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mikeszekely

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About mikeszekely

  • Birthday 02/03/1980

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

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  1. Honestly? I think all three being over $200 puts them firmly in realm of more serious adult collectors... no one is funding Haslabs on a whim, the way someone might randomly buy a Transformer at Target. Because of that, there's certainly overlap in the people who bought Star Saber and or Deathsaurus and Omega Prime (like me, for instance). And I think Prime probably outsold Victory Saber and Deathsaurus because he is Prime, sure. But, in a way, I think all three are targeting niches. Victory Saber and Deathsaurus target the hardcore G1 fans who either grew up with Japanese G1 in the East or cared enough to learn about Japanese G1 in the West. And Omega Prime targets the fans who grew up later with RiD being their G1. And that's the thing, I don't think that group is particularly big. Yes, in hindsight RiD marked the return of Autobots and Transformers turning into vehicles and an Optimus that wasn't Primal, but RiD hit before Dreamwave started publishing their Transformers comic book and the '80s revival boom began, and it was by and large overshadowed by the Unicron Trilogy.
  2. If I'm not mistaken, Victory Saber and Deathsaurus both ended around 27,000, making Omega Prone the most-successful Transformers Haslab so far.
  3. Target Prime is up. https://www.target.com/p/transformers-target-optimus-prime-and-autobot-bullseye-action-figure-set---2pk--target-exclusive-/-/A-89230384 Pulse also has the first four of Walmart's Star Riders, but Filch has already sold out. EDIT: Gotta love the fan stream on Pulse that's for toys that why up for preorder an hour before the stream.😒 At least they confirmed next week is Legacy United Wave 2- even though that's all been leaked it'll be nice to get preorders in. And in two weeks they'll be showing BMac's favorite figure of the year. 86 Swoop? 86 Commander Optimus?
  4. Darn, I shouldn't have spent so much time cropping and re-editing the promo pics. So yeah... kind of weird that they're using the Legacy Laser Optimus figure instead of the Volvo one. Maybe because, unlike Walmart or Amazon, Target doesn't own trucks, only trailers, so they don't care to get a license from Volvo. Thing is, Legacy Op's sword and gun are part of his trailer, and Target Op uses the Earthrise trailer instead (decoed like an actual Target trailer). And unlike the Volvo Op, they didn't bother to include the Earthrise gun, leaving Optimus with just Bullseye and the trailer drone for "weapons." More than a gun, that box art has me wanting a red ball (like they have in front of the store) for Prime to throw for Bullseye. All-in-all, it's a very niche sort of Optimus, but in my house we visit Target probably once a week as it's our preferred store for non-grocery stuff, so it might just be my sort of niche. Side note, for as many uses as they wound up getting out of this mold it's really a shame that they used the crappy Siege legs on Laser Op. And I'm extra peeved that if I do buy Target Op it's my fourth time with the mold and I still don't have a cartoon-accurate Scourge.
  5. Forget Transformers, I don't get Super7’s audience, period. It's like they make your for people who aren't just nostalgic for the IP, but also nostalgic for when toys had bad sculpts, bad paint, and bad articulation. The only toy I bought from them was the Unicron they did based on the G1 prototype toy, and I didn't even open it. I just bought a hook and hung it up on display.
  6. Yeah, I took my kid to McDonald's a week or two ago and we noticed it. It has something to do with anime, I guess? I don't get it.
  7. It's funny, MMC's preview of Scrapper and Mixmaster has people talking about XTB and FT's Constructicons. Some of the FT fans are attacking XTB for their QC, but I'm thinking that hey, at least they finished a combiner.
  8. Minus One got a Blu-ray release date in Japan, too. On May 1st they'll be enjoying a 4-disc set that includes Blu-ray and DVD copies of both the regular and Minus Color versions. Still no word on a US date, though, but given how well it did here theatrically (roughly half of the film's total box office) I'd imagine we'll be hearing something soon.
  9. This topic's gotten a little quiet... can't speak for the rest of you, but I know I've slowed down a lot due to a combination of factors... I've got MP-ish representations of most of the Sunbow cast, prices have gone up a lot since COVID (and, if I'm a bit cynical, since the bigger 3Ps saw what people were willing to pay for MP-44), fewer companies competing in the MP space, and Hasbro's mainline stuff doing a better job of giving me what I wanted for a lot less since Siege. Still, there was a TFCon this weekend, and I did want to share a few things that I did find interesting. First up, we have the prototypes for MMC's all-built-in Mixmaster and Scrapper. Both are looking pretty good to me. Maybe a little on the thin side, but MMC abandoned the OX look a long time ago for Sunbow, and the Constructions did have pretty thin (and sometimes just plain weird) animation models. On looks alone I think you could make a pretty compelling case for any of the three Devastators being worked on right now, but I loved MMC's Bruticus, and I love their Protectobots. I'm definitely in for these guys, and if I bother with XTB or FT's it's just because I've got most of the 3P Devastators so far. At modes. Oh, and speaking of Fans Toys, I try not to deal with them. They're often more expensive than the competition, I frequently find them to have lifeless sculpts and transformations that make BadCube's look good, plus for all their vaunted reputation I've had enough QC issues with the FT figures I have bought to be be wary. That said, I want to call attention to their Ultra Magnus... As most 3Ps are leaning hard