So far I need to open Figma Rider of Black, Figma Mercy and Pharah, Figma Fate/GO Male protagonist, MP Bumblebee V2, Blackarachnia, and MP Hound.
Ooooh, hey, could you post some impressions of Blackarachnia when you get around to opening her? Beast Wars is "my" Transformers, so I really ought to get some of those MPs, and I like a lot about Blackarachnia, but I wonder how the value-to-price ratio feels.
Tigatron looks really good, the alt mode looks quite solid (as opposed to Cheetor, who was a gappy and bulgy mess in alt mode); I just wish I could get as excited about the actual character.
On the subject of plastic, I read online that MP Hound was manufactured in Vietman, as opposed to the previous MPs (which were made in China), because Chinese manufacture (and maybe, hopefully, work standards for employees?) has risen enough that it's no longer ultra-cheap, while Vietnam isn't there yet. Folks who follow this kind of stuff seem to think that the move to cheaper Vietnamese manufacturing is the reason for the crummy plastic - one of the reasons it's cheaper is because the plastic is lower quality. No idea how true that is, and no idea if that will have any impact on upcoming releases.
Actually, I wonder how the manufacturing halt in China will affect the manufacturing industries in other countries. Will companies start taking their business elsewhere if Chinese factories don't open within a certain time window? Is there even anyone else who could fill that demand?
So far I need to open Figma Rider of Black, Figma Mercy and Pharah, Figma Fate/GO Male protagonist, MP Bumblebee V2, Blackarachnia, and MP Hound.
Ooooh, hey, could you post some impressions of Blackarachnia when you get around to opening her? Beast Wars is "my" Transformers, so I really ought to get some of those MPs, and I like a lot about Blackarachnia, but I wonder how the value-to-price ratio feels.
Tigatron looks really good, the alt mode looks quite solid (as opposed to Cheetor, who was a gappy and bulgy mess in alt mode); I just wish I could get as excited about the actual character.
On the subject of plastic, I read online that MP Hound was manufactured in Vietman, as opposed to the previous MPs (which were made in China), because Chinese manufacture (and maybe, hopefully, work standards for employees?) has risen enough that it's no longer ultra-cheap, while Vietnam isn't there yet. Folks who follow this kind of stuff seem to think that the move to cheaper Vietnamese manufacturing is the reason for the crummy plastic - one of the reasons it's cheaper is because the plastic is lower quality. No idea how true that is, and no idea if that will have any impact on upcoming releases.
Actually, I wonder how the manufacturing halt in China will affect the manufacturing industries in other countries. Will companies start taking their business elsewhere if Chinese factories don't open within a certain time window? Is there even anyone else who could fill that demand?
I've been keeping track of Hound and this is what I have read on the TFW Forums. The company that makes Takara's Masterpiece line moved their manufacturing from China to Vietnam to save some money. Actually the Plus Wheeljack and Bluestreak were made and assembled there. Even Bumblebee v2 was made there. Now the rumors are that since all those three were stolen at the plant (Factory leaks) and they couldn't figure out who was leaking (they apparently even brought in Chinese Management and fired the local Management) that someone decided to move the assembly back to China. The rumor is that it was to minimize the leak, but nobody really knows. All we do know is that they molded the parts for Hound at the Vietnam plant and shipped them to China to be assembled. So the guesses are that the plastic wasn't set right to the type of plastic they used. Obviously there were a few caught at the plant since there were two (maybe more) Hounds that had glue on broken pieces. Apparently not enough were cracked or the QC missed them. All led up to bad units and even the Hasbro release of Hound has reports of cracking.
Now take all of this as it is, rumors since the information was from someone living in Vietnam and other rumors that have been cobbled from the Internet. Heck, for all we know Takara had some people break each one after assembly to blame the plant for bad manufacturing. I'm kidding of course, but there usually is a bit of truth in rumors.
I think it doesn't matter if the world waits for the Chinese plants to come back online or try moving (and taking the time to train a new workforce). Both will probably take the same amount of time.
Edit: Just read that the plants in China are starting to come back online. The smaller and medium sized plants started up on Wednesday.
Me: "I need to be more circumspect about the toys I buy, make sure I'm not getting ones that are too huge. Also, unrelated, I'm not a huge fan of combiners that use large combiner parts to make up like 30% of the total combiner mode. Also, unrelated, it's probably a bad idea to go in on combiner sets where not even a prototype of the final combined mode has been shown."
Also me: *Adds Fans Toys's not-Silverbolt and not-Motormaster to cart, clicks buy*
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CambiataCommander ShepardThe likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered Userregular
Ok so I'm closer but this still isn't quite it
The reason it's not is because I cannot get the head over the wig, so she's bald in the back.
