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M'Kyuun

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  1. 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.
  2. M'Kyuun
    I never like the Bayverse designs for Megatron, and I wasn't even aware they did a Galvatron (I thought this was another iteration of Megs, but I guess, in a way, it is). Anyway, while I don't like the designs at all, I've been tipping my hat to Unique Toys since they started this series of figures for their incredible engineering. Design work this well done beggars the question of, 'why isn't Takara designing on this level?'. If this isn't masterpiece level engineering, I don't know what is. Actually, I do: In my estimation, UT are doing it better. I wonder then, if they're quitting the Movieverse figs, are they turning their attention to another part of the franchise, or quitting altogether? If the latter, it seems a terrible waste of talent. Too, if the latter, it'd be nice if some of the guys behind these toys found employment with Takara. I doubt it, but what a resume, right?
  3. M'Kyuun
    Appreciate that. I wouldn't have known that connection to the song; I figured they chose it for irony's sake, but apparently Brian Wilson can add clairvoyance to his list of talents.
  4. M'Kyuun
    Well, at least there's progress. From what I gather on these Pulsecon events, it sounds like a number of these toy designers are fans as well, so I do think they try to make good figs. I think they're often too constrained by budget, but since they're sitting very well financially from second quarter earnings, hopefully the Transformers budget will get a much needed infusion of cash. Anyway, I'm happy to hear of the things they are doing, and remain hopeful for the rest. Curious to see how they approach combiners without the big bulky connector joint that the CW figs were all designed around. Honestly, I didn't mind that approach, but I get the sense that those connectors were expensive to produce, and thus the rest of the toyline suffered due to both the requirement to build the toy around the joint, but also b/c that joint ate up so much of each toy's budget. A new approach will hopefully yield better combining figs that aren't as simple or compromised.
  5. M'Kyuun
    Oh, I hope so. And while they're at it, a new Magnus fig with a white Earthrise Prime as its core. And a new Astrotrain with alt modes that don't suck. And a new Blitzwing. And deluxe Insecticons. And a new improved Devastator. And Blaster with his cassettes. And Perceptor. And the rest of the Dinos. Did I miss anyone? Seriously, though, I think the majority of fans were pretty disappointed with the reuse of the Siege mold and the poorly executed partsforming roof, not to mention those awful feet hanging out the back that just ruin the van from behind. I think if they'd at least turned the roof bit into something resembling the G1 toy's tread-sled, it would have been more satisfying from a nostalgia POV. But, they let that opportunity slip by. Although I paid the exclusivity tax for both ER Ironhide and Ratchet, I'd gladly go in on a new improved mold that fixes everything wrong with the ER Vanette Bros. I'm guessing SS has a slightly better budget than the main line, so hopefully they'd use it to the fullest to better not only the ER figs but also the rather lackluster MP figs as well. Hopefully it happens, and they're not insanely difficult to PO.
  6. M'Kyuun
    Just mentioned to the wife this evening that this looks like it'd be a cool show on its own. They definitely spent some money to hire decent animators. There's also a strong Pacific Rim vibe to the commercials as well. It's an odd, but cool choice for advertising fast food. I'm not even a fan of Taco Hell, but I dig their commercials. I really liked the Nacho Fries series of commercials they did a few years ago with James Marsden, and the more recent one with Stranger Things' Joe Keery- "You don't consume me! I consume you!" After those mini-bits of hyperbolic cinema, the next logical step was anime. Next, they need a Shinji Ikari surrogate getting all angsty about huge odd creatures, which are certainly not Angels, taking his Nacho Fries, necessitating his piloting a large humanoid that isn't an Eva to get them back.
  7. M'Kyuun
    This could have turned out much worse. I can forgive the leg kibble for that well done alt mode. Glad they finally made this guy in the main line. Now we just need Wheeljack in his space truck alt mode and we can recreate those first scenes from the original show. Never had G1 Sideswipe, but I did, and still do, have Red Alert. He's still in good condition as well, along with Tracks. Sorry JBO. So Hasbro are doing very well financially in this second quarter of '21, with $1.23B in revenues. Hopefully some of that goes towards product improvement in the TF line and in fixing their terrible distribution issues. With so much cash on hand, why do they even need Haslab?
  8. M'Kyuun
    Excellent. First I've ever heard of a company firing someone for supporting the practice, but hopefully not the last. These people should not be encouraged.
