RavenHawk
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Posts posted by RavenHawk
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10 hours ago, jenius said:
I think they're offering a repaint of the E=X Garland that will be limited to 10 pieces.
That would make sense, but the little image from the one picture I saw just looked like the standard version...
... actually, I take that back. It's hard to tell, but it looks like maybe it has more white (or light gray) where the other one had darker gray/bluish gray? You might be right.
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It looks like the Megazone 23 XI video is delayed, and were asking for more backers with a new campaign: https://camp-fire.jp/projects/view/65101#menu (if this was already reported, sorry, I don't remember).
The campaign seems to have closed already, and it says "FUNDED", but it also only brought in 1/4 of what they were looking for.
I'm working off the Google Chrome automated translation, so anyone with corrected info, please share.
It looks to me like the main creator wanted to add 5 more minutes of material... and thus was looking to raise another $9k. This makes me really nervous that the people behind this just don't know what they're doing, and are real weak on the financial side of things.
On a different note, the rewards this time around look insanely expensive. Plus, they are listing the Freeing E=X Garland as a "limited" edition?
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My giant set with the Light Bisar "Fefnir", Light Bisar "Fenrir", Neoamdriver Jenus, Neoamdriver Ragna, and the vols. 4 & 5 extra weapons sets came in today.
Really did not realize just how big and solid these toys are, and how many accessories they come with. I was pleasantly surprised.
I have to say, it is very nice to see an actual "toy" again. With all of the collectibles and '80s toys I've picked up in recent months, it's nice to have something again that you're not worried about breaking with every transformation.
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17 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:
And when TFC first announced this figure they show the S.T. Commander logo in three different colors; colors that match this, colors that match the green one, and colors that heavily imply that they're considering Ultra Magnus colors as well.
When I first got into 3P stuff, I initially was picking up motorcycles, Ultra Magnus-relateded figures, and Prowl-related figures. Then I fell in love with the Toyworld not-Throttlebots and, to a lesser degree, the Fansproject not-Stunticons. Whenever a Transformers/G.I. Joe crossover item came along, I picked that up to (too many childhood memories to say no).
Got all of the Toyworld stuff (loved it) and the Fansproject stuff (mixed opinions). Then I had no room to display it all, and little room to store it. So, Prowl got cut from the collecting. Then, as time went by, Ultra Magnus got cut from the collecting. Eventually, so did the Transformers/G.I. Joe stuff.
Today, I only collect motorcycle-related transforming toys and models... and even with just those on display, I have 10 Detolf's full.
If they do an Ultra Magnus version of this, I don't think I'll be able to say no.
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27 minutes ago, Salamander said:
The series was licensed for US release, but that never occurred. A HK bootleg DVD of the first 13 episodes with pretty awful subs exists. Otherwise there are the Japanese region 2 DVDs, which can be followed quite well without knowledge of Japanese if you forfeit the discussions between characters of what it is to be a hero, being good and bad, and the like.
The series starts off pretty slowly, and is more of an animated tokusatsu show than a regular anime. However, starting about episode 20 things get darker very very quickly, including character deaths and the heroes being beaten into a pulp and having to retreat, getting chased by the bad guys etc. as it turns out the TV idol aspect of the plot is well...fake...
The star of the idol-like TV show is revealed to be the bad guy, and a very competent one to boot who almost manages to win. The original "bad guys" end up helping the heroes in defeating him.
The show is virtually blood-free, and also features very little fanservice. It also manages to have a truly heart-breaking resolution of the love triangle between the mysterious waif "bad guy", her protector, and the hero.
The toys are awesome, if somewhat plagued by premature joint wear and other minor quality control issues on the first waves. They can be seen as the predecessors of Busou Shinki (minus the sexy minigirl aspect).
Thanks for the info. It's appreciated.
I have a few of the toys coming in the mail any day now (they've been on my wish list for a while, and as I've completed some of the other lines that I collect, I decided to pull the trigger on a couple of these, with another 1 or 2 probably getting ordered shortly).
While I admit that I have a fair amount of toys in the collection just because I like their design, when there is a series related to a line then I like to look into that as well.
Frankly, while not a fan of tokusatsu at all, the rest of what you describe really just makes me want to see this even more.
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3 minutes ago, JetJockey said:
I was going to start a topic about this but seeing as the two directors are supposed to be also working on the next Ghost in the Shell, I assume this Blade Runner project is pretty far off.
Aramaki is credited with the spinner design from Black Out 2022, but I really hope he does some more mecha or vehicle designs for the new series (obviously while still fitting in with the Blade Runner aesthetic) in addition to directing.
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15 minutes ago, JetJockey said:
Me too. But the closest I've seen is a close up of Apple I think on a Tricharger with an animal in her shirt. I'm not sure as I haven't seen the episode yet.
