mikeszekely

Actually, I finally got my hands on a PS5, and there's a bunch of games PS Plus members can claim for free on PS5 listed as "PlayStation Essentials." World (sans Iceborne) is one of them, so I might as well check it out there.

Can't argue with that. The latter half of the '60s and the '79s were not kind to the big G, with All Monsters Attack and Godzilla vs Hedorah (aka Godzilla vs the Smog Monster) being particularly bad. But I'm rather fond of the earlier stuff, including the original King Kong vs Godzilla. It's a bit dated, and a bit silly, but I get what Honda was going for, taken in the context of the era. That said, I'm a Heisei fan at heart. Godzilla vs King Ghidorah is still my favorite Godzilla film.

I agree that something looks off with the cannon mode, and the bot mode has some weird proportions, but I don't know that I'd go so far as to say that the TR version looks better. The cannon mode especially is more accurate, even with its issues. Like this?

Newage and Magic Square both do different things really well. I tend to prefer the sculpts of Magic Square, but Newage usually has better materials. That said, as I don't really want to start a Legends collection on top of MP and WfC, I really wish they (or someone like KBB, who upscaled Newage's first Bumblebee) would upscale some of Newage, Magic Square, and Mech Fans Toys stuff to scale with WfC. Not only would it help fill out the roster, but it'd be a great opportunity to replace some of the less-good figures like Astrotrain and the Vanettes with much better versions.

Man, first Woodhouse, now Malory. Archer. I'm not sure what all I've seen her in, but Archer is possibly my all-time favorite show. This is a real bummer.

I don't know if I care about an MP Skyfire or not. Like a lot of you I already have (and am pretty happy with) Phoenix. Takara's official MPs haven't impressed me since maybe Inferno (which I passed on because he was a little too toony for me, but I respect the heck out of the way they designed his ladder to hide away). Weirdly, Skids is the probably their best-looking G1 MP figure in years (in my opinion), but that's like 90% because it looks a lot like XTB's with more solid shoulders.

New Galvatron pics, cannon mode. And some magazine scans of Rodimus. See, he's like Optimus size. Not huge.

The chests on those Newage minibots looks awful. I'm not sure how many options you have you Cliffjumper, but I'm not sure why you'd but this new Bee over their first Bee or Magic Square's. Feel like posting some pics? I really like what Go Better did for Sunstreaker, but I'm open to replacing Nonnef's kits.

From Pulse? I've been preordering from Amazon, since we but a lot of stuff there and it's harder for my wife to know just how much I'm spending on toys, but they've been really slow getting their stock lately, so I may need to rethink future pre-orders. I wind up cancelling more than half my orders for SS86 and the first wave of Kingdom because I found the figures in stores before Amazon fulfilled my orders. And now it seems like everyone but me is getting their second-wave stuff.

