M'Kyuun

It'd be great if these guys got the licenses to produce American aircraft, but let's be honest, why pay for something you can essentially steal with little to no repercussions, as I doubt many of the American aircraft producers would even know about these things or care. They're more worried about the Chinese and Soviets stealing info about the real aircraft to care about some toy maker. But to the point, it'd be great if an American toy producer arose with skills at this level who decided to make transforming versions of all our American fighters. I just don't think it's financially feasible here.

Showz Store has POs up for Touch Toy's J-16N Wu Tian Yu Shang 2035 Nacrmmi, yet another licensed transforming Chinese fighter by this company. I passed on their previous effort, Carefray, a Chinese J-35 which looks oh so suspiciously like the US F-35 but given that this has a nigh-flawless Su-27 Flanker mode (The Shenyang J-16 is a Chinese derivative of the Soviet fighter), I couldn't resist pulling the trigger. I love the look of the Flanker, one of the most beautiful designs amongst the world's modern fighters, and I've long wanted a transforming version of it. Prior to Touch Toys' version, Sci-Industry, who made sophisticated transforming versions of the Chinese J-20 (Lumitent) and the Changhe WZ-10 combat helicopter (Aegocopter) had a transforming Flanker design in the works that looked amazing. Alas, it was never released and Sci-industry seems to be all but defunct. However, Touch Toys, whose designs are uncannily similar to those of Sci-Industry, are producing incredible transforming versions of real Chinese military aircraft, ships, and a mobile missile launcher that maintain the realism, features and functions of the actual vehicles, and yet transform into complex highly articulated bots. I've heard the designs described as Bayesque; however, let's be clear- these figures have actual mechanical transformations which make sense because they are 100% practical, whereas Bay's monstrosities were the creations of CG artists who just cut up images of vehicles and placed them willy-nilly over a frame without any thought as to how anything would actually move or assume its position. Touch Toys is operating at a level far beyond Takara, who've proven again and again ad nauseum that they have no clue how to make an accurate fighter turn into a robot or vice versa. So while Touch Toys figs, due to their complex aesthetics, do approximate the Bayformer aesthetic, the actual engineering brought to bear makes a world of difference. This guy looks impressive in bot mode, but man, that fighter mode is just amazing. The gear retract and they're located properly on the jet, a feature we almost never see on a Transformers figure. If I have but one gripe, I'm not too crazy about the long skirt bit hanging from the waist. I've no doubt it correlates to some bit of traditional Chinese attire, but I wish and hope that it can fold up onto the bot's back and out of the way of the legs. In all other regards, this is truly a masterwork of engineering. I wish the designer, possibly a fellow going by the interesting sobriquet "Black Apple", worked for Takara, as they, and we as a Transformers fandom, could certainly benefit from his approach to transforming aircraft. I'm definitely looking forward to adding this to my collection.

Wow, that's fandom. I didn't see the Movie in the theater, though my friends did (despite the fact that I was probably the most ardent TF fan of them), and one them owned the VHS, which is how I got to see it for the first time. Gotta say, it didn't appeal to me as much as I thought it would. I hated Daniel. Hot Rod was just ok as a lead. I'd rather have had the OG first season bots be the focus. I didn't care for Galvatron's alt mode. I didn't care for the Junkions. I thought their putting Ultra Magnus back together after Prime died from a side wound was total BS. I thought the whole Quintesson thing was weird. I hated that the Cons blew trumpets at Starscream's coronation (a medieval human practice undertaken by "advanced" robots who don't need to breathe and likely lack the apparatus necessary since they can exist just fine in space). I was 15 or 16 when I saw it for the first time, so while I could (obviously) suspend disbelief, some things just annoyed me. Still do. I watch the Movie every few years (I believe I own the Rhino DVD), but it's not the great bit of TF lore to me that it is to other fans. I still rank most of first season as my favorite part of G1. Contrarily, I loved the concept and realization of Unicron- just a marvelous idea that had never occurred to me. To that point, beyond Skyfire, we hadn't even seen large ships transform let alone a planet. Moreover, the mystique of this character was intriguing; we get no back story- he just is- this malevolent seemingly unstoppable force of destruction. Unicron made for a most worthy adversary and a good use of the new MacGuffin, the Matrix of Leadership, the mention of which is notably missing throughout first season. I wonder which came first in the Movie writers' minds: the Matrix or Unicron?

