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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    Hasbro needs to take some notes; serious missed opportunity.
  2. M'Kyuun
    I've always wanted a Long Haul that had a functional dumper bed; it seems like an easy-enough thing to accomplish, especially since his bed hinges can do double-duty as his knees. Alas, to my knowledge and great disappointment, no such Long Haul, official or non, nor any transforming dump truck fig for that matter, has the requisite functionality for which it exists. So, I made my own. I call it the Variable Dump Truck 3000, or VDT3000. It has articulated steering and suspension, independent opening cockpits to seat two minifigs, and most importantly, can raise its bed to about 90 degrees for optimal dumping. Its mecha mode is fully articulated and ready to meet the challenges of any construction project! I don't know about you guys, but I'd love to see something like this on a construction site someday. Probably not in my lifetime, but hopefully this will inspire some young engineers out there.
  3. M'Kyuun

    Arcadia VF-5000G

    M'Kyuun replied to daBlah!'s topic in Toys

    I love the VF-5000's design, and the toy looks great so far as sculpt, but I find the teal, white, and yellow color scheme to be atrocious. I'd prefer that Mirage version, but what I really want is the 'B' series color scheme. Just lovely. Not sure what Kawamori's fascination with yellow is as a heavy accent color, but it just looks terrible to me. But then, I don't like the color yellow very much to start with; it's fine on construction equipment, not so much on aircraft. The tan bits on the 5000B, and on the VF-4A look alright, though- just enough for break-up without being overwhelmingly nauseating.
  4. M'Kyuun
    Agree, some neat stuff going on. All-around brilliant effort by the builder; it has the look, the transformation, and the poseability in a concise package. Making transforming stuff is tough, and only complicated when also trying to squeeze in all the articulation. Kudos aplenty.
  5. M'Kyuun
    As will I, no doubt, but more for the vehicles than the figs. I like minifigs, some more than others, but in the majority of cases, it's the model(s) that intrigues.
  6. M'Kyuun
    The lack of rotating wings is a notable omission of a rather salient feature of the Fang which would have made it by far, IMHO, the more exciting model in this set. TIEs have never really been that exciting to me- they're ok, but the Mandalorian ships with their variable wing and hull sections are visually and mechanically much more interesting, and certainly added a notable bit of dynamism when shown in action in Rebels. Eventually, I'll likely get around to buying this set and I may just add the rotating features to improve its playability. I wish LEGO would revisit the V-19 Torrent and the Nu-class Republic Shuttle, both of which are beautiful designs long overdue updated sets. I have to disagree with Mand's opinion, as I often do, that the TIE Interceptor is a better set to get the new Mandalorian fig; my far, far greater preference is for the upcoming Spider Tank which looks amazing. 😍 Then again, I adore mecha, so anything mecha related in Star Wars generally excites. I'm still waiting for the Crab Droid from the Prequals to finally be realized in LEGO form. The Spider Tank, however, assuages some of that longing, and its Masamune-san-like design doesn't hurt either. 😊
  7. M'Kyuun
    RotB Wheeljack's a pretty neat fig, except for the atrocious head. I'm in the second camp that sees RotB as a continuation from Bumblebee, so the extreme departure from that design is rather stark, and IMHO, unnecessary; he could have easily been a new character. The nerdy head is both ugly and offensive and I wish they'd stuck with something closer to his G1 appearance. That said, my interest and enthusiasm for RotB is nigh zero from what I've seen in the trailers, so the change is relatively moot from a personal perspective, but I think it hurts the franchise overall when directors are free to do whatever they will with established characters and all sense of continuity is rent asunder by the director's whims. Alas, with Bumblebee the single exception, I've never liked the live action films and given my impression from the RotB trailer, stuff like Wheeljack's terrible makeover, the ugly Decepticon designs, etc, that's not changing.
  8. M'Kyuun
    They still don't have the angle of the nose and canopy matching, the tip of the nose still looks off (although better than 10240 Red 5's), and, yeah, the fuselage looks undersized for the size of the engine intakes (why do you need intakes in space? Are they sucking in radiation and converting it to energy?). Moreover, minifig scaled R2 is a bit underscaled as well. I think I'll pass on this one, as I have 10240 and the original, which IMHO, despite its simpler techniques and limited palette, managed to capture the tip of the nose more appealingly than 10240 or this model. The X-Wing was never my favorite ship; the Imperial Shuttle wins that prize, along with the Snowspeeder, the N-1 Naboo Fighter, and the Republic Nu-class Shuttle, which is long overdue an updated set.
