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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    Enjoyed the review, Mike. Love this character. My copy's on its way to me, and I'm looking forward to having him in hand, hopefully by week's end. Surprised how big he is next to Tarantulas. For some reason, Tarantulas seems to me like he should have been a voyager as well, but regardless, he turned out really well, too. Glad they're doing these figs. I'm curious if they're going to continue into TM and Beast Machines. Guess we'll see.
  2. M'Kyuun
    Yeah, there's no argument there. Perhaps Arcadia will be able to figure out a way to give it more proportional legs without compromising the jet mode too much, as it's nigh perfect as is. If so, I'd take that over the Bandai.
  3. M'Kyuun
    Homemade Transformers: Animated Scrapper that actually transforms. Phenomenal work. Wish Hasbro would hire this guy to fill in some missing characters from Animated.
  4. M'Kyuun
    Got this guy POed. Just a beautiful fig in either mode. Transformation looks a bit involved but interesting- some neat solutions. The choice of the lovely Asurada GSX from Future GPX Cyber Formula works so well for this character design. I hope the final toy is equally well realized in the QC department. If this is what they can do as an introductory product into the transforming toy scene, and their QC is good, I'm looking forward to future releases.
  5. M'Kyuun
    I'd be curious to see how Arcadia improves on the old design to improve battroid. Almost certainly it would necessitate some concession to the sleekness of the fighter mode, which would turn a lot of people off to it. Moreover, Arcadia's prices these days are pretty hard to swallow. I'm willing to wait and hope Bandai releases this. I would hope they make some improvements before doing so, especially to the benefit of the fighter, but mot at the expense of the battroid. I think the battroid and fghter look good, not perfect, but on those merits, I'll still take a copy. Absolutely, positively no to partsforming. The salient point of both Macross valks and Transformers is the fact that they transform. No partsforming concessions- just better engineering. It's not an impossibility.
  6. M'Kyuun
    I almost like that tank mode. As he is, he's more of a weird armed snowplow. It would have been a far more believable and aesthetically pleasing tank had they put a set of faux treads on that long front end. It's a niggle, but one that keeps me from buying this guy. Details matter. The same basic design dissuaded me from buying Action Toys' Rod Drill, despite my really liking the bot mode. In the case of Skullgrin, adding them wouldn't have affected anything but the aesthetics, but it would have been an improvement to the tank mode, IMHO. Honestly though, the big skull head doesn't do much for me either. It's just an odd fig that doesn't really fit in with the vast majority of Transformers. For those interested in the Earthspark toys, pics of Bee, Megatron, Shockwave, and Twitch have been posted over on TFW2005. I'm down for Twitch; the others are just kinda meh to me. I was pretty excited to know Megs would be a tiltrotor, as I'm a huge fan of that technology, but I'm just not that crazy about the execution of his toon/toy iterations. Bee's backend in car mode is jarringly large compared to the front end; I usually don't mind that, but I think the fact that the intakes are squared (they're his feet and lower legs) instead of matching the taper of the rest of the car gives them a jarring non-homogenic look. I think had they aped the look of the Cyber Formula GSX, or shrunk it just a touch to be more Countach-ish, it would have looked a bit better. YMMV
  7. M'Kyuun
    Your observation is on point. Any number of decisions of late regarding this brand, and apparently others as well, are highly questionable and not so favorable for the fans, despite their motto. I wish they'd take an approach to Transformers in the same manner as Takara- design the best toy you can, within reason, and slap a price tag on it afterwards instead of putting out a subpar product within a budgetary window or trying to make it fit a particular budget when the design calls for more. It's why all these third-party legends figs, which are priced around a leader scale price point, sell so well- the quality is there from sculpt to engineering offering a product, albeit at a smaller scale, that's generally better than official releases. Perhaps they need a shift in philosophy. Makes me wish Takara could operate somewhat independently again, making their own generally superior variants of the toys instead of the unified branding agreement they have, essentially tying Takara's hands. Given that they created the Diaclone toyline from which Transformers was born, it must rankle a bit, although customary politeness keeps them from saying so publicly. Regarding Pointblank, as you said, he's the best looking of the Targetmasters and I'd hoped they'd make a toy of him eventually, although, like you, I'd prefer they'd finished up all the top tier first season characters before moving on to lesser-known ones. I guess by spreading them out they feel they'll maintain the relevancy of the line. Anyway, I'm another disappointed fan what with all the shortcuts made to pointblank due to budgetary limitations. I'd take the more cost-effective ball-jointed forearms over no bicep swivel at all. That and lack of wrist swivels, which by now should be standard, are omissions that constitute a step backward in articulation even among the majority of deluxes. Add to that the inability to include his engine gun, an integral part of the G1 toy, as well as an extremely lackluster weapon dude and one wonders why this wasn't upgraded to a voyager budget to do him justice. Alas, questionable decisions with unfavorable results.
