mikeszekely

So... rumors from sources that have usually turned out to be credible are telling me we're getting a Kingdom Road Rage from the Tracks mold, and it'll be a Target-exclusive. I'm also hearing that Skids will probably come out next year, in whatever the post-WFC trilogy is called. I'm also hearing that in 2022 the Bumblebee movie could feature heavily in the Studio Series line. What's interesting here is that we're not talking about something like a reissue of Prime but with a trailer, a more movie-accurate Bumblebee, or a redo on Shatter or Dropkick. Apparently, we're talking about the G1-inspired cast of the Cybertron battle. As of now, this is apparently the entire first 2022 wave: Deluxe Brawn (BB) Ratchet (BB) Wheeljack (BB) Perceptor (86) Voyager Soundwave (BB) Junkyard (86) (Retool of Wreck-Gar) Leader King Starscream (86) There's another leaker or leakers that's active right now, but here's the thing with this one- I can't vouch for this one. Most of what they're claiming is stuff that's already leaked far and wide, but it's sprinkled with stuff that other leakers are saying is misinformation that was put out to discredit them, and a tiny bit of it is stuff that no one else has reported. So take this with a healthier than normal dose of skepticism, but I'm mentioning these anyway because I think the demand is there (all Studio Series) Que (DotM) Bumblebee ('67 Camaro) (DotM) Megatron (TLK) Hound (unspecified) Optimus (Evasion mode) (AoE) Kickback (86) Bombshell (86) Shrapnel (86)

I know Shawn has a thread for bugs, but everything looks like it went smoothly from here, much more so than the last upgrade. If I hadn't know better I wouldn't even realize anything had changed.

Just wait until I get my hands on the Sparkless Seeker. That'll be my 9th copy of the Siege Seeker mold...

Repaint roundup. Got this pair via FedEx today. The one on the left is Deseeus Army Drone, and the one on the left is Sparkless Bot. Both are Deluxe-class figures from the (mostly) Walmart-exclusive Netflix War for Cybertron line. The Deseeus Army Drone is a repaint of Siege Ironhide, and comes with the same missile launcher/hammer accessory. Multiple identical copies of the drone appeared in the Earthrise portion of the Netflix series, and yeah, this is about what they looked like in the show. I'm not sure how he works into my CHUG shelf, since I've been using the WFC Trilogy (and SS 86) to more or less be CHUG G1, and the whole Deseeus thing is, as far as I'm concerned, not canon. I mostly grabbed him because I figured I could use more bad guys. Kind of wish there was less silver and more black and maybe some red, go for the Diaclone homage. Transformation is the same, alt mode is the same, which is to say it's fine. The feet on the back are more forgivable on this mold than the Earthrise version, since it's supposed to be a Cybertronian vehicle. I don't have fillers for him like I do for Ironhide and Ratchet, though. Sparkless Bot is a repaint of Siege Barricade. Again, not concerned with repping the Netflix show and I don't really need zombie corpses, but Sparkless Bot is easier to work into my collection. Despite the lack of faction emblems (the Deseeus Army Drone has a Quintesson symbol), in my canon this guy is a Decepticon named Rustbucket. And he's basically the Transformers equivalent of Pigpen from The Peanuts, which is why he looks so gross. Sparkless Bot/Rustbucket comes with the same pistols/shoulder cannons that can combine into one double-barreled blaster that Barricade and Smokescreen came with. He also has Barricade's lightbar, in translucent brown, but not the rifle that Barricade, Prowl, Smokescreen, and Bluestreak came with. Which, y'know, is kind of weak. I mean, I'd rather have that than the lightbar; I don't really see this guy as a police/rescue vehicle, especially not with brown lights. Credit where credit is due, this guy is covered in a digital paint job that looks kind of disgusting. And hey, I'm always down for building the ranks of the Decepticons, and the Siege Datsun mold is pretty good (although at this point I'd have preferred the Earthrise Datsun mold). I think if you look "superfluous" up in the dictionary you'll see a picture of these figures. One is supposed to be part of a drone army for a Quintesson that only exists in a bad Netflix show, and the other is literally supposed to be a random dead body. Both are repaints of figures you might already have with no new tooling. You don't need either of them. If you leave them on the shelf your collection won't suffer for it. That said, the Ironhide mold was ok, and I like the Barricade mold. If I've got room for like six copies of the Siege Sideswipe mold, I can make room for a few more repaints.

