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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    The rest of Dreamstar Toys' Aerialbots: Credit to Show.Z for pics. Wow- great shaping on that empennage! If only the Seekers looked so good. F-15 mode looks good from above, but loses some fidelity on that underside. Credit for accurately placing the mains, though. Funny that they're extended, but not the nose. Still, it's pretty flat, and worlds better than MP-52. No bot pics available on the site, and I couldn't find them anywhere else. Fairly clean underside. Again, the mains are positioned accurately, and are extended, but not the nose. No bot pics for this guy, either. IMHO, one of the most challenging fighters to craft into a transforming bot due to its small size and tubular shaping. This is a remarkable effort, probably the best I've seen in my many years of being a transforming robot fan. The mains look off on this one, but I hope I'm wrong. Love how clean that underside is, though. Even more impressive is that it becomes a relatively chunky bot without all that chunkiness turning the fighter into a cube, or an F-16 shaped hang glider. Def on my radar, Pun not intentional, but what the heck. The one disappointment out of the bunch. I was so vehemently hoping this would be as clean and integrated as the rest, but this Silverbolt joins a long roster of robots hanging out under a Concorde, or the odd SR-71. I know I'm gonna get an "I told ya so" from @mikeszekely, but I remain steadfast in my belief that a fully integrated transforming Concorde is possible where the plane itself forms the bot rather than a big block o'bot hanging out underneath. Not this time, sadly, but hopefully within my lifetime. I just want that one fleeting moment of vindication. Anyway, while I'm not interested in collecting them all, I like the design approach and aesthetic. It has Bayformer's complexity without the nonsensical and decidedly unrealistic placement and shaping of aircraft parts in bot mode. I'm strongly reminded of Sci-Figure Industries' Lumitent and Fiery Thunderbolt helicopter. I wouldn't be surprised if the same folks (TFC Toys) were doing these, too.
  2. M'Kyuun
    I don't want to discourage you from transforming him. It's a bit of work, though, both for the number steps, and due to how strongly some of the large planet panels lock together. There's effort involved. Set aside a few hours to take your time and go through it. The resulting bot is pretty cool to behold in person, and worth the effort, IMHO. Better than just looking at a big orange and blue basketball. Good luck!
  3. M'Kyuun
    I stand corrected on both counts. Yes. It's big, with very stiff ratchets throughout. If you've watched any vids, he's a bit involved to transform. I've only transformed him to robot mode, his having come in planet mode. I've thought about transforming him back to planet, but then I look at all those panels on his legs and think, 'another day'. Bot mode is my preferred mode for display, anyway, so the urge to go through another cycle of that transformation is fleeting. Did you have any other questions?
  4. M'Kyuun
    Agree with that aesthetic; I dig it. And too, a shame that they don't transform. Unfortunately, Hasbro keeps the transformation gimmick locked up and won't let any of their licensees try their hands at it. IMHO, it would make good business sense to allow it, as it diversifies your overall portfolio, and that particular gimmick is still an essential to many Transformers fans, myself included. Maybe they're afraid of being shown up. 😏Given what third parties have been up to for the last decade, it's a legitimate fear. Anyway, it wouldn't hurt my feelings if a third party copied the basic look and created fully transformable versions. I wouldn't mind a transforming Windblade in that style. Still waiting on Big Firebird's take. Their Arcee (Nicee) is a beautiful figure (looking at her on my shelf with a happy sigh). "Transform and roll out", not "Convert and roll out". The Convertors converted; Transformers transform. Been that way since 1984. I was there, and I had both. Still here! Still have both! I can't recall an instance when they said 'convert', rather than 'transform', to indicate changing form in the old show, or any TF show, since. They 'Maximized!' and 'Terrorized!' in Beast Wars, but that's a whole different ball of wax. Transformers transform; the name says it all, and the gimmick is why Hasbro purposefully chose the name, although they were initially worried some folks might think they were electrical transformers. Time and sales proved otherwise. The term 'transformer' has also taken prominence as the general term for any robot that changes shape here in the US. I build transforming mecha from LEGO and exhibit them at conventions. People don't ask if they convert, but if they transform. That's my experience. In Japan, they deform, as that's what henkei, Takara's chosen verb for transformation, translates to. 'The Deformers' just doesn't have the same ring, though, does it? Unless you're Transmutate.