  9. M'Kyuun
    With you on the wishing it was closer to OG Cheetor in color. The copper lower legs and hands just throw everything off. Shame they couldn't find a way to hide the hands better in cheetah mode; nevertheless, it does look good in profile. Regarding Kingdom Cheetor and this fig, I wish they'd put the lower leg on some sort of slider or hinge mechanism that allows the cat's entire back leg to sit out from the body and allow for full range of motion at the hip. One of the most irksome things about many of these figs with beast modes is the immobility of the majority of those beast modes, and I wish more engineering had gone into ensuring that both modes have a full range of articulation instead of the focus being on the bot exclusively, or nigh exclusively.
  10. M'Kyuun
    I was just realizing it when you posted.
  11. M'Kyuun
    I already bought Lio Convoy (Leo Prime) in his original colors, so I'm passing on Nemesis, although I prefer the painted pupils and I think it looks pretty sharp overall. However, one copy of that mold is all I need, and I'm overall satisfied with LP. I think the original WfC game Bee/Cliffjumper mold (I have Bee) was superior to this new fig, especially the look of the upper torso. The arms & head are more accurate, but everything else is just off. Regarding the Nemesis, I was surprised that they made her a fembot, but pleased nonetheless. The bulbous forearms are an unfortunate artifact of the shape of the ship's hull; if they could shift back to form elbow armor, giving the impression of her having thinner forearms, at least partially, her look may have been improved. Regardless, overall, I think she looks fine. I don't, however, care for the look of her weapons, especially the tiny little stabilizer-cum-axes, which look ridiculously undersized. The boarding ramps, while a neat feature, don't look like they actually extend far enough to reach the Ark if you sat the ships side-by-side. Guess we'll see. I like that the lower stabilizer can fold flat, but honestly, a stand that attaches to it and holds the ship upright would have been preferable for display purposes. I'm sure third parties will come up with solutions. The only other thing they mentioned today that excited me was SS86 Brawn, but it looks like we'll have to wait until next month to PO him. I'm patient. Wait, what?!!! Is it a new more G1 accurate mold or just a rerelease of the crappy Kingdom Earthrise mold? Google's no help.
  12. M'Kyuun
    Preorers are up on Pulse for this morning's Fanstream reveals. Kinda irritating that they continue to make up Junkion characters that nobody asked for but still no Omnibots nor Ramhorn nor Steeljaw. They even made Devcon, a throw-away character from one ep of the toon w/ a crappy bot and alt mode. I just want some modern updates of the Omnis in the main line- nice lookin' bots with nice alt modes and, like Tracks, a third weaponized vehicle mode- they seem like no-brainer figs, so why are they continually ignored?
  13. M'Kyuun
    This guy came yesterday, and what a looker! Admittedly, I'm not a fan of the ultra-toon detail-less bot modes which have become vogue both officially and unofficially, but regardless, I still find this fig quite appealing. I'm sure Toyhax will have some solutions to the lack of detail in the near future; Jazz is a perennial favorite, so I'm sure they're expediting a set even as I type. Jive's poseability is pretty standard for both MPs and even many official Generations figs these days. Notably, his head is mounted on both a swivel and an internal hinge allowing him to look up at about an 80 degree angle. He has both a waist swivel and an ab crunch that allows for about 30 degrees of arc, but only when the waist is neutrally forward; twisting the waist obstructs the upper torso limiting the ab crunch. Digression- I hate the term 'ab crunch', but since it has become the parlance of reviewers to describe the waist bend, I use it too, although I cringe internally as I type it. Moving on, the elbows are single-hinged and only bend about 95 degrees. The ankles have a rocker of about 20 degrees and no real fore or aft pivot although you can unlink the toe from the heel plate which will allow the toe to bend about 10 degrees up and about 3 degrees down relative to the heel which stays parallel to the ground. As poseability standards continue to progress, I hope a fore and aft ankle pivot becomes the next big push, as I think that omission is more limiting than ankle rocker in terms of trying to achieve dynamic poses. I found the transformation a wee bit on the unpleasant side for the extreme tightness of some parts that make you feel like you may break something in the effort to manipulate or separate them, and for the tight quarters and fiddly nature of the leg transformation which essentially has you turn the back end of his car mode inside out. The transformation itself isn't difficult so far as understanding what needs to go where; the agony comes in the form of all the resistance in carrying it out. However while the journey to either mode is fraught with frustration, the end result in either direction manifests itself in the beautiful bot you see in the pic, or an equally lovely Porche 935 sans the more involved racing livery of either the G1 toy or the real car for toon's sake, of course. (Sorry, I neglected to take a pic of him in his car mode this morning before transforming him back to bot mode. At the