RavenHawk

20 hours ago, Bobby said:

This sums up my feelings towards my ownership of the Freeing E=X Garland...

It's super fiddly. It won't stay together in bike mode or robot mode. I have it attached to a stand from a different model kit right now... and dang but it looks gorgeous, as long as you don't touch it.

That said, I'm still going to reiterate what I said before: The more I transform it, the more fun it is. It has really grown on me. If it just had leg/knee/ankle/heel joints that stayed in place in robot mode, and the legs stayed in place in bike mode, it would be fantastic, in my opinion.

But I do like the gifs.

5 hours ago, Lexomatic said:

Aldnoah.Zero ("ΛLDNOΛH.ZERO") (2014 to 2015), on the recommendation of a panel at Philcon 2018, via Hulu. The most interesting part is young male protagonist Inaho "Nao" KAIZUKA, who has an almost Vulcan demeanor, and the talent to quickly spot the scientific principle in each enemy mecha attack and its inherent vulnerability.

Premise: During the Apollo missions (1972), humans find remnants of an ancient supercivilization on the moon, with a hypergate to Mars. A scientist is recognized by the techbase and given the heritable ability to activate its power supply ("aldnoah"); he declares himself emperor of Mars ("Vers") and attracts a bunch of people to be nobles in his newfangled feudal system. During subsequent hostilities with Earth (1999), the hypergate explodes, turning 30% of the Moon into an orbiting debris belt. There's mecha combat ("kataphraktos", from the Greek "armored", developed in English to "cataphract" to describe armored heavy cavalry used in antiquity); the Versians "orbital knights" have customs with special powers, and Earth has "real robot" squads.

So, we've got tropes from David Weber's Mutineer's Moon/Empire from the Ashes trilogy, Stargate Atlantis, and Cowboy Bebop, but not Neal Stephenson's Seveneves.

Weaknesses: The underdeveloped idea that a bunch of people decided to secede from Earth, and to form a feudal society. That they developed a distinct culture in a mere 40-ish years (1972 to 2013). The motivation that they're food-impoverished (chlorella and krill), despite having vast aldnoah energy supplies, and that they're facing population pressures, despite being separated from Earth for maybe two generations. The unanswered question of how many of their devices (Landing Castles and custom Kataphraktos) they inherited from the ancient Martians or engineered themselves. Between seasons 1 and 2, the three people who should be dead but, eh, they got better.

I thoroughly enjoyed Aldnoah.Zero, and kept it on my watch list on Netflix to rewatch it again (probably in a month or so).

First of all, I generally like these types of scifi shows. Second, I enjoy ones that are more "real" robot. What I really liked about it, though, is where the protagonist doesn't just have some special powers (arguably), but is a thinking person. The victories (whether realistic or not) or though thinking through the problem and trying to find design flaws or strategic advantages.

16 minutes ago, jenius said:

1/72 is a dreadful scale for Robotech, all the other designs in Robotech (outside the Zentraedi) are much smaller than in the Macross universe. A 1/72 Alpha is like 4" tall. The Macross universe could go very far with that scale and a Robotech nut could build out a very handsome Macross Saga collection if he/she augmented with models. 

Now you have me all excited for 1.25" Cyclones.

(FYI, maybe it's the kid in me who grew up on G.I. Joe, but I always like 1:18ish for anything that has a figure to go along with it)

3 minutes ago, tekering said:

As far as I can tell, the unique 1:72 scale is the only appeal this toy has to offer.

Are you suggesting that being an officially licensed Robotech toy, meeting Tommy Yune's exacting standards, isn't enough for you? Shame on you, sir! Shame, I say!

1 hour ago, Seto Kaiba said:

More like two half-men... since neither of them is really qualified to do the job they're doing.

I think you got the correct answer, but your math was wrong. My understanding is that the Robotech store is literally just Steve, where he does all of the orders, packaging, and shipping. I'd say that equals 3/4 of a qualified person. Tommy, at his job... maybe 1/4 of a qualified person... maybe...

6 hours ago, Atheonyirh said:

Oh, those look rather interesting.

I got two sets: one in army green, one in dark gray. They look very different in photos, but aren't all that different in person. All in all, I'm very happy with them. They look great, and have a ton of customization that you can do. Unfortunately, they're seriously overpriced.

