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M'Kyuun

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  1. M'Kyuun
    Another incredible talent in cinema lost to us. His work in 2001: Space Odyssey is still top tier. RIP, good sir.
  2. M'Kyuun
    Ah, that sucks. FWIW, happy birthday, and though it was late, I hope you enjoy your stuff. Misery loves company, so apparently I'm not alone is this new world of delayed logistics. Sigh.
  3. M'Kyuun
    So, last Monday, my copy of Terrorsaur shipped from Amazon and was scheduled to be here between Friday and today. I checked tracking; it was in Ohio over the weekend, and it's in Illinois currently. I live in WA state. It's coming by UPS. I know post has been affected by Covid and lack of drivers, but man, at this rate I likely won't see it until next week. You guys having the same experience?
  4. M'Kyuun

    Arcadia VF-5000G

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

    In my excited jabberings to my all-but-indifferent wife about the upcoming VF-5000 this evening, I mentioned the VA-3, but not in the same meaning. I've long thought it was Kawamori's fugliest valk design, especially the battroid. That said, if a toy was to be released, I'd consider getting a copy just because of its uniqueness among the other valk designs. Not sure I'd feel great about dropping Arcadia type prices on one though.
  5. M'Kyuun

    Arcadia VF-5000G

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

    Shush, you! Don't give 'em ideas! No joke, though, it's gonna be expensive, likely hovering around the $400 mark, methinks.
  6. M'Kyuun

