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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    @mikeszekely Yep, I believe you're right- the actual cockpit sits behind a faux canopy in bot mode. Good eye. I think they could have found a better solution without resorting to the fake canopy, but they didn't. I agree with you on the minibots; for the sake of G1 accuracy, give them their chibi car modes (I didn't know Cliffy was a Porsche until adulthood, either. I probably learned it here). I was pretty pleased when they showed MP Bee 2.0 until they showed his less than appealing bot mode. Most disappointing. The car mode looked great though. @JB0 Considering how many F-15 toys and models have been made since the 70's, with varying degrees of accuracy, I don't think they really care what the toymakers do. If it's intended to represent the F-15, they want a license fee and I think that's where their care factor stops. Just my opinion. They don't seem too insistent about accuracy like the car makers are. If they did, Starscream 2 wouldn't look like that. Edit: Putting it in perspective, Micky-D makes millions to billions in govt contracts to the DOD and other govt agencies. I'm making the assumption that their licensing fees, by comparison, are a drop in the bucket, and serve as a very basic IP protection. If anyone here works for a large corporation that licenses their products/likenesses, I'd be interested to know how involved they actually are in how those licenses are applied. In a way, I'm glad the YF-23 was spared the butchery of Takara; I see what they do to the F-22 by way of Bay's Starscream design- every toy of him betrays its nature from any angle but above, and the 22 is a big boxy jet that's far friendlier to translation. The 23, by contrast is sleek and curvy and would have been absolutely ruined in any translation they might have attempted. Thank goodness for the YF-21 and the YF/VF-19, both of which took their inspiration from the YF-23.
  2. M'Kyuun
    Further viewing these pics of 2.0, I'm once again struck by the differences between alt mode accuracy requirements by the licensees. Sunstreaker was required by Lamborghini to have a standard looking Countach mode, which lead to the large backpack compromise in bot mode. But the car could sit on your shelf as an ideal replica. Likewise, Jeep wouldn't allow for a head-hole, necessitating yet another compromise to the bot mode by requiring the head be attached via an armature that floats over the intact hood. Again, in Jeep mode, it's accurate enough to sit on a shelf as a replica. It's only by up close handling that you'd realize it transforms. Then we come to Starscream, where all compromises were to the benefit of the bot mode, and to the extreme detriment of the fighter mode. Apparently, unlike the automakers, McDonnell-Douglas aren't as finnicky about how the F-15 looks in toy form. As I and others have pointed out, it's one good viewing angle is from above. This is how it should look from below, minus the external fuel tanks, of course. Look at all that flat- F'n beautiful. The forward fuselage melds seamlessly on the same level as the rest of the fuselage all the way back until it tapers slightly to the exhaust nozzles. I wish Micky-D had insisted on the same levels of accuracy as the car makers. I think Takara needs that discipline, as they've not been taken to task with their aircraft figures. The Bayformers, much as I dislike the aesthetic, took them to task to really expand their design philosophy beyond the boxy designs they'd been producing up until that time. They also stretched their wings to come up with much more complex and innovative engineering, for better or worse. Mostly better, IMHO. Now they've taken the lessons they've learned to turn a realistic looking vehicle (that doesn't fly) and turn it into a Sunbow animated robot, which introduces a whole new set of compromises into the mix. I will concede, however, that their move towards imparting very high levels of articulation into the MP line (and to a lesser degree, the mainline) is long, long overdue and greatly laudable. Thank you, Takara. One of my long time wishes granted. I'm getting off-point. Essentially, I wish they held the same standard for alt mode accuracy in the MP line, be it air land, or sea. The new Starscream has far too many compromises to its fighter mode. I have the New Age Seekers, and at legends scale, they present a more accurate F-15 mode. Not perfect, mind you- part of the forearms, the knees, and the feet all extend below the natural fuselage level, but it's done more cleanly, IMHO, than 2.0. It also doesn't need a fake chest. Sorry to disagree with you @mikeszekely, but looking at the chest shape in bot mode compared to that in fighter, I'm certain those are two different canopies. As for gear, to me it looks like the mains will be housed in the bottom of the feet rather than the traditional knees, which places them quite a bit aft of where they should be (about aircraft center). I, too, wonder what kind of ground clearance there'll be, as the chest already hangs lower than the bottom of the intake, with the chest cover extending lower still. It's going to have Legioss syndrome, Sentinel's Legioss notwithstanding. MP-03 had a number of deign ideas I liked, and wish they'd carried over. One of those is rotating the chest intakes to form the fighter's intakes- great double use of a bot part integrated into the alt mode. It also allowed for the chest to be flatter in alt mode. Kawamori streamlined the fighter mode, too, by giving it E- model conformal tanks, and shaping the feet to form a more natural taper to the exhausts. It wasn't G1 accurate, but I thought it a good compromise to make for a better looking fighter. I'm not saying I don't like the Sunbow bot design; I do, and I think Takara did a good job in that area, but there's a tangible lack of balance between Screamer 2.0's alt and bot modes when compared to the majority of the other G1 bots in the line. With all their experience designing these things, at this point in the line's history, there should be no design dichotomy based on whether or not the vehicle flies, and yet there clearly is.
