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I think you had this in the US, a design that haunted the "Toys & Games" pages of British mail-order catalogues for what seemed like years, the Milton Bradley "Starbird Avenger" (and its evil cousin, the "Starbird Intruder"): https://flashbak.com/fastest-ship-galaxy-remembering-milton-bradleys-star-bird-1978-58502/ I always used to stare longingly at it but somehow it never made my "want" lists as a child. Also, speaking of "Space Raiders", something I've been thinking about for a while and this thread seems a fitting thread to mention it, there was a line of UK snack foods called "Space Raiders" (still is, actually, not to be confused with a MacDonalds promotion from the late 70s); the original release featured art on the packets by no less a "2000AD" illuminary as Brett Ewins ("Judge Dredd", "Bad Company"). The reason I mention it is at one time they did an offer where if you sent in so many packets plus postage they would send you a little spaceship toy. I had hours of fun with that cheap little thing (I did at one time actually find out who made them but have since forgotten); I also recall some little toys a saw in a shop in a holiday camp once (yes, a lot of my childhood holidays were spent in these, for want of a better word, institutions) that had little "Zoids"-like pilots in but weren't related to them in any way (they weren't "R.A.T.S" either, these were way smaller and sold in a box assortment). The reason I bring these up is that these sorts of cheap, throwaway and probably often bootlegged toys (or picture books, comics, etc) weren't famous, little information generally exists about them online and possibly are only recalled in the memories of those who actually encountered them but nevertheless could have an effect on the imagination at least equal to the much better known big names that get the coverage today.

Tried out You and I are Polar Opposites today over lunch. It's very similar to Inexpressive Kashiwada and Expressive Oota in its basic premise of "someone with no poker face is very clearly down bad for their incredibly stoic classmate". IMO, it functions a lot better as a story because the protagonist Miyu is very aware of her feelings for her stoic classmate Yusuke and just not quite able to spit it out instead of being a bratty bully. It sold its romance well enough that it got me in Miyu's corner before the end of the episode, so I'm looking forward to more. 👍

LOL....far more real harm is being done today to all fields of science by the certifiable quacks currently running things in this country....

For all the vast and far-reaching harm his pseudoscientific quackery has done in the fields of history and archaeology, it can at least be said that he indirectly did some good in his first book inspiring Stargate.

Is this one supposed to be the Iota variant like the Omega is to the Eta legioss?

https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/erich-von-dniken-swiss-writer-spawned-alien-archaeology-129100696 Thanks for the books about alien cultures, and for the excellent movie about marathons (okay, forced joke, sorry)

Liking the artwork!

I asked to get notified when a Death Stranding kit was back in stock. I've been getting an email to let me know the item has come back in stock every day for like a month now.

Sorry to hear that, Graham. That really sucks. I've not broken anything on mine yet, but my copy is a first release with the super stiff shoulder joints. It's not the friendliest thing to transform and I gave up on it the last time I made an attempt due to some resistance. I don't recall the exact issue now, but I quit out of fear of breaking it. I keep my copy in Soldier mode, as I generally favor the robot modes of all my transforming toys, and that suits me fine as I love how the Sentinel Legioss looks. After watching the Pose+ designer review vid, it seems like this toy is being designed with ease of transformation in mind, which suits me just fine as well. Sometimes I want to transform my Legioss, and my other expensive complex toys, but the fear of breaking them gives pause. I'm more Skullface than EmGo when it comes to finesse, so I tend not to handle them all that often. I'm hoping the Pose+, despite all the opening panels and such, will be easier to transform and robust enough for handling without that constant fear of stuff just breaking.

Its good more and more Mospeada are coming out.

Dear Hasegawa, next year for Christmas I want an SV-51 battroid. DD or Nora don’t care, VF-0’s just standing around waiting for the party. Promise to be good

C'mon, even a hater would look twice if they actually did that . 😉

Good point. Indefensible, if true.

