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Exactly my response. I need Night Tracer. Damn you, Mike! 😤

After dealing with MMC's Defensor, Mecha Invasion's Devastator, Dream Star Toys' Devastator, heck, even Hasbro's own Superion and Devastator in recent months (years?), it almost seems like the norm is for the bots to be released in some kind of random order where you wind up having to have most, if not all, of the figures before you can begin combining anything. So it's kind of refreshing that Magic Square worked from the ground up. That's right, MB-05 is Night Tracer, their version of Onslaught. Daaaaaaang. Yesterday I suggested that the gap between Munitioner and MMC's Swindle wasn't so huge, but I think even MMC's most ardent fans will admit that Onslaught was the most-heavily compromised of their Combaticons, arguably of all their combiner figures, due to the all-built-in gimmick. Then here comes Night Tracer, casually strolling onto the scene and basically nailing it. Much better proportions than MMC's, with cartoon smooth shins, a nicely tapered torso, a pelvis that isn't faking it with part of the waist, etc. And in a case that's turning out to be pretty typical for Magic Square, he does it cleanly. Like MMC, he's even got the cartoon-accurate green/brown on the outsides of his arms. Pointing out that Unique Toys was a bit stylized is beating a dead horse, but I think it's worth pointing out that prior to Night Tracer I'd have actually suggested that Zeta had the best Onslaught. But Zeta has its own issues, like the massive shoulders, oversized back cannons, Popeye forearms, and lots of panels that are kind of just folded up and stuck in places. Night Tracer doesn't need any of that! He's so committed to looking like the cartoon that he's the only one of the four to copy the cartoon's odd decision to stick a bunch of wheels on his forearms. UT turned theirs to the back, but all three of the previous releases seemed content to treat the two-forearm-plus-one-bicep-per-arm placement as an animation error and went the toy route of one on each forearm and two on either side of the torso, but Magic Square looked at the animation model and was like, "yeah, we can make that work." I may have spoken too soon on combining these guys early, though. Night Tracer comes with his gun, and a big old chest plate for combined mode... and that's it. And before you ask, no, Onslaught does not turn into the entire torso, head, and chest of Bruticus. We're gonna need some more parts for that. But in the mean time, Night Tracer's head is on a ball joint connected to a swivel. So he can look down until his chin touches his chest, up about 75 degrees or so, but unlike the previous two he's actually got a little sideways tilt, too. His shoulders swivel, and they move laterally on a ratchet just over 90 degrees on the correct side of the swivel. If you need more, there's a transformation joint on the other side of the swivel that will get his arms straight up. His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend maybe 120 degrees or so on a single hinge. His hands are like Heavy Gunner's, wrists swivel and bend backward, every digit is an individual unit that connects to the hand via a ball joint, and every digit has one additional hinged knuckle. His waist swivels, and he's got the double-hinge that gives him almost 90 degrees of ab crunch or back bend, though unlike Prime and the previous Combaticons the hinges feel a tad loose on Night Tracer. His hips are again of the drop-down type, reaching backward 90 degrees and forward a bit over that on ratchets that feel a tad loose for my tastes, and laterally 90 degrees of sturdier ratchets. His thighs swivel. His knees are double-jointed and bend nearly 180 degrees combined. As with the hips, they're kind of loose ratchets, though, with a bit of play that makes him prone to tilting backward when you're posing him (not helped by the weight of the backpack). His toes bend up but not down, and his ankles pivot 90 degrees. Again, above-average articulation but he's let down a bit by tolerances. Compared to the preivous two, Night Tracer might actually have the easiest transformation. You gotta get the actual front wheels, fenders, and headlights out of his forearms, and get his arms up over his head. Then you move the turret out of the way to unfold the rest of the cab from on an inside his back, forming the roof, sides, hood, grill and the middle quartet of tires. With the front half done, rotate the waist 180 degrees and then the back half has the usual Magic Square annoyances... the knees have to be in just the right position, then the lower legs splay open into an array of panels that rearrange themselves into the back half of the truck. But of the three, I think he's had the least amount of flipping flaps. This is another case where I like a lot of the realistic details like wing mirrors, wipers, etc on both MMC and Zeta, and the big green hinges on the sides of MMC's truck are actually on the cartoon model. But, with the arguable exception of Unique Toys' big gap between the truck and trailer, they all did pretty good in truck mode. Guess it's hard to screw up a long, nearly flat rectangle with a hint of cab and AA guns. Overall, not a ton to complain about. You've got the sorts of details you'd expect, like the grill with the fins on it, two windows on the front, two windows on each side, the scoop in the hood, camo splotches, seven wheels to a side in the correct placement with a trio of green boxes between the middle and rear pair. But I guess this is where I have to nitpick minor discrepancies. As I mentioned, the green hinges on MMC's Onslaught, unsightly though they might be, and he's got smaller lights under his headlights that aren't on the animation model. Night Tracer can roll, and the entire turret can swivel and elevate a little. The barrels can move up and down independently inside the turret, also. Fold in the handle of Night Tracer's gun and you'll find a little hole you can use to peg the gun on top of the turret. The remainder of the trailer beyond the turret is too short for Munitioner or Heavy Gunner to catch a ride. All-in-all its a very serviceable, very adequate truck mode, but we already had very serviceable, very adequate truck modes. But it's not about truck mode, is it? Because after three prior Onslaughts, each with their own flaws in robot mode, Night Tracer comes along looking just about perfect and he's got great articulation to boot. There's simply no competition. Maybe one of the other sets will deliver a better combined mode, and if you only want one set and you care most about the combined mode then sure, maybe you want to wait and see how that shakes out. But Night Tracer is, hands down, the best MP-style Onslaught by a significant margin, and as such gets a strong recommend from me.