  8. M'Kyuun
    I don't mind their sharing engineering or transformation schemas. The final result here is quite well done. the feet leave somewhat to be desired from an aesthetic POV, but at least they have some poseability and they seem to perform their function of holding the fig up, so take your victories where you may. At the very least, they made his car mode distinct and as close to the real vehicle without licensing as possible, so again, a win. It's more than can be said for poor Breakdown, who shares Wildrider's car mode instead of having his own retooled Countach shell. Penny-pinching at its worst. It's a shame they took that shortcut, as they came really close to creating a reasonably accurate set of Stunticons in the main line. After the license employed in the CW line, for many G1 fans, this set was really shaping up to be nigh perfect. So, I got my SS86 Ironhide yesterday, and man do I like this figure. I wish they could have hidden the leg kibble better, but in the grand scheme, I'm pretty impressed with the transformation they came up with and how well he looks the part in both modes, huge hinges in van mode notwithstanding. I wish he had his yellow stripe and his back cannon, but I'm sure Toyhax and 3P will take care of that. Definitely another standout fig in the SS86 line. Gotta say, I like it better than the MP.
  9. M'Kyuun
    I'm probably the only one here excited for this. I'm a battroid guy, and my biggest beef with the Yamato was with the too-thin legs that made the whole thing look wonky. Proportionally, I think Bandai's B-mode looks fine, although I wonder what kind of joint they're using for that shoulder. I hope it's all die cast there to handle the forces and weight. The forearms do look a little short, though, especially with the combined length of the bicep and elbow, which I'm surprised they didn't redesign to give it a more appealing aesthetic. Alas, it's a double-jointed elbow, along with the knees, so this thing will have an incredible range of poseability provided the joints are reasonably stout and toleranced. Looking at fighter, arguably the focal point of the greater part of criticism, I'll concede that the forward fuselage is compressed, and due to the shortness of the forearms, the stabs sit too far forward relative to the exhaust section. Too, for whatever reason, Bandai has the rearward facing guns poking out instead of sheathed within the forearm. It's not a perfect capture by any means, and it is disappointing that Bandai hasn't seemed to have made any meaningful changes despite feedback. Moreover, I'd have thought that Kawamori himself would have pointed these things out to them. I posted his own lineart to compare- I figure it doesn't get any more canon than that. Without a moment's hesitation. I've wanted a more proportionally 'accurate' YF-21 in battroid , b/c mileage varies, to replace my Yammie almost from the time I got that toy. I figure the folks who prefer fighter mode already have their perfect transformable YF-21- it is beautiful. However, for those of us who prefer to display our valks in battroid, Bandai offers something far more to my taste. It's not without its flaws, and I do wish they'd made fixes since 2019 (god knows they've had time), but with its being the only alternative to the Yammie, I'm definitely down for a copy. I've slowed down on my Macross purchases. The last fig I bought was the anniversary VF-25 b/c I love that design and it has a gorgeous paint job. Prior to that, I think the last Macross thing I bought was an Arcadia Ve-1 Elintseeker a few years ago when they reissued it. I've never owned that variant, and I thought it'd be cool. I was right- it's a pretty sweet, if fragile, toy. However, to finally have a YF-21 with a better B-mode than the Yammie, this design satisfies me. Perhaps I'm settling, but I don't see any other options in the foreseeable future. Macross is still pretty niche, options are severely limited, so it's a matter of what you're willing to accept.
  10. M'Kyuun
    Well, in the case of LEGO, in the early two-thousands, the owner and CEO Kjeld Kristiansen and his board were doing everything right by industry standard, especially diversification. But their core product, LEGO sets, were suffering from simplicity, more large single-use pieces, and poor builds. They were looking to get bought out by Mattel. Recognizing the impending doom of the company, they hired Jorgen Knudstorp to advise them, and he promptly told them to focus solely on their core product- LEGO sets and a good building experience. They followed his advice, and eventually Kjeld ceded his position to Mr. Knudstorp as CEO, the first time a non-family member had assumed the role in its then 72-year history. Under Mr. Knudstorp's deft leadership, LEGO thrived and became the multi-billion-dollar company it is today. So yeah, the right leadership can make all the difference. Hasbro needs such a leader, or leaders, to guide them, as their decisions over the last couple of years have alienated fans and made getting their product all the more difficult, not to mention the quality issues. Their motto is , "Where fans come first", but it's more like the bottom line in many regards. To those anticipating their arrivals of Haslab Star Saber, I hope he turns out to be a great figure, free of the factory errors and QC issues which seem to be plaguing some copies.
