so many decades. Condolences to his family and legions of fans. RIP
  9. M'Kyuun
    😁 As much as I like to levy criticism at Hasbro and Takara for many of their lackluster to downright awful aircraft Transformers designs, I get why designs like this FC-31 are beyond the scope of at least the mainline. We're obviously in MP-level territory, and to be fair, many of the most recent MP designs, love 'em, hate 'em, or just tolerate 'em, have been consistently, Skids notwithstanding, on the complicated side with high parts counts and lots of moving parts, as well as articulation at a level I never believed possible in a transforming toy. That said, the differences between this and the latest MP Seeker are stark and couldn't be further removed regarding the alt modes. I wish they'd brought some of the engineering, like the brilliant chest intake swivels to form part of the aircraft intake from the original MP Seeker design. Since MP is really the provenance of Takara, and the mainline that of Hasbro, each with very different budget limitations and design philosophies, I'll play devil's advocate concerning Hasbro. There have been through the years and various lines instances of brilliance whence flying Transformers received notably good to excellent alts. However, opinions on the bot modes may vary. I'm not including the OG Jetfire, as he was a Takatoku design. And while I much prefer real world inspired plane alts, I'm not wholly opposed to those of a more sci-fi bent if they present well. For your consideration:
  10. M'Kyuun
    Hmm, that's interesting. The design is reminiscent of those figs, of which I have the helicopter, itself an extraordinary feat of engineering. I was very much anticipating a possible Su-27 Flanker, or the Chinese equivalent, that was teased with concept art. I wonder, then, if TFC is still solvent, and if so, if they're still producing these things, or if the designer is freelancing? Either way, this latest offering is quite impressive, but if I had my druthers, I'd rather have a Flanker over an F-35 look-alike any day of the week. I will say, though, the FC-31 is slightly reminiscent of RotF Breakaway, which of course was based on the F-35, with many a liberty taken in its realization as a Transformer fig. It was the first thing I thought of when I initially saw your previous post. The FC-31 appears to take cues from both the F-22 and the F-35. I wish they'd do a version of the YF-23 and give us a toy of that at this level. It'd be an insta-buy. Still want a Flanker, too.
  11. M'Kyuun
    Hey, Mike, thanks for the callout. I must say, if the actual toy is this well-executed, I am duly impressed. Jetformers, for lack of a better term, are so rarely realized to the extent that one could be forgiven for not recognizing the dual nature of its design. The gears have accurate placement and retract w/ doors, the weapon bays are realized realistically, and the bot mode, while a bit kibbly, presents well. I think this is the rare case where the bot was the secondary consideration after the alt. It's a commendable effort. Who's the maker?
  12. M'Kyuun
    I think you meant 'dipstick', not 'lipstick', but yeah, I see the correlation. 😉 Considering that the trailer is completely empty, that would seem to me to be the more likely gun storage option. It would also void this, erm, more uncomfortable option. 😈
  13. M'Kyuun
    I have yet to see a 3P G1 Megatron that does the character justice to the level of Magic Square's Doomsday. I say this acknowledging it's not a perfect toy, but in terms of looking the part in both modes, it's about as nigh perfect as we we've gotten from any company including Takara. I say this as an owner of Apollyon, who was a flawed but decent early placeholder in the MP scale until MP-36, which has its own issues and inaccuracies, came along. I own both of those figures, as well as NewAge's and Magic Square's Megatron figs. IMHO, Magic Square surpasses every other G1 Megatron toy in terms of the bot aesthetics, transformation (i.e. follows a similar pattern as the G1 toy), articulation (MP-36 notwithstanding- Takara has really upped their game in that dept w/ the MP line and MP-36 is no exception), accessories, and alt mode accuracy. TBH, I'm not a gun guy, so as long as he's a decent facsimile of the Walther P-38, as Doomsday is, I'm satisfied. This is the toy I want to see in voyager scale for my CHUG collection. Nothing else comes close. And while I love ER Prime, I'd happily take their Light of Justice V1 or 2 in voyager scale as well. Both are excellent representations of G1 OP that do things a little differently aesthetically, but I'd be fine with either one in my CHUG collection. While I'm wishlisting, I'd happily take New Age's Seeker design in voyager scale as well. It's a cleverly designed fig, and while it's still not perfectly accurate to the real F-15 (I think the OG MP Seeker continues to wear that crown- not perfect either, but really well done. The bot mode OTOH- ugh), it skews close enough, and presents far better than either the ER Seeker or the Classics Seeker upon which it was based and was more accurate in its alt mode than its successor. So much for progress. 🙄
  14. M'Kyuun
    Honestly, I don't get a Hot Shot vibe from this at all; rather, the Striker and the resultant bot are far more reminiscent of Beachcomber. We could just say this is Beachcomber's less hippie cousin. 😁
  15. M'Kyuun
    Very fiddly and fragile looking model, but pretty cool that it's both articulated and transformable at that tiny size. It's amazing what's possible these days.