Amusingly enough, this (the digital version, anyway) is actually what I'm playing right now. Abusing the save feature let me get through the first Castlevania (although I played it a ton when I was a kid, couldn't get past the mummies then), and this will be the first time I've seriously played Castlevania II. I'm determined to finish all the games in the collection. Really wish Konami would do more Castlevania collections. While I'd most love for them to do one with the six GBA and DS Metroidvanias, I think another collection with some of the other missing and occasionally more obscure games in the series would be good, too. Say, Castlevania Legends, Castlevania: Dracula X, the MSX2 version of Vampire Killer, the PlayStation Castlevania Chronicles (which itself was basically a port of the Sharp X68000 game), the Famicom version of Kid Dracula, the arcade Haunted Castle, maybe even the mobile game Order of Shadows. Oh, and bring Requiem to the Switch. Or Steam. I did pick it up for PS4, but I'd rather have all the Castlevanias on Switch (for portability) or PC (for posterity).

I mean... if it weren't for the fact that my wife watches a lot of the Chinese content I'd probably cancel Netflix. Most of the shows I watched on it left for other streaming services, and their originals have become them throwing anything and everything at us in the hopes that something might get the kind of viral popularity that Tiger King did.

Interesting. Although, that might have to do with Hasbro's push for more brand unification, and/or the Netflix series. I assume it's available on Japanese Netflix? Is he Jetfire or Skyfire in it? Regardless, the MP line is all Takara, and there's nothing for Hasbro to force them to align with, so I'm still forced to conclude that references to an MP "Skyfire" would almost certainly have to be the one in the G1 cartoon, not an MPM Jetfire.

I remember seeing it in the theater, but for the life of me I can't remember who I'd have gone with. Yeah, it sucked pretty bad, but was somehow still closer to the games than the new MK movie. I'll go to my grave defending the '95 film, though. It was cheesy, it had a tiny budget, but it was fun and didn't take too many liberties with the plot of the first game, simple as it was.

Plus, I didn't catch the ThreeZero thing this morning when I saw it. It seems unlikely that Takara contracted ThreeZero to do an MP figure (I'm guessing now that this Jetfire doesn't even transform). If Takara really is thinking about an MP Jetfire it doesn't rule out an MP G1 Jetfire. Actually, now that I think about it, the Figure King article about the upcoming MPs mentioned Skyfire (スカイファイア), but it seems that the Bayverse one is called Jetfire (ジェットファイア). Probably due to Hasbro's toy-first push we in the West have gotten used to using Jetfire interchangeably with Skyfire (the Valkyrie toy we got was Jetfire, the new Commander-class figure was Jetfire, he's Jetfire in the Netflix cartoon, etc), but in Japan this would seem to be an important distinction between the G1 cartoon character and the Bayverse character. @tekering do you know off hand, this guy, Siege Commander-class Jetfire Was he released in Japan? As Skyfire or Jetfire?

Ooooh. Seems we were getting excited for the wrong MP Jetfire.

I mean, saying a humanoid reptilian should be a cgi lizard instead of what's depicted in the games because he's a reptile is like saying Sub-Zero should have been a cgi chimp instead of a human in a ninja suit because primates.

I pre-ordered that Megatron. It's also worth pointing out that they seem to have the Netflix Deluxes in stock. I ordered Deeseus Drone and the rusty Barricade.

*ahem*

I was told about, and then told you guys about this in mid-January, but at least some of this rumor seems to be coming to fruition as the Mirage/Grimlock set has (or had?) a listing on Amazon UK. Still unsure about the Earth-mode, as Deep Cover was rumored to be based on Earth-mode Sideswipe yet was clearly the Siege mold (both times!), but it's worth noting that the listing reports "the G1-inspired Autobot Mirage figure can be transformed from robot into a racing car in 20 steps," while Siege Mirage reads "Deluxe Class WFC-S43 Autobot Mirage toy features classic conversion between robot and Cybertronian vehicle modes in 19 steps," so apparently there's at least one extra step.

@renegadeleader1 That's a big ol' yup.

