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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    Sounds serious; whatever upset you, I hope it doesn't completely poison your enjoyment of the hobby. As for me, this is my primary forum for discussing all things Transformers. I visit TFW2005 from time to time, but things get out of hand over there a bit too much, with little in the way of moderation; essentially too many unchecked self-entitled man-children with anger management issues with opinions that matter more than anyone else's. I tend to steer clear, at least clear of the Transformer discussions. I generally visit the Toyark forums for 52Toys stuff, LEGO, some Macross, etc. Those forums tend to be far more civil in their exchanges and respect for one another. At the end of the day, it's your collection, and whatever your reasons for wanting to be quit of Transformers once you've reached your stated goal, I hope you continue to find joy in that. Transformers are such a huge part of my life, and while I'm not as fervent in my fandom as some, it brings me joy, and I suspect always will, regardless of the community or other factors. I'm just a bit saddened to see a fellow member put off to the hobby. In any case, I wish you every success in finishing your '84 collection.
  2. M'Kyuun
    Hmm, I kinda liked the way they made Mindwipe's legs become the wings, but I agree that the head looked too organic, especially when compared to Weirdwolf or Skullcruncher. I have the retro version of Brainstorm, and while I like it, I have to agree with Mike in that, of the various TR molds they could have used, Blurr's really wasn't the best choice. So, as has become the usual trend with Fed Ex, my Wreck-Gar was delayed today, and now I'm showing a delivery for tomorrow. It's not as bad a delay as I was expecting, but I just have to chuckle at how this situation has become the norm for pretty much all my Pulse deliveries from Fed Ex. Speak of the devil, I received shipping notices for Kingdom Galvatron, the Autobot Ark, Tracks, and Scorponok today, due on the 15th, which means it won't actually get delivered until a day or three after that. Rodimus Prime and Rhinox, who are part of the same preorder, were delayed to Oct 1 and Dec 1 respectively. I would rather have waited for Tracks and had Rodimus sooner, but I can wait a month. I'm hoping we'll get some new Kingdom/Legacy reveals during PulseCon 2 next month. Been kinda slow for main line news of late. I'm hoping the rest of the first season minibots will get their toys, along with more Dinobots, and deluxe scaled Insecticons. Still hoping we'll get a full set of voyager scaled Constructicons, too. I passed on the CW Devastator as it didn't appeal to me, either the crappy Hasbro version, or the slightly less crappy Takara version. I think we'd be better off getting the Constructicons as individual releases, with the appropriate budgets allotted to raise the quality of the figs. I just hope they don't make this fig or that a particular exclusive, making it nigh impossible in this era's market to try and get the whole team. If they do release new Constructicons, and some are sold as store exclusives, I should hope that Pulse would offer them to members as preorder-able items negating the frustration of trying to hunt them all down.
  3. M'Kyuun
    Just to put my frame of reference in perspective, I was already becoming a LEGO fan before the minifig was invented. I got my first LEGO set when I was about 5, and my dad built it for me. But I soon started building my own things thereafter. No prodigy was I, and the things I built at that point were unmentionable, but the seed had been sown, much to my dad's everlasting regret, I think. Anyway, Classic Space and Classic Town came out about four years later in the US, and in the following years I managed a small collection of CS ,Town, and Blacktron sets before I graduated and went off to the military, where I continued to acquire the odd Space themed set here and there throughout the 90s into the new millennium. I was a very frugal buyer of LEGO until my wife started encouraging me in the mid 2000s to buy the sets I liked rather than passing them up and regretting it later, as I often regretted not picking up any number of sets over the years before I met her. nearly twenty years later, I've acquired quite a lot of LEGO, and they keep making more. Now the 'space' I require is that necessary for storage! Kidding aside, I love LEGO's Space themes, and while I'm glad they have Star Wars, I'd like to see original space stuff on the shelves, too. Doing their own thing allows them to expand the possibilities beyond the confines of an IP, and that was a huge part of its charm. LEGO and Transformers remain the pinnacles of my collecting, and probably shall until I'm pushing daisies or they stop making them.
