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technoblue

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Everything posted by technoblue

  1. technoblue
    Not sure who said that here, although I do hope that it's true. It remains to be seen if the quality is there. That's a big IF. All I've said is that the MP-11 and Maketoys seekers that were in my collection over the years have left me wanting. Each of them improved on what came before, but fell short of what I was looking for at this scale. Ironically, rumor has it that Takara needed to get rights permission for the F-15 alt so someone thought it was good enough for them to pay up. I guess you guys have another reason to complain about the inflated price.
  2. technoblue
    I have a newer Ryzen system with a 10-series card and an older Ivy Bridge system (which I'm upgrading soon). The upgraded Ivy Bridge system will probably get a new video card, but I'm willing to wait it out and see how things settle down after Big Navi.
  3. technoblue
    *shrug* They're two different designs. I think the designers who worked on both have every right to be proud of their creations. If someone prefers Maketoys over the new MP far be it from me to persuade them to think otherwise, but I'm still not seeing how Takara's prototype is laughably inaccurate or a train wreck. I'm not willing to take part in any meme that downplays the effort that went into projects like this. I mean, it's far and away from what I do for my day job. I wouldn't even know where to begin to critique it. All I can speak to is that my experience with Maketoys seekers has not been as golden. I've logged my issues in the third-party thread and won't repeat them here. Suffice to say, after owning Meteor, Lightning, and Skycrow, and having the wing fillers for each, I'm ready to see what Takara can do using their own updated engineering.
  4. technoblue
    Aye. The whole back of the fighter breaks apart into panels to create the bot mode torso so some panels are necessary, but making things too complicated creates an added delicacy. The worry, for me anyway, is that Bandai starts back down the path that gave use the VF-171 DX triangles. *shivers*
  5. technoblue
    I'll give my minority opinion, I guess. I like how clean the top of the F-15 alt is on this new version. I mean, it really comes together in my eyes. To me, the armatures of MP-11's null-rays were more of an eyesore than the ones we see here. Also, on my copies of Starscream and Acid Storm back in the day these armatures had a bad habit of popping off. Not a big deal, but not excellent either. It's also pretty cool that the null-rays at the end of the amatures can transform to show a completely different loadout. I do wonder if the new version will include a rack of missiles like MP-11. Mind, I do hope that any missiles accessories that are included in addition to the transforming null-rays are solid. I didn't like the rubbery missiles back in the day either. Moving to the underside, it looks no worse than MP-11 to my eyes. Here's an old review on TFW I checked just to refresh my memory. It shows the underside of old: https://www.tfw2005.com/boards/threads/mp11-masterpiece-starscream-v2-review.575011/ MP-11 has the seeker hands and head hanging out in the open. The new version uses that cover, which I admit is a compromise but it serves to make the alt mode toon accurate and also provides a nice connection point for a stand (which I hope Takara includes this time). The stand is able to connect in both bot mode and alt mode it seems. The bits and bobs that are visible for transformation don't bug me. I mean they had to go somewhere, so best they go underneath than on top. Bedsides, MP-11 had visible screws on the bottom so it was hardly clean of any bits and bobs of its own. MP-11 has air brake and engine detail gimmicks, which I won't miss. MP-03 had these and the arrestor hook gimmick, which I also won't miss. This new mould only keeps the radar dish alt mode gimmick. It's a nice homage to the MP seeker lineage but I wouldn't miss it either if it was left out. Quality issues that I remember running into on the MP-11 seekers: floppy torso connections, broken vertical stabs (out of the box), loose horizontal stabs, the annoying index finger issue which plagued MP-11 and MP-10. Those are the ones that stick.
  6. technoblue
    Albeit a dated metric, the Nielsen ratings for TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise are published and readily available on-line. There’s even a handy chart. Here’s an imgur post that references it (it also includes audience metrics from modern sites like imdb, which flatten the curves in some instances): https://m.imgur.com/gallery/ieRHR As @Seto Kaiba noted, Enterprise was the worst performing Trek show when looking at the Nielsen data. At its peak, it was still performing less than DS9 in its hey day, and it was only just able to match Voyager’s performance early on. TNG is unique in that its Nielsen ratings improved over the entire run. What’s the take away from this? For me, it shows how important it is to have more than one metric to use to analyze data; however, apart from that I’m not sure we can arrive at any truly hyperbolic conclusions. Trek fans seem to support old series now even if they didn’t warm up to them straight away when they were new. Enterprise is a very good example since it gets better aggregate audience reviews today. I found that very curious indeed. Trying to constrain the data to reruns really wouldn’t give us a clear, concise picture. Sadly, it will be a while before we can have similar metrics for Disco and Picard, and that assumes we get to see the CBS All-Access streaming numbers (another bug hurdle).
