All Activity

Took a break took cover some official figures, but I still have a couple more kits to look at. Today we'll be looking at two, but they're basically the same... DNA's DK-57M kit for Armada Megatron and Tidal Wave, and DK-57G for Armada Galvatron. As I was saying, both kits are essentially the same thing. You get new horns, forearm fillers, and new shoulder parts for Megatron/Galvatron. The only real difference is that the Megatron kit also comes with a few parts for Titan-class Tidal Wave as well, so let's talk about those real quick. The first part is this simple brick. If you have Tidal Wave, you may notice that when you have him in his Dark Fleet mode the boat you make from his legs doesn't hold together super well, due to the fairly shallow clips. This brick wedges into the space above the ankle joint and provides a deeper connection that helps hold the boat together better. Of course, if you want functional ankles you'll have to remove it for robot mode. You can store it when it's not in use by wedging it into one of his hollow heels. My personal copy has been good, but apparently some people where having an issue with the knee ratchets on theirs. DNA included a fix. So, we'll need to remove these three screws, then open the shin and the side will come off. Be mindful not to loose the little purple wheel on the back of the leg! Remove the spring, remove the top part of the ratchet, and then remove the bottom part. Out of the box, the bottom of the ratchet has little slots that fit onto these small tabs (circled) on the leg to hold it in place. As you might imagine, those tabs are kind of small for such a heavy duty joint. People were basically sheering them off, turning the knees into friction joints. DNA included four of these bits (middle), two for each knee. In addition to providing a more solid surface for the ratchet to sit on, they have raised bits that fit into hollows under the ratchet. The gives the ratchet a much sturdier connection. Once you've put the DNA parts in, reverse everything to reassemble the legs. Lastly, Tidal Wave's back was really just an open space with a mini Tidal Wave stuffed inside. The mini Tidal Wave filled the hollow space, but it's not the prettiest. So, DNA built a cover that fits over the gap, whether the mini Tidal Wave is inside or not. You might have notice the asymmetric peg holes on it. You can remove the parts from Tidal Wave's legs that can be attached to Megatron/Galvatron. Fold out the pegs (circled), attach them together, and you can give Tidal Wave a winged backpack. It's not something I'm personally interested in, but it's an option. For the rest of this review, I'll be installing the kit on Megatron, but unless I say differently this applies to Galvatron, too. And I like to start with the easy stuff, so we'll start with the horns. DNA's are slightly taller and a bit more angular. I thought the stock ones looked fine, but the rubbery material often left them a bit bent. DNA's are a a harder plastic. To install on Megatron we simply pop the old ones out and pop the new ones in. Galvatron is a different story, though. Despite showing off how the horns could be removed and held as weapons when they revealed Megatron, for whatever reason Hasbro decided to glue Galvatron's horns in. This makes it difficult if not impossible to remove them without damaging them, and if the tiny glued-in pegs broke off they'd still keep you from inserting the new ones unless you drilled them out. Long story short, I used the DNA horns on Megatron, but I left Galvatron with his stock horns. To install the arm fillers, remove the screw on the inside of the elbow, then pull the inner arm bit off. Note that, like Galvatron's horns, there is a peg that's glued on, and it'll probably break off in the process. The peg is largely unnecessary, though. Take the new DNA part, line it up, and screw it back in place. The screw and the shape of the arm do all the work to keep in in place. Now for the real work- the shoulders. Begin by opening the chest flap and removing these two screws. Turn him over, and remove the two screws from his back, then pull the back cover off. Behind it you'll find two more screws near the top of his back you'll have to remove. Then you'll remove a total of four screws from the back of his mid section. It's a little tricky, trying to work around the turret. With all those screws removed, you can pull the figure apart like so. Set aside the legs, back, back cover, waist, and turret. We'll need those later. Focus on the upper body. Remove this screw from the stock shoulder joint. This will allow you to pull the back off the joint, pull the black transforming bit off, pull the arm off, then remove the front of the joint. Keep the arm, but you can ditch the stock joint and transforming bit. Take the front half of the DNA shoulder joint and set it in place. Slide on the new DNA transforming bit. Sandwich the DNA arm connector's mushroom peg into it, then put the back of the joint on. Take the arm and slide it onto the arm connector, then put the other side of the connector on and screw it into place. Alternatively, you might find it easier to attach the arm to the arm connector, screw on the other half, then sandwich the whole thing into the joint before you put the back cover on. Either way, once you have all the parts in place, carefully re-assemble the figure by reversing the previous steps. So what was the point of all this? Basically, we were replacing the stock single-piece shoulder joint with one that has a mushroom swivel. See, one of the complaints that a lot of people had with these figures was that shoulder rotation wasn't actually rotation at all, it was a hinge connecting the forearm to the bottom of the tank treads. You had to lift a flap, then the arm could hinge 90 degrees forward, and that was it. The mushroom swivel allows the entire arm, including the tank treads, to swivel 360 degrees. While we're at it, the new forearm pieces have a flap on them. In bot mode this flap hides the hollow space in the forearm that the hands fold into. To transform the hands, simply open the flap, fold in the hand like normal, then fold the flap closed. I was concerned that the new shoulders might not line up right for transformation, as other 3D-printed kits that set out to do the same thing seemed to have that problem. But, maybe because DNA also replaced those transforming blocks in the chest, I'm happy to report that there are no such issues here. The shoulders still move up all the way (and the new horns are angled so they just fit between the treads), the blocks swivel and lock into the treads, and the legs still tab into the sides of the blocks. I feel like I can give these kits a recommend. For Tidal Wave, the little brick and the back cover are more nice-to-haves than necessities, but if you're having ratchet issues those knee parts could be a lifesaver. For Megatron/Galvatron, the horns are forearm fillers are also more nice-to-haves than necessities, but the new shoulder joints, despite the work that goes into installing them, are a major improvement. The kind I wish someone would have done for the Legacy Laser Optimus mold. Just as importantly (but never a guarantee with DNA), the kit doesn't introduce or cause any new problems. There are no downsides to these kits, it's just taking a flawed shoulder design and correcting it to what it should have been in the first place.

