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lechuck

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Everything posted by lechuck

  1. lechuck
    Chogokin would be nice, but currently I am more annoyed and irritated that Bandai doubled up on 1/144 scale instead of giving us a MG option of this Nu Gundam FF.
  2. lechuck
    That second trailer is quite interesting, I spot Nova and Steamrunner class starships. Seems like they are going to employ two types of time travel, Borg style and sun slingshot? Of course nice to see Guinan rejoin, "10 Forward Avenue" - nice one. I watched season one and it was not really captivating, but I'm still looking forward to season two. I will pass judgement if good or bad afterwards and not on the basis of a two minute trailer. That is a bold statement, being objective and evidence driven you would have factual numbers to back that claim. How big is the fanbase per region? What is the demographic make up of the fanbase? Within each of the different age spans, how big is the percentage of fans that are pro/contra/neutral on the new shows? etc. etc. Without this your "objective evidence" is nothing but subjective speculation. Reading this for the first time, is there a link to a source or the official statement you can point to? Maybe that means more PlutoTV for me, like with Discovery.
  3. lechuck
    Congrats! Definitely a great set of Seekers to own. How did you get your Skywarp so quickly? I'm still waiting for my pre-order to be fulfilled.
  4. lechuck
    Official images of MPG Trainbot Getsuei https://www.taghobby.com/archives/593001
  5. lechuck
    Actually I think we are all getting the "last one". AE will mark it as sold out when you are still logged in with your account.
  6. lechuck
    Finished this last weekend, brilliantly done for something that is based on a game. Animation is smooth, story is engaging and characters have enough depth. Like everyone else, I have no prior knowledge to League of Legends. So anyone that does know this game can say if the show's story and characters are in alignment?
  7. lechuck
    I enjoyed the final season too, wrapped up neatly. I think prolonging with more seasons would have made the show a bit stale.
  8. lechuck
    Most likely that is the driving factor here, keep the car as cohesively clean looking as possible. Definitely would still need those inner leg walls, would be an absolute no-go to have a large visible hollow section on a MP. I don't normally have issues with dedicated parts for robot or alt-mode, but this one just seemed to stick out as being redundant. They could have maybe painted that rear part in the same glossy blue as the rest of the car to increase the illusion.
  9. lechuck
    So having had MP-53 Skids for a little over a week now and here are my observations and thoughts... The transformation is simple and boring - arms are very fiddly to pull out or tuck in when transforming, not an ideal implementation. Generally transformation has no intricacy, sense of engagement or achievement in the process, hardly anything to really to marvel about, maybe the split thighs as a novelty. Also don't forget to shift the thighs outward to have proper spacing between the legs. A bit ironic that hybrid approach and emphasis on a accurate looking car still has Skid's end up with an additional fake car hatch part for the robot calves. Not sure why they didn't just split the actual car hatch in half and use them for the legs instead of hiding the whole part in Skid's back. Those robot calves by the way don't lock or tab in at all, which is annoying because it comes apart when you try to move the lower leg as the hinge above the shin has a weaker resistance compared to actual knee joint. Accessories... a sad sight when you open the box, more could have been done here. Chrome fire weapons always looks tacky to me, Skids will not change that. Alt-mode looks nice, plenty of paint used. To spite TF fans, I think Honda/Takara should have insisted on using the European Jazz model name and plastering it everywhere Skids can also pull off his show room mode to avoid Decepticon detection. From the feet to the the waist/abdomen area the robot proportions and silhouette look very good, everything seems to have the right size and ratio. It is the upper part of the robot where it falls apart. The fore-arms are far too thin giving the overall arm the