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mikeszekely

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  1. mikeszekely
    I can live with that. There's also a chance, like the US MP-10, that the American version will be better! I can't stand the cold, dead eyes of the Takara version. I guess, for me, it'd depend on how much a fair bit is. I have that problem, but I need a new receiver more. Mine only does HDMI audio pass-through. His battery guns and the cassettes are the only accessories I care about. I'm sure I still have my MP-01 Megatron, and I can probably make my own energon cubes for a lot less. I don't think it's weird, especially since you don't have an MP-10. He is, without a doubt, the best toy of G1 Prime and the best Masterpiece toy by a very wide margin. He looks more detailed in truck mode and more dynamic in bot mode than MP-01, he's more poseable than Grimlock, less kibbley than the original Seeker mold (I don't have the new one), more solid and less finicky than Hot Rod, and has a better transformation and is less likely to fall apart than Megatron. He's so awesome that I've considered ordering an MP-10B myself, but ultimately the cost vs. priorities and the fact that I'm over black Optimus repaints keeps holding me back. Now if they make an MP-10P Masterpiece Pepsi Convoy, I will take out a second mortgage to preorder it. (Make it happen, Takara/Hasbro/Pepsi!)
  2. mikeszekely
    You and me both. But at list point, I think a U.S. release is pretty much a sure thing. I mean, the only ones that haven't made it here are either repaints or turn into guns. I have a feeling licensing issues will keep us from getting Sideswipe, too, but I can't see Soundwave not making it to the States. In fact, given how simple he is, I expect him to either be back in the $70-$80 range that Grimlock/Rodimus/Thundercracker were in, or the U.S. release will come with all five Masterpiece tapes for $99. But I'm just guessing.
  3. mikeszekely
    FYI, before I go into rant mode, I want you to know it's not directed at you, kanedaestes, you're just an innocent poster. The rant is for whoever made the video, and transformers fans who do video reviews in general. *rant* Why do so many Transformers fans do these elaborate, half-hour long video reviews? Take a few pictures, and tell me some of the highlights. I really don't want to sit and watch someone transform the thing for a half-hour just as they mumble about every little details, especially when they usually conclude with how awesome the toy is. We know it's awesome! It's a Masterpiece, and we're all big enough fanboys to overlook whatever flaws the toy has in the first place. It shouldn't take longer to review a toy than to watch an episode of the show that features the toy's character! *rant off* Sigh. In other news, I stopped at Target this morning. They don't have any Voyagers of any type, and Deluxes are limited to Prime Bumblebee and FoC Shockwave. I was set to leave when I noticed something interesting on one of the clearance endcaps. "Special Value" two-packs of DotM Deluxes, marked down to $6.98. I wound up leaving with three packs: Nitro Bumblebee & Thundercracker, Sideswipe & Armored Topspin, and Starscream & Roadbuster, for $21. The bad: Nitro Bumblebee and Roadbuster. Roadbuster looks OK in alt-mode, but the sort of molded stealth force details on Nitro Bumblebee look kind of cruddy. In bot mode, Roadbuster has probably 60% of his alt mode just hanging off his back, making him very back-heavy, and most of his robot parts are molded gray plastic with little to nothing in in the way of painted detail. I didn't even notice the turbine in his chest until I looked up his movie appearance. His mech tech weapon is ok; a gun that unfolds into a chainsaw. As for Nitro Bumblebee (my first Deluxe Bumblebee since the first movie), he does some stuff so right. Although lacking a lot of paint detail, his legs and arms are shaped fairly movie accurately. I like his chest, too, which has parts of the front end folding over the middle of the front. Where things go wrong is, as is often the case (even with Battle Ops Bee), he's got a lot of car kibble on his back. I could almost forgive this, except that his doors don't really make his bee wings. I do kind of like his mech tech