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mikeszekely

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  1. mikeszekely
    As a kid the Neo Geo was something like a legend... incredible graphics and total arcade accuracy compared to what the SNES and Genesis offered, but at a price tag that put it firmly out of reach. A part of me would really like to get this one, but original AES carts are stupid expensive, and the reissues that they're making are still basically new AAA PS5 game price for the original Metal Slug. Maybe if someone makes a reasonably-priced flash cart...
  2. mikeszekely
    That's an interesting list. I wonder how many of those Mv1 toys are new, and how many are refreshes? I mean, Prime was previously a Voyager, and Ratchet a Deluxe, so safe to say they're new an improved, but Ironhide and Jazz? It does make sense that they'd do a bunch of MV1 toys given that 2027 is the 20th anniversary of the first Bayverse film. Well, I guess I'd have to see just how improved they are. TF5 Bee... ironically, replacing the original movie toy that a lot of the early SS Bumblebees were based on. Maybe it'll have ankles. Fine, I guess, but I'd rather they did High Octane Bumblebee. The original Camaro is still the best Camaro. By Dreamwave Optimus, I assume they mean War Within. It's a simple enough design to do as a Deluxe, and I know they want him in those A-Level Deluxes, but I'm getting tired of my Optimuses not scaling. IDW Nautica, IDW Drift, and IDW Fortress Maximus are hot on my radar. If they do well, perhaps they'll do more IDW figures. I'd love a good IDW Cyclonus, Whirl, Star Saber, Optimus, Megatron (the stealth bomber one), Rodimus, etc. I'm in for TFOne Shockwave and TF5 Megatron, too. Safe bet that Alicon, the Quintesson Judge, and Swoop are straight reissues, while Wheelie, Red Alert, Goldfire, Nemesis Prime, Soundwave, and Sleep Optimus are repaints. Don't need the reissues. Wheelie in cartoon colors and Nemesis Prime are probably safe buys for me. Red Alert in more cartoon-accurate colors is a probably. Goldfire, maybe... I do like the Devastation Bumblebee mold. Soundwave, I'd have to see it. I don't have a strong attachment to purple Marvel Soundwave, I'd have been more likely to shell out for a black Soundblaster. Sleep Optimus, maybe. I did skip the One Shall Stand Optimus, so it'll be my only battle-damage version. EDIT: Also, hey, just got the "make sure your address is still right" email from Pulse, Liokaiser is shipping soon!
  3. mikeszekely
    Growing up I was into nerdy stuff and couldn't have cared less about sports. So when Hasbro does a Transformers collab with something like Knight Rider or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles it pushes my nostalgia buttons and becomes a must-buy for me, but last year's collab with the NFL felt kind of weird. Was there really that big of a crossover between people into collecting Transformers and people into American football? Especially given that, by it's nature, it was largely limited to the American audience. What about the rest of the world, and their preference for the other football? Well, it seems Hasbro actually did think of that, and decided to bring us Breakaway. Breakaway is roughly the same size as the NFL collab bots... I'm not sure which one actually came out better. I think the NFL guys, like Steelsmash here, have a bit more kibble going on, but they're also a bit more solid. Breakaway looks to integrate his alt mode more, but winds up with thin panels folded over to make legs with weedy ankles. Actually, what is up with the design? Steelsmash has a bit of generic head, sure, but the black torso accented with gold, the white "pants," and the little helmet are clearly inspired by the Steelers' uniform. I looked up some of Team USA's uniforms, and while they are largely red and blue, it's not as haphazard as this. Combined with the head sculpt and I'd swear they designed the toy to be Optimus Prime first, then someone's like, "no, it needs to be an original character," so the designer just erased the mask, drew a face, and called it a day. For for the effort Hasbro put into making the kibble more integrated on him, from the back and sides you can still see lumps of alt mode on his forearms, hanging off his shoulders, covering the entire backs of his legs, and dominating his back like a turtle shell. But hey, maybe I'm missing something. I'll be the first to admit that while I'm not super into the NFL, as someone who's spent over 40 years in the suburbs of Pittsburgh I'm very aware of the Steelers, but only recently aware of the fact that the US has a soccer team that competes in FIFA, not just the Olympics. So hey, if any of you are more into association football than I and think I'm off base, feel free to enlighten