  4. M'Kyuun
    I empathize with you on pretty much everything you said here. I don't consider myself obsessive about Classic Space, although having grown up with it, I'm quite fond of it, and have a small but nice collection of CS sets which I treasure. My wife couldn't care less, either; MW is my sounding board for all my hobbies, and sad to say, about 98% of my social life. MOCs are great, but I agree; there's a joy to be had when you can relax your brain, put on some music/tv, and just follow some instructions resulting in a finished model that's appealing to you. And yeah, going outside sucks- all the fun stuff is in the house.😄
  5. M'Kyuun
    They keep touching on space via a number of Creator sets, but no new themes or series of sets for the last seven years. Star Wars is good, and I'm glad they have the license, and I like a lot of what they've done with it over the years; however, it can tend to become a little dull, and it'd be nice to have a space theme that's not Star Wars at least every few years to break up the monotony, or should I say monopoly. I also wish they'd do an Exo-Force 2.0 with better mecha designs, something akin to Zane's Titan Mech Battle. The designer is a huge fan of Gurren Lagann. He also worked on the IDEAS Voltron set, IIRC. Imagine a whole theme of mecha done this well. 😍
  6. M'Kyuun
    Good to know. Thanks!
  7. M'Kyuun
    Agree; Cylion and Mocha would make very complimentary display mates. A small part of me still wishes I'd gotten Cylion. Incidentally, I never sprung for an Arcee accurate head for my Nicee, so she exists as her own thing apart from my TF collection. Deformation Space took a novel, if a bit painfully overcomplicated, approach to stowing the arms. I love the idea, but not so much the manner of execution. The too-small nose section still bugs me. Other than that, it's pretty much an improvement on MP-52 in every way. No faux cockpit or cover, neat transformation, especially the arms, a far better method of stowing the stabs on the legs inside the legs very cleanly. That's one area where this shines over MT's Meteor. I'd like to take the best of this and Meteor and make the perfect Starscream. To those who get DS-01, looks to me like you're getting a pretty cool figure that does most things better than the official MP, and a few things better than the Maketoys.
  8. M'Kyuun
    I thought Hasbro's take on Springer for the WfC line was pretty well executed overall. The only thing he can't do is have his shoulder pauldrons canted outwards, but that's not really an issue for me. I prefer the Hasbro over MFT's, but everything's subjective. As for Mocha, I kinda feel the same. Had I known this was coming, I probably would have passed on Nicee in lieu of Mocha. that said, my earlier comments stand; she's a beautiful figure with excellent articulation lending her herself to all sorts of dynamic poses. I hope you enjoy your copy.
  9. M'Kyuun
    Wow, NA's Magnus looks amazing. the fifth wheel in truck mode looks odd with that big white chunk on the hitch deck, but at least this becomes a fully realized cab and trailer, with a working fifth wheel and a usable car carrier trailer. Can't really ask for much more in an Ultra Magnus figure. If they can do this at legends, why oh why can't Hasbro and Takara, with over thirty-five plus years of experience, make something that's at least close in the main line? Magic Square and New Age are just knocking it out of the park with these legends figs.
  10. M'Kyuun
    OOOHH, I've been waiting for impressions of the MS Constructicons, as I find them more appealing than the NA versions. MS definitely went full toon, which IMHO, isn't always the best, but it is what it is, and they pulled it off well. I can't wait to see their Long Haul and Scavenger, as those were the only two G1 Constructicons I owned, and Long Haul especially, has always held a special appeal for me. My hope is that they'll separate the back wheels from the dump bed, and we'll finally have a G1 LH that can function like a real dump truck. That lack of functionality has plagued virtually all, if not all, versions of Long Haul that I'm aware of since the G1 toy that started it all. I had high hopes for Toy World's Long Haul, considering the lengths (working treads, for Cybertron's sake!😍) they went to to impart real world functionality into their Constructicons, but my hope was for naught. Missed opportunity there. So, I'm hoping MS will give me what I've longed for in a Long Haul all these years. And of course, if I buy one or two, in for a penny...as the saying goes. What's kinda cool about these is that at legends scale, they'll be right about the same size as the G1 toys, which were notably smaller than standard 'deluxe' figs of the day, back before size classes were a thing. For those that own a full set of the G1 toys, having MS' set to stand alongside it will be a cool display that really captures how far these toys have come from those modest days when Takara was still modeling these things from wood. Thanks for sharing your pics, @Convectuoso.
