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M'Kyuun

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Everything posted by M'Kyuun

  1. M'Kyuun
    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.
  2. M'Kyuun
    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.
  3. M'Kyuun
    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.
  4. M'Kyuun
    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.
  5. M'Kyuun
    Nice collection by themselves, but those signatures are worth their weight in gold.
  6. M'Kyuun
    Ah, ok. I wasn't thinking in that direction at all. I figured it was shorthand for another site like TFW2005. Thanks for clarifying.
  7. M'Kyuun
    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.
  8. M'Kyuun
    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.
  9. M'Kyuun
    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.
  10. M'Kyuun
    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.
  11. M'Kyuun
    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!
  12. M'Kyuun
    Honestly, I don't think the van mode looks bad at all on MP Ironhide/ Ratchet, and certainly no worse than the third party attempts. CHUG Ironhide/Ratchet kinda set the bar for a blatantly seamed alt mode. That thing was origami from start to finish. The MP Ironhide bot mode could have been arguably better: get rid of those thigh panels, and cover the butt wheels. The feet look a little off...they may've looked better had the feet blocks been integrated to form leg cowls with an articulated foot sticking out. But then again, it matches the animation very closely, and the legs are suitably chunky. There is something that looks off about them, but when I compare it to the animation, the toy proportions look better than the animation. Anyway, I plan on getting both of them to round out my collection. I keep hoping those hip panels can swivel around, but I doubt it, or it most likely would have been shown at this point. The upcoming Power Master Prime is kinda missing the most important aspect of his Powermasterfulness---the little dude that transforms into an engine and tacks onto Prime's grill. Still a cool looking figure, but I thought it worth mentioning.
  13. M'Kyuun
    Unfortunately, this has become the way of things. With all their years of experience, yeah, it'd be nice if they designed around exposed ribbed hollow areas to cover them by one means or another. I'm a little more forgiving on the low end Generations stuff, but this sort of thing should never be apparent on MP. It's bad enough they don't even give us rubber tires.
  14. M'Kyuun
    Thought I'd share: https://www.flickr.com/photos/95379588@N08/19869528193/in/dateposted-public/ This is still a work in progress. I actually built a nose piece for it (not pictured), but I was having difficulty figuring out how to integrate retractable nose gear into a really small area and still maintain the nose hinging action. After building the folding cargo area/backpack, the thing was immensely back-heavy, and just fell over. So, I need to go back and do some redesigning. But since this is a LEGO Monster thread, I thought I'd post a pic.
  15. M'Kyuun

    Bandai DX VF-31

    M'Kyuun replied to UN Spacy's topic in Toys

    I think so, too. Honestly, I don't mind the -31's color scheme, although it is rather pretty for a combat aircraft; it looks like a designated airshow scheme. I don't find it as jarring as the M7 schemes, though; those things punch you in the face with their gaudiness. The blue, white, and gray are subdued; it's the red streaks that really catch the eye, and stand out from the rest. I could live without them, but overall, I like the look of this valk as-is. I'd be really happy to see it in a low-vis scheme, though. I was just thinking, it would have been cool had Kawamori made those forearms just a little more robust, and internalized the weapons, like modern fighters. But his current trend seems to be going towards nostalgia rather than real tech direction, which is fine from an artistic POV. 80's fighters were pretty.
  16. M'Kyuun
    Neat reuse of that mold; they were even able to make a decent battle station mode. I love that cab mold, and it looks good in Prime's colors. I wish they could have streamlined the trailer better, but at least the weapons should be able to store inside, unlike UM. In this instance, I wish the cab and armor were separate. I'd like to have that cab mold as a stand alone Prime toy, just upsized a little.
  17. M'Kyuun
    That is a pretty amazing Galvatron. Hopefully, the cannon mode is just as good. More excited about the Cyclonus silhouette, though. I was on the fence about getting Xtransbot's Eligos, but I think I'll wait and see how FT's version turns out.
  18. M'Kyuun
    I stand corrected. I'm off to get edumacated on developments.
  19. M'Kyuun