  9. M'Kyuun
    Amen, brother.
  10. M'Kyuun
    Vangelis definitely created a unique sound which, along with the visuals, created a beautiful yet bleak mood for the film. I honestly don't recall the music from 2049, although I own it and have seen it a few times now. Guess I need to watch it again. The comparison with GitS and Alita is apt (haven't seen enough Appleseed to compare). The only thing in the trailer that gives it away as a Blade Runner tie-in is the Spinner landing scene. Otherwise, it could be any action movie with a female martial artist. Hell, it could be Kung-Fu, the Animation. They simply don't create the right atmosphere, IMHO, although they're trying with all the Asian sign imagery. But the music played a large part in the original for setting the mood, and that's lacking here. All things being equal, if I get a chance to watch it, I will, at least to give it a chance, as trailer material is often choppy and out of context. Seeing a full ep will give a better impression of how they approach the world.
  11. M'Kyuun
    What's not to like about a licensed F-14 Transformer whose transformation closely resembles that of the VF-1, which itself was inspired by the F-14, on a Macross forum? If this was Has/Tak's way of thumbing their nose at Harmony Gold, then I'm all the happier it exists. Along with the original Jetfire, it's one of the best jet-formers ever produced. Both you and @David Hingtgenhave suggested the XB-70, and given that the rest of the Aerialbots are military planes, the bomber would have been the more apropos alt mode, not to mention the large boxy engines would have have served to hide a big boxy robot more naturally. Or the B-1 Lancer, for that matter, which has a design closer to the Concorde. Funny they didn't go with the latter option, as they weren't too concerned about licenses for all these vehicle modes back in the 80s, and the B-1B was the new hotness in American bombers, with the first B-1B arriving at Dyess in '85. A supersonic bomber leading the charge for the rest of the Aerialbots would have been pretty kickass.
  12. M'Kyuun
    FT seem to be known for their lackluster articulation, even among recent releases, which seems odd. I think they concentrate more on transformation engineering, and a lot of what they've been putting out seems overly complex. I watched Emgo's "Just transform it' vid, and there are a lot of moving parts involved, beggaring the question if all of them are absolutely necessary. I love what they did with sandwiching bits of the bot into the fuselage, moving the shoulders back, turning the arms into the engine nacelles. All of that is brilliant, and works towards the good of the alt mode. It's by far the best Silverbolt Concorde I've seen. I even like how the wings fold onto the legs, thus reducing the leg profile in jet mode, and I think the concession of using the forward parts of the wings to simulate the full wings, per the G1 model, is a forgivable concession. Overall, I see far more good about the design than bad. Despite its faults, I think it should serve as a template for every and any company producing a transforming aircraft with similar design traits to eliminate the bot under a plane syndrome that's become the standard for the last thirty-plus years. FT dared to do it differently, and the result was worth it, IMHO. I'm joining the club.
  13. M'Kyuun
    Scyla, HUGE thank you for that link. I can die happy now. 😍 That is how you do a proper Silverbolt, and any other aircraft of a similar profile. Serious and much deserved kudos to their engineers for making it all work and really doing the utmost to preserve the sleekness of the Concorde mode. I was vaguely aware that FT made a Superion, but as my interest in combiners is on the low end, generally moreso for the Aerialbots b/c of how butchered the plane modes usually turn out, I never paid attention when these things hit market. While it looks like a PITA to, ahem, convert😉, one can't argue with the end result: a very blocky G1 accurate Silverbolt that turns into a sleek Concorde where the vast majority of the bot is integrated into the plane, as it absolutely without question should be forever and always until the end of reality as we know it. Happy sigh. Unfortunately, I missed the boat when this guy was reasonably priced; $259 is the best price on ebay, plus $100 shipping. Too much. For now, I'm just ecstatic knowing this thing exists, and that it's possible. As for Dreamstar's Silverbolt, I agree. I'm doubting that those feet on their Superion are part of the leg bots; they look like ground servicing vehicles to me, which is apropos. I looked at pics of their fully combined Superion earlier, including a back shot, and it doesn't appear as though the leg bots attach to armatures, a la a number of Menasors out there, that extend from Silverbolt. SB is pretty much the head, torso and the thighs. I wish they'd taken inspiration from FT's Maverick, as I really dig the aesthetic they're going for, and a streamlined Concorde with that bot mode might've pushed me towards getting my first full Superion.
