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M'Kyuun

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Everything posted by M'Kyuun

  1. M'Kyuun
    It is. Out of these four reveals, Sky Lynx impresses me the most, and I've never really cared about him. This is a good looking toy.
  2. M'Kyuun
    I had the beetle pictured above, and a pink scorpion figure. The beetle had pretty good articulation for the time, and I liked how the wing covers could open for flight. The grasshopper toy was later used by Hasbro for their Deluxe Insecticons.
  3. M'Kyuun
    watchcartoonsonline.com
  4. M'Kyuun
    It's inexcusable. If they're too inept to figure out the engineering to make a proper transforming figure, then they shouldn't bother.
  5. M'Kyuun
    Of all the upcoming Siege figs, Arcee was the one I most anticipated to see how they improved her over the Generations figure. The figure looks better, but at the expense of her being a parts-former, with her car mode shell from the windshield back becoming a most unconvincing 'hoverboard' that looks like the shell of a car. There aren't any pics showing if it can even attach to her bot mode, but I'm not at all happy with the compromise. I don't like it for Cliffjumper, either. It's astoundingly lazy, and counter to the whole point of transforming toys. I hope this isn't becoming the new norm for Transformers. MMC was able to make a similar sized figure and fold the majority of her car mode into her shoulder pods, so the engineering already exists to make it work. I wish Takara would try harder. Upon second look, her chest is even fake, so it appears that no part of her bot mode is involved in the transformation- she's a robot in a two piece shell---extraordinarily disappointing to say the least. I will say that Earthrise Arcee's bot mode looks way better than the MP mold, especially her face. They nailed it. The shaping of the chest looks much better, too. She's a nice looking Arcee action figure, but a Transformer in name only. I was never a big fan of SkyLinx, neither the characterization nor the design. However, I kinda like what they did here for Earthrise Skylinx. I usually give little credence to base modes, as they usually just look like a stretched out robot to me, but I like this one, with that shuttle perched on the launchpad. The 'griffon' mode looks pretty good, too, although to me, he looks more like an Apatosaurus with wings. The Lynx part looks great, but those chicken legs on the bird mode look pretty dodgy. The whole package appeals to me, though, so I may have to consider finally adding a SkyLinx to my collection. Cheers to those who've been wanting a Scorponok to go with the rest of the city bots. Not my cup of java, but I'm happy for those who've been waiting for it.
  6. M'Kyuun
    I'm more impressed by how they used the feet and hands to make a drone. However, this is a nice upgrade to the rather lackluster CW figs.
  7. M'Kyuun
    Perusing the Brothers-Brick LEGO blog, I discovered the works of BigPlanes on Flickr. As the user's handle suggests, he builds large scale aircraft , and they are incredibly detailed and realistic looking. Knowing that there are any number of aircraft enthusiasts here, myself included, I thought I'd share. His five foot long Concorde was the featured model on Brothers-Brick, and from a distance, it's difficult to see that it's made of LEGO. Just a thing of beauty. The rest of his aircraft models are just as impressive, especially his Air Force One. Absolutely brilliant. Edit: just wanted to add BigPlanes' YouTube channel, as he does vids of his builds showing features. I'd love to see this guy's stuff in person- just amazing.
  8. M'Kyuun
    Um, ok. Not sure what's up with chibi Motoko, but the new Tachi looks cool, minus the flotation device attached to its butt. Shame the joint work isn't as smooth and seamless as the art work depicts on the Lil' Major. Those huge elbows, gappy hips, and unnatural looking knees just throw off the look of the figure.
