mpchi

Yeah, Broadblast and Kiss Rodimus are among my favorite BTs. Very well balanced all around in both modes without chunky feet or very big blocky body parts. Rodimus particular has a very cool looking head, probably the best head sculpt I like in the whole line. Surprised how they worth so much these days. Good that I bought early. I guess its kind of hard to include the fishing rod/gun in Hasbro Rodimus, as its an accessory that doesn't go into the car mode in any way. Given Hasbro's tradition (less plastic, less paint, less cost) of not having accessories in Alt, I doubted they'll make an exception just to make fans happy. To me, while the Alt has some cool versions that BT doesn't have, the whole line is more or less about cutting corners to lower the cost, while maximizing the mold usage & profit. Just that it sucks on our end if we are looking for more in the toys and don't mind paying a little more.

US$99 plus shipping. Not cheap at all... even though it used to be even worse. Added a few quick snaps from my work desk.

Evil Bay.

I hear ya. I am at the verge of running out shelf space as well. Though for this trailer, you can stand it vertically as a repair bay in the background. Doesn't hurt too bad. But as a trailer, yeah. This thing is gigantic. LOL. This version supposedly a couple inches longer than the MP-04 version, for better proportion I heard.

MP-01 Trailer KO (upscaled G1 Trailer replica) http://www.tfw2005.com/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/972 I got mine last night. Overall, a solid piece, but not without flaws of course. The build quality is very good in terms of parts fitment & sturdiness, which is a surprise for non-licensed stuff. No floppy joints, plastic are thick enough, and accessories fit tight and sturdy on pegs. The trailer shell may get tricky opening/closing at first. But once you got it, it gets easier after a few tries, especially after the tabs break in. It even got exact matching wheels with rubber of MP Prime. Very nice. In terms of finish, the grey plastic that forms the shell of the trailer is excellent. Very smooth and shiny just like a Hasbro or Takara piece. Though on the blue and black plastic pieces, they don't have the same finish. Much rougher with blemishes here and there that reminds you this is a 'Knock-Off' still. Some of my blue parts has a couple stress marks too, but that is just mine. Though the blue plastic color does match MP Prime's blue very good. Almost spot on, minus the metallic flakes on MP Prime's blue. Gimmicks work very well. Missiles shoots well and the spring for ejecting the Roller is pretty powerful. Its loud . The stickers has a glossy sheen on top, not bad. Though the blue stripes for the side often has small specs in the blue that is not meant to be printed there. So its not going to be all clean and perfect. But stickers seem to stick very well. For those that don't care for the retro look, not having any inner stickers actualy don't look as plain as you would expect in person, due to its scale. Looks nice still. Being a 'Knock-Off' non-licensed product, its quality is pretty high. Though you can still see a big difference versus licensed product. It has its good (functionality, fitment and size) and its bad (plastic finish, flaws on print, less contemporary look, way over priced). So its overall a satisfied purchase and makes Prime a whole lot bigger and cooler, with the fuctionality of the G1 trailer that a lot people missed on the MP-04 trailer. But it definitely doesn't justify the price if you just look at the quality alone, especially if you are a budget oriented collector. Though for me, I am just glad to have a trailer for Prime at last. I'll give it a 7/10. A solid alternative if you like the trailer G1 style better, or missed the boat on getting MP-04 cheap when it first released.

Yeah, The second batch will be available around December. As I played with it more, I did find a couple more loose bits. A tread on the arm and a small flip out wing. Nothing big. As long as you find something this guy can lean on to get rid of the weight/balance issue, you can pull off some very dynamic action poses with this guy. Very nice!

