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M'Kyuun

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Everything posted by M'Kyuun

  1. M'Kyuun
    Love District 9; I hope Neil and the team can make the sequel at least on par with the original.
  2. M'Kyuun
    CHUG please! Just got Magic Square's metallic painted Doomsday (Megatron) earlier this week, and what a fantastic figure. Glad I fence sat, as the metallic paint is crisp and looks so much better, IMHO, than the unpainted version. The only negative I have with it is that there are bits on both the arms and legs that don't quite have the natural clearance to get them rotated into position during transformation, and a little 'finessing' is required. Not the most ideal situation, but so far as I can see, the joints and materials allow for it without undo stress. So far, anyway. The transformation is a brilliant bit of engineering, and I wish Takara had thought of it first with MP-36, as it captures the G1 toy transformation and preserves the gun slide as Megs' upper torso, with virtually no kibble, and a very clean and toon accurate looking G1 Megatron for your trouble. I have the New Age Megatron as well, but this figure smokes it in the aesthetics department.
  3. M'Kyuun
    I generally avoid the TFW boards anyway, as no matter the topic, the conversation quickly devolves into abysmal depths of negativity and bad behavior. I'm pretty sure they have mods, but it seems like they're on smoke break 99% of the time, or just don't care. Anyway, as much as I like collecting Transformers, and as much as some are disappointing, at the end of the day, they're just toys, and not worth getting worked up into a foaming frenzy, or lashing out at others. As long as all of us G1 aged guys are still around and supporting the franchise, Has/Tak are gonna keep making G1, so if a fig today fails to live up to expectations, eventually they'll make another version, especially if it's a main character. I don't get the vitriol, or the jumping to conclusions over a leaked photo of a preliminary figure, or any figure for that matter. The only justification for rage of that intensity to me would be a very high dollar MP or something like HasLab Unicron, having a plethora of QC issues right out of the box., especially any factors that inhibit functionality. If you're plunking down $200 or more for anything, it better meet expectations as advertised. Just my 2 cents. Anyway, although there's no hard confirmation, given the overall quality of the WFC line so far, not to mention how well done this last Hot Rod turned out, I have little doubt we'll see that continue with a Rodimus figure, including all the elements that are salient to the character. If they are indeed operating on a commander class budget, or even leader, I think that would certainly be adequate towards realizing a fairly definitive toy, within the limitations of mass retail production. Honestly, although it fills out and completes the vehicle mode, much like Prime's trailer, realistically, I'll likely have about as much use for Rodimus' rolling gun platform as I do for Prime's rolling repair bay. But, both trailers are essential to the characters, so it's still nice to have them and have them open up and do what they do. Got my Kingdom Grimlock, and he is indeed a beefy fellow. I see some folks complaining about his stumpy tail, and though it doesn't really bother me, especially after the PotP and Fall of Cybertron Grimlock figs, I'll concede that it would have been cool had they done the matryoshka doll treatment with his tail similar to how Cyclonus' nose unfurls. They didn't though, and that's ok, because they pretty much got everything else right in both modes, dark transparent chest piece notwithstanding. Given his leader class size, I wish that he'd had opening hands, as I think, at this point in the line's evolution, everything voyager and up should have them as a standard, and those deluxes who need them for one reason or another should have them as well. I would have also liked his dino neck to have the mechanical elements in the center covered by clear plastic like the G1 toys, and like the box art depicts. That would have been better than Wheelie.
  4. M'Kyuun
    Admittedly, I was never into Pooh, even as a child. That said, the little honey loving bear and his odd assortment of friends have been delighting kids, and adults too, since 1926, and I think for that reason, it was a good choice for LEGO to realize as a set through IDEAS. I can't say that I agree with LEGO's marketing this set as 18+, as many a parent, grandparent, uncle, friend, etc, especially those who aren't into LEGO, take those age markings seriously, and to my eye, neither the build nor the subject matter justify that age designation. I'm all for LEGO creating sets that specifically appeal to adults; as an AFOL who builds sets and MOCs and attends LEGO conventions, which are organized and supported by AFOLs, I'm very much aware of the adult fanbase. However, I don't think they should be pushing that agenda so aggressively, especially with something like this that would undoubtedly delight young kids as much as older ones.
  5. M'Kyuun
    I appreciate the reply. Seeing the sort of shenanigans they get up to with their hobby, it's a reasonable assumption that their real estate/rental dealings are likely mired in shadiness. They don't seem to be a company that prizes ethical behavior. Hopefully, one way or the other, it catches up to them and it's their undoing. Even if I'm old and grey by the time it happens, I hope to see HG's hold on Macross slip away, and all things Macross become available everywhere, with the rightful owners reaping the benefits, as well as the fans.