Too true. I'm enjoying it vicariously. I love that Xigfrid made a video, as I can revisit that as often as I please, and bonus, it takes up no room in my already crowded house.

Oh my, I really, really hope they don't try to tie this into the Blade Runner universe; Scott has enough trouble keeping his own Alien universe in check let alone tying it to a completely unrelated one. However, considering for the sake of consideration that the ship is in fact detected sans the swarming of media, and a small recovery team is sent in, and all of them persish, including the xenomorph, in such a way as to leave no remains to be found and studied, lest the whole timeline be disrupted, I see few other ways of positing a story that doesn't upend the previous continuity. Unless, they try to say Weyland-Yutani did recover some remains, have it in their lab for 30 years or so, and somehow draw a correlation between the derelict ship's signal thus sending the Nostromo to their fate. That narrative, however, contrasts with the incredulous response by the company's people to Ripley's report at the beginning of Aliens where they explicitly mention that nothing of the sort has ever been recorded prior despite having colonized numerous worlds. However the showrunners approach it, I just hope they don't destroy the continuity. I'd like to enjoy the show and I hope it's done well.

Astrotrain had misaligned wheels in his train mode. C'mon, how hard is it to at least make it look like all the wheels are aligned on a vehicle that travels on rails? The shuttle's cargo bay has a large unfinished section where it looks like the doors blew off. The G1 toy, despite having, like most 80s Transformers, a mostly immobile bot mode, had much better realized alt modes. Takara did a good job on his bot mode, but when the alts suffer to that extent, I found it pointless to get him. I hope the '86 version rectifies the former toy's flaws. Moving on to Legacy Blitzwing, I'm not crazy about the huge chunk of forward fuselage jutting out from the front of the tank mode. Alas, while the G1 toy did have a bit of it showing, the Sunbow animation tended to emphasize it, and instead of making up for the flaw in both toy and toon, Takara too emphasized it. SMH. The jet mode is a travesty, the result of careless engineering and a traditional mindset at Takara where everything they can't be bothered to integrate into the jet's fuselage gets tossed on the bottom. I would've hoped there'd be an evolution in design philosophy by now, but it doesn't seem so. While I have yet to own an official post-G1 Astrotrain, b/c , quite frankly, they've all looked like ass to me, I have, however, bought the majority of Blitzwing figs, his being my favorite of the triple-changers second to Astrotrain. I finally picked up the Legacy toy after finding him on discount, and while I think the bot mode is fantastic and the tank so-so, I still find the jet mode abhorrent. I hope they do right by both of these characters with the '86 SS figs and give them the polished alts that they deserve after 40+ years of lackluster toys.

2026 Studio Series Listings Found - 86 Leader Soundwave, Astrotrain, More! - Transformers News - TFW2005 As the link suggests, we're getting SS86 Astrotrain and Soundwave, and they, unlike another release of SS86 Snarl, are not listed as package refreshes. This is cautiously good news, as both the WFC Siege Astrotrain and Netflix Soundwave figs had flaws aplenty beggaring for all new molds to address them. I'm all for improved figs of both. Hoping they turn out great. I'm really hoping that an SS86 Blitzwing is in the pipeline as well and that it does a better job of integrating the kibble so as not to put it all under the jet mode again. If MechaFansToys can accomplish that at legends scale, surely Takara can do it, too.