Finally got my Ideon! Yay!!! The Eternal Wait saga has finally reached its end (preordered January and didn't get it until last night), and my beloved SOC Ideon is at hand. It might be a little late, but here is my comment on the toy after a few hours of play time and a few transformation. Probably the heaviest gokin in my collection, and quality is top notch. Ranks very high among other SOCs on my book, but not too sure if it really takes the crown as the very best yet. Have to give it more time to tell. My biggest gripe on Ideon is the hip joints. Its great that they did beef up the Voltes hip design to compensate the additional weight. But its simply not enough. The joints are sturdy and tight enough, but this thing is easily twice as heavy as Voltes V. It begs to have some very tight ratchets in there to keep the figure from being slanting and off balance. Again, the hips are no where floppy by any means. But we are talking the heaviest SOC here that is over 1.3kg. It needs more hip support from some spring loaded ratchet joints. While I was posing and handling the guy, there were already a couple incidents that he flopped backwards at the hip, almost yield to a crash landing. Luckily I caught it in time. When this big guy falls, its not going to be pretty for sure. While the overall QC is very good, there are still minor things like occasional paint overspray on details, a small crack on mine on a piece of plastic at the waist, and a loose toe joint on one leg. Good that the toe flips down for transformation, not up for articulation. So it doesn't hurt the balance at all. Though they sealed the screw with tight covers that I doubted I can open up the feet and do some fixing without scratching the perfect looking feet. But at least it doesn't hurt the figure much overall. Though a few minor gripes, Bandai did a lot of things right this time. A LOT! Transformation is not hard, just a lot of small bits and panels to flip over. But man! Its a marvel to behold. It may not have the origami style cleverness in Gunbuster's transformation engineering, but the way that Bandai used almost every single mm on the figure inside out to hide or space out all the stuff and flipping panels, its just too darn cool. It would be really interesting to see a Ideon in clear plastic, seeing exactly how everything is packed in every part of its body. Another great achievement on the SOC line. Great job Bandai. Parts fitment is great. When I put on the shoulder flaps while assembling for the first time, I can tell already that this toy is going to be good. The long rectangular peg slides in soooo snug (without being overly tight) that its like a perfect fitment. As I go along, everything else fits and combines very well too. Only the accessories like the Ideon Swords pales a little as the caps that goes with them don't fit that well on the fists. Not bad, but just ok. Not something fit very nice and tight that the figure can wield around in different poses without having those fall off. But on the main figure, everything fits perfectly. And love the ankle ball joint. Very sturdy with awesome support that Voltes & Gunbuster lack. Bet there is some springs in there to keep it tight and lessen the wear/looseness. If only the hips are ratcheted and more sturdy, this would no doubt be my favorite SOC, regardless the QC issues mine has. Big Dan on the other hand still feels like a solid rock whenever you hold or display it, Thanks to ratchets all over that guy. You really have to push hard to knock that guy down LOL, though Ideon does have more flexibilty in posing. There are also a couple areas you do want to pay more attention to. The plastic spine on B Mecha that the big torso parts slides up & down, as well as the small side wings/flap on the waist that secures the combination of B & C Mecha. They can be a bit fragile if you don't handle them right. And once you broke those pieces, your Ideon combination is going to say bye bye. So be careful with those. One thing I found out kind of interesting is that, in all the pics Bandai used on the package & instructions, they always took pictures at an angle or pose that hides the red diecast rectangular tabs on the shoulders (on the torso right besides the neck, not on the arms). They stick out quite a bit in robot mode actually, but I never noticed their existance until now. Guess Bandai really did their homework on taking those pics, hiding that flaw. ;D The Ideon anime has a very special place in my anime collection, and this SOC no doubt lives up to that standard among my toy collection as well. If you don't own one, you are missing out.

True. Very true. Though I do like that aspect of the show, Especially when they turn it up a notch towardds the end of TV, as well as the OVAs. Kind of a little surprise when compared to the beginning of the show, when he just look like a regular tough guy with a little luck.

So LOL.

Haha. No need to save this guy really. He just can't die even if you want him to LOL.

The show looks very good. Th CG a bit need to get used to, as they don't even seem like trying to blend into the cell animation. But things look very detailed, so more likely we are getting some quality stuff. Not a cheap project just trying to cash in with the franchise's name....like those recent Fist of the North Stars movies. Guess I'll just have to keep buying these DVDs.

Minor update with some added silver highlight. Not too visible in the pic since Ratchet is white, but you can tell by the reflection on some of the body details when react to the same light, especially on the thigh & lower arm areas. Before. After. Not too bad for a 30 minute touch up with a silver marker.

Dude...I can't help but LOL on the sight of that Q-Rau. Don't mean to make fun of your painful experience by any means. Really sucks that that happened. But the way the figure was so completely crushed its beyond my knowledge. Haven't seen a toy can be this damaged in package. At least the Seiya ones should be in better shape, as they have their diecast Cloth to protect them. But still, they'll need their Eighth Sense to survive a hit like that. Yeah. Toy-wave is pretty good. Pricey shipping (they calculate weight after all their packaging, not on the item alone. so expect to pay more than the price on their shipping price chart, especially if you want to add a box) and you pay for the 4% paypal surcharge they pose on you. But otherwise, good service. I use them as my backup source if I can't find things elsewhere. In terms of Seiya stuff, I do end up going to them often.

Haha. Kudos to Hasbro on this one.

Its been out for a little while already. Probably for about a month or so. Just that scalpers are in the works...as usual. Can't stand the original green version. The neon green with red accent just don't look right to me, so this will be the movie Ratchet in my collection instead. Heard that the Rescue Ratchet may not be abundant in the reissue cases. Only one assortment case (out of like 7 or 8 different cases variations) has one per case. So even when the next big wave of figures re-surfaces, we may not see Rescue Ratchet much. So keep that in mind if you want one. Though being white makes all the rough paintjob flaws show that much more. Might go back and pretty it up more if I have time.

