mpchi

Yeah, finally the poseable hands becomes a regular accessory. I love the idea of having this variation of Chirico. But can't say I am excited about the face sculpt. From what I get from Rabidlydog, the Chirico face is pretty jacked up. And this new one don't look any better. Hope the beret is removeable, then I can use my less jacked up older version Chirico head.

Unfortunately, most of the scalpers would have made their profit by then. Sigh~ I still need that 08 Bumblebee, darn it! Its very interesting why characters like Prime and Bumblebee are the main feature characters of the movie and almost all kids and collectors would want them over the other sub characters. But based on what I've heard, they are not that outnumbering other ones in a shipped case. Wonder why Hasbro planned it that way in their case arrangement, unless they actually make more money that way since the stores now have to order more cases, just to have a couple more Prime or Bee, in exchanging for getting even more sucky ones on shelves. Though in a drought like this, there is no 'sucky' ones.

Try Kohl's man, if you have not already done so. Thats your best bet. I saw it like in 2 out of 3 Kohl's today in my area, with each has a few.

LOL...tooth fairy. Anyway, while I went in vain of recovering a 08 Bumblebee, I did find out that Kohl's in Bay Area CA did get their shipment of deluxe just recently. Unfortunately, right after my last visit, and therefore all the Bumblebees are gone by now. But they do have a bunch of Arcee, as well as Bonecrushers, Wreckage, Scorpionok, and a couple oterh deluxes that never showed up in the movie. Not the latest stuff though. They don't seem to carry Voyagers or Leader class however. TRUs had some new shipment of Voyager Prime and Megatrons, but most of the Primes are flying out fast. Not much else. I did find a Ironhide at one TRU couple days ago. Lucky! Surprisingly, I also got lucky and found a Leader Megatron at one Target today, sitting on a pile of discounted paper towel LOL. So weird, but I snatched it without a doubt. For a moment, I thought it was a defect (which I did ran into on my Leader Brawl hunt, thinking I was lucky enough to find the last Brawl, but turned out with faulty electronics). But checked the sound, checked the paint job, then the box. Perfectly fine. And as I carry Megatron to the actual toy section, nothing there...except a lone Leader Prime. So weird that there is a pair of the leaders, and nothing else. For a moment, I want to pick up Prime as well even though I already got him, just to sell it to my collector friends, or put on ebay. But then, I better not be a scalper myself, and left Prime on the shelf, hoping it will fall into good hands. Funny though, just a minute later, a young lady said to her friend that she feel like getting a transformer toy, and picked up the Prime. Then she murmured "...but I want Bumblebee..." and put Prime back down. I was thinking, "Lady, you have no idea what a great gem you just put down that many of us had been driving store over store to hunt down..." Then after that, on my way out, a guy and his son saw me holding a Megatron walking by, and said to his kid: "Wow! They got Transformers here, lets go see!" Really wish these toys are not as hard to find as they are now. There would have been a whole lot more happy faces, be they collectors like us, or just random kids & parents that just want to have a nice TF Movie toy to play with. Sigh... And for the last part, Leader Megatron didn't turn out as bad as I thought. I was planning to see if there will be a better repaint. But now that its so rare, I better not hesitate. Its definitely inferior to Prime and Brawl no doubt. But its not to the point its horrible like a lot of people said. A couple major issue of it in robot mode is the lack of head articulation (can't even turn), sucky feet construction (no ankle joint and soft front toe joints that can't support weight due to the automorph), and the heavy backpack. All these add up and hurts its balance greatly, and can only stand properly with the hips at a certain angle or pose, when Prime and Brawl stand like a brick with no toppling in almost all poses. Overall though, the figure still feel very solid with good construction. The jet mode I thought look weird at first, actually not bad in person. Its a UFO basically, but given the context of the movie story, can't complain its not an aircraft we know. The legs are confusing to transform, but once you got it, the whole thing is pretty solid. Very big too! And look menacing. With the spring swap, you can totally fix the functionality on both arms' gimmick. And there is even a hidden slider that you can center the fusion cannon nicely, that wasn't even mentioned in the instructions. So while it barely makes its worth for the $40 (while Prime & Brawl I wouldn't complain if I pay $60), it does has some cool bits. Now I just need to figure out how to fix its horrible paint job, while keeping it playable and not so worry about scratches. Whoever decided that Megatron needs some pink and blue needs a couple slaps on the face.

http://www.votoms.net/pailsen/dvd/index.html Limited Edition of the 1st volume of Pailsen Files comes with Takara's 1/48 Scopedog Pailsen Files version. It looks like its using the new "The Next" body as well. Looks neat. Might have to get it.