  9. M'Kyuun
    I also get the vibe that some contestants were chosen maybe more for their tendency towards drama than for talent. Of all the contestants, I was only familiar with Boone Langston, Mark Cruikshank (the Bearded Builders), due to my convention attendance, and Tyler Clites from looking at his stuff for years online. Tyler is a very accomplished builder, so he, at least, was chosen for his acumen. The Beards are also good builders in their own rights (I've seen their stuff firsthand). The rest of the teams were unknown to me. Sam Hatmaker rubs me the wrong way; I get the sense that he was chosen for his unconventional dress/hair, but perhaps also b/c there was an inkling of his snotty attitude. I looked him up, and while he's a professional toy designer, his LEGO portfolio is not really that impressive, especially when compared to his partner Jessica Ragzy Ewud, who has exhibited her builds in numerous venues, and sells her LEGO art. Between the two, my sense is that she is the far-more accomplished builder. But he's a jerk, and that garners attention. Also in the drama category is Kara, the older lady with the big hair, who seemed to have a weird facial expression almost every time the camera trained on her. I didn't get the sense that she or her partner were very accomplished builders. Out of all the builds last night, Tyler's was really the only one, IMHO, that could just stand alone as a really cool MOC. It looked amazing, and it was almost sad to see such a nice MOC get destroyed. But it smashed beautifully. I think, and I hope, that he'll be among the finalists, as he's one of the most talented AFOLs I'm aware of, and I hope this venue gives him greater exposure, as I think he'll produce some impressive stuff on the show. Christian and Aaron, IMHO, are a force to be reckoned with, as well. While their build last night wasn't really the best for the 'smash' category, it was a beautiful build on its own- outside of the box thinking with a really neat structure . If they'd filled that crescent with a big orb, or the like, filled with lots of little multi-colored bits, I think it would have helped their standing. Still, when I see that level of technique brought to bear, then I'm impressed. Obviously, I'm enjoying the show so far (can you tell?) I'm looking forward to the rest of the season and all the challenges they throw at these guys, and all the varied approaches these teams take to meet them. As to Lexomatic's observation about techniques: While it'd be cool if they delved deeper into that, as it would appeal greatly to those of us in the hobby, given that they're trying to appeal to a broader audience, i.e. those who don't build, or just build casually, or just buy LEGO for someone else, I can understand why they go more for the personal drama over the technical aspects of LEGO building. It can get dry, especially if you start talking L units, and geometries, and nomenclatures, AFOL terminology vs official LEGO names for colors and parts (Light Bley vs Medium Stone Grey, slopes vs bows), etc. The mention of SNOT was cool, but only quickly mentioned before moving on to Will Arnett's antics, Flynn's emotional breakdown, Kara's facial expressions, Sam's and Jessica's dysfunctionality, and pretty much a pointless visit from Mayim Bialik, other than to just have someone famous on the show. I know some upcoming special guests, like Terry Crews, are known for building LEGO as a hobby, so I look forward to having some folks with LEGO experience come on and share their views/enthusiasm.
  10. M'Kyuun
    Still, they're not as bad as those on the YF-21. It's why I prefer the shorter plates of the in-development Bandai DX, but I digress. I wonder if the Revoltech folks are prohibited from making this thing transformable, as that would step a bit on Takara's toes. It'd be cool if Takara made a fully transformable MP level fig of this, as a one-off. I'd be tempted. Personally, I've always thought an aircraft alt would be more suitable to the Eva, if one was to reimagine it as a transformable mech, especially with those large shoulder armor bits- nice little winglets.
  11. M'Kyuun
    Considering the rate at which this disease is spreading, it's not surprising that it's affecting all areas of Chinese society, to include manufacturing. My perspective is that I've waited this long for my third party toys, and I can continue to wait. I'd rather see progress in controlling or eradicating the disease to restore wellness to these people. For their sakes, and for the rest of the world, I hope there's some solace soon.
  12. M'Kyuun
    I was fairly proud of my four shelves of CHUG, with a bit of Prime and Bayverse thrown in, but Tekering's collection is more like a well curated museum. Most impressive. That's a collection that would be fun to wander through, just marveling.
  13. M'Kyuun
    I need to give Voices of a Distant Star a watch; it's on my list. Just finished my first viewing of Macross 7, and it took me awhile, but I came to enjoy it. The three Encore eps are great, lots of tongue in cheek humor. Still have to watch M7: The Movie, Dynamite, and FB7, but overall, once I settled into the story and characters, and kinda figured out Basara's deal, it grew on me. Still don't like Planet Dance, though. What I can say is, it feels like a Macross story, as all the familiar elements are there, but it has a lighter tone than pretty much all the rest of the Macross series, although it's closer to Delta than the rest, in that regard. I liked it better than Delta- that one just didn't grab me. But I liked the toys.
