Jump to content

All Activity

This stream auto-updates

  1. Past hour
  2. Shawn

    1/55's revisited

    I was wondering, once sticker-fest is completed, has there ever been any thought to how these things were packed from the factory? Meaning the stickers went here, the catalog there, the heatshield in styro hole X, the VE-1 antennas in slot Y I know its probably impossible to ever know, having box opening videos on youtube wasn't a thing in the 80s ha Hmmm...now THERE is a fun experiment to do with these AI video generators! Walk into a Japanese Toys-R-US and see the shelves filled with Super Ostriches and you take it home for a box opening video!
  3. Nine Inch Nails has been pretty hit and miss with me, but YOLO. I just bought the Ares Soundtrack. I liked what I heard in the movie.
  4. Today
  5. I have long entertained the opinion that the Minifigure, iconic and beloved as it is, is an anachronism, nonetheless. Its limitations are manifest when compared to Mega Blok's stylized but highly articulated figures whose pose ability make them far more fun to play with, IMHO. I have long thought that LEGO should develop a new improved figure to enhance some of their action-oriented lines, at the least. I'm not saying get rid of the Minifig, but incorporate a new more pose-able fig to accentuate and compliment certain lines where a far more dynamic figure might enhance the playability of certain themes and sets. And, yeah, LEGO's unofficial retirement of Castle and Space, the latter my favorite theme, two of the three original Minifigure-based themes released in 1979 that drove LEGO to meteoric success is, I won't say disgraceful, but certainly dismaying and disappointing. It's analogous to Disney's retiring Mickey Mouse by just fading him out of existence except for an anniversary or the infrequent special occasion.
  6. If nothing else, that could look pretty cool onscreen in a future series. It could maybe be helpful in concert with the same kind of ECM the Aerial Knights were using early in Macross Delta.
  7. I'd assume the "there's a rotator joint we forgot to mention on the wingtip" is something they came up with for the movies... hence the more traditional Super Pack design the VF-31 Siegfried/Kairos uses. I'm not sure you'd be able to get all the way to where the VF-1 or VF-17/VF-171 get with it because of the wing shape, but I'd also argue the "cape" is probably intentional/practical. After all, the YF-24 Evolution and its derivative run their reactors hotter than any previous generation's and even though they're more efficient they do still require a lot of propellant for space flight and coolant/radiator surface for cooling in space. It's been noted that the liquid/slush propellant pulls double duty as a system coolant and the wing surface itself is also pulling double duty as a large radiator for cooling purposes outside of direct combat. I dunno, ask Shinsei Industry... it took them 17 years. ๐Ÿ˜†
  8. Prey is coming to theaters for the first time as a double feature with Predator Badlands in AMC theaters on November 5.
  9. A few more repaints, then I think I'm just waiting on a few crossovers and, despite it still being warm enough to skip a jacket most days, I think I'm done for the year. Up first we have Seaspray's wavemate, Retro Brawn. And... he's kind of unimpressive. To be honest, I was going to skip him entirely but I got to thinking, "well, I have Retro Gears and Bumblebee, and Seaspray's Retro (especially if they do eventually release a toon version), and I started getting FOMO. So when I saw him on a peg at my local store I grabbed him. So he does have a new head that matches the G1 toy. They also altered the colors of the green to better match the toy, they painted the windows black instead of blue, and they put a spot of black under the badge on the hood. But that's where they stopped, and that's kind of disappointing. I mean, I get it's a Walmart line and they're not going to dump a ton of money into remolding figures for it, but the stocky cartoon body doesn't match the clawed jank that was the G1 toy. But forget about giving him claws and shoulder pads, they could have at least tampoed some sticker detail onto his waist and pelvis. The moral of the story is don't be me. You have SS86 Brawn? You've got all the Brawn you need then. Coming from Hasbro Pulse, we've got a two-pack of G2 Dinobots. One of which is Snarl. There's some minor paint differences. Most notably they painted the eyes red like the toys whereas SS86 Snarl went for cartoon blue. Other than that, they used a slightly darker shade of red for the parts that were already read, and a lighter shade of red for the parts that were gray, and that's it. The other Dinobot is Snarl, and it's pretty much the same story. The gray plastic has been swapped for a greenish blue, and he's got a silver lower jaw, red eyes, and red horns to mimic the original G2 toy. He's also got black thighs and a black head. But there's no changes to the actual mold. It'd have been cool if they'd has some remolding; keep the dino kibble on the outside like the toys, for instance, but broad strokes this is probably fine. A bunch of Leader-class repaints with no remolding is probably a tough