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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    Good review, Mike. I'm still waiting for mine to show up- probably this week. As a Macross fan precisely because of Kawamori's realistic jet modes, Maverick strikes a chord with me, as did G1 Jetfire back in the day. It's no secret that the VF-1 was inspired by the F-14, so it's cool that here we have a transforming F-14 inspired by the VF-1. Of course, this is still HasTak, so it lacks the refinement of a Macross design, but in the world of Transformers, where most jet modes are butchered all to hell, this stands apart as a step up, and I'm happy that they made it, even if, as Mike points out, the F-14 is not so iconic and singular a specialized movie vehicle as say Ecto-1 or the DeLorean. As a Top Gun tie-in, though, it was never going to be anything else. Well, I guess they could have made it Cruise's bike, but compared to a fighter jet, that's pretty lame, even for Hasbro. Unlike most TF fans, I've never been a fan of blocky bots turning into misshapen and otherwise concession laden jet modes. I consider it an artifact of simple and practical engineering practices in the 80's when toys were still considered for children, and little consideration was given to imparting realism if there was a gimmick involved, such as transformation, where the gimmick took precedence. Moreover, the designs often became even blockier than the toys to simplify the cartoon artwork, since it was all hand drawn and required hundreds, if not thousands, of separate cells. Thus the blockiness that is so cherished is an anachronism of simplistic design and rendering, and no one, I suspect, ever for a second, thought that people in their thirties and up would still be attached to these things thirty-plus years on, with toy technology of a caliber that we could only dream of as kids. I think, had they ever had an inkling of the longevity of this franchise, they may have tried a little harder, been willing to spend a little more, to improve the aesthetics of both toy and toon. Maybe. I'd love to pose the question to Hasbro, Takara, and Sunbow just to see if , had they some prescient notion, they would have attempted to improve anything. Anyway, having watched and read a few reviews and read some forum chatter, I see far more negative criticism of Maverick than positive, mostly for the reasons Mike himself mentioned: too skinny, too lanky, not blocky enough, doesn't fit with the rest of their collection, and the paint job sucks, among others. Of these, the paint job is the only thing I would have liked to see done better. The other issue I have is with all the hollow spaces in bot mode, but it's become such a regularity with TF toys over the past five or six years now that it's basically par for the course, as the saying goes. But I applaud the design direction in its fairly accurate depiction of an F-14, while still transforming into a pretty well articulated bot. I wish this was the direction for all jet mode bearing bots going forward, but the shadow of nostalgic integrity looms profoundly over this franchise, and I fear that we're likely stuck with atrocious jets that turn into blocky bots so long as my generation remains the lifeblood of the fandom, which equates to about another roughly forty years or so before we 'all are one' pushing daisies. I'm curious, and also apprehensive, of what will become of Transformers after we've all tread our last and a wholly new generation, unburdened by nostalgia, takes the reigns. Will there even be interest at that point? I hope so. It's such a cool and fun concept, it makes for some really neat and oft sophisticated toys, and it offers infinite opportunities for storytelling, as well as mining the vast mine of lore already set down in toons and comics.
  2. M'Kyuun
    I got them for completion's sake, but I agree; both are notably weak designs in a line( I'm speaking of the entirety of WFC) that on the whole had a lot of good designs, and some very standout designs. Hopefully, they'll do a better Arcee and Ratchet/Ironhide down the road. For my tastes, the T30 is still the superior Arcee fig. I wish they'd shamelessly borrowed some ideas from Ocular Max's Azalea, as it would have helped ER Arcee immensely. As for the Vanette dudes, they need to start from scratch and make something better. I don't mind the Siege version, except for the terribly lazy feet; however, it didn't translate well, needing a huge partsforming roof and still retaining those awful obvious robot feet, which, had they just made a way for them to rotate 180, or at least the toes, as @mikeszekely mentioned before, with apropos details, they could have helped the shaping of the van mode. What a wasted opportunity to make something better. I'm aware of a couple 3P attempts to make better feet for the van dudes, but honestly, I've already spent more on these lackluster figs than I care to admit, and I just don't feel like wasting any more time, money, or effort on them. I'd rather wait to see if some 3P surprises us with one, which is highly unlikely, or wait for HasTak to take another crack at it, which will probably be a few years to a few decades away. It saddens me that 3Ps no longer dabble in the Generations scale beyond legends, as there are times when the official release is such a letdown that an alternative is a welcome beacon of hope.