  14. M'Kyuun
    Sarcasm at its finest. Although the topic of this thread can pretty much be summed up as , the sh!t you guys say keeps me coming back. Def far more entertaining than RT itself.
  15. M'Kyuun
    A little anxious to see progress? Me too.
  16. M'Kyuun
    Reminds me of my favorite version of Scourge. Leagues better than his 'flying boat' alt. Beautiful plane; commercial aircraft haven't seen much innovation, fuselage-wise, since the ill-fated Concorde, in terms of basic geometry. Lots of improvements in materials, manufacturing techniques, and all the stuff under the hood, so to speak, but most just boil down to being tubes with wings. A lifting body design is interesting, both for its shape, but also for its potential flight characteristics. According to the Wiki, they are "inefficient at low speeds", which beggars the question of whether this is intended to be a supersonic aircraft. I hope so. With the current state of tech, subsonic commercial carriers should be an anachronism. Looking at the pics, however, those look like high bypass turbine engines, similar to those on most subsonic planes, so I'm thinking no. It's a lovely bird, regardless, and I hope they find success with it. I always thought some of the 50's commercial flying wing ideas were pretty cool, where passengers were seated throughout the wings as well as the central fuselage. With all the research and practical application we have now, I'm surprised the idea hasn't resurfaced in a more ambitious form. It'd be an interesting entry into the commercial realm for Northrop, and perhaps spark similar innovation from Boeing. My hat's off to Airbus for at least going this far with a 'new' concept. This Flying V concept is currently undergoing testing. It's beautiful. More about it here.
  17. M'Kyuun
    I grew up watching Wild, Wild West. I'm not a fan of Westerns, per se, but the 'James Bond set in the old West' approach, with a bit of steampunk (before steampunk was a thing) thrown in made it a cool show. The Will Smith movie did it poor justice, although they get points for the steam operated giant spider mech. Anyway, Mr. Conrad was the real James West; he brought a coolness to the role that made the show engaging. That's my lasting memory of him, and it's good. RIP Mr. Conrad.
  18. M'Kyuun
    Well stated. Azalea's not just a good representation of G1 Arcee, but a fun Transformer toy. As a lot of these companies strive towards more complexity, sometimes for complexity's sake, the result is a toy that's frustrating and unpleasant to transform. MMC usually do a good job in this regard. While her car form isn't 100% accurate, it's still pretty darn close, the tradeoff minimal, and the engineering very well done. The fit of the fender in fender to form her backpack, and the staggered look of her calves are really my only two major gripes. +1 for not liking the backpacks on MP-44 or MP-45. At least Prime's folds up for decent presentation; V2 Bee's is a disorganized looking mess on a character that should have no backpack if staying true to his G1 toy or animation models. MP-45 stands out in my mind as the weakest design in the series thus far, with too many concessions to bot mode. I hope this is an exception to the rule, then. Arcee needs some fixing.
  19. M'Kyuun
    Y'know, I'm sure the folks at Takara keep an eye on these third party products, especially those they have yet to attempt, and having the benefit of such good examples as Rouge and Azalea, who balanced the bot and alt mode looks very well, with good solutions towards minimizing the backpack (which is an unavoidable necessity in her case), one would be inclined to think it would outshine all the third party offerings right out of the gate. It saddens me that that's not the case. I want an official Arcee, but I want it to be better than the third parties' offerings. So far, Takara impresses with her car mode, which is by far the most animation accurate, but they kinda dropped the ball with her bot mode, so far, and that's really disappointing from a company who should be producing the ultimate versions of these characters, bar none. I hope venues like Wonderfest generate feedback, and that Takara are watching that fan talk to inform further improvements, b/c as she is now, this isn't the best G1 Arcee figure IMHO. But I want it to be, and I hope they make fixes before final.
  20. M'Kyuun
    Instead of the Hargun, which is a parts-former, I wish they'd do some of the other fully transformable designs featured in the booklet that came with the Proto-Garland. But for the guys that want a Hargun, good for you. I hope it turns out as well as the PG, as it's still pretty cool looking.
  21. M'Kyuun
    Nicee's cool, I dig the design, as both of her modes look good, but she's clearly heavily stylized, and not really the G1 version that we're comparing. TW has probably the nicest looking bot mode between Ox, FT, TT, and TW, but they just gave up on the alt mode. It's a shame, b/c the front of their alt mode, short of the exposed tires, comes closest to the art out of the third parties. Takara nailed the car mode, but the bot mode pays the price with that very disorganized and non-compact backpack. The Ox version has probably the most compact backpack. The turned 'lights' don't really look right though. Usually Takara do a good job on faces, but I didn't like the face sculpt for MP Hound, and Arcee just looks bad. What's going on with Takara? It's like they fired all the really talented artists and hired the Japanese equivalent of Rob Liefeld.
  22. M'Kyuun
    Yeah. If they fix what ails the bot mode before release, it'll be win-win. Either, way, unless it's really terrible, I'm pretty much down for a copy. Regardless of the whole fembot controversy, she was a cool character who was ignored for about thirty years, so now that she's finally starting to get figures, I'm pretty pleased. I hope Takara put their A team on this.
  23. M'Kyuun
    So this is the best current pic of MP Arcee, and due to the angle and the reflections from her display case, it leaves much to be desired. However, the current controversy on the TFW boards concerns her too-low chest and over-long collar. Too, she looks to have a substantial backpack containing most of her car mode, which looks really good (the car, not the backpack). Her bot mode looks like it needs some work , but it's early, and hopefully the chest issue is due to mistransformation or loose joints in an oft manipulated prototype.
  24. M'Kyuun
    Nor mine. My local Wally has two Transformers in its TF section, and both are Studio Series Starscream. The pegs are all delineated and tagged, but they're all empty and have been for some time now. Not sure if it's an ordering thing on Wally's part, or a distro issue with Hasbro, but it's dismaying to see all that emptiness every time I go in there. Yeah, I'm beginning to lose hope of that character getting an official MP. But then again, given both the design direction and the recent QC issues with the MP line, I'm kinda ambivalent about it. I think I would have preferred a MP Jazz when Hasui-san was lead designer. Shame it never happened. Totes. While neither Rouge nor Azalea are perfect, both do an admirable job, in different ways, of capturing the character. I chose Azalea, and I think it's a brilliantly done figure, with a smart and easy transformation, a decent car mode, and excellent articulation. Just a well done toy of a character that's challenging to do without becoming a kibbly mess, or a shellformer. Indeed the bar is set high.
  25. M'Kyuun
    That was my thinking; they probably get two workdays to complete their projects, allowing time for lunches, and personal time when they're not filming, and a good night's rest. I can attest, even as a casual builder, that MOC building can be draining both mentally and physically. These guys are on the spot with a very finite window in which they need to meet some difficult challenges, so rest and refueling is a must. Same goes for the production crew, who often put in 14 hr days on set. That becomes a grueling pace- done that on deployments, and it starts to take a toll. I know what you're saying, but honestly, even if you have an online presence, if you have no interest in LEGO, chances are you'll never come across it in your searches, and even if you do by chance, the uninformed may not recognize it as such, especially some MOCs that don't look like LEGO because they're built studless, or nearly so. I've been in the hobby a long time, and I've seen a number of MOCs that had me fooled, or at least required closer scrutiny because the parts used, or techniques didn't look like LEGO, or the build was done so realistically that it looked like a photograph of a real object. I submit this incredible MOC by Mike Doyle as an example. What's really amazing about this model is that it was his first or second MOC. I wish I had an iota of that kind of skill. Anyway, folks not in the hobby and who don't follow it have a generalized idea of LEGO as the iconic brick, either a 2x2 or a 2x4, and have an expectation of LEGO built stuff looking blocky. Heck, I'm still amazed by what's possible with it when I go to these conventions, and by so much of the incredible stuff people post on Flickr and such. And even by sets. So many of the designers creating current sets are former AFOLs who are now working for LEGO. That's a good thing for us fans, as that's a hell of a talent pool.
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