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mikeszekely

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  1. mikeszekely
    Alright, let's wrap up my look at GX-88 with the accessories. With all the accessories this comes with, a good place to start would be with the stand. It's similar to the one that comes with GX-71; it's light blue, some assembly required, and there's a spot on the front for a logo. A Dairugger XV logo is pre-installed, but just like GX-71 it does come with an alternate Voltron one. In fact, the logo is the same, but this time it's just a gold outline and black letters instead of solid gold letters. As with GX-71, there's no place on the stand to store the extra nameplate on the stand, so it'll have to go back int the box with the instructions. The stand itself is also a bit less complicated with none of the drawers that came with GX-71. Oh, and speaking of GX-71, I get that the stand was supposed to be evocative of the Castle of Lions. I don't know if this stand is mean to evoke the S.S. Explorer (Rugger Guard), but if it is I'm not feeling it. Since we've already formed Voltron, right away we can put the three antenna from the Multi-Wheeled Explorers into their spots. Before we put anything else on, let's quickly flip it over and look at the underside. You'll find eight pegs there. I mentioned yesterday that the hands on the Carriers do have fingers that can open, and they can hold at least some of the accessories. However, you can pull them off and replace them with one of the eight included replacement hands. There are four left and four right hands, all of them molded in a more humanoid, anime style. There's a pair of closed fists, a pair of fists for holding things, a pair of mostly open hands, and a pair of hands that are partially closed with a gap between the middle and ring fingers. Any hands you're not using, including the default Carrier noses, can be stored under the stand. I can't say that I really recall it, but the un-aerodynamic chunk on the bottom of the Command Jet Explorer that winds up on the back of Voltron's head is, apparently, a weapon. As such, it can be removed from Voltron's head, and a cap is included to stick on the back of Voltron's head when the weapon is removed. But, the part you removed from Voltron's head isn't actually designed to be held as a weapon. Instead, you get a second version, flatter without the connecting bits that go into Voltron's head, with a tab on one side and a hole to insert the translucent effect part. This "Electromagnetic Whip" can be plugged into either of the mostly-open hands, which have slots for the tab. And if you're not using them, the whip handle and the cap for the back of Voltron's head sit on the base, behind the antenna. And yes, if you take the actual bottom of the Command Jet Explorer off and want to put the cap on, the back of Voltron's head can sit where the cap does. Note that while there are cutouts for them to sit in without sliding around they don't lock in place and will fall off if you tip the stand. The effect part of the whip fits into a cradle on the back of the the stand. Under the whip is another cradle, this time for what the manual calls the Shot Arrow. It's another weapon I don't really remember, but Voltron can hold it with the default or holding-stuff fists. The white cord between the handle and the tip has a wire so you can kind of pose it, although the tip weighs the wire down. These are weapons I actually do remember. The manual refers to them as "Lance (Long)" and "Lance (Short)", but I remember them being called Solar Spears. One end of each spear is removable to help you work them into Voltron's mostly-closed holding-stuff fists, and even then it feels like it takes a little finagling. I'll be honest, I didn't check if the default hands can hold them or not, but I'm guessing most of us won't be posing Voltron with them anyway. I briefly mentioned that the Helicopters came with smaller rotors installed, but you could put bigger ones on them. All told, this set comes with two small, three-bladed rotors, two large three-bladed rotors, two large two-bladed rotors (which the manual labels as "Kilders) in chrome, then a pair of three-bladed and a pair of two-bladed rotors done in blue with some energy effects (listed as "Spin Cutters"). This is where those half-closed hands with the gaps come in. Whether you're using the chrome or blue, two-bladed or three, you fit them so one blade runs through the gap and the peg hole in the center fits over a peg on the palm (the same hole fits over a peg on the helicopters, btw). There's also a bag with four translucent blue parts that have a peg on one end and a hole on the other. These are adapters for posing the Spin Cutters in flight on a Tamashii Nation Stage Act 4 stand. There's no storage on the stand for the adapters. The spears fit into cradles on the opposite side of the rear pylons as the Shot Arrow and Electromagnetic Whip blade. The smaller spear goes under the longer one. The front pylons have two small pegs on each side. This is just enough storage for eight rotors. If you're doing the math, that means if you want a cartoon-style clean, rotorless Voltron you're short two pegs and can't store them all. Personally, I put all the big ones on there, and leave the little rotors on Voltron. If I take Voltron apart I'll swap out the small rotors for the large three-bladed ones. All of this talk about rotors and pegs reminds me, some of the rotors seem to peg on more snuggly than others. None are so loose that they'll fall off just by turning them upside down, but some are loose enough that if you turn them upside down and shake them gently they will. Last but not least, what Voltron doesn't have a Blazing Sword? The sword is entirely covered in chrome, mostly silver with a gold cross on either side. It sits on top of the rear pylons when it's not in use. Voltron can hold it with the holding-stuff hands or the default ones, but it doesn't have any tabs or slots that lock it in place like GX-71 does, so his grip on it is a little looser than I'd like. It's also, due to the shape of the space in both the default and holding-stuff hands, is always at an angle from his forearm. This helps facilitate some poses, like the one on the box where he's holding the sword with two hands in front of him, but it's difficult to pose him actually cutting forward. And now we come to my final thoughts. With all the wheels, hatches, and other transforming bits I can imagine that the parts count for GX-88 would be greater than GX-71. But the truth is that GX-71 is heavier. GX-71 has slightly fewer accessories (it'd have more, if it weren't for the hands), but the accessories that it does have are more elaborate. GX-88 splits into fifteen vehicles instead of five, but they don't really do much on their own, while the lions have numerous joints and parts just for lion mode that made them fun, articulated toys are their own. But, at least at at retail, GX-88 is $40 more than GX-71. $40 might not be a lot when we're already talking $300+, but the thing is GX-88 doesn't feel like a toy that should cost more than GX-71. So while I felt comfortable saying that GX-71 was absolutely worth the asking price, I almost feel like I need to qualify GX-88's price tag. Ultimately I'll say this: GX-88 is a very good figure that lives up the reputation Bandai's built with their Soul of Chogokin line. It's got paint, diecast, and a ton of accessories. It's got great articulation and plenty of details from both the cartoon and the old Popy toy. It looks fantastic with GX-71. If you have any nostalgia for Vehicle Voltron (or Dairugger XV) then chances are good that you'll love this figure, even if it is more than GX-71. However, if Lion Voltron is your jam and you can barely remember Vehicle Voltron you're probably going to find GX-71 to be more the more enjoyable release.
  2. mikeszekely
    MP-49 is confirmed to be a repaint of MP-44, sans the trailer and probably most of the accessories, with an MSRP of ¥28,000 (around $250). That's... better than MP-44, but if I were in the market for a Black Convoy/Nemesis Prime (I'm not) I'd still probably stick with the third parties.
