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Got my 2 last night. So far have unboxed one, opened the front and rear landing gear, attached the speaker pod launcher and put Basara in the cockpit. Front landing gear seems more tight and less prone to collaspe or fold compared to the YF-19. Have not transformed it from Fighter mode yet. I'll keep this one in fighter mode and when I unbox the second one at the weekend, that will get transformed to battroid mode. It's really solid in fighter mode and in my opinion looks great, apart from the speakerpod issue, which I personally don't really consider that much of an issue. I just wish Bandai had made the sensor on the front bottom of the launcher collapsible, so that the launcher could be stowed a tad closer to the plane's belly. I really like all the small tampo printed warning markings, which is something we never got on any other version of the VF-19Kai. Seems Bandai finally learned their lesson and made the tampo markings small and understated unlike the YF-19 and YF-21, which in my opinion had way too many large, gaudy and unnecessary tampo printed markings.

Brawl and Blast Off were my only two orders this time. I'm not a big fan of their homegrown Junkions either, and IMHO, they wasted what could have otherwise been a good fig by reusing a Junkion mold for Animated Wreck-Gar. I have the OG toy, which is far superior than this wannabe.

I preordered everything but Razorclaw (wake me when it's G1 Razorclaw), Wreck-Gar, and Jalopy. I wasn't a big fan of those fan-fic Junkions in the first place. Though, I might buy Jalopy if I happen to see him in stores one day; with his more traditional colors and Autobot badge he makes a better part of "Junkasaurus" than Axlegrease.

Missing Link Optimus (and, to a lesser extent, Bumblebee) were interesting to me because it took a figure I (and I expect most Transformers fans) was incredibly familiar with, but gave it a more modern level of articulation and made a few improvements to eliminate the partsforming elements of the original. Missing Link Sunstreaker was interesting to me because I wasn't familiar with the original. Although the Missing Link version featured articulation and integrated hands that the original never did, it was my first time experiencing even the basic transformation engineering. The newest entry in the Missing Link line is interesting to me for third, brand new reason—because there never was a G1 toy. Yeah, we're talking about Missing Link Arcee. Note that she's based on an unreleased prototype, though there's a Missing Link version of said prototype. This made for a tough call on my part... the prototype version, with its different head sculpt and mix of orange and purple colors, could be argued as being more toy accurate. Except that it literally only existed as a hand-sculpted, non-transforming prototype. I'm not even sure if the images that were making the rounds were even of the physical prototype. Frankly, it's not certain that the toy would have actually been orange had it gotten further along in production, and I ultimately went with more traditional Arcee colors (though I wish they'd have kept the prototype head sculpt). Regardless of color, Missing Link Arcee gives a reasonable depiction of what a G1 Arcee toy might have looked like, with awkward shoulders, a flat chest, wide hips, and knock knees, though she still seems a bit more modern than the likes of G1 Kup, Blurr, or Hot Rod. Heck, her car kibble even cleans up quite a bit tighter than the SS86 toy! There seems to be a big departure here compared to the other Missing Link figures released so far. See, while Prime and Sunstreaker did come with stickers, if you wanted that look, their sticker details were actually sculpted and painted onto the toys already. Arcee, on the other hand, is looking pretty plain here. She doesn't even have an Autobot badge on her chest. But there are stickers that provide that badge, as well as covers for the screws on her shoulders and colorful bits for her toes and belly button. Her sole accessory is this pink gun. Although not a match for the gun she uses in the '86 movie (which the SS86 toy's gun is based on), I do believe that it's based on a gun she briefly used in the third season. If you want the movie-style pistol, well, I hear it comes with the prototype-colored version. Takara really wants you to double dip on this mold. Articulation isn't quite up to modern standards, but far beyond most of the actual '86 toys. Her head can swivel, and she can look about 45 degrees upward. Her shoulders, including the car fenders, can swivel, while a hinge gives her maybe 60 degrees of lateral movement. Her biceps swivel, and her elbows can bend just over 90 degrees. No waist or wrist swivels. Her hips can go about 90 degrees backward and nearly 180 degrees forward, though you have to move them out enough to clear per pelvis. Speaking of, they move 90 degrees laterally. She has a restricted thigh swivel; you can turn her legs about 45 degrees outward and just a touch inward. Her knees bend about 120 degrees. Her feet can tilt up and down about 45 degrees, and her ankles pivot about 45 degrees. Arcee can hold her gun in either hand. There are also peg holes on her backpack you can plug the gun into. The transformation is, honestly, kind of similar to the SS86 toy. Hinges move her hips to the rear of the vehicle, and her legs swing up so they can tuck under it. The front of her torso flips up to form the nose of the car, while the hood scoop, seats, and rear section with the fin are all parts of her backpack. The big difference is that SS86 Arcee has a lot more backpack to unfold, using it to make up more of the car's exterior while hiding her limbs. Meanwhile, Missing Link Arcee uses the arms to make the fenders and sides of the car, with her actual thighs making parts of the rear. And, y'know, maybe G1 toys didn't always have the best robot modes. But the vehicle modes were still pretty good, and that's definitely the case here. Not exactly cartoon-accurate, as she's significantly narrower with a longer nose that goes way past her front fenders versus the cartoon, yet it does so in a way that captures the sporty, almost hourglass shape the car had with wider fenders and a narrower cockpit, a short, round butt, and a long, sloping nose in a way that Titans Return, Kingdom, and even MMC's third party version didn't quite get. My only real gripe is the corners of her pelvis sticking out a bit from under the nose. Weapon storage on G1 toys wasn't aways a give, but there are two holes near the fin on the back of Arcee's car mode. Either of them can be used to store her gun while she's in alt mode (they're the same spots you can use the store them on her backpack). Growing up poor, I had more Gobots than actual Transformers prior to the '86 movie, but in the Christmas of 1986 I got the entire movie cast save for Cyclonus, Scourge, Gnaw, and Springer. I've rectified that as an adult, and even posted here comparing the '86 toys to some modern Siege, Kingdom, and Studio Series counterparts (something I could update, what with newer SS86 versions of Magnus, Springer and Galvatron). Despite being an important part of the new-for-the-movie cast, and despite having her SS86 figure hanging with her modern movie counterparts, Arcee is not among my 1986 G1 toys. While not truly a 1986 toy, or even a reimagining of an '86 toy with additional articulation, Missing Link Arcee is a sort of "what if?" that can represent the character with my actual 1986 toys. I think that's all I really needed her to be, but the fact that she's kind of decent even by modern standards, with a lot less kibble on her than most Arcee toys, makes her the sort of toy I want to recommend regardless.

