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mikeszekely

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  1. mikeszekely
    Skip the Classics Ratchet. It was pretty awful, even at the time.
  2. mikeszekely
    I didn't refer to you by name, but you were certainly in the back of my mind when I mentioned board members who could nit-pick details. That's pretty much in line with my thinking. Harrier and Falcon have the most glaring departures from the real jets. That said, I think they're both better than the CW versions, although I suppose that might frustrate someone like you who could at least write off the CW toys since they're not really supposed to be licensed jets. Phantom and Eagle came out ok, though. Speaking of F-15 Eagle... here's TFC's take on Air Raid. My biggest complaint with Eagle's bot mode is that he's got too much black. In my mind, Air Raid was a black jet that turned into a mostly-white robot. If TFC used white shoulders and painted the front of Eagle's shins white, he'd have looked a lot better. I don't really mind the head. He could have done with a blue or silver dome on his head, but I kind of like the happy smile. Dumb accessories that are going back in the box: check. But I gotta say, TFC really missed an opportunity here. The intakes don't have to folded onto his back, his missile's can be mounted onto his arms, and his wings can be straightened and flipped. In other words, a new head, a new chest piece, and Eagle could have would have made a great CHUG Seeker. He's miles better than the Classics Deluxe mold, and he even has the old MP Seeker gimmick where his chest vents can flip up to reveal little molded missiles. But I digress. He's not supposed to be a Seeker, he's supposed to be Air Raid. And he does a so better with a gun and missiles from the Wing of Uranos kit. Eagle's largely the same mold as Falcon, so articulation is the same. Let's move on to alt-mode. Eagle is an F-15 Eagle, which is more than we can say for CW Air Raid, who looks more like an F-14. I think his alt mode is pretty good. Sure, he's clearly a robot when viewed from underneath, but much less so than CW Air Raid, and about par for the course for jet transformers. Something else I've neglected to mention... it's very difficult to do so, but all the jets have working canopies. So, would I recommend Eagle? Maybe. I think if another 3P tackles Superion there's a good chance that their version will be a better Air Raid than Eagle, but I don't think Eagle's bad, really. And, if you can get a used one or find him on clearance somewhere, he might even make a fun project to remake into a Seeker.
  3. mikeszekely
    I had Kup, Hot Rod, and Blurr as Targetmasters, but that's it. I had to look at a wiki to even remember who he is. He's looking pretty good, but I might be done with Hasbro Transformers for real now.
  4. mikeszekely
    Well, what I really want from my toys are high-quality, articulate toys that look G1. So I don't mind "chunkiness," if that's what you mean by it. I've already stated a preference for Warbotron's Technobots, at least aesthetically. Not everything has to be a re-imagining with clever transformation gimmicks (like the Fansproject's Function X line). So, I mean, aesthetically I like what TFC's doing with the Hades guys. My concerns, based on what I've heard about Hercules, Ares, and Prometheus and my personal experience is the "high-quality" part. So, without further adieu, F-16 Falcon, TFC's Skydive. Falcon's colors are just about spot on. He's got a little extra red on his biceps, but it matches and helps break up the black. Likewise, he's got red feet, but even that sort of matches the stickers that went on the G1 toy's feet. I might have liked if that silver paint on his chest were black, but whatever. What throws me off is his head. I didn't have Skydive as a kid, so my impression of him is the cartoon, which CW Skydive nails. I might suggest that Falcon's head is more like the G1 toy's, but the toy's head was pretty much all-black. The silver paint makes it look like neither. Although not a remold of Phantom or Harrier, he's not that different. Articulation's the same, and he comes with the same stupid missiles that will go back in the box. And his accessories will be replaced with a gun and missiles from the Wing of Uranos kit. Continuing the theme of this set, the alt mode is pretty good and recognizable as an F-16. No twin tail or glaringly obvious robot arms like the CW toy, although his hands are visible under the wings if viewed from the bottom. The fuselage could stand to be a little rounder, especially near the exhaust. I like how TFC actual made detailed little missiles for the wing tips. They're tabbed on, but they fall off VERY easily. I'm gluing mine on. Something I haven't mentioned yet about the jet modes... all four limb bots have at least two 5mm peg holes underneath, so you have places to store missiles, guns, or other accessories. The wings themselves are all attached via pegs and can be removed, if necessary. They use 5mm pegs, so they could even be used as weapons or shields or something. So, do I recommend Falcon? Still nope. I don't think he's a bad figure, exactly, but aesthetically he's just not Skydive-ish enough for me.
  5. mikeszekely
    Good question! And the answer, sadly, is no, at least not without some modifications. While they're both on ball pegs, the one on Harrier is smaller. Quickslinger's head falls right off. That said, there's a seller on Shapeways offering these 4mm to 6mm ball peg adapters. I'm just not sure how big the ball peg is on Harrier. If it's 4mm, it could work, but I think it might be 5mm. I wound up canceling my Seraphicus. I'm just too into combiners. Let me know how you like him, though. I'll probably still pick him up later. As for TFC, it's kind of funny that you said that, because that's sort of what I was thinking. I don't know how much they've improved since Uranos, which was, what, their second project? But a lot of the issues I'm running into remind me of issues I've had with Hasbro toys. Maybe things were different back when Uranos came out, but when I compare him to M3, Ordin, or Feral Rex I'd be pretty upset if I'd paid whatever he was going for back in the day. Heck, I'd be angry if I'd paid the $420 price BBTS is currently asking for the complete set. I got mine through a trade, though.
  6. mikeszekely
    Well, I expect I'll have Sigma L and Quantron by Saturday, and I'm waiting for the four WuKong KO Bruticus limbs to get through customs, plus now I know Tigris and Talon should be on the way soon. And knowing me, instead of waiting until July for the WuKong not-Onslaught I'll probably crack and buy the original Warbotron one. So, instead of waiting until tomorrow I'm going to go ahead and post another review, this time for TFC's AV-8B Harrier II, their version of Slingshot. From the neck down, Harrier is pretty good approximation of Slingshot. His white thighs are more toy and 'toon accurate than CW Quickslinger's black ones. The head is crap, though. Seriously, Slingshot's most-recognizable feature is his orange bald-guy with goggles between two white boards head, and that's toy and 'toon right there. So TFC's choice of such a generic head with his mix of red and white for a color scheme means you have to look for a minute to tell him and Phantom apart. It sort of makes me appreciate the little color changes Hasbro made to make Firefly and Quickslinger visually distinct. I'm wondering why, in all the years since, hasn't anyone made 4P head's for these guys? Harrier is basically a retool of Phantom, so his articulation is identical. Because their heels are made from jet parts, though, Harrier has a little trouble standing. Also, like Phantom, his accessories are stupid and going back in the box. And again, we turn to the Wing of Uranos add-on for real missiles and a real gun. Harrier turns into, you guessed it, a Harrier. I think it fares pretty well against the G1 toy, although it's too bad his forearms weren't molded in white so they'd blend in with the fuselage better. I also think he looks better than CW Quickslinger, although Quickslinger is closer to being a Harrier than Firefly was to being a Phantom. Harrier's got some nice touches from the real plane, like the landing gear and their storage slots on the wings... which are attached by 5mm pegs, and are going in the box since they interfere with putting other things on his wings and he's got landing gear in his knees, too. One thing that bugs me, though, is that the molded exhausts are near the back, just before the split for the tail. That's back too far, although they're at least molded to look like the rear exhausts. The forward exhausts aren't on the figure. Getting to the nitty gritty, do I recommend Harrier? I'll say pass. Chances are, if you're into Slingshot you're going to find Harrier's head unacceptable, and if you're into Harriers you're going to find the inaccuracies similarly unacceptable. Phantom's the stronger of this mold. Only get this guy if you really want the completed Uranos for your display... but even then, you might want to wait until I give you my impression of Uranos.
  7. mikeszekely
    Well, as long as we're talking about TFC, I guess it's a good time to start my next batch of reviews. So today, it's F-4 Phantom, TFC's version of Fireflight. Phantom is a bit taller than Combiner Wars Firefly, and has a seriously different aesthetic. The head sculpt is close enough to Fireflight, and he's got more red on his torso than Firefly, which does give him a slightly more G1 appearance, excluding the red shins. Still, there's something off about TFC's design, beyond the yellow eyes. For a 3P toy, Phantom has almost the same articulation as Firefly. Sure, the types of joints might be different, but the end result is about the same: head can swivel, shoulders can rotate and bring the arms out the sides, elbows can bend, biceps and waist can swivel, hips can move the legs forward, backward, and side-to-side, and knees can bend. Neither figure has wrist swivels. The only real difference is that Phantom has ankle tilts, and even then they're the kind of fake ankles where really just the toe moves. Phantom comes with two... things. I don't want to say missiles, because both ends are pointed. Fuel or sensor pods? Whatever. They're kind of stupid as weapons. Fortunately, I also have the Wing of Uranos add-on, which I'll be discussing more later. For now I'll simply say that it comes with new guns for each of the Uranos limbs, and new sets of missiles. These missiles are paired, then set on c-clips so that there's two pairs for each jet. While I'll show off the original accessories in these reviews the original accessories are going back in the box. Speaking of jets, Phantom's alt mode is, like G1 Fireflight, an F-4 Phantom. I think it's fair to say that Phantom's alt mode is pretty good. I know that there are members on this board who can probably nit-pick details, but Phantom pulls off a fair approximation of both his namesake jet and the original G1 toy, right down to the white arms along the sides. He's certainly better than Firefly, with his wings mounted at the top of fuselage and large chunks of arms and hands showing. Sure, if you turn the jet over, there's going to be robot kibble down there. But it's not really any worse than the G1 toy or the Combiner Wars toy. It's kind of just a fact of life with jet Transformers. So, do I recommend Phantom? Well, keeping in mind that this is strictly as a solo toy and NOT as a combiner (I'll tell you my recommendation on Uranos when we get to him), I'd say maybe. By modern 3P standards he's kind of dated, and the design is a little funky, but ultimately I think his bot mode is a decent take on Fireflight and his alt mode is a good jet. If you're a fan of Fireflight, or you like the idea of a transforming F-4 and you can overlook the fact that 3P toys have come a long way in design and QC since TFC originally released this guy, I say go for it.
  8. mikeszekely
    Based on the experience I've had with them, TFC just doesn't make as good toys as pretty much every other company I have 3P Transformers from. I think Minos looks really cool though, so I might give them another shot with this set. Didn't watch Victory, though, so I'm not in a hurry. In other news, I got an email from BBTS the Talon and Tigris I preordered back in January are going to be ready in the next 10 days.
  9. mikeszekely
    1. Ok, so I'm good to go with X-0. 2. Dang. I guess I'll be watching Ebay auctions... 3. They must of; I don't know what they did a year ago. But X-10 is definitely Browning II, and that's their Highbrow. He's up for preorder now. If Fansproject is planning on doing Hardhead and Apeface (I hope they're doing Hardhead and Apeface!) they must be further down the road. I know Toyworld and Maketoys did Hardhead; I don't know of anyone who's done Apeface. Toyworld's Headmasters haven't impressed me, and while Maketoys' seem pretty good I'm into CHUG scale, not MP.
  10. mikeszekely
    After completing Guardia and Warbotron Bruticus I'm thinking about taking a break from combiners before doing Devastator, Liokaiser, Dinobot Combiner, Throttlebot Combiner, Monstructor, Piranacon, etc. Kind of interested in Fansproject's Function X line. Couple quick questions: 1. Are the only differences between X-1 Code and X-0 Code more paint (and $20)? 2. Does Fansproject do reissues? The ones I'm most interested in are Code, Smart Robin, and Quadruple U (I already have Sigma L on the way). Since Code was redone as X-0, it looks like he can found relatively easily, but it doesn't look like anyone has Smart Robin or UUUU. 3. X-0 is Code, X-1 is Code (or Code Virus), X-2 is UUUU, X-3 is Smart Robin, X-4 is Sigma L, X-5 is MADLAW, X-6 is Knight, X-7 is Combes Robin, X-8 is Crox, X-9 is Positum, and X-10 will be Browning II. X-1 and X-0 are the same mold, X-3 and X-7 are the same mold, X-5 and X-6 are the same mold, and X-8 and X-9 are the same mold. Am I missing anything? I'm not interested in collecting the whole line, maybe one of each mold (and even then, maybe not X-5 or X-6).
  11. mikeszekely
    Before I move on to bigger (but not necessarily better) things, let's revisit M3 for a bit. Now, you'll recall that I recommended M3, but he wasn't without his problems. Well, some guys from the TFW2005 boards got together and, under the label DMY, released their D-06 kit that attempts to address pretty much every complaint I had. When you open this box, this is what you'll get: A: New front wing parts for Down Force to help make him look more G1. B. A filler part for M3 that fills in his neck and abs and hides Diesel's head. C. Rear wing for Car Crash. D. A part the does double duty as back filler for Diesel that hides M3's head, and forearm filler/new ball socket wrist for Last Chance in arm mode. E. A ball joint wrist part for M3's left hand. F. Extra wheels that replace the fenders on Down Force to give him his six-wheeled G1 look. G. A darker replacement canopy for Down Force. Unlike the original, it can supposedly turn either way. H. Wheels that clip onto Down Force's back wheels, bringing them in line with the front wheels and altering his arm mode slightly. I. A part that clips between Last Chance's legs in arm mode, filling in M3's elbow. J. A part that clips onto Last Chance's legs in arm mode, filling in M3's elbow. K. Small tabs. The yellow clips onto Down Force's collar, and the red onto M3's chest piece. They provide a flat area to put a Decepticon symbol on them. L. A part that clips into Down Force's legs in arm mode to make a new ball-socket wrist for M3. M. Larger replacement feet for Down Force. N. Parts that go inside M3's ankles. O. A peg that clips onto B that allows Diesel to hold B with M3's chest attached as a shield. P. (supposed to be closer to L) A ball joint wrist part for M3's right hand. Q. A bag with duplicates of B, D, I, J, L, and P, except molded in gray instead of black. DMY took care to make sure as much of the new parts as possible could still fit in Diesel's trailer. The new attempt at a shield works, but I don't really like it any better than I liked the chest piece as a shield without it. Down Force is looking good from the front with his new feet, and as you can see I did indeed get a Decepticon Reprolabel onto the new collar tab. Part D is working wonders filling in the gaping hole that was on Diesel's back. Down Force's new tires are working fine folded up on the backs of his shoulders, but the new wing adds a ton of kibble to his arms. A rear wing is exactly what Car Crash needed! I'm a little lukewarm on Down Force's new parts, though. As you can see, I left the dark canopy in the box and kept the blue one. The wheel extensions on the back tires are fine, and necessary if you want to use the new wrist. The extra front wheels and wing definitely give Down Force a more G1 Dragstrip look, but to be honest I kind of dug the Caparo alt mode, and I can't decide which is more kibbley in bot mode. I may go back to the stock front end. Down Force's new feet don't fit under the canopy in alt mode, so they have to parts form. There's a tiny peg on the bottom of each foot that allows them to slide into the gaps on the back of the car and grip on screw holes there. It works fine, and actually makes it easier to transform his legs, but it does leave the ball joints poking off the back of the car. Now, I have to mention that up until this point all the new parts have snapped on, and even the removal of Down Force's old feet and fenders was as simple as popping them out of their ball sockets and popping different parts in. However, if you want to use the new wrists you'll have to unscrew the backs of the hands, take the old connector out, put in the new ball pegs, then close them back up. Notice that one peg is longer than the other- the longer peg goes with the hand you use with Last Chance (usually left) and the shorter one goes with the hand you use on Down Force (usually right). Likewise, the ankle parts require you to open up the feet to get at the ankle joint. There's one piece for each side of both feet. On one side, you're replacing an existing part. On the other side the part installs the same way, except there's no part to replace. The result seems to be a slightly stronger ratchet but, more importantly, seems to squeeze the ball joint tighter so M3 doesn't lean anymore. Here you get a clearer look at the tab on the chest that let me put a Decepticon Reprolabel on him, as well as the filler bits and new wrists. I love the new torso filler. It doesn't just fill in his neck, and hide Diesel's head and some gaps on his abdomen, it's molded into abs and looks killer on him. The combination of parts that make up his left wrist are nice and secure and supports the weight of M3's gun like a champ. Unfortunately, the ball joint on the right is loose. I tried with both the black and gray parts, neither can support the weight of the sword. Looks like I'll be breaking out the floor polish. On the plus side, that droopage does a good job of illustrating how the new ball joints increase the wrist articulation, allowing you to get poses where M3 can point the tip of his sword toward the ground or at an enemy. Zooming in, we can get a better look at the elbow filler. I went with gray on Down Force and black on Last chance to match the color of their thighs. As you can see, they do a good job filling in the gap between their thighs, and the parts attach quite securely (better, I'm told, than the Shadow Fisher ones). Down Force's has pegs on it that you can attach his gun to. Now, Down Force actually did have space in his legs to store his gun when he was in arm mode, but it meant you had to leave the little bits around the wheels unfolded, and they were kind of a pain to get the gun into and out of. I didn't check to see if you can still use them with the new parts attached, because it's easier to store the gun on the filler. Or, if you prefer, there's four peg holes on the forearm filler on Last Chance. All four guns can be pegged in there. So, do I recommend the DMY D-06 upgrade kit? Definitely. This kit is absolutely essential of you own M3. Even if you're not sold on all the parts (I myself am debating on whether or not to remove the front wing and extra wheels from Down Force and going back to the stock fenders), the torso filler and ankle parts for M3 correct what I consider to be M3's biggest flaws. If you transform your toys and sometimes display them in individual robot mode, having back filler for Diesel is almost as good as the torso filler, and even though it's small I think Car Crash looks way better with the wing. The extra wrist articulation makes a good case for using those parts, and while I don't mind the thighs-for-elbows as much as some people I must admit that M3 looks better with them installed. And if you're like me and want faction symbols on your 3P toys, the tabs for Down Force's collar and M3's chest are much appreciated. So even if you don't use all the parts, chances are good you'll use enough and see enough of an improvement that you'll feel you got your money's worth.
  12. mikeszekely
    Well, this will be my last Guardia post until Vulcan comes out. It's Maketoys' Rover, their version of Streetwise. He's a little taller than CW Streetwise (mine of which is sporting Reprolabels). He's got red hands and abs and a black crotch, but his bot mode is actually much closer to G1 Streetwise than the CW version, with the windowed chest and shins. Even the lightbar, which made up the G1 toy's feet, are a part of Rover's feet. The head sculpt is very Streetwise as well, although it's oddly asymmetrical. While we're on the subject of windowed chests, I think that Rover pulls it off better than TFC's Gumball, since it doesn't jut out or come up higher than his collar. I feel pretty comfortable saying that, aesthetically, this is the best-looking version of Streetwise you can get, at least as of this writing. Articulation is on par with the other Guardia team members, which is to say very good. His ball-jointed head can rotate all the way around, look up, look down, and tilt his head as if confused by Vulcan's absence. His ball-jointed shoulders can rotate all the way around and get his arm about 90 degrees to the side before his shoulder starts poking his head. He's got pretty standard waist, bicep, and thigh swivels, and a double-jointed elbow. His wrists are on tiny ball joints that swivel fine and give him a little waggle. Ball-jointed hips that can swing out 90 degrees in any direction His knees are double-jointed and soft ratcheted. His ankles are also ball joints. Rover comes with a pair of guns that are identical (and look just as crappy) as Axle and Himed's. And that means that they can clip together around Katana's other gun. From what I can tell, Vulcan will come with a gun that splits and half, and each half will attach to one of the combined guns to form a pair of guns for Guardia. Rover's alt mode is still a police car, but one that bears very little resemblance to spoiler-toting, mostly white Nissan that the original G1 toy was. However, rather than slapping a lightbar on a sports car and calling it done, Rover is actually, right down to the paint job with the generic "Sheriff" on the side, clearly meant to be Carbon Motor's E7 concept police car. It even has the wrap-around lightbar built into the roof, although the led panels above the doors are painted instead of clear plastic, and the lights painted into the front bumper. Like Axle's Honda alt mode, I think it's a pretty good choice for an alt mode. So, do I recommend Rover? Well, like I said, I think it's the best version of Streetwise currently available in toy form, so I'm going to say yes. Which, on the whole, makes this a very good set. Looking good together. Now, we wait for Vulcan...
  13. mikeszekely
    *shrugs* PockySticks is the only one I recognize, although it's possible that board members are using different Steam IDs than their MW names.
  14. mikeszekely
    Alright, tonight we'll be looking at Axle, Maketoys take on Groove. I don't have the Takara Deluxe-class Groove, although it's looking like he'll be for sale through online stores this May as part of the Combiner Wars line in the States. I do have the Legends-class toy, though, and it's surprising how similar they are. My big complaint with the Legends-class Groove was that it didn't look enough like Groove; it was too spindly, had too much black, and not enough gold. Axle is also too spindly, also has too much black, and also is lacking in gold. Both toys also have wheels on the inside of their shins, weird feet, and handlebars behind their heads. Those features, at least, are G1-accurate, although Axle's seat makes up his abdomen instead of his feet. Axle does have some good things going for him as well, like a red visor and serious face that sort of remind of Robocop, sirens on his shoulders, and the use of the saddlebags to fill out his lower legs. He's lacking a little in articulation compared to Himed and Katana, mostly due to how he transforms. He's got a ball-jointed head that's also on a swivel, ball-jointed shoulders, bicep swivels slightly hindered by bike kibble, double-jointed elbows, and wrist swivels. He can pivot a little at the mid-torso, but he lacks a true waist swivel. His hips are on pins that can swivel out to the side all the way around 360 degrees back to where he started, and he can kick forward enough to rest his foot on his shoulder. However, he can't really swing them backward. He's rounded out with thigh swivels, double-jointed knees, and ankle tilts. It's enough that you should be able to get him into some good poses. The in-and-out movement of the hips could give him some good John Woo-style jumping-sideways-and-dual-wielding poses, if only there was a place to connect him to a stand. Or if he came with two guns. Speaking of his gun, it's similar to but the opposite of Himed's. Looks like you can take one of Katana's submachine guns and and clip it between Axle and Himed's. On to the alt mode. Axle's alt mode hits all the right notes. White police motorcycle with black seat, check. It's got the saddlebags of the G1 version with the sirens of the Deluxe-class CW version. And, it's actually modeled off of a real police motorcycle, the Honda VFR800P. The white shield on the exhaust pipe is removable, but there's nowhere else for it to go. It can stay on the exhaust in robot mode, although it came packaged on his back. I'd put it back in the box and forget about it, but I'm thinking maybe it has a role in his leg mode? We'll find out when Vulcan comes. The other side of the bike has a kickstand instead of an exhaust. His fellow Guardia members don't look too hot riding on him. In any case, this is simply one of the best bike-modes I've seen on a transforming toy, and I've seen crappier motorcycles turn into crappier robots. So do I recommend Axle? I'd have to say that I do, especially if you're into motorcycle Transformers.
  15. mikeszekely
    An epic MLP/M.A.S.K. crossover.
  16. mikeszekely
    So Hasbro's got a film label now, Allspark Pictures, and they're working with Universal on a cinematic universe based on Hasbro's toy properties. More Transformer movies? Meh. A reboot of the GI Joe films? Hope it's better than the last attempt. M.A.S.K? Wait, now I'm kinda getting interested... Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light? HOLY CRAP WHERE DO I BUY TICKETS?! Visionaries in the same universe as GI Joe? *head explodes* No joke, I really want a Visionaries movie. This better not fall through! It also better not lead to a Battleship reboot...
  17. mikeszekely
    MS-04 Prototype Zaku.
  18. mikeszekely
    Is Quantron worth $300? Also, every pic I've seen of him (and Warbotron's Nonputron) have Afterburner as the left arm. In the cartoon, Afterburner was always on the right. Can they be switched on Quantron?
  19. mikeszekely
    Well, I got kind of sidetracked with M3, but let's get back to our not-Protectobots with Katana, MakeToys' version of Blades. Well, in bot mode I suppose we have to start by admitting that CW Blades is actually closer in appearance to G1 Blades. Katana is lacking the blue face, white biceps, hands, and thighs, and red shins, despite actually being closer to the G1 design with his feet as the rear of the chopper instead of the cockpit. That said... I dig little things that MakeToys did here. His chest retains the basic colors of G1 Blades, but is designed to look like he's wearing a flight harness. Similarly, his eyes look like goggles and there's some molding around his chin that looks like a chin strap. With engineering borrowed from Himed, Katana turns into a pretty good helicopter (an AugustaWestland CH-149 if I'm not mistaken) that nails G1 Blades colors a lot better than the red-with-white-stripe CW Blades. No missile-covered arms hanging off the side here! Plus, little panels on the back open up like the rear ramp on the real thing. There's a few things that could use changing here... I wish it had some Coast Guard or Rescue markings, and if it was meant to be a US Coast Guard chopper they might have picked a model like the Jayhawk or the Dolphin instead of a chopper that's only used by Canada and I've only seen in yellow. As David said either here or at TFW, perhaps something with a fenestron, since Katana's rotor does spin but will collide with the tail rotors. There's molded landing gear (making clever use of the combiner port), but he doesn't roll. When it comes to articulation, Katana's pretty much identical to Himed, right down to the combiner elbow ab-crunch, which is very good. Even with the tail boom on the back of his legs, articulation isn't really hindered except for a little where his left arm might run into the tail rotor. He comes with a pair of what appear to be submachine guns. Unfortunately, like Himed's gun, Katana's guns have an unfinished look that screams "I'm part of something else!". Fortunately, you're not likely to pose him with them. See, Katana's coolest feature is how he stores his rotors. They fold up and clip together, and the ball peg that connects the rotors to the engine can also clip into a socket on his left hip, like a scabbard. One of the rotor blades can be unclipped and removed from the scabbard, giving Katana his namesake weapon. So, would I recommend Katana? Frankly, at the prices these guys are going for, I'd say go for it. He's a steal even if you don't want the rest of the set to make a not-Defensor. His transformation isn't too hard or too difficult, he's one of the better looking helicopter alts I've seen, and the bot mode plays like a high-quality non-transforming action figure. Blades was my least-favorite Protectobot and I thought I was getting Katana more to complete the set than anything else, but Katana surprised me by ending up one of my favorites.
  20. mikeszekely
    Decided to cancel my preorders for Takara Computron and Bruticus. The way I'm going, I'd just replace them with 3P anyway.
  21. mikeszekely
    So, those of you with M3, did you put Decepticon symbols on them, and where? My DMY D-06 kit came today, so I went with the following (all silver-backed Reprolabel Decepticon symbols, TH309, and I'll say they're 1-5 with one being the smallest, 5 being the biggest): Diesel: a 1 on the silver bit on his chest, a 2 on the red piece from the DMY kit that fits onto the combiner chest, a 2 on each of his cab doors, and a 5 on the trailer side of each of the sword panels at the widest point. Car Crash: a 1 on his abdomen between the silver, a two on the red strip on his right foot (that is, the American driver's side of the hood). Down Force: a 1 on the yellow bit from the DMY kit, a 2 at the tip of the car nose before the wing that I cut so it'd split with the arms. Last Chance: a 1 on the dark square that shows on his chest in bot mode or his hood in alt mode T-Bone: a 1 in the middle of his chest and a 1 on the silver stripe on his right foot.
  22. mikeszekely
    Am I the only one disappointed that this isn't a live-action adaptation of Turbo Teen?
  23. mikeszekely
    Yeah, I don't expect any of the stuff I named to actually see the light of day before Vulcan, except Pandinus. Guardia is the first combiner I've collected, though, where I didn't start with at least the torso and both legs. I mean, I'm still waiting for Talon and Tigris, but I can at least make a one-armed Predaking with the four I have. M3 and Ordin are complete. But I can't get no-armed, one-legged Guardia without a torso. So I just get a little frustrated when all the news out of Maketoys is "check out this awesome stuff we're making!" while being really tight-lipped about Vulcan. I mean, last we heard was he might be out in May, which is only a week away and neither BBTS nor TFSource has so much as a preorder up yet. Anyway, I took apart all my 3P combiners and rearranged my combiner display which was originally Autobots on one shelf and Decepticons on another, to Hasbro on one shelf and 3P on the other. Collecting combiners, it turns out, will make your 3P collection grow fast. I mean, I'm just thinking to myself, "Predaking, Abominus, Menasor, and Defensor" but that's really 20 figures on myself, 18 of which I bought since January (Rex minus Talon and Tigris, plus Felisaber, Guardia minus Vulcan, Orin and M3 complete at five a piece, along with Mania King and Hegemon whom I bought two or three years back). Add nine more in the mail, and one more I just ordered, plus two preorders, and how the heck did I afford all that? PS~ Waiting really does suck. When I get my WuKong Warbotron Bruticus limbs, I think I'll probably buy the actual Warbotron not-Onslaught, since the WuKong KO has been delayed until July.
  24. mikeszekely
    Well, now you have your excuse! $59.99 at BBTS. I ordered one. Mindwipe was my favorite Headmaster, and while the upcoming Hasbro one looks more G1 accurate, it also looks like a Happy Meal toy compared to Sigma L. In any case, the bat mode is plenty accurate enough, and I dig how Fansproject made him look like a vampire. Besides, I could always get both, and Sigma L could always be my Senator Ratbat.
  25. mikeszekely
    I was sort of having the same thought, so I went and watched all 12 Bobby Skullface reviews for both sets. I'm left with basically the same impressions; that I prefer the more G1 aesthetic of WB-03 (seriously, what's up with Overheat's head?, that transforming the Maketoys figures is actually more work than fun, but the WB-03 figures are too big for my liking, that the Maketoys figures are more fun "action figures" in bot mode, that Quantron is way cheaper and more the size I want from a Computron, and that Blindfire looks so good in both modes that he could be the deciding factor. I'm still kind of torn, but I'm leaning toward Quantron based on price alone. No reason to spend Warbotron prices when Computron is probably my least favorite combiner. And regarding ratcheted waists on arm bots, I assume because it'd provide minimal benefit, and since the arm bot waist is usually the combiner's bicep swivel, loss of fine arm posing. The trade off just isn't there. I mean, even the Hasbro combiners don't really have problems with bicep posing. I know you're not the only one to think like that, but I actually prefer the cars on the front of the legs. You're very welcome! I'm taking a night off, I think, but I'll try to wrap up the limbs for Guardia this weekend because I have plenty more 3P combiner stuff coming! Sadly, that's already happened on mine. Ironically, not pegging or unpegging it, either. The boxes for these guys, the Guardia limbs, and Ordin had kind of piled up, so I wanted to put the in storage before the next round of stuff came. And before that, I wanted to make sure I could transform them without the instructions so that I could keep them and the cards in the boxes. I was having trouble getting Diesel back into truck mode, and I think it broke while I was moving the panels out of the way so I could mess with the cab end. Fortunately, that tab isn't particularly important, doing nothing in bot or truck mode while the ball joint and the tabs at the top of his back do most of the work in torso mode. Yeah, yeah... this, Contact Shot, Pandinus, etc. I kind of wish they'd finish Vulcan so I can complete Guardia before announcing a zillion other things they're working on that aren't Vulcan. Anyway... I've heard some good things about the Fansproject's Function X line. I know it's not a combiner and I shouldn't, but Sigma L (not Mindwipe) is on sale at BBTS. Worth $60?
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