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JB0

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  1. JB0
    So... I actually put in an online order for the new Sky Lynx. And while waiting for someone to ship it, I actually found one in stores. I was stunned, I have literally never seen anything in this size bracket show up on retail shelves in any store in my area, when they stock anything at all. Last I was through, they didn't even have a space on the shelf FOR this bracket. Once I recovered from my confusion and disbelief, I realized I could cancel my online preorder and actually buy Sky Lynx off the shelf like a normal person(for definitions of normal that include thirty-something men buying children's toys). It was a good day for the local Target, as in addition to one Sky Lynx, they also had a bunch of Earthrise Starscreams snuggled in with the lone Grapple and pile of Astrotrains. The leftover Siege stuff was only about two thirds of their stock instead of 90%. I'm actually impressed with the amount of articulation Hasbro and TakaraTomy packed into this Sky Lynx. I expected no side-to-side joints in the neck and got two. But boy do I wish Sky's tail had even one side-to-side hinge in it. In some respects Sky Lynx is objectively better than Magna Inventa. The legs on Sky are much larger and thoroughly ratcheted. The armature that lets you raise the wing forward and up from its shuttle location is a very nice touch(Magna avoids the weird-looking wings by flipping them 180 and then folding out HUGE blue panels... devoid of any molded detail). And I adore the full-length cargo bay doors(which aren't really possible on Magna Inventa since part of the shuttle body folds away during transformation, allowing a larger neck). Hasbro's tolerances have let me down, though. Sky Lynx has a few joints that just can't hold their weight, and one's in a wing armature. But all his ratchets are nice and firm, and every joint of the Lynx legs is ratcheted. (No CW collapsing under his own weight nonsense) Scale-wise, Earthrise Sky Lynx looks like Magna Inventa's kid brother. And this thought makes me smile.
  2. JB0
    With dark magics, gumption, and sheer dedication to wisecracking.
  3. JB0
    Class 1 clean room. It's the only way to collect.
  4. JB0
    Slammer is better known by the name "tiny white tank that came with Metroplex". Wingfinger is probably an error. Wingthing was Soundwave's Action Master partner. Neither character, for lack of a better word, is particularly high-profile.
  5. JB0
    I was using a third-party s-video cable on my PS1, and it had a composite connector dangling off to tap. Never had a GunCon2 game. As promised, orange GunCon. I remembered wrong my Point Blank 3 box has a (very faded) "not for Commiefornia" sticker. You can tell from the screwholes and the chipped paint on the trigger that they spraypainted a regular GunCon to make it orange(but it was like this fresh out of the shrinkwrap).
  6. JB0
    I will try to remember to fish mine out and take pics. (Fair warning: it is ugly.)
  7. JB0
    I really liked that Devastator's face looked kinda like a Sinistar. Beyond that, I felt "angry giant robot bulldog" was a waste of a character(though it can be sung to the Ninja Turtles opening). But really, most of the Bayformers were a waste of a character.
  8. JB0
    "NOT FOR SALE IN CALIFORNIA!" I love that sticker, it just seems so random. (Apparently, the GunCon tripped over some changes to the toy gun laws in that state. My copy's one of the later issues, and came with the GunCon painted solid orange and no "Too hot for California" sticker.)
  9. JB0
    The Guncon 3 did it. PS Aim does it today. There's problems with mounting the sensor(Aim) or emitter(GunCon/Wii) properly, and subsequent calibration(particularly if the player is moving around). The frame inlay is meant to avoid the necessity of added devices and calibration. The shape and size of the frame in the device's view give it all the information it needs to calculate precisely where on the screen it is pointing, creating a "plug and play" interface. External sensors or emitters don't do that unless they are appreciably more complex. (Speaking of complexty, the GunCon 3 used two separate emitters mounted on opposing corners of the screen, and that would give screen-accuracy if they were mounted properly. My impression is they often weren't. And they were ugly by necessity, lending them a low wife-acceptance factor.)
  10. JB0
    Licensed the Sinden Lightgun... which uses a digital camera and image recognition software. Smart design. I hadn't heard of this before, and I'd kinda like to get a Sinden now. And I DO give Polymega credit for actually licensing things instead of just stealing it and letting the community scream into the void. It doesn't fully make up for the "hybrid emulation" nonsense they were spouting during their original panhandling campaign, but it does mitigate things a lot. I'm also giving them credit for putting a low-end x86 in there instead of an ARM, it gives them the horsepower needed for more thorough emulation and avoids any unfortunate performance issues(particularly with more complex systems). *grumpy old man rant here* I'm just sayin'... this is mostly a case of polish and presentation, not anything revolutionary. I find the asking price rather steep for what it is, particularly the "system modules", which are all "a cartridge slot, a couple controller ports, and some caps and resistors". They looked at the Retron 5 and (especially) RetroFreak and said "We could sell this for TWICE what they're asking, but strip all the cartridge slots out and then charge people an entire system's cost for each cartridge slot." (If they tell me they never saw the RetroFreak before they launched their Kickstarter campaign, I will call them liars to their face.) ... And I'm still baffled by the use of Kega Fusion on a Linux-based system in 2020. *end grumpy old man rant* There is a non-zero chance I will buy some of their controllers. If they're decent quality and actually work with the original hardware, they're very tempting. (Still overpriced, but ... what controller ISN'T?)
