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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    I agree. It takes a little effort to get her legs locked into place with her ankles pretty deep into the front wheel wells, without touching the tires, as well as getting her hands into a good position where they're not dragging, but that effort is pleasantly rewarded by a smooth rolling car mode. The car mode looks nice, too. I do like the official Arcee transformation with the front of the car forming her chest, but given the heavily anthropomorphic style of Nicee's design, the departure is easily overlooked. The extra utility of her shoulder pods as hip skirts or a stylized bow is also pretty cool. I appreciate the innovation, even if my preference is to leave them on her shoulders. I do lament the omission of the hip weapon storage as originally seen in the concept art; that's a Robocop inspired feature that I was really looking forward to, and it's sad that it didn't make it into the final product. Too, the omission of the Arcee inspired head was dismaying, but hopefully it'll be among the accessories with their Windblade release. The fit and form of this figure is really impressive, though, and it raises my interest in how their Windblade is going to turn out. I thought we might see a proto at Wonderfest this year, but AFAIK, it wasn't shown. I'm not sure what the next Asian Con or toy show is, but fingers crossed their Windblade will be among the exhibits (along with Bandai's long awaited YF-21). Anyway, I absolutely love the art style BFB went with; she's just a beautiful figure.
  2. M'Kyuun
    Couple of blasts from the past there, Kuma. Looking good, as always. I only got MP Inferno, and the way they designed the ladder to fold and stow inside the body is really it's coolest selling point, so far as this particular character goes. None of the third party contenders came up with so elegant a solution, just letting the ladder dangle off the back. I do regret not picking up MMC's Grapple, as I liked their design, but wasn't interested enough in the character at the time to pick him up. Too, it would have been nice to have that difference in aesthetics.
  3. M'Kyuun
    This is a nice bit of crossover action I saw on Twitter today. The upcoming Maverick in VF-0 livery. Pretty sharp. I'm tempted to do the same when I get mine. Gotta chime in, too, and say what a nice looking fighter mode this is, especially with all the fanfare for MP-Starscream V2 and his rather questionable fighter mode. I wish more jet-formers looked this good.
  4. M'Kyuun
    I'll have to try and remember that for Friday. Def down for most of those figs. As for the next wave of figs coming from the Unicron trilogy, as much as it dismays me personally, you're probably right. If so, with the way MP has been going, and my general dislike of the UT, my TF collecting is going to slow to a crawl over the next few years. I'll keep my eye on third party to sustain me, as well as stuff like Nicee and hopefully a Tread for my Sentinel Legioss.
  5. M'Kyuun
    https://www.seibertron.com/toys/index.php?f_series_id=11&f_subgroup=&f_name=Enter+Character+Name(s)&f_type=exact Seibertron is a great resource for TF pics down through the years, and I invite you to peruse the gallery and make up your own mind about the RiD toys. While his design never struck a chord with me, I think Fire Convoy's one of the best toys in the line. I have him, X-Brawn, Prowl, and Sideburn, the latter three being some of the first toys to come out, as I remember, and I was just excited about their vehicle modes. All three turned out to be largely shell-formers with a lot of kibble, and asymmetrical features, like X-Brawn's one arm being the entire front end of his vehicle while the other is just a standard robot arm. They were going for something, and admittedly it was inventive, but ultimately not very nice looking. The bots, however, had a lot of articulation, especially by the standards of the day. Looking through the gallery myself, I was surprised by how much Beast Wars/Beast Machine crossovers there were. I believe I bought Skybyte during that time. Check out the UT gallery as well. The big gimmick for most of that trilogy was the ability to combine two characters into a larger robot. More often than not, the combined mode was ungainly, awkward, compromised by lots of kibble, and just unsightly. But there were a few winners in there. We got our first official Arcee figure, with a motorcycle alt mode, and I still have a soft spot for Armorhide (little blue cabover) who's up on my CHUG shelves somewhere. I bought a number of toys from the three lines, especially the ones that reminded me of G1. My attachment to them faded pretty quickly, though, for most anyway. Ultimately, what I've always wanted in the mainline is what we're getting with the current WFC Trilogy, as well as all the G1 love we got with TR and PotP. I'm feeling pretty fulfilled with WFC, but it does make me curious what's next, when all the G1 is done. Whatever it is, I hope it's more groundbreaking stuff like Animated or Prime, with new characters, new setting, new story, and a new look. Out with the old, in with the new, as the old saying goes.
