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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    OK, I knew a 3P company was releasing Seekers that looked pretty similar to the official MPs a few years back, but I couldn't remember who it was. I bought a few of the original Kawamori-tweeked Seekers (Greenscream, Wally exclusive Starscream and Skywarp, IIRC). I intially wanted to pick up some MP-11 figs, as I preferred the more show/toy accurate depiction, but ultimately, I hated the high placement of the head so much that I never bought another official MP Seeker. When the MT version came along, I was intrigued, but as usual, I fence sat through the first releases, picking up Skycrow on a rerelease. I have Meteor and their version of Thrust on PO, but given the way things have been playing out with them, I'm thinking those releases might not happen. I'm hoping that when MP-52 drops, folks will be selling off their MT Seekers relatively cheaply, and I can get Meteor and their Thundercracker then. However, the MT Seeker's a pretty good fig, and a lot of folks like me prefer it over MP-52, which is going to drive up the demand, especially if MT's throwing in the towel. I'm hoping the market will be flooded with MT Seekers, but I fear the reality is that a lot of folks are going to hang on to them, and the ones that do sell are going to go at an unpleasant markup. Dans le monde des jouets, c'est la vie. Kuma, you really know how to make a guy feel the ultimate non-buyer's regret. Great pic of a cool figure, as usual.
  2. M'Kyuun
    Surprised no one else has posted this yet. Zeta has a MP Seeker in the works. It looks a lot like MP-11. Not really feeling it. Still hoping that MT are going to rerelease their Seekers, but their silence of late isn't very promising.
  3. M'Kyuun
    The one thing I have going for me so far as Voltron goes is that my wife was a fan, and even had a couple of the Lions, as a kid, and she enjoyed the Netflix show. She complains all the time about how much room all my stuff takes up in the house these days, and she's not wrong. So to answer the question of where am I going to put Unicron, not to mention a potential DX Voltron, I'm not sure yet. I was planning on building a big shelf next to my four CHUG shelves, but given the diameter and the weight, I think I want him on more solid footing. So, I'm going to have to do some much needed rearranging in the mancave to create some room in the corner for him. That's about the only viable solution I see right now. We were eyeballing a house that's yet to be built in my area, as there's still time to make certain changes to the house, like adding a third garage stall (for my crap), but the property sits right next to a raceway, and the noise levels would drive me crazy in the summer. I keep hoping a similar property further away from the raceway will become available, as we're about due an upgrade in square footage.
  4. M'Kyuun
    Terradive is a cool fig, and yeah, one of the better jetformers they've done over the years. Breakaway is a decent F-35 until you look at it from any angle but straight down. Fun toy, though, except when trying to monkey with his head inside the cockpit. I still wish they'd done more to streamline his legs in fighter mode. I initially liked '07 Dreadwing, which resembles a Flanker, but I couldn't abide his lack of proper hands. Until now, I never realized his exhaust augmenters could open. As hands go, it's a 'meh' solution. His fighter mode is pretty decent, compromised only by the bulbous legs protruding down along his lower centerline, which I imagine a lot of folks probably just pretended was an oversized MK-84 or a big cruise missile tucked under there. His bot mode was wonky, but I still kinda dig it. Part of me wishes I'd picked him up now. Dirge from RotF was a pretty nifty neo-Harrier. His bot mode was bit unorthodox, and not the most appealing aesthetically. His upper body transformation reminds me of BW Megatron for how the arms form the cockpit and backbone of the jet mode. I kinda dig how they designed his legs, as they were more integrated into the shape of the jet, and the feet are the intakes turned 180 and cut at steep angle. I point it out only because many of these live action movie toys forced Takara out of their typical cube-focused design aesthetic, in large part due to Alex Kubalsky's influence, and we started to see more unusual angles and rounded edges involved in the transformations. It's fun to look back on some of these old figs. I still have a few of them up on the shelf.
  5. M'Kyuun
    DX Voltron is such a beautiful toy; I've passed on it twice, but dammit, I'm so tempted. I just don't know where I'd put this guy- no room. Classic Voltron is, well, classic, but I wish that Bandai had done the toys for the Netflix show- a DX version of that design would be awesome. I have the smaller of the Playmates Voltron toys that can still separate into the lions, and while it's a fun toy to play with, it leaves somewhat to be desired in materials and articulation. I wish there was a high quality offering. Just finished watching the Netflix show last night, and I thought it was great. I wish the same team had done the Siege/Earthrise Transformers show. I'm a fan of Rooster Teeth's RWBY and Gen:Lock, so my hopes were high. Somewhere along the way, the ball was dropped.