I could get around this by making some sort of hair appliance for the back of the helmet, but that means either figuring out how to make a wig from scratch, or cutting up one of my expensive wigs. I'm not really down for either, so.
I'm going to make an order for helmet mark 4 at the printers, god help me.
"If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
The reason it's not is because I cannot get the head over the wig, so she's bald in the back.
I could get around this by making some sort of hair appliance for the back of the helmet, but that means either figuring out how to make a wig from scratch, or cutting up one of my expensive wigs. I'm not really down for either, so.
I'm going to make an order for helmet mark 4 at the printers, god help me.
I'm awesoming the post because you are almost there. Plus it looks really REALLY cool!!!
Honestly I was scrolling through and only saw the initial comment on the helmet before the first picture and my brain said " that looks perfect what's the problem?". Obviously continuing to read explained but the improvement on each iteration is really impressive
CambiataCommander ShepardThe likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered Userregular
I realized in retrospect that I don't really need the hair since that's covered up when you're in space, but I still want it slightly larger because it has to scrape hard to get on the head, even without the wig. And I"ll need some padding inside in any case to be able to get the helmet to stay in position. I also ended up cracking the helmet slightly when I was forcing it on and off at one point, so yeah, it's really too small.
"If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
I realized in retrospect that I don't really need the hair since that's covered up when you're in space, but I still want it slightly larger because it has to scrape hard to get on the head, even without the wig. And I"ll need some padding inside in any case to be able to get the helmet to stay in position. I also ended up cracking the helmet slightly when I was forcing it on and off at one point, so yeah, it's really too small.
I'm wondering if it might be an option to get the helmet printed in two pieces so you can get a close fit without stressing the material of the helmet or having it fit like a 5 gallon bucket.
A while ago, I mentioned that I got Newage's two-pack of not-Brawn and not-Outback. Here're some photos of Brawn (I'll just refer to them by the G1 character names, the actual product names are goofy and not very memorable); Outback is still in the packaging (@Forever Zefiro, if you're still interested in the Outback, let me know!)
Bot mode
Car mode
He comes with a die-cast drill that can be mounted on the front (just like in the show!), and the gun can be mounted on the roof.
One of the guns folds up into a gas can and goes on the back of the car (I'm not sure what the correct orientation is)
The robot mode fists are extremely visible in car mode, both in terms of sculpt and color. They're also what you use to mount the weapon.
The drill can also be equipped in robot mode:
There's also a die-cast spinning blade hand (aka a pizza cutter) for Megatron, because I guess there was like one episode where Megatron had a spinning blade hand.
And, also also, a die-cast pincer for Starscream (also because there was an episode where he had a pincer-hand). I don't have the Starscream yet, so for now Brawn can use it.
I think I heard that the drill, spinning blade, and pincer are limited-edition, packed with the first release, but I'm not 100% sure about that.
This is the tiniest and most solid Newage toy I have. The feet are die-cast, if you can believe it. I think it's a really excellent figure, from sculpt to engineering to paint. There are a couple of annoying bits in the transformation where there are minor clearance issues (that become larger issues on a tiny toy), but overall I love this guy. A+!
Ahhhhh. I was wondering what the pizza cutter spinning blade was for (and the wrench). Now I know. He does really look much better than the stock photos.
To introduce you to the red menace above. This is Arcadia's Macross VF-1J Milia Fallyna Jenius' VF-1J Valkyrie.
I have always wanted to try an Arcadia Valkyrie, but just couldn't justify buying one even at near MSRP. Years ago I bought a different Yamato Macross toy and it broke out of the box. Later on I found out that Yamato went out of business and Arcadia got their molds and made some modifications to them. The toy I broke was not the same Macross toy and I also discovered was one of the worst for breaking. Anyways, I also always wanted a Valkyrie with the Super Pack (the boosters, grey parts on the forearms and the red parts on the calves) so since this exact version has been on sale during spring/winter/summer sales in the past I finally decided to take the jump and bought one on Hobby Link Japan. I'm so glad I finally did since this toy is really cool. Compared to my Bandai DX Max VF-1A it is a cuter smaller version of the toy. Now I will leave it on my computer desk to fiddle with and pose before letting it join my Bandai DX Max VF-1A and DX VF-31E Siegfried on the Macross shelf.
Okay I'm buying waaaay too much stuff in Japan (and vast majority is of the big robot variety). I'm almost embarrassed to list it all off but I'll post some pictures when I get home in a few days.
