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technoblue

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  1. technoblue
    Right. They are a better media store (CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays) then they are a collectibles store.
  2. technoblue
    Hey, you're welcome, Valkyrie Hunter D! But don't take my word for it, here's a quote from Captain Harlock himself: "You may not think much of it, but if you are a true man, you'll come aboard the Arcadia. And you'll fight with us under the flag of freedom."
  3. technoblue
    Wow. Desperate times call for yesasia?
  4. technoblue
    I find that I agree with Marzan about Aldnoah Zero. At the very least, I was hoping to get one or two episodes of character development for the supporting cast before the writers jumped to the big reveal. For instance:
  5. technoblue
    You're welcome! Getting the original blue Arcadia (even as the Deathshadow) would be great. The Yamato is about 425mm and the Arcadia is about 470mm, with everything attached. I'm not sure how that translates into scale, though. Sure thing! Yeah, only three gun and three missile batteries compared to the Yamato's "porcupine" defenses. I almost thought that this set would come with the bayonet battering ram that was a hallmark of the blue Arcadia, but I guess it didn't make the cut for accessories. And another gimmick that I was almost expecting was an LED gimmick for the skull and crossbones on the bow. But this is more accurate to the animation than the CGI movie, and I don't recall glowing skull eyes outside of the film. Yeah, this would be a wicked deal at that price.
  6. technoblue
    Wow. Repainting the deck might have slowed you down, William, but I love the result. Very cool indeed.
  7. technoblue
    I apologize for gushing, but I have to say it. The Arcadia is one cool ship and the GX-67 is a fantastic addition to the Soul of Chogokin Space Battleship line up. For those of you into Harlock or the Leijiverse in general this release will be a treat. My first impression was of the box: it's taller and longer than the GX-64 Yamato that came out before it. Like the Yamato, the Arcadia comes with a black plastic base plate and two types of molded stand attachments for displaying the piece. One style offers up an action pose with the Arcadia seemingly blasting off to points unknown. The other style keeps everything level. Sadly, the Arcadia does not come with any of its snub fighters often featured in the TV series. Those would have been a neat addition. All is not lost, though, since you can display Maetel's ride, the Galaxy Express 999 alongside instead. Also, like the Yamato, other notable gimmicks on the GX-67 are movable gun turrets, light up LEDs, and a remote that triggers multiple sound effects. That said, I do think the GX-64 has more included gimmicks than the GX-67. From stem to stern, the Yamato and the Arcadia are almost the same length. I think the Arcadia's poop deck may have a few millimeters on the Yamato's wave motion engine (and it's certainly longer with the Jolly Roger pegged in), but I don't have any exact measurements. The two ships do look good together. Note the sharp pointy bits in the pic below aft of the conning tower. Those are delicate pieces to be aware of, and they like to catch on loose threads of clothing. Two characteristics that are hard to miss are the Arcadia's girth and wing span. The svelte Yamato is dwarfed by both. Almost the entire bow of the Arcadia is made out of die-cast metal. This little ship has some weight to it. And finally here's a parting shot amidships with a Hershy Hug for reference.
  8. technoblue
    Habro/TT lost me when they got rid of the Prime line. That was the hook that held my attention for a while before I discovered the MP line. Once Prime went away and reduced paint apps and simplistic transformations became commonplace, I was done. I've been ignoring all combiner wars news. The only MP-less sized toys that I collect are the Wreckers. I have Sandstorm and Springer (Hasbro), and Whirl and Roadbuster (TT). The new fembots look interesting too, but I haven't budged on them either.
  9. technoblue
    Sure! I'll set some up when I get home from work later.
  10. technoblue
    Highlighted for effect. I have only been disappointed by two masterpieces: the KO MP-10 that I took a risk on and that was riddled with QC issues (I discovered these after trying to transform it) and the MP-8X reissue from last year. My thoughts on that release match Gakken's word for word (almost--my MP-8X arrived in a melted clamshell case). I think it's interesting how the MP-10 mold continues to hold up, whereas the MP-8 mold degraded to being a floppy mess. But enough about that. How about more Magnus? Forty minutes of Magnus! Emgo is fond of it. And I'm finding that the transformation of MP-22 is half the fun of big blue.
  11. technoblue
    I picked one up during HLJ's November sale.
  12. technoblue
    I'm thinking of doing the same thing. My TT Asia-release MP-10 is in good shape with no major design flaws and excellent paint apps. I have a pre-order in at HLJ that I'm keeping while I weigh the pros and cons. It seems that each MP-10 release has been getting better and better, and I will keep my pre-order at HLJ if this reissue continues that trend.
  13. technoblue
    Wow. The MP-10 Takara reissue is great news. A better buy than the KO if you like transforming Optimus back and forth between modes, IMO. The leg fix didn't work on my KO because a number of the screws were overtightened and/or stripped beyond being usable. I also don't like the fitment of the MP-10 KO in truck mode. It's a mess. MP-21G is nice, but I think I'm going to sit this one out. I already have the battle mask for Bumble.
