mikeszekely

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.

4 hours ago, Scyla said:

For myself I think I'll wait till FansToys will eventually get to it. 

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).

21 hours ago, Black Valkyrie said:

 

I also wanted a Ginrai since years, the only we got, that came with Star Convoy, if you consider it Ginrai. 

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.

23 minutes ago, Scyla said:

I'm probably in for a Super/God Ginrai. However, the MPG line was a big letdown for me so far so I hope they do better. 

On the other hand the competition with Power Baser and the KFC one is not too stiff. But I feel like with the current direction of the MP line I won't be getting a nicely proportioned figure anyway (you know, with actual feet instead of vaguely defined blobs).

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.

20 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

I'm not interested in this Haslab but good for those that want it.  The only figures I had from RID when the series came out were the Car Brothers and Scourge.  Passed on everything else.  If an updated RID Prowl gets released I might buy it.

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.

47 minutes ago, David Hingtgen said:

Is my stance unique?   Huge fan of the original---but this is basically that toy again.  I legit thought the renders were the original toy for a while.  Hinge-for-hinge, post-for-post, tab-for-tab, identical transformation/engineering.  It's the same toy, 10% bigger, and a few small issues taken care of.  But it's really not "better" or "new".   Certainly not "20 years to think about it" level of improvemements/redesign.   Why does Magnus still having a gapingly hollow chest in bot mode?  Same huge holes at the same angles.  (honestly it actually looks WORSE from some angles) 

I wanted a BETTER Omega Prime.  Make UM a bit less hollow, not QUITE so ridiculously-proportioned etc.   For all their gushing about Prime's Super Mode having better proportions, they sure ignored the one that needed it more...

It's---exactly the choice I wanted, but executed horrifically.  It's, the toy I already had, with a few slight changes, but very expensive.  To still have almost all the flaws I was hoping would be fixed...

 

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.

2 minutes ago, Dangard Ace said:

It's Omega Prime.  $249.

And I already backed it.😉

10 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Tomorrow at 11:00am EST.

@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!

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

I actually have RID Fire Convoy; he's been tucked away in storage for many a year now. Like most of the UT toys, he just never made much of an impression on me.

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.

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

Remind me, when is the Haslab announcement?

Tomorrow at 11:00am EST.

28 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

I have no idea who Omega Prime is

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.

4 minutes ago, azrael said:

Ah the G502. I got that when it first came out many moons ago. I hated it. Coming from the G5/G500/G700-family shape, the G502 made me claw grip and eventually became unbearable for daily use and I returned it only after a week of use.

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. 

17 minutes ago, azrael said:

I thought of going with Razer but this was back in the day where Razer had questionable build quality so I kept looking.

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...

25 minutes ago, azrael said:

sorry, I can't work without my ten-key

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.

1 hour ago, Spark-O-Matic said:

Thanks for the keyboard Info,  I've been thinking about updating from my Logitech K850 and wireless mouse but with a sea of products and endless review videos it's kinda been off putting .

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.

So... years ago I played Dragon Age with my wife, and I thought she might like to play Baldur's Gate 3 with me.  I'm not dragging my gaming setup down to the living room.  I figured I could hook my laptop up to the TV, but the Logitech GLK 915 TKL keyboard I use with my desktop has me spoiled.  Can't simply use any old mushy membrane bluetooth keyboard, but I don't want to keep moving my keyboard from room to room, either.  Nor do I want to buy a second GLK 915- the current Amazon price of $160 is better than I paid originally, but still expensive for a secondary device.  For way, way less ($53) I found a keyboard from Redragon (K621 Horus TLK) that's similarly low-profile, has linear red mechanical switches, has similar overall dimensions, and even has the same volume roller.  But then I figured I should try writing something to put it through it's paces to see if it's too good to be true... and I remembered that I had some repaints to cover...

