Jump to content

All Activity

This stream auto-updates

  1. Past hour
  2. Even Marvel Jesus won't be able to wash the crud off the feet of the upcoming Captain America (without Captain America) movie or Blade, nor every other piece of celluloid cringe that Disney/Feige -- or Sony, for that matter: Morbius, Madame Web, Craven... -- has in store for the post Endgame moribund MCU. Will there be individual successes? Sure, but the post Perlmutter Marvel is a rudderless ship at best, a sinking one at worst.
  3. Today
  4. The Missing Link's Matrix chamber/housing is designed to be easily removable, so you can get the seats back. I removed mine since I don't like the Matrix and I got some Dianauts and pilots I can use as driver/passenger... also, thigh-rotation and stuff...
  5. https://www.nin-nin-game.com/en/dx-chogokin/125765-dx-chogokin-macross-do-you-remember-love-vt-1-super-ostrich-limited-edition-bandai-spirits-.html https://hobby-genki.com/en/dx-chogokin/33076-dx-chogokin-vf-31j-supersiegfried-hayate-immelmann-use-revival-ver.html
  6. I think, because I went with Pulse instead of importing directly from Japan myself, that I'm the last one to take a look at Missing Link Convoy. Takara went for a quick nostalgia knock-out with the packaging. Sure, it's in Japanese, but red-and-black box with a grid pattern? A window box displaying the truck nestled inside styrofoam flanked by incredible art of the toy in a pose it can't actually do? Classic G1 battle scene on the back with tech specs you need a decoder to read? That's 100% how I remember my Transformers toys being packaged as a kid in America. Inside the styrofoam you'll find the truck and trailer, naturally, but also some familiar and unfamiliar accessories. Familiar- Roller (in the original silver and not the blue color that was more common in the States), his fuel hose, a rifle, a sprue of missiles, and a sprue of tires (because Roller requires assembly). Unfamiliar- a golden Matrix of Leadership and an Energon axe. Not pictured but also included are a collectors card and one of those red plastic rectangles to decode the specs with. The truck itself could almost be mistaken for the G1 toy from most angles, as the most obvious difference from the back and sides is that the Autobot insignia on the sides is tampoed instead of stickered. Likewise, the stickers on the toes are now molded into the feet and painted. From the front, though, there's a bit more going on. The translucent plastic on the windows seems a bit more yellow, but I think that's less to do with the actual translucent plastic and more to do with the new stuff behind it being more reflective. There's no cutouts on his bumper, and his headlights are a bit smaller and lack the peg holes in the middle. About that reflective bit... the front of the cab can still fold open, but the little Dialcone seats (that were useful for storing the original toy's fists) have been replaced by a new chunk of large chrome plastic. That's where the new Matrix accessory can be plugged in. Not gonna lie, I'd have been pretty into it if the G1 toy were reissued with a piece like that and a Matrix back in 1986 after the movie came out. Missing Link Convoy retains the rub sign on the roof, and naturally, can pull his trailer, which hitches the same way (fitting a port over a large peg on the backs of his legs). Aside from a some slight differences in plastic color (which could be due to my G1 trailer being from a reissue), the trailer appears even more similar to the original than the cab. Again, the most obvious difference is that the Autobot insignia and stripes are tampoed onto the trailer rather than being a sticker. But both still have the same molded details on the sides, the same trailer door and bumper, the same little tab sticking out of the front, and the same cutouts on the front and top. Underneath appears the same at glance, too- four wheels at the back, a driveshaft running up the middle with a port for the hitch, and a pair of blue swing arms. Notice, though, that the black part is thicker on the Missing Link toy, and there are no gray tabs at the end. This is a clue to the real difference, which we'll see inside. So yeah, both have the the repair drones and Diaclone seats. The Missing Link trailer has the two largest sticker details done as tampographs (there are some actual stickers in the package if you want to do up the rest of the trailer). The repair drone still has the opening cockpit for another Diaclone seat, the firing missiles, the movable claw, radar dish with the spinner. What's missing, though, is the spring-loaded launcher for Roller. It's just not there. Instead, the repair drone can slide forward and pop out. With wheels on the underside it can roll around on it's own, a gimmick it borrows from MP-44. Roller is also a little different, also borrowing a gimmick from the MPs. The port on the rear that can hold the fuel hose or Prime's rifle can flip over, revealing a little translucent flasher. With the cutouts on the trailer, the drone can still poke out of the front or top of the closed trailer. Of course, I don't think anyone is buying Missing Link Convoy for the truck. After all, they're nearly the same except the original can launch Roller but the new one has a detachable repair drone. The star of the show is the robot mode... which, at a glance appears mostly the