  5. M'Kyuun
    Almost got me. I saw this in my email, but didn't see the smiley faces at the bottom, and I was readying my rebuttal. I was hoping you were being facetious, but one never knows with this fandom. A little levity is good, though.
  6. M'Kyuun
    I think she looks good. I won't get her b/c I'm not into non-transforming Transformers (it's kinda in the name, huh?), but I can understand the appeal if you're open to more than just the core transforming stuff. There's a degree of artistry there that I can certainly appreciate. In this hobby, there are always gonna be haters, and haters love to hate. The best thing these companies can do is ignore the negatives, unless they're quality or safety related, and just put their best effort into making good looking, poseable figures that ideally capture the subject. Ideal is subjective, but I think there's a baseline that most fans will agree upon for any given character. FWIW, I like the design direction for Arcee and Windblade in this series.
  7. M'Kyuun
    Once again, I look upon a very well crafted legends scale fig and wish fervently that they'd upscale to match CHUG. We can't see it from this angle, but I'll bet that car mode doesn't have big blocky feet hanging out the back. As much as I like collecting Hasbro's mainline, third parties are undeniably doing it better at legends scale. It's a shame that their prices are akin to leader class or higher for such small figures, but one must weigh the total package of what the legends figs offer over CHUG, which is all over the place in terms of design, accuracy, hollow bits, complexity of transformation, paint, etc. 3P legends offers more quality per fig, and the price, while a bit exorbitant, reflects it. It's a quandary, then, whether to just abandon CHUG and go full legends. I haven't the space, or budget, for both full on, but I'm well invested in CHUG, and if I'm being honest, I still enjoy the main line, especially all the G1 goodness we've been getting since Titans Return. The WfC figs, for the better part, have been pretty well done. They still lack the spit and polish of most of the legends figs though, and that's hard to ignore. And that draws me further into the murky waters of add-ons and upgrades, which often cost as much or more than the fig itself to correct issues that shouldn't exist in the first place. I haven't swum too deep into that pool as of yet, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't terribly tempted for a few of my figs just to make them feel more complete, as they should have been straight outta the box. Alas, first world issue, but as an unapologetic first worlder, this is the issue that lies before me.
  8. M'Kyuun
    And they're well within their rights to be wrong. Honestly, the uncircumcised shuttle for Astrotrain never bothered me that much for some reason, and it should. I love Fans Toys Thomas, and they did a remarkable job nailing the realistic look of the locomotive mode, but their shuttle, while smooth on top, still has those bits on the sides that stick out due to all the panel-fu, just like the G1 toy. It would have been nice if could have smoothed the whole thing out to make it look accurate, or closer to accurate, but apparently it's a challenging thing to do, and that was a concession that also homages the G1 toy. Somehow, it doesn't bother me near as much as MP-52's peaks and valleys. Guess we all have our own quirky nitpicks. Not sure if anyone else has posted this, but I came across this initially on Twitter tonight/this morning (it's almost 2AM PST, and I should probably be snoozing). It's a really interesting take on Aerialbot Slingshot, stylized by this new third party, Dreamstar Toys, as Slingshoot. This thing's got my attention. I'm a huge Harrier fan, and there are so, so few good transforming toys of that plane, but this one, while a little chubby and showing a little bit of bot-stuff on the flanks where its variable nozzles should be, as well as some bot kibble on the belly where the belly gun pods should be, it's passable. I'll also mention that the intakes are too wide, and each has nearly a full fan blade showing, indicating two engines- no wonder she's so fat! For those who are unaware, the Harrier, both British and American variants, is a single engine jet, and only about a 1/3 of the first stage fan blade is visible through the intakes. Alas, license and concessions. Borderline egg-plane proportions and visible bot bits notwithstanding, I'm digging this guy in both modes. I'll admit, when I first saw the pics, I thought it was a new take on Shatter from the Bumblebee Movie, as it has a bit of that Bay-bot busy-ness going on, and SS Shatter also had the full fan blade in each intake, so I presumed until I did some reading. This will apparently, like MMC's Bruticus, be part of an all-in-one non-partsforming combiner, albeit with a decidedly non-G1 blocky bot aesthetic. I have no interest in collecting the whole team, and their take on Silverbolt is, unfortunately, like virtually every take by everyone who attempts it, a big block-o-bot hanging out under a nice Concorde fuselage. So sad; after seeing their Slingshoot, I was hoping they'd work some magic and offer up a more accurate Concorde, but the Robot Fates continue to kick slag in our collective faces. At this point I'd like to see UniqueToys take a crack at it, but I digress. Anyway, this was new to me, and very different in its approach, so I thought it worth sharing. Credit to TFW2005, whose pics I linked.