If they could do for Alien as a series what they did with Prey for the Predator, at least a single season would be good. Prey captured the essence of the original film very well, and I found it to be the second most enjoyable entry in the franchise. (Sorry Danny Glover.) It was the first sequel of sorts that made me want more. For me, too, my love of the Alien movies begins with the original film and ends with Aliens. The others let me down in one way or another, mostly for reasons that @Seto Kaiba has so eloquently elucidated. Regarding the new series, the prequel thing has already been done, and putting the Alien on Earth some 30 years prior to the original film's discovery of the species sounds like a recipe for continuity disaster. Given the eponymous critter's unsatiable appetite for dealing out death, and the fact that this will be set in our future, which sets the state of technology beyond our present state, it's a highly dubious prospect that a manmade spaceship could crash back on Earth and not have a plethora of responders and media all over it such that the emergence of such a creature would or could remain either unknown or obfuscated. For me, that's the first hurdle: make me believe this thing could land undetected in a world saturated by social media. The only ways I could see it happening sufficiently is to have it crash in Antarctica or somewhere in Siberia perhaps near some extremely isolated outpost. And even then, those places have comms, so the challenge is in keeping the fact of this thing's existence unbroadcasted and unknown to the rest of the world, especially Weyland-Yutani, until Dallas and the gang stumble on the derelict ship on LV-426. Supposing though that they make a credible effort towards effective isolation, I think if they follow the formula for '79 Alien , or even Carpenter's The Thing, one of my favorite sci-fi films, they could make a plausibly enjoyable show watching the xenomorph do what it does best to a small, extremely isolated group of people who are totally unprepared for what's coming. Of course, to maintain its continuity with regards to the original film, they're going to have to somehow kill the Alien(s) before the show wraps, and moreover, and harder to believe, not report what has happened to anyone in the outside world. I hope it's well done, certainly better than the majority of the sequels, as this franchise could use a shot in the arm, IMHO.

Blast from the past, or so I thought until I took a second look. I wish this and updated versions in the same format came with the toys like they did in the 80s.

I've never owned a full set of Aerialbots and I was really hoping these ones would give us better jet modes, but I think the TR toys did a better job with most, and they were pretty far from accurate themselves. TR Silverbolt, as usual, was a travesty and I didn't get him, but I did get a few of the TR Aerialbots. I'm passing on the entire team this time around, as they're all so incredibly poor. It's money saved, but honestly, being an aircraft fan, especially fighters, I really wanted this to be the set of Aerialbots that stepped up the accuracy a bit b/c eventually I'd like to have a set that I'd enjoy. Alas, not to be this time. I'm kinda hoping , now that Newage has breached the CHUG scale with Romulus, that perhaps another 3P, or NA themselves, will do a set of these guys with more focus on getting the aircraft modes right, or at least much closer to accurate than I we'll ever get from HasTak.

Given how little love Mylene's VF-11 has received in toy form, I wouldn't be opposed to such a crossover to pair with Basara Prime. Honestly, I'd be happier if we got the straight valks with heads that homage the TF characters, but since Takara is bent on combining elements of the TF characters so as to ruin any possibility of ever getting a realistic or perfectly aerodynamic jet from them, I can only image how it would turn out. Still, the color schemes align as well as the fit. I'm guessing it would be mostly a VF-11 with Arcee's back pods.

Having a look at the backside of this fig, I revise my earlier guess at its transformation. Since the intakes are mounted on the torso above the shoulders, and due to the hinge arrangement on the actual shoulders as they correlate to the VF-19's shoulder pauldrons (odd that they didn't configure them to form pauldrons in a like manner on this figure), it appears that the chest piece must swing down so that the intakes mate up with the tops of the hips to complete the engines. Given where the arms are, I surmise that they are going to swing inboard in a similar manner to the VF-1 and the pauldrons will then move into place over the backs of the thighs to complete the top portion of the engines. I'm guessing that the squarish Prime chest will just sit on the bottom of the jet, which will spoil the bottom of the jet mode, but it appears that in all other regards, at least from a top view, it's going to form a decent looking VF-19. That being said, I concur with Scyla's questioning the need to incorporate truck parts at all when simply putting a stylized head on a VF-19 body would have sufficed and offered a far better jet mode that actually transforms and looks like it's supposed to. I'm curious to see how it all comes together, however, I'm not at all a fan of Basara and, like Scyla, I wish they'd just given us a straight VF-19 instead of this Frankenstein's monster of a valk. I say this as I look lovingly upon my Yamato VF-19S and YF-19 standing next to each other on my desk. Such gorgeous designs.

