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  3. Not sure about Indonesia but it's a USA retail release. Multiple US retailers that don't offer proxy service or imports already have them up for pre-order.
  4. Thanks for posting those. I wanted to do a Hi-Metal R review but I checked my Dual Model review for reference and discovered that it was not complete and what was there wasn't 100% correct. So then I pulled out all of those toys and now I have a great review of a toy no one has been concerned with for decades and still no review for the relevant toy. Sigh. The HMR is still high on my 'to-do' list.
  5. That's a nice car, and now you've opened the door to a lot of other liveries, including teams for other sports.
  6. Yeah, you have to give him credit. But it is tough to achieve. I wonder what would be the set up to get a result like that safely.
  7. Yup, its not retail release here, at least not in Indonesia. It is being treated exactly like a P-Baindai item, the difference is that they can sell it overseas, unlike the VT-1.
  8. I'm not going to claim to be any sort of expert on animation production requirements in Japan, but I could see it potentially being some annoying limitation of the contracts involved in the transfer of the footage of both versions into an HD format. The other thing that occurs to me is that maybe the rights to the dub are somehow tied to the combination release, and they don't have permission to release them separately, or that it doesn't make financial sense to try selling them individually. It would be silly, but I could imagine the voice rights being so prohibitively costly that the OVA on its own would already cost nearly as much as the combination pack.
  9. Pop Up Parade Motoko Kusanagi SAC, Version L Size. POs are open. https://www.goodsmile.com/en/product/35710/POP+UP+PARADE+Motoko+Kusanagi+S.A.C.+Ver.+L+Size
  10. I think this is the best response to the show so far. People shouldn’t over read into this because of layers of stupidity that will fold and unfold as the show goes on
  11. Possibly because it hasn't had a stand alone blu-ray release in Japan?
  12. Poor writing and fanfiction aren't synonymous. Some of the best - heck, arguably THE best - parts of Star Wars are for all intents and purposes just "elevated" fanfiction. It IS poorly-written, though, that much is true. Or at the very least, it's muddled writing. Unclear. Imprecise. It seems to want to depict the Jedi as well-doing sages... but more often than not it shows them imposing themselves on others. It seems to want us to empathize with the witch coven... but it shows them being antagonistic and collectively a bit overquick on the figurative draw. It seems to want us to think of the personal drama between Osha et al as just that: dramatic... but more often than not it shows everyone kind of just talking past each other. The acting feels wooden, and I can only suspect that this was a result of the directing... or show-running... or something beyond the ability of the actors themselves to change, because I've seen better from all of them. (Or at least all of them that I recognize.) The sisterly relationship doesn't have any of the wrinkles, nuances, etc. that you see from real siblings, much less twins. I see that the actresses who played Young Mae and Osha are actual twins, and it would have been nice to see them maybe inject some of their real-life experience as such into the roles. Or tweak the script here and there to show as much. Have them be extra empathetic to each other. Have them able to predict the other's behaviors. Have them be increasingly perturbed by their lack of unity over their future. Let the actors chew the scenery a bit more than not at all. On the other hand, I suppose The Acolyte is again only following the lead of the prequel movies. Still doesn't make it okay, though.
  13. The Jedi forget they have superpowers with monotonous regularity... I even noted that the reason... ... is because Sol seemingly forgot he can use the Force to levitate things. Mind you, I think the answer is right there in the series. They assumed (correctly) that the girls had been instructed by their parents to try to fail the test, and asked them what they truly wanted. Osha wanted to be a Jedi, Mae didn't. If Mae had actually managed to fool the Jedi into thinking she didn't have Force powers, Sol would probably have rejected the idea that Mae could be the assassin once Osha was exonerated. (The lie was never going to work anyway, because we see the Jedi take blood samples for midichlorian testing.) I believe my exact words were... 😉 Dumb sh*t - often plot-convenient dumb sh*t - happens constantly when Force users are involved. What happened with Qimir is way less egregious than the prequel trilogy's Jedi Council spending so much time around Palpatine and never realizing he was the Sith Lord they were looking for, or even that he could use the Force... something that the prequels established could be tested for objectively and scientifically with minimal effort. At least what happened with Qimir fits the idea of the Jedi as arrogant and sloppy in this era. They were about to start rifling around in his brains to find answers and stopped just because he started volunteering information. (I even commented on how stupid it was that Sol offered to let him off with a warning when his crime was, at the very least, being an accomplice to the very murder they were there to investigate.)