same. You'll quickly notice that, as I mentioned with the truck mode, that the Autobot insignias on his shoulders are tampoed, and the sticker details on the arms, knees, and toes are now actually molded onto the plastic and painted. Other than that, the biggest difference is the the hands, which are are bit closer to something you might see on a modern Generations figure than the bulbous mitts with lipped 5mm ports that the original came with. Unlike the original toy, these hands do no partsform or plug into the headlights. Instead, they fold inward, which causes the headlights to fold out from inside Convoy's forearms. Not much difference besides the hands on the sides. You can see a little difference in the waist/pelvis area, though. Most noticeably, there's a tiny peg hole for a flight stand on Missing Link Convoy. The new hands actually necessitate that Missing Link Convoy's rifle is slightly different. On the left, you see both version of the G1 rifle. The Missing Link rifle is mostly modeled after the chunky-barrel one, but the realistic handle (that the original toy couldn't actually hold) has been replaced with another 5mm peg. The reason for that is pretty simple; Missing Link Convoy's new hands are smaller than the the G1 toy's, so the handle on the original toy would prevent the peg from reaching his fist. As for the axe, there's a hinged flap you can open to reveal a 5mm peg inside. It slides into Convoy's hand, then you close the flap over the bottom. A Matrix, a revised rifle, an axe, and hands that don't partsform are all well and good, but they hardly represent a "missing link" between the G1 toys and modern Transformers. No, if there's on thing even the harshest critic of modern Transformers has to admit, it's that the modern toys have far greater articulation than the borderline bricks of the '80s. Heck, the original G1 Optimus toy could swivel his shoulders 180 degrees, he had a backward butterfly, he had bicep swivels, he could bend his elbows 90 degrees, swivel his wrists, bend his hips back 90 degrees, bend his knees 90 degrees, and bend his feet down, and that put him miles ahead of later G1 figures like Hot Rod, who could do nothing but bend his elbows. So that's what the "missing link" thing is supposed to be- the form and aesthetics of the original toy, but with modern articulation. Missing Link Convoy's head swivels. His shoulders can still swivel and have that backward butterfly, but they also can move laterally 90 degrees. And additional hinge on the inside of the swivel will let you extend his arms even further. His biceps and wrists still swivel, but his hands also can bend inward, and his fingers are hinged so he can open his hands. His elbows bend 90 degrees laterally. He's got an uncomfortably tight and fairly limited ab crunch. The tires that are on his hips are hinged so they can get out of the way, allowing you to access a limited waist swivel below his bumper. His hips can still go 90 degrees backward, but they can now also move almost 90 degrees forward or laterally. His thighs swivel now. His knees, which are ratcheted now, can hyperextend a click, and bend over 90 degrees. His feet still tilt down due to transformation, but not up, while the front of his foot is now on a swivel to give him a faux ankle pivot. All-in-all, it's articulation that wouldn't be particularly remarkable on most modern Transformers figures, but it's far more than the original toy, and it's kind of neat seeing what appears to be the G1 toy in these more dynamic poses. The thing is, though, I'm not sure how far this gimmick can actually go. To me, the appeal of owning a G1 figure is having the toy I remember playing with 40 years ago. If it's a reissue, that's fine, but I want it to be as close as possible to the original. With new molded detail, tampographs, accessories, and a ton more articulation that isn't what Missing Link Convoy is. But on the other hand, if I buy a modern toy with modern articulation, I also want modern aesthetics that go harder into the Sunbow models. For all the modern articulation, Missing Link Convoy still has all the G1 jank aesthetics left over from his Diaclone origins. And I think that's where I'm starting to run into trouble. As a one-off figure, Missing Link Convoy is a very neat experiment in taking what is essentially the G1 toy with it's weird proportions and most of it's gimmicks but allowing you to pose it the way you imagined it in your head as a kid. But it's kind of like this... am I willing to rebuy a bunch of G1 toys, or nearly-identical reissues? Yes. Am I willing to buy all those G1 characters in modern toys with modern articulation and aesthetics? Yes again. But am I willing to invest in a third line of toys that look mostly like the G1 toys I had but clearly aren't the toys from 40 years ago because these ones actually have articulation? Honestly, probably not. So, yeah, I like Missing Link Convoy. I think, if you grew up with the G1 toy there's a lot of nostalgia here, and because it's Prime I think it's worth checking him out and seeing what an articulated version of that most classic of toys is like. But I'm not exactly clamoring to see what might be next for Missing Link, and I don't think I'd want to buy a Missing Link Ironhide or something the way some people seem to. Heck, this wasn't even my favorite Optimus I got today...