  14. technoblue
    Action Robo finally came through with MP-10 EVA this morning. My copy is on its way. This could be good news for those waiting on other retailers too. BBTS also has new stock, but at a higher price: http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=TAK11905&mode=retail
  15. technoblue
    Those funbux do come in handy. With that and a small PayPal balance, I was able to manage CDJ's preorder rules. That's correct. CC payments are charged when the item ships. Paypal is charged ahead of time.
  16. technoblue
    Phew! Saved again by CDJapan.
  17. technoblue
    LoL. Same.
  18. technoblue
    For sure. I have the Bandai Entertainment DVDs, which are stereo only. I'm holding onto them for as long as they last since I want to keep a copy of the stereo mix. The first two things that impressed me with the BDs were the multi-channel audio and the clean visuals. The Bebop DVDs need good hardware to clean up all the artifacting and noise in the picture. The BDs are just pure by design. Also, I prefer the Blu-ray navigation menu. That has more to do with how often I've played my DVDs, though. Those DVD menus are repetitive.
  19. technoblue
    Japan is GMT + 9 hours. EST is GMT - 5 hours For example, now it is 2221 EST but 1221 in Japan. Us east coast folks will need a lot of caffeine for this one.
  20. technoblue
    As someone who has seen the show multiple times, I think Bebop is one of those rare cases where the original voice cast and the English voice cast were both excellent and captured the characters well. The visuals from the Blu-ray are a treat.
  21. technoblue
    Ugh. I didn't really want something like the original G1 toy. A friend of mine had him when I was a kid, and the G1 toy was even more of a brick. Compared to that toy, MP-22 is stellar. When I think of a powered armor set, I think of FansProject's TFX-01 City Commander set for Classics Ultra Magnus. Something like that for the Masterpiece line would've been wicked. It's too bad it wasn't in the cards this time.
  22. technoblue
    Good review, Gakken. You raise a number of fair points. I REALLY agree with you about the compromises made to get this guy out the door. A white Convoy in armor should have been the ultimate goal. That said, I also appreciate what we did get. I hope TT revisits City Commander's design in the future. For now, bring on Star Saber!
  23. technoblue
    For video playback only? Sure. Any modern Intel integrated graphics solution should work well in your scenario. The comparable i7 4790K gives you Hyperthreading and more L3 cache, which is nice for multitasking. I would recommend a dedicated GPU as a good choice only if you are interested in PC gaming at 4K resolutions.
  24. technoblue
    Having fun with MP Ultra Magnus... This big boy can be very dynamic, but I still find myself wishing for some waist articulation to finish off sweet poses, even if he had a simple limited joint. Again, I'm also really impressed with the head sculpt on MP-22--and the standard face that comes fit out of the box. The head has a lot of articulation and is easy to move around and pose at different angles. I was pleasantly surprised by this, seeing as how Magnus's chest and shoulders are quite blocky. I thought the blockiness might interfere, but it does not. The white shins/ramps come laying flat on two blue tabs, which spaces them apart from the legs by a quarter of an inch or so. This has caused some controversy. I'm not bothered by it, but it was cool to see that you can optionally place these pieces behind the blue tabs to reduce the gap significantly. Note that in this close-up shot I tried to enhance the gap effect for the sake of comparison (left leg-forward: standard transformation, right leg-rear: alternate transformation). The cab doesn't look bad from the side either. IMO. I like how it is hinged so that you can get it out of the way altogether if you don't like it or move it slightly for certain poses. This is UM's under-side profile. I do think a second hinge would have helped satisfy most complaints, though. Now to try and transform him!
  25. technoblue
    Thanks, frothymug. The covers are pretty handy. Thanks, MacrossJunkie! And yes, the tabletop does go on the steering wheel platform. It comes with some Velcro as a temporary solution, but I've been reading that most owners drill the holes and make a permanent mount. I have to set aside some time and get it done, along with the other things on my to-do list (like adding lighting to my two detolf cabinets). Sweet! A friend of mine has TM's Warthog too, and I was able to spend some time with it. Comparing the out-of-the box improvements of the new HOTAS to the out-of-the box Cougar...well, it's no contest. The x-y transition in the stick is almost non-existent (like my modded stick) and the dual throttle set up is very, very nice. I like your Simped combat pedals too. The toe-breaks are tempting. My old Elite rudder pedals are fixed and haven't been modded for breaks. The get the job done, though, so I'm not in a rush to change them out at the moment. Anyway, how do you like your new kit? It looks like quite the upgrade from your X-55 set up. The Cougar HOTAS covers are something I picked up years ago. A kind husband and wife team put them together for those of us on furgalsworld.com back when the site was still around. I think there was someone doing Warthog covers too when it first was released, but he seems to have stopped production. When he stopped, taobao started making copies: http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.5.w4002-3465520864.31.cLBDgr&id=16836799552 The covers are made out of fleece, so if you are good with a needle or a sewing machine then DIY may also be an option. Not yet, but it is on the list. HeeHee, I have a lot of catching up to do.
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