Really? You should watch the series. I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected (based on having previously only watched the first couple episodes a long time ago).
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If anyone is interested, the second half of Last hope Pandora (the Netflix title) is supposed to be hitting Netflix US on 12/21/18.
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21 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:
TNR actually used the Martini livery if you buy from a Chinese seller (right down to a Porsche badge), while Toyworld made little changes like Mortini instead of Martini, two "s"s in Bosch, and no mention of Porsche.
It's always kind of funny to me that these companies seem to think that these little changes actually make a difference.
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5 hours ago, Kelsain said:
Wow, that sounds promising. Interesting too, that Appleseed & GitS are both derivatives of Blade Runner.
It's like a turtle returning to nest on the beach where it hatched.
Don't forget BGC. There are tons of references to it, from Priss & the Replicants to Leon (some claim the name is a reference to Replicant Leon Kowalski and his personality and look are influenced by Deckard, but I don't know if I agree), and Largo basically follows Roy's storyline.
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5 minutes ago, onnasake said:
The part where you basically unfold it all on that main little frame was the part that got me. I'm sure I'd have broken it if I hadn't watched the video. The tolerance was TIGHT. It was also good to know going in how delicate this thing was, so I was more prepared to treat it like my Bandai and not my Transformers.
Gotcha. Yeah, I just assumed that it was delicate right from the start. Funny enough, I'd had some Bandai stuff come in right before these came in, so I was in that mindset.
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Just now, Kuma Style said:
TY and yea the Black Friday sale is what made me say frakk it. It was too cheap not to.
Absolutely. The whole set for pretty much what a single one of the figures cost when they were first released... hard to go wrong. I was REALLY tempted.
Then I looked at all of the motorcycle mecha and transformers I have ordered in the last couple months, looked at how full my display cases are, the boxes of models still waiting to be built, the custom designs still in progress... and I went ahead and ordered like 4 other things instead, for merely 4 times as much money.
Fiscally responsible I am not.
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3 minutes ago, onnasake said:
I just got the re-release Stick in.
I never owned the first version, so I don't know if it's got better QC. It's still fiddly as all hell but I just don't think that can be helped due to the design.
I'm just really really glad I watched videos this time, unlike my mishap with the YF-19. There's no way in hell I'd have been able to transform this thing based on the instructions alone.
I actually thought that this figure's transformation was fairly intuitive. I'm not genius, and have definitely needed to watch some transformation videos for other figures in the past, but this one seemed pretty fun to figure out on my own.
In fairness, I was expecting to have to open the faux gas tank during the transformation, and might have broken it trying if I'd gotten too far, but the first of the figures I was transforming had the gas tank just fall off (due to insufficient glue at the factory) before I got to that point, so that solved that transformation question.
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1 hour ago, Kuma Style said:
Second set of Quantron bots came in yesterday.
Great shot!
I was definitely tempted to get the Black Friday deal for the whole set... but I already have 2 of Overheat and just couldn't justify it to myself (plus, I just ordered the reorder set of Crash Hog and Dumpyard).
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7 hours ago, JetJockey said:
Most of the original backgrounds I've come across are on paper. That's what I meant by matching backgrounds as I've seen cels with copy backgrounds. Both matching and not matching. Just setup so people can display a cel with a background. There are cases when I've seen backgrounds on cels due to whatever scene they are animating. There is this Roll Dangaio cel which I debate getting. I just want a more action sequence and something from the first episode.
But in that scene, because of the animation I guess they decided to paint the background on the cel. I've never seen many Zillion cels. Although I haven't been looking for that long.
Gotcha. Makes sense. I haven't seen any for Zillion, but I'd definitely love to find one of a good Tricharger cell.
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Looks like another series I never got around to watching is finally going to be watched! Looking forward to it.
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7 hours ago, JetJockey said:
Anyone have or seen any good Zillion cels with matching backgrounds? There is a cel of Apple on auction this week I just saw.
Do the cells tend to have backgrounds? I thought the animation process was usually cells of characters placed on top of cells of backgrounds, so it was rare to see both in a single cell. Am I wrong?
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There were a couple old threads on this topic, but since none of them have had any activity since 2006 (crap, that's 12 years already...), I figured it would make more sense to start a new one rather than resurrect one of those.
This show was on my list years and years ago as a "watch it when you get the chance." I'm looking for new-to-me shows to watch, and figured it was time.
Any fans of the show on here? The toys are very cool, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of talk out there about the actual show.
Does anyone know where it might be available to watch? I've looked for DVDs with no luck. There don't even seem to be any torrents out there that I can find, and the only stuff on YouTube is subbed into other languages. Would love to find an English sub (whether pro or fan made).
Thanks.