I thought it was really disappointing. I mean, it starts off great... then suddenly it shifts to Cole Young, the protagonist that'll have fans of the series scratching their heads going, "who?" Then there's some fighting, some running, some fighting, some more running, some training with a group that excludes two of the first game's roster, then a big battle where we're introduced to the bad guy team... which consists almost entirely of characters who weren't in the first tournament (one of which was actually on Earthrealm's side in the game he was in). Then there's some more fighting, only for the villain to pull a "you may have won this round, but I'll be back!" And it seems like that doesn't even count as the tournament. Put another way, it starts off with just the kind of scene that makes you think, "finally, Mortal Kombat done right!" before going completely off the rails and devolving into a handful of Mortal Kombat characters playing out a story that has nothing to do with Mortal Kombat. If you're watching on HBO Max, do yourself a favor and watch Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge. It's way better.

Fair enough, but this guy still looks better than DX9's Gewalt and KFC's Ditka. True for the MP stuff. But I'm given to understand that War for Cybertron shifted the development for most of the mainline stuff to teams in the States.

That looks really good. Arguably better than either of the MP versions currently available and again far superior to the best Hasbro's given us.

As promised, I picked up the other two. So it's MS-18 Steel Ambition on the left, MS-20 Iron Sky in the middle, and MS-20B Iron Sky on the right. I'm kind of starting to get why they used a different number for the one, but slapped a B on the other. MS-20B is the same mold (almost) as regular MS-20, the difference really just comes down to the color. The white with black trim is meant to be the more realistically-colored Japanese G1 release of Astrotrain, which looked like this: And, yeah, he's missing some sticker details, but if you're working backward from an animation-accurate Astrotrain it's about what you'd get. Meanwhile, MS-18 actually has some subtle mold differences. I don't know how well it's showing up in the photo, but he's got different shoulders with lines similar to the toy's instead of the animation-style circles, and he's got a totally different head, which we'll touch on more in a bit. With the new molded parts, I find myself wishing that his tail could unfold and splay over his chest like the G1 toy. The new head doesn't have the visor that the toy does, but the general shape of his helmet is is more detailed and a bit more like the toy, and the vents on his knees are painted to look more like the stickers on the G1 toy. But something worth noting is that, unlike the G1 toy, he's not really white, but rather a light gray. Then we come to the accessories. MS-20B has the exact same pair of rifles and flight stand that came with MS-20, just in black instead of purple. MS-18 has the same purple rifles and stand that MS-20 does, but he's got a few more accessories. You get a third rifle, in the lighter gray plastic instead of purple, and you get two alternate heads. Both are cast in the more detailed MS-18 mold, but they're colored a bit differently. See, one is colored like the animation, with a purple helmet and yellow forehead, and it's actually the one installed on the figure out of the box. While the darker gray color and the little mold differences do make MS-20 more animation-accurate, I think with the purple head MS-18 can still pass for a cartoon Astrotrain, which might be why he's light gray instead of white. The other head is a whiter color that doesn't match MS-18's light gray, and without a forehead stripe. I'd say it really matches MS-20B, which has me wondering if MS-18's extra accessories are really meant for MS-20 and MS-20B. I mean, if you think the rounder head looks dopey you could always pop the purple MS-18 head onto MS-20. Likewise, the white head that came with MS-18 looks meant to give a little more toy style to MS-20B (even if it's got yellow eyes instead of a red visor). Then there's the third rifle. The G1 toy came with a purple rifle, so the two purple ones should be fine. But in the cartoon Asttrotrain had a gray rifle, so maybe the gray one is for MS-20? I don't know. Anyway, here are their alt modes. MS-20B looks about what you'd expect; black locomotive with a white pilot, and white shuttle with black trim. In locomotive mode there's some white showing on the sides, but that's a necessary sacrifice for alt mode. Likewise, he's missing the sticker details and has the red-painted abs he didn't technically need. Oh, remember I said MS-20B is almost the same mold? There is one small difference. If you look closely you can see that there's a small slot right above where I put a Decepticon emblem on the front of MS-20. There's a corresponding tab on the train wheels, and that locks the flap with the wheels in place for robot mode. MS-18 doesn't have that slot and tab, relying only on friction for it, and MS-20B for some reason uses the MS-18 version of those parts. MS-18 is also missing some sticker details, and he's got the yellow window and orange cockpit windows that the cartoon has. His engine bells are also silver instead of black. Again, I'd chalk this up to Mechanic Studio expecting MS-18 to pass as both a toy-inspired and cartoon-style Astrotrain. To that end, you can see they also used more of a dark gray instead of black for the black parts of the locomotive and the nose of the shuttle. As I said before, if you want a cartoon-style Astrotrain the regular MS-20 version is the one you want. But MS-18 comes with more accessories and will do in a pinch, while MS-20B has the benefit or more realistic alt mode colors. Any version of this figure is good, and any version scaled up with no differences would be a better figure than Siege Astrotrain. That said, there are a few changes I'd hope they'd make if they did upscale it.

So for the last generation I had both an Xbox One (and later a One X) and a PS4. I'm mostly a PC gamer, but I used my PS4 a fair bit, while I hardly touched my Xbox One. In fact, the only reason why I didn't get rid of it is because my friends and I like to play Rock Band, which I'd had for my Xbox 360 (which saw more use in my house than the PS3 did), and I could only migrate the DLC from 360 to XB1. Now, I'd been following the new console hype- I figured I'd want a PS5, as I'm sure there'd be some PlayStation-exclusive 1st-party games or JRPGs I'd want to play, but I'd totally missed the preorders. Meanwhile, I'd kind of written off the Xbox Series X/S. Well, a month or so ago I finally managed to get my hands on a PS5. And as I was moving things around in my entertainment center I noticed my XB1 had stopped outputting video. Rather than waste money on another XB1 or trying to get this one fixed I bit the bullet and tracked down an Xbox Series X, too. And I gotta say, while the two consoles share a number of similarities there are some important differences, too. Let's start with the PlayStation. On the hardware side, everything is new. The DualSense is an ergonomic improvement over the DualShock 4. It retains many of the same features like the gyroscopes, the touchpad, the speaker, and the terrible battery life. It does add a built-in mic, though, but the biggest new feature are the adaptive feedback triggers and more advanced haptics. I'm not a fan of the design of the console itself; it's huge, bigger than the launch-model PS3s, and looks a bit like an oversized router. Thing is, even if you don't like it you have to admit that it has a presence. It's eye-catching, instantly recognizable, and totally unforgettable. And yes, the PS5's much-ballyhooed SSD makes booting the console up and getting into games so much faster. Things start to go downhill a bit as we get into the software. At first, the interface seems brand new and it does make some important improvements like seamlessly integrating the PlayStation Store into the main UI vs loading an (often slow) app on the PS3 and PS4. It also does away with the old TV and Video app you'd have to launch to subsequently launch apps like Netflix or Hulu, instead dividing your apps into Games and Media, and you toggle between them with the L1 and R1 buttons (BTW, if you start the console with the DualSense it'll start on Games, but if you start it with the official media remote it'll start on Media, which is a nice touch). After you mess with it for a bit, though, you start to realize that the OS is actually a like like the PS4's, but worse. I mean, you have a small row of your most recently-used games at the upper left of the screen that's basically the Content area from the PS4's OS, but smaller. See, on the PS4 once you highlighted something you could press down on the d-pad to see more info; the PS5 moved the Content area to a smaller space so that the extra info is always present. The thing is, while the PS4 started with with the last game or inserted disc highlighted the PS5 starts on Explore. Explore is similar to What's Now, except rather than focusing on what your actual friends are doing it's filling your screen with some PlayStation news and a ton of Twitch or Youtube videos for games you follow. Here's were things really go off the rails- see, if you've ever bought a game digitally, played a demo, or started a disc while connected to the PlayStation Network (including any freebies you grabbed on PS Plus) you're following it. Fortunately, a recent system update allows you to more easily unfollow games, but as of writing there is no option to simply not follow in the first place. Then there are the more minor irritations. For 14 years and two consoles Sony has trained us to hold down the home button to turn the console off or put it to sleep, but now you just tap it. The content area only shows a handful of items, far fewer than the PS4 did. You get into your library by scrolling to the end of the row and clicking on it, same as before, but now your library is always sorted by "most recent." Most recent doesn't mean "most recently played," either. A game you might not have touched in months could have an update and jump to the top of the list. While you can change the sorting to A-Z it won't retain that setting once you leave the library. And then we come to the games themselves. There's lots of fun games you can play on PS5. It's just that you can play most (all?) of them on PS4. In fact, a lot of them are PS4 games. The first thing I played on my PS5 was Persona 5 Royal, which I'd already started on PS4. If you're a PS Plus member Sony even gives you a "PlayStation Essentials" bundle of PS4 games to download, and I've grabbed a few more PS4 games in recent PlayStation Store sales. .Even games that come in PS5 boxes because there are dedicated PS5 versions are still mostly available on PS4- my library of actual PS5 software consists of Immortals: Fenyx Rising, Watchdogs: Legions, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Mortal Kombat 11, and Control: Ultimate Edition, and every one of those is available for PS4 (and in one case, the Nintendo Switch). 