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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    I was thinking your ER Prime was becoming quite the expensive figure, and then I read your last sentence. But y'know, this is probably the last time for a long time that we're going to get a G1 Optimus that is this well done. I've already sunk more time and money into mine than I ever have for any Transformer figure I've owned, and after 35+ years of collecting, I have a few. Guess what I'm saying is, if you're going to put improvement efforts into any figure, ER Prime stands out as a worthy candidate. On that note, your efforts have certainly enhanced the figure overall. Looks great! I invested in the Nonnef trailer kit after seeing your previous reviews, and I don't mind the fenders, although I hear you on the non-flush point, and the swing-out sections to support the trailer, although, having to swap the little support feet takes something away from the experience. I'm not sure why he couldn't figure out how to make them rotate into position, but he didn't, so in the spirit of Earthrise, it's just one more parts-forming element to contend with. C'est la vie. This new kit looks pretty good, and I like that the trailer supports are shortened to allow for natural clearance for the trailer. I'm not sure I trust the integrity of 3D printed stuff over injection molded over time. Having said that, the parts themselves look nice, especially that Roller. I bought the Centurion Drone Weaponizer Pack from Pulse, so that'll give me a better, and official, Roller in lieu of Nonnef's mediocre attempt. I'm surprised, and a little dismayed, that more accessories to complete Prime's trailer don't come with that set, but perhaps they have similar releases planned, so they may just dole them out piecemeal. Sounds like a Hasbro tactic.
  2. M'Kyuun
    That's a nice little Soundwave. I had this PO'd, then canxed it. Reconsidering... I really don't want to get caught up in the legends collecting game- I'm already collecting Generations main line, MP (or 3p equivalents), the occasional Cyberverse fig that appeals, and a handful of legends figs, mostly NewAge. For their sizes, these things are wonderfully done, regardless of whether you favor MS or NA, the two top contenders these days. I tend towards the NA designs, but I've bought from both companies, and I'm happy with everything I've gotten. I get the appeal; I just have no space for yet another collection. Stuff gets expensive, too. That said, I'm on the fence for Soundwave; both Soundwave figs do the character justice; for me it comes down to the cassettes and MS did a pretty good job with the bot modes, but the cassette modes are barely recognizable as such. But most folks are probably going to have theirs in bot mode most of the time anyway, so I understand the decision to favor the bot modes. NewAge seems to have sought more of a balance between modes, as you can see with Rumble in that pic. A little stylized, but fairly well articulated for its size (smaller even than Magic Square's which are small compared to the Siege cassettes). NA's assume a slightly more convincing mini-cassette than the MS. but the MS have more accurate bot modes with superior articulation. Its a conundrum. I'm tempted to get MS's stand alone cassette team, and NA's Soundwave. Best of both, I guess.
  3. M'Kyuun
    I found out about this last evening, so by the time I visited Pulse, it was already sold out. Most of the comments I've read, folks only really want Cordon, but are willing to take Spinout in the deal. Same boat here, but admittedly, Spinout looks good. They both benefit from what looks so far to be a good mold. Anyway, I'm not really willing to pay markups on these guys, so unless Pulse restocks it, I probably won't be getting them. I got my copy of Snapdragon yesterday. I've liked his design since the old G1 days, and I was pretty excited when they announced him for ER, and more so after watching/reading reviews. In hand, I think he's pretty cool. He's definitely way better than the chunk that is Apeface. Anyway, I love his T-rexy dragon mode, his plane mode is good (it has its flaws, but at least it looks like something that would fly, unlike Apeface's winged cube mode), and his bot mode is decent. It's a good update within the standards of this line, and I'm glad that he was released as a part of it.
  4. M'Kyuun
    We may be seeing the end of a golden age of TF collecting, especially if they're going after these companies with a vengeance (and a sizeable posse of corporate attorneys). On one hand, I can sympathize with Hasbro, but on the other, I lament the lack of options once all these third parties have been shut down or just quit before they become legal fodder. At this point, most of my MP collection is third party, so I'll definitely suffer the loss of options, especially since the official toys of late haven't really appealed to me. I'm sure I'm not alone.
  5. M'Kyuun
    It's unfortunate that Hasbro is unwilling to sell a Transformers license to an entity that wants to make transforming toys, keeping that salient feature to themselves. In this case, as with so many third parties, given the level of creativity they bring to the table, not to mention unique style, it would offer more to fans under the official banner. I can understand if they forbid straight-up faithful G1 designs; that's their bailiwick. But stuff like Nicee or Cang Toys' G1 characters with beast mode alts, or many of the comics inspired designs that HasTak seem to have little interest in doing are opportunities where Hasbro could benefit from granting a license without getting their toes stepped on. Then again, who knows what kind of regulations and limits Hasbro would put upon them if they did. It might not be worth the bother for the outside company. It's a shame, though. There's a lot of brilliance on the part of these companies. My collection benefits.
