All Activity

That is such a big tease. I am officially getting more and more excited for this line with each new info dump.

He's still serving on the Enterprise during Kirk's tenure as captain, in fact. He's originally a minor TOS character, appearing in one episode of the show's second season ("A Private Little War") and one episode of the show's third season ("That Which Survives"). So he was still on the Enterprise in 2266 and 2267, albeit not as the ship's chief medical officer the way he was under Pike. Edit: in some of the non-canonical expanded universe material from before the current regime, he remained a part of the Enterprise crew clear into the late 2280s, making the transition to the Enterprise-A as well.

I wonder how many more of these questionable moments of "judgment" (or lack thereof) are going to be tolerated before M'Benga is either reassigned or otherwise canned? I know if McCoy started acting like this, Kirk would at the least have had severe questions about his fitness as CMO.

also, top view

official video from Takara and Another Genesis page with some details https://www.takaratomy.co.jp/products/tsparkofficial/toyrise/legioss/

Neverland does seem to be fairly light on armed security, yes. I'd assume that has a lot to do with it being a secret research facility on a private island. We're not exactly sure where, but given that it's a short flight over open ocean from "Prodigy City" (former Bangkok) it's probably in the Gulf of Thailand or Riau archipelago. Based on the map we're shown, that's pretty much the heart of Prodigy's territory. They control East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Oceania, the southern half of Africa, Greenland, and Iceland. Neverland's most probable location is pretty well encircled by other Prodigy territories. Having a large security force present would tend to undermine the secrecy aspect of it too, since you either have to keep them there and ship in large quantities of food and various supplies or rotate them out to other postings periodically, increasing the chance of leaks. The best defense is never being a target to begin with, after all. Though yes, the wisdom of that strategy is likely in question now that the island is home to a variety of different extraterrestrial murder monsters. Well, yeah... that's kind of the point I think. They even put his carelessness in his name. He is almost literally named "Arrogant Brat". 😆🙃

Hmm.........I'm wondering if some of the 3mm hardpoints placed all over the Takara Toyrise Legioss toy are designed to used for connecting to a future Tread release?

OK, it's here... the moment some of us have been waiting for. An Ortegas episode. We've been waiting for her to get some proper character development for almost three entire seasons now. It's about time they got around to her. So we're doing the usual formula... Oh hey, an overt TOS reference. The ship the Enterprise is due to rendezvous with is Captain Decker's USS Constellation, the same ship and captain from TOS "The Doomsday Machine". Well, in fine Star Trek tradition that shuttlecraft is a writeoff... This is actually really well done. This is what I come to SNW for. So, hey, another TOS reference. The same one from "Arena", actually. Kinda widens the existing plot hole though. More shots of Ortegas's quarters... this time models of the Enterprise and Shenzhou, as well as replicas of the Quimbaya artifacts (sometimes erroneously claimed to be ancient airplanes). Really well done. Honestly, worth waiting for both as a character-focus episode and an excellent reversal of course on the show's main antagonist.

