danth

I wish Hasbro would stop frakking around with the Skystriker and just sell us Joe figures. Nobody wants a Cobra Skystriker in Joe colors.

Also I guarantee the figures they release won't looks as good as the renders. Heck, they'll probably swap out parts for whatever molds they can find. Read the disclaimers.

Apparently Classic Space is back but it's also City Space?

https://www.instagram.com/p/CW9leevvE_k/

New joints in the new Monkie Kid macaque mech.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-8IY2kE0Zo

Or did we already know about these?

Not sure if they will solve any of your problems, @M'Kyuun. But it looks like they might be useful for medium sized mechs.

8 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

I've messed with those triangle tiles before (really useful parts), and they can be tricky to  stand on their base like a pyramid to form the Blacktron logo. Here's a simple way I found to do it: 

Well hot damn, that's perfect! I didn't even experiment with studs-on-top solutions but that 2x2 jumper plate is genius. I'll definitely be stea --, er borrowing that idea at some point!

8 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

In all your LEGO endeavors, I wish you every success. Keep building, and build what makes you happy; that's the important part. I appreciate the kind words, and your valuation of my input. I'm honored, man, and happy to help if I can.  Leg godt, bro!

Same to you! And in all seriousness: the Betrayer would not exist had I not seen your amazing creations.

Peace!

19 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Hey @danth, just seeing this. I was thinking those engines looked a bit chonky, but otherwise, the salient details of the ship were present, especially the modularity which was one of the main gimmicks of Blacktron 1. Incidentally, I always thought the frame with it's command pod removed was a bit odd looking myself, but I always figured it would just stay put wherever it landed until another command pod, like the Battrax's, would snap on. Concerning the engines- a bit thick as engines, but I love the look of them as feet.🤤  I must confess, I didn't get the Blacktron symbol from those yellow triangle tiles until you said something, at which point I facepalmed. The fact that they're raised above the wing's surface and form the logo better from certain angles threw me.

Anyway, I totally missed the joints on first glance, and was surprised by the mech; wonderful idea for the frame, as it gives it some purpose, and elevates the cool factor. I assume you lose the cargo container as a tradeoff, but if this had been the direction of the set back when it came out, I would have been over the moon. I always liked robots, and by '87 when this set came out, I was in full thrall with everything and anything transformable.  I would have gone bananas for this. Heck, if this showed up on shelves, I still would.

Great job, man! It's one of the most creative updates of an old Space set that I've seen; few dabble in the dark art of transforming mecha, so I applaud both the concept and execution.  Very cool.  👍

Ha, chonky is the right word for those thrusters! I had ideas to make them one stud shorter front-to-back, and maybe one stud shorter top-to-bottom with some sneaky tricks...but I never proofed those ideas out and I kinda got tired and wanted to call it done. 😅

I couldn't get the yellow triangles to rest flush on the wings while maintaining the spacing between them I wanted. Probably in part because I went with SNOT wings which added even more complication..I kinda regret that in retrospect. Hmm I bet it could be done with some tinkering...

As always thanks for the feedback and inspiration!

Finally I can share the MOC I've been working on for so long.

It's a redux of the Blacktron Renegade.

I was always enamored the set but never had it as a kid. Obviously I fixed that as an adult. But I thought it could use an update.

I present to you the Blacktron Betrayer:

One thing I was definitely excited about was recreating the Blacktron symbol with the new triangle tiles.

Like the original, there are two side pods that can detach as well as the main command ship.

The command ship has hidden guns!

The side ships are a little more substantial than the original pods:

It's probably not a surprise that something else is up with the main body of the ship. I always thought the original was a little weird -- if you removed the command ship, the rest of the ship doesn't really look like anything. It's sort of the ass end of a space ship with nothing controlling it. I assume you had to pretend it was computer controlled at that point.

Which of course gave me an idea. Why not make it fully AI? Like...a robot?

So, that's it! The transformation is probably not that hard to figure out from the pics.

Overall the MOC is kinda goofy. There are gray joint parts that don't exist in black or yellow, and I hid some as well as I could, but others I didn't feel worth hiding. The landing gear are phoned in -- maybe I'll tweak 'em later. And of course the transformation is, like, really dumb in how it puts all the heavy pieces on the end of some wing/arm/etc held up by a click joint. I have a few tricks to hold things in place but I'm still I'm going to try to avoid that kind of mistake next time!

It took me a while, I'm just glad I can call it done.

Well, I saw it.

Didn't hate it. I expected to, since I didn't care for Bladerunner 2049, and since I think Timothee Chalemet looks like a mouse-human hybrid. But it was fine. Even if it felt like nothing really happened.

The mom easily feels like the real main character. She was great.

Oscar Isaac was annoying as usual and contributes nothing to the movie. There was no sense of a calm, effortless command that one would expect from Duke Leto. Just a lot of shouting. Too much yelling from Brolin as well.

I still think Star Wars: A New Hope is the best Dune movie.

Gah those are so good!

A Super 7 Snake Eyes V2 would be amazing. Gray suit with black details like the cartoon.

Super 7 figures looks better than Hasbro's offerings IMO.

Nice! Now do Delta Magnus!