  3. M'Kyuun
    Thanks, Zinjo. Already got it PO'd...with Amazon JP.
  4. M'Kyuun
    I don't think it's that they redesigned it to fit the current aesthetic so much as some of the design choices that are at issue with some folks. I was looking forward to a redesign to fix some of the issues with the previous MP. However, I think this has more stuff I don't like than the previous. It has a nice looking bot mode that I'm sure will have ridiculous amounts of articulation, which is great. And the head now sits at a proper elevation relative to the shoulders. Great again. The fighter mode took an enormous hit for that bot mode, and the bot mode also incorporates, what I feel is, an unnecessary cheat. There's a definite design dichotomy between their efforts to capture, accurately, ground vehicles, and their seeming nonchalance towards their accurately capturing flying vehicles. Starscream 2.0 proves the rule rather than an exception, and while it's more acceptable in their retail lines, that shouldn't be the case in their high end offering. I can't justify to myself paying upwards of $300 for a Seeker that is laughable at best in its fighter mode and uses a fake chest, when Maketoys created a precedent that captures the toon look in bot mode while becoming a far better looking F-15 without the need of faux parts, for half the cost. It doesn't have the articulation that 2.0 will undoubtedly have, but for everything else it does right, the choice for me is easy.
  5. M'Kyuun
    I agree with the no panel forming to a point. The latest spate of MP figs go overboard with it. But done to a minimal degree to allow for a large area to become thinner, as in the YF-21's lower legs, I wouldn't take issue at all if the lower legs utilized some origami to thin them out for fighter, similar to how MP-36's legs thin out for gun mode. It would be a compromise that benefits both modes, and for the sake of balance, I think it's most acceptable. Comparing the YF-19 to the YF-21 is an unfair comparison; there's far less anime magic involved with the 19, as it's design doesn't really require it. The greatest challenge was how to shorten the neck of the plane into the squat torso for battroid, and Yamato figured that out over a decade ago with a fairly simple solution. The moving hip bar helped as well. The 21, by contrast, has to squeeze rather large and bulbous legs into a shallow compartment that's too small to realistically accommodate them. Even in his line art, Kawamori cheats this by shrinking the legs in their bays to make them fit. In battroid, the entire forward fuselage shrinks noticeably to present a more proportionally ideal torso. It's simply not a practical design. Each mode of the 21 is drawn ideally, more than most of his designs, with little regard to realistic proportionality. It's a tough nut to crack for a toy maker. I think the belly panels add an additional hurdle to overcome when translating the 21 to a physical model. If he'd just had them extend down to the knees conformally and let the lower legs hang out and naturally form the lower aft section of the plane, there'd be one less challenge to overcome. True, the plane wouldn't have offered as sleek a profile , but the YF-21 is the closest Kawamori has come to a shell-forming Valk. I've never liked the belly panels, and was actually pleased to see them foreshortened on the Bandai prototype. It makes more sense to me to have them smaller and less in the way of the legs during combat. I realize I'm in the minority opinion, but that's how I've always felt. http://www.macross2.net/m3/macrossplus/yf-21/yf-21-transformation1.gif
  6. M'Kyuun
    I'm already a fan of what's been shown. I'm a battroid guy, so that's how I display all my Macross valks, and honestly, the Yammie YF-21 just didn't do it for me with its super skinny legs. It looks wonky and disproportionate, and that's why it shall remain in its box for perpetuity. It has a gorgeous fighter mode, which I appreciate. But for the next toy, I'd like to see more balance between fighter and battroid, which means, unless they work some crazy origami magic in there, the fighter's going to suffer a little for a better looking battroid. As I said, they could release the proto that they've shown, and I'd be totally down for it. But, I'm willing to give them the time to work out the various challenges to bring it to an equal standing with their YF-19/VF-19 Advance. I hope they can achieve a sleek fighter that transforms into a well-proportioned battroid- best of both worlds.
