M'Kyuun

First I've seen a Yolopark fig this in depth. If it's purely an action figure you're after, this does the job. It is a shame, however, that they didn't, or couldn't, scale it with the mainline Generations figs for those who want a decent G1 Megs stand-in. Personally, the transformation is the reason I love and collect Transformers, so this is an easy pass for me. I continue to hold out hope that Takara will do a Studio Series '86 Megatron. With the rest of the Movie roster getting figs, it's a must.

8 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

That's why they're not releasing any side view profile shot because we will see how far away the backpack is from the body. 

They did rotate the figure during the Tamashii Nations show but it was on the display stand so it kind of 'hides' the gap. We'll see more photos once they announced the PO date.

Like I said, it is what it is now. I'll display this in Battroid and have my Yamato one in Fighter. 

Pretty much, yep. TBH, though, I don't Bandai's looks that bad in fighter. My Yammie's packed away, and I really only have room in my display for one YF-21 in battroid, so this'll be it. I know it's probably not the popular opinion, but I'd like it if the belly plate FAST packs did some folding of their own to foreshorten them. More than likely, though, I'll pose mine without them as I do my VF-19 Advance and my Yammie YF-19.

23 hours ago, David Hingtgen said:

For  the utterly insane price the set is, they should have given everyone dual-molded legs.  I mean, Cyclops doesn't even have PRINTING on his, and looks like an unfinished prototype. Yellow boots, yellow thigh straps, that's the 90's Cyclops look.  This is, Cyclops forgot half his costume while rushing out the door, and only had time to put on his chest-strap.     

I mean, isn't the "superhero brightly colored kneeboots" look THE thing that dual-molded legs best take advantage of, and would be the primary reason it even exists?  (black shoes/boots are easily achieved via printing, but printing bright colors over other bright colors often have issues)   

QFT. If ever there was a good reason for dual-molded legs to exist, it would be to make more accurate superhero figs where the technique would have its greatest impact. They seem to cherry-pick which figs get it, though, and oft times it's not where it'd be most effective.

The price of the set is a head-scratcher. Many of the parts are pre-existing, which means few to no new molds, but perhaps some parts in new colors which cost more. But given the bulk of what's in the set, the price seems unreasonably high, even with a number of larger parts in the set. The only fig I want out of the new set is Rogue. The X-Jet looks good, but if I end up getting it, it'll be on discount.

52 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

Will still take it as is because that’s what it is now. I just really hate the fact that the belly plate cannot be angled backwards. Even though they made an effort to make it short and made it look like a side skirt instead. Just curious to see how the belly plate Fast Pack will dangle when attached. Hope the plate joints are ratcheted.

I don't think it's a matter of the belly plates themselves being unable to rotate back, as we've seen them rotated perpendicular to the legs in previous shots showing the delimiter leg separation mechanic. Due to the angle and the fact that the arm obscures the hip area, the backpack may pose an impediment, but they may have just posed them straight down for the photo, perhaps absent-mindedly, just to get a shot of it alongside the YF-19. I, too, hope they're on ratchets. That goes for all the joints in general. With the belly plates being truncated, the question of how low the FAST packs hang and whether they'll put too much stress on the joints is indeed the question.

16 hours ago, enphily said:

It's beautiful. Backpack's a little thick, but the overall proportions look very good, certainly an improvement over the unbalanced look of the Yamato. I'm ready for the PO.

The new wedge piece that comes to a point at the nose looks nicer, but overall, I think 2014's X-Men vs the Sentinel (76022) offered more for much less money. It came with four figs who looked better IMHO, especially Magneto w/ his helmet and Storm with her cape, could still fit 4 figs internally, had a pop-up shooting mechanism, and came with a small but poseable Sentinel to face off against.  My advice would be if you want an X-Jet, buy the old one on Bricklink for half what this one's going for. If you want to mod it to be more like the new set, just wait a couple more months and the parts will likely be available on LEGO's online Pick-a-Brick or on Bricklink.

19 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

OK, today we get to finish off the wave 1 Legacy United Voyagers with Thundertron.

I'd love to tell you how cartoon-accurate Thundertron is, or compare him with the original Prime toy, except I never bothered to buy the original Prime toy because Thundertron was never in the show.  It's my understanding that Thundertron was intended to be the leader of the Star Seekers, a group of pirates who were planned to be either the antagonists of a fourth season of Prime or whatever the next post-Prime Transformers show would be.  That ultimately never came to be (perhaps because of the end of The Hub, but I'm not certain), and Thundertron's only appearance in fiction wound up being in the novels Exiles and Retribution.

Now, I could show him with his wave mate, so you could see that he's basically the same size as Optimus.  But I think a more interesting comparison is Deluxe-class Cyberverse Thunderhowl, and I think the reason it's interesting is because Legacy Thundertron has a number of differences from the original Prime toy.  Some of them, like the darker blue, the silver beard instead of translucent blue, blue on the sides of his head, no blue paint on his crest, etc, are purely aesthetic or budget choices.  But there are other changes, too.  Like, he's got molded claws on his wrists that the original toy didn't have, and that are not part of his alt mode.  But Thunderhowl has them.  The gold triangles with the big claws on the shoulder pads of the original toy are gone, replaced with something that's a few spikes away from Thunderhowl's

Thundertron's hip skirts, which were originally meant to evoke a long coat and came down nearly to his ankles on the original toy, are shortened to about knee length.  Kinda like Thunderhowl's.  I suppose it's a bit unfair to compare Thundertron's coattails to Thunderhowl's, given that the original toy had them.  But why, Hasbro, did you swap the blue on the original for unpaintable gray plastic?  Same question for Thundertron's biceps, feet, and tail.  Regardless, my point is Thundertron seems like a pretty obvious retool for a Thunderhowl toy (even if none has been officially listed for United).

One last thing to note about the aesthetics- his calves and in the insides of his forearms are super hollow.  Disappointing to see on a figure with a Voyager budget...

...especially when he comes with so few accessories.  Because you get this sword, made from a fairly bendy and unpainted plastic.  That's it.

Thundertron's head seems to be on a ball joint.  Due to clearances around his neck and shoulders he can turn his head only about 45 degrees to either side and can look up a bit, nothing really down and no sideways tilt.  His shoulders can swivel and move almost 90 degrees laterally; the joint itself seems capable of more, but the shoulder pads actually hover above his arms and get in the way.  He does have, due to his transformation, very slight butterfly joints.  His biceps swivel, and his elbows bend about 120 degrees.  His wrists swivel.  He has a waist swivel, but his hip skirts and coattails limit it to about 45 degrees to either side.  His hips can go 90 degrees forward, and the ball joints on his hip skirts move them enough that he can get his hips 90 degrees laterally, too.  His coattails don't move as much, though, limiting his backward hip movement to under 45 degrees.  Due to his transformation he has thigh swivels at both the top and bottom of his thighs, and his knees bend nearly 180 degrees.  His left foot has a slight upward tilt, a good downward tilt, and a limited ankle pivot.  His right foot, though, has a limited upward tilt and a limited downward tilt, with no ankle pivot at all.

This is because he retains the peg leg gimmick from the original toy.  You just pull his foot off the peg.  Since Legacy Thundertron has claws molded onto his wrists already, he can't wear his foot on his forearm like a clawed weapon the way the original toy did.  Instead, you're meant to use a tab on the front of his sword to plug the foot onto it, then wrap the silver edge toes down.  With or without the foot on it, the sword has a peg that allows Thundertron to hold it in either first.  The sword has no pegs on the sides, though.  So, despite having a 5mm port on either hip skirt, he can't wear the sword on his hip.  Thundertron also has 5mm ports on the side of either calf, on the outside of either forearm, and on top of his left shoulder pad, not that any of that is useful for storing his sword in bot mode.  Best you can do is use a tab on one side of the blade to plug the sword into his coattails.  It sits way too low, though, and is really meant for alt mode.