The one who's going to get most of the attention will be Studio Series 86 Voyager-class Scrapheap.  Now, on the one hand I might be inclined to be a little sick of Junkions after Legacy Evolution, but at least with Scrapheap we're back to the ones that were actually in the movie.  The other complaint I keep hearing is how the Bayverse has been getting fewer and fewer releases in the Studio Series and do we really need another retool of Wreck-Gar?  But... I'm the guy who's bought the Siege Starscream mold something like 11 times now (12, if you count the extensively-retooled Senator Shockwave).  I'm down for any Junkions that actually appeared in the movie, and the bright yellow one in a sea of orange and brown is probably one of the better options.

And yeah, Scrapheap is another retool of Wreck-Gar, but he's honestly an even more extensive one than Junkyard/heap (yes, the name on the package was Junkheap, but I think trademarks have something to do with it, I'm pretty sure his name is properly Junkyard, and I don't like having two different -heaps anyway, so from here on out I'm sticking with Junkyard).  He's got the same backs of the shoulders, biceps, hands, wrist spikes, pelvis, saddlebags, thighs, feet, and handlebars that Wreck-Gar and Junkyard used, as well as some of parts inside his torso.  He has the wider back that Junkyard has, and his ears/horns are Junkyard/heap's turned upside down.  But Scrapheap is packing a new head, new fronts of his shoulders, and new arms, much like Junkyard did over Wreck-Gar.  The entire front of his torso is new, not just his chest.  And unlike Junkyard, Scrapheap's got brand new lower legs.

Scrapheap does have the same wheels as the previous two SS86 Junkions, but he trades the pinwheel axe thingy for an actual gun.  I'm down for that.

Scrapheap's articulation is the same as the other two.  The only new things worth noting are that Wreck-Gar and Junkyard both have small holes in their backs that provided bot-mode storage for the pinwheel weapon.  Since that part of Scrapheap is reused from Junkyard, he has the small hole but no pinwheel.  And, since his legs work a little differently than the two, he doesn't have 5mm ports on the outsides of his lower legs, either.  They're on the inside, which means that Scrapheap doesn't really have any effect bot-mode storage for his gun.

So about his legs... yeah, one step involved in transforming Scrapheap that's a bit different is that you have to turn his legs 180 degrees at the thighs, so that the insides are now facing out.  The only other real difference is that the front of his bike has an extra hinged piece that plugs into the top of his chest.

As bike's go, it's fine.  The insides of his legs have some extra engine and exhaust details, but the new front of his torso is just a yellow block instead of the could-be-part-of-a-bike round bits that Wreck-Gar and Junkyard used.  You'll note that Scrapheap still has the stands that fold out of his legs, except now they're on his shins instead of his calves.  And you may also note the hexagonal 5mm port just in front of his exhaust pipes.  In addition to the handle, his gun has smaller 5mm pegs on either side, and that's how he carries his gun in bike mode.

And, because it's an important part of Junkions' play pattern, here's how Junkyard looks riding on Scrapheap.  Of course, the other thing you'd expect, and that they did with the Deluxe-class Junkions in Legacy Evolution, is limb swapping.  And, I guess you could use the mushroom pegs in their thighs, their biceps, or their shoulders to yank their limbs off and swap them around, but it's curious that Hasbro didn't use the simpler 5mm ports they used on the Deluxe Junkions.

I like Scrapheap.  I think, based solely on having more visually-stimulating colors and a gun, that I like Scrapheap more than Junkyard, but really all three of them look good together- these three are the only three Junkions with totally unique character models.  Is three Junkions enough, though?  I don't think so.  I'd say you'd ideally want an even number, so you can have half in bot mode riding the other half in alt mode.  While I personally am open to buying as many Junkions as they can find in the films.  While The Ark: A Complete Compendium of Character Designs has line art for seven more many of them are very similar.  Realistically, I'd say at most they could do three more; Rubbish, Trashbin, and Re-Cycle.  Of those three, Re-Cycle is basically Scrapheap with Wreck-Gar's colors and different shoulders, and Trashbin is Re-Cycle with gray instead of tan, Scrapheap's original shoulders, and pipes on his abs.  If they're going to do any more, my vote goes to Rubbish, aka the one with a wheel in his chest.  Yeah, Nonnef made a kit to covert Wreck-Gar into Rubbish, and I even painted my custom Rubbish to look more movie-accurate, but I'd still love it Hasbro took a stab at that one.