I can't find Seige Skywarp fro a reasonable price, so I'm debating whether I should try getting Hotlink instead and trying my hand at repainting him.
Can you get either Amazon Canada or Mexico to ship? I know they had him in stock for a while. Otherwise I'm not sure how easy it is to paint a Siege Transformer.
Painting one would be easy if you know how to disassemble the pins and have an airbrush or use rattlecans. Just make sure you apply a topcoat to protect the paint after, so it doesn't rub off after transforming.
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CambiataCommander ShepardThe likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered Userregular
Bought another doll. But to be fair, she has purple hair so I had no choice.
Also still working on Shepard stuff, but Shapeways is a little late with my latest print.
"If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
So Animal Crossing merch eh, there's not a ton? Well usually anyways, when a new game comes out there's a lot more! There's the stuff you can get at Nintendo Store Japan (which I grabbed a few items of). But what about collecting?
Enter the Furuta Choco Egg. These have been around a while, basically a Kinder egg or a Wonderball for us Americans, they of course did an Animal Crossing set with different villager toys inside the eggs. The toys themselves are going for about 5-10 bucks loose depending on the character (the two rare figures being the player villagers). These are notoriously difficult to find online unopened, a quick peek at eBay has them listed individually for 40 bucks a pop (holy jeeze) when they retail for 2 dollars.
Well who happens to be in Japan at this very second? Me! It's my last night in Japan, and rather than partying or finding last minute gifts, I just walked around for an hour hunting these little gold eggies. And after all that searching I found... 6! Six of them out of 10+ stores. They aren't in convenient stores it seems, so only grocery's seem to have them. When I found the ones I did I audibly gasped and grabbed them all like a crazy person stocking TP.
I could easily flip this babies, but tbh the nerd in me knows I'm just gonna open them when I get home and keep them as a memento of my second ever trip to Japan. Thought I'd share here, and if people want to know what I pull I can make a video of opening them later!
Local H Jay on
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CambiataCommander ShepardThe likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered Userregular
My new doll, Rona:
And for good measure, all of the dolls currently at my house:
One is missing because she's on loan to my niece, which is just as well since I don't have any place to put her.
Also the tanktop I put on Lucy Shepard is one that I bought with Rona, and I think it's a good look for a no-nonsense soldier girl.
"If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
Japan haul video! It's a good thing I got my tax return and bonus right before I went, this video represents how easy it is for me to blow money in the motherland. https://youtu.be/aFOtEkHRObY
Shows as the $50 bundle, but buy one get one 50% off at bluefin
OOOH SWEET!!! Now do I buy Starscream or the Megatron that I've been eyeing... Hmm...
Edit: Aw, bummer... You can't add the 2 pack and Megatron to get the discount. Guess you have to add 2.
Edit 2: I ended up deciding to not buy them since I hardly have the room to display Skywarp by himself. So hopefully you bought them so I can live vicariously through you.
CambiataCommander ShepardThe likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered Userregular
Huh. So about October of last year, Danny Choo released a Spike Spiegel licensed doll (from the anime Cowboy Bebop). Now I'm a big enough fan of that series that I made a Cowboy Bebop fan site (that I keep up to this day!), but Smart Dolls are all about cuteness, and Spike just ain't cute.
It was a limited edition so basically if you don't buy it the week it was released, you don't get it.
Well it just so happens that a separate vendor of Smart Dolls got a Spike Spiegel back in stock. This shop does layaways, which Danny Choo doesn't, which explains why people are willing to pay a small markup to purchase from them. I'm guessing someone was unable to pay for a doll they put on layaway. But even though I'm impressed at details like them giving him Spike's yellow striped boxers, I still am just not into this doll that much. Sorry, Spike.
"If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
CambiataCommander ShepardThe likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered Userregular
At long last, I have a fitting helmet!
I'm still not sure whether I want to try making a mold of the helmet, or if I'm just going to go with what I printed. I guess I can always mold it AFTER I paint it, though, if I decide I want one.
"If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
Are you going to make a visor for the helmet? Also, will there be any interior padding?
I plan to make some sort of visor, though what that will be made of I don't know at this point. I will probably add some sort of padding inside to make the helmet sit where I want it to.
I have been working on color mixing to get the blue/purple shift that's present on the armor in the game, but I haven't been able to get the look I want, so I ordered some colorshift pearls to see if I can get a better effect.
Cambiata on
"If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
CambiataCommander ShepardThe likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered Userregular
After working on the other helmets to find out if it's feasible, I decided I will do front LEDs on the helmet. Not the back ones, though, those are too hard.