4K and 60fps are nice but ultimately minor upgrades, it's a bit disappointing that I'm often forced to choose one or the other. Control, for example, runs natively at 1440 upscaled to 4k, and then you can either choose graphics mode and get a 30fps lock with ray tracing on, or a performance mode that that lets you play at 60fps but turns ray tracing off. Between you and me, go for the graphics mode, as ray tracing does more than the increased resolution to actually make the game look noticeably better than the PS4 version. Anyway, I'm sure that there will be great must-play games exclusive to the PS5- I'm personally really looking forward to Horizon: Forbidden West and God of War: Ragnarok. For now, though, you're not really missing out on anything if you stick with the PS4. On the other side of things is the Xbox Series X (or S). A friend of mine complained that it didn't feel very next-gen to him. I can see where he's coming from. The console is black and non-descript, looking like a generic mini PC tower. The controller looks almost identical to the Xbox One's. It has a new d-pad that I thought I'd hate when I first saw it but in hand like it better than the old one, better textured grips, and a new share button, but that's about it. No fancy haptics. It still even uses AA batteries (although I'm actually glad for that, because the battery life is a lot better than the DualSense's and when it does run out I just swap in another pair of Eneloops). As a matter of fact, the Series X/S Controller is so similar to the XB1 that you can actually sync and use XB1 controllers on the Series X (technically you can sync the DualShock 4 with a PS5, too, but only to play PS4 software). The similarities don't stop there, though. Once you've booted up the Xbox Series X you're taken to pretty much the exact same modified Windows OS that the Xbox One uses. On the one hand, if you're coming from an XB1 that means there's no learning curve. On the other hand, like my buddy said, it hardly feels new, though. That said, there are some handy new features, the best of which is Quick Resume. Quick Resume basically makes a save state of whatever you're playing whenever you stop, and it retains the states for the last three games you've played. You might have heard about how it lets you play one game, jump into another, then go back to the first and pick up exactly where you left off, and that's true, but perhaps even better (for me at least) is that it'll keep the state saved when the power is off. Since the Series X/S have SSDs like the PS5 and also benefit from quicker load times that makes getting back to a game super quick since you can cold boot the system, click on your game, then skip the the title screen and just go right back to where you left off. The real game changer, though, is Microsoft's approach to games. Aside from Halo and Forza (and, arguably, Gears of War) Microsoft hasn't traditionally had the must-have exclusives. As a PC gamer this has been doubly true, since Microsoft started releasing their first-party games on Windows, too. That might change in the future with Microsoft's purchase of Bethesda, but no, Microsoft doesn't seem to be using the old "system seller" games to push their consoles. Instead, their secret weapon is Game Pass. For $10 a month you simply have access to a library of games reaching all the way back to the original Xbox, kind of like a Netflix of gaming. Or, for $5 more, you can get Game Pass Ultimate, which is Game Pass for Xbox, plus Game Pass for PC, plus Xbox Live Gold, plus EA Access. And these aren't all old musty titles, either. Brand new games like Outriders and MLB The Show 21 are on there. Big hits like GTA V and Doom Eternal are on there. Smaller games like Torchlight III and River City Girls are on there. While I wish there was more (anything from Ubisoft's catalog was noticeably absent) there's enough variety to keep you entertained, and like Netflix new content cycles in and out every month. What's more, Game Pass has a few other benefits. Cloud saves mean you can start a game on the Xbox but pick up where you left off on PC. And Project xCloud lets you stream games to Android phones, with streaming support rolling out to iOS and Windows even as I type this. That said, whether you're going with Game Pass or buying your games outright, while some games are "Optimized for X/S" the Series X/S suffers from the same problem that the PS5's library does, namely that you can enjoy pretty much all the same games without upgrading to the new console. As a matter of fact, Game Pass (regular or Ultimate) has already been available for Xbox One. Indeed, I'd argue that at this point the hardware is secondary to Microsoft. The entire point is the service. It's like Microsoft knows that they can't beat Sony in the traditional sense, so they started playing an entirely different game. And really, if you're going in on a subscription, why not buy the whole thing on monthly installments? $500 is a lot of cash to put down for a new console, especially in the middle of a pandemic where a lot of people have lost their jobs. Microsoft has worked with a number of partners to create a program called All Access where you basically get an Xbox Series X and two years of pre-paid Game Pass Ultimate for no money down on a 0% interest loan, which you then pay back at $35/mo over that two-year period ($25/mo if you go with the Series S). Bad, if you don't want to commit to monthly payments, I guess, but good if you're like me and planned on getting Game Pass anyway, as it's actually slightly cheaper than buying the console outright and paying for Game Pass Ultimate for 24 months. So that's everything in a long-winded nutshell. I think both consoles have strong libraries, just mostly from the previous generation, but both have promising futures. Because of the backwards compatibility with the last gen I'd say you should get whichever one has the ecosystem you're most-invested in (especially digitally). Have of ton of PS4 games? Go for the PS5. Big Xbox One library? Get a Series X. Or, y'know, keep waiting for new games that you can't buy on PS4/Xbox One. However, if you haven't been much into console gaming but you're thinking now's the time, then definitely go with the Xbox. Game Pass isn't just a good value, it's quite likely a game-changer, a disruptive force set to do for gaming what Netflix and streaming video have done for movies and TV.

