M'Kyuun

Well, America has few fans outside its borders; heck, with all the mixed cultures within, there's dissent against such things as posting an American flag in schools. Our politicians stand up for illegal aliens. It's a strange country. As far as the comments go, judging by that Harrier, you clearly favor Britain over all others, which of course, makes you an equal opportunity exo-UK hater. Of course, I'm kidding. Unfortunately, we don't all get along, and some people simply see the world in all its pleasantries and horrors with eyes and hearts bent by politics and religion. So sad for them. I'm glad you can rise above it. Play well, sir.

Unfortunately, but resignedly, this is true. I received a MegaBloks Apache helicopter set for Christmas one year from my sister. It was well intended..no spite. Anyway, the techniques used were not so good, the pieces lacked grip, and some parts were missing, as I recall. The thing was huge, though. I had it nearly finished, but ran out of the pieces required to finish it. So i broke it down enough to cram back in its box, packed it away somewhere, and never looked back. In their defense, however, they've catered to a market they know their primary competitor won't touch, and they have had some interesting looking sets and set ideas over the years. But you truly get what you pay for in comparison to "the leading brand". That's a bit ridiculous and small-minded, especially since America has produced a vast majority of the better known aircraft, especially military aircraft. Moreover, American aircraft are more globally recognized over European fighters due to their popularity by virtue of the toy market and American movies. Russian fighters also seem to enjoy a high level of reknown, esp the Flanker and the MiG-29. I'm familiar with some Eeuropean fighters by virtue of interest and military experience. However, outside of aviation media and video games, I'd say planes like the Mirage, the Saab Draken, the Panavia Tornado, and the Eurofighter are virtually unknown in the US, but I can't speak for other countries. I'd venture to say, however, over probably any other fighter aircraft, indiginous people living in the deep Congo hunting their meals with poisoned darts could probably recognize an F-15. Keep doing what you do best! I love browsing your galleries, if only out of appreciation and envy of your skills.

What's most lamentable is to know that such a model can be rendered in LEGO, but will never be offered as a set, unless TLG drop their "no contemporary war machines" policy. There's a certain logic there, I suppose, but their more prevalent conflict based sets and inclusion of more realistic fighter planes, such as the Agents' fighter, and Jamie's "Fast Flyers" sets demonstrate a subtle shift towards producing combat aircraft. I think they'd sell well if produced. I nearly bought a clone-brand set featuring an F-15 with Kadena's famous "ZZ" tail flash. I didn't though...I only buy LEGO.

My sincerest apologies for the confusion. I realized my mistake and deleted the offending remarks apparently too late. Mike Psiaki's F-22 was what I had in mind. The B-1 looks fierce from the front, like it has back problems from the side, and like the back end of a turkey from the rear. It was inspired by, and borrows heavily from, the F-111, an acft I do find aesthetically pleasing. Nonetheless, you did a superb job on your model. Kudos again. I share your distaste for the looks of the F-22. Its only favorable angle is a top view. It's boxy with an odd diamond cross-section. Just straight-up ugly, esp when compared to either its competitor, the 23, or it's precursor, the F-15, which has stood the test of time and still amazes. Admittedly, having seen both fly at an airshow, the 22 has some incredible capabilities and outflies the 15. I still think we got the lesser airplane, as everything I've read has suggested the 23 was the better performer. Politics won the day, and America lost.

I've picked up Sideswipe, Leader Prime, Ransack, Voyager Starscream, and a couple others. Ransack is probably my favorite of the ROTF toys. He's just unique and looks good in both modes, IMHO. Prime is also well done, although I'm not crazy about his swords..they hinder his elbow movement a little when stowed, and I don't care for how they look extended. Starscream looks much better than his 07 version, but it would have been great had the original additional joint in the hands made it to final production to allow them to be better hidden in jet mode. They look terrible sticking out the back. I've been spoiled by all my Yamato Macross toys. I got the game today. It's better than the 07 game; the weapons are actually useful in combat, you can transform anytime, including while jumping, and vehicle mode can be used to give momentum to attacks. cons: the play area is very limited, controls take some getting used to. There's alot of exposition between combat sequences. I've only played the Decepticons so far. There's banter back and forth between the characters, with Starscream generally offering critiques and such. The renders look good (I'm playing PS3). The game would have been better served, IMO, had the setup been more like standard sandbox games, like Infamous, Red Faction: Guerilla, GTA, or Prototype, to name a few, with high destructability and the option to pick and choose missions at random, or side quests.