The technologies that exist now are like our childhood sci-fi tropes come true- pretty amazing stuff, and in the case of 3D printing, much more accessible, as you said, than most of the other methodologies for producing plastic toys and models. I haven't handled a fully 3D printed figure, but I've bought a number of add-on kits for my Transformers and I'm pretty impressed by their durability and the shapes that are possible. I imagine that as the technology matures, it'll eventually replace extrusion molding as a cheaper, faster, equally durable method for producing parts.

I totally don't remember the Shockwave scene. The one with Blaster, Soundwave, and the cassettes is memorable for the quotes, "First we crack the shell, then we crack the nuts inside!" and for the fighting amongst the cassettes. Interesting tidbit about Shockwave. I didn't realize that was his last appearance. I guess they really wanted to wipe the slate clean to usher in new toys. Yeesh!

Historically, observance of a set scale has not been Has/Tak's strongsuit for Transformers. They've been making Optimus and Megatron toys at roughly the same voyager scale, and sometimes at deluxe scale, since at least the Classics period circa 2006. With so many figures having been made to that scale, something like SS86 Prime, regardless of height scales, feels overly large by comparison with nearly twenty years of precedence. I don't recall Shockwave's making an appearance in the '86 Movie, but it's been a while since I last watched it. Regardless, I hope all those and more get the SS86 treatment and, much like Soundwave, they are superior to their previous toys. I can't really say I'm anticipating SS86 Megatron, knowing that he's going to have his typical bot body which suggests he should turn into a gun, but will likely be encumbered with all the additional mass to make him turn into a tank. I'll likely pass on him, as Romulus is the G1 Megatron I really want. I concede that Romulus appeals as a higher quality figure than the average Generations fig. However, if it were possible for Has/Tak to do SS86 Megatron with his Walther P38 alt mode at the commander class price point, I think we could expect a toy of similar complexity, and while not fully painted like Romulus, likely more paint apps than Prime in the absence of all that went into his trailer. He'd also quite likely come with the same accessories that came with Romulus, perhaps minus the interchangeable faces, in addition to his silencer and stock to complete the gun mode as seen in the show and film. In short, I agree, Romulus is superior to most Generations stuff, but given what we got with SS86 Prime and other commander class figs, assuming a G1 SS86 Megatron with a pistol mode were being made, I think an official toy would have a similar feel, minus full paint and die-cast. It'd still be premium, just premium-lite by comparison. 😄 While I've already stated my opinion about the impending SS86 Megatron, I'm curious to see how it turns out, especially if, like Prime, he gets the commander class level of production. If they can somehow reduce all that tank baggage into a nigh seamless looking bot mode, I'll be impressed. I very much doubt that'll be the case, but one can hope. Regardless, I'll likely pass on him in lieu of the proper G1 Megs I already have.