    Bandai DX VF-31

    M'Kyuun replied to UN Spacy's topic in Toys

    I like how well integrated those arms are in fighter, rather than being conformal protrusions under the wings like the -21 and -30. Those forearm guns do seem kinda smallish, though...not quite the same visual impact as a handheld gunpod. Just the same, I like integration, so having these as part of the arm makes me happy. After all these years, I'm surprised Kawamori has never revisited the original Transformers seeker arm design, where they form part of the fuselage behind the cockpit. I've always thought that a brilliant placement where the arms are part of the transformation rather than being tucked away out of sight, or just tabbed in along the fuselage under the wing. Takara did a nice job of this with ROTF Breakaway; too bad the legs weren't as smoothly done.
  20. M'Kyuun
    Blade Runner is a film that stands on its own and requires no sequel. It's a classic now, but if the same movie came out today, it'd likely be just another forgettable sci-fi movie headed to DVD after a two week run in cinemas. Phillip Dick was a prolific writer; rather than retread or produce sequels of movies already made, I wish more filmakers, esp new filmakers, would tackle Dick's, among many sci-fi authors', stuff. I'd like to see the next generation of directors like Lucas, Spielberg, Scott, Cameron, etc make their mark. That said, I think JJ Abrams and Neil Blomkamp are filling that void, whether or not you like their films. I really like Blomkamp's mechanical designs. I really liked District 9, liked Elysium, and I'm trying to forget Chappie. But I'm glad that there are directors like these guys trying to make their mark in sci-fi...but, not everything can be a home run. That said, given that this sequal was rumored 4 years ago, and there's not much buzz about it, I'll be waiting to see it along with the live-action Robotech movie.
  21. M'Kyuun
    Meh...we need a new MP Megatron before they do Galvatron. Appollyon is a good placeholder, but I'd like to see Takara make an official toy.
  22. M'Kyuun

    Bandai Sv-262 DX valk

    M'Kyuun replied to seti88's topic in Toys

    McFly!, don't hold your breath for that Variable Glaug- I build at a glacial pace, and I'd feel terrible if a fellow MWer died from anticipation of my making. Fly-by Too funny!
  23. M'Kyuun
    Mazinger, That's awesome...I love the VF-4, and as far as I know, only one other guy has ever built one in LEGO and put pics up: http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/12750 I wish you well in your endeavor, and look forward to seeing your final model. Cool stuff in your Flickr, esp that Phoenix. Colonial Viper touches a few heart strings as well.
  24. M'Kyuun
    Yep, as long as the program will let you build the model. Certain things that work with real brick don't work in LDD, and may affect the final model. Can't think of any specific examples at the moment, but I've run into issues before. Also, the parts palette is not complete, as many retired parts are no longer featured, not to mention quite a few new ones introduced this year. I usually use LDD at various points of a project to flesh out ideas, but once I have a workable base, most of my building is with real brick, and I rarely go back and build the whole thing in LDD. That said, the instruction generator function is really neat, and, in my limited experience, works well. I've been waiting for LEGO to update LDD this year, but at this point I'm not sure if LEGO are going to continue to support it. I hope so- it's very useful and very user friendly. If you're curious about various issues and such, there's an LDD topic on the Eurobricks forums where folks discuss techniques and issues in depth. http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showforum=128
  25. M'Kyuun

    Bandai Sv-262 DX valk

    M'Kyuun replied to seti88's topic in Toys

    My face turneth red. Thanks. That was my project this year...I worked on it off and on from about March until September. A transformable VTOL with true cargo capability has been on my to-do list for a long time, and that cockpit piece was my starting point. It turned out ok, although I wish some of the joints were more robust. When I started, the knee joints would hold the engines straight up and down...after flexing them all summer during the building process, not to mention probably around 20 times for actual transformation, I have to keep them angled back or else they just droop. They hold up ok in bot mode, but I have to play around with the leg and feet positions to keep him standing, esp if I have cargo installed in the backpack. It becomes a balancing act. B/c the legs are so heavy, the little clicky joints I used to attach the hip-block swing bars almost always involuntarily separate. If I had the tech and the know-how, I'd produce my own LEGO-compatible joints with varying degrees of tension and size. But it is what it is, and I do what I can within the limited confines of the official product. It's part of the challenge. Right now, I'm working on what I hope will be a successful Variable Glaug. The knee joint is an interesting design, and nigh impossible to pull off with LEGO as drawn, esp if I want to keep the size down to minifig scale. Everything shifts places on that thing, depending on its configuration, so it poses quite a challenge to make it work, hide the mechanisms that make it work, make it solid, retain functionality in every mode, and maintain the aesthetics as close to the artwork as possible. I was also thinking there was a little A-7 Corsair influence in some of those designs, with that lower scoop. Personally, I think the lovely F-16 would have been an apropos plane to use for the basis of a 'female' valk; it's a petite, curvy, agile aircraft that can bring a lot of tooth and nail to the fight. When I worked B-1s at Mt. Home, we used to joke about mounting an F-16 to each wing as guided missiles.
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