While we wait for new figures I got a few more upgrade kits. This time we're looking at kits for Earthrise Sunstreaker and repaints; my biggest complaints with them was the lack of a spoiler and the lack of a real weapon. Let's see what some options are for fixing that. First up we have a kit from Nonnef Productions, who has a reputation for making relatively inexpensive molded and cast plastic parts but whose tendency to keep things relatively simple has worked against him. This kit runs a very reasonable $8, and comes with two halves of a spoiler (available in metallic silver, white, red, black, or gray), black spoiler mounts, a sprue of 6 5mm-to-3mm pegs (available in white, gray, or red), and a sprue with the parts to make a rifle and a hand cannon reminiscent of sticking the missiles into the wrists of the G1 toy. Well, a spoiler and a gun checks my two requisites. There's two ways to use the spoiler, and either way you have a little prep work. First, you can plug the black mounts into and over the 5mm ports on the back of the vehicle. Or, you can plonk a pair of the 5mm-to-3mm pegs in instead. Then you attach the spoiler itself using 3mm peg holes on the underside. Note, though, that the pegs are far apart on the mounts, but close together if you use the adapters. The method you choose will yield some pretty different results. If you use the mounts, the spoiler will have something of an arrowhead shape, and it's elevated so it's above the intakes and slightly behind the car. As near as I can tell, that's pretty accurate to the G1 toy, and presumably to a real Countach with these mods, but it looks a tad off to me. Now, if you're using the adapters, the spoiler is positioned more like Sideswipe's, right above the back of the car, but slightly lower than the intakes, which is in-line with MP Sunstreaker. From many angles I think it looks better, but the thing is if you go this route you have to swap the spoilers (the side on the right if you use the mounts goes on the left and vice versa). That gives the spoiler a shape that looks off from above. There's nowhere really to store the guns in this mode, as we've occupied the only available 5mm ports with the spoiler. That said, if you use the black mounts to lift the spoiler up and backward, you'll have the clearance to turn the intakes 180 degrees. There are molded ridges on the roof underneath (probably a plastic-saving measure on Hasbro's part). It's definitely not designed for it, but the handle of Nonnef's rifle can be wedged into one of the ridges. Then, the rifle has tabs on the sides and a 3mm peg on top that the parts of the hand cannon can attach to. But what about robot mode? Well, whichever way you mount the spoilers simply leaving them alone is an option if you hate partsforming, but it's probably not the best option. The spoiler halves look out of place and stick off their arms pretty far regardless of mounting preference. Technically, if you're using the black mounts, you could simply find another place for them and just put the spoilers directly on the arms. It's a bit more flush, but still looks like a colored plank on the outside of a black forearm. Sticking them on the backs of the legs is a cleaner option, but not without its own disadvantages. Putting just the spoilers back there has them lying very flat against the legs, which is nice, but it'll leave the adapter pegs in the forearms- honestly, unless you use a tool every time you transform the pegs are going to stay due to a fit that's much more snug between the 5mm end and the ports on the toy than the 3mm end and the ports on the spoilers. If you use a glue or epoxy to hold the spoiler and the adapter pegs together then perhaps they'd come out with the spoiler, and you could plug the entire thing into the back of the leg. The look is passable; it sticks off much more noticeably, but perhaps not as egregiously as sticking the entire black mounts on there with the spoiler. If you're going the black mount route, though, you can remove them from the spoiler. Then, if you're careful and have tiny fingers, you can store them inside his legs by plugging them into the other side of the same peg hole. Doing this causes the mount the stick out a bit, but not so much that I think it looks noticeably bad. That said, Nonnef suggests that you can use this bit of 3mm peg sticking out from his legs to store parts of the hand cannon. While technically true, I think that's a bit too much, especially when there's nowhere to store the third part of the cannon that I can find. Also, if you store the mounts there and still plan to store the spoiler on his calves