weapon. It's like an engine block that turns into Prime Bee's gun. All in all, though, I'm not a fan of either, and if they were packaged together, I would have passed on them. The mediocre: Sideswipe looks ok in alt mode. I mean, seems aside, he's a fairly reasonable representation of the Corvette concept convertible. He's even got seats and a steering wheel, although he lacks floorboards (maybe you stop and go Fred Flintstone style). In bot mode, he's got his swordish-thingies, which is fine, and his tire feet, although they stuck the back of the car on his feet, too. Better balance, but less accurate. It's actually his front end making up his chest. Like the other two cars I've mentioned, he's got a ton of car kibble on his back. Oddly, this includes most of the sides of the car on movable posts as if he had wings. His mech tech weapon is a big gun with a fold out blade... not too bad. The ok: I'm finding I kind of like Topspin, although I have no idea why they decided to name him Topspin. His alt-mode is kind of so-so. Like Nitro Bee, he's got the stealth force weapons-out thing going on, so he looks less Nascar and more Death Race. I dig that he has no Autobot insignias anywhere on him, allowing me to me to shoehorn him into the Decepticons in my Classics or Prime head-fanon, if I so desire. And I really want him to be a Decepticon. He's got a face that reminds me of Chrome Dome from TMNT, and hands that remind me of Clamps from Futurama's robot mafia, and I love the irony of his mech tech weapon being an even bigger clamp. He's also not as kibble-tastic as the other cars, and the kibble he has is even more forgivable when you figure they're movable shoulder-mounts for the four non-mech tech guns he's carrying. Starscream and Thundercracker are the toys I was really after. From the top, they both look good, even if no real F-22 would have those paint jobs. From other angles, you can see they've got some junk hanging from the bottom of the plane. Not great, but no worse than the original Voyager Starscream that I have, or even Leader Starscream from the pics I've seen. I'll give that a little pass since they're just Deluxes. The transformation's not bad, and the bot mode is actually pretty good. Sure, he's not as randomly-jagged as his on-screen model, and his shoulder fins aren't quite a match, he might not be as broad, and his crotch is a little big, but on the whole he's pretty similar to Leader-class Starscream, with the sorts of changes you'd expect going from Leader-size down to Deluxe. He's worth my $6.98 by himself, which softens the blow of how crappy Nitro Bee and Roadbuster are. Starscream's weapons are a gun pod with a blade on the other side, and a mech tech gunpod that unfolds into a blade. They can be pegged into each other, which keeps the mech tech blade deployed, into an odd double-bladed weapon. Thundercracker has the same static gunpod/blade, but his mech tech weapon is a repaint of Roadbuster's chainsaw gun. So that's to figures that suck, one that's mediocre, on that I like despite his flaws, and two good ones, plus a pile of weapons I can always use to arm my Classics guys who either didn't get a real weapon (Bumblebee, Cliffjumper) or need a hand weapon in addition to their shoulder weapons (Hound, Sideswipe). Not bad for $21. There was one more pack I skipped out on at Target, that had regular DotM Bee and Air Raid. Anyone have either of those? Are either worth $7? Should I go back for them?
  4. mikeszekely
    Could be worse. It's just Atari US that's declaring bankruptcy, not Atari as a whole. And this is a chance for better developers to get their hands on the D&D license.Still... I hear the logo's for sale. That's like their most valuable asset!
  5. mikeszekely
    I'm not saying that the 670 isn't a good card (because it totally is), but from what I've read the increase in performance over the 660ti isn't proportional to the increase in price. Hence, why I bought the 660ti for my computer. And I can't complain, it's played basically everything I've tried on High or Ultra.
  6. mikeszekely
    Then I guess at least you narrowed it down to which system...
  7. mikeszekely
    Sorry, the only multiplayer game I'm doing right now is Borderlands 2.
  8. mikeszekely
    Or Steam, so you could play it with me.
