M'Kyuun
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About M'Kyuun
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- Birthday 07/05/1971
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I saw it a couple weekends ago, and I liked it as well. For those who get motion sickness, this may not be your cup of tea, as there are a couple of spinning scenes where you experience it from inside the craft, and the soundtrack is pretty loud in these scenes to ratchet up the intensity. The one scene takes place in LEO, so there shouldn't have been any sound, but Hollywood. However, the larger scope of the film centers on Armstrong, and takes you through some personal struggles as well as the obstacles he faced on his journey from test pilot to astronaut. Armstrong was an emotionally closed fellow, and Gosling does a good job conveying that aspect of Armstrong's personality. Foy did an excellent job as Janet, Armstrong's first wife, who was with him all through his years at NASA, and who had to be the emotional bedrock for them both and their two children. Tough lady. Anyway, the movie made me want to delve deeper, and I've been reading the eponymous biography upon which the movie was based. There are a lot of pedantic facts and figures that seem a bit extemporaneous, but Armstrong had no interest in his fame or notoriety, and was very quick to point out the contributions of others, and it was his request that many of those facts and figures be included. Think of Armstrong as the anti-Shatner, except he actually went into space. Armstrong was an engineer, as is his biographer, so the book has a tendency to read like a textbook more than a biography at times. I've also picked up Gene Cernan's autobiography, suitably titled, "The Last Man on the Moon". I've only read snippets of his book, but he gives a pretty candid view of what being an astronaut was about, from extra-marital affairs by some of the astronauts, to pooping in zero-G. Of the two books, I think Cernan's will be a far more personable view of the program, showing every side, and providing answers to a lot of questions many of us have about the more intimate details of space travel.
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The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread
M'Kyuun replied to slaginpit's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
No problem. Not everything is for everyone. As for my own bias, although I like transforming mecha, in Transformers, I 'm not a big fan of the more "super robot" looking designs, like Star Saber or Super Ginrai (or God Ginrai, for that matter), although I must confess to owning Takara's CW Ginrai. So, I go against my bias sometimes. I don't care for the overall Bayverse aesthetic, but I think that Weijiang Blackout is pretty sweet, and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention owning probably a hundred or so Bayformer toys released over the years, and I intend to get Studio Series Dropkick once I find it. I suppose I'm fickle like that. I have little to no remorse over the vast majority of my ABS treasure trove, and I can only hope the same for everyone else. What good is a hobby that you no longer take joy in? For us TF fans, and Macross fans as well, there's never been a more fruitful era to collect higher end toys of the characters and designs we like across the spectrum of themes and lines, from G1 to Japanese Transformers to IDW, and so on, and I'm happy for anyone who finally gets that dream toy they've been waiting for. Cheers! -
The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread
M'Kyuun replied to slaginpit's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
Agree on both points; this is what I wish Studio Series Blackout had been. Granted, Takara are pumping out MPM versions of most of the characters, so I wouldn't rule out a superior MP version just yet. But, for the record, Weijiang knocked it out of the park. As Kuma put it, it's gorgeous. That's great! Seriously though, so as not to offend, I have no familiarity with Star Saber beyond simply knowing it exists, so when those Flame Toy pics were shown, and to be clear, I think FT do a beautiful job on their figures (Drift is just a thing of beauty), the aesthetic screamed Gundam to me and I commented honestly from a position of ignorance as to who was being represented. To those who like Star Saber, I'm glad you're getting a premium figure, and I apologize if my offhand Gundam comparison caused offense. I won't apologize, however, for having a sense of humor and finding Slaginpit's joke pretty darned funny. Here's where we diverge in our opinions; I actually prefer the more modern Gundam designs, especially Barbatos, which is actually a pretty clean design. I've never cared for the RX-78, as it's a little boring to my eye. I'm not sure which Gundam is pictured, but I dig it and all the hardware it's sporting- it just looks cool to me. Classic designs like the F-91, the Delta Plus, the Zeta Gundam, the Methuss, the Sazabi, and many more are still cool to me as well. I like stuff that transforms, so most of the Gundams with a waverider mode strike my fancy. Anyway, we like what we like, and the world is all the more interesting for our differences as much as our similarities. No offense intended to anyone; just sharing my opinion. -
https://www.idisplayit.co.uk The price I quoted was wrong; it's 144BP, so closer to $300USD before shipping. Looks like a good product, though. Here's a review: https://brickset.com/article/31089/review-pure-display-case-for-the-millennium-falcon
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The writing seems a bit simplistic, judging by the few snippets of dialog, but they're getting closer to the mark so far as the visuals emulating anime/manga. I'm thinking the plot is going to be simple, with lots of tedious explanatory dialog for the uninitiated (kinda like all these shows on History, Travel, Discovery etc where they use ground penetrating radar, and they have to give explanatory exposition every single time- drives me crazy), a weird sappy love story, and lots of goreless violence. Still gonna see it, though.