  6. M'Kyuun
    We're on opposite sides of that preference; I'd take a MP Animated Prime over anything RiD or Unicron trilogy. I just wasn't a fan at all of the Japanese imported shows or their toys, although , admittedly, I own toys from all of it, including Fire Convoy, which I don't care for. I found most of the toys from that time period to be lackluster at best, and just this side of terrible in general. I welcomed RiD initially, b/c it was a return to vehicles as alt modes, but I quickly became disenchanted with it. My interest in collecting Transformers didn't rekindle again until '07 with the Classics line, and some of the Bayformer stuff. Even then, I didn't like the look of Bayformers, but the advances Takara was making in engineering and complexity with those toys was enthralling. I own a lot of them, especially from the earlier films. That said, My interest in Takara's making MP Animated anything is tepid at best. I don't have the room for it, I fear greatly for how the things would turn out, especially the vehicle modes, and I'm content, mostly, with the toys we already got. There are a few that I wouldn't mind seeing a third party taka a crack at to improve them over the originals at their original scales, but overall I'm good with what I've got. If nothing else, it was an interesting experiment on HasTak's part. I like what they did, for the most part, but I also realize it's not for everyone, and I'm cool with that.
  7. M'Kyuun
    Oops, I stand corrected. For some reason, and in spite of owning the series, I always think of it as only having two seasons. The fourth season toys would have been great. Shame we never got either. True, the toys stand apart aesthetically. But the same argument can be made for both the Bayformer toys, and Prime by extension. All my Animated figs are displayed on my desk, and all the other lines are displayed on my CHUG shelves, but mostly grouped with each other according to series. These days, the shelves are so full that they're basically all crammed next to each other. So many toys, so little space. But I'll make room for more Animated toys. Honestly, Omega Supreme is the one I really want, along with Blackout, who's priced so ludicrously these days that, barring a Hasbro release, I've given up any chance of owning him. OS is the Holy Grail from that line for me. With John Warden moving on to Power Rangers and a new senior lead taking the reigns for Transformers, maybe there's some Animated nostalgia there that'll materialize in the form of some isolated releases. Fingers crossed. I just don't want it as another overpriced Haslab project.
  8. M'Kyuun
    Preach! I agree 100% about the show not getting its deserved third season to wrap things up. I'd hoped that at the very least they'd do a graphic novel akin to what the Avatar creators did after the original series ended. Great books if you're an Avatar fan. The toys were innovative and cool, especially since that style of artwork had never before been translated to physical toys. Some are on the money, some aren't, but the vast majority are innovative in one way or another. Too, this line came out before Hasbro started going cheap with hollow areas all over, smaller sized figures, more exposed or simple joints, like mushroom pegs, etc. Most of the animated figs are solid, with better overall builds than many of the current toys. The figs you pointed out are among some of my favorites. I also think Blackarachnia was well done, as well as voyager Prime, Blurr (inspired by the unused Cheetor Transtech design, and issued as a Con exclusive in Cheetor deco. Full circle. ), Swindle, Rodimus Minor, Cybertronian Ratchet/ironhide, etc. I could keep going. I just love this toyline. I wish I'd been able to score a Blackout, but I missed out. It goes for insane prices now, so unless Hasbro does something similar for Animated and releases Blackout here as an exclusive, he'll be the one that got away. Well, he and Cybertronian Ironhide. I keep hoping that Hasbro will do something for Animated, but it seems like they just want to sweep it under the rug, as if it's something to be ashamed of. And yet they keep putting out Bayformer stuff. Now that's something to be ashamed of.
  9. M'Kyuun
    "Get away from her, you B***h!" I really wish they made a Ripley figure, or at least a scaled humanoid figure, to go with this. For it's needing to fold into a box, it's rather well detailed, with nice mechanical features, like moving piston rods in the arms, crisp paint apps, lots of tampo markings all over, two sets of detachable hoses for additional detail, and plenty of articulation (ankle pivots and rocker; knees to about 60 degrees; hips on balljoints that go 90 deg forward, almost 90 back, and about 25 laterally; shoulders on a ball peg which can butterfly back a little at the body joint, and rotate 360 at the shoulder, as well as some play due to the ball joint; elbows that go a little past 90; a rotation joint mid forearm that rotates 90, another rotation joint at the fork that can go 360 without the hoses attached, and the forks can independently move on a slider with enough friction to maintain position. The canopy hinges upward on a double hinge for transformation, and it has the little welding torch attached on the driver's right side (I thought it was on the left in the film, but I'm not sure), which can rotate on a peg. Mine's very loose, along with the right forearm rotation joint. Otherwise, everything is appropriately tight. I also forgot to mention that the footpads can rotate up into the leg for a more streamlined look, but I think that's for transformation. Last nitpick, I love the hydraulic hose attachments, but they don't plug in very tight, and pop out very easily. They're designed to be removed, and need to be for transformation into cube mode, but , you know, loose stuff is always a bother. On the whole, my nitpicks are just so, and I think this is one of the coolest figures in their Megabox line. For such a small rendition and its cube-forming gimmick, it's really a great little representation that would make for a splendid desk toy. Recommended.
