mikeszekely

I'm looking forward to this.  I really enjoyed the first one; it wasn't without it's problems, but I thought it was probably about as close to the comics as it could be without Spider-Man, and Tom Hardy was a delight to watch in it.

I'm in the Pittsburgh area (one county to the east, thankfully we're not hit nearly as bad here).  Last I heard our governor is calling our current state of affairs (everything deemed non-essential is closed and we're under stay-at-home orders) "condition red", and we're staying red until at least May 8th.  After that he's looking to move at least parts of the state to "condition yellow", which will allow more businesses to re-open and end the stay-at-home order.  But under condition yellow large gatherings are still prohibited, anyone who can work from home should continue to do so, masks will still have to be worn in public, and places like gyms , schools, and theaters will still be closed.

Frankly the 8th can't get here fast enough.  Technically visiting my parents violates the stay-at-home order so my wife won't let me and my daughter go, but my dad found out he's got cancer* and they're operating on Tuesday.

*Yes, cancer's the worst, but before I get too much sympathy it's squamous cell carcinoma, a very treatable form of skin cancer, on his ear.  As long as the cancer cells haven't spread into other parts of his body they'll cut part of his ear off and he'll be right as rain.

4 minutes ago, Sildani said:

Any word on the Ocular Max Protoform Azalea? If was supposed to be sold for TFCon, it should have been available beforehand. Right?

It's just showing as "add to wishlist" at PSX.  Some US-based stores seem like they're sold out, but it looks like you can still preorder for $105 at TFSource and The Chosen Prime.  TCP has an estimated release date of May 20th.

3 hours ago, Kuma Style said:

I can tell you from the horse's mouth that a lot of their projects have been paused indefinitely.

Sure, I've heard as much myself.  I also heard they were hit particularly hard by the pandemic, and there's rumors that they were having financial difficulties even before that.

However, they made a statement fairly recently that they're committed to both the Re:Master and Cross Dimension line, and that they're going to release all the products they've revealed over the last year.  I'm not sure when they were first revealed (and I'm not sure they revealed anything actually new in the last year), but in the last year they've had their Coneheads, Highbrow, and Cross Dimension Galvatron at shows, and that's what seems the farthest along.  I fully expect them (and Brainstorm) to be their next non-repaint releases, but I likewise expect that stuff like their Crosshairs and Apeface might stay on the shelf.

Maketoys also has their Cross Dimension stuff.  Definitely a more unique aesthetic, but arguably still CHUG.  I haven't bought everything in the line, but Striker Manus (Optimus) and Rioter Despotron (Megatron) are both very good.  Thunder Manus (Powermaster Optimus) is less stylized and the basic cab robot is Legends-sized, but the combined mode is around the same size as the Titans Returns Prime but with a more Japanese super-robot style and proportions that I really dig.  One of these days I'll have to pick up their Godbomber to go with him.

Never got around to Jetfire, either, and I don't know how many other figures in the line I'd be in on.  But they said they're still working on their Galvatron, and I dig where they're going with it.

While Fans Toys is one of if not the most popular 3Ps, it's no secret that I have more of a love/hate relationship with them.  When I think they do a figure well, like Spoiler or Phoenix, it's easily one of the best figures in my collection.  However, I think a lot of their stuff suffers from needlessly complicated engineering, pain-in-the-rear transformations, minor QC issues like paint chipping and scratching, and limited articulation that has me looking for alternatives, even if they're less accurate, like Saltus (or even Big Spring) over Apache for Springer or Azalea over Rouge for Arcee.

I had my eye on Sheridan, as I'm not sure there's been a great option for Warpath yet and crossing him off my list will (I think) complete my MP minibots.  Couldn't quite bring myself to pull the trigger, though, after hearing about some QC issues with the knees.  Guess I was on the fence for too long, now, as it looks like he's pretty much sold out now.

I liked how MT's Defensor looked a lot, but I wound up selling it off. I've been tempted to check out the YM version.