  6. M'Kyuun
    The J-20 is such a good looking fig; I'm trying not be tempted, but so few jet-formers ever look this good. These are the first bot pics I've seen with the wings closed, and I prefer that over their splayed look. It's a cool feature, but I think they look better solid. I did bow to temptation for the helicopter fig, and I'm totally down for the Flanker. I'm hoping they show protos of the Flanker soon- the art looks gorgeous, and of course, the Flanker is a beautiful jet. I may not agree with Soviet ideology, but they can sure design a pretty fighter.
  7. M'Kyuun
    Bumping Wanda for a moment, as I saw on Twitter that a live action Big Hero 6 is in the works in some form or fashion. I saw some folks speculating that it'll be part of the MCU, which will be a notable departure from the look and feel of the Disney movie, but more in keeping with its comic roots. The Disney film was my introduction to that universe, so I'm a bit biased towards it, and wouldn't mind seeing it done in live action (hopefully with a an actor of Japanese descent in the lead role). However, if they do go the MCU route, I'm curious how they'll work BH6 characters in there.
  8. M'Kyuun
    I couldn't have said it more eloquently. In all fairness, I liked the animation direction, which used a lot of CG to make the characters look sharp. The designs themselves, overall, didn't grab me, and the few eps I suffered through turned me off to the series altogether. If I had to choose between watching RiD/UT or the Bay films, I'd pick the former, although I'd consider watching either as cruel and unusual forms of punishment. I will say, however, that the return to non-critter alt modes was refreshing, as much as I love BW. BW owes a great deal to the writers and VAs who brought the characters to life; I think the show would have been completely forgotten, as well as the franchise as a whole, had it not been for how engaging and fun it was. It is to Transformers what Bionicle was to LEGO back in '03 when they were facing bankruptcy. I have to part ways with Mike when addressing Animated. Initially, I was skeptical of the animation direction, and was quite dubious that any sort of functional transforming toys could be made from it. However, I warmed to the animation, and IMHO, I thought Takara did an impressive job of translating that toon look into toys. Like most TF toylines, they're not without their concessions, and perhaps I'm more forgiving b/c of the extreme nature of the source material, but Animated was and remains one of my favorite toy lines in the history of the franchise. I still lament that we didn't get a fourth season, and the toys that would have accompanied it. The show itself was great, with lots of G1 references, some great humor, a refreshing take on the characters and story, good writing, and a number of enjoyable cameos (Al Yankovic and George Takei spring to mind). Oh and that transforming Ark- so hope that that will get made at some point. Prime was really well done, too. Given that Orci and Kurtzman were the writers and the bot aesthetic borrowed noticeably from Bay's monstrosities, I wanted to hate it from the onset. But, I gave it a chance and found it to be well written and the designs grew on me. I still hate that they made Bee mute- f##k Orci and Kurtzman forever for introducing that unforgivably stupid trope into Transformers. Prime turned out to be an interesting toy line, what with the mostly superior First Edition figs and then the later retail figs of a number of the main characters. The show itself gave a window into how the live action movies may have turned out under a different director, as Orci and Kurtzman proved , to me anyway, that they could tell an engaging Transformers story. It's still one of my favorite TF series.
  9. M'Kyuun
    Although the triple changers outside of Springer, Astrotrain, Blitzwing, and possibly Sandstorm really don't interest me much, along with Tidal Wave, Broadside could be thrown in there, and possibly a Six-Shot. I'd be down with UM done at commander scale; that would give them the budget to make a really good figure. Despite being a lukewarm fan of UM, I hope it happens, and happens the way the designers seem inclined. We're sure to get a better toy if the designers themselves are personally invested. I've zero interest in the UT stuff and purely Japanese Transformers, but if they eventually do make them under the Kingdom banner, then I'm happy for the Western fans who never had an opportunity to get the original stuff. If they're tapping every vein of nostalgia, and I think they should, all TF fans should get updates of the toys they love. It's win/win for us and Has/Tak. I wonder if Polesdru gets some kind of kick back from Hasbro or Takara? His stop-motion vids are great PR for them. Cyclonus is an exceptional figure in the WFC trilogy. i just hoped it wouldn't suck, but they exceeded my expectations with how well he was executed. If only every fig in the line was on par.
