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technoblue

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  1. technoblue
    Yeah, I'm hoping the PF version is still in their schedule because that's the one I prefer if Arcadia is still releasing both.
  2. technoblue
    Yeah, that makes it tempting all on its own. For me, it would just be cool to have some clarification from Arcadia or Mr. K about what's up.
  3. technoblue
    It is confusing that AE is the only shop that has this listed at the moment. Even Arcadia's own website doesn't have a blurb posted about it yet, and they're usually pretty good about that sort of thing. Speaking for myself, the price is comparable to what I paid for my first release Arcadia VF-4G so that's okay. It stinks that the JPY to USD conversion rate is in the gutter at the moment. Back in 2015 when I paid 27000 for my Arcadia copy at HLJ, I think the total came to $224 before shipping. At today's rates that same price would convert to around $256 which is more comparable to what AE is asking at 28310. I think I'm going to hold off on the AE pre-order and wait for more news on it. One thing I would like confirmation on is whether or not Arcadia plans to do a standard release and a premium release, or if this one release is all there is.
  4. technoblue
    With all the wing origami going on in that new backpack, I’ll be really surprised if Takara has room to add in a false cockpit. But maybe it is necessary to make the new bot torso toon accurate? I don’t know. I’m thinking that the nose compresses into the backpack and will still have “sections” — one thought is that the cockpit section is getting pushed out due to the way the new transformation is implemented; another thought, if the visible piece is indeed false, maybe Takara is using a sliding cover similar to the heat shield on Bandai/Arcadia Valkyries? As for the visible hinges, yeah I’m also hoping that those are hidden well underneath the F-15 alt mode detail and that they don’t stand out in any obvious way. It’s hard to tell just looking at the side profile, but I also don’t usually look at CAD drawings so maybe I’m missing some important detail? It’s too bad more news wasn’t shared in the recent Figure King magazine. I was hoping for some early prototype shots. Oh well, need to wait a little longer.
  5. technoblue
    I'm still looking for an MP Seeker that will fit into my collection, which is why I'm willing to give this new official mold a chance. I've owned (and sold) MP-3 and MP-11 Starscream, MP-11 Acid Storm, and MT's Meteor, Skycrow, and Lightning. Even though Maketoys had the least accurate alt mode of the bunch, they were well ahead of Takara with their third-party toon accurate hyper-articulate bot mode design. Looking back, I wish they had taken the benefit of their lead to iron out the identified quirks. Hindsight and all...MT is one of the few unofficial companies I really value at this scale, especially since they seem willing to take chances that other manufacturers are unwilling to take (see their Headmasters...sigh). But I digress. Takara's new design is making some curious changes. For instance, the cockpit looks to sit out further from the torso in bot mode when compared to MP-3/11. I wonder why that is and how that works? The lower leg, calf area is better defined like it is on MP-36 and MP-44. It looks like the mechanism attaching the null rays might have changed? I'm not sure. The new mold seems to improve the feet with more surface area and added ankle tilts, but the engines still work as heels. The lines make it look like the chest missile gimmick is sticking around too, but will Takara also keep the turbine transformation or will that change to be more like the old G1 seekers? I'm finding the alt mode silhouette is unclear on this last point. More questions than answers to be true, but I guess I'm already on board the hype train for this one.
  6. technoblue
    Same. I've been going back over the CAD drawings since they popped up on a certain other Transformers forum. There's already some good speculation from our own @David Hingtgen noting how the vertical stabs will fold into the backpack. I think it's a clever way to do it, especially since it could avoid adding visible alt mode hinges like the MT implementation if the speculation proves accurate. Other design cues that I like in Takara's CAD sketches include: The proportionate head sculpt Wings with no wing gaps (IMO, really. This was a major pet-peeve of mine on the MT seekers, especially since my wing fillers didn't work) I'm curious to see the nose cone transformation and how (or if) this will add a waist swivel, and how the waist swivel might differ from MT's implementation. And will the waist skirt slide out of the way at all for transformation? I have to admit that part was clever on MT's seekers, but it only worked well on my copy of Meteor.