On 10/28/2021 at 12:48 PM, TangledThorns said:

Just started watching the Cowboy Bebop anime for the first time. It's well animated and fun but don't see why people think its the best. Will that realization come the further I get in the series?

It never came for me.

On 10/29/2021 at 7:10 PM, jenius said:

The whole domestic violence rapey subplot could probably use some tweaking...

I've always felt that Guld and Isamu are both unlikable characters. You need something to tell you to feel okay when Isamu wins, I guess. Having Guld be an attempted rapist - revealed through flash back no less - is the most ham-fisted possible way to do that.

So my point is yeah I agree.

4 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

This was the winner in the LEGO Ideas/ Chronicle Books Puzzle fan vote contest, beating out three other submissions by a huge margin. It's set to release in May. I'll definitely be picking this up- I'll probably glue it and hang it in my cave.😍   

So after all these years we get a frakking puzzle? 🤣😒

19 hours ago, sh9000 said:

 

XTB.

Just wanted to say that these look amazing. I prefer the non-racing versions of each.

I think the more recent Classified offerings look better than the usual because they don't have the silly mall-ninja armor plates all over, or other seemingly random textures/seams everywhere. I still think they're a bit gangly, but improved nonetheless.

Looks good to me.

Hopefully they cut out the "everything that matters is revealed through flashback" style of the anime. And the "nobody has any meaningful relationship progression" issue the anime suffers from as well.

On 10/25/2021 at 3:20 PM, sqidd said:

Nice Wheels, I hope they don't Jack up the prices! These better not be vaporware, aka just Mirages. To Optimize shipping costs I'll just buy them all at once. I'm Primed and ready!

Just pre-ordered the Snake Eyes/Storm Shadow pack from Target.

Last time I pre-ordered from them, they didn't have enough stock and just canceled my order. I fully expect that to happen again, but at least I tried.

The real question is, why is Hasbro incapable of giving us a classic V2 Snake Eyes?

Lol Tom Holland as Drake? Who cast this?

4 hours ago, sqidd said:

I was over Marky Mark a LONG time ago.

Same.

On 10/18/2021 at 12:43 PM, M'Kyuun said:

Dude! That's a pretty sweet little build! I was checking out the basic shape of it, and never even noticed the ball joints; they're pretty well integrated. Anyway, I didn't realize it transformed until I read the bit of text above the ship pic and scrolled down for bot mode. I can envision a swarm of these as utility bots maintaining a big ship or station, buzzing here and there (well not actually buzzing- there's no sound in space, silly).  Man, I'm honored for the shout out, and humbled by the sentiment; I guess we never realize the influence we can have on others, and I'm glad mine was a positive one which resulted in a cool transforming mech. Not many folks do the transforming thing, even amongst some of the heavy hitter builders who attend big conventions or end up on shows like LEGO Masters. We're a rare breed within the community, and I hope this is the first of many more variable mecha that you grace us with. Leg godt, Danth.

Thanks for the kind words!

Your epic Macross builds definitely made something click in my head. I guess they made me realize I had no excuse, for one, and that the things I wanted to build were possible, for two.

My MOC above is sorta cheating a bit in the "transformation" department. The arms & legs fold up but the fuselage doesn't change shape. I guess it transforms into a Gerwalk but not a full Battroid so to speak. It's more like something from Gall Force than Macross. I could imagine the main unit ejecting its arms & legs if they got damaged and shooting away.

I actually have a much bigger project almost ready to reveal. I'm just waiting on a package full of Lego parts to get here from Budapest! Not my choice; it's just how Bricklink's "magic buy" split things up. Anyway, this next project is maybe more comparable to your Macross stuff, in scale. I can't wait to get your thoughts on it!

Going back to the topic of joint strength you guys were discussing earlier -- I'm already feeling angst about it myself. The Mixel joints are barely strong enough for my little MOC above. And the technic click-joints are barely strong enough to support a biggish minifig scale transforming mech. For a transforming Lego build you really need joints that are small but have a large range of motion (180 degrees to enable "folding") AND strong enough to hold up the weight of the robot when standing. It's tricky!

I finished my first transforming Lego project. It's nothing that great, but I like it! Shout out to @M'Kyuun who inspired me to get off my ass and finally build something!

Album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/75562601@N00/albums/72157720031764664

Stop motion transformation: https://imgur.com/a/S2coDYz

I'm not paying rent for games.

I'd pay good money for any Nintendo game collection on disk. But nothing recurring.

Rumor has it that there will be a Lamborghini Countach in the Speed Champions line early next year.

Also someone found this pic which may show minifigs from next year's City Space theme:

34 minutes ago, Dynaman said:

The original movie took place in the far future of... 2019.  So it is in alternate future territory

Original movie aired in 1982...so 2019 was almost 40 years in the future at that point. The newer movie was 2049.

So this movie being "alternate future" is a first for Blade Runner. They can do that, but I think it's less compelling.

"In the year 2032...in an alternate universe where the flying cars in 2032 would totally make sense..." I mean do they explain that? And if they have to explain it, that's already a lose, IMO.

16 hours ago, TangledThorns said:

New trailer. Better than the first but that was a very low bar, still not digging it.

Voice acting/dialog is bad. 2032 is not believably distant enough for flying cars. Teenage girl killing people with a katana is very cliche...wait, did they take the name literally?