  14. Oh, BTW... one final word on Springers, with a quick look at the remaining official Springers before Siege. Time has muddied some of the details in my head, but there was a period where Hasbro was expanding in Asia, especially China, and they released a few retools under the label "Global Development Organization," or simply GDO. But in late 2012 Toys 'R' Us thought it'd be fun to release a bunch of GDO figures as store-exclusives. The fellow you see on the left is GDO Springer, who is a retool of Hunt for the Decepticons Tomahawk. And on the right we have a figure I'm betting a lot of you might be familiar with, as it's the first official figure actually designed to be Springer rather than repurposed as Springer- Generations Thrilling 30 Springer, released the following year. I don't think it was ever explicitly stated that Hunt for the Decepticons was a movie line, but I always thought of it as one. Many of the figures were, in fact, repaints of Revenge of the Fallen figures, and even the ones that weren't (like Tomahawk) were clearly influenced by the Bayverse designs. So while the mix of grays, greens, yellow and certainly Springer's colors, and the head is a bit stylized but clearly based on G1 Springer, the digitigrade legs and large, toed feet practically invite you to consider GDO Springer less as G1 Springer and more as a hypothetical Bayverse Springer. Thrilling 30 Springer, on the other hand, with his gray arms and legs, green thighs, and yellow slab of a chest is the most G1 Springer we'd gotten to this point. Which makes sense, since it's the first mold intended as Springer in the first place. However, like much of the Generations line at the time, Thrilling 30 was based more on IDW comics than Sunbow. In Springer's case, it's Nick Roche's design from Last Stand of the Wreckers. And, y'know, the forearms could be a bit tidier, and the shoulders are a bit different, but it's pretty accurate to the comics. GDO Springer comes with a pair of missile launchers, just like Tomahawk did, but he also get a brand new sword unique to Springer's version of the mold. Thrilling 30 Springer also comes with a sword, and a large rifle that also fires missiles. GDO Springer's head is on a hinged ball joint, so it had pretty good up/down tilt and at least some sideways tilt. His shoulders are ball joints that swivel and get a bit under 90 degrees of lateral movement. His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend a hair over 90 degrees. No wrist or waist articulation. Hips are ball joints that go over 90 degrees forward and backward, and a little under that laterally. His thighs swivel. His knees bend a little under 90 degrees, and his digitigrade ankle bends 90 degrees forward. His toes have a ton of up/down tilt, but there's no pivots. Springer can hold his sword in either hand. His missile launchers give you a few options. First, there's a 5mm peg on them that can plug into a port under either wing on his back. The launchers also have a ball-jointed c-clip. This clip can latch onto the molded guns on the tips of his wings, or onto rails on his arms. Finally, it's not an accessory, but the tail boom attached to his right arm has hinges in the vertical stabilizer, allowing it to act like a pinching claw. Thrilling 30 Springer's head is also on a ball joint with a little upward tilt, plenty of downward tilt, and not much sideways tilt. His shoulders swivel, and they can move laterally a little over 90 degrees, but he has Hot Rod shoulders. His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend 90 degrees on ratchets. His wrists bend inward slightly due to transformation, and they swivel. His waist swivels a bit, though his backpack stops him at about 45 degrees. His hips can go 90 degrees forward or laterally, but only about 45 degrees backward. His thighs swivel, and his knees bend 90 degrees on ratchets. His feet can tilt down, but not up, and he lacks ankle pivots (which wouldn't be standard for another six years). He can hold his sword or gun in either hand. The gun has a 5mm port on it, so you can store the sword on the gun, and a 5mm port on his back allows you to store the combined weapon on his back. As with yesterday's repurposed Springers, GDO Springer has just the one mode, a helicopter. The canopy opens so the front of his torso can fold up over his head. The sides of his chest rotate to line up with his back. The sides of the tail fold out from his arms, then his arms hinge backward and join to form most of the fuselage and tail. His hips double hinge forward, his toes and digitigrade ankles fold up against his shins, then his legs tab together and fold up under the belly. T30 Springer's chest comes up over his head, and his shoulder wings angle in and slide downward. His feet fold up, and joints in his thighs push his lower legs together. A flap on his butt locks the legs in place. His hands fold in, and his forearms split in half and wrap up around his shoulders, then his shoulders shift downward on double hinges to sit near his waist. I'll note here that there are clearance issues getting his chest up over his head, and they seem worse going from alt mode back to robot. I frequently wind up popping his head right off the ball joint. GDO Springer is an interesting helicopter, with molded missiles and guns on his wings, large intakes, a two-seat cockpit, landing gear, and a swiveling camera thing under the nose. However, nothing about the predominantly gray helicopter really is particularly notable as Springer. Sure, with the head and more prominent green in robot mode you can tell, but if you were unfamiliar with this figure and simply saw the helicopter I don't think you'd recognize it