    Arcadia VF-5000G

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

    Lump me in with those who are happy to see a new (well not new new, but you know what I mean) valk being produced in the 1/60 scale. def down for this, but OMG it's gonna be pricey and likely low on tampo coming from Arcadia. Not sure where I'm gonna put it, but I'm definitely getting it.😄 Also down for a VF-9. This is a good sign from Arcadia. I hope, too, they do a Variable Glaug at some point. These old designs have been begging for love for a long time, and it makes me happy to see this. Hopefully, too, Bandai will take the hint. But first they need to extricate their thumbs from their collective anus and get that YF-21 released already! My wallet is soooo ready!
  7. M'Kyuun
    Down for most of the Studio series stuff. Bee Movie Arcee looks good- kinda reminds me of Prime Arcee's design, especially the wheels at the ankles, but there are plenty of differences too, which make her distinct. Hasbro essentially had carte blanche to create the alt modes for most of these Bee Movie G1 characters who only appear in bot mode, and I think they've done a great job of designing fitting alts for the characters. I think a cycle alt works really well for her. Loving Sludge. I was pleasantly surprised to see that neck articulation, pretty much a first in an official toy. The front legs of his Apatosaurus mode don't appear to have knees, though. Kind of a bummer if not, given the articulation of Grimlocks's and Slag's dino modes. Like Slag, his transformation appears to be a bit different from the G1 toy, as his arms are forming the back legs rather than the traditional front. Usually I can work out the transformation from a couple pics, but this one has me scratching my head as to what goes where. I'm kinda indifferent towards the Junkions, but I like the Wreck-Gar mold, and they introduced enough changes to Junkyard to make him appealing. Considering getting the rerelease & slight recolor of Vintage Scorponok. Honestly, I think it was a superior figure compared to the Kingdom release. I don't think I owned the original toy, as I bought very few of the original BW cast, mostly b/c a lot of them had wonky proportions in beast modes. Seeing the old Scorpy toy, it looks pretty cool even by today's standards. I was hoping for a few new Legacy reveals, especially a Brawn, or Gears, or Windcharger, but they didn't really go into Legacy. Too, a sneak peak of SS86 Blitzwing would have been much appreciated; looking forward to it and I sincerely hope it turns out really well. Blitzwing deserves a good toy. So does Astrotrain, and I hope he gets an improved do-over in SS as well.
  8. M'Kyuun
    NP, glad to help. Honestly, I thought the Brickmania guys used solely LEGO as well. However, like I said, Mega makes a lot of very useful parts that don't exist in the LEGO palette, so I wouldn't blame an independent builder selling MOCs if he/she uses parts from other brands to make the end product better, as long as they call out which parts are by what company with P/Ns. It's a shame there's no Bricklink analog for MB parts- I'd be tempted to do a little mixing in some cases.
  9. M'Kyuun
    Kinda like what Mattel is doing with their MotU line. I could get behind a line like that, although I think it'd work better for some than others, especially Ratchet/Ironhide. I don't think the Vannette Bros would translate well, even if you managed to give them some sort of leg articulation, they'd look unfinished and awkward. However, However, I'd be down for most of the '84/85 carbots, Seekers, OP, Megs, Soundwave/cassettes & Dinos. The upcoming Legacy Kickback should be right up your alley, as it looks like an upgraded G1 Kickback. Makes me curious if that'll be the aesthetic direction for the other two Insecticons and other G1 bots to come. Not so sure I'd want a lot of the exceptionally blocky bots like the Aerialbots that slavish to their original toys. I thought they sucked back when they were new, and time hasn't diminished my opinion. A lot of the combiners were such blocky toys that simply would not translate well in the minimal modernizing regard. They've never held any appeal for me, and maintaining that aesthetic, even with articulation, would continue to have no appeal to me. YMMV, however. My opinion is just that, and given the extraordinary nostalgia surrounding this franchise, I think Hasbro would be wise to try it, at least on a limited basis. Start with the obvious G1 OP and Megs and see how they sell. If they do well, move on into the carbots and Seekers, so on and so-forth. If ever they could dip into the deep well of nostalgia, now is the time, and I think they'd probably have a surprise (to them) success.
  10. M'Kyuun
    It's a Mega Bloks element, part number AM19617MM. There are four of them in set 6822 Call of Duty Heavy Armor Outpost, as an example. They also make a version with a shorter bar, part number AM17062AJW, 15 of which can be found in set CNG86 CoD Strike Fighter. I have the latter, and it's a pretty excellent set. Manuals for Mega Bloks Call of Duty (manuall.co.uk) Mega Bloks have a plethora of interesting and useful parts that I wish LEGO would make. They're very slowly making any number of them, but, like the indicated clip piece, there's still room for additions and improvements to LEGO's palette. Too, after handling MB's minifigs, with their superior articulation, I wish LEGO would consider doing likewise. Keep the iconic minifig for its nostalgic value, but develop a more modern and articulate minifig for use in their action-oriented sets. The minifig is such an anachronism, and its limitations are glaring by today's standards. Hope this helps!
  11. M'Kyuun
    Despite being an unapologetic GeeWunner, I'm not a huge fan of the old toys due to their limitations, especially in the articulation department. But, even today, many of the old toys still have presentation value, at the least, to me, and some are just downright cool for their uniqueness, like G1 Soundwave or the Dinobots. There's still an inherent beauty to many of the old toys that I think transcends time, similar to the appeal of most vintage things. They represent something special in a moment of time, and there's an appeal there that's difficult to define. But it's the reason why people collect, and why we have museums dedicated to old things that are obsolete practically, but still have value in one area or another. While I understand and empathize with your objection, @tekering, I also understand the appreciation others have for these toys in the light of newer, ostensibly better, ones. I still feel that tug of nostalgia even if my preference is for something more modern. That's good, especially since my local Wally has been carrying more Generations TFs over the last year or so. I generally PO everything these days, but somehow, there's still a thrill to be had in finding something you like/want in the store- instant gratification, I guess. But it's still fun to pick them up and check them out in their box in the store; it brings back good memories from childhood when that was the norm, especially for kids.