  11. JB0
    Pr'ly not, but I never said the guys in charge of Trek were in touch with current trends.
  12. JB0
    Arcee's finally unlocked her GERWALK mode!
  13. JB0
    Tube amps provide a warmer and more satisfying converging-energy cannon blast.
  14. JB0
    But making Star Trek shows that are like Star Trek shows won't attract the hip, edgy Game of Thrones fans that are the exclusive viewers of television!
  15. JB0
    I mean, so did the Retron 5. Granted, the Retron 5 was also a big ball of license violations, which this thing's taking care to get right. And the Retron wasn't very good at its job.
  16. JB0
    "These are the voyages of the starship Tiberius. Their five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly shag where no man has shagged before."
  17. JB0
    Trek has always had opinions on current events. The key difference between old Trek and new Trek is this: Old Trek used the alien as a mirror the writers can reflect an aspect of society upon without casting these issues directly upon the Federation, thereby keeping the familiar clean. New Trek imports the problems of modern society directly into the Federation and uses the familiar as a mirror the writers can reflect an aspect of society upon. Critically, the Old Trek approach allows the Federation to exist as a beacon of hope for a better future while commenting on the failings of the past. More often than not, it creates an uplifting message in the end. "These are real problems that we are dealing with in the real world, but we can and WILL overcome them, because humanity is fundamentally better than we give ourselves credit for." That's what Old Trek has to say about social injustice. The New Trek approach, unfortunately, makes the problems of today seem timeless, immortal, and insurmountable. "These are real problems that we are dealing with in the real world, and they will be problems FOREVER because humanity is fundamentally wretched and incapable of finding a better tomorrow." That's what New Trek has to say about social injustice.
  18. JB0
    Query: WHY did the Protoculture build this? Was it an anti-Protodeviln thing, or what? Heck, even the ones that AREN'T concealing insanely powerful technology, deadly superweapons, and deadlier bioweapons are dangerous. Mac7 crew found one that was intended to be completely benign, helpful even, and it... tried to stab them to death just as a way of checking their identity.
  19. JB0
    No argument here!
  20. JB0
    Because the original Gundam was made of lunar titanium.
  21. JB0
    Probably that it'd look pretty okay once the pilot was in the seat. Moreso than most of the line, that mold really shows they were designed to be piloted robots.
  22. JB0
    Oh. It's a tiny x86 PC running a collection of emulators. "Emulators: Legally licensed versions of Mednafen, Mesen, Kega Fusion, and MAME." There ya go, that's what you need to install on your PC to get the authentic Polymega experience. ... Wait. Waitwait. Kega Fusion? Seriously? They licensed a Windows-only emulator last updated in 2010 for their 2020 Linux computer?
  23. JB0
    Oh, goodie. Nothing says quality show like illegal DMCA takedown requests targeting reviewers. Okay, I just laughed my butt off at that one.
  24. JB0
    Ultimately, I think the anger is mostly from people who liked the older style MP toys. Look at it from their perspective. They have been cast aside in recent years, despite being the ones that proved this line could be a success as a line instead of just "that one really cool Optimus Prime toy". Everyone else that wanted more detail has moved on to the unlicensed toys or the War For Cybertron line, depending on their priorities. There actually IS a difference between folks complaining about Macross and folks complaining about Transformers, though. In the case of Macross, the toys are imperfect realizations of the original design, which was created for animation first. In the case of Transformers, the cartoons are imperfect realizations of the original design, which was created for toy shelves first. Also, well, the character models for the cartoon are SO different in some cases that it is more like a completely different character that just happens to share a name. Personally, I like the extra detail and random bits of car hanging off the robot from the original toy designs. The simplified animation designs to me are ... well, they're ugly, but they also deny the essence of the line by no longer looking like they can turn into the thing that they turn into(Optimus Prime's got no wheels, but turns into a truck with six of 'em!). But I'm not judging Takara for pursuing the toon-accurate-or-bust market. It is clearly where the most money is, even if it isn't where MY money is. I AM judging them for turning some utterly insane engineering out in the process, though. The recent MP toys have been a case study in how NOT to make a transforming robot.
  25. JB0
    As I recall, ADV failed to acquire Animeigo's heavily-restored footage when they stole the license, so the ADV release has old, faded, off-color footage and the exact same subtitles and japanese audio track. Literally the only reason to get the ADV version is you want the english dub.
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