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Scyla

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  1. Scyla
    A few points to add. To be honest MP-10 is a bit dated by now. He has some odd proportions in the arms and its articulation was limited even back when he came out (no double jointed legs or arms). His gun is also tiny due to a transformation gimmick to store it in alt-mode. That said he is still my favorite entry in the Masterpiece line Another thing to consider is that MP-10 comes with his trailer and Roller, MP-36 comes with the gun attachments of G1 Megatron (silencer and stock) that double as a stand in robot mode and a bunch of accessories like his laser sword, morning star with a posable chain and Blitzwings gun which he used to shoot Prime in the 86 movie. He also comes with a effect part that can double as the sword blade and the firing effect of the gun, the key to Vector Sigma and the mind control helmet for the Optimus Prime clone as well a battle damaged face and chest. Despotron on the other hand is fairly bare-bones since he only comes with a morning star. Both come with a few extra faces that are easy to swap out (no tools required). I prefer Despotrons solution where you lift the whole helmet up to exchange the face whereas for Megatron you exchange the front of the helmet. All the accessories of MP Megatron come with a price (literally). Especially if you buy from a shop that imports the stuff from Japan like BBTS. Compared the Japanese MSRP of Megatron which is 23000 JPY to the roughly $150 Depsotron is going for the price for MP-36 gets more competitive depending on the exchange rate of your local currency. If you can get MP Megatron for his preorder price which is around 18000 JPY it gets better but shipping will be expensive still. So if you don't need all the extra stuff in the box Despotron (or DX9 Mightron) might be the MP Megatron for you (his box is also tiny compared to MP-36). [edit:] I don't want to sweep the negative points of Despotron under the rug. There was a assembly error on all of the first run Despotrons where a pin in the knee was not shoot through all the way making one of his legs droop easily. This can be fixed by yourself but it shouldn't be an issue to begin with. Maybe the second run of Despotron will have this fixed. Also his ankle joints are not the strongest so he can tip over in some poses even standing on the shelf. There is also the controversial gap in the chest which can be pretty visible in some lighting conditions and even if you don't shine a light source directly at the toy it is still visible. I also feel like Maketoys skimped on the paint because for me the red on the legs would benefit from a coat of red paint since to me bright red plastic without finish looks terrible most of the time. I also think Maketoys should have painted the front of Despotrons shins with a dark gunmetal paint to give the legs more definition.
  2. Scyla
    So.. If you say you only want to have Optimus Prime and Megatron and you love the way they look in the G1 cartoon I would suggest that you wait till Takara releases the inevitable version 3 of Masterpiece Convoy. This will go quite well with MP-36 Megatron. This is especially true if you usually don't transform your toys. There has been a change in the lead designer for the Takara Masterpiece line around MP-24. The new designer has shifted the aesthetic more to the looks of the G1 toon. The old designer who was in charge before had a different idea whereas the robots looked more heroic and more rooted in reality. What I mean by that is that the alt-modes looked realistic (in case of the Autobots they where mostly licensed cars) and this traversed to their bot-modes. The Carbots after the design switch are schizophrenic because they still try to do realistic, licensed alt-modes but the robot had the cartoon aesthetic going on. This means you have parts that are detailed like a real-life object (like Ironhides chest) that clash with the bland cartoon look of the rest of the robot. To me the approach of MP-10 is much more intriguing than the one of MP-36. This is one of the reasons why I prefer Despotorn (I still bought MP-36 to check him out). He feels much more in line with the ideas behind MP-10. That said most 3rd party companies are switching to the new design language of Takara. That is why Maketoys Meteor (the Starscream seen in Kumas pictures) looks more bland than Despotron since he follows the toon aesthetic. So you need to decide which design idea suits your likings the most. You prefer the toon -> MP-36 and wait for Takara announcing MP Convoy V3; you prefer the more realistic look -> Despotron and MP-10. They are both marvels of engineering. For MP-36 the designer said one of his objectives was to keep the position of the arms and legs of Megatron at the same place where they where on the G1 toy which means that they do some amazing tricks in mass shifting. Despotron on the other hand has much more unique approach. His robot parts layout in gun-mode is vastly different than on the G1 toy and any other gun Megatron. He does some amazing tricks to store the gun trigger in his chest which makes him kibble free whereas MP-36 has a massive panel mess on his back. What makes Despotron truly great is that he is the only Walther P38 Megatron that is fun and easy to transform. Tuck the hands hin, flop the arms up, rotate and extend the barrel -> torso done. Turn the legs, connect them, fold the gun grip panels out, collapse the legs, collapse the feet -> lower body done. The middle part is a bit fiddly but not nearly as frustrating as the MP-36 experience.
  3. Scyla
    I have to disagree. Despotron is better than MP Megatron. Major reason being that his transformation is imaginative and fun. Also he fits much better with the design of MP-10 Convoy.
  4. Scyla
    Where is anime52k8 when you need him: http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=FIGURE-034461&page=top
  5. Scyla

