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Go!!!!

So from what I've heard, that sorta happy open-mouthed look on mine is the one that's supposed to be for Thundercracker. However, the tooling was planned with all six Seekers in mind, and apparently the factory workers weren't properly looped in or aren't paid enough to care and it's been a bit more random than intended. I've seen at least five different faces talking to people at TFW, but some of them may be aftermarket. The intention is definitely that Thundercracker, Starscream, and Skywarp will all have different expressions, though.

It's interesting how Hasbro came out with different facial variants for this toy. I wonder if they did it on purpose or if it was an accident.

I wonder if they'll reissue Sweep as well.

https://www.toyark.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=78969&d=1768540054 33.

Maybe have the sound of Hondo Ohnaka or Watto haggling over prices when you’re in the shops/stores. And I agree: seeing the OT fighters would make me much more giddy. . . . Regarding the Super Mario area (at least the one here in LA), part of the fun was figuring out how to get to the top of the castle: And I was annoyed there was no Boo or Koopalings products anywhere there.

Looking forward to Thundercracker and the eventual Skywarp and Starcream. I'm keeping my Coneheads but if they redo those too then I'll probably just sell the older ones. Additional pics of Scourge. I think it might go up for preorder next Tuesday.

Transformers Generations Kingdom WFC Huffer.

Apologies for the tangent - I actually just visited Super Nintendo World for the first time today, and I have to admit that it felt surprisingly small to me. Not claustrophobic in any way, but the designers use vertical space in a way which I did not "get" from looking at photos and videos of the area. Humorously enough, I went in the middle of the day on one of the coldest days of the year for Florida, and the place was still completely packed almost shoulder-to-shoulder. There was a higher concentration of people in Super Nintendo World than any other part of the park by a considerable margin. The main thing which annoyed me by this attraction is that, after visiting every shop in the park, I found a grand total of ONE small display with Legend of Zelda merchandise. The shop was even playing the "great fairy" music, and I was certain that I was going to find more... but no. No Metroid, Kirby, or any other first-party characters were found anywhere. That feels like a huge missed opportunity by Universal. Do better, Nintendo. Anyway, as far as Galaxy's Edge goes, I can't help but wonder if the static A-Wing and X-Wing fighters are going to be replaced with original trilogy versions? They had better be. Disney really needs to pay attention to detail with things like this. And I totally agree that there needs to be more "going on" with those displays. Maintenance droids, technicians, loadout carts, something...

