Wolf-1

30 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

Just curious if any of you guys are experiencing weird delays and long delivery times from Fed Ex. I was expecting a package per email notification today that shipped on the 2nd, last Thursday. Tracking shows it's only made it to VA from Harrisburg, PA in the last 6 days, so I don't expect to see it until next week. Previously, my copies of Tarn and Leo Prime shipped on the same day from Atlanta, GA, Friday 27 Jan, initially scheduled to arrive 31 Jan, which is pretty unrealistic in the best of times. I continued to receive projected delivery dates even when the parcels were still a couple states removed. So, somewhere in this transit time, the packages got separated. I received a delivery date for Tarn on Tuesday, 2 Feb, and indeed he was delivered. Meanwhile Leo Prime decided he needed a little more time to take in the sights. On Friday 3 Feb, I got a delivery notification for Saturday the 4th, which was then delayed to Sunday. On Sunday, he was apparently on the truck out for delivery but didn't make it due to "operational reasons", or so the email they sent me said. Delivery was rescheduled for Monday the 6th, which finally proved successful. This sort of situation has become my norm when waiting on Fed Ex- lots of projected and missed delivery dates and unusual delays. 

The "operational reasons" is a easy catch-all for everything under the sun; truck broke down and none were available for a swap, driver had legitimate issues or just said that's a day.  The shop I work for has the local FedEx fleet account, something that is typically taken care of in house at the Hubs.  The way these drivers treat the trucks, even with all the Big Brother equipment installed in them, would make a Cabi cry!  They're lucky if half of the available trucks are road worthy, while the other half awaits corporate authorization for repairs. Employee retention has been an issue lately for them.

Noticed Flame Toys is set to release the second model kit in their G1 line; it's Soundwave with a Ravage, the previous release being O.P., which is the Sunbow version.  Having built 4 of them, all Prime's to this point, they compete with practically any Bandai HG/MG articulation, in other words they have quite a lot of abiltiy to pose.  Personally, I feel like the Soundwave sculpt is slightly off, I expect the legs to be big and boxy but it seems like the forarms are twice the width of his shoulders.  Ravage also seems to come with quite the bit of articulation.  I've seen a proto-type for Megatron in G1 goodness and he like Prime is lifted directly from the Sunbow version.  

If you like the concept of the Red line but won't fork the money out for the rubbery feel and lack of articulation, the Flame Toys model kit line is a great alternative.                                          

5 hours ago, TangledThorns said:

AC7's flight action is fun but I skip through the story cut scenes as they are boring AF. Only gripe is I wished the controls were more configurable for game controllers.

Well it is called Strangereal afterall.  Be thankful you aren't hearing "Go dance with the angels!" over and over and over; do miss the allied attack/cover option that 6 provided however.

It seems to have the spirit of the original show, or does it?  Initial D was about the "street" scene and how it can be used to learn various styles, even for established professional drivers.  However, it never made a huge spectacle of the races publicly, if you were there and in the know, then you knew; if not, you remain clueless.  There are more than a couple of driver's who will always get to say to themselves, "I've still got room to grow because I know this guy who started on Akina and worked his way across Japan owning everything, then just dissapearing."  This new series seems to be making a very big spectacle of the races to the general public; Tak would have retreated back into himself if that were the case instead of letting the beast out.  I'm still going to watch of course!

Never made it to the end of episode 1; while it was nice to see that they did bring back Sorsha, I was appalled to see a mirror finish on her sword.  It was menacing in the first film, had a well used and trusted look, now it's just wall art.

My favorite piece of work with her in it, was a made for Television mini-series, The Last Don. While she never truly wields power in the series, her character is integral to the first part of the series at least.  Sort of a Beth Dutton, but with far more family drama to help one over the edge.

Edit: Can't leave out Summer School.

Would prefer to see Powermaster Prime but the Armada version is essentially the same thing, just carried out different.  As far as Cybertron/verse; I had heard, though I pay it little head, that the upcoming Cybertron stuff was instead for the game WFC/FOC designs. 

Saw this on R.A. Salvatore's FB page; Fleetwood Mac being his alltime favorite band. 