  9. mikeszekely
    I really don't know why they painted him green and released him as Kup instead of painting him red and releasing him as Ironhide like they originally planned. I mean, the design is clearly a blend of G1 Ironhide and movie Ironhide, and even if they did kill him in the movies he's still been in more recent media than Kup.Anyway, I found Brawl today. I have strongly mixed feelings about him. I think he looks good as a bot, if you ignore all the junk hanging off his butt, the fact that he's kind of skinny, the fact that his scrawniness is exaggerated next to the other, thicker Combaticons, and the fact that he has a hard time balancing on his tiny feet. His alt-mode looks pretty decent too, aside from the fact that it doesn't roll on any wheels or anything, and again looks kind of little compared to the other Combaticons. He's a pretty good leg, although I think the way his guns stick out is kind of odd, and I wish his arms pegged in place while he's a leg. As an arm... well, I haven't tried him as an arm. The complete Bruticus is almost worth it. No, he doesn't have the posability of most toys his size, or even most Deluxes. But, impressively enough, he's got decent shoulder movement, some elbow movement, limited hip movement, and he can bend his knees. He's a good head taller than MP-10, and feels pretty solid for a guy made up of five other guys. Oh, but do yourself a favor and ignore the official directions for building his "sonic cannon." It looks stupid, and it leaves Bruticus' back open (with Onslaught's head peaking out). Instead, leave Onslaught's weapon on his back, peg Brawl's gun into Swindle's like normal, then peg Blast Off's guns on the sides of Swindle's. As for Vortex's swords, I recommend either pegging them into Onslaught's gun on Bruticus' back, or pegging them onto Vortex's guns.
  10. mikeszekely
    Sounds like you ran into the same problem I did (and the reason why I plan to upgrade my receiver this year, after buying a Wii U).I never tried running audio from the TV back into the receiver, but this Xbox support document might help you set up Toslink audio from the Xbox 360 right into the receiver.
  11. mikeszekely
    How's Kup?
  12. mikeszekely
    You're crazy head-canon is actually pretty awesome! Indeed, the only fault I can find is that any universe where Rumble is red is clearly inferior to the ones where Rumble is blue. In other collection-related news, I finally found an Onslaught. Using Vortex as a leg, I have enough Combaticons to make a Bruticus who lost an arm in the war... I have to say though... after years of waiting for Hasbro to give us a real combiner instead of the crappy Energon combiners or the crappier Power Core Combiners, I have to say I'm sorry I waited this long. I'll give them props for attempting to give fans what they want, and I'll give them a few extra props for making vehicles that turn into robots that turm into giant robot body parts without the need for all the attachment pieces that the original G1 toys had... but maybe they should have stuck to the attachment pieces that the original G1 toys had. Individually, each Combaticon has issues from a general lack of plastic, gimpy shoulders, limited articulation, etc, but Onslaught is the worst. In alt mode, especially without his weapon, it's clear that 40% of his mass is Bruticus' head with Onslaught's little arms tucked over him like kid hunched under his desk for an air raid drill. In bot mod, he almost looks ok from the front, aside from the fact that his weapon doesn't peg onto his back with Bruticus' head tucked up in there. But when you actually start messing with him, you realize his arms are basically shoulders that stretch down to his waist and arms that stop at the elbow (elbows that pop out if you even look at them funny, i might ad). And his back is basically and upside-down back of Bruticus' head folded above Bruticus' abs and waist, with Brutitcus' crotch of a butt. Torso mode is probably the least objectionable, as long as you keep Onslaught's weapon on his back. Otherwise, Bruticus' back is a gaping hole with Onslaught's head peering out at you. Oh, and you ignore the fact that Onlaught's arms are basically tucked up at his sides and grabbing a pair of pegs behind him instead of hiding in any meaningful way. If it weren't for the fact that I actually really like Optimus and am just happy to have a Shockwave that sorta works on my Classics shelf, I'd say the FoC/Generations line has been nothing but awful.
  13. mikeszekely
    Ok, based on what others have said in this thread, I picked up TF Prime Rumble. On the plus side, he really is a pretty awesome toy. He looks good in both modes, and he's got a solid transformation. It's nice to see that Hasbro (and/or Takara) can still make a decent toy when they're not limited by trying to make a toy that looks like the often overly-complicated animation/movie on-screen designs. Plus, he's a Decepticon, which I can always use more of, and a car, which I also enjoy. On the minus side, he's just not Rumble! I mean, yeah, Hasbro took pains to shift a lot of the car's bulk so that the resulting bot's head comes up to Bumblebee's chest. And yeah, he's got some kibble on his back, and Rumble used to keep his guns there. And sure, he's got some indented red things on his chest where his tape holes would have been. His guns are designed to look like piledrivers. And he's blue! (I do fall into the Rumble is blue, Frenzy is red crowd, as I grew up on the cartoon). But the thing is, his blue is like a light teal, not the purplish blue of the cartoon. And the decorations on his chest don't remind me so much of tape holes as they do eyes. And while yeah, he's short, he's not actually small. These worst is his head... it's not a bad head, but it's not at all evocative of Rumble. I notice that, with the altered paint job and different head, the Takara version looks a lot more like Rumble. But this guy... I don't know. Maybe I'll name him something else. In short, great figure, just not Rumble.
  14. mikeszekely
    Yes! And it would work well, because a lot of the IDW designs are already based on Classics/Universe/Generations, at least since All Hail Megatron.
  15. mikeszekely
    I'm definitely planning on getting Smokescreen. I'll probably end up getting Prime too, but more because he's Prime than out of any love for that particular prime. Now that is interesting...
  16. mikeszekely
    Yeah. Better than the Knock Out repaint.
  17. mikeszekely
    1.) VF-22 (Diamond Force variant preferred). Because I'm not counting YFs. 2.) VF-17D, because the VF-17S has a stupid face. So much better than the scrawnier VF-171. 3.) VF-1. Especially VF-1S (Focker's TV version). The VF-1's a classic, and Roy's paint is how it looked best. 4.) VF-9. A much better take on forward-swept wings than the VF-19. 5.) VB-6. You had me at "Monster that turns into a shuttle". 6.) VF-4. Because it's just different. 7.) VF-11. It was really easy to see it as an evolutionarily between the VF-1 and the VF-19. 8.) VF-3000. What's not to love about a bigger, stompier take on the VF-1? 9.) VF-171. The best VF in Frontier wasn't the star... 10.) SV-51. I dig the backstory and the flapping wings. 11.) VF-19. I think it kind of looks ridiculous, with is goose neck, fat butt, and stumpy wings. Smoothing it out helped on the F and S, but then they had to go and make the wings even stumpier. 12). VF-27. Looks good as a plane. As a Battroid, less so. 13). VF-5000. It's the VF-1, but with the VF-19's aesthetic. A tad boring. 14). VF-25. As a plane, somehow manages to look more old fashioned than anything else post-11. Tack on a complicated transformation and a scrawny Battroid and you've just got boring. 15). VF-0. It's like a VF-1 that got hit with an ugly stick. 16). VA-3. Looks too much like an A-6 as a plane to take seriously when everyone else is flying cooler planes. As a Battroid, looks hilariously like one of those old-timey diving suits you stick in a fish tank. I guess that does make the VA-3M variant sort of interesting... 17). VF-14. If Kawamori would have stuck with the rough look that was closer to the FZ-109, it'd have been much higher on the list. The final M3 version, though, is just ugly, without the benefit of referencing back to the VF-1. Did I miss any?
  18. mikeszekely
    I know that this thread tends to alternate between Kpop, really heavy metal, and older rock that's more popular with hipsters today than it was when it was new, but that's one of the better songs he's posted. First heard it in Forza Horizon, dug it right away.
  19. mikeszekely
    Oh, yeah, that's the part I'm stuck on. I'm just trying to figure out, if I make the can red, will that satisfy the legal requirements? Honestly, it's a really nice can for $4, and I'd rather keep it if I can get away with it.
