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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    I'm a short dude at 5'2", and the proportions of this look just fine to me. It's a little more anatomically correct to actual human proportionality than most TFs, and most general depictions of robots in various genres, which usually have foreshortened thighs. The similarities, thanks to that comparison shot (Thanks, Technoblue) are beyond coincidental; they're totally going for the MP-44 look in bot mode, and I'm fine with that. I already own Light of Freedom, which departed from the thinner more lanky look in favor of a chonkier bot, which works for me in the MP scale. I'm glad this isn't just a shrunken down clone of LoF, as their LoJ V1 was. I am curious, however, if they're employing some of the same tricks as Takara and NA with two sets of windshields to delineate the truck's windshield from Prime's chest. I hope not, but if they do, I hope it's well executed, and not as obvious as NA's method. Too, I hope this isn't just a scaled down MP-44- MS have proven themselves to be adept designers, so some originality is appreciated. I'm curious if V2 is coming with the trailer. None of the proto shots I've seen have shown it, although there was one proto shot with the repair drone, so it follows that there will be a trailer. Then again, LoF didn't come with one, nor the ability to connect it to a trailer, which was a surprisingly important omission for an Optimus figure. That trailer, whether you display it or not, is part of the character, and leaving it out is like making Soundwave with neither the cassettes nor the ability to even store them. It's a salient feature of the character from the beginning, and the omission is notable.
  2. M'Kyuun
    TBF, that's pretty much how he's always been since the G1 toy, which I have, along with both versions of the recent WfC P/CP figs. But I know what you're saying, especially in a MP scaled fig. A little additional engineering to kinda cover up the fact that you just turn him around and lift his visor to change identities would be appreciated. It'd be very cool if they could make each individual bot either fully blue or fully yellow, and maybe even give him two heads depending on the identity in question. After all, the visor thing probably doesn't work quite as well at this scale. As it is, it's hard to believe anybody would be fooled that Punch and Counterpunch aren't the same dude. 14 year old me thought it was pretty cool, though. 50 year old me still does.
  3. M'Kyuun
    That would be cool, thanks.
  4. M'Kyuun
    Likewise. Target's generally better at maintaining stock, but even when they do have figs on the pegs, it's not in any great quantity. But at least they carry size classes above deluxe, which is about all my local Wally carries, in the very rare instance that they actually have anything on the pegs. I was there yesterday, and they had nary a single Transformers toy. I was at the Target closest to me the day prior, trying to score Origin Bumblebee. They didn't have him, of course, but they did have the Bee/barricade 2-pack, Buzzworthy Bee with Spike, a few copies of T-Wrecks (which were lying on the backs of the boxes on a lower shelf on an endcap a couple isles down from the TF area- I almost missed them), and one copy of the Worlds Collide Multipack. I don't recall if they had anything else from Kingdom, but I don't think so. It was fairly sparse pickings, and I left without buying any Transformers stuff, as Origin Bee was the only thing I was after. Fortunately, the Buzzworthy stuff tends to warm the pegs longer than the main line stuff, so I'm hopeful that I'll eventually stumble across it. It's not listed on Pulse anywhere, and I can't even find it on Target's site. Moreover a search at my local Targets come up nil. But good ole ebay has 'em by the barrel load, all at double and above MSRP. It beggars the question, how do these things always seem to be stocked conveniently close to where the scalpers live, but I'd have a better chance of tripping over a black-footed ferret than finding a Transformer toy at my local stores?