  10. M'Kyuun
    OMG, dude. So funny. You should have italicized collective for those unacquainted to at least have a Google clue. And yeah, having been a helo fan since my early teens, I'm very excited to see this thing fly on Mars. Imagine the potential if it works....
  11. M'Kyuun
    I'm totally down with partsforming on a gestalt. While I like and admire MMC for attempting to make their versions free of partsforming, concessions have to be made, and quite honestly, I don't expect that level of engineering to be applied to a mass market toy, regardless of scale. Truly, I don't even expect it if Takara eventually does a combiner in the MP line. It's one of those unique Transformers concessions that I think the vast majority of us, even ardent perfect-transformation fans such as myself, can forgive readily. And yeah, more G1 accuracy, please, although more in the Hasui tradition of taking the best of what the toy and the animation had to offer and combining those attributes into the most ideal toy possible. I think Hasbro should bring their bean counters to a convention to see first-hand the fanaticism and demand that continues to drive this franchise. I think they'd have less reluctance when the team suggests making a better figure. Alas, SS86 may yet be our salvation for both Astrotrain and Ultra Magnus. As much as I like an all-in-one Magnus design, the CW version fulfilled that wish with a pretty good figure, IMHO. If they do a version for SS86, I hope they harken back to the original toy, and as the designers seem inclined, make him a two part fig with a white ER Prime as the core. I think that would please the vast majority of fans. Even if it means the trailer needs to partsform to a degree to allow for better aesthetics and articulation of the combined form, if it makes the final figure better, then it's all good. I agree 100%. I vehemently wish that some of these third party legends makers, or a KO party, would upscale some of these figs to fit in with the appropriate CHUG scale, especially when the official is a letdown. I think the fear of litigation and potential criminal charges has successfully kept the 3P folks from infringing on Hasbro's mainline. Unfortunately, we the fans lose in this situation.
  12. M'Kyuun
    If they do go this route, and at this point, we have little reason to doubt Mike's source, then I'm definitely in favor of a more concentrated effort put into each combiner alone rather than trying to make a generalized mix-and-match system like they did with CW. If they take an approach similar to third party and craft each combiner as a singular team, and if they observe a similar quality standard as the WFC/SS'86 lines, then I think the final product will be more refined. Personally, I want a better Devastator than the CW version provided; it was a very compromised toy, and although Takara introduced a little more articulation into their individual Constructicons, it was less than ideal, and both sets contained a very non-G1 Mixmaster. I passed on both versions with the hope that Has/Tak would take another, hopefully better, stab at combiners sometime in the future. I didn't expect it, or rumors thereof, so soon, but with G1 popularity so high, and with the SS'86 line offering opportunities for do-overs for lackluster previous toys, the timing is propitious. And while I like my CW Bruticus, despite its numerous flaws, an improved set of Combaticons would make me happy, too. And if they do avail themselves of the SS '86 line to make better figs than previous releases, I hope both Astrotrain and Ultra Magnus make the list, as the WFC ER figs were lacking and could really do with some refined designs, especially where their alt modes are concerned.
  13. M'Kyuun
    I'll chime in on the naming thing as well. I'm with Technoblue; I think the names Perseverance and Ingenuity are both fitting and relevant, given the hurdles faced by scientists and engineers in all phases of development, planning, and execution of a mission of this scope and complexity. Doing anything in space is fraught with difficulties, and given the fact that any overlooked minutiae might mean the difference between success or failure, perseverance is a definite trait embodied by such an ambitious project. I certainly don't envy the scientists' and engineers' stress levels in attempting something so intellectually and emotionally audacious and challenging, not to mention time, weight, and budgetary constraints, just to name a few. And once the rover is on planet, the ground crews must alter their shifts by 40 minutes every day to conform to Martian sols. Having worked all sorts of wonky shifts in my day, it can take a toll. Anyway, I think the naming is apt. Moreover, every rover is named by young students who submit essays to NASA suggesting a name and explaining why they feel that name is apropos. The NASA/JPL folks select one of those submissions and the rover gets a name. I think that's a fantastic way of doing business, as it gives kids, who likely already have an interest in science and space, a real investment to be a part of the program from an early age. These kids writing the essays will be the scientists looking at the core returns ten or so years down the road, so I think it's a great way to give them a level of involvement early in their lives. Plus, there are some incredibly smart kids doing these things; I feel positively dumb when I hear some of these kids, and even some of these young scientists with doctorates, speak on the subject of science or mathematics (for which I have never had any faculty, regrettably). Going forward, I think we're in good hands, and I hope the various space programs continue to involve children in the process, even if it's just offering a name.
