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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    Wish they were including all the extras with Skids, at least the scooter. The paint apps look crisp; his alt isn't the most attractive or impressive car, but his overall color scheme and deco has always appealed to me. It just looks sharp. I distinctly remember looking at his G1 toy in the store back in '85 and thinking he looked cool, well except his arms, and putting him back on the shelf without so much as a thought that there's be a high end version 36 years down the road. Of all Hasbro's properties, I'm sooo glad that Transformers remained relevant after so many years. Edit; @mikeszekelyI checked tracking on my Huffer/Airazor package, and my guess is it'll most likely be delivered tomorrow. Tracking is showing pending, but it's in transit in the Spokane Valley which is part of Spokane, about twenty-five minutes away. If not tomorrow, then Wednesday at the latest, I assume, provided they don't FedEx me in the keister and route it to Seattle. Edit2: Huffer and Airazor are out for delivery today. Finally!
  2. M'Kyuun
    No- they're permanently mounted there. It would have been cool if they flipped up, but I don't recall that ever being something that happened with the real car in the show. It's pretty much LEGO taking license and adding them for playability's sake. Not only are they not accurate, but personally I think they look dumb, so I'll be leaving them in the box and I'll probably fill the gaps with tiles to give the hood its smooth look. Similar, but the '66 Batcave set came out in 2016, so this set benefits from five years' worth of new parts. Looking at the available angles of the new set, it's more accurate overall than the 2016 classic Batmobile. The designer did a pretty good job on the 2016 version, but the 2021 set makes use of the new 2x1 left and right wedges (29119, 29120) to capture more of the subtle shaping of the car's features. Too, it now has all three of the pipes sticking up behind the cockpit; the 2016 only had two of them. New parts help bring it closer to true. But, it's LEGO and at minifig scale, it's still more suggestive than actually accurate due to the difficulties of capturing so many complex curves at this scale. It's still pretty cool, and I'll be getting a copy when it's available. Ah, I wondered what those were for. Saves me time from rooting about in my collection. Thanks David! Edit: Brickset has done an early review of the new '66 Batmobile. As part of their review, they did side by side comparisons of the figs and Batmobile from the 2016 Classic Batcave set. Neither set gets the starting point of the tailfins correct; they should start in the middle or right after the front windshield piece and travel over the door, but there probably wasn't room for the minifig arms to fit, hence the concession. It's nice to see the parachutes around the jet exhaust, which itself is a new Technic piece that looks closer to the real thing than the 2016 set. I wonder how long it'll be before we get an Expert Creator version. Anyway, the 2016 set is on the left, and the 2021 on the right.
  3. M'Kyuun
    This version looks to be more accurate than the previous model that came in the 1966 Batcave set. Like that set, I'll be leaving those shooters off.
  4. M'Kyuun
    I don't plan on getting this guy, but he looks great. It's amazing what MS and NA are pulling off at legends scale.
  5. M'Kyuun
    Slag's looking pretty good, overall. I wish they still did chrome- it'd be sweet to see these guys in all their chromy 80's goodness. Interesting that they didn't use his chest plate as the traditional dino lower jaw; both modes look good nevertheless. Not crazy about sandwiching his gun into the tail as storage. I wouldn't mind it if the tail was longer than the gun and obscured it completely, but when a good quarter inch of white gun protrudes from the tail, it just looks odd. I appreciate the effort, but the execution is wanting. They look removable to me, but none of these pics show them as such. Granted they look like quick cell phone shots, so who knows. They look too big for the detail they're supposed to emulate from the original toy, and the white color contrasts oddly with the silvery gray of his dino body, which makes me hope they can be removed and that the vent details are molded into the body plates/bot wings. From underneath, his back feet are tiny, thin, and hollow compared to his beefier front feet. I imagine it's so they can fold into the dino leg, which in turn folds into the bot leg. Still, they look oddly incongruent. That gun sticking out of the end of the tail is just . I would have hoped for better execution in a leader class. Not gonna stop me from getting him though. Assuming the rest are coming, I can't wait to see Sludge. He was the only Dinobot I owned as a kid, and I'm excited at the prospect of having an update in the mainline. I hope we also get deluxe Insecticons at some point in the SS86 line. Maybe a commander class Astrotrain with good looking alts. Voyager scaled Constructicons. Perchance to dream....
