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I think it looks good with the original Mario Kart set.

Seems the 3060 12GB is basically extinct now. Thinking it may be good to "sell while the iron's hot". Or maybe wait until the 5060 16's are gone? Of course, I also read a rumor they may restart 3060 production because they can actually get the chips for that...

Well, you need a well-articulated figure to ride a hovercycle properly... LEDs mounted in the engines would look much more anime-accurate: That could be accomplished, with an electromagnetic base... 🤔 Now there's a practical solution that wouldn't increase the price. 😅

(*^‿^*)

Thanks for the closeup on the on "A" sprue, as the manufacturer's name caught my eye: 뽀빠이 과학 (Popeye Science). Did some digging on the company and found this https://namu.wiki/w/뽀빠이(동음이의어) (translation in spoiler—seems to be the modelling arm of a larger company): That said, the Youtube results are intriguing—I see a couple of videos with knockoff Valkyries!: https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/뽀빠이과학

Showing the old ToyWorld figures next to the toony-smooth clean XTB Constructicons really shows how much liberty TW took with the designs. The TW figs were my first full set of Constructicons, and I was pretty impressed with them when I first got them. I remember their being one of the more popular options during the first 3P Constructicon wars, so in that respect, I'm in good company. I'm digging very much, vicariously, XTB's and MMC's takes on these guys and all that they're bringing to the table now. They're all so very impressive, and I feel you win regardless of which set you go with. Maybe not the Fans Toys as much if you favor the independent Constructicons over keeping them forever combined. There's definitely a part of me that'd love to go in on a modern set, but I don't have room for yet another MP scaled set of Constructicons and there are still things I prefer that ToyWorld did, like the moving treads on Bonecrusher and Scavenger. So, I'm content to stick with my old TW figs, but I'll continue to watch these new figs get highlighted for all the advances they represent.

pre-ordered!!!

Great. Stuff no one asked for. Forget to release this when the Rattler HasLab finished Hasbro? Where's Kwinn?

That one on YJ was secured by @xstoys ! It is wild we have a Takatoku 1/100 in model kit form (like the Yamato Assembly kits from many decades later) Whoever finds the 1/55 version will have the Ultimate Grail! Can't believe we can't find one in this wild world of interconnected web tubes. Here are some additional pics for the archives, if curious! The gun is detached on this one too...it seems it was common to pop off the sprue, in our 2 or 2 known samples.

Got some better pics of an old kit I build this past year. I’m so looking forward to the new version coming out this year.

@505thAirborne Wow that came out great! It’s hard to tell how big it is but it really has a presence

Recently got some Gundam Universe figures and have had metal robot Gundam wing zero for a while! I really enjoy the renewal Gundam universe figures! Nice articulation and accessories!

I can hear the theme music now

OK... I had ordered this before I started asking about the Frontier and Delta JP releases... just yesterday I received a copy of the 4K DYRL from Amazon Japan. I am so beyond happy. I've wanted a good quality official subtitled copy of DYRL for a looooooooong time. It plays fine on my PS5, the subtitles seem good, visual quality is fantastic, and the package art is just lovely. Looking forward to investing in some more JP releases, starting with Delta (since it has subtitles). A lot of the JP releases seem to have really really nice packaging.