  7. technoblue
    Toon accuracy confirmed. I've made my peace with that and Takara's MPs. Here's hoping the quality is on point, because it'll be nice to have a seeker in the collection again. Screamer's Gerwalk mode is suitably boss and chunky. It's almost ironic, given MP-03's origins.
  8. technoblue
    ^ Love that parody. Thanks for posting it here @mechaninac
  9. technoblue
    Discovery had a solid pilot episode. I really enjoyed the diversity of the bridge crew and yeah Anson Mount’s Pike was brilliant. Even Number One and Disco’s version of Spock were refreshing. My only wish, if I could turn back the clock on this, would be to have the show build more on the promise of camaraderie and exploration that was introduced in the pilot. The writers too quickly tossed out Star Trek precepts with the Disco crew in order to create a show that focused on dystopia and broken characters. This flavor of Sci-Fi works elsewhere and became really popular with the rise of Moore’s Galactica reboot (which is fantastic in its own right). For Star Trek, though, sticking to these themes creates something of an uncanny valley, especially since Discovery is meant to be playing out within the original series timeline (and not the Kelvin reboot). At least, that’s my take on it.
  10. technoblue
    Got my order in for the Breakdown/Vehicon set too at the top of the hour. I also picked up Cyclonus and Warpath. That will do it for me at the moment.
  11. technoblue
    Sweet. First on my list to pre-order will be TF Prime Breakdown, since I foolishly sold off my Takara Legends version some time ago, and the extra flying Vehicon will be a cool bonus to add to my small Vehicon army. Kingdom looks like a cool mashup, but I'm not going to jump in the deep end this time around. I'll be sticking with the classic TV/Movie bots.
  12. technoblue
    It's interesting that you bring up Star Trek Continues, because in parallel with all the Axanar fuss that production team was filing for non-profit status with the IRS (which was accepted in 2016). The other big difference (as noted) being that CBS/Paramount had a better relationship with the STC team. All that is to say that I do recall one of the big sticking points being which the Axanar team was doing its fan production for profit through Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Whether that was the crux or not is speculative. I'm sure CBS/Paramount had a bevy of copyright claims. In any case, the Axanar lawyers claimed fair use rights in their defense, but the judge denied it and the rest is history. I gotta say, I don't get tired of seeing long flowing TMP/ST2-like shots with a virtual camera gliding around the outside of a Starship. You would think that the team at CBS would implement some of this as well since they have a studio budget to work with, but nothing from Discovery or Picard stands out in my memory. I'm not even sure if the NuTrek series use ship tactics like the older series and movies used to, although I admit I could have missed an important scene or two. But watching the clips with the Klingon D6 Battlecruisers and the Ares fighting with different tactics? What a treat. It makes me even more curious about how the scripted live-action bits would have panned out had the whole thing been finished as a feature-length film. Still, I guess there is the short, short version to look forward to whenever that's released. Ha! Yeah, no joke but it is a cameo of sorts.
  13. technoblue
  14. technoblue
  15. technoblue
    Rob Burnett has been posting some very cool videos to YouTube recently, archiving his work on the Axanar fan film project (before the whole thing was unceremoniously shut down). Anyway, I thought I would share the clips here for those interested. There's some really good effects work, and at the end of part one and three he mixes the shots with music. *sigh* What could have been. P.S. Watch for the SDF-1 in part three.
  16. technoblue
    Granted. Star Wars was a juggernaut back then, and Lynch's Dune also had an element of studio interference if I recall correctly. Anyway, I'm not trying to bag on his version since I do enjoy the old movie. It just would have been a nice twist on cinema history if Lynch had been able to stick to a form of creative martial arts that gave us scenes in Dune foreshadowing the Matrix-like cinematography we got fifteen years later. And all that's to say that I'm really very curious to see how Villeneuve will handle it, especially after seeing the trailer which teases the sparring match between Gurney and Paul. I'm also really curious to see how his changes to some of the other secondary characters will work out. It's all pretty exciting to me.