    Bandai DX VF-31

    Scyla replied to UN Spacy's topic in Toys

    Got a preparation in progress mail from NY regarding the VF-31F Super Parts.
  6. Scyla
    Well I got an Email this morning from Amazon that they aren't able to fulfill my preorder for the SNES mini, since they didn't get a restock in October. This is getting annoying two preorders with two different stores and none was able to fulfill it. Maybe I should just buy the cartridges that I'm missing. How high is the percentage of knock off cartridges compared to genuine ones on ebay?
  7. Scyla
    The problem it is really annoying in person. My Boba Fett from the Dessert Skiff Escape has a similar issue but it is not that pronounced.
  8. Scyla
    The misprint on Boba is not that big and hard to spot even on camera. Need to see what the Lego costomer support has to say:
  9. Scyla
    So I built my first Lego UCS set last weekend. As a preparation for the UCS Millennium Falcon I thought it would be a cool idea to build the Slave 1 since the ship is also roughly Minifig scale and a collection of Lego Star Wars Minifig scale vehicles sound neat to me. The build was very fun. I need to check if it is necessary to apply the ArchieNov fix to it so it doesn't make the spreads. I probably won't since the ship takes up so much space when put on the stand. Thats make me wonder what to do with the Millennium Falcon. Maybe build a couch table around it? That said while assembling the Minifig of BobaFett I noticed that the tampo printing on the helmet doesn't line up correctly leaving a very small but visible seam dead center of the helmet where the black paint is supposed to be. Is this a common thing on the Boba Minifigs?
  10. Scyla