It's missing a considerable amount of...green.

Will you make a review of the Rick Hunter cyclone?

Uh, its HBO so expect lot of foul language and close ups of genitals 🍆

Excited but not expecting a tidy finale as PRIME will be milking this franchise for a very long time.

I was thinking the thing in the back for the one from delta

KnowWave, they’ll probably reissue it again one day. Although it might be a few years

Thanks for finding all these references! Yes, he doesn’t mention it but he does appear to be using the mechanism the way betsuni pointed out (it was all him, not me). I figure it was something someone else had to know about but I’ve just never heard about so it’s just another little detail that further enhances what I consider the best toy ever made. Yep, thanks for the additional details! Even though none of my chunkys are loose and I didn’t know about the feature, I guess I was always careful enough when transforming. Also, the genius design of it gives it a lot of tolerance and precision at the same time for it to work with minimal wear even if you don’t press the spring down to release.

From that angle I wish it had a normal cockpit/canopy. The top of the head sticking out looks weird. But I'm really liking the colors. 😂

Just read your interests under your avatar and you're far more ardent than I am. Everyone has their "thing", though, and at least yours is fairly well-served betweeen anime, Transformers, and other independent toylines. I like transforming motorbikes, but I'm choosy- they don't all spark my fancy, and some I just feel meh about and chock them up as another interesting take. The Mospeada Ride Armor never interested me one bit, so I'm an outlier regarding that design. I'm feeling about the same for the Tri-Charger- it's just not grabbing me, although it's filed away in the recesses of grey matter as a thing that exists. I felt the same way about Bayformers Arcee and the other female Autobots who became bikes- those designs were absolutely atrocious, just god awful. TFP Arcee and TFA Prowl, though, just prime. I'm curious, too. Before they prematurely ended their Machine Robo line (still wish they'd released Supercar Robo, aka Turbo, for whom they had a prototype right out of the gate), they were reportedly working on a Triple Jim figure. If they are affiliated with Pose+, then that Triple Jim that Pose+ had on display may be the one Action Toys intended to release but never did. I'd have much rather had TJ over Tough Trailer who I passed on. As to the Pose+ guys detailing their thoughts behind design decisions, I love that sort of BTS exposition, even if your personal opinions differ from choices they made. At least you understand the reasoning behind the decisions. LEGO has been doing it for many years now, Hasbro has jumped on the bandwagon with their fanstreams, and I watched the Pose+ vid on their upcoming Legioss, which was informative. It would indeed be cool if Bandai would do the same. They've got a lot of 'splaining to do over the YF-21.

I’m ready for this. Missed out on the larger tomahawk.

Still a bit gundamesky but not as bad as the Delta. I kinda like more this drone twist than the jousting/recon craft. Lol. It is just me or those canons are a reminiscent of the super/strike boosters from Macross?

I like the box, not as much as the 1/72 one though.

Now this fighter gives me the vibes of.. a Space Battleship Yamato jet fighter? Or an Ultraman jet. Perhaps I can expect it to land on Mazinger Z's head & form the brain lol.

https://delta17.myshopify.com Delta-17 figures.

Where did you buy it?

I was curious about Triple Jim because it seems much time has passed without any news. It could be the project has been shelved for time being since there's been no updates. Action Toys is affliated to Pose+, via Awaken Studios. I always enjoy the videos this studio puts out, as the designer explains the design philosophy behind the stuff they put out, and so for better or worse we can appreciate why certain aspects of the toys are what they are. I wish Bandai would do more of these sorts of communication behind their Macross products, but alas the rare ones they do are usually some light fluff segments or interviews.

Got a cheapo 1/36 VW Beetle from a thrift sale to complement the 3rd party Transcraft BB. Initially wanted to get another Transcraft for alt mode - love the sculpt, but mold is plaque with QC issues so just leaving it in bot-mode only.

Transformers Generations Studio Series TFTM Scourge x4.

Bandai will be rereleasing the HG accessories kit 3-8 in May!

That spring loaded tab is there specifically to keep the front and back halves together in Battroid mode. When pressing it down to disengage from Battroid to fighter it is always best to hold the back plate so you don’t force the metal shoulder hinges to warp and eventually break the plastic clips that keep them in place. Plus it keeps the Battroid tighter. If you often mis-operate these parts the front and back halves will get very loose and sloppy over time. And when you pose an arm with the GU-11 pointing forward the two halves will often split and the arm droops down. And as an FYI, a similar clip system is used in the 1/100 Takatoku figures, but the clip is attached to the nosecone underside and has no spring tension. Hope this helps.