52 minutes ago, optimuspint said:

Didn’t MAAS toys have some kind of issue on kickstarer with one of their figures recently? 

They did a Kickstarter for the Mayhem Mekanics figures, but I don't recall there being any issues.

These are the ones I was referring to. Basically big (like 12" or so) mech figures and vehicles, plus solider figures (did't get any of those), where everything can be disassembled and reassembled into armor and weapons.

This is an MZ23 thread, but just to finish off the recent tangent on BG 2040, I want to say that I just finished rewatching/binging it, and I think it held up better than I remembered. Very very different from the original, obviously, and went slightly metaphysical towards the last couple episodes, but I enjoyed it and thought the ending was fitting.

8 hours ago, Atheonyirh said:

These lil' Diaclone KOs are wonderful, especially for the price of $12-$15 per if you shop around. This first batch was off a guy on Aliexpress (never did have tracking work for it, either), and I've gone ahead and ordered another 7 (including the full SAT team) off of Show.Z's store after getting these in and messing around with them. They're all of 2 inches tall at best and most have little pilot figures with them that are jointed and posable and have tiny magnets in their feet to help with standing. Surprisingly posable and stable for how tiny they are, with a lot of customization due to the ports and accessories they come with.

I've been curious about these. they look sort of like mini JoyToy figures (like the Tekui), which I picked up a couple overpriced sets of.

My opinion (and I think I may be somewhat echoing what others have said) is that I want to see the character development and a well-done plot. If a love interest is not important to a character's motivations or to the plot, then it doesn't need to be focused on. So-and-so used to have a girlfriend. Shiro, who seemed like he would end up being the loner, eventually found love and got married. Gotcha. That's all that was needed. It doesn't matter whether those relationships were heterosexual or homosexual; they did not define the characters or their actions. So, I think they were fine being shown in the way that they were.

Well, as stated before, I do like 2040. I think calling it a piece of trash is excessive, but hey, we all clearly have very different tastes. Is it one of my favorites? Absolutely not... but I don't think it's fine.

It has the luxury of taking its time with character development and backstories more than the original did, and I think a lot of their choices (though not all) make sense. It is stylistically (both story-telling wise and visually) very much a product of the late '90s/early '00s. As such, it doesn't have the nostalgia appeal of the original a decade before it, and doesn't have a lot of the improvements of anime from the last decade.

I rewatch all of the Aramaki-verse somewhat regularly, with MOSPEADA, the original Bubblegum Crisis, Bubblegum Crash, and Viper's Creed probably once a year+, and the Megazone OAVs, Bubblegum Crisis 2040, and the other BGC spin-offs once every 2+ years.

My rankings from back in March of last year were:

1) Genesis Climber MOSPEADA

2) Bubblegum Crisis

3) Bubblegum Crash

4) Viper's Creed

5) BGC Tokyo 2040

6) Megazone 23

7) remaining BGC spin-offs

However, I just recently rewatched the MZ23 OAVs and, for whatever reason, enjoyed them more than I used to... so that might have moved up higher on my list now.

Out of all of these, I haven't rewatched 2040 in by FAR the longest, so this conversation has inspired me to grab out my DVD set and I'll rewatch the series over the next week or so (there's a lot of new-to-me stuff in my Netflix queue also tempting me). We can compare notes and see how it holds up with our 2019 eyes.

BTW, I did rewatch ep. 1 late last night: I had forgotten that Aramaki was credited with not just the mechanical designs for this show, but also with the updates to the hardsuits.

2 hours ago, captain america said:

Glorious!!

 

 

While I absolutely respect the engineering and design work that went into this, and the end result is gorgeous in both modes, it really just seems like complicating a transformation beyond the point of it being enjoyable. Did someone challenge the designer to try to come up with an OP that would require 842 dowel pins to transform?

Te last time I genuinely collected Transformers was during Transformers: Prime. After a few years of movie-verse toy drudgery, that line really made me appreciate transformations that were fun to do.

Again, it looks gorgeous, it looks impressive, and maybe it needs to be that complicated in order to look so good in both modes, but it just doesn't look fun to me.

I just finished my second viewing of the whole series (once dubbed, once subbed). Definitely prefer the subbed one by quite a lot.