  7. technoblue
    LoL! It looks a-okay to me. I think @Lolicon is pulling your leg. Here's a link to a photo of his 0D for comparison: http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/topic/40552-arcadia-160-perfect-transformation-vf-0d-for-2015/?do=findComment&comment=1532034
  8. technoblue
    Still stuck in the weeds.
  9. technoblue
    I have to admit, I had my reservations, but the more I see of this new Starscream mold the more I'm digging it. But quality is still a big concern, especially given Takara's current price point and they way they fumbled the release of Bee v2 and Hound. I don't want to see paint defects like I did with Bee and I don't want to see crumbling plastic like I did with Hound. Those are my big worries going into this. The CAD drawings look really cool, though, and from what I can see (and what I've been reading) this version not only improves on MP-3/11 but also avoids some of the disappointments I had with my Maketoys' seekers. Anyway, I'm looking forward to the colored test shots.
  10. technoblue
    BCS has teased the next Doctor. I thought Colin was great in Blake's 7, and then (much, much later) he made a guest appearance in the Star Trek Continues fan anthology. In Doctor Who, his unique interpretation grated on my nerves when I was young, but like an aged wine I learned to appreciate the flare he brought to the role later in life. Looking back, it would have been cool if he had been given more episodes after The Trial of a Timelord. Oh, what could have been!
  11. technoblue
    LoL! No worries. Now you’re here. Welcome.
  12. technoblue
    For sure. I voted on this one and the jazz quartet with the different brick built musicians playing their instruments. Very happy to see one made it through.
  13. technoblue
    @M'Kyuun LEGO confirmed that some sets did make it out into the wild. Some LEGO Osprey sets will be sold The good news is that if a store already has its stock, they will be able to sell the set. The bad news is that this set will be limited only to partner stores (not LEGO stores) which received stock before its official cancellation. I expect it will be a very rare set, if we see it stateside at all. Maybe fans of the set will have luck at Walmart or Target, though, or some specialty mom and pop shop.
  14. technoblue
    Yeah, the whole IDEAS process is broken. I understand that TLG doesn't want to hamper creativity, but a clarification of what "ideas" are allowed might help. They should also make it harder to pass each review hurdle. Not sure if they should restrict the time it takes to get to 10,000 votes or up the ante and require IDEAS creators to get at least 20,000 votes (or more) to be considered. I hear you.
  15. technoblue
    It isn’t consistent, though. This project wasn’t torpedoed from the start like an IDEAS set. It was developed, marketed, and since we already have a designer video in the wild I would hazard a guess that some boxed sets have already been manufactured. TLG is doing an about face because it received harsh criticism. I do think the protests are healthy discourse, but I also think TLG is being too reactionary in its response to them. Imagine if they received the same criticism for the real-world space sets and had the same response back then? I mean NASA also has a number of military contracts and military personnel have been included in these programs as pilots, engineers...we’ve see them on all government-funded NASA spacecraft, the ISS, and even private-funded craft like Space-X. Speaking specifically to the Osprey, this isn‘t the first time TLG released a Coast Guard set either. It seems that it's being singled out for another reason entirely.
  16. technoblue
    Sadly, it's official. The current speculation is that the licensing did it in, but I'm just beside myself since it appears very strange how it all went down. If TLG was going to hold firm on their "no military vehicles" rule, one would think that this would have been cut from the line up early in the design phase before all the marketing and advertising, and well before the set was posted on their shop at home site as a "coming soon" order. The idea that TLG wanted to highlight the rescue capabilities of this unique aircraft in Technic seems sound to me, and not at all contrary to their mission statement. Unfortunately, I guess those who are set against seeing it released have louder voices. Oh well.
  17. technoblue
    So I have a couple photos comparing Siege Magnus and ER Doubledealer in stock bot mode. The first image focuses on the ankle tilt, which both figures share. When the feet are in the neutral position, snug against the leg, there's a visible difference. DD's feet sit flat, whereas Magnus has that infamous angle. Not sure if this change was an intentional improvement on HasTak's part or just a bonus given that DD is a triple changer and has a more involved transformation gimmick. Still, I think it would have been nice if Siege Magnus had feet with the same flexibility. And now for the height comparison. I didn't have a straight edge handy, so I used a straight-ish dice tube to set the "ground" perspective since the two bots are laying flat. DD is half a head shorter than Magnus. The top of DD's head sits right at Magnus's eye level. At the shoulders, DD is smidge shorter if you don't count Magnus's massive pylons. Pretty comparable at stock. But I do wonder if a third party will release an upgrade set to boost DD's height to match with the DNA set improvements? And would such a set sacrifice the triple changer gimmick? I guess we'll have to wait and see.