I'm in the same boat. I'm an MK fan, and this movie only needs to be as good as the original MK movie or Scorpion's Revenge to make me happy. Fortunately it looks better so far.

New one looks better, but not replace-the-one-I-got better.

I've had him in my stash for awhile. Just waiting on a few more things to come in before I click that ship button.

I'm not sure. I've personally never bought one. I don't think I ever saw Optimus or Megatron, but I know I've seen others they've released in the store. I'm pretty sure I've even seen them at Walmart.

Wait no longer! Here's Mechanic Studio (aka MFT) MS-20 Iron Sky. Iron Sky actually comes in two flavors (and the mold also saw another release with a different number and name), but this one is the "main" cartoon-style release I think most of you would want. Iron Sky isn't just immediately recognizable as Astrotrain, I'd say it's one of the most-accurate, best-proportioned Astrotrains to come out. He's got almost all the cartoon details you'd want; circles on his shoulders, square bump outs on his hip skirts, that bit of overhang on his forearms, the purple and red deco on his abs, the faux wheels around his head, etc. He's cleaner overall than Siege Astrotrain. From the back and sides you can see a lot of similarities between Iron Sky and many other Astotrains; train wheels under the wings, thick calves, thrusters on the back, etc. And for size comparison, here is is with one of my few other Legends figures, Magic Square's Optimus, and a G1 Astrotrain. If we're being honest, Iron Sky is a bit tall for a Magic Square collection, which in turn is a bit tall for a Newage collection. But some people seem to like a bigger Astrotrain than the holy scale chart dictates, and if you're cool with that kind of fudging you might find Iron Sky's size acceptable. Me, I'm mostly amused by the fact that Iron Sky is very similar in size to G1 Astrotrain (I feel the same way about Magic Square's Seaspray). It's amazing how much more they can do in the same size today. Iron Sky comes with a pair of guns that are very G1 in detail, and a small block whose purpose wasn't immediately apparent to me that wasn't mentioned in the Instructions. But we'll get to it. Iron Sky's head is on a ball joint, and he can look up a little, tilt his head sideways slightly, but he doesn't really have much room to look down. Also, while his head can swivel (turning it 180 degrees is a listed transformation step), the sides of his cheeks will hit and slide against the faux wheels. His shoulders are ball joints that can rotate and extend laterally 90 degrees. He has a dedicated bicep swivel, and his elbows cand bend 90 degrees. Alas, he has no wrist articulation. His waist does swivel, though. His hip skirts are hinged, but they're a solid piece and don't flap individually. His ball-jointed hips can go about 90 degrees forward, 90 degrees laterally, and 60 degrees backward. His thighs have cut swivels, and his knees bend 90 degrees. His whole foot doesn't move, but the front part is on a ball joint so it can do the faux pivot to 90+ degrees. All-in-all nothing amazing, but I'd say it's adequate, especially for a figure this size. The peg handles on either gun fit into either hand. Although they look like 5mm and are definitely bigger than Magic Square's a quick test fit reveals the handles of his guns to be slightly too small to fit in Kingdom Cyclonus or SS86 Jazz's hands. As for the block piece... not yet. One quick flip into locomotive mode and... yeah. That works pretty well. Again, it's a pretty similar size to the G1 toy, with proportions like look like a locomotive and not some kind of alien machine giving birth to a locomotive. Siege Astrotrain's robot mode isn't bad, but we're starting to see why so many people have suggested that someone upscale Iron Sky to replace him. The engineering going from robot to train is pretty simple, and surprisingly similar to the G1 toy. Between Iron Sky and Fancy Cell's Transportation Captain I can't quite shake the feeling that Siege Astrotrain would have been better if he were a simple Voyager, because Hasbro over-engineered him into that mess. Iron Sky isn't