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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    Actually, they make a toy version with chromed wings and a clear (not smoked unfortunately) beak. NEWAGE H57EX FREYR TOY VERSION,New arrival (tf-direct.com) I would have preferred the toy version if it had the blue chest, however despite making a few other color variants, sadly they don't make that. Anyway, I was posting the pic just to show the differences between Hasbro's version and one that skews closer to the G1 toy in its sculpt and transformation. In other words, what the Hasbro leader class toy should have been. Sadly, Hasbro doesn't do chrome anymore, probably due to its tendency to chip and flake over time. I miss it.
  2. M'Kyuun
    No intention of buying, but just to insert my $.02, that truck is amazing, and while I also generally eschew electronics in my toys, the implementation is simply stunning, especially the tilting bed. It's amazingly realistic and adds that extra bit of cool to an already cool vehicle. Now if the Ingram was also RC and you could walk it off the truck, that would really be something! I imagine that's where toy tech is headed in the next 50 years. We already have walking, talking, self-transforming Transformers courtesy of Robosen. Love the Griffon's design. Threezero's is gorgeous, but with LEGO and Transformers central to my collecting and display space extremely minimal, I'll continue to be content with my little Kaiyodo.
  3. M'Kyuun
    QFT. The SS86 Dinobots have been, on the whole, really well done with some surprising engineering and departures from the traditional transformation schemas. When it comes to the Dinobots, I'm more in the, "if it ain't broken, don't fix it" category, as other than adding additional articulation in both modes, I really don't need them to reinvent the wheel. However, reinvent they did, especially with Sludge. The result is an elongated body and a longer tail section, which is more accurate to the real animal than the OG toy. I wish they'd stuck more to the OG toy, which was my only Dinobot fig as a kid. I have nostalgia driving my bias there. But, as I said, the first four Dinos have been pretty good, enough to pique my interest and anticipation for Swoop. That this is how they realized him compared to the previous releases is disappointing. As you said, I'll have as much, if not more than the toy itself costs, invested in upgrades to try and hopefully bring him closer to how the OG toy's Pteranodon mode looked. Unfortunately, there probably won't be much of a fix for his arms so far as their partially retracting into the body to give him a slimmer profile. But if he has longer properly shaped wings, that'll go a long way towards making him look better.
  4. M'Kyuun
    Got me- I was scouring HP for it, but it wasn't there. However, I have a copy in storage, and at this point, I'd be inclined to wait for a potential Missing Link version if they could work out the details with Bandai. Of course, Harmony Gold would do their utmost to forbid sales in the US, but most of us are no strangers to Asian online stores. He looks ok, like most jetformers, from the top-down, which seems to be their favored viewpoint on most aviation alts. However, he's very boxy in Pteranodon mode if stood upon his barely-there toes. Those wings are far too small and the wrong shape. Newage did it better and exemplifies what I was expecting from the SS86 toy. Newage even spread the bot legs in Ptero mode to widen the space between his jetpacks and allow the tail to be seen. I don't think SS86 has a tail at all, but the G1 toy did. Unfortunately, this figure skews close to the terrible animation model allowing for the least complex engineering of any of the SS86 Dinobots. It's a disappointing disservice to the line and a rather meh ending to collecting the team. Hasbro above, Newage below. Which one looks right to you?
  5. M'Kyuun
    A little disappointing. The arms don't compress to foreshorten, nor do they compress into the body to give him a thinner more streamlined body profile like the OG toy. The beak is a little too fat, there doesn't appear to be a tail, and the Pteranodon feet are barely there. Finally, the wings are quite short and have the wrong shape. This is supposed to be an update, but the all-important dino mode got the shaft (hmmm, similarly to most jet alt modes- Has/Tak just seem to have a thing against good flying alts). It boggles the mind how Takara produced a much better looking and accurate Pteranodon 40 years ago and then by way of 'update', produces this utter brick with inaccurate wings. The bot mode looks good, though. I'll still get him to finish the team but given how well the previous SS86 Dinobots have been done overall, this is a letdown. Hopefully, third parties can at least address the wings.
  6. M'Kyuun
    Iron Eagle and Enemy Mine are the two stand-out films for me. I've never seen Officer and a Gentleman. Many a year has passed since I last saw either of the former films, but I remember Louis Gossett Jr. disappeared into the role of Drac in Enemy Mine (the heavy makeup probably helped). Perused his IMDB- he has been acting non-stop professionally since 1957 and has a prolific list of credits including voicing the Vortigaunt in Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One and Lucius Fox in three eps of The Batman cartoon. You definitely left your mark Mr. Gossett. RIP
  7. M'Kyuun
    I'm a helo fan in general, so a Blue Thunder Transformer would be awesome; however, it simply doesn't enjoy Airwolf's popularity even though the former was in a theatrical film and a tv show (which simply lacked the depth of Airwolf). As helo designs go, the heavily modified Gazelle still stands as one of the coolest, most unique helicopter designs ever, even if it was only used in a film.