  6. M'Kyuun
    Agree- I think they'd do well to do the original SDF:M, followed by Macross Plus, which I think will resonate with the thirty-somethings and above who remember the competition between the YF-23 and YF-22 which inspired it, and Frontier, which had a really good balance of story, music, and transforming mecha action. as well as tapping into the kaiju trope with the Vajra. Frontier's just pretty to watch, but it had good characters that drew you in, and that's what they need to hook a new younger audience. At this point in the Saga, Big West has plenty of ammunition to overshadow HG's bastardized version of SDF:M, and I think if audiences have the chance to watch both, most people will gravitate to the more mature and sensible original show. Then again, this is America so I may be overestimating, especially in the light of events over the past few years.
  7. M'Kyuun
    Ooh, appreciate the pic! Slag's looking a little blocky in his Triceratops mode- more straight edges than curves. Hopefully he's a little curvier in person. I wonder if that odd protrusion behind Daniel's leg is an add-on or part of the sculpt. I hope the former, as it doesn't look right. Otherwise, he's pretty much channeling the G1 toy and toon in a good balance of each. I really wish they'd done the smoked plastic bits over inner mechanical details like the original toys. I always loved that, and it's noticeably absent on both Grimlock and this guy. Someone at Hasbro just needs to say "F**k the budget" and put all those touches that gave the original toys their charm their proper due. I like that they moved the aft dino legs, and ostensibly the tail halves, to the insides of the bot legs for a smoother , toon accurate profile in bot mode. If this is what the final is going to look like, they skimped on painting the mechanical details on the bot knees, and the sides of the dino mode. Alas, Hasbro. "Go the extra mile?- um, no".
  8. M'Kyuun
    Courtesy of Twitter user Preternia, Amazon has PO's up for some upcoming Kingdom and SS86 figs: SS86 leader class Slag and Daniel, voyager 86SS Wreck-gar, voyager Tigatron, deluxe 86SS Gnaw, deluxe Pipes, and deluxe Shadow Panther. I checked Pulse, but no listings for them there yet.
  9. M'Kyuun
    Not funny- pure joy! To that end, what I'd love to see happen is that BW moves quickly to get the original Macross broadcasting on one or more streaming services, and hell why not, Cartoon Network. maybe even SyFy. Just get the original SDF:M out there into the public consciousness for mass consumption. After seeing the original show without its archaic RT changes, Macross rightfully eclipses RT in popularity fueling desire for the original franchise, leaving RT in the dust to molder and finally disappear for good, and HG with it. That would be the ultimate scenario. It would seem that BW has the upper hand in this agreement; hopefully they work ever so quickly to take advantage of that fact and make the necessary overtures to ensure its their work and not the HG Frankenstein's Monster that becomes well known and loved here in the West. Even as the ink dries, I hope BW are planning carefully how to destroy their new 'partner' once and for all.
  10. M'Kyuun
    I doubt it, too, although I imagine big e-tailers like BBTS will likely get some stock to sell domestically. But walking into a brick and mortar (so few remain these days) and grabbing a new Bandai DX valk off the shelf is pretty unlikely, methinks. Unless BW do a serious marketing push to put Macross in the public eye, it'll remain relatively unkown here in the US and that doesn't bode well for merchandising. Hopefully, they'll utilize platforms like Netflix or Amazon to reach wider audiences with all the various Macross series available. Too, I'll be happy for English dubs; I've seen most of the Macross series now, and though I like hearing the expression in the original Japanese voice work, having to read the dialog takes away from being able to just sit back and take in all the visuals while understanding what is being said. If Funimation gets the contract to dub the series, I don't have a problem with it, except y'know, you're hearing the same voices as in every other dubbed anime coming at you. Small price, IMHO, to just be able to enjoy the visuals and hear dialog I can understand as a non-Japanese speaker. My concern with a Robotech movie is that all the idiotic changes that were made to remove mature references, especially the nature of the Protoculture, will ruin it for me as a Macross fan. I'd rather see a purely Macross film that can be followed on by live-action films of the rest of the Saga, if that's what BW wants to do. At the very least, I'd love to see a Macross Plus movie or, better, a series on one of the big streaming services, where they have the time to flesh out the story and no censorship on mature themes, language, etc. While I still love movies (I miss going to the theater), the ability of streaming shows to tell a prolonged story without having to edit content makes for a more enjoyable watching experience, and I'd love to see Macross done in this format, provided Studio Nue and Kawamori were involved. I don't imagine that Big West is going to back the Robotech live action film, so how is Harmony Gold going to finance it? I know they make the majority of their money from real estate holdings, but is it enough to finance a $100m film?
