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JB0

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  1. JB0
    I tell you what I would've done with the accessories if I were doing this thing(assuming I had to work within the current line's gimmicks and limitations). The "barrel extension" would have a purple lens and the plastic would be silver back to the hinge(the "coattails" would still be purple), and I'd probably sculpt the foot plates so they could become an upper and lower face for the barrel extender, giving Shockwave a proper gray barrel. You can see a hint of this idea in the rocket-sled thing's presentation. Most importantly... the rocket booster/arm-blaster things? I'd make them smaller, and pitch them as leg armor(especially given how they're already sculpted to match the original toy's leg profile). And in "ship" mode they could clip together over the conning tower to give a usably-sized pistol grip larger and more imposing conning tower. IDEALLY, I'd want to get rid of the additional bits and put their plastic into the core robot, so Shockwave could be bigger. Not sure how I'd resolve the "purple backpack/silver barrel" issue without a complete redesign. That Shockwave doesn't really HAVE any silver parts in robot mode makes it hard to create a one-piece conversion. But all the extra bits make a lot more sense for Magnus than they do Shockwave, though I do concede that he has always HAD extra bits, even in the original cartoon. (As a very minor aside, it irks me every time I see MP Shockwave described as having a "perfect transformation", since if toon-accuracy is what matters, the original toy was perfect transformation.) I do feel somewhat put out that they managed to ship a toy that HAS extra bits that snap onto the barrel and STILL completely missed the chance at a silver barrel. If nothing else, I'd've put a peg hole farther back and to the side on the barrel surround, so the cable could go in WHERE IT BELONGS instead of stretching to make it to the front or just tucked into nowhere. . It reminds me of Gaogaigar's Mic Sounders the 13th, and I'd be lying if I said this wasn't why I wanted to see Blaster riding the rocket sled.
  2. JB0
    Well, between the two MP Magnuses... one's a white Optibotimus, the other's Ultra Magnus only. Maybe the third time will be the proper two-in-one? Having spent more time messing with Shockwave, I'm finding that I need some pegs. In an attempt to make the "complete" "spaceship" mode not look absurdly back-heavy and dorky, I keep wanting to plug two holes together. I've settled for using them as landing skids for now, but I'm noticing that Shockwave hasn't given himself entirely over to logic, as he's got two small guns across the bow of his ship that will blow the main cannon off if he fires them, and the articulated gun on the right will take out his power cable if fired forward(a problem exacerbated by my landing skid plates). Despite the appearances in these photos the plastic is a consistent deep purple. I found that attaching the booster/cannon modules to the sides of his backpack instead of particularly flamboyant shoulderpads looked decent-ish and gives him kind of a cool rocket pack. I'm not very good at posing, but I'll take a swing anyways. Annoyingly, he can't look up because of the hinge for the backpack swingbar. As much stuff that detaches and clips on elsewhere, you'd think they could've made the barrel do the G1 switcheroo. And My Shockwaves always wind up shaking their fist megalomaniacly for some reason. The "barrel enhancer" used to make "complete spaceship" mode is kind of exasperating. It is very clearly designed for only that purpose, and any other use is an afterthought. The side rails are in two segments, and the back segment doesn't really peg in nicely to anything in rocket-stage mode. In robot mode, it gives Shockwave a pair of tails. It also looks enough like stage equipment that I fully expect to see it again on Soundwave or Blaster.
  3. JB0
    So my Target, to my surprise, had empty pegs where the 10- and 20- dollar Siege toys would go. Lionizer was cute, but I wasn't convinced he was six bucks cute. ... They DID have a slot for the 50-buck toys. Picked up UItra Magnus, looked at him, decided he looked like Magnus... after Magnus had been dragged across the playground(lot's of paint-damage apps right across his chest). That kinda turned me off. Back of box says he turns into a white robot and combines with the trailer to form the real Magnus, so points for that. Seems like the white robot actually turns into a truck cab on its own, too, so... points for successfully matching the original toy's feature set for once? However, while putting Magnus back, I realized the toy behind him wasn't another Magnus. It was SHOCKWAVE. And the battle damage paint is limited to the add-on shoulder armor parts(apparently bodily harm is illogical). The core robot is... well, it's Shockwave. No two ways about it. He's a smaller version of the original toy. I am very pleased. Turns into a space ship of some sort... that looks annoyingly familiar until you flip him upside down and he turns into his G1 raygun form, except the barrel is purple and his feet don't fold away, so they hang off the back and get in the way when you grab the two-inch pistol grip and point him at your dog like you're five again. No flip-up scope plate, but his front landing skid and rear pylons make a good set of pistol sights. ... Annoyingly, despite the surplus of peg holes on him, there's no hole on his gun barrel that's really reachable by the hose . There IS a gap at the elbows you can cram the hose into, and it looks fine once you tilt it to clear the sights, but it isn't as secure as a peg hole would've been. Attaching all the armor to this mode makes a BIGGER space ship, that no longer looks like an upside-down raygun(consequently, it is lame). If you don't want to put his armor on his robot mode(and why WOULD you?), it can be assembled into a flying drone thing. Hasbro helpfully illustrates Shockwave riding atop the drone like some kind of flying sound stage. This is silly, and I'm ignoring that idea.
