mikeszekely

Pulsecon wasn't particularly exciting. Maybe because they didn't reveal anything that I didn't already know... they showed off Dinoking at Comicon, and Legacy United Wave 5 is mostly package refreshes. Good for people that missed those figures the first time, but I only bothered to preorder Armada Wheeljack, G2 Breakdown, and (reluctantly) Overcharge. Likewise, all the Studio Series reveals were leaked, though it was my first time seeing Sentinel Prime. And they're not even going to go up for preorder until Transformers Day (September 17th). The team confirmed that the series will be Age of the Primes... which I also told you guys about months ago. No figures revealed (but I reported on leaks for basically the whole of 2025 anyway). And they showed nothing of SS86 Devastator. We apparently have to wait until October 27th for that.

We're getting a Missing Link Cliffjumper, so that's where Porsche stands. (Not to mention RotB Mirage, which Porsche themselves cross promoted with some clothes, of which I own the ball cap).

You guys gotta stop tempting me with more stuff than I ought to be buying right now.😋 Seriously, I think for now I'm going to stick with the VF-4G I have in hand, the VF-1S Striker and the VF-1J GBP I bought from @Reni, and the VF-0S I ordered on Amazon for now, with the the intention to buy a VF-2SS in the near future (probably the Nexx version, as I understand it has a few extra accessories and the only other difference is the color of the stripes). In theory, that should tide me over until Bandai releases new models (and a VF-19 that isn't the Fire Valkyrie), but I retain the option to buy a VF-0D and some more VF-1s (especially a VF-1A). As for non-HMR toys, the Yamato/Arcadias and the Bandai DXs are a bit more than I want to pay (for a single toy, at least, given that I could have bought one for what I've spent on HMRs in the last two or three weeks). I don't really have the space for larger toys anyway, especially when I'm thinking I'll likely keep them in fighter mode most of the time.

Hmm... wouldn't the older Yamato one be even closer to HMR scale? Both look to be more than I feel like paying for a VB-6 on the aftermarket, though. Got my pics ready to review God of Flame, then I think I'm going to hold off any Macross reviews until more of the HMRs I bought come in. For some reason I think it's best to start with the VF-1, then VF-0, then VF-4, even though the VF-4 is the only one I have actually in-hand yet.

Non-transforming mecha don't do much for me. I've never really cared for the Destroids, but if Bandai ever wants to do a VB-6 I could end up with Monster. As for enemy mecha, the Gnerl, Nousjadel-Ger, and Queadluun-Rau have never really spoken to me. I could possibly be persuaded to add a Regult do my collection, as I think it's by far the most iconic Zentradi mecha and the one that felt the most alien to me. Maybe even a Glaug, as I it seemed like the most natural "upgrade" to a Regult, but a quick search has them a bit pricey on the aftermarket (especially the Glaug). Now, if Bandai wants to make a Hi-Metal R SV-51, SV-262, Elgerzorene, Panzerzorene, or Saubergeran those are enemy mecha I can get behind (though, in the case of the Varauta mecha, I'd rather they put out a Hi-Metal R VF-14... not that it'll ever happen). EDIT: Oh, yeah, almost forgot. I'm lacking in willpower/self-control, and I did wind up ordering that VF-0. Four HMRs in less than a month... my poor wallet.

If there's one thing I've picked up from my last two reviews, it's that we skew older on this board and Earthspark or even Transformers One isn't going to spark the same interest toy-wise as the mainline. Unfortunately, there hasn't been much in the way of new stuff in the mainline lately (though hopefully the next wave of United and/or Studio Series starts shipping early, and we get some good new reveals at Pulsecon tomorrow). In the meantime, I have a few repaints for you guys. It's basically the remainder of Walmart's exclusive Star Raiders capsule (since it seems unlikely at this point that I'm going to find a copy of Filch...). Up first we have Deluxe-class Road Pig, who is straight up Junkion Crashbar with a new head. Same tailpipe accessories, same saddlebag guns, same one removable tire that turns into a bladed weapon. Which, hey, kind of vibes with the new ninja face. Anyway, as more repaint than retool he's got details like spikes on his shoulders, asymmetric legs, and a lack of a windshield that deviate a bit from his original G2 toy. However, (almost as if they planned this all along😉) the trio of lights on his chest is a pretty good match for the G2 toy, and the curved pipe pieces are done in translucent pink to mimic the light-up tailpipe weapon of the G2 toy. Transformation is the same as Crashbar. This of course means that, aside from still being a black motorcycle, his alt mode isn't particularly close to the G2 toy. But one of the more amusing things they did copy from the G2 is the "Transformers" brand tampoed on one side of the gas tank. So much for being in disguise, eh? I think Road Pig is ok. He's not super accurate to the G2 toy, but probably the best an obscure G2 character is going to get for an update. And at least the Crashbar mold was the better of the two Deluxe Junkion molds. I'm just wondering if we might yet get a Soundwave based off the canceled G2 toy the way we got the canceled G2 Jazz out of Road Rocket. Regardless, at a Deluxe price he's worth checking out if you're digging the idea of filling out a G2 collection, but you're not exactly missing much if you're Sunbow G1-only. Up next we have Thundertron. He's marked as a Leader-class, despite being a little more expensive than a regular Leader, and despite being mostly the same figure as the Voyager-class toy that was released earlier this very same year. The most obvious difference is the color, with the blue plastic a bit brighter, the blue paint swapped for a brighter and more metallic blue, and the copper paint swapped for gold. It's harder to tell, because it's only some of the gray plastic, but stuff like his sword, his coattails, and the outer toes on his feet are a darker gray. From the neck down, the only mold difference is that his right hand has been replaced with a hook. From the neck up, he's got an entirely new head sculpt. The shape of his helmet is different, and they painted the lines in the white part (which is a bit closer to the original Prime toy). His mouth is a bit smaller, with a new more elaborately-sculpted beard below his more gaunt face. His left eye doesn't seem to have the scars anymore, and is smaller, while his right eye is covered in a (somewhat softly molded) eye-patch. The new head, taken with the right hand that's been replaced with a hook, sort of gives the impression that the regular United release is a younger version of Thundertron, and the Star Raiders version is an older version that's been through some stuff. You can further that visually by leaving his foot attached on the original release but partsforming it onto the sword and going with the peg leg on the Star Raiders version. With the head and hand tucked away in alt mode, though, color becomes the only visual difference there. Now, just my opinion, but the hook hand, new head, and brighter colors make me prefer the Star Raiders version, but the differences are minimal enough that it's not exactly worth picking up Thundertron for Thundertron alone if you already bought the United version. Which really begs the question, why did Hasbro do this? Like, yes, I get that they like to get an extra use or two out of a mold, but as a toy-only character from late in the Prime line Thundertron was already an obscure enough of a character that I questioned his presence in United in the first place. Not even a year later and we're getting the arguably superior version in a store capsule where he kind of always belonged, if you ask me. And capsules are planned out in advance. Hasbro knew they were doing Star Raiders for Walmart. Am I to believe that Hasbro wanted to do Thundertron for Star Raiders, but couldn't think of a another use for the mold, so they came up with an alternate Thundertron head and slotted him into the mainline? It's already been pointed out, though, that this mold would make for a pretty good Cyberverse Thunderhowl... Hasbro probably should have done Thunderhowl in United and only put out one Thundertron this year. If you do have United Thundertron, what would tempt you to buy another one? And how does he go from a Voyager to a Leader? By packing in more pirates! One of those would be Nightstrike, who's a retool of Micromaster Ratbat. If you're not familiar with Nightstrike, I don't blame you. He was a minor villain in the 2015 version of Robots in Disguise. He had a bat alt mode; his robot mode wasn't seen until he appeared in the Titan Titans toyline. Star Raiders Nightstrike leans into that lack of a bot mode in the cartoon by making the bat mode his alt mode. And now his alt mode is... well, if you squint at it right, the black markings make a stylized skull on a white background, like an inverted Jolly Rodger. Nightstrike, then, turns into the Star Raiders' pirate flag. If you look at the top of Thundertron's shoulders, you may have noticed that his left shoulderpad has a 5mm port on the top, but his right has a pair of slots. Turns out, these slots are just the right size for Nightstrike's feet, allowing him to perch on Thundertron's shoulder like a pirate's parrot. What's funny is that the shoulders are not remolded from the United release; Siege Ratbat could always perch on United Thundertron's shoulder. We just never thought to do it. Nightstrike as a character doesn't necessarily impress me, especially as RID 15 was so bad that I definitely couldn't get through it and have no recollection of him. As an accessory, though, I dig him. He's not exactly worth re-buying Thundertron for, though, nor does he alone justify the price tag. There's one more figure in the box, though... Deluxe-class Calcitron. Calcitron is bascially Magneous with a new head and a a brighter, blue deco. Unlike Nucleous, the head is the only part that's remolded from Magneous. It's fine, though. I like the new head, it reminds me a bit of Rock Lords Saberstone, and the blue deco really pops on him. As much as I've railed against gimmicky original characters taking up slots, and as much as I've pointed out that they don't actually bear all that much aesthetic similarity to the Rock Lords that supposedly inspired them, and for all I've pointed out that it's kind of weird that they're rock robots that turn into rock vehicles instead of just being robots that turn into rocks like the Rock Lords, they've honestly been my favorite gimmick since the Weaponizers gave me all the missing guys packed in with the G1 citybots back in the day. I can't help but notice, though, that this is really the third use of the Magneous mold. And when Geocron hits we'll have two of the little Core-class rock bike dude. But the best Armorizer mold has only been used for Shard. At this point, it's making it hard for me to imagine that Calcitron is actually with the Star Raiders. Instead, I imagine that the Autobots war with the Decepticons has taken the them to the planet Infernac, where there's a bunch of dudes like Magneous, Calictron, Nucleous, Bouldercrash, and Geocron who all serve their Queen Shard. And that sort of makes Calictron the highlight for me. If you don't have any Thundertron, then buying the Star Raiders set is worth it to get the best version of an alright figure, a bat that turns into a pirate flag, and another cool minion for Queen Shard. I recommend it! But if you already have United Thundertron double-dipping on him just to get Calcitron and Nightstrike is a harder sell.

Funny you mention it, I just bought the DYRL VF-1S Strike from a board member, @Reni We worked out a deal good enough that I bought the VF-1J with GBP armor from him while I was at it. I saw, and despite bought three HMRs in less than a month already I'll probably pull the trigger on that. After that I'll probably have to let my wallet cool off a bit, but I'll probably get the VF-2SS eventually, too. (I just wish I had some better skills as a customizer, too. Then I'd repaint the red or blue on the VF-2SS, as some black stripes to the wings, put some black and yellow on the stabs...)

Huh. Assuming I only want one of each variant I'm not super behind. While I don't hate Macross 7 (I actually really like it!), I'm not a fan of faces on Valks. I'm in for a YF-19/VF-19A, a VF-19F/S, or even a VF-19P, but not the Fire Valkyrie. That said, I do hope Bandai finishes Sound Force, if only because it'll make a VF-11B/C and a VF-17D/S more likely. Those I actually do want.

Earthspark has turned out to be one of my less-liked Transformers shows. I'm not even sure if I bothered to watch every episode. That said, I did admire that they tried to create some new characters and do something different, and I was interested in having the Maltobots in my collection. They came out of the gate with a Deluxe Twitch, and they got Nightshade in the initial build-a-figure group. Thrash was one of the initial Warrior-class figures, but he managed to get a Deluxe glow-up. I very nearly caved and ordered the Warrior-class Jawbreaker, and I'm glad I didn't, because not long after hearing that Earthspark is dead we suddenly got a Deluxe-class Jawbreaker. My gut reaction was to think, "man, these proportions are terrible!" Terribly accurate, actually. I went back and looked, and sure enough, Jawbreaker's arms really do hang that low. The sculpt is actually pretty decent, it's the colors that are a bit off. The teal paint that they slathered on the front of his thighs doesn't belong there, it belongs on his biceps and pelvis. His forearms are molded in yellow plastic with orange paint, but the orange paint doesn't cover enough; there should be no yellow on his forearms. That goes for his hands and the tops of his feet, too, which should match his thighs. To add to the odd paint choices, his torso is molded in the same dark plastic as his pelvis, and that's accurate! So why'd they paint most of it orange? The part that they didn't paint is the only part they should have painted, because it should be red. I don't like Earthspark enough to pay more than regular US retail, but if you're really picky you could import the Takara version, which has an accurate deco. Back and side views... a bit hollow in spots, and I can't remember if the dino head is supposed to be that visible. But the claws on the forearms check out. Jawbreaker comes with a pair of guns and a tail. Jawbreaker's head is on a ball joint. Can't really look down, but he's got decent enough sideways tilt and he can look up. His shoulders swivel, and they have hinges nearly 90 degrees of lateral movement, but unfortunately they're on the wrong side of the swivels. His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend 90 degrees forward or backward. No wrist swivel, but his entire forearm swivels below the elbow, so that kind of works. No waist swivel. His hips are ball joints that go 90 degrees forward or backward, but only about 45 degrees laterally. No thigh swivels. His knees bend over 90 degrees. No up/down tilt on the feet. He technically does have ankle pivots, though they're very limited. The tail has a hinged 5mm peg that lets you put it in his hand like a whip. He can also hold the guns, but if you need a place to store them there are 5mm ports on the outsides of his shoulders for the guns, and his tail can plug into the 5mm port on his butt. Jawbreaker's transformation is pretty easy, but a tad finnicky. Rotate his head, then flip the dino head up and over his face. Keep pushing on it so that his robot head collapses into his chest. Untab the sides of his torso (revealing his little dino arms) and just hinge them out of the way. Bend his lower body backward and fold his legs lower legs behind his thighs. If you did it right, notches in in the back of his feet will line up with the ridges on the back of his collar. Once the legs are in place, you can use the hinges to swing the sides of his torso back. The finnicky part is that there's two slots on the insides of those torso bits, and they need to line up with tabs on his robot hips and his legs near his ankles. Turn his forearms below his elbows so the claws are facing forward, then unfold the claws (which will cause the hands to swing to the back). Lastly, take his tail and plug it into his butt. From the front the dino mode doesn't look too bad, though if you get low enough you can kind of see through his legs. He's also got the color issues that carried over from bot mode. From the back and side, though, we have issues. He's got giant robot feet sticking up off his back. You can more clearly see that his legs have holes in them, but also robot fists just hanging out back there. At least his tail looks a lot better than the Warrior-class version. Jawbreaker's dino head can't swivel or tilt, but his jaw opens. His little dino arms are on ball joints so they can swivel and splay outward a little at the shoulders. His hips are his robot shoulders, so they do have the swivels and lateral movement, though technically in dino mode they're supposed to be tabbed into a fixed position. Likewise, his bicep swivels are retained as thigh swivels, and and his elbows-turned-knees still bend 90 degrees in either direction. He still has the swivel below the elbow/knee. And technically the digitigrade ankle has some tilt based on how much or how little you fold in his robot hands. The claws can tilt down, due to how he transforms, but not really upward, and he has no dino ankle pivot. His tail's 5mm peg was hinged, you recall, so it can tilt up. As for his guns, they plug into his dino hips... which were his robot shoulders, which is where they stowed in bot mode. Jawbreaker's not the worst of the Earthspark Deluxes. That honor probably still goes to Megatron or Prowl. He's not one of the better ones, though. Unless you really want all the Terrans, it's probably best to avoid this one. If you do want all the Terrans, then you probably have the same question I do... where the heck is Hashtag? So far the only figure for her has been a Tacticon (though a Warrior-class figure is supposedly coming).

That's the plan. After that, who knows? I'm not even sure which Valks have been done in which colors yet (though I have to say I'd kill for a VF-11 in Skull Squadron colors). Oh yeah, I do know that the Fire Valkyrie was recently released in the Hi-Metal R line. Do you think they'll redo the VF-19S, too, or should I track down the old Hi-Metal no-R version?

Thanks, I thought it might be an interesting piece to compare to the Fugu Jetfire, but it sounds like I really wouldn't enjoy it.

Without going back through and reading this entire thread, how are the Kitzconcept figures? Is this worth it?

I thought about it, but I decided to grab a used VF-4G instead. I get that the reissue is the colors actually used in Flashback 2012, but the non-cannon colors that ditched the beige spots and tweaks the deco to be a bit more black-and-gold Skull Squadron were too slick to resist. That said, if I hadn't gone for the VF-4G, yes, I'd definitely be grabbing this reissue.

Got my very first Macross toy (that's actually a Macross toy and not a KO of a KO in Transformers colors), a Hi-Metal R VF-4G. Took forever to get here... I thought I was buying from an American seller, and I technically was... he just happened to be shipping from an American military base in Okinawa, so it actually came via Japan. Worth the wait, though. I haven't had a chance to transform it yet, but I put the leg covers, the fin under the cockpit, and the antenna on, and I mounted it on the stand, and it looks so good. I get where some people were coming from on some things like the necessity to partsform the landing gear or the fact that the cockpit comes off instead of opening to put the little pilot in, but I think I can live with stuff like that. Not exactly an apples-to-apples, but the paint and materials on the Hi-Metal R feel much better than the God of Flame. Probably not fair to judge Yamato/Arcadia based on a KO of a KO, but I'm feeling really good about my call to go with Hi-Metal R for my Macross toys. I'll take some pictures and do a review later in the week or next week, I think. Next up, track down a VF-1S in Fokker colors, then probably a VF-0S in Fokker colors. It's funny, I'm not usually into the standard or "hero" colors, but the black and gold with the Jolly Rodger will never not look good.

Can't unsee, thanks for that.

I've noticed that Walmarts (except my local one for some reason) are starting to get displays in the main aisle for Transformers One. If you happen to check it out, you might find a Walmart-exclusive Prime Changer, the Quintesson High Commander. Well, it's not the Quintessons I grew up with. The only thing about them that's even in the ballpark is the tentacles dangling from his rounded bottom... at least I assume that's his bottom. I haven't seen the movie yet, but the impression I get is that the green plastic behind him is meant to evoke more tentacles, and that the "foot" he's standing on won't really be part of the CGI model. But I don't hate it. The vibe is sort of techno-organic stone... almost like something the Protoculture might have cooked up. Scale is the main thing to talk about. I don't really mind Pax and Bee being the same size, even though Prime is usually bigger, because they're depicted as pretty similar in height in the trailer. But, even if I assume Sentinel is also the same height as Pax and Bee, in the trailer the Quintesson High Commander picks Sentinel up and lifts him to be face-to-face. But here, the QHC is like eye-to-nipple with Sentinel. Not much to see from the back and sides. More green plastic, hollow forearms, but the kinds of things we've (unfortunately) come to expect from a Transformers toy in this price bracket. The Quintesson High Commander's sole accessory is this single Energon cube. I feel like I've seen this cube before. Did a couple come with reissue G1 Insecticons? Some War For Cybertron Trilogy accessory pack? It's a semi-solid pink, and rubbery in texture. QHC's articulation is pretty limited. His head is on a hinged ball joint. The hinge gives him a slight downward tilt, but because the stem comes straight out from his chest swiveling his head on the ball tilts his head sideways. He can't actually turn his head to either side. His shoulders are also ball joints. They swivel backward in an unrestricted fashion, but his chest actually blocks them from swiveling forward. At least they can move laterally 90 degrees. His elbows are also ball joints, bending 90 degrees and doubling as bicep swivels. He doesn't have wrist swivels... or really wrists or hands at all. Just pokey stumps without even a 5mm port. No waist swivel either, though you can use the hinge on his back to tilt him a little. His tentacles are hinged at the base so you can splay them out, but that's about it it. QHC can't really hold the Energon cube with his hands, but he can store it inside his body. Open his chest, lift the spikey bit, and you'll see a square hollow behind it. Just plug the cube in and close him back up. Or don't, because you need to open him up like that for transformation. Turn his head upside down, pull out the red part of his chest, then use the hinge to fold the head around to the other side, then close the red part back up. But, leave his chest open. In fact, lift the pelvis flap, then spin the chest 180 degrees. Straighten his toe and heel as much as you can, tuck the tentacles in as close as you can to his "foot", then fold his chest down and tab it place. Finish him off by rotating his shoulders so his arms are running along side his body toward his "foot", and bend and turn his elbows so that tabs on them will plug into the foot. Will the Quintessons even transform in the movie? I don't know. While simple, I do think this is more of a transformation and an identifiable alt mode than the Earthrise Quintesson, so I'll give it that. Again, the rocky techno-organic look gives me Protoculture vibes, so I don't hate it. The Energon cube stores in a square-shaped hollow under the spaceship's nose... which happens to be the exact same spot it was stored in for bot mode. As a matter of fact, you don't even have to remove the cube to transform him. The Quintesson High Commander is... fine. Realistically, the Prime Commanders are the "main" toys for the movie, marketed toward kids, and I expect that this is a reasonable facsimile of what kids will see, with a simple transformation to a spaceship. Presumably adult collectors will want to wait for a hypothetical Studio Series version, with the caveat that this is out now and a Studio Series version hasn't even been announced.

I like Nintendo consoles for Nintendo games. And I keep buying Xboxes, but it's because I have Game Pass. That says, I do like when I can play a game on my PC then pick it up where I left off on the Xbox in the living room. Despite their dominance in the last couple generations, it's PlayStation that I've gone cool on. Most of the games I want are already on PC. The last time I turned my PlayStation on was a year ago, for Spider-Man 2... a game that's likely to wind up on PC eventually.

My friend was really hyped for the announcement but I fell asleep and missed it. No regrets. My PC is still good enough.

I've got a tiny yet somewhat anticipated release on my hands. Do good things come in small packages? This one is Studio Series 86 Core-class Steeljaw. I get that Core-class figures are small and don't get a ton of budget, but c'mon. What's up with that face? He's barely got any cat ears, and there's a seam running right down the middle of his head that I can't get to close any more than that no matter how hard I squeeze. The seam doesn't look great on the top of his head, but the split in the bottom of his jaw makes him look like one of the aliens from Predator. Hasbro put some red paint inside his mouth and some splashes of white on his teeth, but I'm not painting the teeth helped or hurt when his fangs are more like little nubs. I do kind of want to give Hasbro some credit for engineering Steeljaw's mane into a proper box around his neck area. And at first glance he's got his wing guns. But those guns seem a little big... and they're not even attached to his wings! I can't be the only one amused by the placement of that rivet in the middle of his posterior, either. If you have a cat, you know what I mean. I'm thinking a lot of Steeljaw's budget when to accessories. As it turns out, his back and tail are a separate part. His wings are, too, and they plug right into the holes on the sides of the back. There's an alternate back that is missing a tail and has the round parts of the wings pre-attached but not the wing portions are clipped off. And finally, there's a big gold speaker. Steeljaw's articulation is, to be frank, terrible. Nothing in his head or jaws, nothing in his tail. Each of his four legs are pinned at the shoulders/hips and can swivel, but they can't spread or swivel, and he's got no articulation in his elbows/knees or wrists/ankles. Since they' just pegged in you can change the angles of his wings a bit, or you can swivel the guns on his hips. That's it. To use the speaker with Steeljaw, first you have to remove the regular back with the wings, then pop on the alternate back piece. It has a large tab on the top that fits into a slot on the side of the speaker. Are we supposed to pretend his wings and tail turned into a speaker? I don't remember that from the cartoon at all, and certainly not the '86 movie. The more likely use for the speaker is with Kingdom/Legacy/SS86 Blaster. The back of the speaker is sort of a squarish opening with a little notch. Line up that notch with the back of Blaster's hand and it'll slide snuggly over his fist. While we're at it, since Steeljaw's backs use a 5mm peg to plug into a hole on his body, you can also plug them into 5mm ports on Blaster's body, like the ones on his forearms. Steeljaw's engineering is very simple. His back and wings partsform right off. His front legs fold back, then his back legs tuck underneath, leaving his hip guns tucked neatly along the sides. The section with his mane and head folds forward then splits in half and splays out to the sides. You finish him off by tucking the halves of his head in. I like that the one side of him has a painted reel and a window to the see the tape spooling... but why is the other reel not painted? Both the faux reels on the other side are. I don't have much to say about this mode's aesthetics... it's a rectangle, what do you want? You want it to do stuff? I guess you can turn him cassette face down and plug his back in. With the little gap where his mane sits higher than the hinge and the flat part of the back that normally sits against his main sticking up it almost looks like a seat. Maybe Steeljaw's alt mode is secretly some kind of Star Wars landspeeder? I don't know what you're supposed to do with his accessories, really, but the rectangle itself does fit into Blaster's chest, and that's all we really wanted. So there you have it... objectively, Steeljaw's not very good. Better than Ravage, at least, but worse than Ratbat, Laserbeak, or the humanoid cassettes. And Ravage, at least, has the excuse of being a Micromaster. At retail he was packaged with a whole second tape at the price that Steeljaw alone is going for. Why? I'd have gladly given up on the extra back and speaker if Hasbro would have even just added elbows and knees to Steeljaw himself. The value isn't here. And yet, Soundwave's had two different releases for Laserbeak, two for Ravage, a Ratbat, and both Micromaster and Core-class releases for Rumble and Frenzy. Later this year we're finally getting a release for Buzzsaw. So far Blaster's just had Eject, whom he came with, and Rewind, who came with his Twincast repaint. For a lot of us, Steeljaw is filling a gap, and I sincerely hope Ramhorn comes sooner rather than later. If, like me, Steeljaw is going to fill a void in your life then by all means get to filling. If you're more of a Season 2 guy and don't feel like Blaster really needs tapes, though, you'll be saving money on an honestly pretty poor figure.

His pocket square also makes for a little white-and-red stripe. His wardrobe choices are clearly very intentional. 😁

I decided to pick up Gundam Breaker 4. Only a few missions in, but here's my early impressions: Good: Way better than New Gundam Breaker... Bad: ...but not as good as Gundam Breaker 3. Ugly: I bought it on Steam, and my main display is a 32:9 5120x1440 ultra-wide OLED. And, what with Bandai's proclivity to develop primarily for console, the game really wants you to have a 16:9 display, but unless you play in a window (where it drops to 720p) it also insists that you play in desktop resolution. In my case, the game decided that the best way to get from 16:9 to 32:9 is to drawn the full width of the monitor and simply cut the top and bottom of the screen off. Not only could I not see half of what was going on, I actually couldn't see basic HUD elements. I was eventually able to get the game into a more playable state by first going to the Nvidia Control Panel and, under "adjust desktop size and position," change the scaling from "aspect ratio" to "no scaling" and checking the box where it says "override the scaling mode set by games and programs." Then I went into the game's config file and manually edited the resolution settings to 2560x1440. Now when I launch the game I have a 16:9 image that fills the vertical height of my display and simply leaves the sides black.

Since Chris Latta died Todaro was picked to voice Starscream when they had the first few episodes in theaters a few months back. I assume the Decepticon badges are upside-down because, in the cartoon, the badges on Starscream's wings are upside-down when he's in bot mode.