We're bouncing back to Studio Series tonight, 86 specifically, for Voyager-class Thundercracker. When the Earthrise Seekers hit I know there was some grumbling that it was just a slightly bigger, slightly improved Classics Seeker. Honestly, I didn't mind that... the Classics mold was pretty good, and scaling it better, replacing the chunky missile launchers with more proportional null rays, and adding ankles fixed a lot of the gripes I did have. And it's not like there wasn't precedent- '07 Starscream and his Revenge of the Fallen repaint were just embiggened takes on the old ROTF Deluxe with a few improvements. But lets be real, a lot has happened in toy design in the last twenty years. Takara's done three different takes on the Seekers in the Masterpiece line. The Masterpiece line as a whole went from realistic to super Sunbow to... whatever's going in in MPG. Classics became Universe, and Universe became Generations, before the whole mainline was rebooted with Siege. Part of that reboot shifted the line from a reimagining of G1 to cartoon but with more greebles, then G1 spilled over into Studio Series and has continued to get even more cartoony. Which is where we find Thundercracker... I mean, there's a little bit of linework on his pelvis on inside the intakes on his shoulders, but that's kind of it. The molded details on his chest and null rays are present in the animation model, but most of what we're seeing is smooth as a baby's bottom. No more chest intakes. Bump outs on the shins become recessed trapezoids. It doesn't look so bad with SS86 figures like Prime and Megatron, but he does stand out a bit next to, say, AotP Blast Off and Brawl, who are currently next to him on my desk. Of course, doing a new mold for Thundercracker (and the rest of the Seekers) isn't simply about making them more cartoony. With a little more time and budget, it's about making actual, meaningful improvements and not adding ankles to an upscaled Deluxe. For me, there's three main improvements. First, we've got improved scale and proportions. Thundercracker isn't a lot bigger than the Earthrise one, but I said when Megatron came out last year that the Seekers would have to be a little bigger, too, and we got that. But it's not just the height. He's got a taper to the torso and his legs flare a bit toward the base that instantly gives him a more dynamic form where the Earthrise toy is like a rectangle that goes straight down from torso to ankles. Speaking of ankles, he doesn't have the odd Earthrise feet. His feet are proper cartoon accurate, with a long block of downward-sloping toe and a thruster for a heel. Two, they cleaned him up a bit. You can still see his nose in his back, but it's actually in his back, not dangling from his collar. They also pulled a page from the MP mold by relocating his stabilizers from his ankles onto the backs of his wings. Granted, this is just a Voyager, so there isn't a complicated partsforming element to it. Rather, the stabs are partsformed between modes. Which means, if you haven't noticed, that his included accessories are those stabs, then. He also comes with his signature null rays (except technically on Starscream has null rays, and despite the identical form, Thundercraker's weapons are called incendiary guns... go figure). "Hold up, Mike. I thought you said three main improvements? You only said two before going on about accessories!" Good catch! Well, the third area of improvement is articulation. See, his head is on a ball joint, which doesn't have much clearance for downward or sideways tilt, but he can look up and he can swivel his head. His shoulders swivel and move laterally 90 degrees. His biceps swivel, his elbows bend 90 degrees, and new for 2026 we've got wrist swivels. Not only wrist swivels, but a waist swivel, too (though limited to about 45 degrees in either direction). His his can go 90 degrees forward (though his pelvis is a single skirt), 90 degrees laterally, and about 45 degrees backward due to a bit of back kibble. His thighs swivel, and his knees bend 90 degrees. His toes can bend upward, but not downward, and his ankles can pivot just under 45 degrees. For a more direct comparison, that means slightly worse neck articulation, same shoulders, thighs, knees, ankles and elbows, and better wrists, waist and hips. The older toy does, I guess, have a bit more 5mm ports. With the stabs stored on his back and his incendiary guns plugged into his biceps you're left with just one on each of his ankles. If you're not into partsforming, you can leave the stabs plugged into Thundercracker's ankles, and behind them you'll find two 5mm ports on each wing. Transforming the new Thundercracker has a lot of similarities but also some key differences from the older mold. Remove his weapons and the stabs if they're on his back, then open the forearms and tuck in the fists. Reach into the gaps on his sides and slide the cockpit forward to unlock it, then tilt his upper body back. Undo the front of his torso from the panels with his shoulders and swing his chest open, then use the double hinge to pull the head and cockpit up and out. Lift his side hip skirts up into the space the cockpit was, then fold the panels with his arms attached inward. His chest can close back up plugging tabs on the inside into the ports his incendiary guns were in, as well as plugging tabs on his forearms into slots on the back of the chest. Continue to swing the nosecone around so his head goes back in between the panels on his back. When everything's lined up, you can close the panels and lock the cockpit into place, then fold the nose up and lock in into place as well. Now, open his calves, then collapse them slightly by rocking the black hinge down all the way and closing the calf back up. If you're having trouble, notice that the calf has a large tab on it, the back of the black hinge has a slot, but also that the front of the hinge has a tab and there are slots on the inside of the shin. The hinge has to tab into those slots (upper for robot mode, lower for jet mode); if it doesn't, then the tab on the calf won't line up with the slot on the hinge (upper for jet, lower for robot), preventing it from closing properly. Anyway, you're just about done now. Tab the legs together, and fold the butt flap over to lock into the legs. Fold his feet up against his shins. Fold the wings bag, and they'll tab into a gaps on the sides of the butt plate as well as the sides of his legs. Reattach the stabs if you haven't already, then swing them around so they lock into place. Ok, yeah, the fuselage is obviously thicker than a real F-15, especially at his chest and feet. It's especially noticeable from the rear, where you have the expected exhaust nozzles but also a lot of leg and feet below them. You might argue, unrealistic exhausts aside, that the Earthrise mold was a little better in that regard. It also tucked the arms into the torso a bit tighter. Honestly, though, I feel like we're splitting hairs at that point. Overall they're rather similar, with the 86 mold perhaps getting even getting a slight edge from the top, where the trailing edges of the wings are a bit more accurate and more pronounced humps over the engines. Plus, we have to remember (especially without paying money to Boeing) that a realistic F-15 isn't Hasbro's goal, a cartoon-accurate Seeker jet is. The smaller cockpit and the shin bulges on the underside of the rear are, in fact, accurate. I do wish they could have tucked in and hid is feet better, but as you can see even in jet mode he's resting on them. Unlike the Earthrise mold, though, he's not resting on his chest. There's a landing gear that folds out from the nose and lifts the front just enough to have a little clearance under his chest. While we're under there, you can plug the incendiary guns into the wings. They're supposed to go into the outer hole; the inner one is where the stabs plug in. That said, I kind of like plugging them into the inner one, so less of the barrel sticks out and it's closer to the fuselage. Of course, an even better solution would have been weapons that transform into the cartoon's little missile nubs, like the MP does, but if they did that maybe they'd have to bump him up to Leader class. Oh well, it'll give DNA something to do later, eh? I don't think SS86 Thundercracker is going to blow people away the way SS86 Prime and Megatron did. However, the fact is that he's still an improvement over the Earthrise mold in almost every way that counts; better proportions, cleaner robot, better articulation, greater cartoon accuracy. He's not perfect, but the fact that he accomplishes as much as he does without going up a size class is still pretty impressive. If for some reason you don't have a Thundercracker, this is the one you want. If you do have the Earthrise one, I think the SS86 one is still worth the upgrade.

