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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    I concede that the proportions of ER Arcee are better, but at the cost of her transformation. The T30's legs formed her back fenders and part of the sides of her car mode, while her chest formed the center front of the car. The concession for her transformation is a set of linkages to allow her thighs to spread out, and unfortunately it gives her 'birthing hips'. But at least she can transform. If you misplace the the 2/3 car shell from ER Arcee, then only the front portion of her car mode, of which it appears that none of her bot mode is involved, will be possible. She's 1/3 shellformer, and 2/3 partsformer. As someone on Reddit posted, I don't know why they didn't take a cue from MMC's design philosophy, collapsing the rear fender shells over the front to form her pods. Azalea is about as close to perfect as you're going to get in a transforming Arcee, IMHO. ER Arcee is essentially a nice action figure with a convertible hoody and a snap on car shell. In my eyes, a serious step backwards in a toyline where the transformation gimmick is at the forefront of its existence and its namesake.
  2. M'Kyuun
    I'm about 5 eps into the original right now, and they definitely use a gas combustion engine sound effect for the Ride Armors, although I agree with Squidd's assessment that an electric motor sound effect would have been more apropos, especially since the engine sound is replaced with other sound effects when being worn. If a gas engine provides power, it should sound like it regardless of mode. But yeah, science fiction. Thus far, they haven't really explained the nature of HBT, so I don't know what sort of power source it is- liquid fuel? solid fuel? chemical reagents? nuclear? batteries? It's a Mcguffin thus far, and the center of Ep 5's plot, coincidentally. They use it for both Legioss and Ride Armor, as they show them installing it. Despite there being a dearth of electric motorcycles in the 80's, as battery tech was still pretty inefficient, I don't think that would have played any part in depicting a sci-fi bike. They could have used any sound effect they liked for the motorcycle mode, and I think they chose a gas motor sound purposely just for sheer cool factor. The Japanese love their motorcycles, and an electronic sound probably didn't resonate as well as the good ole revving of a gas engine. For those without Prime, you can watch it at thewatchcartoononline.tv Lots of stuff on there, including a lot of 80's cartoons and a ton of anime, and it's relatively up to date, although they're a bit behind on the new GitS 2045. Netflix prob C&Ded them.
  3. M'Kyuun
    Amidst all the Legioss talk, I thought I'd give Mospeada a watch, having never seen it, either in its original form or its RT bastardization. I'm about 5 eps in, and it's pure 80's fun. Super cheesy music (Motorcycle Freak made me LOL) The Inbit fire a lot, but never hit what they're aiming for (must've gone to Stormtrooper Academy), most of the time, Stig is more effectual in the Ride Armor than in the Legioss when engaging the enemy, the usual male-female tropes are in play, and I think it's funny how they're in North America, but everyone speaks Japanese. It's certainly a bit of a guilty pleasure, but I'm enjoying it for what it is. I've got a bit of a wait for my Legioss, having ordered it through TFSource, which makes me wonder if that might give Sentinel time to address some of the issues that've been arising among the already released toys. I doubt it, but it'd be nice. TBH, I'd be happy to wait for fixes.
  4. M'Kyuun
    It vexes me still when I see good engineering applied to any number of figs in Earthrise, and then the absolute lack of effort applied to Arcee, who should have been an upgrade to the Generations figure. Even Cyberverse Arcee appears to have an integrated transformation, and that line is generally less complex than the mainline. I know opinions differ on the question of parts-forming, but in my mind, a huge part of the evolution of the mainline is eschewing it totally; to resort to it is a step backwards, and stands in contrast to the point of these toys, with a few acceptable concessions (interchangeable fixed pose hands, interchangeable faces, removable weapons/accessories). But in all cases, IMHO, the entirety of the core bot should be able to transition to alt mode without removing anything. Honestly, if I had my druthers, part of the engineering evolution to the mainline would be total integration of the weapons, or at minimum, internal storage in alt mode. I hate pegging a giant gun or missile launcher on top or on the side of a realistic looking vehicle mode. It's tacky, and with 30+ years to improve engineering, should be another of those anachronisms that plagued older toys, and that we look upon with good-humored disdain. Alas, it doesn't seem like the weapon storage situation is improving anytime soon, and if anything, the tendency towards reverting to parts-forming when they can't be bothered to work out a proper transformation mechanic is, I fear, becoming a norm. Now that that's off my chest, I kinda dig Cyberverse Arcee- she even appears to have ankle tilts. Thunderhowl is interesting, too. A bit simple, but that's par for Cyberverse.