  11. M'Kyuun
    Good review, Mike. I passed on this guy, as even with the extensive changes, there was still too much of the lackluster Siege toy evident. I'm with you: Earth mode Mirage beggared a new mold where the legs become the back of the car, the front, his chest, and the sides, his arms, like the G1 toy, and toon incarnation by extension. This is a bit too ham-handed for my liking, and I still prefer Classics Mirage to this. I love that figure to death, anyway, but objectively, it's a more accurate G1 Mirage, minus the front wheels sticking out of his back. Anyway, this is another example of odd choices and decisions for who gets new molds, and who just gets reworked. The Siege mold was so off from the G1 toy's transformation that a whole new toy should have been made for his Earthy outing. Disappointing, but that's Hasbro for ya. As for an Earth mode Hound, it seems funny that one hasn't been announced, but they made his Siege mold so close to an Earth Jeep that they probably didn't have plans to go any further with it. I think the same for Mirage and Sideswipe; I get the inkling that the Siege versions were meant to do double duty, and that's why the Cybertronian alt modes were very close in appearance to their Earth modes. But, something convinced them to do Earth mode versions, and hey, it's more dollars in Hasbro's pocket for the lower expense of simply retooling a few parts. I have no evidence for my theory, but it feels correct to me. Anyway, Siege Hound was an ok mold, but no retool will better the excellent Classics Hound figure, which is one of my absolute favorite Transformer toys of all time. Alex Kubalsky designed both Classics Hound and Mirage, as well as Bumblebee, and I will never stop lamenting his departure from Takara. He's still designing Transformers, but under the radar for third parties, like MMC. Good news on my end; my copy of Wreck-gar has finally shipped and hopefully I'll have him in hand next week. It's Fed Ex, so that's a dicey proposition. I'm still waiting for Pulse to accept payment and ship a glut of Kingdom figs, including the Ark, which will be my first titan class figure. Kinda excited for that one. Anyway, the entire order was slated to ship on or about the first, and here we are on the fourth , and still no word. Sigh. I like using Pulse, and in the past, they've got stuff out in a timely fashion, sometimes ahead of other venues. But lately, they seem to be the last guest at the table, so to speak. It strikes me odd that the source gets its own product later than mass retail, but I guess that's the cost of working under contract, and perhaps they're giving up their own stock to fulfill those obligations, leaving them, and us paying members, waiting, while all around us everyone else has their toys. I'm patient, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't think it sucked just a little.🤕
  12. M'Kyuun
    I don't think you'll be disappointed if you do. They put more emphasis on the action figure aspect than the transforming aspect, although her legs do form a a goodly chunk of her car mode, which is still better than the completely shellforming ER Arcee. Her hip and back kibble go a long ways towards completing her alt mode, but honestly, that's pretty much how it is and ever shall be for the character turned three dimensional toy, unless someone like Unique Toys does some crazy origami to have more of the bot involved in the transformation. As it is, I found Nicee to lend herself to some excellent pose-ability. The small feet can make some poses more difficult to pull off for want of stability, but if you have a stand (I don't), then the possibilities open up for all kinds of dynamic poses. I gotta admit, I love the closed canopy look of Mocha, as well as the sharp color scheme. She's a beautiful figure in either mode. I still wish they'd been able to implement the Robocop-esque opening holsters in the hips as seen in early shots of Nicee. That would have just elevated the fig in my mind, and I already have a high opinion of her.
  13. M'Kyuun
    Looks like Big Firebird are looking to get a little mileage out of their Nicee mold. Looks good, with enough differences to set her apart from Nicee. I love the overall design style that BF went for with these figures. While this is cool, I'm going to pass, as I'm happy with Nicee, and don't feel the need to double dip. However, I'm very interested in seeing pics of their actual Windblade figure, as that's one I might be inclined to pick up. I'm just hoping it's not the base Nicee fig with wings and a new head attached; I hope there's a more complex transformation involved. Guess we'll wait and see.
