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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    When I was a kid, I liked any TF that had separate legs, and even better, leg articulation, which was a rarity with the 80's and early 90's toys. Ironically, I don't think I owned many, except Sludge, Soundwave, knockoffs of the Decepticon humanoid cassettes, and Tracks. I'm not aware of your Tracks experience, JBO, but it sounds bad, and you have my condolences. The majority of my 80's TF toys have survived to the present with little in the way of wear, as I didn't really play with them. From an early age, I generally always took care of my toys; I never really had a destructive inclination. I was always aghast when I'd hear of kids shooting their GI Joes with BB guns, and such tales of wanton destruction. Purposely breaking your stuff never made sense to me; still doesn't. I cringe a little inside when I see a perfectly well made model of a ship or such blown up in a movie, knowing how much work was put into the model to make it as photorealistic as possible. In a thousand years, archaeologists are going to find all these caches of toys and naturally presume that they were our gods; I want my god collection to be in great shape so they know my devotion was strong. And the Ancient Astronaut Theorists, led by Giorgio Tsoukalos' umpteenth great grandchild with unruly hair, will still proclaim that my valk collection clearly shows that aliens were developing transforming jets to build skyscrapers, and that they took the valks with them when they left, which is why no physical evidence of a transforming fighter has ever been found, beyond these small representations. Ya know it's true.
  2. M'Kyuun
    I'm thinking that was a design choice by Bandai to facilitate transformation. Until it was shown here, I hadn't noticed how much of a hump the fighter has due to the upslope of the chest and head. I checked the lineart, and in some of the drawings, it looks like this, and in others, it looks like a nice continuous tapering slope from the rear of the aft canopy down to the head, so either is correct based on individual interpretation. My preference is for the latter, which Arcadia did well, but I'm honestly not bothered by it. I'm usually more concerned about build quality, tightness of joints and their durability, overall durability, solidarity of each mode, etc. As for the droopy lower fuselage in a couple of those pics, I'm thinking that they either forgot to snap it closed, or the demo model is worn out and that panel just pops open due to gravity. I hope it's the first, as the latter presents an issue. Really hoping this thing is a home run design-wise.
  3. M'Kyuun
    Hikuro, I'm also curious to see how your Delta Plus turns out, having bought a MG copy recently. Of the variable suits, I think it has one of the better waverider modes. I also bought a Methuss, which is one of my favorite Gundam designs...there's just something about it that strikes me as really cool, just not the color.
  4. M'Kyuun
    When I was a teen, Prowl was my favorite TF, but I couldn't abide his unileg. So, I removed the plastic piece connecting them, all the metal pins, and cut the plastic part connecting the legs in the crotch. Unfortunately, I had no experience modifying toys at the time, and it was a doomed venture leaving my G1 Prowl in pieces. I never bought another G1 Prowl, hoping instead for updated versions of the toy. The Alternators version was a serious WTF, esp when the Suburu WRX or the Mazda RX-8 molds were far more fitting for his G1 look. At that point, I really anticipated the eventual CHUG version, esp after Mirage, Bumblebee, and Hound were so well done; it was a little disappointing, esp since it was based on the IDW design, and the head sat a bit too high due to the spring-loaded reveal mechanism. So I waited, and then MP Sideswipe was announced, and looked amazing. Hope burned within me like a 1000 suns for Takara to make Prowl, and when they announced it, and it looked absolutely awesome, it was like closure. I rarely by multiples of any mold, but I got Prowl, Silverstreak, and Smokescreen, I just so love the basic figure. Have to agree with Mikeszekely concerning RiD Grimlock; nice rendition of the character, with a different yet similar take on the original transformation, with a look that's reminiscent of Animated. There's very little in the way of kibble on the bot mode, and I also like the green and black color scheme. One caveat: the grey ratchet piece was too loose in my copy's right arm, and caused the elbow to lock up at 90 deg. I used a little more force than I should have to straighten the arm again, and sustained a little cracking of the plastic which houses said ratchet. I ended up pushing out the elbow pin, removing the forearm, and epoxying the ratchet mechanism in place. Once reassembled, it works great without stressing the plastic anymore. This seems to be a recurrent problem with this figure. Drift is the only other RiD fig I've bought, and while it seems to get a bit of criticism, I like him. Granted, Hasbro seriously skimped on paint apps (as seems to be their SOP these days), but I like the look of both his modes, and his articulation is decent. My only criticism is that the connection point for the waist skirts whould have been attached to the hips so they can move with the legs, rather than being attached above the hips, which hinders leg movement. I may get RiD Sideswipe if I see him in the store. Beyond these figs, the line and the show don't really grab me.