I think I was always the wrong audience for the Transformers X G.I. Joe line. I mean, I love Transformers, but I wasn't really into G.I. Joe as a kid, so to me they were kinda of expensive, kibbly, cheap-feeling toys with fairly simple engineering that were too big to scale with my other Generations figures. And although I thought Soundwave turned out pretty decent, Megatron and Bumblebee were bad enough that when Kup was announced instead of a more beloved character I decided to pass. But then Amazon had to go and put him on sale (or is it clearance?), so... Well, my complaint about the size stands (kinda), and the head sculpt is somehow worse than the Studio Series toy. I'm not totally sure why he's green instead of blue, either, since the majority of those green robot parts are hidden in alt mode. Colors aside, though, the feet, thighs, arms, and head are definitely very Kup in sculpt, and he's give got his abs and belt. What's more, while he is a bit thick and he does have big chunks of tread hanging from his significant backpack, there's not a lot of obvious plastic-saving, cost-cutting hollow spots visible on his person. And, big backpack aside, he's seems a lot less kibbly than the previous three figures in the line. For accessories, Kup comes with a pair of missiles, a pair of guns, and two retro G.I. Joe figures. Sgt. Slaughter I know, he was everywhere when I was a kid. St. Slaughter comes with a stand and a baton (but what's the whip-like bit at the tip?). I think the other guy is Leatherneck, who comes with a stand, a rifle, and a backpack. Kup's articulation isn't too bad, acutally. His head's on a ball joint that allows him to swivel and provides a limited up/down/sideways tilt. A transformation hinge at the base of the stem gives him a ton more downward tilt. His shoulders rotate on ratchets, and can move laterally over 90 degrees. His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend 90 degrees. His wrists swivel, as does his waist (on a soft ratchet no less!). His hips swivel forward 90 degrees and backward a little less than that due to his backpack getting in the way, on a ratchet, and over 90 degrees laterally. His thighs swivel, and his knees bend 90 degrees on a ratchet. His toes can tilt downward (due to his transformation), and his ankles can pivot 90 degrees. Kup can hold the guns in either hand, though the round base looks a bit weird. The missiles store on rails on the inner edge of the tread kibble on his backpack. The guns can also store back there by plugging them into peg holes near the missile rails. You have to remove the accessories to get them out of the way, but you can fold open Kup's backpack to reveal a computer. The backpack only opens to 90 degrees, and the inside has a quartet of those little pegs for Joes' feet, so Sgt. Slaughter and Leatherneck can ride back there. The instructions for transforming Kup are a bit confusing, but once you know what you're doing it's pretty simple. Rotate the arms at the shoulders so he's pointing straight up, then fold the fists inward. Turn the biceps so that the fists are now pointing forward. Pull the front of his torso away, unclip his shoulders from his collar, and open the flap behind his head. Spin the head 180, lift the backpack a bit, then shift it so that the panel his head is on rotates and you can fold his head into the gap under the panel you opened. The backpack should line up with his torso so that the rivet sits into a notch near the tampoed star on either side. Fold the flap back down, and cover it with the second flap that rotated out with when the head folded in. Get the treads out of the way, and the arms should fold right through the gap and under his backpack. The tread kibble needs to rotate on the black armatures so that the armatures can swing forward and line the white fender up with the bit that you already made from his arms. If you did it right, tabs on the forearms will lock into the the inside of the tread. Fold open the little bits of kibble on his shins, then bend his knees forward the wrong way about 90 degrees. Push the lower leg so that it detaches from the knee and hinges around to the outside... the treads on his legs connect to the treads from his backpack, the bottom of his shins continue to form the fenders over the treads, but don't push everything together too tightly yet. Double-hinge the front of the treads up from the backs of his legs and into place. Open the two flaps next to his tummy grill, then spin his tummy 180 degrees. Use the hinges to push the front of the torso into place as the vehicle's nose, making sure to line up the tabs on the nose with the slots on the front of the fender. If you have everything lined up, the fenders will push in tight with those little kibble flaps filling int he gaps between the nose and the backpack. Again, not really into G.I. Joe, so I had to look this up... but this is the Tag Team Terminator, or Triple T. Apparently, this is Sgt. Slaughter's personal vehicle, and was originally the only way to get Sgt. Slaughter v2 in 1986 (though he had a v1 release that year and v2 would get a standalone release the following year). Hasbro did a really good job recreating the original Triple T toy... aside from a few extra seams and an Autobot badge, the only really noticeable differences are that you can't see through the gap between the treads and the fenders, and Kup's forearms are a little visible from the rear. Kup retains most of the functionality of the original Triple T as well... as near as I can tell, the only thing he's really missing is that you can't open the engine cover. But the missiles plug onto tabs on the treads, and the guns plug into ports on the sides of the seat where they can swivel, like the original toy. One Joe can sit in the seat, like the original toy, where he can hold the joystick, like the original toy. He's still go the foot pegs on the treads, like the original toy. In lieu of the engine, you can again open the rear to reveal the computer that was in Kup's backpack, and to give more Joes places to stand. One more gimmick the original toy didn't have is storage for Sgt. Slaughter's baton and Leatherneck's rifle and backpack. I said I wasn't the target audience for this line. Maybe Joe fans who just wanted cheaper vehicles weren't into the line, either... there was an Optimus planned for the line, but from what info I had it was supposed to be out late last year, and is very likely canceled. I think it's a shame, because I kind of get it, this line was less about being good Transformers and more about taking the original vehicles for the original 3.75" G.I. Joes and making them Transformers. For all my gripes about the robot modes, the alt modes were always good. And it's even more a shame, because they were apparently just starting to hit their stride. Kup is, easily, the best of the line. He doesn't just nail the alt mode, he's honestly a pretty dang good robot, too. I'd say this is the first one I'd genuinely recommend as a good Transformers toy.

I appreciate what they were going for, but I prefer the original spherical Death Star set that they released. I like the Imperial Shuttle they made for it, although the nose gives me bull terrier vibes. 😄 I made my own for the OG DS playset.

I agree, and I think that's the point. Kavalier is inherently unlikable, purposely so, and his arrogance is ultimately going to be the downfall of his little fiefdom. His number two, Evil Daddy Warbucks, is also cruising for some karmic takedown. The male IT guy is one of the few truly decent people working for Prodigy. His wife the therapist, who seems old enough to be his mother, also seems like she has the hybrid kids' interests at heart, although she also seems to be more comfortable towing the company line. The engineer's mate certainly seems like he's more than a bit on the slow side beggaring how he would have ever qualified for the job. This show, for all intents, is about monsters and I guess, rather than being creative, the production is falling back on the old 'people make dumb decisions in horror films' trope to ensure that said monsters get their chance to do what they do thus upping the body counts and the gore factor. I rather enjoy both in sci-fi and horror, but it's always more fun when, as @Seto Kaiba mentioned, the protagonists make smart decisions, do everything correctly within their power, and still fall prey to the monsters. Stupid or negligent protagonists offer easy prey and in turn erode the menace and cunning of the monsters hunting them thus lessening the whole experience.

