M'Kyuun
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Funny you say that- I was thinking the same thing. Or four arms. I doubt it, but it would certainly set it apart. The Octos from Zero is the only other quadruped styled mech I'm aware of in Macross, and it didn't get much love despite the fact that it was a cool and aggressive looking design. Transforming boats just aren't as cool as jets, I guess. An oceanic series with variable combat watercraft would make for interesting viewing. Macross: Aquatic, anyone? Variable subs, battleships, cruisers, and carriers with a host of new valks, underwater bases, and genetically altered people who can breathe underwater...just a few ideas. I digress. I'm also curious why they're keeping such a tight lid on the 262's other modes, esp with the buildup about its uniqueness. If I was Bandai, I'd want pics of the thing out there to whet appetites.
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Heeeey, the VF-4 doesn't look awkward....I love its battroid mode. My only beef with the Yamato version is that the shoulders don't rotate, which greatly and ridiculously diminishes its range of motion. When I built my LEGO version, I made sure to alleviate that restriction. "All new transformation" makes me far more excited than apprehensive. The YF-19 was an all new transformation, as well as the SV-51, and the VF-25, and even the VF-4, relative to the ubiquitous VF-1 style transformation that became somewhat of a standard with transforming jets in the 80s. ( Diaclone F-15 design notwithstanding, which was also Kawamori's) So, given that Mr. Kawamori continues to churn out new and interesting, if not functional, mechanical transformations, I have high expectations that this will be an interesting valk. I'd find it very interesting if that ventral cannon ends up attached to an arm-I like that kind of integration. Anyway, as long as it doesn't share any of the fugliness of the VA-3 Invader, which had potential to be a whole lot cooler if those legs had been designed differently, I think I'll be pleasantly surprised when the big reveal comes. And come soon, I vehemently hope.
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Unlike a number of other valks, this one hides its battroid parts really well, aside from the feet/exhaust nozzle. Although I'm neither a fan of the Draken's design, nor this particular paint scheme, I'm really curious to see how this transforms, and the final look of the battroid. Hopefully the B and G modes will be forthcoming soon.
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The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next
M'Kyuun replied to mikeszekely's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
I love BW; heck I even like BM. However, when it comes to the figures, I'd much prefer my TFs turn into vehicles and other machines. That said, my curiosity is piqued to see what MP Primal's, and Megatron's, final designs look like. I was actually really hoping Takara'd develop some sort of fur/skin coverings to make these things more closely resemble animals. It's the kind of thing they would have tried in the 80's. Say what you like about the cheesiness and clunkiness of some 80's toys, but the sheer amount of experimentation and variety in toys was awesome. We just don't see that too much now. -
The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next
M'Kyuun replied to mikeszekely's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
New photo of prototype MP Optimus Primal has been released on TFW2005: http://news.tfw2005.com/ My first impression is that it looks alot like the Voyager Primal toy, which was a really good figure, but not really MP quality. I was really hoping they'd bust out some new tech know-how to hide all the joints and give him a more accurate screen look. But, this is still a very early render, so things may change, hopefully improve, as time goes on. -
That last one never occurred to me. That would be an interesting turn of events. But, it would also be too coincidental. One of the things that ruined the Prequels was Lucas' attempt to try and relate so much to what was in the OT. Esp the Threepio and R2 stuff. He could easily have waited until the third movie in the Prequels to introduce them as Bail Organa's droids, show them being sold to Captain Antilles of the Tantive VI, and been done with it. Just my opinion.
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I saw it this morning with my wife, and greatly enjoyed it.
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Such corruption! Now they say that with regularity on the Sy-Fy Channel. Taken as a whole, they did stuff in TF:TM that was unheard of in animation at that time in America. Japanese audiences probably found it comparatively tame. I remember finding Battle of the Planets (G-Force) fascinating at an early age, probably around 6 or 7. There was a lot of mature stuff, beyond deaths, going on. It was profound to me at such a young age. And of course, Speed Racer's enemies were often dispatched violently. The only American animation with maturity that I recall fondly was Johnny Quest. It was a cool show, but I fervently wished for Bandit to die in every episode. I hated that cartoon dog.
