Alpha OTS

"Rotate floppy joints, HAL."

But seriously, the only decent way to pose the arms is to rotate the joints until some (or most) are perpendicular to gravity. i.e. More wrestling required.

I had this same problem right out of the box and was really dissappointed that the arms didn't have any kind of ratchet joints to help compensate for the weight. Best thing to do is like drifand said and rotate the joints until you get it into a pose where gravity isn't working against you. It limits your poses unfortunately, but you can still do the main ones.

Flash was always one of my favorite movies back in the '80s. It was just so corny and campy that it worked... and the blasting Queen soundtrack sealed the deal.

What really sucks is Universal have not released it on HD DVD. This movie with all it's bright colors and texture deserves an HD release.

So, being that we were discussing upscaling dvds in the other thread, how's the transfer on this standard dvd when it's played on a 40+ inch HDTV

When I was a kid, I was mystified that this movie didn't get a sequel. Key phrase = "When I was a kid". It is good campy fun regardless. All the bits in it just click, and if there were one element missing(the 80's, the cheesy yet consistent effects, the tacky costumes, the casting, and of course the Queen soundtrack) I doubt we'd have the fond memories of this that we do.

I need to pick this up, HD DVD or no HD DVD.

These images from a 'test shot' auction show it having missiles and Dr. Archiville. It says 'hidden missiles' on the side of the box but I can't see any direct reference to Dr. Archiville.

I sure hope that's the Dr. Archiville we get, because that Dr. Archiville is painted!

Ah yes, the infamous "torch mode." Fortunately, there are pro/custom modes available on near every HDTV, but especially the Sony XBR's have an amazing (if near bewildering) gigantic array of options and various parameters to choose from.

As far as no HD Feed, at least get an OTA antenna, Alpha OTS. It will make you appreciate your HDTV so much more.

I need a tuner for that though, don't I? I know that's one thing this tv doesn't have.

May as well show this off here too. Some of you have seen how you can add hands to a Voyager Movie Starscream by cutting the top arm claws off of a Doctor Octopus from the latest Spiderman figure line. It's a real quick and easy kitbash that improves the look of your Starscream ten fold, and I really recommend it. I've had bottom arm claws remaining from that project that I didn't know what to do with, until now.

Fast Action Battler Megatron is.......ok, I guess. He's an FAB for starters, so he's sort of kiddified in a way. The normal red hands and missiles really do make him look like a KO. So I've removed the hands, did some minor carving to the Doc Ock bottom arm claws and viola! Working transformable hands that aren't an eyesore! I also grabbed a Robot Replica Megatron which for some reason has the same *exact* coloring as FAB Megatron. I did some carving to the cannon arm attachment so it too fits in the FAB arm missile holes. It's still not the movie Megatron that we wanted(the upcoming Voyager repaint is much closer to what we expected but unfortunately has "ice" all over it), but it does make the most out of the FAB mold.

ESPN on HD doesn't look fabulous on your set? It should. HD broadcasts and Blu-ray/HD DVD look great on their intended sets. Especially video such as live sports, concerts, and certain TV shows such as sitcoms and certain movies shot on HD video. Film looks like film should look.

I don't have an HD feed. Actually, the only HD things I have to play on my set are the 360 games I have. That's why I've been paying attention to this thread. I know I should purchase an HD player rather than buy any more standard dvds. The thing that caught my eye about the DLP was how vibrant the display was. There was none of that "grayness" you sometimes see on an lcd screen. I even commented to the bartender how nice the display was, and he said you can really tell how good it is when you compare it to the surrounding LCD sets they had, and he was right.