  6. M'Kyuun
    Really? Wasn't aware of that. Shame, as that was kinda the point, to provide an alternate take. The other head looked nice, too, though. But yeah, it'd be cool f they released it as an add-on.
  7. M'Kyuun
    My invoice just dropped for Big FireBird's Nicee. I'm looking forward to this fgure. Arcee is notoriously difficult to get right, and although this is a very stylish take, I'm curious to see how the engineering works. If anything, the accentuated nature of Nicee would have proved more challenging than just a straight G1 Arcee. A bunch of my other POs are becoming available or shipping, too. September is going to be an expensive month.
  8. M'Kyuun
    Your nicest VF-1 or a YF-19 if you have one. Hard choice though- I love all my valks, so I'd be trying to find a way to cram them all in. And my Transformers, and all my LEGO, for which I'd probably need a semi to carry it all. Love my toys. Anyway, be safe, you and yours. Like you said, it's just stuff. FWIW, I hope they manage the fire before it gets too close to home. Come what may, return to us safe.
  9. M'Kyuun
    Yeah- lanky and Ark , or Fort Max, for that matter, don't really gel. Guess we'll wait and see what comes.
  10. M'Kyuun
    I wish you every success in scoring a Quintesson set. It holds no interest for me, personally, but I figure I'm in the minority. I'm kinda curious if the rumor about an Ark is going to prove true. it's part of the artwork on the ER packaging, and I wonder if it's not just there for context. If they do make it as a Titan, and it's done well, I may consider getting a copy. If so, it'll be my first Titan TF. I'd still rather have Omega Supreme/the Ark from Animated. Great design. I really hoped they'd trot something like that out on the tenth anniversary of Animated, but AFAIK, they did absolutely nothing to homage it. Shame- it's still one of my favorite TF shows, and toy lines. Got my Target Seeker two-pack today (it was supposed to come on Saturday, but it got sent to the wrong Post Office and it took them a couple days to get it sorted). Anyway, it's nice to have a complete set standing next to each to other for the first time. I wish the mold was a little better, but whatever. Not crazy about the screaming face on Skywarp, but otherwise he and TC are looking pretty good. Now all I need is Thrust, and I'll have my original Seekers and Coneheads completed for ER.
  11. M'Kyuun
    Well that's interesting. I assume they're going to break the two days up into panels to address their various IPs. Transformers is really the only one that interests me. They do a beautiful job on their Black Series Star Wars, and Classified GI Joe figs, though.
  12. M'Kyuun
    Glad you're still with us. Wise words for those of us who haven't been checked, including myself.
  13. M'Kyuun
    TFSource and Chosen Prime have it for $70. Chosen Prime are offering two versions: Scaramanga (Blue Soundwave), which comes with Laserbeak, Rumble (blue), and Ravage, and Dr. No (black Soundwave/Soundblaster) which comes with Buzzsaw, Frenzy (red) and Ratbat. TFSource is only offering Scaramanga. Hopefully an early review of the NewAge fig will come out soon. I'm curious how it compares to the Magic Square. Already, the MS cassettes in bot mode are more complex and articulated, but they seem to have rather thick and unconvincing cassette modes, and per Skullface's review, they're difficult to remove once you put them in Soundwave's chest. The NA's, while not as refined or articulated in cassette mode, appear to to form thinner, more convincing, albeit not perfect, looking cassettes. For now, I'm on the fence.
  14. M'Kyuun
    I don't play CoD, but the tactic makes sense to avoid licensing fees. We've seen the same employed by HasTak with Transformers for years. Honestly, it doesn't bother me if a game uses fictitious designs, especially in an action or shooter game. I often enjoy the designs that the artists conjure up for these games. Now if you're talking Flight Simulator, those should replicate the real aircraft inside and out as much as possible.
  15. M'Kyuun
    For as tiny as they are, those are some pretty respectable cassette bots. Unlike the MS versions, which are too thick, these look to retain the thinness that makes them feel more like mini-cassettes, or in this case, mini-mini-cassettes. It would have been cool if they'd included the teeth on the spindles instead of just doing circle indentations. Still, I appreciate the effort. Tempted by this set.