Enjoyed the review, Mike. I'd also like a slightly chunkier Megatron, although, it's obvious they used ER Prime as a comparison model to base Romulus assuming, as you said, that the upcoming SS86 would scale similarly. Hindsight, indeed, alas. I think the comparable thickness of Romulus' thigh and lower leg throws off his general silhouette from how we're used to seeing him depicted, with a more pronounced lower leg thickness and a thinner thigh. However, the fact that the thighs contribute so much to the alt mode and enjoy a fair bit of the transformation process themselves, it's forgivable and my view of it is obviously subjective. Returning to the scale conversation, despite the intention to scale with SS86, I'm glad that Romulus ended up scaling the way he does, as he fits better with the overall entirety of CHUG. SS86 Prime has overly large proportions, and I wonder why they chose to upscale him from the usual voyager scale and give him so much chunk comparatively. I think he's a really well-done fig, but I still have a huge soft spot for ER Prime who scales better, IMHO, with the rest of CHUG. I'm no Skully, as paint is not really one of my high requisites for a figure, especially in a mass retail toy under significant budget limitations, but you make a good point about the level of paint and die-cast, the latter of which rarely if ever shows up in the mainline any more. Newage is known for adding a more premium touch to their legends toys (I just bought their whole team of toy deco Dinobots, and those things are delicious with both paint and die-cast- beautiful figures, all), and they've applied those touches to Romulus as well. I suspect Newage may have believed, too, that SS86 Prime at standard voyager scale might, at the commander class price, have enjoyed far more paint on the core figure as well as possibly some little bit of die-cast. I'd love it if Sixo and his podcast group could score an interview with the designer(s) behind Romulus and coax some elucidation on their thinking and intentions going into Romuls' production. There's definitely a story there, and while NA may be catching some flack for getting the scale wrong, IMHO, the choice was both reasonable and far more apropos to the rest of CHUG on the whole. As to how clean Romulus is, so much yes, especially in comparison with their legends offering, which looks a little wonky due to his weird hip joints and messy backside. I guess they made a hip replacement for him, but I never bothered to get it. Compared to Magic Square's Doomsday, Agamemnon suffers in any number of ways. I've said it often and it bears repeating: MS' Doomsday is the best Megatron toy ever released. I still stand by that assessment; however, I give Romulus second runner up- he's just that well-done. IMHO, Doomsday gets the proportions better in bot mode (Romulus gets a couple things more accurate in gun mode, but honestly, how many people keep their G1 Megs in gun mode?) As to Romulus looking too Sunbow, they were after all aiming to mate this with SS86 Prime, which I assume they thought would be smooth as a baby's bottom for lack of details. However, while I suppose they could have added some additional panel lines/ mechanical details into the forearms or his back, I think he's fine and still pairs up with ER Prime pretty well, regardless. I say this as a big fan of details on my bots and not a big fan of the ultra-smooth toon look. Scaled up, Romulus or Doomsday would make for a suitable replacement for MP-36. My continuing hope is that Magic Square will seize the opportunity and do SS86 Prime and MP scaled Doomsday figs. That would be glorious. Given the level of paint on the core figure, I also thought it a bit odd that there was no paint on the purple pistol or the handle of the laser sword. The pistol in trans-purple just looks wrong. I also thought the omission of the stock and silencer were odd as well, as those are more salient accessories to a G1 Megatron toy than even the mace, laser sword, or pistol, all of which showed up in single scenes. However, every time Megs transformed in the show or Movie, he always had the silencer and stock equipped, just like Prime always had his trailer. I didn't mess about with the little bits on Romulus' heels to see if they're removable, but I assume you did, and that's an interesting observation. Perhaps there was indeed more planned for this fig, but they dialed back on the accessories, features/functions, and accessory paint to bring the price down given this was a testbed of sorts for Newage and they may have felt it better to omit those in favor of a lower price tag. While it would have been nice to have them, since Romulus will be in bot mode the vast majority of his existence in my collection, the stock and silencer, much like my Primes' trailers, are kept aside and at the end of the day, I don't really miss them. Again, there's more conversation to be had with the designers and I hope it happens at some point. The instructions are definitely misleading; I nearly broke mine while trying to flip down the chest panel. There's nothing in the instructions that indicate that you have to disengage the tab on the left shoulder mount panel from the back panel. I was using a scarily uncomfortable amount of force to try and push that chest panel down and when it looked like stuff was starting to possibly be breaking, I consulted a vid review which set me straight. Fortunately, no major harm done. For good measure, I applied a little Gorilla Glue to the sandwich of panels that comprise the chest panel assembly just to be sure. After transforming him a couple of times and getting some of the really tight panels loose enough to move without tearing off a nail, I find the process rather fun. I can't honestly say that about a lot of third-party figs, and even a number of official figs, MP-36 included. The schema is clever, unique, and lends itself to a pretty close facsimile of the Walther P38. The lack of a safety and other minor details is lamentable, but a worthy tradeoff for such a well-designed transformation process and such a clean robot mode. Gotta admit, the last steps of putting the hip skirts and butt panels into place to finish the pistol grip is really satisfying. The gun mode is solid and looks really good. Despite my earlier comment, it is a bit of a shame that you can't complete his alt mode with silencer and stock. perhaps NA will do an accessory add-on pack, or do a repackage with additional accessories, hopefully better painted. I got the toon-colored version, but if they sold such a repackage, I'd be tempted to get the toy deco and just share the silencer and stock between them. To your first argument that Romulus is too premium, I disagree, but from the standpoint that this is a third-party toy and not an official release. I think you could expect this level of paint and die cast from a Takara-Tomy figure, but they operate on a different philosophy than Hasbro, and one needn't look further than the Missing Link line. If TT were to make their own SS86 G1 Megs that actually turns into a gun, while I doubt it would have die-cast, I think it'd definitely have better paint than anything Hasbro releases. I wish they would, as I'd love to see what they'd come up with as a properly scaled mate for their SS86 Prime. As to Romulus being too premium to fit in with CHUG, while he's a bit shy on small surface details, I think he fits in pretty well. That said, my feelings would not be hurt if they continued the series giving us, at the very least, a better Soundwave +cassettes and upscaled versions of their Seekers. For my part, I think Romulus is a clear winner and an amazing success for a first stab at producing a CHUG scaled toy by a company that hitherto has only worked at legends scale, even if some of those legends toys approached CHUG scale (looking at my NA Skyfire). Perhaps making some of those larger legends figs gave them the impetus to try. Whatever it was, I'm very glad they did as they've filled a notable void in my collection that no official toy, save a TT SS86 Megs that turns into a gun, will ever again fill. I keep hoping Magic Square will toss their proverbial hat in the CHUG ring as well, but for now, I'm quite satisfied with Romulus filling the void. Hopefully this toy sells very well and gives these companies who may be on the fence the courage to put out their own CHUG scaled stuff. It's well past time. Totally off topic, but after these legends toy producers exhaust G1, I hope at least one of them decides to do Animated figs. I know Animated isn't everybody's cuppa, but I think there's enough of us out there that we could adequately support the venture. Seeing what they've done with G1 really makes me want to see how they'd tackle the stylistic elements of Animated, arguably not the easiest look to translate into a transforming toy. I think TT did a pretty good job back in 2007-09, but 3P has come a long way since then, and one can only imagine what they'd come up with in terms of solutions to capture that look faithfully and still deliver bots with much better articulation than the official toys ever had.