  3. mikeszekely
    Alright, it's time to form Voltron! Form feet and legs! ...which we start doing by opening the hatches and folding the noses up on the Multi-Wheeled Explorers, just like we did to make the Aqua Fighter. Except this time, you want to remove the diecast antenna and push the red and yellow parts they plug into down into the main body of the vehicles. Then, on the back of the MWEs, you'll find that you can open them up by pulling the treads and part of the rear hatch away. The top of the rear hatch folds down inside, then you flip out the gray joint. That gray joint will slide into the gap on the back of an All-Terrain Space Vehicle. Once it's in place, push the tires on the Space Vehicles in and then up. This will make a little square rise up and lock the ankle in place. The Space Probers connect to the MWEs the same as before, by flipping out the diecast connector and plugging it into the port you revealed when you folded in the MWE noses. The only real difference is that the noses of the Space Probers collapse for thigh mode. The Jet Radar Station does some of the most transforming. The white hatches without the slots fold down and slide inside. The roof folds open, and inside are some diecast hip joints that you need to fold out before you close the roof back up. On the other side of the Jet Radar Station the black hatch folds up and slides inside. The diecast joints you eposed plug into the holes on the noses of the Space Probers. The antenna on the Communications Module folds up, then collapses into the roof. Meanwhile, fold in the missiles and close the red arc on the Strato Weapons Module. On the white panel on the side that doesn't have the indents for the Command Jet Explorer, fold up the white panel and slide it in to reveal a squarish hollow space. Go back to the Communications Module, and find the cube-shaped engine that can swivel. That one plugs down into the pelvis. The other one plugs into the hollow we created on the Strato Weapons Module, finishing the torso. To make the arms, first make sure the landing gear is folded up, then push out the sides of the Air Recon Helicopters like you did for Strato Fighter Mode. Then get the Rotating Personnel Carrier and Armored Equipment Carrier and fold their wheels against their undersides. The instructions tell you to turn the noses, too, but that's optional. Now, slide the tails of the helicopters into the backs of the carriers, being careful to line up the fins on the helicopters with the grooves. Then plug the extended sides of the helicopters into the shoulder sockets. Dock the Command Jet Explorer exactly as you did for the Strato Fighter, with the engine booster thing on the back sinking into the white space on the side of the Strato Weapons Module. Remember that the red button, now in the center of the chest, is for the locking mechanism Clip the Falcon Fighter jet onto the chest almost the same way you did for Strato Fighter mode, using the clips on the underside to grab onto the white around the center of the chest, but upside down from the way it sat on the Strato Fighter. The Falcon Fighter Jet's wings can fold down to lay flatter against the chest. Lastly, using the two nubs, open the panels on the top of the Command Jet Explorer to reveal Voltron's face. And there we have it, folks... Soul of Chogokin GX-88, aka Voltron I, aka Voltron of the Near Universe, aka Vehicle Voltron, aka Dairugger XV, in all its glory. If you already have the Soul of Chogokin Lion Voltron you probably know what you're getting here: they're roughly the same height, and like GX-71 GX-88 is covered in paint (I'm especially loving the metallic blue), some tasteful use of chrome, and plenty of diecast. GX-88 definitely has some heft to him, but I'm surprised to say that it's noticeably lighter than GX-71 (282 grams lighter, or about 20% lighter). Don't get me wrong, GX-88 is still very hefty (weighing more than even similarly-sized figures from Fans Toys, a company notorious for packing diecast into their figures). Just surprising. GX-88 has, on paper, some pretty good articulation. Unfortunately, despite the weight reduction from GX-71, not all of his joints are quite strong enough. His head is on a hinged swivel, and the joint extends a bit to give his up/down tilt a little extra clearance, but the tilt is always towards or away from the center of his chest, so as you turn his up/down tilt starts to turn into a sideways tilt. His shoulders rotate on a soft ratchet, and a hinge inside the helicopter lets him extend his arms sideways almost 90 degrees. Plus, joints in sockets on the Strato Weapons Module gives him a good forward butterfly joint. His biceps can swivel, and his ratcheted elbows can bend somewhat under 90 degrees despite being on a double-joint. The "fingers" on the default hands can open and close, and the wrists can swivel. Plus, like the neck, the wrist joints can extend to give him some wrist waggle (but don't push too far or the hand will come off). He's got a soft-ratcheted waist swivel, but the other side of the Communications Module is hinged to allow him to crunch his abs or arch his back. The roof flaps we opened on the Jet Radar Station are actually hip skirts, and if you open all of his hip skirts he can move his hips forward 90 degrees on a fairly strong ratchet, almost 90 degrees laterally on a too-weak ratchet, but nothing really backward. His thighs swivel where the Space Propers connect to the diecast joints. His ratcheted knees can bend 90 degrees, but again the ratchet isn't really strong enough to support the weight of the vehicles below it. At first it might look like his foot articulation is a little limited, but once again the joint can actually extend. When it's fully extended GX-88 enjoys some up/down foot tilt and a solid 45 degrees of ankle pivot. I just wish the hips were a little tighter, because one a lot of surfaces I've found that he wants to start doing the splits in more extreme poses. Now those of you that read my Transformers reviews know that I usually talk about accessories with the articulation. You may have also noticed that, aside from the rotors on the helicopters and the antenna for the Multi-Wheeled Explorers, I've left the accessories out of these pictures. That's because GX-88 has enough accessories that we're going to save the accessories and final thoughts for tomorrow.
  4. mikeszekely
    Happy Turkey Day, my American peeps (and happy just another Thursday if you live in some other fine country). What say we give thanks to Bandai for producing GX-88 with a quick look at the Land Team? We open with the Jet Radar Station (Rugger 11), and... ok, that hatch we flip open on the top does have a dish and a tiny fold-out antenna. And there are treads on the bottom (which don't seem to roll), so we can presume that it is in fact some kind of vehicle with a radar. That said, the Jet Radar Station is competing with the Strato Weapons Module for the title of "looks the least like an actual vehicle." The blue Rotating Personnel Carrier (Rugger 12) and the red Armored Equipment Carrier (Rugger 12) are a case of almost, but not quite. They have little rubber tires, and with the cockpits on top and the sort of sleek front ends they look pretty cool... at first glance. But then you start to notice things, like the gaping hole in the back that I wish could have been covered with one of the folding flaps you'd find on the Strato Weapons Module or the Jet Radar Station. They don't even have painted tail lights like the Multi-Wheeled Explorers. While they try not to look too much like robot hands, down to having headlights painted onto some knuckles, they're still ultimately robot hands with a large gap running through the middle. While this could be construed as critique less of GX-88 and more of the original design, after digging through some old screenshots and artwork these vehicles were animated with even more of a wedge-shaped front end and no gap. Given Bandai's penchant for swappable parts on these SOC releases it's kind of a shame that they didn't include noses for these guys that matched the cartoon and weren't hands at all. As a kid, my favorite vehicles after the Falcon Fighter Jet were probably these guys, the All-Terrain Space Vehicle and All-Terrain Space Vehicle 2 (Rugger 14 and Rugger 15), and for pretty much the same reason- they're very recognizable as vehicles first and not treads on obvious robot parts. With their large windshields, the molded doors, chrome grills with headlights, painted tail lights, and four rubber tires they look a lot like something you might have seen someone pitch as a passenger vehicle in the '80s. I'm not sure that their bumpers were animated quite so prominently, but that seems to be a design element taken from one of the '80s toys. Of course, if they were like regular cars/SUVs, that'd make the scaling issues with seagoing ships, giant transports, and submarines even worse. Combining these five is pretty simple. Flip up the little gray panels on the tops of the All-Terrain Space Vehicles to reveal some c-clips. There are spots that they can grab on the bottom of the Jet Radar Station. Just be careful to make sure that the Jet Radar Station is oriented so that the white panels with the slots on them are facing forward. If you look at the picture showing the back of the Rotating Personnel Carrier you might have noticed a tab sticking out from under the gaping hole on the back. The Armored Equipment Carrier has one, too. You might have surmised already that the tabs fit into the slots on the Jet Radar Station to complete the Turbo Terrain Fighter (Rickrugger). This is my least favorite of the "super" vehicles. I mean, with the Strato Fighter I can imagine scenarios where you'd carry your aircraft via a large land vehicle, and the Aqua Fighter looks like a submersible vehicle. But the Turbo Terrain Fighter looks like cars stacked on cars. Does it drive fast and "punch" things with the robot fists dangling from the front? Why do they need to stack the cars to drive them when all fifteen of these things are shown to fly through space? I guess it doesn't really matter. The point is that it's fun to push the All-Terrain Space Vehicles around on their rolling rubber tires while making engine noises. And that will tide me over until tomorrow, when we form Voltron.