You might want to try a calibration disc or with HD Net's test patterns (assuming you have HD feeds). Westinghouse is kind of hit and miss on their sets...most of the low cost LCD panels are kinda washed out, have slower refresh rates, etc. WHen it comes to LCD TV's in particular, I tend to stay with Sony Bravias, Panasonics, Sharp Aquos', certain Samsungs, and surprisingly...Vizio. Not a whole lot you can do with your set if the contrast just doesn't look right no matter what setting it's on, though you may want to turn down the backlight if your blacks look gray...if there's no difference between 1 and 100 something may indeed be wrong. You can use certain DVD's if you don't have a calibration disc, like Star Wars Episode III. It's better than nothing. Some games will have test bars as well, you can use those to adjust your settings. Hopefully, your set keeps individual settings for different inputs. You might want to calibrate separately for games, DVD's, HD TV, SD TV, etc. Some panels don't surprisingly and you're stuck with changing things all the time.

That's why my friend recommended the westinghouse. It had a ton of inputs and each has its own individual calibration. I'm using the 360 for everything though.

If you can't see the dead pixels unless you're an inch or two away, I really wouldn't worry about it. It's a 40" TV...you probably will be pretty far away from it most of the time. Unless your display looks like swiss cheese with many dead pixels, I say you should be ok.

It just irritates me that this is a new set(to me) and I have dead pixels.

I have a couple of questions and could use a little tutoring too.

I have a 40" Westinghouse LCD 1080p. I bought it refurbished through newegg.com. The price was pretty inexpensive, but I'd probably buy it new if I had to do it all over again. I'll explain.

When I first turned it on, I was horrified. The picture looked like ass as the contrast and brightness were way out of wack among many other way off settings. I did the "reset to factory settings" foolishly thinking that it would reset to a presentable picture. Amazingly, it set it back to the exact asstastic setting I was trying to escape. I've since figured out what settings I needed to fix and the picture is good now. I'm a little dissappointed with the blacks sometimes, but that's probably unavoidable when you have an lcd screen. Any hints on general tweakings to get the best out of your black levels would be appreciated though.

I have, at last count, 3 "dead" pixels. I'm not sure if they're dead dead though. I don't think they are, because they're purple. You can only see them if you're an inch or two away from the screen. I imagine if they were dead they'd be complete black like the liquid crystal behind it was empty. I tried the pencil-eraser-rub-and-turn-on trick, but it hasn't brought them back, and I don't imagine trying to do that over and over again is good for the screen either. Of course they appeared after the limited warranty for a refurb ran out, and even if it didn't, I believe you need 10 before they would have done anything about it anyway. I heard there's a computer program that can cycle your display and bring them back. What are the odds of that working and what else can I do?

What's the difference between running the color temp warm, neutral or cool? I don't see a discernable difference. The manual pretty much only tells me how to turn on the set, and is pretty much worthless. There's a backlight setting from 1 to 100, but I really don't see a difference when I tweak this setting either. I can see a tiny difference when it's on 1 compared to when it's on 100, but that's it. Should it be more obvious? Should I have it at max 100 anyway?

I originally bought this as a videogaming screen. 360 gaming to be precise, and I haven't been dissappointed there(Gears looks fantastic). It wasn't until I put in a regular dvd that I really "got" what this HD-DVD/Blu-ray thing is all about. I was surprised how crappy some of my dvds looked that I guess I never noticed before because my previous cheapy crt tv did a good job of blurring the imperfections. Although it is pretty hysterical when I put in Harryhausen's Jason and the Argonauts and the picture looks more vibrant and defined than some of the newer dvd releases I have. I never really understood when people would go on about crappy transfers, but now I do. I bought a VGA cable for my 360 so it could do upscaling because I was told that would get me the best picture out of my dvds. Is that as good as it gets? I had read that there is a player(the brand name escapes me at the moment) that's the peak of performance for playing normal dvds on an HD set. Any truth to this, or am I maxxed out here anyway?

Having a refurb, I don't know if some things on the set are really broken or not, so I'd appreciate any advice on tweaking your LCD set. I'm still pretty new to this stuff. But if I were to buy a new set, I'd probably go DLP. There was one at the local bar playing HD ESPN and I was amazed at how vibrant the picture looked.

New to me too. I want one!

Nice customization mpchi!!! Very kewl!!!

Thought I'd post a pic of the 6" TF Titaniums I own, minus 'Dark Rodimus", er, I mean Menasor. He didn't make the photo shoot.

I know people have said that the first 6" Titanium releases WWI Optimus Prime and GIJoe Megatron were pretty bad molds and had very crappy quality, but I like the ones I own. They're all pretty sweet IMHO. Wish Hasbro would continue the line.

Enjoy!

I must have got a good QC WWI Prime. Yeah, the arms aren't too great, but he poses decently for me. Joe Megatron, OTOH, is a complete and utter floppy mess. There's no saving that mold. It's a shame that he comes to mind when people think Titaniums because he's the exception and not the rule.

That Thundercracker you have posed above is missing a transformation step. You can swing the shoulders out and downwards so the shoulders and arms look better proportioned.

Awesome looking photos mpchi!

I would be all over a Masterpiece based on one or several of the movie designs. That thing would be über fun to transform if done right.

All the photos of Ultimate Bumblebee I've seen look like an overpriced Leader class to me. Surely they can do better than that.

All of the photos I've seen make the $10 Deluxe Bumblebee look like a piece of art compared to the ultimate one.

Sweet!

I forget what the Japanese names for these figures are. I'm not a Power Rangers fan. I don't watch the show, Japanese, Domestic or otherwise. I just like Voltron-ish robots with gimmicks which sets A thru D were in spades. The problem is that I wish I was as happy with these sets as I was sets A thru D. Why? Well, they took away what I loved about the previous sets: interchangeable pegging that let you peg vehicles together in ways that were or weren't originally intended. Sets F & G have a totally different sized pegging system that isn't at all compatible with the previous sets, but they are compatible with each other. Problem is that apart from the arms there's nothing else you can swap between the two that I've found so far. Combined robot modes are about 5" to 6" tall, just like previous Transmax sets.

Set G's the definite winner over the two. I get a definite Macross/Yamato vibe from the combined vehicle mode. What really does it is the "bridge" near the rear thrusters and the thrusters themselves, which while probably not thrusters because the vehicle has giant wheels for locomotion, look an awful lot like the Macross's thrusters anyway. The flat portions that become the upper thighs, although small, kind of resemble the deck of an aircraft carrier. The ship's armed to the hilt too. Robot mode is really nice with an effectively menacing color scheme. The upcoming repaint that's advertised on the back of the package is in all colors of the rainbow, so this is definitely the better color scheme. Articulation is ok. Thankfully the pegging for the arms and legs allows for a tiny bit of ball joint type motion so it allows for some dynamic poses that a strict 90 degree wouldn't have. There are no elbow or knee joints, unfortunately, but there is wrist rotation.

There's two negatives in Set G. First there's far more soft plastic than I would have liked. Three of the Five vehicles that make up this zord are made out of it. The second thing is that two of the five vehicles don't look like vehicles. Well, one of them does, kind of, but for some reason there's a huge gaping hole in the center of it which really blows the vehicle look. The other "vehicle" is essentially the legs and torso of the bot mode, and doesn't look like much of anything, especially with the pegging system being way too obvious when the other vehicles are detached.

Set F reminds me of that giant stone head Mr. Burns gave to the Simpsons as a gift. "Marge, what does it do?" "Homer, whatever it does, it's doing it right now." I think the Japanese normal sized version's gimmick was that it auto-transformed, which isn't going to happen on a 6" tall partforming replica. The only articulation is in the arms which rotate up and down and in the "wrists" which allow the front of the car arms to look more like fists. Unfortunately the cars only have a single peg attachment and can only ever be the arm they're molded to be. It looks ok in the combined mode despite the lack of any decent articulation. The other good point is that the three vehicles it forms looks decent with the body/firetruck being the weakest of the three, but not near as weak as the body vehicle in Set G.