Very interesting news. I've never heard of this company, but I'm guessing I've seen their stuff while perusing the toy isles. Very curious to see how they approach M.A.S.K. As little room as I have for much of anything anymore, I have a feeling I'm going to be sorely tempted to pick a couple of these up. The Ramen Toys stuff looks amazing thus far, but I've not invested. But if the TLS' stuff is right there on the shelf in front of me, all bets are off. I never owned a single M.A.S.K. toy as a kid, despite seeing them in stores and watching the show. I thought they were amazing, but my budget was severely limited so I stuck to the occasional Transformer or LEGO set. Lack of space is my main detractor now, but if I find one or two that really pique my interest, I may just have to snag 'em.

You've pretty much summed up my feelings about third party. My days on this Earth are ever receding, and with the license holders of these properties sitting on those licenses when there's an audience for stuff to be made, unofficial options become the only options, or in the case of many Transformers, interesting, unique, or superior options compared to, or in the absence of, official releases. I look no further than XTransbots' Omnibots, which haven't had toys since their original American releases in 1985, and of course their earlier Diaclone toys. As the only option for toys I've long wanted and waited for, I'm all in for the three G1 variants that XTransbots are releasing. They're not the best toys, as some of the design decisions are questionable, but in the absence of any other Omnibot toys official or non, I happily parted with my money for them. Likewise, my newest acquisition, Newage's Romulus, a well-done CHUG scaled G1 Megatron that turns into a Walther P38ish pistol, a toy we shall never again get officially, unless Takara makes it for the Asian market. That was a huge want, and I'm pleased to finally have a figure to fill that hole in my collection. No guilt, no regret. Much joy.