  6. M'Kyuun
    Question for @Seto Kaiba: To wrest the hold that HG exercises over the Macross trademark, and thus all related merch in the West, why can't Big West, Bandai, Arcadia, etc take them to task legally over monopolizing the market, especially since HG do so little with it by comparison? I'm not familiar with monopoly law, but I'm curious as to whether it could be applicable in this case. I certainly hope HG doesn't receive a big payday for their bad behavior over the years. They just need to shutter under the weight of increasing market and legal pressure from the actual owners of the franchise. One way or the other, though, I hope to see Macross here in the US with Big West on the box, and Harmony Gold a fading bad memory.
  7. M'Kyuun
    We do indeed, and it makes the hobby more interesting than its just being a pile of toys. Rodimus hater. I'm not the biggest fan, but I don't necessarily hate the character. I don't like what they did with him in the toon, but I thought he showed, ah, potential in the Movie. I think for most of us who watched Transformers from the beginning and thought Optimus was awesome were pretty well upset by his replacement with this brash "kid", Hot Rod. As Rodimus, I don't think they wrote him well in the toon, and with all the backlash and pressure from parents for killing off Prime in the Movie, they were moving inexorably towards minimizing Rodimus and bringing back Optimus. That's just my feelings toward the whole RP vs OP situation. At the end of the day, it was a move made to phase out old toys to bring in new ones, but it was done in such a heavy-handed fashion, and Hasbro underestimated the impact that Optimus had had on a lot of kids. So far as Kingdom Rodimus goes, I'm sure there's going to be a trailer- it's over 50% of the character's alt mode. This is a prelim shot, so I don't even expect it to be final. I never saw that ep where Rodimus separates from his trailer, but I think it's pretty cool, and I like that he's not just simply Hot Rod's car mode, but that there are some changes. Anyway, folks over on Twitter are up in arms concerning the lack of a trailer as well, and my thinking is "chill". This is a leaked prelim shot, and we know this is going to be commander class, so it's pretty obvious, to me at least, that there's going to be more to the toy than just what we see here. Patience.
  8. M'Kyuun
    While some of his personality quirks can be wearying, I find that the reviewer in question, once he gets into the meat and potatoes of his review, is very competent at what he does. He's often my go-to when I'm stuck on a transformation. I also like the levity he brings to his reviews- more often than not, I get a chuckle, usually from his more wry observations. He and a particular mask wearing reviewer have very different styles and deliveries, but I appreciate both for what they do for the fandom, and just for the people they are and their obvious love of the hobby. "It takes all kinds", as the old saying goes, and being a 49 year old man-child whose life revolves around toys, I suppose I've a certain predisposition to be forgiving of quirkiness. I'm one of those oddities, so I've little room to judge.
  9. M'Kyuun
    Now I see what you mean by SD. This is the first time I've seen this thing in profile, and it really puts things into proper perspective to see it next to the actual aircraft. They did good with the salient details of the plane, but it's quite obviously squished, much more so than I could previously observe. It's actually kinda abdorable. I like SD planes, so it hits a sweet spot for me; if the bot was similarly SD in proportion, the whole would work better. As it is, it reminds me of the G1 minibots (Choro-Q) with their SD vehicle modes but more proportionate bot modes. That's one way to reconcile the toes, but I have no doubt the bot mode was designed based on an F-4 alt mode from the start, and that the same bot design was just used regardless of setting. All that CG costs money, and since they can turn anything into anything regardless of size, shape, what have you, it makes sense that most of the Cybertronian bot modes were designed based on their Earth vehicle modes from the beginning, and then the vehicle modes changed to suit the Cybertron scenes if indeed they transformed in those scenes. kinda like G1. G1 Wheeljack's and Bumblebee's Cybertronian alt modes were particularly indulgent uses of animation magic. I can forgive it more easily in an 80's kid show than a multimillion dollar live action movie.
  10. M'Kyuun
    Who could you possibly be referring to? My SS Grimlock came today, and I like it a lot. Definitely a step in the right direction for the mainline, with hopefully more Dinos to follow. I like vid reviews, but there's definitely value to pictorials, especially when they highlight certain aspects and make comparisons. Mike does a commendable job with his reviews. As to the smoked plastic chest piece, I'm glad they at least made it transparent, but yeah it's too dark. The box art depicts Grimlock with a transparent yellowish chest piece and neck pieces for his dino mode, both of which look good. Unfortunately, they eschewed the transparent parts altogether for his T-Rex neck, and used the smoky plastic for his chest which is too dark to discern his Autobot symbol except from up close, and barely then. It's an odd choice. I'd love for third party to make the neck pieces, too, although it would requiire making the internal bits as well as the trans outer pieces. But it's one of those features I always loved about the G1 toys, and it's a little disappointing to see that this figure was intended to have it, but for whatever reason, it was dropped. I thought the legs were the most interesting part of the transformation, although, with really tight double joints used to articulate the cowlings, it is a pain to get them positioned. I dig the engineering, though. Spiderman and His Amazing Friends was more my jam than X-Men back in the 80's, although I enjoyed it, too, and it was my introduction to that world, and remained my only connection to it until the live action movies came along. That said, being aware of the X-Men's Blackbird and its stylistic departure from the Lockheed SR-71 that inspired it, all things being equal, I would have rather they made X-Pants more faithful to the comics/live action version. That said, despite being a huge fan of the SR-71, I passed on Bayformer Jetfire due to how heavily compromised that toy was in jet mode. X-Spanse , while sporting a few changes, as Mike mentioned, from the actual Blackbird, is closer to the source and far less compromised. Indeed, he's fairly clean in jet mode for a Hasbro jetformer, a rarity. For that reason, more than my passing affinity for X-Men, I bought him. Initially, I thought the mixture of X-Men character attributes was off-putting, but upon reflection, I think it works, as he's more of a general representation of the X-Men rather than a specific character, and I imagine that was Hasbro's intention. He's a much improved retool of Jetfire, but as Mike pointed out, he retains the superfluous and annoying back flaps that hover just behind his head. It would have been nice had they found a way to either get rid of them or fold them into the backpack. This isn't Hasbro's first foray into Marvel-Transformer crossover toys, but IMHO, X-Spanse represents a minor upgrade to the previous toys, at least in articulation. Glad I got him.
  11. M'Kyuun
    It might be a little foreshortened, but all the salient features are there, even the sawtooth at the winglet. From nearly every angle except from directly below, it captures the look of the F-4 without compromising bits of bot sticking out to ruin the illusion. As robots in disguise go, and more poignantly, as robots that turn into jet fighters go, this thing is quite accurate and a solid win. Do they get everything right- honestly, I'd need a side by side with a dedicated F-4 model to really find the flaws. I've been up close to the real aircraft, and this impresses me for how accurately it captures the plane. If one gave it an official AF or Navy paint job, would anyone be able to tell this was a Transformer at first glance? I don't think so. This makes me wish, somewhat, that Zeta would do Shatter, concentrating on her Harrier mode. One of the things that bugged me was how incongruent in mass the alt modes were for the two main Decepticon protagonists in the Bee Movie. Just b/c anything can be done with CG doesn't mean it should, and something like Shatter's situation with two very different alt modes that really don't mesh well practically, should have been given more thought and perhaps fleshed out with practical models to ensure a better fit. After all, this whole franchise is driven by the toys, so it would seem to me that Ha/Tak would have a vested interest in making sure these things are workable for the eventual toys. Guess not. Alas, I've been waiting and hoping for an accurate Harrier Transformer, and the SS version was terrible. If Zeta goes for it, I have hope.
  12. M'Kyuun
    Jeez. All I can do is shake my head with incredulity. The DVD incidence- really unforgivable from professional delivery people. At least I can take some small comfort in knowing I'm not their only victim. USPS is usually pretty good here, too. Today, however, my Magic Square Megs and Soundwave (I caved) showed up and the box looked like an accordion. ShowZ are great about putting the plastic corner protectors on, but they didn't save the outer box this time. To my surprise, however, neither of the actual product boxes sustained damage beyond maybe a little bit of denting. The toys, thank goodness, were in perfect condition. I've only ever had one major issue with USPS- I sent two large boxes of stuff from PA to my WA address, about $200 worth of stuff, and neither of them ever showed up. USPS sent the paperwork salvaged from one of the packages to my sister in PA, and by the time she sent it to me, the routing number or whatever was out of their system, so I couldn't even file a claim. Total loss. I wasn't too happy.
  13. M'Kyuun
    Yeah, that's quite involved, but interesting. Got a little bit of a YF-21 vibe with how the shoulders rotated out. Anyway, enormous kudos to Zeta for nailing the F-4 mode, and for figuring out how to get that bot mode so screen accurate. It's an impressive figure. The one thing that bugs me about the robot mode is that there appear to be four instances of landing gear forming the toes on a plane that has standard tricycle landing gear. That's what happens when CG happy artists with no knowledge of aircraft design these things. I didn't notice if this had a tailhook- even the Air Force versions had it.
