Jump to content

mikeszekely

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    12707

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by mikeszekely

  1. mikeszekely
    I'm actually surprised no one beat me to it; I actually saw the news in the late afternoon/early evening, but I'd bought a new phone today (a Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G) and was busy setting it up, tweaking settings, and generally feeling frustrated at all the little tweaks and inferior Samsung apps they pushes over the Google ones I've used for years. I should have gone with OnePlus again instead of Samsung, but I'm leery of OnePlus's merger with Oppo (among other things).
  2. mikeszekely
    Available to preorder now at some store I never heard of... or hopefully soon on Pulse. The irony is that I want this deco because I had the G1 toy as a kid, but as a kid I was always mad at the G1 toy because it looked so far off from the cartoon. I could do without the tampos representing the G1 stickers (at least I hope they're tampos... I'm getting flashbacks to Prime Wars' stickers)... the extra red is really what separates the toy from the Marvel comics. And he's missing some red on his belt, where he actually does need it. But I'm digging it, for the most part.
  3. mikeszekely
    Well, I try to avoid reviews for anything I'm planning on reviewing (hey, Hasbro/factory special guy, send some stuff my way!). Don't want to inadvertently color my opinion with someone else's, y'know? So I can't watch the video right now, and I'm kind of just skimming your post. But... At this point, you know DNA will cook something up. I think the only Titans they haven't done kits for were Trypticon and Omega Supreme, and I'm not sure what exactly you'd have done to upgrade those two in the first place. Also, I heard Slag's been seen in the wild at a Target in North Carolina. Of course, he won't be at my Target. My Target seems content to leave their shelves empty, and I'm still waiting for Rhinox and Galvatron to show up.
  4. mikeszekely
    Well, I just finished Singular Point, and I'd say that I had a very different experience than Hikuro. It certainly wasn't without it's flaws- the humans are kind of bland, being either utterly generic or drawn as exaggerated villains (despite the fact that the motivations of a lot of the characters are unclear rather than being definite villains). And, despite being in the title, Godzilla is barely in the show (and yes, as Hikuro pointed out, the Shin Godzilla vibes are very strong with him spending most of his few appearances evolving into bigger forms). And I get the feeling that if I really sit down and consider the plot that, in the end, it doesn't quite make total sense. That said, on the whole I found the whole thing to be entertaining. There's a mystery that plays out over the course of the 13 episodes, and it involves some interesting ideas about extra dimensions and spacetime (as as someone who reads books by guys like Carlo Rovelli, Sean Carroll, and Lee Smolin for fun I was totally into that). These ideas, in turn, provided a sort of origin and explanation for the kaiju's appearance that, while it could have been fleshed out a bit better, is at least not the same old nuclear radiation origin that's been the go-to for the last 67 years. What's more, as a multi-episode show instead of a 90-minute movie it allowed the kaiju phenomenon to start off small and build up to a global disaster, giving the mystery time to build and gradually raising the stakes. Also, Jet Jaguar. So, yeah. I'm not sure that Singular Point totally succeeds as a Godzilla story. But as a sci-fi anime that happens to have Godzilla in the last quarter I found that I really enjoyed it.
  5. mikeszekely
    I don't really do Legends, but I was so impressed with MFT's Astrotrain that I pre-ordered their Octane and Blitzwing.
  6. mikeszekely
    So Legends scale. Hasbro's is closer to 13-14cm, I think.
  7. mikeszekely
    Serious, no judgement question- are bronies still a thing? Personally, I didn't like MLP as a kid, and I had zero interest in FIM. But my 5yo daughter discovered it and adores it. She's watched everything on Netflix, and I think she's actually re-watching FIM now. She'll be excited to watch this new show.
  8. mikeszekely
    Images have turned up of some new Studio Series figures in-package. Jolt is, unsurprisingly, what @M'Kyuun showed us the other day. Bumblebee, despite being reported on at least one site as "Dark of the Moon Bumblebee," is the same Revenge of the Fallen Bumblebee and Sam I looked at not long ago, just in a regular Studio Series box (that does, BTW, say "Revenge of the Fallen" on it) instead of the Buzzworthy Bumblebee packaging that's already available. The one I was the most excited to see was the 86 Sweep, and it's either really good or really disappointing, depending on your feelings on screen-accuracy and whether or not you already got Scourge. As near as I can tell, it is 99.5% the exact same figure as Scourge. The only difference I can see for sure is that, unlike their boss, the Sweeps are going to have two closed hands instead of one closed and one open. I'm hoping that maybe in-hand the Sweeps will be a slightly different color; on my monitor the Sweep looks a bit bluer, but it'll be impossible to tell for sure until they're side-by-side with Scourge. Well, I suppose identical Sweeps is movie-accurate, but I was definitely hoping for something- slightly tweaked colors, slightly tweaked markings, different weapons, a different face, anything- to better differentiate the Sweeps from Scourge. ...I'll still probably buy two Sweeps, though. Because I'm a sucker.
  9. mikeszekely
    I like how Fans Toys made enough changes to give Hoist and Trailbreaker animation-accurate visual differences beyond the head, color, and junk in their truck beds. Too bad they'll be $200-$250 each and still sell out four minutes after preorders open.😒
  10. mikeszekely
    Well, as is often the case, Walmart didn't fill my online preorder, but I stopped in a store today and found the Sparkless Seeker pack and the Optimus Primal/Rattrap pack. I passed on Primal and Rattrap; the changes in Primal are minimal, and the changes in Rattrap seem to make him less accurate. But I grabbed the Seeker. Not a ton to say since I first reviewed this mold with Siege Starscream over two years ago, and this is my ninth time purchasing this mold. Well, he does have the smirking face that Hasbro used on Redwing (but none of the other seven), that's kind of cool. He's got a color scheme that's sort of a greenish brown, with redder brown spots. The idea is that he's one of the sparkless zombies from the Netflix show, like the previous Deluxe-class based on Barricade, but while that one actually looked kind of rusty this one looks more like a he was supposed to be that color and got a few dirty spots on him. Oh, and like the other Sparkless I prefer to think of him as an actual character. I think I called the Barricade repaint "Rust Bucket." And this guy... well, we've got Acid Storm, Nova Storm, and Ion Storm... I guess this guy is $#!*storm. Like fellow Netflix alum Hotlink you don't just get the bot and his null rays. $#!*storm comes with a pair of Battle Masters and some effects parts. That said, where Hotlink came with two identical Battle Masters and two identical effect parts, at least $#!*storm has two different Battle Masters, Sparkless Singe and Sparkless Caliburst, and they have different effects parts based on the the ones that came with the non-Sparkless versions. Much like the Siege Seeker mold, I'm starting to accumulate a lot of these two molds. Oh well. Despite being Sparkless they don't look particularly rusty and could probably be used fine with any WFC figure (or any Transformer with a 5mm port for a hand). OK, nine copies of this mold might seem a bit excessive. But really, this one extra addition pleases me because now my Siege Seeker Squadron can be divided evenly into three flights of three. Although, I have Shattered Glass Starscream preordered... that'll make ten. And I think you technically need at least twelve to make a whole squadron. So I guess I have room for more. Sunstorm and Bitstream when, Hasbro?
  11. mikeszekely
    I mean, the plane is 100% less real-world accurate. But, while a case can certainly be made for it being too Sunbow-accurate, I think the robot mode is undeniably an improvement over MP-03/MP-11. I didn't think either of those assertions was in question. In my mind, the question wasn't "is MP-52 a better Starscream?", it's "is MP-52 the best Starscream?" or "is MP-52 a Starscream worth $250?" The answers are subjective, and I'm not telling anyone they're wrong for answering yes to either, but for me it's no. I've got Maketoys', and I'm fine with it.
  12. mikeszekely
    I'm not expecting anything (besides a Menasor that we're a year or so out from), but I'd love if they redid all the combiners. Ditch the chunky connectors, the endless repaints, and Scramble City. Just give me more solid figures and better G1 accuracy
  13. mikeszekely
    I liked the first one, better than the new live action one, so I'll check it out.
  14. mikeszekely
    It's the SSD giving you any grief? Do you have the important data on it backed up? While early ssd's had some issues that lead to relatively short lifespans, and some people do suggest replacing an SSD after 5-7 years, a modern SSD with a large capacity and wear leveling should last closer to 10-20 years in practice (and, in theory, maybe a century or two).
  15. mikeszekely
    Sure, MP-03/MP-11 had a better alt mode. But, by modern standards, the bot mode was terrible. Something had to give to get a better robot. Not saying it couldn't have been done better- I personally think Meteor was already better, I like what Newage did with their Seekers, and I'm curious to see what this new 3P Starscream looks like in jet mode. But, aside from that massive chonk of kibble covering the faux cockpit, I'm inclined to forgive a less-than-perfect underside to his jet mode, especially when the animation model had visible features from the toy, like the chest intakes and the folded-up feet- it's cartoon-accurate, like Astrotrain's uncircumcised shuttle, Cliffjumper looking more like a little kei car than a Porsche, and Blitzwing being more rocket biplane than MiG-31.
  16. mikeszekely
    Ok, after seeing @treatment's pics I think I have to walk this back a bit. I edited one of them to illustrate... Basically, I'm ok forgiving his robot torso and legs that definitely hang lower than an actual F-15's belly because, like I said, it has to look like the animation model in bot mode. But that massive gray chunk of whatever covering the fake canopy in his torso is trash, and I'd have been happier if they'd simply left it exposed if they weren't going to turn it into an actual part of the nose. Oh well, it is what it is. Hopefully yours doesn't get the cracks, buddy, although at Takara's prices no one's should.
  17. mikeszekely
    Perhaps. But I'll remind you, I didn't say it's not possible to make a jet into a robot, just that it's extremely difficult to make an F-15 into the Sunbow Seekers (and probably even more difficult to wring Sunbow Aerialbots that turn into combiner limbs without a chunk of robot under those planes). That said, I don't think Bayformers deserve the same amount of slack I'll afford G1. They were starting with modern engineering and real-world alt modes, and they had every opportunity to design something that works. The amount of undercarriage on MPM-10 is worse than the Studio Series version, and that's just insulting.
  18. mikeszekely
    I preordered the JP set. I kind of wish Tyranocon had gray biceps and a gold torso- she looks a lot like if Grimlock turned into a real T-Rex. JP93 is interesting. The use of ball joints in the hips and elbows speak of pre-WFC engineering, but if it's a retool I'm not sure what the original figure was. There's some speculation that is a new mold, but perhaps a pretool for a new Skids figure. I could see it perhaps working for an earth-mode Hound, too. @M'Kyuun I'll be getting Jolt, and I'll review him here. But I'm not sure about Sideswipe, since it's a minor retool of the DotM version I already reviewed two years ago. Pretty sure the only real difference is that RotF doesn't have the spoiler and does have a roof in car mode.
  19. mikeszekely
    I'm sure I've talked about this before, but I'll do it again. A Datsun 280zx's height is just under a third it's length. On paper, an F-15's height to length ratio is fairly similar... but keep in mind that the official height is to the top of the vertical stabilizers. Through most of the fuselage it's going to be, if I'm generous, maybe half that height. In other words, there's simply more room to stuff the robot into the car. Case in point- That doesn't mean that good jetformers are impossible, of course; Kawamori has done some impressive work, and Maverick turned out pretty good, but Transformers like Starscream are a bit hamstrung because the designers aren't just trying to turn an F-15 into a robot, they're trying to turn an F-15 into a robot that looks like the cartoon. On that note, no, Starscream doesn't look like a perfect F-15. I think he looks alright, though.
  20. mikeszekely
    AFAIK Cullen is still on tap to voice Optimus Prime in Rise of the Beasts. Perlman was cast as Optimus Primal. And if your curious about how he is, he already did voice Primal in the Machinima Power of the Primes series. I think he was ok- not great, and definitely not Gary Chalk, but he's not way off. You can find YouTube clips of him, I'm sure.
  21. mikeszekely
    Some new info on this... apparently the cab is a licensed Volvo truck (maybe an FH?). That said, given that it's reported to still have a Matrix that stores in the chest, and that it converts in 37 steps (ER was 35), I'm still thinking this is more of a retool or Earthrise Prime than a totally new mold. Aside from the Matrix, it's coming with a trailer (cab and trailer are designed to look like an Amazon Prime truck), a rifle, and two "packages" complete with the black and blue tape that can store in the trailer for Prime to deliver.
