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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    I agree with your assessment of his finish; after all the internet griping, in hand, he has a really nice finish, a sheen, if you will. IMHO, the best thing about him is that, despite having to incorporate all the engineering for transformation, he's still an excellent action figure, with an impressive range of articulation. I don't find his transformation to be fun; it's a process, and a lot of tolerances are very tight, at least on mine. I transformed mine into his gun mode and back last night, second transformation, no instructions, and it was still tricky in spots, esp the upper arms. I'd recommend transforming him at least once for the experience, though. Those legs are just brilliant, but the way the rest of it folds to become a gun is really quite a feat of engineering, and worth transforming once to appreciate the design.
  2. M'Kyuun
    And Takara's version has a different hood/chest piece with the engine detail replaced by a smooth orange area, and it also appears to eschew the folding nose, which reveals his abs on the Hasbro version. Takara left it out to make their version look more G1, or it appears that way to me, as I can detect no break lines to indicate that the feature is still there. otherwise, yeah, they're pretty much the same toy with color differences.
  3. M'Kyuun
    He's standard deluxe class. I have the Hasbro version, so this should give a sense of scale.
  4. M'Kyuun
    This looks like a fun little set. Can't say I'm too crazy about all the Devastator parts hanging awkwardly from the individual bots, but in a Legends sized set, they did a nice job capturing the look of both Constructicons and Devastator. Thanks for the review, Mike. There's something really appealing about small figures like this; I'd love to see Has/Tak make a series of chibified figures.
  5. M'Kyuun
    Good man. With logic like that, you're going places!
  6. M'Kyuun
    That's dedication, Mike. The Dino combiners are more interesting to me than most of the others- just the novelty of them and the inventiveness applied to keep them looking close to the classic Dinobots while still combining is intriguing. I've never been into combiners that much- pretty much Devastator and Bruticus are the ones that I like. Thanks to CW, I have Bruticus, and thanks to ToyWorld, I'll have my Devastator in a month or two, barring any delays. Regardless, I'll peek in on your upcoming reviews, as I usually do, and wish you the best in your endeavors to collect and review all these combiners.
  7. M'Kyuun
    Which path, marriage or LEGO? Go with the LEGO, man, go with the LEGO.
  8. M'Kyuun
    Haters gonna hate.
  9. M'Kyuun
    Thanks! I have parts of it in early development in LDD, but not the whole thing. I free built the majority of it. Here are two files containing early work I did on the VF-4. Fair warning, it's a mess in these files, with parts floating all over the place. You're the second person who has requested an LDD file for this; at some point, I'll have to sit down and see if I can make a complete file for it. LDD can be a harsh mistress where many moving parts are concerned, not to mention tolerances, but I'll have have to give it a shot. To be honest, I'd love to see what this would look like in canon colors, so making the design available for others to build would likely yield at least one "official" version. Personally, I don't feel like scraping the parts together to make another one, and if I did, I'd want to make too many changes. Just how it is. I have two or three other projects in the fire, so I'd rather work on something new. Anyway, I hope these prove useful, at least in some small capacity. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at mcquownw@hotmail.com. I appreciate your interest. small vf-4.lxf vf-x.lxf
  10. M'Kyuun
    Just got my copy, and it survived a full transformation to pistol and back without anything breaking. My copy has a number of folding panels that are very tight toleranced, and feel like they're going to break. The plastic hinge that pins to the base of the barrel was extremely tight; the base is die-cast and the double hinge to which it's pinned is plastic, and in the course of rotating it into pistol position, the little nubs intended for ratcheting suffered a bit of extensive wear after just one transformation. One other nitpick on mine is that the neutral face sits off center in the helmet, and I 'm not sure why. I removed and reinstalled it to see if it had been put in crooked at the factory, but no, there's an obvious offset. I'll have to try the other faces to see if there's possibly a deformation in the helmet. It's not the end of the world, but still- crappy. There's definitely an order to transformation, or things can get in the way prohibitively. I broke out the instructions going to pistol, as some things that looked like they needed to move, or that I knew needed to move from having watched vids, were very reluctant, and I wanted some assurance. I eschewed instructions going back to robot, and after one transformation, the overall transformation system can be figured out fairly well. It's not the most complex TF out there, but there are a few intricacies, mostly in the upper torso and upper arms. The legs are engineering gold, although the mechanism for narrowing them is tight on mine making it more difficult than I'd like. This would have been a good place for a spring-loaded mechanism, IMHO, as manipulating those leg panels to go back to robot position had me feeling very apprehensive. As an action figure, he's awesome; my hat's off to Takara for endowing such a complex transforming figure with an extraordinary range of articulation throughout. I'm pleased with that particular direction in the MP line, as I've always felt that the robot should be the primary focus and then the alt mode; after all, they're robots in disguise. Granted, the alt should still be done well, and thus far I think they're doing a good job with that balance. To that end, Megatron succeeds; his alt isn't as seamless as most of the previous figures, but he resembles a Walther P 38 well enough to get the job done. Lets face it, though, nobody's displaying Megatron in gun mode; Takara know it, and poured most of their efforts into making a really solid action figure. I'm pretty pleased with him, and encourage folks to at least transform theirs once; it's a satisfying journey once you know what goes where, however toleranced it may be. I pulled a few gangsta poses with mine, and then went back to bot mode. Given the ingenuity involved and the overall look and feel of this figure, I think MP Megs 2.0 was worth the wait. Happy to add him to the collection.