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Likewise. Although, I could live without Wheelie, Blurr, and Hot Rod. But that movie still has an emotional impact. Lots of good quotes, too. and ...Unicron. But I do get where Myk is coming from as far as the Movie's being a vehicle to push new toys for Hasbro, hence the jarring demise of most of the original Autobot lineup, and a few Decepticons along the way. But, obviously, there's still an allure to those original characters, as the CHUG line, and the MP line, both seem to be doing well, not to mention IDW's comics. Generations/CW stuff doesn't warm the pegs like Bay's movie toys. In my area, the Generations stuff is almost always tough to find; the CW toys hang around a little longer, but they still sell. The RID stuff seems to warm the pegs a bit too. I've only bought a few of them, just b/c the designs appealed to me. I haven't watched the show. In the right hands with a director who cares about the property and the characters, Prime and the rest of the Autobots could be noble characters who fight out of an obligation to defend themselves and Earth from the Decepticons, and any other threats. Bay's turned the Autobots into thugs who don't even like or get along with each other, led by a psychopathic version of Prime. It's like one of those mirror Earth stories where the good guys on our planet are the villains in their world and vice versa. I hope these movies falter in popularity and earnings, and we get a good reboot. I don't think it needs to be slaved to G1, but at least keep the fundamental essence of the original show.
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Or an otaku character who has a whole collection of valks on a shelf...just a quick scene, but in there as a wink and a nod.
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While it would be cool to see her flying proud in Delta, the VF-4 is vintage at this point in the timeline, and likely retired to the Macross equivalent of Davis-Monthan. I wouldn't doubt that some form of the VF-25, or variant, will show up in Delta. But I still hold out hope for at least one or two additional new designs.
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Enjoyed the article. Thanks! Loved reading all that history. I liked his comment about the mash up of unrelated anime in Robotech; I found it jarring when I tried watching the series. Hopefully, he'll add autobiography to his to-do list, and it gets worldwide distribution. Put his pic on the cover surrounded by pics of a number of his designs, esp G1 Optimus Prime, Starscream, and the VF-1, and it'd be sure to garner attention in the West.
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Well, thus far, we've only seen color variations of the same two valk designs. My hope is that there will be more valks, hopefully in different roles, such as bombers, ECS, or recon, to fill out the roster. Thinking practically, if we had variable mecha technology as a common staple in our current military, we would no doubt employ that tech across all roles/mission specific equipment types. I thought the Octos was a cool addition to Zero, but it got little attention, and no toy or models; but I liked that Kawamori-san was thinking in that direction, and included it as a non-aircraft variable mech. It's a logical extension of technology, and human nature, to apply what you know to various applications; I hope we see that demonstrated in Delta, as it would be extremely cool to have ground/water based variable mecha in addition to variable non-fighter mecha. I can only hope; there will never be enough Kawamori-designed variable mecha.
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I saw a video of Mr. Cullen at a convention (I think it was BotCon, but I'm not certain) where he mentioned a line, which he wouldn't repeat, but only said to the audience, "you know what line I mean", that he didn't agree with and argued with the filmmakers over. But in his words, the "big boys" got their way, and he said the line. I can only infer he was referring to one of the many lines where Optimus threatens to kill someone. I saw the video before I saw the movie, so I was wondering . After I saw the movie, I was a bit dumbstruck by just how extensively out of character Optimus was in the last movie, in both word and deed. I already knew Bay didn't get it, nor did he care, but Prime was still previously portrayed as a fairly good guy. So my thinking is, Mr. Cullen had to have read the script prior to accepting the job, and presumably had the choice to back out, unless they have him tied to the films by an ironclad contract. I imagine he's getting paid well for the role, esp given the money the movies are generating. He's been a part of this franchise long enough to understand Bay's inclinations, the overall feel and direction of these films, and the questionable portrayal of his character, and other characters, in these films to make an educated judgement call. I'd say the money talks over any objectionable script content. I guess it rubs me the wrong way that, when questioned by fans about objectionable dialog and actions, he cops to 'they made me do it', rather than just being honest and saying ' sorry, but the money's too good to turn down'.