  9. M'Kyuun
    I have indeed thought of it, although, as you mention, it may play some havoc with the feet. OR, what if only the outer fascia of the legs rotated 180, but the inner leg remained as per the original design, negating the need to move the feet. I think that'd solve the problem nicely, and perhaps it would offer the possibility of ensconcing the feet within the leg in jet mode to help preserve the smooth taper to the exhausts. Anyway, I think there are engineering options with the legs; it just doesn't seem like most companies have much interest in straying too far from the original design. Some use sliders to foreshorten them, but otherwise, most Seeker toys' legs just stick straight back with the toes folded up into the leg. Definitely curious to see what you're able to come with.
  10. M'Kyuun
    Yes, at least to the legs. I'd love to see the arms collapse into the center fuselage like the G1 toy, and the Robot Masters fig, as well, and then employ the same kind deformation mechanics they employed on MP-36 Megatron's legs to smooth everything out in fighter mode and try to capture the shape of the actual aircraft. Likewise, the rotating chest intakes was a stroke of genius that nobody, including Takara themselves, seems to want to emulate. Such a great design idea that's ideal for both modes. I like NA's approach of turning the entire upper torso, including chest intakes, and rotating them inwards and making them form part of the forward fuselage. Brilliant idea that works oh so well. With a little additional engineering, on a larger toy, I think it'd be possible to also have node gear doors and a retractable nose gear in there, too. I'd love to see NA take a crack at MP scale with that mold, adding in all the embellishments that are too difficult at legends scale.
  11. M'Kyuun
    From those angles, it looks much better than MP-52. The forward fuselage is a little too short vertically; it should come down to the base of the intakes, just above the robot chesticle section. Those mains are really short, as even with a too-small forward fuselage to help with the nose gear height, the plane still looks like it's sitting at a nose-high attitude on the ground. Nitpicks. Overall, it looks pretty clean, a far more acceptable F-15 than the atrocious MP-52. By way of comparison, Maketoys' jet mode is pretty accurate to the source, as is the NewAge, and both are more accurate than the DS, at least that forward section. Without a good profile shot, it's difficult to judge the tail section, and honestly, the only Seekers I've seen that even approached accuracy were MP-03, which was very close due to Kawamori's tinkering with the leg shape and foot design, followed by MP-11, which lost some of that accuracy in fighter for a slightly more accurate toon foot and blockier leg , which still looked awkward. Maketoy's tail section is pretty squared off and a little chunky and would have benefitted from a taper or a nice angle, like the NewAge Seeker. NA's actually looks pretty good; it's a shame they didn't hide the foot internally, as it would have looked even better.