  14. M'Kyuun
    Good eye, Detective Danth! I never noticed, but having it pointed out, there's merit to your theory. More to the point, none of these are shown in actual space. The starry background is the closest we get to being in space in any of those. Not even the recent Shuttle Discovery set is set in space. Suspicious. If Disney is really dictating to a toy company that none of their products, even those that are space related, can be shown in space in order to maintain a monopoly on that environment, that seems terribly desperate, insecure, and wrong. But it makes sense, if such is the case, why LEGO won't even bother making their own space sets anymore. What's the point when this licensee dictates what environments you can and can't use in your product? But those licenses make them a lot of money with all the tie-ins, likely far more than they made from home grown space themes, so they're going to stick with what fetches profits, even if it means ditching one of the major themes that made them successful in the first place, and still warms the hearts of millions of LEGO fans. Money's nice, but it's not the end-all, even for a business. I'm glad they're successful, as it means more parts and lots of larger, more complex sets are possible. But to acquiesce, if that is indeed what they're doing, to another company's self-serving demands at the expense of their own traditional themes, I'd have to tell them in no uncertain terms to go f##k themselves and have a merry day. Personally, I think LEGO could get by without Disney, although I'm sure they'd see the difference in their bottom line. But, maybe it would force them to get back to what made LEGO so special in the first place: creativity, originality, and imagination.
  15. M'Kyuun
    There are a lot of us who'd like to see that, but LEGO seems strangely and stubbornly reluctant. They've touched on Pirates and Castle with some recent Creator sets, as well as the IDEAS Pirates of Barricuda Bay, which is an excellent homage to old school Pirates. We got Benny's Spaceship and a much, much smaller CS inspired spaceship from the second LEGO Movie, but otherwise nada. FWIW, it doesn't even need to be straight up blue and gray Classic Space; I just want them to make their own space themes again. The last original Space theme was Galaxy Squad in 2013, marking the longest period in which LEGO hasn't produced an original Space theme. Classic Space still holds its appeal, though, at least among us older fans. Go to a LEGO convention, and you're almost assured to see something Classic Space inspired. In this case, I mean all Space themes into the late 90s, although at this point, even Life on Mars is old enough to be considered classic as well. Peruse Flickr for any period of time, and again, you'll find MOC after MOC homaging Classic Space. What's puzzling about this is that LEGO is aware of the continued interest in the theme, at least among the adult and YA crowd, as many of the set designers came out of the AFOL community and themselves were building and posting CS MOCs. So why won't they make their own space themes. I don't buy the argument that it would hurt Star Wars: SW is a money-making juggernaut, and with all the new programming keeping it fresh, especially The Mandalorian, it'll chug along just fine. I don't know, but it's a question I'd love to ask LEGO, along with why won't they make some stronger, more versatile joints for larger mecha/creature builds? They've been using the same ratcheting joint system since 2004 with little in the way of upgrades, as well as the AT-AT leg joints which have been in use since 2003, again without updates or advancements. It's most vexing.
  16. M'Kyuun
    New UCS Tumbler coming. I have the original, and this doesn't really improve on it significantly, so I'm going to pass on it. It would have been nice if they could have given it working steering as a minimum upgrade from the original set. On the heels of the UCS set, there's a new System set coming as well, and it looks to be a great improvement on previous Tumbler sets. This is also the first time we get a Dark Knight Trilogy Scarecrow fig. It would have been nice to get a regular Dr. Crane head with a mask piece that fits over, rather than just a printed head piece, but at least it's a new character besides Bane and the Joker. I'm looking very much forward to adding this to my growing Batmobile collection.😍 For comparison, here's the System Tumbler from 2008 (set 7888-1). The back tires were more accurate on the older set, but everything else is an improvement on the new set. This is The Bat vs Bane: Tumbler Chase (76001-1) from 2013, which gave us a much simpler, and camo colored Tumbler. I thought it was a fun set, but yeah that Tumbler was a really simple design. So was The Bat, for that matter.
  17. M'Kyuun
    So, what is that design taken from? It looks like a mishmash of The Bumblebee Movie and G1 designs. I'm not a collector of non-transforming Transformers, but even if I was, this misses the mark for me. Cool for those who dig it, though.