  5. mikeszekely
    Continuing my look at Bandai Soul of Chogokin GX-88 Voltron/Dairugger, this little group is the Sea Team. While I think there are individual vehicles that look better than these guys I think this is the team that's the least bogged down by a member whose vehicle mode is an afterthought. We start with this guy, the Communications Module/Rugger 6. With the chrome antenna on top it sort of looks like a seafaring craft to me, despite the treads on the bottom. The treads don't move, btw. I suppose the treads were part of the original design, but honestly, I don't think they're needed. These guys are the Space Prober and Space Prober 2 (Rugger 7 and Rugger 8). To be fair, they probably did fly in space more than anywhere else in the cartoon, but if you'd asked me as a kid what they were I'm pretty sure I'd have told you they're submarines. In fact, I'm almost certain they did deploy like subs underwater in at least one episode. Aside from the holes in their noses, the lack of a hydrodynamic shape, and the lack of obvious propulsion systems they look like subs. These charming fellows are the Multi-Wheeled Explorer and MWE 2 (Rugger 9 and Rugger 10). I'm kind of surprised by how much I like these two. They're like the Guardians Command Center from the Gobots had babies with a Jawa Sandcrawler. I'm not sure how well they fit the "sea" theme, but I could totally imagine vehicles like this tracking their way along as armored transports. It helps that there's no obvious holes or ports for combination- the back even has some nice painted tail lights. The treads on these guys do work, too, probably the best of the set. Note that the chrome antenna on these guys are removable. Now that we've looked at all five vehicles it's time to stick them together. Begin by finding the diecast bars under the the Space Probers and flipping them out. Then, on the MWEs, open the white hatches on the top. Pay attention to the double-hinge; you need the bottom one to be all the way up so the hatch can lie flat against the cockpit. Then, rotate the cockpit into the body of the vehicle, exposing those chrome bits on top that look kind of like speakers to me and white ports on the front. Also, the white square on one side of each MWE will push into it, popping a cube out of the other side and exposing some black molded missile detail (that I suppose could be deployed in solo vehicle mode). The diecast bars on the Space Propers slide into the white ports we exposed on the MWEs. This time, those white rectangles under the speaker-looking chrome bits are buttons for locking and releasing them. Then the cube-shaped engine-looking bits on the sides of the Communications module fit into the spaces we created on the sides of the MWEs when we pushed the missile cubes out, and we've got the Aqua Fighter (Kairugger). And again, I think the Sea Team has an advantage over their counterparts, because if I ignore the treads I feel like I've seen submersible craft with this sort of shape, making the Aqua Fighter a kind of believable combination for me. For me, the only issues are when you start bringing in the other teams, because now you've got vehicles that I picture as a (navy) ship, two submarines, and two huge armored transports fighting alongside one-seater jets and helicopters that are just as big. And that'll wrap it up for tonight. Tomorrow we'll look at the rest of the vehicles/Ruggers.
  6. mikeszekely
    Oh, it's definitely going to be an MP-44 repaint. You saw how much they milked the MP-10 mold; you know that MP-44 is going to get the same treatment. Scourge would necessitate a new mold, and given the Japanese preference for heroes you can pretty much bet if they do anything from RiD/Car Robots Optimus/Fire Convoy is up first. (Speaking of the Fans Hobby sale, I already own and recommend their Scourge. Shipping will kill you if you don't spend at least $169, though. I still managed to snag the four Monsterbots and the trailers for Scourge and Laser Prime for $312 shipped, though).
  7. mikeszekely
    This is an extraordinary stroke of luck, too, since when WEP told Toei they'd take "the one with the lion," they'd actually meant Mirai Robo Daltanious.
  8. mikeszekely
    So, I'm guessing just about everyone here knows that that what would become the American show Voltron: Defender of the Universe was actually two unrelated shows in Japan (side note: it's curious to me that Voltron and Robotech were both born out of the fusion of unrelated anime, yet today fans seem fine with Voltron while Robotech is often shunned in favor of the original Macross). I don't know how well GoLion and Dairugger XV did in Japan, but it seems like the Lion Voltron (aka Voltron 3, aka Voltron of the Far Universe) was much more popular here than Vehicle Voltron (aka Voltron 1, aka Voltron of the Near Universe). When I reviewed GX-71 it was easy for me to recall details about the first season of Voltron (and not just because Legendary Defender was a reminder- even when I watched that I was keenly aware of the differences because I remembered the original so well). Now I'm getting ready to talk about GX-88 and I'm thinking that what I recall best about Vehicle Voltron is that moment of disappointment when I'd tune in and find it wasn't an episode of Lion Voltron. Aside from the volume of pictures I took and things I want to talk about the toys themselves, this has left me digging through wikis and finding places to watch old episodes to refresh my memory. So I'm going to talk about GX-88, but I'm going to have to break it up into a few posts. Today, we're just going to focus on these guys: the Air Team. First up we have the tiny Command Jet Explorer (aka Rugger 1). Seems pretty un-aerodynamic to me, but that junk on the bottom is true to the design. You can fold out the sides to reveal little landing gear. I don't know if it ever appeared in the cartoon without that junk, but it is removable. This is the Strato Weapons Module (Rugger 2). I think this one looks ok, with translucent windows and some missile pods, but the big holes in the front and rear are kind of odd, even if they are accurate. The treads on this one do roll, although they're a bit stiff. The raised band is peak late '70s early '80s sci-fi design. Ultimately, there are some vehicles that look more like vehicles, and some that are some windows and treads tossed on a hunk of robot, and this one falls into the latter category. The creatively-named Advanced Recon Helicopter and Advanced Recon Helicopter 2 (Rugger 3 and Rugger 4) aren't too bad. The windows on the tails make me think that they're crew/passenger areas, which is a little weird, they have fins but no tail rotor, and they've got big octagonal blocks on the sides, but they do definitely look like helicopters. In the box they have small, three-bladed rotors, but larger ones are included in the box. They also have fold out landing gear. Last up we have the Falcon Fighter Jet (Rugger 5), which was (and still is) my favorite of the Voltron vehicles. There's no real compromises for a combined Voltron here, it's just a cool-looking jet. Like the Command Jet Explorer and the helicopters the Falcon Fighter Jet has landing gear on the underside. If combining fifteen vehicles into Voltron wasn't enough, a gimmick of the series is that the vehicles in each team could combine into one larger vehicle. For this, we start by folding turning the treads on the Strato Weapons Module 90 degrees. Fold in the missile pods and collapse the raised red part. Then on one side of the module the white square is solid, but the other has a section that collapses shaped just like the back of the Command Jet Explorer. So, shove the Command Jet Explorer into it (the red rectangle on top of the Strato Weapons module is a button that unlocks them when you take them apart). On the helicopters, push in on the octanginal protrusions so that one side sticks out a little farther than the other. That side will get stuffed into one of the holes I complained about on the Weapons Module. To finish things off, make sure that the landing gear is folded in on the Falcon Fighter, then find and unfold a pair of clips Around the red rectangle button on the Weapons Module, where the while meets the blue, you'll find a notch on either side that the clips grab onto, giving us the Air Team's Strato Fighter (Kuurugger). I'm not really sure what the purpose is. Do the jets and helicopters need to be transported on the ground? I don't recall if that happened in the cartoon. You might think that the jets and helicopters could be used to lift the Strato Weapons Module, but (at least in the episode I watched to try to refresh my memory) the Strato Weapons Module can fly by itself. There aren't any other accessories or gimmicks for this mode, so I'll just leave you to ponder it until tomorrow.