Speaking of alt mode, the engineering isn't super different than the original toy.  His chest still comes up over his head, his arms still curl up, and his legs still have to twist at the top and bottom of the thighs, and the silver "toes" on his feet still fold back to that only the three gold claws remain.  There are two big differences, though.  The first is that his back and coattails shift forward, so his robot hips bend forward, his knees bend back, then you engage a joint mid shin to bring the lion's feet down.  This gives him more proper digitigrade lion legs, but the hip skirt "wings" now look like they're coming off the lion's butt instead of its sides.  The other is that the curled arms fold into the lion's chest instead of its biceps, so the front legs are entirely formed from the shoulder pads.

There's no color on the molded triangle bits on the lion's wrists, and the unpaintable gray plastic stands out on his back and tail in a way that the original toy's blue didn't.  And, of course, there's no translucent plastic.  Otherwise the aesthetic differences are limited to the aforementioned differences in the hip skirt wings and the more digitigrade rear legs.

Thundertron's lion articulation is extremely limited, as the lion legs are actually pegged into place.  The front legs can bend at the elbow and the paws have a little up/down tilt, but that's it there.  The lion's mouth opens a bit, but there's no articulation in the lion's neck.  The rear legs have all the articulation of the robot mode plus the digitigrade joint, but there's only so much you can do with it due to the limited foot articulation.  The tail has a hinge at the base so it can raise up a bit, but that's it.

As I touched on earlier, there's a slot on one side of his coattails that allows you to plug the sword onto his back.  I'll also note, though the instructions don't mention it, that his right shoulder pad has a pair of slots where the left on has a 5mm port.  The lower of the two slots also happens to be a nice snug fit for the sword's tab, allowing you to store it on the lion's bicep as well.

I give Hasbro crap for wasting slots in the mainline on original Junkions and rock guys, but in some ways Thundertron feels like a bigger waste.  I mean, at least with the Junkions and the rock guys Hasbro's really pushing a gimmick, and fans might take umbrage if Hasbro applied that gimmick to established characters in a way that felt out of character or compromised the quality of the figure.  Here Hasbro's using a Voyager slot to bring back a Prime character nobody asked for because he was never actually in Prime.  I mean, just from Prime alone, why not Breakdown, who didn't get a toy in the West until a few years ago when Hasbro decided to reissue the Japanese one on Pulse?  Why not Hardshell, who never got a toy bigger than Legends?  The only explanation I can come up with is because Breakdown and Hardshell can't be retooled into Thunderhowl.  What's more, while I again don't have the original Thundertron toy, from what I've seen Legacy Thunderhowl isn't even that much of an upgrade, as he loses some of his aesthetic details, gains a bit of articulation above the waist in robot mode, but gains nothing in lion mode.  Now, I wouldn't say he's a bad figure; if you dig the idea of a peg-legged robo-pirate that turns into a Liger from Zoids (designer Mark Maher literally suggested that Star Seekers stopped on Planet Zi at some point and Thundertron scanned a Liger there for his alt mode), then you might like Thundertron.  I think he's objectively a rather mediocre figure, though, of a character that lacks the benefit of fiction and nostalgia to justify a place on your shelf.  Most of you can probably skip this one.

The Zoid aesthetic is the reason why I POed this guy. I'm disappointed that, once again, a beast alt mode, even a robotic beast alt mode which enjoys more license by its nature, has so little articulation. It strips a lot of the potential fun from the toy when an alt that should be highly poseable is anything but. Disappointing.

Edit: Seeing him from the various angles in lion mode, he just doesn't look that great. The lackluster articulation in said mode eroded his appeal further, and I decided to canx my PO. With ever shrinking shelf space, his absence makes room for other figs that I want far more.

On 12/9/2023 at 2:28 AM, Scyla said:

@mikeszekely I am as puzzled by the rock Armorizers as you are. They probably wanted to to Rocklords but thought kids won’t play with robots that turn into sphere-like objects and thus they are now vehicles.

I don't get it either, especially when there are actual characters who still need figs. That said, like Mike, I find something appealing about the fig, enough to have ordered it through Pulse awhile back. Still waiting for him and the rest of his wave mates to ship.