  18. M'Kyuun
    Legendary actor, whether giving a live performance or lending his voice to an animated character, Mr. Asner left a strong impression. Hudson from Gargoyles, as well as Up's Carl are two notable performances that stand out in my mind, although there were so many more. A true loss to cinema, and I'm sure, to his family and friends. RIP, good sir.
  19. M'Kyuun
    That's been the cost of being a toy collector for about a decade now; lots of adults with disposable income willing to pay ever rising prices, not to mention a thriving aftermarket full of greedy scalpers. Add to that the artificial escalation of pricing by official and third parties, knowing that their fanbases will pay it. Although I've been willing to pay MSRP or slightly over, I'm generally not willing to pay the extravagant prices of many ebay and other secondary market sellers just on principle. Even if I want the thing terribly, I'll let it go rather than reward a greedy bastard asking far too much for said item. I'd rather they'd be stuck with the thing forever, like a bad case of herpes. It's the inevitable downside to a free market; availability comes at a cost, and the the price you're willing to pay is directly proportional to your level of passion and the depths of your pockets. I can't absolve myself from the situation, as I've spent my fair share of ducats on all sorts of toys and models over the years, thus feeding the beasts that shite these wonderful things out. So, while I'm not a fan of the ever rising prices, I'm part of the equation that facilitates it through my various purchases. As long as people like money, and inflation continues in the global economy, the simple fact is that prices are always going to go up, some more than others. The question is for each of us, how much is too much?
  20. M'Kyuun
    Not my cup, but I do hope it finds a plentiful audience willing to support it financially, as this figure will open the doorway to more previously Japanese-only related Transformers toys. Best of luck to supporters, and to Haslab. FYI for folks who've POed Kingdom/SS86 stuff from Pulse, my copy of Wreck-Gar is coming, but I got delayed notices for both Rodimus and Rhinox to October and December, respectively. I hope this doesn't become the trend with the rest of the stuff I have POed with them. I'm patient, but it still kinda sucks, especially when I see reviews and such popping up everywhere.
  21. M'Kyuun
    Well, the whole market has gone up for 3P. 3P legends figs are now priced around what the MP cars were priced at 10 years ago. Expensive little buggers. But if you cast your sights about at toys in general, especially independents like Joy Toy, Acid rain, etc, the prices are high, not $300 high mind you, but still, expensive. Then again, I collect LEGO, and that's a hobby that'll burn money like kindling if you amass any quantity of it, and I have a house full. But I think Mike's right concerning FT; they see the aftermarket for their product, and have adjusted the price up front so they can make more revenue. As a business decision, it's smart so long as demand remains for their products, and that demand doesn't seem to have diminished. They have a devoted following, even if some of their pieces have had less articulation than what has become standard, or over-complicated and frustrating transformations, or other assorted issues. As for me, I have FT's Dibots (Dinobots), Phoenix (Skyfire), and Thomas (Astrotrain), with their Blitzwing preordered. From experience, I'll say I'm extremely pleased with them all. They're well built, with very G1 faithful designs. No regrets, and I look forward to their Blitzwing, if it ever releases, although the price I pay for him is gonna sting a bit. Main line Generations remains my primary Transformer collecting focus, but I still buy the odd legends or MP scaled fig from time to time. I just went in on all three of XTB's Omnibots, as I've been wanting figs of those guys since the 80s, and I wasn't going to let that opportunity slip by, especially at $100/pc. I'm also getting the Harrier and the F-16 Aerialbots from Dreamstar Toys, as those are some mighty fine looking jet formers, and I love the Harrier, so he's a must. And while they're not Transformers, per se, I'm getting TFC's "Fiery" Chinese attack helicopter guy, and the Flanker fig when they finally make it available for PO. We get so few decent jet formers in Transformers, so I'm trying to take advantage of these rather well done transforming aircraft.