  12. M'Kyuun
    Well, I'm a big fan of the Datsun design, and next to Prowl, my fave of the bunch, blue Bluestreak has the most striking presentation, IMHO. You already know how I feel about the Earth mode vanette bros, and while I think the new Cheetor and Waspinator molds are ok, I don't feel a need for more of either. I know you had a lesser opinion, but I really like the Airazor mold, and I already have her and the Eagle repaint (forget his name), with the splendid looking Terrorsaur remold/repaint POed. Regardless of how you feel about the mold, it's still the best looking official Terrorsaur figure released. Among the BW cast, he doesn't get much love, so I'm glad he turned out pretty well in this line. I'll just throw in a little aside: I've been noticing my local Wally carrying more Generations figs, both deluxes and voyagers, of late, which makes me pretty happy. Of course, I already have the figs I've been finding there, but I sincerely hope the trend of stocking these things continues as we look forward to Legacy hitting shelves soon.👍
  13. M'Kyuun
    Blue Bluestreak is the only fig of this assortment that interests me. I already have Earthrise Ironhide and Ratchet, and I feel no compunction to own any more copies of that lackluster mold. I hope we get a completely new and improved design through '86 Studio Series at some point.
  14. M'Kyuun
    Nice review, Mike. I was glad the gut gun was included, but rather dismayed that, unlike the original toy, it didn't integrate into the beast mode. In a lot of ways, the original toys had better engineering, but the sculpts were a little wonky, as they generally favored the robot modes and looked disproportionate or oddly shaped in beast mode. Most of those wonky proportions got cleaned up by the animation, which like G1, cheated a lot to make the beast modes look natural. Hasbro's trying to strike a better balance, but they still favor the bot mode over the beast in pretty much every case; I appreciate their making the characters look more like their onscreen incarnations, but it still sucks when a beast mode is shortchanged, especially in articulation, to benefit the bot mode. Still, I am glad that, like with MP, Hasbro chose to make Tigatron, rightly, a larger figure. Being a voyager, there are some improvements over the similar Cheetor mold, especially the way the tiger's legs fold up flush in bot mode, better bot feet, the little flap in the calves, and fully hidden hands in beast mode. I also wish they'd found a better solution for the tail, and I really wish they'd found a way to integrate that gut gun into the tiger mode instead of pegging it on to his stomach like a giant tumor. It's a nice fig, but as usual with Hasbro's stuff, there's room for improvement.
  15. M'Kyuun
    I only just started buying Iron Factory stuff last year. So far I have Kagami Shishimaru, Power Falcon (Powerglide), and Bayrazor (Beachcomber). I've never owned a Lio Convoy, and I liked the Eva 01-esque color scheme of Kagami Shishimaru. It's a fiddly fig, and there's really not much of a transformation, but I do like how the fig itself looks. I just don't really mess with it. I do like Power Falcon and Bayrazor, though. Both are a bit of a pain to transform due to how small they are and some close tolerances between moving parts, but I like their bot and alt modes, so I do take them down and mess with them a little more. I currently have their Seaspray and Huffer POed, and I hope they're a little more forgiving. However, also having a few figs by both Magic Square and New Age, I have to say that both companies are putting out a more refined and enjoyable class of transformable figure at legends scale. I think IF retain their popularity by taking a very stylistic approach to the figs, and therein lies the allure. It's why I decided to pick a few of them up. However, in the handling, I find them more limited in articulation, and more difficult to transform than MS or NA.
  16. M'Kyuun
    Michael Lee Aday, AKA Meatloaf, was an unlikely rock musician given his beefy physique in a time when most rockers were whip thin. His partnership with uber-talented musician and lyricist Jim Steinman, who passed in April of 2021, was one of those rare bits of serendipity that left an indelible mark on rock music. I was introduced to Meatloaf's music as a kid in the 80s, and I've been a fan for a good chunk of my 50 years. Although he's known for his bombastic vocals, more than a musician, Meatloaf was a performer. He acted in films and on stage, having even done Shakespeare. A great deal of that acting informed his musical performances as well; the guy was really in his element on stage. In interviews, he was candid and down-to-earth, just a cool guy with a lot of life experience, not all of it good, that he shared nonetheless. It's a sad day for the passing of one of Rock's more unique talents, and the world is poorer for his loss. RIP Meatloaf.
  17. M'Kyuun
    Hey Chris, glad to hear your copy finally arrived. Glad I'm not the only one who had trouble deciphering the instructions; I think if they'd made the pics about another half size larger, it would be far more serviceable. Intuitiveness regarding a transformation sequence is subjective; I thought the transformation made logical sense, and I could pretty much figure out where things went without guidance, except for the double waist twist. I couldn't even make that out from the instructions, and after getting the tail fully formed and working on getting the front end put together, there was about a half-inch gap that I just couldn't account for. I knew something had to move and I had that pelvic slider maxed out, so I knew it was something beyond that, but what? So, YT provided the solution for me as well. The forearm panels were another sticking point: there's simply not enough room given by the ball joints to allow those things to rotate without scraping the forearm- very poor tolerance. Heck, even with the panel rotated, I still found the clearance to be barely capable of allowing the hand to rotate into its alcove in the arm for chopper mode. That whole forearm design could have stood a redesign to ease the process and create better tolerances given the number of moving parts. Going back to bot mode from chopper, the various hinged panels comprising the tail boom tab in very securely and are a bit worrying when