mikeszekely

So when I said I didn't have Fire Convoy/RiD Optimus Prime, that was technically only mostly true. Actually, some years ago a friend was getting rid of some old stuff, including her kid's old toys. She knew I was into Transformers, so she gave me what she found- the smaller cab robot for RiD Optimus. No trailer, no gun, missing the tires on the wheels, worn chrome on his abs, and missing the backpack with the electronics and lightbar due to a busted hinge. Not the best display piece, even worse for actually transforming, but I kept it anyway. I'm glad I did, because it turns out to be perfect for pulling an Evan! I have the Optimus set up from the set I got yesterday, but I put Ultra Magnus on the junker Prime.

On that we agree! Yeah... I think if I were John Hasbro I still would have gone with God Ginrai. I think all of your points are fair, but the English version of RiD was still ultimately a rush job to fill a time slot after Trans Tech was canned and to give them time to develop Armada, which almost immediately overshadowed it, and I don't think it's as fondly remembered as the Unicron Trilogy. But I'm definitely not complaining; like I keep saying, Fire Convoy is my favorite non-G1 Optimus. Yeah, the G1 cartoon cheated hard on the animation model. Sandstorm looks like a reasonable balance between cartoon, G1 toy, and "actually has to work on a Leader budget." My only complaint is that I wish they'd gone with the cartoon head (especially after they went with the cartoon head on Pointblank when I would have preferred the toy that time).

Real Super Outlandish

Legacy Leader-class Sandstorm. Comic book Grimlock Comic book Shockwave (with Optimus head)

Although it was my favorite cartoon, my dad was laid off for a period so and we didn't really have a lot of money for the toys. Aside from Sideswipe, the Insecticons, and a handful of (mostly 2nd season) minibots most of my childhood toys were from the 86 movie and on. As such, I did have Powermaster Optimus as a kid, and I fondly remember it as the first actual Optimus Prime toy I owned (although I'd pretend Ultra Magnus' cab was Optimus Prime's ghost, who had to come back because Rodimus Prime couldn't hack it as the Autobots' leader. Something I'll mention as unlikely but an intriguing possibility is that, as an MPG figure and not a standard MP, God Ginrai could be smaller than traditional MP scale, much like the trainbots. I certainly won't complain if MPG Ginrai winds up scaling with Legacy. I'm almost tempted to go back and see if Legacy Armada Op got some flack when he was first revealed. While some fans are overjoyed to get a new figure of an old favorite (nearly 75% backed after just a week), the fact is that the toys from RiD and the Unicron Trilogy were much closer to the animation to begin with than G1. A lot of people are looking at the Haslab Omega Prime and saying, "it doesn't look that much better, so why buy a new one?" Improved articulation, sturdier joints, and a more refined combination are kind of intangible at this point. Something I don't understand are the complaints that it's a Haslab instead of retail. I guess that some people might be in a country where the Haslab isn't available, but for the rest I don't see the difference between buying through a Haslab or buying at retail- either you have the money and want to buy it or you don't. There's also a very vocal subset of G1 fans who seem to think that nothing after 1990 is worth doing. As much as I love Fire Convoy and as happy as I was to see the return of trucks instead of monkeys, in the subsequent years RiD 2001 is like the red-headed stepchild of the brand, a one-off sandwiched between the Beast Era and the Unicron Trilogy. So I do kind of get why Omega Prime might not be the best ambassador of 40 years of Transformers... but we're getting a Studio 86 G1 Optimus this year already. Personally, my only real complaint about the Haslab is that I'd have liked the core Optimus bot to have scaled better with the numerous other Optimus Primes that have turned up since Siege; scale to me is more important that a gimmick of having Ultra Magnus being able to carry Deluxe cars. Oh, and speaking of Omega Prime, I'll be ready with a comparison when it comes in. Because look what I found... Ok, sure, it's a Costco reissue during the Cybertron toyline, and the gold on Prime's chest was painted black on this release... but it was still sealed in the box! I'll find a gold chest junker on ebay and to swap parts with.

