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mikeszekely

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About mikeszekely

  • Birthday 02/03/1980

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    mikeszekely
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    Male
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    Pensburgh, PA
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    3P Transformers, video games, quantum gravity, hockey

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  1. I don't have super high hopes... I liked Godzilla and King of the Monsters, but I thought Kong: Skull Island was pretty mediocre and Godzilla vs Kong was trash. But the Goji fan in me insists, and everyone's off tomorrow, so I'm thinking about taking the family to a matinee.
  2. Disagree. I mean, not with the first part. I definitely would rather have a toy of the Firebird than the Shelby. And I acknowledge that nothing will top the original Knight Rider. But I'm telling you, with a straight face, that I actually loved the 2008 Knight Rider and was disappointed that it only got one season.
  3. Delorean licensing is kind of a mess. Hasbro licensed the "Time Machine" from Universal, and is pretty accurate to the films aside the total absence of DMC branding. When John Delorean went bankrupt apparently some holding company wound up with some of DMC's IP, and someone else bought it from the holding company and started Delorean Motor Company of Texas, which was later sued by the Delorean estate. They settled, but aside from Delorean Motor Company of Texas owning the DMC trademark and both parties agreeing that DMC Texas can make cars and merchandise with the DMC brand I'm not totally clear who actually owes what. I do know that in 2020 Universal started paying DMC Texas royalties, but DMC Texas is still suing for royalties prior to that, and as of last month that case still isn't settled. I'm less concerned regarding K.I.T.T. Hasbro seems to have a good relationship with GMC.
  4. So... this is still technically a rumor, but I got this from a reliable source...
  5. Never say never, eh? (Well, the General Lee still seems pretty unlikely). Anyway, thought I'd leave a link to my original Ectotron review in case anyone wants to read up on it before deciding on whether or not to get the reissue.
  6. Yeah, the only way for a single toy to more accurately encapsulate my childhood would be if Party Wallop came with an NES accessory. As for MP Ginrai... it's kind of a wait and see thing. I don't really mind them not including Godbomber, but it irks me that he doesn't come with the trailer (just like it irked me when KFC announced they were doing it that way... at least Takara isn't starting with the trailer first). I'd also have preferred if they did the blue-eyed cartoon deco first.
  7. This stream isn't that great, and it looks like the Studio Series stuff isn't getting an actual reveal/preorders today after all.
  8. MP-60, not MPG. Ginrai, not Super Ginrai. And a price around MP Hoist's. Hmm... it looks like Takara's doing the KFC thing, and the trailer will come later. I can't help but be a bit disappointed... if it was MPG there was some hope it'd scale with Legacy. Bit more exciting to me is the TMNT collab. EDIT: Target link is up. You can use the same $20 off $75 on two (the most you can order in one go) if you want to buy four, or $5 off $30 on just one. https://www.target.com/p/transformers-x-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-action-figure/-/A-90257545 Note that it's one figure of one turtle that turns into the party wagon with the weapons and head to make it any of the four Turtles, or a no-bandana head to make it a non-specific turtle mech.
  9. https://www.target.com/p/transformers-legacy-united-action-figure-set---4pk--target-exclusive-/-/A-89629499 If you have a Red Card linked to your account be sure to click the $20 off $75 on toys offer. My total after tax was $60.41. If you prefer Pulse there's no special savings, but https://hasbropulse.com/collections/new/products/transformers-legacy-united-versus-multipack
  10. I'm sort of aware of what Takara is doing, but I mostly stick with the stuff Hasbro releases domestically. I think the last time I imported a Takara figure it was the Tenseg base Optimus Prime, though I'm awaiting copies of Missing Link Convoy and Lunar Cruiser Prime. Hasbro mandated awhile back that Takara's regular retail releases of Transformers figures can't be substantially different than Hasbro's anymore. Takara has been slowly releasing premium "Beast War Versus" packs, though, with more and more accurate paint. So far they've done Primal vs Megatron, Rattrap vs Terrorsaur, Dinobot vs Tarantulas, Tigatron vs Blackarachnia, Cheetor vs Waspinator, and Rhinox vs Scorponok. Airazor vs Inferno is the most recent, available for preorder now. When it comes to Beast Wars, though, I've bought the Kingdom/Legacy figures as they've come out and I'm glad to have what I'd consider the "main" cast (that is, the pre-Transmetal, pre-Fuzor cast). As someone who has, on more than one occasion, bought a figure and then bought a more cartoon-accurate repaint later, I get the appeal of these premium versions for Beast Wars fans, but as more of a G1 guy personally the regular Kingdom/Legacy releases. IIRC the original take on Antagony was based on Transmetal Inferno, which has a slimmer lower body (though a pretty broad chest). Maybe if/when Hasbro gets around to doing the Transmetal versions of the Beast Wars crew...
