Mog

As I've said in the past, I seriously doubt we'll see Toynami's Beta by the end of the year. I mean, has Toynami ever released anything on time? It'd be a minor miracle if we actually see this released by March 2008 at the earliest. I'm hoping it's not vaporware, but it wouldn't surprise me if it turns out that way either.

Here ya go: Link. On the Beta side of things, it's pretty much the same stuff we saw from the AX photos.

Just found pics from SDCC of the future upcoming waves: Link. My first reactions? Good God! Who beat Lady Jaye with the ugly stick!? Beachhead looks cool, but I don't like how they changed his torso ammo pack into a vest. I wish they instead went with a lower torso joint ala Cobra Commander. I ain't digging the "extreme" make-over they gave to Buzzer's chainsaw. Both Stalker and Zartan look promising. But they really should pack Zartan with a bow as an homage to his comic book roots. Are they really trying to make Shipwreck look like Popeye? For this particular figure, I think the criticisms/comparisons to the Star Wars POTF bulked-up look are valid. I was already gonna pass on the second Cobra 5-pack, and this doesn't make me regret my decision. Some of those one-of customs look a heck of lot better than the production releases they'll be releasing later this year. Hopefully, Hasbro will make some design tweaks before rushing these out to production. Otherwise, it looks like I'll have extra display space for Macross, Mospeada, and Star Wars stuff.

AH FRAK!! I thought it said Toynami BETA!! Seriously though, I'll probably be a test dummy for this first release. I haven't gotten any of the Zero birds, so I figure it's my turn to be a first release tester. Aside from the Tread/Beta, the YF-21 is the one release I've been itching for the most. If it comes with FP's, great. If not, well, I can use the time-lag between the first release and the FP release to finalize and firm up some custom scheme ideas I got brewing. Besides, I gotta show some love for the bastard love-child of the Q-Rau and the Valk'!

<singing> Haaaaaaaaal.....le-lu-jah! HAAAAAAAAALL.....LE-LU-JAH!!! </singing> Glad to see this finally and officially confirmed. Of course, they give us the one angle that doesn't give us any clues as to how thin and sleek this bird may or may not be. I really do hope the first release includes the Fast Packs. But it's still gonna be a fun 6 to 8 months, agonizing over every little detail of this release. BTW, is it too early for me to start commissioning folks to make a custom YF-21?

Well, I picked up a couple of the single-carded figures yesterday. And I knew I wasn't gonna be completely satisfied with what came straight out of the packages. So, this Mog did a few modifications. (It helps too that my brother was painting something for his office and had some leftover brown paint.) 1) COBRA OFFICER: Hasbro just supplied the Officer with a white/silver Cobra Trooper gun, most likely to save costs. I understand the cost-cutting/business move by Hasbro, but....... BAH!! What self-respecting Cobra Officer would be caught dead without his trusty AK-47? Basically, I took the AK that came with the original '82 Cobra Officer, painted it black, and added a few touches of brown here and there. 2) FLINT: By now, we all know that Hasbro just re-used Duke's mold in order to make Flint. And some fans have been griping about Flint's lack of gloves. Personally, I don't understand Hasbro's decision, especially since both Flint and the upcoming Shipwreck have similar torso and arm styles (i.e., short-sleeve shirt, gloves, and somewhat open collar). In any case, I took matters into my own hands (sorry for the bad pun): I basically wrapped one of those clear elastic, plastic bands that came with the 5-packs onto each wrist, tried to make the wrapped bands look like the ends of the gloves, and then painted over the hands and bands. Here's another pic with Flint holding his shotgun: Just a few little touches that made all the difference in the world for me!

Yamato didn't used an oversized box?!! What's next? Flawless first releases?!

Yup, the pose in valk1j's post was the one I first thought of when I saw the title of this thread. It was so good; they even showed it as a flashback a few episodes later.

Oh, they're already available at TRU (that's where I found all of the ones I bought). The hard part will be actually finding them. As I said in a thread down in the "Where to Buy Macross, Auctions & Dealers Specials" section, it's a bit of a crapshoot trying to find 'em. And I'm unsure how often or how much these stores are gonna replenish their supply. Some folks have reported finding the figures also at Walmart, but I personally haven't found them there yet. Also, some folks are speculating that Target will eventually have these once they have a "reset" sometime in early August. Yeah, I originally thought Flint's shotgun looked different. But it wasn't until I looked at his original file card (still have 'em after all these years ) that I had positive proof of the change.

^^Personally, I think there's enough room for both versions of the Joe's resident bad-ass. Besides, I really don't associate V2 Snake Eyes as being all ninja'd out. I mean the guy's still packing his trusty uzi in his V2 get-up.

Shhhh, they're working on the YF-21!!

A Macross rip-off? So, where's Macross' version of the Tread? I won't deny that there are similarities between the two shows. But even their two lead characters are radically different. Yes, both have a strong sense of duty. But Hik' has more of the standard "coming of age" story arc, while Stick's arc is more about a man coming to terms with his various losses.