I don’t know yet whether I’ll make a limited batch of Legioss using resin and 3D filament, or put it on MakerWorld.

Don't get me wrong, I love my Sentinel Legioss, but transforming it always kinda scares me, given that I actually managed to break the diecast hip joint on a green Sentinel legioss a few yers ago. So, I'm always super nervous when transforming them.

I'm actually super excited about the upcoming TakaraTomy Toyrise Mospeada toys. I think they are actually my most anticipated toys of 2026 so far. And I'm glad they are making new variations of the Legioss design, not just the same TV versions that every company releases. And they may even release the TV versions later, I don't mind the Toyrise Legioss are a bit smaller and more toylike than other company's Legioss toys. Hopefully, the Toyrise will be fun to handle and play with and easy to transform. For those wanting more detailed, larger and complicated versions of the Legioss we have the Sentinel versions as well as the upcoming Pose+ toy. The only thing that bugs me a bit about the Toyrise Legioss is the Crossbone Vanguard style Shot Lance weapon on the green Legioss. Given that it appears to be an Early Warning/AWACS radar type mecha, that should be operating in a support role and avoiding direct combat, I'm not sure why they have given it what appears to be a short range/melee weapon.

Thanks. Luckily I didn't have to do all that work as this is the GFF Metal Composite Wing Gundam.

My name is my real name. And my avatar is from the Yoshiyuki Takani box art from the Wave 1:72 scale VF-17S/D vinyl battroid mode garage kit. I chose this image as the VF-17D/S is one of my all time favorite VFs and Yoshiuki Takani is one of my favorite Macross box art artists.