  9. mikeszekely
    My GX-88 arrived Sunday. Just finished editing the 78 pictures I took down to 37 (which is more than I even took of GX-71), so I'll be posting stuff soon but I'm definitely looking at breaking it up into four or five posts.
  10. mikeszekely
    Oh yeah. I guess any but Zeta's. Funny thing about that, I took the pictures and edited them on Friday, but it was super late when I was done so I couldn't write anything that night. I remember having a reason why I wanted Fraudo on the right, even though I usually put the subject in the middle. But the Saturday before Thanksgiving (in the US), which was this past Saturday, is a day where myself and a few of my closest friends get together to have a meal, be thankful for our friendship, and maybe play some games or sing some karaoke. This personal holiday of ours usually involves a lot of drinking. Fast forward to me writing this review on Sunday and I can't remember at all why I wanted Fraudo on the left instead of the middle. Maybe something to do with the extra vehicle comparison shots that didn't include Zeta's?
  11. mikeszekely
    But it's still the cheapest (going by retail prices at least, because as you've pointed out DX9's can be found for a bit cheaper than retail in some circles). And still less than most other 3P combiners, even smaller ones. Only Zeta's are really cheaper, and you kind of get what you pay for with them. But then again, people have been complaining about how "expensive" XTB's Stunticons were getting since the second one came out and wasn't as cheap as Crackup. Speaking of complaints, another figure I've been hearing some complaints about is MMC Ocular Max Fraudo, their MP Swindle. Are the complaints justified? Technically that's a subjective thing, but read on for my two cents. I mean, that looks like Swindle to me. It's certainly a huge improvement over the Zeta version, but unlike Vortex MMC doesn't necessarily have the clear winner here. There's definitely some things I prefer about UT's Swindle, like the thicker arms, the taper at the waist, the all-around thinner torso, and absence of super obvious seams. On the other hand, I like the bigger feet on Fraudo, the painted eyes, and the yellower colors. Fraudo has the chest window right side up. You can't see from pictures, but the plastic feels better on Fraudo, too. Fraudo is debatably more cartoon-accurate; I already mentioned the yellower color, but he's got yellow biceps, no stripes on his forearms, and no colored details on his shins and feet. Plus he's got small fake wheels in his shoulders. Fraudo comes with all of these bits. There's a second head with a smiling face, and a missile that the Sunbow model drew as his hand-held gun. There's two bits that combine to form his arm cannon, the tire that goes on the back, and a part that's for mounting the gun and missile to the jeep mode. Fraudo's head is on a ball joint with decent up/down/sideways tilt. His shoulders rotate and can extend 90 degrees. Due to transformation he's got a bit of backwards butterfly as well. His biceps swivel, and his elbow bends 90 degrees. There's a transformation joint you can use in his upper bicep that you can use to mimic a much greater elbow bend. His wrists are actually ball joints, so in addition to rotation he's got a little wiggle. His thumbs are on ball joints to move them over his palms, and each finger is an individual piece pinned at the base but still molded in a curl. His waist swivels. Unlike UT's, Fraudo's hip skirts are hinged so they don't move as one piece, and they allow Fraudo's hips to go 90 degrees forward, backward, or laterally. His thighs can swivel, and his knees bend 90 degrees. His feet bend up a little, nothing really down, and they can pivot about 45 degrees. A small peg allows Fraudo's arm cannon to attach to the center of the fake wheel on his right shoulder. Sadly, there's no way to mount the cannon on the front of his arm. The missile has a fold-out handle with MP-style tabs that fit into slots on his palms. However, on my copy the connection is very loose and it's held in place more by the tension of his fingers. The cannon also has two tabs on it that fit into notches near his collar, if you prefer Swindle's arm cannon to be more of a shoulder weapon. The tire tabs onto his back. Then there's the last piece, the mount for his weapons in vehicle mode. Like the arm gun, it has a small peg on it and you can plug it into the fake wheel on his shoulder. Alternatively, there are 5mm peg holes on it for the weapons, but those peg holes can fit onto tabs on the back of either leg. So, it technically has robot mode storage, but for a combiner where "all built in" is a selling point the robot mode storage feels like an afterthought. Fraudo does, of course, turn into a jeep, which already makes it a big improvement over Zeta's. The jeep has visible seats and a steering wheel, plus rubber tires. The transformation is pretty interesting, too. When you do it the first time it seems a little unintuitive, and the poor instructions that seem to omit some steps don't help. Once you do it the first time, though, you'll see that it's actually deceptively simple, making him kind of a fun figure to mess around with. The weapon mount locks tightly into place, and the weapons on it look more cartoony than UT's. If I'm being honest, though, UT's jeep mode is a lot cleaner than Fraudo's, plus Fraudo has some ground clearance issues when you're rolling him. And it might be kind of a small potatoes though, but during transformation you have to unplug the tire from Fraduo's back, transform him into a jeep, then plug it back onto the rear of the jeep, while the tire on UT's moves from the back of the robot to the back of the jeep without being removed. Since I did it with Vortex, I'll give you a quick peek at the leg mode on Fraudo. One of the things about the Sunbow cartoon was how Bruticus' leg was basically some yellow boxes with purple stripes with some wheels and a foot poking out. Instead of simply taking the alt mode and standing it up on one end on top of a foot Fraudo actually transforms into something like a stack of yellow boxes with purple stripes with some wheels and a foot poking out. Fans of the cartoon will note that it's a yellow foot, too, like the cartoon, and not the silvery color used by UT, Zeta, or the G1 toy. I personally would have liked for the upper purple stripe to have been more of a purple boxe that covered the area directly above the stripe, all the way to the top, but I'm still pretty impressed. However, anyone who thinks that Toyworld/Zeta set the bar for MP combiner height (a bar all three of the competing MP Menasors and FT's Superion will likely hit) won't be happy to see that Fraudo makes the shortest of the the three legs. If you spin the leg around there's a bit of a cavity on the back. This space can be used to store all of Fraudo's accessories while he's in combined mode, which is something I definitely dig. Despite the push for cartoon accuracy, I've heard some people suggest that Fraudo isn't really MP because his shins and torso aren't perfectly smooth. I don't really know what to say to that, except to say that the seams are all for moving parts and necessary for the transformation. A) I didn't realize a lack of visible seams are a requirement to be MP now, and B) it's funny how I don't hear those same people complaining about the visible seams, joints, and exposed diecast on a figure like Fans Toys Maverick. Speaking of Fans Toys the other big complaint about how Fraudo isn't MP enough is that he doesn't have enough paint and/or diecast. I'm not going to lie to you and pretend like a nice finish on a figure can't give it that extra pop, but I don't think it's an absolute necessity either. Fraudo is yellow where he needs to be, purple where he needs to be, and gunmetal where he needs to be. As for the diecast, Fraudo is heavier than an MP car already. I don't see how adding extra weight just for "heft" is beneficial to a combiner. He's not perfect, though. He's built like a refrigerator and his jeep mode isn't as clean as I'd like. For every one thing I think Fraudo does better than Unique Toys I think there's another thing Unique Toys did better than Fraudo. I know that there are a lot of people out there who bought Zeta's Bruticus and are totally fine with it for the combined mode and just wanted other Combaticons for their individual modes. With Vortex MMC had a clear winner, but when it comes to Swindle it's a lot closer. Push come to shove I think I might prefer Fraudo a little more, but I could definitely make a case for UT on this one. Regardless of the competition, Fraudo remains a very good figure, especially if you're a fan of Alex Kubalsky's designs. Some criticism is definitely fair, but I think a lot of talk about seams and paint and not really being MP is overblown. Unless you've already got a Unique Toys Swindle that you're happy with Fraudo is a recommend from me.
  12. mikeszekely
    Amazon says mine sounds arrive tomorrow!
  13. mikeszekely
    The cars on the arms (or at least the tires) are bigger. Yeah, I don't know. I think the cab on XTB's looks the best of the three, but I'm not feeling the robot mode as much. I also think it's kind of funny that it looks to be bigger than DX9's and have almost as much backpack as Fans Toys' even though it's just the cab. Not sure about the price, either. I'm sure Taobao bargain hunters will claim to find much better prices, but the big US stores are saying $130 for just Motormaster/the cab, which makes it only $30 less than DX9's (which comes with a long trailer that turns into the Menasor frame) and $50 less than Fans Toys' (which doesn't come with Menasor parts, but at least has a trailer). I'm almost definitely still in, but I want more details on the sold-separately trailer, like a price and some pics of a toy-style Menasor frame.
  14. mikeszekely
    I mostly collect Transformers, and if you guys follow the TF threads you've probably seen most of my stuff. But, while I'm not a huge Power Rangers/Super Sentai fan, I did watch Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers and Power Rangers Zeo in middle school and some of high school, and on a whim I started picking up a few of these guys: I'm definitely not in on the whole line, but if they release them it's safe to say I'm in for the MM Yellow, Black, Blue, and regular Red Rangers. Maybe some of the other characters, especially villains, from the MM or Zeo eras, like Ninjor, Rito Revolto, a Zeo-style Putty, General Venjix, or a Cog.
  15. mikeszekely
    It seems like another wave, the final wave, of Siege figures is hitting stores. I haven't seen anything local yet, but I just received Voyager-class Apeface from Amazon. Apeface is roughly the same size as the Seekers, which is fine, and at first blush hits a lot of the right notes with his purples, blacks, and whites. The purple panel on his chest doesn't open, which is a bit of a bummer. I think he's looking a little thin, especially if you ignore the big rivets off his hips. I also think that the black on his lower legs isn't showing well, what with non-standard purple feet, the splatter all over his shins, and the fact that most of the insides of his legs are white. I also think the nose of his jet sticks out too far above his head. Apeface comes with three accessories. He's got a gun, which I suppose is pretty similar to the G1 toy's, except that it's black instead of the pinkish red used for his wings. He does have a Titan Master head, although it's a little different than usual. I have him here with the stand-alone Titans Return Titan Master Apeface, and aside from having a bit more color you can see when I turn them around that the newer toy has the robot mode face on his calves instead of his back. Looks to me like the older Titans Return version is based on the toy, while the newer face looks more like the cartoon. In my zeal to do that comparison I forgot to show that he also comes with a shield of sorts. It's very G1, and you'll see it in the following pictures. Apeface's head is a Titan Master, so it's basically a tiny ball joint in the Titan master's neck. He can swivel his head and it's got minimal bobble. His shoulders are hinged swivels that provide rotation and 90 degrees of lateral extension. His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend 90 degrees. No wrist swivels, but they do fold in for transformation. No waist swivel, either. His hips can go 90 degrees forward and slightly over that laterally, but kibble on his butt limits his hips' backward range. His thighs swivel. His knees can bend 90 degrees. The front of his foot can bend up and down. It's tabbed in place by default, but if you untab his foot he's got 90 degrees of ankle pivot. Apeface has 5mm ports for Siege accessories on the outside of each shoulder, on the outside of each forearm, four on his back (one on each wing, two under the cockpit), one on each calf, and two under each foot (one on each toe, one on each heel), plus of course his fists. And yes, you can of course use other Titan Masters for his robot mode head. I daresay I kind of prefer the older Titan Master Apeface, if only the eyes were painted. Apeface is a triple changer, and one of his modes is a jet. And... I don't know, you guys. I know that the G1 toy was pretty blocky, and the chances of getting the sleek cartoon design was pretty nihl, but as amazing as it sounds I think that the new Apeface is actually worse. The original G1 toy had more black showing on the sides (making some of the white plastic used on the inside of the robot legs an even more baffling decision). The black sides of the G1 toy's jet also had angled protrusions that extended past the white, giving the impression that they could be engine nacelles. The wings on the G1 toy were just a little behind the cockpit, so there wasn't a huge swath of white. Instead, with the wings and tail a little farther forward, the robot arms stuck a little further out of the back like engine exhausts. Siege Apeface is a roughly square brick with some jet bits tacked on. I'd concede that it's probably hard to make a robot turn into a jet and a gorilla, but the cockpit and nose are poorly-designed and poorly-colored. Whether you're going by the cartoon model or the G1 toy, the blue canopy dominated the cockpit. Most of the nose what white on the top, and black on the bottom, with just the tip being that pinkish color. instead we've got only the tiniest of blue peeking out of a mostly pink nose, with just the barest of white accents and no black. It just looks wrong. I think the wrongness of the jet mode is compounded by the fact that the cockpit doesn't open. This is because it's largely hollow inside, making space for much of the gorilla's head. Instead, there's a blue canopy on the back of the jet that the Titan Master can sit in, but to access it you have to pull the shield with the vertical stabilizers off. As for 5mm ports, you have one on each side just in front of the wings, two more on each side near the back, two under the nose, one on each wing, and one in the middle between the wings. That last one, though, you really need for plugging the shield in to complete the jet. Apeface's other mode, the mode for which he's named, is a gorilla or some other large ape. I think pulls off the ape mode better that the jet mode. That's not to say that it's perfect, mind you. It's more that the G1 toy's ape mode was a hot mess. Siege Apeface's squarish body is actually working for him here, and as a result he doesn't suffer from the weird back bend and odd head placement that the G1 toy did. While is robot arms are still hanging off of his ape hips they are, at least, curled up and not sticking straight up with his fists in the air. Now, the downsides are that the jet cockpit and wings aren't as hidden as they were with the G1 toy, but that seems to be an acceptable trade. I never really saw the logic in an ape alt mode... it's like you're trading one (mostly) bipedal form with opposable thumbs for another, just with somewhat different proportions. Maybe just stick with robot mode, because the ape mode's articulation isn't the best. The head is on a ball joint, but it's very limited in its ability to turn or even look up and down, necessitating the need for the torso to be angled if you want the head to look straight forward. His shoulders are on ball joints so they can rotate and extend almost 90 degrees laterally, but his biceps don't swivel and his elbows only bend maybe 30 degrees. Just as well, you kind of need them to prop the torso up. His wrists can bend up/down, but his fingers are molded into that curl. Again, no waist articulation. His ape hips can rotate a little, but they're hindered, and they don't have any lateral movement, and there's no thigh swivel. His ape knees can bend 90 degrees. His ape feet can bend up and down but no pivots. He's got a 5mm port on each bicep, two on each money hip, on on either side of his head, one on each pec, and five on his back (on on each wing, one between the wings, two on the cockpit). This does allow him to store all his accessories. Now, I think on the G1 toy the headmaster made up the ape head, right? Most of the ape head is already present. You just insert the Titan Master with the robot face pointed backward to give it it's eyes and forehead. I must confess that I think Apeface is a little disappointing. He's a mediocre robot with a mediocre ape mode and a terrible jet mode. In Hasbro's defense, though, it seems like a difficult design work with; the G1 toy was a mediocre robot, mediocre jet, and a lousy ape, and even a 3P "MP" effort like KFC's Kingorilla was a mediocre jet and sported huge backpacks in robot and ape modes. I still find some of the aesthetic choices questionable, though. Unless you're really into the character, I think I'll give this one a pass... even as I hope for an eventual War for Cybertron Snapdragon.