  14. M'Kyuun
    Huge congrats to NASA, especially the JPL team who oversaw her development, for once again creating a system of many parts with little margin of error and seeing it through to fruition. It's a hell of an achievement. Even if they were doing this for the fiftieth time instead of the second (for this style of rover), it would still be remarkable when one considers how many things must go right for it to succeed. Now that the hard part is over, the exciting part of the mission is only just beginning as they put Perseverance through her checks, get her warmed up, and deploy Ingenuity. Hopefully, everything arrived intact and fully functional, as there are many interesting firsts planned with these two machines that will have lasting impacts on man's knowledge and interactions with Mars. The romanticist in me hopes they find traces of life, hopes that Ingenuity will not only will prove flight is possible but become an invaluable aid to exploration and planning, hopes that MOXIE will prove successful in producing usable oxygen, hopes that the RIMFAX GPR system furthers our knowledge of what lies beneath the surface in interesting and unforeseen ways, and hopes that the increased autonomy built into this rover proves that more capable AI is the way going forward, allowing for these rovers to make instant decisions that increase their efficiency and safety in real time. I'm a proponent of AI, and despite the warnings from notable scientists, including the late great Dr. Hawking, of the dangers thereof, in situations such as this, where hostile environmental conditions can potentially impede or irreparably damage the rover, smarter is better where the machine is concerned. The comms time lag is twenty two minutes (approx eleven minutes each way), so IMHO, it makes sense to enable the machine to make limited decisions on its own without waiting for a roomful of circadian-challenged scientists to come to a decision. Compared to the laborious planning and extremely slow progress of Curiosity, Perseverance is poised to raise the bar so far as travel progress over time, and that's better for science. The first drilling for cores is still a ways off, and the scrutiny of those cores here on Earth a decade away still, so we have a while to wait and see what they'll tell us about potential life on the rusty planet, but I'm hopeful that undeniable signs of life are there, even if only microbial. If life was there, then statistically, it must be elsewhere given the vastness of the universe. It's an exciting and sobering thought.
  15. M'Kyuun
    No problem here, either. Actually, I thought it looked like a neat set and considered getting the red motorcycle girl, but in the end, I just stuck with Nicee. So yeah, bring on the pics/review, Kuma.
  16. M'Kyuun
    I agree. I don't think it helped Travis Knight that Hasbro waffled about Bumblebee's connection to the Bay films; there's definitely a shared visual aesthetic there, even if it was tempered and improved somewhat from the shardy Bay versions. But the story, the dialog, and the interactions between the characters were a marked improvement over the rapid-fire and often lewd, rude, or groan-inducing rubbish that more often than not spewed forth from the characters in Bay's films. The story was straightforward, simple, easy to follow, and it made sense. The majority of characters were likeable, which is the most outstanding remark I can make about Bumblebee, as I couldn't really stand any of the characters in Bay's films, not even Prime, who preached goodness, but acted like a psychopath. The first Bay film was an enormous disappointment for me, and it was clear that the director had no connection whatsoever to Transformers. Turns out, it was true. Even after Hasbro gave him a Transformers 101, it's pretty clear that the charm and coolness that endeared the show and the toys to millions was completely lost on Bay. It's also what sets Knight's movie apart from Bay's, as Knight grew up watching and loving Transformers, and it comes through, at least in the opening. I still don't care for the childlike and goofy personification of Bee; it made him feel more like a pet than a friend on at least equal standing with Charlie. But, it was still a far more enjoyable Transformers film than any of Bay's in this fan's opinion.