  11. M'Kyuun
    So I'm curious, for those among you collecting Generations figures, are you finding them in brick and mortar stores? I just did a sweep of four different big box stores and none of them had any warrior class figs; one had a few legion class, and one or two had a slew of the little Titan Masters, and a couple had a Voyager fig or three. I remember a time when the pegs were generally full of TFs, but nowadays, they seem pretty scarce, esp warrior class, which are all but absent in just about every store I go into in my area. There are still a bunch of Wave 3 warrior class figs at my local Walmart, but they got their shipment in after Christmas, after the nice $10 sale was over. Now they're shelf-warming, and no new stock will be ordered until they sell the current stock, which are back to their $15 price point. I don't know if this is an issue on Hasbro's part (distribution), or the stores', but it's becoming nigh impossible to collect these things when nobody is carrying them- the pegs are there, they're marked, but nothing's hanging on them. There's a certain satisfaction in finding a desired toy, bringing it home and tearing into it- immediate gratification, I suppose. I used to enjoy toy hunting, but for the last few years, it has become an exercise in futility and disappointment. Anyway, I just got home, and my frustration is still fresh. Needed to vent where my frustration is likely shared.
  12. M'Kyuun
    Got my FT Grinder today. Chunky beast, he is (pun fully intended). Just a really solid, well-scaled G1 Grimlock. Glad I went with these guys- they fill the void nicely, and I'll finally have all five G1 Dinobots when Cesium and Stomp release. Having two of their Iron Dibots in hand, I appreciate why Fans Toys have the reputation they have- everything about these figures shows a high standard of quality. Heck, my Grinder actually had a quality inspector sticker on it- only time I've seen that. I look forward to your reviews of another company's dinos, Mike. Always interesting to see the differences in design, engineering, detail, and features from company to company in a similar toy.
  13. M'Kyuun
    Yeah- wish I'd waited and looked around before ordering. I had a fear this was going to be like the Bandai valks, and jumped on the cheapest one I could find within the first day or two of POs. According to USPS, mine should be here on Thursday. Looking forward to it.
  14. M'Kyuun
    I felt the same, that this was a bit of an origin story for the Section 9 characters, esp the Major and Batou. They invented a plausible reason for his sealed eyes, as introducing him with them probably would have confused folks with no GiTS background. The one thing I didn't care for was that , aside from an implant here or there, all of Section 9 are human except the Major, who was fully cybernized. In every incarnation I've seen, Batou has always been full cyborg like the Major. I like that, as it gives them a commonality by which they can empathize with each other. I am resigned to the idea that this is its own story apart from what's come before, even with all the borrowed scenes from the '95 film.
  15. M'Kyuun
    Best quote ever! Never too late to start- I was over 40 when I built my VF-4. It's challenging, but oh so rewarding when it comes together. One of the best experiences I've had was at a LEGO convention called BrickCon a couple years ago when one fellow, out of the thousands of folks that attend, recognized my VF-4 as a VF-4 (In the five years I've gone, only about five people at the Con have done so- tells ya a little about the obscurity of Macross in the West). I talked to him for a minute or two (lots of folks shoulder to shoulder shuffling their way around the Mecha table at the time) and he mentioned that GERWALK was his favorite mode ( I had the VF-4 displayed in battroid). As he continued on with the flow, I put the VF-4 in G mode, hunted the gentleman down, and tapped him on the shoulder. Years melted off his face, lost in a giant grin, as he turned and laid eyes on that GERWALK; that moment still resonates with me. So, get cracking! Build some LEGO valks and make the world a better place!
  16. M'Kyuun
    That's for Megs and shipping combined? If so, that's the best deal I've heard of. I ponied up $225 for him (my rationale was overwhelmed by squeee), and hindsight being clearer, I wish I'd waited for the inevitable reviews in case there were issues, which there are. Anyway, good job finding a great deal!