  5. M'Kyuun
    I'm also not a fan of the double windshield. I don't mind Prime with a flat chest, nor do I mind a truck with windshield windows angled. Pick one and go with it, but this sudden need to have two different windshield shapes in a single figure brings with it some compromises that generally affects one or the other mode negatively. That said, since that's the direction NA went with this version of Prime, I think it's pretty well implemented- the bot mode still looks really good from any angle except straight down where you can see the bot mode windshield sandwiched against the truck windshield, along with the double set of cab lights that looks weird. The back set of wheels stick out away from the truck, which looks a little odd in a 3/4 view. Beyond those niggles, it's a fine looking figure in both modes. High praise for the insane amount of articulation they achieved. It's hard to believe this is a legends scale figure. There's definitely passion at play in this design, and I tip my hat to NA for the design and finish. It's beautiful. Fit, of course, remains to be seen with in-hand reviews, but as the owner of several NA figs, I can attest that the fit on my figs is pretty good. Now they need to go back and redesign their Megatron, which was a pretty nice fig in its own right, but lacked the polish and toon accuracy of the Magic Square, which is the best G1 Megatron toy I've seen or owned. I wish MS would upscale it to match Light of Freedom, my MP Prime of choice. As it happens, I also chose MS' Light of Justice 2.0 for my legends Prime as well. I just really love the look of their Prime figs. I wish it had clear windows, and the final may have them, but painted windows are fine. Anyway, looking forward to seeing painted samples, and of course, having the thing in hand to stand next to my MS Megatron. @technoblueI look forward to your MS Prime comparison, as I don't own V1, and am glad now that I waited, as V2 nails the backpack aesthetics better, and just overall incorporates any number of improvements. Its articulation is also quite impressive based on the proto shots I've seen. As a kid, and even a young adult, I never imagined that I'd see Transformer toys anywhere nearly this well done. I hoped for better versions of the G1 characters, but I never would have guessed that it would happen, and certainly that it would happen at this level, but I'm ecstatic that I'm alive to see it, and financially capable of picking up the odd fig that I want. I hope the younger collectors among us appreciate just how far these Transformer toys have come, both official and non. I think we're exceptionally fortunate that, unlike many 80s IPs, the franchise is thriving, and the toys just continue to evolve. I'm grateful.
  6. M'Kyuun
    I fence sat for Blackout for a long time until finally seeing him at the Base Exchange at Fairchild for $40. There's no sales tax on base, so I relented and got him, as he's a realistic Pave Low, and he was one of few Baybots whose look I liked, as it was readily apparent from those cockpit halves on his chest, the intakes on his shoulders, and that huge rotor disc on his back what his alt mode was. In other words, he, more than most, rocked a bit of a G1 look in his bot mode that appealed to me. Still appeals to me. Anyway, seeing the improvements, especially those hands, makes me wish I'd kept on waiting. Alas, despite the improvements in paint and articulation, I feel no compunction to double dip. I'll just consider my Blackout with an iota of buyers regret from now on, but as it is, it's still a pretty neat fig. As a personal aside, I was stationed at Hurlburt Field in the early to mid-90s, which some of you may know as the home of USAF Special Ops. I worked the MC-130E Talon I fleet while I was there, but we shared the ramp with the Spectre and Ghost gunships, the Talon II multirole MC-130Hs, as well as HH-60 Pave Hawks, and the MH-53 Pave Lows. I worked maintenance, and sometimes when our own bench stock was missing some hardware we needed for a job, we'd go on sneaky recon to the other AMUs (Aircraft Maintenance Units) to forage in their bench stocks for items we needed. And sometimes we'd get a chance to climb aboard a chopper for a little looksee. Never got to fly in one though- I would've loved to have had the opportunity. Huge sigh.
  7. M'Kyuun
    Dreamstar Toys DST01-002 Highdive (Aerialbot Skydive) Gray Prototype - Transformers News - TFW2005 This is the F-16 figure in Dreamstar's original take on the Aerialbots. I PO'd this guy and the Harrier fig awhile back, as the alt modes for these things are extremely well done, relative to jetformers historically, official and otherwise. Unfortunately, their take on Silverbolt isn't nearly as refined as their limb bots, and he has the old tried and true boxy bot under a sleek Concorde fuselage. I wish they'd look at what Fans Toys did with maverick and redesign to make their Silverbolt closer to the real jet's proportions like the rest of their Aerialbots. OR, make their Silverbolt a B-1 Lancer, which IMO, would be more fitting for a group of military jets.
  8. M'Kyuun
    Give it time; Hasbro's never shy about getting mileage from a mold, so tradition dictates that there will be toy decoed versions released at some point with the transparent bits over golden innards and likely tampoes to represent the G1 sticker details, not to mention sword and any other weapons that the G1 toys came with. When the first pics of Kingdom Slug were shown, he had the clear bit over his dino nugget, so I believe these were designed from the onset with toy versions in mind. I looked, but couldn't find the picture. It's likely somewhere in the forums on TFW2005, but I don't feel like parsing through all those pages. I'm getting these SS Dinos, but honestly, my preference is for the toy look. I'm still enamored by the golden mechanical bits beneath transparent sheathing that really stood out on the old G1 toys, and I'd love to see it on these guys, too. Like Mike, when they come, I'll be double dipping on some Dinobot goodness. @mikeszekelyAnother great review! I've seen vid reviews of this guy, but something about reading all those ranges for articulation is hitting home- this is the level that Hasbro, and Takara by extension, need to maintain going forward, hopefully filtering down to all class sizes eventually. If third parties can manage it at legends scale, then there's no reason they can't do it at deluxe and up for all figs. That should be the expectation and the goal.
