Jump to content

M'Kyuun

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    5160

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by M'Kyuun

  1. M'Kyuun
    I'm glad Hasbro decided to upscale the minibots and it's not at all surprising to see more coming beyond the fact that there was no previous announcement or leak. I'll be happy to have Powerglide, Windcharger, and Seaspray on my shelf. I'm not familiar with Swerve or Tailgate as characters, but if the toys turn out alright, and thus far I've been rather pleased with the minibots they've done thus far, I'll probably pick them up as I did with past versions, at least Tailgate; I don't think I own a single version of Swerve. Man, it's been so long since I watched Prime that I had to look him up. I remember that toy being a bit fidgety and certainly not their best effort in that line. Considering those toys enjoyed a level of complexity higher than today's deluxes, my skepticism that they'll do an accurate capture runneth over. Guess we'll see. Most disappointing but given the amount of time that has elapsed since Kingdom, where in fact he did appear in the box art, I guess it's not unexpected that it won't come to fruition at this point unless Mark or Evan or one of the other powers that be (perhaps a Takara designer) really wants it. That Kingdom art had a lot of us hopeful, I think. I saw this announced on TFW2005 a while back and I thought it interesting given how far the toon version varied from the Diaclone toys. (Eternal thanks to Floro Dery) I don't think they were bad toys in the context of Diaclone, i.e. mecha suits for little dudes, but in terms of being sentient anthropomorphic bots, they just didn't really fit in with the rest of the Autobot gang. That said, I still have my G1 Ratchet, the only one of the van bros I owned. Even then, it just felt jarringly different. The decision to do them in Missing Link is odd given all the other bots that more closely comport to their toon versions, but I guess in terms of just updating all the G1 toys with articulation, they're a must, especially given the prominence of the characters. I think it'd be interesting if Takara found a way to give them their odd G1 configuration and then combine the weird upper body with bits of the treaded chariot to create a bot mode more reminiscent of Dery's design, essentially making them triple changers in a sense. I don't collect Missing Link (just give me Prowl, please), but I'd love to see them pull off some cool engineering if they indeed make the attempt to do as I described. As far as doing a Decepticon, I think they'd get the most mileage out of Soundwave due to his bevy of cassette minions who they can repaint to their heart's content. If they do Megatron, my interest is piqued as well. The G1 toy always fascinated me, and while I now own 'perfected' versions of that toy and character, something about the original toy still grabs me and I wouldn't mind owning a fully articulated version of it. I figure they made Prime, so they're kinda obligated at some point to do Megs. I'm here for it.
  2. M'Kyuun
    Exactly my point; generally, a person of normal stature is cast in the role so it's a refreshing take to see an LP cast in the role. In the 80s, LPs were cast in a lot of horror and sci-fi movies, but we rarely see them today. Peter Dinklage is certainly the most notable LP working in tv and film today from what I've seen.
  3. M'Kyuun
    Ooh, some interesting ones in there. Deluxe Smokescreen has my attention, but I wonder if it's G1 or some other version of the character. I'm still quite happy with my ER version. Deluxe Powerglide, if G1, sounds promising, as well as Animated Wreck-Gar and Ratchet. Glad to see the rest of the Combaticons on that list; I'll be happy to have another Bruticus, and one that's not as floppy as the CW version. Still waiting for them to do BW Polar Claw. He was my first BW toy, so I have an affinity for him.
  4. M'Kyuun
    Ah, gratuitous blood and gore. This looks like fun. Nice to see a little person, Peter Dinklage, cast in a role where they would usually never even be considered.
  5. M'Kyuun
    I stand corrected. I meant Su-27, but it was quite late, and my brain wasn't running on all cylinders at the time. And yeah, J-16 is the Chinese designation for their version. And while the MiG-27 Flogger isn't that bad, it's certainly no Flanker in terms of aesthetics. The MiG-29 and Su-27 are two of the loveliest fighters in the world, IMHO.
  6. M'Kyuun
    Just checked tracking on mine; it's currently in LA, presumably at LAX waiting for transport. I figure it'll reach me around Thursday. Appreciate the pics, man. Having watched a transformation vid for this thing, it's going to be a slow, meticulous process the first time I transform it. Once I get it in bot mode, I probably won't touch it again. I appreciate the engineering that goes into these complex toys and the toys themselves for the wonders that they are, but there's little fun to be had when transforming the majority of them for fear of breaking something, missing a step, or getting it something wrong and fouling the whole process up. The hard part will be deciding whether to keep it in bot mode, or tackle the transformation once again to get it back in jet mode, as I've long wished for a decent MiG-27 transformer and this is so much better than I ever expected it could be. Knowing myself, it'll just stay in bot mode, but the satisfaction of knowing it can be turned into this gorgeous plane will remain and keep me contented.