you can't push either in too far, as they're trying to occupy the same peg hole. However, there's one final place you can stick the spoiler, and that's into the peg holes on the bottom of his feet. This method expands his heel spurs, but limits his toe tilt. Of course, the other requirement I had was guns. The rifle plugs into his hands, no problems. The hand cannon is assembled from three parts around his hand, and must be disassembled whenever you want to take it off. The rifle is good, I like it! The hand cannon, though... I can see what Nonnef was going for, but I'm not a fan. Oh, and recall that the kit comes with 6 of those 5mm-to-3mm adapters? You can take two more of them and stick them into the 5mm pegs on the tops of the shoulders. It's not exact, due to the peg being a bit short and lacking ridges, but it creates a look that's overall more similar to the animation and G1 toy's shoulders. However, as I mentioned the pegs only come in white, black, and red. Fine for Cordon and Spinout, but if you want some for Sunstreaker you'll have to paint them yellow yourself. Another option is from Go Better. Like Nonnef's kit, this will get you a spoiler and a gun, but instead of a hand cannon you get gap fillers. As is the case with Go Better this kit is 3D-printed, which can be a drawback for some, and it's quite a bit more expensive. In fact, at $23 shipped to the US, it's more expensive than the figure it's meant to fix. That said, it's a bit more intricate and, in many ways, superior to Nonnef's. The spoiler is pretty interesting. It attaches by fitting over the lip of the peg holes on the back of the car, but it wraps over to the back of the car as well. The molded detail on it is a bit more accurate, and it doesn't leave Sunstreaker with a black rear. The spoiler itself is painted silver and has the correct shape without the need for black risers. My only complaint is that it has a bit of a noticeable texture from the printing. There also isn't really anywhere to store is gun in this mode. For robot mode, we'll start by installing the gap fillers for the legs. The ones for the lower legs fit around the lip of the peg holes on his calves, then close over to cover the gap. The ones for the thighs just shove into the gap. The fillers on the lower legs open up for transformation, then close back around the thighs, and there's enough clearance between his legs that they don't need to be removed for alt mode. Plus, since the back of his legs are the top of the car instead of the bottom like Wheeljack there's no ground clearance issues. No, the yellow isn't really a match for the yellow plastic Hasbro used... but then again, the yellow paint Hasbro used isn't a match for the yellow plastic Hasbro used, so Sunstreaker was already two-toned, and the kit isn't making it any worse. Not only do the arm spoilers stay on in robot mode, they're hinged. So, instead of sticking awkwardly off his forearms like Nonnef's they fold around and tuck under his wrist to cover the gap on the inside of his forearms. Now, I wish the fit was a little better, as there's nothing for them to really lock into and they're just relying on friction to stay closed against the gap, but the idea is an A+ even if the execution is only a B, and it beats the heck out of partsforming. What's more, since both the spoiler parts and the lower leg covers attach by fitting around the peg holes instead of in them, those four peg holes are still available for use with Weaponizers, Micromasters, or other accessories that use 5mm ports. That just leaves the rifle. Like the spoiler, it's got silver paint and a bit of a noticeable texture. He holds it just fine. What I find interesting, though, is that Go Better designed it to fold up. Once folded, it can store inside the hollow spot in either of his lower legs, then the cover folds over it to hide it. It's kind of neat robot mode storage. Unfortunately, since his thighs go into that hollow for alt mode, it doesn't help with alt mode storage. While it's on the expensive side, I prefer and recommend the Go Better kit. It looks better in car mode, it cleans up better in robot mode, and Sunstreaker gets his gun. However, so far I've only been able to find it in yellow, for Sunstreaker. Nonnef's kit is cheaper and does provide a spoiler, but the spoiler practically requires partsforming that doesn't integrate well in bot mode, eats up most of the available 5mm ports, looks off to me no matter how you mount it in alt mode, and doesn't do anything for gap fillers. That said, with no Go Better kit for them Nonnef's pretty much your only option for Cordon and Spinout.

