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  2. Big s

    Hi-Metal R

    Looking a bit closer at the panel lines in the body right under the caution arrow and they appear exactly the same, just sized up for the new scale like the way Toynami did the Valkyrie from banpresto years ago. That would be a really wide panel line in 1/72
  3. That does look nice! I'm interested to know the ratio of printed parts to stickers.
  4. Today
  5. Chronocidal

    Hi-Metal R

    Yeah, that's an absurdly similar-looking Spartan. I'd be interested in seeing a final comparison of the actual product with that promo, really. The only differences I can see are the baton-holding hand's wrist is slightly different (probably because it's a swapped part), and the curvature of the round hatch on the side of the torso looks more bulbous on the KC version, but it could just be lighting. The weirdest bit is that even some of the molding flaws along the assembly seams look identical. Just reminds me of that story about the crashed B-29 bomber that Russia reverse-engineered so hard that they reproduced broken bits and battle damage in the production aircraft.
  6. Got lucky at Walmart: The other Brick Shop kits look pretty cool and the added Hot Wheels car is a nice bonus. This was the first kit in the lineup that starred a car that I truly liked though.
  7. Graham

    Hi-Metal R

    Yeah, I guess they have just used a recolored Bandai Spartan for their pre-order page. All the panel lines, markings etc are identical.
  8. Big s

    Hi-Metal R

    I do get the feeling that they tend to copy ideas from others, but I don’t know if they directly resized anything or just remolded anything like how bad toynami did. As far as this one, it’s a bit tougher than the rest to tell, I’d have to see more pics
  9. Welcome to the party, good sir! Still amazing what they pulled off design-wise, integrating everything into the bomber.
  10. Skydive is the only AOTP Deluxe to show up so far, so I guess we'll skip up to the Voyagers. Hmm... one of those is a repaint, so we'll save him for another day. That leaves us with Alpha Trion. Unlike the other Primes, Alpha Trion is the only one that's actually had a previous, recent release as a retool of Studio Series Scourge. In a lot of ways, the new toy, which is purpose built to be Alpha Trion, is more cartoon accurate. His forearms better capture the layered look, the blocky legs have a more accurate shape, and his pelvis is a bit more accurate with (most) of the silver and blue on his belt. But the rounder chest, smaller shoulder pads, and reddish feet are more accurate on the earlier figure, as is the silver/white in the biceps. And I get that Hasbro wants this to be the Trion that existed with the other Thirteen, so a younger one (hence the "War Dawn" face, but I think more collectors who may not even been in on the other Thirteen probably wanted the more "present" face with the longer mustache and beard, which the older figure has. Neither figure has an accurate backpack, BTW. His cape should be two long segments extending from the backs of his shoulder pads, that's it. Like the prior toy, this one's got a bit of alt mode kibble he's wearing like a cape. It's at least a bit more compact this time. AOTP Alpha Trion has some unique accessories, though, instead of a repaint of Scourge's gun. First, you've got this sort of shield thing. But more importantly, you've got his relic, the Covenant of Primus, and his Quill. Note that the spikes on his shoulders are just pegged in and can be removed if necessary. I think Trion's head is on a ball joint, but the shape of his head only allows it to swivel. A transformation hinge allows him to look up and down, though he can only look up so far before his head starts getting lost in his collar. His shoulders swivel and can move 90 degrees laterally. His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend about 90 degrees. His wrists do not swivel, but his fingers are hinged so his hands can open and close. His waist swivels. His hip skirts are hinged, so his hips can go 90 degrees forward or laterally, but his back kibble limits him to just a little backward motion. His thighs swivel, and his knees bend about 90 degrees. His feet can tilt downward slightly, but not up, and he's got nearly 90 degrees of ankle pivot. Trion's shield can plug into either forearm, or, if you're feeling saucy, you can remove one of his shoulder spikes and plug it into his shoulder. If you'd rather just stow it, you can plug it into his his butt where it becomes part of his cape. Because reasons, you can pull the Autobot badge off of Trion's tummy, where it's ultimately just pegged in place. The instructions show him holding the badge, but it's more like carefully wedging it between his thumbs and fingers and praying it doesn't fall out The real stars are the Covenant of Primus and the Quill... though I wish there was a more natural way for him to hold them. The Covenant simply has a peg on one corner, while the Quill is meant to fit into his fist like a two-year old with a crayon. The Covenant is pretty cool, though. It doesn't just open, there's a pair of translucent red pages you can turn inside. To store the Quill and the Covenant in robot mode, first you fit the narrow slot on the Quill's handle onto a thin tab on the shield. There's a cutout on the shield for the top of the "feather" to poke through. Then you can close the rest of his cape back up, and just plug the Covenant into the peg hole on Trion's back. Despite having a sort of similar alt mode to the previous figure, the transformation is quite different. Fold his wrists in, and angle his arms so that they're almost straight out behind him. Lean his head back as far as it'll go. Lift his cape, then open the cockpit section and feet the blue part behind it through and over his head. Spin the waist, then turn his thighs so his toes are pointing outside. Fold in the heels, then fold the toes down and tab the legs together. Grab his knees and kind of pull them out. Now, fold his waist backward; is arms should lock in place at his knees, and once you fold out and rotate the ball jointed bits the cab should lock into place over his legs. The shield, which doesn't have to be removed for transformation, has the sides double hinge out to form little winglets. Considering that Trion never transformed in the cartoon (it was actually implied for a bit that, aside from Amalgamous, the Thirteen had no alt modes and did not transform), this is fine. While it is, as mentioned, vaguely similar to the Scourge's alt mode (and the Trion toy remolded from it), this spaceship-esque design is actually based on an unused concept for Trion's alt mode in IDW by artist Casey Coller (note that when Alpha Trion did actually transform, the artist on that issue drew him as the Tumbler from Batman Begins). Whether intentional or simply an artifact of his transformation, you can open Trion's cockpit. There's not much to see inside besides his thigh gap, but there's apparently just enough space to stuff a Titan Master inside. As with the robot mode, the Quill is stored by plugging into his shield, under what's now one of his wings. Meanwhile, the Covenant as a slot on either cover. If you look at the underside of Trion's alt mode, you'll find that one of his legs has a tab near the knee joint that the Covenant can slot into, wedged into a space between his knee pads. Alpha Trion's a solid figure who looks good with the other members of the Thirteen released so far, but the elephant in the room is definitely the Scourge retool. Despite the more kibbly cape and Scourge-shaped bits, I think for a lot of collectors it's accurate enough that they may not feel a need to replace it. This is especially true if they want Sunbow G1 and not the entire lineup of Thirteen, one the longer beard seen on "present day" Alpha Trion (and makes me wonder if we'll eventually seen another version of this toy with the older face). I'd say if you have the "Hero is Born" version already or, better still, the EX Gōkin toy, you might not need this figure. If you really prefer the older head, you can wait if you don't mind the risk that it never comes. If you're into the Thirteen, though, the unique alt mode and excellent accessories make Alpha Trion a figure worth checking out.
  11. Zuel