me, but to my eye Breakaway feels like a much weaker design than the NFL collab. Breakaway comes with two accessories. You get a little ball for him to play with... it's pretty basic, just gray plastic with a blue USA logo tampoed on. You also get a stand. Breakway's head is on a ball joint. It swivels and he can tilt his head up and down a little, but not sideways. His shoulders are ball joints, too, which I don't love on Deluxe-class figures. You get the swivel and 90-ish degrees of lateral movement (depending on how much clearance the kibble on his shoulder has). Biceps swivel, elbows bend 90 degrees, and wrists swivel. His waist swivels, though at a little under 45 degrees either way the kibble on his back is going to start bumping his hips. Fortunately he also has an ab crunch. Speaking of hips, they can go 90 degrees backward or laterally, but almost a full 180 degrees forward. Good for kicking! His thighs swivel, and his knees bend 90 degrees. His feet have a hinge at the top for ankle pivots. The good news is that they pivot 90 degrees, inside and outside. The bad news is that they're kind of loose on my copy. Below that is a hinge that gives him some upward foot tilt and a ton of downward foot tilt. At the base of all that is a ball joint that gives him a foot swivel. Tiny pegs on the stand plug into holes under Breakaway's toes. Similar pegs on top of his feet allow you to plug the ball on them, so it looks like he's playing with it. Because they're actually the same pegs, you can plug the ball onto the stand if you want to keep both accessories off to the side and just arm him up with a spare 5mm weapon you have laying around. Steelsmash and the NFL collab guys turned into pretty detailed little helmets, but soccer players don't wear helmets. So they decided to turn Breakaway into a soccer ball. The engineering is surprisingly more involved than I'd expected. Like, his chest opens, and a part inside spins so that his arms switch places. Then, after folding the head in and closing the chest back up, they have to fold around his torso and link together on his back, between his actual back and the alt mode shell. The waist spins and the legs scrunch up differently than I'd have imagined. There is one letdown, though, and it's partsforming. I know the NFL collab had some, too, with the face mask and straps, but the helmets were pretty detailed. This is just a ball! But you have to remove this panel from his back (which still has a shell under it, mind you) and use it to fill this gap when you've balled the rest of him up. And again, I find myself a little underwhelmed. I mean, I get that the official balls they use in games aren't the black-and-white patterned ones you get when you think of a generic soccer ball, but this still doesn't seem right. What's with the gray? I tried to find pictures of official Team USA balls. I tried to find pictures of balls used in actual CONCACAF games. Saw lots of red balls with white and blue accents, blue balls with red and white accents, and white balls with red and blue accents for Team USA. For actual game balls, I saw mostly white with a variety of designs and colors, but the main thing is that the ball was mostly white. Not a gray ball in sight. Even if I allow that Hasbro used gray plastic for cost/durability reasons and it actually should be white, I couldn't find any Team USA balls with that pattern on it. I have no idea where they got that swooshy star pattern, or why they tampoed a few of them on the ball instead of decoing the ball like an actual Team USA ball. The thing about balls is that they're round, and round things tend to roll. You don't want your Team USA memorabilia rolling off your shelf, right? So you can set it on the stand... it doesn't plug in, it just sits in the concave area. Which is fine. The base is hollow on the underside, so if you split the smaller ball Breakaway plays with in half you'll find a peg inside. The peg plugs into a hole in the base, allowing the ball to store under the cradle. As someone who's home team was one of the first four in the NFL collab, I get the bit of hometown pride that even a Transformers nerd like me can feel when it's your team getting the collab. And while Steelsmash wasn't my favorite robot toy, the detailed helmet that he turned into was pretty cool, and worth the kibble in bot mode. I can't say I feel the same about Breakaway. Aside from some blue and red in bot mode and some "USA" tampos, nothing about his design actually feels like a Team USA uniform or a legit Team USA ball. Maybe I'd feel differently if he were in Pittsburgh Riverhounds deco, maybe I'd feel differently if he were at least white instead of gray, but the effort put into Breakaway feels so much less than Steelsmash. I don't think I'd recommend this one.