Peaugh has his review up. It's almost an hour long... I'll probably fast-forward And just get his impressions. Well... I wish I could have got one, because it's a historic release, and I don't have the sort of informed opinion I'd use for a review, but nothing I've seen so far makes me regret having Zeta's instead.

I tried one a few years back on the 3DS. Couldn't get into it. I heard it's better with multiplayer, but multiplayer isn't my thing, so I've stayed away since. Been tempted to try World on Steam, though. Right now, though, I've got Bravely Default II and Persona 5 Strikers to keep me busy until the SMT3 Nocturne remake comes out.

Looks like he'll be a bit taller than Megatron if he's this close to Magnus is in size.

I love the look of the thing, and I'm a fan of Sega's '80s and '90s arcade games. But I don't think I $130 love this thing.

Sigh.

Feels like it's been awhile since I've written. Perhaps it's the calm before the storm- official stuff is between waves, but the third wave of Kingdom is due very soon, and 3P had their Chinese New Year break but the factories are back up and running and I'm expecting a few things to release soon. In the meantime, though, we can always spruce up some of the stuff we have with a few upgrade kits. First up we have this one from Juqi Toys. I'm not familiar with them, although the model number indicates that this is there second kit. Like many of these smaller Chinese groups it's 3D-printed, but the quality seems reasonable. It's a filler kit for Studio Series 86 Grimlock. The two smaller parts are for the inside of the dino-mode mouth, and they add the missing front teeth to his jaws. The bottom one fits fine, the upper one is a little loose. For the most part, though, the color is a reasonable match and they do the job, addressing one of my biggest complaints about this figure. The other four parts are foot filler. Although I didn't have a huge problem with Grimmy's sole-less feet there's no denying that the fillers make a huge difference, and I like that the designer left a cutout in the heel parts for the 5mm peg holes. Again, the fit seems fine and I'd rate the color match as "adequate." All that said... I'm not recommending this kit right now. While it does address one major complaint I have it fails to address the other big ones. There's no sword is this kit, no screw hole covers for his neck, and no replacement chest part. Meanwhile, since ordering this kit Nonnef has come out with his own kit that does address all those things plus the teeth (but I don't think he has foot fillers). I'd probably look at that first, and then either get this kit or look for another that's just filler if you really need the foot filler. BTW, I did order Nonnef's stuff, in both colors, so we'll be taking a look at that whenever it comes in. We also have this kit, from BDT Studio. Like Juqi I've never heard of BDT. Despite the "BDT-09" model number TF Safari describes them as a new studio. This kit is also 3D printed, and this one's for Kingdom Cheetor. It's basically some guns, one of which has a removable handle. The one gun is based on the gut-gun he's more known for. The other seems to be molded to look like the actual gun portion of his tail gun, sans the cat kibble. I'm not sure how much of it is actually paint or just colored plastic, but BDT didn't do a bad job making the guts pink and putting the spots on the yellow plastic on the gut gun. The gut gun just slides into a fist. For the other, though, you have options. You can stick the peg into it and use it as a gun on its own. Or, you can plug his tail into it using the same port that plugs the tail in for cat mode, then plug the peg into the tail itself for a combined pseudo tail gun. Unfortunately, the tail wasn't designed to fold like the original so the combined weapon is a bit unwieldy. Also, and this could be the rookie showing, but the tolerances are way off. The loose peg doesn't attach firmly to either the tail or the gun. It's also a bit too small for Cheetor's hand. The handle on the gut gun is nearly as loose. Meanwhile, the hole on the tail gun is too small for the tail to plug in; I had to file it out first. I think a lot of us would have been content with a gut gun and BDT could have left it at that. But no, they worked out how to store it in alt mode. The guts flip up, revealing a pair of holes. Meanwhile, a peg that was on the back is now facing sort of forward. This peg plugs into the hole where Cheetor's tail would attach, then Cheetor's tail can plug into the upper hole on the back of the gut gun. The yellow plastic is actually a pretty good match, and the spots look about the same. The tail itself isn't back so far that the whole setup looks off, either. Meanwhile, on the underside, you can undo Cheetor's arms a bit, then tuck the barrel of the gun between them and close everything back up. BDT definitely did a great job designing the gut gun to work so seamlessly with Cheetor it could be mistaken for an included accessory. The only minor complaint I have is the handle. If this were an included, official accessory I'd imagine Hasbro would have designed the handle to fold up a bit or something. As it stands... well, Cheetor is a boy cat. Or, you could plug the handle into the port on the tail gun and give him a crotch gun; just stick the removable peg into the lower hole on the gut gun. Because sticking a plug into his butthole and increasing the size of the dangly crotch bits isn't making things worse at all... As is often the case these days getting even a 3D-printed kit from China is a bit pricey for what you get. This one's $17 shipped to the US. That said, despite the too-small handles I do think I recommend it. I could do without the tail gun, but the gut gun is pretty iconic for Cheetor. And BDT didn't just provide us with that iconic weapon, they did an excellent job of integrating it into the cat mode.

Maybe something going on with the camera, because his head looks a lot longer than previous leaks. I think this one looks better than the previous leak overall, but there's something strange going on with his proportions. He looks like one size from the waist up, but one size-class smaller from the waist down. Also, ew. That paint on the cannon.

Still not loving the Siege crud, but Galvatron's looking a bit more flattering from this angle. EDIT: Stopped by a Kingdom Rodimus thread at a certain Transformers board to see if there were any new leaks like this for him... nope. Still a bunch of man-children arguing about why he should have been a Leader and how this is all a big money grab on Hasbro's part peppered with the occasional "I cOMpaReD te 5mm pORts!" to "prove" that Rodimus will be as tall as SS86 Grimlock. Seriously, I know some of you guys do visit those boards, but for those of you that don't, be glad that I sift through that mess and bring you just the good stuff so that you don't have to.

I agree. I mean, I'm curious to see where they go with it; kinda felt like I was just starting to get invested and the episode ended. But I expect wherever they go will be more "safe" than WandaVision.

Hasbro pulled the struts off better than Fans Toys, at least. I found this extremely poor image going around, too.