  7. M'Kyuun
    Yay! And this time I don't have an appointment!
  8. M'Kyuun
    A little hope is better than no hope at all. Thanks, Mike.
  9. M'Kyuun
    Ooh, perhaps a reserved and dignified "Squeeee!" is in order? Agree on the Tron Lightcycle- timing's great for a nice crossover.
  10. M'Kyuun
    Right there with you. I say this looking at my gorgeous Yamato 1/60 Blazer Valkyrie and YF-19. That's a design you just don't mess with.
  11. M'Kyuun
    I still have interest in certain crossovers: I'd like stuff like a Spinner, a Batmobile (Tumbler or '89 or Arkham Knight), perhaps a Light Cycle, the APC from Aliens, and Airwolf, just to name a few off the top. I think all of those are iconic enough to get the crossover treatment. One caveat, however: I'd want them to be their own characters apart from any others in the associated shows or films. I know that wouldn't happen, but that's my personal want. If that really is a ML tease, then I think that spells good news for potential buyers, as just a white Optimus is only half the package. I think buyers will have to accept a lot more concessions compared to previous releases for it to work. For me personally, it'd be worth the departures from the G1 toy, which was primarily a big red slab, for it to work as armor, and it would obviously have to break up into bits and partsform onto the various apropos body parts. That would work for some fans, but not all.
  12. M'Kyuun
    Actually, I like the photo as-is, with Screamer as the central focus against the sky. My comment was a bit of snark aimed at Has/Tak's usual focus on making the top of the jet look nice while the underside usually looks like a blocky bot or has visible arms hanging off the sides or worse.
  13. M'Kyuun
    While I'm far more a fan of jets than vintage single engine prop-driven aircraft, cartoony or not, a well-done plane alt mode in the Transformers universe is such a rarity that it deserves to be called out as such; in spite of its minor flaws, this is a step above their usual blocky-bot wearing-a-few-plane-bits-and-calling-it-a-plane modus operandi. The kibbly nature of the bot mode, an unfortunate concession, feels as though it could have been managed better. Not everything is perfect with the alt mode either, but between the two, I think the majority will say the plane mode fared better. Despite my liking both the car and the plane, I passed on this set due to preservation of space and a lack of interest in the Sonic brand. That said, I feel that overall execution was done pretty well and despite the various niggles Mike pointed out, I think it achieves the goal of offering a couple characters and their vehicles in a unique way. I'd still like to see a Batmobile repaint of Sonic's car. The plane, too, could prove useful as a repaint/retool, perhaps as a Batman villain or some other character. Both seem ripe for repaints/retools and rereleases.
  14. M'Kyuun
    I still think this has a neat car mode that says "Batmobile" to me, albeit a bit cartoony. I'm not at all into Sonic so I passed on this set, but I recall this and his partner both having good alt modes. What really impresses me from a noteworthy perspective is that both of these are individual new molds. We have long-time established characters that don't even warrant that treatment, so that stings a bit. Anyway, the alt mode of his partner is of particular interest to me and I'm looking forward to the next review.
  15. M'Kyuun
    Got his good side.😁
  16. M'Kyuun
    I was thinking the same thing. All I really wanted were two longer forearms with retractable hands for Bonecrusher, but I'm impressed by how much better his torso appears and by the range of gained articulation. Upgrade in the truest sense. I'm fine with Bonecrusher's stock feet, so the slippers 😄 will stay in the box along with the bugles. I was fine with the hollow bits on Scrapper, but it's nice that they're including fillers for him in the same kit. I have to smile at the presumption that if you have one fig, you're going to have the other one too. 😁 The fillers for Scrapper's calves seem a bit superfluous as they don't really fill the hollows but merely add another couple mms of plastic to their interiors. I hope the new piece that attaches directly to Bonecrusher's shovel has a tight joint as well as a well toleranced tab otherwise his shovel is just going to fall off of his chest. It's not a bad idea to impart some articulation, but the downside is having his chest fall off all the time having lost its anchor to his groin. Nevertheless, I want this kit, if only for those replacement arms. I'll try the rest to test their efficacy, but I have a bad feeling about Bonecrusher's chest. Casting about, it appears that it's a TFSource exclusive for now. I don't want to pay their markup, so I'm waiting to see if TFSafari gets it.