  22. mikeszekely
    I'll look into it. Unfortunately putting together groups to play hasn't been the easiest here. From what I started playing, only myself and the DM are still part of that original group. One guy moved away, one guy got married and just stopped hanging out with us after. We invited another friend and the DM's brother-in-law, and while the friend has been with us ever since the brother-in-law started a new job where his shifts change from week to week and can't commit to a specific day/time anymore. We did find another guy to join, but that's just three PC- we can't even find enough people to play in our regular game, let alone start another for Pathfinder. Shame. I am curious to see how much has changed from 1e. That... that actually kind of sucks. I've played most of the classes in 5e, and while some classes are better than others I don't think there's any bad ones (there's one definitely bad subclass for Barbarians, and Rangers were kind of bad with just the subclasses in the Player's Handbook but new subclasses in later supplements helped that a lot), if anything casters improved since 3.5e. Druids and Clerics are regarded by many as the most-powerful classes in the game. Many spells can be cast at higher levels by spending a higher slot. Sorcerers, Wizards, Warlocks, Druids, Clerics, and Bards all get unlimited use of their known cantrips, and the cantrips scale with their level. Sorcerer's don't have a ton of spell slots, but they get metamagic as a class feature. Warlocks actually get the least spell slots, but they always cast at their highest level and they recover them after a short rest, plus they're the only class that gets the powerful Eldritch Blast cantrip. Wizards can regain a few spell slots on a short rest, but their best perks don't come until later. At 18 they can pick one 1st-level spell and one 2nd-level spell and cast them at will without preparing them or expending any spell slots, as if they were cantrips. At 20 they get to pick two 3rd-level spells to do that with (and Fireball is a 3rd-level spell, so infinite fireballs). I don't know, though. I guess I'd need to play it to really get a feel for it. Maybe it works for PF.
  23. mikeszekely
    I don't get it. They were smart enough to get Peter Cullen to do Optimus, and eventually Frank Welker for Megatron. Why couldn't they give the role to Gary Chalk? Or do they somehow believe that Perlman's portrayal of Primal in the Machinima Power of the Primes was more iconic than Beast Wars?
  24. mikeszekely
    My shelf just has the single core rulebooks for Starfinder and Modiphius' Star Trek RPG, plus most of the D&D 5e books (I'm missing a handful of adventures, the Penny Arcade book, and the Rick and Morty book). I have the Pathfinder 1e core rulebook, the Jovian Chronicles core rulebook, all of the Star Wars Saga rulebooks, and a number of D&D 3.5e books, but they're still packed in boxes from when I moved a few years ago. Yeah, like yourself my group jumped from 3.5 to Pathfinder 1e. While I know some people who cut their teeth on 4e my group had a strong dislike for it. I'm curious about PF 2e and would like to try it some day, but I've heard very mixed things about it and, weirdly, some of the things I've heard suggested as pros are also suggested as cons. Like I've heard a lot of people praise the the depth of character customization, but I've also heard that it's lead to just a few "optimal" builds. And I've heard some people who love the way the action economy works, but again I've heard that it's lead to optimal and suboptimal uses of actions are your turns, especially for spellcasters. I also have to say that when I started D&D 5e I was a little put off by how simplified everything felt coming off of 3.5e and PF 1e. Magic items are nerfed, feats are optional, and a lot of what were feats are baked into subclasses that steer your character in a specific direction. Some things that had very specific rules in the earlier games are reduced to the DM making rulings based on ability checks. After playing for awhile now, in three campaigns as a player (twice a warlock, once a rogue) and one as a DM, I've come to appreciate how much more streamlined everything is. There's far less rules-lawyering, less looking up seldom-used rules or tables, and combats go quicker. I was actually trying to import some stuff from D&D to Starfinder using Paizo's rules for converting 3.5 to 1e, then 1e to Starfinder, and refreshing myself on just how crunchy those old systems has me considering my 3.5e books, because I'm sure I'll never choose to play that edition again.
  25. mikeszekely
    QQ, now that pandemic restrictions are lifting in my part of the world my game group is back together. We're playing Dungeons & Dragons 5e, and although we've been gaming together for a long time (since 3.5e) I think the less crunchy rules combined with being away from the game for awhile have me more into it than ever. I was wondering, do enough MWers play D&D, or at least some tabletop RPGs, that it's worth spinning off into a new thread?
×
×
  • Create New...