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The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread
M'Kyuun replied to slaginpit's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
I was thinking the same thing- it doesn't even look like a Transformer to me, but definitely rocking the Gundam aesthetic. Not my cup of java, but to each his own. -
LEGO recently won a court case against Lepin to basically C&D production of all sets based on official LEGO products, so you may or may not be able to get those other Lepin sets now. The suit was won in Chinese court, so the Chinese govt is taking action to prevent knockoffs by Lepin and likely other companies who produce LEGO clones. Anyway, glad the Lepin set went together alright. I've had the LEGO UCS MF since July, but I have no space to build or display it right now, so I'm biding my time. Eventually I'll get to it. There's a British company that makes set-specific display cases, and the one they make for the Falcon is about $200 USD, IIRC. I may have to spring for one once I get the set put together.
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The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread
M'Kyuun replied to slaginpit's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
PO'd PS-04 Azalea. Still think Rouge has the upper hand aesthetically, but this seems like a better toy, and it still gets a lot right. I'm scratching my head over the telescoping look of the shins; if it was actually part of the transformation, ok, but it's not and they could have been sculpted with a smoother look. Alas, not a dealbreaker, nor is the sparcity of her cockpit, although I think they could have tried just a little harder to clean it up. Unless she just turns out to be a lot of fun to transform, she's going to spend 99% of her time in bot mode anyway, so I'll just stop griping. I also ordered Ater Beta- that car mode is just awesome to my eyes; unlike most of my TFs, he'll probably spend more time in car mode, as I just love the look of it so much. -
The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next
M'Kyuun replied to mikeszekely's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
It's enough when you can put one 1/60 VF-1 next to a MP Seeker, but matching all three color for color is just showing off! Cool pic. They scale pretty closely, which is a little ironic to me, as the VF-1 was inspired by the F-14, which is larger than the F-15, and yet the VF-1 is quite a bit smaller by comparison. I'm guessing the VF-0 is much closer in size to the F-15. -
Not many of us get to touch so many lives, or leave such a lasting legacy of creativity and hope. Mr. Lee had the stuff of heroes, and he'll be missed.
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RIP Douglas Rain, Voice Of HAL '2001: A Space Odyssey,
M'Kyuun replied to 505thAirborne's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
"I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission, and I want to help you." "Stop, Dave." "Will you stop, Dave?" "Stop, Dave" "I'm afraid." Definitely one of the best and most iconic voice acting jobs in cinematic history. RIP, Mr. Rain. -
The Unlicensed Third Party Transformers Thread
M'Kyuun replied to slaginpit's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
That Wei Jiang version has a lot more going on than the old deluxe, and probably still more than the upcoming Studio Series, as nice as it looks. I'm not into Bayformers so much anymore, but I will say that this is one of the more interesting and unique designs to come out of the Movieverse. It's some cool engineering to get such a large and wide bot out of a narrow vehicle. I dig all the panel origami to form his shoulder armor. -
The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next
M'Kyuun replied to mikeszekely's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
Oh lordy, I'm trying to ignore that right out of existence! But, yeah, you're right. So, to clarify, I want something totally divorced from what's come before, but still retains enough of the classic look of Transformers to be recognized as such (and no shardy bots!). I don't mind if they change the look, as I enjoyed Animated very much, but keep it aimed for the 10 and up crowd. Did I cover all the bases? -
The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next
M'Kyuun replied to mikeszekely's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
Makes me happy, too. I'd like to have a nice compliment of very G1 Generations figs, at least first season. The Prime Wars Triligy lines provided nearly all of the minibots, so a number of boxes already checked for me. However I'd still like a new Huffer that actually looks like Huffer, and a decent Cliffjumper. And more cassettes- always more cassettes. After they finish with this series, though, and they get all the G1 stuff done, I want them to do something completely new, completely divorced of anything that has already been done. All new characters with their own stories. The only thing I hope is that it's set on Earth, or if not, at least the alt modes are relatable, similar to how Animated was done. -
The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next
M'Kyuun replied to mikeszekely's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
It's been years since I last transformed Classics Prime, so in keeping with the topic, I felt compelled to reacquaint myself before posting. IMHO, it still stands as a pretty nice take on the character, albeit a little panel-formery. Still, it looks good in both modes, has good articulation, and both of his weapons transform along with the figure. Even if the smokestack gun does look a little odd (it would have looked much better for both modes had they made it round instead of square), it and the wind vane all come together to make a nice more streamlined cabover truck. I like it. I don't handle my toys all that often, so my copy still has tight joints all around, the smokestack pegs in firmly, and in both modes, everything is solid. It's a fun transformer toy, and shouldn't they all be. Jumping ahead, Siege Prime gives me hope for a pretty definitive G1 homage in the Generations line when they produce Earth alt modes for them. As I said, I see this line becoming the poor man's MP. Beast Wars was a shock for most of us TF fans, especially those of us who grew up with G1, and there was a lot of resistance and invective hurled at it. I was skeptical, and it took me awhile to really appreciate it. Moreover, I was in the military at the time, and went on any number of TDYs, and thus relied heavily on my VCR (yep, I'm old) to try and keep me caught up on the show. I often missed episodes, and so the story from my POV was a bit patchy. Years later, I bought the DVD sets nd was able to watch the show in its entirety, and I gained a newfound appreciation for it- it was such a well written, well voiced show that the alt modes didn't matter as much. They embraced the it in the story and in the writing to good effect, and it has since become one of my, and my wife's, favorite iterations of Transformers.