As for my other repaint, he's far less exciting.  It's Earthspark Deluxe-class Starscream, and in a move that's becoming too common for the Earthspark Deluxes he's simply Cyberverse Starscream with a new paint job.  And sure, with more blue on his shins, blue on his forearms, black hands, black intakes, and a lack of stripes on his wings the colors are more like Earthspark than Cyberverse, although his feet should still have been blue with a red stripe.  The problem is that Cyberverse Starscream doesn't have the right shapes for Earthspark.  The wings have the wrong shape, they have angles that are kind of like the wings on the VF-11 from Macross Plus/Macross 7.  His shoulder pads should have more angles, and his arms should have additional armor on the outside.  The intakes on his chest should be narrower rectangles, his knees should be bigger, and the vents on his should should stick out more and point up.  He's missing the intakes/pylons he should have on his shoulders.  And that's not even counting that his head is totally wrong.

Starscream comes with almost the exact same accessories as he did in Cyberverse.  That is, the ones I'd say are the most important, his null rays, are the same, just cast in unpainted black plastic this time.  There is one small difference, though.  Earthspark Starscream ditches the missile spam effect parts Cyberverse Starscream came with and instead comes with an arm for the Mandroid build-a-figure.  It's the same one that came with Shockwave, I think, so at the very least if you really wanted that arm you now have a choice of which Cyberverse repaint you have to buy to get it.

Transformation is, naturally, the same, and while I can see how they tried to arrange the colors similarly to the show, the reality is that this is simply not the correct alt mode.  It's about as close as if they took G1 Optimus' alt mode, painted some blue flames on it, and tried to pass it off as Bayverse Prime.  Starscream's alt mode in Earthspark is more like a cross between his Reactivate alt mode and a Northrop YF-23.

So, I get that as the line aimed more squarely at kids that Earthspark doesn't get the same budget, even in the same class, as Legacy or Studio Series.  But after an initial wave of three unique figures, it's a little disappointing that the next five only included one more new mold and only two of five Terrans have been included.  Prime and Grimlock were at least retooled.  Like Shockwave, Starscream is simply a repaint, but at least with Shockwave his Earthspark design was pretty similar to his Cyberverse one (and therefore arguably the better choice if all you want is the yellow arm).  It's an extra shame that they couldn't invest in some new tooling for Starscream, because it's not like they couldn't get more use out it; Nova Storm and Skywarp feature even more than Starscream in Earthspark and use the same body.  Long story short, don't be like me.  Don't reward Hasbro for this behavior, and don't buy Earthspark Starscream.

As for the keyboard, I'm going to keep it.  It definitely doesn't feel as nice as the Logitech, but at a third of the price I don't think it's fair to expect it to.  And even though I prefer the Logitech, the Redragon is still a significant step up over even the best membrane keyboard, and one of only a few mechanicals that cater to my preference for low-profile keys and switches.  In short, it's perfectly adequate for using with a laptop occasionally connected to the TV in my living room.

It looks like an OS KO of Magic Square's Light of Justice.  Which, mild quibbles about the type of plastic MS used and the somewhat light feeling of the figure, I thought was a pretty awesome Optimus Prime toy.

I wish instead of OS KO-ing Magic Square's one real MP-scale figure that someone would upscale their Legends stuff to fit with Hasbro's mainline stuff.

I wonder what will represent 40 years of Transformers better than the previously-leaked SS86 Commander-Class Optimus Prime? Does a HasLab allow Hasbro to use the adult collector angle to skirt the regulations that have prevented them from doing a gun Megatron?