  16. mikeszekely
    On Death Stranding- I'm not going to critique a game I never played. That said, nothing I've seen or heard of it has piqued in interest. On Fallen Order- I'm definitely feeling the Uncharted vibes, maybe even a little Metroid Prime at times, and I like that the places I've visited so far (intro level, starting planet, second "have to" planet, one optional planet) are pretty different from each other, so they're fun to explore. The acting is pretty good, and I actually really like the little droid you get on the first planet. It's not all sunshine and roses, though. For one, all that running around and exploring is marred by the fact that the controls aren't as smooth as Uncharted... they're a little clunky. The sticks are too sensitive, with no way to adjust them in the settings. And one thing that constantly irks me is when you jump onto something like vines or some other climbable surface you don't automatically stick to it, you have to hit L2 to grab it or you fall. Combat is similarly kind of clunky. It works best in one-on-one encounters, when you can take it slow and everything you do feels carefully times and deliberate. But if there's just two or three enemies, especially tougher ones, coming at you at once the controls start to feel unresponsive; I'd take hits when I knew I was holding down the block button, I'd attack one foe only to have my attack interrupted by another (often offscreen), or I'd miss a parry because the guy I thought was coming in to attack would stop short and his buddy would hit me instead. I've died a lot, which isn't always bad when you feel like you died because you made a mistake, but some of those deaths have just felt cheap. To be fair, I hadn't watched or read a lot of previews for Fallen Order, but my initial thought was that it's an action game about a Force-user who's in-game model is based on the actor playing him, fighting baddies with a lightsaber and some Force powers... so Force Unleashed. And after playing the game it's kind of the opposite of Force Unleashed. It's not a hack-n-slash where you're going to tear through hoards of Stormtroopers like they're made of tissue paper in linear levels. It's more open, more focused on exploration, you have very little power at the start of the game, and combat is a methodical affair where a pair of Stormtroopers taking potshots at you while you try to engage a pair of Scout Troopers with stun batons will mess you up if the timing of your parries are off. And I don't think that's a bad thing at all, when the controls cooperate. I think Fallen Order could have been truly great game if it were just a bit more fluid. As it stands it's still a good, fun game with occasionally frustrating controls.
  17. mikeszekely
    Honestly, if I knew XTB was going to do toy versions (and that they'd turn out this good) I'd have gone with them instead of the regular ones. As it is, I'm planning to wait and get the toy version of their Motormaster/Menasor frame, but I can't justify selling the for XTB cars I already have and replacing them with the toy versions.
  18. mikeszekely
    I can't seem to commit to one set of Stunticons. In fact, while I think I was a little hard on him in my review, I actually wound up liking DX9's version of Breakdown a lot, so I decided to pick up Henry, the DX9 take on Wildrider. So as we would expect by now, Henry's taller than an MP carbot or the X-Transbots version of Wildrider. And on his own I think he looks just fine. He cleans up better than the XTB version, with more solid calves and no backpack. However, when he's with the XTB version I right away notice two things. One, the finish on the XTB one is a lot nicer. A lot of the gray on Henry seems to be painted, too, but the red is kind of flat, and even the gray doesn't have the same sheen that the XTB version does. The other thing is the difference is their torsos. This seems to be a difference in how each company interpreted the animation model. See, one way of looking at it is that the front of his torso is white to the belt, and he's got a gray pelvis with lots of linework. That's the route that XTB went with. The other interpretation is that he's drawn with one long torso with no actual pelvis. DX9 seemed to go that way, which led to them in turn shortening the white part and the black spot in the middle to make room for a newly-invented pelvis. Meanwhile, the linework that wound up on XTB's hips ended up on Henry's abs. Now, I'm not saying that one way is objectively right, but my personal feeling is that XTB made the better choice, as Henry winds up with too much gray in the middle. Henry naturally comes with a very cartoon-accurate rifle. Maybe a little too toon-accurate, as the sculpt is pretty bland. And since Megatron didn't stick anything into the Ferrari in the cartoon DX9 put something else in the box. That something being, apparently, a Legends-class Orion Pax with no legs. It looks to be a slight remold of their Legends-class Kup (which I don't own). I guess he's supposed to be like a build-a-figure, and his legs and maybe some accessories will come with the other DX9 Stunticons. Either way, I'm not dwelling on him right now. Moving right along, Henry's head is on a ball joint that can look up a fair bit, plenty sideways, but not too much down because his chin is too big. Due to transformation his ears have a slight up/down waggle. His shoulders can move 90 degrees laterally, and a transformation joint will allow you to push it until his tires start to hit his head. They rotate, too, with the rotation being between the actual lateral shoulder hinge and the transformation joint. His elbows are double-jointed and curl basically 180 degrees. His wrists rotate, and interestingly enough they're hinged so they can move in and out, too, although the actual purpose of that hinge seems to be so he can bend his thumb away from his palm. His fingers are likewise pinned at the base for opening and closing, with the index finger being a separate piece. His waist can swivel, and he does have an ab crunch. His hip skirts move out of the way to allow his hips to go 90 degrees forward, backward or laterally. His thighs swivel just below the hip joints, and his knees can bend 90 degrees. His feet are actually on ball joints. That means they can tilt up a little, down a lot, swivel, and pivot. His ankle pivot isn't the deepest, but the front of his foot is on a swivel for transformation, so you can fake more pivot if you need it. Unlike their Breakdown, Henry's gun does have a tab on one side of the handle that locks it securely into his palm... but only the right one. Why they didn't put a tab on the left is beyond me, but I tend to pose figures with their guns in their right hands (unless they're also holding a melee weapon), so I'm fine with it like this and appreciate the improvement. Unfortunately, what's not improved are the joint tolerances. While the ball joint for his neck is actually toleranced well, the stem is riveted into the torso and is wobbly at the rivet. His ab crunch is a little loose, but the worst are hips hips. I actually couldn't even get him to hold this pose out of the box because he kept doing the splits. Fortunately tightening some screws on the backs of his hips seems to have helped, but not as much as I'd have preferred. Henry is, like their Breakdown, a little out-of-scale with the other cars in alt mode, but to be honest after playing with GT's Protectobots I'm not really as bothered by this as I was initially. They seem to be bigger in service to their combined mode, which I think matters more. Alt mode scale never really worked for G1 anyway. I must say that I do find the similarities in engineering rather curious. Both have their arms folded up into their front ends; Henry uses the whole front end, though, while the hood winds up laying on the back of XTB's. XTB folds up the doors into his back, DX9 folds the windows in but actually uses the doors to make his flanks. Both have the roof laying over the doors/windows. Both wind up with the feet sticking into the cabin. The biggest difference is that, due to an accordion hinge in the middle and less tabs to hook in, Henry is way easier and more fun to transform. Henry turns into a pretty accurate Ferrari 308, as he should. DX9 got a lot of detail, like the front grill, the tail, and the vents on the hood and behind the rear window right. I do wish that they'd gone the extra mile and painted the marker lights, put spots for a Ferrari badge, and actually included a rear window the way XTB did, though. The rims are also solidly-case in unpainted diecast, while the actual rims would have had cutouts between the points of the star. The tires are rubber, though, and he rolls nice. As was the case with their Breakdown, you can flip the headlights up (although you have to push them into place with a little more force than I care to), and the doors open to reveal... robot feet. The handle of Henry's rifle folds up, exposing a long tab that fits into slots on his rear. This is a tough call, really. I think XTB's looks nicer and scales better in alt mode, but Henry is much more fun to mess with and I'm starting to like the taller robot modes DX9 and Fans Toys are going with. It might seem like a cop out, but as a standalone Wildrider I'd recommend Henry, but not necessarily more or less than I do XTB's. There just isn't a clear winner. If you're up for it get both, and you might find something to enjoy in both figures. Or, based on what you know from this review or other sources, get whichever you think you might prefer. Or wait for Fans Toys, or wait to see the combined mode...