Lol Just got back from seeing a matinee with my son. It was pretty fun on the big screen and wasn't as bad as i thought it might be. The soundtrack is absolutely great at volume and the visuals are too. The plot left a lot of room for sequel potential and other stories to continue. It definitely felt more like this was another story about the grid and not an actual continuation of Legacy. All in all, well worth the matinee with my son.

Missed the preorder window with Pulse again, so I managed to get Blast Off and Brawl through Amazon. at least I get free shipping as a Prime member. If that Brawl leg/foot transformation is legit, that's an interesting way to go, especially since they're using the frame system. I'm not complaining as it's all-in-one engineering, which is unexpected from Takara/Hasbro considering the methodology for Menasor and Superion where the vehicles are essentially accoutrements and the feet are part of the frame. I don't mind their taking the Motormaster approach with Onslaught. Both depart from their G1 toys by splitting the trailers from their cabs, but Motormaster was well-executed, IMHO, and it makes sense to use the trailer as the frame for the combined mode. Thanks to a quick demo at the MCM London TF convention, there's confirmation that the trailer enjoys a bit of swivel which should be a requisite when it comes to Onslaught's long alt mode. So few companies work it in, so I'm glad Takara did it here, even if the arc of rotation is somewhat limited. With all of the Combaticons revealed, the team and Bruticus are shaping up to be some of the best AotP releases.

Going against the grain here, but i'd have been interested in a movie about Ben Solo given the star power involved. Seeing a film about living up to the consequences of your actions would have been a new one for the franchise, since Vader croaked before he could be held to account for all of his war crimes. Plus this would be the only way that the Skywalker bloodline continues and doesn't get superceded by Palpatine's, so for that alone i'd think the film would be worth it.

Sometimes I think its because of cocaine or money laundering.

https://www.hallmark.com/ornaments/keepsake-ornaments/star-trek-the-next-generation-beware-the-borg-tabletop-decoration-with-light-and-sound-5QFM3985.html Saw the Borg Cube at Hallmark and it's pretty cool.

Which is a shame because I will buy every single one of those Legacy toys. They look amazing. Tron Ares being a bomb could be seen coming from a mile away. I sometimes feel like i'm on crazy pills when it comes to Hollywood. It seems so blindingly obvious what you need to do: make a product that builds on the existing fanbase while bringing in new fans. You do this by having continuity throughout your films, not starting over fresh when you're already 3 deep. Bring back the old actors. Treat them with respect and care. Bring in new, appealing characters that complement them, not override them. Tell a fun story with no heavy-handed messaging. These are kindergarten-level concepts. How are any execs at these studios actually getting paid?

Preordered Blast Off and Brawl at The Chosen Prime.

Marvel Legends X-Men '97 Cyclops and Jean Grey x2.

Just give me one to park in the driveway!

Ooh, that's a really nice job with a really nice kit. I love the FSS-adjacent look of this design. Also, those MSG wild hands look perfectly at home on that kit. I'd have thought they'd be ever so slightly too large, but I guess the PA itself being larger than the average 1/144 helps. Why'd you swap out the... missiles? lasers? on its back, though? Just wanted a different look? Regardless, it doesn't detract from the look, and I like the little bit of dressing up you did to the wings around those pylons. Enough to be interesting, not enough to be distracting.

Don’t know why, but the 1/100 Tomahawk looks so cool.

Thank you! Doesn't look like a big improvement to me.

It will be the last kitbash I'm doing.

Sign us all up!

full-scale versions at https://twitter.com/simsim5479/status/1982443757107908824 web-translated: full-scale versions at : https://x.com/Julian_hob/status/1982873685766877535 web-translated: Think he meant Yamato since Arcadia;s got gold trim instead of bright yellow: downscaled:

I wish Bandai had used this body of the VF-19Kai for the YF-19. It could have looked so much better.

still waiting for a comparison shot with the Yamato/Arcadia unless I missed it already.

My status as an assassin is getting better every week. Today's episode with Amelia and her sister was good.

Sign me up

If so, seems even TN booth display staff have also been doing it wrong as usual... snapshot: