VF-1Guy

Sorry? At no point did Hasbro or Takara officially reveal Dead End's mold was Sunstreaker, nor were there any package pics of him called Sunstreaker. The only reason we know he was originally Sunstreaker (besides the head) was that old test shot with the molded 'bot symbol. This Wheeljack is way ahead of that. Oficially, Dead End stole Sunstreaker's BT body. That is why he looks like him. You would have thought that they would have at least taken the time to change his head. Especially since the raised Autobot insignia was removed. I have two Dead Ends on the way. (Local stores never got them in) One is being repainted back into Sunstreaker, the other is gettting his "ears" removed, and new head details added, so that he no longer looks like Sunstreaker. Again, officially, at no point did Hasbro or Takara refer to this as being the mold for BT Sunstreaker. Yes, its obvious that it was meant to be Sunstreaker initially, as Swindle was meant to be Trailbreaker, but officially, they never referred to either as such because fans bitched and wanted Decepticons. The Dead End bio story was written by Hirofumi Ichikawa - a fan and illustraitor at Takara. He even made references to GI Joe characters, so its not exactly an official explanation from either company, is it? My issue with the first quote was the wording appears to suggest that while this Wheeljack was retooled with WJ's head, has the name Wheeljack on his packaging and license plate, he's probably going to end up with another name like Dead End. GF Guardshell and Gaskett are out http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/thread65997.html I'm sorry that my attempt at humor got your undies in a bunch. I simply used the old Sunstreaker debate in my post to add some tension before the reader clicked the thread to see that the obvious name of Wheeljack is in fact the production name. I made absolutely no statement that the official name for Deadend was EVER Sunstreaker nor did I state, or imply, that the official name for Wheeljack will change. Note that my first sentence does not mention the name, it simply refers to the mold that looks like Wheeljack (thus building dramatic tension) much like the Deadend testshots looked like Sunstreaker. Again, I am sorry that my attempt at humor has resulted in a tirade against longtime members of this community.

The Wheeljack looking Alternator has been offically named. Sure, the figure looks like Wheeljack, but we all remember how poor Sunstreaker turned out (for the better IMHO). I'm warning you, you may be disappointed if you click the link.

I'm putting any refund I get into savings. I'm debt free (aside from the car which is on a 0% loan) and I have all the Macross stuff I need right now. Tax software is a great alternative to paying for a tax professional - it leads you through the process and asks all the pertinent questions. Since you're using the standard deduction it may just be easier to fill out the forms. The 1040 is fairly straightforward if you don't have to worry about itemizing, education, capital gains/losses, etc.

This is the second attempt for Toy Biz to penetrate this market. The first attempt was a couple years ago and was more like Ani-morphs. The line features somewhat normal looking versions of heros that transformed into animals or weapons. The second series never made it to stores. Spidey => bat (huh??) Rhino => rhino Hulk => monster Punisher => gun Iron Man => axe (huh?) This attempt looks more interesting since the little guys are pilots for the vehicle/bot.

Maybe by the size of the screws and the holes in the fist as mentioned by Fit for Natile above?

I've done the 11 hour 6 day a week thing. You get used to it. Mistakes do happen, but not near as many as you would expect. The 11 hour 7 day a week period is the one that seems extreem to me. It can also be argued that this was probably managements plan all along. Deadlines in games, software and electronics industry is all important. Everyone wants to get the product to market first to enjoy a period w/o competition. Marketing windows are very small and very tight. Being just a week late can translate into a significant loss of profits. For anyone who is thinking about what career to pursue, it is a very good idea to talk to people who have worked in the field for a while. Try to talk to people from different sized companies so that you can see what is a general trend and what is specific to a certain company. Engineering and software development are very intense occupations that require a lot of sacrafices. Also, take some times to think about the implications of your work so that you understand the pressure and the stresses. Having a bug in game software is no big deal. Having a bug in aerospace electronics or software can result in a loss of life. Medicine is of course the same, probably much worse. I often envy my cousin in his 9-5 w/ paid overtime factory job.

The intensity at EA does seem extreem, but the concept is not uncommon. I have been in a crunch since I got my degree - and I've worked at 4 different companies. The paragraph about comp time is fairly typical. There is usually little to no time to relax after a crunch is over since the new project is already behind schedule. Comp time is usually something you work out with your manager and it is usually a day or two here and there. It is hard to let an entire team leave for a week or two. Giving extra vacation doesn't help since most people end up maxing out on vacation accural due to the continual crunch state. The 'shut up or leave' mentality is pretty common in Silicon Valley right now. There is a sentiment that jobs are hard to come by so you should be happy to have one. I don't like it, but it is a reality and I am happy to have a job. I've seen plenty of layoffs in my career.

They aren't salary? If not, they have a sweet deal since they have the potential to get overtime pay. I work at a software company and everyone is salary (except maybe the administrative assistants). I rountinely work 50 hours+ per week (70 when deadlines are near), but yet my check never changes. It is just the way things are done in my industry. I haven't had an hourly wage since college. I guess this is what I get for being able to call myself a professional .

I read the promotion details before posting the few items I had. IIRC, it was $0.10 for all regular items - things like cars and real estate was excluded. The auctions with gallery pictures would have cost $0.35 ($0.10+$0.25). Notice that he stopped with the gallery after the first 5. The total cost was probably $5.35.

It seems a lot of people are passing on Windcharger. I wonder if this will be the next Sideswipe, King of the Shelf Warmers. Personally, I haven't liked any of the convertibles. There is not much on the horizion in the alt/BT line for me right now... Blue Tracks - pass Grimlock - love it Swindle - pass Windcharger - pass, maybe the repaint will be better Ravage - pass Shockwave - undecided, but leaning toward passing Grimlock Repaint - waiting to see the BT I think that Ravage would be a lot better if a couple of parts were replaced. First, the chest should be more like the Japanese Beast Wars Neo? Jaguar. Having a car roof as a chest when the vehicle mode is a convertible is silly. Second, the hands should be claws and/or the arm cannons should be large retractable claws. Third, the feet should be more cat like (multi toed). I think that these small changes would make for a very interesting cat-man robot mode. Is this going to be named Jaguar in Japan since that is a different make of car?

Responses to a couple above questions/comments... 1. There is minimal diecast. All I've noticed is the little feet (the pads between the larger sections of the feet) and the heel. I wouldn't want diecast in this toy since large pieces flop around everwhere during the transformation. I think it would be undo stress. The VB-6 is nice and solid with the plastic. 2. I don't think that the gap between the body and the wing is avoidable even if the clips were reversed. I played around with moving the legs and the gap is always present. The gap does get a little smaller if the wing is pressed forward, however a new gap appears at the front of the wing (and looks much worse than the existing gap IMHO). I don't need to move the leg back and lock it in on my VB since there is enough tension to hold the wing on the leg. I did notice that if the clip was reversed that it would probably be possible to slide the back leg panel (the one near the heel) back to put the peg into the slot and then slide it forward to lock it into place. Maybe it is on backwards and maybe its not. I can't tell for sure.

The auctions ended without ever being updated. Looking back, this was indeed 41 auctions for a low viz with an opening bid of $700. Ebay Madness indeed.

Great pictures! I really like the plaques that you made to go along with your collection. I came home to find my monster waiting on the couch - yesh, that box is huge. After 20 minutes of cutting through Toy-Wave's bubble wrap I finally got to see the box . I have to say that I'm impressed with this toy. The colors are nice, the transformation is interesting, all three modes look decent and its huge. Gerwalk is great. It looks like the holes on the arms are going to break eventually, but it shouldn't affect the transformation. The peg can still go into what is left after the thin side breaks off. The problem is that the peg is square and kinda big. It doesn't help that its such a tight fit. Is the nose supposed to point up a little in shuttle mode? Also, is there supposed to be a big gap behind the nose section (the one that goes all the way through). I'm not sure if its the design or if I'm doing something wrong.

Mine is waiting for me at home. Too bad that the traffic has me stuck in the office until 7 tonight!

I read a story on a TF board somewhere (can't remember where) that stated that many of Dreamwave's assets were transferred to a new company called Dreamengine which is headed by one of the brothers. It may be that Dreamwave is doing some reorging and emerging as a new entity (tax evasion? ). It seems odd to me that Dreamwave would just cease operations instead of trying to sell the properties and assests to another publisher. This makes me think it is more of a reorg/spinoff than an outright closure. Here's another article. Not the one I was looking for but intresting none the less. http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/...tg&article=2054