Good point about the licensing; I wasn't thinking about that aspect but focusing more on the creativity side of the topic. However, that's definitely an obstacle which the Chinese seem to contend with on a much looser basis without as many legal repercussions. I don't agree with stealing IPs, but at the same time, my hypocritical self has bought numerous third-party Transformers over the last decade or so, and quite honestly, I think they're smartly cornering parts of the market that Hasbro and Takara aren't really operating in, like the legends scale market, and doing it brilliantly. Moreover, I think they approach toy design, much like Takara does or used to, by trying to make the best toy and then assigning a price instead of working within a set budget and making adjustments to the toy until it fits, which often means the toy is far more limited in parts, features, paint etc. It's a shame that everything is so much more expensive here in the States, but that's the reality of our times, and the situation will likely never improve alas. There's obviously passion at both Hasbro and Takara, and I'm exceedingly glad that they've put the designers out in the public space to talk about what goes into the toys. They're obviously working under constraints, and by talking about that, if only tangentially at times, I appreciate the candid perspective and I hope it quells some of the bitching and moaning among the fandom. We're still going to complain, because humanity, but for those of us with a modicum of empathy, seeing the bigger picture regarding the circumstances in which they labor to try and make good toys allows for a bit of forgiveness if a toy comes up a little short in our minds. Even third-party toys come up short from time to time, but man, what a wonderful time to be a fan of 80s stuff with folks like Ramen Toys , 3P Transformers makers, etc, realizing our childhood dreams through passion, skill, talent, and drive to create the toys we wished we'd had when we were kids. We're spoiled, and I'm loving it.

Likewise, both space and money. M.A.S.K. is another notable toy series from the 80s that had some really standout toys, and honestly, if Hasbro wanted to, they could just dust off the old molds, perhaps add a few new ones to complete the roster, put a little publicity behind it, perhaps hire a studio to give the show a modern makeover, and just let the money roll in, as I think the toys and the concept as a whole still have the power to captivate and intrigue. Since it shares the transformation gimmick with their other huge franchise, I'm surprised that Hasbro hasn't at least tested the waters by reviving M.A.S.K. for a new generation, if only in a limited fashion. Perhaps they could produce some video shorts to create publicity and gauge interest before committing to new toys. But I think it still has strong appeal that kids and adults alike would respond to. As to Ramen Toys, the passion and effort they put into these toys is obvious and remarkable. I'm constantly amazed by the abilities and commitment of fans to create today the toys we wished we'd had as kids. Chinese fans, notably, are killing it as they form toy companies dedicated to making modern interpretations of 80s and 90s toys; it's shame we don't see that same level of dedication or craftsmanship on our own shores, since these properties all originated here.

Obviously, it's going to try to look like a VF-19 Fire Valkyrie, so we can expect the majority of it to be red with yellow accents. As someone above mentioned, the entire forward fuselage is hanging off the back and will just rotate 180 degrees to cover the head. The shoulders are shaped like the VF-19's pauldrons and will likely fill that same role on this in fighter mode with the forearms recessing, much like the VF-14, into the backs of the legs. The wings wrap around the lower legs, which will likely compress over the thighs to foreshorten them and present as the rounded aft fuselage of the VF-19, while the wings unfurl into their proper positions. The compression of the legs , IMHO, will be the most complex part of the transformation, and the resulting fighter will be a mix of blockiness due to the OP chest and smoothness due to the forward fuselage and lower legs sharing the VF-19's design characteristics. It's a bit of a Frankenstein's monster due to sharing opposing characteristics being taken from two very different designs that, IMHO, don't marry well, especially as they relate to an aircraft, and even more especially, an aircraft design as sleek and aerodynamic as the VF-19. Personally, I would have been more excited if they'd taken a similar direction as they did with Maverick, which takes notable cues from the VF-1 without copying it directly (we have Jetfire for that), albeit taking cues from the VF-19 while hewing close to that design and transformation schema without copying it entirely. I think this thing is going to be a travesty writ large, but I'm profoundly biased towards Macross for its realistic and sleek valkyrie designs. Takara, and Hasbro by extension, have abysmal track records for creating jetformers that are anywhere near approaching aerodynamic or realistic. More often than not, they are partial aircraft sitting on the backs of blocky folded robots that often don't even integrate the arms into the jet mode. Fighters are big machines (I know, as I worked around them during my AF career), far bigger than cars, and yet Takara always manages to tuck the arms somewhere even in the smallest of car modes, or motorcycles for cryin' out loud! There's far more real estate in a jet fighter, and yet they often waste large chunks of a fighter that could be used to integrate arms. It boggles the mind the lack of creativity or the reluctance to try to find better solutions. All I can say is that in twenty years of working around military aircraft, I never saw a single one with arms hanging off the sides or big blocky underbellies. Macross is proof that a realistic aircraft mode is possible for a transforming robot; I just wish the folks at Takara and Hasbro would take a few notes.