Other than the launchers lighting up, no other particular reasons I see them being clear plastic.

Added more pics I couldn't upload last night. Yeah, think I'll paint those clear missile launchers everntually. Just don't have any matching paint just yet. In terms of application, I just apply a pretty diluted enamel flat black all over the guy, make sure all the seams and details are soaked with black (as if you do panel lines, but with more excessive paint so that there are more for the dirty look). Then let it dry, and smudge them off with brush, Q-tip, and sometimes fingers, to the look you desire. Then apply some silver paint marker on edges and corners where you want to look worn, especially on those milky white plastic parts. With the combination of the dirt wash, it makes them very metallic, without having to paint over the whole thing.

Spent a couple days fixing up the Leader Brawl I made quite an effort to hunt down. Very happy with the result, even though its a little rough. Basically an enamel flat black dirt wash with some minor paint touch up, similar to my Leader Optimus Prime I post previously. With this visual upgrade, Brawl started to look even better than my Leader Prime.

Still pretty rough on the weathering. Will post pics when I get to refine it more in a day or two. While it feels slightly fiddly compare to Prime (clean blocky limbs) with all the weapons and stuff, Brawl look pretty badass with some paint. When put side by side, it looks like he can take out Prime any day.

I don't know... Mine works great actually, and don't have issues you mentioned. No problem with Brawl's head or frustration on lining up the skirts. Pretty easy actually. Spent a bit time on Leader Brawl, and now start doing a dirt wash over it. This toy turn out to be another gem. While I think Leader Prime is still the best figure Movie TFs has to offer so far, Leader Brawl would probably comes to the second best. Very solid with ratchets joints all over. Tons of joints on the arms & shoulders, almost a joint or two too many. The legs are in similar fashion of Prime, except with no ankle ball joint, but just a hinge that moves like 20-30 degree. The figure is still very stable, just ground contact not as perfect as Prime. You do feel a bit more parts dangling around, so feel slightly less solid compare to Prime, but this is more due to the robot design. The sound and light gimmick is the best on the Movie line. You can vary the sound effects by turning the small turrets at different angle or press different buttons, while the main cannon has its own sound and light as well. So while rank slightly below Prime, its still a very worthy Movie TF purchase, and pack a lot more weapons and firing power than Prime. There is a weapon on every part of Brawl's body and limb. Talk about overkill.

Man, it took a lot of effort, but finally located a Leader Brawl at a Target. Haven't opened it yet as I am still at work, but he looks pretty good in the box right now. This guy apparently shows up randomly at different Targets for the past couple days. Checked a TF board with a post locating like 6 of them(as well as some other new wave 2 figures) at a specific local Target. Got there an hour later after work. NOTHING! Not even any of the smaller figures I don't care for. Not sure if scalpers are in the works, or if these Movie TFs are really that hot. (Well, I guess both, as they are all sold out local & online) But took me visiting like 6 local Targets and finally found this Leader Brawl this morning... It does feel goooood when your long search is rewarded at the very end. But I have to say I was pretty upset last night, failing to acquire it after a long drive, thinking how can they sold 6 Leader Brawls in an hour... Kudos to Hasbro for the sucky distribution. I have still yet seen a Leader Megatron in person up til this day. I'll post more comments on the toy after some play time.

The only good thing I see out of this is that, when they do get to the classic Jeeg, they'll have perfected the magnetic joints design by using the Shin Jeeg as a test bed. Hope they'll pull off the same stunt like they did with the Spec Dragonar, making both the classic & updated version. We can only hope.