  16. M'Kyuun
    My original observation stands with these G.I. Joe crossovers; they should have been their own characters absolutely divorced from any preexisting characters. It's from that lens that I really judge Bee here- give him a new head, get rid of the yellow paint, give him a custom paintjob and just call him Striker. I like the design, over-long arms and all. I think it's a better design than Megatron, as it doesn't look like it was designed to be Bumblebee with Striker parts tacked on, but a transforming AWE Striker with a Bumblebee head and some paint apps tacked on. My personal quibble aside, the limitations and looseness of the articulation is worthy of criticism, especially for the price. Too, as Mike said, the poseability and playability would have been improved if that roll cage could fold up a bit freeing the legs up. As-is, it's an easily avoidable annoyance that could have been easily remedied. Unfortunately, Hasbro seems to be taking the cheapest possible path with these, which is unfortunate, as many of us have been waiting for this crossover for a long time, and now that it's here, it's lackluster at best. While it's cool that they're upscaling these to fit the 3.75' vintage Joes, ultimately, I think the toys would be better served if they shrunk them down to CHUG scale and made the Joe figs smaller with rotating shoulders and hips (maybe knees too for proper sitting positions). And again, make them all their own characters. That's a subline I'd definitely buy into, although I've no idea where I'd put them. So many figs, so little room. As a disclaimer, like Mike, I was never really into G.I. Joe. I watched the toon and had a small handful of figs and the Dragonfly Helicopter, which ironically was based on the RW Bell AH-1 Cobra. I thought the toys were, and still are, some of the best military toys ever made, and the Joes themselves were probably the best action figs you could buy domestically. The only figs that overshadowed them, at least in articulation, were Takara's Microman figs. All that said, apart from the toys, my interest was lukewarm at best. Transformers was the epitome of cool in my eyes, and Macross aside, still is. Well, transforming toys in general, but Transformers make up the vast majority of my modest collection.
  17. M'Kyuun
    Along w/ Minerva, I missed the PO window on Pulse for Bomb-Burst. Guess maybe that wasn't a bad thing. Much like Iguanus, I was going to get him for the novelty rather than any nostalgia, of which I have zero. I always thought the G1 Pretenders were an atrocious affront to everything cool about Transformers. As such, like Mike, I much prefer the eschewing of the stupid fake skin cocoon and just making the character a proper transforming robot. Since they are core class, I don't have high expectations from them in pretty much any aspect so long as they have basic articulation- hips, knees, shoulders, elbows, and head on ball joints. Anything beyond that I consider a bonus. Long gone are the days when a small fig would have the engineering and parts count of a fig like Universe Breacher, who was a scout class toy at similar scale to core class. But scale is where the comparison ends.
  18. M'Kyuun
    That's the most detailed breakdown I've seen. Appreciate it. I was aware that pilots preferred the more conventional design of the YF-22. I was also aware that the 23 was both faster and stealthier, which were two of the main requisites for the ATF. I also knew that while weapons systems needn't be operative for the demonstration, Lockheed had them operational while Northrop didn't. I didn't know that it was only on one plane. I also didn't know about TRs on the YF-23, or even the early requisite for them. I also wasn't aware of the corporate culture at NG. All interesting stuff. I did figure that they sided with Lockheed particularly b/c Northrop was under contract for the B-2, and at $2B per plane, they were getting a payday and essentially it was Lockheed's turn. I'm sure it goes much deeper than that, but for simplicity's sake, that was a motivating factor towards the ultimate choice of the F-22. I'm sure there's a bit of a 'share the wealth' mentality at the Pentagon/DoD to keep all the various contractors in business, both from a production POV but also for competitive reasons. In the end, we're stuck with the F-22; I think they chose wrong, but I appreciate your laying out the various factors that contributed to their decision. Since more rival countries seem to be borrowing from the YF-23, perhaps our 6th gen fighter will follow suit.