Agree to disagree. To be fair, though, I'm not sure how well the finish on the green and purple parts is coming through on my photos. As I said in my review, it's not the plain, flat green plastic that MMC used for their Constructicons, but it's not the in-your-face polished metallic that Fans Toys uses either. It's just suggestive enough of metal to make it look like it could be a green construction turned into a robot, and not a plastic toy of a construction vehicle that turns into a robot. Speaking of plastic toys of construction vehicles that turn into robots, when I picked up Gravedigger as part of a trade deal I also got X-Transbots' Razor, their version of Bonecrusher, too. For a lot of people Bonecrusher is probably their choice for the least visually interesting Constructicon, because cartoon accuracy demands an almost entirely green dude, save for the head, hands, and some minor details on his chest. And, for better or worse, that's what XTB delivered. Minus a point on cartoon accuracy, though, for using silver of the rectangles between the red details on his chest instead of purple. XTB also opted for a whitish paint on the round details on the sides of the legs. Why? In the cartoon they're green. So I guess XTB decided to copy the most boring aspects of Bonecrusher's extremely boring cartoon design, but they didn't get it totally right? To be clear, I find it odd, but I actually like Razor overall. It's very minor deviations we're talking about on a robot that honestly does a pretty good job overall of capturing the cartoon look. What's more, like Ground Bite and Gravedigger I think XTB really nailed the proportions. This isn't always easy; we've seen a ton of 3P's skip actually putting the shovel on their Bonecrusher's chest, and when companies have go for a more traditional G1 design we've ended up with some really wonky proportions, like ToyWorld's version here or the official Studio Series toy. What's more, not only did XTB do a pretty good job of doing a cartoon-accurate Bonecrusher with good proportions, they did it with one of the smallest backpacks I've seen on the character. Razor comes with a couple of accessories. As Devastator's other arm, he's got a chunk of that arm and a green connector part, just like Gravedigger. He's got his expected gun and trumpet. But he also comes with an extra head and some extra faces. There's a cartoon yelling face, and a cartoon blowing face that go on his stock head, replacing his neutral expression. Then there's a neutral face on a green head, and a replacement smiling face for the green head. If I'm not mistaken, the blue faces with the yellow eyes are a Marvel somics thing. I guess it's cool that they included the Marvel head, but in the Marvel comics Bonecrusher also had blue and white arms, blue hands and a blue pelvis, so you're not going to get a totally Marvel-accurate look (though, ironically, the silver rectangles on his chest is closer to Marvel-accurate than cartoon-accurate). Once again, XTB is delivering on the articulation. Razor's head is on a hinged swivel that doesn't have a ton of upward range, but his more downward range than Gravedigger. His shoulders swivel and move a bit over 90 degrees laterally. His shoulders also have a joint for transformation that, if you untab the shoulder from the body, you can use as a butterfly joint. His biceps swivel, his double-jointed elbows bend 180 degrees, and his hands are identical to Gravedigger's (his wrists swivel, and they can fold back into a "stop!" pose, his thumbs have a hinge that moves the thumb across the palm with two other hinges for bending the thumb's knuckle's, and his fingers have hinges at the base with one additional knuckle hinge- the index finger is separate so it can point, but the other three fingers are molded together). His waist swivels, and he's got an ab crunch that's just short of 90 degrees. From the waist down he's basically the same as Gravedigger... his front hip skirts are hinged so his hips can ratchet 90 degrees forward, but the rear is fixed so his hips only get about 45 degrees backward. They also fall a little shy of 90 degrees laterally. His thighs swivel, and his double-jointed knees ratchet a little short of 180 degrees. His feet can tilt up and down, and his ankles pivot about 90 degrees. Also like Gravdigger, his pistol has a tab on either side of the handle that lets you plug it into either hand, but the trumpet on has a tab on one side and must be held in his right hand. In broad strokes, Razor transforms like a lot of Bonecrusher toys. The pelvis has to split and spread so the legs can become the treads. The shovel has to get out in front, his head has to tuck in, and his backpack forms the roof of the cab. And his arms have to shift into the space between his torso and shovel to form the bulk of the vehicle. Where things get a big different is in just how much of his torso shifts outward with the shovel, so his arms are more like the top of most of the vehicle plus the grill. I like how the shovel also expands, allowing for the more humanoid Sunbow proportions in robot mode but with an appropriately wide shovel for alt mode. The end result is not quite as effective as Gravedigger, though. The treads, shovel, and the top of the vehicle are mostly fine, but the bottom leaves us with visible gaps, leftover shoulder hinges, and the faux shovel hinges from the torso. Plus, unless I'm doing something wrong, the torso bits don't seem to want to stay tabbed in, causing the back of the vehicle to pop loose. Dark gray spot where the head was on the G1 toy is a nice touch, though. Razor rolls, and the shovel has a little bit of articulation. There's no steering column or controls, but there is a seat under the roof. As with Gravedigger, there doesn't seem to be any way to store Razor's pistol in his alt mode. In theory, the transformation to arm mode is a lot like Gravedigger's. You have to open up the legs a little to work the partsforming shoulder joint between Razor's legs and around his feet. Then, you take the other partsforming part part and slide it into the gap you made in Razor's pelvis when you spread it out for alt mode. In practice, I have some concerns here. On Gravedigger, the partsforming green joint and the rest of the arm actually connect together, and both are connected to Gravedigger, so the combined arm mode feels nice and solid. Here, the partsforming green joint and the rest of the arm do not touch. The result is that, while the green part seems very secure and I'm not worried about Razor falling off of the combined mode robot, the rest of the arm doesn't feel as solid. I'd be worried that if you have this arm holding anything that the weight could cause the arm to slide out of Razor's pelvis, but I suppose time will tell on that. Oh, and once again the arm part has the little storage cubby. Interestingly, there's a small rectangular port on the inside of the flap that I don't recall on the arm that comes with Gravedigger (I suppose I'll have to double check that). Turns out that the port is exactly the side of the bottom of the handle on Razor's pistol. And note how it's kind of angled? It seems deliberately designed so that you can plug the pistol in and have the right clearances to close the flap, locking the pistol inside. Of the three XTB Constructicons I now own, Razor is my least-favorite. Which, I supposed, kind of works since Bonecrusher is generally my least-favorite Constructicon. His alt mode feels a little less polished and doesn't hold together as well, and since his combined mode basically is his alt mode all that carries over with the added worry that the forearm connection isn't going to be solid enough. However, I've already indicated that I'm doing MMC for combined mode, and combined modes are always a separate review. As standalone MP Bonecrusher, Razor's alt mode flaws are disappointing, but also completely outweighed by how good the robot mode is. Especially when I think about how MMC is going to have to cram all the connecting joints and the entire gestalt forearm into their Bonecrusher... don't get me wrong, MMC's engineering is pretty amazing, but there have been little concessions to the all-built-in gimmick across both their Bruticus and their Defensor, so it's reasonable to assume their Devastator will have some as well. I'm going with MMC because I'm banking on them being the best overall across all three modes, but I think there's a very good chance that Razor will wind up being the best individual Bonecrusher. So I guess, based on my suspicion that MMC will be the best across all three modes, or even that FT will have a better Devastator mode and that's what most people will care about, you might be better off selecting a different set. But if you're the type of collector that wants one set for combined mode and one set for the individuals, then I'd strongly urge you to consider Razor for your Bonecrusher.