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

Regarding Tidal Wave, I've really run out of room for Titans and wish they'd retire the class in favor of one or two more Commanders a year, but I'm going to pick this one up.  He looks good, and as someone who enjoyed the PS2 game well before ever seeing (and not actually liking) the Armada anime, I dig him as a Titan.  My only complaint is that he had the original toy colors, like he did in the game, instead of the cartoon colors.  If Hasbro is planning a toy-colored Gen Selects version I wish I would know before buying this one.  But A) I doubt I'll have that knowledge, and B) if they do a repaint I think Energon seems more likely.

Regarding Wheeljack, he looks OK.  A bit shellformery, like the other two, but not as clean and smooth in alt mode.  The spinning blades on the bumper are a real deep cut.  I'll definitely be looking to get my hands on him.

EDIT: Some extra details on Wheeljack.  He's a Voyager, not a Deluxe like the other two.  In alt mode his entire back opens up, and Origins Bumblebee can fit inside.  He's also coming with the blast shield as an accessory. 

Regarding Origin Wheeljack, it sounds like this fig achieves everything I wanted, especially the ability to but Bee in the back, a feature I 99% believed wouldn't happen. Sometimes, though, Hasbro surprises us. Looking forward to this fig. Any news on when he'll be available?

6 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Apparently the Reactivate two-packs are shipping from GameStop. Ironically, it was also announced that the game is getting until sometime next year (at least) so that the devs can dump their current engine and use Unreal Engine 5. Now, I suppose it's possible that if they were using UE4 that maybe the switch to UE5 won't be that bad, but in my experience switching engines mid-development is unlikely to be completed in a single year, and very often get games canned for being way late and easy over budget. There's a real chance that we're going to end up with figures as a tie-in for a video game that never happens.

Either way, Hasbro wins if the figs sell well enough. They're still available on Pulse. I'd get Prime if they sold him individually, but I'm not crazy about that Soundwave. I honestly haven't had much interest in the game, but it seems there's some anticipation for it based on a vid I watched on YT/ reading some of the comments. For the sake of the fans who want it, I hope the developers are able to get it released, hopefully with minimal issues.

13 hours ago, shazam said:

 

Well, damn, if I had known this was coming, I'd have waited. I got the first release and bought the Toyhax set. Applying stickers is far from my favorite activity, but it seemed necessary at the time to make my Jazz (Jive) complete.

On 12/2/2023 at 12:36 PM, mikeszekely said:

I expect that it'll be a new mold- no more reusing Siege Prime's legs.  I expect they'll hide the wheels, both in leg mode and the ones on his butt (comparing with Earthrise), likely with an upper body transformation closer to MP-10 than ER Prime.  I also expect they'll give him the little fuel tanks that were also missing from the Earthrise design, and better smokestacks that don't have 5mm ports.  I'd expect vents on his legs to be blue, not silver, and all the geometric details on his pelvis will be painted instead of just some.  I think the truck mode will lack a white stripe on the cab.  I expect the trailer will be closer in size to the G1 trailer, with, with the fold out supports for base mode, a bumper on the rear, doors that either fold down like the G1 toy or open with an extendable ramp like the MPs, and it'll look like a truck trailer door and not whatever Earthrise's was supposed to be.  The trailer itself will likely not have the blue stripes.  Inside, I think you'll get the repair drone and Roller, and the repair drone will be more accurately painted than ER with a proper claw and antenna.  It'll probably be removable, with either wheels of it's own or an ability to combine with Roller.  Finally, I expect it'll come with a more-accurate, better proportioned ion rifle, a Matrix of Leadership, an energon axe, and some effect parts.

Mind you, that's what I expect, not what I know.  The only leak I got was that it's real, the product code is F8514, and the EAN is 5010996211835.

As much as I adore ER Prime, a CHUG version that borrows from MP-10, MP-44, or even from the last two Magic Square Prime designs to capture his toon look is definitely worthy of anticipation. I admit I'd prefer a hybrid of toy and toon details- I want the stripe on his cab, the yellow arrows on his wrists, the silver vents on his shins, at least his front tires to be absorbed into the bot (the back tires on his legs don't really bother me, but being SS86, his bot mode shouldn't have any visible). However, as a Studio Series fig, toon accuracy will be the focus, and that's fine. Toyhax will probably provide a decal set to provide the other details.