Ralph, been an admirer of yours for years. Love this Harrier; it's been one of my all-time favorite acft since the 80's, and you've captured it beautifully in LEGO. Your B-1 Bomber model is especially impressive (I worked on those damnable leaky, constantly broke pieces of shite for 3 years). Have you ever considered building a model of the YF-23? Now that's a gorgeously curvy bird. I'd love to see your take on it. I have the will and the LEGO, but not the talent. See my avatar for reference.

Well, aircraft hydraulics has been my field for 17 years, and I'm familiar with electrically and mechanically operated linear actuators, pneumatics, and hydraulics. The main benefits of hydraulics and, to a lesser degree because of its sponginess, pneumatics are that they can be situated amongst more dynamic parts of the mechanism due the use of hoses to move fluid or air. Thus a little more flexibility is inherent. Moreover, a great deal of force can be generated with a relatively small actuator. Also, very precise movement can be achieved with hydro or pneumatic actuators through the use of servo-operated valves, and at extremely great speeds. For example, the vanes on the nose of the B-1B Bomber are operated by hydraulic servo actuators capable of cycling so quickly that the vanes are merely a blur. I forget the exact cycles per second, but they were very quick, and dangerous to be near when the aircraft's accelerometers were active. An electrically operated linear actuator offers strength and a degree of speed, and if the motor is housed within the actuator, a similar ability to locate the actuator nearly anywhere on the mechanism provided enough wire to allow for flexibility. They often operate similarly to solenoids, or use an internal screw drive. These are great for precision movement, and can be used in lieu of hydraulic actuators. Mechanically operated actuators offer strength, speed, and precision, but suffer from their reliance on mechanical linkage from the power drive, limiting to some degree, their placement. However, in my experience, I've never seen a mechanical actuator move at the speeds achievable with a fluid driven system As someone else said, pneumatics are just way cooler than a mechanical linear actuator. But the facts that seals wear out over time, manufacture is most likely more expensive, and that valves and hoses are required to make up a complete system, makes the mechanical actuator a more reasonable choice, I guess. I own several of the LEGO pneumatic sets, and have wowed friends and coworkers with the amazing functionality. I somehow doubt I'd get the same reaction from a mechanically driven system. There's just something awesome about all those hoses everywhere, flipping the little selector valves, and watching the model operate just like the real thing.

Tough to vote for just one, but I went with Blacktron. It had a great look, modularity, lots of great features. One of my favorite sets is a Futuron, but for overall appeal, I had to go with Blacktron.

Thanks for the calm voice of reason, Oky Wan. I've seen the show, and honestly, it's not that bad. I like the newer incarnation, as the writing is more mature. I honestly don't see too many set ideas if this is a System series like Batman. Now a brick-built figure that "transforms" into one of his alien alter-egos would be interesting, but very niche. It's not my cup of tea, but the show is popular here in the US, although existing toys seem to warm shelves at local retailers. I hope it does ok, for TLG's sake. Either way, I hope there's some useful innovation involved that works its way into sets down the road. I forsee this being a short-lived series.

Even as a kid, I always felt that the GI Joe cartoon was silly, but with all the cool technology on both sides, it had potential to be better. Beyond the ridiculous "no death" policy, what really irritated me was that Cobra would often pull off some caper with precision at the beginning of an episode, only to dissolve into bumbling idiots the moment GI Joe showed up. Suddenly they couldn't shoot straight, and well, pretty much could do nothing right. To make matters worse, the Joes themselves were cheesy and often lame, even by 80's standards. Then came Resolute, a more mature take on the series, and far closer to what I had wanted it to be in the 80's. I liked it, but thought it could have been a little better, perhaps closer to Justice League, which I really enjoyed for it's often slightly more mature writing. Having seen the previews for the live-action, I'm not holding my breath. First, I'm not crazy about Stephen Sommers, writer/director of the Mummy movies and Van-Helsing. His "wouldn't it be fun if..." approach and tendency for cheesier than cheddar dialog fill me with dread. Secondly, Destro does not look or sound like Destro. With all the CG tech, his iconic chrome dome should have been a no-brainer. moreover, watching the trailer, I believe Baroness spoke a line, but without any trace of her characteristic accent. Furthermore, to amp up the superhuman-ness of the characters, the Joes will now wear power armor, thus negating the need for much of thee really cool vehicles and tech nology from the original show. The tech, at least for me, was the only thing that made GI Joe cool. The vehicles and equipment were amazing, so well made that they are being rereleased with little to no changes for the current figures, which themselves are excellent. I often wonder why Hollywood producers feel an irresitable need to reimagine a property which is considered great, or at least great enough to warrant bankable live-action treatment. I would humbly suggest that the property in question achieved greatness by virtue of its own merits, and stands out in the minds of its fans because of those merits. So, for a fan, those merits are what we want to see in any incarnation. That makes more sense to me than reimagining everything until it is but a barely recognizeable caricature of what I remembered and liked about the property. Ahem, Transformers, anyone?