  10. M'Kyuun
    I'm still peeved that they're doing BW and some limited Prime stuff, but they never did anything for Animated for it's anniversary. I know it wasn't for everyone, but it definitely had a following (the show was well done whether or not you liked the art style- it grew on me, but I thought the storytelling was great. It was a fun show), and quite a few cool toys to go along with the show. I was really hoping for Animated Omega Supreme/the Ark for the tenth, but all we got from Hasbro was the sound of silence. Looks like ER Bluestreak is going to be a Walgreens exclusive. https://news.tfw2005.com/2020/10/10/transformers-earthrise-bluestreak-out-at-us-retail-walgreens-exclusive-421815 What fun.
  11. M'Kyuun
    Transformers Generations War for Cybertron Series-Inspired Soundwave Battle 3-Pack - Walmart.com - Walmart.com Good luck!
  12. M'Kyuun
    Man, I totally empathize. I was able to get the Target Seekers by chance when they finally , and briefly, became available online. I don't recall who now (I have a goldfish memory on the best of days. Best days are fleeting and few), but somebody here pointed it out when they became available, so my fervent and sincere thanks. For the Decepticon Clones, I was checking Target's website sporadically, and just happened to hit it one evening when they were available; I drove over to the store the next day. I waited over an hour for the picker to deliver it up front, and finally when the manager with whom I'd spoken on arrival saw me still standing there empty-handed, he told me he'd cancel my online order and I could just go back and pick one up off the shelf, which I did. In the end, my online order wasn't cancelled, but I didn't go back for it, so it presumably went back to the shelf and I wasn't charged for it. In hindsight, I wish I'd grabbed two sets, as I could have helped a brother out here. Alas, regrets. I've been checking Walmart's site everyday (I have a direct link to the Soundwave page), and it's always out of stock. My brick and mortar store hasn't had it either, so I don't know if it's a distro issue, or availability, or what. But yeah, I'm sick and tired of all the exclusivity, as it makes an already hard to get product just that much harder (these are toys, for Pete's sake. You should be able to walk into any store that sells toys and find these things). Moreover, it just fuels the scalper market. Only Hasbro and scalpers benefit from these exclusivity deals. It certainly doesn't benefit children or us adult collectors. "Where fans come first" indeed. I remember how much fun it used to be to go toy hunting, right up until the turn of the millennium. Stuff was available; you needn't be rushing to secure a preorder to ensure the faintest chance of getting a toy. It's totally unfair to kids, as most will never see these things in their store. It's a shame that a few greedy adults, as well as poor market availability on the part of Hasbro, have conspired to limit widespread availability of toys. It's rather bizarre, if you think about it. And a little sad. As to Screamer2's waist rotation, or possible lack thereof, it seems an unlikely omission given their move towards greater articulation. The ab crunch is there (I really hate that term, but for the lack of any other, I use it). But, it's noticeably absent in every pic of this figure, and that canopy sits very close to his adult diaper, so maybe he doesn't have it. As I'm pushing 50, I can attest that my own waist rotation is rather minimal these days, so it's not that essential. And yeah, one more feather for Maketoys if indeed it can't turn at the waist.
  13. M'Kyuun
    As much as I abhor the Bay films, and dislike the character designs, for the reasons Mike elucidated, I've admittedly bought a fair share of the toys over the years. The complexity of the figures, at the time, was really a serious advancement for Transformers, even if I didn't always care for the look of the bot mode, and I found that aspect very appealing. It was a positive direction. Eventually, they started getting maybe a little too complex, but that's an argument for another day. Anyway, I still have my '07 Ratchet, and although he's a chunky beast that looks very little like his CG model, the old school chunkiness made him feel like a "regular" Transformer to me. He's the only version of Bayverse Ratchet I own. Anyway, I appreciate the unintended trip down memory lane. Thirteen years- gah, where has the time gone? As for Starscream2's weapons, they're based off the animation which is based on the G1 toy, so even though they're not realistic, they are true to the source, so I can't fault them. I should have done my homework before complaining. Sumimasen.