into that super-Sunbow aesthetic I think it's actually getting a bit harder to tell these figures apart from each other at a glance. Like, if it weren't for the metallic paint if you'd told me that this was XTB's already-released Ultra Magnus I might believe you. Actually, with the unsightly red hinges on the sides and the pretty visible torso on the trailer floor, Maybe FT's Magnus looks worse than XTB's in alt mode. But, FT is doing on thing that could get me to upgrade from MP-22 that XTB couldn't... The cab turns into a white Optimus Prime, and the trailer turns into armor that fits over the cab robot! And yeah, there's an obvious question there, and the obvious question has an obvious answer. Yes, FT is doing Optimus Prime. I'm sure the plastic will be better, and he'll have diecast and weigh like 4x as much, but I'm not seeing anything here that really makes me think it looks any better than Magic Square's MS-02. Of course, I have MS-02... and MS-01, and TE-01, and MP-10, and MP-44... it'd kind of be weird if I didn't get FT's. Since XTB announced they're doing an MP Ironhide and Ratchet last fall, FT of course has to hurry up and announce theirs so you don't accidentally give your money to a competitor. Normally, this wouldn't be a blip for me. I just don't feel like chasing "upgrades" for the rest of my life. I already have Voodoo Robots' Salus for Ratchet and MP-27 with the hip kit for Ironhide, and sure, XTB's looks more cartoony, but so what? Fans Toys' looks to be even more cartoon accurate than XTB's, and look, they've even got working doors! But still... so what? Well, the "what" might be the sled. "Wait a minute," you're thinking. "MP-27 came with a sled. Come to think of it, XTB's is, too! What makes FT's so special?" Glad you asked! Did you notice how small it looks compared to the weapons on it? OK, take a good look at the front tips of the rear treads. Now, go back to the robot pictures. Behind Ironhide's head, in the crouching pose, at his collar. Do you see what appears to be that front tip of tread? Looks to me that FT's Ironhide transforms completely from van to robot, like the MP and like XTB, but rather than have a separate sled accessory it looks like his backpack comes off to transform into the sled, and that's just clever engineering if you ask me.
  10. Dang. I mean, Dragon Ball, obviously, but how do you make another Dragon Quest game without his character designs?
  11. Did anyone else catch the stream today? I wanted to bring it up earlier, but I'm under the weather and wound up sleeping most of the afternoon. Anyway, if you missed it, you didn't miss much. A good portion of the stream was dedicated to 40th anniversary merchandise (that is, non-transforming stuff). The only new toys they showed off was 86 Blaster, who was sold out on Pulse before the stream even started, and the Mayhem Attack Squad stuff that was up for preorder on Amazon like a week ago. Really, I think the biggest news of the entire stream was that, now that Omega Prime is funded, they figured out a way to give Blue Bolts his missing barrels.* *For those that haven't followed, the original Magnus' gun came with a pair of firing missiles. Those missiles were animated as gun barrels in the cartoon. The design team originally left them off the Haslab version, because (1) no firing missile gimmick, and (2) they'd end up on his feet in robot mode. The new design is 5mm port into Blue Bolts with 3mm tips for blast effects, and tab-shaped fins that will allow them to be stored on Blue Bolts' back in bot mode.
  12. For all the stuff I've known about, somehow I missed an 86 Blaster... who already sold out on Pulse. It's actually a Target-exclusive, and still available to preorder on Target's website. Personally, I like the subtle differences in the reds and grays, and I like that they ditched the random black details. I like that Eject is solid instead of transparent. I think if I see it at my local Target I might upgrade from Kingdom/Legacy Blaster. But the differences are ultimately minor enough that I'm not preordering this one.
  13. Maybe? I don't know that they've done anything with it since 2011. But trademarks are one of those things, y'know? Like Hasbro would sue you to pieces if you made a transforming robot and tried to name it Optimus, but Art Lebedev could make a keyboard called Optimus because the public was very unlikely to confuse a computer peripheral with a toy robot. I don't think a 45 year old Atari computer game (no matter how influential on the genre) or a mediocre (if I'm being charitable) re-imagining that's still over a decade old will have much bearing on what Hasbro calls a Walmart-exclusive sub-brand of Transformers.
  14. Legacy United Voyager-class Cybertron Starscream. There are leaks out there for the Core-class Bumblebee Starscream and Beast Machines Cheetor, too. And with Dinobot and Sureshot moved to a wave 5, I do believe we've now seen all of Legacy United Wave 2, and we're just waiting to see Swoop from Studio Series. Meanwhile, the Walmart-exclusive Star Seekers are now the Star Raiders, because seeking stuff doesn't seem as piratey as raiding stuff. Cannonball turns out to be a retool of Skids/Crankcase, and I was right about Ferak, Filch, and Lockdown. However, just like we got preorders for some of Amazon's Mayhem Attack Squad packs but the one with Bludgeon and Ruckus is still MIA, I don't have any leaks for the Star Seekers version of Thundertron or Roadpig.
  15. Hasbro announced there will be streams every Thursday this month (11:00am ET) celebrating 40 years of Transformers. One will likely be an update on Haslab Omega Prime, but I'm expecting reveals for the next wave of both Legacy United and Studio Series, as they're both due for release by next month (and indeed, some of the Studio Series figures have been spotted in the wild already). I'm wondering if they'll even bother with preorders or just start taking orders for shipping now.
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