I'd love for them to do a commander class Soundwave as well in SS86 where they restore his cassettes to their original RW micro-cassette scale and include all the cassette minions featured in the film. Some improved engineering for those cassettes, especially Ravage, would also be appreciated.

I'd really love it if Takara acted on their own and produced either a leader or commander class SS86 Megatron. To finally have a proper G1 Megatron to cap off my collection of all these Legacy & WfC G1 figs would be absolutely wonderful. The only possible way we'll get a proper Megatron is if Takara does it independently, and I hope they choose to do so. I think it'd make a lot of fans very happy. Seeing Takara cash in probably won't make Hasbro happy, but opting out would be their choice.

After that, SS86 versions of Blitzwing and Astrotrain that fix all the flaws with the WfC/Legacy figs would be most welcome, as well as a SS86 all-new and improved Seeker mold with a far more accurate F-15 mode than the WfC voyager Seekers.

3 hours ago, David Hingtgen said:

That was IIRC Kawamori's explanation for the hip kibble on the Masterpiece Starscream toy.   

You remember correctly, and to extrapolate that connection to the YF-19 and YF-21 seems highly plausible. Those among us more conversant in Japanese may be able to elucidate further should Kawamori-san have spoken on it in interviews over the years. 

On 12/2/2023 at 3:16 PM, renegadeleader1 said:

Welp.... There goes $1500. 😂

Sweet assortment. After a decade's absence, I'm just happy to see LEGO leaning so heavily into an original sci-fi space theme again, 10497 Galaxy Explorer notwithstanding. I hope it sells well and sends a message that sets like this are desirable. I'll be doing my part- my wallet's crying already. 😁

I kinda wish the space ring had the modules situated end to end so the astrofigs could travel continuously through the station, but there's something to be said about the playability of the modules in this configuration. Moreover, it appears that similar modules come in the Base & Rocket Launchpad set and the Command Rover set so you can swap out modules or potentially snap them onto the ends of already attached modules. Overall, I'm liking the look of the theme and what it offers. 

Edit: With even more sets being revealed across other lines, it seems the new Space subtheme is crossing into other major themes like Creator, Technic, Friends, Dreamzzz, etc. 2024 is definitely shaping up to be a meaty year for LEGO Space fans, especially since a decade has passed since the last original Space theme, Galaxy Squad, premiered. After all this time of near absence, it's quite unexpected to see such a large and diverse selection of Space sets, especially in a single year, but I get the sense LEGO's testing the waters, so to speak, to gauge desirability. There's certainly a lot of nostalgia-driven conversations happening on any number of fan forums and on social media, but the real test will be in sales numbers, and I hope sales are well beyond expectations. I've greatly missed original sci-fi space set releases and I hope this diversification to appeal broadly proves successful in making Space an evergreen theme again.

8 hours ago, Actar said:

For what it's worth, I like the belly plate kibble as it ties it aesthetically to the YF-19. It's a nice consistent design element shared by the two Plus valks.

I hadn't considered that consistency between designs, so I concede your point. Nevertheless, I'm still not a fan. TBH, I never cared for the wings just hanging off the YF-19's legs, either, but for whatever reason, it doesn't bother me nearly as much as the 21's belly plates. However, if the YF-21 has to have belly plates dangling off its legs, I'd much prefer Bandai's truncated plates over the Yamato's full-length plates. Of course, YMMV.

On 11/30/2023 at 9:04 AM, Raikkonen said:

Likely ratchet. 

That is an unexpected but clever solution, although I was always under the impression, based on the line art, that the inner lower legs had a three-position slider mechanism- fully retracted in fighter, partially extended in GERWALK, and fully extended in battroid. Regardless, I'm fine with this. I just hope it locks firmly in place, as there's a lot of weight depending on its being sturdy.

3 hours ago, wsna said:

Getting those thicker legs probably forced the fitment of the those bottom panels over the leg assembly to bow out giving us the pregnant “sturmvogel” in fighter config.

Maybe the YF-21 was supposed to sport skinny legs after all…

thoughts?