Just saw it tonight. I have to disagree with it's not feeling like Star Trek. The actors matched their roles well, and their dialog was fitting. My hat's off to Orci and Kurtzman: while I'm not a fan of their Transformers script, I thought they pretty much nailed the characters and created a decent storyline. Ultimately, Star Trek is character driven, and I felt that there was adequate focus on re-establishing these iconic characters, albeit from a different perspective. Nero's role was more plot device, to put our main characters in some sort of peril, than a major character. It would have been nice if his character had shown more remorse, or showed some internal conflict, For the movie's purposes, Nero really did not require any further elaboration, and he remained a 2 dimensional, cliched bad guy. I'm fine with that. What I found interesting was I think there was an episode in the original series to give it precedence, but my memory is shaky. I've learned to live with shaky, frenetic camera syndrome, which seems to be employed with ever greater frquency in today's movies. The technique found its way into this film as well, but I didn't feel that it was overused. Fortunately, i suffer no ill effects beyond mild annoyance. I sympathize with those of you who become nauseous from its overuse. Ultimately, I thought this was a good movie on its own; a faithful representation of Star Trek in general, and the original series' characters specifically; and a good jumping off point to reinvigorate the franchise. I look forward to more "Young" Trek.

I watched the original and Tim Burton's take. Pretty cool. The original looks very much like Tim Burton's style, so it's not much of a stretch from one version to the other. I actually like the original better..no words are necessary as every emotion is well conveyed through expression, and I like the look of the ragdolls better. The sound work on the original is great, IMO. No doubt Danny Elfman scored Burton's version, and he excels at creating wonderful dark moody music. The "cobra" creature had a creepier vibe going, esp when it opened and shrieked. Awesome! I hope there's no singing in Burton's version. I'm not a fan of musicals to begin with, but I've never enjoyed the songs in any of his stop-motion works, although I like the visual style.

I never heard of these before. I watched "Sticky Night of love", featuring Gendo Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion. Wow, very random, which I assume is the point. I liked the song.

I watched the preview of "Human Error" yesterday. Looks really good, and I'm sure there'll be some good humor in the episode. Have to agree that the weakest episode in season 3 was the one with Dirt Boss and the Constructicons. I guess it's cool that they fashioned them like the stereotypical construction worker, but it gets old quick, to me anyway. I'm going to miss this show, and I don't watch much tv. I look forward to eps with Sentinel Prime..they've written him so well as the pompous megablocks you'd love to see fail, or get put in his place. The back and forth between Sentinel and Optimus is a treat. I also love Jazz's coolness... evocative of Scatman Crother's (R.I.P.) original. Overall, I dig both the similarities and differences between this show and the original series. It's not a copy, but there's enough of the old and new to please most fans. While I wasn't crazy about the art direction at first, it has grown on me. I love the toys. Ultimately, the writing and the homages make the show for me. Armada, Energon, Cybertron, and RID had CG characters and was generally pretty "clean" in its animation, but I couldn't bear to watch them. For lack of a better word, they were so incredibly cheesy. Animated is the first TF series since BW and BM that I've really enjoyed. All the more reason I shall shed a bitter tear of remorse in a few weeks.

I wasn't comparing the movie to the Animated series, per se, but more the production of each, and ultimately, how each speaks to me personally. When I watch Animated, I feel like the guys making the show, from writers, to character design, to the voice actors, everybody loves this stuff genuinely. When I watch Transformers the Movie, I get the feeling the guys behind this movie like flashy cars, explosions, and frat humor. It's no secret that Bay knew very little about Transformers before agreeing to helm the movie, and he had to be persuaded by making a movie about a boy and his car. It wasn't pitched as the ongoing struggle between two factions of large robots who happen to have the uncanny ability to masquerade themselves as indigenous technology. For those who liked the first, you've got something to look forward to this summer. As for me, I disliked much more about the movie than I liked. I didn't find the Decepticons scary; I found them almost lacking entirely. I absolutely hated Frenzy and Megatron. Nothing about these characters was cool to me. Blackout was probably the best Decepticon in the movie: he had a cool alt, he was the strong "silent type", and I thought it looked neat when he transformed during the city battle. I liked the tone of the movie's beginning at SOCCENT. Why couldn't Sam have been a new Army recruit? Seeing these alien robots from his point of view would have kept a more serious tone, and overall the movie may have been better. Well, it's like anything else; everybody has their own opinion and are seldom swayed. It would be a completely different movie if I had made it, but thus far, no one has thrown a a couple hundred million dollars at me and asked for my direction. So for now, Bay's fans will get more of what they like, and grumps like me will gnash our teeth and cry "why?", and hope that some more like-minded director will pick up the franchise when Bay's done and make the movies that we want to see, whilst all the Bayformer fans cry "why?"