There was a video I saw that basically pointed out the biggest issue with the Star Wars area of Disneyland: no movement or any sort of kinetic energy in the area. No rotating dishes, no steam hissing off the Falcon, no droids even just moving their heads about. No piped-in sounds of fighters or ships buzzing by or taking off/landing. It’s just a static, stationary prop set. It doesn’t feel alive or lived in. Yes, I get it costs more to add moving parts and such. But after taking pictures by the various stationary fighters and the Falcon and riding the two rides, what else is there to do? And now Rise of the Resistance is gonna be down for awhile. 🫤 Compare that to the Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios. It’s a smaller area, but there’s more to do, explore, and mess with.

Hardware Unboxed posted a community note on the RTX 5070 Ti. https://www.youtube.com/post/UgkxKba8DqK5LE-KesvtVvPUeSeq65r1ONGK TLDR; echos what I said. 5070 Ti and 5060 Ti 16 GB production has been reduced to a trickle where one could consider it EOL. Nvidia hasn't EOL'd any RTX 50-series, only reduced and prioritized GPU and VRAM component shipments, namely focusing on the 5060/Ti 8GB, 5070, 5080 and 5090 at the expense of the 5070 Ti and 5060Ti 16 GB. Asus doesn't know when it will receive a shipment of 5070 Ti parts nor are they expecting any components for those 2 models any time soon.

I truly hope that they also update Disney World in the same manner. And they can start by putting the ROUND dish on top of the Falcon.

There is that well-known illustration of both in Soldier one behind the other, but now I don't think I'll look at both joined-up Fighters the same way again.

This is a very nice collection you had. Some stuff I've never seen before, interesting.

Ready to Soar to the Next Sky!

Oh yeah, it's gonna be wild when the fandom's culture warriors arrive late to the realization that nothing's gonna change because Kathleen Kennedy was the company's president not someone who was heavily involved in the day-to-day creative work. 😜😆 I wonder who the new scapegoat will be? If it's Dave Filoni, at least they'll be blaming someone deserving for once.

If I was a cheesehead, I'd be all over this thing. If ever a red one is released with gold trim, it just might make the 49er fan in me fork out the cash. Takara must have a lot of faith in the first release.

They're really small so shipping shouldn't be too bad... Probably like a hi metal toy.

Finally!! Kathleen Kennedy Leaves Lucasfilm After 14 Years, Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan Named New Star Wars Overlords https://www.ign.com/articles/kathleen-kennedy-leaves-lucasfilm-after-14-years-dave-filoni-and-lynwen-brennan-named-new-star-wars-overlords

I like Tomb Raider but I can think of many games that deserve a series or movie too. For starters: Deus Ex Battlefield Homeworld Crysis Half-Life Starcraft Any classic Sierra game (Space Quest, Kings Quest, etc) Yes, some are already with a Hollywood studio but they've gone nowhere whereas there has been plenty of Tomb Raider media already.