  11. M'Kyuun
    Apparently Transformers isn't the only property Hasbro is mismanaging. I think the loss of Brian Goldner had a profound and dire impact on the way they manage their properties. They need a Jorgen Vig Knudstorp type to rescue them from themselves. I don't want to see Hasbro die. I have good news, though. Per UPS tracking, SS86 Ironhide is due to arrive today and I'm quite looking forward to having him in hand. While I wish they'd found a better solution than the obnoxiously huge hinges marring his van mode, overall I think he's a great improvement over the crappy Earthrise toy.
  12. M'Kyuun
    I haven't gotten mine yet, but having watched a review or two, the articulation is indeed lacking by current standards. Due to the design, I'm not sure 3P will be able to improve it either. It's unfortunate- well, downright crappy, really, and at this point in time, inexcusable. Pointblank's no main character, but I've liked his design since the 80s so I was pretty excited when he was announced. My excitement waned a smidge when I learned about the articulation limitations, but I still ordered him. I think the toy still looks good, but my hope is that this step backward in articulation isn't going to become a trend as Hasbro potentially becomes even leaner in their use of plastic and parts allocations per class. And while I support their branching out to other continuities in Transformers, at this point in time, G1 stuff still seems to sell out faster on Pulse than any other continuity My SS86 Ironhide is on its way and should be on my porch this week. 👍 Crankcase, TLK Hot Rod, Pointblank, Dead End, and Predacon Inferno should be shipping within the next few days from Pulse (got the 'check your address/pay method' email). I was at Target last night, and they had a couple of Crankcases as well as Skullgrin and Red Cog, along with a copy of leader Galvatron marked down to $40 ( wish I'd waited to get my copy, as the shoulders were misassembled like so many others), a Bulkhead, core class Wheelie, which I picked up, and Spike's Exo-Suit. I'm sure there were a few others, but I don't remember. My local Wally has had pretty much the same as you're seeing along with a copy or two of Galvatron, the rest of the Velocitrons minus Cosmos and Clampdown, as well as the copy of Override that I'd bought and returned after my Pulse copy showed up. I've never seen Cosmos in the wild, so I continue to be exceedingly grateful for sending me a copy. Store exclusivity at limited numbers was such an incredibly poor decision but thank goodness we have plenty of Velocitron Blurrs. I think Velocitron Blurr will decorate the celebrated Halls of Clearance well into the next year. Instead of making some of these less desirable figs, I wish they'd put that budget towards improving the sure-thing figs. Ah well.
  13. M'Kyuun
    Still have both my original Greenscream and the later toon-colored Walmart exclusive of the MP-03 mold. Good toy, still holds up. My biggest beef with it was always the placement of the hinge for the forward fuselage which sat too high above the intakes in bot mode. Had they lowered that down about a quarter of an inch, it would have looked amazing. And while Kawamori's reworked feet aren't G1 toy or toon accurate, they smoothed out the shaping of the jet mode beautifully and still, IMHO, looked fine. As for Hasbro hiding the stabs in bot mode, I like New Age's solution. Granted, you can see the stabs on the inside lower legs, but it's a simple solution that would likely be more cost effective on a retail toy than having any number of armatures and folding panels and such to hide them. Third party can get away with it, but Hasbro and their ever-present toy budget limits make the simpler but effective solutions more appealing. I'd happily take an upscaled version of New Age's Seeker for my CHUG collection. Neat design. As for the arms- I'd love to see Hasbro fold the arms into the spine of the plane like the G1 toy- always seemed like the best solution to me and have often wondered why nobody has done it outside of the G1 toy and Takara's Robot Masters Starscream, a neat little toy for its time. Kinda sad that this old small fig looks better than the both the most recent Seeker in the main line and MP-52. That canopy sits too low, but otherwise, the rest is pretty good.