The reason for that big gap after the back of the cockpit is due to the shoulder sensor being stored under there.

I like what Toyrise has done to the rear of the cockpit. The official design has always looked awkward to me. I already put my Sentinels in storage, but I think I recall there being a giant opening (in the one unit I inspected) at the rear of the cockpit instead of a solid panel. That's nonsensical if I'm right. I need to take another look at them.

The UCS Death Star has finally been revealed and I’m stunned how bad it looks from the back: I know no one will display it like that but since it has the window bulging out and those ugly rods from the stars in the landing bat it would had been nice if Lego took greater care with the backside… …for you know a $1000!!! I was thinking it would be cool if the backside had an approximation of the outer shell so you could display it from both sides. Since the outside is anyhow not scale accurate with the turbolaser pointing out and the elevator knob looking like an mobile home exhaust vent you could have an mini diorama of the trench run or the entry point of the Millennium Falcon and Wedge’s X-Wing from RotJ (two super iconic scenes). As is it just looks cheap and like a cost cutting measure. These bricks are super cheap for Lego to produce so it wouldn’t have reduced their profit margin too much. The minifigs also look like nothing special with no dual molded legs (besides the Hot Tub Trooper it seems) or arms and lots of stickers in the set. I’m all for high priced collectibles but they have to look the part.

I was under the impression you were already going for a more military theme since you said it was based on the corsair. I've seen that image from the files, just didn't remember much of it. What I was talking about is more like the middle one down the left, and the tan one on the top right. Their slab of black running down the middle looks like a sword, just that it looks like it's pointed backwards because they have the black stripe accross the nose as a crossguard. They probably look better that way because of the Kairos wing. What I had in mind was pointed forward, and flanked by similarly girthy crossgard stripes, that aren't necessarily connected, and more forward swept or parallel to be trident like to flow with the Seigfried's wing direction, without highlighting the full span of them. Doesn't actually have to look like a sword, or be black, or be in the same colors. It's more that I was just trying to describe the direction of the pattern.

Well, they barely put up the tv Queadluun Rau, so probably another six months and they’ll do an alternate color of that, so I’d say maybe next year till we might get one of the Nousjadeul Ger kits and it may be the tv version first so you got a bit time still unless Hasegawa pulls out a surprise

Re: the feet. They do stick out, though doesn't seem as egregious as other non-Sentinel ones. There isn't the hip rotation feature to tuck the legs further into the chest intakes in Fighter. I assume that's for simplicity purposes. It then looks like they adjusted the lower legs to be slightly shorter so less mass sticks out the back. Shorter legs mean stockier Soldier mode, so they mitigate this by angling the feet downwards to that stiletto position to make it look taller again. That removable cockpit module just reminds me the VF-11 now.

Yeah, they'd do that. It's their entire busness model. Last week they announced rehashing the HG Gquuuuux with added glowy rings from the final episode lol. First release buyers are screwed lol

If you are interested, here is how I went about weathering my Blackbird. I have the old 48th scale Testors/Italeri Blackbird model in my closet, but if I was to build it, I'd have no place to put it.

Shameless plug, use my affiliate link! https://www.hlj.com/?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=scorchedearthtoys

I was wondering how the legs of the inner bot were going to line up with the armor, but it appears that the inner bot's knees will bend forward in line with the armor's hips. I'm curious what sort of attachment points they're using to keep the inner legs in place. I'm thinking they either limited the thigh movement to what we're seeing here to allow the inner bot's lower legs to remain somewhat in parallel with the armor's thighs or those thighs can continue moving forward leaving the inner bot's legs just kinda dangling behind them having reached their limits. Regardless, this is a challenging bot to approach with the ML methodology, and I give Takara mad props for accomplishing what we're seeing in the pics. If I was buying this, the armor's knee joints, pins connecting two relatively thin panels, would give me a bit of concern over long term durability given the top-heavy nature of the figure. However, again, I have to tip my hat to Takara for imbuing this with the level of articulation they've achieved here and yet keeping both bot and alt modes looking virtually identical to the OG toy. It's an impressive bit of problem solving and the execution is quite well-done. I'm assuming the buggy dude came with the OG Diaclone toy, as I'm not familiar with its coming with OG UM. I didn't see it 'til you said it! 🤣 Honestly, not one of the better bits of box art.

It's really growing on me. Should be a fun little toy.

May'n just informed that she have just completed a photo shoot for a memorial book for the Macross F concert!

Pretty tempting https://www.hlj.com/toyr-se-afc-01x-omega-legioss-omega-tkt08592