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That is the tip of the iceberg of things to change. While I'm not a fan of the designs, I could have tolerated them better if the story and characters were decent. As such, the only positive to come out of the designs were a few years of really complex and interesting transforming toys that also indirectly informed the Animated toy designs. Someone mentioned the weakness of Megatron's character in the last movie or two; I submit that Optimus Prime's character has become so evil and bloodthirsty , and just plain psychopathic, that Megatron is no longer necessary. Prime's sociopathy has negated the need for any further bad guys in this film franchise. Honestly, was there anyone in the last film he didn't threaten to kill? In Bay's universe, freedom is no longer the right of all sentient beings. I often wonder how a set of films, based on a cartoon/toyline with no small amount of nostalgia, which has departed so vastly from its origins, can continue to make money. My theory is that despite how remarkably terrible and disappointing these films are, rabid fans continue, against all demonstrable odds and evidence to the contrary , to hold out hope that 'the next one will be better'. But it won't be better, and so long as those fans pay to see these reprehensible films, Bay will remain a large part of the live action franchise, even in spite of the fact that he's turned one of my greatest childhood heroes into a terrorist. The saddest thing to me is that Hasbro not only lets him continue, but endorses the bastard. I guess money means more than protecting the integrity of your brand. That Robot Chicken vid is great, and so right on target. Such a douche.
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The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next
M'Kyuun replied to mikeszekely's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
Everyone likes what they like. 80's Omega Supreme never appealed to me. But when the Ark transformed into Omega in Animated, I had a "wow" moment. Not to mention, yeah, the original toy was a serious partsformer, and I always thought it odd when the Autobots would fly off in his rocket, and somehow the rest of him appeared magically when he transformed at their destination. I was 13 or 14, but even then I called bullsh1t. Making him become the Ark doesn't jive from a G1 perspective, but it would be easier to realize in a toy, and I'd love it purely out of bias. I'm sure Omega will get the Titan treatment eventually, as there aren't that many of the really big well known characters (at least that I'm aware of, but then I'm only familiar with the cartoon, and some of the comics characters by virtue of their inspired toys), and my feeling is that he'll be based on the G1 character. Either way, I hope Has/Tak make a new version, as he's a classic character in need of a nice updated toy. -
The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next
M'Kyuun replied to mikeszekely's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
Trypticon is going to get a new toy in 2017 as part of the Titan line. http://news.tfw2005.com/page/2/ (scroll down to about the middle of the page) I doubt it will have the walking function, though. But, it should have decent poseability. City-formers aren't really that interesting to me, although I have to agree that Trypticon was the best 80's city-former, and I'm interested to see what they come up with as a modern update. I hope Omega Supreme gets a Titan class toy, heavily influenced by Animated. Love Derrick Wyatt's design, and the fact that he turns into the Ark, which, IMO, is much cooler than a city or battle station. -
Looks badass. I hope it's not astronomically priced. In reality, this would be such a heavy, cumbersome bike, and it would have to self stabilize during stops, since the rider can't put his foot to the ground. It's such pure anime madness, but the coolness of it helps to blur my practical side, if only for a blissful moment. Really hope it turns out well, and that I can afford one.
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The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next
M'Kyuun replied to mikeszekely's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
Nice collection by themselves, but those signatures are worth their weight in gold. -
The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next
M'Kyuun replied to mikeszekely's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
Ah, ok. I wasn't thinking in that direction at all. I figured it was shorthand for another site like TFW2005. Thanks for clarifying. -
Does somewhat unrealistic mecha controls ruin the fun for you?