  14. M'Kyuun
    I still have MP-3 Screamer (Walmart exclusive), Greenscream, and, I think, MP-3 Skywarp. They're all boxed up somewhere around here. The only one I ever opened was Greenscream. I never picked up any of the MP-11 remolds, although I would have liked to have had one of them just b/c. Now I'm more interested in picking up Maketoy's Thundercracker and Starscream to complete my MP Seekers. I've been holding out in the event Takara made a new Seeker, and having that wish come to a most unsatisfactory fruition, I'm hoping I can pick up some Maketoys Seekers cheap.
  15. M'Kyuun
    I like the idea of the weapons armatures, but done in a far less obtrusive or obvious way, like maybe a thin die-cast armature that blends with the wing's underside becoming virtually invisible in fighter mode. It's not so much that there's an armature, but the execution that's questionable. If they were dead set on having it as a feature, it surely could have been done better. But everything about this toy's alt mode belies a near absolute lack of care. I think once they decided to junk it up with the extra canopy and then a canopy cover and huge shoulder areas where the intakes should be, they just said F-it towards any real effort to make it remotely accurate and concentrated on making the best Sunbow Screamer they could, alt mode be damned. I do like how the weapons transform from whatever those are supposed to be (they're not bombs, fuel tanks, or any recognizable missiles) to null rays. Again, it would have been nice if the null rays turned into something that looks real. I give credit for the attempt, but the execution, not so much. Screamer2 is fast becoming an abused horse corpse. While there's something oddly cathartic about complaining, ultimately, it's not going to change anything. At this point, I'm just sad that this is yet another entry in the MP line that I find unsatisfactory. We waited a long time for this toy, and I had my hopes up that it would better its only real contender, Maketoys, especially when that fig has been out for a couple of years, giving Takara ample opportunity to see what they did right, wrong, and where they could improve on it. Opportunity flushed.
  16. M'Kyuun
    I've been pretty selective over the years as to what 3P figs I've bought; that said, I have more 3P than official in my MP TF Detolf. The only MP combiner I own is Toy World's Constructor, b/c it was, and remains , the most G1 faithful set of MP Constructicons, and they were too good to pass up. I was very tempted to go in on MMC's Bruticus, which is my favorite combiner next to Devastator (the original), especially with the all-inclusive design, which is right up my alley. I'm not a fan of partsforming; it's tolerable with combiners, but a combiner that eschews it strikes a resounding chord with me. In the end, I relented. I have no space for another large combiner; heck I barely have any space left on my CHUG shelves, but they keep making more, and I have to have them! I should sell some stuff, but I've always been rue to part with my toys. I keep all packaging, too, which doesn't help. I probably need an intervention. As for the legends figs, I've bought all three of NA's Seekers (in a boxset), their Megatron, Prowl, and Cosmos, and MS' Huffer. I also have IGear's Huffer and Cosmos, if those count. With all the talk about MP Starscream V2, I find the NA Seeker to be a better figure all the way around. I wish they'd upsize it to voyager scale, as it's better than the ER Seeker as well.
  17. M'Kyuun
    I'm trying so hard not to fall down the legends rabbit hole, and you're not making it any easier! Cool vid, though. NA and MS both made nice looking Soundwaves. IMHO, NA's Soundwave looks better, but MS made better cassettes. It's a shame they're off-scale with each other. I was going to pick up NA's Soundwave, and MS' Megatron (already have NA's), but I need to limit my collecting a bit, so I'm abstaining with these legends figs. It's difficult. They're done so well.
  18. M'Kyuun
    I'm half and half: I am attached to Transformer characters, specifically all the first season characters, as they probably had the most impact on me as a kid. The whole transformation gimmick was the initial appeal, but as I watched the show, my attachments grew. That said, I just generally like things that transform, for the same reason- the puzzle factor and the engineering involved are greatly appealing to me, and always have been. It's why I like pretty much any media with transforming mecha. Like Chronocidal, sometimes I don't care about the show at all- I just want the mecha. I also like the 52Toys's stuff, which just turn into cubes, but they have a charm to them. As to a fandom that will accept an egregiously poor alt mode, but worship at the altar of Sunbow, I'm not a member of that particular cult. I like Transformers, but after thirty-plus years, I expect to see a maturation of the design approach, especially on the high end, that treats all modes with equal attention to detail, as much as possible. Starscream 2.0 is anathema to what this Transformers fan wants in a Masterpiece figure. I will concede that the bot mode looks nice- Takara generally do a good job with that, big backpacks and assorted panel-formery notwithstanding. But the alt mode suffers terribly, and, looking back at MP-03, which had a far better F-15 mode, beggars the question why this figure wasn't better than its predecessor in this regard as an evolutionary step forward. I'd love to interview some of the Takara designers and ask them why so much attention is given to ground vehicle accuracy, but plane alts are generally an afterthought, with little to no effort put forth to make them more realistic and accurate. Again, of the fans that embrace this, I wonder why they'd spend the money on a transforming Starscream figure which they have no intention of transforming when there are statues and high end non-transforming figures that do the job perhaps better. Right? It's silly. One thing I liked about MP-03 was how the chest intakes rotated to become the aircraft's intakes; it was a nice implementation of a bot part to serve the alt mode, and I wonder why they didn't carry that idea forward to minimize the profile. Likewise, use some of what they learned from MP-36 to minimize and flatten the lower legs so they match the actual profile of an F-15. Things they could have and should have, done, but couldn't be bothered to try. Masterpiece, indeed.