  4. mikeszekely
    Every good Optimus needs a Megatron. So when I picked up Leader King I picked up Galaxy Toys Destroyer. I mean, a lot of what I said about Leader King applies again. Destroyer is still smaller than a Core-class and maybe half the height of something like Magic Square's Megatron, but he's not quite as small as Dr. Wu's Megatron. But that extra size again translates to better proportions, details like the red on his arms, and a better head sculpt. He's surprisingly clean, too. New Age's Legends Megatron and even MP-36 have some pretty ugly backs. Aside from gaps on the backs of his forearms and hip skirts that could clean up a bit better Destroyer honestly looks better than a lot of bigger, more expensive Megatron toys. Yeah, Destroyer looks pretty dang good... but looks can be deceiving. Destroyer comes with a few more accessories than Leader King, which is probably why he costs a bit more. There's the fusion cannon already on his arm, of course. You get the stock and silencer for gun mode, and they combine into a turret, which is always nice. You get the mace from "More Than Meets the Eye," and the pistol and light saber from the '86 movie. And you get the helmet he uses to control his Optimus double in "A Prime Problem." Megatron's head is on a hinged ball joint that swivels and can tilt up and down a good bit but doesn't give you any real sideways tilt. I'll also note that the swivel on the ball is way too tight, but the hinge the stem is connected to is pretty loose. His shoulders are ball joints, but they swivel and still get 90 degrees laterally. His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend 90 degrees. No wrist swivels, but due to his transformation they can be tilted down. His waist swivels, and he's got a super loose ab crunch. This is likely because Destroyer has a ton more diecast in him than Leader King, and while a little diecast used intelligently on a Masterpiece-scale figure can give it a "premium" feel, frankly all it does is put too much weight on too small joints on a figure this size, and Galaxy Toys shouldn't be using it. I digress. His hips are ball joints. Because the skirts on his sides move but not his front or his butt, he can only get them about 45 degrees forward, 75 degrees backward, but a full 90 degrees laterally. No thigh swivel, which is a bummer since Leader King has them. Knees bend 90 degrees. His feet have a slight upward tilt, and 90 degrees of ankle pivot. The fusion cannon is attached to a peg on Destroyer's right arm. It can be removed. The mace has a thin handle that plugs into a hole in either fist. The same goes for the pistol and light saber, and the helmet simply fits over his head. The turret built from the stock and silencer also has a tab, so his fusion cannon can attach to it, and it's got little handles on it that fit into the holes in his fists. Transformation isn't as complicated as you might think. Turn both of his fists down until the hammers come out. Slide the left shoulder out, extend the arm laterally and rotate it so you can see the inside of his arm, line up his forearm with his bicep, and slide the whole thing back into his shoulder. Remove his fusion cannon, and do the same to his right arm (minus the slider in the shoulder). Open his chest, which will take his right arm with it, and fold in his head. Fold the T-shaped bit his right arm is attached to out, slide the whole assembly to the other side of chest, and fold it over so his arm is lined up with the other side, and then fold the chest so the arms tab together. Untab the trigger guard from the barrel on his back, which will allow you to swing it around into the shoulder socket, and fold the barrel down. Swivel his waist 90 degrees, so the barrel is pointing forward. In theory*, a double hinge in his waist will swing his upper body out and forward, thumping into place with his arms over his pelvis. Get his hip skirts out of the way and open the backs of his legs. Fold the gray parts in the backs of his legs down, then fold the tips back up. Slide the sides of the legs out a little, and they'll rotate around the lower leg 180 degrees. Use the ball joints in the hips to drop the legs a little, and bend the knees 180 degrees so his feet tuck up to his arms. Close the leg flaps so the part you folded out fills the space under the knee, and smush it all together. Unfold the hip flaps, tab them into his