  11. Red Ant? Do you mean Inferno? Antagony already got a release last fall, and as a black ant. Inferno was released... I want to say late 2022. Inferno was a regular retail release, while Antagony was a Pulse-exlcusive Generations Select release. She's the exact same figure, just in a different color, packaged with an extra head.
  12. Preorders open tomorrow at 9:00am EDT, and I think they're another Target-exclusive. I guess people are happy because a lot of them missed Tarn the first time for some reason? I don't see a huge difference there. Don't really need Tarantulas, either. I guess the deco is based on some prototype. That said, I guess I'll have to shell out for this set anyway to get Prime Cliffjumper (retooled from Legacy United Chase) and Squeezeplay (looks like a heavy retool of Titans Return Mindwipe). EDIT: OMG, Squeezeplay's gun is molded to look like Browning from Masterforce. Don't forget the Pulse stream at 11:00am, also.
  13. I still plan on seeing it, too, but I really wish they'd stop mucking up Godzilla movies by putting Kong in them.
  14. OK, last kit for now. We're skipping DK-45, a kit for Legacy Armada Prime that IMHO makes the figure worse, and sticking with Rise of the Beasts. This kit is DK-46, the DNA upgrade for Studio Series Scourge. We've got quite a few parts here, and right away we can see what looks to be new arms. So, yeah, hopefully you didn't put your screwdrivers away after installing the kit on Prime yesterday. And we're just going to have to get right into it. We'll begin by popping Scourge's head off the ball joint, pulling his backpack away from his body, and undoing these two screws. Once they're out, you can slide his chest and wheels (really, most of his upper body) out and off. If you swing the wheels out and you look at the chunk of torso you just removed you'll find one wheel connected directly to the chest, and that wheel has Scourge's collar on the other end on a post where the screw went through. On the post for the other screw is the other wheel. You need to remove that wheel, then remove the collar from the wheel that's attached to the chest. Keep the wheels and chest, but you can ditch the collar (along with Scourge's original head). Find the DNA replacement collar. It has these spikey-looking rib bits. Attach the lone wheel to the post, then fold it under the collar while spinning the ribs so that they're outside the wheel. Note that the ribs rotate on sliders, so you can slide them out to get the clearance you need to get them over and around the wheel. Once that's done, do the same for the wheel with the chest. When you're done, it should look like the third picture. Slide the chest piece back into place and replace the screws. Pop the DNA head onto the ball joint. Then you can put the mask onto the face. Online, people have complained about DNA's head sculpt. I get where they're coming from... but I don't think the original was particularly good in the first place. Really, I don't think Scourge looks too bad with the complete DNA head, but the gimmick with it is that the mask is removable, like the end of the film. And the face under the mask is a bit derpy. But hey, the neck is more solid. I do like that. Moving along, next up we can replace Scourge's right arm. Begin by removing the two screws on the inside of his forearm. Pry the inside off, then slid the outside out of the elbow joint. Replace it with the DNA arm, being sure to encapsulate the DNA hand as you do so, then replace the screws. As for the left arm, well, you'll recall that it's actually pegged in and meant to be removed so you can plug his blaster in. So replacing the stock left arm is as easy as pulling it off and plugging the DNA arm in instead. Speaking of his blaster, DNA included a butt for Scourge. You simply plug it into the slot and stand hole on his stock butt. There's a notch in the DNA butt, and you can use the tabs on the blaster to store it on the DNA butt. We're not just going to beef up Scourge's butt, though. There are these pieces that attach to the outsides of his thighs by plugging them into the cutouts where the mushroom swivels peak through, just under the ports. There are also parts that plug into the hollows on the insides of his thighs- one has a single big rectangular tab, the other has two smaller trapezoidal tabs, and that'll help you keep track of which goes into which thigh. While they do fill the hollows and bulk out the inside a bit, they wrap around the front of the thigh. I'll note that, on my copy at least, the filler for the left thigh is fine, but the one for the right keeps popping out. Fortunately, it's the only part that pops off. Which reminds me, we have one more part for Scourge's legs. This part attaches to the tabs on his shins, bulking them up an bit and adding some ankle armor. There's one other part that I didn't include in my first photograph, because it's so small I actually didn't notice it at first and when I realized it was supposed to be there it took me a hot minute to