Take this with a giant grain of salt, but some leakers posted in a Chinese forum that the next MPG is indeed God Ginrai... and the next MP is Big Convoy.

True, but I'm going to buy the Steam version in the desperate hope that it motivates Atlus to port Shin Megami Tensei V to PC. In a perfect world they'd remaster IV and Apocalypse, too, but porting 3DS games to other systems is always going to be more work to alter the interface for a single screen.

Super stoked to be playing Persona 3 Reload. For all the love Persona 5 gets I still prefer 3 and 4.

Man, he was in a lot of good movies. I'll miss him.

C'mon, back it, then get a customizer to paint it like this for you: Anyway... I've been doing a lot of thinking. When it comes to Optimus, I want to try to collect all the old G1 and G2 versions, skip the Beast era, but then I'd really like to own the RID and UT versions. I don't know why I feel strongly about those old versions, but I don't really care if I'm missing toys released since then (although I suspect I have a lot of them anyway). I think it's time to start scouring ebay...

The only actually-exclusive PS5 game they showed off at State of Play that grabbed my attention is Stellar Blade. Everything else I'm either not interested in or I'll play on PC (or, in the case of that Ghostbusters one, Meta Quest).

There was the Titans Return Powermaster Optimus/Takara Super Ginrai. But it's not the sturdiest figure, and it only does Super Ginrai mode. You have to get two different 3P kits from Perfect Effect if you wanted a replacement cab that could transform into Ginrai, and to have a Powermaster instead of a Titan Master. The first kit had the replacement head, thigh fillers, and the Powermaster Ginrai. You can see how PE's Ginrai looks compared to the Takara Titan Master. The second kit is an entire transforming robot that replaces the stock non-transforming cab. It came with a rifle, alternate open hands, and a replacement chest part. PE's Ginrai is just a tiny bit shorter than the modern Siege/Earthrise Optimus, which is fine by me. The PE Ginrai in truck mode next to the stock cab. And the combined Super Ginrai with the Perfect Effect head, cab, chest part, and Powermaster. On its own, I think it's a pretty good setup Ginrai/Super Ginrai. The problem is more Takara's Godbomber which is a rickety POS. Well, that and the fact that Perfect Effect's kits are super hard to come by these days. The first kit with the head and Powermaster goes for over $100 on the secondary market, and the Ginrai cab robot goes for around $300. So... yeah, I'm totally on board if Hasbro wants to a do a new, better one. MP/MPG, Haslab, as Commander-class in the mainline, whatever.

I like Power Baser, but I'm hoping a hypothetical MP Ginrai will be more Headmasters accurate without KFC's spotty QC.

I haven't bought a Takara MP since Ironhide, but if they do God Ginrai I might have to break my streak.

Haven't heard anything about Prowl, but Sideburn is coming this year. Speaking of this year, Hasbro is apparently holding back the second wave of United since the big box stores haven't even started stocking the first wave. But the inventory for the second wave is supposedly here and online retailers are getting upset that Hasbro won't let them start selling it. I'm honestly a little surprised that Hasbro has been so tight-lipped; the whole wave is going to be leaked before it's revealed. I mean, we already saw Gears. Well, this is Shard, the second rock dude. And here's Cyberverse Chromia. The other Deluxe from this wave was supposed to be Sureshot, but Sureshot was apparently cancelled. As for the Voyagers, Takara revealed Silverbolt by including him in their first wave. So we're just waiting on the Cores (Beast Wars Dinobot and Beast Machines Cheetor), Voyager Cybertron Starscream, and Leader G1 Sandstorm. As for Studio Series, I haven't heard anything on Core-class BB Starscream, and SS86 Swoop is apparently the one figure that hasn't reached port yet. But the Deluxes? We're getting a package refresh of Gnaw, then War for Cybertron Sideswipe... ... and Bumblebee Sunstreaker And the only Voyager this wave is Bumblebee Shockwave.

I don't have the original toy, but my best guess is that a lot of Magnus' hollow bits have to do with how he fits over Prime, but I could be wrong. As for his proportions, I certainly understand why his legs need different proportions, but I also know that if RID fans are anything like geewunners that if they did change his proportions too much someone would complain that it's not cartoon accurate. Aesthetically, the changes may be slight. But practically, better articulation and joints that can actually hold him up in various poses means a lot. If you were just going to stick him on a shelf in an A-stance then maybe you're already set, but me personally if a figure doesn't have ankle pivots, thighs swivels, and bicep swivels then it's due for an update. Very expensive? Sure, $250 is $250, I'm not going to make light of that, but the Takara reissue of the originals was like $270 or $280, wasn't it? So it's cheaper than that. Or, two Commanders and a Deluxe is over $200 at retail. Optimus looks like he's potentially got a higher parts count than Legacy Armada Prime, too. Throw in the chrome, premium packaging, and probably the bonus tiers and I think the price may be high, but it's not outrageous.

The discourse around Omega Prime has been... interesting. There are people arguing that it won't make its goal simply because it's not G1 (and yet, in less than 8 hours it's already nearly at 4000 backers). There are some people arguing that it's a bad deal they bought the original RiD Optimus for $30 25 years ago (nevermind that it's roughly two Commanders and a Deluxe for less money than the Takara reissue of the originals a few years back). There are a few mad that it's not two or three regular retail releases, because somehow they can afford it that way but a Haslab is less obtainable? And there are a few who somehow think Hasbro "failed" because "its the same as the original"... as long as you ignore the improved proportions, better articulation, improved stability, and the efforts to hide Magnus' bits in combined mode better. There's also the argument that Omega Prime doesn't really represent 40 years of the brand... but really, what does? I think this was the main argument for Primus, but it kind of breaks down when you start to ask, "which Primus?" Not Sunbow, Primus had nothing to do with the G1 cartoon. Marvel comics? Don Figueroa's Dreamwave design? Probably the best-known Primus design is the one from Cybertron, which isn't any more G1 than RiD. On that note, something G1 certainly represents something 40 years old, but as I'm fond of pointing out the people who were kids when stuff like RiD and the Unicron Trilogy are around the same age as us geewunners when lines like Alernators and Classics were hitting the shelves, and Transformers might mean something else to them. Ultimately, RiD definitely seem like an odd choice, as it's arguably one of the less popular Transformers shows, but I do think it represents an important point in Transformers history, the first time bringing a Japanese show over, the show that brought back the Autobots and Decepticons, the show that brought back Optimus as a truck. And, really, if there's one name that's synonymous with 40 years of Transformers it's definitely "Optimus Prime." Frankly, I'm pretty happy with this Haslab. As I said, Fire Convoy is my favorite non-G1 Prime, with a design that's just Optimus enough to be recognizable but blasted with even more Japanese super robot energy than any of the UT Primes or Go Exprime. A modern version of him has been one of my most-wanted figures since I started collecting. I'd say my only complaint is that he's looking like he's going to be a bit out-of-scale with the other WfC/Legacy Optimus Primes.

And I already backed it.😉

@M'Kyuun I hope you see this before hand, but I quoted the wrong time. It's at 10:00am EST, 7:00am PT. Hope you're an early riser!

I never had the original toy (to my deep regret), but I had the opposite feeling on the design. I was really into anime at the time, and RiD not only returned Transformers to transforming vehicles instead of animals it replaced the dodgy '90s CGI with gorgeous anime designs. RiD Optimus remains my absolute favorite Optimus after G1. ...Except he kinda is G1. See, RiD isn't part of the Unicron Trilogy. And while we in the West kind of accept it as it's own thing, in Japan it was intended to be another part of G1. Tomorrow at 11:00am EST.

From Robots in Disguise 2001. You have Optimus Prime (Fire Convoy in Japan)... ...who combines with his trailer for a super mode (Super Fire Convoy). But later in the series the cast is joined by Ultra Magnus (God Magnus), Optimus' brother who in this continuity is actually mad that Optimus got the Matrix instead of him. Despite their rivalry, though, not only does Magnus keep aiding the Autobots he actually combines with Optimus to form Omega Prime (God Fire Convoy)

Months ago one of the team said something in a steam about the next HasLab being "an Omega Level event." Omega Prime has been one of the more popular guesses on that board, but it's just a guess, and not the only one. Animated Omega Supreme and Primus are also oft-cited potential candidates. I have my doubts about all three- with this year being the 40th anniversary of the brand I'm feeling like a popular G1 character better represents that anniversary, especially if it's an ’84 release. Either way, I don't want to get too excited. I'm getting very limited on space, and I decided that Tidal Wave is likely the last Titan or bigger I'll buy. If it's Omega Supreme or Primus I'm out. If it is Omega Prime, though, I'll bust my wallet out so fast it'll make a sonic boom when it opens.

Huh. I've always been a palm grip guy, and I personally don't have any issues palming the G502. Really, my biggest issue with it has been the scroll wheel, which is one of those ones where it clicks but if you push a button it spins freely. I find it too resistant in clicky mode, but so loose that the wheel moves sometimes just by repositioning the mouse. I like the shape and extra side button on it better than the G Pro, though. Really, though, I haven't liked any of them as much as my old Razer. When I originally started using Razer mice back in the day I heard this a lot, and usually people were talking about the switches crapping out so they'd have trouble with phantom double-clicks or click-dragging. And all I can say is I bought my first Razer mouse, a Death Adder, because I was having those sorts of issues with my Logitech Performance MX Mouse. I never had an issues with that Deathadder; I only replaced it with a Mamba because the Mamba had the then-new Chroma lighting and the Deathadder was only green. And the Mamba is still good, too, I just put it with my old desktop when I went all-in on Logitech again. And wouldn't you know it, the first Logitech mouse I had since then also had the switches crap out, so I'm more inclined to trust Razer's mice than Logitech's now. The only reasons I'm not switching back is that I love my G915 TKL, and the Power Play is a game changer for wireless mice. In fact, I still use a Basilisk with my laptop, but I'll probably change that if I'm swapping my laptop gear to Redragon.* ...Although I see Razer's making a low-profile mechanical now, the Deathstalker V2 Pro. And they have something similar to the Power Play with the Mamba Hyperflux, and I did like the Mamba... If you're using the keyboard for work, I agree. But I don't work on my gaming PC, and going tenkey-less saved me money and desk space, and I think is more comfortable for long sessions of one hand hovering over WASD and the other on the mouse, since my hands are slightly closer together. On the rare occasions I really do want a number pad on my desktop I keep a wireless bluetooth one handy. Oh, and as far as mice and Redragon goes... I bought a M693 mouse from them. Like the keyboard, it can be used wired via an included USB-C cable, or wirelessly with a 2.4GHz that stores under the mouse or via Bluetooth. I wound up buying it and the 60% version of the Horus to use with my ROG Ally (the advantage of Windows over SteamOS is better compatibility and the ease of using multiple game sources, but the downside is that sometimes Windows is gonna Windows and you need a mouse and keyboard). The software for reprograming the buttons is a bit jankier than Logitech's GHub or Razer's Synapse, but it got the job done. It's got two buttons on the left side (forward and back by default), and two under the scroll wheel (for adjusting the DPI by default), RGB lighting, and goes up to 8000 DPI. The size and shape are comfortable for me to use with a palm grip. No idea how long the battery lasts- I haven't charged it since the day I got it, but I also haven't used it a ton. Similarly, I have no idea how well the switches are going to hold up over time. But it seems like a perfectly adequate, if unremarkable, wireless gaming mouse, and it's under $30. I mean, definitely good for the price- you can get it and the Horus for less than I spent on either my G915 or my G502 (or G703, or GPro) alone. For me personally, I wouldn't replace my expensive desktop gear, but an excellent choice for having a solid mouse and keyboard that support 2.4GHz or Bluetooth and still gives me low profile mechanical keys and switches on the keyboard for the occasions I want to use my laptop to game on the TV. *If I'm going Redragon on my laptop, I figure I'd get a mouse for it, too, instead of mixing Razer and Redragon gear or borrowing the mouse I got for the Ally. So, I ordered a Redragon M914, too. On paper it's fairly similar; RGB lighting, wired or wireless via Bluetooth or 2.4GHz, receiver stores under the mouse, and the price was within a dollar or so of the M693. It has two more buttons, though, a third side button and a third button under the scroll wheel, and a higher max DPI (10,000). From the pictures, it has a slightly different shape. It hasn't arrived yet, so I can't report on the comfort yet. I'll let you guys know.

Well when it comes to keyboards, yeah, if you're willing to spend then G915 (regular or TLK) is my top choice. Mice are trickier. I think the comfiest mouse I've owned was a Razer (Deathadder or Mamba, can't recall), but I'm only willing to keep one mouse/keyboard app, so I switched to Logitech. I used a G703 for awhile, as it had a shape similar to the Razer. It was fine, but the switch in the left click crapped out. I replaced with with a G Pro, but I wasn't super impressed so I replaced that with a G502. That one is fine and has a few extra buttons, which is nice. Plus, all three of those mice are compatible with Logitech's Power Play mousepad. The Power Play is great- it's not just a mousepad, it acts as the wireless receiver for the mouse instead of a dongle. Even better, it comes with a thing that fits into the bottom of the mouse and makes the entire mousepad a wireless charger for the mouse, so you never need to charge it. The only downside is it does get pricey. A G915 TKL, G Pro or G703, and a Power Play will run you around $320. Closer to $400 if you get the G915 with the number pad and the G502.

I got to talking about my keyboard on a tangent in a Transformers thread, but I figured it's worth talking about here, too. OK, so first some back story. A long, long time ago, before I got into PC gaming, I went from a Windows desktop with a keyboard I can't even recall to a MacBook as my daily driver. I got very used to the then-novel chicklet-style keys on the MacBook's keyboard, such that when I went back to Windows I looked for similarly low-profile keys... first some old Microsoft model, then a Logitech MK735, then the illuminated K800 after I decided I wanted a backlit keyboard. At some point I did start to dabble with PC gaming, and the more I got into it the less those keyboards were cutting it for me. But all those years with low-profile membrane keyboards left me almost totally unable to type on a full-height keyboard anymore. I'm talking a drop from 90-ish wpm at 96% accuracy to 45 wpm and accuracy under 80%. So I reluctantly kept using the membrane keyboards. A few years ago I decided to buy a laptop, the original Asus ROG Zephyrus G14. Now, even though the keyboard on it isn't mechanical, it was a markedly better typing experience than my desktop keyboard, and I could no longer stand to use that mushy mess. After all, what kind of PC gamer doesn't use a mechanical keyboard? So I did some digging, and I eventually settled on a Logitech G915 TLK. At the time, it was the only mechanical keyboard I could find with low-profile switches and keycaps. At $200 it was more than double what I'd spent on a keyboard before, but I was desperate. Fortunately, I wound up loving it. I went for linear switches because I'm a heavy typist who was going to bottom out the keys no matter how tactile, and I didn't want too loud clicky keys lest my late-night gaming wake my wife or kid. The G915 use Logitech's proprietary Romer-G switches, and to me they have an immensely satisfying feel, requiring not too little but not too much force to actuate. They're stable on the way down, make a solid (but not overly loud) clack, then spring back up, and the deck is aluminum so the whole thing feels really well built. For me, at least, it's great for typing and great for gaming. Now, here's the twist. Years ago, my wife and I played Dragon Age Origins together using a system where I handled the actual controls, but she got to make all the decisions about what character we played, where we went, what dialogue choices we made, etc. Back in the present, I picked up Baldur's Gate 3 and couldn't help but think of that time playing Dragon Age with my wife as I played it. I'd really like to try playing Baldur's Gate with her, but unlike our long-ago apartment setup where pretty much everything was in our living room, my gaming PC is upstairs in a corner of the house with my Transformers and junk. I know she'd prefer if we played on