exactly perfect, though. His wheels are just molded on, and the sculpt of some of them are thrown off by a hinge. I find myself also wishing that Iron Sky had taken a page from the G1 toy and put the hinge on the front wheels between the second and third wheel. Then they could have molded in more behind the third wheel to fill in the gap on the side. A little gray is showing on the sides, and there's a small gap on the top. If this mold really were upscaled I might like to see some fixes like a few more fold-out panels or working wheels, but at this size these complaints are easily forgivable and even at a Voyager-scale he's a huge improvement over the Siege toy. The gap at the top isn't totally useless, by the way. You'll notice small divots with ridges between what are his robot shoulders. If you look at the gun handles you'll find some notches on them; you can pull the shoulders apart and slide the gun into the divots so the ridges fit into the slots on the handle. There does seem to be room for just the one, though. As for the block, it also seems to fit into snugly into the small gap between his forearms, and even has cutouts where his shoulders sit. But it's still not really for train mode. Shuttle mode. Again, not perfect, but it's not an unfinished mess like the Siege toy. Again, the transformation from train to shuttle is a lot like the G1 toy. You do have to undo his arms to get at the legs so you can flip the shuttle's cockpit out. Speaking of flipping out the cockpit, there's a clever bit where the ball-jointed toe bends 90 degrees out of the way and the front of the train actually splits, with part of if folding 90 degrees, so the toe can tuck inside. It's simple and effective, and I wonder why no one else has thought of it before now. And because I love it, the comparison with the G1 toy. The single gold window doesn't really match the cartoon's more real-world accurate multi-paneled window, the tail is a bit tiny, the sides have a few seems and gaps. The slight taper up his robot torso doesn't really capture the engine humps on the G1 toy or the animation model, either. But again, it's nothing I can't live with in this size. The one thing I do wish, though, is that they'd either painted this side of the panel with the wheels gray, or that they'd cast it in gray plastic and painted the train side purple. Again, Iron Sky doesn't have working wheels, and the smokestack from the train actually pushes the nose of the shuttle up at an angle if you set him on a flat surface. But now, we finally get to the block! By sliding it in where I showed before in train mode the bottom of it is roughly level with the smokestack, allowing him to sit level on a surface. If I was a betting man, though, I'd wager it's actually an adapter for some kind of flight stand. As for his rifles, when you fold his arms him for alt mode you'll notice some peg holes in the actual shoulder joints. They're covered by the wings in train mode, but in shuttle mode they're exposed on the sides. Just pop the handles in and you're good to go. The shuttle can even accommodate both guns. Iron Sky isn't the masterpiece that Fans Toys Thomas is. There are definitely some areas that could use a bit more refinement, a few colors that could be tweaked for greater accuracy, a few tweaks for more articulation, etc. Like I said before, though, my complaints are easily forgivable on a little Legends-scale toy, and even if he were upscaled to the same size as the Siege toy Iron Sky would still be the superior figure with a smoother transformation and much better train and shuttle modes. Scale would be my biggest concern picking him up for a Legends collection (and the idea that Magic Square or Newage might eventually do a better one would be my runner up concern), but if you can get around that or just want a fun little Astrotrain you can actually mess around with he's a worthy figure I'd recommend picking up. I like him enough that I ordered the other two versions, which you can think of as US toy version and Japanese toy version, and I'll post comparison pictures when they come in, but this is the one you want if you're after Sunbow cartoon colors.