Here comes the nerdery!

[Hucklebubba]

So I recently resolved that I was going to call and cancel a particularly prickly credit card, so as to stop the finance charges, and thereby maybe have a chance of paying it off in this lifetime.

However, in anticipation of the same, I decided to go on one last online shopping spree. A proper sendoff, so to speak. Me saying goodbye to an old friend.

One of the items in question was a TFTM Ironhide* figure, which arrived this morning. Now, in regards to the movie upon which it is based, I'll admit I have my issues. But if Ironhide is exemplary of the other action figures, than to whomever was in charge of making them, I say bravo.

Specifically why, you may ask? Simple. This thing is insanely difficult to transform. I love it.

That is all.


*Got it on Amazon for twice what it would've cost off the shelf at Wal-Mart. But I would've payed three times as much if it meant not having to go to that abominable warehouse of despair.

[PoolMan]

There is just... SO MUCH right with that post...

[Rett Mikhal]

My friend has tried and failed to transform all his new Transformer figures. They can go to robot but... getting back is... difficult. He's paranoid of even touching Starscream, so he just chills in F-22 mode on his desk. It actually looks like a decent F-22 Model. BUT IS IT MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE?! No, sadly, it is not.

I whole heartidly agree with staying the crap away from Wal-Mart. South Park's satire was never more true than the episode 'Something Wal-Mart This Way Comes.'

[Hucklebubba]

poolman said:

There is just... SO MUCH right with that post...

Especially at three in the morning. Care to explain what you were doing up at such an ungodly time of night, young man? Growth occurs primarily during sleep, and you're never going to crack seven feet if you don't learn to keep better hours.

rettmikhal said:

My friend has tried and failed to transform all his new Transformer figures. They can go to robot but... getting back is... difficult. He's paranoid of even touching Starscream, so he just chills in F-22 mode on his desk. It actually looks like a decent F-22 Model. BUT IS IT MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE?! No, sadly, it is not.

Meh. Starscream's robot mode is ugly as hell anyway.

What amazes me about these figures--or at least the Ironhide figure, since it's the only one I have, and more than likely, ever will have--is that Hasbro went in a totally opposite direction from what I predicted. I figured that, for the sake of doing as much quick and dirty merchandising as possible, they'd go all half-assed and release the figures as five-step knock-offs, or at the very most, make them moderately complex but still highly cheaty.

But nay, it seems they have done their damnedest to ensure that the figures' transformations are every bit as retardedly complex as those of their movie counterparts. Color me kicked in the sack.

Edit: I just made Pug Supreme, Misterfalconers!

[PoolMan]

hucklebubba said:

Especially at three in the morning. Care to explain what you were doing up at such an ungodly time of night, young man? Growth occurs primarily during sleep, and you're never going to crack seven feet if you don't learn to keep better hours.

To be fair, it was midnight my time. ;D

We're premiering this year's play this week, which means we've been in rehearsal till about 11pm every night since Saturday, and will continue to do so until this coming Saturday. We get a three day break, then back at it next week.

The problem is that at 11pm, if you've just come off stage, you're still VERY. MUCH. AWAKE. Takes me a while to get to the point of being able to sleep. So looks like the vaunted 7 foot mark will remain just a dream.

Back on topic, I bought the Darth Vader and Boba Fett Transformers while in New York this summer, and while I love them both, I have issues with the Fett/Slave I toy. It's a finicky beast to transform. The Vader/TIE Bomber is much easier.

[Rett Mikhal]

I never understood those. They turn into characters... HUMAN ones. The Transformers were all about ROBOTs in Disguise... not Mark Hammil in disguise. Wouldn't it be more ass-kicking if a Star Destroyer turned into a Death Robot?

Course, what could the Death Star turn into that could possibly be more effective? Besides Condoleezza Rice.

[Hucklebubba]

rettmikhal said:

Course, what could the Death Star turn into that could possibly be more effective?

Why, a giant maid of course. I guess that was really more of a Star Destroyer equivalent, though. . .

[PoolMan]

rettmikhal said:

I never understood those. They turn into characters... HUMAN ones. The Transformers were all about ROBOTs in Disguise... not Mark Hammil in disguise. Wouldn't it be more ass-kicking if a Star Destroyer turned into a Death Robot?

While not expressly... expressed... I actually think that's the point. The vehicle modes all come with a figurine of the ship's primary pilot that sits in the cockpit. I think the robot mode is kind of representative of the pilot, not the pilot himself.

[Rett Mikhal]

I just never understood why they didn't turn into robots for their... robot mode.

[Hucklebubba]

poolman said:

The Vader/TIE Bomber is much easier.

[megadork]I'm sure you meant to say TIE Advanced.[/megadork]

The nerdery continues in a big way with another recent postal arrival: Master-freaking-piece-freaking-Starscream. And with it, the occurence of the ultra-rare phenomenon known as I Don't Feel So Good Coolness. As the name implies, it refers to situations wherein one is presented with something of such incredible greatness, that one is inspired to opine, "Land o' Goshen! This is so spectacular, I do believe I shall have to vomit shortly!"

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the last time in semi-recent memory that I was struck down by a fit of IDFSGC was when Masterpiece Optimus Prime arrived.

[Rett Mikhal]

hucklebubba said:

[megadork]I'm sure you meant to say TIE Advanced.[/megadork]

I concur! I'd like to see you get back to a Star Base after the destruction of the Death Star with nothing but a Twin Ion Engine propulsion system!