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mikeszekely

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Everything posted by mikeszekely

  1. mikeszekely
    I don't usually make a fuss about Sony's PSN sales, but if you're a PSN member you can pick up Xenogears for $3 and Suikoden for $1.20. Seemed worth calling attention to.
  2. mikeszekely
    I'm not 100% sure, but I'd guess not. Officially, they're not cassettes, they're "smart tablets" or some junk. In that mode, there are stickers that look like a cellphone screen, detail that looks sort of like a home button, etc. The dimensions don't look right for a micro-cassette. They will, however, plug into Titans Return Leader-class Soundwave or Blaster. Buzzsaw is actually coming out in the same Combiner Wars Legends wave as Shockwave, so I'm sure if you Google up on him there's probably reviews up.
  3. mikeszekely
    Nope, he's just based on G1 Powermaster Prime/Super Ginrai. Like the other Titans Return figures, he'll be a Headmaster, and like Soundwave and Galvatron (and maybe all of the Voyager/Leader figures in the line?) the head robot transforms and plugs in, then the bulk of Prime's head covers it like a helmet. Like I said, he's a heavy retooling of Ultra Magnus. If you're familiar with Magnus, you know the part that forms his chest and hides the cab in bot mode? It's molded to let a little more of the cab show, and so that it looks sorta like something's plugged into Prime's grill. The downside to being a remold of Magnus is that, like Magnus, the cab doesn't form a smaller robot anymore, meaning that he can only do Super mode/Super Ginrai, not regular Optimus/Ginrai. You can check him out here.
  4. mikeszekely
    I'm not caught up on the current fiction, but as far as I know that's the gimmick for the Titans Returns line. All the Deluxes, Voyagers, and Leaders are Headmasters. All the Voyagers are triple changers, and all the Leaders are going to have a base mode with their alt mode. The line will also introduce a new class, Titan Master, which is basically a head and a vehicle for the head to drive around in. All the Titan Returns heads are interchangeable. So yeah, while some of the characters in the line were actually Headmasters (Hardhead and Skullcruncher), some guys who weren't are now (Galvatron, Sentinel Prime, Optimus Prime, Blurr, Blaster, and Soundwave). AFAIK, the new Legends molds will be cassettes with a third mode, like Rewind as a tank.
  5. mikeszekely
    Because it's a headmaster (well, Titan Master they're calling them)? It looks like the eyes and mouth plate are part of the headmaster, and the crest/sun shield fit over the headmaster, like G1 Scorponok.
  6. mikeszekely
    In a move that probably surprised no one, Hasbro unveiled Titans Return Leader-class Soundwave. My gut reaction was "Yay, we're finally getting a proper non-WfC/FoC CHUG Soundwave," but the last couple of Leader-classes have been pretty tall. In bot mode, I doubt he'd be much shorter than MP Soundwave, and MP Soundwave probably has a more compact alt-mode. So I'm not entirely sold on him.
  7. mikeszekely
    Leader Ultra Magnus is probably the best toy Hasbro released last year. As much as I love CW Devy, and as much as I can rationalize it's flaws as the result of selling a six-voyager combiner for $150, it's still flawed. Ultra Magnus is about perfect. Are you in the US? You can still grab Ultra Magnus on Amazon for less than $40.
  8. mikeszekely
    Well, to each his own, again. I get that Willis has that G1 cartoon look down, but I'm not always a fan of a toy replicating Floro Dery's overly-simplified animation models too closely. Kind of like how MP-10 has all the features Optimus Prime is known for, but his legs have a more dynamic shape than the cartoon and he's got a butt load of molded details in truck mode. Personally, I like Gundog a lot more, and I actually prefer to toy-colored version. David, Scylla, thanks for the useful tips. Hopefully a lot of issues with previous runs will have been fixed, since whatever run this is must be pretty recent if Talon and Tigris are still preorder items. Anything else I should know? Have any of you tried the Professor Heisenberg upgrade to give Feral Rex the claw-tipped fingers? Really not sure what 3P I'll get after Rex, but I'm leaning toward Azalea. Like I said, I need an Arcee, and she's relatively low-priced. I mentioned before, but didn't get any feedback, but KFC's Tempest can be had pretty cheaply, too. Finally, I'm sort of tempted to replace my Motormaster with Lone Wolf, any thoughts?
  9. mikeszekely
    At this point, why not just get Gundog?
  10. mikeszekely
    As toys, MMC's style is definitely different than Hasbro/G1, but when you read enough IDW you'll find that MMC is definitely going for the IDW look. Not that I think that's a bad thing! In fact, I never had a chance to get Hasbro's Generations Arcee, and I'm seriously thinking that instead of paying a fortune on the secondary market for her that I might as well get MMC's Azelea, which is much closer to IDW Arcee than the Generations version. If you've got Ares and you're happy with him, that's all that really matters, right? But after watching shake tests, where someone would pick up the combined figure and shake it to see what comes off, Ares always seemed to fare the worst. On Rex and Warlord, the wings, arm cannon, and sword would come off. On Ares, all that would come off plus a bit more. For display purposes, I guess that doesn't matter as much, but like I said there were other aspects of Ares like the orange surfboard sword, the red barrels on the back cannons, and some other odd color choices, that kind of bug me. I think it's a little funny, though, that your gripe with Rex is his proportions in combined mode. Warlord's the only one that really pulls off Predaking's proportions, but with Rex's legs extended I don't see a whole lot of difference between him and Ares proportionally. Anyway, I ordered Bovis, Fortis, and Leo Dux today. I'm pretty excited, as the only other 3P toys I have are Mania King and Hegemon. I know there are some people that are vehemently against 3P Transformers, but it's kind of an exciting new world for me where I pay MP prices for Voyager-sized toys and, if I'm lucky, get MP quality in a Voyager-sized toy. (For the record, Hegemon is deeply flawed but still the best Voyager-sized Megatron you can get, and Mania King is fantastic as long as you can get past the lack of rotating wrists, something most Hasbro toys lack anyway).
  11. mikeszekely
    Yeah, I haven't figured out how I'm going to pay for it yet, but I settled on Feral Rex. Ares just seems like butt... too many liberties taken with the design (wrong colors, odd red barrels on his back cannons, etc, sword that's a big orange surfboard), and from the reviews I've watched he falls apart if you sneeze. I think I could have got Warlord and been happy; the partsforming doesn't bother me as much as it does some other people, and the simpler G1-ish design I think actually fits pretty well with Combiner Wars, and he seems reasonably solid (as in, if I shook him he wouldn't come apart any worse than Hasbro's official stuff). At the end of the day, though, Feral Rex manages to look almost as good in Predaking mode as Warlord, without all the partsforming, seems just as solid, but the individual Feral Cons are light years better than Warlord's not-Predacons. While my Combiners do spend most of their time in Combined mode, the fact is that I do like to take them apart and play with them, occasionally re-posing them as a team of bots or a team of alt-modes for awhile, and I think I'm going to be more satisfied with Feral Rex. I already ordered a sheet of Decepticon emblems (among of few other sheets) from Reprolabels/Toyhax, and I currently have Bovis, Fortis, and Leo Dux sitting in a shopping cart at BBTS. I just have to pull the trigger, then explain to my wife (who works in finance) why her stay-at-home-dad of a husband dropped over $300 on toys while simultaneously preordering Talon and Tigris and hoping that they don't charge/ship too close to the first three... Hey, maybe I'll get lucky and win that giant Powerball jackpot. Then I can buy all the cool 3P toys I can't afford.
  12. mikeszekely
    I actually prefer CHUGs, or 3P stuff that fits with CHUGs. I have no idea if Commotus fits with CHUGs or not; for me, it's more that Turmoil was such a bland, forgettable character only from the IDW fiction. I just have no desire for a toy of him, even if it is really good.
  13. mikeszekely
    I'm glad to hear that everyone is enjoying Commotus. I wonder why he just does nothing for me?
  14. mikeszekely
    You know, from A7's Revive RX-78 and Mk. II, and my own experience with the Guncannon, I'm digging the Revive series. For display purposes, I still like the RG line better (hence why I skipped the RX-78 and the Mk II), but the kits are just so solid and posable. Like building an action figure. I can't wait for Quebeley.
  15. mikeszekely
    As a long-time MTMTE reader, you're in for a good time. MTMTE might be my favorite Transformers fiction of all time. Colorful, complex characters, interesting scenarios, great dialogue. Well, that might not be a problem. Talon and Tigris are still only available to preorder. I was thinking I'd try to grab Leo Dux, Bovis, and Fortis by the end of the month, then preorder the other two and they'd get here when they get here. Still not exactly sure how I'm going to work that out money-wise, but I have a birthday. At 35, it's silly to expect too much but at the very least maybe I can talk my wife into relaxing the ol' purse strings a little. *Side note... if you're into collecting expensive toys, doing the stay-at-home dad thing with a wife who works in finance will NOT be conducive to that hobby.
  16. mikeszekely
    I watch entirely too much Archer. Small price if you're only buying one or two Combiners. Not so small for me, who will have 7 of the darn things if/when I collect Sky Reign (not counting Computron, who's rumored to have exactly the sort of feet and hands you want since it's a gift set). 7 x $30 is a little over $200 (not counting shipping or whatever) just for hands and feet. The Voyagers are the worst to find. I don't know how it is in your area, but Legends figures have two or three pegs in most stores around here, and Deluxes might have two, but if a store even has a spot for Voyagers it's filled with leftover Roadbusters or Age of Extinction toys that are still hanging around. If you're having trouble finding limbs, that's a little surprising. While I've started seeing Bruticus' limbs popping up here and there, the Optimus Maximus limbs are pretty much what most stores around here seem to have in stock (skipping Defensor's limbs entirely). If it's a newer guy you're after, like Bruticus, you can wait a little bit to see if his components start turning up in more places, or you can pay a little more and try places like BBTS or Amazon. If it's still the Optimus one you're after, I'll refer you back to my earlier post about HasbroToyShop. Their shipping is a little more than I'd like to pay (although they may have shipping deals over a certain amount), but their cheapest shipping was crazy fast for me.
  17. mikeszekely
    Hisashi Yuki tweeted the silhouette of what is quite obviously Unite Warriors Bruticus. And while the position of his right arm makes it difficult to discern many detains, his shoulder appears to be the front of Blast Off, folded back in the Combiner Wars style we're used to... but shorter and thicker than Fireflight mold we got for Combiner Wars Blast Off. Almost like a shuttle... So, yeah, Hasbro can eat a ****. And if they do, at some point, bring Unite Warriors Groove and Blast Off to the states, I'll have enough ******* extra limbs to make a whole ******* combiner. And on that note... will I shell out big cash for UW Defensor just to have a Deluxe Groove for a leg when I at least have a Legends-class Groove? No. Will I shell out big cash for Unite Warriors Bruticus just to have a Blast Off that's a shuttle with a proper head? Yes, yes I will. And hey, maybe Brawl will actually be green on him. And if I do end up buying Unite Warriors Bruticus, what I ought to do is repaint the entire Hasbro Bruticus into Ruination.
  18. mikeszekely
    Thanks. I usually abhor video reviews, because why spend an hour to watch a dude fiddling with toys to get the same info a well-written review will give you in five minutes? But my 5-month-old has a cold, so I put this video on and snuggled her. Watched the whole thing. Even though he claimed he was being as unbiased as possible it seemed like he had an ax to grind with Warlord, like the -1 point for being a partsformer or awarding points to two Predakings when, by his criteria, there was one clear winner. Still, I got enough information out of it to sort of make my own conclusions. Conclusion 1: Ares is butt. Seriously, I have no clue why anyone would buy him. Conclusion 2: I probably could have been happy with Warlord, partsformer and all, and he's actually a pretty good match for Hasbro's own Combiner Wars figures. But, Conclusion 3: Feral Rex may not be perfect, but he's a pretty solid toy who's compromises seem to stem from the fact that he's made of five solid toys. Warlord might be a better-looking Predaking, but Feral Rex seems solid, well-engineered, and made up of the best individual Predacons. So, yeah, as soon as I can scrape together the cash I'm going to go for it. Seriously, though. All the time I spent researching Predakings had me looking at other 3P toys. I've said before and I'll say again, it's not really fair to compare them to Hasbro's regulated, mass-market $10-$25 toys, but if you've got the money there are some really nice 3P figures that blow HasTak's stuff out of the water. Speaking of, it looks like KFC's Tempest (not-Cyclonus) has really come down in price. Any thoughts? It looks pretty close to the cartoon... which I kind of find a little disappointing. In terms of size, overall bot/alt mode presentation, etc, it looks better than either Hasbro release, but I hear he's pretty floppy. Worth $55? EDIT: Not exactly sure when I'll have the money for Feral Rex, or how I'll come up with it, but I'm committed enough to buy some faction labels from ToyHax/Reprolabels. Y'know, I'd always wanted to order, but something always held me back. It was either their prices, their shipping rate, or maybe they only took PayPal? I don't remember. Whatever gripe I had seems to be gone.
  19. mikeszekely
    That never bothered me. Still doesn't. In fact, the various colors sort of reinforce the idea that the big guy is made of five separate guys. And it's the reason why I could tell you exactly who all five Combaticons are, but it took me until I got Combiner Wars Devastator to bother to learn the individual Constructicons' names. Who also lacked a cohesive color scheme, I might add. EDIT: Well... I think I've decided what to do about my Combiner Wars teams, so that I don't have any extra guys. I'm going to try really hard to pick up Sky Lynx, Smokescreen, Wheeljack, and Hound, but no way in heck I'm buying Trailbreaker. That's easily the worst Combiner Wars mold, and the previous Generations Trailbreaker isn't that old. So Alpha Bravo will fill that space. Of course, Sky Reign, Optimus Maximus, Defensor, and Superion will outnumber Bruticus, Menasor, and Devastator, and I'd still have Offroad just hanging around. So I picked up Cyclonus. I plan to try to get another Rook, who I'll repaint with a black and red or black and purple color scheme, and call him Generations Barricade. I'm also going to get a second Vortex. I'll repaint Vortex's head to look like Blast Off, then stick that head on Blast Off. I'll repaint Blast Off's head in gray, keep Vortex's overall gray color scheme but tone down the rest of the colors, and call him Generations Blackout. Then I'll either get a second Wheeljack or a second Smokescreen. If I end up with Wheeljack, I'll paint him black and green and make a Generations Lockdown. If Smokescreen, I'll repaint him red and yellow and make Generations Knockout. Or I'll do both if I can't find another Rook to make Barricade with. And if Computron becomes a reality, well, then I'll keep my Autobot/Decepticon balance with a third-party Predaking. Because you can't have combiners without Predaking.
  20. mikeszekely
    Or just upgrade your PC. Or buy/build a better PC. Not to be that guy, but I bought a PS4 near launch. An Xbox One, too, because I was caught up in that new console hype. Now, like two years later, I've found I use the Xbox One occasionally. I got Rock Band 4 for XB1, because all my old Rock Band stuff was 360. I buy my sports games on XB1, because I have a few friends that play them with me on Live. And I'm a fan of the Forza series. My PS4, though? Can't recall the last time I turned it on. I think the last game I played on it was InFamous? And mostly I just play on my PC.
  21. mikeszekely
    I've always preferred the Decepticon combiners, so for me Bruticus is best, the Predaking, then Devastator, then Menasor. Superion and Defensor get a little love for being Menasor and Bruticus's rivals. Computron was just too little, too late I guess. Likewise, I've got no special attachment to Abominus (aside from having Hun-Grr as a kid) or Piranacon. Dollars to donuts says Scattershot will be identical to the regular release, or at best with a more reddish-orange. paint.
  22. mikeszekely
    OK, so first there was the reveal that Botcon would have an exclusive "Dawn of the Predacus" combiner, with existing molds repainted with new heads inspired by Beast Wars. Except only 4 were straight-up repaints... General Ramhorn is actually a retool of Brawl, without the tank cannon and instead a new accessory that's a cockpit/drill. Then there were some "I heard from a friend that knows a guy who works at Hasbro"-style rumors that Hasbro is going to release a Combiner Wars Computron, and the reason it wasn't announced was because the Titans Return leaks had them accelerating the end of Combiner Wars. It's one of those things that you wanted to discount entirely, given the sketchy source, but at the same time one that makes sense. Hasbro has been HUGE on reusing the Combiner Wars molds, yet two of the Aerialbots jets haven't had any repaints, and neither has Brawl outside of a Nosecone-esque Botcon-exclusive. Plus, they actually did release Scattershot. And, according to the rumors, Lightspeed would be a retool or repaint of Unite Warriors Deluxe-class Groove. Hmm... And now, we have an inventory listing for a $99.99 Computron gift set at Toys R Us. So, looks like there might just be something to these rumors after all. While I've never been huge on Computron, if this is for real I'll probably (try to) grab one.
  23. mikeszekely
    Some pics to go with my thoughts on Legends-class Combiner Wars Shockwave. Despite being a Legends-class, it's a pretty great look for Shockwave. Plenty of joints for plenty of poses. Space cannon alt-mode, despite the lack of a hand grip, is unmistakably Shockwave. He even has the view scope. This peg is folded in for solo Shockwave. But it can fold out, like this... ...so he can be wielded by Bruticus (sorry, Motormaster is standing in for the yet-absent Onslaught), or any other combiner... ...or most Transformers with the standard 5mm peg-hole-fist. My one and only complaint is his size. Shockwave is alternately Megatron's right-hand man back on Cybertron, or one or one of the few Decepticons smart enough and strong enough to go up against Megatron. This tiny Shockwave doesn't really convey that.
  24. mikeszekely
    If you have to order from them, HasbroToyShop is FAST. I ordered Legends-class Combiner Wars Shockwave just yesterday morning and I picked the cheapest shipping option, listed as 7-10 business days. Fed Ex startled me by ringing my doorbell and dropping it off this morning. Lately, the Legends-class has been pretty great for the price. Sure, you don't get much in the way of accessories, if any, you get hollow spots where bigger toys might have fold-out panels, and the transformations are pretty simple. But they've been solid representations for the the characters with great posability. Shockwave continues that trend, with a well-proportioned, good-looking bot mode and an alt-mode that looks like G1's minus the hand grip and trigger. I consider that a small loss, honestly. On his own, as a flying cannon, I wouldn't think he'd need a a hand grip. Instead, he's got a fold-down 5mm peg so he can be wielded by other larger Transformers, including Combiner Wars Bruticus (although the instructions tell you to plug him into Bruticus' back... go figure). Honestly, despite being a Legends-class, he's much better than the Deluxe-class Fall of Cybertron toy. He'd be good as he is as a Deluxe, and I think the basic design with some better engineering that comes with a larger you would even make a good Voyager. He's so good that if I see another in stores, I might pick up another and repaint him as Shockwave's green brother from Energon.
  25. mikeszekely
    It... has... feathers. Considering they've been done on models, what makes you say they're impossible? The length? Anime magic. Demon wings on a mobile suit inspired by the grim reaper for psychological effect? It's hardly the more "realistic" military look I prefer, but at least it doesn't have feathers. More anime magic. I just don't think of it as a heat shield. I think of it as a way to keep sand off of it I wouldn't bother me as much if the feathered wings were on a later model. Like Deathscythe, there's a certain psychological aspect to it. But Wing Zero was supposed to be the prototype from which all the other Gundams were derived. Why does a prototype have freaking angel wings? What purpose could they possibly serve? Why do they have such an organic look? Why do they flap (and what good is flapping in space? And even if I accept that, for some reason, the doctors decided that organic-looking flapping angel wings with little movable feathers on the edges was cool, those feathers should definitely NOT fall off and flutter around it IN SPACE.
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