trying to unsnap them while transforming the legs. I think the transformation system is brilliant, especially how they hid the feet, how things in one area of the bot end up in an unexpected area of the chopper. I dig that, and one can't argue with the final result; the helicopter mode is gorgeous. But due to some disagreeable tolerances, what should be a fun and satisfying transformation becomes a nail-biting exercise in frustration and overabundance of caution. Nevertheless, I agree that it's a beautiful figure, and I have no regrets. I will add one additional complaint: my copy can't hold her sniper rifle, as it simply will not tab into her hand, and it's too heavy for the finger joints to manage alone. It's a bummer as that thing looks pretty badass, and I would have liked to have posed her with it. At least my copy can double wield her smaller rifles. Anyway, sounds like you like Thunderbolt in spite of her tolerance issues and complexity. I'm glad and I hope I didn't steer you wrong with my assessment. Cheers to a well-done transforming helicopter, warts and all. I hope that, should they finally produce that Flanker they've dangled, it will have a more enjoyable, less tolerance-unfriendly transformation.
  18. M'Kyuun
    Good to hear. Be nice if there comes a day when people have enough respect and courtesy to enjoy the art rather than attempting to claim it as their own. Better for us all. Totally valid. Got a lot of toys that are a PITA to handle, but there's something about them that's awesome that makes you want to have them regardless. Concur; brilliant job @Mog. She should have come like that.
  19. M'Kyuun
  20. M'Kyuun
    I only own Stiq's ride, but my beef with the pilot fig was its extreme fragility, which made it very frustrating to handle. I don't get as steamed about the paint jobs, or lack thereof, of the pilot figs, as I'm in it for that gorgeous Legioss and feel that's where the bulk of the budget should go. However, for the asking price, it'd be nice if Sentinel made the pilots a little sturdier and gave them full and accurate paint jobs as part of a complete same-quality package across the board. They really stand out next to their mecha for their rather monochromatic looks, almost as if they were an after-market addition rather than part of the original package. And your photos are always top notch, Kuma. It's a shame you have to plaster a watermark across them, but I get it. What a shame that some people have no scruples.😒
  21. M'Kyuun
    I'm not really a super robot fan, but as a fan of robots and mecha in general, I was pretty amazed to see what these guys have on offer, and the quality of it all. I thought it apropos to share it here, as we're all fans of some sort of robots around here, be it Macross, Transformers, Mospeada, etc. For me, that ED-209 looks amazing. I have the Neca, but it lacks all the foot articulation of the Moderoid model. Ripley's Power Loader looks pretty cool, too. And while the SR stuff doesn't really grab me, per se, I'm impressed by the number and complexity of combining bots that they're producing. As intros for new lines go, this one grabs the attention for sure. Hopefully, the quality will live up to the hype; I'd like to see these guys succeed.
  22. M'Kyuun
    MODEROID | GOOD SMILE COMPANY These guys are looking to cement their place in the robot toy market. Some gorgeous models featured. Super Robot fans will rejoice, too, as they're doing models of some characters who've never had figs, or good ones, anyway. Given the breadth of what they're covering now and in the future, I thought this warranted its own topic. If Mods disagree, feel free to remove it. Otherwise, check it out and enjoy!
  23. M'Kyuun
    That's a really nice looking Devastator. I much prefer the look of this over NewAge's take. Likewise the individual Constructicons.
  24. M'Kyuun
    YF-23- I'd LOVE a well-crafted transforming version of that plane. Apparently, the Japanese are producing a new fighter of their own that takes its cues from the YF-23, so with any luck, toys will follow. 👍 And yeah, the Flanker illustration they presented a couple years ago looked good, although there's really been no follow-up, so I hope it's still in the works. As for American planes, have you looked at the stylized Aerialbots being produced by Dreamstar Toys? I'm down for the Harrier and the F-16, two lovely jets that generally get butchered when realized as transforming robots. These look very good. Unfortunately, as well as their limb bots' alts turned out, their Silverbolt ended up pretty much the same as every other Silverbolt. I was hoping this would be the one that would transcend the Concorde-ish plane on a box o'bot trend. Sadly, no. 🤕 Poor Silverbolt.
  25. M'Kyuun
    Yeah, the similarities between the Italian and Chinese choppers is remarkable. But the Chinese would never stoop so low as to copy another country's designs, nor the Russians for that matter. 😇 So, I just finished transforming Thunderbolt back to her robot mode, and I'll add an additional bit of commentary. As I mentioned, this thing has a lot of tight joints and tight panel tabs, so breaking those things loose can be a nail-biting experience. Too, and forgive me, I was up to almost 1:30 AM writing my review and getting tired, some of the tolerances between moving parts beggars more than the allotted space given. For example, the forearm hull panels, are attached via a moving chunk of arm (which itself was pretty tight and tough to rotate) and mount on a ball joint with very little play making their adjustment for clearance to move the hands in or out of the arm during transformation a royal PITA. I think as I manipulate it more, some things will hopefully loosen a bit and become easier, but with its being new and tolerances quite tight in a number of places, transforming this thing is not the most fun experience. However, there are some brilliant solutions employed, and I stand up and applaud the transformation design. Having designed my own transforming mecha with LEGO, I have a unique insight to some of the problem-solving involved in taking one form and contorting it into another, and this thing is brilliant. I just wish it was slightly more user-friendly. I stand by my recommendation, though. We're so rarely treated to well-done transforming aircraft, so when something like this comes along, and it's done so well, at least from an engineering POV, I have to consider it from all angles, and in the end, tolerances be damned, this is a remarkable figure for all that it does right. I hope you enjoy your copy, and I hope you'll share your thoughts on it as well (you needn't go into the detail I did, but, you know, your opinion😉). Cheers!
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