appearance of a twig and this is unfortunately emphasized by the fact that the shoulders are not sitting close enough to the body thanks to some in-between alt-mode part (looks like car suspension to me). So the shoulder line is very wide giving the arms a very clumsy "tacked on" afterthought look. Hollow backpack design, hollow bits around the knees and visible mushroom peg hands don't provide and sense of premium toy feel either. I also wish the head would sit a little more on top of the bonnet, it looks to floaty where it is now. Articulation is lacklustre, there is no ab-crunch, knees only bend 90 degrees and the feet only really pivot with minimal up movement. Outward leg movement can't go all the way as it is eventually blocked by the hip skirt and the legs can't go backwards either, both of these don't really impede on articulation, but it is a limitation nonetheless. On a positive, the hips work with nice clicky ratchets. Not sure why such a small and light robot needs that, but there you go. Once again the shoulders become a contention point, no forward pivoting and they are only single jointed at the wheel-pauldron meaning lateral arm upward movement is away from the body looking very weird as the shoulder stays static. Implementing a (second) shoulder joint at the main body would have done wonders. There is also the unfortunate placement of the shoulder rotation point to contend with as it is offset, if you raise his arms up-forward the whole part suddenly sits to low and the shoulder line suddenly looks disjointed. Overall toy engineering is too basic with some questionable implementation. Much talk was made about it being this new hybrid design approach, but honestly Takara should have done more to celebrate this. Higher engineering could have allowed for optional parts between animation and toy design - like head, thigh or even a front facia that could be swapped out to achieve a different aesthetic or some clever mechanism to change shoulder-wheel orientation. To me this is a missed opportunity. Likewise going backwards with articulation is not acceptable, not for something called Masterpiece in 2021. For some it might be great to have a sub-100 Euro MP, but personally I would have preferred paying more if it meant I get a higher premium feeling toy that provides more entertaining options. MP-53 is in essence an expensive oversized CHUG Transformer, not really a Masterpiece in a premium toy sense. I hope Shouki fares better and more importantly MP Skyfire doesn't turn out this way.
  10. lechuck
    That looks like they took the Mk-II from the R3 plamo line a couple of years back and made it a HMR. Also I wish Bandai would reissue the Mk-I, that went completely by me.
  11. lechuck
    Count me in the group of disappointed, I have been studying the images closer and those lower legs and feet just do not flow and look undersized compared with the rest of robot. Unfortunate, but money saved I guess.
  12. lechuck
    The MB is more angular compared against the MG Hi-Nu Ver.Ka. The lower legs or shin armour is throwing me off, I feel like those should be more prominently flaring out.
  13. lechuck
    Couple of days before the S4 starts Paramount decides to give Europe and other parts of the world the finger, very disappointing... 😒 Wonder how long Netflix gets to keep the old shows and before Picard disappears from Amazon Prime, probably no S2 to watch either.
  14. lechuck
  15. lechuck
    Today is Disney+ Day and there are some exciting announcements, but for me it all boils down to this:
  16. lechuck
    Definitely has got that wow-factor Takara engineering going for it in getting all of the robot neatly tucked in.
  17. lechuck
    The wait was long, but I think this is going to be a great series finale.
  18. lechuck
    Looks good, but very clever of Bandai to make it 1/144 scale, as in not to infringe too much on their HMR releases.
  19. lechuck
    Alright then, here is what is going to get announced: Metal Structure 1/24 VF-1S and separate SSP add on pack (Aug. 110k JPY / Dec. 30k JPY) S.H. Figuarts Sheryl Nome and Ranka Lee in Bikini (Apr. 9000 JPY / Aug. 8000 JPY) Robot Spirits VF-25F and -25S (Mar. and Jul. 7000 JPY) DX Chogokin VF-19 Kai (Sep. 24k JPY) Hi-Metal R+ 1/72 VF-1J (Nov. 14000 JPY) Soul of Popynica 1/1200 TV SDF Macross (Oct. 70k JPY) Metal Build VF-0S (Dec. 17000 JPY) 2022 is going to be so damn epic!