  8. M'Kyuun
    The only way I could see a General Lee being made is if they either remove the Confederate flag entirely or create a facsimile thereof due to its dark history. And both of those options would likely not sit well with die-hard fans, so, yeah, it's a safer bet to avoid it on Hasbro's part. K.I.T.T. OTOH is a total win. The only thing I fear is that they're going to try and make the bot look like the Hoff, 80s hair and all, and TBH, even as a kid, I wasn't too plussed about Michael Knight. The car, however, was awesome. I'd love an Airwolf crossover, and in keeping with her "Lady" moniker, make her a fembot.
  9. M'Kyuun
    Breathing a huge sigh of relief that nothing I was interested in was shown/ for sale today as I was out on an obligation until 1:30 PST and I would have missed the POs on Pulse. I only caught about 8 minutes of the stream, and the coins and music stuff were pretty yawn-worthy. For those wishing for a TMNT crossover, hopefully this scratches the itch. From an objective POV, the bot is a little kibbly, but I get that they're trying to represent samurai-style armor with the vehicle bits. The approach is interesting, including the heads and weapons for all four Turtles, especially if you're only buying one copy. Buying four copies will set you back, but if you're a die-hard TMNT fan, perhaps it's worth it to you. For my money, if I were interested in TMNT, I'd be more inclined to go with 52Toys Turtles, which simply convert into cubes but have cleaner, more accurate Turtle forms, with Donnie and Leo and Raph and Mikey able to connect in cube modes to form the Party Wagon. Different tactic, similar result, although Party Wallop's Party Wagon is much better looking. Hopefully, SS86 Swoop and perhaps Windcharger will get leaked soon. Getting ever closer to having a complete First Season roster of really good quality figs. I passed on him when he was a Target exclusive, and I'll likely pass on him now, but I have to say Ecto 1 is definitely one of the best realized crossover figs- just really well done in both modes.
  10. M'Kyuun
    Thanks, man. I got mine through BBTS. I could have waited for my local Wally to get him and spare myself the markup and shipping, but my FOMO is strong. I do have to say that the situation has improved dramatically over the last few years so far as finding TFs in the store, and I likely could have waited to find it in the store without much worry. Old habits, however. Thanks Mike. I went ahead and got one with BBTS.
  11. M'Kyuun
    I just got home from my appointment, and of course Gears is sold out already. I did get Silverbolt and Sandstorm though, so there's that. I'll get Gears elsewhere. Since I'll miss next week's fanstream, I kinda hope it is the TMNT crossover, as I have no interest in the Turtles and I won't miss yet another PO window for stuff I want. Cowabunga, dudes!
  12. M'Kyuun
    Yep. I'll likely still be at my appointment or making my way home. I have little hope I'll get home before Pulse is sold out on the figs I want, especially Gears.
  13. M'Kyuun
    I hope they don't go up right after the stream, as I'll be at an appointment, and once again, I'll miss my opportunity to get my POs on Pulse. Between myself and my mother-in-law, our appointments unfortunately fell on Thursdays for the last three weeks of March. ☹️ This morning I'll likely get to see the full stream, but I need to leave for my appointment in about 20 minutes, and if POs go up right after, my chances of getting my desired POs on Pulse are nil.
  14. M'Kyuun
    Origins Wheeljack is already sold out. I didn't know it was going up for PO today, and I was up at 0630 PST, as I have an appointment this morning. but I keep missing all these POs on Pulse which negates the only positive of membership, namely free shipping on everything. Anyway, I got my PO on Target's site. I have several Targets in my area, but I rarely go, and usually any 'hot' item is long gone by the time I get there, so it's better to just endure the $5 shipping cost to ensure I at least get a copy. Good luck to anyone else looking for this fig.
  15. M'Kyuun
    Unfortunately, between my mother-in-law and myself, I'm going to be at appointments right when these streams are happening every Thursday this month. I definitely want to be there, if not for the fan streams, then for the POs on Pulse, most especially for Swoop and the commander OP. Gotta make that membership fee pay for itself! I'm excited to finally finish off the Dinobot team, and as excellent as I think ER prime is, I'm intrigued to see how this commander class fig turns out. If they go too toon slavish, though, it's not going to fit with the rest of Generations/SS86, so I hope the bot mode has some nice surface detail, as well as judicial use of mechanical details.