  3. M'Kyuun
    Inherently, there's good and bad to the theatre experience, but I still enjoy it when there's a movie that promises some spectacle. Something like Godzilla: King of the Monsters is such a film. I didn't care a whit about the human drama, but some of those Mothra scenes were amazing on that big screen. Same with the Star Wars and Marvel films; whether or not the story grabs you, for the time you're there, it's a treat for the eyes. Sticky floors and rude people within proximity are usually my only gripes, and we usually have more of the latter than the former at my local theatre, which is relatively new, about 10 minutes from my house, and pretty well maintained. Before they built it, I had to go down town to watch a movie in a theatre, so with my theatre having been shut down nearly all year due to Covid, I fear its permanent closure. I hope not; I very seldom got to go to the movies as a kid, so as an adult, it's an enjoyable experience that my wife and I usually enjoy, and I hope we don't lose it.
  4. M'Kyuun
    Yep- toon styled gears, as awkward as he looked, would be fitting for ER. likewise Brawn. I don't foresee any combiner stuff in this line, either, but one can wish. Perhaps in SS down the line. That seems to be a good way for them to stretch out releases over a greater time line, as the SS line seems to be a separate line with its own considerations apart from the main lines. If true, then it affords them a more flexible usage of their budget. If they decided to do the Constructicons in voyager scale, then they could do it much more reasonably over a year or two's span as individual releases, with more attention to detail and articulation applied to each bot, which would be my preferred way for them to redo them. I don't want a repeat of the lackluster CW version. I'd rather they took their time, crafted some nice looking Constructicons with full articulation, and give us a nice looking G1 Devastator without too many concessions. Anyway, I think SS is going to turn out to be good thing down the road for G1 releases, as just about everybody from the OG series was in there at some point, and that opens an opportunity for more updated figs. I hope they use it a s such a platform. ER is a good line, but there are some stinkers in there, too ( Astrotrain, the van bros, and Arcee come to mind), and I wouldn't be opposed in the least if these and other not-so-well-done figures got a more quality redo in Studio Series. I'd forgotten about the upcoming Ark figure, and like you said, there are very likely repaints for the BW figs coming, and some of the ER figs as well (pretty sure we'll get a Pipes from Huffer's mold), so yeah, I'll sit tight and wait to see what else they reveal. Seeing how well done Grimlock is, I can't wait to see Slag, and I hope they do the other three, or at least Sludge and Swoop, who appeared in the Movie. Poor Snarl- missed his 15 seconds of fame for some reason.
  5. M'Kyuun
    "Preciate the heads-up, @mikeszekely. I'm going to PO Inferno, Huffer, and Dinobot. I really hope there's more to Kingdom than this. If nothing else, the rest of the Dinobots and a new improved set of Constructicons would have been a nice way to close out the series. Shame they didn't do Gears; he could have stood an update from the T30 toy. I just received my Ratchet and Lifeline yesterday, and Runabout on Tuesday. Got my shipment notification from Pulse this morning for Maverick. It's a nice slow trickle of incoming figures. I was a little disheartened that the same level of detail and accessories weren't afforded to ER Ratchet as the superior, IMHO, Siege version. Just got all my POs in on Pulse: Huffer, Ultra Magnus, Inferno, Dinobot, and Airrazor. Of the bunch, I can't wait to get Huffer. I have several third party versions of him, but I've long wished for HasTak to make a version that fit with the Generations aesthetic, so I'm happy. The other figs are good, too, with UM being the only questionable one. With his armor on, he looks pretty good, though. I just think it sucks that his cab mode looks like ass. I wish Takara had just made an Asian exclusive based around a white ER Prime- I think it would have been a far better looking toy all around.
  6. M'Kyuun
    Even if there were a way to do tactile virtual bricks, and I'm sure its coming, there's something inherently satisfying to building a set or a MOC and having the final model there for play and display that I don't think you'll get from anything virtual. I work on my designs in Studio and LDD from time to time, but it never gives me the same satisfaction as putting real bricks together. I'll back you on your argument for LEGO's persistent value; even if a set doesn't appreciate, oft times the parts in certain sets, especially those in rare colors, low production numbers, or retired, will appreciate greatly, usually well beyond the value of the set itself. Even new parts, if produced in only one or two sets, will command a fairly hefty price on the secondary market. It can certainly make an already expensive hobby magnitudes more so.
