Scyla

2 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Saw this making the rounds on social media, in case anyone else was wondering how that T-Spark Predaking stacks up with Generations...

I am looking forward to receiving mine. Partially because I love the design and I adore mecha with mechanical lion faces on their chests (not a big fan of Daltanious) and partially because I am curious if Takara can produce a high end collectible.

I heard so many good things about AM Rodimus but looking at some pictures I am shocked how bad the paint application and molded some pieces appear to be compared to the praise the piece was receiving. 

It seems to be in par with what Takara is usually putting out (just more of it in terms of paint application) but can’t hold a candle to the K3 one.

Now I am wondering if all the Transformers fans a gushing over the Rodimus because they have no frame of reference for high quality collectibles or because it is really an exceptional toy.

I am aware that this might sound "elitist" or me discrediting Takara.  However, I want to ensure you that I love many of the Transformers toys I bought in the past but in their collector focused lines their hit to miss ratio is higher than in other, comparable toy lines. 

Takara is very good at engineering fun puzzle-former toys but in manufacturing quality their output is usually lacking.

The Metal Build Barbatos Upgrade Kit is available for preorder at Anime Export (¥18800, pay now): https://www.anime-export.com/index.php?product=104517

[edit:] Sold out now

2 hours ago, Wewyllenium said:

So. What's the support bar accessory for?

I believe it is a tool to get the fist covers out of the forearms (the gray triangles on the left side of the tray.

1 hour ago, tekering said:

What figure is this upgrading, and what character does it represent?

It is the Animated Nemesis Prime that was released in the most recent five pack. It is a repaint (and slight remold having a faceplated head) of the Legacy United Animated Universe Optimus Prime (what a mouthful).

While I feel that the new arms for Bonecrusher are an improvement I wonder why they didn’t design whole new arms that gave the toy a more contoured arm, where the upper and lower arms are not a continuous shape. (I know I know cartoon accuracy for the win but the balljoint and entire arm look atrocious)

Mafex Rogue has been released. 

According to one reviewer she is disappointing. 

21 hours ago, recon said:

Yup zero plan looks abit oversized. Anyways both of these 3rd party heads can be used on MB Hi-Nu with a bit of mods

Wish i didnt have to go this route if the MB Hi-Nu head was somewhat true to the OA design, which was somewhat present in metal robot and RG grade designs

What I really want is a more proportionate head for the MB Zeta. The stock one has a huge noggin! 

Hacchaka’s review of the Metal Build Force Impulse Gundam: https://hacchaka.net/archives/52130356.html

1 hour ago, mog_kupo said:

Revival version od the original Strike Freedom

PO on march 3rd

 

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/186L1f3Ls8/

Sigh, I wish Metal Build preorders and releases wouldn’t be so bundled. I had nothing for a while and now the Impulse Gundam, the special Hi-Nu one, the Barbatos add-on set and now this Strike Freedom…

It seems like the deco of this Strike Freedom is similar than the one of the previous release but slightly changed and with more details added.

Is there a comparison between this SF and the previous releases?

The Metal Build Force Impact Gundam is in stock at Anime Export (¥53800): https://www.anime-export.com/index.php?product=103360

[edit:] Sold out now

[edit2:] Available again

29 minutes ago, F-ZeroOne said:

It'll probably never happen - the US/Europe-Japan differences would be one challenge (though now I think of it you'd have the same issue with the SNES) - but as someone who was on the other side of the Console Wars, I'd love them to do a Mega Drive. 

I think you could do a Two in one set (instead of including a TV set).

On the other hand, they didn’t release a Japanese version of the NES but the NES design was the same in Europe and the US.

Given that the US market is slightly bigger than the European one I would expect a US version of the SNES but that would habe little appeal to a big Lego market.

Or they just do different sets for different regions. Lego has experimented with different color ways for sets so this would be the logical next step (although I am a big SNES fan so I would have to import the US version).

The Europe and Japan version would probably be the more fun build, the US version seems to be straight forward in terms of design (plus the SNES doesn’t require the ingenious cartridge loading mechanism of the NES, maybe the SNES would be super boring).

During one of the recent Amazon sales in my country I got a Lego Game Boy for around $45.

It is an awesome set with crazy build techniques. Making it very close to the original.

The way they managed to invert the building direction 180 degrees with the bar with stop ring piece is something I have never seen before on a Lego set.

I know that other Brick based systems have specialized pieces for that that allows for the same technique but the pieces Lego used feels more Lego like (i.e. using an existing piece for a new purpose).

It had only stickers for the cartridges which leaves the CV Game Boy console fully printed. All the buttons are functional too.