  19. M'Kyuun
    Um, yeah. Quoted from the TFW frontpage: "We have a clear look at a colored sample and the plethora of accessories that will be included with this release. This new mold brings us a very cartoon-accurate representation of the Decepticons Air Commander with an impressive posability and a beautiful F-15 fighter mode. " Have they ever seen an F-15?
  20. M'Kyuun
    Likewise, but I'm an aircraft fan, and former mechanic, who has actually worked on an F-15, so the glaring inaccuracies speak loudly to me. Moreover, if these sorts of inaccuracies were applied to any of the car bots, I think the level of acceptance would be much lower. There exists an enormous double standard between what's acceptable for ground and aerial alt modes, stemming all the way back to the 80's. I don't think there should be, especially if the alt mode is licensed, as the F-15 is. Moreover, I think improving aerial alt modes, especially in a premium line, should be part of the evolution of engineering and a move towards greater accuracy. The cars have evolved, but the planes are still anachronistic robots under a plane, for the most part. Or they end up looking like MP-52, with all effort put into the toony bot, leaving a distorted and misshapen fighter mode that barely conceals the robot. This sort of compromise is ok in lower priced toys, but in the high end collector line, it should be, and has been, done better.
  21. M'Kyuun
    I appreciate the opinion, Mike. For the record, I haven't handled MP-44 (although I'd totally take advantage if the opportunity presented itself), but in making up my mind which Optimus would be my Optimus, I watched any number of vid reviews for the three primary contenders. Ultimately, I chose Magic Square, as it checked all the boxes for me. I'm aware that MP-44 has had issues with the knees. The toon proportions of the bot mode don't really bother me that much, although, given my druthers, I prefer the chunkier look of MS-01. In truck mode, I vehemently dislike the shapes of the fuel tanks and the missing grey stripe, the latter of which is, to me, iconic to the character. It's once again a salient feature that was lost due to Takara's devotion to a poorly drawn and woefully inconsistent cartoon. I still don't like the oversized backpack, and I'm not crazy about the broken -up look of the top of his cab in bot mode, which is due in part to all the origami in the transformation, but also as a concession for the butterfly joint. I love that Takara want to give these new MP figs much greater range of articulation. It's been one of my chief complaints across the various lines of Transformers since I started this journey with Prowl in '84. I also realize that it's likely going to come at a cost, although I maintain that with the MP line, the bulk of the concessions have been made in TT's attempts to turn a toon "accurate" bot mode into a real world vehicle, an approach I don't endorse. Anyway, your in-hand observation cements my belief that I chose the right toy for my preferences, so thanks.
  22. M'Kyuun
    +1
  23. M'Kyuun
    The problem with that argument is, that within Bayverse, so is everyone else, robot or otherwise.
  24. M'Kyuun
    Gah, 80's Mustangs were the worst! Damned ugly cars. I was so glad when they returned to the classic Stang look in '05. I was pretty excited when they were going to use one for the Bay films, but then I saw the bot mode, and it was pretty much ruined for me. I'd love to have a modern Mustang that turns into a G1 inspired bot, though. Still have Binaltech Grimlock and Wheeljack, which was one of the better molds from that line. Love the alt modes for those guys.
  25. M'Kyuun
    I hadn't thought about it in those terms. It'd be nice, but I don't think any studio goes into a project thinking they've got a low quality bomb on their hands. And schlock, even high budget schlock like the modern Universal monster films, is fun to watch on the big screen. What'll be a sure fire hit and what won't isn't an exact science, and I don't think it ever will. Humans are fickle. As for Free Guy, looks good. Good for a few laughs if nothing else, and I'm usually not the biggest fan of overt comedy films. The sci-fi elements make it interesting for me. And, I like Ryan Reynolds.
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