#sf3 is a game about holes

[zonaraze]

sf3 taurus fire fight

bud: i just don't get it, geo, there is no counter to divide line!

geo: air shoes, bud... air shoes

sf3 rogue fight

geo: just get air shoes--oh wait you don't have any link power and can't equip the ability

solo, trapped behind like 3 holes: SHUT. UP.

[bwprowl]

It’s a smattering of cool new stuff squarely in my appeal range this week, with Transformers, toku, and fighting games all getting looks. Then there’s just a couple pre-orders up to look at, and I’ll cap off with another new TF that surprisingly stole the show this week. Stop in, it’s Tuesday Night Toys!

New Stuff: Biggie Smalls

As stated previously, I love Kyuranger, and its large cast is about to get even more lovable with a new lineup of plushies coming out. Bandai did similar ones for the Zyuohger cast last year (which also looked cute as heck), meaning that the only drawback for these will be if they’re just as hard to get as those earlier ones were. Also makes me wonder if they’ll actually find a way to have these ones make an appearance in the Kyuranger show the way the Zyuohger ones did.

Next door to Super Sentai, current Kamen Rider Ex-Aid is gearing up for its home stretch, and its cast keeps expanding in crazy ways. Its premiere lady Rider and ostensible mascot Kamen Rider Poppy will be getting her action figure debut for the series with this entry in the SO-DO line, even including optional stickers for evil red eyes or benevolent blue eyes. It’s a nice inclusion for the series, though I can’t be the only one hoping Poppy gets even better figures in the LVUR or SHF lines.

Aside from those toku reveals, the Tokyo Toy Show also brought some updates on TakaraTomy’s Transformers Legends line and its continued handling of the current Titans Return stuff. Amongst all the premiumed-up versions of those toys was some news about these highly-desirable little items: new Titan Master mini-figures of Masterforce kids Cab and Minerva! These appear to be full new molds for the tiny toys, and if we still don’t have full transtector body toys for them to attach to yet, they’ll at least go great with the Shuta that TT put out with their Wheelie release. Of course, there’s some pretty bad news with this: The only way seen to get these two so far is in a huge TakaraTomy Mall-exclusive two-pack of LG Super Ginrai and Godbomber, two toys most people who wanted them already bought.

Pop Culture Shock showed off a prototype of their next Street Fighter statue, which will be Hugo. Anyone who originates from SF3 is an immediate hit with me, and Hugo’s always been a unique character, standing apart enough from other wrestlers like Zangief. And hey, this release will go great with PCS’s earlier Poison statue.

Wishlist: Two faces

Remember Gurren Lagann? It can seem easy for previously-ubiquitously popular anime to get lost in the constantly-enlarging sea of come-and-go megahits, but I like to think Gurren Lagann endures a little more than that. The big cool robots are a large part of that, of course, but I like to think its characters resonate just as well. And not just in Yoko’s photogenic design being exploited for tons of figure releases. Case in point: Thematic cast backbone and king of spoilers Kamina will be getting a new statue from Emontoys, and it looks pretty dang epic. The colors and shading seem a cut above the detail level I expect from a bold release like this. And as overshadowingly popular as Kamina can be, he doesn’t seem to get nearly enough merchandise.

Rounding back to toku, the next proper release in the LVUR line did go up for order, with Maximum Gamer/Muteki form for the titular Ex-Aid soon to be available. Maximum’s outrageous Rider design has grown on me over its use in the show, so it’s a little disappointing that it’s being relegated to a barely-posable Level 1 stand-in for this release. It still looks good though, and the pop out action for the succeeding Muteki form (looking to see how this works in-show) sells it beyond the shortcomings. This line has always looked like a lot of fun, I’ll have to see about snapping some of them up eventually.

On Desk: What happened Last Knight?

I buy enough Transformers as it is, so with the initial lineup of The Last Knight toys looking a little light, I was happy to let it pass with just a pickup of the sweet new Barricade and the odd Tiny Turbo Changer as a distraction. But that’s gone out a little bit in this last week, with reveals of the next few proper waves of figures showing off surprisingly cool new stuff like Deluxe Headmaster Cogman, Nitro, and a huge combining Leader-class Dragonstorm (and that design just came outta nowhere!). But the walk back to wanting these actually began a little earlier for me, when I impulse-bought the new Voyager-class Optimus Prime.

I mean, I didn’t really have a reason to. I was not a fan of Optimus’s design in the last movie at all, and didn’t get any toys of it (much more interested as I was in his G1-cosplay ‘Evasion’ form instead). But looking back, that might have been the fault of the two (!) different Leader-class toys they made for Prime then not really capturing the design effectively in the first place. And everyone knows Hasbro always takes a couple films to get the pass right on these movie-bots’ looks.

Case in point, this toy. It looked good enough in-package for me to want it (love that silver paint), and in-hand it’s a remarkably solid, coherent figure. There is a fair amount of kibble, to be sure, but it’s consolidated effectively around the back and legs, with none of the clunky obtrusiveness those previous bigger versions suffered from. And while a lot of the vehicle mode parts are kept out of the way, not truly integrating, there are still plenty of extra bits like the shoulderpads and movable chest panels to sell it as a modular, transforming figure, rather than a static plastic slab. Posability could be better (would really like some wrists) but it’s nice overall, and the attachable sword and shield lend it some personality. I especially love being able to store the sword in the back at a scabbard-esque angle. The one sore spot is the hollow front-facing sides of the exhaust pipes. It also would have been nice to see those painted up in silver.

Transformation is of the appreciably complex variety you get when Hasbro really grasps a Movie design. There’s a ton going on, including the now-usual Movie-Optimus trick of the legs unfolding and stretching the entire length of the bottom of the truck. Perhaps what’s most surprising about this shellformer is how much leeway you have in pulling the transformation off. The previous Primes had a real problem with clearance and order of operations and the like, but on this one, there’s a surprising amount of give and free space in places like the front where the arms and chest get walled in. It definitely helps prevent such a panel-heavy transformation from being frustrating.

The vehicle mode you end up with does its job well too. The new truck design is one thing I initially did like about Trans4mers Optimus, so finally having a full proper toy of this grandiose thing is pretty nice. There’s not much to it, other than looking nice and getting there with a nifty transformation. It does have a peg hole in the hitch, but that’s mainly used to store the shield, so I’m not sure how much of a trailer we might be able to count on for any future releases. The sword storage is clever itself, at least, slotting underneath the truck.

Like I said, Optimus here was a total impulse buy, so I’m shocked at how well this toy won me over. It so successfully pulls of a design I thought I wasn’t fond of that I now have to reconsider how that was informed in the first place. Transformers toys and especially the Movie lines have experienced some growing pains in the last few years, especially with a bunch of new designs Hasbro has had to try to pull off, so seeing how well they can execute it when they do really know what they’re doing is quite heartening. I think I’m definitely in for more toys from this line as it comes out now. Don’t know what I’ll be able to say about the movie itself.

I’m glad all of you could be here! You have a good night now, and have fun!