Jump to content

JB0

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    13140

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by JB0

  1. JB0
    I've never had a bad CPU. Bad mobo once or twice, a vidcard or two, and enough RAM that I won't buy online because I EXPECT to need an exchange, but never CPU.
  2. JB0
    So, I was looking at videos of some more of these guys(I still only own Screwhead), and it seems like Tank/Battle Robo came out amazingly well. Which is doubly impressive given how lazy the original was(Fold in half at the waist, you're done. Ignore the arms hanging out on the side, please). Transformation is almost completely different to the original(understandably), but he still gives the same impression in both modes, and he looks like he's still pretty easy to transform(though not AS easy, because how COULD he be?). While well-articulated, he has very few balljoints(which wouldn't work well with his chunky aesthetic). Swivels in the thigh, the bicep, the wrist... even his flippin' HEAD can rotate, despite being embedded in a giant plastic wedge(DARK MAGIC). On the other hand, he's cyan instead of dark blue, his tank treads and forward guns are too small. On the third hand, it DOES further the impression that these aren't a single line so much as a random collection of unrelated toys. (I just used my entire daily allotment of parentheses in this post)
  3. JB0
    I played with Bug Bite until he broke. The plastic that made the roof up started cracking, and then he was a convertible. And then the little silver dude-ish thing fell out. I think he wound up in the trash shortly afterwards. Zat is an excellent point! Ze Transformers, they do not have zis monocle!
  4. JB0
    I've only owned one LG phone, and it died in a week or two. In fairness, it was also the cheapest phone available. It was a crap phone, but so was every phone at that price point. I only got it because my old one had just broken and I felt the need to be in immediate contact due to other events. ... I also didn't pay for it. I'd ordered online for instore pickup, and there was apparently confusion at the store. And while I was trying to figure out what to do about the e-mail that said "you never picked your phone up, so we're refunding your money" the phone died. Which made the decision a lot easier. (I don't even know how you explain that. "Hi, I bought this phone and you refunded my money because I never picked it up, but I DID pick it up. But then it died. So can you charge my card for the phone since I DID buy it, but then refund it since it is kinda broken shiznit? Thanks.")
  5. JB0
    I see them as cannons, mostly because they're on Megatron. And really, when you get down to it, a rocket is just a really big flamethrower anyways.
  6. JB0
    I don't have one, but I like QNAP better because their designs look like the expansion box for my old TI computer.
  7. JB0
    It is a pretty cool car, but I never owned one. I DID own Bug Bite. There's also Baron von Joy. Who needs to be mentioned because he's named Baron von Joy. I always thought the cockpit heads were neat. Less so on Psycho, since the open cabin DESTROYS MY SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF!1111 (No, seriously, for some reason I can see a closed cabin as a head, but not an open one) I am aware I'm in the minority.
  8. JB0
    DX Bug Bite!
  9. JB0
    You know, I keep meaning to look at more than screenshots of Revenge of Chronos, but it keeps not happening.
  10. JB0
    Me too. I'd like to see a lower prince point, but understand there's a small market for them(apparently even smaller than the manufacturer expected), and low sales volume raises per-unit costs and dear god I sound like some sort of accountant in a suit now. And while REAL COLLECTORS may balk at the presence of balljoints, some of the funnest robot dolls I've played with had a surplus of balljoints, and these guys have well-toleranced ones based on my sample of one. It isn't like they're heavy enough to NEED ratchets, anyways.
  11. JB0
    Also, my understanding is that legally, a trademark owner can't selectively ignore infringing use. They have to threaten everyone or risk losing the mark. That results in a lot of C&D notices companies don't really care about. In practice, this usually means they ignore fanworks until they get attention in the mainstream press. Below that threshold they can credibly claim they simply didn't know their trademark was being misused. (Also, AM2R was a terrible remake in that it missed the entire point of the original work, but that's neither here nor there. It was leagues better than Samus Returns, though. And I think the DMCA thing was actually a confused lawyer, because a DMCA takedown request is for flat-out piracy, not trademark infringement.)
  12. JB0
    Objectively, it is a far better adult collectible. I just feel like they lost sight of the character. I also feel like just squaring off the tops of the chest vents would help a lot to retain the original character feel without throwing away the entire toy. That said, it is the odd duck in the line, as the rest are all much more conservative redesigns. I still wonder why Eagle-1 got a complete makeover and none of the rest did. I suspect the answer is "DX Bike Robo". Which is to say that smaller, cheaper collectibles didn't sell well and they're trying to port the line to a larger size. Which is admittedly somewhat disappointing.
  13. JB0
    The shoulders are a notable change, but the octagonal chest vents drive me crazy. The angle across the bottom of the torso's alright, the black abdomen I can handle, but the top should be a straight line. And the plates to the side of the head ought to be there, but if the torso was squared across the top, I could ignore that too. (Incidentally, the shoulder expansion looks to be a skippable step, and if I had this toy, I probably would. Similarly, it looks like there's two pieces making an almost-flat V around his neck that could be folded up higher to get closer to the plate-ears look. ) Ah, but Bike Robo's changes were to make him more ANIME accurate. Image search tells me he matches the Revenge of Chronos design fairly closely. (And a lot of detail on Drill Robo's humanoid form is pulled from the anime model as well, but it strikes close enough to the toy to hit nostalgia buttons I didn't even realize I had) At least the anime stayed close to the toys. The characters on the show still RESEMBLE their toys, which isn't a detail that OTHER converting robots cartoon always bothered with. ALL THAT SAID, I will buy a Pathfinder remake in whichever scale it comes in, at whatever price they ask.