Neat.  I don't have many old consoles, but I do have a Dreamcast still.  I might pick one of these up.

Hey @Kuma Style, you don't happen to have (or had) Alpha Pack, did you?  I'm hearing a lot of good things about General Grant, but I'm not sure if it's enough of an improvement that I should upgrade.

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

Mike, I respectfully disagree

You can disagree with the gist of my assertion, but you can also look at the numbers.  If you look at the ratio of the height to length both the Raptor and the Countach have similar ratio of around 1:3.8... at their thickest point.  For the Raptor, that's from the bottom of the landing gear to the top of the vertical stabilizers.  The bulk of the fuselage is maybe half the listed height if I'm being generous, and when the Countach is measured from the bottom of the wheel to the top of the roof, with the cabin roughly a third of the vehicle and rear only dropping a little from that it's still a fact that the Raptor is proportionally much thinner.  So yeah, it's a big, boxy fighter.  So's the F-15, but AFAIK even stuff like MP-11 is thicker in jet mode than an actual F-15, because neither are as boxy as a car.

Again, I'm not an engineer.  I'm not saying that it's impossible to make a robot that turns into a better, thinner F-22, but I am saying that it's a lot harder than making a robot out of a car.

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

I think where the issue lies is that, where it concerns Bayformers, from the beginning, the transformations were accomplished not as a matter of practical mechanical design, but by CG artists taking bits of alt mode willy-nilly and assembling them hodge-podge into a 'cool-looking' robot without concern as to how such arrangements make any logical mechanical sense. For an entity trying to make a working three-dimensional translation of such designs is challenging from the onset b/c they inherently, by design, make no sense. Ergo, the need for faux parts, either bot or alt mode; fudging the transformations to try to make some sort of visual sense from one form to the other; using panels in a variety of ways to facilitate the transformation; and making deliberate choices to prioritize one mode over the other.

And that's why, while you could conceivably get a decent F-22 out of a robot if you started with the F-22 and worked backward to something boxy and G1-ish, I don't think it's ever going to happen with movie Starscream.

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

Takara has a pretty good track record for making reasonably convincing ground vehicles of all shapes and sizes, but not so much with aircraft, specifically fighters, and I think that's a deliberate choice on their part.

They're definitely prioritizing the robot modes, but again I think it has a lot to do with the fact that fighters are thinner and not as wide (if you exclude the wings) than just about any other mode alt mode.

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

Kawamori's valks prove that a sleek fighter can turn into a nice looking robot. Takara, for whatever reason, just don't seem to be bothered to try.

I don't think Kawamori's Valks are the best example.  Transformers have to figure out how to get robots out of real-world aircraft, Kawamori gets to design aircraft that are purposely designed to transform into robots with large engine nacelles to accommodate the legs.  And even at that, you'll notice that since they started using computer animation for the mecha instead of traditional cell-shaded animation that his designs have gotten a lot skinnier, especially in the limbs.

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

Contrarily, they've done an admirable job with any number of rotorcraft alt modes: RotF Blazemaster, Incinerator, Voyager and SS Blackout, Bumblebee Movie Dropkick, and to a lesser degree,  DotM Skyhammer, to name the best ones that come to mind. Why can they fit all that bot into a reasonably realistic and accurate heli mode but not a jet?

Because, again, different proportions give them thicker vehicles that they can stuff the robot into, especially if you only measure from the nose to the base of the tail boom instead of the the end.  Also because three of those examples didn't appear on-screen, allowing the designers to work backward from the aircraft without trying to fit a particular CGI character.  Or in the case of Dropkick, because the robot is only passingly screen-accurate.