  14. M'Kyuun
    Good review, Mike. I was expecting my copy today, but it didn't come. Tracking showed it about two hours south of my location today, but after checking tracking just now, it's at Troutdale, OR with delivery pending. This has become SOP with FedEx this year. I'm not sure if that's a Covid thing, but I've had any number of packages come within spitting distance, only to be rerouted the day of projected delivery with a pending ETA. Kinda frustrating. I was really looking forward to getting this Grimlock figure, and your review is just one more confirmation of how well he was done (the screw holes in the dino head are a bummer, though). The nitpicks are few and relatively insignificant compared to Grimlocks past, and it only whets my appetite for more Dinobots at this level of scale, design and quality.
  15. M'Kyuun
    Ah man- egg on my face. I've seen that drone in person at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in Oregon and at the AF Museum in Dayton, and I should have been more mindful. Thanks for pointing it out. Fixed.
  16. M'Kyuun
    Yep! I've watched this beauty come and go like twice now- wasn't gonna skip it a third time if I could help it. It doesn't help that folks like Kuma fan the flames of regret with great pics, vids, reviews, and just general conversation in the thread extolling the virtues of this thing. No idea where I'm gonna put him, but I figure I've got until August or so to figure it out. At least I think that's the projected release. I don't mind the wait- kinda need the time to get things sorted around here. It's bad enough that Unicron could show up anytime, and I really have nowhere to put him at the moment, except on top of the divider wall between my kitchen and living room, where my cat will probably knock it off.
  17. M'Kyuun
    World's first supersonic unmanned combat drone All we need now is a flyoff between competing variable fighters and a rogue AI named Sharon. Oh, and Yoko Kanno to write the theme music.
  18. M'Kyuun
    The combining peg was a double-edged sword, so to speak; practically speaking, it performed pretty well given the amount of weight that it generally had to support. However, in a deluxe sized figure, it was so voluminous in comparison to the rest of the figure that all the transformation mechanics had to be designed around it, which caused simplification and repetition of the transformations throughout the line. In a voyager scaled fig, they could do more with the transformation, but with a larger figure, the joint has to support more weight, so there's a tradeoff. I'm not sure how they could improve on it. Whatever they end up doing so far as the combiner joints go, I hope they're up to the task, as it sounds like we may be getting leader class torsos and voyager class limbs, which will require some strong tolerances. It's a good challenge for Takara, and I hope they come through with something innovative and dependable.
  19. M'Kyuun
    Thanks for the link- Got one!
  20. M'Kyuun
    Thanks Mike. PM me if you snag one. That's very good news if true. Compared to WfC standards, I don't think a rerelease of CW/PotP toys would go over well. Even if they only did one combiner a year at WFC levels of quality, it'd be worth it. I hope the rumor's true. I also hope they get around to doing a much improved set of Constructicons. I have CW Menasor and Bruticus, and I'm not sure I feel I need to replace them. It would depend on just how much improved they really were. I bought a couple of the CW Aerialbots, but I thought Silverbolt was an atrocious toy, and the limb bots, too, left somewhat to be desired. If they were to bring their A-game to the table and design them all with convincing jet modes, I'd be down for picking them up. After seeing MP-52's travesty of an alt mode, I'm not holding my breath. The space in the back, as well as the ability to open the hatch for access, makes me think a Diaclone recolor with the transforming scooter is already in the works.
  21. M'Kyuun
    I have yet to see a single retro-Headmaster in my area. I was going to get Brainstorm, but with no signs of these things in stores, I've given up on it.
  22. M'Kyuun
    Yep, those are the winglets, and mine are installed swept forward. Honestly, it doesn't matter which way you install them; they mount so loosely that they are easily knocked off. It's the only flimsy element of the toy; everything else is pretty solid. the connection to the two panels that just kinda hover behind his head is a potentially weak spot for breakage, as the base rotates and can be inadvertently sandwiched between bits of the backpack; if it's not sitting flat and one attempts to squeeze the backpack together, it could possibly break. It's an unfortunate holdover from the Jetfire design that has no function and just looks odd. I wish they could have found a way to redesign it for X-Spanse. Figure King posted some greyscale pics of the upcoming MP Skids. I shamelessly copied the pic from TFW2005, where there's a bit of discussion about it, mostly complaints. One thing that was pointed out was the return to lackluster articulation after a spate of MP figs with a focus on improved articulation. Given the seemingly backward approach to the articulation and the extent of detail on the bot mode uncharacteristic of the plain Jane toon direction, my theory is that this is an old, possibly Hasui-era design that Takara sat on and only now decided to produce. Like I said, just a theory. But the change in direction is notable for its departures from what has become the standard for this line over the last few years. This looks like a step back in time to me. Regardless, seeing detail on a bot again is a good thing.