I'm waiting to see some better angles, but my opinion is still largely the same- it's the best Hasbro has done, but not the slam dunk that Cyclonus and Scourge were. EDIT: Included the leaked image, for reference.

Toy Dojo? Asking because a little hole in the wall might have some stuff that a popular store like Toy Dojo sold out of a long time ago. If you're looking for stuff that works with WfC (Siege, ER, Kingdom, and Studio Series 86) there isn't really a ton of stuff, partly because between WfC and some gaps filled with Prime Wars most of the major Season 1-3 characters are done, and mostly because even non-MP 3P stuff is just too big. That said, if you just want cool robots, I see they have Optus Pexus in stock. Now, I'm sure you probably have an Optimus Prime or 12, but the incredible amount of articulation MMC built into the figure makes him one of the most fun toys I've owned, and one I'd highly recommend. Honestly, almost anything MMC is good. Reformatted is their CHUG-ish, IDW-ish line, although as I noted it's a bit big for WfC (Pexus and their Megatron, Tyrantron, are taller than Siege Magnus and almost as tall as SS86 Grimlock). Ocular Max is their MP-style stuff. I'm also pretty fond of Fans Hobby, who've tackled stuff like Overlord, Laser Optimus, and the Monsterbots (but avoid their Armada Optimus for now) and DX9 (MP-style stuff you can actually play with). Planet X is good if you like the old War for Cybertron/Fall of Cybertron games. If you're cool with Bayverse designs that don't look like they should transform but somehow do Unique Toys has done some interesting stuff. If you're specifically looking for MPs that HasTak hasn't bothered with, they can't seem to get he license from Porsche so Maketoys Downbeat (Jazz, if you can actually find it) and either Ocular Max's Hellion or X-Transbots' Toro (Cliffjumper) are good buys. You could also check out Transform Element's Phantom (Mirage), to help close out the season 1 cars. Oh, and DX9 makes a figure called Richthofen that's a fantastic Powerglide. One figure I'd recommend, dunno if they have it or not, is DX9's Carry. He's an MP Rodimus Prime. Now, sure, Takara already did Rodimus with MP-09. Carry's different, though. For one, he's based on the Studio OX style, so he looks a bit tougher, a bit older, and he's got massive wings. For two, he doesn't do the Hot Rod thing. There's no car, no young face, etc. Because, three, there's no trailer. Or rather, the entire space camper turns into the robot. The cab doesn't detach, and there is no battle platform. And, four, they pull it off with some interesting, fun engineering that makes transforming him something you'll actually want to do. Those reasons make Carry one of my favorite 3P figures to this day.

I mean, I still prefer a neutral expression. But we absolutely agree on this point. Galvatron's not looking bad, per se, but not on the same level as other recent movie figures like Cyclonus, Scourge, or Hot Rod. If you look at the cartoon, Galvatron's helmet is basically Megatron's with at three-pronged crown. I don't think it's that they didn't get the shape right (although the colors and the lack of a goatee, that's definitely not right) so much as the prongs are too short. My best guess there is that it's so his head fits in whatever space it tucks into for alt mode. We should know a bit more in next three-ish weeks. BTW, I'm hearing reports that Galvatron left the factory and has already arrived in the States, and supposedly a couple of Hasbro employees have him in hand. So hopefully we won't have to wait too long not just to see more, but to own him.

I actually prefer a more neutral expression. I honestly dig the sculpt; it's like Megatron's head with a different helmet. I like that it reflects his lineage.

Doesn't seem like the slam dunk that Cyclonus and Scourge were. I really hope something's mis-transformed there, but because the long legs, short torso, low shoulders, and gorilla arms aren't doing it for me. I hate that they brought back the Siege dirt, too, and I think that the purple could be bluer (but that last one's kind of a nitpick). But, it's still the best Gavlatron Hasbro's done. I guess I'm in for both the Kingdom one and the Gen Selects repaint. Aside from those two big Revenge-shaped guns (that look like they might tab together somehow), I hear he's coming with more accessories like a Matrix and a chain to wear it with. He may also have more advanced engineering and a higher parts count, like Hot Rod. I'm curious to see if the alt mode pulls off the whole purple-torso-to-gray-cannon switch.