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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    Good info, Scyla. I had no idea about that big blade; I just thought it an interesting weapon choice for a CHUG scaled figure. This is my first Nemesis Prime figure, and admittedly, I have no idea about the character's backstory; I know of it solely through the various toys over the years, so I don't know to question stuff like that without the benefit of familiarity. Anyway, it's an appreciated addition, even if the slider is purely the artifact of its having been made for a previous figure.
  2. M'Kyuun
    Thanks for the kind words on my review, Mike. Still learning. On a related note, I went back and looked at the instructions, which I'm happy to say are step-by-steps with photos of the toy highlighting the areas affected with little pictogram notations for stuff like locking mechanisms. I appreciate that approach. What they don't show you is anything at all to do with the weapons- none of them are featured. it's not a big deal for his Ion Blaster or his small energon ax, which are straightforward plug the peg in the hand. The big blade probably could have used a pic or two showing how the handle unfolds, how the blade itself folds, and explain what the apparent slider on the back of the blade is for. I still don't know. As for the GCreation Grimlock, without having seen the film, but owning the Hasbro toy (which is ok, but lackluster compared to these more complex and expensive third party toys) as my only reference, it looks amazing for what it is. As you said, the finish looks beautiful. Admittedly, I never cared for the Bayformer Dinobot designs, but GCreation did a fantastic job of crafting a transforming toy within that aesthetic, no mean feat. I was surprised to see that it was GCreation instead of Unique Toys, who've carved a niche for themselves with their amazing Bayformer figures. I'm sorry to hear it doesn't quite live up to expectations, especially at the price. Still, if the look works for you, you've got a great looking display piece in either mode, and hopefully that ameliorates some of the disappointing aspects.
  3. M'Kyuun
    I'm not a Funko fan, but going to war with them and ultimately Hasbro, who licensed it to Funko, I'd love to see them put a combined legal hurt on Harmony Gold. Too bad Bezos or Gates or any other number of billionaires aren't die-hard Macross fans; imagine if they all pooled their resources to destroy Harmony Gold. That's my good thought for the day.
  4. M'Kyuun
    Likewise. Shame they didn't give Joker his ludicrously long barreled pistol. I wonder if they're going to release a corresponding minifig scaled version of this like they did the Batmobile. I hope so. I wonder if they're going to venture into Schumacher Batman stuff after this. I was never too crazy about those designs, but to each his own.
  5. M'Kyuun
    Definitely want a copy of this set; I, too, hope it's available internationally. The flying Vehicon is the big draw for me, but finally getting Breakdown would be a nice bonus.
  6. M'Kyuun
    So today was a stellar day for deliveries, as I received my much anticipated Sentinel Legioss accompanied by Perfect Effect's PE-DXIIB Dark Warrior, their take on Nemesis Prime. This is a heavily retooled and modified update to their PC-16 Ginrai toy, which they released to work with Titans Return Powermaster Optimus Prime/ Takara's retooled Ginrai Prime. This updated toy appears, to my eye, to be inspired by an IDW design, as opposed to the more G1 look of PC-16. I dig it. It's a sharp looking toy. The first thing I noticed taking it out of the box was the gloss black paint job on the entire cab section. The stripe around the cab is painted in a metallic teal that sets off a nice contrast. The grill, headlights, bumper, stacks, fuel tanks, robot abs, shin grills, wheel rims, face mask and crest, and the insides of the toes are all picked out in silver paint. The eyes are painted in a semi-gloss red- there's a little bit of shine to them, but not much- a metallic red would have served better. There are two circular details and upside down triangle on the waist that are painted teal, as well as the cab stripes on the robot chest and triangle details on the forearms. All apps on mine are crisply applied and look great. The design of the toy is such that the back of the cab will become the robot chest, and the front windshield will fold and collapse upon itself to form a compact backpack. Both windshields are made from translucent red plastic. Truck mode looks a little odd from behind, as you can clearly see the robot chest. Oddly, the legs are molded in a matte black plastic and were left unpainted. Nonetheless, It makes for a nice looking semi cab in warrior/deluxe scale. That said, Dark Warrior has a 5mm hole on his hitch deck, and he can pull ER Prime's trailer. Since the hole is placed just above the ankle guards, the trailer is able to assume a slightly greater than 90 degree angle to the cab while connected, which is better than the radius with ER Prime. I neglected to take a pic of the cab at a 90 degree angle, but trust me, it can do it.Moving on to accessories, Dark Warrior comes with Ion Blaster, what I assume is an energon ax, and a ludicrously huge energy bladed weapon that looks like Cloud's sword from Final Fantasy. I'm usually not a big fan of bladed weapons with my bots, but this thing is so ridiculously big compared to the wielder that I can't help but like it in spite of