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Post by xiombarg on Mar 10, 2014 22:36:59 GMT -5
I'll be there Naked! Wait, never mind, that's a different event I'm going to.
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Post by xiombarg on Mar 6, 2014 17:42:01 GMT -5
Japanese culture views financial and business success with an extremely critical eye, and they internalize it to the point of where it's almost like an outward display of their own worth as a person. Japanese people work like dogs, have limited social life, and very few days off. Financial failure is very much viewed as failure in life as a whole. Japan is also the only country where it's been documented that a person literally worked themself to death. There was a documented case where some guy worked long hours every single day for a few years in a row and one day he just dropped dead at his desk. They couldn't find anything physically wrong with him. Japan is also statistically one of the least happy countries which is attributed to the overemphasis on work and having business success.
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Post by xiombarg on Mar 5, 2014 21:41:24 GMT -5
It was a lot of ups and downs for the company. The company started off on a bad note with their original Genesic Gaogaigar DX that came out a few years before the Brave Genesic Gaogaigar. It was an epic fail. Basically it just couldn't stay together and almost had a guarantee to break due to bad engineering. Plus it retailed for $600 so the people who dropped the cash were PISSED OFF big time. Their next few figures weren't too bad with the DX Great Baangaan and one other DX figure that I can't remember it's name off hand. People were skeptical at this point, especially being high dollar figures and only sold directly through CM's web site. But at almost the same time they had a couple of hits with the Patlabor Ingrams, except for the Zero which had some problems and wasn't die cast like the others. Goshogun came a little later and did well and got great reviews which were then followed by the Mospeada armor bikes which were terrible. Anyway, it was always kind of like this for CM's... up, down, up, down... people just weren't too willing to pre-buy because they were perceived as being undependable, especially in Japan. This led to them having problems with guessing the production numbers and it sort of pissed off customers who would see figures they pre-paid for suddenly go on clearance for sometimes half as much because CM's had produced so many.
All in all I think they meant well, but needed more hands on management. I love a lot of their figures, but it's clear to me why they ultimately failed as well.
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Post by xiombarg on Mar 5, 2014 21:16:48 GMT -5
It's a string of clips from the Armored Core games. He probably did the music. The mechs themselves are the Aaliyah and the White Glint.
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Post by xiombarg on Mar 4, 2014 22:27:47 GMT -5
Sad news, and quite dramatic, but it's all too common place in our hobby. I wonder if part of the reason was due to the recession?
On the bright side I think we are seeing a new phase in toys and figures. With the onset of 3D printing and easy contact with manufacturing factories, 3rd party companies are probably going to be the norm if they aren't already. Hopefully it's not the quality that ultimately suffers.
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Post by xiombarg on Mar 2, 2014 11:39:51 GMT -5
This just showed up on that website: lcmtoy.com/beast-king-golionAnyone have any information on this Madtoys Beast King Golion? This actually looks a lot better to me than the Toynami. It also has an early bird pre-order gift...two beast sabers...lol. Huh, I'm curious to know about this one. I've been holdingvoff from getting a new Golion untl I found something I like better than the Toynami.
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Post by xiombarg on Mar 2, 2014 1:36:47 GMT -5
I'm with you on all of this. The minute I saw Ed on the screen I was floored with adoration as a kid, more than I was with Robocop himself. In fact, seeing Ed for the first time sort of immediately expanded my previous ideas of how cool robots could be. I liked basically all robots as a kid, but Ed was something of a game changer for me.
I usually only buy one big robot a year ($200 plus dollars), and then maybe one or two $50-$100 robots. I try to be very selective about each purchase because I like to think my collection is more about a variety of quality than it is about quantity. I'm not a completist at all so my collection is all over the place as far as size, type, era etc. of robots. I also like to keep my display a little bit spaced out on the shelf so that you can really see each piece, and I've been out of room for a few years now.
One thing that helps me not to feel so compelled to buy things immediately is that almost all figures will always be available and often they will get remade into newer and better forms. This is especially true with Bandai. If there is money to be made, Bandai will always re-release their figures, and the later versions are better every time. Sometimes you might have wait a few years, but they come back around.
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Post by xiombarg on Mar 1, 2014 0:42:11 GMT -5
Nice! The details on the electronics look great.
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Post by xiombarg on Mar 1, 2014 0:34:03 GMT -5
If I had the money I'd buy this in a heartbeat along with HT Robocop. These are the only Hot Toys figures I only want. I just hope Eddie's hood isn't made of rubber cause I've seen pictures some HT ED-209's with it disintegrating. I think that was one of the biggest problems of the old one. I don't know what the material is on the new version but it has a different texture which looks like a hard plastic canopy(?). The price for this is almost in the "crazy" range for a plastic figure. At least you got the NECA version to scratch the itch, which quite honestly might have been enough to do the job for me, but I already pre-paid for this awhile ago, so it's a done deal.
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Post by xiombarg on Feb 28, 2014 23:11:48 GMT -5
If I hadn't pre-ordered the Hot Toys version I would probably pick this up. I wasn't happy with the original Hot Toys model Collectible version that came out a couple of years ago for around $200, and since the ebay prices on that version are the same as the Movie Masterpiece Hot Toys version, it was a no brainer for me to pick up the far superior new Movie Masterpiece version.