  14. M'Kyuun
    The rest of Dreamstar Toys' Aerialbots: Credit to Show.Z for pics. Wow- great shaping on that empennage! If only the Seekers looked so good. F-15 mode looks good from above, but loses some fidelity on that underside. Credit for accurately placing the mains, though. Funny that they're extended, but not the nose. Still, it's pretty flat, and worlds better than MP-52. No bot pics available on the site, and I couldn't find them anywhere else. Fairly clean underside. Again, the mains are positioned accurately, and are extended, but not the nose. No bot pics for this guy, either. IMHO, one of the most challenging fighters to craft into a transforming bot due to its small size and tubular shaping. This is a remarkable effort, probably the best I've seen in my many years of being a transforming robot fan. The mains look off on this one, but I hope I'm wrong. Love how clean that underside is, though. Even more impressive is that it becomes a relatively chunky bot without all that chunkiness turning the fighter into a cube, or an F-16 shaped hang glider. Def on my radar, Pun not intentional, but what the heck. The one disappointment out of the bunch. I was so vehemently hoping this would be as clean and integrated as the rest, but this Silverbolt joins a long roster of robots hanging out under a Concorde, or the odd SR-71. I know I'm gonna get an "I told ya so" from @mikeszekely, but I remain steadfast in my belief that a fully integrated transforming Concorde is possible where the plane itself forms the bot rather than a big block o'bot hanging out underneath. Not this time, sadly, but hopefully within my lifetime. I just want that one fleeting moment of vindication. Anyway, while I'm not interested in collecting them all, I like the design approach and aesthetic. It has Bayformer's complexity without the nonsensical and decidedly unrealistic placement and shaping of aircraft parts in bot mode. I'm strongly reminded of Sci-Figure Industries' Lumitent and Fiery Thunderbolt helicopter. I wouldn't be surprised if the same folks (TFC Toys) were doing these, too.
  15. M'Kyuun
    I don't want to discourage you from transforming him. It's a bit of work, though, both for the number steps, and due to how strongly some of the large planet panels lock together. There's effort involved. Set aside a few hours to take your time and go through it. The resulting bot is pretty cool to behold in person, and worth the effort, IMHO. Better than just looking at a big orange and blue basketball. Good luck!
  16. M'Kyuun
    I stand corrected on both counts. Yes. It's big, with very stiff ratchets throughout. If you've watched any vids, he's a bit involved to transform. I've only transformed him to robot mode, his having come in planet mode. I've thought about transforming him back to planet, but then I look at all those panels on his legs and think, 'another day'. Bot mode is my preferred mode for display, anyway, so the urge to go through another cycle of that transformation is fleeting. Did you have any other questions?
  17. M'Kyuun
    Agree with that aesthetic; I dig it. And too, a shame that they don't transform. Unfortunately, Hasbro keeps the transformation gimmick locked up and won't let any of their licensees try their hands at it. IMHO, it would make good business sense to allow it, as it diversifies your overall portfolio, and that particular gimmick is still an essential to many Transformers fans, myself included. Maybe they're afraid of being shown up. 😏Given what third parties have been up to for the last decade, it's a legitimate fear. Anyway, it wouldn't hurt my feelings if a third party copied the basic look and created fully transformable versions. I wouldn't mind a transforming Windblade in that style. Still waiting on Big Firebird's take. Their Arcee (Nicee) is a beautiful figure (looking at her on my shelf with a happy sigh). "Transform and roll out", not "Convert and roll out". The Convertors converted; Transformers transform. Been that way since 1984. I was there, and I had both. Still here! Still have both! I can't recall an instance when they said 'convert', rather than 'transform', to indicate changing form in the old show, or any TF show, since. They 'Maximized!' and 'Terrorized!' in Beast Wars, but that's a whole different ball of wax. Transformers transform; the name says it all, and the gimmick is why Hasbro purposefully chose the name, although they were initially worried some folks might think they were electrical transformers. Time and sales proved otherwise. The term 'transformer' has also taken prominence as the general term for any robot that changes shape here in the US. I build transforming mecha from LEGO and exhibit them at conventions. People don't ask if they convert, but if they transform. That's my experience. In Japan, they deform, as that's what henkei, Takara's chosen verb for transformation, translates to. 'The Deformers' just doesn't have the same ring, though, does it? Unless you're Transmutate.