  7. You’re not the only person that has mentioned about the shorts @Mommar. I think Mezco took some inspiration from the Golden Age Cap and did a spin from that.
  8. I saw the first episode of Velma S2, and... Man... HBO deleted many cartoons for this... this thing. Scream 2 refrence Ex-lead vocal of a gothic-rock band, droped for a "life better" Kids, wath out with drugs.
  9. Yeah, I do seem to skew heavily towards "disappointed" in a lot of the streaming originals don't I? I've thought about that a lot, and while I know my own eccentric tastes are probably a part of I also feel like a common thread in a lot of the ones I've found disappointing has been a "style over substance" approach to showrunning. A lot of these new shows sink most of their time, effort, and money into making a series visually spectacular without taking the time and care to make sure it's narratively spectacular too. As someone who's more engaged by compelling characters and a well-composed narrative than pure eye candy, that's become a deal breaker for me on several titles. As long as it makes internal sense... though it definitely feels like it's counting on shock value to carry it in quite a few places, both in the violence and the humor. The second episode is certainly atmospheric. Hasn't really done much to explain things, but there's a definite sense of direction to proceedings by the end of it.
  10. I’ve seen enough of the real world style stuff that I’m glad that there’s finally a modern option for the anime style. I personally prefer it. Even with other brands like Gundam. They’ve put out real grade and mg ver.ka of the Sazabi and others that go way more overboard with details, but I prefer the hguc version of the Sazabi since it looks more like the anime. there are times when i think a redesign is fine and Hasegawa did a pretty good job of redesign while still keeping the feel of the original. But I still like the max factory versions better and hope that hasegawa can update their designs a bit more for better action
  11. Star Wars TIE INTERCEPTOR 75382 May 4, 2024 Release US$229.99 75382_ShopperVideo.mp4
  12. I was kinda thinking a bit about this and a part of me wants to think Disney would learn from this, but they’ve been given lesson after lesson and still mess things up badly. I think they’re too hard headed and stuck in their ways to be taught anything and the only successes they have are flukes with the like Guardians of the Galaxy or Spider-Man. Personally I liked the last Spidey film the first time I saw it, but after a second watch it’s definitely too gimicky. Hopefully Deadpool doesn’t end up feeling like it’s relying on a gimmick
  13. Definitely a great show, I’m a little surprised though about the level of brutality that your parents could handle. My mom absolutely will not watch anything with a lot of gore. Unfortunately my father passed away when I was much younger, but he was the one that took me to see Robocop in the theater back when I was only nine or ten. I don’t think he quite knew what we were getting into and I sure was in for a bit of a shocker since that was a game changer as far as acceptable violence in a non horror movie. I think he might’ve been ok with Fallout, but my mom would never give this show a try. She’s definitely more old fashioned and may get a kick out of the flashbacks, but that’s about it
  14. LOL, I still kinda want that but gave up on it a long time ago. Hope it turns out good and I still get a chance to nab one later.
  1. Load more activity
×
×
  • Create New...