  4. JB0
    Fortunately, it is far from the first famiclone with a screen. Heck, there's always the Retro Duo Portable, which plays Nintendo AND Super Nintendo carts.
  5. JB0
    That's certainly Intel's story. I still love watching AMD slap Intel around, though. Be nice if they start doing the same to nVidia... if nVidia can take a break from slapping themselves around.
  6. JB0
    Ooooh, what if they made a cyberpunk mecha isekai. "I awoke in another world and everything was neon-lit, then my dying grandfather gave me a giant robot with a huge sword, but I haven't cracked the startup password yet. and the aliens just attacked", or "RoboPass" for short.
  7. JB0
    I believe you mean the short-range flamethrower turrets.
  8. JB0
    That's... unfortunate. It was kind of the worst way to do a clip show.
  9. JB0
    They still make those?!
  10. JB0
    It is better because it offers nVidia a larger profit margin.
  11. JB0
    Well, he's a prominent Camero, it makes sense he'd get a prominent cameo.
  12. JB0
    Man, when you put them all side-by-side like that, the Transform Element and MP v3 both just look cheap.
  13. JB0
    There's also the fact that we're USED to the straight characters having a romantic interest introduced and killed in the space of a half-hour. It is terrible handling either way, really.
  14. JB0
    Space Gandam Vwee has you halfway there.
  15. JB0
    All right, who gave G Gundam's Domon a VF pilot license?!
  16. JB0
    If you can't check the facial hair, you check to see which one is wearing black. But in this case, I think the answer is "both".
  17. JB0
    My money's on half-assed.
  18. JB0
    Almost all SteamVR games work with all 3 standards(Windows VR is a legitimate option). Personally, I have a Rift, but buy all my games on Steam so I'm not locked into a given standard later. My choice of hardware was actually cost-driven. Got it when Rift+Touch hit 400. Vive wins the cabling contest (especially once you add a third Rift sensor for full "roomscale" tracking), but Rift has better lenses and controllers, as well as integrated headphones. Windows VR is even easier to set up, but sacrifices some controller accuracy to get there. I honestly think you'll be happy no matter which platform you go with. I'd probably get Windows VR if I were buying right now(it is hard to argue with the cost), but there's merit in all three paths. I am very fond of the Oculus controllers, but Knuckles actually shipping would be a nice feather in Vive's hat. Incidentally, Oculus has a referral program. If you go that way, I should be able to send you a referral code for a 10% discount.
  19. JB0
    They look a lot less like crap, and we've lowered our expectations low enough that that's worth celebrating. ... What is UP with Shockwave's thighs, though?
  20. JB0
    That... looks fantastic. Best evil clone since Captain Kirk.
  21. JB0
    Realistically, they could go after them regardless of whether the law is on their side or not. There's plenty of cases of the bigger company suing the smaller one into oblivion without ever proving a thing. If they wanted to shut someone down, their lawyers could make an assemblage of accusations carefully constructed to be expensive to defend(Atari vs Jeff Minter), and generate a new case with similar, but legally distinct. accusations every time a case is dismissed(Sony vs Bleem!). It becomes a case of who has deeper pockets, and that's almost always going to be Hasbro. ... Also realistically, most of the legally-distinct converting robot toys are from companies in China. It'd be hard to run them down, and it seems like whenever one does close their doors, another one springs up with the same staff the next week. It'd just be pissing away money and the fans' good will for the most transient of gains. And I'm not saying there is no copyright on physical objects, just that it isn't as strong as it is for more traditionally copyrightable material. There's more wiggle room. While a "third-party Transformer" might not pass the standards of plagiarism that printed word or music is held to, it is most likely different enough to be considered a legally-distinct converting robot toy. Though woe unto the company that publishes comic books about their- wait a second! Seriously, I can't actually think of a good reason KFC hasn't been sued. Their comic books are just begging for trouble even if the toys can slip through the cracks.
  22. JB0
    If the "third-party" toys directly used Hasbro's trademarks, Hasbro would be legally required to go after them. If you don't defend your trademarks, you lose them. But copyright gets vague when you aren't directly reproducing someone's work exactly, and plagiarism isn't really a concept in physical goods. I'm not saying a case can't be made, but it isn't an easy case as long as they avoid using original names and logos. All that said, they haven't even managed to stop the direct bootleggers making unlicensed reissues.
  23. JB0
    The franchise also shows that they're using highly unconventional tactics. It is also implied that some of those tactics have been intentionally ignored by the top brass to protect the Objects' reputation of invincibility. But mostly, it is the Death Star problem. Once you've determined starfighters can't get to the thermal exhaust port, you get sloppy in protecting it.
  24. JB0
    I'd've thought Aquaman was doing bad because A. Aquaman's popular perception is "the joke character whose superpower is swimming" and B. DC has a track record of making absolutely awful movies at this point.
  25. JB0
    You... you're seeing other sites? How could you?!
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