This still needs some cleaning up, but I have made the holes for LEDs:
"If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
Posts
Tigatron looks really good, the alt mode looks quite solid (as opposed to Cheetor, who was a gappy and bulgy mess in alt mode); I just wish I could get as excited about the actual character.
On the subject of plastic, I read online that MP Hound was manufactured in Vietman, as opposed to the previous MPs (which were made in China), because Chinese manufacture (and maybe, hopefully, work standards for employees?) has risen enough that it's no longer ultra-cheap, while Vietnam isn't there yet. Folks who follow this kind of stuff seem to think that the move to cheaper Vietnamese manufacturing is the reason for the crummy plastic - one of the reasons it's cheaper is because the plastic is lower quality. No idea how true that is, and no idea if that will have any impact on upcoming releases.
Actually, I wonder how the manufacturing halt in China will affect the manufacturing industries in other countries. Will companies start taking their business elsewhere if Chinese factories don't open within a certain time window? Is there even anyone else who could fill that demand?
I've been keeping track of Hound and this is what I have read on the TFW Forums. The company that makes Takara's Masterpiece line moved their manufacturing from China to Vietnam to save some money. Actually the Plus Wheeljack and Bluestreak were made and assembled there. Even Bumblebee v2 was made there. Now the rumors are that since all those three were stolen at the plant (Factory leaks) and they couldn't figure out who was leaking (they apparently even brought in Chinese Management and fired the local Management) that someone decided to move the assembly back to China. The rumor is that it was to minimize the leak, but nobody really knows. All we do know is that they molded the parts for Hound at the Vietnam plant and shipped them to China to be assembled. So the guesses are that the plastic wasn't set right to the type of plastic they used. Obviously there were a few caught at the plant since there were two (maybe more) Hounds that had glue on broken pieces. Apparently not enough were cracked or the QC missed them. All led up to bad units and even the Hasbro release of Hound has reports of cracking.
Now take all of this as it is, rumors since the information was from someone living in Vietnam and other rumors that have been cobbled from the Internet. Heck, for all we know Takara had some people break each one after assembly to blame the plant for bad manufacturing. I'm kidding of course, but there usually is a bit of truth in rumors.
I think it doesn't matter if the world waits for the Chinese plants to come back online or try moving (and taking the time to train a new workforce). Both will probably take the same amount of time.
Edit: Just read that the plants in China are starting to come back online. The smaller and medium sized plants started up on Wednesday.
Steam: betsuni7
Honestly I've never even heard of them
WoWtcg and general gaming podcast
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Also me: *Adds Fans Toys's not-Silverbolt and not-Motormaster to cart, clicks buy*
The reason it's not is because I cannot get the head over the wig, so she's bald in the back.
I could get around this by making some sort of hair appliance for the back of the helmet, but that means either figuring out how to make a wig from scratch, or cutting up one of my expensive wigs. I'm not really down for either, so.
I'm going to make an order for helmet mark 4 at the printers, god help me.
I'm awesoming the post because you are almost there. Plus it looks really REALLY cool!!!
Steam: betsuni7
WoWtcg and general gaming podcast
WoWtcg and gaming website
I'm wondering if it might be an option to get the helmet printed in two pieces so you can get a close fit without stressing the material of the helmet or having it fit like a 5 gallon bucket.
Bot mode
Car mode
One of the guns folds up into a gas can and goes on the back of the car (I'm not sure what the correct orientation is)
The robot mode fists are extremely visible in car mode, both in terms of sculpt and color. They're also what you use to mount the weapon.
The drill can also be equipped in robot mode:
There's also a die-cast spinning blade hand (aka a pizza cutter) for Megatron, because I guess there was like one episode where Megatron had a spinning blade hand.
And, also also, a die-cast pincer for Starscream (also because there was an episode where he had a pincer-hand). I don't have the Starscream yet, so for now Brawn can use it.
I think I heard that the drill, spinning blade, and pincer are limited-edition, packed with the first release, but I'm not 100% sure about that.
This is the tiniest and most solid Newage toy I have. The feet are die-cast, if you can believe it. I think it's a really excellent figure, from sculpt to engineering to paint. There are a couple of annoying bits in the transformation where there are minor clearance issues (that become larger issues on a tiny toy), but overall I love this guy. A+!
Steam: betsuni7
To introduce you to the red menace above. This is Arcadia's Macross VF-1J Milia Fallyna Jenius' VF-1J Valkyrie.