That is one sexy homage, especially in battroid mode! It'd be awesome if you could take some comparison/side-by-side pics of this and the Focker VF-1S before you have to ship it away.

Meh, I'm more intrigued by the action figures than the game itself. Besides, haven't the creators themselves said the theme of the game is "Using the Force kick someone's ass" (or words to that effect)?

The first time I saw the figures in this thread, there was one pose I was really hoping the new figures could do. It's this kick-butt Marvel comic cover: Link. What do you think of my attempt? I was finally able to find the 5-packs and a single-pack Snake Eyes at couple of TRU's yesterday morning. Here's a pic of the remaining fig's (except for two of 'em): I had to use a hobby knife to do the following to these fig's: * Cut the trigger-finger from the rest of the hand so that the figures could properly hold their guns (Yeah, I'm anal like that. ). * Cut into Destro's left hand so that he could properly hold onto his briefcase. * Cut into the rolled-up parts of Duke's sleeves so that he could fully bend his elbows and properly grip his rifle. Compared to the old-school figures: * These new figures are a nice update and homage to the old-school figures. * A lot of the guns, knives, and other trinkets that were molded on the old-school figures now come as separate accessories. * The figures do have more points of articulation than the old-school figures and are comparable to the super-articulated figures from the Star Wars lines. * However, on some of the figures, the hip joints are more limited than the old-school figures. Most of the figures can't sit down properly without slouching or having their knees wide apart. This is especially bad with the female figures (unless you're...umm....going for some "suggestive" poses..... ). * The female figures also have this weird tendancy where their necks are molded as leaning forward. * The hands are made of much softer plastic than the old-school figures, so some figures can't grip weapons as tightly as you would like. * This is also compounded by most weapons having a trigger guard and the figures not having separated trigger-fingers. * I've read some reviews of people complaining that some figures' elbows can't bend a full 90 degrees. Other than Duke, I've found this NOT to be the case. Just look at the pic above of Gung-Ho; If you sorta push his elbows back while bending it, you should be able to get it to that a 90 degree position (WITHOUT any sort of modifications or cutting). Personally, I would have preferred it if the new figures had ball-jointed knees, rather than the double-jointed knees some of the fig's have (The ball-joint just gives more poseability options). But overall, these are cool figures. They do some things better than the old-school figures, but you need to go in realizing that they also do some things WORSE than the old figures. As long as you're aware of their flaws and have a little patience in posing 'em, they should be a welcome addition to your display shelves. Lastly, let me just say that Commando Snakes Eyes = BAD-ASS MOFO!!

Dammit!!! How could I have forgotten KHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNN!!! Guess my Trek fandom has been waning for the past few years. Also, we should probably get the thread back on topic. .......Okay other than a few too many tattoos, Megan Fox = Hot.

It ain't much, but I can easily double that list: * Empire Strikes Back * X2

The other thing to keep an eye out for (especially on some of the earlier releases....if they're still around) is the crooked tampo'ed skulls on the tailfins.

Looks like we know who the final Cylon model is!! j/k

I know others have mentioned this in the past. But what about the Skull-1 color scheme for the YF-19 and the SV-51? As for the Yammie VF-1, I wouldn't mind the TV VF-1A's (especially Max's). But I honestly don't know what other never-before-seen color schemes (both production and custom-made) Yamato can possibly make at this point. I mean Yamato could do an all-tampo-printed Minmei Guard, but I seriously doubt they would be that insane to tampo-print all those decals and stuff.

I've been on a bit of a Nujabes tip as of late. I wouldn't consider myself the biggest fan of hip-hop, but the stuff he produces is just too damn good to ignore. Just wish I could find a copy of Metaphorical Music though.

Wait a minute. You guys were listening to the car-talk stuff during that "checking it out" scene? Guess I was too busy paying attention to something else at the time.

So, the Beta's already out?! j/k They probably mean December 2007, which in Toynami/HG-speak means we'll see these things no sooner than Spring 2008 (hopefully). Any word on the type of joints they used for the Beta's shoulders and hips? For all we know, the silence may be due to CM's re-designing the Legioss and that Tread connection. I'm sure the folks that subscribe to the hobby mags have more info. than me and my wild speculation. Personally, I look at this competition (to build the first large-scale Beta/Tread) as our own little Project Supernova .

Saw it last night. Nice little summer popcorn flick. I'm sure I could rip the movie apart with not that much effort. But I found it entertaining enough. They only thing that really annoyed me was the heavy emphasis on the close-up shots of the transformers. I get that the filmmakers want to give us the "human's eye view" of the bots (and not kill the special effects budget too ). But would it have killed them to add a few more wide-angle shots of the transformers battling it out? Oh yes, and Megan Fox's body......Dammmmmmmmn! (I still can't believe who she's dating in real life though.)

Thanks for the pics, eugimon! (I also saw 'em when I was lurking on the Nexus ) Any word on when they're gonna release this? Or is it the standard vague answer we've come to "love" and expect from Toynami?