I actually think Wreckage is the best looking deluxe out of the bunch. Unfortunately he got no screen time in the movie at all, and the colors they selected for the toy is bit odd (even though red, white and grey is one of my favorite colors combo). Too bad the scale is totally off, way too small for a tank, and I just want to focus on Leader size. Soooo close picking up one of these. But even he is nowhere to be found now. Feel like Hasbro is hurting its sales with the sucky distribution. Rather than riding the hype of the movie(start dying down now) and keep the toys available, they are gone everywhere when people want to buy them the most (right after seeing the movie). Not a lot of kids/parents will drive around and check the stores from time to time just to see if things get restock or new waves have arrived, especially when there are no specific dates on the releases or restock.

Its pretty empty around my area (SF Bay Area) as well on the Movie toys. Pretty much anything good is all gone. Though heard from other TF boards that new stuff started to show up in some stores in different places. So maybe they'll be restocked soon with the 2nd wave stuff? All I have is the Leader Prime. But not sure what else to get that can get on par with its scale and quality. The deluxe just felt too cheap, while the Leader Megatron just look ugly. Unless they have a metalic Leader Megatron repaint later, I might consider. A metallic Voyager Megatron with white ice is supposed to show up soon. That one looks very nice. Much closer to the look of the Movie. Too bad its too small to match my Leader Prime...

Crickets never tasted this good... Just picked up the HK made 'SIC' Battlehopper on ebay recently at a good price. Always loved the hopper as my favorite bike among all Rider series, but a shame that Bandai never release the full size version. While a year or two ago, this HK Battlehopper was going for really high price, so decided to pass on it and just got the tiny SIC version. But when I got this today, I am so glad I did. While its not official licensed, the sculpt is awesome & the made quality is almost just as good as Bandai's. Very sturdy and detailed with the same type of hard PVC used on SIC bikes. Steering handle, front disc brake, rib cage and kick stand are all diecast. Antanne & legs are clear parts as well. There are minor flaws however. The bike doesn't balance well even with the kickstand, and very easy to fall unless its leaning at the angle shown in the picture, using the spike on one of the legs for extra support. The base paint job while great overall, the dirt wash can look a bit too rough in some areas. Also, I can see Bandai use nicer clear PVC to get better transparent effect on the antannae, and especially the eyes. So its not perfect for sure. But its good enough to make every Black fan or SIC fan happy. If you see one with a good price on ebay around $50+ shipped, you may not want to pass this up.

Just did a 'quick & dirty' weathering wash on this guy, using a diluted enamel flat black and a lot of smudging with Q-tip. Definitely not professional quality by any means, but the dirty wash really popped out a lot of details on the sculpt, and hide the flatness of the grey plastic real good. Added a little bit of silver worn edges (paint parker), the thing looks pretty metallic. A few hours well spent. Ammo borrowed from Takara Kerberos 12".

No thanks. One Garland is enough for me, be it having better shoulders or not. Glad I got mine fixed. But who knows how long it will last...

Yes indeed. Not sure if its done on purpose, but its very similar to Eva in that aspect. I am not a Simpsons fan per se, but got to watch it for a free screening. I can see that many Simpsons fans won't be disappointed by it. Lots of jokes, and a fun joy ride. Even got a good load of CG graphics blended in there too, without feeling too different from the TV show. Just feel more high budget.

The Yamato pilot figures are great. Though since I don't have any Votoms stuff in 1/12 scale, their size just look out of scale in my collection. Too bad.

Milo, while has a face done by the new sculptor, has a face too short. He doesn't quite capture the cool yet slightly cocky look, while the short face make him look more like a kid. He still look nice comparing the older ones, but look too young, and a bit 'off'.

Guess thats the up-side on the Yamatos. While not as playable, they got kickass pilot figures. Takara's microman looks like crap in comparison.

Same here. But that kit is really impressive for those that have skills. Bandai really did a great job. While the sculpt at certain area is not exactly how I like it, but its level of detail, with the price its asking for, is pretty much the best package I've seen, as long as you love the modeling part.