If you look at the physical dimensions of a Raptor against even a relatively low-profile car like a Countach the bulk of the Countach is thicker and wider than the Raptor.  There's just more space to hide the robot.  Plus, we're a lot less inclined to get bent out of shape if the underside of Countach isn't super clean and has visible robot kibble (as long as it's flat enough that it doesn't interfere with the wheels), but because we sometimes display planes on flight stands we want them to look cleaner from the underside.  Now take the fact that it's harder to make a robot out of a Raptor than it is out of a car and combine it with the fact that it's not just turning into a robot, it's gotta turn into the metal origami that passes for a robot in the Bayverse and, well, I'm no engineer but it seems like an impossible task to make a Raptor that looks good from any angle that turns into a movie-accurate Starscream.  So no, the Raptor mode isn't pretty, but I'm willing to cut them some slack for the metric ton of robot kibble chilling on the underside.

No, I'm actually more mad about the colors/paint/finish/whatever on the jet mode.  Look at Starscream in the movie (as best you can).

It's hard to tell with the action and the blurring, but from what you can see of him (and the Raptors he's chasing) he looks like two slightly different shades of gray, with a third darker gray for camo.  Definitely lighter on the edges of the wings and stabs.  Sort of like this.

Instead, it looks like the MPM is a sandy gray with very dark trim and very dark camo, almost blue.

No joke, the Studio Series version looks better.

1 hour ago, Valkyrie Hunter D said:

Seeing the trailer with the blocky mecha made reminisce of R.A.D. for ye olde Playstation 2. 

Why is it that I remember absolutely nothing about that game save for the fact that "R.A.D." is an acronym for "Robotic Alchemic Drive?"

I guess this movie isn't getting much or any press.  No score on Rotten Tomatoes, and Metacritic hasn't even heard of it.  If you're not going to venture out in search of a store that'll actually carry the DVD, it is available to rent or buy digitally on Amazon (and only Amazon).

Kind of surprised Netflix didn't snatch it up and bill it as a Netflix original.  I tell ya, really good originals like Stranger Things and BoJack Horseman have kept me from canceling Netflix, but the dearth of garbage "originals" they're spending their money on as they lose the licenses to a bunch of shows to Hulu and all the networks trying to start their own streaming services has me thinking about it.  But I guess that's a rant for a different topic.

While I've been enjoying those mini consoles as they've trickled out, I recently found myself with a desire to complete sets of US-released games (with some well-regarded Japanese games sprinkled in for good measure, especially if they have English patches).

Long story short, I'm digging through the Sega CD's catalog right now.  Now, while the Genesis (or Megadrive for my non-American friends) was fairly popular my impression of the Sega CD was that it's only regarded as slightly better than the 32X (which in turn went over about as well as the Virtual Boy).  So I'm not exactly sure how many people are familiar with its library (to be fair, it looks like a lot of improved ports of games that were already on the Genesis, crappy FMV games, and ports of early PC games), but have any of you guys played Android Assault?  I'm not as into shmups as you guys, but it seems pretty fun and it's giving me serious Macross vibes.

10 hours ago, tekering said:

But "Mania King" remains the gold standard for that scale.  

No arguments from me.  My only complaint with him is that he doesn't have wrist swivels.

...but what cannon is that you gave him?

9 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Honestly, having owned the original Galvatron toy, whose inconsistencies between toy and toon were vast, I thought the TR version was fairly well done. It's not without its flaws: the right arm can barely move due to the enormity of the cannon and its single peg hole on the bicep where it renders the elbow nigh pointless( another peg hole on the side, or an additional rotation joint here, would have ameliorated the pose-ability quite a bit, methinks); the shoulder pauldron also needs to be rotated almost 90 degrees (pointing straight up, which looks odd) in order to rotate the right arm at the shoulder with the cannon attached; unlike the G1 toy whose orange cannon barrel separated from the arm mount, the TR version's cannon and mount are one piece, but the mount is hinged at the center allowing the back half to fold 180 degrees, and it just looks odd hanging out under the orange barrel in space cannon mode; there's an orange canopy on the lower handle, a concession for the additional space jet mode that Takara added in there. Personally, I like the space jet mode, but YMMV. There are dark grey panels which fill out the inner lower legs in bot mode, but they hinge out 180 degrees and stick out past the legs in space cannon mode- it just looks tacky. And finally, as Tekering said above, the flimsy partial flip-up helmet piece, and headmaster gimmicks suck. I would rather they'd just given him a solid flip out head, and eschewed the headmaster gimmick for this fig, but it does make sense for the jet mode. Overall, though, for a retail figure to which they added an additional mode, the concessions aren't too bad; it looks enough like Galvatron in bot and space cannon modes to suit me. When I look at him in his space cannon mode, I can almost hear him say, "Here's a hint!"