legs to fill out the rest of the handle. Fold the little trigger out of the double hinge in his waist, and bring the trigger guard around from his back underneath so it tabs into the front of his legs, then finish it off by plugging the fusion cannon onto the top. *Why "in theory"? Because, in practice, the tolerances on the hinge that is the sole point of connection between his upper and lower body is terrible. On my copy, it was fine for robot mode, but too thick to fold over all the way for gun mode. It kept popping out. After numerous attempts, I got it to go... but I don't know if I wore out a nub (since it's just friction clipped) or what, but the upper body now will no longer stay attached in robot mode. Which is a shame, because the gun mode isn't bad. Sure, his ab greebles are plainly visible on one side, and the handle is proportionally a bit thick, but all the important details are present. I just wish the tolerances were a bit better... there are tiny tabs on his fists that are supposed to plug into the underside of his feet, but they're pretty worthless. The hip skirts like to come undone from the legs, too. It feels like the torso/arms should sit a little flatter. The stock uses two tabs to plug into the slots on the base of the handle, and that part works fine. The silencer has a notch cut out for the sight on the barrel, but even lined up and slide on all the way it's like sticking the cardboard tube from a roll of toilet paper over your finger- super loose, and the minute you angle it downward it'll slide right off. Even with a price tag lower than Hasbro charges for Deluxes these days, I can't recommend Destroyer as is. Poor tolerances an the overuse of diecast that is likely the primary cause of said tolerances leaves Destroyer too floppy in robot mode, unable to tab together solidly in gun mode, and on my copy ultimately broken at the waist. It's a shame, too, because I actually like the design and transformation a lot; this could have been one of my favorite Megatron toys ever. Well, you might recall when I wrote about Leader King that the version I got is technically the third version. Apparently the original suffered from a lot of similar issues. If Galaxy Toys were to re-release Destroyer in a better-toleranced, all-plastic version I'd change my recommendation pretty quickly.
  5. mikeszekely
    Ok, at that price the AI children enjoying a birthday cake covered in firearms have convinced me.
  6. mikeszekely
    As if there was any doubt, yes, Jetfire and Optimus can combine.
  7. mikeszekely
    I didn't post them because Scourge is just a reissue, and I think Thundercracker's been shown off already. I think he might be out in Hong Kong already. But yeah, AFAIK preorders for Jetfire and the Studio Series stuff will be tomorrow at 1:00pm EDT. I'm getting everything but Scourge (although I think Bee looks a bit trash).
  8. mikeszekely
    I was shopping for something completely unrelated the other day when I came across an Optimus Prime toy I didn't have, and for only about $20. So, I wound up picking up Leader King, the first figure from newcomer Galaxy Toys. I say first, but as near as I can tell this is actually the third version, with the first one having solid windows painted blue, and the second was covered in metallic paint. This version has clear windows. I'm told that all of them had diecast... I think I can feel some in the legs, but that's about it. Maybe the other versions had more? It's my understanding that the earlier versions had worse QC. Anyway, if Leader King was the only figure Galaxy Toys released I might suggest that they meant for him to scale with Dr. Wu's figures. Because, yeah, he's taller than Dr Wu's Optimus, but way shorter than a Core-class toy. And Dr. Wu's little guys don't have a ton of difference in size, with the recent Datsuns being just a little shorter than their Optimus. Swapping Dr. Wu's Prime for Leader King puts one of the Dr Wu Datsuns more like eye-to-abs, which seems about right. But, given that Galaxy Toys went on to release Warpath and Beachcomber, and they're both bigger than Dr Wu's, I guess it's more accurate to say that Galaxy Toys is doing their own scale somewhere between Core and Dr Wu. I'll concede that there does seem to be on advantage to going slightly bigger... Leader King has better proportions than the slightly-wide Dr. Wu Optimus. He's cleaner, too, with none of