  17. M'Kyuun
    I believe that is exactly the intent. I don't know if a real incident took place as impetus, or if it's just urban legend, but I recall such a story from when I was a kid and over the years repeated. I'm too lazy to employ Google Fu, but suffice it to say, I think the intent was good but the execution a little heavy handed compared to how relaxed the laws are regarding real weapons.
  18. M'Kyuun
    Concerning Wally supplying SWAT, I was being facetious, but you get the point; it's all a bit ludicrous in perspective. And while I think we definitely have a problem with guns in our country, somehow I think they've gone just a little overboard when it comes to regulating toy guns. At the very least, the collector's market should be something separate, as most people aren't going to go around brandishing something like MP-36 to commit their crimes. Doing so itself should be a crime in my book- awesome toy abuse- minimum 20-year sentence with hard labor- book 'em, Danno! Toys are my life, so perhaps I'm a bit biased. I never gave much thought to the variety and strictness of laws from state to state, but I can understand if places like Cali and NY have far more stringent laws as I assume they have, per capita, far more crimes committed with firearms within denser populations. Still, toys, man! Alas, I step down from my ineffectual soapbox.
  19. M'Kyuun
    Makes sense. In Megatron's case, the box is excessively large for the figure and, being practical, I called it out. My criteria differs. My sole focus is always the core figure, how well each mode is executed. While there's no explicit promise of fidelity to realism, Studio Series is generally considered to be their premium retail product line, although they don't always deliver on that expectation. However, just like SS86 Prime, there's a heightened expectation for SS86 Megatron to be the 'definitive' version for lack of a more apropos descriptor. He fails that already by not turning into a pistol. I care not one whit about a small handheld version of him in gun mode when the figure itself should be the gun- it's a superfluous accessory that will remain in the box along with his energon mace and any effects parts. So, given that a gun is not an acceptable alt mode by din of US laws and child safety regs, a tank is a dismayingly acceptable substitute alt mode. The expectation then is that being Studio Series, we'll get a convincing tank with a bit more polish and refinement than the usual run-of-the-mill mainline figure with a similar alt. They did do a great job of crafting his bot mode to look like his G1 toon self without tank kibble ruining the effect. They also did a great job turning his legs and upper torso into a convincing tank base. They only needed to do something more with his scope to make it blend with the arms to affect a more convincing turret, one more bit of transformative origami but I'm guessing that's where either the budget or their supply of care simply ran out, perhaps a bit of both. To me it feels like they got to within 85% of excellence and just quit. The hard part of his design was already solved: achieving a kibble-less G1 Megatron bot mode that conceals the tank bits well. They solved the challenge of converting his gun-grip legs into tank treads convincingly. While the arms are quite a bit blockier than RW tank turrets, I think disbelief could have been better suspended if the obvious giant gun scope sandwiched between those giant grey blocks somehow transformed to blend with and compliment the rest of the turret. I'd rather the budget went to that particular bit of engineering/molding than to any accessories. Since his fusion cannon is an intrinsic part of his character, I don't consider it an accessory. I just wish they'd put forth that extra effort to make the scope form a convincing part of his turret. Hopefully, third parties will rise to the occasion with some interesting solutions. I've still never really handled the G1 Snarl or Slag toys. I believe I saw Swoop somewhere and messed about with him. I bought Sludge as a kid, and I later received my wife's brother's G2 blue Grimlock when he gave it me. Not even sure how or why that came to be. Anyway, I now have a full set of FansToys Dibots ( my first full set of Dinobots-I was so happy!), all six Combiner Wars Dinobots, all five SS86 Dinobots, and all five toy-decoed Newage Dinobots complete with chrome paint, G1 decal tampos, and the lovely clear plastic bits- pure joy and what I wish we'd gotten with the SS86 Dinos.