On 11/5/2022 at 11:35 PM, mikeszekely said:

I mentioned when I reviewed the Megatron H.I.S.S. tank that I'd hoped it might make for a better CHUG Megatron than Earthrise Megatron.  And I elaborated on my issues with Earthrise Megatron earlier when I reviewed an unofficial Megatron that does turn into a gun but isn't particularly good... my second such figure, as it were.  Why is it that we have a pretty great Optimus with Earthrise, but the best we can do with Megatron is a kibbly partsformer (Earthrise), a so-so also kibbly unofficial figure that actually turns into a gun (ToyWorld Hegemon/Zeta Mega-Tron), or 3P stuff that's great but not at all an aesthetic match (MMC Tyrantron, Maketoys Despotron)?  I got so desperate that I started looking at the R.E.D. Megatron.  I stopped caring if he transformers (especially if he's going to wind up a tank), as long as he was G1 cartoony and had adequate articulation.  Oh, but it turns out the R.E.D. figure is like a head or so smaller, and while I can tolerate a Megatron that's slightly bigger than Optimus a Megatron that's slightly smaller is simply too small.

But, you know who is the right size?  Earthrise Megatron.  And as an official WFC figure he's got the right mix of Sunbow and greebles.  He's just got that backpack kibble and the crappy partsforming bits for his tank mode, but if I don't actually care anymore about a transforming Megatron could I "fix" ER Megatron?

Turns out, yeah.  Kind of.  Here's what I did...

(1) Since I don't need it to peg into his other arm, I grinded down the peg on top of the fusion cannon to more closely resemble the dial on the G1 toy.
(2) I painted the red bits connecting his shoulders to his torso gray.
(3) I tossed aside the tank barrel and rear filler entirely.  No tank mode means we don't need it anymore.
(Not numbered, because I nearly forgot I did it) I painted the silver square on Megatron's abs red, to better resemble the Sunbow model.

(4) I painted his flanks red.
(5) I pained the black part his arms are attached to, and the entire turret base, gray.  It's not a perfect match, but a, when does Hasbro match their own paint and plastic, and b, a not-quite right gray is still closer to the gray plastic than black.
(6) I used a rotary tool and cut off the panel with the tank treads entirely.

(7) I painted the black backs of his arms gray.
(8) Where Hasbro only painted the front of Megatron's biceps red, I painted the sides and back.
(9) I painted the black heels gray.

(10) The big flap on his back that forms the front of the tank?  I picked a spot near the small of his back, just above an indented spot, and used a rotary tool to cut through it.  The idea is to leave enough to cover the hollow areas on the back of his torso but to create more clearance for the waist swivel and to minimize what can be seen from the front.
(11) The finishing touch... on what was left of the flap, I drilled a 5mm hole.  Then I went on got one of those folding pistol things that came with Siege/Netflix/Legacy Soundwave or Siege Soundblaster.  I unfolded it, then cut off the end below the 5mm peg.  Technically, I even ground the peg a little shorter and sanded off some of the molded detail to fit the thing more flush in the hole I'd made on Megatron's back.  It's a tad thinner than I'd really like, but it gives Megatron his back-mounted gun barrel.

Speaking of gun barrels... like I said, this pretty much ruins his ability to transform.  But, when Megatron transformed in the cartoon he didn't turn into a tank, he shrunk down into a gun that Starscream or Soundwave could hold.  And while my post-op Megatron can't shrink down and transform into a gun, you can swap him out with a gun that other figures can hold when you need Megatron to have an alt mode.  Two examples that I have at home are the Megatron gun that came with a reissue G1 Starscream, and a Megatron gun that came in a pack with the Generations Selects Centurion drone.  You have to remove the stock and set it aside for the former, as your average WFC figure doesn't have the little tabs on the bottoms of their fists that the reissue Starscream does, but as you can see here Earthrise Starscream can hold the gun part just fine.  Meanwhile, the Centurion Drone one simply has a 5mm handle and no stock at all, and it's designed specifically for WFC figures.  If you don't have either of these, there are other options.  Dr. Wu created something like this years ago, and while you're unlikely to find an original Dr. Wu Megatron gun these days I was able to find knock offs of the Dr Wu, the Centurion Drone, and the Starscream reissue Megatron guns on Ebay.