M'Kyuun replied to JLYC's topic in Movies and TV Series
Thinking of it in terms of how one can achieve so many movements with a character in a modern video game, and how those characters have pre-programmed responses is a simplified analogy, esp for a pilot who is in a seated arrangement- but it's very limited, too limited for practical application, IMO. Pacific Rim (minus the shared brain system), and Ripley's Power Loader had much more practical control systems- direct translation of physical movement from the pilot to the machine. If I had to pilot a mech with our current tech, I think I'd favor the latter. However, in so many shows both live and animated, I've seen characters use very simplified controls to control complex systems. I still laugh when characters push the same button, or move the same switch, and different things happen in different scenes. It's just one of those things. I realized long ago that a proper control system to achieve human-like motion control would be so cumbersome in reality, and too difficult to animate, that a simple joystick to basically do everything was a good simple compromise for story's sake. I can suspend my disbelief. I thought the BDI system in M+ was a good idea...it's pure sci-fi, but with enough science behind it to make it a plausible future development...and Guld still had physical controls to fall back on. I think for a system as complex as an anthropomorphic mech, an extremely sophisticated and intuitive AI would be essential, to the point where the AI would have to be fine tuned to a specific pilot. It would have to be a nuanced system, so that it knew what motions to follow and which ones to ignore, since people have nervous tics, fidgeting, muscle spasms, etc that the system would have to learn to filter out. -
The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next
M'Kyuun replied to mikeszekely's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
What's FB? If I had to vote for a Titan, I'd vote for Animated Omega Supreme. He would have been an awesome toy, even moreso if they'd scaled him to where a deluxe sized fig could fit in his cockpit. It's a nice dream. I was never crazy about any of the large TFs that turned into cities/battle stations. I'm glad they're making them for those who do, though. -
Outstanding work, esp at that scale. The ultimate pocket valk that you build yourself. I wasn't aware that nano blocks made ball joints, or any other parts that allow for motion, as every set I've ever seen was of a static model. Good to know. Just noticed that you even foreshortened the forward fuselage in battroid...sliding mechanism into the chest, I presume? Excellent.
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The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next
M'Kyuun replied to mikeszekely's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
Shockwave looks amazing. What I'm really keying in on is that Takara seems to have found a solution to filling out the legs in bot mode, and thinning them suitably to form the gun's grip. That was one of the most noticeable detractors to the first MP Megatron. I hope this means a new MP Megs is in the works. I see what you mean about Ironhide's upper body...it's blocky around the shoulder area and then it thins out quite a bit behind the van bumper and just stays thin down to the waist. It doesn't bother me as much when I look at the transformation scheme. I like the choices they made , as he could easily have been a big shell-former, but they made virtually every part of bot mode become part of his van mode. To me that's preferable to having most of the van exterior folded on his back, which is lazy engineering. Since most of the rear of the van becomes his upper body, I really wish they could have integrated his back cannon into that area so that it could be deployed in either mode, like in the cartoon. I love integrated weapons/gadgets, and that would have been the proverbial cherry on top. While not the ideal a lot of us have in our mind's eye, for me personally, I think a lot of the nitpicks will fade once I have him in hand. I'm looking forward to getting my copy. Concerning those Bruticus pics, I'll never get the love for G2 uber-gaudy color schemes. As for Bruticus the fig, I'm holding out to see if Takara makes a shuttle mode for Blast-off. I'm not finding any evidence that they are, though. -
Well, it stood just fine until the backpack was added. So my options are to downsize the backpack sections, or to rebuild the waist, hip and upper legs to accommodate beefier joints. Both present challenges, but I really liked how poseable it was before the added weight. It was my intention from the start to make a highly articulated version of the VB-6, and I dedicated a lot of time building the legs to achieve that goal. It was rather disheartening to discover that the hip joints simply couldn't handle the weight, as it's pretty stable without the backpack attached. Alas, it's a conundrum, and I've backburnered it for now while I work on a few other projects. Someday I'll go back and make it work. That's a great compliment! Sincerest thanks!