I have always wanted to try an Arcadia Valkyrie, but just couldn't justify buying one even at near MSRP. Years ago I bought a different Yamato Macross toy and it broke out of the box. Later on I found out that Yamato went out of business and Arcadia got their molds and made some modifications to them. The toy I broke was not the same Macross toy and I also discovered was one of the worst for breaking. Anyways, I also always wanted a Valkyrie with the Super Pack (the boosters, grey parts on the forearms and the red parts on the calves) so since this exact version has been on sale during spring/winter/summer sales in the past I finally decided to take the jump and bought one on Hobby Link Japan. I'm so glad I finally did since this toy is really cool. Compared to my Bandai DX Max VF-1A it is a cuter smaller version of the toy. Now I will leave it on my computer desk to fiddle with and pose before letting it join my Bandai DX Max VF-1A and DX VF-31E Siegfried on the Macross shelf.
Steam: betsuni7
I'm really tempted on the buy one get one half off on storm stuff (thinking cyrax and sektor)
I cannot get the seekers model kits discount to show up yet though. It says it's there but if you go to check out it doesn't apply
WoWtcg and general gaming podcast
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Oh good, I'm not the only one who can't get the Seekers set to not work. Please let me know if you figure out how to get them to work.
Edit: Forgot to say that they should be safe since they are THE import for Bandai. Or are they Bandai? I can't remember right now.
Steam: betsuni7
Edit: anyone here but WWE or other wrestling toys? I kinda want to get Goro a championship belt.
WoWtcg and general gaming podcast
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Got an answer back stating it was either a technical error or sold out, but either way the sale is over
WoWtcg and general gaming podcast
WoWtcg and gaming website
Ah ok. I had a sneaking suspicion that it was sold out. That's ok because I really don't need them. Thanks for finding out and letting me know.
Steam: betsuni7
I can't find Seige Skywarp fro a reasonable price, so I'm debating whether I should try getting Hotlink instead and trying my hand at repainting him.
Steam / Origin & Wii U: Heatwave111 / FC: 4227-1965-3206 / Battle.net: Heatwave#11356
Can you get either Amazon Canada or Mexico to ship? I know they had him in stock for a while. Otherwise I'm not sure how easy it is to paint a Siege Transformer.
Steam: betsuni7
Also still working on Shepard stuff, but Shapeways is a little late with my latest print.
And for good measure, all of the dolls currently at my house:
One is missing because she's on loan to my niece, which is just as well since I don't have any place to put her.
Also the tanktop I put on Lucy Shepard is one that I bought with Rona, and I think it's a good look for a no-nonsense soldier girl.
And opening those Animal Crossing eggs!
Eventually when I have time to take things out and set them up I'll take loads of pics
https://www.bluefinbrands.com/flame-toys-ec.html?___store=default
Shows as the $50 bundle, but buy one get one 50% off at bluefin
WoWtcg and general gaming podcast
WoWtcg and gaming website
OOOH SWEET!!! Now do I buy Starscream or the Megatron that I've been eyeing... Hmm...
Edit: Aw, bummer... You can't add the 2 pack and Megatron to get the discount. Guess you have to add 2.
Edit 2: I ended up deciding to not buy them since I hardly have the room to display Skywarp by himself. So hopefully you bought them so I can live vicariously through you.
Steam: betsuni7
It was a limited edition so basically if you don't buy it the week it was released, you don't get it.
Well it just so happens that a separate vendor of Smart Dolls got a Spike Spiegel back in stock. This shop does layaways, which Danny Choo doesn't, which explains why people are willing to pay a small markup to purchase from them. I'm guessing someone was unable to pay for a doll they put on layaway. But even though I'm impressed at details like them giving him Spike's yellow striped boxers, I still am just not into this doll that much. Sorry, Spike.
Sadly it looks more like Inspector Gadget to me. ><
Steam: betsuni7
I feel like a Lupin doll would work well too
I'm still not sure whether I want to try making a mold of the helmet, or if I'm just going to go with what I printed. I guess I can always mold it AFTER I paint it, though, if I decide I want one.
Steam: betsuni7
I'm definitely going to use masking on the actual helmet because I can't stay within the lines to save my life.
I plan to make some sort of visor, though what that will be made of I don't know at this point. I will probably add some sort of padding inside to make the helmet sit where I want it to.
I have been working on color mixing to get the blue/purple shift that's present on the armor in the game, but I haven't been able to get the look I want, so I ordered some colorshift pearls to see if I can get a better effect.
https://m.imgur.com/a/fsup1nU
Nice you got a Detolf. Next is a few more.
Steam: betsuni7
This still needs some cleaning up, but I have made the holes for LEDs: