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mikeszekely

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  1. mikeszekely
    Before I get to excited about Gundam in America, I remember that Right Stuff is the same company that brought us $30, single episode Gundam Unicorn Blu-rays, and I doubt that Gundam or Turn-A will be remotely close to what I'd consider reasonably priced.
  2. mikeszekely
    In general, I don't care for zombies, monsters, slashers (who may or may not be dead). I really only like ghost stories.
  3. mikeszekely
    So, my thoughts on the rest of the my recent CHUG finds... Sky-Byte (Voyager): I watched the old Robots in Disguise/Car Robots show, and Sky-Byte was definitely one of the more memorable characters, plus his recent appearances in IDW's comics already integrate him with G1, so sure, why not. He's a bit of a shellformer, and fitting the panels together in shark mode can be a bit of a pain. His shark mode is actually pretty good, although his red eyes look more like a bug than a shark, and his back is arched in a way that would make sense if he were a whale or a dolphin, but sharks don't swim like that. His bot mode is a little more mixed. Unlike the original toy, the shark's head is actually his chest, so it sticks out more than you'd expect and gives him a skinnier look. There's almost nothing to his lower legs... but I think that's fairly accurate to the original. His head looks a little off... maybe they should have made his eyes and mouth bigger? He's also sort of stuck looking downward. For the most part, though, he's a decent toy for $20 that's recognizably Sky-Byte. Waspinator (Deluxe): Speaking of recognizable, Waspinator was hands down my favorite Beast Wars character. I skipped Dinobot, Cheetor, and Rhinox when they were released, but I've had a place in my CHUGs shelf for a Waspinator since the one from Animated, and his recent appearance in the IDW comics doesn't hurt. In bot mode, he's a fantastic toy. Aside from the insect legs on his robot legs the likeness is spot on. He can't turn at the waist, but otherwise his articulation is good. Transformation's a little tricky, and his alt mode is isn't quite as perfect as his bot mode. He's got visible robot arms long his sides, although from what I can tell of the original toy (which I never owned) his robot arms were kind of visible there, too. Also, instead of becoming his rear legs, his robot legs kind of fold up under his body. From the sides and top it doesn't look too bad, but from the front or bottom he's got a noticeable chuck of legs where a bee chest would be. I'm not a fan of the wing-flapping gimmick, either, as I'd prefer to be able to position his wings myself. Overall, though, this is one of the better recent Deluxes. Skids (Deluxe): Although he had almost nothing to do with the G1 cartoon, he had a serious story arc in the original Marvel comics, and I actually had those issues as a kid. Then of course, there's his awesome arc in the extremely awesome Transformers: More than Meets the Eye (aka best Transformers comic book ever). Skids was probably the one I was most pissed I couldn't find (now Swerve and Tailgate), and therefore the one I was most excited to have found. Sadly, he's not the best. In bot mode, his shoulder articulation is severely limited, and despite having large feet, he's almost too back heavy to stand up. Like most Tranformers (I guess recent Masterpieces have me spoiled), he has no waist articulation. Leg articulation is fine. In addition to the guns built into his forearms and shoulders, he comes with a pair of handheld guns that can combine into a bigger gun. Transformation is simple yet interesting, and while his alt mode is a far cry from the minivan it was portrayed as in the cartoon/Marvel comics, I think it's an appropriately modern take on the Honda City that the toy was meant to be. Goldfire (Deluxe): I had the original Goldbug as a kid, the Marvel comics where Bumblebee became Goldbug, and Goldbug's sole cartoon appearance was in one of my absolute favorite arcs. They can call this toy Goldfire all they want, the toy can be Bumblebee's last IDW appearance, the toy's packaging can even state that "Goldfire" is Bumblebee rebuilt, and Goldbug's original G1 origin can be Bumblebee rebuilt, but in my mind he's Goldbug, the totally separate character featured in Spotlight: Metroplex. In a world where Bumblebee has become on of the most popular Transformers and gets like a dozen new toys a year, I'm glad to actually have Goldbug. There's not a lot to say about the toy that hasn't been said already about the earlier mold that was actually Bumblebee. He's got a big chunk of car roof on his back, and his door wings are sadly stuck to his shoulders and can hamper some poses. Articulation is average, and his transformation is pretty simple. I do like the gold and black paint better than the lighter yellow and white paint on Bee, though, and I love the fact that he's Goldbug.
  4. mikeszekely
    Lots of love for it, actually, but I don't really think about it when I think of Japanese sports cars. Partly because, despite being an offshoot of Toyota, the brand was launched in America and, in some ways, feels more American than Japanese (until about 10 years ago, most of the cars sold with the Lexus badge in the States were rebranded as Toyotas in Japan). Partly because, in terms of both price and performance, it doesn't fit with the GT-Rs, Evos, and Imprezzas that immediately spring to mind when I think of Japanese sports cars.
  5. mikeszekely
    Compared to the awesome MP releases we've had with Prime, Soundwave & cassettes, Grimlock, and the Autobot cars, MP-05 just looks terrible. Skinny limbs and too-huge canon. The legs especially look like Megs was in a fight and someone blew most of his leg armor off, leaving just the skeletal inner frame. And this new chrome edition somehow manages to look worse. To be fair, a Leader-class toy has slightly more bot articulation... ...than the gun for a Legends-class toy. Yeah. EDIT: Just saw the pics of Leader Thundercracker. Looks really good, and you almost can't tell it's the same mold as Jetfire. I'll probably pass, though, as a Leader Thundercracker would look really weird with the all my Deluxe CHUG Seekers. The new RID figures look pretty bad, too. What's Warrior-class? Toys that are crappier than Deluxe but at the same price point? Finally, the new "Combiner Wars" Voyager Optimus doesn't look quite as bad in the package as he did in the stock photos from awhile back.
  6. mikeszekely
    Didn't open and play with my new all my new CHUGs yet, but some impressions of the two I did open. Gears (Legends): While I'm not really keen on the $10 price points that Legends figures go for these days, Gears is actually pretty awesome. He's got no wrist or ankle articulation, and his head doesn't turn (although it can look up and down), and his waist doesn't swivel... but (aside from the head) I could say that about a lot of Deluxes. Heck, some Voyagers don't even have the waist. His elbows bend 90 degrees, and his knees a bit more than that, plus his shoulders and hips are ball joints, so he's actually got a better articulation than I expected. Honestly, he's a lot more poseable than previous CHUG Legends (ala Brawl, Beachcomber, or Wheelie), and he's a bit taller too. Really, I think he's closer to the old Scout class. His gun isn't just a gun, though. The current Legends gimmick is that the gun also has a bot and alt mode. Eclipse's bot mode is about what you'd expect. His arms can rotate at the shoulders, and that's the whole of his articulation. Flip the nose and wings down, and now he's... I'm going to say drone, because he's got no cockpit. A drone with a clearly visible little guy under it. From drone mode, pull the handle down from under the nose, then grab his chest and pull his body open to reveal a gatling gun, then bend his body down so his face his behind the barrel, flip the wings up, and gun. It's not great, but considering it has an alt mode, it's actually slightly more impressive than, say, Scoop or Cyclonus's Targetmaster partners. Roadbuster (Voyager): He's a tad disappointing. That lack of wrist and waist articulation I'm so willing to forgive on a Legends figure isn't as easy to forgive on a Voyager. Actually... he has basically the same articulation as Gears, just with ankle articulation and he can actually turn his head. He doesn't seem to have the best QA, either... there's a few spots of orange overspray on the brown, and his knees and shoulders are a little loose. His right knee is particularly bad... like, if both knees were that bad, he wouldn't be able to stand. What he does have going for him is the sculpt... it captures the essence of the G1 toy (despite the covered cabin), but gives him more bulk. He also comes with four guns (including one that shoots a spring-loaded missile), a missile launcher (that doesn't shoot missiles), and a with a slot and a 5mm peg. Roadbuster's got tons of peg holes in both modes, and the weapons themselves (aside from the tube and missile launcher) have a few peg holes too, so you can mount the weapons separately or combine them into one giant gun, your call. Two of the guns have their pegs on joints, so they can aim upward when pegged onto his shoulders or the roof of his alt mode. Also, like his Dorvak buddy Whirl, Roadbuster comes with a sticker sheet.
  7. mikeszekely
    This, pretty much. I think the best choices for a Japanese sports car would have been a Nissan GT-R, a Subaru Imprezza WRX, or a Mitsubsishi Lancer Evolution. It is, in a way. It's just that, for all the awful in that movie, it seems like a small thing to fixate on. It's like saying you think the Nazis were bad, then cite the fact that they burned Helen Keller's books. It's like, sure, that's bad, but you really can't think of anything else that bothers you more?
  8. mikeszekely
    You don't comment on io9/Sploid/Gawker, do you? Someone going by SeventhReign was going on about the same "why is the samurai a Bugatti?" thing.