I know I've sounded kind of negative throughout this little rant. These really are decent for their size and for $8 a set. I'm just really dissappointed that they changed the pegging system as I was really looking forward to adding more lego Voltron parts to Sets A thru D.

I think I've seen every Alternator ever at various local stores (definitely saw Swerve--I thought "ANOTHER vette???"). But I "got tired of them" after Tracks. Same 2 basic transformations basically. Considered Mirage, but never picked him up. Haven't seen any Alts for a while though.

I can understand the corvette dislike. Alt mode is awesome, bot mode is eh, articulation is ok, but the transformation is a huge pain in the ass especially when you're trying to manipulate the hood halves.

If you want a new alt, you NEED to get the Mirage mold in whatever color you can grab(Mirage/KP Rodimus/SDCC Rodimus). It's excellent in each and every mode and more than lives up to what the Alternator line promised.

I've got my Japan-release Starscream on preorder from LAFToys for $94. I don't care that it costs more than the WalMart special because this way I don't have to support WalMart, and I also think this version looks a lot better. And it's still far cheaper than a Yamato 1/48, which is roughly the same size toy, so there you go.

Has it been 100% confirmed there's no carbon scorch marks on the Japanese Walmart Starscream yet? I'll pay the extra to have one without them if it is.

The Ultimate Battle DVD that comes with the Megatron/Optimus classics two pack is a half hour commercial for the Unicron Trilogy of cartoons, and does an ok job of summarizing the factions and storyline. It's definitely not something you should try to pick up or watch.

A friend of mine had an extra pci video card with DVI and S-Video outputs that he gave me. I put it in my machine and crossed my figures. To my amazement, the plug and play plugged and played! This is a first! I didn't have to download any drivers or tweak any settings. It was completely headache free.

To test this I used both of the VGA and DVI inputs on my computer monitor, shared the desktop between the two video cards, and then manually switched sources on my monitor to verify it was all working like I wanted, which it was. The start bar was even behaving like I hoped it would. I'll need to get one of those extension cables that people linked above for the setup I want. I figure I'll use the DVI output for the HDTV, and the VGA(my old card) for my computer monitor.

Thanks for the advice/help/links, peeps.

This and the recent Screamer mentions in the TF thread gives me an excuse to share a pic of my Screamer collection.

I'm awaiting the G1 repaint of movie Screamer to add to the assortment. My normal movie Screamer(with kitbashed Doc Ock hands) is on a different shelf with my other movie figures.

If you are running Windows XP or newer, all you need is a video card with two output ports and good amount of memory on it. However, one of the monitor (the 2th one I think) must use the digital (DVI usually) output of the video card for Windows the recognize it, a DVI to VGA cable work fine. You can hook up as many monitors to your pc as long as you have slots for the video card, but as you know you can only have one AGP card in there. In the Display properties in Windows de-select the checkbox to expend desktop, apply changes and you should be ok. Or the easiest, add a video and let pnp figure it out.

If you are on Linux then I don't think you can at the moment.

I'm a little confused.

I need a single video card that has multiple outputs?

Or

I can put as many video cards as I have free slots into my machine?

Does anyone know if it's easy to take apart the 6" War Within Titanium Starscream toy in order to repaint it? Since the line's getting cancelled, there will not be a Skywarp version and I'd like to have one to complete the seekers in their WWI modes (Starscream, Tundercracker, Sunstorm). I'm a beginner level kitbasher so taking things apart is a chore to me if it requires a lot of work other than finding the screws.

You gave me an excuse to pick my Titanium Screamer off the shelf.

Everything's held together by regular phillips head screws and they're located in areas where you'd expect them. The only exception is for the wing halves that become the central dorsal wing in alt mode. That's held together by pins that you should be able to tap out. Actually, being a Titanium is going to be to your benefit for kitbashing, because he's a relatively simple design like most Titaniums.

