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technoblue

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Everything posted by technoblue

  1. technoblue
    Well I'll be. The 5000 series looks like it was worth the wait. I don't regret getting the 3600 when I did, though. It's been a fantastic CPU for my home theater/console-ish PC.
  2. technoblue
    Yeah, the TN summer event gave us that opaque cylinder which was concealing Roy's DX dressed up with TV supers. Sadly, it also gave us a couple non-Macross HMR figures. Great for fans of those properties, but disappointing for me. The summer focus was on those massive Dragon Ball and Gundam displays. And Bandai showed off the EVA metal build repaints again? It looks like Dragon Ball fans have more to look forward to at the winter event. I also like that Bandai is doing more Star Wars Meisho Movie Realization figures. Although I don't collect either line, I enjoy seeing the in-hand photos. I'm crossing my fingers, though, hoping that Macross gives us more than a cameo this time 'round.
  3. technoblue
    More MP-52 Starscream links, for those interested: HLJ (22960 JPY): https://www.hlj.com/mp-52-transformers-masterpiece-starscream-ver-2-0-tkt13904 N-Y (21030 JPY): https://www.nippon-yasan.com/figures/32633-transformers-masterpiece-mp52-starscream-ver20.html AE (19600 JPY) pay now: http://www.anime-export.com/product/49558 The usual forum caution of "your mileage may vary" applies to such things as speedy delivery and responsive customer service. There is also the option to wait for more sold/shipped from Amazon Japan pre-order slots to pop up (AJ has a nice pre-order low price guarantee).
  4. technoblue
    Thanks, @Alex GS. Got my order in too. Right on the line at $200 (before shipping). Hope that stands through June. That Amazon Japan pre-order was a blink and you miss it opportunity. It went up and went out of stock while I was busy at work. The constant debate does get exhausting. I'm going to step back from it.
  5. technoblue
    Hm. It may be unpopular with a very particular group of tfw members, but I’m not sure why we bother to call them out here on this forum. It’s not like they visit when we invoke tfw three times. It’s not a popular MW opinion either. Other than me, I think two or three other MW members have noted they are into MP-52? The rest of the discussion has been dominated by the vocal members who don’t like it and who seem happy to debate how horrible it is (in their humble opinions ) Incorporated parts forming as a gimmick... I dunno... Isn’t that exactly what HasTak has been doing with the mainline releases? For many, the WFC and upcoming SS86 releases are not only more affordable, but also mini-masterpiece in their aesthetic. It’s clear there are options for those to whom TT’s MP line is no longer serving. Why get so wound up by what others think and feel about a piece of plastic, especially if they’re enjoyment has no bearing on your own? It makes no sense.
  6. technoblue
    I find that Takara's larger MPs track closer to Arcadia's Valkyries and certain high-end Soul-of-Chogokins. I do think Takara could have cut costs (and improved the design) if they cut out MP-44's voice box, and the licensing costs associated with using the actors' voices. The included human figures could have had better quality control too. It's annoying that their limbs can detach at the touch of a feather. That said, I only paid $314 US (shipping included) for my copy of MP-44 through Amazon Japan. The AJ discount definitely helps, and the Japan site also has a "fun bucks" feature that isn't on their US site. It works like source points at TFSource. So yeah, the premium is real no doubt. It's just that I'm okay with it. If I had been a little more patient, I might have picked up MP-49 or some future repaint. It seems Takara is pricing these better than MP-44 in any case. Unpopular opinion: Looks good! Still love the Gerwalk homage. It's not like we've never seen fold-over stabs on a Valkyrie before. Why not Starscream? Granted, the false cockpit kibble stands out a little more clearly with the painted model. It's too bad they weren't able to tidy that up, but that's really the only nitpick I have. The rest looks fun. NuScream appears to comes with five(?) additional faces, null ray blast effects, afterburner effects, a purple stand, a set of non-transformable null rays, ye-olde megatron gun, and a few items from that scene in that one episode. With luck the AJ price will be agreeable. If not, I may have to sit on this for a bit.
  7. technoblue
    Hm. Like you, mike, I have a collection of Primes. Unlike you, I guess I'm not overly critical of the new direction that Takara has taken their official MPs. I also don't find it uncanny having MP-44 in proximity to high quality Chogokins or Arcadia and Bandai Macross Valkyries. Is MP-44 perfect? No. Is it for everyone? Of course not! Objectively, I agree that there are two very good third-party alternatives, but they are clearly serving different audiences at different price points. It's also worth noting that both the Magic Square and the Transform Element Primes cost over $100, so they aren't inexpensive (like picking up a mainline Siege or ER Optimus). Honestly, the best thing to do is to buy the figure(s) that best fit your collection (or stick with MP-10) and kick the plastic crack addiction completely. What I don't recommend is to do what I did and buy all three. That's just crazy, and leads to a hassle when it comes time to clean out closets. I do empathize with people who are stuck in the same situation, though. As @M'Kyuun notes, we have a luxury of choice in this fandom. That can make it difficult to pick one figure to represent a beloved character or mecha. If you are able to refocus your collection by filtering out aesthetics or price points that don't jive with what you're looking for, then that's fantastic.
  8. technoblue