  12. M'Kyuun
    What, you don't buy that a thin furry veneer would protect a robot from energon overload? While the explanation was thinner than their hairy/scaly/chitinous facades, Beast Wars is a terrific show, and I'm willing to overlook the ludicrousness of the reason for their organic forms for all the fun they had exploiting those forms in new and interesting ways that wouldn't be possible had they merely been mechanical critters. It remains a unique show within the franchise, both for the choice of alt modes, but also the brand of humor employed throughout, and I think it's the combination of writing/voicing, as well as the storytelling, that set it apart and lured TF fans in despite themselves, myself included. At heart, I'm a trukk, not munky guy; any day of the week, I'd prefer mechanical alt modes, even if those alt modes are creatures, like the Insecticons or the Dinobots. Robo-critters, like the Zoids line, or the recent 52Toys Mega/BeastBox line, have always held a strong appeal for me, and when BW transitioned to Trans-metals, and then to their Beast Machines forms, I was digging those changes, and the toys, of course. I still lament that the Trans-tech follow-up to Beast Machines never materialized. I liked a few of those concepts. At least Cheetor's Trans-tech design, my favorite, was realized, in part, in Animated's Blurr, who also got a Cheetor recolor, bringing it full circle.💞
  13. M'Kyuun
    Me neither. Looks like a hybrid of both.
  14. M'Kyuun
    TBH, I don't mind the Primal design if Trans-metal is indeed what they're going for. I just think it completely negates the disguise excuse for transformation, as nobody, animal or human, is gonna be fooled. Too, I wonder if the beastie bots are going to be scaled appropriately to their alt modes, or if they're going to do the mass-shifting thing like G1, or if their beast modes are going to be the size of typical kaiju? I think it'd be more interesting if they were scaled appropriately, and like the original Beast wars, the characters at least started off looking like organic animals. And maybe make the switch to a more Trans-metal-like form once they're discovered. I still think it'd be cool if the Beast characters were living apart from humans as animals in the wild to avoid detection for thousands of years, and only upon inadvertent discovery by their recently arrived Cybertronian cohorts, came out of hiding, adopting a more Trans-metal beast form, since they'd likely be comfortable in those alt modes having adapted to them for such a long period of time. That's how I'd adapt the story, anyway. Referring to the pics, I'm not too crazy about the Dino-bot pic, as it skews too close to the uber-shardy bot modes of the Bayformers, and it's an aesthetic that I'd like to see banished from Transformers forever, along with the director who ok'd it in the first place. G1 all day, no more Bay!
  15. M'Kyuun
    It's not AI, some poor pilot got absorbed into it. I wonder if it goes berserk if it takes a missile hit? Pfft, as if the Russians, or China for that matter, would ever stoop so low as to steal ideas from the US. At this point, it looks like every other aircraft with strong stealth characteristics. 🥱 Other than the unparalleled YF-23, I still think fighters from the 60s, 70s & 80s are the prettiest, or at least the most visually interesting.
  16. M'Kyuun
    Growing up in the 70s and 80s, those instructions are what I was used to. I rarely look at the parts call-outs b/c I never developed the habit, and steps with one part seem superfluous to me. Surely kids are more capable builders than that. We had to be back in the primitive days of LEGO. Those old hand-drawn instructions had their charm, although I prefer the crisper CAD illustrated modern instructions.
  17. M'Kyuun
    Appreciate the review, Mike. Being a cassette guy, and given that these are WFC scaled and fill a hole that'll otherwise remain empty for lack of crappy official versions, I have these in my stack somewhere and need to get them shipped eventually. For what they are, they do the job nicely, and as you mentioned, they have some significant improvements over the official cassettes. What a shame when the 80s toys were better. I still don't understand why Hasbro abandoned the realistic scale of the 80s micro-cassettes in lieu of this smaller scale, and much poorer execution. Anyway, I'd like to see Dr. Wu, or some other third party, do all the WFC cassettes with improved articulation/proportions with passable cassette modes. The official toys just leave me wanting for better. I'm hoping Wu will do Grand Slam next. I still have my G1 toys, and while they're in excellent condition, the designs haven't really stood the test of time, and there's room for an update in the mainline.
  18. M'Kyuun
    Ah, an oldie but goodie. Same story here: I had it as a kid, but parted it out to the four winds for MOCs. So I turned to Bricklink and found one in good condition a few years ago, along with a number of other Classic Space sets from the 70s-90s. The set you got looks immaculate, so good for you. More often than not the canopies suffer the most, but that one looks pretty good. At least you can see through it. For all their simplicity, there's something that's still captivating about these old sets. I think you could still present one to a kid and despite any media tie-in, they'd still get it, like we did when we were kids. It's extremely lamentable that LEGO has all but abandoned their organic space themes. Star Wars is cool and all, but there was something to be said for these home grown sets, as they were highly imaginative, and divorced from any narrative, let kids decide how things would literally play out. Aside from City, just about everything LEGO does now is tied to some form of media, so kids aren't as inclined to use their imaginations to fill in the blanks, as it were. To my mind, there's still room on the shelf for homegrown space as well as SW. TBH, my interest in SW has waned, and I'd welcome imaginative space sets, like Galaxy Squad or Space Police, more than the next iteration of the X-Wing, Millennium Falcon, etc, ad nauseum. That said, while I've little interest in the Republic Gunship, I am strongly anticipating the rumored UCS AT-AT, my all-time favorite SW vehicle, which will likely command a kingly ransom and boast a high parts count. That'll be a day one purchase, as this the UCS set I've been hoping and praying for since 1999. I just hope they're able to give it working articulation and not make it a statue for stability reasons. Looking at you, IDEAS Voltron. I'd definitely be interested in that Knight Rider set, too, if it gets produced; however, I have the sneaking suspicion that it wouldn't look nearly as good as the submission. Few of them do.
  19. M'Kyuun
    Good question. Another vid shows them using the yellow Bumblebee Camaro. It seems they're not ready to divorce themselves of Bayverse, which just means more of the same. I'm guessing they're keeping the beastie designs close to the vest for now, but I have a feeling they're gonna be something like this and this and not much of this In the words of a certain galactic smuggler, "I have a bad feeling about this".
  20. M'Kyuun
    Don't even joke about it! I seriously doubt they'd do that, but don't give them ideas. I just want a nice balanced YF-21 that'll look good proportionally next to the VF-19 Advanced. I need no other gimmicks: no breakaway limbs for re-enacting the delimiter scene, no lights, no sounds, just a good looking battroid that transforms into a decent looking fighter with nice tight joints, good paint, the requisite tampo, retractable gear, and some FAST packs. Hell, I don't even need the FAST packs, although they'd be nice.
  21. M'Kyuun
    So, I've been giving Juushinki Pandora another watch, this time in its dubbed and renamed Netflix version Lost Hope. To be fair, I only muddled about halfway through the Japanese version, as it seemed a bit dull, confusing with all the metaphysical mumbo-jumbo, and 70s level cheesy with "Mr. Gold!". I'm finding the English dub much more palatable: the cheesiness of Mr. Gold is tampered, the metaphysics is easier to understand, even if it is still mumbo-jumbo, and overall, I'm finding it easier to follow. Plus, I get to enjoy the mecha action much more without constantly having to divert attention to reading subtitles. Perhaps some of the original inflection is gone, but for my money, it's for the better. Speaking of mecha action, for those who are unaware, Pandora was produced by Satelight, Kawamori's production team, and this show is Macross in all but name, minus the singing. There are large monsters called the B.R.A.I. attacking a human city, and the humans employ transforming mecha, called Moevs, which feature essentially vehicle, GERWALK, and battroid modes, the latter of which requires the operator to mentally/spiritually link with the quantum generator power source to achieve. It's contrived, especially since valk pilots merely push a lever to do the same thing, but there you go. However, it's the mecha that brought me to this show, and being Kawamori's designs, they're pretty cool, and I'd love to have some toys. but, they never happened. So I'm looking through TFSource and out pops this new interesting looking mech called Big Tony from a new anime called Sakugan, also produced by Satelight. I dig it, but it beggars the question why the Pandora mecha didn't get some nice toys, as they share a similar aesthetic to the mecha from Eureka 7, but this new show did. Life is indeed unfair.