  7. M'Kyuun
    I think, had Takara still been the driving force behind the toys, they would have produced him as an old school UM with a white ER Prime and trailer. Takara tends to design the toy, and consider costs later, which, as we've seen in the past, generally results in a better toy. Even if Hasbro had to do him as a slightly overpriced leader, it would have been worth it to get an Ultra Magnus with all three modes looking good. This is one of those times when they should have solicited feedback from the fan community. I think the vast majority of us would have gone with an ER Prime core, given the option. I still plan on getting this fig, but he'll always be combined with his armor, as that white bot mode looks like yuck. Given my druthers, I prefer CW UM over this; even though it doesn't have a separate core bot, its truck and all-in-one bot modes look good- unmistakably Ultra Magnus, albeit with a touch of IDW styling. Unfortunately, Kingdom UM suffers many an unsightly concession. Who at Hasbro looks at these things in their finalized form and says, "that looks great!" or even, "acceptable"?
  8. M'Kyuun
    Yep- got the email at like 1 in the morning. No big. Airazor and Dinobot look pretty good. UM looks good in bot mode with his armor; the unarmored white bot is so-so (not digging the enormous chunk of truck hanging off his butt), and his cab mode leaves a little to be desired (gappy and misshapen), although it is better than his Siege version. I wish they'd just gone full G1 toy and used ER prime as the base and tailored the trailer to become his armor. Sigh.
  9. M'Kyuun
    I haven't received any delay messages either. The window for Soundwave was apparently brief today; shortly after I put in my order, they were showing out of stock again, so it was pure luck that I happened to be looking at my computer at the right time, a rarity.
  10. M'Kyuun
    It is a shame, as Mr. Prowse was an actor, and fully capable of delivering those final lines as Anakin Skywalker. Having embodied the character over the span of three films, one would think he would have been the no-brainer choice to play the part for the unmasking. Honestly, I never gave it much thought, but your post, @jvmacross, rings true to me.
  11. M'Kyuun
    I have Runabout enroute to me, but none of my other POs so far as I've received emails. I've had Runamuck in hand for over a week now. Cool fig, although I wish they'd given him a second set of lateral shoulder joints within the shoulder for better pose-ability. But, as is, it's a good toy for what were third tier characters, certainly better than the Vanette bros. Just PO'd ER Soundwave from Wally, as it just became available again (yay for notifications). I was going to try and score it straight from the store, but that's always a crapshoot, and I'd rather just PO it to be sure. I got free shipping, so that's nice. Supposedly, it's due to arrive by the 22nd. Guess we'll see.
  12. M'Kyuun
    It's interesting to note that, despite being overdubbed by James Earl Jones' iconic voice, Mr. Prowse spoke Vader's lines during his performance. I don't think his British gentleman's voice, further muffled by the mask, carried quite the impact of Mr. Jones', but I've always thought it neat that he was fully committed to the role. His physical performance informed the character as much as the voice. Mr. Prowse also had a role in Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. However, it's safe to say that Darth Vader will be his legacy. RIP
  13. M'Kyuun
    +1 Oh, I hope not. They expended the time ,effort, and finances to make this proto, so I'm optimistic that it will lead to a production toy eventually. Not everybody is happy with Yamato's version, and I think that has to have some influence on their design direction here. Too, it means sales to those wanting a better battroid. Case in point! Absolutely agree.
  14. M'Kyuun
    You're most welcome. Hardly faint praise; it's a very well done model, and I, too, hope that it makes it all the way to production. Heck, if only to spite Harmony Gold, I'd be happy to see LEGO do a limited Asian release, as I'm sure there'd be avenues to acquiring a copy here in the West, much as we do with valk releases. At the very least, it'd be nice to see it make the 10K milestone, as it'd shine a bit of much-deserved attention your way, which may have a tangential benefit of introducing more LEGO fans to Mospeada, and, if they look through your Flickr, Macross. (the original, not Robotech) I feel you regarding the scarcity of parts done in certain colors; it's a constant challenge. All the more frustrating is LEGO's reluctance to make a more varied and stronger array of joints tailored towards improved mecha construction. It's the bane of my existence.
  15. M'Kyuun
    Great work, Daikoncat. Honestly, I've never been a big fan of the Ride Armor design, for some reason. However, as a fellow mecha builder, I recognize the challenges of realizing the Ride Armor in a three dimensional functional form, and I tip my hat humbly to you for making it work so elegantly and for so accurately capturing the look of it. It's a beautiful bit of work. I supported you, and I hope, despite all the licensing issues with Harmony Gold, that this will see production. If so, I'm down for a couple copies. If I may venture an opinion, I think the sand green is closer to the source than the aqua, which is too light and oft gives the appearance of glow-in-the-dark plastic. I also supported Bricksash's VF-1, although, much like every other Macross related submission, I have zero doubt that, even with 10K votes, it will never see production due to all the legal issues posed by HG. I don't know if restricting its availability to the Asian market would be cost effective for LEGO, but since they haven't gone that route with previous Macross projects, the apparent conclusion is no. What a shame that one company's greed and shady practices have robbed the most of the world of Macross.