  20. M'Kyuun
    That's about 2/3 more box than necessary, but it looks nice. It's nice to have the plastic windows back, even if they're not the most environmentally friendly of options. I still think it sucks that we can't have a Megatron that turns into a gun and yet you can go buy a small arsenal at your local Walmart, including enough AR-15s to outfit a SWAT unit. I digress. I'm glad Newage took the plunge and gave us Romulus; I wish more third-party companies would follow suit giving us options for our CHUG collections to either fill voids like G1 Megs or give us better versions of characters than we've gotten officially. I wish Takara would make a proper G1 Megs for the non-US market; it's not fair to punish fans outside of the US for our laws regarding toy guns. Likewise for Shockwave. I'm planning on getting this guy, but I surely hope that there will be some nice third-party solutions to render his scope a far more believable part of his turret. As is, it almost seems an afterthought compared to the care taken to engineer his legs into the tank's base, which looks great, IMHO. That turret, however, dispels any illusion and that seems antithetical to what the Studio Series is supposed to be in terms of quality, alas. I hope there will be options to fix it. Regarding the upcoming Venin (Venom) Deluxe Insecticon fig, I've never really looked at the original toy all that closely so I did some research and I'm thoroughly impressed at how well they captured the original toy. The fact that they could do unique tooling to create that character so faithfully and yet they resorted to retooling Shrapnel into inaccurate versions of Chop Shop and Barrage, and Kickback into an inaccurate version of Ransack rankles a bit.
  21. M'Kyuun
    Thanks for the info, Mike. SDCC is still over a month away, and with all the reviewer reveals, I would have thought they'd do the official SS86 Megs reveal sooner rather than later, if for no other reason, to take advantage of the momentum. Moreover, I'd guess they'd have something bigger to show off at the Con. Anyway, I wish they would project these things to allay conjecture and help fans to plan for PO days. I got Venom, Micronus Prime, and Alpha Trion through Hasbro Pulse (gotta make that Premium fee pay for itself). I was at the doctor's office trying to do it by phone and I was having a heck of a time trying to use Paypal, my usual payment method. I ended up just using my card and finally got the order to go through. I fully expected Venom or AT to be sold out quickly, but having just checked the site, all three of the figs I POed this morning are still available. Had I known that that would be the case, I would've waited until I got home, but you never know with these things. Anyway, when they finally put SS86 Megatron up for PO, I fully expect it to sell out very quickly, so I'm hoping it falls on a day when I have nothing scheduled. Digits crossed.
  22. M'Kyuun
    I'd be even happier if they gave Ransack his own mold that was closer to the original toy's, as a Kickback repaint just doesn't quite capture the look. That said, they likely won't do that so at the very least, I'm hoping for the Kickback repaint rerelease to complete the roster. And thanks for the YT info. I watched it, but they didn't cover SS86 Megs, which I think was the main draw for a lot of fans for today's stream. So I'm hoping the stream to adresss that, and subsequent POs, will be soon.
  23. M'Kyuun
    I'm assuming the Studio Series stream will be on Hasbro Pulse's YT channel at 11 AM ET tomorrow morning. Please do correct me if I'm wrong. I don't wanna miss that one. Like many, I was expecting SS86 Megatron to be officially revealed /go on PO today, but since I'm going to be at an appointment right when POs go up, I'm kinda glad it's another day. I do, however, want that Venom- he just looks fantastic! I have all the other recent Deluxe Insecticon releases except Ransack, so not too bad. I'm hoping Ransack will get his own release at some point for those of us who didn't buy the multi-pack. Micronus Prime has my attention as well, as I dig motorcycle Transformers, and a monocycle (that works) is a pretty darn cool and unique alt mode. I also like the rider/bike- guy w/ armored suit thing that they did. All those things speak volumes of mecha coolness and I'm down for it. Onyx Prime is a pretty cool looking fig as well, although I'm probably gonna pass on him. I'm on the fence concerning Alpha Trion; I don't necessarily care for his alt mode, but it is based on concept art from way back, and I like that he comes with the Covenant of Primus, even if I have no real familiarity with it. I like that the book actually has a few pages with details. That's a cool, apropos accessory for the character, and we so rarely get accessories that aren't some sort of weaponry.
  24. M'Kyuun
    I liked what they did with Chase, but I thought Heatwave missed the mark by too much, so I passed on him. I would've liked to have had the Prime Cliffjumper repaint of Chase, but he came in a pack with other figs I didn't want, so again, I passed. Hopefully that particular fig will get his own release in a year or so. As to the other Rescuebots, I consider each on its own merits at how well the update captures the original toy, but I've no burning need to have them in my collection. For me, they're more of a curiosity than anything. Thanks for the review, as always, Mike!
  25. M'Kyuun
    Not at all into One Piece, but cool for those who like it. Too, new sets and new themes always bring the potential for new parts, so that aspect interests me. So wish LEGO would get a Macross license, even if it means likely no VF-1 due to HG. All those other valks would be fair game, though. Realistically, however, I think we'd be far more likely to see a Gundam license given its global prevalence. I'd be down for that, too.
×
×
  • Create New...