  7. M'Kyuun
    This. I think the first MP Seeker struck a better balance between modes, although I absolutely hated how the cockpit section sat above the shoulders. It just threw off the look in bot mode. But it had a more accurate and aesthetically pleasing F-15 mode. F-15 mode of this new design is a train wreck. Too, why do they need a faux cockpit? Surely they can engineer a better solution, as Maketoys did. The faux cockpit cover in fighter looks awful, too. The forward fuselage , from the angles we're given, looks too skinny from top to bottom, much like the Classics and the Earthrise toys. Not the best. The big hinges necessary to split the wings, another unnecessary bit of engineering, spoil the look of the leading edges. There was certainly a better way to hide the stabs in bot mode without turning the wings into pitas. The exhaust augmenter area looks unfinished and gappy- not very pleasing to these optic sensors. Like most TF jets over the years, they concentrated all their efforts on making the top of the jet look nice, but from every other angle, it's fallacies are clearly apparent for their ugliness and inaccuracies. I think I'll be sticking with Maketoys. Really disappointing, Takara.
  8. M'Kyuun
    Disappointment acknowledged. I can understand not doing Polar Claw, although it would have been cool, but Gears was a main player in first season. I was holding out hope that all of the OG bots would get their updates in this line. The Generations toy is fine, although its head is really small and can't turn, but a more faithful G1 update would have been nice. I hope they don't make kingdom UM a uni-truck like the Siege. I didn't like the Siege version's truck mode at all, but the bot mode was spot on. I figured an Earth mode version would come eventually, but I was hoping for it to be a new mold, or molds if they did the cab and trailer as two separate bits like the original toy. The ER mold turned out so well that I wouldn't mind having it in white to combine with his trailer, even if I generally prefer UM to be all-in-one like the CW version. A two-piece UM combo would be a nice nod to the original toy and make OP collectors happy as well. I have yet to buy a titan class figure ( not sure what class Unicron falls into- probably his own), but the idea of the Ark transforming has been appealing to me since Animated (I keep wishing for an Animated Ark/Omega Supreme), and I'm curious to see how this thing turns out. I had to look up The Last Autobot, and Mainframe, as I wasn't familiar with either. Gotta admit, I don't like the look of the bot modes for either based on the comic and toy respectively, but, it is cool that Mainframe , hypothetically, will become Teletraan-I.
  9. M'Kyuun
    Got the Clones, Breakdown & Vehicon, and most of the new Kingdoms/'86 SS stuff PO'd. I'm breathing a huge sigh of relief that that's over. It's not quite the midnight madness of trying to score a new Valk, but with all the scalping that goes on, plus legit consumer demand by fans, I still have high anxiety until I get the order placed and confirmed. It was an expensive day, but worth it in the end. I wish more of the characters from the poster were available for PO, but I guess it's just as well to spread the love a little. Too, it'd be a lot tougher on those suffering the financial difficulties imposed by the pandemic, so better to limit the numbers of new releases. I'm not sure if that figures into Hasbro's planning, but I hope it's a small mercy nonetheless. Mine eyes are coveting the new Classified G.I. Joe figs, as well as some of the Black and Vintage SW figs. But I'm trying to keep my collecting from spiraling out of control. Still, as an 80's kid looking at the detail on these toys, especially the faces, I'm super impressed with what Hasbro is doing. I really enjoyed this morning's G.I. Joe panel; there's definitely passion and a lot of thought put into these figures, and it was cool to hear the designers themselves geeking out over these things. FWIW, I think they should be proud of what they're doing with the Joes and Star Wars. Zoids was a bit disappointing. I expected Wild to be part of the new line, but I was hoping they'd reissue some of the old kits, or have some new kits aimed at an older audience in the vein of the old kits. I have a few Zoids: Wild kits already, and while they're fun and have their charm, ultimately they're intended for younger kids, and it would have been nice to have them in concert with a line aimed at the teen/adult market as well. Hopefully Wild will do well ushering in opportunities for a mature line to follow. It'd be wonderful, too, if they made a contract or got a license to distribute the Kotobukiya kits. Edit- I'm glad I got my Po's in when I did; an hour and ten minutes after they went up for PO on Pulse, Kingdom Megatron and Cyclonus are sold out. Crazy.