    Hi-Metal R

    Interesting. Good spot. Assuming the dimensions are correct (and 17cm would be closer to 1/72), could it be that they've just cheekily used a Bandai Spartan for their pre-order page? But that seems risky... Could they scale up the Bandai mould?
  12. jenius

    Hi-Metal R

    It's 3.5cm taller and has light effects, it's definitely different.
  13. Yay, managed to score the Sentinel Tlead last night.
  14. Graham

    Hi-Metal R

    Interesting, it does look identical.
  15. Zuel

    Hi-Metal R

    Any thoughts on the KitzConcept destroids? The Spartan looks to me to be indistinguishable from the Hi-Metal r Spartan (I own one). Could they be reselling Bandai, or have some arrangement to use their moulds? Or is Bandai OEMing for them? Compare. KitzConcept, from their website: Hi-Metal r, from the Anymoon review: If they are rebranded or OEM Hi-Metal r, KitzConcept is planning to release a Tomahawk as well. Could that be the mould that Bandai seems to have abandoned?
  16. Yesterday
  17. They used to be worse! At least this way you're still getting both G1 characters, just one cartoon-optimized and one toy-optimized. There was a period where they were packing the G1 guy you really wanted with the repaint (usually Shattered Glass) that you really didn't want. That's how I wound up with Shattered Glass Inferno (came with G1 Wheeljack) and Slicer/SG Wheeljack (came with Bulkhead).
  18. Great build and a nice save from a near disaster! That looks like a fun little kit.
  19. Yeah, like the in-take covers. I know what you mean. Although this second release seems a bit more solid than the first one. But, as i said, i haven't transformed it yet...
  20. I’ve had a few things pop off the Legioss, but they’ve been “relatively” easy to pop back on. I’ve found it easier to just open up the whole arm assembly to get the tailfins out.
  21. I think so, give me a couple of days and i will try to have them in hi-res too.
  22. Thanks for the tip, honestly those flaps looks so fragile that i am scared just to look at them. But I will try to fix them though
  23. Oh YF-21 how far you have fallen O_o
  24. I got a key for Borderlands 4 with my new laptop, so I guess I'll give it a go. Ironically, it'll be my first Borderlands game since Borderlands 2, which came with a GPU I bought at the time.
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