    Bandai DX VF-31

    Scyla replied to UN Spacy's topic in Toys

    Reon = noeL??? I don't get it. Anyhow I had some time to fiddle with my VF-31C and it is a great release as always. And with any VF-31 release I have to notice how shitty the articulated hands are. I don't understand why Bandai didn't throw in some new ones with the Super Parts sets. I would be ashamed to be something that great like the Valkyrie be tainted by something that bad. I really hope they do the VF-31S next since I adore the paint scheme.
  11. Scyla
    I was kinda surprised that the Hi-Nu is so small but that seems to be accurate to the tech specs.
  12. Scyla
    Finished my triptych of Ver. Ka Gundams: Not sure if all the panel lyning was worth it. Next up on the workbench: ZZ and Sinanju Ver. Ka.
  13. Scyla
    You can ask in the BST section of this board. There should be a thread dedicated to this if i remember correctly. Regarding the insurance you should ask your insurance company what price you should use for an item. For my insurance it was important what I paid for it not what it’s worth at the moment. If I need to replace it my insurance will pay the current price.
  14. Scyla
    That’s why I’m buying Metal Build & DX Valkyrie releases left and right.
  15. Scyla
    Ok so I have to revoke my statement that Fans Hobby bots are flimsy. After re-watching reviews for their releases they look solid. What I think lead me to my initial statement was Megatooth who is not flimsy but has this issue that if you move some joint all the other parts start to wobble around which is something I don't like in toys. Flypro and Fei Long seem to not have that going on but they are a bit flimsy in the leg transformation. So I think Megatooth tainted my evaluation of the other toys from Fans Hobby. Maybe I should check out their Archenemy since I love black trucks with teal trim. However while watching the review for him (he is solid, no worries) I remembered something that was bothering me for some time now. He is too similar to the toy that was originally released for Car Robots. What I mean is that he goes through the same motions during the transformation that the toy from almost 20 years ago. This is an issue for me since I like to experience new engineering on toys so I'm bummed out if I get a toy in my hand that does exactly the same as another toy. This seems to get a larger issue for my collecting because if we continue to Car Robots and the Unicron trilogy we get to designs where the toy looks very similar to the show design so a masterpiece versions of those characters will very similar to those toys released in the past. With the G1 characters you need to put some creative engineering into the Masterpiece toys to recreate the cartoon magic from a poorly drawn show. To get them look like real vehicles in alt-mode sleek robots in bot-mode you need to implement a different transformation strategy in those toys compared to their 80s counterparts. This is something that most intrigued me by the Masterpiece line so maybe I should just stop at G1... but Galaxy Meteor looks so sweet.
  16. Scyla
    I don't understand all the fuzz about Fans Hobby. All of their releases look terrible to me, especially Double Devil. The aesthetic is not for my tastest and even if they where I don't like how flimsy they look in all the reviews. Kuma one quick question. If I'm a big fan of the Maketoys Combiner Series, do you think that FansProject Dai Z would be for me? I really dig the look and feel of those robots.
  17. Scyla
    Maybe but something about Fire Convoy is special. I think it is the orange stripe on his asymmetric chest. That somehow does it for me.
  18. Scyla
    Seeing the Takara reissue of God Fire Convoy I was thinking that I would love to see Maketoys to take a shot at this robot preferably in the Cross Dimension line . I would be super into a giant super robot that is made out of two other robots and one of the base robots can be upgraded with armor parts. The old Car Robots mold doesn't do it for me due to all the gimmicks and concessions made for being a kids toys that could be bought at a retailer. Lights and sounds just don't do it for me especially since the electronic boxes are that clunky. I even think you could to a proper God Magnus if you don't need a car carrier that can hold the Autobot Brothers. Since I think that the Super/Armor parts are the best part of Macross toys (playing dress-up rocks) a 3rd Party God Fire Convoy would be right up my alley.
  19. Scyla
    Also at HLJ: https://hlj.com/product/kyd01306 and amiami: http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=FIGURE-034046&page=top
  20. Scyla
    Yes the original character Tarn from IDWs MTMTE was homaged by MMCs Kultur: http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/threads/mmc-kultur-idw-tarn.1039646/ Here is how Tarn looks in the IDW comics:
  21. Scyla
    Can't wait for Maketoys Galaxy Force Galvatron. I'm also getting the Galaxy Force Skywarp but I hope Maketoys is changing one tones of black on him. I would be super into a Skywarp where the outer armor parts would be a darker gray and the inner parts on thighs and upper arms be black. The prototype at TFCon was just too much black and dull to me. I know that is what Skywarp is suppose to look like but it didn't look as stunning as the Starscream and Thundercracker. I wonder if they gonna release the Galaxy Force Optimus Prime as a black and teal repaint. I don't think HasTak ever released a Nemesis Prime based on the Galaxy Force mold but neither where Skywarp and Thundercracker made from this Starscream so I can still hope.
  22. Scyla
    I found this really interesting YT channel that explains mechanics in retro video games:
  23. Scyla
    I hope they will do a Carnage that will accompany my Venom and Spider Gwen quite nicely.
  24. Scyla
    The PE version is still available at HLJ. I'm really tempted... but I can't do it. I have to much stuff that isn't in line with the PE line. On the other hand, if I split the Macross Zero stuff off we are talking about three VF-1 that are not PE and two of them don't have the Super Strike parts so if Acradia never produces these I have to get rid of them eventually. And they are all DYRL Valkyries. But then the Roy and Hikaru PE seems to be pretty expensive on the after market.... Decisions decisions. I'm also ordering Topspin and Twintwist from HLJ so I have to log into my account soon....
  25. Scyla
    I have many fond memories about the one Tamiya kit I had as a kid. I wonder if I should put one into my next order from HLJ.
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