  9. mikeszekely
    Well, I think I'm going to quit Shadow of Mordor, and ultimately I'm disappointed with it. It seems all the popular press is infatuated with the game's nemesis system, but I think the game's positives are dragged down by the fact that the game just isn't balanced. Here's some of the issues I've run into. When spotted in a stronghold, an enemy will try to sound an alarm. If you kill that enemy, someone else will try to sound an alarm. It's virtually impossible to actually stop the alarm from being sounded, and once it's raised, you're going to get swarmed. The nemesis system is too random at moving captains. I did a mission to interfere with a duel between two captains. Fighting two at the same time wasn't too bad, but when two other random captains happened to be walking by, suddenly I was overwhelmed. Ironically, the guy who finally got me wasn't a captain, but killing me got him promoted. The game seems to keep spawning more enemies. I don't mind enemies that respawn after a time. No, I mean I've yet to be able to go into even a small area and kill every orc, because more will keep wandering in from nowhere. There are berzerker enemies that counter regular hits. No biggie, you're supposed to stun them, then you can flurry on them. Except, as I said, enemies swarm you, and while you're flurrying someone else will hit you. If you try to take them out first, inevitably the berzerker will move into your attack range, you'll accidentally attack him, and get countered. To make the captains more interesting and to encourage you to gather intel, the game will give them strengths and weaknesses. I've run into a problem where there's one who's basically immune to anything but ranged attacks... of which you only start with four before you run out of ammo. I'm up to eight, and even if all eight were headshots, that's not enough to kill this captain... and I can promise that all eight won't be headshots, because his swarm of buddies will get in the way. I simply cannot kill this dude before he or one of his friends kills me. The kicker is he levels up just for surviving the encounter, which means next time I try he'll have even more hit points. Oh, and this is the kicker, and while I'm probably just going to quit at less than 50%. I'm at a point where, to advance the game's plot, I have to kill some war chiefs. I have one available to go after, and the game helpfully tells me to try to kill his bodyguards before I do. Yeah, that captain I can't kill? That's one of this chief's bodyguards.
  10. mikeszekely
    In all seriousness, when it comes to die-cast vs plastic, both materials have their ups and their downs, and the preference for or against it really boils down to a personal opinion. Personally, I don't care for it. But honestly, whether you like it or not, I think most of us have already made up our minds about Spacebrick, and I doubt that the inclusion of die-cast parts is really going to change too many minds. Just some of us who both like Spacebrick and like die-cast or don't care for him and don't care for die-cast got a little bonus satisfaction with their choices.
  11. mikeszekely
    I think the only fair point is the first one. My regular plastic Deluxe Transformers have held up WAY better than, say, the Titanium series. In theory, quality die-cast should last longer than plastic, but the reality (especially as collectors who take care of our stuff) is that even our plastic toys will likely outlive us. As for point three, I think this is a matter of personal preference, but I don't care for the added weight.
  12. mikeszekely
    Personally, I don't get the appeal of die-cast.
  13. mikeszekely
    I wasn't planning on it, since I'm not really into LotR, but I decided to give it a go after all the positive press it's been getting. The combat is definitely Arkham-esque, although it doesn't have quite the same rhythm and flow. I'm also a little bummed because early previews made it seem a little more like Assassin's Creed: Middle Earth, but it's really not.Although I'm criticizing it for what it's not, I should stress that it's actually pretty good, even if you're not interested in LotR. I mean, I think Tolkein fans will probably appreciate the lore behind the memories on artifacts, but the game's easy enough to follow. And, let's face it, stalking a dude to murder him in the face is fun, whether he's a British soldier or an flappy-eared green-skin with a battle axe.
  14. mikeszekely
    Well, earlier this summer I said I quit collecting Transformers. I cited a number of reasons... quality drops inversely proportional to price increases, a sort of scraping of the bottom of the barrel for new characters and rehashes of characters already in the CHUGs line, frustrations finding newer CHUGs as new movie toys flooded the limited shelf space retailers were making available for Transformers. Apparently, Wal-Mart was saving their Transformers. I mean, I hadn't seen a new CHUG their since Fall of Cybertron Skywarp, but I noticed a large endcap display of Transformers when I stopped in for non-toy purchases. I wound up picking up Voyager Sky-Byte and Roadbuster, Deluxe Skids and Waspinator, and Legends Gears. I may stop back later, as they had several Deluxe Vehicons, Dreadwings, and Goldbugfires. Aside from Voyager Rhinox and Legends Tailgate and Swerve, that's pretty much all the ones I was frustrated I never found.
  15. mikeszekely
    It's not worth $39. I got it on Amazon for $27, and since that's what I paid for most of my RGs, I already think it's too much. I bought RG Zeta at a hobby store for $39, and Zeta (although a tad flawed) had way more parts, decals, and accessories.