  9. M'Kyuun
    Thanks for the heads up. I've never bought anything from XTB or KFC, but I've read many a complaint about KFC stuff over the years which gives pause. As much as I like cassette bots, $70 is a lot of cash to throw at toys, and there are certainly things of better quality I could throw money at, like LEGO, my preeminent vice, or even a legends from MS or NA. Yours is sage advice, and I think I will indeed wait for reviews.
  10. M'Kyuun
    Truth be told, I'm not sure where I'd display them. My Detolfs are getting pretty crowded these days, but I'm sure I could squeeze them in somewhere. I also intend to get the larger MMC versions when they come out, but I thought it'd be nifty to have a pair of updated micro-cassette figs that actually fit in MP Soundwave, or some future MP Blaster, should Takara ever get around to it. I passed on the original KFC cassette releases, as well as his Blaster, and these updated cassettes make me glad I did. To get 'em, or not to get 'em; that's the question, to paraphrase some old British playwright. Anybody got anything recently from Keith? Just curious how the quality of his stuff has been of late.
  11. M'Kyuun
    As an AFOL who's been privileged to attend large LEGO conventions in Seattle and Portland, I've seen my share of large ornate MOCs. That said, this is an extraordinarily impressive display. I can't imagine the investment of time, money, brick, and other resources (lights, stickers, etc) he put into this, not to mention the painstaking research to try and nail all the details. Wonderful job. Love the wall detail in Snoke's holo-throne room. Just so much detail and personal flare thrown in everywhere.😍 I fervently hope he brings this to BrickCon in October; I'd love to salivate over it in person, and offer a well deserved tipping of the hat to the builder. I wish LEGO's official Troop carrier from TFA had looked nearly as good as his. It definitely wasn't the most inspired ship, looking more akin to a flying shoebox, but his MOC makes it look much better to my eyes than it even looked in the film. The greatest missing element of the sequels was George's incredible imagination for ships and such; he may not write good dialog, but the guy's a visual genius, and the blandness and general lack of originality in the vehicles was remarkable for a series notable for its incredible designs over the years.
  12. M'Kyuun
    I'm a big fan of the cassette bots, and KFC has just revealed updated versions of his original Ramhorn and Steeljaw, and to my eye, they both look pretty good. I've never bought any KFC stuff, and my general impression is that it's not the best quality, i.e. loose pins, floppy joints right out of the box. These things are $35 a piece, pretty steep for such a small figure. Should I take the plunge? CST-14 Rhinohorn 2.0 | KFC Toys (tfsource.com) CST-15 Ironpaw 2.0 | KFC Toys (tfsource.com)
  13. M'Kyuun
    I stand corrected, then. It sounded like Ron to me, but I never looked to see who voiced who. I'd have to go back and watch all three series consecutively for a refresh, and honestly, I don't think I'm up to all the stilting dialog, to get a clearer picture of the plot from start to end, but I recall the basics concerning the MacGuffin, I mean Allspark. I think the pacing and the voice acting diminish the experience, though. I know I started dozing off any number of times during the different parts. That could just be me, though- I have a bad habit of getting sleepy when I watch tv. Anyway, I think the differences in the voices also proves challenging to those of us who grew up with G1. Those original voices are imprinted in our psyches, and it's difficult to hear another voice coming from a very G1 looking character. It takes a deliberate effort to mentally divorce the images from the voices and personalities, the latter of which I think they did a better job of preserving than the former. I tried to enjoy it for what it is, and isn't. I do really wish they'd had better voice direction, though- I don't know what they were thinking with those slow stilted deliveries (I'm sure the VA's could do a more natural delivery, but I'm thinking the director/ voice director wanted what we got. ) Alas, I don't think this series is going to be one of the more memorable ones, at least for us older fans. For the younger audience, who knows. This may be their G1. Poor kids. Guess I need to give Cyberverse a watch. Hopefully it'll cleanse the palate of the bad taste WfC left behind.
  14. M'Kyuun
    Geez, what is it with all these highly produced weird, pointless perfume/cologne ads with big stars? They've kinda become their own genre. Just started watching Beastars on Netflix, so the Lamb trailer looks like something that escaped from that world into ours. Looks intriguing- it's my kind of weird, unlike perfume commercials.