That's great for the accomplished kit builders, but some of us lack the the skills to imbue the polish that a finished toy provides. I'm an untalented painter, so I'd rather pay for a finished toy that looks good.

Vinegar can probably take that crud off. I've also used 99% isopropyl alcohol, but it is pretty harsh on the finish. There is no chemical or solvent type treatment that will make those pieces look "good," just less covered in crud, but still pitted and dull. Which you already guessed! I personally have never polished them, but other people have polished and buffed them with a variety of ordinary metal polishing compounds and had transformative results. Even when they were brand new, they were not polished and shiny, so that has never really appealed to me, although I may eventually try it just to add another tool to my toolbox, maybe for some custom fancy ones.

True. Very true.

Hopefully they stick the ending. Looks good but...

Mine lives in GERWALK mode, as I feel its one of the few valks with a really neat GERWALK. (and some unique parts/transformation aspects just for that mode, and not PURELY "half-way inbetween fighter and battroid")

Sounds like an awesome way to spend an afternoon

It was a good movie but it was still dumb, goofy, over the top and the story and characters still can't be taken seriously. There's just no avoiding that when adapting Street Fighter, it's still a dude in a white ghi shooting fire balls at either a seven foot muy Thai fighter, an Uber Nazi looking super villain dictator, or any one of the various full on over the top monster final bosses.

I think saying it was OK is kind. Absolutely nothing about it stands out, the resolution of the elf issues, the random fighting cause reasons. There was a hint of something with the village arc but it fizzled as quickly as it started. The whole OP protagonist in an isekai has been beaten to death.. this series is just more of the same.. Also wrapped up Let This Grieving Soul Retire S2.. I enjoyed it, I think it stands out from the vast nothing that was this season. There were some moments of this season where I was ready to hang it up, but it managed to keep me coming back. I'd say its worth a watch. I wrapped Tora Dora.. I have the original NIS America release in the large book style boxset, the artwork for its time stood out but the character designs now are showing their age. I'd recommend this to anyone who likes the Rom-Com style series, it does dabble at the end with the Harem like setup but it resolves itself pretty well. Not gonna lie I was rooting for Ami, never understood the fascination with loli characters. Next on my list.. maybe Last Exile.. that is a series I haven't cracked open since the early 00's

Depends on your use-case. For the price, the Framework Desktop is a slightly better buy than the competition. Depending on how you configure the Framework. Those top spec machines are more like mini-workstations. Those that have the AI Max 395 with 128GB of RAM are really industrial workstation systems. Unless you are doing some serious number crunching, doing CAD work, or running local AI models, I wouldn't call it a deal. It's an overpriced SFF system at that point. For now. The price may jump in the next few weeks/months.

It's been a good ride!

finally got around to finishing this.

I'm curious. People have been generally bemused by the Ryzen Max processors - those "mega APUs" with 4060-ish graphics and up to 128gb RAM - because of their high prices. Now that DRAM prices are jumping up, how do those devices compare now? For instance, a top-spec Framework Desktop (16 cores, 40-CU GPU, 128GB RAM) can be had for about $2000 + $storage. Are they still overpriced for what they are, or are they relatively more of a deal now?

Almost at an end of an oddly stretched out era

Or. OR. Orrrrrr. Hear me out. Programmers learn to code more efficiently.

A Gatherer's Adventure in Isekai ended today. It was ok.

You should transform it once and leave it forever in battroid to take advantage of its strengths.

Looking forward to Deadpool & Wolverine wave 2, Dogpool & Deadpool, Kitty Pryde & Colossus, and Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider.

Getting closer to completing one leg. Thicker, rounder, more shapely thigh: Whole leg: Still a little bit of putty and sanding to do, but getting closer.

Everything, everywhere, all at once....I'll definitely keep watching if they make more seasons....dang HBO keeps coming out with shows I actualy want to watch.....basterds!

I've never transformed mine, and I won't. Can't be bothered, and this stuff makes me more paranoid to try.

Honestly? The 5000 is niche enough that they should release the M7 version, then release an Assembly Kit version. It should be cheaper for them since they don't have to pay for assembly and paint, and the hard-core fan would get the scheme they want.

What is with that music? Oh I dunno, the aforementioned anime movie was played pretty much completely straight and managed to be a banger. SF2V is a fun little alternate universe romp, but I find I just lose interest by the halfway mark every single time I try to watch it. And whereas the movie had a major influence on the franchise going forward - establishing Sagat's shoryuken-derived scar, the lightning storm meadow as a recurring stage, Bison's entire design, etc. - basically nothing the show does has any lasting impact. It's no real fault of the show's - it can't help its being made alongside the similarly-intentioned Zero/Alpha series - but still.