  10. M'Kyuun
    The falcon is most likely Airrazor, which is a nice female addition to the Maximal bunch. In the bottom left, they're doing Polar Claw! He was the first BW fig I bought. Having never featured in the show, I'm pleasantly surprised they're doing an update of him rather than some of the missing characters from this scene that featured prominently in the show- Scorponok, Tarantulas, Terrorsaur, Dinobot, Tigatron, and so many others. Referring back to the poster, I wish they'd shown Huffer- I've been waiting for a proper update for 35 years, and I hope they do a nice job with his new toy. I have third party filling in for now, but I want an official fig for the CHUG collection. I'm also surprised they didn't roll out the Ark as their big outro from Transformers, although I enjoyed the panel with Peter Cullen and Frank Welker- true gentlemen. Huge congrats to Gregg Berger, the latest addition to the TF Hall of Fame. It wouldn't have been the same without him. I'm thinking UM is an Earth mode version, which is good. As for the reveals, I'm down for all except core class OP, and possibly Rattrap, as I like the design of the T30 better. But if I see it, I'll probably pick it up too. I want that Autobot Clone pack; I missed out them when they first released during TR, and I'm determined to get them this time. I just hope the scalpers don't swoop in and buy 'em up before the rest of us get a chance. I'm not sure where they're going to be sold, as Jackie mentioned Biosphera, but Google did me no favors. I hope they're on Pulse. I believe so, but but I don't recall which ones to what stores. Walmart was mentioned, of course. Big surprise there.
  11. M'Kyuun
    Thanks! After I posted, I discovered the sched for both days on the Pulse site. Looking forward to Zoids news and hopefully more TF reveals beyond the ones we already know about. I'm also curious about GI Joe, even though I don't collect it. The 80's toyline was fantastic, and many of those designs would hold up today IMHO. Kinda sad that M.A.S.K. isn't part of the schedule; I was hoping it'd make a comeback. I'd love to see them do a more mature series like GI Joe: Resolute for an updated M.A.S.K. revival.
  12. M'Kyuun
    Not sure these all fit the definition, but here goes. Disclaimer: I'm only familiar with Macross and Mospeada. 1. Although piloted by humans, the Sv-51 was developed from alien Overtechnology, so it fits, sorta. 2. Zentradi Variable Glaug (Macross M3) 3. Fz-109A Elgersoln 4. While technically not alien, Grace O'Connor is a cyborg with superhuman abilities, so her VF-27 5. Brera Stern is part Meltrandi, and a cyborg, which makes him actually alien to a degree. So his VF-27 6. Sv-262Hs Draken III 7. Zentradi Battle Pods 8. Queadluun Rau 9. Inbit Eager 10. Inbit Ghoss 11. Inbit Garmo
  13. M'Kyuun
    You're definitely not wrong about the tolerances, and it's something I wasn't thinking about when I posted earlier. For Sentinel, I guess it's a no-win situation concerning joint tightness, so better to err on the side of too tight over floppy. It's a shame they didn't employ some sort of ratchet for the shoulders, but the joints have to be so compact for the Legioss that the overly tight metal on metal joints was the best solution. I used needle nose pliers to work mine. I didn't apply any heat. I can get my arms to about 90 degrees straight forward right now, so I'll have to continue to work them until I can get more range of motion. Using a tool to loosen those shoulders is absolutely a necessity lest you bend them or break them off. The too-loose ankles are on the opposite end of the complaint spectrum-I would much rather they'd been super stiff. But overall, it's a damned fine Legioss toy. The engineering elevates it above its predecessors. Going forward, it'll be the toy to better. Given the little tab slots on the bottoms of the toes that seemingly have no purpose leads me to believe, as I have from the beginning, that Sentinel has a Tread in the works, likely from the beginning. It just makes sense, and I'm pretty sure they knew they had a financial and critical success on their hands. For its few flaws, which are inconvenient but neither insurmountable nor egregious, it gets more right than any Legioss toy or model before it, in terms of accuracy and articulation. It's beautiful. be patient; I'm sure the Tread is coming. I want one, too.