Nope, they were always supposed to flare out. But look how much larger the legs are drawn compared to the minimalized forward fuselage, all to present a nicer proportioned battroid. Is it any wonder that toy and model makers struggle to find a good balance? Yamato did an exceptional job with the top half, but the skinny legs were just too disproportionate to the rest and never looked right. I prefer Bandai's proportions, even if it means a thicker back end to the fighter.

Here's the line art showing the legs stowed. Again, Kawamori employed a lot of license in minimizing the size of the legs to make them fit. I've never liked the belly plate solution, as it renders this thing a partial shell-former.  I prefer Bandai's current solution to keep the legs in their battroid configuration and store them inside the engine nacelles, which, IMHO, should have been the original solution, as it just makes practical sense. The best solution, however IMHO, would have been to eschew the loathesome belly plates altogether and shape the lower aft end with form-fitted cutouts into which the legs would insert. They'd be visible but contoured to blend seamlessly with the rest of the lower plane. That would have been my solution, as well as attaching the guns within holsters on a rotation joint just above the knee so they can be oriented forward regardless of mode. I think that would have eased the burden on toy and model makers significantly, not to mention eradicate the annoying hip kibble that those plates create. Alas, what's done is done, and the YF-21 remains one of the more difficult valks to translate into toys due to the copious amount of animation magic employed.  I just hope Bandai's effort proves to be solid.

I got my copy of Code Red yesterday, and overall, I like him. I was surprised by the marked height difference in bot mode alongside the other voyager-scaled van bots. The long legs make his short arms look shorter, but I still dig him. As mike said in his review, this wasn't an obvious or expected crossover; it never entered my mind when watching the show. However, as crossovers go, I think it's cool, although Hopper's '89 Blazer probably would have been more significant. However, there's something to be said about the entire., ahem, 'package' with this guy. 

IMHO, the package designers at Hasbro earned their just keep with this bit of boxing. It's apropos and humorous and far more elaborate than it needed to be, but I appreciate the effort. Although I didn't take a photo, Code Red comes wrapped in a sheet of paper with kid-like drawings on it depicting Eleven, Hawkins, and a few other places. It's been some time since I watched the fourth season and my long-term memory is nigh nonexistent, but I'm assuming at some point the kids drew something similar. Anyway, I thought it worth mentioning as an additional meaningful element of the packaging that wasn't necessary, but I'm glad it's in there.

@mikeszekely's review is quite comprehensive, however there's one additional feature of note: the pizza sign gun's handle also has tabs on the sides which allows the gun to be attached to either shoulder. It's not at all elegant or flattering to the figure, but it's something than can be done and it's actually how it's presented in the packaging art. Initially, I thought it was supposed to tab into the backpack using the same slots as the axe and the mace attachments, but there wasn't clearance over the shoulder. I totally disregarded the slots on his shoulders in my attempts to connect to his backpack and was only able to reach proper resolution after consulting the instructions. You'd think after nearly 40 years of messing with these things I'd pick up on all these nuances, but sometimes I space on the most obvious things. Anyway, I just wanted point out this additional option for mounting the sign gun. Kudos to Mike for figuring out how to stash the pizza box accessory in his van mode; that'll be my solution henceforth.  One further thought: the mace and axe make no sense for this fig, but perhaps, as Mike suggested, they're intended to reference D&D, which we've seen the Hawkins' kids play on numerous occasions. Given the subject matter, I'm really surprised they didn't lean into the pizza theme and give him an oversized pizza-cutter as a weapon.  Missed opportunity.

As to future crossovers, I'd also love an Airwolf and K.I.T.T., and maybe even a Blue Thunder. What a shame we don't have any shows like these anymore.

On 11/24/2023 at 6:43 PM, renegadeleader1 said:

UPS guy dropped off my package from Lego from their Insider sale, and well...

 

Not a single thing is intact outside of the mini bag of picka brick parts. What hurts the most is the Majistos workshop gift with purchase is mangled and I just can't get another one, as it officially sold out today.

