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M'Kyuun

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Everything posted by M'Kyuun

  1. I passed on the TR version of Blurr for the Legends- the TR is just too monochromatic, and I have little talent for painting. I did pick up the Hasbro releases of Scourge, Skullcruncher, and Hardhead. I think the Legends release of Scourge looks better, but as I've never been that fond of the 'space boat' alt mode, I didn't feel like like spending the extra money for the TT release. They're all simple but decent figs- fun toys. My Skullcruncher's hips and thigh rotation joints are very loose. He'll stand ok, but dynamic poses are nigh impossible. I'll have to apply some polish or superglue to make them tighter. I wasn't going to get Skullcruncher, but that tongue in the croc's mouth won me over. I kinda think of him as a transforming Zoid. Looking forward to Wolfwire (Hasbro's Weirdwolf). I'm anticipating the Legends release of Galvatron this month (hopefully). I've got UW Bruticus sitting in private warehouse and I want to ship it with Galvy. I had the Hasbro toy in my hands at TRU, but as I already had the Legends PO'd, I put it back. Went back to TRU yesterday, and they had zip for Titans Return figs- just a few RiD figs, none of the new ones, which I was looking for. I'm waiting to see a colored pic of Super Ginrai (TT's heavy remold of the upcoming Powermaster Prime, itself a heavy remold of CW Ultra Magnus) before I decide which version I'm going to get. Likely I'll go with the Takara-it has a more G1 ish cab section and the bot mode has ankle tilts. Ankle tilts on a figure this size should be a requisite.
  2. I think FT's is much more faithful to the art than TW. That said, the alts for G1 Springer don't really appeal to me as much as they once did, and I prefer the Generations toy over both of these.
  3. I have Shuttle Adventure, the first edition of that set. A second version was released addressing weak or unstable areas. Anyway, I think I like the original version better, and it is a great set, one I couldn't pass up when it was first released. I'm currently reading Into the Black by Rowland White about the development of the Shuttle and its lesser known role of placing DoD and NRO satellites in orbit. Anyway, when I read or watch anything about the Shuttle, I'm often tempted to pull that set out and give it a good swoosh. Edit: Wow, that VF-1 is Impressive. Huge props to the builder. I love how it can fit one of those excellent old-schoool Technic figures. I wish they still made those guys- so much potential. Good find, Danth!
  4. Lookin' sharp, Swoosh! Ideas sets are hit and miss for me; the two latest models to be accepted for production are the Beatles' Yellow Submarine (how this got 10K votes, and how it met LEGO's standards are beyond me), and the Saturn V Rocket. If they make it with all the various stages, including Command Module and LEM, I'll pony up.
  5. Lights and sound, too. Pretty cool. The Ideas sets are on a strict budget, which generally precludes sound bricks and such, but it would have been great had they been able to sneak an official sound brick into the new Ecto-1 set. You'll have to post a vid when you have it all wired up. It'll make an already cool display piece all the more dynamic.
  6. Nobody will ever do Starscream like Chris Latta; this version sounds a little too British. Tom Kenny's take was better, IMO. I hope they make a toy based on how he looks in the show, and keep him streamlined in fighter.
  7. Impressive model- over 4000 pieces. It also has a full interior. Kudos to the designer(s).
  8. KFC's would be nigh perfect if they made those shoulder slopes open into MiG-25 style intakes, and made a full round exhaust nozzle. Their tank mode is pretty impressive for a triple changer, and the fighter , while sacrificed a bit, still looks pretty passable. Gerwalt's is well done, rather complex, but I think they could have found a better solution for hiding the head and fighter canopy in tank mode. Their tank mode just doesn't look that good to me, either. If I were looking to get one of these not-Blitzwings, I think I'd go for Keith's design.
  9. Wow, nice collection, sh9000. Personally, the G1 toys don't do much for me anymore as a collector and as a toy guy. I feel a twinge of nostalgia, but quite honestly, I felt disappointed with them back in the '80s due to their lack of poseability. Modern stuff for me. But, there's something to be said for Hasbro's packaging that really sold, and still sells, those old toys; the amazing boxart for Prowl just captivated me back in '84 (still does), which made my decision an easy one for first TF. (My funds at 13 were extremely limited, so I only had enough money for one 'deluxe' figure). Disappointment soon followed, however, as I unboxed him in the car on our way home and discovered that his leg was a solid piece and that lovely art was a beautiful lie. Innocence was shattered, replaced by jaded cynicism. 30 years later, MP Prowl restored my faith. Kinda wish Hasbro would return to the old style of packaging with nice artwork, tech specs, the whole spiel. It takes up more room, and I guess most folks just throw it away, but it definitely makes a visual impact. I keep the packaging for all my TF toys, and well done packaging just enriches the experience of collecting these things, IMHO.