  5. M'Kyuun
    Nope, except the whale, which comes with a mini-Jojo (gorilla). It's a bummer that they don't make pilot figs. I guess the Diaclone figs fit in some of them (the crab comes to mind, and possibly the Landbreaker ). I thought about getting a pack, but those things are ridiculously overpriced for what you get. So, my BeastBox/MegaBox figs will remain sentient until a cheaper pilot alternative comes along. I wish 52Toys would make pilot figs for the BB/MB figs that accommodate them, as well as a Ripley fig for their Powerloader, but thus far they've shown no inclination towards doing so.
  6. M'Kyuun
    I recently discovered this line, and subsequently bought a number of them, including the Alien Queen and the Alien. Out of the line, the Alien Queen is the most complex, having a more involved transformation, a lot of detail and moving parts, and pretty good overall articulation. Definitely a fun little representation. I've got the Powerloader, which sadly doesn't come with a Ripley fig to operate it, and the Landbreaker PO'd. There's a pretty good thread on TFW2005 for these. Scroll down to see some proto pics. I'm down for all of them, but those mantids are especially awesome.
  7. M'Kyuun
    Very cool. I knew there were RC VF-1s out there, but this is the first I've seen this video. You can see the elation on the designer's face when it flies. Priceless. I'm glad he kept the shape of the exhausts (feet) in lieu of more standardized round exhausts. I wonder if the exhausts pivot for thrust vectoring? Cool feat of engineering, nonetheless. There must be some small bit of satisfaction for Kawamori, as well. Concerning the Legioss's wings, I think, for the size of the fuselage, they look adequate. I think of some delta winged aircraft that have less wing and still fly. I think the issues hindering the Legioss are the many uneven areas on the lower fuselage, and the arms on top. Both are huge sources of drag that spoil the aerodynamics, which necessitates a greater source of thrust, sustained, to enable velocities conducive to flight. I think low speed flight would be extremely challenging, as well as both take off and landing. Pitch and yaw maneuvering would also prove difficult given the size of the stabs. They might be effective at very high speeds, where less deflection is necessary, but at low speeds, IMHO, they're too small to be truly effective. As a disclaimer, I'm not an engineer, so my opinion is just that, seasoned with 20 years experience working on and around military aircraft. I'd be interested to hear the thoughts of an aeronautical engineer, though, or better yet, see them build a practical RC model and put it through its paces. I think getting it into the air and keeping it aloft would take a lot of thrust to overcome all the non-aerodynamic characteristics of the fuselage/arms, and that the flight controls would prove inadequate. The Legioss sure is pretty, though. I'm willing to suspend my disbelief for the sake of enjoying the thought of her sailing through blue skies.
  8. M'Kyuun
    Anything will fly with enough thrust pushing it. Consider the Russian VVA-14. The Legioss is a very small fighter, probably close in size to an F-16, with two main engines, and two, I'm assuming, rocket motors in the arms for additional thrust. My assumption is based on the fact that there are exhausts, but no intakes, hence the need for internal chemical reaction. The arms certainly break up the aerodynamics of the upper fuselage, but again, ostensibly with four engines providing thrust and a decent amount of wing surface for lift, I think it could fly. I'd be interested to see someone build an RC plane, to see how it actually flies. I looked for it on Youtube, but no luck. Maybe it doesn't, and that's why.
  9. M'Kyuun
    Glad I'm not the only one who thought so. Looks like a very 80's approach to drawing TFs- basic bot body, shape it somewhat like the alt, then tack on the nacelles. Lazy and uninvolved. But, honestly, I have zero interest in a TF-Star Trek crossover, so my feelings aren't really hurt if it never come to fruition. I approached M7 with an open mind. I've been reading the criticisms for years, so perhaps my expectations were so low that it actually surprised me by being better than I thought it'd be. Granted, Basara's a bit of a douche, and the VF-19 is wasted on him, and Sound Force is lame, but I liked the interplay between Milia and Max, and I liked the rest of the characters in Fire Bomber. It took me about twenty or so eps before I started to come around to thinking Basara's ok. The bad guys were rather bland. Sivil was an interesting character, but she spent most of the series in a coma. I think the biggest detractor is that it lacked the gravitas of SDFM and Plus. The threat from the Protodeviln just didn't seem that great. Frontier made up for it by having a more complex arch-story, more maturity in the writing and in the various relationships, serious threats both internal and external, with meaningful fatalities, and a plethora of nods to all the prior Macross series. Oh, and much better music. I could listen to Megumi Nakajima sing the phone book; I'd happily turn the pages for her. I think Frontier and Plus stand out for the music; little wonder, with Yoko Kanno at the helm. Listening to M+ soundtrack even as I type this. Twenty-five years on, and it's still amazing (except Mad Dog). But yeah, it definitely took a downturn with Delta. The VF-31 and SV-262 are cool, though. As long as Kawamori's working on the series, cool transforming jets are the one reliable constant. Wish he'd drop by Takara's offices more often. They need his help.