So... yeah.  I'd still love for a better 3P Megatron that checks all my boxes- scale, articulation, cartoon look, turns into a gun, doesn't suck.  I keep thinking a WFC-scaled version of Magic Square's Megatron without that nylon plastic would be the bee's knees.  Until then, though, I can live with my non-transforming fixed Earthrise Megatron and a separate non-transforming Megatron gun that Starscream can hold.

I am not sure where he found the printable file at, but Lazyeyebrow has essentially done the same thing to Meg's back, only the faux barrel is the proper size.  It's not up on his site for sale or at JRC Designs.  Maybe try Shapeways but better pile on a few orders to make the shipping worth the effort.

Seems like a combination of Rocky's 3-5.  The (Fr)enemy is still "street hungry" like Clubber Lang and carries that same persona, though with Adonis working with him, we get a little bit of Tommy Gun from 5.  Looks like we'll get both a street fight and ring side as well.  Seems like we also see a, "should have thrown the towel" as we did in 4.  Has potential but the lack of Rocky, even in pictures around their house is concerning; the title may be Creed but we all know and follow this mainly because it's still a Rocky film, or should be at least.

Fantastic Voyage had the better video; the Impala parked on the beach with the endless party popping out the trunk. 

2 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

I am so disappointed.  It looks like they remolded the chest, head, guns, the car parts on the back of the legs, added a spoiler, and that's it.  The spoiler doesn't even split, so it has to be removed for robot mode.  The car doesn't look like a Countach, and too many robot details are leftover from Wildrider.  His feet aren't even the right color!  Figures Hasbro would nail 4/5 then drop the ball on my favorite one.

While I'm dissapointed that Breakdown is not a good Lamborghini at all; I actually don't mind how this figure has turned out.  He's still very much an Italian car and not even a Ferrari, instead he is now a Maserati, not really but like the MC12 if one squints hard enough you can still see the Enzo.  At least they got the gun(s) right and I doubt the aftermarket will allow the wing to remain a single piece option only.

More Mike Barnes please!  So Daniel married the sister of the love interest in 3, nice to see her return and add a little depth to the Wifey's character.  Not sure how they intend to go forward with dueling Dojo's but they haven't really dropped the ball yet.  

My copy of Delta Magnus has two painted smoke stacks; bummer your's doesn't.

It's nice and cool, but not $250.+, cool.  Glad I painted one of the Toynami releases to scratch this itch.  Maybe if they ever get around to the Battlecry schemes, if I don't just paint them myself.

22 hours ago, Thom said:

 

Weiss was great as the voice of Saphira and the dragon form was really good, though I've always liked longer snouts. Both her and Irons were the only good parts of the whole movie. He just needed a better script. Whomever they get as Brom for the series has some big shoes to fill, IMO.

Well she was practically just a new born; she was still undersized compared to Red that showed up at the end of book 2, though the reason for that is later revealed.  So, that snout will undoubtly grow with time.

Would be great if they could Wiessman back to voice Saphira and I wouldn't mind them keeping her design from the film, yes even the feathers.  Everything else, well Jermey Irons did do the best with what he had, needs a rehaul.  

3 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

I like gadget-formers, but that Canon-bot just ain't doing it for me. That said, I think the Reflektor repaint works better than the Prime, but honestly, Reflektor is a traditional character whose camera mode is comprised of three bots, and I think this would have been better served as its own unique character. I get why- recognition sells. But, if all Hasbro ever did throughout TF history was rename every single new character after an existing character, it'd be a much smaller universe. Anyway, it's another left-field Transformer toy, like the tennis shoe and the baseball hat figs, and to me it looks like a camera with arms and legs tacked on Mr. Potatohead-style. I know it transforms, and I want to like it, but it looks wonky to me. 

Alas, if you like it, and you can get your hands on a copy, then that's fantastic. I hope it proves a fun and unique addition to your collection.