actually find it. It's this little gray thing. It fits (a bit loosely) into the wing joints on Studio Series Airazor, and I think it's supposed to be the thing that he shot at her to infect her. Note the hole it the center; it can also fit onto a peg in the middle of the new claw hand. And that just leaves the new arm blade. Unlike the stock arm, this one isn't permanently attached. It has a T-shaped peg that fits into a slot on the back of Scourges arm and then slides down to lock into place. Well... I say lock, but I'm using the term loosely, pun intended. I don't think it'll fall out, but there's plenty of wiggle. So, why'd we do all that, aside from the already stated benefits of a giving Scourge a head with a removable mask and an arm blade that isn't permanently attached? We've also added some filler to his sides and bulked up his butt and legs, which doesn't just make him seem less skinny it's actually more screen-accurate armor. And while some metallic paint on the new parts might have been nice, as near as I can tell the more silvery color is also more accurate than the mostly-black of the stock parts. Aside from aesthetics, Scourge gets a bit more articulation from the kit, too. His right hand now has a wrist swivel, plus his thumb and each finger are now individually articulated as the base knuckles. As for the left arm, the claws still open at the base, but they know have an additional hinge in the middle of each claw. The claw can also swivel freely (and loosely)... I don't recall if that's because it spun around in the movie or not. If you don't want it spinning so freely, there are two hooks at the base that can grab notches on his wrist to lock it into place. Bot mode upgrades are only as good as they can still transform, so let's take a look at what's changed going into alt mode. For starters, once you've untabbed the chest and moved the backpack out of the way, you'll need to swing his shoulders are far back as you can. use the sliders on the new ribs to get them out of the way so you can work the wheels and chest out. Once they're out, slide the ribs back to where they started. The legs actually work pretty much exactly the same as before. Spin the waist 180 degrees, then swivel at the thighs and pop the wheels out, tuck the feet in, and tab them together. Everything still fits fin with the extra DNA parts on. Really, the only extra thing here is to push the ankle armor down. Continue transforming him like you normally would. Just one thing to be aware of, if you want things to fit right, and that's that you should turn both of his arms at the bicep as you fold them in so that the front of his elbows and forearms are facing toward the outside. Then it's just a matter of unfolding the backpack, settling into place, and tabbing the grill in. Aesthetically, I don't feel like his truck mode was affected too much. Sure, the rear where a trailer would hypothetically attach is much less flat, but arguably less messy. And the extra armor back there kind of fits with the Mad Max vibes anyway. However, we don't have a permanently attached arm blade stuffed into the gap between his legs now, and there's nowhere to tab in the unfolded (and messy, let's be honest) blaster. So what are we going to do? Well, it's not the most elegant solution, but for the blaster we don't unfold it at all. Instead, we wedge it between his legs, with the barrel kind of jammed over his toes. It's just friction; there's no tabs or anything securing it in place. But, if I'm being honest, it's pretty secure there. As for the arm blade, like the stock one it folds in half. When you do, you'll notice that the hinge makes sort of a C-clip. The clip grabs onto the base of Scourge's thumb, lying flat along the back of the truck (the instructions make it look like it's on it's edge, and I suppose it could be, if his hand were rotated 90 degrees, but there's reason to do it that way). Ultimately, everything sits neat and tidy, or at least no messier than it was when it was stock. The only thing worth mentioning is that the blaster wedged between his legs pushes his feet part just enough to create a little gap between them, but nothing severe. All-in-all, this is a pretty good kit that's executed fairly well without much in the way of QC issues, and one that doesn't introduce new problems the way some overly-ambitious kits tend to. It does improve Scourge aesthetically, I really like being able to remove the arm blade, and the added articulation in both the normal hand and the claw are most welcome. That being said, if I were grading figures Scourge would have been maybe a B before, and this kit takes him to a B+, while at the same price DNA's kit for Optimus Prime to a C figure to an A... it just doesn't have the same impact. So where Optimus' kit is practically a must-buy despite costing more than the base figure, and I do ultimately recommend Scourge's kit, I wouldn't say it's as necessary if you don't feel like dropping $45 on it.
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