  10. M'Kyuun
    On the bright side, you can benefit from accumulated reviews and anecdotal experiences from the folks who got theirs already. I ordered mine from TFSource, so I'm in a similar situation. I'm patient, and just soaking up the info about this release as it comes. I hope mine comes without issue, but it already seems that overly tight joints, too-easily separable wing stabilizers, and a pilot that falls apart with the merest manipulation are to be expected. Thus far, nobody's reporting major stress areas or disintegrating plastic, so materials and build quality appear to be good. Fingers crossed the known issues are the only ones. those are manageable. There's not much to be done for crappy materials. I say this looking at my Toynami Legioss.
  11. M'Kyuun
    Not that I madly want an Earthrise version of Omnibot Downshift, but, just for the sake of argument, the similarities in shape between the Delorean and Downshift's 80's alt mode are such that a case could be made for retoolage in a new figure. They would only have to license the Delorean for the BttF version- change the grill and bumper, mold it in white, and call it Downshift. It's a two-fer. WIN! Downshift has an inverted gullwing door (hinged at the bottom) for his weaponizer gimmick, but that could easily be mounted to an armature that lets the door open from the top as well for the Delorean mold. Just sayin' Not that I've put any amount of thought into it.
  12. M'Kyuun
    Yeah, that would be Macross Delta, and yeah, closer to Macross 7 than SDFM, Plus, or Frontier. I think Delta was even more dumbed down than 7, honestly. I recently watched 7 out of morbid curiosity and a sense of completion, and I actually found myself enjoying it a bit. Still hate the stupid 'Planet Dance' song, but I liked the story and characters, even Basara towards the end. Just finished a second watch of Frontier last night, in fact. I haven't seen it since it first aired back in '08. I was starting to forget stuff, and I recall having enjoyed it the first go round. It didn't disappoint. The VF-25 is still one of my favorite valks, moreso than the VF-1, which itself is a beautiful design that still holds up 30+ years on. @Mikeszekely and I have a friendly disagreement on jet Transformer design, so far as the difficulty of translating sleek jets into the blocky bots of the 80's, but I'm always reminded that Kawamori designed the F-15 Seeker that we've all come to know and love, which , in keeping with his Macross designs, utilizes the fuselage of the plane to form the bot rather than having the bot hang-gliding under it. I opine that it's possible to translate most jets in the same way. I think I'm in the minority. It's a fun debate, nevertheless, and part of the fun of these forums.
  13. M'Kyuun
    Top pic Lower pic Damn, that's a beautiful fighter. The arms make no sense aerodynamically, but the 'rule of cool' overrides physics.
  14. M'Kyuun
    Very much possible, although I doubt licensing fees for that old jalopy would be very high; I figure the majority of the 20-somethings and below who saw Bumblebee had no idea what plane that was; it's naught but a museum piece here in the US, having been retired from combat duty in the mid-nineties. Wikipedia says it's active in a number of our allied countries still, so I confess my surprise. The old bird refuses to die. Agreed. Toy tech and methods have come a long way, and I'm just glad I'm still around to enjoy it. Been a very long time since I've seen you post, man. Welcome back. The TMNTs were never my thing, but I'd be down for a transforming Delorean time machine. While they're at it, I'll take a transforming Airwolf, too. What the heck, gimme a transforming Blue Thunder while you're at it. If they didn't suck so hard at making jet-formers, I'd ask for a MiG-31 Firefox, as well, but it'd end up being a robot under a plane. Yuk. I'd love to see a true GI Joe/TF crossover, where the bots became all the vehicles. Considering they're both Hasbro properties, one would think it's an eventuality, but thus far nada but a comic. To have well designed transforming toys of the X-19 Phantom, Skystriker, Nightraven, HISS Tank, Rattler, etc would be phenomenal. If I was stupid rich, I'd invest in a third party company to make it happen.