Loving this one so far

I’m really digging the color! ♥️

Studio Series toys continue to trickle out. I'm still waiting for the two that you really want to hear about, but for now, here's Voyager-class Transformers One Alpha Trion. Well, the new Voyager toy definitely has a bit more detail than the Prime Changers version. The thighs are more accurate, the armor on his chest is colored more correctly (though still missing some details), plus his shoulder pads are asymmetric and one of his horns is broken to better resemble Trion as the heroes found him It's a case of two steps forward, one step back, though, as the Voyager version is missing the kneecaps on both shins as well as the ankle armor, details that the Prime Changer did have. His alt mode paws are better hidden, as is his alt mode head, which reduces his backpack to a more screen-accurate (and, again, asymmetric) hump. Another nice touch is that they added some of the moss that was growing on him in the film. It's most noticeable on his back and shoulders, because that's where they took the time to paint it. Frustratingly, though, if you look you can see some molded on his legs and forearms, too, but the paint budget apparently didn't stretch that far. Alpha Trion comes with a whip-like accessory, similar to the Prime Changer, except instead of being a painted hard plastic it's a rubbery translucent pink. Note the spikes on the end- they're removable (actually not attached out of the box), which will come into play later. It's a dang shame that he doesn't have the cape he had in the movie. If you need a little refresher, the Prime Changers line of figures that were roughly Deluxe-sized, but a little simpler than a Legacy or Studio Series Deluxe, for $5 less than a Deluxe. Similar to an Earthspark or Cyberverse Deluxe, which despite their name were also a little simpler and cheaper than the more regular lines. Why am I bringing this up? Because Trion here is a Voyager, in an age where Voyagers have gone up to $43, a little over twice the price of a Prime Changer. So what's that extra cash get you, besides a slightly bigger figure with a bit more detail (where they didn't subtract it)? Trion's head is on a ball joint like the PC figure, and has similar range. His shoulders can swivel and move laterally 90 degrees, which is similar to the Prime Changer. His bicep swivels, his elbow bends 90 degrees, and although he doesn't have a waist swivel his entire forearm swivels just below the elbow... same as the Prime Changer. His waist swivels (same), and his hips can go slightly over 90 degrees forward, 45 degrees backward, and 90 degrees laterally... which I'll call another draw (Voyager has slightly more range forward, but half the backward range). His thighs swivel, and his knees bend 90 degrees, so again, same. And then there's his ankles, which have no pivot at all. Now, ankle pivots have been pretty standard in various Generations brands since Siege in 2019, and it's become very prevalent in the Studio Series. I'm inclined to complain when a $25 (now $27) Deluxe doesn't have ankles, it's flat out unacceptable on a toy that costs over $40... especially because the Prime Changers version does have proper ankle pivots! Trion can hold his whip in either hand. Although there are some 5mm ports on his butt, shoulders, and the sides of his knees, there's only the handle on the whip so no storage. So Trion's budget didn't go to a ton of accessories or better articulation... did it go to better engineering? Not really! A lot of the transformation is the same as the Prime Changers toy! In both cases you shift the shin armor over the thigh and bend the foot so it's still flat on the ground, in both cases you turn the forearms inward 90 degrees and plug the shoulders in (though on the Voyager you can at least open the forearm to swivel in the robot hand and swivel out the claws). In both cases the backpack shifts up. The Voyager's chest does open up, though, allowing you to fold out the beast head and tuck in the robot head. In both cases the weapon is plugged on to become the tail. It is slightly more advance engineering, sure, but the kind you might expect going from a Prime Changer to a Deluxe... and with more partsforming! All the spikes have to come off of the whip. The big one goes into the beast forehead, while the smaller ones go into the shoulders and hips. Despite the slightly more complex engineering, the beast mode suffers many of the same flaws as the Prime Changer. The beast head is still stuck looking downward. The insides of the shoulders still plug onto pegs coming out of his armpits, locking them in place and hampering the beast mode articulation. The rear legs are worse than the Prime Changer... it at least had a joint to bend the bottom of his lower legs into a more digitigrade stance. The Voyager simply has you bend his toes up, which makes him look a bit awkward to me. The moss is, again, a nice touch, the translucent pink is more accurate for the tail and horn, and the spikes from the shoulders and hips are also more screen accurate. The beast head can open it's mouth, and the tail plugs into a port on a hinge for a bit more articulation there... but with the shoulders and upper arms locked, he's just got a little arm swivel and elbow bend in this mode. The hips and knees technically have the same range of motion as before, but like I said without the additional digitigrade ankle there's not a lot of posing he can do and remain standing, let alone look decent. At a Voyager price tag, especially the $7-increased price tag, Alpha Trion's kind of a ripoff. They made him superficially more screen accurate, but quit painting too soon and left out some details. The engineering is an improved take on the Prime Changer toy that costs half of what this guy does. But most unforgivably, he's got worse articulation in the ankles than the previous toy, and that's just not acceptable anymore at this price. Skip this one. Even if you've got an interest in the TFOne cast, you can console yourself with the fact that Alpha Trion wasn't even in the film that long.

I keep getting that VT-1 email too.

This movie felt like it was made by people who don't understand why we like Tron.

That they are. And, yeah, if you want a more cartoon-accurate MP Bruticus from Magic Square, that'll definitely do it. It's a pretty easy pass for me, though. I love Magic Square's Bruticus, but I'm in this weird place where I like my Combaticons to be cartoon-accurate, because the cartoon shaped my perceptions of them, but I strongly prefer a more toy-style combined mode. I think I spent too much time looking at Bruticus on those checklists that used to come with the toys... I might have bought it anyway, if they'd included a few more options I do want, like a gun for the combined mode (they made one for the Legends toy, why not the MP?), or a new head for Blast Off with purple eyes instead of a purple forehead.

Work on the Bronco II continues. Base coat, panel lines and decals done. Surprisingly the 42 year old decals held up perfectly after a coat of gloss Mod Podge - 0 breakage! Next it was time to dirty her up a bit. One of my favourite things about anime mecha is the fact that, because they are imagined, there is a lot more freedom in weathering them. Here is a first pass with an oil dot filter. You can see the difference between the fuselage which has the filter and the engines without: And here the engines have been done: Next up some selective paint chipping.Not sure which technique I'll use for that yet. I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.