  16. M'Kyuun
    I dunno; they went into this line with a plan, knowing that they were doing Earth modes, and my feeling is that the toys were likely designed with that in mind, if not opposite from the order they were released. In other words, the Earth versions were designed first, and then redesigned for the Cybertronian precursors. Or, designs like Soundwave and Megatron, which have few changes between Siege and ER models, were designed concurrently. IMHO, they labored under the suspicion that the Earth modes are going to be the most popular, b/c G1 is still highly desired by collectors. With that in mind, an easy way to double dip is to reuse any number of those molds, with mods, put the Cybertronian stuff out first to make an extra buck, and then segue into the Earth stuff. Just my opinion; no facts to back it up, but it makes business sense to me.
  17. M'Kyuun
    Some in hand pics of ER Soundwave, courtesy of The Allspark. Honestly, it strikes me that the G1 toy was designed better, articulation notwithstanding, and could accommodate realistically sized mini-cassettes that did a much better job passing as such. This version transforms with the legs inside out relative to the original, which looks weird with his knees sticking out on the sides. Moreover, shrinking the cassettes eliminated their use universally, and resulted in much more simplified robot modes and cassette modes that are barely passable as such and generally only from one side. I'm wondering where his weapons cum batteries go in cassette player mode. They definitely don't tuck into a nice compartment on his back like the original. Compared to the original toy, other than the articulation, just about every other aspect feels like a step backwards. This Soundwave, not superior.
  18. M'Kyuun
    Likewise... a bit shocking. He was six years my junior, far too young to deal with such illness, and certainly to succumb to it. Seeing the shape he was in as T'Challa, one would never suspect he was battling cancer; just incredible endurance and will. Terribly sad loss. RIP, good sir.
  19. M'Kyuun
    Honestly, from the review I saw (PrimeVsPrime), it's very evocative of G1 Prowl. However, it's missing virtually all of Prowl's iconic markings in bot mode, so Hasbro cheaped out on paint apps that would have enhanced the look of this figure. Guess I'll be doing some custom work on him, or possibly getting the eventual Toyhax labels. He doesn't appear to come with any shoulder rockets, which should be standard accessories with these guys along with their gun. The other negative is that both he and Bluestreak have the spoiler that carries over from Smokescreen. I wish that had been an exclusive add-on for Smokescreen instead of part of the mold proper. As niggles go, it's minor. I can live with it. Compared to every other Prowl that's been released in CHUG, this is by far the most faithful to the original, and that makes me happy. PrimeVsPrime voices some of the same concerns we've been mentioning concerning ER Ironhide. It's a rarity; he's usually very positive and rarely finds fault with the figures he reviews- affect your best British accent and say with enthusiasm, "they're really fantastic!"
  20. M'Kyuun
    You, my friend, are in the minority opinion here, methinks. I like the Siege mold, too. It's close enough, and yet different enough, to his earth mode that I find it appealing. One of the reasons I usually detest Cybertronian alt modes is that they're lazy (thinking Siege Soundwave), ugly, or just unrelatable. The Siege Datsun bros are sleek and relatable without being carbon copies of the earth modes, and I like that. I even like the slipper toes. I see a lot of guys on TFW already looking to chuck their Siege Datsuns in lieu of the ER figs. FWIW, I like both, but I'd be lying if I said I preferred the Cybertronian over the ER. The G1 Datsun design has been my all-time favorite Transformer since I first laid eyes on the toys. G1 Prowl was my first Transformer- I still remember opening it in the back seat on our way home from the store. I also acutely remember my disappointment when he had no articulation from the waist down. I fell in love with the box art for that figure, and it thrills me that we've finally reached a time when the actual toys are living up to that old box art. That said, even though I have MP Prowl and his bros (eternal thanks to Hasui-san) , and New Age's Prowl, which is a pint sized, yet glorious take on the character, and just a fun toy in its own right (and travel friendly, too-pop'em right in the pocket), I'm so looking forward to getting ER Prowl. Just like with Prime, we've been waiting 35+ years for accurate homages to these characters in the main line, and I'm stoked that we're finally getting them. That said, it's dismaying when they forsake the opportunity to make a definitive take on a character in lieu of chintzing and going for the spectacularly terrible remold, complete with egregious parts-forming. As for the feet on the van dudes, had they employed a method to spin the feet 180 at the ankle rocker so that the tops of the feet formed a nice rounded backside for the van, I think it would have been a fine solution that involved very little additional engineering. There still would have been a gap between the feet, but I think it would have looked better than what we got. How anybody in production looked at this and high-fived is beyond me. Most unseemly, Hasbro. For real, man. Two-thirds of their car modes are detachable shells; the least they could have done to ameliorate the mediocrity of their design, or lack thereof, is to vary the shapes/details of the shells a little per release. We're not worth the effort, apparently. The girls work as nice action figures, but as Transformers, they fail abysmally. Wasted opportunity. Once again, it's remarkable the design dichotomy in this line- some figs are very well executed, and some...aren't. I lament the situation b/c I feel this is probably the most focus on G1 we'll see in the main line for a long time, and I wish that there was a constant standard of design quality across the board. This should be the definitive line of G1 updates, aside from MP, with the same level of care put into each figure. That's what I was hoping for, and while they've delivered on many, the lack of consistency is disheartening. Sure wish there was a third party willing to right the wrongs of this line, so to speak.