I really debated on this Neca version and the Hot Toys version because normally I don't care much for movie figures, but ED is such a great robot design that I went for the jumbo.
I think the Neca actually looks pretty good, especially for being not super duper expensive, and honestly the size is so much more practical. Honestly I would prefer a figure the size of the NECA version because they are so much more playable than big ol jumbo figures. I wish the Hot Toys version was the Neca size and that the cost was half as much.
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Post by xiombarg on Feb 28, 2014 23:01:11 GMT -5
1/6 scale of course. Highest articulation yet for this character. Has three sound effects/bites from the movie. Replaceable battle damaged arm. Height is roughly 16 inches. INSANE detail and an insane price, coming in at $409 on pre-order. So, I couldn't resist, I ordered it. Movie stuff is not usually my cup of tea, but I've always loved the Ed 209 design and Hot Toys has nailed it down to the smallest detail on this one. Might be the only Hot Toys figure I ever get. I was looking at the key differences between this Movie Masterpiece version of the Ed 209 and the older Hot Toys "model" version that came out a couple of years ago, and even though the older one was ok, I was a little disappointed in some of the choices in the details and lack of proper articulation. But this Movie Masterpiece version totally blows it out of the water. There isn't the tiniest detail, texture or wire that isn't perfect on it. The old version had no sound effects or accessories but I also didn't like some of the paint apps and material colors. This version is a huge improvement. But what is to be expected when the Movie Masterpiece version costs almost twice as much. This should be out any day now and I have to say that I'm SUPER stoked.
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Post by xiombarg on Feb 26, 2014 21:48:20 GMT -5
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Post by xiombarg on Feb 26, 2014 21:43:57 GMT -5
One other awesome plugin I should have added to the above list is called Vertex Tools. It costs $20 but it's an absolute must. I'll edit the list and stick it in there.
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Post by xiombarg on Feb 19, 2014 23:00:10 GMT -5
Lol! Only somebody from Korea would arrange those busts like that. Just the fact that they included Taekwon V in an otherwise all classic Japanese robot cast... it's got to be Korean. You might well have that center figure be C3P0 or Dynomutt.
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Post by xiombarg on Feb 19, 2014 22:44:57 GMT -5
I guess that at least gives some reason behind making it, but still... No matter how great that game might be or how important this character is within the game, it would take an extremely odd person to shell out cash for this thing.
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Post by xiombarg on Feb 18, 2014 22:41:36 GMT -5
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Post by xiombarg on Feb 18, 2014 22:37:17 GMT -5
The proportions look good. I hope he will be a little more structurally solid and better articulated than GX-13. Personally I would rather that he be plastic and cost less than have metal and cost more, but... either way I just want it to be well constructed. It doesn't look like the treads will moving, but I don't know how much I care about that.
Did you guys scroll down on those last batch of pics and see the Armarauders guy? I guess that means that design is still going to happen?
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Post by xiombarg on Feb 17, 2014 18:10:29 GMT -5
The "black, strong and flexible" material from Shapeways should work well for this. Just be careful when putting them on that it doesn't scratch your figure. It's just a little bit coarse. It should haven't any problem slipping or sliding though.
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Post by xiombarg on Feb 11, 2014 11:58:15 GMT -5
I would guess that the theme here is that they want it to look like it was built from scrap metal, which if that is the case, it does have that random, non-manufactured, makeshift look to it, which is fine if you like that sort of thing. It is quirky for sure, and I can understand that for certain collectors this would be cool. While I like the concept, I wish there were a couple of changes in the design.
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Post by xiombarg on Feb 9, 2014 22:30:24 GMT -5
I am decently impressed with your work using Google SketchUp. I may have to play with it after I get a 3d rendering done. I am using ViaCAD, and is mainly tailored for CNC or similar type renders. I was liking it initially, but has some quirks when doing subtractions and I don't believe I can snap items together to see how they interact with each other. Do you have a list of "add-ons" for the main ones needed to start a project like you have been doing? Some fantastic articulation movement with your piece. Thanks for sharing and I need to watch this thread more often. Here are the main tools I use in three separate lists. First list are standard tools. Second list are right mouse click tools. Third list are the plugins. Standard ToolsPencil tool Push Pull tool Scale tool Move Tool Axes Tool - understanding this is critical Solid Tool set Styles Tool set Views Tool set One other thing to note is that to turn the perspective on/off is listed under the "camera" drop down menu. Right Mouse Click ToolsMake Group (and Explode)- understanding this is critical Flip Along Intersect Faces - it's critical to know when you need to use this instead of using the Solid Tools Hide Show Hidden Geometry PluginsVertex Tools Tools on Surface Edge Tools - the split faces tool is a must Extrusion Tools Joint Push Pull Round Corners Curviloft BZ_Toobar Artisan - mostly for organic modelling, but the knife subdivide is handy all the time. Jim's Custom Toolbar - Once your robot starts to get complicated, this plugin is absolutely critical. I use it to have buttons for the following menu option: "show hidden geometry", "camera perspective", "hide selected geometry", and "hide rest of model" Almost all these plugins are FREE and can be found at sketchucation.com under the resources menu where you will install the "plugin store download" and then search for them by name.
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