  16. M'Kyuun
    I hadn't seen or heard anything about a B:TAS Batmobile, but I was hoping for it with the announcement of the lovely Gotham cityscape. $59 is a lot considering last year's '89 Batmobile came in at $48 with 438 pcs with two minifigs. I'm guessing the Animated Series Batmobile is going to be substantially longer than the Keaton-mobile, which itself is a relatively long car model at minifig scale. Ever since LEGO acquired the Batman license in 2006, my two grails have been the '89 Batmobile and the Animated Series version. LEGO has exceeded my expectations for the '89 with the awesome UCS model, a nice minifig scaled GWP set, last year's stand-alone Batmobile set, and the Batcave Shadowbox. Seeing them now leaning into The Animated Series warms my heart and ignites my hope for some great vehicle sets, especially that iconic Batmobile. I wouldn't mind them going further into Batman Beyond, giving us a Terry McGuiness Batman, Batmobile, and an old Bruce Wayne minifig. They've already done sets from the Nolan films, Reeve's Batman, and Snyder's Justice League. They even did a low key Batmobile set from Beware the Batman, a far too short-lived animated series from 2013. I wonder if they'll make sets from the Schumacher films, The Batman animated series (which also had a nice Batmobile design), or Batman: Brave and the Bold, which had a Batmobile that transformed into a mech. That last one would be awesome.
  17. M'Kyuun
    Really wish this had been the original release, as the plastic color choices and paint apps are better all-around and Eject looks so much better in opaque plastics. Eject is IMHO the best of the cassette bots in this scale- full basic articulation and they even managed to use 5mm peg holes to simulate his cassette reels. All he's missing are his G1 toy's weapons, and as big as Blaster is, it's a shame they didn't just utilize the hollow areas in his legs to store them. I don't plan on POing him, but if I happen to run across him at Target, I'll probably grab a copy.
  18. M'Kyuun
    Wow, exceptional paint job, so crisp! Agree with you about the mold- it works, but I still prefer the look and transformation of Classics Hound over this version. I didn't buy Detritis, but if its tolerances are similar to the Siege version, untabbing the legs from the hood of the jeep mode requires the use of a prying tool (I use a LEGO brick separator). That tolerance is way too tight. Happy to pass on the info. Beyond Optimus, I'm not sure what models Joe has been involved with, but he certainly has the acumen to bring some creativity to whatever projects he works on.
  19. M'Kyuun
    I'm also onboard with rereleasing figs, especially those that were once exclusives or just hard to find. Additionally, I have no issue with Earth jeep mode Hound being a part of this multipack; it's the fact that he didn't receive a regular Legacy or SS86 release that rankles. I figure he'll get an eventual release, although it may be a year or so down the road, at which point there may be an even better mold out.
  20. M'Kyuun
    I wouldn't doubt it. Brick Clicker is a reliable source for upcoming sets. Moreover, OP was done pretty well within the limitations of a retail LEGO set. That he can even transform is an amazing feature as Hasbro seldom allows other licensees to make their TF products transformable, keeping the salient feature to themselves. G1 Bee makes sense as LEGO has had dealings with Volkswagen for years, the simplicity of the G1 toy works well, as it did for OP, and Bee remains one of the most popular characters. It's pretty much a no-brainer from LEGO's POV. Too, Joe Kyde, former Hasbro TF designer and now LEGO designer, who designed LEGO OP will likely work on this Bee set as well. Kinda cool to have a designer with one foot in each world.
  21. M'Kyuun
    Hey, thanks for the info, Mike. I don't remember that 4-pack at all, so my interest must have been pretty low. Honestly, the only reason my interest in Ransack was piqued is due to Chop Shop and Barrage, but with all the retooling done to make them more closely resemble the original toys, a simple repaint of Kickback just doesn't quite measure up. If they were to give him a completely new body similar in appearance to the original, reuse the Ransack head, Kickback's legs and arms, then I think it would work better. I doubt they'll do it, but they've gone back and redone figs before, so never say never. Well, TBF, Hasbro have indicated that size classes are more price points now as it pertains to budget. That said, YMMV if the budget/ asking price/final toy was worth it. IMHO, many times, yes. I'm an aviation fan, and in about 98% of cases, Has/Tak's aircraft alts are inaccurate, disproportional (generally, undersized forward fuselages), lazy (robot arms just tacked on the sides of the plane), lacking full landing gear, with said gear rarely retractable (usually just the nose), lacking opening canopies or detailed cockpits (a lesser gripe-relatively speaking, few car bots have any car interior to speak of, and I'm fine with it). Dreadwing/Skyquake has a bulky but well-done jet mode where the arms are hidden Macross-style between the legs and form the lower surface of the jet. His tricycle landing gear all retract, although the wheels, as usual, are just molded into the struts- pretty much gone are the days when they put rolling wheels on retail Transformers planes, more's the pity. Again, he's bulkier than most jets, but I love the integration of his shoulder pauldrons in jet mode. He carries his weapon, again borrowing a page from Macross, on his centerline. One complaint is that the main gear aren't sufficiently long enough to provide adequate clearance for the gun in that position. Transformation of this fig spawned a great deal of discussion on the TFW2005 boards. I modded my Skyquake, which still doesn't lock together as solidly as I'd like, but my copy of Dreadwing I left unmodded and it works fine and seems to be a little tighter/less fiddly. I think it's a neat transformation schema, but tolerances and internal locking mechanisms could have been better for a more consistently solid figure. That said, I love the bot mode as much as the fighter mode. For me, it ranks as one of the best jetformers they've done. Too, I agree about the heels- some sort of folding heel or putting the exhaust nozzles on an off-center rotation peg to allow it to rotate back would have helped stability in bot mode. Overall, though, my opinion of this fig remains highly positive.