  16. mikeszekely
    Well, my Z'Gok is done. Pretty much everything I already said stands... it's a different sort of kit, simple and straightforward, with basically no accessories. You build the Z'Gok, and you're done. Decaling didn't even take long. Z'Gok didn't have a lot to begin with, and even then there were leftovers where they'd print four of a sticker you'd only use twice. It's not that it's a bad RG... they worked details in like a mesh grill piece behind a piece with vent stats behind the outer frame, movable propellers in the feet, etc. I think maybe the Z'Gok just wasn't the best choice for an RG, or that maybe it should have cost less than the average RG. Anyway, if (when) Bandai releases the Z'Gok in the regular blue colors, I'll still pick that one up (and hopefully there will be more decals). Oh yeah, pic...
  17. mikeszekely
    My RG Z'Gok arrived today. I've only had time to build the legs. Some quick thoughts: -This kit is different. Like, yeah, the Zakus were kind of different than all those Gundams, and to an extent Exia was pretty different from the One Year War/SEED kits, but the Z'Gok is the most different. It's not difficult, though, as long as you make sure that you push the first piece you put on the heel of the inner frame foot all the way on. -There seems to be a lot less pieces. Probably partly because you don't have any weapons or a ridonkulous backpack (I'm looking at you, every SEED kit in the line...), probably partly because he doesn't really have a head, either. -The sticker sheet is the smallest I've seen in an RG. -The plastic feels a little different. The pieces themselves are engineered with the usual fit and precision you'd expect from a Bandai RG kit, but the runners feel lighter and more brittle. I had one piece come off the runner as I was taking it out of the packaging, and a couple of times I'd start to nip a piece off a runner only to have a chuck of the runner fall off. Several sprues have holes in them. Don't know what to make of it, especially since the model itself doesn't seem to be suffering adversely. Hope to have it done (with pics) maybe tomorrow.
  18. mikeszekely
    Ohhh... ... ...yeah, still doesn't make any sense. But whatevs. I'm not a fan of the Bayverse designs anyway, and didn't plan on getting it even if it did transform.
  19. mikeszekely
    Why's it called Dual Mode Kit? Looks like it only has one mode to me.
  20. mikeszekely
    I know everyone with more money to spend on models than me is totally excited about PG Unicorn. But for me, who likes his Gunpla in 1/144, I think the kit I'm most excited for right now is HGUC Crossbone Gundam X-1. RG Wing Zero EW is of course a must-buy as well.
  21. mikeszekely
    In addition to the Bearguy, I recall Reiji made a Beginning Gundam from Gundam Builders Beginning when Sei's dad was was teaching him and Aila to make Gunpla at the mall. So I think it'd make more sense if Bearguy III was a modified Bearguy than another bear-themed Acguy mod.
  22. mikeszekely
    No, III. I mean, I won't say no to Tallgeese I, as the Tallgeese design is the best thing to come out of Gundam W, but the Tallgeese III get's Epyon's shield. That's win right there. Side note... I've been re-watching Gundam. Like, all of it. Some of it held up pretty good (War in the Pocket), some of it is better than I remember (00), and some of it is as bad as I remember it (SEED). But Gundam W... it's a miracle that it ever got me into this franchise! I mean, it's just awful... 10 episodes of the Gundam pilots attacking random OZ Alliance bases, followed by 30 episodes of the Gundam pilots basically doing an angsty "Now what?" through two coups and a lot of other politicking.
  23. mikeszekely
    I'm glad we're getting all five EW Gundams in the RG, especially Deathscythe Hell. I just hope they're not spaced as far apart as most of the other RGs, otherwise that's at least half of 2015's releases. Meanwhile, I'm still wanting the blue Z'Gok, and I'll second renegadeleader1's call for a GM (Gelgoog, Alex, GP02, and Hyaku Shiki are high on my list of RG wants, too). EDIT: Oh yeah, I hope they give us an RG Tallgeese III before they move on from Wing.
  24. mikeszekely
    Glad you're excited, Gak, but there's nothing there that's piquing my interest.
  25. mikeszekely
    Well, it wouldn't have been my first choice... there's still several UC suits I want more, and when it comes to Wing Zero I prefer the TV version without the ridiculous angel wings. That being said, the HG Wing Zero EW is ancient, with loose construction and requiring a ton of paint. An RG version is going to be a HUGE upgrade, even more so than the RG RX-78 was over the HGUC v.3. And if they want to do an RG Deathscythe Hell EW, too, I won't say no. The HG version requires you to disassemble and reassemble the wings to close them.
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