  14. M'Kyuun
    I caught an ep in the middle, but have it recorded to watch in full. From what I did see, it is definitely targeted at young kids- it does have a Cyberverse vibe going on, and the focus is going to be on two siblings, a 13 year-old boy, his 9 year-old sister, and two Cybertron-Earth hybrid Transformer characters (Terrans) who start off as essentially protoforms. Both of these TF characters are youngish in their personalities and each shares a bond with one of the two kid leads. They're also 'adopted' to be part of the kids' family (the dad character is a huge TF nerd). From what I gathered, it does build upon some of the G1 story, and at this point, Cybertronians have been living amongst humans on Earth for some time. Their war is over, in no small part due to Megatron's joining the Autobots. Weird, but ok. I'm curious if they'll tell more of that tale as we go on. I didn't see the G1 styled animation, but I'd love to see them continue to do G1 styled flashbacks with Cullen and Welker reprising their roles to tell the story of the end of the Autobot-Decepticon war. Of course, they'd have to explain why their voices have changed, but whatever. Curious to see where it goes.
  15. M'Kyuun
    Well they do move fore and aft, but yeah, no rocker, which is an odd omission since that has become the du jour bit of upgraded articulation since WfC began. Honestly, while a rocker for flat-footed posing is great, I think the fore and aft rotation is far more useful, and I wish it, wrist rotation, and opening hands became the next universal articulation upgrades across the board. Unfortunately, given their latest poor financials, my hope of seeing any improvements ebbs going forward into the foreseeable future. Hopefully, Earthspark and the eventual Rise of the Beasts film will do well and propel toy sales. The former starts today (I'm recording it to watch later) and while my enthusiasm is off-scale low for RotB, this Airazor fig gives me some hope that the rest of the toys will be decent and sufficiently different enough from their regular BW figs to justify the purchases. Too, hopefully there'll be no more price hikes or ridiculous exclusives. I probably just jinxed us on both counts. Sorry in advance.
  16. M'Kyuun
    Congrats to all the folks getting their Star Sabers soon. Hopefully, Deathsaurus won't be far behind to complete your collections. I keep hoping, if they don't eventually do him as a titan class fig, that Haslab will finally give us Animated fans a proper Omega Supreme/ Ark. I'd prefer he be done as a retail release, as they would almost certainly retool him into Lugnut, and both would likely be cheaper than a Haslab project. But, at this point, I'd take him any way I can get him. In other news, TFW2005 has in-hand pics of the Rise of the Beasts version of what I can only assume is Airazor. While I like the Kingdom mold, the new mold looks superior in terms of anatomical accuracy and proportionality in bird mode. Too, I like that the legs form the wings, the arms the bird's legs, leaving a clean and virtually kibble-free bot mode.
  17. M'Kyuun
    To be honest, I was never into Gallagher's comedy, having only seen maybe one of his routines on tv many, many moons ago. Nevertheless, it did leave some small impression on me, as well as his hair, or lack thereof. As a fellow sufferer of male pattern baldness, I've never had the same courage to grow my hair out, nor to put it all out there on stage night after night to try and bring some levity, joy, and laughter to thousands of people. Love him or hate him, his gimmicky comedy style was unique (IIRC, Carrot Top, also known for his gimmick-based comedy, worked with Gallagher BTS to craft his routine) and definitely memorable, if messy. 😄 Beyond the Sledge-O-Matic and his other fruit smashing machinations, Gallagher had a quick wit and an energetic style that appealed to audiences. Allegedly, his comedy took a darker turn towards bigoted and homophobic jokes later in his life. My brief memory is of his earlier melon-smashing comedy, and I think I'll let that be the picture I keep in memoriam. RIP
  18. M'Kyuun
    They already did. Even the bottom cleaned up very well. Of course, the bot mode took the brunt of concessions with this mold which MP-52 rectified to the opposite end concerning the jet mode. I'm waiting for a third option that takes the best of both molds and combines them in a definitive Seeker with both an accurate F-15 mode and a bot mode that, while not needing to be as toon accurate as MP-52, skews close with good proportions, articulation, and detail.