  5. M'Kyuun
    +1 Even in the 80's, the vast majority of TF toys were disappointments due to the lack of articulation. I'll take modern engineering anyday. The MP line is really the answer to my teenage prayers. So far, they were worth the wait.
  6. M'Kyuun
    The face sculpt had me fooled; I thought it was a film still at first.
  7. M'Kyuun
    I hope those little stands are merely precautionary to keep the wings in place with the packs on. Kinda curious about what looks like a moveable panel on the inner leg...wonder if it recesses in to make room for the arms, or swings out to reveal a cutaway. Either way it's an intersting design to smooth out the leg. I just hope it doesn't become a floppy mess that never stays in place after 2 or 3 transformations. Just noticed that the interior of the legs are painted dark grey. Cool. Anyone else see the canard sticking out? Either it swung out on a loose joint or they forgot to fold it back when transforming it. Also noticed that the upper legs don't have a cutaway to accommodate the chest, and the lower chest looks like it's a separate piece that moves. The more little details like this that I notice, the more I anticipate its arrival.
  8. M'Kyuun
    My take on Myuung is that she's a tragic figure, emotionally and psychologically damaged after Guld's assault. She withdraws from her friends, her ambitions, and from New Eden, eventually hiding behind the AI, Sharon Apple, providing its voice and emotions, rather than being the star she could have been. Myuung's delicate mental state and emotional ambiguity translates over to Sharon, and the AI goes insane. As for why she hooks up with Guld: Low self-esteem, lingering feelings for her old friend (despite the assault years earlier), submissiveness, and using intimacy as a balm and an escape from emotional and mental turmoil. She realizes Guld has a faulty memory of the event, and still has feelings for her. Isamu is with somebody at their first meeting, Guld pursues her, and she gives in. The fact that both of her friends are living their dreams, while she's living in the shadow of hers, would likely contribute to her deflated sense of self-worth, as well. Lonliness and low self-esteem can make any opportunity for intimacy and caring very inviting, and Guld's there for her. The rest is just pheremones and brain chemistry. The mature and dark themes of Plus really set it apart from the original series. Both have their share of tragedy and sadness ( RIP Roy), but Plus' story is more about the dark nature of humanity: greed, lust,envy, disappointment, selfishness, self-loathing, anger, blame, insanity, just to name a few. Twenty years later, and it's themes are still poignant, relevant, and relatable.
  9. M'Kyuun
    One of the best posts I've ever read. You made my day. OT: Once the VF-19 Advance is released and it's a hit with fans, hopefully Bandai will talk HFH into making a VF-21 Advance, piloted by Guld's and Myuung's daughter from their one night stand in Plus. In the next installment, she'll be a singer who becomes a kickass pilot to save the day.
  10. M'Kyuun
    I live near a fire station, and right at the end of the vid where the due and the dog walk away and it fades to the Bethesda screen, the fire sirens started going off. It made for a cool effect. Love these games, and the graphics look like they've been tweeked. I hope there are drivable vehicles this time around. It'd be awesome to fly a vertibird.