moment, I just don't feel like converting him back for the sake of a couple photos. My apologies for being the laziest of reviewers). Here's a pic I liberated from Bing images: The car doors are mounted on an extremely tight double hinge ensconced behind the very narrow bit of fender behind the front wheel and it's a nail-biting exercise to extend them. Why that joint is so tight when it only supports the doors is beyond me. It certainly didn't need to be, as the doors are only plastic and quite lightweight. Tabbing and untabbing the roof from the legs is another too-tight situation that warrants fear of breakage. There are also several panels throughout that warrant the use of a spudger, a tool I have yet to procure; I used a pair of tweezers, being careful not to scratch anything. While it's a fiddly bit of labor to achieve, the car mode is rather lovely to behold; I wish it had more of the actual livery with sponsors and such, but as I mentioned, Toyhax will no doubt have us covered. I'll feel a bit of regret if in fact Fans Toys releases a toy version later on, but for now I'm quite pleased with this fig, transformation woes notwithstanding.
  14. M'Kyuun
    Given how utterly atrocious Ravage turned out in both Siege and ER forms, and as much as I'd like Ramhorn and Steeljaw in this new size, I have no faith that a Has/TT version will even approach mediocrity. At this point, I'd rather Dr. Wu just went through the whole catalog of cassette minions and made them all with better articulation. Credit where it's due, Has/TT did a pretty good job with Eject, trans-plastic notwithstanding, and with the new improved core class Rumble, except for his unfortunate lack of elbows which I hope some third party will eventually remedy. I really, really wish they'd kept to the standard real-world micro-cassette scale from G1 and MP; I get why they changed it for this line, but I don't have to like it.
  15. M'Kyuun
    Between his work on Batman:TAS, Spiderman and His Amazing Friends, and Gargoyles alone, he made a sizeable impression on a lot of people, myself included. Huge talent, and my life has certainly been enriched by his writing. He leaves quite the legacy for all of us fans he touched, and so much greater the loss to family and friends. RIP
  16. M'Kyuun
    I've never heard of the Soviet Dark Star project, so I greatly appreciate the mention and the link. Interesting stuff. Still doesn't change my mind about G1 Skyquake though. 😄 Concerning Prowl, I've got the Evo version coming, but without a single doubt, the Animated design is vastly superior. Alex Kubalsky is one helluva designer. I'm not sure why Has/TT felt they needed to change the proportions so dramatically; he was meant to be a thin gangly ninja, not, as you say, Paul Blart. 😏 Alas, I got him anyway, and he's due on my doorstep next week. Prowl, IMHO, was one of the best toy designs in the entire Animated line, and I wish they'd done more to replicate it for Legacy. However, I have both the original and the Samurai versions, so I'm good. I recently bought this fig despite already having, and loving, Fans Toys' Phoenix. With both in-hand, my preference remains for Phoenix. However, Skyfire is a character that I never expected to get the MP treatment, and given the differences, I caved. Honestly, no regrets, although I agree that the backpack is a bit fiddly and a number of the ratchets, especially the ankle rockers, could have been much improved with a greater number of detents for a much-improved range. Coming from an aviation background, I adore the landing gear on the MP which look far more realistic than those on Phoenix. I prefer Phoenix's chest and waist sculpts even though they're inaccurate; they just look better to my eye. I also love beyond words the use of Phoenix's arms to fill out a portion of the fuselage so seamlessly in lieu of other Skyfire toy designers' penchant for hiding them in the backpack, including Takara. That's some cool engineering and it's not lost on me even if the end result, once again, isn't perfectly accurate to the animation. And that's where Takara's Skyfire makes the difference; it is incredibly accurate to the animation, especially in bot mode. The hands are a bit odd, though, as the thumb is stuck at a particular angle instead of being able to rotate at the base, a limitation that makes some poses look awkward. And though it's animation accurate, I don't like the backward angle of the thighs when he's standing perfectly erect; it just looks odd to me, and I find myself wanting to bend them forward so they appear more perpendicular to the ground, but then you're putting him in an even more awkward looking pose, so there's naught to be done but accept that that's the way he was designed. Again I prefer what they did with Phoenix as well as Generations Skyfire (Jetfire) in this regard. The MP has no shortage of accessories, with 3 articulated minifigs, his gun, 3 swappable faces, 3 interchangeable faction plates, a stand and adapter, and a couple blast effects parts- it's a nice assortment that adds to the play value of the fig. The minifigs, in particular, are fun to interact with his jet mode, to which they're properly scaled. Overall, Takara-Tomy did a pretty fair job on him. Some articulation points leave somewhat to be desired, but the overall aesthetic is pure Sunbow toon, and he's still an impressively posable figure, especially at his scale. IMHO, he's a win for TT and for fans.
  17. M'Kyuun
    Prior to this figure's announcement, I had no awareness of G1 Skyquake or any of his recolors; the design was completely foreign to me. Contrarily, as a Prime fan, I was very aware of Skyquake and Dreadwing from the series, whose toys I initially greeted with great anticipation and equal disappointment for the egregious concessions in jet mode, specifically the all-too obvious pelvis halves which ruined the jet mode for me. I passed on those toys in hopes that something better would come along. Admittedly, I'd hoped that 'better thing' would be a leader class toy during the Prime run, but I've found it in Legacy Skyquake regardless of the additional G1 homages. Right up front, I'm not at all crazy about the G1 toy except for its overall shaping being vaguely reminiscent of the SR-71. Legacy Skyquake, like Prime Skyquake before him, certainly adheres more to the traditional fighter shape, even if the Legacy fig's jet mode is a bit chunkier and less sleek than his Prime namesake's. I love how the arms tuck away Macross-style (I am a Macross fan after all), and how the pauldrons and legs form the majority of the jet's fuselage, the retracting landing gear, the well-proportioned forward fuselage (which is oft too-small, especially height-wise, compared to the rest of the fuselage in most jet-formers). Although the jet mode is more sci-fi-ish than real-world, it addresses rightly many of the things that are often fudged or omitted in most jet-formers and I simply adore it. Not even the gap between legs and pauldrons gets me down; so much of the major stuff was done well that I can simply overlook it. YMMV, of course. My copy is due to me next Monday, if Fed Ex comes through, and I can barely wait; this is one of my most anticipated figs for '23. I appreciate the tip about the backpack; definitely a point of interest. I too wonder about the swivel on the cockpit, as, given the amount of planning that goes into these toys, I highly doubt it's superfluous. The fact that, with a few modifications, you can rearrange his transformation to more closely resemble the Prime robot mode, I imagine we'll see something similar done if indeed a Dreadwing repaint is coming. Let's be honest, it's more a case of 'when' than 'if'. The change in arrangement, too, would help differentiate the two figs beyond just a mere color change. I hope that's what they do. For Skyquake, I agree with Mike's 70-30 Prime/G1 comparison; my hope is that if they do a rearranged version of Dreadwing, it'll skew closer to 90/10 Prime/ G1 in its overall design and style. I'd say 100% Prime, but that's simply not realistic at this time. Maybe in another decade or so. To the heart of the matter concerning G1/ other continuity chimeras, I too would rather they just made straight updates to the other continuity figs, especially my beloved Animated, whose design style was so unique and cartoonish and very un-G1 with its real-world inspired vehicles and gadgets. I'm an unapologetic Geewunner- First season is my TF bible and I will love it 'til the day I die. That said, not everything needs to be G1 or G1-ified; part of the strength of the brand, much like humanity, is its diversity and variety, and instead of trying to gel everything into a vanilla version of G1, I'd rather they simply celebrate what made those non-G1 continuities great by updating them as they were intended to be.
  18. M'Kyuun
    Cool history, both of the toy itself and your personal history with the toy. I'm inclined to think the 'blue' part of the name has some associative meaning regardless of the toy's actual colorization, as you said (blue skies). Perhaps it's in a long-forgotten interview somewhere. At this point, it's the name that has stuck and we can only indulge in conjecture and be happy that he's getting yet another modern toy.