  18. M'Kyuun
    Almost got me. I saw this in my email, but didn't see the smiley faces at the bottom, and I was readying my rebuttal. I was hoping you were being facetious, but one never knows with this fandom. A little levity is good, though.
  19. M'Kyuun
    I think she looks good. I won't get her b/c I'm not into non-transforming Transformers (it's kinda in the name, huh?), but I can understand the appeal if you're open to more than just the core transforming stuff. There's a degree of artistry there that I can certainly appreciate. In this hobby, there are always gonna be haters, and haters love to hate. The best thing these companies can do is ignore the negatives, unless they're quality or safety related, and just put their best effort into making good looking, poseable figures that ideally capture the subject. Ideal is subjective, but I think there's a baseline that most fans will agree upon for any given character. FWIW, I like the design direction for Arcee and Windblade in this series.
  20. M'Kyuun
    Once again, I look upon a very well crafted legends scale fig and wish fervently that they'd upscale to match CHUG. We can't see it from this angle, but I'll bet that car mode doesn't have big blocky feet hanging out the back. As much as I like collecting Hasbro's mainline, third parties are undeniably doing it better at legends scale. It's a shame that their prices are akin to leader class or higher for such small figures, but one must weigh the total package of what the legends figs offer over CHUG, which is all over the place in terms of design, accuracy, hollow bits, complexity of transformation, paint, etc. 3P legends offers more quality per fig, and the price, while a bit exorbitant, reflects it. It's a quandary, then, whether to just abandon CHUG and go full legends. I haven't the space, or budget, for both full on, but I'm well invested in CHUG, and if I'm being honest, I still enjoy the main line, especially all the G1 goodness we've been getting since Titans Return. The WfC figs, for the better part, have been pretty well done. They still lack the spit and polish of most of the legends figs though, and that's hard to ignore. And that draws me further into the murky waters of add-ons and upgrades, which often cost as much or more than the fig itself to correct issues that shouldn't exist in the first place. I haven't swum too deep into that pool as of yet, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't terribly tempted for a few of my figs just to make them feel more complete, as they should have been straight outta the box. Alas, first world issue, but as an unapologetic first worlder, this is the issue that lies before me.
  21. M'Kyuun
    And they're well within their rights to be wrong. Honestly, the uncircumcised shuttle for Astrotrain never bothered me that much for some reason, and it should. I love Fans Toys Thomas, and they did a remarkable job nailing the realistic look of the locomotive mode, but their shuttle, while smooth on top, still has those bits on the sides that stick out due to all the panel-fu, just like the G1 toy. It would have been nice if could have smoothed the whole thing out to make it look accurate, or closer to accurate, but apparently it's a challenging thing to do, and that was a concession that also homages the G1 toy. Somehow, it doesn't bother me near as much as MP-52's peaks and valleys. Guess we all have our own quirky nitpicks. Not sure if anyone else has posted this, but I came across this initially on Twitter tonight/this morning (it's almost 2AM PST, and I should probably be snoozing). It's a really interesting take on Aerialbot Slingshot, stylized by this new third party, Dreamstar Toys, as Slingshoot. This thing's got my attention. I'm a huge Harrier fan, and there are so, so few good transforming toys of that plane, but this one, while a little chubby and showing a little bit of bot-stuff on the flanks where its variable nozzles should be, as well as some bot kibble on the belly where the belly gun pods should be, it's passable. I'll also mention that the intakes are too wide, and each has nearly a full fan blade showing, indicating two engines- no wonder she's so fat! For those who are unaware, the Harrier, both British and American variants, is a single engine jet, and only about a 1/3 of the first stage fan blade is visible through the intakes. Alas, license and concessions. Borderline egg-plane proportions and visible bot bits notwithstanding, I'm digging this guy in both modes. I'll admit, when I first saw the pics, I thought it was a new take on Shatter from the Bumblebee Movie, as it has a bit of that Bay-bot busy-ness going on, and SS Shatter also had the full fan blade in each intake, so I presumed until I did some reading. This will apparently, like MMC's Bruticus, be part of an all-in-one non-partsforming combiner, albeit with a decidedly non-G1 blocky bot aesthetic. I have no interest in collecting the whole team, and their take on Silverbolt is, unfortunately, like virtually every take by everyone who attempts it, a big block-o-bot hanging out under a nice Concorde fuselage. So sad; after seeing their Slingshoot, I was hoping they'd work some magic and offer up a more accurate Concorde, but the Robot Fates continue to kick slag in our collective faces. At this point I'd like to see UniqueToys take a crack at it, but I digress. Anyway, this was new to me, and very different in its approach, so I thought it worth sharing. Credit to TFW2005, whose pics I linked.