myself. It's an anime/ Japanese video game trope that's so over-the-top, and it amuses me to arm him up with it. the blade can also fold over 90 degrees taking the form of an energon ax. I forgot to take a pic of the big blade in ax mode. Anyway, the Ion Blaster is molded in matte black plastic with the vent detail in the stock painted silver. The small energon ax is also molded in black, with the blade painted in metallic teal. The teal paint they used is rather muted, and while it does have a shine to it in the light, it's not as reflective as the gloss black on the cab. The big blade's handle is black plastic, with some silver applied to the vents halfway up the blade, and on three little rectangular details on the blade itself. There's an attachment point on the big blade that looks like it slides onto something, but I'm not sure what that would be. It doesn't fit on the forearms. I haven't opened the instructions, but I may have to to figure that out. Perhaps it's just my copy, but snapping the blade back to its straight form met with a lot of resistance at the snap point. The hinge is set in the translucent blade, and I was afraid I was going to break it trying to get it to snap back together. I don't think I'll be putting it in ax form again.Articulation-wise, the head is on a ball joint allowing for a good up and down tilt as well as full 360 around and as much attitude as you want to give him. The shoulders swivel up and down laterally at the body on very stiff ratchets, and rotate fore and aft on slightly less stiff ratchets. They seem toleranced a bit too stiff relative to the size of this figure; they feel comparable to the combiner joints on the CW figures, only with more detents. There's a bicep swivel that gives you 360, a single jointed elbow on a barely there soft ratchet that gives you just shy of 90, a transformation joint on a well toleranced ratchet (same tolerance would have worked perfectly for the shoulders, IMHO) that allows the wrists to rotate from straight out to 90 degrees perpendicular to the forearm, wrists that rotate 360, and single piece piano fingers pinned at the base knuckle. They don't open very far, but the option is there. When they're closed, they form a nice 5mm hole for holding the weapons. I didn't mention it earlier, but none of the weapons have palm tabs- they just slot in with friction like the Hasbro figs. The waist can rotate 360, and there's an ab crunch that gets you about 10-15 degrees or so.The hips rotate forward well over 90 degrees and about 90 back on tight friction joints. Likewise laterally. Thigh swivel is accomplished via cuts in the thighs. Double jointed knees give you the full range. The feet, or to be fair, the toes with a small heel tab, can swivel about 10 degrees up, a little past 90 down, and the ankles can tilt about 10 degrees or so. There are also ankle guards that pivot up a few degrees. I forgot to position them up in these photos. The exhaust pipes attach to the shoulders via joints that allow for both lateral and longitudinal rotation for transformation. The pipes themselves are hinged at the center and the top half collapses into the lower for bot mode. The pipes attach awkwardly high on the shoulder, but that placement offers more options for repositioning them if need be. The transformation is clever, although it does make use of a faux chest. I'm generally not a big fan of that approach, but I give it a pass. The faux bot chest is actually a rotation point for the rest of the upper body, which rotates 180 deg for truck mode. the upper arms form the front wheel fairings, and the lower forearms form the bumper. The backpack unfolds to form the truck's windshield and grill area. The legs collapse CW style, and the fuel tanks flip out of the lower leg during that transition, and peg into a slot on the exhaust pipe joint. The final result is a nice looking cabover that scales well with ER prime. I forgot to take a comparison pic of them in their truck modes, but here they are in bot mode. A couple additional pics:Final thoughts: I was intrigued by Perfect Effect's original Ginrai figure, but I sat on the fence too long and missed the opportunity to get him at original retailer prices. I hoped for a rerelease of the original, but was pleasantly surprised when PE rolled out this retooled and improved version. I love the new stylish sculpt of this toy, and the addition of ratchets to the arms is a plus, even if they are just a tad bit too stiff for for a figure this size. Fit and finish are very well done, the joints are tight across the board, paint is crisp and well applied. The teal looks nice against the glossy black on the upper body. Articulation is above par for a deluxe scaled fig; honestly the only improvement here would be increasing the range of the elbows. However, the ability of the wrists to move up helps ameliorate the elbow's deficit. It comes with a more G1 accurate gun than ER Prime, can connect to his trailer (with greater turning radius, no less), and with the big and small energon blades at hand, is ready to fight the Autobots. On its own or as part of your CHUG collection, Dark Warrior is a fine addition. If you prefer traditional OP coloration, it's also available. Recommended. One thing of note, there's no discernable weapon storage in truck mode, save for the 5mm trailer hitch hole. The gun can sit in it loosely, but it's not ideal. Considering the long standing tradition of parts-forming weapons in Transformers, it's not a big deal, but I thought I'd mention it.