the 75" TV in the living room from the comfort of the sofa than try to squeeze around my desk with me. The obvious solution is to take that Zephyrus and hook it up to the TV. Heck, it's been a few years, I might even wait for the 2024 refresh to hit next month or so and buy a new one. Of course, if the laptop's over by the TV and I'm sitting on the couch with my wife, I'll need a keyboard... but I found myself at the same place I was a few years ago with my desktop. I didn't want to use a mushy membrane keyboard. I'm starting to get arthritis in my knees, so I also didn't want to run upstairs to get my G915 every time we decided to play and then hopefully not forget it downstairs when I want to use my desktop, either. So I needed a second low-profile, wireless, mechanical keyboard, but even with the price having dropped to $160-ish on Amazon I didn't really want to spend that much on a second G915 just to use once in awhile when my laptop is connected to the TV. I needed to find an alternative. That's what I want to talk about today... to Redragon K621 Horus TLK. In a lot of ways, Redragon was definitely copying Logitech's homework. The Horus has very similar dimensions; slightly wider, but approximately the same length and with the same deck height. The Horus has slightly slimmer switches, but slightly thicker keycaps, so the overall key height is about the same. They're both ten-keyless keyboards (though both are available in full-sized keyboards, and the Horus is also available in a 60% design). Both keyboards have RBG lighting, and like the G915, the Horus has a few membrane buttons for controlling your media and the brightness of the lighting. Both keyboards support a wired connection over USB, a wireless connection over a 2.4GHz receiver that can be stored under the keyboard, or via bluetooth. Arguably the biggest copy is that the G915 has something like a extra-thick scroll wheel for controlling your volume, and sure enough the Horus has one too, right in the same spot. In some ways, the Horus is even an improvement over the G915. In a frustrating bit of penny-pinching on a $200 keyboard, Logitech opted to use micro-USB for the wired connection/charging, while Redragon uses USB-C on the Horus. And, while the G915 does support Bluetooth, it has just the one connection, allowing for just two devices to be used wireless at one time. The Horus supports three Bluetooth devices at once, so I can use it with a tablet or my ROG Ally or my phone in addition to a laptop. Of course, the biggest improvement is the price. At $53, the Horus cost a third of Amazon's discounted price on the G915 TLK. Of course, now the question is whether or not that's too good to be true. After all, there are a lot of membrane keyboards on the market that cost more than that. Well, perhaps the old saying is true. You do get what you pay for, and I definitely prefer the G915. The Horus is totally plastic and significantly lighter than the G915. The keys don't feel quite as stable, the switches are noticeably less crisp, and the sound the keys make is more hollow. They keys come off fairly easily; a few were actually dislodged in the box. The bottom line is that the G915 is a more expensive keyboard because the G915 is a more premium keyboard, and the one I'd recommend if you're not adverse to dropping $160-$200 on a keyboard you're going to use almost every day. However, I need to stress that the Horus isn't a bad keyboard by any stretch. It doesn't feel as good as a keyboard that costs triple, sure, but it still has low-profile keys and switches that I'm comfortable tying on, and it still feels far better than any membrane keyboard. The Redragon Horus is going to be an upgrade for anyone who doesn't have some kind of mechanical keyboard already, and should appeal to anyone who balks at spending over $100 on a keyboard or who, like me, are looking for a good keyboard for a secondary machine that you can't justify spending that much on.