  14. M'Kyuun
    I quit collecting all Star Wars, except LEGO, years ago, as I was already collecting Macross, Transformers, and LEGO, along with the odd toy here and there, and it was getting expensive and taking up room I don't have. That said, I've been checking out the odd SW fig when I see it at Wally from time to time, and I've been pretty impressed with the quality over the last few years, especially with the Black Series. Today's reveals were no less impressive, considering they're mass retail at a decent price point. The facial likenesses have really become incredible. I don't intend to get it, but I can't help but be impressed with the Razor Crest Haslab project- the sheer amount of detail and playability in the set is awesome, and as a display piece, I'm not sure what more a fan could ask for, beyond the inclusion of The Child and the IG droid, which I imagine will be included. I also imagine there'll be some various figs frozen in carbonite to go in there as well. The weapons locker is just incredible; I figured there'd be maybe one or two removable guns and everything else would be molded detail, but every weapon and piece of gear is a separate object. That's badass. Compared to what we had in the 80's and 90's, SW fans are spoiled for the levels of detail and articulation that are gracing the figs and the vehicles now. I hope the Razor Crest gets its support, even if I don't have one of my own. The one fig I wish Hasbro would release is the 3.75 Hoth Snowtrooper. I have the 174 large AT-AT, a phenomenal toy, which I've owned for close to a decade now, and I have no troops for it. I have Gen Veers, and I have Hoth Luke, but I still need a second driver and at least 6 or more Snowtroopers to put in the back. I'm not sure if they've released these guys over the years; admittedly, I don't pay much attention to Hasbro's SW releases since I quit collecting, but I was hoping one or both of those would be revealed today. Sadly, no. guess I'll keep waiting. I'd love to have these with the current levels of detail and articulation.
  15. M'Kyuun
    My copy's ankles were fairly loose, too- not to the point of floppiness, but to the point that they won't tolerate too many dynamic poses where any sort of weight is unevenly distributed between the legs. We're at the point where it should be a commonplace technique to have ratcheted ball joints; essentially the ball has divots like a golf ball, and the socket has a nub or nubs to give a ratcheting effect and strength to the ball joint. It's a compromise to the freedom of movement offered by using ball joints, but if the ball has a lot of divots, it can still offer a good range, but with additional bonus of maintaining its position better. In lieu of that, even a durable coating over the ball that provides more friction would be extremely helpful. I transformed mine back to fighter yesterday for the first time since I got it (I usually keep it in Armo Soldier mode, as that's my favorite), and had a heck of a time trying to get the main gears out. Those things are tight. I used a pair of tweezers, as I was going to rip my thumbnail off try to get it that way. Even with tweezers, it was a challenge. I finally got them, but it probably took me close to an hour to get both of them out. Not sure why they made them so tight, but I'm hoping that little joint will loosen a bit for the next time. Love the ground clearance this thing has, as opposed to pretty much every other Legioss toy that's ever been made. Just overall, I love the engineering, and the look of it. It's a thing of beauty, and the Legioss toy I waited for for years (the only other toy I own is the Toynami Stick version, and the issues with that toy are well known). I don't have an issue with the small parts, but I will echo Chronocidal's wish that it was a little bigger. As it is, though, I'm super pleased with it.
