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Chronocidal

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Everything posted by Chronocidal

  1. Chronocidal
    Part of the issue is also that those movies were pastiches of even older movies, to when you go watch them, you really don't have a built-in cultural reference for why they're supposed to be funny. It helps that I grew up watching a lot of that stuff, but at the same time I can honestly say I remember Scary Movie 3 far better than any of the movies it actually makes fun of.
  2. Chronocidal
    I have no idea if they'd go this far into a tribute, but...
  3. Chronocidal
    I'm actually thinking it's just a matter of her being the character everyone was really wanting from the start. I don't think they're actually going to be discontinued though, since I think the other sets are all still reproduced with some regularity. HLJ just tends to click that button when they don't know for sure whether they'll get more later. Edit: It's back in stock as of about 6pm Pacific, so hope you can grab one!
  4. Chronocidal
    Sweet, I knew I picked up two of the vintage normal Ties for a reason! Glad to see them releasing something without the toy features this time.
  5. Chronocidal
    I absolutely love his statement in the teaser. "After 40 years, we asked, 'What do the fans want?' But instead, we're making this movie." If only the ST had been so bold. Also love they're targeting it for the 50th. Just poetry.
  6. Chronocidal
    Nice, and the newer compound curve plates are being used to great effect on these new car models. I almost picked up the Countach set at Walmart here a week or so ago, but only because it was on the wrong shelf, and I didn't check the price (and it was only a few days after I splurged on SW day ). I might grab both of those eventually, but I'm still stuck in space shuttle land. Side note.. it's bizarre that Lego only offers tracked shipping for their best-selling parts. I ordered about $150 in bricks to build up Columbia, and it got split into two separate orders. Only the "best-seller" parts were tracked, and arrive in about five days. The other half of the order is .. somewhere? I got confirmation they shipped, but all I know is that I've got about $50 in plastic floating somewhere in the mail system that should arrive sometime between now and mid-August.
  7. Chronocidal
    What it sounds like? They weren't happy with the tab being inserted into a crevice that was painted black, because it could remove the black paint... So they just added two more gaping holes, with nothing to hide them. Makes me really glad I didn't care about this release.
  8. Chronocidal
    Not familiar with the specifics of those photoetch sets, but those look like detail covers for the fronts of the super pack missile launchers. Why they would be included with a VF-1D I have no idea, though. It would make sense if it was a standard set designed for use with all the VF-1s, but as you said, it's a VF-1D-specific set.
  9. Chronocidal
    Ok, yeah, that change makes no sense. Why would they do that? It just adds more junky-looking slots on the leg, while the original was a detail already there. The holes all over the leg are one of the most irritating features on the Arcadia re-design.
  10. Chronocidal
    I should pull out a set to compare myself. Might be the perspective on the photo, but it looks like those beveled surfaces are wider on the Jetfire version. Thanks for the illustration though, that's exactly the edge I rounded off. You make a good point about it fitting easier on the Yamato though. One difference I did notice, and it's probably also related, is that Yamato never glued down the tail plate to the backplate. In all the ones I took apart, once I removed all three main screws (wings and under the hip bar) the whole backpack would fall off, because it was only held by that locator pin. On Jetfire? Those pins are glued in, and from what I can tell, while they're not exactly sticking up, I don't think the backpack mounts are sitting all the way flush. Those pins were probably glued specifically because the parts weren't fitting together well enough for that third screw to bite, and hold it down. The end result is that the backpack mounting plate is sticking up for the booster bracket to catch on. In other news though, just got a notification that my pair of Su-27s is on the way (I know, they call it something else, don't really care ). I don't know if I'm adventurous enough to do a full Yellow 13 scheme, but it's very likely they'll both be getting new insignia.
  11. Chronocidal
    I'd drop a few significant organ donations on the table if it would get them to produce series based on some of the X-Wing books. Not sure I'd vote for the Stackpole books and the Corran Horn Show, but Allston's Wraith Squadron books always felt like the peak of the EU for me, for some of the same reasons Andor is being praised. Believable, funny, and above all vulnerable characters, dealing with the complications of war and terrorism from both sides, and some of the best treatment I think the force has gotten in any of the EU, due to how subtle it was. The settings and details of that particular series are flexible enough that they could probably wedge them into the new canon as is. Also, I honestly just want an excuse to commit "Yub Yub, Commander" to the canon.