What is bad about the set is that on my copy the clips that hold the rubber band for the A- and B-buttons have a different shade of gray and it is very noticeable in hands. I contemplate buying replacement pieces and how they have a shade more in line with the other pieces.

 Another bad thing is that the transparent plate for the displays is not packaged separately so of course mine had scratches.

As someone who’s first gaming system was the Game Boy I am very nostalgic towards it so I greatly enjoyed the whole experience. 
 

Now Lego please do a (PAL) SNES next.
 

Given that Chrono Trigger is my favorite game of all time I would be interested into a custom Chrono Trigger cartridge if they do a SNES.

Also love this view from the manual: 

5 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Celebrate America's 250th birthday with... a lazy repaint of Airazor. 😒

I think Hasbro missed a major chance with Star Eagle. Why is the toy not called Star Eagle 47 or is colored orange?

4 hours ago, lechuck said:

Anybody know what the size/scale of Overdrive is – Masterpiece compatible?

On the otherhand it might of been an opportunity for Takara to finally scale the vehicles to each other.

To me the Overgear releases are meant to fit in with the Diaclone Reboot toys. They seem to have the same design language play features and construction as these toys. 
 

I think size wise they might fit in with either the MP or Movie MP line but to me the difference in style is far too garish.

[edit:] the Anime Export site mentions that the robot is 18cm tall which seems to be a bit small for MP scale. Once I am home I could measure the height of my FM Warhorse to be certain . 

I am very disappointed that Shockwave is just a smoothed out version of the Siege toy. And why didn’t Hasbro smooth out/retool the front of the spaceship/muzzle to look in line with the rest of the toy/more accurate to the source material?

Also is the color on Shockwave wrong? Shouldn’t he be more lilac than purple?

I wonder why my favorite Transformers always have to suffer? Especially Shockwave/Galvatron/Star Saber.

On the other hand I am glad that I didn’t buy the dramatic capture multipack.

Skywarp looks good but I am not sure the Studio Series did away with all the disappointing aspects of the Earthrise mold. 

On 2/6/2026 at 4:18 AM, sh9000 said:

The Overgear teaser video was posted on the previous page.

I think that Ironhide would have been much nicer in red not black.

It looks to me like Takara is trying to apply the Diaclone Reboot aesthetic, engineering and design language to the Transformers line.

I have one Versaulter toy to see what the Diaclone toys feel like and they are not for me but I think Transformers fans who like the Diaclone Reboot line will love these.

1 minute ago, tekering said:

Oh, I loved their Reformatted Predaking.  It remains the best combiner ever produced at that scale. 

Still definitive, even after all these years. 😍

Yeah, I am still miffed that I didn’t buy the black and purple convention edition of him. In general I would have bought much more Reformatted release had I known it is a finite toy line.

7 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I wasn't too far off, then!  I'll give it a go next time I transform him.  I have him and Deletus in bot mode right now, and they look good together.

They are both excellent toys. I am very pleased.

The one thing I dislike are the square cuts in the shoulder and thigh swivels they look soooo ugly.

I don’t know if MMC has learned a lot after Assaultus or if Devastator is just easier to do since he doesn’t have dedicated feet and the torso is comprised out of two toys.

Ignis, while not nearly as bad as Incursus, is still wonky.

Anyhow, I am curious what MMC does next. I have thee feeling it will be Raiden but I wish for a G1 all in one Feral Rex.

@mikeszekely Paik4Life showed in his video about Demolitor that you can store the silver nozzles sideways inside the mixing drum. There are two small nubs on each side and the nozzles are meant to peg in between.

1 hour ago, davidwhangchoi said:

 

wow, that's a good price but where is his cab? is there going to be an MP Style trailer? like the wheels and hubcaps don't match if i use mp-10's trailer.

Takara advertises in the MPG-17 transformation video that it is compatible with the MP-44 trailer so I doubt they are going to release one: 

2 hours ago, davidwhangchoi said:

is this going to cost 400 plus like the last mp optimus that kept breaking?

He is ¥22000 before Japanese VAT.

On 1/19/2026 at 6:06 AM, sh9000 said:

Zero.

Awesome that we get a Zero in this line. Seeing that they did a Cutman I wonder what the possibility of MDLX Mavericks are. I would love to have a Storm Eagle but all the Mega Man X Mavericks are great designs.

I don’t think there is a bad one unlike X2 and X3 where most of them are a miss for me (although Neon Tiger and Overdrive Ostrich are rad).

14 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

Those are kinda cool, but not cool enough at that price. 

My favorite brick color is sand blue; maybe if they do a pair in that color…

20 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

Only $200. What a bargain!