  11. M'Kyuun
    Playing devil's advocate, from 2007 until about 2013, deluxes were better quality with more complexity, better paint apps, and less hollow areas for about $10-12. CW and RID figs are very simplistic, with a lot of hollow areas, very minimal paint apps, for about $16. There's a remarkable step back in quality, for which we pay an additional $4. My TF buying has lessened considerably as a result. The price-to-quality ratio really becomes jarring when one considers that Alternators sold for about $20 at retail for what was a near MP grade toy from '03-'07ish. I agree with MikeSzekely that Generations & RID are not MP grade toys and shouldn't carry the expectations of such; however, given the success of the live action films, the continuing popularity of the TF brand across multiple merchandising platforms, and the increased prices at retail, Hasbro would be sitting quite well financially, and the quality of their products would reflect. I know the Star Wars stuff looks pretty good these days, but TFs, at least in part, look to have been the victims of serious budgetary restraints. I think it's also odd that the MP line is almost entirely Asian exclusive, with only infrequent, limited, and more expensive releases through TRU exclusively stateside. I can only assume that MPs don't sell well, which seems odd to me given that there is a huge fanbase here, many of us who grew up watching the original show/movie, with much more disposable income and a nostalgic compulsion to own these things. The successes of the various third parties adds credence to my argument. There is undoubtably a market for MP TF toys in America, but apparently Hasbro doesn't think so, for whatever reason. To end on a positive note, the regular CHUGs line, apart from most of the CW stuff, still seem to be holding in their overall quality. Arcee, Chromia, Springer, Powerglide, Shrapnel, and Bombshell are all really well done, esp Arcee.
  12. M'Kyuun
    Like Bay's TF designs, you wouldn't know what they're supposed to be without someone telling you, as they bear no resemblance to their namesake.
  13. M'Kyuun
    My money would be on Max as well. He's a jenius. It was a good move on Kawamori's part to differentiate Isamu's style from Jenius', given that both are innately skilled pilots. His scenes in the 19, esp when competing against Guld, are just incredibly fun, and funny.
  14. M'Kyuun
    If you like it, it makes you happy, and the wife is accepting, then that's all that matters...maybe not in that order, though.
  15. M'Kyuun
    Michael Bay is the bestest director ever and his movies are nothing less than high art! :wub: :wub: :wub: Totally going to Hell for typing every word of that. The only two positives are that Hasbro is making money from them, thereby staying in business, and the movie designs pushed Takara into uncharted territory, and we were the benefactors of that experience as it was applied to TF designs in a number of toylines. Otherwise, nigh unwatchable atrocities all.
  16. M'Kyuun
    I'll give props: that's a nice looking Devastator. I just can't absolve Has/Tak for the mostly poor individual Constructicon bot modes. Pass.
  17. M'Kyuun
    Yep, along with red shoulders, and some silver on those inner leg details. All the red and black would be hidden within car mode. As it is, looks amazing.
  18. M'Kyuun
    Don't feel bad; I've yet to see any of the Protectobots at all. Rook and Groove are the only ones I want. Maybe First Aid. I like Hot Spot, but I'm holding out for the eventual Onslaught repaint. I've always liked Bruticus, so I'm hoping I'll find them all around here. I hope Blast Off is a new space shuttle mold rather than a lazy repaint of one of the aerialbots, that Swindle looks like a Humvee, and that a repainted Rook isn't substituted for Brawl. These things are obviously made on the cheap with multiple variations and repaints of the same molds, so I feel my apprehension is justified. And yeah, scalpers be damned.
  19. M'Kyuun
    Love, love, love all the tampo; that said, those intake markings look too large and garish for the allocated space. They could have shrunk them by about half. But, at least they're there (take notice, Arcadia). I hope the wing fairing connection point is stout enough to bear the weight of those packs in battroid without drooping. They're starting to grow on me, and I may just decide to leave them on. From the pic, looks like the gear is unpainted. They go to all the trouble to paint and tampo the snot out of her, and leave the gear bare metal.