  17. M'Kyuun
    No worries, Jubjub. Folks are pretty helpful around here, especially when it comes to trying to get our beloved toys. Moreover, in an ocean of sites where anger and chaos seem to reign, this site has maintained its sanity and decency, minus a few tiffs here and there, since I joined back in the early 00's. I wouldn't have my little Macross collection without the help and info that folks here have provided over the years. It's been a good home. I haven't followed the releases of the Bandai VF-1s, so I'm not the best guy to ask. There's a separate thread for it, so that would be your best bet if you have questions. Good luck. Cheers!
  18. M'Kyuun
    I know, and believe me, I was very tempted to get that fig back when it released. Like most stuff, even stuff I really like, like Planet X's FoC Prime, I passed on it, as I don't really have the space for it, and at the time, I didn't feel like allocating the funds. I generally content myself with rewatching vid reviews for the vicarious experience. Sad, yes, but practical. If I had the space for the stuff I wanted, my house would look like Tekering's, and my wife would probably file for divorce. She already complains about the 'clutter' as she calls it. No appreciation for the finer things.
  19. M'Kyuun
    Welcome to MW, Jubjub. Even knowing the day and time of preorders opening, securing a new valk toy is challenging, as we must endure the 'midnight madness' ritual of standing by refreshing and re-refreshing all the online store sites hoping to nab one and get checked out within less than a minute, as these things are often sold out within seconds, literally. These things are serious scalper bait, and there are all sorts of a-holes out there with bots and other means to try and snap up all available stock. It sucks the joy out of what should be a fun and enjoyable hobby, but really, the whole toy market has become like this these days. It just sucks more with these b/c they're limited to Asian-only sales with pretty limited runs, so getting one is tough with all the competition. Like a lot of Macross fans here, I'm very much looking forward to getting a replacement for my Yammie YF-21. That toy was too one sided for my liking; gorgeous fighter mode, but at the expense of the battroid, which is my preferred mode and how I like to display my figs. I'm hoping Bandai will be able to find a better balance between them, giving us a more proportional B-mode that looks good and can pose well. Judging from the early promo shots, I'd take it as is, but if they need time to refine the design, I'm good with that, too. As it relied heavily on 'anime magic' to realize the proportions ideally from one mode to the next, there's a certain amount of engineering required to try and duplicate that in three dimensions. I just hope the final product gives us a good Battroid, and that I can score one on PO night. Hope to see you around more, Jubjub.
  20. M'Kyuun
    I'm looking forward to finally seeing what this Ark fig is going to look like. With Unicron set to release next month, I don't really have the space for another large figure, but if this thing is done well, it's a must. It'll also be my first Titan class toy. The last good Wreck-gar figure was the excellent Reveal the Shield toy from 2011, so he's about due an update. Wreck-gar wasn't really my favorite character, and I'm not into motorcycles per-se, but something about transforming motorcycles has always piqued my interest. Speaking of Sweeps, my copy of SS '86 Scourge is due for delivery today. I've mentioned before that I've never been a fan of his G1 alt mode, and so the chances of my double dipping on this guy are slim. I so vehemently wish that Scourge's alt mode from United, loosely based on the lovely Boeing X-48, had been his alt mode from the beginning. This is definitely my favorite iteration of the character, not to mention he's a very well-designed figure, and probably in the top five best jet -formers for how well his alt mode turned out. I'd absolutely love updates to this and T30 Megatron. Just beautiful.
  21. M'Kyuun
    Not me. The 'swappable parts' gimmick doesn't really interest me, and while I appreciate what they did here to allow fans to recreate the "Fix me" scene, for durability's sake, I wish they'd just put his limbs on mushroom pegs, maybe specialized shroom pegs to allow the limbs to slide off when rotated 180 degrees from natural. At least then you wouldn't have to worry about those pegs becoming loose over time and potentially losing his limbs. What it comes down to is nice idea, poor execution, IMHO. I generally don't handle my toys much after the initial posing and transformation, but there's something about this whole WFC line that has really grabbed me, and a year or so later, I'm still messing with them. MP aside, these are the toys I wish had come in those lovely boxes back in the mid-80's and I envy the kids of today, as I wish this had been the status quo of toy tech back in my childhood. Same for LEGO, but that's another discussion. Anyway, I'm definitely enjoying the overall direction of this line, and I hope they keep it going for a few more waves, as well as the '86 SS line. There are still a lot of characters that need updates, and this seems like the perfect opportunity to bang them all out before moving on to, hopefully, something completely new to give the franchise a refresher.