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1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:
And yeah, Transformers were often bigger and had more involved transformations... But I'm not sure there was much more payoff in the way of articulation, and the Gobots toys looked a lot closer to the cartoon. Honestly, I think Transformers beat Gobots because Hasbro put more time and money into developing the brand than Tonka did.
I agree. I think it mostly really came down to the cartoon, as a marketing/branding tool. Transformers was a cartoon that I loved as a kid and loved watching again on DVD with my own kids years later.
Even when Transformers episodes were objectively childish and silly, they still felt like the creators were trying to tell a real story, and I think kids pick up on that. There was also at least some continuity between episodes.
Go-Bots, on the other hand, had Scooby-Doo level animation (without the fun of Scooby-Doo), and told much more simplistic stories with characters that were very one-sided (even compared to Transformers). I watched the cartoon because it was transforming robots, and not out of any love for the storylines... and never rewatched with my kids.
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10 hours ago, JetJockey said:
Maybe it's just me. But when I was a kid, I always thought the Go Bots were very generic compared to the Transformers. Both in look and transforming complexities. The only one I own is Psycho because I like the car mode. I still don't like the robot mode.
I had mostly Go-Bots as a kid because that's what we could afford, though I eventually got some Transformers too. Actually, let me clarify: I had a few Transformers, a few Go-Bots, and then a bunch of knockoffs of both, but mainly knockoffs of Go-Bots (like an unbranded Jeeper Creeper, an unbranded Block Head, etc.).
I loved those figures. The size was perfect for taking a few with you in the car as a kid, the vehicle modes had a lot more realism and detail than the handful of Transformers that I had (except for Trailbreaker... I'll always love that one), and some, like Jeeper Creeper, actually had a lot of detail to the robot modes, too.
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10 minutes ago, Protoculture said:
It depends really. For me I liked the Wildstorm/DC runs of Robotech comics of the past decade and that include Prelude. The only other Robotech comic I cared about is Antartic Press's Robotech Rolling Thunder by Fred Perry because it covered Southern Cross arc post 2nd Robotech War.
Others is just meh.
I guess we all have our favorites, and for the most part feel that the rest is "meh". For you, you like Southern Cross, so liked Rolling Thunder. For me, I like MOSPEADA and New Gen, so liked Invid War.
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17 hours ago, Valkyrie Hunter D said:
Oh it's completed, for me anyways.
Sega did make a whole line of mini toys for Zillion, and that Noza mech is part of that line along with a Tricharger and even a Ridingceptor. They look kinda junky though.
This one was new to me, so I thought that maybe it might be new to you too.
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1 minute ago, JB0 said:
I don't think anyone actually owns the looks, aside from the cartoon versions. Generally speaking you can't patent a look, you can't copyright physical objects, and I'm pretty sure Bandai didn't trademark the designs and then maintain those trademarks to the present day(as opposed to Gundam, where Bandai has every trademark they can think of).
The same reason Hasbro can't stop all the "third-party" Transformer toys is the reason Bandai can't stop this.
In short, this had to go through Hasbro's legal department, and they know what they're doing.
With no disrespect, I disagree with you. You can copyright physical objects. Copyrights apply to statues and to architecture, among other things.
So, the original creators would have copyright ownership related to their designs, which were likely assigned to Bandai or are theirs as work-for-hire.
There were utility and design patents (I remember seeing the Bike Robo/Cy-Kill patent). Of course, those have long since expired, but copyrights would still be live. The copyrights would cover creative aspects which are separable from functional ones, which could get complicated.
In my opinion, Hasbro COULD stop a lot of the "third party" toys that are out there. There are registered trademarks likely being infringed, common-law trademark rights arguably being infringed, and copyrights (as these toys would likely be largely considered to be derivative works). This doesn't apply to ALL "third party" toys, of course, but I think it does to a lot of them. As an example, I think that the Toyworld Whiskey Jack is arguably clearly infringing, while Trace and Grindrod are not.
Why doesn't Hasbro pursue these companies? Maybe they don't want the bad press, maybe they think it isn't financially worth it, or maybe they think they fill a niche that is good for overall business.
As for Go-Bots, I'm pretty sure that Hasbro maintains trademark rights to the character names (thus the various Go-Bot named minicons over the years), and probably owns the rights to the purely cartoon looks of characters, but who knows beyond that?
Just my opinions, anyway.
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Perhaps the quest for the grail has not yet been completed?
https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/detailPage/item?itemCode=1027715584
Consolidated Megazone 23 Toy/Model Thread for 2017-2018
in Anime or Science Fiction
Posted
The Arcadia Hargan is the one I'm really looking forward to. I didn't care for it that much when I first saw MZ23, but it really grew on me over time. I'm sure it'll cost a ton, coming with the transporter, and we'll probably get the Proto Garland first, but I'm still really hoping for it.