  14. JB0
    For the drill? Bleh. My feelings on it vary from part to part. I've looked at Eagle Robo, but I can't sell myself on it. It just doesn't look like Leader-1 to me. It looks like the anime used a design very close to the original toy, so anime accuracy would've gotten a decent Go-Bot. I'm not sure what happened here, but I feel like in "fixing" some of the original toy's deficiencies, they lost the character. He's great from the tips of his new toes to his belt, and then he falls off the truck. I can't see that octagonal torso as Leader-1 any more than an Optimus with no radiator abs.
  15. JB0
    My understanding is Machine Robo's Bike Robo used the axe that came with the smaller toy. The handblasters are pure Go-Bot. Honestly, between the faces, the blaster parts, and the color changes, I get the impression that DX Cy-Kill exists specifically for Go-Bots fans. As far as the non-DX toys goes, I got their Drill Robo/Screwhead back when I picked up Grassor/Slag. And I grin like I'm three again every time I mess with him. The general impression he gives is "the toy your imagination said you owned as a kid". I feel like he's basically an MP Go-Bot, size notwithstanding. The engineering is too clever for its own good at points(much like certain entries in the MP TF line, starting way back at MP-1 Prime), but he is a very good drilltank and robot. The transformation, while more complex due to the panels that fill out the leg backs and tank sides, is still "legs down, toes forward, arms to the side". There's even a cute touch(opinions may vary) where the injection gate on his robot back/drilltank top is placed where a screwhole was on the original toy. The biggest flaw, and one I feel is directly related to the scale, is that there's a trio of fairly visible holes on the tops of his feet. One centered on his ankle balljoint, the other two at the endpoints for a panel that fills out drilltank mode. I suspect they are strain relief for the associated joints, and a larger toy could more readily avoid the holes. (There's similar gaps at other joints, but it only really sticks out for me on the feet) ... Okay, that's actually the second-biggest flaw. The BIGGEST flaw is that his drillhead is gray plastic and not chrome. All the gray plastic on the new version was chrome on the original, but only the drillhead change BOTHERS me. It is still very expensive for the size, and that is really the only fault I can find.
  16. JB0
    The english version of their site states that " A new wing on the right side is new. " I just wanted to highlight that, because it made me smile. In seriousness, my babelfish-to-english skills(combined with comparing to pics of the original) tell me that 1: they redesigned the wing for a better "sword draw" effect. It presents the appearance that the sword is actually sheathed inside the wing instead of just hooked to the back of it. I'm pretty sure they attach a bladeless hilt to the end of the wing for that feature, but it is a key pose, so... parts used exclusively to recreate the pose are understandable. 2: They remolded the head to suck less. Or as the babelfished translation puts it, "The face parts became a new model, more goggles were emphasized, and the three-dimensional feeling increased. " 3: New optional toy-accurate "sigma" belt buckle to swap with the original anime-accurate "jailbars" one. 4: New axe and frisbee weapons. 5: They redesigned the combined chest plate. 5b: The little crystal in the torso bot's chest apparently extends out into the combiner chestplate instead of being duplicated by the chestplate part. A cute touch, albeit pointless. Unchanged, based on the fact that the promo pics aren't highlighting it to the heavens: He still only has about five degrees of knee motion. In conclusion, New wing is new and more goggles were emphasized. To me, it looks like existing owners shouldn't upgrade unless they just HATE the current head. But new purchasers shouldn't be considering the original.
  17. JB0
    I have a soft spot for Monstructor. He was my only G1 combiner, and I was old enough to actually read the bios so I appreciated some of that detail(his guys were my introduction to "G1 bios are crazy"). But he was stupid small, and just not very good. I'm just really not sure I want a new one for the price.
  18. JB0
    As hard as I rag on the Spectrum, I've got nothing bad to say about it aesthetically. He contributed the best part of that system, as well as the other computers he worked on. Rest in peace, good sir.
  19. JB0
    Someone's doing Monstructor? Color me surprised. Not that it is a bad idea, just that it was from a fairly dark time for the franchise and I didn't think anyone was looking for this.
  20. JB0
    Oh, definitely. But before they did it, I would've said it was impossible. Now I can just say it is impossible to look nice doing.
  21. JB0
    On the other hand, they DID do the "perfect transformation" Getter Robo. All three robots and the individual jets in a single toy, with apparently no part-swapping. While it was completely insane, it is an insanity I have to respect.
  22. JB0
    I still really like how Classics Prime looks, so this is pretty awesome to me. The upgrades to the arm shields are sorely appreciated, though not as much as the ability to just hang 'em off his back instead. Be nice if they covered up the spare radiator when used as a backpack, but I guess that's too much to ask. If I recall, Classics Prime was originally designed as a smaller toy, to be sold with trailer. Then they decided to put that part of the budget into a bigger and better robotruck, sold at the same price point without a trailer. So they upscaled him, and then tweaked the design and paint job to be more fitting for the new scale. I think that's why the goofy armshields happened in the first place. It was a sacrifice needed for the smaller version, and was too hard to get rid of it without rebuilding him from scratch.
  23. JB0
    Apparently, Mattel has the exclusive license to make Ferrari toys, so no alien robot Ferraris from Hasbro. This is apparently also why the character's name is different in the movie than in other material(where he's known as Mirage). Ferrari wasn't comfortable with their character bearing a Hasbro toy trademark(more specific than Autobot).
  24. JB0
    They did a movie that opened with ten minutes of new stuff before turning into a two-hour clip episode. It raised SO MANY QUESTIONS in those ten minutes.
  25. JB0
    That actually does help! Thanks. So they're the best kind of toy company?
×
×
  • Create New...