  15. M'Kyuun
    10K Achieved! LEGO Ideas Knight Rider: KITT and the FLAG Mobile Command Unit Achieves 10,000 Supporters - The Brick Fan I hope this gets chosen for production.
  16. M'Kyuun
    That's a really well done display; kudos to the owner. Even Skullface and his collection snobs would have a tough time nitpicking that one to death. 😏 And being an older kid when TFs came out, I was certainly more critical than a younger kid, especially since I was aware there were toys like GI Joe and Micronauts that had a fairly full range of articulation. Seeing them move about on screen, and looking at the boxart didn't help but exacerbate my chafing at the nigh immobility of the toys. Glad articulated versions of those characters came about in my lifetime. Especially Prowl.
  17. M'Kyuun
    Well, I'm a lukewarm G.I. Joe fan from the 80's who watched the toon, but never read the comics or delved any deeper into the lore. But the general sense I've always had of Snake Eyes from the various toons over the years is that he's a martial arts master with a military background who can't speak, has extraordinary resolve, and a nigh unshakeable sense of moral uprightness. He's a good guy to the core who does whatever it takes to protect his teammates and see the mission through. That wasn't the direction they took with this iteration. Maybe they thought painting him in shades of grey would make him more compelling. I dunno. Anyway, I just sat back and enjoyed it for what it was. I'll agree with former comments that say Storm Shadow was really the star here, and they did a good job of showing a good guy turn sour. But as @Kanedas Bike said earlier, SS was totally justified for being angry. But given his last words before leaving the family estate, what follows seems counter to his parting statement. Alas, the franchise must be served. So far as Snake's character being out of traditional character throughout most of the film, I consider Di Bonaventura is the same producer behind the live action Transformers films, and look how they butchered and reimagined all those characters, not just physically, but their personalities, or fractions thereof, that some had. So, for Snake Eyes to look more like a generic ninja film with a few GI Joe references makes total sense considering who's producing. It is sad, though, that the animated shows seem to get the essence of GI Joe far, far better than any of the far better budgeted live action films have thus far. Money's no replacement for passion, though. Just like the Bumblebee Movie felt more like the Transformers that I grew up with than any of the Bay films.
  18. M'Kyuun
    Which is why I, a Geewunner, can't understand the appeal that these old toys still hold for collectors. I suppose they have an old school charm to them, but even when I was collecting the odd TF toy in my mid to late teens, I felt more disenchantment with them than anything else. I longed and hoped fervently for toys resembling what we now have through MP, the main line stuff since the Combiner Wars Trilogy, and all the G1 third party offerings. I envy the kids of today, as they're getting the toys I imagined and longed for as a teenager- they just don't know how spoiled they are, so comparisons like these really do drive home just how far Transformer toys have come since 1984. Honestly, though, I'm happier that these things are out now when I'm an adult with disposable income enough to afford this hobby. As a kid, I didn't have much in the way of cash flow, so had these been the reality back then, I wouldn't have had the means to buy too many of them. So while I do envy the kids of today for the improved quality in the toys of their generation, I'm happier still knowing that, unlike most kids, I'm equipped to pick and choose what I want for my collection. It was worth the wait.
  19. M'Kyuun
    Binged Kingdom today: as for the voices, more of the same slow stilted deliveries, especially Prime, and to a slightly lesser degree, Megatron. Some of the VA's try to sound like the original VAs, and some don't try at all and don't sound even close (Ironhide come to mind immediately). Ron Perlman, a veteran, gives a good performance as Primal; he doesn't sound like Garry Chalk, but he gives a good line delivery, and gives the character gravitas. There's little in the way of the sense of humor from Beast Wars here. Kingdom Megs ends a couple statements with 'yes', but it's not played to the same tongue in cheek manner as David Kaye's original performance. Story-wise, they brought the overarching plot to a decent conclusion. I thought the CG models were fine, and on the whole, I thought it was a good looking show with a lot of atmosphere. The voice work and writing holds it back from being great. Some of the dialog is pedantic, cliched, or odd (why would Cybertronians ever use any form of the word, 'damn'?). Too, the writers fall back on a lot of metaphysical mumbo-jumbo concerning the Allspark, and to a lesser degree, the Matrix. While a little metaphysics is ok to add an air of mystique, I think those elements should be kept mysterious while the focus should be more on a straight story with good old greed, ambition, and psychopathic indifference on the parts of the Decepticons to achieve power and authority, with some Machiavellian plans at play, and the Autobots trying to preserve their peaceful way of life in light of Megatron's