  22. M'Kyuun
    Thanks for your reply, Tekering. The reporter anecdote is especially dismaying. I really had no idea that sci-fi, let alone Transformers or transforming mecha in general, had faded so much from popular interest in Japan. It's sobering. As I said, I've long envied people living there, believing fully that they had all this stuff ubiquitously available to them. Judging by many of the sci-fi based anime that reaches our shores, or appears on anime sites, I thought, too, that sci-fi pretty much reigned supreme, and that Japan was a country wonderfully populated by geeks and nerds inundated in that culture. I couldn't be sadder to have been so wrong. I grew up in 70's and 80's America when so much of the sci-fi and geeky stuff that we're still celebrating today (b/c no one can seem to come up with anything new) was coming about, but it wasn't cool to be into it, at least openly. Somewhere along the line, though, America did a 180 and now geeky and sci-fi pop culture is cool and "in", and the internet is full of adults showing off their toys. This site is a case in point. And Youtube is just full of nerdiness. I was thinking Japan was us x ten to the 300th power when it came to nerdy stuff, but it sounds like the opposite is true. So terribly sad . That leaves me wondering what the take away is for Japanese travelers and students to America, as sci-fi and pop culture is everywhere here these days. It must be a bit of a shock. And speaking of shape changing toys, my copies of Kingdom Blackarachnia and Optimus primal arrived today, and I just got done fidgeting with them. having the MP versions of both, I find Blackarachnia to be a more enjoyable figure. She may not have the range of the MP's articulation, but the transformation feels more refined; despite the similarity- b/c how many ways can you really turn a lithe female form into a black widow?- the Kingdom fig just seems to to hold together better and forms a better looking spider, IMHO. It's not perfect- bot bits can still be seen- but on the whole, it seems to hide things better. Her bot mode is still rather impressive, despite the downscaling, both in size and budget, from the MP. Even if you already have the MP, I think she's worth picking up. Moving on to Primal. I still remember getting the original figure and my amazement at all the hidden gimmicks and features, not to mention his "remarkable" articulation. It was an impressive figure for the time, and with the 80's toys as my only reference (I'd somewhat lost interest and touch with Transformers between about '89 until Beast Wars came out in '96, so the G1 stuff was my only real reference concerning the toys), I was amazed at the advances. I still wasn't crazy about the switchover to organic animal forms, but once I started watching the show, and enjoying the hell out of it, I came around. So MP Primal is, IMHO, an excellent extension of what made that original toy so great- it does far more right than not, and looks screen accurate in both modes. The Kingdom fig, other than making his hip ball joints dark blue instead of their proper bright red, definitely looks the part in bot mode. In addition to the standard articulation, Kingdom Primal has limited forward butterfly joints which are available in both modes- very nice, and helpful for achieving some better posing in gorilla mode. I wish they'd added swivels above his knees, as that, too, would have helped his gorilla mode's poseability. But, they didn't, although he has a double jointed knee which helps to swivel the gorilla legs into both vertical standing position and a crouch. I kinda wish they'd go the extra mile and give the gorilla legs a little bit of knee motion, but not even the MP had that, so it's definitely not going to be included with a voyager scaled retail fig. More's the pity. Anyway, I found trying to achieve a natural looking pose with him in gorilla mode to be a challenge. The box photos show him with splayed legs, but getting him to do it involves 'breaking the sculpt' by moving the robot thighs out of their proper transformed positions and trying to rotate them outwards on the aforementioned blue hip joint. It can be done, but the final result really only looks good from a limited front angle. From any other, and you're going to see the robot leg sticking out away from the gorilla body. This is where those knee swivels I mentioned would have come in handy, as the gorilla legs could splay while the robot thighs stayed in place. Alas, it is what it is. It's still a pretty god figure, though, and easier to transform than the MP, which also, IMHO, makes it more fun to mess with. Too, these retail toys are often engineered with little kids in mind, and so they hold up to manipulation better over time, and if something does break, swallowing $30 is a lot less saddening than $200 or $300. One word of note: my fig came with his left hand only partially installed, as it swivels on a mushroom peg. It popped off when I initially tried to spin his wrist, and noticed a small stress mark on his palm. I installed it properly, and it went on with a satisfying 'snap', and rotates properly as well, but that stress mark is still there. Something to be aware of. So, having Kingdom Cheetor, Primal, and Blackarachnia, I'm pretty happy with the direction they're going with these figs. I like the choice to go with more realistic rather than toony looking alt modes, which really boils down to the heads, making me think these will all see rereleases with their toonier beast mode heads at some point. This is Hasbro we're talking about. Of the three, I think Cheetor is the weakest , given the awkward looking robot legs and tiny feet, not to mention his robot toes sticking out of the backs of his cheetah legs. But, all three have compromises, primarily to their beast modes, as getting their cartoon bot mode likenesses right, or mostly right in Cheetor's case, took precedence. All three do a good job for their scales and prices at capturing the essence of the characters, and if you're a BW fan, or just curious, worth a look.