  15. M'Kyuun
    @Tekering, a number of posts back, someone posted pics of some nubs on the sides of the cockpit getting a bit roughed up from passing it through the swing bars for soldier mode. I don't recall who posted it, and frankly, I'm too lazy to reference it. But, I was wondering if you'd encountered a similar situation or is it a matter of positioning the thing just-so to avoid rubbing the sides? Nice fix with that pin; makes one wonder why that wasn't done at the factory level. Seems like you're handling your copy a fair bit; any improvement in the shoulder range of motion? I foresee the need for a pair of rubber tipped hobby pliers in my future, as I'll follow your example, but I'll try to preserve the paint if I can. It sucks that this is even an issue on a $200+ toy. Alas, the modern high end toy collector's dilemma. Damn the minor hardships of my privileged first world existence!
  16. M'Kyuun
    Well, y'know, the Bumblebee designs were an artifact of the Bayformer aesthetic, meaning there was neither rhyme nor reason to the transformation. It has what appear to be four landing gear struts for toes on an aircraft with standard tricycle landing gear. Need I say more? I can't really blame Takara for making a non-plane from a nonsensical robot design. I'll never understand the people who defend Bayformer designs as realistic; if you have an iota of engineering sense, they couldn't be further from.
  17. M'Kyuun
    Given that the Legioss and Tread are a pair, my thinking is that Sentinel developed a Tread to work with their Legioss, even if nothing has been shown. Moreover, it makes sense from a marketing POV; more toys=more $$$. I've never owned a Tread, but, hypothetically, if they apply the same level of engineering to a Tread toy, I think I'd have to consider getting it, too.
  18. M'Kyuun
    It's hard to reconcile a cool film like Falling Down with his two Batman films, which I thought were terrible. Actually, the majority of his filmography were decent movies. Alas, he left his mark in film history, and I'm thankful for the entertainment. RIP, Mr. Schumacher.
  19. M'Kyuun
    I'm glad it's metal, as it should be, along with all the other joints, especially compact ones like this that are under stress from weight and torsion. My only critique is that it's not ratcheted, as these joints are going to loosen over time with any amount of handling, and probably just from gravity. I'm a firm believer in ratchets, so long as they have adequate strength to bear their load, and they have a high number of detents for better posing. Concerning the leg and landing gear breakages, it seems an unfortunate trend with these modern highly posable toys that, even with metal being utilized, there's a certain fragility that's inherent, and to be expected . I wish they could give them the stoutness of the old Chunky Monkey while upgrading the articulation/transformation joints. Toy engineering is leaps and bounds ahead of where it was 30+ years ago, but the tradeoff of structural integrity for greater articulation seems like something that would be improving by now. Guess not. Hopefully material science will pave the way for the best of both worlds over the next few decades (hopefully before I'm pushing daisies). Anyway, the caveat here is to handle this thing gingerly, and use pliers and other stabilizing tools, at least initially, to avoid catastrophic breakages. Thanks to those posting these cautionary pics and vids; it's good to be informed.
  20. M'Kyuun
    That cockpit transition is brilliant. Such a beautiful figure. I thought it'd be slightly bigger than it is, in comparison to the Toynami, but , y'know, that's a perfect size. I'll be able to make room a little easier in my already crowded Detolf. So excited to get this!
  21. M'Kyuun
    I PO'ed mine through TFSource, it's still sitting unpaid in my stack, and I've yet to hear anything from them. Did anyone else here order through them, and if so, have you been contacted?
  22. M'Kyuun
    Perfectly stated. This toy is a step up. I don't care about scale, and to be quite honest, I think I'd prefer things on the smaller side, for both weight and space considerations. I'm more concerned about getting a quality build with good materials and engineering, thoughtful implementation of features/gimmicks, and good sculpting and deco. I want something that will still be in good shape twenty-thirty years down the road, even after a decent bit of handling. I hope this Legioss toy proves to be all those things.
  23. M'Kyuun
    Anticipation running high, and still haven't been invoiced (TFSource). I hope they're not having issues getting their stock in. The last toy I was this excited about was the Arcadia Proto-Garland. All these pics showing up maketh me envious. But, on a somewhat positive note, if there are any issues, and I vehemently hope there aren't, at least I'll be forewarned. Keep sharing those pics/vids, guys. I'll enjoy it vicariously until mine comes.
  24. M'Kyuun
    +1
  25. M'Kyuun
    Yeah, this mold is brilliant. Wish they'd upsize it to voyager scale to fill the gap in my CHUG collection. After handling NA's Seekers, the Earthrise figure is a bit lacking.
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