  17. technoblue
    SyFy did it better with Children of Dune. I agree SyFy's original miniseries was closer in spirit to the source material than Lynch's movie but there were a couple noteworthy distractions: 1) Paul is supposed to be a teenager and was played by Alec Newman who was in his 20s and looked his age. MacLachlan, in contrast, looked young for his age in Lynch's film. Interestingly, Newman's rugged looks worked in his favor when he reprised his role in Children. 2) The costumes were absurd to the point of being distracting. That's more of a budget constraint, but again Children was able to tone down the flamboyant looks while still giving the second series that otherworldly flair. Children of Dune also gets props for having a young James McAvoy playing Leto II, and doing a fine job of it. The areas where Lynch erred were with how he describes the Guild Navigators. the Bene Gesserit, and the Weirding Way (which became an odd fantasy McGuffin in the film). His two biggest sins were the rain scenes on Arrakis (which disappointed Herbert, reportedly), and turning Paul's story into that of a hero instead of a cautionary tale.
  18. technoblue
    My first memory of Diana Rigg is many moons ago watching Masterpiece Mystery as a young lad. She was the host and would introduce each programme for the local PBS network in the 1980s. Later on, I watched On Her Majesty's Secret Service (which continues to be one of my favorite Bond films to this day) and I guess that's when I became a fan. I've seen her play in The Avengers, Bleak House, and even Doctor Who. Condolences to her family and friends.
  19. technoblue
    Don't listen to the haters. It's a minority opinion for sure, but I couldn't get into the low-tech Scy-Fy version either and I love Herbert's novels. In contrast, the new trailer is hitting a lot of high notes. I do hope they are able to succeed on the big screen this time around.
  20. technoblue
    Thanks @Keith! April 1st release. Shawne @ Rightstuf makes a good pitch for this. The autographed edition is very tempting as a collector’s item, especially if it reaches the 100 units sold stretch goal but for now I’m locked in for one at the Ultra+Artbook tier.
  21. technoblue
    Lenovo just accidentally confirmed that the 3070ti is a thing, so the flood gates are open I guess. https://www.dsogaming.com/news/nvidia-ampere-geforce-rtx-3070-ti-spotted-with-16gb-gddr6-vram-confirmed-by-lenovo/
  22. technoblue
    Definitely. The rear exhaust fan concerns me a bit, especially when paired in a system with a tower CPU cooler. I wonder how having that fan dump warm/hot GPU air over the motherboard, across the chipset, ram, and cpu will change a systems thermal performance? It might not matter too much for a system that has good airflow or space for a watercooler. Anyway, still curious to see if the reviews that come out in the next couple of months validate any of those marketing stats.
  23. technoblue
    A GPU that is within the ballpark performance-wise from team red and that also has a more efficient TDP rating would be nice to see. We won't get that from team green until they dial-in Ampere with design improvements. And boy, the release boards from Asus and MSI look massive. https://rog.asus.com/articles/gaming-graphics-cards/introducing-geforce-rtx-3070-rtx-3080-rtx-3090-rog-asus/ https://www.msi.com/Landing/GeForce-RTX-30-Series
  24. technoblue
    The 3090 was hidden in the oven. I'm really curious about how that proprietary 12-pin connector will work, and can't wait to get a closer look at the accessories which come with the Founders Edition cards. I wonder if nVidia is including a cable that plugs in directly to their new connector and a user's PSU? Or is it some lame adapter like the 2" adapters of old? In any case, it looks like both the RTX 3080 and 3090 have the connector angled on the PCB and tucked away between the two fans, where on the 3070 it's in a more traditional upright position. The spec list on nvidia's site lists standard PSU requirements: 2xPCIe 8-pin supplementary power for the 3080 and the 3090; 1xPCIe 8-pin supplementary power for the 3070. This could be good news for anyone who is waiting on alternative Ampere designs from Asus, MSI, Gigabyte, and so on.
  25. technoblue
    It would be fantastic if Arcadia did something like what Bandai did with the HMR mass production 1A and included both heads since they are easy to switch out, but that seems a bridge too far for them. I may be in the minority, but I think there’s a good chance that we’ll see it announced. Probably not this year, though. It looks like the 1J GBP reissue and the VF-4A have filled in the rest of their Macross schedule.
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