That sucks, and I can sympathize having received my share of dented up boxes in the past. The exclusivity makes it sting worse, I'll grant you, and FWIW, you have my sympathies. At the very least, I hope all the parts and instructions are still there and undamaged. I do wish LEGO would improve their packing, as there's usually no more than a bit of wadded brown packing paper inside a thin-walled cardboard box that just seems to invite dents and tears which does little to protect the treasures inside. You could contact customer service, but with their supply exhausted, I'm not sure what they could do for you. However, OTOH, what could it hurt?

58 minutes ago, 505thAirborne said:

I've been wondering this as well on whether the price stays high or goes down, also how many will dump their old Yamato's altogether in favor of the DX YF-21?

I have no intention of getting rid of my Yammie. As a battroid guy, the battroid's thin legs, loose hips, and overall instability ruined its shelf appeal for me, but no one can deny that the fighter mode is gorgeous, and that overall, legs notwithstanding, it remains one of the best transforming toy iterations of that design. I still think Arcadia should consider redesigning the legs to be thicker and better proportioned to the rest of the battroid. It would no doubt cost the fighter its extremely thin profile, but as I've always said, I'd rather the fighter be a little thicker if it fixes those legs.

On 11/22/2023 at 2:02 AM, no3Ljm said:

I’m just waiting for Bandai to drop the preorder date. 

Likewise. I'm ready for POs to open- hopefully soon and with wide availability amidst the usual e-tailers here in the West.

On 11/22/2023 at 5:26 AM, MKT said:

Safe to speculate that Bandai showing this with the Fast Packs will mean it will be bundled into the release.. 

My thinking as well; a bit misleading on Bandai's part if otherwise. Considering those packs were featured prominently in both the movie and the OVA, it would be a remarkable omission to not include them.

On 11/22/2023 at 7:34 AM, wsna said:

I am hoping the main landing gear struts lock out. I like the idea with the movable wing and tail flaps but I think it isn't necessary. I wonder if the wings lock out as well.

I hope the gear lock down as well, especially on a high-end toy that will no doubt have a fair bit of die cast content. Even without die-cast, at 1/60, it's a fairly decent sized plane that needs some strong, stable gear to rest on. I hope the wings have a firm locking mechanism to keep them firmly in place in jet mode- those things are thick and will have some significant weight to them. Overall, I hope design and QC are excellent, even if there are niggles from fan to fan- it's hard to please everybody, and I, too, have my own. I just hope it's a durable toy with perfectly tight joints (not too tight, but not loose, preferably ratcheted with lots of detents for a wide range of poseability). 

On 11/18/2023 at 2:30 PM, Hikuro said:

If you don't have any of the many Megatron variants out there, I'd say go for it. Shockwave was a pretty solid figure to start the lineup, and I absolutely loved the earth mode soundwave figure over his cybertronian variant. 

All three have really good bot modes that capture their G1 looks well. The alt modes are where they take the hits. Since Megatron can no longer be a gun due to our asinine laws, a tank mode has become the accepted alt mode, and FWIW, scale wise it makes far more sense. I'd still love to have a CHUG scaled Megs that turns into a Walther P38, but since that seems unlikely and no third parties are jumping at what seems a primo opportunity, tank it shall remain. Shockwave was a complete copout- I doubt his original extremely sci-fi gun mode would fall under the same scrutiny under the law as Megs' Walther, and yet they made him into some really crappy spaceship that needs help from a bunch of add-on bits that only raised his price. As to Soundwave, for whatever reason that makes no logical sense, they decided to make his lower legs transform backwards leaving his specifically shaped knees, which corresponded with his waist shape on the G1 toy to fill in the front of his recorder mode, hanging out. The original toy had a simple but elegant and effective transformation that even allowed for his weapons to be stored as batteries. It was perfect, and why few to no Soundwave figs since have copied that feature is questionable. It's not the best recorder alt mode, and I hope they redo him in the SS86 line with an improved mold that borrows more liberally from the G1 toy, but I'll concede that his recorder mode is a far cry better than the whatever-he's-supposed-to-be alt mode from Siege.

On 11/12/2023 at 2:56 PM, sh9000 said:

Official Trailer.

Looking forward to this. I very much like Watchmen and 300, so I'm hoping it'll be good. The action is there, I just hope it has a decent story too.

