You Don't Make Sense To Me : Part 2 : Megatron

From the universe of Transformers comes Megatron, one of the characters that really doesn't make sense. Here's a robot several stories high with lots of mass and weight and yet is able to transform into a light weight handgun. Where does all the mass and weight go to ? Better still, in the entire history of the Transformers why doesn't the Autobots just stomp on him while he's in handgun mode ? Megatron... You Don't Make Sense To Me..

You Don't Make SenseTo Me : Part 1 : Cyclops

There's a lot of things these days about comics which make it hard for me to enjoy them the way I used to when I was younger. As how some people would say it, we tend to grow out of things as we mature. So, I've decided to start a series of articles called "You Don't Make Sense To Me". First up is one of the iconic X-Men characters, Cyclops. I was thinking really hard about buying a Bowen Retro Cyclops statue for my collection. As with any purchase, I usually do plenty of research into the character's background as well as how he / she would appear and interact in a real world environment with all the laws of physics in place. That brought to mind one thing that didn't make sense about Cyclops. He has a very powerful optic beam... so powerful that it can take down a Sentinel. That's like having a battleship cannon on your shoulders instead of a head. Now imagine the powerful recoil that comes with something like that. In the real world, Cyclops would've given himself a whiplash to the neck in the least. Worst case scenario is that if he unleashed everything he's got, the recoil would snap his neck and either paralyze or kill him instantly. And with that in mind, I've killed my appetite for wanting any toy or statue of this x-man.

My Absolute Farewell to Transformers

Remember how I've mentioned that no matter how many times I've tried letting go of my love of Transformers it keeps pulling me back again ? Well, this time it's farewell for good. After watching past episodes of Beast Wars, Beast Machines, Armada, and Prime on YouTube these past 2 months I've remembered why I let go off Transformers in the first place. Aside from the scale issues, i didn't like how Transformers cartoons try to teach kids lessons in life by showing Autobots preaching to kiddy humans about sharing, not being rash..etc .. but at the same time indirectly tell kids it's ok to blow up and destroy your enemies. Also, everytime the Transformers franchise has been rebooted it is always a retelling about Optimus Prime and his team. Anyway, those issues have fortified my resolve to say farewell to Transformers for good and I have successfully sold off every last bit of my Transformers merchandise.

Farewell Transformers ! You've given me lots of good memories when I was a kid :)

Review : Transformers Prime - Arms Micron War Breakdown

I know I've said my farewells to Transformers before but there is always something about them that draws me back but fortunately each time I'm drawn back, I'm getting less and less enthusiastic about them. The cartoon series Transformers Prime is what pulled me back with it's delicious graphics, character + vehicle designs, and reinterpretations of our favourite G1 characters.

I've actually been pacing back and forth deciding whether to buy this particular guy and after much thought and research online, I've decided to get him :) Here's my product review of Transformers Prime - Arms Micron War Breakdown. What made it so though to decide is because this figure can only be found in the japanese Arms Micron line and not Hasbro which makes it hard to come by.

Vehicle mode review :

Breakdown from the front. Looks great as all the parts were able to snap into place properly without leaving behind huge gaps between pieces.

Left and Right angle shots of Breakdown from above. You can tell from these pics that he's 99% seemless. Also, the pics can tell what to expect from a perfectly transformed Breakdown.

Side view of Breakdown.

Rear angle view with spare tyre on the back. Please note that the spare tyre can't be taken off.

View from above. You can see the peg hole on the rooftop and bonet for his weapon.

I did this on purpose to show you Breakdown that wasn't properly transformed. I've encountered this problem the first time I've tried transforming him into vehicle mode. It was so hard and frustrating trying to get the back hatch to close properly without making the side panels pop-out.

The trick is to put emphasis on these areas circled in red and focus on getting them into their respective slots / holes. Once you achieve that, everything else falls into place :)

Peekaboo ! Breakdown's head peeping from behind his arms and legs.

Low to the ground front shot of Breakdown to show how much of his robot parts can be seen in vehicle mode.

Low to the ground side shot of Breakdown. That ball thing above his front wheel is actually his arm ball-joint. Unsightly unless you can convince yourself that it is some high tech version of suspension :P

Robot mode review :

Breakdown in robot mode looking superb.

Angle shot in robot mode.

Rear angle shot of robot mode.The kibble at the back of his legs can't be help. It's the same problem as Ratchet from the Arms Micron / Hasbro line.

Direct rear shot of Breakdown. The upper body looks cool with all the tyres :)

From above.

Articulation demonstration begins now :) Breakdown trying to do splits and spread his arms. What you can see is his limit.

Breakdown doing the tightrope. That's the furthest I can invert his feet.

Arm articulation. Not quite 45 degrees because some parts prevent him from achieving a full 45 degree bend.

Breakdown trying to touch his toes.

Breakdown trying to arch his back. This shot makes him look like a train wreck :P

Zoomed shot of the legs. They're covered all around. Not like those hollow rubbish you get with Fall of Cybertron figures.

Trying to bend the knee. Like the arm, not quite 45 degrees but almost.

Foot can go all the way in like a ballerina :)

Foot all the way out for defensive pose.

Breakdown in defensive pose standing his ground :)

Who goes there !? Airachnid !? Arghhh !!!

Head / face shot of Breakdown. I love the way they've done his head and face. Exactly like in the tv show :)

Farewell Lego... May you make someone else happy :)

A few months ago I bought a few Lego sets because I felt the need to build something with my hands. Naturally, Lego's one of the first things to cross my mind so I decided to have a go again with a Hero Factory set, a Lego Creator, and Lego Technic set. Compared to my childhood days, the feeling of joy that I get from completing a model didn't last very long and the process of building a particular model didn't give me that amazed feeling. These days, Lego are trying to cut down on the number of bricks that they put into a set. Therefore, during the building process one would get the feeling that Lego has been busy taking shortcuts to keep costs down which is very disappointing to me. I actually did give up on Lego last year but decided to give it another chance this year. In the end, I felt that these Lego sets would bring joy to someone else and donated them to a local charity shop. These days I would stick to buying Lego Duplo because it's much more fun to build stuff with my daughter. Everyday is always something new when it comes to Duplo and my daughter :) Below are the sets that I had donated to charity :

Farewell childhood memories

There comes a point in everyone's life where we let go off certain childhood memories to make room in our minds for more current, serious and pressing issues. In my case, i've decided not to keep track off my favourite childhood cartoons, and comics such as the ones that you can find in the montage below.

These cartoons and comics used to be my favourites while I was growing up but now that I'm over 30 years of age, a lot of these have either lost meaning to me or in other words... completely makes no sense at all.

Let's begin with Transformers. The cartoons back in the 80s were really cool especially the first Transformers movie. Not to mention the toys and comics. I always remember going through Transformers toy catalogues whenever I got a new Transformers toy. I savoured every last bit of detail in those catalogues and even begged my mother to buy me another everytime we walked past the toy shop when I was like 7 plus years old. Unfortunately she did not buy me toy after toy of Transformers no matter how much I begged :P My parents have always believed that I should earn it by helping them with chores around the house and in the garden. They would always give me pocket money based on how much work I help out with at home. The more work I do, the more money I earn. Eventually I manage to get enough to buy the ones I had my eyes on :) Anyway, that was then...  These days, in my adulthood it has become a burden and even a headache trying to imagine Transformers of different scales existing together in the same universe. It's really tough trying to convince yourself that something the size of a hand gun can transform into a robot several stories high and do battle with another robot which transformed from a truck. Or how about a robot several stories high being able to transform into a large space shuttle that can fit 5 - 6 robots the same height as he is in robot form ? Starting to get a migraine on that one ? haha.. I don't blame you. That's just the tip of the iceberg in the Transformers universe. Wait until you reach the Transformers categories of Pretenders, Headmasters, and Powermasters :P The best way to understand the scale issues would be to do research on this one Transformer... Fortress Maximus.  In the end, the Transformers universe is best left to small kids and teenagers. They have much better imagination and chaos in their heads compared to adults :)

My problem with Gobots was more or less same like Transformers. Scale issues...

Number 2 in my farewell list is Spawn. During my teenage years I felt rejected by most people due to my family background and also because of my mixed-blooded lineage. Spawn was something that I could relate to in a way. It follows the story of Al-Simmons, a soldier who sold his soul to a demon so that he could come back to life to see his wife. Unfortunately for him, there was a catch.. he could come back not as himself but rather as an ugly monster with the task of leading Hell's army to the gates of Heaven. Throughout his new life as Spawn, he took advantage of his Hell given powers to do good and seek redemption by becoming the judge, jury and executioner for criminals who have taken advantage of loop-holes within the justice system. His mentor, Cog has mentioned to him that none of the Hellspawns in existence could ever redeem themselves. Their fate was Hell and damnation. Regardless of those facts, he tried his best against all odds to find redemption. What spoilt it for me is when Al-Simmons believed that God and his Angels were just as bad as Hell and it's Demon. In the end, he turned to the powers of mother-earth to end the war between God and the Devil. On top of that, there came a point in the comic series where God and the Devil were reincarnated into the bodies of small kids. It all got too twisted and sick for me to follow anymore. It was bordering on blasphemy. That's when I called it quits with Spawn.

It didn't take me long to let go of "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe". I followed the cartoon for 1 year and lost interest in the series after that. It was too fantasy for me even as a small kid. On top of that, seeing men in that cartoon wear bird's nest for underwear really killed the show for me. There was no replay / rewatching value for this cartoon series.