    Hi-Metal R

    technoblue replied to joppewo's topic in Toys

    Too bad there's been no Macross HMR release since February. It would be nice if Bandai showed signs of life in this space before the end of the year, but the prognosis looks grim for 2020. We might not see any Macross HMR until 2021. Not that I want that to be true, it just seems to be the current state of things.
  9. technoblue
    The Figma he was using did look a tad too tall for the bike, right? I'm okay with it too, although it's nice knowing that we may have to fiddle with our choice of riders to complete the look in alt mode.
  10. technoblue
    I placed my Nicee pre-order fashionably late with actionrobo, and they went on holiday before shipping it out, so I don't expect to see any movement on my copy until Monday.
  11. technoblue
    It's nice to see that US shops are pricing MP-52 lower than $300, but I'm hoping that the Japanese shops bring that closer to $200 after the usual discounts. After paying $120 each for the Maketoys seekers (plus $15 for the wing fillers), it would be nice not to have to pay a high Takara tax this time 'round.
  12. technoblue
    Cyclion looks great. I have a copy on pre-order too, and I'm really into how Goodsmile took the original garage kit (which is near impossible to find outside Japan) and made improvements to it. Here's a pre-review (not in English). The transformation from bot to motorcycle begins at 7:15s. I think there are some unique twists to that crouched robot expectation.
  13. technoblue
    Such a sublime, cool photo of GCreations Rebel. Thanks @Kuma Style Circling back to Waspinator...and this new stylized BW take...I'm impressed. I usually pass on BW since I'm more into transforming mecha than transforming organics. The artist did a wonderful job capturing the essence of the BW bots while also switching up their alts so that they're modern and mechanical and less beasty. It's a nice twist that's winning me over.
  14. technoblue
    Big Fire Bird did a fantastic job on Nicee. The stylized look isn't too far out there for me, and the transformation is on point. Seeing the early photos and reviews makes me wonder why Hasbro couldn't do something like this in their own WFC style though, especially since the core transformation elements do seem to call back to POTP days. Anyway, a missed opportunity. I'm definitely in on Windblade. The silhouette makes it appear that BFB is putting their own spin on Windblade too, which is fine by me. Somewhat related, has anyone seen this version of BW Waspinator as a Helicopter? TH-01 Trojan Horse is from a new company, WeMakeWorks. The design comes from an artist that I'm not too familiar with, but who seems to be well known to other TF fans: theamazingspino.
  15. technoblue
    That is an odd price at Amazon. Maybe their price matching algorithm will kick in now that the other sites are up? I'm still thinking about this one. I gotta say, of all the mash-ups it's the most tempting. Gigawatt's head sculpt is well done.
  16. technoblue
    It's up now on Pulse: https://hasbropulse.com/collections/new/products/transformers-generations-collaborative-back-to-the-future-mash-up-gigawatt
  17. technoblue
    I like the stylized bots, and the F-4 and F-16, but something seems off with the rest (especially the taper of the Concorde's nose). The nose-up look should have a different slope top and bottom. It shouldn't look that much like a pencil. Sadly, the prototype as it is right now is drawing my eyes to the flaws.
  18. technoblue
    Hm. I would say the Intel chipset that first got the attention of enthusiasts was Sandy Bridge, so that's the 2000 series CPUs. Ivy Bridge was the same 1155-socket with minor updates. Haswell/Broadwell added quality-of-life improvements (additional USB ports and SATA lanes), and support for the 1150-socket CPUs. Intel also had motherboards which supported their Xenon processors, in case you wanted to build your own in-house server. After Broadwell, we're getting into the recent 1151- and 1200-socket "Lake" CPUs. I agree with @azrael about these later generations. The lines started to blur. AMD had a rougher road. I'm trying to think back. The Athlon XP and the AMD 760 chipset were solid. The Opteron was a good update, but I remember the AMD 8000 chipset was a little flaky back in the day. AMD made its next big splash with the Athlon64, Phenom, and Turion processors all which received incremental updates and chipsets to match. AMD faltered with Bulldozer. Now we have the AM4 chipset with Zen CPU support, though, so things are looking up. Thanks! I may start looking again down the road, but I'm not in a rush now. I do like the idea of having a thin client to write on when I'm traveling, especially one that sips power when its on battery. The Zen CPUs do offer a lot of promise in portable units. I'm also curious to see how the Zen 3 5000 series could change the landscape with integrated graphics.