  19. mikeszekely
    Yeah, I was on the fence, given EA's track record with the Star Wars license, but the early word if mouth is pretty good so I wind up grabbing it this morning when I stopped to get the new Pokemon.
  20. mikeszekely
    I had no trouble creating an account and signing in, but occasionally when I launch the app it'll give me an error that it can't connect. When I am signed in I'm running into other bugs, like it would only show me the first 10 episodes of a season, and a couple seasons of the Simpsons were just missing. Hopefully they get the kinks worked out soon.
  21. mikeszekely
    Take this with a grain of salt, but the rumor going around is that the next Commander-Class figure will be Sky Lynx.
  22. mikeszekely
    Alright, it's late, I should probably go to bed, but I might as well get this over with it. It's Generation Toys' Katana, their version of Blades and the last of their available (at time of writing) Protectobots. I'm thinking that Blades must be a hard character to really get right. I mean, even going back to the G1 toy he's got the tail boom folded up on the sides of his legs, the front folded onto his back, and landing skids sticking off of his arms. The landing skids on the arms were even retained on the animation model. I feel like GT put some effort into retaining decent proportions and minimizing the amount of protruding flaps. Aside from some silver on his chest instead of white, a white midriff instead of red, and gray hands instead of white (the only one of the four to have non-white hands, if I'm not mistaken) he's sporting G1-accurate colors. And yes, his tail boom is folded onto the sides of his legs, and he's got landing skids on his arms. Thing is, perhaps owing to a detailed, realistic alt mode compared to the G1 toy, I still think he looks messy. The tail boom doesn't sit all that flush to the sides of his legs, with the horizontal stabilizers poking through that gap onto his shins. On one leg the tail rotor is peaking out of his calf, on the other the vertical stabilizer sticks out even further than his backpack. There's a bit of folded panels on his forearms, culminating in landing skids that don't lock in place and feel like they're constantly getting in the way. At least the front of the helicopter on his back is making some effort to squish down. Blades comes with a gun in the usual GT style, as well as four thin swords. Two of the swords have tabs, two have slots, so they can combine into two swords with broader blades. Katana's articulation is a bit subpar. His head is on a hinged swivel, and he can look down a little or up a lot. His shoulders rotate, no issues. Now, they only move about 45 degrees laterally before things start coming untabbed (and things will come untabbed), but if you do untab some things he can get his shoulders out much farther. Yet again, though, the rotation joint is on the wrong side of the hinge for lateral movement, so yet again he can't raise his arms and spread them simultaneously. This has been a constant design issue for GT, going back to their Warbotron days, one I might have let slide then, but there's just no excuse for it anymore in 2019 (or late 2018, when I think he was first released). His biceps swivel, and he's got just about 90 degrees of bend at the elbows. His wrists swivel, but they're actually on ball joints so he's got a little wiggle in them as well. His fingers are pinned at the base knuckle, with the index finger separate from the other three. His waist can swivel. His hips can go about 60 degrees forward, 45 degrees backward, or a little under 90 degrees laterally. His thighs swivel around his hip joints. His knees can bend just over 90 degrees on the only ratchet joints the figure has. His feet can tilt down a little, but not up, and he's got a ludicrous 180 degrees of ankle pivot. He holds his gun kind of poorly. There is a tab on the handle, but only on the side that would plug into his right hand. Despite plugging it, it pops back out when you close his hand, so he winds up holding it just with tension. The swords have tabs, also one side only, but two for his left hand and two for his right. If you want to combine them to make the thicker swords no matter how you pair them you're going to end up with both tabs on the same side of the handle, forming a large square peg that fits into nothing. The tension in his fingers does let him hold it, though. Katana can't do anything with the gun but hold it, which is true for a lot of figures. You might find that you need a place to store all those swords, though, especially since they're integral to the alt mode. Fortunately GT's got you covered. Small pegs will allow one sword to be worn on each hip (although the pegs are only on one side, so one sword looks upside down from the other). There are also small holes on the blades just above the hilt. These holes fit over little pegs on the sides of his backpack. Alternatively, you could just leave them attached to the rotor hub on his back, the way the G1 toy did. They're very large, though, so it might not be ideal. While the back half is pretty simple, I didn't find transforming Katana to be as pleasant as the other three. Can't argue with the results, though- realistic alt modes are definitely GT's thing. The alt mode isn't G1-accurate, but that's a pretty good-looking helicopter. One that will look super tiny next to Motor's bike mode, but such is the way of things when dealing with Defensor. The swords become the main rotor by using c-clips on the pommels that grab onto the rotor hub. Near as I can tell Katana turns into a Bell 429. The proportions are pretty good, if a little too long, and there's lots of molded detail down to bumps on the tail for marker lights. There's a prominent wirecutter above the windshield, and soft plastic antenna and windshield wipers that are, unfortunately, a little warped. There's plenty of molded detail, although it would have been nice if at least some of it were painted. My one real gripe is that there's just molded, indented ovals where the exhaust ports should be. Also worth mentioning is that the landing skids are really attached at hinge and by plugging into the front, under the cockpit door. The rear isn't actually attached, it just rests against the belly. Both rotors spin, as you'd expect. And the gun stores under the helicopter by clipping between his robot forearms. Talking about the quality of the plastic GT uses, the articulation issues with the shoulders, or the kibble flaps feels like beating a dead horse, so I'll say that he has the usual GT issues and you'll already know it they're dealbreakers for you or not. However, Katana's got two new ones that I have to talk about, and they both boil down to engineering issues. The first is his arms. Due to how they transform for combined mode the bicep comes untabbed from the shoulder, sometimes when you don't want it to. That's not too bad, but the forearm extends on a slider attached to thin plastic parts. It clicks into place when fully extended, but it's too easy to push it back in when you're manipulating the figure, leaving him with loose, dangly arms. The other issue is how things fold up and tab to his torso. There's a shoulder hinge that tabs into a panel, that tabs into a second panel, that tabs into his sides. Not a one of those connections is secure enough. The tabs holding everything to his sides are the worst. Based on the usual GT issues you know I'm going to say the same stuff I've said about the other three: better than any other version of Blades you can buy today, but I can't really recommend it. The aesthetic is cool, but the quality is not up to what we've come to expect from 3P figures this size in 2018/2019. But I'll go one step further and say that the extra issues Katana has makes him the worst of the four. Even though I didn't recommend any of them, fans of the Protectobots, Nissan 370Zs, ambulances, motorcycles, or IDW comics might still enjoy the other three, but Katana feels like he's got too many issues that should have been refined and fixed in the design stage.