  16. M'Kyuun
    Smokescreen is my least favorite of the Datsuns, as well, but the Datsun general design is my favorite among G1 TFs. Prowl was my first Transformer toy back in '84, and I remain enamored with that design to this day. I also liked the Siege design, which took some small liberties (the "slipper" feet, for example), but as a Cybertronian vehicle which skews very close to its Earth mode counterpart, I like it. I thought I had all the Siege Datsun dudes, too, but apparently I never picked up Silverstreak, an omission I fully intend to rectify with the ER figures- I'll have the full G1 complement. You noted a number of things I pointed out with my mini-review back on the 12th, especially the colorations of the weapons, the odd choice of using 80 instead of the traditional 38, and the lack of paint on his tail lights and exhausts. I was also pleasantly surprised that there were no carryover parts on the Earthrise figure; it's a completely new mold, which is nice, considering the heavy mold reusage among other figs, such as Megs and Soundwave. Having the Siege toy, I didn't even bother with ER Megatron; I vehemently despise the huge awkward cannon/sword they gave him, and the bit of retooling to connect his treads isn't enough reason for me to double dip on that mold. Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting the rest of the ER Datsun figs, as it's a really well done update, and you echo my sentiments perfectly with your apt description of this figure's having the cartoon accuracy and articulation that we could only dream of as kids. I heartily second the recommendation.
  17. M'Kyuun
    I bought the Nonnef trailer upgrade kit for my Prime, but after looking at Mike's pics, I wish I'd have picked up the ZXB kit as well. I think the fenders look better, and I like that the shorter swing out supports for the trailer allow for it to connect to Prime without the additional extension required by the Nonnef. Plus, I think it looks better in proportion to the trailer itself. I just checked TFSafari, and they're sold out. For now, the Nonnef upgrade is ok, but hopefully the ZXB stuff will get a rerelease. This is definitely the most time, money and effort I've ever put into a figure, and I haven't done nearly as much as Mike has. Still if you're going to pick one fig to splurge on, IMHO, ER Prime is an excellent candidate. Best retail G1 Prime fig bar none, IMHO, and one of the best Prime figures among all lines. I love it. A week later, and I'm still monkeying around with PE's Dark Warrior with regularity. It's such a fun and good looking Prime figure. If you're in the market for a black painted Prime, but don't want the Hasbro version (although as a repaint of ER Prime, you still can't go wrong), this is a great alternative that scales with CHUG. The IDW inspired sculpt sets it apart visually as well. Just a great figure.
  18. M'Kyuun
    Megatron and Cyclonus look amazing. There's something about Cyclonus' face that bugs me, though. Good lineup of figs coming; I just hope they're fairly easy to get at retail without paying markups.
  19. M'Kyuun
    I wasn't familiar with the name, but more than familiar with a great deal of his work. How Mr. Cobb isn't as well known as Syd Mead, or Ralph McQuarrie is beyond me. He did so much to influence or pop culture. Alas, another tragic loss of a great talent. RIP, and thanks for so many wonderful designs.
  20. M'Kyuun
    I wish they had the times for the various panels listed. I'm guessing they're just going to post separate vids for everything rather than just do a constant live stream. IDK. If anyone has clarity, help a brother out. And yeah, it's a bit crappy to not use the voices for Op and Megs in your new show, but feature them in your con. Bit of a slap.
  21. M'Kyuun
    The shoulders sit a little low, but when this is your inspiration, it's not far from the concept. I accept it as being part of the character's design, and since they're going full G1 Movie look with these guys, it's to be expected. Honestly, I think it gets far more right than not. The head sculpt stands out to me particularly- the face is right on. The G1 toy was a very simple design, so I'm glad they added a little complexity to the engineering. The removable limbs may pose an issue down the line for folks that constantly take them on and off, or if there are any mold issues resulting in inherent looseness, but as a gimmick directly relating to a scene from the film in concert with Hot Rod's tool accessories, I think it's a really nice nod that we normally only see with MP figs. I'm liking where they're going with the SS line so far, as it relates to the '86 Movie. Again I lament that Arcee wasn't part of it. There are unused tabs and such in her car shell that lead me to believe that she may have had a more involved design at some point that was ultimately scrapped. If so, too bad. I'm not a Bay fan at all, but complex and well done toys intrigue me. I watched TonTon's group review of the Bayformer MPM figs yesterday, and was struck by how clever much of the engineering that went into them is. The only fig that I didn't care for was Ironhide due to where his shoulders attach, but overall I thought it still looked better than the MP version in truck mode, as it manages to hide the robot stuff better. I never liked the obvious robo-toes hanging out by the back wheels on the MP version. Anyway, toy person that I am, I was impressed with them. In my estimation, they're easily some of the best deluxe and voyager scaled figs among the various Bayformer toy lines over the years.