Personally, I think this is a pretty nice mold, especially for a tetrajet, and the diecast is in the proper places.

Target reset, and like everywhere else---lots of new "stuff" but no deluxe/voyager toys.

"Robot replicas" look nice at first, but taking a good look----the sculpting is "soft" and all the paint apps are gone. Compared to his packaging, Barricade lost ALL his gold accents and his red ones. He suffers from "utter blackness" like Ironhide now. His molding just isn't crisp enough compared to other figures of that style IMHO. SW unleashed are better done.

Given how well most of the regular figures are, I just feel no need to get a Robot Replica. Except maybe for Frenzy. I'd rather have the transformation gimmick and a good looking poseable figure rather than just a good looking poseable figure.

Have you seen how many KO Transformers G1 packages and figures have come out? There are so many of them now. This Devastator gift set one is just crazy. If people are able to KO the box, styrofoam, instructions, and sticker sheet, WTH has Hasbro or Takara not reissued this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Transformers-Remake-G1...1QQcmdZViewItem

I had thought the reason the constructicons weren't reissued was because they no longer had the original molds. The KOs you've seen on ebay are from self made molds of the existing toys. Same case with the dinobots, I believe.

I'm not feeling at all confident about finding any more Titaniums. For the ones that have been "released" like G1 Magnus, you're not going to come by it cheap. We really did need a Galvatron and Cyclonus. At least Galvatron is slated for Classics 2.0

Here's a pic of my "86 Movie Poster" styled display mainly featuring Titaniums which I'm really happy with. Also pictured below is a mini Fortress Maximus knock off I happened on that is of surprising good quality and detail. And lastly is a Movie Voyager Starscream which I've just "kitbashed" by hacking off and trimming the excess rubber off of the top arm claws of a Doc Ock from the recent Spiderman figure line so he has hands like in the movie. It was surprisingly easy and looks very good too. Easily removeable. I'm trying to find a way to store them in vehicle mode. Somewhere near the feet is where there's space, plus it'll look kind of like rear thrusters which unfortunately the mold is lacking.

http://www.scala.com/hardware/dvi-vga-cable.html

That site will list the distances possible with various cable types at various resolutions. This will probably be the determining factor.

Both monitors are in the same room, and I figure 15 feet should cover me for what I need with some slack.

I'll be interested to see how well the display stand cup holds up to the extra weight of fast packs as well.

That's my big concern too.

I was going to make a new thread for this, but I guess I should try here first.

I have a 1.8Ghz Dell w 1 gig ram and lots of disk space.

Right now it's hooked up to a 20" lcd monitor via vga, but it also has DVI and S-Video inputs. I recently picked up a 42" HD Westinghouse LCD tv that has every input imaginable and then some.

I don't want to move my computer mouse & keyboard and computer monitor from where I'm currently using it. Nor do I want to move my big screen tv. But I want to be able to use my computer on my bigscreen from time to time. I already have a cordless mouse and keyboard, so that's part of the problem solved.

What I think will solve my problem is a video card with dual outputs that work either simultaneously(preferably) or alternately. The setup I want will also require that one of the monitors be a distance from the cpu unit, so I need a video alternative that allows for long cabling. I also don't want to upgrade my computer.

So is such a thing possible? I've been out of the computer loop for quite a long time(purposefully so).

Just about to post that here as well. As for the pictures of the third seeker, it's gotta be Thundercracker. The left is most likely Starscream due to the more realistic colors and the top right is actually more of a bluish hue... I hope we get some kind of confirmation and pics. soon.

I can't be the only one, but when I look at that seeker on the right, it looks like MP Starscream to me in all his miscolored seaweed bluish-green glory.

I'd expect TakaraTomy to put out an MP Screamer with anime colors and crown/cape accessories before TC. I'm still surprised MP Skywarp looks as good as he does in both modes.