  11. M'Kyuun
    Still have mine, too, but I went ahead and PO'd Kingdom Rhinox just to see if there are any improvements. The T30 fig was really well done and still on display with my MP BW figs, along with Rattrap and Waspinator. Kingdom Rattrap was disappointing compared to the T30 and his fellow Kingdom mates, so I passed on him. I've been picking up the rest however, and for the most part, I think they're good, some better than others. I'm looking forward to finally having Scorponok and Terrorsaur, who, despite being core characters, have largely been ignored figure-wise. Scorponok looks amazing to me already- excited to get him. Airazor's in the mail, and I should have her in hand later this week. From the reviews I've seen, she looks to be one of the more impressively done figs in the Kingdom BW line, and having never had the original, I'm excited to add her to the growing collection. Although I enjoyed BW back when it was first airing, the toys didn't really grab me, so I own very few of the organic BW figs. My BW collecting took off when they introduced Transmetals, as I thought they were visually more appealing, plus the idea of a robot turning into a robotic beast appealed to me more as well. Still have them all stashed away around here somewhere.
  12. M'Kyuun
    You're awesome, Mike. My package with Huffer isn't supposed to show up until Thursday. I think it's coming by horse and buggy, or perhaps rickshaw. Not sure why it's taking so long. It shipped on the 6th from GA, and it's currently showing in CO. Since FedEx runs everyday, I'm hoping it'll show up a day or so sooner, but I'm definitely not holding my breath. I guess I can't complain since the shipping was free, but I'm a spoiled American, so I do. Anyway, if you exhaust all your other reviews, by all means, throw Huffer's up there. Hope you enjoy T30 Rattrap. I think he was done quite well- he's more complex than one would think so far as transformation, his rat mode legs articulate, and he even has the show accurate opening arms with little removable bombs in there. I very much liked that all the T30 figs integrated their weapons in beast mode, which is another thing that I wish ever so fervently was an unimpeachable standard in Transformers regardless of line. At this point in toy evolution, nothing pertinent to a character should have to go in the box or get pegged on awkwardly to an alt mode. The new Rattrap toy pales in comparison, except for its more realistic looking rat mode.
  13. M'Kyuun
    I'm with you- I wish the open handed look had become the standard instead of the outdated fist with a hole. That or give all the figs opening hands like ER Prime. That should be the standard at this point, along with fore and aft pivoting ankles, rotating wrists, and double jointed elbows and knees. That's the standard for most modern action figs, so why shouldn't Transformers follow suit?
  14. M'Kyuun
    He does indeed. He made a very nice looking VF-1, which I hope, when all the dust settles between this new agreement between Big West and Harmony Gold, he can submit to IDEAs. There was another VF-1 a few years back that was submitted by a different guy, and it made the 10K votes. But, I think the licensing stuff caused it to be rejected for production. If that interference is no longer present, it opens the door to so many possibilities for Macross related models to potentially see production. I fervently hope so. So, I finished my Shuttle Discovery yesterday (the door stickers were indeed a huge PITA), and it's a lovely set, albeit with the flaws that have already been mentioned by @Chronocidal. The tail is especially egregious, and I can't help but think there's a way to do it better while maintaining both rudder and speedbrake functionality. I likely won't mod mine, but that won't stop me from thinking about it. Anyway, the thing definitely has presence, and I love that they included a small stand to mount the Hubble as it's being released from the cargo bay. It gives the model a sense of dynamism, and it looks good to boot. Kudos to Milan Madge for creating what is sure to become another classic set that is well remembered for years to come.
  15. M'Kyuun
    Despite not really feeling this guy, I went ahead and PO'd him anyway yesterday just in case he turned out better than what the limited pics were indicating. After watching TonTon's review, I have to say I have a more favorable view of him; the proportions, as @mikeszekelypointed out, are a bit wonky in the shoulders, but even in the shot in Mike's post just standing there, he looks better to me. I personally like the long cannon barrel on Galvatron, so that's a non-issue. I wish they had found a way to store his bot mode barrel mount internally in cannon mode. I also wish TonTon had folded up the leg bits in cannon mode, as I'm not crazy about that particular bit of engineering. I do, however, like how they did the cannon barrel transformation, minus the shoulder mounts just kinda hanging out in space under the cannon. I wonder if the bot barrel mount will tab in between those to fill that space out? It still won't be the most sightly thing, but better than that gap. I also hope the treads can pivot to remain parallel if the angles of the arms are changed in cannon mode. Overall, though, not a bad looking fig after seeing it in good light and manipulated.
  16. M'Kyuun
    Yep, the Transformers panel is over. I didn't catch that question about the Dinobots, but another Fan Friday in May speaks to potential. I hope they have the rest of the team ready to go. I'll add that Tracks' trunk missile launcher can rotate to follow his head rotation, so that's a neat extra bit. More than likely it rotates for transformation anyway, but I'll take it. It looks good- they got pretty close to the Classic Corvette look without getting a license. Glad he has the flying car feature, too. I loved that about his G1 toy. I wish Mark had shown off more of Rhinox's articulation in Rhino mode, but I kinda got the sense that, much like the T30 Rhinox, rhino mode is pretty much a statue. The T30 Rhinox is still an impressive figure, so I'm curious to see improvements, if any. The rhino's mouth articulation looks better anyway.
  17. M'Kyuun
    Welcome back, man! Sorry to hear that sleep is evasive, but I get where you're coming from on the very surprising but cautiously optimistic BW/HG situation. For the first time, there's hope for Western Macross fans. As for Harry, TBH, I don't even remember what MS' version looked like; it was at first glance when I saw Harry for the first time. No regrets. Well one actually: Had I known that they would eventually release a fully decked out version with all the G1 toy deco, I would have waited for it instead. But the original version is clean and looks great on its own, so I'm still pretty happy with him.
  18. M'Kyuun
    Referring to your prior post, you've got a good wife. I saw the same info on Terrorsaur on Twitter this morning; not sure if the same guy is your source, but they said the same stuff. Sounds like it's going to be a rather heavy retool, but I already like the Airazor mold, so converting a falcon into a Pterosaur shouldn't be too much of a stretch. hopefully he'll be one of the reveals today. I'm already totally digging Scorponok- that scorpion mode looks awesome, one of the best beast modes in the line so far. I'm completely on board with all the other figs you mentioned, especially Inferno. "For the Royalty!" I'm still on the fence for The Ark- like Unicron it has its warts, but also like Unicron, it's unique, and I really dig the bot mode. That Ark mode, though. I'm sure some third party will attempt band aids for it, but the gulling fact is that it shouldn't need them. Knowing myself, I'll cave and get him and hope for decent add-ons to come about later on. Still not sold on Galvatron, but Rodimus is a definite buy. Well, just 37 minutes til it starts, so I'm gonna go get a drink and a potential snack and wait for the goodness. Good luck to all of you watching and waiting for POs! Edit: So Pulse's timer was off and I came in almost an hour too late to see the beginning of the TF panel. Regardless, I caved and PO'd everything except the Shattered Glass Blurr, the $700 Robosen Optimus, Tricranius, and Wingfinger, although I think the latter is the best looking of the dino skeleton figs thus far. If I see him in the store, I may pick him up. I'm such a sucker for this stuff.
  19. M'Kyuun
    I'll add to that and say IMHO, Magic Square generally has the more toon accurate sculpts. Their Megatron is the best example- just a gorgeous little figure. Incidentally, I have both NA's and MS' Megatrons standing side by side on my desk, so the differences are readily apparent. That doesn't mean they're perfect: comparing their recent takes on Cliffjumper and Bumblebee, both took different approaches, and personally, I think New Age did a far better job of capturing the Choro-Q appearance of the G1 toys in their car modes, while managing a decent take on the toonish bot modes. Magic Square's car modes look off a bit, but it's enough to sway me towards the New Age if I indeed order any. The New Age bot modes' chest sculpts are broken up, as they're apparently part of the transformation, and I've seen a number of complaints against that, The MS figs' chests are solid, so they look better from that POV. Of course it's all subjective, and I'm glad they took different approaches- more options are better. I also personally thought NA did a better job overall with their Seekers. Speaking of legends figs we'd like to have upscaled- those little Seeker figs so outclass the crappy Earthrise figs that I wish someone would do upscaled KOs of them to fit CHUG scale. I wouldn't say end of the world. If I gave the impression that I was upset in my earlier post, then I gave a mistaken impression, and I tender my sincere apology. On the contrary, I'm glad @Convectuoso showcased New Age's Harry in a couple of posts- I love the fig, and it's nice to share someone else's joy. I also think @tekering had a valid point when he pointed out the lack of identification of the fig in Convectuoso's post, which he has since fixed. So it's a positive all the way around. I think a lot of us, when we post something, get lost in the excitement and forget that not everyone here follows all things Transformers all the time. I completely understand it and I'm sure I'm guilty of it somewhere along the line. That said, I don't think it's offensive or asking too much of each other to identify what we're posting so that others , if said post captures their interest, can more easily do their own research. It's a courtesy, and one I try to adhere to and encourage others to as well. @technoblue I hope you get some restful sleep, Sir.
  20. M'Kyuun
    I recognized 'Harry' b/c I have him, but yeah, I hate it when folks post pics of stuff without clarification. FWIW, I concur wholeheartedly with Convectuoso's assessment: he's a great little fig, and as a huge fan of Prowl's design, a very satisfying figure for its size. Thus far, aside from IGear's Huffer and Cosmos, I've only bought a handful of legends figs from Magic Square and New Age, although I PO'd a few upcoming Iron Factory figs, so I'll be broadening my collection with those later this year. As for reviewers, Kuma's a good source, as he's pretty deep into Iron Factory, and he collects other legends as well. Scale does seem to be all over the place from company to company, which makes mixing and matching a PITA. Since my collection is so small, I don't really care, but for someone who's heavily invested in a legends collection, it's a nuisance. I'm primarily a CHUG collector, and I personally wish that either A) a third party would take the risk and make CHUG scale stuff, or B) upscale some of these legends figs to CHUG scale, whatever class that may entail. It'd be great to have another option when something like ER Astrotrain comes along and there's a legends fig out there that's better. Too, G1 Megatron, as we'll never again see a Megatron toy that turns into a gun in the US, and third party could provide that. I think there's definitely a market for upscaled figs, but I think fear of litigation or police raids are keeping most of these companies in their legends or MP scaled comfort zones, with no-one even attempting to infringe on Hasbro's main line. Sad for us, the collectors.
  21. M'Kyuun
    It would be satisfying, wouldn't it? But yeah, at this point, it's the first positive step in decades towards getting Macross availability here in the West beyond Robotech, so it's a victory. Like everyone here, I hope BW, Bandai, and Arcadia take advantage of the situation to expand the property in the West beyond its rather niche existing market. With Transformers still riding a wave of popularity and little in the way of competition, it'd be nice to see Macross become as well known as Naruto or Pokemon. I doubt that'll happen, but it would be great to see it become much wider known and liked by a wider audience, fueling the desire for toys and models. We can only hope.