  19. M'Kyuun
    'Random widgets under glass'- LOL. I like that. And yeah, it's one of my favorite features from the G1 toys and box art. I still think it looks rad. Your observation about 'toon accuracy', an oxymoron if ever there was one, is on point. Indeed, Skids was spared Dery-fication. Back to the box art for Skids, it's a bit puzzling why the artist drew those shindows, as the toy certainly didn't have them, so it's a surprising bit of license when they generally tried to capture the look of the toy even while trying to make them look dynamic. Regardless of the why, I'm glad they did- shindows FTW! 😍😄
  20. M'Kyuun
    I wanted it for the improved spoiler/wings and for the more accurate shoulder cannon. Unfortunately so. I wish there was another option that made more limited sheets with just the essentials. Toyhax tend to go a little overboard. I got the Go-Better GX-30B kit for Kingdom Sideswipe. I accidentally ordered two, so I'll probably end up painting the second kit and using it on Red Alert or Clampdown. Yeah, their Sunstreaker kit is excellent. The leg fillers are a little bit of a pain to manipulate during transformation but improve the look of the bot. Love that the gun can fold and store in the legs in car mode. Wish Hasbro themselves would do more of that. At this point, perfect integrated weapon storage should be the standard, not the exception. Alas, while some things have improved, like articulation, they've taken some steps back as well, especially in their zeal to conserve plastic per mold. I think rotating wrists and opening hands should also be standard from deluxe and up. Maybe in the next decade, but I doubt it.
  21. M'Kyuun
    @mikeszekely I was looking at your Wheeljack in the previous post and noticed you had the Go-Better upgrade kit, which I recently ordered and should be in my mailbox any day. I also noticed you had the Toyhax sticker set, but that you used very few of the stickers to spruce up your fig. I was also contemplating the set, but like you, I would probably only use the Alitalia and Lancia labels (I'm good with the stock paint and tampo for the car- actually I think they did a really good job with it, even if the number on the door is inaccurate). I'd likely use a few of the labels for his bot mode, as well, but paying $15 for a label sheet and only using about a third of said sheet feels like a waste of money. I kinda wish they'd do limited sticker sheets with just the sponsor labels and maybe the lights for $5. Probably not cost effective to do, though. Anyway, I also bought upgrades for my ER Sideswipe (accidentally ordered two kits- must've fat fingered it). Maybe I'll paint the second set white and use it for Clampdown or Red Alert. I keep hoping for one of these upgrade makers to make a kit to replace Legacy Skids' toy-based shin panels with panels that are more reminiscent of his G1 box art with those lovely windows encasing robo stuff. I think I'm in a minority of one for preferring that look. 😄 Wish the toy's head looked more like the box art as well.
  22. M'Kyuun
    Looks really good. Curious if the heartbeat she feels is Grace Augustine's. NGL, that's a resurrection I wouldn't mind. Edit: After doing a bit of reading, Sigourney is playing a role, but not as her older self, but as that of Kiri, Jake's and Neytiri's teenage daughter. TBF, Sigourney still sounds like she did in her twenties playing Ripley in Alien, so I don't find it that much of a stretch. She'll bring a bit of an 'old soulfulness' to the character. Hard to believe Sigourney is 73. Still lovely and oh so cool. Is it weird that all through the trailer, I kept thinking this and that would make for a great LEGO set? Totally down for this in January. That crabsuit mech. 😍 Wish they'd brick-built that whale's head instead of making a huge one-time use mold. It would have been worth the additional $50-60 to have all those additional pieces in dark blue. Moreover, it would have made it a really good parts set, as dark blue is still a bit of a rarity in any quantity per a single set. Hope the large watercraft with the clamshell doors gets a set. Still hoping they'll make a set of the big command ship from the first film as well.
  23. M'Kyuun
    I was thinking the same. It's too much to hope for, but it'd be cool if it came with a black Roller, too. Just noticed that the front wheels snap onto the same trans-green plastic that forms the headlight lenses. Not sure that was the best decision given transparent plastic's tendency to become brittle and crack over time. 😬
  24. M'Kyuun
    Saw it last night and enjoyed. it. That said, there's a lot going in in this film and it might have been better explored as a series, but my observation's moot at this point. Good story, and I liked how they protracted Black Adam's backstory in bits throughout the film. He's an interesting character, and Dwayne Johnson did a really good job portraying him. It does bug me, however, how in so many films, this one included, characters who are thousands of years old are resurrected and speak perfect un-accented English. Really good CG and SFX throughout. I was unfamiliar with the Justice Society. I knew of Dr. Fate and Hawkman separately, but Atom Smasher and Cyclone were new to me. Actually, my only reference to Hawkman was the excellent Justice League cartoon which ran from 2001-04 which featured the Thanagarian backstory for both he and Hawkgirl. Wiki set me straight on Carter Hall's backstory, which was the original story for the character, no less interesting.
  25. M'Kyuun
    In-hand images of the Transformers- G.I. Joe crossover Bumblebee AWE Striker have been posted over on TFW2005. While I didn't get this or Megatron, it looks to be far better executed than Megatron. I still think they should have made this and the HISS, as well as any further crossovers, their own characters instead of trying to awkwardly make these fit established characters. Moreover, it would give the designers license to use the vehicle parts better towards realizing the bot mode instead of trying to work around an established bot mode. They didn't do that as much with AWE Striker Bee, thankfully, but the HISS definitely suffered by trying to make the bot mode a G1 Megatron with huge tank bits hanging off of him.
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