Overall, really enjoyed it. The first half was fine, though a little too monster-of-the-week type of setup, but I really liked the second half a lot, and it built on the groundwork that had been set up in pretty much all of the previous episodes. Very nice, satisfying ending, too.

Now I just wish there were some model kits to go along with it...

Just now, jenius said:

Where did you grab the organic figures? That's about what I was hoping to pay also.

eBay. They go for more (once you factor in shipping, evening combined) if you get them individually, but there's a seller that puts up lots of the set every once in a while (I think it's a store in Hong Kong), and then discounts them by 30% every few weeks. That, plus a 15% off coupon, got them to where I was comfortable with the price. The crazy thing is, people on Amazon are trying to sell the same figures for over $100 a piece.

Big week for Megazone items for me. Both my Freeing E=X Garland and my set of Organic figures came in.

Starting with the Organic figures:

Holy crap, these things are tiny. I mean, I knew they were small, based on a couple CollectionDX reviews, but somehow it just didn't sink it. These are small... as in, they pretty much fit riding on the old Yamato Garlands (a little too big for Arcadia or Freeing, though). That said, they're surprisingly posable, and are just kind of fun. I paid $50, including shipping, for a new-in-box set of all 5 (Garland, Proto Garland, GR-002 Military Garland, Hargun, Space Hargun), and I feel like that's the limit of what they're worth. Wouldn't pay a penny more, but I don't feel ripped off either. Plus, I finally have a Hargun!

On to the Freeing E=X Garland:

All of the complaints about this toy are correct and are justified. So very many things are wrong with it... but...

I opened the box and, of course, the legs flop off to the sides. I then decided to have some fun and try to figure out the transformation without looking at the instructions. It took a long time, but I did it. I would liken it to devoting your evening to one of those Hellraiser puzzle boxes, with an arguably similar pay off at the end.

Having said that, and leaning the final robot mode in a corner so that it can sort of stand up, it looks gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. I love the look of it.

My thoughts at this point were, "What a unique way of shipping an assembly-required poorly-balanced statue of a robot. Instead of putting the parts on runners, stick them into a vaguely motorcycle-shaped mashup for shipping, then they can get taken out of the box, fall apart, and the buyer can assemble their robot statue and stick it somewhere for display forevermore. Novel!"

A few days later, I transformed it back... and back again, with the instructions this time to confirm that I did it right the first time.

And then I transformed it a third time... and it was kind of fun.

The arms pop out of the sockets constantly, but don't break. Just set them aside and pop them back in after you're done with the legs.

The thighs are constantly splitting apart into two pieces, a couple other parts do similarly... but they don't break. Just slide them back together.

The leg transformation is very cool. Finicky, but cool. Cooler every time you do it, as it feels more intuitive.

Basically, the engineering is really impressive, it's just that the execution is horribly horribly flawed.

However, the more I transform this thing, the more I enjoy it.

Again, every complaint that others have about these is completely justified. Despite that, I still like it, and am glad a transforming toy of this exists.

I got mine for half price, and I'm ok with that. Now, if I'd paid full price for it, I'd probably be violently angry.

If anyone wants to see pics of any of the above, let me know and I'll post some, but I figure most have already seen them.

35 minutes ago, JB0 said:

If the "third-party" toys directly used Hasbro's trademarks, Hasbro would be legally required to go after them. If you don't defend your trademarks, you lose them.

 

But copyright gets vague when you aren't directly reproducing someone's work exactly, and plagiarism isn't really a concept in physical goods.

I'm not saying a case can't be made, but it isn't an easy case as long as they avoid using original names and logos.  

 

 

All that said, they haven't even managed to stop the direct bootleggers making unlicensed reissues.

I wouldn't say legally "required", but yes, they'd risk losing their registered trademarks.

I don't think I'd agree with you on the physical goods side of things. They're still protectable by copyright. Statues can be protected by copyright, architecture, etc. To me, these are a clear case of derivative works... but I think I've already derailed this thread enough.

I think that Hasbro could go after these companies, but what matters is that Hasbro isn't going after them, and the collector market has a wonderful selection of awesome things to choose from, whatever your tastes may be.

1 hour ago, Old_Nash said:

https://toy-wizards.com/2018/12/27/hasbro-cant-stop-3rd-parties-from-making-transformer-toys-and-here-is-why/?fbclid=IwAR13gb34Qia9PLjt1J5gpfhK1lGv-uLoMamHID2-Aq2Dku5qrDV97AtgOno

 

I'm sorry, but this article is just horribly misinformed. This is the kind of stuff people read online and then think that it is based on actual statutes and caselaw, and leads to more and more misconceptions.