  19. technoblue
    Nah. It’s confusing. This is what happens when engineers from different disciplines are unable to agree on a versioning standard and marketing peeps are left to run wild. Not accounting for repaints, like @tekering Optimus MP-1 MP-4 MP-10 MP-44 ver 2.0??? Bumblebee MP-21 MP-45 ver 2.0 (this makes sense) Ultra Magnus MP-2 MP-22 no ver 2.0??? Megatron MP-5 MP-36 again, no ver 2.0??? Starscream MP-3 MP-11 MP-?? but somehow this third iteration is ver 2.0??? It seems contradictory to me that a number of the vocal members here who have strong feelings that keep them from accepting nuScream's design are okay with Takara's marketing which downgrades the design changes made to MP-11. When looking at how 2.0 is used (or not used) across the entire Masterpiece line I don't see any consistency which backs up this understanding. I can only assume that what is being shared with regard to Starscream here is just group speculation and Takara trying to alter its own history.
  20. technoblue
    Right. Haswell motherboards would take fourth generation i7-4###, i5-4###, and i3-4### CPUs. Ivy Bridge was an update to Sandy Bridge and supported third generation CPUs. My desktop is currently running an i5-3570k. My old HTPC was running an i3-4170t before the Ryzen upgrade. I like to keep that system cool and quiet. Moving to the R5 3600 was a nice boost. I don’t have my own personal laptop at the moment, so I’m not really familiar with what’s available in that space. The job gave me a Dell laptop, but it’s outfit for business use.
  21. technoblue
    Agreed. Being coy and using 2.0 has also generated a lot of confusion. It would have been better all around if Takara had instead announced the actual MP-# designation.
  22. technoblue
    My Ryzen system is an R5 3600 mini-ITX build that replaced a larger Haswell HTPC. I’m looking to repurpose the Haswell system as a DIY NAS but haven’t had time to dive into the options. The Ivy Bridge system is my daily driver. The upgraded parts should be able to handle a little bit of everything, while also running games well at UWHD resolutions. I’m thinking of using the R9 3900X for this build.
  23. technoblue
    HaHa! Yeah, how it rolls (or not) is still a mystery. And here's another picture of the bottom of fighter mode to confuse things. Now I really want to see that rear landing gear, and whether or not the F-15 keeps a level profile when all gear are down.
  24. technoblue
    Ah! I see your point, Chronocidal. Thanks! I'm using the picture that shows the bottom of the MP in alt mode, so I guess this is my perspective on the whole debate. The cover juts out above the bot-mode chest, as noted. What isn't clear is whether that piece is on its own level above everything else or if it's on the same level with the top of the leg thrusters which house the rear landing gear. If the latter, then I'm okay with the compromise. If the former, then it's a meh solution indeed. I think @M'Kyuun noted that it reminded him of the ER seeker solution. Yeah, I can see how that's disappointing now at MP scale but I still want to give it a chance. Really, I get wanting a sleek F-15 alt, especially since MP-03 blazed the trail, so to speak. I'm going to miss the lack of kibble underneath and the integrated intake transformation that both MP-03 and MP-11 have in their design. Ha! Maybe I should have held onto one of my old MP seekers after all. Edit: The landing gear have been shown already, at least the front landing gear.
  25. technoblue
    New images of Master Made's SD Devastator, which I've been waiting for going on three years (link to Toys United Nations on fb): https://www.facebook.com/玩具聯合國-變形金剛粉絲團-138692049899157/?__tn__=kC-R&eid=ARCnbJOEulj8K7XJmU1eeAcytEnxvTpGBE4ld6AJUbBsRXdqVhdWsXpFyN9ZlVhJ_uulac8y1A3Mqo6Z&hc_ref=ARTMdxoDHcdRHjzJtweLottVjAGUnB9V2KDhDNI-CAEKHLflSkadgH_Ib3K4GtVIbis&fref=nf I wonder if MM will do any more combiners?
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