  19. M'Kyuun
    Kevin Conroy Nov 30, 1955- Nov 10, 2022 Very sad news indeed. Having grown up watching Batman: The Animated Series, arguably the most notable depiction of the Dark Knight in animation, and having Kevin's voice be the anchor that made him come alive on the screen in that and so many other Batman productions thereafter, his passing is no small loss to generations of fans for whom Kevin was the definitive voice of the Caped Crusader. Kevin in no small part made me a Batman fan, and I am enormously grateful for the gravitas, the humor, and the humanity he brought to the Dark Knight for so many decades. Condolences to his family and legions of fans. RIP
  20. M'Kyuun
    😁 As much as I like to levy criticism at Hasbro and Takara for many of their lackluster to downright awful aircraft Transformers designs, I get why designs like this FC-31 are beyond the scope of at least the mainline. We're obviously in MP-level territory, and to be fair, many of the most recent MP designs, love 'em, hate 'em, or just tolerate 'em, have been consistently, Skids notwithstanding, on the complicated side with high parts counts and lots of moving parts, as well as articulation at a level I never believed possible in a transforming toy. That said, the differences between this and the latest MP Seeker are stark and couldn't be further removed regarding the alt modes. I wish they'd brought some of the engineering, like the brilliant chest intake swivels to form part of the aircraft intake from the original MP Seeker design. Since MP is really the provenance of Takara, and the mainline that of Hasbro, each with very different budget limitations and design philosophies, I'll play devil's advocate concerning Hasbro. There have been through the years and various lines instances of brilliance whence flying Transformers received notably good to excellent alts. However, opinions on the bot modes may vary. I'm not including the OG Jetfire, as he was a Takatoku design. And while I much prefer real world inspired plane alts, I'm not wholly opposed to those of a more sci-fi bent if they present well. For your consideration:
  21. M'Kyuun
    Hmm, that's interesting. The design is reminiscent of those figs, of which I have the helicopter, itself an extraordinary feat of engineering. I was very much anticipating a possible Su-27 Flanker, or the Chinese equivalent, that was teased with concept art. I wonder, then, if TFC is still solvent, and if so, if they're still producing these things, or if the designer is freelancing? Either way, this latest offering is quite impressive, but if I had my druthers, I'd rather have a Flanker over an F-35 look-alike any day of the week. I will say, though, the FC-31 is slightly reminiscent of RotF Breakaway, which of course was based on the F-35, with many a liberty taken in its realization as a Transformer fig. It was the first thing I thought of when I initially saw your previous post. The FC-31 appears to take cues from both the F-22 and the F-35. I wish they'd do a version of the YF-23 and give us a toy of that at this level. It'd be an insta-buy. Still want a Flanker, too.
  22. M'Kyuun
    Hey, Mike, thanks for the callout. I must say, if the actual toy is this well-executed, I am duly impressed. Jetformers, for lack of a better term, are so rarely realized to the extent that one could be forgiven for not recognizing the dual nature of its design. The gears have accurate placement and retract w/ doors, the weapon bays are realized realistically, and the bot mode, while a bit kibbly, presents well. I think this is the rare case where the bot was the secondary consideration after the alt. It's a commendable effort. Who's the maker?
  23. M'Kyuun
    I think you meant 'dipstick', not 'lipstick', but yeah, I see the correlation. 😉 Considering that the trailer is completely empty, that would seem to me to be the more likely gun storage option. It would also void this, erm, more uncomfortable option. 😈
  24. M'Kyuun
    I have yet to see a 3P G1 Megatron that does the character justice to the level of Magic Square's Doomsday. I say this acknowledging it's not a perfect toy, but in terms of looking the part in both modes, it's about as nigh perfect as we we've gotten from any company including Takara. I say this as an owner of Apollyon, who was a flawed but decent early placeholder in the MP scale until MP-36, which has its own issues and inaccuracies, came along. I own both of those figures, as well as NewAge's and Magic Square's Megatron figs. IMHO, Magic Square surpasses every other G1 Megatron toy in terms of the bot aesthetics, transformation (i.e. follows a similar pattern as the G1 toy), articulation (MP-36 notwithstanding- Takara has really upped their game in that dept w/ the MP line and MP-36 is no exception), accessories, and alt mode accuracy. TBH, I'm not a gun guy, so as long as he's a decent facsimile of the Walther P-38, as Doomsday is, I'm satisfied. This is the toy I want to see in voyager scale for my CHUG collection. Nothing else comes close. And while I love ER Prime, I'd happily take their Light of Justice V1 or 2 in voyager scale as well. Both are excellent representations of G1 OP that do things a little differently aesthetically, but I'd be fine with either one in my CHUG collection. While I'm wishlisting, I'd happily take New Age's Seeker design in voyager scale as well. It's a cleverly designed fig, and while it's still not perfectly accurate to the real F-15 (I think the OG MP Seeker continues to wear that crown- not perfect either, but really well done. The bot mode OTOH- ugh), it skews close enough, and presents far better than either the ER Seeker or the Classics Seeker upon which it was based and was more accurate in its alt mode than its successor. So much for progress. 🙄
  25. M'Kyuun
    Honestly, I don't get a Hot Shot vibe from this at all; rather, the Striker and the resultant bot are far more reminiscent of Beachcomber. We could just say this is Beachcomber's less hippie cousin. 😁
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