Off the top of my head, aside from somehow working up a gun Megatron, I'd be down for for a better Powermaster Optimus/God Ginrai, Star Convoy, RiD 2001 Optimus/Fire Convoy, Energon Optimus/Grand Convoy, and... well, that might be it.  Can't really think of anything bigger than Commander that would require more than a Commander budget that I'd be interested.  Maybe another combiner, but even then, I think Studio Series Bayverse Devastator and Legacy Menasor have shown that you can absolutely do them as individual bots at retail with a Gen Selects box set later.  And I don't have the space for anything huge like Unicron.

1 hour ago, Big s said:

The guy that makes it basically does every movie in an odd quirky way and I’ve always finished them not knowing if I liked the movie or not.

Believe it or not, it's the only Wes Anderson movie I've seen, but yeah, that's exactly how I feel.  I mean, at no point during the movie was I bored or anything.  It held my attention, which is more than I can say for a lot of movies these days.  But after watching it I'm not sure I understood it.  I could tell you what happened, but I'm still not really sure what it's about, or what Anderson was trying to say with it.

On 12/29/2023 at 10:20 PM, mikeszekely said:

Did anyone here see Asteroid City?  I remember the previews for it looked kind of weird, but maybe a good kind of weird.  Worth the time to watch it on Prime?

Never did get a response. I figured it was because no one had seen it (or people were too busy with Rebel Moon. Now I'm not sure. My wife and kid were out today, and my gaming group cancelled, so I watched Asteroid City.  And, frankly, I'm not sure what to say. I couldn't even tell you if I liked it or not.

2 hours ago, tekering said:

Well, this is disturbing.  Mike's photography is so crystal-clear, I can make out the granular texture and telltale layering of a 3D-printed prototype...

...on a mass-produced factory figure. 😒

Why would steel molds have this layering evident?  Exactly what kind of molding process are they using in Vietnam? 🤨

I think it looks worse blown up on a 27" monitor than it actually is... Rumble's head is maybe 8mm tall, smaller than two 5mm pegs side-by-side, and smooth to the touch.  Rumble's whole alt mode is similar in length to Studio Series Sludge's head.  My guess is that it's not layering so much as it is swirls in the plastic, just on parts that are so small and such a tiny sample that they look straight.

I guess what I'm saying is that there are definite reasons why you might not want to buy Rumble, but I wouldn't consider the plastic one of them.

15 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

I was hoping the upcoming leader Soundwave would be a completely new mold, hopefully returning to the og micro-cassette scale of G1 with updated and improved cassettes, but disappointingly, I guess not. Netflix Soundwave is ok, but there's definitely room for improvement, and I was pinning my hopes on the rumored leader toy. Hopes dashed.

Same here.  Unless the deco is really improved, or he comes with Buzzsaw...

Oh, BTW, Commander-class Sky Lynx is in stock again at Pulse, for anyone that still wants one.

With that out of the way, I have one more new mold for this week, and it's Studio Series Core-class Rumble.  From the Bumblebee movie, though, not 86.

For years, Hasbro has insisted that the G1 toy names were correct, and Rumble is the black and red one and Frenzy is the blue one.  Alternators Rumble was black and red.  Titans Return Rumble was a black and red repaint of Titans Return Rewind.  The black and red Siege Micromaster was Rumble.  Both IDW continuities had Rumble as black and red and Frenzy as blue.  But then SS86 gave us the movie-accurate Rumble (Blue), and suddenly we're supposed to ignore Hasbro's insistence on toy over toon for the last decade and a half.  The packaging here definitely says Rumble, and this guys is definitely blue.  And not blue like cartoon/'86 Rumble is mostly purple, either.  Rumble's a dark blue, with some gunmetal and a few lighter blue accents.  Movie-accurate?  Who knows?  Because Rumble wasn't actually in Bumblebee.  To the chagrin of Bayverse fans clamoring for Skids, Mudflap, Devcon, Hound, Que, Evasion Optimus, AoE Optimus, TLK Megatron, Onslaught, and the other Dinobots... y'know, characters that actually were in movies... Hasbro would rather do toys based on concept art from Bumblebee.  Sorry fam!  Despite semi-recent releases for Crosshairs, Hot Rod, Galvatron, and Mohawk apparently Hasbro isn't super fond of the last two Bay films, and they consider Skids and Mudflap too problematic to include.