  23. M'Kyuun
    I think you'll like him, and I look forward to your thoughts/review. I messed about a little with him after I posted, and due to his double knee joints, which are both rather stiff ratchets, I was able to position his knees such that he can stand tall and proud without falling over backwards. I found those knee joints a bit of a pain when transforming him back into his plane mode. I couldn't remember exactly how his thighs needed to be positioned, and so, pride be damned, I consulted the instructions. The joints throughout my copy are all pretty tight, so while that's ultimately a good thing, it also makes it challenging to manipulate things during transformation. Nothing a little patience and persistence can't overcome. One caveat- the little winglets on the engines just snap into their mounts , but both are easily detached inadvertently on my copy. They could have used some pins to keep them in place and give some strength (they have to rotate at the root). Not the best, but in my short experience with the figure, those were the only bits on the whole toy that seemed flimsy. Compared to his original mold mate, RotF Jetfire, the jet mode cleans up quite well, with virtually no kibble under the forward fuselage. He does have some ro-block syndrome under the main fuselage, but the large engines go a long way towards hiding it, and it looks compact from the side. From the bottom, all is revealed and made all the more obvious due to the light blue and yellow coloring. Pretty typical. I still dig him, though. Hope the same for everyone else who got him.
  24. M'Kyuun
    Grimlock and BW Megatron are on their way to me from Pulse, ETA Monday. It's a beautiful day here in eastern Washington, and I took a stroll across town to my favorite coffee stand. When I returned, there was a Target box on my step. It turned out to be X-Men X-Spanse. Bear in mind I never had RotF Jetfire, of whose toy this is a major retool, but I managed to get him transformed without consulting the instructions. It's not the best figure in the world, but as a crossover fig, it's not bad either. I like the engineering of the legs- they're the most interesting part of the transformation. Since the majority of his plane mode ends up-surprise!- on his back, it would have been nice had they had some additional heel support and some fore and aft rocker for his feet. His toes can rock up and down, and his heel, which is the exhaust augmenter, is on a ball joint with very limited motion. But with all that weight on his back, there's a bit of necessity to bend him forward at the waist a little to keep him from tumbling backward. His heavily modified blue SR-71 mode is ok. I'm a plane guy, so the concessions are far more glaring to me than they probably are to most Trans-fans. Suffice it to say, like most of Hasbro's jetformers, his best angle in jet mode is from above. From the sides or the bottom, it's pretty clear this is a robot attempting to disguise itself as a plane, with lackluster results. I could pick it apart ad nauseum, but I won't. I will say it's not the worst jetformer I've seen or even owned. It has retractable gear, and even though the mains aren't enclosed when retracted, and aren't in the right place on the aircraft, the fact that it has retractable gear at all gets points from me. One other niggle I have with the alt mode is that it's far closer to the real SR-71, due to their licensing it from Lockheed, than the very stylized Blackbird from various X-Men media. What's ironic about that is that the comic representation is on the box. I wish they'd followed suit with X-Spanse's alt mode, as I've always liked the look of it, and it would have been cool had they attempted to sculpt the plane mode to be closer to the original source. Alas, they didn't, but I'm happy to have a passable representation of the Blackbird within the Transformers Universe. Excelsior!
  25. M'Kyuun
    To my eyes, what should have been an improvement over the Studio Series toy fails, at least so far as truck mode goes. The SS did a better job of making the hitch deck cleaner and more proportional- this looks stretched with obvious robot leg armor just hanging out. Easy pass for me. This is shaping up nicely. I hope it's not the victim of the QC issues that seem to have plagued MP releases of late, as this may be the first official MP I buy since Sunstreaker. I still wish they'd designed the feet closer to how XTB did theirs, and I wonder if that windshield is going to collapse closer to his back, but otherwise, Skids is looking good. I 'm totally digging Takara's take on the shoulders, which are accurate to the G1 toy. The well-detailed bot mode is not lost on me, and I hope the pendulum is swinging more in this direction with future releases. I passed on Savant, but I have to give XTB props for managing to squeeze in seats and a dashboard, as well as a folding scooter in the back. Takara obviously didn't do either. The scooter was actually part of the Diaclone release, but Hasbro dropped it for some reason when they co-opted the toy into Transformers. Anyway, this is the first I've felt anticipation for a MP fig in a while, and I hope it doesn't disappoint. Looking forward to some colored pics of this guy. They probably won't, but it'd be cool if they chromed his weapons.
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