  23. M'Kyuun
    That's both fascinating and surprising, since Japan is the birthplace of the transforming robot. While the 80's were certainly the heyday of the phenomenon, there are still any number of properties featuring transformable mecha, and I'd always assumed that it was nearly as popular still as Gundam. Nothing will unseat Gundam as the most popular mecha franchise ever, but even Gundam has variable mobile suits, so the idea of Japanese people finding it difficult to find the proper verbiage to describe the genre is astounding to me. With Satelite rolling out either a new Macross series or some other variable mecha based anime that features Kawamori's work every few years, I figured that kept the idea alive and present, not to mention the spate of 80's based transforming toys coming from Bandai and Takara-Tomy. There's definitely an audience for the stuff in Japan, but obviously it's much smaller than I had previously believed. I figured Transformers were still just as big there as here in the US, but obviously that was a rather poor assumption on my part. Honestly, I'm floored by the reality of the situation. I've long harbored a bit of envy for Americans living in Japan believing they were sitting on the mother-lode of transforming toys, believing that this stuff was readily available since it's made there. It's a bit sobering to hear the truth of the situation, and now I feel empathy for Japanese fans of Transformers, and transforming robots in general, if the genre has faded to such an unpopular state in Japan. Since I first saw a transforming mech in Battle of the Planets (Americanized Gatchaman) when I was about six, I've had an all-consuming love of all-things transformable which really blossomed in '84 with the advent of Transformers, and again in '95 when I watched Macross Plus for the first time. M+ was an epiphany; not only did it feature three amazing transforming jets, but it opened the door to anime for me, and to Macross in particular. Anyway, the transforming robot genre has been my raison d'etre for most of my life, and it's difficult to think of living somewhere where it's virtually unheard of and difficult to describe. It's why I'm incredibly thankful that Transformers has lasted this long, even if it took Michael Bay and his odious films to keep it alive. I don't have to like them or watch them, but I do have to acknowledge that they kept Transformers relevant, and for that, and the continued success of the brand, I'm forever thankful. I appreciate your insights, Tekering, and I'm truly sorry to hear that that's how it is in Japan today concerning transforming stuff. Sounds like there needs to be some new anime properties to revive and revitalize the genre and bring it back into the popular consciousness. It's funny, as here in the US, even people who aren't interested in Transformers could probably tell you who G1 Optimus Prime is- he's become an icon here, along with Bay's version of Bumblebee. In the US, Gundam is not as well known, but most people can probably name at least one Transformer, or recognize some of the more popular characters, either G1 or Bayformers. It's a good thing, and I hope it continues so long as I draw breath...and long after. Life without transforming robots ain't no life at all.