as Springer. His rotors spin. As before, you've got options for the missiles; under the wings, on the guns on the win tips, or on the rails that are now on the tail boom. With the 5mm pegs on the sword's hilt, though, the only thing you can really do is stick it under one of the wings, which means if you want the missiles to be attached symmetrically you're going to have use one of the c-clip spots. It's not a huge problem, but it's a reminder that the mold wasn't designed for the sword in the first place. Thrilling 30's helicopter mode is also a bit removed from Sunbow Springer or G1 toy Springer, but the colors are at least ones I'd more associate with Springer. It's a tad awkward, though. There's nothing securing the stabilizers on the tail in place, and his wings look more like folded-up kibble than anything purposeful. What's more, his wings are held in place entirely by friction, as his shoulders don't tab into anything after they shift. Springer's sword transforms and plugs into the top to form his main rotor. He's knee pads have little non-rolling wheels molded onto them, and he's got folding landing gear under his nose for him to perch on. Or, you can leave the nose gear folded in, and awkwardly clip his gun to the underside. But hey! As a toy that was designed to be Springer instead of repainted as Springer, Thrilling 30 Springer is our first official Springer since the G1 toy to actually be a triple changer! From the helicopter mode, fold up all his landing gear. Double hinge his entire backpack backward, then unravel his arms so that the windows on them line up with the cockpit. Take some bits that are on the sides of his shoulders, swivel them 180 degrees, then push them into his arms to reveal the front tires. Split his legs below the knee pads and fold them up alongside his legs to form the rear. T30's Springer is not G1 accurate. That said, this is the best car mode Springer has ever had. It looks even more like a Batmobile than Fansproject's Defender, with big wheels for all sorts of terrain and an armored appearance, while maintaining a the look of a vehicle that could also be driven fast on paved roads. I love it! My only real complaint is that I wish it fit together just a bit better. In car mode, you've got a pair of 5mm ports you can use to plug the gun into the roof. As I mentioned before, the sword can actually plug into a 5mm port on top of the gun. However, I've found that you can wedge the handle between his knees, with the knee pads clamping down on the hilt and the blade running up through a gap near the nose, and store pretty securely out-of-sight under the car. Like I said at the start, GDO Springer might work for me as a Bayverse Springer, but not a G1 Springer. Even in 2012 he wouldn't have usurped Universe Springer on my shelf, and he's definitely not worth picking up instead of Siege or SS86 Springer, so there's no reason to pick up this figure unless you're a masochist like me or a completionist. Thrilling 30, on the other hand, absolutely replaced Universe Springer and served as my Springer until Siege. He looks great in bot mode, as long as you're into that IDW style, and I love his car mode. In his time, I'd have said he's an excellent figure. Indeed, many people will argue that he's still the best Springer. However, those people might be remembering him with rose-tinted glasses. The fact is, he's got some fit and tolerance issues, and his helicopter mode (which, again, I think is the more important of his alt modes) isn't particularly good. For a modern, post-Siege collection, you really should go with Studio Series Springer, or at least Siege Springer. But, like I said, this was still a great figure in its time, and likely one some of you have fond memories of.
  15. I don't have ML so this would be cool. Please post links as soon as you find them.
  16. As you insinuated in a previous post, the Jedi would be able to detect deception....If so, then why would they go through with testing Mae to begin with if they could sense she wanted nothing to do with them? Or does that ability just manifests itself when the plot requires it to? When you said that you were not seeing the series abandoing logic, you could not have possibly typed that with a straight face...lol There are way too many things in the show that make no sense and are seemingly just written off or ignored for the sake of keeping the plot moving.....like how the Jedi are OK with using mind gimmicks with some, like the escaped prisoner in the first episode...but not with the Mae's accomplice to murder? C'mon.....they have him on a recording saying that the 'master' is going to be pleased or something like that....I think it was even mentioned by one of the Jedi when they busted into his shop.....of all the people to have used a Jedi mind trick on it would have been that guy!....but then maybe the mystery would have been solved I suppose....
  17. If Bandai gives the 1/55 another run, I wonder if it would be better to give it a small update by adding one or two more articulation points? Perhaps just a ball joint at the end of the swing bars at the hips so it can finally do a basic A-stance. Or should it remain as a straight reissue? Unfortunately, HG continues to have stranglehold on SDFM / DYRL designs.
  18. This is unexpected news by Hasbro, maybe I'll preorder it but I already have the Missing Link Convoy.
  19. I'm gonna get that BBTS set. That Pathfinder is gonna look cute next to the XTB Barada.
  20. ... the hell? So it's not a business decision? It's some kind of contractual limitation preventing them from releasing the OVA in a standalone form? That's weird.
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