  19. M'Kyuun
    I wondered the same thing and just chocked it up to the Japanese custom of giving things odd English names. Triple Jim is a weird name for a bot, too. The 'Triple' part makes sense, but using a common English name like Jim sounds odd. I guess we're too used to names that are more descriptive of personality or characteristics than actual proper names. Thanks Bob Budiansky! I'll take names like Optimus Prime, Jazz, Prowl, or Hound over John, Rick, Bob, or Bill any day. 😁
  20. M'Kyuun
    Totally agree. I think it's one of the best-executed triple changers I've seen. I haven't been too interested in the other MR figs by this company, as I have Action Toys' versions, which I like better, but Triple Jim may warrant a purchase. Hopefully we'll get some in-hand preview vids to get some idea about the transformation and quality of the fig.
  21. M'Kyuun
    Nice review, Mike. Anticipating my copy's arrival; I'm also hoping they can make a good Wheeljack. I liked your musing here: "It was an oddity of that first episode of the G1 cartoon that all the characters on Cybertron looked exactly like would when they woke up on Earth with their new Earth alt-modes. I'm not sure if the animators thought our young brains were too mushy to figure out that they were the same characters if they changed the obvious car parts on the robots. Or, more likely, they didn't have the time budget to invest in whipping up new Cybertronian robot-mode character models, so they just made a few sci-fi-ish looking vehicles with no thought for how they'd transform, figuring it's just a short scene in one episode that everyone would forget about after the cast got their established Earth modes. It's not like nearly 40 years later someone would try to actually make toys with the regular robot character models that actually transformed into those one-off Cybertronian alt modes, right?" I doubt anyone at the time foresaw the popularity of this franchise when it was beginning or the amount of scrutiny, by adult eyes no less, that the Sunbow toon would receive beyond a few years' time, and certainly not 40+ years' time. Animators should keep that in mind; your work may live on longer and in greater view than you expect, so do it well.
  22. M'Kyuun
    Horizon: Zero Dawn was my introduction to Lance Reddick, and then recently his performance as Albert Wesker in Netflix's Resident Evil series. His performances in both made me an instant fan. For family, friends, and fans alike, I think we're all agreed that Lance is lost to us far too soon.
  23. M'Kyuun
    LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian 75361 Spider Tank, due out in Aug '23. As a mecha fan, a Star Wars fan, and a fan of Masamune Shirow's various arthropod-inspired mecha designs, this thing hits all my sweet spots at once. I've long lamented the omission of an official LM-432 Crab Droid set. Said droid was first seen in The Revenge of the Sith and made appearances in several Clone Wars episodes, and has yet to receive a set. This Spider Tank will likely have to suffice, but suffice it does. One could easily craft a custom Major Motoko Kusanagi fig and it would not look the least out of place with this model. Preorders are already available in the LEGO Shop, and I've got mine. Also of note in this set is the new Dark Saber blade for the Mandalorian, which seems to be the main draw for a number of bloggers, calling this set the "$50 Dark Saber set". While it's cool that LEGO made a new blade element for that purpose, I honestly couldn't have cared less if there were minifigs included: I'm all about that sweet mecha. Alas, while I'm on the topic of minifigs, there's a new improved Bo Katan fig included as well. The new hairpiece captures Katee Sackhoff's appearance better than the previous minifig, IMHO. In other LEGO news, LEGO has recently revealed a number of upcoming Indiana Jones sets covering scenes from the original three films. Among the original leaked pics of sets, A Temple of Doom set has since been held back from release with no indication whether or not it'll be released in the future.
  24. M'Kyuun
    That's well done.
  25. M'Kyuun
    Likewise, with a few exceptions. But with space at a premium, and the engineering and aesthetics rivaling or exceeding that of many of the official MP figs, a legends scale collection would have been preferable over the long run. Alas, I don't think anyone, especially me, back in the early days of legends scale ever thought they'd reach the state of sophistication and polish that they have, primarily because of Magic Square and New Age. That bit of competition, too, ensures that they continue to innovate and bring interesting figs to market. Too, in almost every case, there's one company's version that I prefer over the other's, so having that choice is fantastic. I tried avoiding collecting legends, but in spite of my reluctance, I've amassed a tidy little collection of them from various companies including the aforementioned MS, NA, as well as Iron Factory and MFT's Blitzwing. Some of these characters are so well-realized that I just want to have them for how good they are. Fortunately, I've never been a completionist, and I have self-control sufficient to still limit what I buy otherwise there'd be no room in my house left and I'd need an intervention and an ebay account to pare down. That said, I preordered New Age's Powerglide yesterday and I just had MP Skyfire delivered today, so maybe the problem's worse than I thought. 😇
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