  22. M'Kyuun
    Um, no. I just did some backtracking to see when I ordered it (October 2020), and the order was canceled in December of last year and a gift card emailed to me. Apparently I wasn't paying too close attention to what was going on, lost track of it, and have been waiting on it all this time. Due to many preorders from numerous vendors, as well as a poor memory, last year I started annotating what I've got on PO with what vendors, and I've had Thrust in there all this time. I strive to keep it current, but sometimes I miss stuff. I don't think I voluntarily cancelled Thrust. He's my favorite of the Coneheads, and I wanted him to round out my collection of original three Seekers and the three Coneheads. Something happened there, and it flew under my radar for some reason. Anyway, I guess I can check him off my list now; unless they do a reissue at MSRP or a bit over, I won't be getting him at scalper prices. C'est la vie. I wanted him for completion's sake, but if I'm being honest, I'm not the biggest fan of the ER Seeker mold. IIRC, Hasui was the designer for that mold, and in an interview he mentioned borrowing heavily from the Classics mold due to extreme time constraints and lower budget. IMHO, it shows, and I wish we'd gotten better. The Classics toy had a better jet mode, especially the smooth forward fuselage sans huge hinge and proper round exhausts.
  23. M'Kyuun
    Heh, I'm still waiting for eight of the nine Kingdom figs I POed thru Pulse, ER Thrust from Target (which I POed quite a few months back), and SS86 Slag, Kingdom Sideswipe/Maximal Skywarp, and the Jurassic Park two-pack from Amazon. The only toy I've received recently was Kingdom Red Alert, with whom I'm pretty happy, other than the odd color choices that don't really match the G1 toy or the toon. I'm thinking of painting him to more closely homage the G1 toy, which I still have. I like the changes to the mold that bring him to the doorstep of being a Countach without being a Countach.😊 In this and Jazz's cases, close enough is good enough for me. It's better than nothing at all, especially in Jazz's case. So, I'm playing the waiting game. I'm patient, though.
  24. M'Kyuun
    I hope the last part turns out to be true. I hope they go back and redo Astrotrain with better alts at some point, too. I'm happy to see Blitzwing on the list; he was always my favorite triple-changer due to the alt modes, although admittedly, his jet mode was heavily compromised, and those compromises seem to affect many modern third party takes as well. I have little faith in Has/Tak's ability to improve the jet mode, but a more G1 accurate toy still stirs my curiosity. Somehow, I have a feeling the turret will pop off and become some other accessory this time around, as that seems to be the trend. Wonder why there's another voyager Soundwave? New fig with better, more accurate engineering, or just another repaint? Hopefully the former. The Netflix Soundwave is ok, certainly a far cry better than the Siege version with its lame excuse for an alt mode, but the way the shins are backwards in Walkman mode bugs me, as well as the crappy weapons placement. I wish they'd they'd copy the G1 toy, which produced a more accurate looking Walkman, not to mention storing the weapons like the batteries they were meant to represent. It was, and remains, such a nigh perfect toy; all it really needed was updated articulation. Bulkhead's an interesting addition; I wonder if he's going to be an Animated or Prime homage? Animated could stand a little love, but I'm biased. Nice to see Kickback in deluxe scale, as well as Skids, whose design I always liked. It'll be interesting getting both a mainline and MP version of the same character within months of each other. Hopefully the other Insecticons aren't far behind. I hope Elita-1 is indeed a brand new, and hopefully much improved, mold than the lazy shellforming Arcee mold. It'd be nice to see at least some effort put into making part of her become her car mode rather than just wearing the whole damned thing on her back. Still no Brawn, Gears, or Windcharger.🤕 Hopefully in the next batch, or part of Friday's reveals.
  25. M'Kyuun
    The Egoista is a unique design, reminiscent of the Mach 5 from Speed Racer. But yeah, the last few car models from Lamborghini, although pretty designs, are very similar in their looks and not as daring as the original Countach, including the new Countach. Too, their foray into sedans and SUVs kinda misses the point. Anyway, this thread went astray quickly. Guess I shouldn't have posted that pic. As seems to be more and more typical over the last couple years with Fed Ex deliveries, my Kingdom Red Alert, which was scheduled for delivery yesterday, then today, now shows pending, although it was showing in transit 40 minutes away in the Spokane Valley this morning. I don't know what's up with Fed Ex, but I've had any number of deliveries seem to arrive within the area, only to go pending for some odd reason. I'm guessing it'll be out for delivery tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath. Just seems odd that it gets so close, with what one would assume would be enough time to make it to the local depot and on a truck for delivery within the same day, but doesn't.
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