  12. Chronocidal
    I don't want another YF-30 until they fix the tails to work like the VF-31s. The spinny-flippy design was a pretty bad idea.
  13. Chronocidal
    Anyone missed it that wanted one, the Mikumo VFG kit is coming back in stock. https://www.hlj.com/v-f-g-macross-delta-vf-31j-siegfried-mikumo-guynemer-aos06528
  14. Chronocidal
    Holy crap you utter dipshits, Nintendo.. at least COVER THE FREAKING SCREENS. Why the everloving crap would you pack it with the screen facing the exterior with no crush space? Not to excuse the stupidity of stapling receipts to boxes, but if the stores have adopted that as standard procedure for electronics sales, maybe you need to look at packaging standards for fragile electronics products.
  15. Chronocidal
    I'm not even sure it would be that, it kind of sounds like Nintendo is leaning into the idea that they can min-max their profits by raising their prices until the demand equals the supply.
  16. Chronocidal
    I had this issue too, and didn't notice it so much with the first release, but I think what's going on is some slight mis-alignment/mis-molding of the plate just above the backpack hinge. When I took mind apart, I had issues with the tiny screw that's buried under the hip swingbar. I have a tiny screwdriver that fits in there, but as it turns out, I don't believe those screws were actually biting into the plastic. If I lift up on the backpack, you can see the two prongs that hold the gnurled pin inserted into the hip swingbar are lifting away from the backplate, meaning that screw isn't holding things together. When I tried screwing it in, it just spun, so I have to assume those tiny holes stripped out. I do not know if this is the direct cause, but I think the looseness of that assembly is contributing to the booster mount catching. Because the panels flex, it's causing the trapezoid panel just ahead of the backpack hinge to lift, and it's catching directly on the booster mount when you try to slide it on. What I did just now as a test was to file down the squared off edges on the front underside of the backpack bracket to let it slip over that back panel edge easier. It's the section directly inboard of the booster mounts, and it's already beveled somewhat, but I just rounded off the front underside edge further until it's about at a 45 degree angle, and it helped it not to catch on the backplate. I can take a picture tomorrow where I mean, I'm about to head to bed. Glad to hear the arm repair was a success though! It's so refreshing working on valks you can actually take apart.
  17. Chronocidal
    I wonder if Bandai will do another production run of those antennas if they ever get around to doing the VF-22s. Not holding my breath.. but it seems they have absolutely no interest in actually supporting the people buying their products.
  18. Chronocidal
    Yeah, removing the pins isn't easy, but I think I got mine out with a fine nail, and a mallet. On the positive side, if you do happen to wreck those joints, replacements for those parts in particular are practically everywhere on the internet, specifically because they were so prone to failure in the original Yamato release. I do not know if they are back up and running with all of the previously available items, but Shapeways is apparently back in business. I need to go review my store, and see if I can't get them to print or cut those replacement YF-19 parts I've made.
  19. Chronocidal
    As someone whose first issue Yamato Roy is still going strong after over 15 years with a paperclip replacing the original gnurled pin, I'd say it's a fairly solid option, provided you can get the pin out without breaking the joint. What I recall doing was bending the paperclip slightly in the middle to provide friction and keep it in the joint, and then I think I added a drop of CA glue on each end to both reinforce the joint, and keep it in place. Thanks for the head's up though, I'll need to give mine a closer look as well. I noticed the pins were a little short, but it didn't seem to be letting the hinge flaps sag out of alignment. If it gets too bad, I actually still have a few original spares from the first release, but I think they're all the darker DYRL shade.
  20. Chronocidal
    Wrong scale and wrong manufacturer to get excited about. Though I won't lie, I'd drop a load of cash to get proper 1/48 kits of all of the fighters from Bandai (in their ACTUAL scales this time, please? Size them to the pilots and filming miniatures, not the stupid gonked-up EU specs. ) And please can we have a non-electronic X-Wing kit already? It was all sorts of the wrong kind of fancy. I just want a nice kit. The Fine Molds one was really good, but had a few clunky details that Bandai nailed much better.