ambition. The Ark was cool. I noticed they rendered it with all five engines and the aft quarter panels complete and filled in, unlike the toy. The rendered hands looked better than the toy's dishwashing rubber gloved look. For all the buildup, though, the way they used him was a bit underwhelming. Transformations were pretty minimal and rarely depicted on screen, although the old transforming sound effect is employed to indicate that it's happening. I guess, since the renders are based on the actual toys, making them transform like the toys on screen would have been too expensive or too laborious to render accurately (they should have hired Polesdru to do stop-motion of the toys and used those as templates). Anyway, for a show about transforming robots, they don't transform as often as you'd think. Too, gone is the 'too-much energon' excuse for the original BW characters' alt modes. No other beasts are shown, either, as a reason for disguise, although at the same scale as the regular Cybertronians who take on vehicle alts, they would dwarf the real animals. So they exist purely as nostalgic callbacks and reasons to make toys, but make little sense in context. I could probably keep nitpicking things, but I won't. If you've slogged through the first two seasons, you'll want to watch this season just to tie it all up. Even with the slow pacing and awkward voice acting, the story is coherent across all three seasons and comes to a nice conclusion, with a loose string to form the basis of the next iteration. If you haven't watched it, or just couldn't hang after an ep or two, this offers nothing new or better. I haven't watched Cyberverse, but I'm beginning to feel like I missed out. I enjoyed Prime, so I imagine I'd like that, too. At least the voice acting was better. I think Optimus is the worst, with his extremely stilted delivery, over-enunciation, and lack of contractions, his delivery consistently sounds very unnatural, and diminishes the appeal of such a storied character. I think they're building up to the next chapter with Galvatron, or some semblance thereof. Not sure, but I'd wager they're going to move into Unicron Trilogy territory, which would make sense given how it wrapped up.
  20. M'Kyuun
    1.) When they're speaking 2.) Most likely Japanese, but I don't the think the animation followed actual lip movements. I can't say with any certainty, as I don't speak fluent Japanese. 3.) I watched it in English on Netflix.
  21. M'Kyuun
    Read the comic. Y'know, it's just silly enough to be made into a show, sponsored, of course, by Taco Bell. Gotta admire the amount of effort here just to advertise some spicy fries with cheese on them.
  22. M'Kyuun
    Hopefully they can find legit jobs doing the same sort of thing. There's definitely a market for transforming toys, and those toys don't necessarily have to be Transformers. I'd welcome another property or franchise based around transformable vehicles, especially if it had some good media to go along with it. But, I'm a toy guy, so that's never been the main driver for me; I buy 'em b/c they exist and they appeal to me. I've always found it funny when folks only buy toys of the characters that interest them. I generally go the opposite- I buy the toys that interest me regardless of the character or whether I care about the character. If the toy is cool, that's all that matters. Anyway, as I said, it's a terrible waste of tremendous talent if these folks just retire from designing transformable toys. There's room for more, especially at the level they were doing it.
  23. M'Kyuun
    The Carbotix is really nice, but that's a lot of ducats. Looks like they kept the squarish proportions of Green Lion. Probably necessary for the room required to hide the legs. I love that feature, but not enough to canx my PO for the much more reasonably priced SOC. I'm happy with second best. @Syro Sorry for your loss.
  24. M'Kyuun
    Given that Dan Akroyd, the guy who came up with the idea in the first place and wrote/co-wrote the first two films has a writing credit on this movie, it's coming from a pretty reliable source. Ivan Reitman's son is directing; I'm sure Jason had his father's counsel to lean on, and hopefully his great sense of humor, to maintain continuity in look and feel. And by revolving the plot around the late Egon's grandchildren, there's a nice tribute there to the impact Harold Ramis, RIP good sir, had on the original films. Looks like they've got a good cast in place, both originals, and new, to carry the torch. I'm looking forward to it.
  25. M'Kyuun
    To go slightly askance, GitS: 2045 is kind of a slow starter, at least for me. The story gets better, but you have to slog through those first few eps. The sole American on the team lives up to the American cliche: loud, arrogant, stupid, and incompetent. It's slightly annoying, as is the throwaway character. Anyway, the mouth animations bugged me the whole way through; they just looked bad. The story was ok, but SAC did it much better, IMHO. As to the new Blade Runner, I think they would have been further ahead to play up the noir aspects, if any, that the show might offer. That's always been the atmosphere of Blade Runner, and the trailer feels more like an ep of Kung-Fu: 2070 than an offshoot of Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.
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