  10. Also PO'd Inferno- the various feature shots sold me on it. It doesn't hurt that AmiAmi's PO price is just a smidge over Backdraft's, and I'm a sucker for the official stuff. I like the TT Inferno proportions a little better than Backdraft, esp the waist--it seems a little more compact, not as elongated to me, and I like the more squat look it imparts. The more I look at the pics, the less the plain legs bother me; there are still some nice details, and overall it captures the look of the character really well. Nice how they made his stabilizers deploy in truck mode- they didn't have to, but it's cool that they did. Also, he's pretty poseable for his size...always a good thing.
  11. I was surprised by the price tag for MP Inferno, as well. Still waiting to see what HLJ will PO it for. It's unusual for the official stuff to cost more than the third party, but in this case Backdraft is edging out the official toy both in terms of detail and pricing.
  12. I don't own a cell phone, and I only have Dish, so I guess I'll wait for DVD release. MP Inferno, on the whole, looks ok to me. I think Backdraft does look a little better due to better detailing. I dig the ladder stowage-neat bit of bot-enhancing engineering that TT didn't have to do, but I'm glad they did. Inferno has never really been on my radar- he's exists on the periphery to me, much like Tracks, so I'm a bit meh. I wish they'd finish out the remaining first season characters before going on to second, third, and Movie figs. Probably not the most popular opinion, but there it is. I'm waiting on some better pics of MP Cheetor; I want a better look at his back legs in beast mode. After looking at the pics shown this morning on TFW2005 http://news.tfw2005.com/2016/06/25/figure-king-no-221-scans-mp-inferno-mp-cheetor-lg-fortress-maximus-shogo-hasui-interview-317957, I think his cat-head chest is a cheat to better flatten and streamline it. I could be wrong, but that's how it looks to me.
  13. Thanks for the info, Mike. I was aware that Burden seemed to be getting the lion's share of attention as far as issues, but I wasn't certain about the rest of the team. G1 Scavenger and Long Haul are the only two Constructicons I own (I don't count the crappy Energon ones), so I was looking forward to getting Unearth and Burden before snapping up the rest. I guess I'll revise that plan and wait for TW to make whatever improvements need to be done. I hope they get it resolved soon; I absolutely love the look of Burden. Oh, and good luck with your replacement Burden.
  14. Sorry to hear that, Mike. Can you return it, or do you plan to deal with TW directly? At this point, with TW accepting emails for replacement parts and such, I think TW would be the better option. Sounds to me like those parts all need to be die-cast or much beefier plastic. Good luck. I already have Unearth PO'd with Captured Prey, who don't do cancellations, but I'm holding out for the revised versions of the rest once TW sorts them out and makes fixes.
  15. Such badass toys- the series started out with a cool premise, but devolved to poop quickly. Never had any of the toys, but I used to look at pics of them longingly in the catalogue. I remember almost buying Condor, but I ended up saving my meager funds for something else, probably Transformers or LEGO.
  16. I'm totally sold on Blackbird and Space. Those grey hinges in Blackbird's jet mode need some black paint, though. But, yeah, both look good overall. I realize it's close to the animation, but I wish they'd found a better solution to Space's nose section backpack- thing's huge comparatively. Even so, these guys are going to be kept within easy reach for constant swooshing. What I like about this line, and the original MR/Gobots is the attempt to make the vehicle modes look realistic, when the vehicle mode in question is a real world vehicle. That SR-71 isn't perfectly accurate, but he's by far the best transforming SR-71 toy I've seen yet. I've been wondering if these were going to make it to market, so seeing them painted makes me really happy. Bring on Harrier Robo for the third wave. And Porche, just because. Really, I'm down for any aircraft character they make in this line, and I hope eventually they'll branch from just Revenge of Cronos to the rest of the MR series. Kinda glad they went with the scale they did now, after some thought. The joints should hold up much better over time, and tightening joints on a smaller fig is pretty easy. Edit: just looked at Space again- no landing gear that I can see. Bummer.