  24. M'Kyuun
    The video game WfC/FoC aesthetic was its own thing stylistically and being all Cybertronian alts, didn't really fit in with CHUG. Still, some of the toys had their charm. I absolutely love FoC Prime- def one of my favorite Prime designs, and the Hasbro toy is just fun to mess with. I think I'm in the extreme minority for preferring Zeta's Jazz over the Maketoys version. Zeta stressed toy accuracy over screen accuracy, and I love the look of it, especially the mid-torso and knee details that call back to stickers on the original toy. Admittedly, Zeta's is a PITA to transform, at least my copy is, as he doesn't compress very well to allow the doors to close and hold the car together. I've watched vid reviews and they didn't seem to have the issue, so I think my copy's a dud. I can get it into car mode, but not without squeezing the ever loving stuffing out of it, and it makes me nervous to do so, so he spends the lion's share of his shelf life in bot mode. Also, despite their being painted in the promo shots, Zeta neglected to paint the blue details on Jazzy's hip skirt, which is an unfortunate omission, compounded by by the poor decision to endow him with a single piece hip skirt. But aesthetically, I think he looks fantastic, and that helps to slightly ameliorate some of his more-numerous-than-I'd-like shortcomings. I've never handled MT's Downbeat, but the general consensus is that he's a really good figure. I never cared for their rear fender transformation solution, and it just looks wonky to me in both modes (I think that little wedge that protrudes in front of the rear wheel bugs me more than the obvious origami of his legs, TBH). That aside, he's a pretty nice looking Jazz, and he seems to enjoy better engineering overall over the Zeta. I'm curious to see how the FT fig turns out, but aesthetically, the greyscale promos look brilliant, and if the engineering follows, I'll likely get him. That's quite a collection, and that's just Transformers. IIRC, you collect across a number of themes and lines, with a rather massive display area. I wish I had the space for such a display, but between all my TFs, Macross, and other action figs and my substantial LEGO collection, I've managed to fill my house to capacity, and they keep making more...and I keep buying it, with nowhere left to put it all. It's ironic that Transformers are difficult to find and more expensive in the country from which they originate. Is it like that for Gundam and other Japanese toys/models? Anyway, I'm sorry to hear it, as it puts a damper on the hobby for sure.
  25. M'Kyuun
    I wish they'd stayed more beholden to the toy transformation on the legs, hiding the toe within the leg and having his whale tail and back windows on the backs of his legs in bot mode. I'm not the biggest fan of their using the tail as his heel, as even in the G1 animation, he was drawn to resemble the toy in this manner. The lack of an option to deploy his wings is a little disappointing, but since he never had them in the toon, or Movie by extension, it's forgivable. The omission of his shoulder launcher is a bummer, although he's rarely shown with it in the show or Movie. Gripes aside, HasTak did a lot right on this fig so far as giving us a proper G1 Jazz, and it's nice to finally get a Jazz fig this close to the original source. As Mike said, for being so prominent a character, he's had little love over the years, and that likely boils down to Porche's reluctance to give a license for what they deem "war toys". They skirted pretty close with this figure, though- enough that I'd think Porche could take legal action if they cared to do so. Let's hope they don't. It's just nice to have a Jazz that looks like , gasp, Jazz! RTS still holds a special place in my heart, as I think he's a well done Jazz fig, especially for the time period in which he came out. With the exception of ankle tilts, his articulation is superior to SS '86 Jazz. Moreover, he had the proper G1 deco on the car mode including the number '4' on the doors, a folding weapon that integrated into the alt mode (which should be the standard at this point), and fold out speakers to replicate one of several scenes throughout the series where he would deploy speakers from somewhere on his body to lay down some sick beats. Your definition of sick may vary. The transformation departed a fair bit from the G1 model in the legs; I'm not sure if it was IDW inspired, but I dig it regardless. It hides all the bot parts, and captures the essence of G1 Jazz while being stylistically different. He was arguably the best official Jazz figure for a decade, and despite SS '86 Jazz's faithfulness to the G1 toon model, IMHO, he remains the better toy. As for toy deliveries, I think my Kingdom Blackarachnia and possibly Optimus Primal are coming tomorrow, along with my LEGO '89 Batwing, so some nice stuff to look forward to for the weekend. I was quite surprised earlier this week to find Blackarachnia at my local Wally, which is usually a barren wasteland of empty shelves and pegs where Generations Transformers stuff is concerned. I knew Pulse had already sent me a package, so I left her for, hopefully, another fan to find. Still no sign of the rereleased Headmasters; I've looked at two of my local Wallies, and neither had them. I'm hoping to snag Brainstorm, as he's the one I missed when they were originally released for TR. Haslab released another Unicron update showing the molding and painting processes, as well as the packing process. While the sheer amount of labor necessary to bring this figure to production is extraordinary, what stood out to me while perusing the pics was that the majority of people assembling and painting this figure are women. I was also struck by the length of some of their fingernails despite the nature of the work- that's either courageous or extremely optimistic. However, I salute them and the work they do, as it keeps my shelves full of these lovely shape-shifting playthings that give my life a measure of joy.
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