  18. technoblue
    It isn't all that unusual. The Transformers community has the same rifts dividing members and they run along the same exact spectrum as the one characterized in this very thread. You have hard line fans who collect only those items with an official Hasbro or Takara license, you have fans that want to really stretch their dollar and are keen for KOs, you have fans who mill about in the grey area with third-party figures, and have those who cross between all three mixing and matching to get the collections they like (this is me, I guess). Although the variables for each consumer can get rather personal, they don't necessarily have to be classified as a negative. It's just different strokes for different folks. With Hasbro and Takara, I think there is a key difference that's being glossed over in the comparison to Big West: the ownership of their IP is simply stronger worldwide. This is evident by the fact that HasTak is able to shut down whole KO factories just like Bandai. I don't doubt Big West would like to be able to do the same, but is feeling a disadvantage for past missteps with HG. The strict interpretation of what's official could be part of their strategy to repair the international brand. Of course, that last bit is all "glass half full" speculation.
  19. technoblue
    SMH. Posting that photo to Twitter was a really bad idea.
  20. technoblue
    Thanks for the detailed review, @mikeszekely. Appreciate your thoughts on this one. This is my first time having Doubledealer in my collection, and I know next to nothing about the character. I was attracted to the triple changing gimmick, and the fact that this figure can also hold minions like Soundwave and Soundblaster. The mobile SAM launcher alt was nifty too, especially since I was thinking he was a straight-up Decepticon at first. I had no idea he had a faction changing gimmick too. My Siege Magnus is still unmodified, so I'll have a closer look at both figures in the morning and post some comparison photos if no one else gets to it before me. I think your hunch about both leaders being close to the same size out of the box is correct.
  21. technoblue
    No big deal. There's good info in both threads. If the mods think the two threads should get merged together, I'm sure it will happen eventually.
  22. technoblue
    No problemo, friends. Yeah, it isn't obvious, given how the link is formatted but I'm glad I was able to help.
  23. technoblue
    FYI: You have to click on the arrow icon or the text "peter replied to a topic" to get to the linked post. If you click anywhere else, the site will redirect you to the first post in the thread.
  24. technoblue
    HaHa! I wish I could say the same. I don't know how it happened, but Walmart dropped the ball in my area here out east. I was sure we would see shipments around when these hit stores the first time, but those deliveries never came and the store inventory went fast. Walmart is now in a loop, delaying unlucky on-line orders again and again. I read how some guys re-ordered and were able to get things moving...in hindsight, I probably should have done the same. Alas, Hotlink is no longer in stock and is showing up on walmart.com at a scalper price of $62. As I mentioned earlier, it was easier to go through AmiAmi at this point. I broke the loop myself. I missed Soundwave, but I'm not going to worry about it. Maybe I'll have better luck finding him later with this wave. The thing that's keeping me from opting in on the ER Datsuns are the clip-on wheels Hasbro seems fond of using. They just rub me the wrong way. If there was some way to add a hub cap cover or something, that would fix the figures completely. Ironhide looks like a fun evolution of the Siege mold. I wonder if we will get an ER Ratchet with this get up? I'm also curious to see if there will be more news on the Studio Series '86 figures. My copy of Alternate Universe Prime arrived, as well, along with Doubledealer. Looking forward to breaking them both out of their boxes this weekend.
  25. technoblue
    I'm a little wary of the renders, and Walmart's ability to deliver on any of these orders. That said, Elita-1 looks to wear the mold better than Arcee. I'm cautiously optimistic. Optimus doesn't really interest me, unless the Netflix version is swapping out the grey on his legs for blue. That might get me to bite but I'll need to see the actual figure first, Edit: Pre-ordered the Conehead set. I had to use a wish list workaround to do it, though. Edit 2: Cancelled my wave 1 Netflix orders with Walmart and re-ordered Megs and Hotlink at AmiAmi. I'll pay a little more and wait a little longer, but at least I know I'll see them at the end of the year.
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