 

What the heck is up with his feet? Not a bad looking fig otherwise. His car mode looks great. I wish Aerialbots fared so well.😢

Well with a name like Deadend, did we really expect him to go anywhere? Here's hoping some 3P gives us some decent Slippers for him, that way he can easily shed them for Alt and Combined modes.

So, I'm left with a few questions after watching this film. 1) The pistol in the film is indeed the very pistol bestowed upon Glover at the end of the second film; how do the Predator's get ahold of it?  2) Billy in the first film is "Spooked" and obviously has a Native background, is it Comanchee so he's heard tales passed down at Tribal gatherings or family history?  Did he in essence have a vague ideal of what they were facing, which is why he stops at the "tree-bridge" and meets his end?  Other than learning the "cycle-chain" in an incredibly short time, the film was a suprising welcome!

Most likely already grabbed up; from what I've "heard" there are only 2 Clampdowns  per case and only 1 Cosmos.  Cosmos is a cool figure, especially when compared to the original $3.00 toy, and while it would be nice to have him in the collection; I've all but given up on that one.  Clampdown will be had, even though I missed the HasbroPulse preorder.  Still pushing Legacy wave 1 around here locally.  

Nice to actually see one of these "Junkion" kits actually get installed.  Wasn't aware of the NonNef version but was aware that Maiden Japans, only description in the listings, have made a couple of different kits that do the same thing essentially.  New head, chest, skirts and knee bolsters from what I can tell.  Funny thing, I'm still awaiting my copy of Wreck Gar but already have the second Junkion release.  TF Labs, leg and interrior shoulder covers fit nicely.  

When it comes to Slag, I've personally found GoBetter's kit to really hit the mark I was aiming for.  Allows for the horns to swivel out and be seen in Bot mode, which was screen acurate. Plus the new rear Dino legs fillout so much better, though his calf's in Bot mode will now be larger due to the extra pieces folding up for storage.  Easy install, even with the removal of the lowest screw in the rear legs.

Not much a Collector, so I have no ideal what's considered rare for this hobby; besides the cardboard "Christmas Promise" package that started it all. My oldest grandson just received the PowerWheels Luke Landspeeder.  His father found it at a resale shop and jumped at it as he is the family StarWars Super Fan.  Have never seen one, so to me that's fairly rare. 

From what I've seen Youtube from the various reports is that Primal is indeed his own character.  However, there is a shot of his scale going around and he is essentially Mighty Joe Young size, if not slightly bigger and not a hair can be found on him.  So if they aren't going to use the organic portions of Beast Wars, why even introduce them into the Series?  

5 hours ago, seti88 said:

Lady gaga’s Song fitted perfectly when it needed to. 👌

That may be, but it doesn't take away from the fact that it's not Radio "Hit" friendly, meaning while it can certainly be played on any Top 40's Radio station, I haven't heard it make the rounds on any of the various stations listened to around work or during any test drive with a Customer's radio station preferences playing.  I have heard Berlin's Take My Breathe Away multiple times in last week and my "Classic Rock/Modern Rock" station has seen fit to break out some K. Loggins; the morning D.J. in particular. 

As a kid it was almost impossible to get through a Summer without at least one movie cleaning up on the radio stations, even if the film itself bombed. And while the Radio has certainly lost some of it's power, it's far from dead.  Never thought I would miss Sunday's C.K. Top 100 countdown and all the stories, letters that accompanied those prodcasts; as the saying goes though; you never know what've you got, till it's gone.

Only two new original songs for the Soundtrack; One Republic and Lady Gaga. Can't say I'm impressed with either, but found myself asking why with the talent used a couple of songs weren't covered from the first film.  One Republic could have used their harmonies quite well covering "Playing with the Boys", put some extra emphasis on the base line and they might have had something on the airwaves again on cycle.  Lady Gaga completely missed the opportunity to cover Berlin's song; and while K.M. isn't returning as a love interest, the fact that the love interest is one we have already heard stories about, it could be worked in with a little humor or just paying homage to those blue lit scenes from the first film. Thankfully from what I've heard, the Theme and Danger Zone get brought back.