  22. M'Kyuun
    I had to take my mother-in-law to an appointment, so I missed the PO window on Pulse. I got Chop Shop & Barrage on Amazon- same price as Pulse, only I don't get the free shipping. They appear to be some good retools; the base toy is obviously still Shrapnel, but there's enough retooling in the torso and heads, and even insect leg details that they channel the OG toys pretty well. As @mikeszekelypointed out, Ransack is a far lazier effort, and the final fig lacks the insect abdomen that formed the OG bot's lower torso. They could have retooled Kickback's body to give it more of a likeness, but they didn't. Maybe there'll be an upgrade kit that does so. Speaking of which, if Ransack went up for, PO, I totally missed it. He's a bit underwhelming, esp next to Chop Shop and Barrage, but I'm hoping, if and when I'm able to PO him, that hypothetical torso upgrade kit will become a reality, and the three of them will look purdy darn good along with their G1 counterparts. Disregard; he was part of a Target Buzzworthy repaint four-pack. No interest in the other three box-mates. Maybe they'll release Ransack as a solo character in a couple of years. Or better, maybe they'll do a proper retool- I doubt it, but I can hope. I completely forgot about Venom, the cicada dude. I can see them doing a major retool of Kickback to make his legs form the abdomen. Really, though, he just needs his own mold.
  23. M'Kyuun

    Arcadia VF-5000G

    M'Kyuun replied to daBlah!'s topic in Toys

    It's niche primarily because Harmony Gold held the Macross trademark hostage in most of the world for three decades while doing little with it and preventing the rest of the Macross series from proliferating and becoming popular. I was really hoping that would change when Big West struck their agreement with Harmony Gold allowing Big West to market everything Macross except SDFM, but from what I've seen, they've done very little to promote Macross since. Getting Macross onto streamers would have opened it up to a new huge audience and they could have subsequently pushed all sorts of merch, but for whatever reason, they didn't. The only positive for us collectors is that the valks can now be purchased through domestic vendors, a far better situation than the old midnight madness. As to the Bandai vs Arcadia argument, I think both produce pretty good toys, although neither they, nor Yamato who preceded Arcadia, were free of duds. However there's an argument to be made that Arcadia, and Yamato before them, operated from a place of passion, and I think that shows in the toys they've made. But with such a dearth of companies making Macross stuff, I'm glad that a juggernaut like Bandai, with plenty of resources, is making them, although it's not lost on most of us that in some cases, like the upcoming DX YF-21, some design decisions seem poor or not as well-considered as they could have been given their acumen and level of resources. But, we Macross fans live in a nigh constant state of famine for want of merch, so perhaps a little good and a little mediocre is better than none at all. End of the day, you decide with your wallet.
  24. M'Kyuun
    Barrage and Chopshop actually aren't half bad retools/repaints. Better than I thought they'd be.
  25. M'Kyuun
    I understand that Hasbro likes to cater to its retail partners by doing exclusives, and that's fine. Well, actually exclusives suck, but for the sake of argument, it's fine. That's business. However, they're not quite living up to their motto of, "Where fans come first" in pulling these kinds of shenanigans. Hasbro knows fans want all the G1 bots in just regular color schemes, clear windows, etc to complement each other, so it's a bit of a middle finger to put a featured First Season bot who remains popular in an expensive multi-pack full of repaints. It certainly rankles with this fan. If I had an iota of talent and an airbrush, I'd just buy a copy of Detritus and give him a Hound paint job. Alas, I have no skills, so I'm at the mercy of Hasbro's weird and frustrating marketing decisions. 😒
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