I've expressed many times over the years how much I wish some third party would give us a CHUG scaled G1 Megatron with a proper pistol mode that at least fairly resembles the Walther P38. I was quite surprised, pleasantly so, when Newage stepped up to the plate with just such an offering. I already had their legends scaled Megs, and to be quite honest, it wasn't the best offering at that scale (ahem, Magic Square's Doomsday takes that honor, IMHO). Thus I was a bit concerned until pics of their grayscale model surfaced, and at that point I breathed a sigh of relief. It looked good, and while I didn't care for the trigger guard forming the insides of the thighs, in all other aspects it exceeded expectations. My copy arrived today, and I haven't been this excited for a fig in some time. I'm not the best reviewer, but I did take a few comparison shots for those curious as to how it'll scale with other figs. A note of caution to anyone out there getting this: I nearly broke my copy following the included instructions. I highly suggest watching PrimevsPrime's review, as he offers a clear and concise methodology for transforming this figure that will keep you from breaking stuff. Gun mode: By this point in time, it's a foregone conclusion that most G1 Megatron toys that become guns, regardless of scale, are going to be replete with panels. All things considered, this comes together very well, and while there are a lot of panel lines, I think it still presents well. I believe I saw it mentioned somewhere that he's missing his safety, but beyond that, he's fairly accurate. For those wondering, the trigger is not spring-loaded- you have to adjust its position manually. I have kid hands, so it's a pretty good fit for me. NGL, I had some fun with him in this mode. My wife was all 🙄. 😁 Comparisons: I figured I'd show how his alt mode compares to other bots' alts. First up, Netflix WFC Soundwave. WFC Siege Megatron WFC Earthrise Skywarp WFC Earthrise Optimus Prime and SS86 Optimus Bot mode comparisons: Overall, I'm really impressed with this fig. The articulation far exceeds what we can expect in a mainline toy, the transformation, when done properly, is relatively intuitive although I'd suggest guidance on the first time, paint and sculpt are very well done (most of the figure is painted), and of course, he transforms into his original pistol form which isn't feasible with official toys. Very happy that this exists, I hope more like it are coming, and I'm supremely happy to finally fill a vacancy in my mainline collection that I thought would remain forever empty. edit: The box indicates that this is the first of a series, so hopefully Newage will indeed make more figs at the mainline scale. They've not even done triple-changers at the legends scale yet, that I'm aware of, but I'd love to see what they'd come up with for both Blitzwing and Astrotrain, as well as upscaling their really-well done seeker mold. Hopefully, good things to come. The more I handle Romulus, the more I appreciate it- just a well-done fig.

I have just a single copy of the new Renegade (for now) and I've only built the main model, as I'm not all that plussed about the inspired Alienator model. I watched JANG's review, and I agree with his thoughts on the Alienator build: it looks better as a ship if you remove the leg assembly. After building the 10355 Renegade, I'm rather impressed by the integration of the large trapezoidal flag at the nose as a creative solution in lieu of the non-existence of an analogous wedge brick. That's been a point of contention, and while there are certainly other ways the designer could have realized the nose that would appear more 'brickish', I thought it a simple but elegant solution. YMMV, of course. I also agree with Huw Gilliam's opinion that there is far too much yellow used, especially around the cockpit. The original Blacktron sets used the yellow accents far more sparingly, and I wish the designer had followed suit with this set. As an update, it's just ok to me. Mike Psiaki, the designer of 10497 Galaxy Explorer, essentially upsized and improved on every aspect of the original. Jae Won Lee, the designer of the Renegade, exercised far more liberties in his interpretation which removed a certain salient aspect of the original and just didn't quite deliver on the same level as the new Galaxy Explorer. I still prefer my original Renegade to this, and I feel sad saying that, as I vehemently want these homages to both continue and to improve on their originals. Well, here's hoping that they take the feedback to heart and the next update will be more 10497 and less 10355.

Likewise, although I'm torn on whether I want it to be crowdfunded or just a nice titan class fig at retail. It'd likely be cheaper as a retail toy, but to really capture the complexity of the design, Haslab might be the better way to go. Either way, I'm in for a copy if they make it.

Every success in your tinkering.