pill for a lot of people to swallow. Still, especially with Grimlock still on shelves, it's kind of cool seeing the team together but sporting more individualistic colors. Again, maybe not for everyone, but I say bring on the expected orange Sludge and green Swoop. Finally, we have our NYCC-exclusive Nemesis Prime. Unlike more recent Nemesis Primes, this isn't simply a black repaint of regular Optimus. This version, one of the first to actually bear the name "Nemesis Prime" AFAIK, actually had screen time. And to mimic the cel-shaded colors of that episode (also the Hasbro version of the original toy), Nemesis Prime is more dark blue than black, with a messed up face also pulled from the episode. Aside from the new head and colors, he's the same figure as the Commander-class toy, with the same Matrix, gun, and forearm pipe-guns. He doesn't, however, come with a trailer. Instead, he comes with the Star Saber from Transformers Armada. Not the Vorpal Saber he wielded in the show, but I guess Hasbro figured that most fans would want the Star Saber more? The Star Saber is an awkward-looking sword, and that sword breaks into three smaller minicons. The Minicons are, of course, the Air Defense team- Runway, Jetstorm, and Sonar, from left to right. Note that I have Jetstorm mistransformed. His tail should slide back, then swing over his head to sit on his chest (a bit like Runway's). You might notice, however, the crack on one of the hinges. The tolerances don't seem to be right and the plastic is too thin for the stress, so I'm leaving it permanently where it's at. Aside from being the Star Saber, and aside from the fact that Armada fans seem to genuinely want more Minicons, I don't think they're much to write home about. They're a little larger than the Siege Micromasters, with slightly better articulation, but not by a lot. Moving back to Nemesis, he of course transforms into a truck. Although he doesn't come with a trailer, he can pull the one that came with Optimus. He can even combine with it; despite not technically needing them, he's got the head and fists for combined mode. Kind of makes you wish he came with a trailer of his own. What makes you wish it even more is the price tag. Optimus, as a Commander, was $90, right? Well Nemesis here is $80. In other worse, he's giving up the trailer and extra play patterns that come along with it for a trio of honestly-not-that-great Minicons that turn into a sword, and the price difference is a measly $10. I dunno about you guys, but I think I'd have rather paid $10 more and got the trailer.
  10. Yesterday
  11. I wonder if they'll go back more like the original's footage/style, or double-down on "contrived experiences" and have tons of CG events blatantly "staged" to experience like in the current version. I like the original version way more.
  12. Ironically, the Tron coaster at Disney World is my all-time fave. Not that I go on very many coasters to compare, but I love it 10x more than any other I think. It's so SMOOOOOOTH.
  13. Thatโ€™s what happens when you donโ€™t refrigerate your Sazabi and forget about for too long
  14. Thatโ€™s the way it always goes. I had a resin 3D printed cannon set for a Geara Doga heavy weapons set come in and a week later Bandais is showing off that there is an upcoming Geara Doga heavy weapons set type at the recent hobby show. I was just thinking about how much work it would be to smooth out the resin one, but I already bout it and probably will just stick with that
  15. Great! After waiting 20yrs I finally start building my old VT-1 with the help of Arbit's 3D sculpted Minmay in the back thinking that they would never do this after so long! Nice, I would have thought they would include the tent or the 4 thrusters under the forward fuselage for this release. They would have gotten my wallet if I didn't just build this last year - argh.
  16. Yeah, I stopped even reading through that because it was making my brain hurt. ๐Ÿ˜‰ Let's see how long it takes me to get the basic plane done, then we'll see what happens after that. ๐Ÿ˜„ Another minor update, bit by bit as I get free moments to work on it. Nose and canpoy progress. I shortened and straightened the nose a bit to give the 24 its own profile, though it's still very similar to the 25 and I think still loyal to the art. Canopy I think is a decent balance between the 2D art and 3D necessities, but let me know if you guys see places to improve. Moved the sensor windows onto the nose, but still have to integrate them (either cut in two or just build into the cockpit block and overlap) to accommodate transformation since they span the split line where the nose folds away. That will be tomorrow's task and then on to the shield. Feedback and suggestions welcome (even the nutty super pack ones ๐Ÿ˜‰)!
  17. Not completely done, Disney has a couple of Tron coasters to promote...
  18. I know, but I'm a pengbuzz; I have a contractual obligation to take everything way too seriously! For many of us, where toys end and models begin no longer has a clearly defined line!
  19. It was a j-oke. ๐Ÿ˜… Of course thatโ€™s why we supplement some of our needs through models and option parts. ๐Ÿ˜‰
  1. Load more activity
×
×
  • Create New...