the cab visible on his back... really not much of a backpack, either. I'd say, for the size, the robot is actually quite good. My only real complaint is the visible tires on the sides of the legs. Leader King comes with an ion rifle and an energon axe. I guess that's enough, especially for the price, but a trailer would have been nice. The articulation here is pretty decent for the size. Head's on a ball joint that can swivel, look up and down a bit, and tilt sideways. Shoulders are also ball joints that swivel and move laterally 90 degrees. His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend 90 degrees. No wrist articulation. His waist swivels, and he's got some ab crunch. His hips move backward and laterally 90 degrees, but they fall a bit short of that forward due to his pelvis no having hip skirts or moving in any way. His thighs swivel, and his knees bend a little over 90 degrees. His feet bend downward, and the front of his feet are on ball joints so they have a little up/down tilt and a faux ankle pivot. Leader King holds the ion rifle by sliding the thin handle peg into a tiny hole on either fist. The energon axe has a hollow carved into it that fits around his entire fist. Transformation is a bit more complex than Dr. Wu or even the official Core-class toy. It actually reminds me a bit of a very simplified MP-01/MP-10/Magic Square Prime. Fold his feet down, slide his legs up over his thighs, rotate his waist 180 degrees, and tab the legs together. Fold his hands into his forearms and bend his elbows 90 degrees. Now, use the double hinge in his waist to pull his torso up a bit. Open his chest windows, fold out his lats with the wheels, slide out the grill and bumper, fold the bumper out, and rotate the whole thing 180 degrees. Spin the parts with the wheels around so the wheel his facing down, and swivel the panel on the front so it lines up with the grill. Tuck his head into his chest, and close the windows. Rock his arms back at the shoulders and swing the arms in over the wheels. Finally, use the double hinge in the waist to line up a tab on the bottom of his back with a slot at the top of his pelvis. The truck mode is fine. Unlike Wu's, the head isn't visible so the cab looks a bit more finished, but I do wish the borrowed a page from Wu or SS86 Prime and found a way to fill that gap on the sides where you can see his pelvis and the top of his thigh. He rolls ok, but sadly doesn't seem to have any intended storage for his accessories. That's where a trailer might have come in handy. Small parts doing a more complex transformation makes Leader King feel a bit more fragile than Dr Wu's little Prime, and as noted the earlier versions seemed to suffer from some QC issues. I think Dr Wu's pocket-Prime is a more robust option if you want something you can fiddle with often. Dr Wu's also has the advantage if you just want the smallest Prime for making your Titans or Combiners look as big as possible. But Leader King is a good alternative if you want a Prime that's a little bigger to scale a bit better with Dr. Wu's carbots, has more articulation, and a bit better proportions and cleaner details. At the very least, he costs less than I spent at Taco Bell the other night, so you're not risking too much if you want to check him out.
  9. mikeszekely
    EDIT: Some Studio Series, too
  10. mikeszekely
    Age of the Primes is supposed to end this year with whatever comes next starting in 2027. Don't hold me to this, but it sounds like they're cramming in a bonus wave that's technically scheduled for early 2027 but you'll likely start seeing late this year. The wave will consist of: Deluxe G2 Wildrider Alpha Bravo Sky Guard Breakaway Voyager Cybershark Guzzle Leader New Prime Machine Wars Starscream You can probably tell that Wildrider is a repaint of Wildrider, Alpha Bravo will be a repaint of Vortex, Cybershark will be a repaint of Sky-Byte (since the original Sky-Byte was actually a repaint of Transmetal Cybershark), and Machine Wars Starscream will be a repaint of Legacy Skyquake. As a bonus wave, it's assumed that everything will actually be repaints. Guzzle is very likely a retool of Brawl, and Sky Guard & Breakaway will most likely be repaints of Aerialbots. I think the idea is to give you some bots to mix-and-match limbs with, especially if you're combining with Nexus Prime. The only real question I have is who or what is New Prime?
