M'Kyuun

As always, you make excellent points, and I certainly can't refute the obvious similarities between the Marleyans and their attitudes and treatment of the Eldians as a direct echo of Nazi Germany. I fear that in my focus on Eren and Zeke, I lost sight of Willy Tyber and his importance to the story, a shortcoming in my overview that now seems glaring in retrospect. However, as much as I enjoyed the first part of the story centering around Pardis, I still enjoyed, I think in equal part, the latter part of the story involving Marley and the wider world, as it informed the viewer of what lay behind what's been happening to them the previous five years or so as well as adjacent machinations and goings-on in the present. I don't think the totality of the story would have been as satisfying had they only focused on Paradis, as equal parts fun and depressing it is, without providing some back and adjacent story to answer the whys and whos of what lay behind the sudden titan infestations, who Grisha Jaeger really was, where did Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt come from and why were they there, etc, etc. There was a plethora of questions raised in the first couple chapters and had they just ended the series like that without providing answers, I personally don't feel like it would have been as satisfying overall. I can understand perhaps taking the Nazi similarities a bit too far, but this wasn't exactly a tame show that strayed from harsh realities, and I found the comparison apt. Your mileage obviously varies, as well as that of a larger portion of the fandom, but the obvious parallels didn't bother me. As to Eren being easily forgiven, I agree. He was an a-hole of the first order and deserved to be vilified for the monster that he became. I think Zeke's and Willy's plan, although terrible, too, was at least possibly coming from a place of contrition. It's a shame that Mikasa didn't pop out of her spell and kill Eren when he told her that he'd hated her most of their lives- whether he actually meant it or was just saying it to create distance between himself and her, the bastard had it coming. Alas, it came too late, but I thought it poetic that Mikasa was the one to deliver the coup de grace, even if she STILL felt affection for him. He got off too easy. The show is definitely a study, perhaps a dark caricature, of real history, some of the absolute worst of humanity's capital-E Evil, to borrow your phrase. To my mind, however, we must always be reminded of that evil lest we repeat it, be it in literature or art, and as an artform, I think anime is an apt vehicle, although perhaps it needn't be so blatant. The Japanese have their own demons to bear from WWII and it's notable that they weren't portrayed at all harshly compared to the Marleyans who symbolize the Nazi Regime. Indeed, they were merely portrayed as simply opportunistic money grubbers, with Azumabito showing a little contrition for how her people have acted. Make of that what you will.

I have little interest in getting this fig, but Takara put some effort into it and it shows.

It would have to be a non-realistic sci-fi tank or else it would violate LEGO's internal rules on producing modern warfare machines.

Nearly a month late due to the release schedule, but this is my birthday ask for my wife. I didn't think Bee was all that well done, but this looks on par, if not better, than Optimus. Loving those cassettes! I'm really glad Optimus wasn't a one-off. However, should they choose to do more Decepticons, Megatron and the Seekers are off the table unless they do Cybertronian alt modes due to LEGO's no-modern-war-machine policy. Megatron already falls afoul of American toy gun laws. Reflector would be pretty neat, though, as would the Insecticons or Constructicons, should they stick with G1 first season bots for these sets. More Autobot carbots are surely welcome.

Having finally completed our Blu-ray collection for Attack on Titan earlier this year, and with my wife's having a long weekend due to the holiday, we binge watched the whole thing finishing today, and wow. This is really an impactful series, lushly animated, extremely well-written, and very-well performed by the English voice cast. We'd started watching it years ago when it premiered on Cartoon Network, but we'd missed eps here and there and I believe we only saw it up to S3, so a full watch was in order. Anyway, we were hooked back then and have been wanting to give it a full watch, so I'm glad this weekend provided an opportunity. It definitely did not disappoint. It's one of those rare shows that stays with you mentally and emotionally for some time after you've finished it. I've read that some fans took issue with the ending, but I thought it offered a satisfying and thought-provoking ending that speaks to human nature. My wife and I both served in the military, so the camaraderie between the characters was very relatable. I'm not a big believer in preordination or fate, but IMHO the way those elements were used within the narrative, especially with Eren's story, offered perspective and in flashbacks, really interesting glimpses at characters' reactions and choices that would affect events. Overall, a tour de force of character-building, narrative and plotting, world-building, and social commentary, not to mention the sheer beauty of the artwork and use of music throughout. To say the least, I recommend a watch.

As am I, honestly, despite my criticism of the frame system.

Yeah, the indeterminate window for standard parts deliveries can be frustrating. I dislike that they break them up into bestseller and standard categories in the first place, but then they also charge $7 service fees if a minimal number of parts isn't met, and that goes for each category, so you can end up paying $14 on top of what you're paying for a smaller order. I'd rather my money went towards actual bricks, so I always wait to order when I've got a project requiring, or potentially requiring, enough parts to exceed the service fee limits, as was the case with this last order. The numbers of parts compared to actual numbers I ordered were so random and excessive at times that it raised my antennae. I've never had such an odd experience before with their online Pick-A-Brick. I appreciate the free extra parts though. I'm curious if I'm going to have the same experience with my standard parts. Guess we'll see.