Last round of pics, then it's off to the next project. SSWA!

Keep in mind you may be using a OEM brand of a well known manufacturer. I wouldn't put too much faith behind those remarks that say one SI uses this or that component. SIs will use whatever component gives them the cheapest deal at that time.

Right in the nostalgia Lots of fun puting these dudes together. Bonecrusher and Scavenger hands gotta be the crappies ever. Lol.

Anyone watching the 3rd season? I didn’t know I needed a season of Primal to show me how Spear would go about life as a zombie.....apparently it’s pretty much exactly how he went about life during his undead days....LOL And thank goodness for that! Easily one of the best shows streaming right now....

LEGO keeps tapping into more and more game and anime related IPs, but the majority hold no interest for me. One Piece, Mario, Fortnite, Sonic, Legend of Zelda, all popular but of no interest to me personally. The IP I wish they'd expand on is Horizon: Zero Dawn/ Forbidden West with more machine sets. Obviously, I'd love a Macross theme- that, along with Transformers, are my big wants. I just don't think the requisite popularity is there for the majority of the series, and of course, Harmony Gold has SDF:M all locked up as well as the VF-1, which means LEGO would have to pay at least two licensing fees to release a VF-1 set. There's a VF-1 design in Ideas right now and even if it receives the requisite amount of votes, I doubt it'll get chosen for production b/c of these issues. It already happened once before. I hope I'm wrong, as I want that set in multiples, but I've a bad feeling that it'll get passed over even if it exceeds the 10K vote threshold. If instructions weren't such a PITA to make, not to mention all the promotion involved, I'd consider designing and submitting a YF-19, as it and the Fire Valkyrie are probably the two next most popular valks and HG has no claim on them which would simplify licensing. Ghost in the Shell is another anime that would potentially deliver some awesome sets. Alas, it's a bit too mature for LEGO's younger audience. Anyone else want to venture some anime ideas that would garner some cool sets? I know Gurren Lagann will probably come up, and while I enjoyed the anime, honestly I've no personal interest in sets. But, it is popular, falls within that level of maturity for kids, and provides fodder for any number of sets. Honestly, I think it would've been a better pick over One Piece. I'd love to see LEGO resurrect Exo-Force, or something in the same spirit. Given how far they've come with some of the large, highly detailed, and well-articulated mecha in Ninjago over the recent years, a mostly mecha-based theme with a strong story to anchor it would be wonderful. I've also long wanted LEGO to extrapolate City into a sci-fi theme, with domed buildings, flying cars, and all the other stereotypical sci-fi trappings of a futuristic cityscape. I think a theme of that nature would be great fun with lots of room for imagination and growth.

I was tempted to get the PE set for the guns... but that is a level of patience that I do not possess. LOL

This looks interesting.

I had the PE ones back in the day and they were less than impressive, still better than the kit parts mind you.

Mega Man Hyper Bomb.

Preorders go up today.