  22. M'Kyuun
    I just watched the Ton Ton review of SS '86 Hot Rod. This is one impressive figure, better in a number of respects than the MP figure. The transformation is innovative while harkening back to the scene in the Movie where his arms, on an unseen armature, rotate 180 degrees. Many of his Movie gimmicks are built in, but he still comes with a proper assortment of accessories. It's well done. It makes you wonder why Arcee was phoned in when they could have done some innovative stuff with her. The disparity is mind boggling. Too bad she wasn't included in the SS assortment, or she might have actually had some cool engineering and built in gimmicks as well. If they put this much effort into Hot Rod, I'm really curious to see what they're going to do with the inevitable Rodimus. I foresee a mini-base mode with his trailer. I was hoping that they'd work in the transition from Hot Rod to Rodimus in this figure, but it looks like he's just Hot Rod. Still a good fig based on the review.
  23. M'Kyuun
    My copy of Nicee shipped on the 10th, and as yet, there is no available tracking. So I guess it's slow boating across the pond. Hopefully they don't encounter any big storm systems, or get hit by pirates.
  24. M'Kyuun
    Hot Rod looks amazing. I'm glad the hip skirt is part of the leg; IMHO, that's the best solution in lieu of independent hip skirts. Even then, hip skirts have to be adjusted every time you move the legs, whereas this offers the look of the skirt while providing hips that attach at an anatomically correct position as well as unfettered, uncomplicated range of motion. He uses a faux chest, but from the look of the fig, the bot mode is accurate while completely hiding the real hood. When it's this well executed, it's an acceptable compromise to get the look right for both modes. Whoever took the pics , I get the impression they're not very good at transforming their figs, as ER prime is looking pretty dodgy in his truck mode, and they couldn't seem to align the front of Hot Rod's car with the shoulders. Hopefully the toy goes together more seamlessly than these pics would suggest. I've never been a fan of the space hovercraft alt mode for the Sweeps-it looks like a bar of soap with a robot head slapped on top- abysmal. I thought so when I was 14, and neither time nor nostalgia has changed my mind since. That said, the bot mode for Scourge looks fine; it's just a shame that he's forever saddled with such an egregiously impractical and fugly alt mode. I absolutely love the alt mode for Generations Scourge, which is heavily inspired by the Boeing X-48. In truth, I think it's one the very best aircraft Transformer toys ever made, and I fervently wish that the G1 alt mode, a visual and practical affront, would be permanently retired to the files of those things unmentionable and best forgotten, and replaced for all time by the gorgeous and practical X-48 inspired alt mode. I'm quite sure mine is the minority opinion, but it's how I've felt since the Generations toy came out. For all my ranting, I concede that this Scourge fig, at least in his bot mode, looks really good. I lament that he'll undoubtedly be space soap, but I'll be keeping my eventual copy in bot mode 99% of the time.
  25. M'Kyuun
    It's always interesting how some things can be carried out better at minifig scale, while others beg for large scale to really nail an aesthetic. In this case, I think the simpler build at minifig scale suits the design, and of course, it's more fun to play with. As Chronocidal mentioned, at the large scale, it really comes down to more choices of which bricks to use, as well as techniques, to achieve a desired look. Like he said, there are better ways to achieve a more accurate shape than what they opted for. It's a shame, but at the end of the day, it's LEGO; mod it 'til it looks right. as for me, I'm really not that picky- it does a good enough job to suit my tastes. I do, however, wish they'd made the vulcans retract into the fuselage- that was clearly shown in the movie, and should be a functional feature on a large model like this. I'll reiterate my hope that this will be accompanied by a System scaled version, although they'll likely cock it up like they did the System '89 Batmobile.
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