12 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Dug through this thread to refresh my memory on the details.  Last year, Hasbro Pulse sent the emails that said we had until the 28th of November to update our details, and I posted a review of Victory Saber on the 11th of December.  This year I've already received three emails reminding me to make sure my shipping info is correct by the 24th.  Assuming it takes roughly the same amount of time to ship Deathsaurus after the last day to change your shipping address as it did Victory Saber, then people should start getting Deathsaurus around the second week of December.  I'm hoping that, just as Victory Saber was my last review in 2022, that I'll have a Deathsaurus review for you guys to wrap up 2023.

Oh, BTW @M'Kyuun, while digging through old posts I saw that you missed getting Minerva from Pulse.  Did you still want/need her?  I think I actually saw one in the wild at Walgreens the other day.  I'll be out tomorrow, I could check again.

I didn't go in on Deathsauraus, but I look forward to your review.

Thanks for the offer, Mike. I got a copy quite a while back. Apparently I forgot to post it and forgot that I'd even made any comments to the effect of having missed her on Pulse. It's been several months, but I believe I ended up ordering her from Walgreens' website. I currently have Elita-1, Minerva, and Strongarm together on one of my TF shelves. It's neat to see the similarities and differences among the shared molds.

I was at Target recently, and I caved to a purchase of WfC Game Edition Optimus Prime. Quite a beefy fig for a voyager. I'm still not as fond of him as I am of FoC Prime (the overall design in both modes) but in-hand, he's a pretty cool fig. I do, however, dislike that he can't just simply hold his gun in his hand; having to remove the forearm and peg it on his butt is a terrible solution. I know they simply transformed their arms into weapons in the game and that this fig homages that feature rather faithfully, but I'm just not a fan of it. My takeaway from the last fanstream is that I'm not alone in that sentiment and the designers are aware and may put some sort of handle on these GE guns going forward. A folding handle would be optimal to preserve the current arm-off-gun on feature, but allow the gun to also be pegged into the hand while keeping the guns streamlined. The only other complaint I have is the lack of panels to cover his hands in truck mode- even the 2010 WfC fig had the rear end filled in with taillight details, and it was merely a deluxe. It also had many more paint apps, but with budgets seemingly stretched much further these days, IIWII. I absolutely love my little deluxe FoC OP, and I'm cautiously excited for an upscaled version, hopefully next year.

On 11/15/2023 at 9:28 PM, seti88 said:

Next summer means pre-orders soon-ish?

Hmmm fighter mode certainly has slimmed down....battroid...hmmm...

i think the biceps should look bigger...💪 and not 🦾 

I think the bicep shape is largely a product of their ugly double elbow joint. While I welcome increased articulation, I wish it had been done more visually appealing, even if the second joint had to extend out of the bicep. nevertheless, I'm in for a copy when they go up for PO. Visual warts aside, I hope it's at least a solid and durable toy.

Just finished Blue Eyed Samurai on Netflix- my wife and I started it yesterday and finished it today. Just wow. This show is superb, from writing to animation to voice acting, to the motion capture work. The plot is a little boilerplate for a revenge show, but the pacing is well-done. If this show doesn't warrant at least another season, somebody making decisions at Netflix needs to be fired.

Honestly, none of these is really grabbing me, except Prime to a small extent, and I'm not really sure why a cabover truck needs a cowcatcher. Starscream suffers from the usual arms-at-the-side-of-the-plane syndrome, like they can't even be bothered to try and integrate them into the plane mode. Soundwave's 4x4 Jeepish truck mode is ok, but I think the bot mode is a bit too thin-limbed- I'm just not feeling it. Not seeing any minions for this guy, but if he has them, what exactly would they turn into? - parts of an engine block?  I wish they'd find a more suitable alt for him where, like his original cassette player mode, both his alt and his minions are relevant on their own and to each other. That was the appeal of Soundwave and his minions in G1, and I wish they could find a modern equivalent. Bee's alt is ok, but it's not really grabbing me either. Overall, pass on all of these. If they end up selling Prime on his own, I may pick up a copy, but if not, more money for future G1 and Animated Legacy figs.