  22. M'Kyuun
    I finished bag 13 tonight, just prior to assembling the cargo bay doors. I intend to apply the dreaded stickers, and I'd rather put those on when I'm rested and have good daylight. So far, it's been a fun build. I built the Hubble, and parts of that were reminiscent of some of the techniques used on the Saturn V. It looks nice with all that silver cladding. Those slopes are going to be worth a fortune on Bricklink. Overall, I don't mind the functional features, although I'll echo the observation that the elevon mounts (I haven't built the actual surfaces yet) if leveled out, are both slightly raised, as if giving a nose pitch upward command. I imagine the weight of the surfaces will help bring them closer to level, but I doubt they'll be perfectly level due to the use of the steering control rods used to effect the motion. It's a concession, and one I understand due to the confined space in which the designer, Milan, had to work. I'm actually impressed that he incorporated a functional speedbrake, as just making the rudder work would have been simpler to pull off. The slider for the gear is a pretty neat idea. It seems to work smoothly on mine, but then again, mine's only about half built at this time, and building up the nose may add some stressors that cause it to stick as well. We'll see tomorrow. So far, I'm happy with the model as-is, but I can totally get behind making mods to correct those things that are inaccurate or just bug you. More power to you if you can make a more satisfying model. It's certainly part of the charm and challenge of working with LEGO.
  23. M'Kyuun
    That's what I got out of it, too. Instead of eradicating Harmony Gold from the Macross landscape, Big West made concessions to them, which gives them ownership still of SDFM in the western hemisphere. It's not the landmark sweeping victory I was hoping for. I want to see Harmony Gold's influence on the franchise utterly wiped out; it's the least they deserve for their shady shenanigans over the last few decades. I am happy at the prospect of all the other Macross series, and hopefully toys (re-releases or otherwise) making it to American shores without interference or legal challenges. With the possibility of a new YF-21 in development at Bandai, the prospect of it's availability here without resorting to the usual midnight madness is somewhat comforting, albeit cautiously so. But overall, this is good news, certainly news I never really ever expected to see, so there's a measure of positivity to be had. I'll be far more enthused when I start seeing the various Macross series on Blu-Ray at my local store, and valk toys and models showing up at B&N, Comic stores, and all the American e-tailers. The day I come home from a store with a new valk is the day I'll know the nightmare is finally over.
  24. M'Kyuun
    Very good figs, both. If you forgot the pancakes and milk, you should be forgiven. I wish the entirety of the line was done at least as well as these two figs. So today's Pulse event, which was essentially a little primer for Premium members before tomorrow's main event was mostly geared towards Marvel fans. They showed off the Haslab Sentinel, which looks pretty cool. If I was a Marvel collector, especially X-Men, I'd be down for one. They had Taboo from Black-Eyed Peas as a special guest. Not only is he a bonified toy collector and geek, but he's been writing for a few titles at Marvel, and he talked about how much toys and pop culture had influenced his life and his art. Wrapping up the event was a quick concert by the Cybertronic Spree.Gotta admit, I was grinning ear to ear through the whole set. I hope we get more tomorrow. There really wasn't much branching from Marvel today. Tomorrow, all the brands will be covered, and I hope they talk about the development of The Ark, as I'm curious about the decisions, good and bad, behind it. Hopefully they'll do some reveals as well. I'm hoping for Slag, personally, and any other Dinobots they choose to grace us with under the current Kingdom and SS86 lines.
  25. M'Kyuun
    Shipping's a funny thing. For example, I'm expecting a package from Pulse that shipped just this past Saturday, originally scheduled to be here tomorrow, but bumped out to Monday. I ordered the new Discovery Space Shuttle LEGO set on Sunday, and it's showing out for delivery today. Both are coming by FedEX. The TFs are coming from PA, and the LEGO set shipped from IL, so although the LEGO set originated a little closer to WA state, it's not such a great distance that one would expect four additional days of travel for the TFs be required. FYI, according to tracking, the TFs in question are currently in Oregon, so they may still show up tomorrow or Saturday. Anyway, I'm sorry to hear that you specifically paid extra to get it there quicker, only to have to wait anyway. It shouldn't happen, but it does. I wonder if anyone here has stuff potentially on the Ever Given, which was infamously stuck in the Suez for about a week. Talk about an unscheduled delay. Edit: Pulse premium event is about to start
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