Or, now bear with me, they could've taken the extremely radical step of making the leg bots actually become the legs by virtue of their collective forty-plus years of experience designing transforming toys. I figure if they can pull it off with the Constructicons, they can pull it off with other combiners, too, especially if the knee joint is part of a large partsforming waist and thighs, at which point the knee just needs to slot into or otherwise enjoin with the leg bot.

Seconded. Takara could learn a few things by studying Kawamori's design approach. Alas, since they've been taking the same terrible lazy approach to jets for over forty years, I think both the designers and the vast majority of the fandom have become indoctrinated to the idea that robots that transform should be blocky and that those blocky robots that turn into jets should also have an element of blockiness to the alt mode, or should have arms hanging off the sides, barely if at all integrated or disguised as such, with kibbley, uneven, and virtually never smooth, sleek, or aerodynamic lower fuselages in the least. I've mentioned before how Maverick, certainly one of the best looking jetformers in jet mode that Takara has ever made received a great deal of criticism for its robot mode. Given that it takes a number of cues from the VF-1, it just struck me how the same fandom could love Jetfire but heap invective on this figure when the similarities in design are so apparent. Too, fans complained about how skinny or lanky it is b/c they're just so used to seeing a chunky bot with a heavily compromised jet mode that anything that doesn't fit that mold, so to speak, just doesn't compute as a Transformer. Unless there's a sea change at Takara in its approach to jetformers (much like the one that Alex Kubalsky introduced in the early 2000s with his general design approach, still used today), I think we'll just keep seeing more of the same from them and Hasbro by extension. I'm glad I discovered Macross in the 90s; it's been my refuge for excellent transforming plane designs all these years. Touch Toys is impressive for some of their recent releases as well. I have their J-16 (fully licensed) and man is that thing gorgeous with some very impressive engineering, form, and functionality. It hides its transformable nature more effectively than any other transforming jets I own, including my Macross valkyries, if only by a minimal margin in some cases. One caveat, however, is that the valks all have pilots in their fully detailed cockpits whereas the J-16 has neither. In all other respects, however, it's a remarkably realistic and nigh seamless design.

What purpose do the leg bots even serve besides being snap-on calves? I guess they're just trying to mimic the fronts of the leg bots with the frame, but it's kinda crummy that you don't even need the actual bots to affect the same appearance. Shame that they didn't put the plane bits out front on the G1 toy and in the animation, but history is written and here we have it in plastic.

Well, you're not being political by stating a financial reality. And yeah, that is a significant markup. I'm happy to pass on it. I'm quite satisfied with my Yamato Blazer Valkyrie and YF-19, both gorgeous and uncompromised. If I want a Fire Valkyrie, I'll get the HMR.

I wasn't going to buy it anyway, but that price is mildly insane. Like I said earlier, if they turned it into a regular crossover release at a voyager or deluxe scale and pricepoint and just gave us the plane, I'd happily grab it up. But what they're asking for what you're getting (I wonder how much of that $200 is wrapped up in that stupid trailer?), hard no. I think they're going to price a lot of fans out.

Change of topic. I'm working on a MOC and ordered a bunch of parts from LEGO's online Bricks and Pieces Hub as I've done many times before. The bestseller portion of my order came today and it was complete except there was only one of a piece for which I'd ordered two. Not a big deal. but here's the kicker: out of 36 different parts in the order, nearly every one had extras thrown in. and not just like one or two, although that happened with a few, too. Some parts had up to twenty or more extra pieces thrown in and in cases of matched pairs, the numbers of extras were generally highly incongruent. For example: I ordered 10ea 1x2 tiles with a wedge cutout both left and right; what I received: left 26 parts, right 16 parts This pattern repeats for a number of paired parts in the order. I'm not going to complain about extra free LEGO, but this is a highly unusual occurrence, and I have to wonder the meaning behind it. LEGO's a good company, but I've never known them to engage in this level of or method of altruism nor have I ever had this much discrepancy, albeit largely in my favor, between what I ordered (and paid for) and what was actually in the bag. I have had an extra here or there, as these are all hand-picked parts by real people, so mistakes happen, but usually they're pretty good about matching the orders. Anyway, my only complaint, being an entitled American, is that the incongruency messes with my inventory, as I generally always order paired bits in equal numbers and this is going to throw me off in the future unless I make another order to shore up the lesser numbers of those pairs. First world problem, I know. I'm grateful for the extra bits, but I'm really curious what's behind it. Perhaps there's a disgruntled employee or one who feels LEGO is too expensive and fans should get more for their buck. or maybe one person started picking the bag, went home, and another resumed picking without taking stock of what was already picked. Anyway, since that's only half of my order (the standard parts have yet to come), I'm curious if the same phenomenon is going to reoccur or if it will be a normal order matching what I ordered and paid for. Has anyone else here had this happen? I'm also curious if this is an isolated incident or if other folks are getting surprise orders, too.