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Scyla

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  1. Scyla
    So the Fantasy Model line is for characters that Takara already did? I'm super excited for FT Magnus and Ironhide/Ratchet. I have the Takara releases and while they are fun to handle they are lacking a lot in robot mode with lots of articulation and proportion issues on Magnus and the dichotomy (chest and hip kibble) between toy and toon design on Ironhide. What I found interesting is what FansToys didn’t show. No Berserk and no completed Menasor. For some reason I'm looking forward to their Menesor so it is sad not seeing a preview of it.
  2. Scyla
    Got my MB Kampfer in and he is pretty great. I put him in a Kampfer Amazing pose in the hope that Bandai will do designs from Build Fighters. I'm surprised and shocked that the Kampfer doesn’t come a regular flight pose arm for the display base. Sure, I might not need the arm for the stand and a bracket for the iconic Kampfer flight pose is included. But it would be a nice thing to have for people who have this as their only Metal Build toy.
  3. Scyla
    I usually don’t post in these kind of threads but that is just sad. Even before I ever heard of Dragonball I played Chrono Trigger and gushed over the art in the manual. To me Chrono Trigger is the best video game of all time and the character design by Akira Toriyama had a lot do do with it.
  4. Scyla
    I don’t know how to describe it. But with action figures from Hasbro and Jada the parts like arms and legs are usually made out of full pieces of plastic. This plastic feels dense but also more malleable than say plastic used for say a DX or Arcadia Valkyrie. I don’t like that feel because when you manipulate a joint it feels like you are bending the plastic with the joint. Especially on Star Wars Black or G.I. Joe Classified figured where the limbs are thinner than on the Mega Man figures. To me that feels cheap and I don’t enjoy manipulating the figure like with a SHF or Figma figure. Also the joints are usually made out of the same malleable/gummy feeling plastic like the rest of the figure. I don’t know how to better describe it.
  5. Scyla
    I think this is a broadly cast question. Do you mean the Dennis Villeneuve movies, the David Lynch one or the whole franchise. Not being able to see Part 2 I think the fans where anxious that it would be another creative disaster like the David Lynch one. It was a solid movie so fans were relieved and thus it generated hype. However, without a second part (that wasn’t green lit after the release of the first one) the movie wasn’t a full story so lacking in that regard. I think it is similar to the Lord of the Rings movies. Like LotR, Dune was considered to difficult to put in a movie. And to back that up it had already produced a failure. But because it was a well execute movie. To answer the question if the source material is worth the hype is a different question.
  6. Scyla
    I think the issue is that they packed Dreadwing in jet mode. I know of the notion that classes are related to complexity now but it was just a gut reaction I had when opening the windowless box and seeing how much empty space there was. I think the pricing would be acceptable, if everything about the figure was smooth, but all the tolerance issues leave a stale taste in my mouth. It is not just the forward fuselage. The outward ratchets on the arms are too tight and there is not enough clearance on the head so if you don’t get it just right, the compartment rips off the head. It feels like there is a door missing or something. I agree that the jet mode is great and I enjoy the toy for it. And it has a novel and innovative transformation scheme that reminds me of the SV-262. However, it could have been so much better. Personally I would have enjoyed the toy more with a TFP show accurate chest (I know of the fan mode) and a more desaturated blue with yellow highlights and yellow translucent plastic. The translucent red looks out of place making it too gaudy/colorful and clashes with the blue plastic. I don’t want sound too negative since I do like him. There are just so many little nitpicks all over the toy. In general I wished Hasbro would either smoothen out many of their transformation schemes or don’t rely on friction pinned parts as a cheaper alternative to riveted pins. I often had the experience that you need some force to transform toys of the Legacy line and ripping of friction pinned parts as a result, like the little fins on Dreadwing or the backpack on FoC Cliffjumper.
  7. Scyla
    Got the Jada Toys Mega Man Iceman and Fireman and… …they are nice for what they are. Affordable, plenty of accessories, good articulation and paint. I will buy the rest of the Robot Masters for sure to go with my 4inchinel Mega Man (who might be slightly too small) since Sentinel bowed out of releasing them (in a sensible manner). However, as nice as they are, I just can’t get over the soft plastic they use and how the joints are designed it just feels not es nice to handle and sharply molded as an import action figure like from SHF or Figma. For me it is worth the higher price tag of the import figures. So they are good, I recommend them, probably the best action figures from a western manufacturer but I would have preferred them in the 4inchinel line. [edit:] I want to add that the designs of the figures from Jada, that I'm aware off (Street Fighter and Mega Man), lend themselves well for the materials. Because of the bigger feet they stand well even with the use of denser material for the plastic.