  17. Killing time tonight, I paid a visit to the X-planes site and got a cool surprise: http://xplanes.tumblr.com/
  18. Falling from that altitude at that velocity, what's left of Messer will fit in Ziplock sandwich bags. Unless Overtechnology enables the cockpit section to remain intact. Anyway, I'm of a similar opinion as Mr. March; until now, despite all the dogfights and such, there hasn't been much in the way of injury to either side ( discounting the loss of the Windermerean rookie early on). This may be a turning of the tide.
  19. Fortunately, the big City-formers never really interested me, so money saved there. I wish Takara would release a pic of their deco for the upcoming Powermaster Prime. The Hasbro is ok, but I think I'll hold out to see the TT version. I already PO's TT's Blurr, as the Hasbro just looks like a solid lump of blue plastic; it stands in stark contrast, more than any other figure I've seen this year, to the Takara version. For the majority of figs, I wish Hasbro just released the Takara paint scheme on figs. If they're all deco'ed the same way, I would think it'd be cheaper than producing two variants of the same toy.
  20. As it is, Gewalt is the best looking all-around Blitzwing I've seen. I like their solution for hiding the turret in plane mode, although the treads hanging off the wings look odd. But, aside from the lack of proper vertical and horizontal stabs, it bears a strong resemblance to the MiG-25. The tank mode is solid as well, and the bot mode is unmistakably Blitzwing. All that ratchety goodness is a plus in a toy this size. But as much as I like it, I echo your sentiment that something feels off. I'm not sure what it is either.
  21. Gotta go with Dio...the expenditure for collecting all these combiners, esp 3P toys, is immense, esp if you're collecting multiple versions of the same characters. However, Mike, your reviews are really well done, and video reviews of all these toys would be an invaluable resource to prospective buyers. Best wishes if you go forward. As for me, between LEGO, Macross, TFs, anime, and the occasional random toy or model, moderation and choosiness have become necessary to maintain within my budget. That said, I decided to to splurge on Toyworld's Unearth yesterday while POing Takara's far superior Legends Blurr. Scavenger was my first Constructicon (I still only have him and Long Haul), and TW have made the best overall version of him I've seen among the various 3P Constructicons, IMHO. Granted, I think some of the other guys have made better looking alt modes, but those rolling treads had me from day one, and his overall G1 appearance fans the flame of nostalgia. Anyway, I may end up getting all 6 of TW's figs for my first Devastator. Hopefully I can talk my wife into getting me one of them for my birthday.
  22. Rocklords were part of the Gobots line, which also stemmed from Machine Robo. I remember seeing them in stores, but never got any. The concept was interesting, but I'd rather they turn into vehicles. I perused a Machine Robo Wiki today to get an idea about the show and subsequent characters. There were a number of them in Revenge of Cronos that became jets, and I hope, if this line does well, those guys will get made. I'd so love to have a renewal Harrier Robo (Royal-T). I'd also be interested to see their take on Triple Jim. (never even heard of this guy before today, and here I thought TFs cornered the market on triple changers)
  23. Zybots. Funny, I don't remember ever seeing these as a kid. I do have to say, though, I miss all those various transforming robot toylines from the 80's. I wish there were more transforming toylines today in the US at TF or better quality. Still have a few Gobots/ Gobot KO's and some Converters laying around. Alot of the Converters became insects, which always appealed to me. I also have the transforming F-15 Scramble Egg plane by Bandai; cute and cool little toy that still sits on my desk. I'd love a line of transforming egg planes based on the Hasegawa models. It would have been cool if Hasbro didn't own the Gobot name, and Bandai/Action Toys licensed it to sell their renewal Machine Robo figs here in the West. Alas, what could have been. Too bad MR was never dubbed and broadcast in the US during the 80's, or there may have been an avenue.
  24. I liked Rosa in Scorch Trials- physically, she fits the character better than Zendaya, IMO. She looks alot younger than her actual age. Robert Rodriguez seems an odd choice to me to take over the director's chair. After a decade of sitting on this, and given his passion for it, I'm really surprised that Cameron is passing the torch. I hope he has a strong screenplay prepped, and that he consults with Rodriguez along the way. I still wish that Spielberg and Hasbro had convinced Cameron to do Transformers; I think a greater appreciation for the characters and core story would have been brought to life under his direction.
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