  17. M'Kyuun
    Some shots of my Classic Space Konig. Bittersweet project: I designed him to be very poseable, esp in the hips, so he could do an "A" stance, a very nice range of motion for such a large model. Then I added the backpack, which is rather substantial, and probably weighs as much, if not more, than the Konig's body. Well, the whole thing went ass over teakettle, necessitating a stand to keep him upright. After months of builds and rebuilds, lots of money spent on Bricklink, and a lot of excitement for how everything was turning out, it became a monumental failure, as it couldn't stand on its own, which was an absolute must from the onset. I still have it sitting on my worktable, unfinished. I've contemplated redesigning the hips with AT-AT joints to make them more robust, but I've lost my fervor, and for now, it collects dust. I keep hoping LEGO will produce some larger, more robust ratcheting joints for larger mecha, but I'm not holding my breath. So, I have another smaller Konig in the works, and I'm taking many of the lessons learned building this behemoth and applying them to it. Now LEGO needs to make the parts I need in the right colors. I'm hoping the Ninjago Movie Mecha sets will bring fruition to my erstwhile wishlist. High hopes. In the meantime, hope you like my CS Monster.
  18. M'Kyuun
    I've thought about it, but never seriously enough to try it. In any event, I have no idea how to post video. Here's another project I was working on; it's unfinished, but someday I may get back to it. Like the VF-4, it's fully transformable into all three modes.
  19. M'Kyuun
    Thanks! It took a few rebuilds, a bit of LEGO, and a lot of cussing, but I finally got it to work. Anyway, here are couple more shots showing some features. Notice the entire shoulder can move; I built it like this from the beginning, as I was working solely from Kawamori's lineart. After I got my Yamato VF-4, the immobility of it's shoulders really seemed an impractical hindrance, and I was glad I went with a moveable design. Much more dynamic. Incidentally, these are older pics; the chest vanes have since been rebuilt and the new ones can be seen on the above posted pics.
  20. M'Kyuun
    I like the more modern construction vehicle aesthetic they went for, but the bot modes show a lot of license, and my preference is more for G1 homage. I'm getting the complete ToyWorld Constructor set with all the various improvements due out in a couple months. I already have three of their Constructor figs, and while the vehicle modes are a bit more simplified than I'd like, overall they do the job. My set will likely remain in their individual bot modes, as i like how they look, and it'll mitigate the wear and tear they'd receive if I left them combined for extended periods- heavy figures. I've been on a bit of a 3rd party binge lately, and ordered all five of Fans Toy's Iron Dibots. Grinder will be on my doorstep tomorrow, Soar is on a slow boat from China (Ebayed him b/c I wanted the blue chested version) due sometime between the middle of April and May, and Stomp and Cesium( new more G1 accurate version of Slag) are preordered. I have Sever, and man is he sweet. After sitting on the fence for about a year, I finally ordered Ocular Max's Jaguar, as I love Ravage, and I figure I'd better get him while he's still available. After watching a few vids, I think I'll get the Toyhax labels for him to make him look more authentic in his cassette mode. These third parties are rolling out some amazing figures- wish I had the room and finances for many more of them. Too many expensive hobbies.
  21. M'Kyuun
    Thanks, greatly appreciate the compliment. To answer your question, it has perfect transformation, just like a Transformer. It locks together solidly in fighter, and I can swoosh the crap out of it, go inverted- lots of fun. It also has retractable gear; none of these shots show it, but it's there.
  22. M'Kyuun
    I generally don't post my own stuff, but I thought I'd share some pics of my VF-4. I originally built this in 2011, and have modified (improved) it over the years to the state seen here. I built it in the dark blue and grey colors primarily b/c that's what I had the most of, and b/c I generally like how they look together. I figure this is an urban defense model, so the colors make more sense. This model is particularly special to me, as it represents an achievement that I tried to accomplish for over twenty years: make a transformable jet with LEGO. I didn't want to do the VF-1 b/c there are quite a few of them on the net; the VF-4 is one of my favorite valks, and it lent itself nicely to realization with LEGO. Hope you guys like.
  23. M'Kyuun
    Surprised they didn't get tara Strong to do Harley, but Melissa sounds good in the role. Love the Animated series, and offshoots like this are always welcome.
  24. M'Kyuun
    Looking forward to your review. These look like some nice SD figs.
  25. M'Kyuun
    I contacted Captured Prey, and they also verified no plug. Watched Chosen Prime's vid. Doesn't look like a fun transformation, although those legs are brilliantly done. I know most prob won't transform theirs more than once, but I probably will, so the idea of scuffing and chipping while transforming him is disheartening.
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