Hissatsu! Ratchet KIIIIIIIIICK!!!

While failed miserably finding this guy locally, I managed to snatch one on ebay at original price plus shipping. Added a rough dirt wash, this Rescue Ratchet turned out pretty sweet. In terms of the figure, its a great voyager class design. No tricky bits on transformation and easy to remember. The robot while pretty chunky, is very poseable. I was skeptical when people mentioned this, but I finally see it for myself. He can pose very well, and excellent balance in moderate poses. The cockpit is a bit flimpsy in vehicle mode, but not super bad. Another good one from the TF Movie bunch. However, when it comes to QC, man...its terrible on the one I got. Both upper arm swivel is super loose. Loose right hip joint, as well as right knee. That knee doesn't even ratchet like the left. Also half of the rear bumper piece is also very loose. Seems like there is a lot of issue in parts fitment. Not to mentioned a badly glued rear mirror on one side. Thanks Hasbro. Great work right there! Luckily, almost all those pieces can be easily disassembled and fixed. Now its a lot more solid. So bottom line, great figure, bad QC.

Really? I thought Prime balance really well. The knees bend about your standard 80-90 degree. Nothing too impressive, but decent enough. The ankle ball joints on mind is very sturdy and tight, as if re-inforced by spring inside. So don't expect it to be a revoltech, but the joints on Prime is good enough to pull some good action pose, without worrying about falling. The knees and ankles can bend quite a bit more than shown in this pic, while the figure won't get knock down unless you really push it hard. And you can move the wheels so they don't get in the way and flaps backwards.

Yeah, Leader Prime is usually priced US$40. The Leader Prime bundle with a mini Jazz and Bumblebee is the Costco exclusive that is actually cheaper, going for $35, since Costco is a big discount store chain. So don't go for the ones with high markup. From what I know, the Prime in it is exactly the same as the regular version. And in terms of Leader Prime, the Takara version is the same as US, minus an added sticker or something on the package.

A comparison pic just for kicks.

Rise Leader Class! Rise!!! Finally get to finish my Leader Megatron. Took a lot more work, time & paint to bring it up to this OK looking level (still very playable and a bit rough, but better looking than stock), when both Prime and Brawl just need a weathering wash & some silver highlight touch up. Megatron need quite a few more layers of paint. And the silver paint just smear all over your hand without a good layer of clear coat. I used (Model Master Laquer Overcoat # 1959) semi-gloss to better match the 'not so shiny look' on the other two. Turned out pretty good with no bubbling. Pretty happy with the results. Toy-wise, I would rank them as follow: Leader Prime - 9/10 Hands down a great toy, aside the slightly off proportion and chunkiness. Great construction, very nice spring ratchet joints and weight balance, fun transformation, nice truck mode, with nice gimmick and clever automorph. Other than a slightly nicer sculpt and joints on the wrists & waist, I can't really ask for more at this $40 price. Leader Brawl - 8.5/10 Brawl is very nice. Almost as good as Prime, but feel a bit more fiddly due to all the smaller parts and weapons hanging all over. And some of his ratchets(arms) are not as nicely built as Prime's. But articulation is just about as good as Prime's, minus the nice ankle ball joints. Brawl also got the best light & sound gimmick, with multiple ways to trigger/change the sound effects. His robot mode might look a bit funky, but sure he packed a lot of firing power LOL (with at least one weapon on every limb), and a awesome tank mode. Leader Megatron - 7/10 (6/10 if stock) Hands down the sucky guy among the three. Articulation is low with either small movement range joints or with stuff getting in the way. Flimpsy toes that can't support weight due to the legs automorph design, making Megatron often off balance and hard to do action pose without falling. Jet mode is not too bad. Nice wing span and wing folding automorph too. But how the head rested is pretty odd. Really ugly paint job with funny pink parts too. Arm gimmicks are fun, but only if you swap the springs in the arms. So Megatron can be kind of nice, but it needs a lot of work and fixing to get there.

Its a MOOK! Mook = Magazine Book. A special side book release published by Dengeki Hobby magazine, covering all the TF toys to date, with the Movie toys being the main highlight. It says it covers over 190 TF toys in there. Toywave has a couple pages of scan. Give you a better idea what it is. http://www.toy-wave.com/eng/detail.php?id=9395&table=88

http://www.hlj.com/product/MDW23992 Looks like a pretty good TF toy mook just came out.

Wow, thats pretty cool.

Think the bright red on this Red Shoulder Custom is meant to be a little off, since in the show, Vanilla picked a wrong red color and sprayed on the wrong shoulder. The real future Red Shoulder release should have a deeper darker red. Though metallic, I am not so sure. It may not match well with the whole matte finsh paint hob.