Anyway, Rumble is ok-ish.  He fits that Bumblebee "we haven't totally abandoned the Bayverse aesthetic but we made it way more G1" look.  You look at Rumble and you can recognize who he's supposed to be.  And he's got his piledrivers!  Except... wait a minute... his arms are permanently pile drivers.  That kind of sucks.

He does have accessories.  He's got these two asymmetric guns.  What is it with designers thinking asymmetry is cooler/technologic/futuristic/realistic?

Rumble's head is on a ball joint with the ball in his torso, not his head.  He can look down a little and tilt his head sideways plenty.  He can look up, but probably not as much as you'd actually like.  His shoulders swivel and move almost 90 degrees laterally, but it's that special kind of joint where the swivel is on the outside of the lateral joint so he can't lift his arm them move it laterally.  There are two hinges in his arms that are used for transformation, but I'm hesitant to refer to either has elbows.  The upper hinge bends the arm outward, the lower bends inward; neither are useful for robot mode.  He's got no hands, no waist swivel.  Due to his transformation he has a slight ab crunch and a back bend.  His hips go forward, backward, and laterally 90 degrees.  His knees are ball joints that bend 90 degrees and do double as his thigh swivels.  No ankle pivots, but his feet tilt upward for transformation.

Rumble can't actually hold his guns in any way that looks like he's wielding them.  They just plug onto his back like G1 Rumble... except both the G1 toy and the 86 toy actually can take their guns off their backs and wield them.

Rumble's transformation is barely that.  His arms bend at both the hinges, swivel, then fold at the shoulders so they're up by his head.  His legs move backward 90 degrees at the hips and his feet fold up against his shins.  Then he bends at the back so that his arms can plug into his calves.  That's about it.

And he turns into... a box.  I guess?  I suppose it's tricky trying to figure out why a small robot's alt mode should be something that fits into the chest of another robot without the Earth-centric tape and tape player thing.  The old War for Cybertron game did the data disc thing.  Maybe Rumble's like a cabinet with a server rack inside.  Regardless, his guns don't stay on his back, but they can be stored on his alt mode by using holes on one and slots on the other to fit into corresponding pegs and tabs near his ankles, with the barrels pointing up and situating between his arms.

Like Studio Series Core-class Ravage before him, Rumble's honestly a glorified accessory for SS Bumblebee Soundwave.  So the most important question is whether Rumble's "alt mode" fits into Soundwave's chest.  And the answer is definitely yes, so that's not a problem.  Of course, it's Rumble or Ravage, not Rumble and Ravage, as there's not room for the both of them in there.

Another thought occurred to me.  Ravage came with his hip guns and a missile pack that plugged onto his back, but he also came with an accessory that he could carry under his tummy in an unfortunately suggestive way, but was really an extra bit for Soundwave, looking like the tip of his G1 gun and plugging into his shoulder cannon.  I wondered if Rumble didn't have a similar play pattern.  And sure enough, while it's not mentioned in the instructions, you'll notice that one of Rumble's guns has a hole on the back, and it fits onto the tip of the other gun's barrel.  That other gun, while having the smaller peg to fit into Rumble's back, has that peg on a shallow 5mm post, so soundwave can hold the combined gun like a pistol.

On his own, Rumble's kind of a trash figure that you can feel safe skipping.  If you have Soundwave, though, Rumble gains a bit more utility as an accessory for him, either to enhance his play pattern by giving Soundwave a new gun and something to keep in his chest, or as a minion to pose with Soundwave on your Bumblebee shelf.  When looked at that way he's not so bad.  I even kind of want a Laserbeak to go with them (more than that the already-confirmed Frenzy repaint).  But given how much of his utility comes down to you owning another figure and even caring if said figure has his minions, I wouldn't actually say I'm recommending him.