It really sounds like most of Galvatron's problems will be non-issues for Megatron.

5 hours ago, Scyla said:

Maybe I should see if I can acquire Big Cannon and/or Mania King.

Be advised that, while based on the TR mold, Big Cannon was scaled up to around the same size as FT's Galvatron.

Mania King is just slightly taller than Siege/ER Prime and Megatron, which makes him ideal for Hasbro's new "in-scale" CHUG stuff.

23 minutes ago, Scyla said:

I just notices that it is a retool of TR Galvatron. These legs looked familiar.

That kills all interest in the figure for me. The Galvatron is so bad I wont touch any of his descendants with a 10 foot pole!

Was it really that bad?  People seemed to like Open & Play's Big Cannon, which was also based on TR Galvatron.  But I personally have no experience with the mold; I'm still rocking Mania King for my CHUG/Siege/ER Galvatron.

3 minutes ago, Valkyrie Hunter D said:

As a forever fan of Wakko, I have to say that those are some awfully big shoes to fill.

Well, we'll have to wait and see how the writing and animation turn out, but at least we know the original voice actors are on board.

8 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Looks like a lot of accessory parts-forming, a la Siege Shockwave, to accomplish his alts. 

I don't think so.  The figure looks to be heavily remolded from Titans Return Galvatron, which only used partsforming for the headmaster and the cannon.  It's possible that more partsforming is part of the remolding, but it doesn't look like it to me.  You can see where the majority of his body ends up in both alt modes, as it seems to do very minimal transforming.  Aside from laying down, his wings and his shoulder armor look like they do the most shifting.  The only partsforming I can see is his arm cannon moving from his arm to his back, but that's pretty normal for Megatron/Galvatron.  Interestingly enough, it looks like his big cannon splits open to expose the three-barreled Ultra Megatron cannon, which can be removed to sit on his shoulder.

It also looks like he's got some kind of face-swapping gimmick, and the alternate (inner?) face reminds me of The Last Knight Megatron. 

8 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

His design is not really to my taste, but I am curious what it's from.

It's Super Megatron from a very short-lived toyline and manga series called Battlestars: The Return of Convoy.

It's the same line that gave us Star Convoy, although this is the first time (to my knowledge) that Super Megatron is being made.  As I noted when it was first revealed, it's not particularly accurate to the source material, but I think it's closer than Star Convoy.

As for the manga, I believe it's set to be reprinted in English as part of Transformers: the Manga Vol. 3.

EDIT: Super Megatron's up for preorder on Hasbro Pulse now, $5 cheaper than TFSource plus free shipping if you're a Pulse Premium member.

6 hours ago, sh9000 said:

@mikeszekely

https://tfsource.com/takara-tomy/transformers-generations-selects/super-megatron/

Somehow that's cheaper than I expected from TFSource.

It's not a perfect Super Megatron, but it's better than their Star Convoy.  I'll see if Hasbro Pulse carries it.  

I'm ok if they want to change the animation style a bit, as long as it's not that CalArts style.

Heh, I'm doing the same thing I did with Doom Eternal... Playing the previous release.

So... RE2 remake is pretty good so far...

Seriously, though, I heard RE3 is a bit short and not as replayable as 2. It's a but disappointing; 3 was my favorite prior to 4 shaking things up.

Well, Drift might not be a great example. I mean, I've read and re-read IDW's stuff and I'm still not a huge fan of the character.