  8. Scyla
    I have received a couple of Transformers. Again clustered into the good, the bad and the ugly. The good: Kuro Kara Kuri SG Megatron. A repaint of the excellent IDW stealth bomber inspired Megatron this time in Shattered Glass colors. I said for the initial release that Flame Toys even managed to make translucent plastic look great. Same is true for this one. Everything is great: build, qc, accessories, paint, articulation. Probably their best mold. Highly recommend, if you can stomach the hefty price tag. I wished his gray paint was more with though. It would look more striking that way. More fitting for the heroic leader of the Decepticons. The bad: Super 7 Ultimates Tarn. Yuck, avoid at all costs. Terrible sculpt, articulation, material, paint. His joints are so lose his limps can barely hold a pose. Not recommended, stay far away from this line. The ugly: Legacy Leader Class Dreadwing. When I first opened the box I thought they mislabeled the toy. What is that? A Leader Class figure for ants? This must be the smallest figure this size class were the box is not padded out with useless accessories. But not all is bad. He transforms into a fully formed robot (they even added covers for his forearms) with plenty of articulation and a decent amount of paint. What is terrible are the clearances for transformation. Folding the nosecone in and pushing the forward fuselage against his back has insufficient clearance. It feels like I'm going to break the toy. Once transformed he is a lot of fun but he could use better heels to stand stable when posing him.
  9. Scyla
    I think the weak Yen is the only reason justifying a purchase. If they are of similar quality as their Master Chief they will be great figures. I don’t understand why they don’t come with more accessories (the standard Carter figure even come with hands for the Energy Sword but no weapon to hold ). Given that the figures are from FPS game they should include the whole loadout by default. The exclusive extras feel like they were removed on purpose from the regular release instead of being a fun bonus. I noticed that with Sentinel releases in the past, especially the FlameToys ones, were an essential part of the figure was excluded. Not a good way to do business I reckon.
  10. Scyla
    Binged through the first 24 episodes of Frieren and it’s great. On the other hand I tried to get into Shield Hero season 3 and I'm having a hard time keeping my attention. The first season was great but there seems to be no plot progression forward. Just the four heroes fighting with Naofumi. We had that in season 1 can’t we resolve that now? I guess it was harmful in the long run to waste season 2 like that. I feel like I don’t know what the goal of the show is any more. Is it to fight the waves, the mystical animals, what is up with the heroes from the other dimension? Better stop watching after season 1.
  11. Scyla
    Oh neat, is that new? I guess BBB hasn’t updated their shop recently because of Chinese New Year. I will be definitely getting this, even if I'm highly critical of all Fans Hobby releaes. Just got their Darkwing in and after a stellar Dreadwind it is back to dissapointment. Need to look into an Naval Commander review now.
  12. Scyla
    For me all those Transformers leaks are pretty boring. I probably will buy a Gamer Edition Skywarp but what I really want is Armada Nemesis Prime. I'm slightly interested in the 86 Galvatron but the Kingdom mold was pretty disappointing.
  13. Scyla
    Looks good. It is a shame that the regular releases of Noble Team only comes with machine guns (I assume) and all the extra weapons. Given how cost prohibitive it is to buy and ship these small items via D4Toys I can’t justify going for those.
  14. Scyla
    @M'Kyuun while I hear the sentiment quite often that Transformers fans are not interested because the figures don’t "convert" do me the question is what you are getting from Transformers as an experience. For me it is all about the clever engineering and the Flame Toys figures have plenty of that, sometimes even more than official Transformers figures. Plus they are more easily accessible because you just need to engage in the articulation. If you enjoy the puzzle aspect of the toys and the tactile feel of morphing one shape into another these are clearly not for you. Plus it is much more feasible to buy a couple of retail Transformers than one of the Flame Toys offerings. I'm confused why some variation of "it doesn’t transform" is the first reflex many Transformers fans have. I think every fan should own one of these just to see how other interpretations feel in hand and what kind of presence they have. And clearly you can only amass so many transforming Transformers toys until you can’t mess with them in a regular basis. However, with my Kuro Kara Kuro display I can enjoy them looking nicely every day. @mikeszekely yeah, they even went so fare putting SG Megatron in the signature Strike Freedom pose. If it helps, you don’t need to display him like that, the wings and the backpack guns can form two fusion cannons that are part of his original design. I find it so funny that this Megatron looks so much like a Gundam to me but no one ever complained he "looks like a Gundam". I assume it’s because everything is Gundam with the exception of the face so people get easily distracted in their criticism of the design by that.
  15. Scyla
    During the recent Winter Wonderfest Flame Toys showed of some upcoming releases for their Kuro Kara Kuri line of high-end action figures (sadly no Cyclonus). Starscream (the first toy of him that I will be buying): Ultra Magnus (hope he fits in my display case): And Strike Freedom Megatron (I mean SG Megatron): More images over at TFW: https://news.tfw2005.com/2024/02/11/flame-toys-kuro-kara-kuri-ultra-magnus-starscream-color-prototypes-images-504037
  16. Scyla
    Sorta, kinda… … at least I know now that I didn’t miss an important announcement with regards to the release date.