I know, what with this being a Macross board and all, that the hot Transformers-adjacent topic is God of Flame. Yes, my copy arrived and I've had him for a few days, but like I said in the gray market Valk thread I also happened to get a case of COVID. Five days of quarantine and most of a course of Paxlovid later, I'm finally up and about and ready to talk about some of the stuff that's been piling up on my to-do list. However! The temporary table and poor lighting I've been using since my in-laws arrived just flat out isn't going to cut it for God of Flame. Just not big enough. I need my regular space back. We won't have to wait too long, though, as my in-laws are going home on Wednesday. In the mean time, I have a consolation prize for you... Dr. Wu's latest two-pack, Wasp and Wingman. It's had to convey just how tiny Wasp is. Crotch height to SS86 Bumblebee. Mid-torso to Newage's v1 Bumblebee. Belt-high to Wingman, his own pack-in buddy. I mean, Dr. Wu started this line with figures like Optimus that were roughly the size of a G1 Micromaster, then figured Bumblebee needed to be even smaller so he put out a figure closer to a G1 Headmaster in size. So, maybe his head sculpt is a little soft (still better than Newage's). Maybe his waist/pelvis is just a stick, and not properly yellow. Like the Studio Series toy, the wheels on his feet don't fold in, but unlike that toy there's nothing else under his feet, which leaves him stuck tilting his feet and standing on the inside edge. And he's got a bit of a backpack, but certainly not the worst one I've seen on a Bumblebee figure. To be honest, at this scale, I can forgive a lot... especially when it's still better-engineered and more accurate than Hasbro's own larger Core-class Bumblebee. Wasp doesn't have a gun, which is pretty standard for Dr. Wu figures, but he does come with an alternate head. Ostensibly it's the G1 toy's battle mask. Practically, I think it's just a pre-tooled head for the Goldbug repaint. I'm fine with the cartoon face, but if you want to swap you just pull the stock head off the ball joint and snap the other one on. Wasp's articulation isn't the best. His head's on a ball joint that can't tilt sideways or look down. It does swivel, though, and he can look 90 degrees straight up. His shoulders are hinged ball joints. The balls provide the swivel and 90 degrees of lateral movement, while the hinges (which are really for transformation) give him some nice butterfly joints. No bicep swivel or hand articulation. Elbows are hinged and bend 90 degrees. No waist articulation. His hips are ball joints that get over 90 degrees forward and backward, and about 90 degrees laterally. The motion of the socket around the ball is all the thigh swivel he gets. His hinged knees bend 90 degrees. Due to his transformation his feet can tilt down 90 degrees, but not up, and he lacks ankle pivots. Wasp's transformation is fairly straightfoward. His feet tab together, and the sides of the car unwrap from his heels. His backpack folds up over his head, giving you the clearance you need to fold out his rear wheels. His arms use the hinges on the ball joints to swing behind his back; make sure you've got his elbows bent and the arms oriented so that the hands point toward what's becoming the rear of the car. You'll know you have it right when tabs on the back of Wasp's neck plug into slots near his wrists. Bend his feet down, then use the hinges in his torso to bring his hips out and under, tucking them against his arms and lining up the front of the car. Then it's simply a matter of folding the back and wheels into place and lining up the sides. Zoomed in this close you're probably noticing things like the sloppy paint on his taillights, or the bulges for the hinges in his rear bumper and the back of his roof. Yes, those things are there, and fair criticism, but again I feel like I have to stress how tiny this thing is. From his front bumper to his rear, Wasp is only a tad longer than the pistol SS86 Bee comes with. At this scale, I'm less bothered by the hinges and more impressed by the painted bumper, headlights, and spare tire, or the molded hood and boot covers. We're really talking about a car that looks like a toy for the small-Deluxe that is SS86 Bee. Again, a car that's smaller than the original Newage Bumblebee, but unlike Newage, actually has working wheels. Maybe I'm too forgiving, but at this price and scale, I think Wasp is a pretty great Bumblebee and totally worth getting. Well, as long as you're cool with his pack-in buddy... ...Wingman, aka Cyclonus. And, man, you can really see how far Dr. Wu has come when you put Wingman with his Galvatron, which was one of his earlier releases. The sculpt and proportions on Wingman are a lot better. Wingman is still a Micromaster-scale figure, though, and fairly simple. It's too bad that the Doctor wasn't able to copy a bit more from the excellent Kingdom figure. Instead, Wingman's nose is just chilling on his back, with some flaps lying on his calves. No accessories for (this version of) Wingman. As far as articulation goes, his head swivels but has no tilt. His shoulders use ball joints for swivels, but they're not cut out to allow any other motion. He relies on hinges for a little under 90 degrees of lateral shoulder movement, and on the wrong side of the rotation at that. His elbows bend 90 degrees on ball joints, and they can be used as bicep swivels. No wrist or waist swivels. Ball-jointed hips can go 90 degrees forward, backward, or laterally. As with Wasp, the motion of the socket around the ball is all you get for thigh swivels. His knees bend 90 degrees. His toes have hinges for transformation that let you tilt them down, nothing up. He does have hinges for just under 90 degrees of ankle pivot. Transformation is, again, pretty simple. Spin his head 180, then fold the nose up over it. Tab his legs together, then use the sliders to collapse his thighs. Fold his toes down, and use the flaps on his calves to fill in the gap behind his cockpit. To avoid clearance issues, rotate his forearms inward 170 degrees as you double hinge the wings from behind his shoulders, locking the wings into his elbow gaps. Then double-hinge his arms out from his chest and down to the sides of his legs. As with Wasp, I feel like I can forgive stuff like the visible hands, the hinges on top of the nose, on top of the wings, and on either side of the cockpit, the short and blunt tip on the nose, even some of the gaps where his shoulders don't quite align with the fuselage or the wings with his arms. Why are his wings kind of curved, though? It's an odd design choice, but ultimately still a minor issue on what's otherwise another well-done, tiny figure by Dr. Wu. It's especially nice that both the normal G1 decos come in the same box. This time, the alternate decos were IDW Cyclonus with Bugbite, SG Cyclonus with Goldbug, and SG Goldbug with translucent Cyclonus (of which I might have picked up one more set if only Goldbug had come with IDW Cyclonus, but it's still an improvement). And at around $25 for the pair, as always, they're priced fairly competitively with Hasbro's own Core-class releases at a smaller size that does even better at making Hasbro's Titans look big, making this pair another easy recommend from me. Actually, having Galvatron and Cyclonus really makes me want a Scourge now... good thing he's in the works, along with Warpath, Cliffjumper, Shockwave, Megatron, Prowl, Smokescreen, Bluestreak, and the Insecticons. I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it, I'd love for Dr. Wu to do the entire Sunbow cast at this scale.

As someone who's first Valkyrie was the Fugu Jetfire, I'm going to preorder the VF-1S from ThreeZero. They've got a good rep, and I want to see what they do differently than a KO Yamato/Arcadia.

Funny you bring this up. I loved the PSP games, but when M30 came out I was a bad point financially and couldn't justify importing it. On a whim I finally gave RPCS3 a go. I've had some minor graphical glitches, no audio during cutscenes, and a few outright crashes (save often!), but I've managed to put over 30 hours in so far.