Great review. Your build pics are excellent. I agree with taking one's time and just enjoying the building process. I got mine yesterday, built the AT-OT last night, and the dropship today. I found it to be an enjoyable build, a bit repetitious at times, but worth it for the final product. The connecting mechanism is pretty clever. Mine needs a little help from time to time, as the rubber band doesn't always push the connecting rod all the way home. Still, it does the job.

Prices are down, sure, but PAB/LDD is still a pricey option. I checked the little medieval office building I built in LDD. Its down from about $124 USD to $70 USD for a model with less than 400 pieces. I did use a number of angular corner parts and arches, however, so that's what drove up the price of the thing. I'm thinking a lot of manpower and time is spent gathering pieces for all the LDD models, and that drove the prices up, as well as the addition of all the great new parts. While I hate to see folks lose their jobs, an automated gathering system would probably bring down the cost of the operation. Anyway, I'm really happy to see a reduction, whether or not it was motivated by public outcry, or their PAB bottom line. Fortunately, there's still Bricklink.

To date, as far as I know, no Animated Constructicon toys have been announced, shown, or leaked. While Animated has a lot of G1 homages, it is not G1, so to say they ruined Soundwave's character is a bit unfair. Animated, like Bay's movie, is its own interpretation of the franchise. To me, Bay's Optimus, even with Peter Cullen supplying the voice, is a different OP than the one I grew up with. His look and the writing for the character set him apart from his cartoon incarnation, and likewise Animated Optimus. I'm not really a fan of Bay's movie, for sundry reasons. The second movie looks the same to me, just on a much larger scale. Kudos to Bay for shooting in Giza. The Great Pyramid looks great in that one scene. I get a far, far greater sense that the producers of Animated really care about their characters and the franchise's history; despite their attestation of fandom, Orci and Kurtzman didn't convince me with their script for the first movie. It had big robots that morphed into vehicles, but they felt like mobile set pieces rather than actual characters. I didn't like Sam's character, either, and he has to sell the movie since it's really all about him. The bots are backdrop. From the trailers, it looks like the bots will have more focus in the second, just upscaled and with more bots thrown in the mix. I'm sadly unenthused. I wish Spielberg had hired James Cameron to direct.

Anyone else watch "5 Servos of Doom"? I thought it was a good episode. I like Prowl, so I'm biased. Last week's ep with the Constructicons was Ok. I didn't care for the Dirt Boss character, and I'm not real crazy about Scrapper and Mixmaster, either. It was so-so for me.

There's a truck garage set coming this year, so although I like trucks, a truck stop it seems redundant. I voted for number one. I don't have Town Plan, but I'd like a set with a more modern take on those buildings. It's not as playable as the others, but it offers something different. I have several trains, so a monorail doesn't really excite me. I still think a museum set would be cool. If nothing else, it'd be a great parts set for the history lovers, and kids could bring the exhibits to life a la "Night at the Museum".

The pallette 's looking better and better, but it's much too expensive now. I built a small medieval office building to complement the Medieval Market set, but the price was about $130 for a model with less than 400 pieces. I even resorted to using some tricks TLG uses on their large sets, i.e. using alot of smaller parts in lieu of larger ones, like 1x2 bricks and tiles. I wonder what prompted such a leap in prices? While I'm not aware of the current European economy, it's a concern presently in the USA, and hobbies, even one as great as LEGO, will take a back seat to necessities. LDD is a great idea, and online PAB by extension, but I doubt I'll be ordering any of my creations or using PAB when Bricklink is a much more affordable option. Sorry LEGO.

Absolutely.

I think you misunderstand; I don't want TLG to replace the minifig, but to add a more poseable mid-sized fig. And because I can't help myself, I'd love to see http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=30413 and http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=4865 with studs on the outside.