  21. Chronocidal
    Can say the same, though they certainly took their time getting it here. Think it ran close to 20 days in transit, a week and a half of which was just sitting at LAX. Edit: Double checked, they left on May 14th, arrived May 31st. They arrived at LAX on the 20th, and didn't leave customs until the 29th.
  22. Chronocidal
    I'm gonna hold my thoughts about what I heard. Partly because of spoilers. Partly because my brain is having just as much trouble processing it as certain characters probably should (depending on whether it's actually going to be acknowledged in-universe what is insanely obvious to the audience, or if it's going to be handwaved as a completely coincidental thing that has no relation to in-universe events).
  23. Chronocidal
    That's a weird change, did they have to re-engineer the leg packs to stay on better?
  24. Chronocidal
    Huh.. yeah, that shin color is an odd choice, especially when his hips are already a better color of plastic.
  25. Chronocidal
    Update on the Fugu Jetfire, my pair just arrived, and I think the only way I'd be happier is if I hadn't exerted the effort to try and strip/repaint a set of leg packs from the original release. I'm happy to report that the rumors of them leaving out the canopy cover were incorrect, and slipped neatly inside the packaging I also found a couple of surprises I didn't expect to get. (No fancy photography here.. maybe someday I'll make room for a proper photo booth.) Also, after the feedback they received from the first release, I'm just going to say they went even further beyond this time around. Not only did they remove the Macross logos (kites, skulls, and UN SPACY are all gone), but they added several new markings directly from the Jetfire art, including detailed prints on the fronts of his feet, a pair of warning labels on the underside of the fronts of the backpack boosters (amusingly, these are barely large enough to make out some lettering that says "UN SPACY" so I'm guessing they repurposed an existing tampo pattern), and the striping on his gunpod in red and white like the box art, rather than the chrome foil in the original stickers. Oddly, they left the small white arrow on the front of the leg packs (best not to try and remove this, or you'll damage the overall paint on the packs, as I found out), and they didn't change the red printing on the tails, so I might still repaint or strip one set to get a more classic stripe on one side. They didn't change the stock black stripes and red circles on the legs, but I know the original stickers for Jetfire had a much more convoluted paneling sticker for those surfaces. They also didn't touch the intake warnings, but I'm sure they would be easy to strip if someone wanted them gone, since there's nothing around them. Otherwise, I'm happy to say I found these tucked into the extra parts box, along with the transparent pack covers, and extra hands. I'm not familiar with what defines "quality" for repro transformers stickers, but these look very "okay." Silver and not chrome foil for one set, and what looks like dull paper for the pack markings, but I'm just happy they got included. I'm sure anyone who knows where to look could come up with some fancier vinyl and foil versions. As for the quality of the figure though, I can happily say the elbow issue I had was entirely resolved, and both sets of arms bend and pose easily, though one of mine has a rather sloppy bicep twist which should be easy enough to fix, but I'll probably just leave him in jet mode. The shoulder ball joints still were tight, and needed a little loosening, and the hands were a little tricky to get out, but I think the black wrist covers were a little oversized, and filing the edges helped. Still needed to file down the chest locking nubs. I also had to add a layer of tape to both swing wing pivots to get some stiffness, since they were very sloppy. I did see a little variability with tightness in the wing hardpoints, mostly with the missile clusters and box launchers being easy to spin on the hardpoints, but they didn't fall off. The reaction missiles fit more snugly, to the point you may want to mount the pylons bare and then add the missiles, to make them easier to twist into place so you don't wear down the nubs, and lead to the other missiles being able to fall off freely. The overall quality of the figure feels higher this time around, mostly owing to the better arms, but it's still not quite up to a standard Yamato/Arcadia release. There's still a little slop in the transformation, the main gear doors don't quite fit, and there's just little niggling things like the hardpoints being loose that might annoy you. Overall, I'd recommend this one even more highly than the original release, depending on whether you want it closer to Jetfire, or closer to a unique VF-1. I've got a pair of each release, and I don't regret it. What I might wind up doing with the fast packs I started to strip? I've always wanted a matched set for a VF-1D in tan and orange, like that 1/100 Toynami exclusive. If I can find a good color match, I might try it.
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