  11. mikeszekely
    So, everyone knows Onslaught is coming, and if you guys recall the team said AotP was going to get two Commanders this year since the Titan is in Studio Series. I've told you guys that the second Commander will be Armada Jetfire. Well, I'm hearing from sources that Jetfire is coming with the Minicons to make the Requiem Blaster.
  12. mikeszekely
    With the possible exception of Dragstrip, I think I actually prefer the Hasbro decos.
  13. mikeszekely
    Aw, too small to run around and pew pew with. They look similar in size to that ChangTiao core class-style Megatron.
  14. mikeszekely
    How big are they in alt mode? BTW, I love the AI product photos on Amazon...
  15. mikeszekely
    Mark Maher confirmed on IG that the Takara set will be out first, but that they are definitely still doing G2 Wildrider and Motomaster.
  16. mikeszekely
    Take the copy you got from Pulse to the Walmart where you found Wheelie. Tell them you don't have a receipt, but yours is missing a part and you just want to do an even exchange. Having worked for far too many years in retail, I can tell you that Walmart will just send it back to Hasbro, so Walmart doesn't gain or lose anything on it.
  17. mikeszekely
    I'm sure the eagle-eyed among you noticed a certain fellow in that Season 3 picture, so let's talk repaints. First up, yes, we have the Walmart-exclusive Retro Outback. The nice thing about Outback is that a toy-style figure is also a cartoon-style one, as unlike Brawn his animation model is much closer to his toy. That being said, Brawn's toy is based on his cartoon appearance, and while it makes sense that Outback would be a retool of Brawn (since the G1 toy was a retool of Brawn's), it actually leaves the Retro toy less accurate, as he's missing the weird proportions, shoulder windows, and skinny wheeled legs he was animated with. Oh well. He does, at least, have a brand new head and chest. He also has a new gun, which matches the G1 toy (which I believe was the only G1 minibot to come with a gun in the first place). The only remolded parts you see in alt mode is the gun, mounted on the tire just like the G1 toy. Like the G1 toy, the center of the hood is black with the Mysterion "M", as is the windshield, and the rear windows aren't painted at all, simply tampoed with the Autobot symbol. The front side windows are painted, though, which doesn't match the toy but does match the animation model. Look, as near as I can tell Outback appeared in a grand total of two out of the ninety-eight episodes of the G1 cartoon. Would it have been cool if Outback was more extensively retooled to better match the G1 toy/animation model? Sure. But I didn't expect them to, and frankly Brawn in different colors with a new head and chest is honestly good enough for me, and probably good enough for you guys to pick up and check off your list. He gets a recommend from me. But Outback isn't the only recent repaint in my collection. I also got the new 2-pack of G2 Dinobots. That pack includes Swoop here, packing the same wing rockets and same pair of swords as the G1 toy (which technically means you're getting a sword for G2 Grimlock with this set!). Swoop isn't just sporting some EXTREME new colors (which I happen to LOVE, by the way). He's got a remolded noggin, swapping the caveman-browed cartoon face for a visored look closer to the G1 toy (which makes sense, since the original canceled G2 toy would have been the G1 toy but EXTREME). Now, I think most of the the other SS86 Dinobots are neatly enough between absolute Sunbow G1 and the G1 toys that I don't really need toy versions of them, but if Hasbro wants to release a red Swoop with this face they could get another easy $60 out of me. As with Outback, none of the remolded parts come through in alt mode. But man, that neon green! Man, I just want to go back to the '90s, watch some Gargoyles, eat some Soda-Liscious, play some SNES, then pump up my Reebok Pumps, go to the mall, and swing by Kay-Bee before hitting the arcade. Maybe we'll hear some Offspring or Green Day in the car on the way over. Needless to say, love G2 Swoop (even if the right wing on mine doesn't like to stay together), and I'd totally recommend him as a standalone, but to get him you also have to buy... ...G2 Sludge. Who gets no remolding at all, just a new coat of paint. Orange is a bright color, but pairing it with black and blue is a bit less EXTREME, I guess. I can't really blame modern