  17. Scyla
    Does anyone here know the exact release date of the Metal Build Kampfer? I was looking at the Tamashii Nations page but couldn’t find one. I missed the preorder and I’m trying to secure one on release day.
  18. Scyla
    Got my VF-19 Kai yesterday and the different shades of read is stark, even in hand. And it is not just the shoulder swivels but also the die cast spine and the brackets for the Sound Booster that are the same different shade of red. Plus the red plastic has a lot of tiny, yet visible scratches: disappointing. Being a Macross 7 and Fire Bomber fan I am happy to have a representation of both but I feel like my honeymoon with the older Yamato/Arcadia molds is over. Also I think I would prefer the toy with yellow highlights instead of gold. Since I had my first VF-19S in hand and thought it was the best thing since sliced bread my collection - and collecting preferences- have changed quite a bit. All the Metal Builds, Kuro Kara Kuri Transformers and Sentinel toys have tainted my expectation of what I enjoy quite a bit. Luckily the newer Arcadia toys seem to be more in line of what I enjoy.
  19. Scyla
    I will never complain that a video game series that is all about different beams and missiles and suits (all visible on screen) doesn’t get any effect packs or repaints from GSC. I would lose my mind over a Plasma Beam or Super Missile accessory. [edit:] I'm in for the TotK Link and Zelda. Even if I greatly disliked the game but BotW figures seem to be an impossibility (dare I say BotW Champions?).
  20. Scyla
    I have to give it to Square Enix. Unlike Bandai they manage to release the whole team: BringArts FF7 Vincent Valentine (11/24 ¥12000: https://www.anime-export.com/index.php?product=76770) BringArts FF7 Cait Sith (02/25 ¥12000: https://www.anime-export.com/index.php?product=76769) BringArts FF7 Cid Highwind (01/25 ¥12000: https://www.anime-export.com/index.php?product=76768) BringArts FF7 Yuffie Kisaragi (10/24 ¥12000: https://www.anime-export.com/index.php?product=76767)
  21. Scyla
    I might have preordered this one. Now I have to get the Lion Knights's Castle at some point this year.
  22. Scyla
    To me an Optimus Prime is THE ideal toy for a 40th anniversary. However, the problem is that there are not that many Optimus Primes that fit the Haslab formula: regular Primes can easily sell at retail (see Earthrise and Studio Series). The only other Primes are Energon, Cybertron and Prime. The Prime one can easily be done at retail and Energon and Cybertron are part 2 and 3 of a trilogy so not as significant for the franchise as RiD Optimus Prime is. Also how fancy do you make an Optimus Prime Haslab toy: too fancy and it approaches MP-44 not fancy enough and you wasted the Haslab potential. You could argue that Power Master Optimus would fit better because it is G1 but I think the RiD one is the more important piece for the Transformers line in general. Plus, if an MPG Ginrai is coming out you don’t want the same toy offered through Haslab and the MP line. So if you want to do a Prime for the 40th anniversary RiD Optimus Prime is the only choice. And besides Masterpiece it is the only place it could exist. PS: maybe I talked myself into supporting the Haslab one?
  23. Scyla
    Ohh I'm interested in the black repaints of both. If God Ginrai is going to be a good figure I might even buy him in his regular colors. Power/God Masters are probably the toys I have the most vivid memories off when I was a child. I remember seeing Power Master Optimus Prime with the Power Master in his little window at a local toy store but of course I wasn’t able to get it. On the Haslab front I'm surprised about some of the negative feedback the toy is getting. I think it is great figure to celebrate the 40th anniversary with. He is the Optimus Prime when Transformers was coming back from Beast Wars and doing vehicles again. I think you would have trouble selling Ultra Magnus at retail and maybe even Prime since he is not in his traditional blue pants, red shirt colors. Also since that they didn’t have to take the sound box into account you probably get a more refined and playable figure out of it, even if the toy doesn’t look so different from the front. This is praise for the original toy and not a downside of the Haslab one.
  24. Scyla
    While I'm all over black and teal Optimi repaints I quite like the red with orange chest stripe of on Super Fire Convoy so I would go with the original. I don’t have any black red and gold transforming trucks. To me the shade of gold (sometimes brown) is not appealing to me. Shame because I'd love to have a First Edition Optimus but the Dark Guard version is not for me.
  25. Scyla
    I think the Haslab God Fire Convoy set is a $250 apology letter from Takara for those who bought the subpar Super God Fire Convoy reissue a couple of years ago. I think it the set looks stellar and is a good update to the original. The problem is that the closer the toys are to the show model (culminating in the UT toys) the less derivation from the original you get with a new iteration. Especially now, were "toon-accurate" is the prime directive . I think the Haslab version changes enough to value a purchase if you are a fan of RiD. If the combined mode is sturdy and playable I think the toy is worthwhile even if you have the original. For myself I think I'll wait till FansToys will eventually get to it.
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