  7. M'Kyuun
    Got my Legioss today from TFSource! Sure is Purdy. Mine has the uber-tight shoulders (I had to use some needle-nosed pliers to rotate them without stressing anything. I wrapped them in tape, but I still scratched the paint a little on both shoulders). The ankle ball joints on mine are fairly loose, especially the left. They're not quite floppy, but they're not strong enough to bear the weight in anything beyond moderately dynamic poses. Diver mode suffers a bit from it too. It's an extremely tight fit to get stick into the cockpit, and although I took my time and exercised care, he still came apart on me. It doesn't take much. It boggles the mind why they didn't implement a sturdier solution, especially in light of what NewAge and Magic Square are doing with their legends figs. All things being equal, I'm glad the focus was on the Legioss. This is the Legioss toy I've been waiting 30+ years for, ever since I bought the old Monogram "Leader One" Gobots branded model kit and marveled at the complexity, detail, and range of articulation- it left an indelible impression on me, as well as a lasting endearment to the Legioss design. Bear in mind, I didn't watch Robotech, I wouldn't know what Mospeada is for at least another decade or so (I only just watched it for the first time this year), Transformers and Gobots were the standard I knew for transforming robots, the best example of which was Jetfire. (I didn't know what a VF-1 was either, but the design was ubiquitous- lots of cheap KO VF-1 toys in the 80's). I'm digressing down memory lane, but suffice it to say, the few flaws of the toy pale in comparison to all the rightness of it, and I'm glad to have a quality version of it to replace my aging and egregiously flawed Toynami. My hat's off to Sentinel.
  8. M'Kyuun
    Getting mine on Thursday, according to tracking. I've remained content with my crappy Toynami Stick Bernard Legioss all these years b/c, IMHO, it had the best aesthetics out of all the toys. With all the improvements and special touches Sentinel packed into their design, I'm excited to get this toy. A properly good Legioss has been long overdue. Thanks, Sentinel!
  9. M'Kyuun
    Ok, so it's not just me. I thought the hands looked like they were upside down- you can see what looks like thumbs on the inside lower parts of the hands, but their being on the wrong sides confused me. Too, and maybe its the perspective, but they look too big for the figure as well, like something from the 90's when oft times the hands were big chunky things. I'm gonna go with Tekering's explanation- this is all kinds of misassembled. I'm thinking things will look better when proper product shots come out. Then again.... Hasbro's history isn't the best in that arena either. I'll wait for the inevitable TonTon review. While that shot of Kup doesn't do it fair justice either, it's hitting a lot of the right marks towards faithfulness to the animation model (I think we can all agree that the G1 toy was rather lackluster), certainly more so than even the TR fig, which I though was a decent G1 representation. Heck, I still dig the Generations/United figure, although I believe it was IDW inspired. Still, it's a cool toy, and a neat take on the character. I like that his alt mode is passable as an Earth truck instead of his original backwards palette jack mode. The face sculpt on this, even partially obscured, looks excellent. Anyone know if this Hot Rod is supposed to come with his Space Winnebago trailer so he can Rodimize? I just wonder b/c of how high the knees are in that pic, like they're extended. Ugh, looks like a single piece groincloth- wish they'd just stop with that; it looks like shite in anything but a straight standing pose.