Hasbro, though, they're just going by the concept art for the original canceled G2 toy. There's some nice silver paint here, I suppose. I dunno what else to really say... Sludge has always been my least-favorite of the Dinobots, and I think he's arguably the worst-executed of the five SS86 Dinobots (not saying he's bad, just less good than the other four), so it stands to reason I'd be a bit underwhelmed by a straight repaint for G2. But hey, he comes with Swoop, who's like a must-have. And if you're weird like me, you'll want him just because you need him to complete your set of G2 Dinobots. That is, assuming he does actually complete your G2 Dinobots. Because when we're talking about G2 Dinobots, we're not talking about one set of five Dinobots, are we? We're actually talking about two sets of three. One set is Grimlock, Slag, and Snarl, who have traded in their silver parts for blue, green, and red, respectively. They're part of that early G2 stuff, where you were mostly getting G1 toys with slightly altered decos. But on the other hand, you have another Grimlock, Swoop, and Sludge, based on canceled decos for later in G2 when G2 was all about EXTREME '90s colors. So maybe for you, three G2 Dinobots is enough. Maybe you don't need this set. But I happen to like both! If I'm being honest, I like tiger stripe Grimlock better than blue Grimlock, and green-and-blue Swoop better than Slag and Snarl's G2 decos (though Slag and Snarl beat Islanders-fan Sludge). So yeah, indulge yourself!
  18. mikeszekely
    Season 1. Apologies if you don't have an ultrawide display, there's a lot of them. Season 2. Just waiting on Powerglide. And with his fellow Season 3 minibots. Happy that Swerve should arrive soon, but we still need Tailgate, too. It's a safe bet we'll see him before too long, though.
  19. mikeszekely
    This figure arrived from Pulse, like two days before I happened to go to Walmart for other reasons and find a whole bunch of them. This is the Walmart-exclusive Deluxe-class Retro Wheelie. When this figure was first announced I actually mistook it for a repaint of the Core-class SS86 Wheelie, and there's definitely some immediate similarities. Both have a backpack, both have wheels on the backs of their calves, both have wheels embedded in their forearms. But, lo and behold, it turned out to be a brand new Deluxe-class mold, and side-by-side you can see that the Deluxe is significantly larger, with shoulders that are closer in, a more tapered torso with an actual pelvis, more rounded lower legs, and feet that simply look like feet. Coming around the back, we can see that the backpack is a bit different than the Core-class toy. The other big difference is that this toy is colored to match the G1 toy, rather than the cartoon. So, even if you're not into toy-colored repaints, take note of this review as I expect most of this will apply when they inevitably release this toy again in cartoon colors. Wheelie comes with a lone accessory, his signature slingshot. As befitting his larger price tag, Deluxe Wheelie has a bit more articulation than the Core-class toy. I believe his head is on a ball joint. It swivels, and there's a little up/down tilt, but nothing really sideways. His shoulders swivel and move laterally a little over 90 degrees. His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend a hair short of 90 degrees. His wrists swivel, as does his waist. His hips can go 90 degrees forward, a little more than that backward, and just shy of that laterally. His thighs swivel, and his knees bend 90 degrees. His toes bend downward, largely due to transformation. His ankles pivot as well, but under 90 degrees. Wheelie's slingshot has a 5mm peg for a handle, and it plugs into either fist. There are tabs on the sides of his backpack that his arms tab into for alt mode. I don't think it was intentional, but a hollow slot on the handle of the slingshot allows it to plug onto those tabs for bot-mode weapon storage. Speaking of alt mode, the engineering is actually very similar to the Core-class, there's just a bit more of it. In both cases the chest forms a large chunk of the front, with the head hidden in the cockpit area. The difference is that the cockpit is tucked into the backpack, not the entire backpack, which allows the rest of the backpack to form a more natural rear end to the vehicle. The arms still make up most of the sides, including the rear wheels, but panels on the backpack hide his hands a