  16. M'Kyuun
    I mentioned in an earlier post about reusing the ER Prime mold for Goliath, with a Garthe inspired head. I'd be down for a grey Optimus with a simulated hair helmet, moustache, and soul patch. So Evil! His huge grill guard could detach and become a shield in bot mode, and his cab mounted rocket pods could become either shoulder cannons or his gun, or both. Both would be best. And if they make KITT, they may as well get their money's worth and make KARR as well. No room for half measures when taking a shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a man who does not exist.
  17. M'Kyuun
    I've been collecting many of the 52Toys' Beast/MegaBox figures, and when they came out with their Aliens Powerloader, I wanted a properly scaled fig to drive it. Since they used a Hexa Gear fig themselves in various promo pics, I figured I'd do the same. I settled on the Early Governor Vol 3. I expected to get a complete and painted action figure , but was surprised that she's a kit that needs to be assembled and painted. The promos make her look awesome. I'm not sure my meager skills will render such a nice result, but I'll give it an honest attempt. Along with EGV3, I got the Steelrain kit as well, as it's a transformable combat helicopter, and just looks equal parts beautiful, futuristic, and menacing. I kinda wish I'd bought a second, different Governor kit, but the little suckers are expensive. Steelrain is such a lovely design. Looking forward to the build.
  18. M'Kyuun
    Huh, I had no idea. It's interesting if futile, due, as you mentioned, to the obvious lack of resemblance to any known Gobot, living or otherwise. I assume the Collector's Club story was a fanfic trying to marry the two universes together, if only as a fun exercise for fans of both franchises. It's a bit of a shame, in retrospect, that the licensing and ownership of Gobots became a tangled and dissolute mess, pretty much ensuring that it'll never be possible in toy form here in the West ever again. IIRC, Hasbro owns the name Gobots and ownership of the some of the Gobot names, but not the toys, or toy likenesses, which limits what they're able to do with the property. Knowing that, I was happy that Action Toys got a license, however limited, for Machine Robo, as it's the closest we're going to get to modern updates of the 80s toys. They weren't without their issues, but given that or nothing, I bought most of the AT deluxe scaled line. I agree they felt a bit expensive for what you're getting, but again, for lack of options, I bought them rather happily. I'm still waiting for Supercar (Turbo) and Blue Jet (Fitor) to release. Blue Jet is available for PO on most of the usual sites, along with Tough Trailer, who doesn't really appeal to me. I've got Blue jet PO'd, though. I have a feeling Supercar will be their swan song. Pity; I was really hoping Harrier Robo (Royal-T) would get a figure, as I believe he was also featured in Revenge of Cronos.
  19. M'Kyuun
    I'm trying to avoid buying all this legends stuff, but man, NA , and MS to be fair, are just doing a great job of creating nigh-MP looking G1 figs at legends scale. If I wasn't already heavily invested in the main lines stuff as well as MP scaled stuff, i.e. starting my collection from scratch, this would be the way to go, as they're slowly exhausting the roster, and at legends scale, they take up considerably less space. I wish there was a third party or two dabbling in the main line scale making figs of this quality for those times when the official toy isn't up to snuff.
  20. M'Kyuun
    That Jazz is so nigh perfect; I wish they'd expended a little more engineering oomph to hid his feet in car mode. I see a number of people hating on Kup's face, but to my eye, it's pretty dead on to how he looked in the Movie. The light greenish shoulder bits look dodgy to me, as if they're not going to tab in well. That's really my only potential gripe. @mikeszekely 'Preciate the look at core class Rattrap. As I own the T30, and do consider it a far superior toy, I passed on this based on pics and vid reviews that have popped up (well before they should). I would have been more inclined to double dip had this figure's rat mode sported a little more articulation instead of being a solid shell like the original toy. Alas, money for something else. While the line didn't appeal to everyone, I still felt a bit spoiled by Action Toy's Machine Robo line. Many of them had some surprisingly clever transformation mechanics for essentially deluxe Transformer scaled figs. For the most part, I thought they were a neat collection of updated figs, with a stylistic flourish here and there. I never picked up the DX Bike Robo fig, but having seen reviews for it, I concur that it was a well done figure that beggared a whole line. I was waiting for the DX Eagle Robo that never came- totally would have thrown some ducats at that. I'm not sure why they didn't pursue a MP scaled line as DX Bike seemed to do well critically and sales-wise. I can't recall a single bad review. Moreover, given the popularity of MP, and the ability to infuse the larger figs with better engineering and accessories to homage the Gobots toys/toon, it seems like it would have been a surefire success, appealing to East and West. Perhaps instead of leading with the smaller figs, they should have charged out the gate with DX versions of Bike and Eagle to a greater success. We'll never know. I wasn't aware that Gobots were being homaged in the TF line, aside from a Crasher fig that was made from Classics Mirage back in '07. I'm not sure about a Road Ranger from Huffer, (maybe from UM), but there almost certainly be a Pipes. This is Hasbro, king of the repaints, we're talking about. Fo sho.