I agree. The two shows are quite different, apart from the title. The cartoon was made as a series of shorts, and so it 's faster paced, and still manages alot of exposition. I prefer Tartarovski's take on Ventress, as well as the original V-19 design. Too, I think they showed Anakin's skirting the dark side more effectively. The CG show is more realistic in its depictions, so they've throttled back alot to make it more believable, but a bit more bland, than the toon. I do like the maturity in the writing. I have to agree that the two sides do not seem evenly matched, as the droids are portrayed as comedy relief. There's nothing threatening about them, especially when a Jedi comes into the scene. When a leader demonstrating true ability and intelligence is introduced, he generally doesn't make it past two or three episodes. I imagine the introduction of Cade Bane is supposed to give the Republic, and the Jedi, the challenge that seems to be lacking for our protagonists thus far in the series. Anakin to me is the biggest paradox in Clone Wars and the Prequels. The character would have been much more believable had we seen him and Obi, already a young capable Jedi, as friends, in their teens or twenties from the start, showing Anakin's unusually strong ability with the force and his now famous piloting skills. Obi-wan begins to train Anakin, who then desires to become a Jedi. So, we see Anakin join the Jedi Order and become a Knight of the Republic on into the second movie. Anakin's doing his good deeds, but he's full of questions, doubts, and on top of that, he meets a girl. Anakin begins to feel he's trapped, and he's conflicted b/c the Jedi kill and manipulate events to "better serve the Republic"; he's too young and inexperienced in the force to see what the Masters can see and why they must take the actions they do, or so they say. Disallusioned, Anakin takes his woman and flees the Jedi Order. Yoda, the oldest and most experienced of the Jedi, can sense the conflicts in Anakin and, having discovered his relationship through the force, decides to let Anakin go and charges Obi-wan with keeping an eye on his old friend, but from a distance, and with the understanding that there is to be no further training. Obi-wan complies, but events conspire to cause him to reveal himself to Anakin. Anakin, having made a life for himself using the force amongst the world of thieves and gamblers, walks a fine line having become embittered and cynical. Obi-wan's appearance causes him to lash out at Obi, who is forced to fight with his old friend. Obi-wan, sensing the darkness in Anakin, leaves his friend to his fate until facing him years later on the Death Star. Meanwhile, Palpatine's spies have taken great interest in this force weilding rogue. He is invited to Coruscant where he is employed in Palpy's underground schemes throughout the galaxy. The reports of Anakin's successes are promising, and Palpatine takes him into his confidence, offering to train Anakin in the dark side of the force. Thus is born Darth Vader. Vader becomes infamous throughout the galaxy, and becomes more powerful in the growing Empire. hunted by the Jedi and the Republic, he is shot down and left to die in the burning embers of his custom built strike craft. Palpy's scout teams locate him and he becomes the dark lord wee all know and love. Somewhere in all this mess, his woman becomes pregnant, but her fear of Anakin, and moreso of his boss, causes her to flee into hiding on Alderaan. Cue opening of Ep iV ! Slightly off topic there, but imagine how much better Clone wars would be if a much conflicted and argumentative Anakin was fighting the clones (not the pre-stormtroopers of Lucas's film) and the Mandalorians with Obi-wan.

Yeah, but if it's good ground, I don't mind a little retread. Perceptor caught me by surprise when he talked..I was expecting a cultured voice similar to the old G1 character. Instead, we get a Stephen Hawking-esque electronic voice. I had a little trouble understanding what he was saying, but had to laugh all the same. It's oddly fitting. Sari's subplot felt a little rushed and Sumdac's "She's my daughter and I love her" defense sounded a bit forced, but otherwise, it was interesting and opens the character up for more story. This was my only gripe. The many cameos in Transwarped had me near to giddy; I hope they get more screen time and toys, esp Wheeljack and Brawn. The 80's toys just didn't do these guys justice, and the new Legends version of Brawn, while very evocative of the original, would make a nice Deluxe on par with Swindle, who, IMHO, is an excellent figure. I hope we see Huffer added in, with his constant positive outlook. I always liked him, Brawn, and CliffJumper. They were all very defined characters. Additionally, Blackout, who's an Animated take on Bay's movie Blackout, was cool just b/c they're using characters from every part of the franchise. Well, short as the series may be, I'm thankful for it, as my cup o' happy nostalgia runneth over and doth staineth the carpet. I liked that they added Oil Slick as a character. Originally, he was just a one-off toy with no in-show incarnation. His toy is pretty cool.