  20. lechuck
    Why complain? There is a KO version of MP-44 with silver legs right here -> https://showzstore.com/4th-party-masterpiece-mp-44-silver-leg-version_p2801.html Perhaps you are not understanding those fans because you are projecting your own preferences and priorities on to them when that is not what is driving them to appreciate and collect certain Transformers. Not everyone is seeking to make the Transformers IP the next piloted real robot franchise or wanting to hold up the Diaclone heritage ad nauseam. Robot internals and alt-mode parts splayed everywhere or following real world accuracy might not be defining quality aspects for them, on the contrary it might lessen the quality for them - especially when the toy is trying to follow a specific media depiction. And this argument isn't just a Sunbow vs. G1 toy realism thing any more. look at the situation Legacy Bulkhead and Arcee. You can't tell me that TF Prime's animation was full of errors, so we are better off with WFC-fied versions of those characters. Tell the "Sunbow crowd" what exactly - what are we faulting them on? They certainly don't need to be schooled on what their preferences should be. But if we are going for delineation and putting up walls between fans, then perhaps it's the "Sunbow haters" and "hybrid/realism apostles" that need to take as step back and reflect a bit. Just because some fans prefer white or other primary colours on their Transformers, doesn't mean that their ignorant to the fact that things should/could have been chrome or silver, but maybe it's just not what they are seeking or placing priorities on. That doesn't make them less right or put them below those that prefer realism. And if the robot toy is already emulating the design style from certain media as closely as possible, then why stop at the colours? Red, white and blue are more than just colours Optimus Prime had in the cartoon, it's also become associative to his character and traits, his actions and story lines he had. Some fans would like to have all of that cartoon stuff captured and evoked by a robot toy, for other fans it might be realism from the OG toys or other attributes that fulfils their quest. None of these groups are wrong and they certainly don't need to be lectured by each other. And if arguing for realism - I'm not sure Soundwave's colour palette is the real issue here, being a small tape deck that transforms into a giant robot and all...
  21. lechuck
    Anybody else with the new MP Thundercracker? Got mine mid-week and finally had the time to mess around with it. The French blue and light grey colour on TC is fantastic. No real quality issues with the toy itself to report, but my copy did end up without the stoic face and I have two smiling faces instead. Like Starscream the articulation is great, accessories are not as generous, but it is not as though you are really missing something. Although it would have been nice to give TC something specific to him, like maybe those mini-missiles he launches from his forearms, the existing slit there could have been used as an attachment point. Basically if you like MP-52 Starscream, then you will also like TC.
  22. lechuck
    Clear images of Shouki available - still no idea how tall it is in robot form. https://news.tfw2005.com/2021/10/06/transformers-masterpiece-shouki-official-stock-images-442327
  23. lechuck
    So all this talk of Star Saber lately had me finally invest in a fix to one of MP-24's most annoying accessorie - the long sword hilt. From Shapeways I got these two bits which aid to change the orientation of the grip, therefore allowing Star Saber to actually wield the sword with the blade's edge. One is a complete replacement, the other is an adapter designed to to work with original hilt. If you have the KFC upgrade hands, then you can use the included hand-adapter with the new hilt for even more grip. It's a snug fit, so put it in the adapter first and then insert it into the hand. Overall I am happy with both, the blue is not a match with the original but I can live with that. The material feels robust on both, but it doesn't have a smooth texture. If you want to save a little and can live with Star Saber holding the grip on the narrow edge, then just get the adapter.
  24. lechuck
    That is true, but I'm not sure you understood my issue or if I'm just not understanding the point of your answer to it. Perhaps I should have wrote relative robot size instead of robot scale, basically I just want the MPG line to adhere/match relatively with the existing MP robot sizes. Stunticons would be a special case, their vehicle forms need to also match with the Autobot cars/trucks. To an extent this would also apply to the Protectobots, Combaticons and maybe Contructicons.
  25. lechuck
    That first one is what I have been speculating on, one of the reasons I was a bit reluctant to pick up the Roy -1S at all. Besides... Roy dies twice, who wants someone like that in their display
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