  20. M'Kyuun
    Thanks for posting that link...got one on order. Really curious to see the design differences between this and Arcadia's. Anyway, there's no such thing as too much YF-19.
  21. M'Kyuun
    Funny mentioning the too-strong spring loaded gear on Jetfire; the nose gear on mine got me a couple times today while messing with him. Really smarts when that die cast hits the fingernail. Before today, I never realized that the gear extend in the wrong direction on the chunkies, so that they collapse as soon as you push the plane forward to taxi out. The chunky monkey's a pretty good toy, but thigh swivels and a wee bit of lateral hip movement would have greatly improved the playability. Overall, it's pretty faithful to the classic lineart, esp the large intake area with thinner thighs, and the proxiity of the intake to the chest in battroid.
  22. M'Kyuun
    Sorry, Mike, I don't remember what it was called. I'm not familiar with Pittsburg, so I can't even give you a general idea of where it's located. We were visiting my wife's friend for a couple days, so we went to the zoo, and then walked around downtown a little bit. We just happened to pass by, I saw what kind of store it was, and beelined right in there. It was a small place run by two dudes in their 20s. There was 80's stuff in abundance, and Jetfire caught my eye. They also had a loose Steeljaw, so I snagged him too. Well, I just pulled ole Jetfire out of storage to see if maybe I'd put the receipt in his box. Unfortunately, no. Apologies for dangling the carrot. I did a Google search, and all it pulled up was a place called Too-Groovy Pop Culture Toys in Munhall, PA, south of Pttsburg. Not the place I went to, but they may have some cool stuff. Been a long time since that Jetfire has seen the light of day; since I had him out, I took the opportunity to transform him...still very tight, almost like new. Don't think he got played with much. Whoever owned him originally did a remarkably atrocious stickering job on him, but otherwise took exceptional care of him. I have a minty set of Reprolabels for him...someday I'll get to it.
  23. M'Kyuun
    Prowl was my first Transformer. I fell in love with the box art, and even though pics of the actual toy were all over the packaging, my 13 yr old mind wanted it to be like the art. I remember feeling pretty disappointed when I discovered that the legs were a solid piece. MP Prowl was my Holy Grail of Toys. I remember seeing both Prime and Megatron, and even Jetfire, in the store, but I never got any of them as a kid. I picked up a rerelease of Prime years ago, but have never had a G1 Megs. I did have Soundwave, though; mine is still in excellent shape, and he stands along with the rest of my CHUG Decepticons. In the 80's, I knew nothing of Macross or Robotech, but salivated longingly over the pic of Jetfire in the foldout brochures that used to come with 'Deluxe' and greater sized TFs in the 80's. One day I went over to a neighbor kid's house, and they had him, lucky bastards. I think they let me pick him up to give him a quick look. That was it. I handled G1 Megs only once; oddly enough, the school drama club were using him as a prop gun in a play or something, and I managed to get my hands on him long to tranform him to bot and back. About 10 years ago, I was in Pittsburg and stopped in at a little shop that dealt with 80's toys and collectibles. They had a Jetfire in excellent condition, terrible sticker placement notwithstanding, with his box and foam tray for $150. Bought on sight.
  24. M'Kyuun
    HLJ have the Takara version of Leader Ultra Magnus up for preorder. I found a nice side by side comparison pic with Hasbro's, and had no problem going with the Takara, whose release corresponds nicely with MP tracks. Private warehouse is coming in handy. I kinda wish Takara's had white thighs, but having seen the IDW design, it's faithful to the comics. Overall, I like the brighter blue and far better paint apps on the Takara, plus I like the Alpha Trion colors for his little sidekick/driver.
  25. M'Kyuun
    Still holding out for a Variable Glaug, and a new improved YF-21. A perfect grade VF-1 at GI Joe figure scale, with fully articulated pilots, Hayase, and Minmay figs, made as a limited run web exclusive for around $500 would be very tempting.
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