But using Optimus as an example, I've got a Detolf full of Optimuses. A new Transforming Optimus comes out and I just can't help myself (well, excluding MP-44, because it's just not a $400 toy in book- I'd be willing to go to $200). But even if someone offered to sell me the Kuro Kara Kuri Optimus for under $100 and I'd pass.

So, yeah, maybe if paint and finish are the most important criteria for you (and nothing wrong if it is) then Flame Toys is the way to go. They are objectively high-quality figures. But, subjectively speaking, a toy that doesn't transform fails at being a Transformer. Nice to look at, but not for me.

I don't know, maybe I feel that way because I only collect Transformers? I mean, I've dabbled with other stuff but nothing else caught on. Maybe if you're more used to collecting other high end figures that don't transform it's easier to buy into high end figures of Transformers that don't transform?

1 minute ago, Kuma Style said:

How can you nail something you aren't doing?

I was editing my original post, but you replied before I finished.  But it comes down to what your criteria is for a Transformer.  If your criteria is "looks like the character" (which, even then, is debatable; Flame Toys' stuff is pretty stylized) then sure.  But if your criteria is "it transforms" then Flame Toys' is missing the mark.  Yeah, if I'm not happy you didn't wash the dishes when you aced your test when I'm your teacher that'd be weird and irrelevant.  But if I'm your roommate and I'm tired of you leaving cereal bowls in the sink its your test score that's irrelevant.  It's all a matter of perspective, and personal tastes.  Flame Toys is nailing it for you, because they're giving you what you want in a toy.  But if they're not nailing it for others our opinion isn't unfair just because the reason we don't think they're nailing it is a deliberate choice. 

So again, by all accounts Flame Toys makes a great product and if you're into what they're doing then great.  I'm genuinely glad that they're able to fill a need in the collector community.  They have many good qualities and they certainly look good in photos.  But they don't do the thing I want my Transformers to do, so for me they're not nailing it.

12 hours ago, Kuma Style said:

Not a fair statement because it's not what they're going for and frankly as someone who prefers non-transforming homages at this point I'm extremely glad they didn't. They aesthetic compromises made for what I feel is an overdone gimmick just aren't worth it.

After 30 years of life I don't need an Optimus Prime homage to turn into a truck for the once or twice I'd bother with it to feel like Optimus. I want the most premium and aesthetically pleasing homage possible on my display.

Absolutely still a fair statement.  You called Flame Toys "pinnacle Transformers collecting. Just nailing it on all accounts" and @M'Kyuun pointed out an area they're definitely not nailing.  Yes, it's true that's not what they're going for.  Yes, not transforming does allow for less visual compromises and better articulation, but for a lot of collectors the point of a Transformer is to transform.  As good as it looks I for one have zero interest in Flame Toys' Prime despite having a display just for Primes.  Now I'm not saying that your preference for a high-quality, visually stunning figure isn't valid just because it doesn't transform.  But by the same token you can't dismiss our disagreement on whether Flame Toys is "nailing it" as unfair just because our main point of contention was deliberate on their part.  For people like us, it's the difference between pinnacle and "yeah, it looks nice, but it's not for me."

Again, not saying they don't make a great product.  I'm sure they do.  And I'm not saying that every TF toy needs to transform.  But whether or not you think they're nailing it depends a lot on your criteria.

I don't really regret signing up for Disney+, the Star Wars and Marvel stuff will come.  Plus it's great if you have kids; my 4 yo loves Doc McStuffins and Winnie the Pooh.

Netflix is the one streaming service I'm most likely to drop.  Yeah, Stranger Things and BoJack Horseman are good and all, but Netflix has been so focused on original content (which, be honest, are a few gems in a sea of crap).  And there's a couple of shows like Futurama and Archer that I are like comfort food, I can watch them again and again if there's nothing else on.  A lot of those sorts of shows left Netflix, forcing me to finally sign up for Hulu.