  20. mikeszekely
    I'm not mad; by all the standards of the internet, you've been nothing but polite and inoffensive!After doing some digging, you're absolutely correct that you, at your job, have to have metal containers with the flame arrestors and all that. It's because of the layers of bureaucracy involved. That isn't to say that the plastic containers you use at home are illegal, mind you. They meet EPA regulations. They may (or may not) meet DoT regulations (depending on your state). What they don't meet, and why you can't use them at work, is OSHA regulations. This one I still don't get. Static electricity, by the admission of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the Center for Disease Control, is more of a danger if you have metal containers. The warning, issued by NIOSH and the CDC in 1998, says that the problem is caused by trucks with plastic liners, because the insulating effect of the plastic liner prevents the metal gas can from grounding. When the metal gas pump touches the metal container, static electricity on either the the pump or the container can arc to the other, causing a spark that ignites the gas. It's recommended that, if you have a truck with a plastic liner, you take the gas can out of the truck and ground it before filling it. Now if plastic gas cans are less prone to static electricity, why does OSHA demand metal containers? Because the overwhelming majority of cheaply-made plastic ones do not have a flame arrestor. Well, there's that too. That's actually why I need a new can. Thing is, even at the ridiculous prices these cans are going for, you can still get four or five for the price of a metal one. Which brings me back to the beginning. The issue isn't that the can is plastic; I'm not using it at the work place, I'm using it to cut my grass, so OSHA regulations don't apply (while they would in your case, mecha2241). A little more research revealed that gasoline is actually harder on plastic than kerosene, but they use the same plastic for the kerosene containers that they use for the gasoline containers. Only difference is that the kerosene container is blue. So, assuming that the container meets all other EPA and DoT standards, is it illegal to put gasoline into that container simply because it's blue, and if I paint the container red myself, have I now satisfied that last requirement? EDIT: In my state of PA, I'm thinking that yes it's illegal to put gasoline in a blue container, but I'm less clear on the legality of making the blue container red. DOUBLE EXTRA EDIT: Just took an actual good look at the can. It's not an el-cheapo Blitz, it's a nice Midwest Can (model 7600). It's identical to their gas can (model 5600), made from the same HDPE, and they both have the child-proof cap and spring on the nozzle that automatically seals the spout. I can't tell if it has a flame arrestor. It might not satisfy OSHA, but it does meet EPA and DoT laws for my state. It's just blue!
  21. mikeszekely
    Every modern container I've seen for fuel is plastic. My old gas can, which needs to be replaces because it leaks, is plastic. My parents' is plastic. Every one I've seen for sale, be it at Walmart of Home Depot, is plastic. In fact, I was under the impression that the reason they switched to plastic from metal is because plastic isn't electrically conductive and therefore static electricity is less of a concern that it was with the old metal ones (which, IIRC, are actually glass-lined).
  22. mikeszekely
    You know, I actually had to Google LPG. Apparently, that's because in the States we just call it propane when it's propane and butane when it's butane.
  23. mikeszekely
    That could come in handy... assuming I can run my lawn mower on jet fuel. Wife called the place and they did tell her she needs a gas can... and they want $16! Maybe I can go to Walmart and get a can of red spray paint...
  24. mikeszekely
    So when my wife was getting gas, she found the station had 5 gallon plastic kerosene containers on clearance for $4. She remembered that we need a new gas can, so she bought it and brought it home. I told her it was for kerosene (English isn't her first language, she'd never heard of kerosene, and thought it was the brand name of the company that made the container), that we can't use it for gas, and that gas cans are red. And then she asked why. That got me thinking... do they use different materials in the different plastics? Is it actually illegal to fill a kerosene container with gasoline? $4 is a heck of a lot cheaper than gas cans go for these days...
  25. mikeszekely
    My willingness to buy MP cassettes is based entirely on their price. I mean, yeah, that's probably the best Frumblezy I've seen that turns into a tape, but he still looks like a freaking Scout.
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