  21. M'Kyuun
    Well argued and QFT. The first movie was fun b/c it was something new, and the premise, while simple, made for an entertaining sci-fi film with memorable lines and characters, as well as a memorable and interesting antagonist. But predator, and Aliens as well, have been done to death and there's nothing really new or surprising about them. And as Seto says, their level of menace has been reduced to near zero. I'm tired of the constant recycling of 30+ year old ideas ad nauseum. Why can't anyone in Hollywood come up with something new? It's sad that millennials and their progeny aren't really going to have their own classics like Predator, or Terminator, or Aliens, to carry forward and develop over time, as Hollywood has apparently had writer's block since the 90's and can't think of anything new. Fifty years from now, they're still going to be recycling these same IPs for lack of anything else to work from. Sad. I started playing that game, but I kept on getting sniffed out and killed by the Alien, so I agree with the tough part. At least early in the game, you can't defend yourself against the Alien at all. I got tired of dying and quit playing, but you're not wrong about the atmosphere and feel- it's like being in an Alien film. The sound effects are lifted right rom the films.
  22. M'Kyuun
    At legends scale, it looks amazing. His alt mode in the Movie and series benefitted from animation magic, so I'm usually willing to let some stuff slide on his cannon mode. That said , they should at least be able to point the feet back to be inline with the rest of him like the Hasbro TR version. This is the sort of thing Hasbro would let slide on a legends class fig, not high quality legends makers like NA and MS. Hopefully it's mistransformed.
  23. M'Kyuun
    I'm all for early releases, too, so long as it doesn't mean QC issues from the factories,. Rattrap was the only one of the Kingdoms beasts, barring the skellies, that I didn't order, as the T30 is a better overall fig IMHO. I like that the rat mode looks realistic, but its total lack of articulation in rat mode is a bit off-putting, as it's a step backwards. Regardless, I hope you like him, Mike, and look forward to your review. Reading back my quote, apologies, as I usually read and edit my posts for clarity and grammar, but I think I was in a hurry when I posted that, and didn't give it the attention it obviously needed. It's embarrassing.
  24. M'Kyuun
    Ah, the great and wonderful hub system which is confoundingly impractical and frustrating, especially in such cases. The same applies to cross-country flights, too. Hoping POs will drop soon for the next wave of Kingdoms figs. I'm just so happy that they finally made a G1 Huffer in the main line. I hope he turns out well.
  25. M'Kyuun
    I was happy that Takara chose to do MP UM/DM as all-in-one designs, as I was intrigued by the engineering brought to bear to make it so. Likewise with TR UM, which has a unitary design. They took some license with that figure's aesthetic (IDW based?), but I dig the way he looks. I ended up passing on MP UM for DM instead, as I love how that blue cab looks. That toy, regardless of character, is indeed a bit limited in the articulation dept, esp compared to contemporary figs, but he captures the look of the character well enough to suit me. G1 UM was a so-so character to me. I liked his portrayal in TF: Prime , and loved his portrayal in Animated (with Jeff Bennett's spot-on Robert Stack impression really elevating the character). Despite the OG toy's being a white OP with the trailer becoming his armor, he was portrayed in the Movie and series as an all-in-one. Moreover, I saw pics of Gobot Road Ranger as a kid, and I thought the way his cab and trailer stayed together to form the bot mode was pure awesomeness. I never owned a copy, but that image has fueled my desire for all-in-one transformable tractor-trailers ever since. That said, If HasTak decided to go old school with ER UM, using ER Prime as the base, I wouldn't complain- ER Prime is a great figure, and I'd welcome a white variant. The only third party UM I remember was KFC's, which was pretty popular when he came out. At the time, I had no interest, and as I said, I ended up just getting Delta Magnus, on sale, IIRC, b/c his color palette appealed to me over UM's. I like Planet X's take on Fall of Cybertron's Prime, one of my favorite incarnations of the Autobot leader, but I'm not crazy about their UM version. I would have liked it better had they made his armor become a trailer rather than weird looking armor for the cab. Still, from a toy perspective, it's still pretty cool.
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