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JB0

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Everything posted by JB0

  1. JB0
    Oh dear... that doesn't bode well at all.
  2. JB0
    That's fair. But personally, I had the toys a lot longer than the cartoon was on the air(and also some of the catalogs weirdly continued to exist in my possession as time capsules), so my image of many characters is shaped a lot more by the toy than the cartoon. Going off the rails a bit here... I think the cartoon designs veered too far into "a human wearing some cardboard boxes" territory. What's proportional for a human is... well, proportional for a human. I say this while readily acknowledging that Ratchet/Ironhide was, ummm, special. Even where the cartoon designs are preferred, I wish they had more of the toy "imperfections." And my favorites are things like Warpath and Shockwave, where there are some very-clearly inhuman things going on. My childhood robot design checklist was basically "mouthplates are better than mouths, visors are better than eyes, weird claws are better than hands, built-in weapons are better than handheld ones, and robot dinosaurs can break all the rules", and my tastes haven't changed much since then... except that somewhere along the line, I added "sexy girl robots can break all the rules"... Generally-speaking I like my robots a little less human and a little more alien. Obviously, Shockwave was basically the coolest dang thing ever. If he'd had a claw for his remaining hand, he'd be perfect. While I never had Whirl as a kid, the picture in the catalog was love at first sight. If I had my way, there'd be a lot more "weird" robots in the line today. Goofy limb proportions, claws where fingers should be, too many limbs(shout-out to the four-armed toasterbot!), wheels and treads and thrusters on the feet(Rollerskating carbots versus rocket-skating jetbots!)... you get the idea. But my tastes seem to be a bit unusual for the fanbase, and definitely don't align well with where the brand has gone. Which isn't to say I don't still find some of what comes out really cool, just that it's... less cool than it could be?
  3. JB0
    I like the purity of the original design. There's no bits to fill gaps, no fake grills, no disappearing wheels and bumpers. What you see is what you get. The resulting wonkiness is charming. I'm not saying Earthrise Prime is bad. I just miss having an Optimus where his pelvis is the truck's bumper and his abs are the truck's radiator, ya know? It feels sometimes like modern Transformers designs are backwards. They aren't robots in disguise anymore, they're vehicles in disguise. They make a cool-looking robot, then try to figure out how to turn it into a vehicle without compromising that robot. In extreme cases, it seems like any evidence the robot HAS a vehicle mode is considered a design failure. So I am all for an extreme throwback design, and admittedly shocked that I'm apparently not the only one. ... I'm wondering if this is an "MP Skids did better than we expected" thing. Because it had a similar "just make the original toy more detailed and articulated" design ethos, and if it showed there's actually a maket for that... obviously the next retro mold would be Yet Another Prime.
  4. JB0
    Yeah, there's a thin but important line between magnetic levitation and magnetic catapults.
  5. JB0
    The original toy, only with modern articulation? Hot. Though I note the original toy actually has pretty good arm articulation.
  6. JB0
    That's supposed to be a -19? I'm squinting but I still don't see it.
  7. JB0
    Well, yes. But at the time they died, they were being kind of interesting. My disappointment is immeasurable. I hope that's temporary.
  8. JB0
    Programs' rights? I thought Tron fought for the users?!
  9. JB0
    Busy man.
  10. JB0
    Titan's back?!?! Sweet! Are they resuming the epic saga of Sad Dana, or is this a new continuity?
  11. JB0
    I hope not, because that's stupid. Programs in Tron may exhibit superhuman abilities, but they aren't actually superhuman. It is because they aren't in the real world that they can do the things they do(and why humans, once digitized, can engage in superhuman acts). Once subject to reality and pesky details like the laws of physics, they can't take over the world. Hell, they probably can't take over a school bus.
  12. JB0
    Other way around. HG said, in their San Diego Comic-Con panel, that THEY are prohibited from using DYRL or any future Macross sequels as part of Robotech.
  13. JB0
    I think that's a bit kind to HG, really. That turn-of-the-century mess may have started as legitimate license protection, but kinda rapidly escalated to "we literally own the copyright to the entire franchise outside of Japan... except Plus and Two because we were asleep, but it won't happen again". My recollection is they didn't pick up the DYRL merch license until after Big West sued Tatsunoko and the japanese courts came back with "Tatsunoko doesn't own any rights to most of the franchise... and never actually claimed otherwise?" At that point, with it being very clear they had no LEGAL base to block anything other than SDF, HG ran out and registered trademarks on every Macross-related thing they could think of, and THEN started releasing DYRL merchandise to justify a bunch of trademarks. ... Trademarks they COULD have used on SDF merch, but didn't want to. I assume they figured that selling SDF merchandise under the Macross brand would cannibalize the sales of Robotech merchandise... which must've been moving in massive volumes at that point. Why, I bet they were selling HUNDREDS of units annually!
  14. JB0
    Because they want to pretend they made concessions and it is thanks solely to their magnanimous heart that anyone can do anything. They used to own the entire franchise outside Japan. We know this because they told us so, and they wouldn't lie to us. But they gave SO MUCH back to Big West just out of courtesy and a desire to get along. I'm assuming people were asserting that as a remake of SDF Macross, it was covered under the SDF license. Waters made muddier by them picking up a merchandise license for DYRL from Tatsunoko. I personally believe it was so they could put a thin veneer of legitimacy on their Macross trademarks by selling Macross merchandise, and make it look like they actually had the rights they claimed(rather than the rights the japanese courts confirmed Tatsunoko had).
  15. JB0
    More likely they no longer need to legitimize their trademark on the Macross name. They do, or did, have a legitimate DYRL merchandise license from Tatsunoko. But they've never had a license to the DYRL animation.
  16. JB0
    What I've heard is the slide in question is being presented out of context, and in context it is actually a prohibition on HG, not everyone else. They're saying that HG is prohibited from using DYRL or a hypothetical future sequel in Robotech.
  17. JB0
    I'm disappointed that the other cassette-bot that partners with Rumble(Blue) isn't named Rumble(Red).
  18. JB0
    Bandai's -1J head is actuallly faceted like it is supposed to be instead of round.
  19. JB0
    We don't want Gundam. We need transforming jets. We want ZETA GUNDAM. Huge difference.
  20. JB0
    Honestly, if they'd taken a few more liberties with this so that the back cleaned up into something respectable, I'd be interested. If they sold the cab robot without the trailer, I'd be sold. Because frankly I like the little guy a lot more than the big guy even without the random flaps hanging off the back.
  21. JB0
    Maybe everyone but me. I want them to leave well enough alone. I wouldn't mind seeing another show set during the same period, but I don't want to see the same show over again. Or worse, a bungled version of the same show which stains the original.
  22. JB0
    Seriously. That Shrapnel is just gross, despite being literally the same toy I had as a kid.
  23. JB0
    HG has merchandise rights for SDF outside Japan, if I recall correctly.
  24. JB0
    And as I recall, the age slices of the pie were pretty close to the top entries on the list. It looked like most folks' favorite Macross was "the TV show airing when I was young"
  25. JB0
    I can't get over the head. It's rounded where it should be angular, making it bulbous and causing the camera to look way too small since it now has a huge forehead instead of no forehead. (the curve makes the head go up from the glass instead of back from the glass) I don't understand how they got to where they did, unless their goal was to "fix" the 1J head by making it more anthropomorphic. The curved design gives it more volume and makes it vaguely plausible as a helmet, like the 1S head. But I can't imagine there's many people that want a 1J that DOESN'T have a wedge for a head.
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