  22. M'Kyuun
    I have indeed thought of it, although, as you mention, it may play some havoc with the feet. OR, what if only the outer fascia of the legs rotated 180, but the inner leg remained as per the original design, negating the need to move the feet. I think that'd solve the problem nicely, and perhaps it would offer the possibility of ensconcing the feet within the leg in jet mode to help preserve the smooth taper to the exhausts. Anyway, I think there are engineering options with the legs; it just doesn't seem like most companies have much interest in straying too far from the original design. Some use sliders to foreshorten them, but otherwise, most Seeker toys' legs just stick straight back with the toes folded up into the leg. Definitely curious to see what you're able to come with.
  23. M'Kyuun
    Yes, at least to the legs. I'd love to see the arms collapse into the center fuselage like the G1 toy, and the Robot Masters fig, as well, and then employ the same kind deformation mechanics they employed on MP-36 Megatron's legs to smooth everything out in fighter mode and try to capture the shape of the actual aircraft. Likewise, the rotating chest intakes was a stroke of genius that nobody, including Takara themselves, seems to want to emulate. Such a great design idea that's ideal for both modes. I like NA's approach of turning the entire upper torso, including chest intakes, and rotating them inwards and making them form part of the forward fuselage. Brilliant idea that works oh so well. With a little additional engineering, on a larger toy, I think it'd be possible to also have node gear doors and a retractable nose gear in there, too. I'd love to see NA take a crack at MP scale with that mold, adding in all the embellishments that are too difficult at legends scale.
  24. M'Kyuun
    From those angles, it looks much better than MP-52. The forward fuselage is a little too short vertically; it should come down to the base of the intakes, just above the robot chesticle section. Those mains are really short, as even with a too-small forward fuselage to help with the nose gear height, the plane still looks like it's sitting at a nose-high attitude on the ground. Nitpicks. Overall, it looks pretty clean, a far more acceptable F-15 than the atrocious MP-52. By way of comparison, Maketoys' jet mode is pretty accurate to the source, as is the NewAge, and both are more accurate than the DS, at least that forward section. Without a good profile shot, it's difficult to judge the tail section, and honestly, the only Seekers I've seen that even approached accuracy were MP-03, which was very close due to Kawamori's tinkering with the leg shape and foot design, followed by MP-11, which lost some of that accuracy in fighter for a slightly more accurate toon foot and blockier leg , which still looked awkward. Maketoy's tail section is pretty squared off and a little chunky and would have benefitted from a taper or a nice angle, like the NewAge Seeker. NA's actually looks pretty good; it's a shame they didn't hide the foot internally, as it would have looked even better.
  25. M'Kyuun
    What, you don't buy that a thin furry veneer would protect a robot from energon overload? While the explanation was thinner than their hairy/scaly/chitinous facades, Beast Wars is a terrific show, and I'm willing to overlook the ludicrousness of the reason for their organic forms for all the fun they had exploiting those forms in new and interesting ways that wouldn't be possible had they merely been mechanical critters. It remains a unique show within the franchise, both for the choice of alt modes, but also the brand of humor employed throughout, and I think it's the combination of writing/voicing, as well as the storytelling, that set it apart and lured TF fans in despite themselves, myself included. At heart, I'm a trukk, not munky guy; any day of the week, I'd prefer mechanical alt modes, even if those alt modes are creatures, like the Insecticons or the Dinobots. Robo-critters, like the Zoids line, or the recent 52Toys Mega/BeastBox line, have always held a strong appeal for me, and when BW transitioned to Trans-metals, and then to their Beast Machines forms, I was digging those changes, and the toys, of course. I still lament that the Trans-tech follow-up to Beast Machines never materialized. I liked a few of those concepts. At least Cheetor's Trans-tech design, my favorite, was realized, in part, in Animated's Blurr, who also got a Cheetor recolor, bringing it full circle.💞
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