Some of my favorite parts:

"You see, if someone were to release a graphic T-shirt with beloved Autobot Bumblebee’s face on it, it’s not a big deal. If that T-shirt had Bee’s face, the Bumblebee movie logo, and the Transformers brand logo all present, that’s a big no-no. The logos and branding are trademarks that cannot be duplicated for individual sale."

Except that the shirt with Bumblebee's face on it WOULD still be infringing. There would be very strong arguments that it would infringe the copyright on that face design, it would infringe commonlaw trademarks associated with it, and would likely be considered false designation of origin, unfair competition/deceptive acts, "passing off", etc.

"These companies, affectionately referred to as ‘Third party” in the collector’s community, are safe from large corporations taking action against them because they are very carefully avoiding infringing upon trademarks and copyrights. They never use actual names of characters, often opting to create fun word play that closely resembles it or one based on character traits. They do not include trademarked faction symbols, brand logos, recognizable semiotics or sign symbols, or any verbiage specific to their unique playability (i.e. Headmaster, Duocon, Triple Changer)."

Similarly,these figures that look darn near identical to the originals, and are clearly and intentionally based upon them, are still derivative works, which are protected by copyright. Oh, and changing a name to something very similar to a trademark, meant to make you think of the trademark, but not actually identical to the trademark... that still very often falls under trademark infringement.

"The only thing that these new versions of old classics might infringe upon is intellectual property and that’s a tough one to defend."

Yeah, uh, the trademarks and copyrights you've been talking about... those are intellectual property.

Don't get me wrong: I love 3P stuff. I just don't like when people who don't properly understand what they're talking about talk about it like they're experts.

In my opinion, and this is only a personal opinion, I suspect that Hasbro doesn't go after 3P companies and products because, though they would have a strong chance of proving copyright infringement and commonlaw trademark infringement in court, it just isn't worth the hassle for something that isn't eating into their profit much, if at all, would not lead to much of a financial award from the court compared to the cost of getting there, and would damage their reputation. The stuff that is directly knockoffs, in registered trademark infringing packaging, and is literally chipping away at their profits, however, is a different story.

Thanks. I knew I must have missed more.

The old Marvel comics were really way better than they had any right to be, and IDW kept the old series going while doing a new/rebooted one. The new one was really good last I read it, and the old one... well, I still have my copies of the Snake Eyes trilogy.

Those were the only two that I noticed. The second one was blatant, but the first one I actually rewatched that part of the episode, in the hopes that there were some easter eggs like that (I missed it the first time around).

Were there others?

On 12/26/2018 at 10:46 AM, Mog said:

And lastly, you know I squeed at all the Vehicle Voltron teases.

I feel dumb... but I think I missed most of them.

13 hours ago, fenrir72 said:

Maybe just a realignment of resources. Not to mention the mess IDW did on G.I. Joe.

 

What mess? I haven't read IDW's GIJoe stuff in about 3 years or so (maybe more like 5), but I remember liking it before that.

4 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

Thanks!

Yep, that's the art I was referring to in my review.  AFAIK, it was used as the basis for his Marvel Comics appearance and his G1 toy, but it's not the design the animators for the movie and Season 3 went with.  It seems that it was Toei Animation that altered Derry's designs.  While I can find accurate, revised character models for other movie/S3 characters, I just couldn't find one for Wreck-Gar.  That really leaves the animation itself as a reference, and like I said it's pretty inconsistent.  The number and location of his spikes and his colors were sometimes different between the movie and Season 3 (or even once scene to the next in the movie).  That's why I feel like, even though I might have made a few tweaks to his colors or given him a more expressive face, I ultimately think that KFC did a really good job capturing Wreck-Gar's animated appearance.

from the pics I've seen, I agree with you on all of that except for the cowl. It just looks... off... to me.

I have the two-pack of Crash Hog and Dumpyard pre-ordered from BBTS and am really looking forward to it.

Great review!

FYI, this is the only piece of concept art I remember seeing for Wreck Gar (from Floro Dery, who I believe did the bulk of the movie concept art).