  10. M'Kyuun
    I'm telling ya, Kawamori has a time machine. We're just catching up to his vision 25 years later. The A.I. holographic idol stuff still needs some work, though. Looking at that pic, I had to cue up "Wanna Be an Angel". So lovely.
  11. M'Kyuun
    Kup and Hot Rodimus look alright (except for HR's arms and hands- the arms look stiff, like there's no elbow, and WTH is up with those hands?), but I've no idea how dinosaur bones are going to work as weapons and add-ons with robot figs without looking awkward. I'm assuming these are probably going to be meant for the Beast Wars figs, but it still just seems an odd choice,. IIRC, any time additional tech was used in the show, it was always mechanical rather than organic. Kids like dinosaurs, so maybe that's the angle. I like dinos, too, but in a show about robots, I prefer robot dinosaurs that turn into anthropomorphic robots, or as in the case of the cassettes, robo-dinos that turn into mechanical stuff. Beast Wars is the only exception, but like a lot of folks, I wish they'd eschewed organic forms in lieu of mechanical animal forms. I was happy when Transmetals came along- it's how I wish they'd started out. At least the show was fun, and had fun with the whole organic animal setup. Robotic animal skeletons is a new level of weird, though.
  12. M'Kyuun
    Saw those. That's about all I've got to say about that. Yeah , but just about every stealthy fighter nowadays looks like the F-22 or the F-35- I'm thinking that's the extent of the technology for now, and that's the general shape it has to have to achieve stealth characteristics. Still prefer the YF-23- beautiful bird, that. The more I look at the J-20, though, the more I see stuff that I like. It's not perfect- the forearms are visible on the lower fuselage (would have been nice if they'd used a little more panel-fu to make them conform and blend with the bottom, but as concessions go, they aren't that bad, and certainly no where near as egregious as HasTak jets. But I love how the exhausts move up to the calves in bot mode, and it appears that the forward fuselage splits, with the cockpit section facing down VF-1 style, and the lower section containing the nose gear hanging out as an elaborate butt flap. It skews more towards a variable Gundam aesthetic in bot mode that I don't mind at all. I'm not sure why they felt they had to have the wings split into three sections, though; it seems unnecessary, and if they don't snap together just so, it'll leave unsightly gaps in the wings in plane mode. Sometimes what seems cool on paper doesn't translate to 3D so well. Gripes aside, I'm intrigued. It looks good. And I like the look of the J-20, which makes it more appealing. The Kalavinka is definitely, in typical Big Firebird style, going for a more signature look, but I like it too, if just a bit less than the Chengdu J-20. I'd like to see more shots of it in both modes (def need a lower fuselage shot in jet mode) before I make a decision. I hope the final version has a head closer to the concept art. Not feeling the trans-red diamond they stuck on there. Both of these are exciting, though. Kinda neat that neither, AFAIK, is tied to any particular media, but just exist to be what they are.
  13. M'Kyuun
    Referring to Big Firebird's Kalavinka, to my eye, it kinda has a Zone of the Enders feel to it. I like it overall, but I'm not crazy about the feet. Not sure I'd be willing to invest without seeing a vid review with transformation. I do give then a thumbs up for making their own thing, though. It looks cool. I'm trying to figure out where the cockpit and nose go. I'm guessing it rotates 180 to form the middle chest, and then the nose slants down on the back. If so, cool- ever since the VF-4 and Yf-19, I tend to favor transforming jet designs that hide the cockpit, as it makes no sense to put it out front on a combat machine. The variable J-20 is pretty clean in jet mode- Takara, take notes. Bot mode looks respectable, as well. I dig it. The J-20 figure beggars the question of why the Bayformers couldn't have used this aesthetic- it's a practical transformation that results in a nice looking bot and plane, both sharing an equal amount of realism.
  14. M'Kyuun
    I preordered mine through Target. I got Snapdragon, which I also PO'd with Target, last week, and these two were my last orders to be fulfilled.
  15. M'Kyuun
    Got my copies of ER Arcee and Smokescreen in the mail today. My copy of Arcee's joints are rather loose throughout the figure. She can hold a pose, but if I pick her up by a single leg, the hip immediately collapses, as neither by itself can support the weight of the figure. The lower knee joints are likewise. I'm also struck by how much she would , or could, have been streamlined had they made the rear half of her car mode just a couple mm wider (or created a mechanism whereby it splits), enabling it to accommodate the front half within. It's close as is, but it's just too narrow, thus preventing it from sliding over the front half of her car mode in its backpack form. Bit of a lost opportunity to slim it down and make it more compact. The rear of her car mode is molded with large openings instead of a nice finished bumper look, as well as a number of pegs within for which there appear no obvious uses. They're not used in either mode., and the legs don't fill in those large cutouts in the rear, but just sit there at odd angles. To my eye, it looks like there were maybe other intentions for the mold that were scrapped, but they didn't bother changing the mold itself. This is definitely the least complex figure I've handled in the line, and calling her transformation such is giving it too much credit. She's a nicely sculped action figure that lays inside her alt mode shell, bends her knees and rotates her thighs. No part of the robot tabs into the car shell- it just hangs there courtesy of friction. There's some folding and rotation involved with the car shells, but no part of the robot is involved in the car mode. You could separate the car shell from her and both could exist independently. As a Transformers fan for whom the transformation is the raison d'etre for why I'm a Transformers fan and still collecting the toys, ER Arcee is anathema. I'm glad I own the T30 version; for its few flaws, as the very first official Arcee figure ever made by HasTak, it's still a commendable attempt of a challenging character, it has a transformation commensurate with the G1 characterization, and after handling this new incarnation, I find it preferable in nearly every regard. Incidentally, my T30 still has very tight joints throughout. Smokescreen, OTOH, is a good update. The transformation is quite similar to the Siege toy, but as the old saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Having both figs in hand for comparison, I can attest that neither shares any parts with the other. For some odd reason, they tampoed 80 on ER Smoky's doors rather than the traditional 38. His paint apps in car mode are nice and smooth, but they didn't paint his tail lights or his exhausts, all of which are just left bare on his blue feet. They didn't print his number on his chest, either, which was part of his G1 toy deco, but oddly, not the G1 boxart. It did show up, somewhat, in Cybertronian characters on the Siege toy, although the part of his hood on which it's printed is tucked away out of sight in bot mode. ER doesn't have his racing number on the hood at all. As with the Siege figure, the majority of the paint apps were applied to his car mode, with the heads of both being the only recipients of paint in bot mode. The head sculpt for ER Smoky is new and rather plain in comparison to the rather nicely detailed Siege. Too, the Siege has a nice silver paint app for his face, whereas the ER has a matte white that just doesn't look as sharp. As with the Siege, neither his arms nor his torso have any paint apps. A little red app to the triangular pattern on his groin would have been a nice call back to the G1 toy's sticker, just sayin'. I also wish they'd molded some of the sticker detail from the lower leg internals into the ER figures back windows. I always loved that bit of detail on the Datsun bros. Unlike the pic below, my copy's shoulder rockets came molded in blue rather than black. Again, it'd be nice if they'd painted the rocket portion silver to match the old chrome missiles that came with the G1 toys, but they didn't. His gun, which is also a new mold from the Siege, is cast in blue plastic, but hues a little closer to the G1 toy's gun design, especially the part of the shoulder stock that sticks up. Again, would have been nice if they'd given it a silver paint job, as the Siege version's gun was molded in blue but painted white, although its rocket launchers were molded in white. Go figure. As an update to the G1 toy/toon look, this is a nice mix, although the toning down of sculpted detail compared to the Siege indicates the toon influence. However, compared to the Siege, the colorations of his body parts are far more faithful to his G1 appearance- white thighs, blue biceps as opposed to black for both on the Siege. One notable thing about this figure that I don't like is that the spoiler is part of the mold. Of the Datsun bros, only Smoky had a spoiler, but due to their all sharing a mold, Prowl and Silverstreak/Bluestreak will have spoilers too. It's a nitpick. Overall, sculpt and articulation are standard for the line, which in most cases, means good. Had you handed this to thirteen year old me back in '84, I likely would have fainted from the onslaught of pure plastic joy in my hands. I can definitely recommend ER Smokescreen. If you want a well sculpted highly articulated Arcee and don't really care about transformation, then ER Arcee will likely make you happy. As for the loose joints, I hope that's just my copy and the majority are better built. As an action figure, with the aft 2/3 of her car mode detached, she really does make for an excellent looking Arcee. She's just not a good Transformer toy in the traditional sense.
  16. M'Kyuun
    Sad on both counts, but thanks for the info.
  17. M'Kyuun
    Ugh, that doesn't sound promising. Once I start receiving tracking info on it, I'll have to keep an eye on it in the event it gets lost. Sorry to hear that on your end, and thanks for the heads up. Hopefully, both of our orders will show up.
  18. M'Kyuun
    Batman:TAS was the perfect confluence of time period and the right talented people with a cohesive vision. It's one of very few American animated shows that I can think of that still stands up today for its quality across the board, and I believe centuries down the road, it'll still be a notable classic series of the late twentieth century. Shirley Walker was definitely an unsung hero to this show- the music she created gave it so much atmosphere, punctuated the action, and provided a rich tapestry of tone to set the mood for every scene. It wouldn't have been the same show had they just gone with simple synthesizer bits thrown in. RIP, and thanks for the incredible music. It's been thirty years and aside from the other DC animated shows, which the same team produced, there's been little within American animation, Disney notwithstanding, to compare. That's sad. From what I've seen over the years, American animation has devolved, while the Japanese continue to perfect the artform. I enjoy anime, but I also wish we'd see more original high quality animation domestically. The talent's here- as Sidney Iwanter mentioned, it's likely not due to lack of talent, but the marketers and production people above them who are fearful of treading new ground who are stymying any possibility of modern shows in the vein of B:TAS from coming to fruition. Their fear of taking a leap means we all lose.
  19. M'Kyuun
    I agree wholeheartedly; place her next to any other version of Arcee, and she's going to be the standout figure. Even if they'd given her a blockier chest to simulate the look of G1 Arcee, all the other flourishes elevate her visually. BF were also very clever in their engineering to allow her shoulder pods to change positions, which only increases the options with this figure. I lament that they didn't include the Arcee head; I think it was beautifully sculpted, and as much as I like the secondary head they created, I really wanted this to be an alternate take of Arcee. Hopefully, as someone mentioned, they'll sell it separately. Regardless, as is, Nicee is a unique and eyecatching addition to anyone's collection. I just got my shipping notification from ShowZ yesterday, so my earlier delivery estimate was off by about a week or two. No hurry. i still have to figure out where I'm going to display her and my Sentinel Legioss that just shipped. Too many toys, not enough house.
  20. M'Kyuun
    I've watched two reviews of Nicee (I think both were done by the same guy), and while he shows off her articulation and transformation, he never shows whether her gun can store in her thigh, a la Robocop, as was shown in the concept artwork. I'm hoping its there- I always loved that . But yeah, pretty straightforward transformation that still turns out to be more elegant than what Hasbro's doing. It does suck that a huge chunk of the back of her car parts-forms. I don't recall if that had to be removed or like ER Arcee's car shell, could remain attached on some sort of armature. I don't feel like watching the vid again to find out. I should be getting my copy within the next week or so, so then I'll know. Big Firebird did a beautiful job on the sculpting of this figure; whether or not you agree with the hyperfeminine appearance, you can't deny the style and artistry put into her. I'm very curious to see how their Windblade is coming along. In light of the crackdowns on Lepin and some other third party Transformer companies, I wonder if they're even going to bother, what with the possibilities of enormous fines and jail time. I think our golden age of options is sadly coming to a close.
  21. M'Kyuun
    Skullface did a pretty good comparison of the two Megatrons. It boils down to the MS has beefier proportions and just looks better (to my eyes as well as his), and the NA, as Mike said, feels more solid due to better materials, and is easier to transform. I have the NA, and its a fun little figure, but I have to confess, on looks alone, I prefer the MS. One more thing, the MS fig cleans up better in bot mode; the NA doesn't look so good from a rear view. As for the Soundwaves, there are things I like about both. Appearance wise, both capture the essence of G1 Soundwave really well, but there's a quality I can't quite put my finger on about NewAge's that I like better. It's not as rigid or cubic as the Magic Square- it has more presence to me, even if the MS cleans up better in bot mode. Too, I think they sell it better with their production photos- the NA just seems more "alive" to me. The MS cassettes are bigger, better sculpted, and have much more articulation than the NewAge cassettes, or even Hasbro's ER/Siege versions for that matter. They're nigh MP quality at about a quarter of the scale- these things are tiny. The NA cassettes are even smaller, and have simpler, less accurate sculpts and far less articulation. About the only thing the NA cassettes have over the MS are that when put in their rectangular configurations, they are slightly thinner in profile than the MS cassettes. Neither company's cassettes are really fooling anybody, though. But they tried. One other caveat that I've seen in a coupe MS reviews is that it's a tight fit for the cassettes to fit in his chest, generally necessitating sticking a finger through a hole in his back to forcibly eject them. Not the best when it's designed to do this as a signature feature. The sticking point for me is that I prefer NA's Soundwave, but I'd rather have MS' cassettes. Unfortunately, because MS makes their figures slightly larger than NewAge, the cassettes are not cross compatible. I'm still on the fence myself, but I hope this bit of info helps.
  22. M'Kyuun
    Although I've never seen her in anything that I'm aware of, I am aware that her role as Mrs. peel set a precedent for women going forward in tv and movies. More than just a pretty face, she was smart and capable in an action role that set the stage for characters like Agent Dana Scully of the X-Files. I'm sure there are better examples, but Scully's the closest to home. I don't watch GoT so I can't comment on her later work, although she was doubtlessly well spoken and elegant in whatever role she inhabited. Regardless, she's yet another sad loss to the world of entertainment, as well as her friends and family. RIP
  23. M'Kyuun
    We shall agree to disagree. IMHO, given the extremely stylistic nature of the art direction, I thought Takara did an amazing job translating that look into functional toys. The translation was lost on a few (Sentinel Prime is ,ahem, a prime example), but overall, I think, for what they had to work from, they did a pretty good job. Animated is still one of my favorite TF shows and toylines, and most of my Animated collection is on permanent display on my desk. Yes and yes. The FE was crap compared to the lithe and compact RiD version. I always wanted the flying Vehicon, but never got one. Getting it, and getting it in commander colors, would be wonderful. That would explain why I never got Breakdown. At that time, I wasn't buying stuff online much, and the cost probably put me off. I recall being aware there was a voyager fig that fit with the rest of the line (so far as retail figs, I pretty much only collect main line), but I don't know if I was aware at the time that it was a Takara exclusive. Anyway, if they do re-release that fig, I might be down for it, too. I liked the Prime show and toyline, and I still have many of them on the shelves in my cave. For $80, it's an excellent figure, and probably the only opportunity we'll ever have of owning an official Skyfire. We've waited 35 years for this guy, and fortunately, they did a good job, even creating a new size class for him (he stands as tall as CW Bruticus). I definitely recommend him, and I don't think you'll be disappointed.
  24. M'Kyuun
    Runabout was a foregone conclusion, but I agree with Danth- much nicer color scheme. I already have Runamuck PO'd, but I prefer Runabout's colors, so looks like I'll be getting them both. So they'll celebrate the tenth anniversary of Prime with a couple figs, but not Animated. Anyway, the regular retail Vehicon was already one of the best figs in the line; the transformation mechanics made that figure stand out. It was one of the few retail figs that was better than its First Edition counterparts. I'm dubious that they could top it. Both of these seem odd choices for anniversary releases, which are usually prominent characters; Breakdown was second or third tier, and the Vehicon was the mass produced cannon fodder of the series. Oh well. I don't think I bought a Breakdown toy, so if this one turns out OK, I may just remedy that omission. I had to make a Wally stop today, and was pleasantly surprised to see both ER Snapdragon and Starscream on the shelf. For the past several years, my local Wally seldom ever carries anything over deluxe scale. They had the Netflix deluxes as well, but none of the new figs, which I've got PO'd anyway. I just don't trust retail anymore to carry this stuff, at least not with any reliability. Anyway, I hope that voyagers will become a regularly stocked item again. I miss just going to the store and picking up the odd TF fig that I want like I used to. Poor distro, scalpers, and likely spotty ordering has made trying to find these things in store nigh impossible. I hope that's changing for the better.
  25. M'Kyuun
    Got my invoice for Stick's Legioss from TFSource tonight. Paid. Anticipating this toy so much.
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