  22. M'Kyuun
    That is a nice shot! This bird is rarely photographed in profile, and it's 'futuristic' lines can really be appreciated here. I've seen the real thing at the AF Museum near Dayton, OH, part of Wright-Patterson AFB. I've worked on the B-1, probably its closest neighbor in design, which itself is a large plane, but the XB-70 dwarfs it. Had it gone into service, our enemies would have had reason to fear it considering the size of payload she undoubtedly would have carried, not to mention her incredible speed. It's amazing to see what they were able to accomplish in the 60's, really pushing aircraft design to its limits and beyond. That spirit has all but evaporated, at least in the public eye. If we do have a successor to this bird, or the rather temperamental B-1 for that matter, it's a very well guarded secret, vaporous Aurora notwithstanding.
  23. M'Kyuun
    Well, they released the VF-19 Advanced before the YF-19, so there's a precedent. However, given that the proto was already painted in YF-21 livery, it's not much of a leap. Besides, the -21 is more popular than the -22 variants, and I think Bandai are well aware that there's a desire at least among some fans to replace the ill-proportioned Yamato. I'm one of those fans.
  24. M'Kyuun
    As much as I like this mold, I really haven't the space for another, I've no attachment at all to the Shattered Glass Universe, and at this point I'd rather save my money for characters I want, like the forthcoming Dinos and Insecticons, not to mention all the POs I have that'll be dropping over the next few months. It's a cool effort and I dig the colors; I just have nowhere to put this guy, and it'd be a shame to leave him in the box. Better that he find a home where he'll be free of his cardboard containment unit to cause havoc and destruction (I'm assuming he's a Decepticon, even though the rotating Autobot/Decepticon placard is showing Autobot in these pics). Anyway, nice to see such a good mold getting a second use, and the execution looks good to my ignorant eye. As to Beast Wars Ravage, I always thought that was an even weirder bit of animation magic than usual, not to mention changing Ravage into an anthropomorphic character who can speak. To my mind, Ravage is forever anchored to his G1 cassette/jaguar forms, first and foremost. I have the Binaltech Ravage as well, which was a Jaguar, that turned into, well, a robot jaguar, if you squinted and maybe took a couple shots of tequila. Still, it has its charms. The BW incarnation still strikes me as weird, and while I'm glad they made it for the fans, it just doesn't really do much for me aside from getting another copy of G1 Ravage. Gotta say, though, that head sculpt is mighty reminiscent of Tigatron, who I hope they give a new larger mold for Kingdom as they did for the MP version rather than recycling Cheetor's.
  25. M'Kyuun
    It has been a long time coming, but the mainline is finally providing what I think most of us old timers, myself included, have wanted all along, and why MP became popular; it's giving us updated faithful versions of the G1 characters. Unlike the current hyper-toon faithful MP, it skirts the line with toonish proportion, alt mode detail, and some G1 toy detail in what I consider a good balance. The WfC line is essentially the toys that 13 year old me wishes had come in the box instead of what we got. My MP collecting, official and third party, has slowed down considerably, but my enthusiasm for what the mainline is providing is piqued. I hope they continue doing these G1 homages as they've been doing until they cover at least all of the first season characters, and onward, regardless of what they call the next line. Give us old farts the toys we've been craving, and then move on to UT, or do something completely new. Primus knows the franchise could use something fresh, especially for the non-G1 crowd. Heck, I'm an unapologetic Geewunner, but I'd still like to see them take the franchise in new directions, introduce new characters, new worlds, new stories. Plus it would give the designers opportunities to flex their creative muscles a little. Time for something completely new, IMHO. With one exception: Give us a titan class Animated Omega Supreme, Hasbro. And don't make it a retool of the Ark, you cheap bastards!
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