  21. M'Kyuun
    I can't say that I'm all too impressed with the ER remold of Siege Ironhide/Ratchet. Egregious partsforming aside, I wonder why they didn't give these Vanette guys dark or blue tinted windshields and paint the rest of their windows to match. It would have helped the look in van mode considerably. Granted, they would have been prominent on the shins, so I guess I answered my own question. Bottom line, they should have just given these guys a dedicated mold which could address the peculiarities of the alt mode more judiciously. As for Lifeline, I really don't want more than one copy of this Arcee mold, and I already have Arcee PO'd, despite my misgivings. As good as this line has been for most, I think these two figs represent the poorer efforts. Given the prominence of Ironhide's and Ratchet's characters to the original series, it's disheartening to see them relegated to bad remold fodder. I gripe, but as Technoblue said, if these are representative of the final toys, the clean ER look is definitely appealing. Hasbro owns me. Edit; Sigh, PO'd. Time for coffee and self-flagellation.
  22. M'Kyuun
    Possible pics of Kingdom Cheetor, warpath, and Blackarachnia. Since most of these leaks have proven true, I'm going to assume that this is the real deal. That said, that's a mighty fine looking Cheetor, certainly the best looking original version in the main line, including the original toy, which wasn't so good. There is a notable disparity between the group shot from above where each copy has two bluish nubs above the shoulders that don't appear in the stand-alone cheetah shot. Hopefully the stand-alone is what we're getting. BA is looking good, too, although one can only guess at her spider mode. There really aren't many ways to make such a small lithe bot transform, and I assume she'll take some cues from the MP, which isn't much bigger than this. The angle on Warpath isn't great, but he's looking pretty Geewunny to me.
  23. M'Kyuun
    B/c I'm an articulation junkie. The more, the better, so long as the joints are good. A couple quick shots I took.
  24. M'Kyuun
    Agree about the tail having no sideways motion- would have been nice. I also wish Lynx's feet could rotate ; they're fixed forward, but they do have an excellent range of up/down, and lots of ankle rocker, so you can really splay his legs out at the hip with feet flat in an aggressive posture. The Lynx can rotate his neck side to side, but the range is laughable. I wish they could have improved that a little, or make the head itself rotate. The head can rotate longitudinally very minimally, and has a small range of up and down, but no side to side, which would have been more useful. IMHO, it's probably the weakest area for articulation between the two figures. I never looked at any of the third party takes on Sky Lynx, but your pics really show just how much detail, even from a distance, that HasTak put into this figure by comparison. In case no one noticed, the Autobot symbols on the wings are backed in gold, rather than just placed up against the white background. It 's a nice touch that looks sharp. I definitely prefer HasTak's approach to the wing mechanics; it has a nice organic look to it, and due to the multi-hinged ratcheting armatures, the wings can be oriented through a nice range. I finally put mine in base mode. It's meh, but kinda cool that they still managed it without too many compromises to his crawler/Lynx modes, other than the weak tabs that are supposed to secure the panels to which his back legs attach. Ironically, they lock in the base position with a snap, but not in Lynx/crawler mode. That and the friction joints at the 'elbow' of the wing armatures (mine are already too weak to bear the weight, but the body joint has a strong ratchet) are the only major issues with mine. Oh, and one of the tail linkages on mine is missing a pin, but it works just fine for now. Overall, excellent toy.
  25. M'Kyuun
    Got my Landbreaker on Monday, and it's a pretty fun little set. I very much like the construction theme they went for, and the tampos look crisp. I wish they'd make pilots to accompany them; I guess DiaClone figs work, but man, those little guys are crazy expensive. So for now, my Mole and Groundhog remain delightfully sentient. I still haven't transformed them into their box modes; I'm having too much fun messing with them as construction vehicles. The combined vehicle mode seems the least fun to me, and the combined mech mode is all kinds of fun. The articulation is excellent. I haven't explored the modularity as of yet. Honestly, my interest in that capability is rather low. However, after they've released their undersea set, I may get the itch to want to swap a few parts just for sh!ts and giggles. Anyway, thought I'd share a few thoughts and see if anyone else here got this set.
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