While not an ideal mod on the feet, with only added weight on the toes, it still helped on pulling some signature Votoms poses. It can lean pretty good as you can see. The weight of the claw did help on counter balancing in that pose. Imagine when both feet is fully stuffed! As for the other fixes, I just left the backpack hinge lock unlocked. While it leaves a wide gap on the top of the backpack, it doesn't look bad. In terms of the hand, I did my usual super glue trick to thicken the finger pegs. Now they are pretty secure without being permanantly glued. While some foam tape are added on both sides of the gun handle. Now it even has soft cushy grip for Rabidly's comfort LOL. Now its pretty snug. P.S. Real toy look more purple than these pics.

What a surprise! Rabidlydog actually already arrived when I got home from work. So how was it? Very nice, but not without flaws. The purple color is perfect, with a light sand grey airbrush sprayed all over, making the purple plastic with a soft light tone. Weathering is not bad, in quality similar to DMZ-01. However, the soft sand airbrush is all over all purple panels, making it very prone to scratches. It even came with some right out of the box, and really is quite unavoidable especially after some handling. Its quite a bit heavier than DMZ-01, partly due to the diecast claws and the slightly bigger size. No loose head dome or loose visor. While almost all joints are tight, the hips are looser compare to DMZ-01. Not real bad, but it made the figure harder to stand straight without holding the gun on the right hand because the claw on the left is weighing the figure down towards the left. When holding the gun, its much more balanced. The attachment of the backpack is also loose, making the backpack pops off quite often. You can add a piece of foam tape on the connection to give it more friction and stay more snug. The backpack is especially fun though. Awesome land mine dropping gimmick with retracting panels while you open or close the drop hatch. Buttons work well to trigger the drop. Though the reload hatch is harder to open without worrying scratching some paint with your nails. And the backpack swing joint lock for the down form is super tight. I almost thought I broke the thing when I finally got it swing all the way up. The claw is fun too, heavy and spring loaded, while the 'thumb' can be retracted to pop out the little cannon. The Chirico figure on the other hand is not so great. Same (sucky) microman body, but the helmet with clear visor wasn't executed very well on mine. Can barely see the eyes, and no painted blue hair inside where there is supposed to. Even worse, the Chirico head without helmet looks like a retard. The eyes were printed way too low on the face. Sad that this is supposed to be an improved version 2 Chirico. My version 1 actually looks better. Here are some of my main gripes: - Slightly loose hips & heavy claw made the figure somewhat harder to balance. - Gun handle too small for the trigger hand to hold the gun securely. It wobbles a bit, even if you manage to keep the fingers from falling. - Backpack hinge lock way too tight when you want to do down form. - And here is the most disappointing one... They completely sealed the screw holes on the feet, making it almost impossible to take it apart without breaking something. Why? To stuff a whole bunch of coins to add weight to the feet, as well as tighten the loose ankle swivel joint that all DMZ has. This really hurts the playability of this figure as the added metal weight can let it do very extreme gliding poses, now not being able to do this simple mod like I did with DMZ-01. I managed to yank out the toes with a skinny screw driver without breaking it, while stuff as many dimes in there as I could (18 dimes each feet), sealed them with some kneaded eraser, then popped them back in. But the back of the feet is still hallow, so the effect is definitely not as good as my attempt on DMZ-01, which I basically filled the entire feet with dimes and pennies. This Rabidlydog definitely has fewer loose joints than my DMZ-01, but the way they tried to seal off some parts makes it harder, if not impossible to get those loose bit fixed, which is quite unfortunate. With the slightly unbalanced weight issue it has, it needs this mod even more than DMZ-01. Sigh... Overall, still very happy with it, aside the sealed feet. The dog is great, with same level of execution as previous DMZs, while fixed some of the past issues. Chirico is more disappointing, but at least you get a new helmet. Especially when HLJ has it for 30% off, its definitely a great buy. (Still can't figure out why HLJ dropped the price of a new release like that).