little (which were showing by default on the original toy; mine has an upgrade kit). The hips still shift so that the legs hang out along the bottom of the vehicle, with the front fenders coming off the legs and mating with the chest. But rather than forming the nose of the vehicle from his feet, this time the nose folds out from behind the chest and his feet remain tucked under the vehicle. The result is, for the most part, a better car than the core-class. From the back, there's still some visible fingers and some transformation joints, but overall the shape is a bit more cohesive. The nose and the rounded rear benefit the most from the new engineering, sure, but the fenders are more flush, an attempt was made to hide the hands, and there's not a massive visible ball joint anymore. I suppose, in theory, you can use the 5mm port on the rear of the vehicle to plug in the slingshot. However, there's a tab under the nose that's definitely meant for the slot in the slignshot's handle, giving you a more out-of-the-way option for alt mode weapon storage. The bump in engineering this figure gets from being a Deluxe has, I feel, improved Wheelie's proportions, articulation, transformation, and alt mode. That's all good! Wheelie does have one flaw, though, that might make you think you're better off with the Core-class you might already have, and that's his size. I've always thought of Wheelie as the smallest of the Autobots, as he was often depicted as just a little over a head taller than Daniel. When they designed the Core-class toy, they took pains to make sure it was about the same size as the slug version that came with Grimlock. But this new version of Wheelie, while still being on the short side of most Deluxes, is a head taller than SS86 Bumblebee. So, I'm not really sure if I want to recommend him or not. It's like, pick your poison, do you want the figure that's better in every way but out-of-scale, or do you want the one that's in-scale but a bit crap? I mean, for an original mold, the proportions are still very obviously cartoon Wheelie and not G1 toy Wheelie, so like I said a cartoon-style version is more or less inevitable. And, I don't know, maybe for cartoon G1 Wheelie the Core-class is good enough. But the Retro version can pass for an IDW Wheelie, I think and in IDW he was depicted as a bit bigger.
  20. mikeszekely
    I'm not necessarily inclined to argue. I think Takara (and/or Hasbro, by extension) are at their best making when making mass-market toys. Like, yeah, they have their flaws like limited articulation, in some areas, limited paint, or hollow spots, and some outright misses *cough Astrotrain*, but generally you're not mad about it because they're chunky, solid toys you can mess around with and you're usually not paying more than $60 (save for the annual Titans and Commanders, or the odd Haslab). But it's a different story when you're paying a premium for something ostensibly collector-focused. I mean, I'd have never paid $350 for MP-36, but I didn't have any problems paying that for Soul of Chogokin Dairugger/Vehicle Voltron. Still, for your sake, I hope you're happy with Predaking. I'm out, though, he's just too small for my collection. Same.
  21. mikeszekely
    Saw this making the rounds on social media, in case anyone else was wondering how that T-Spark Predaking stacks up with Generations...
  22. mikeszekely
    I'm gonna hold off and see if Hasbro will eventually release Motormaster and Wildrider on their own. I'm not buying an entire G2 Menasor when I've already got three G2 Stunticons. As for MPG "Secret Agent Arcee," if that's something people want, more power to them, but I didn't even buy the Missing Link Arcee in those colors.
  23. mikeszekely
    In my experience, using DLSS to render at a lower resolution and then upscale to your monitor's resolution works pretty well now. But I avoid frame gen if at all possible.
  24. mikeszekely
    I didn't think I needed an upgrade kit for Trion, but it looks like they fixed my biggest complaint with him.
  25. mikeszekely
    The numbers I quoted were just the thermal pad mod. When he added the cooler his synthetic benchmarks were closer to 17% better. The cooler also didn't make much difference while gaming; he had lower temps, but the CPU wasn't thermal throttling with just the thermal pad. EDIT: Did ZTT only add a thermal pad? Maybe the copper ETA used is the difference.
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