  23. mikeszekely
    Sorry, I was working on that later than normal. Yes, it's 6”, which is about 1:12. I'll fix it in the post.
  24. mikeszekely
    Since I picked up Generation Toy's First Aid and I still have their Streetwise I decided to go back and pick up the two I missed. So I'll get right to it; this is Motor, their Groove. Groove seems to be a hard character for 3Ps to get right. Motor makes for a big improvement over TFC's (left) and Maketoys (not pictured) simply by having plenty of prominent gold paint on his chest torso and face. And, as is generally the case with GT's stuff, I do like a lot of the aesthetic here, especially the red accents on this chest and the strong head sculpt. He's not without his problems, though. He seems burdened with excess kibble; even after I excuse most of the front of his bike mode hanging on his back as being G1-accurate, he's got flaps folded over his arms, panels hanging off his shoulders, and his exhaust is just dangling from his right arm. And in trademark GT fashion the shoulder kibble doesn't even lock into place (although I've found if you angle them just right you can kind of stick the tips of the tabs that secure them in bike mode into gaps on the hinges on the front corner of his shoulders). His waist and hips are also rather tiny, but overall his proportions beat out TFC and Maketoys. You could argue that the Combiner Wars version is the cleanest and has the best proportions, but if I'm being fair a lot of that is due to differences in their bike modes, which we'll get to in a bit. Motor's only real accessory is this gun, which is fine. In the box, though, you'll find an extra set of grips for the handlebars, and the handlebars themselves are not attached. Indeed, removing the handlebars makes transforming Motor a bit easier, although it's not strictly necessary. Motor's head is on a hinged swivel, so he can look up a decent amount and down a little. His shoulders can rotate, and they can move laterally about 90 degrees, but once again the joints for lateral movement are in the torso and the swivels for rotation are on the wrong side, so he can't raise his arms and spread them simultaneously. His biceps swivel, and although his elbows are double-jointed they still max out at about 90 degrees of bend. His wrists swivel, and his fingers are pinned at the base so he can open his hands, plus the index finger is a separate piece from the other three. His waist can swivel, and if you unlock it he's got about 45 degrees of ab crunch. His hips are friction universals that can go just under 90 degrees forward, about 60 degrees backward, and over 90 degrees laterally. His thighs can swivel around the joint. His knees bend 90 degrees. His feet have a slight up/down tilt, and a full 90 degrees of pivot. His gun has tabs on the sides of the handle that fit neatly into slots on his palms. I guess you can pretend that his exhaust is some kind of underarm cannon. Earlier I was saying that Combiner Wars Groove pulls off his robot mode as well as he does because of his bike mode, which if we're being honest looks like a folded-up robot hiding behind the front of a motorcycle. Motor, on the other hand, looks like a motorcycle with no obvious signs of being a robot. Motor's not the first Groove to do this- Maketoys did a pretty good job replicating a Honda police bike. But Maketoys' had fairly complicated engineering that made for a spindly robot. While not perfect, Motor's really not bad, considering, and the engineering here really isn't all that bad once you know how things are supposed to move. Motor's alt mode is a BMW 1200RT, and while it looks very good (it even has a rubbery material for the seat) I'm surprised by some of the details they phoned in. The most obvious is that they seemed to have simply slapped the word "POLICE" on a standard 1200RT instead of using the actual police model, so it's lacking the lightbar on the back of the seat and the flashers above the sideview mirrors. The saddlebags (are they still called saddlebags when they're hard boxes?) have a weird contour on the rear that makes them look like a piece was chopped off. But the front of the bike is where I think things really went wrong. Those orange translucent bits? Those are just supposed to be intakes. The bike's headlights are actually supposed to be where that big silver-painted swath is. And the black-painted bits on the sides would be better if they were orange, since those are the turn signals. Don't get me wrong, Motor is still one of the best-looking transforming bikes I've ever seen, it's just weird that they got so much right and then got lazy on the face. There are are some small fold-out bits that I assume are foot rests, but the instructions never suggest a purpose for them and always show them folded in. On the bottom of the bike are some thin, fold out gray parts that can hold the bike upright. Alternatively, you can fold the gray parts up and there is a kickstand on the left side. Also on the left side you can plug his gun into the rear wheel, opposite the exhaust. The wheels roll, and the front wheel can turn like the bike is steering. However, due to how the handlebars attach, the steering column doesn't turn. I don't have a lot of figures to pose on the bike, but here is with the Power Rangers Lightning Collection Gold Ranger. The Lightning Collection is roughly 1:12 scale, and I think he looks a tad too big for the bike. Motor might be a little small for 6” figures, but I shouldn't have to point out the obvious and say that he's huge compared to his teammates in alt mode, so if alt mode scale is your thing you might want to stay away (and probably not just from this set, but all Defensors). At the end of the day I'm finding myself having the same thoughts about Motor that I do about the other two. I think Generation Toy's Protectobots have a great aesthetic that's a nice balance of G1 and modern, real-world alt modes. Motor is both the best representation of Groove and one of the best bike Transformers committed to plastic. However, GT's engineering is starting to feel dated. You think by now they'd have learned to put the shoulder hinges on the outside of the swivels and learned to minimize or at least tab down kibble. And their soft, thin plastic feels like a downgrade from what you'd find on a Fans Toys, DX9, MMC, X-Transbots, Maketoys, Fans Hobby, etc figure. So ultimately I like Motor, but I wouldn't exactly recommend him.
  25. mikeszekely
    Thanks to this post, even though I'm in the middle of Dragon Quest XI, I had a hankering to play Metroid Prime. Which in turn led to me updating Dolphin, which led to me digging through my collection of ISOs, which led to me screwing around on my PC all night.
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