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mikeszekely

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Everything posted by mikeszekely

  1. mikeszekely
    I really like the combined look of Giant, but their individual bots don't do it for me. Some are pretty good, but some really go off the rails in their reinterpretation.
  2. mikeszekely
    That's hot.
  3. mikeszekely
    Eh? I think UT's Octane looks pretty dang good. That said, when competing in the MP-scale market collectors tend to demand G1 accuracy more so than CHUG-scale toys. This take on Sandstorm isn't going to go over well with that... thing... instead of a dune buggy.
  4. mikeszekely
    So Toys R Us in Taiwan are apparently giving away Combiner Wars Deluxe Groove as part of a promotion (spend NT 1799, get Groove for free). It's not much for those of us not in Taiwan, but it's the first time Groove has been released outside of Japan and by Hasbro (Asia) and not Takara. Fingers crossed that we might get a Deluxe Groove in the US yet, even if it does wind up being a limited release like Slingshot and Wildrider.
  5. mikeszekely
    I'm normally right there with you, but for some reason I love Bruticus/Ruination in all his colors.
  6. mikeszekely
    That's about normal for 3P, as long as their not-Menasor isn't grossly overpriced. The combined mode is supposed to be around the same size as Feral Rex or Ordin, and that's within $5 of their limbs. That said, I never heard of the company, so I'm going to want some reviews. Besides, I've still gotta finish Ordin.
  7. mikeszekely
    Bah. Predaking rules. Unlike Devastator (the construction guys),Superion (the jet guys) Menasor, Defensor, Computron, Abominus, and Pirancon (all the other G1 Transformer combiners who weren't Micromasters) who used extra parts to make their combined robots' torsos look different than the torsos of the guys in the middle, Predaking proudly kept his torso-bot's chest as his own, because it's a freaking lion's head. Plus, he's got wings on his back, guns on his back that can fire over his shoulders, a gun on his arm, and a sword. Now, the question of a good toy is tricky... Hasbro/Takara haven't released any new versions of Predaking, although they recently re-issued the original toy. For it's time, I think Predaking was a pretty good toy... he was certainly bigger than some of the other Transformers combiners. But, like a lot of Transformers from that time, I don't think he's aged that well. His wings and sword are too small, his head is too big, his lower legs are attached off-center, since his torso bot is the same size as the limbs he's built like a gorilla, the cartoon's back cannons are just little numbs on his shoulders, and he's got next to nothing in the way of articulation. That said, there's a group called Mastermind Creations that makes a toy called Feral Rex which is an unlicensed Predaking in all but name. Feral Rex (and his individual components) havs all the articulation you could want in a modern toy (including a waist swivel and ankle tilts), better proportions, a mammoth sword, and the back cannons of the animation model, plus he uses some neat tricks like using joints in the waists of the arm bots for elbows and some extensions in the lion's mane that fold up and hide on the torso bot to better give him a distinct look from the combined robot. Only downside is it can be a little expensive collecting all individual robots, who aren't always in stock due to their popularity (I'm personally still waiting for both of the arm robots, who I've had preordered since mid-January).
  8. mikeszekely
    To clarify, you're saying that you do plan on getting it, even though the rest of what you wrote is basically complaints about the figure? It's hard to complain about minor color differences when the plain fact is that neither Seraphicus nor Hypernovae are particularly accurate to Nova Prime's design. They go for big strokes... both have wings, the armored chest is about right, but in the comics Nova's legs are clearly the front of the alt mode. The only thing that bugs me about Seraphicus is that his faceplate should be darker, but whatever. It's an easy fix. In any case, Seraphicus looks more solid and more thought out than Hypernovae. I wish he were a little blockier and less curvy, and like scyla I think he should be cheaper (instead of selling the base figure and cradle separately, sell them in one box for $150). But yeah. I've got a good deal on my credit card right now, so I'll probably preorder Seraphicus and the cradle this week and order the four limbs for Ordin. For the Gundam fans in the thread... is anyone else getting a GP-02 vibe from Seraphicus' armored up legs?
  9. mikeszekely
    This. As far as I know, only volume licenses can't upgrade.
  10. mikeszekely
    Correct. Dunno if anything really uses DX12 yet, but you'd be future-proofing, and the GTX 900-series is DX12-ready. Another small gaming advantage with Windows 10 is that Microsoft makes an adapter to use Xbox One controllers wirelessly with PCs. The drivers are only for Windows 10, though. Personally, I happen to really like the XB1 controllers, although I think they tend to be overshadowed by the PS4's super-improved controller. FWIW, you can use XB1 controllers with Windows 7 and 8, just with a USB cable.
  11. mikeszekely
    I've had two Asus mobos. The first didn't have any major problems, but it took a ridiculously long time to POST. Like, I could hit the power on a laptop after hitting the power on that computer, and the laptop would clear POST before the Asus splash screen cleared. I'm talking around 30 seconds to POST, let alone load the OS. My current board is also an Asus, and it's definitely got issues. Nothing bad enough that I'm rushing to build a new computer, but bad enough that that I won't buy another Asus board. I have issues with one of the USB 3.0 ports randomly flaking out, it would randomly stop detecting the Kingston SSD that was my boot drive, and in maybe 1 out of 10 boots the lights on the tower come on but the mouse and keyboard don't work and no video is displayed.
  12. mikeszekely
    Voyagers are pretty hit and miss entirely in my area. A lot of stores still have some Rhinoxes, Whirls, and Roadbusters in their spot for Generations Voyagers, so they don't restock them with Combiner Wars.
  13. mikeszekely
    Anyone else planning on getting MMC's Seraphicus Prominion? I should be focused on completing Ordin, but I've seen peaugh's and Benscollectible's reviews on Seraphicus and now I'm thinking about preordering.
  14. mikeszekely
    Galvatron still looks good, Astrotrain is pretty meh, and while I've ignored the G2 repaints of Menasor and Superion, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't kinda interested in G2 Bruticus. I'll also take a Combiner Wars Ruination, please. Victorion looks like butt, though. Maybe next time the fans get to vote on stuff, let them also vote not to have a combiner with two molds for four Deluxes and a fugly color scheme. I went to Target to get formula for my daughter, and wouldn't you know it that they have the latest wave of CW Deluxes after I got mine in the mail. Still no sign of Sky Lynx, though.
  15. mikeszekely
    Well, kudos again to HasbroToyShop. I went with the free standard shipping, and my order arrived already. Of the three I got, I'd say Hound's the best. Being simply a new head on Swindle, who himself was a heavy reshell of Rook, means he's not particularly accurate, but the mold happens to be one of the best in the CW line, the head sculpt is good, and I like a lot of what they did with the colors. He's a darker green, more like the G1 toy than the 'toon or the previous CHUG Hound, some of his waist is painted silver and and gold to look like the front of a jeep, and his gun is painted silver and can sit back in the same position as his G1 jeep gun. Some things could be different, like his hands could be black, but for the most part it's a toy you look at and instantly recognize and Hound despite the deviations. Wheeljack is a toughie... I'm not a huge fan of the Breakdown mold, mostly because I hate those hips. Also, Hasbro must have blown their paint budget painting his rims silver, because his paint is really inadequate, especially in bot mode where they have faux windows molded into his chest that are left unpainted. Thankfully, I ordered the Reprolabels for him as soon as I'd finished ordering him. Even still, I'm thinking about painting his waist, forearms, and hands. The head's really good, but he's really missing his wings and shoulder gun. I wonder if there's anything on Shapeways that can plug into the ports on his back... Smokescreen's an odd duck. He's a straight up repaint of Prowl, right down to still having the molded sirens on top. I'd hold that against him, but I happen to think this mold is also one of the better CW molds. Alt mode's not too bad in capturing the right colors, although it could definitely use a little more paint. I ordered the Reprolabels for him, mostly for the headlights, taillights, and the extra racing decals. His bot mode, though, is very blue. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I feel like his whole chest plate should be red, not just the middle, and his thighs and lower legs are blue instead of silver and (mostly) red. And, as if it make up for the missing red, his upper arms are red instead of blue, and his forearms are red instead of black. It's a look that doesn't immediately evoke Smokescreen when you see it, but neither is it a bad look. I will say, though, that with the extra skirts on his bumper and the more toy-accurate head on the animation model, Smokescreen struck me as chunkier dude than the other Datsun brothers, and it makes me wonder why they decided to do Smokescreen instead of Bluestreak, who I'd have preferred. (For that matter, instead of Trailbreaker I wish they'd have repainted First Aid as Ratchet. Despite being very similar molds, First Aid fixed a lot of problems that the Offroad mold had, so it's disappointing that they gave us Ironhide and Trailbreaker in back-to-back waves instead of re-using First Aid). I'm thinking about shuffling some limbs around. I kind of want to use Hound and Wheeljack with Ironhide and Mirage on Prime, move Prowl to Defensor, then Sunstreaker, Smokescreen, Alpha Bravo, and Rook with Sky Lynx.
  16. mikeszekely
    HasbroToyShop's giving 20% if you use the code SPRINGFF at checkout. As of right now, it looks like they have the G2 Menasor and Superion sets available, although I just used it to get Hound, Smokescreen, and Wheeljack (skipping Trailbreaker, because we just got one like a year ago, and the truck is my least favorite CW mold, and I've got Alpha Bravo as a leftover since I was able to get Slingshot for Superion). Sadly, no Sky Lynx.
  17. mikeszekely
    I'll assume that's a yes, because I don't know what that is. I only ever played Virtue's Last Reward on the Vita, and to be honest I didn't care for it. I found the puzzles to be more annoying than entertaining, and I simply wasn't invested in the story enough to put up with it. But I might not be a fan of the entire visual novel genre; I couldn't even get into Danganronpa.
  18. mikeszekely
    You're pretty excited for this, aren't you?
  19. mikeszekely
    If you're going to include the cost of the PC that I already have that already meets the requirements, then you might as well count the cost of the PS4 in the requirements for the PSVR. In any case, I'm not bringing up the additional costs for PSVR to start an argument over PSVR vs Oculus vs Vive or whatever. Let other people rate the experiences of each, present the pros and cons, and let the consumers decide what's right for them. I'm only bringing it up because I think Sony's being a bit quiet about the additional requirements. As for the VR experience, I don't think it's a gimmick like 3D. I feel pretty comfortable saying that it's the direction gaming is definitely heading in, but the question you have to ask before you buy into any VR is "are we there yet?" I kind of don't think so. That's why, even though my PC is VR-ready, I'm holding off a year or two. Let them work out the kinks, and (on the PC at least) figure out which VR solution gets more widely adopted or has that first killer app.
  20. mikeszekely
    I'm hearing that those prices don't include a required camera.
  21. mikeszekely
    I'm having a hard time imagining how Takara could make an MP Cyclonus that's better than Eligos. But for me, I'm holding off for MMC's IDW-style Cyclonus.
  22. mikeszekely
    War Within was probably the only decent Transformers thing that Dreamwave did, but that's because Pat Lee didn't work on it. As for Gundog vs Willis, peaugh put up a review of Willis and compared it to Gundog. A quick summary of points: -Both are solid toys -Willis is closer to Hound's animation model. -Willis has some tight clearances in his transformation that makes transforming him less fun. -Only Gundog appeared to have a place to store his gas can in bot mode. -Peaugh suggests that which you prefer is likely to depend on what you want; Gundog is a more playable toy, Willis is better as a bot mode display piece. -If pressed, peaugh would take Gundog because it's more fun to play with.
  23. mikeszekely
    I'm glad I bought the season pass before they jacked up the price, but I'm thinking it'll be awhile before I get back into Fallout 4.
  24. mikeszekely
    But that's the thing, in the process of future-proofing, you're basically talking about replacing the whole computer, when everything in frothymug's box is essentially still good and he's working on a budget. That's why it's my advice to upgrade the video card (and SSD) and call it a day for now. He can always wait another tick/tock cycle on the CPU, then worry about upgrading the CPU/motherboard/RAM/etc later when he's got more money for it. Especially if he goes with the GTX 980, because it'll likely still be good for most games when he does eventually upgrade.
  25. mikeszekely
    If you upgrade to a sixth-gen Core i anything, you'll need a new mobo. Honestly, I'd pass on upgrading the CPU at all. A Core i5 should be plenty for gaming, as the GPU will do most of the heavy lifting. If you do upgrade the mobo, be advised that you'll probably need new RAM, too, as the boards for 6th-gen Intel CPUs tend to use DDR4, and I'm betting you're using DDR3 in your current box. (Side note, while I used to really like ASUS mobos I've had enough minor issues with my last two ASUS mobos, not to mention an ASUS DVD burner that died after a year, that I doubt I'll buy another ASUS product for awhile.) You should have enough RAM. That's how much I'm running. I forget the exact model of my mobo, but it's similar to yours as well, the only difference is I have an i7-3770K in mine. That being said, absolutely upgrade to the GTX 970. Sure, the 980 will perform better, but not really $150 better IMHO. The general consensus is, as you noted, the GTX 970 is the best bang for your buck. It's what I've got in my system, and there are only a few games I've run into that I can't run at the max settings and reliably get 30fps at 1920x1080. I haven't heard anything about Nvidia's next GPU. It's a given that they'll come out with something bigger and badder, but look at this way... if you save money and go with the GTX 970, you can budget to build a whole new box down the line.
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