I avoid TF message board forums and rarely go into any of them other than around GRC time to see what people bought.
Anyway, because of that, there's all kinds of peripheral toy shit that I miss and if it wasn't for people sending me the links to this or that I'd never know about some pretty cool custom stuff the TF geek masses produce out there in the wilds.
Pulse sent me to the TFW2005 boards this morning for this guy Redline's "Classics Menasor" project and I gotta say I'm always impressed by the creativity out there.
This Menasor looks damn fine.
Mirage makes a good base for Dragstrip. I mean, that race car has gotta be there to have a proper Dragstip if ya ask me. Then again, I seem to be one of the few people out there that totally loved Classics Mirage.
Now I have no real complaints, but I have realized that over the past 6 months I've been spoiled when it comes to customs and kitbashing.
Through the works of Jin Saotome, and to a lesser extent about 3 or 4 other guys out there, I've come to expect a certain depth in the coloring and painting that takes figures to 11.
Hell... Jin's stuff takes 'em to 12.
Sure that Menasor wouldn't look consistent with the other Classics figures but damn, imagine him with patented Saotome balls-kicking paint job?
You know what I'm talking about!
On an indirectly related side-note, Cowtown has been under constant rain for like the last 3 days. People's basements are flooding and all kinds of water-related topics are all over the news.
I hate to think what the old House of Love III basement is like because we haven't had this amount of water in such a short time frame in years. (Well... I don't seem to remember it.)
Now at the new Domicile, I'm happy to report that the the 19-year old waterproofing system and sump pump kicked in and for all intents and purposes appears to be functional and fully operational.
That means Giga and I can seriously consider our future plans to finish off sections of it and make what I suppose could be called a "Basement of Love" for our geek shit and a place to kitbash and customize and stuff.
So... someday... things might be in order in my oh so mundane NalaLife to have time to learn some of this crazy ass toy shit and work on my special White Castle Exclusive Wally, Billy, and Sparkle Giftset.
This is awesome. And with those Deluxe-sized arms and legs, it should be pretty tall. I hope my "Classics Brutics" looks that good when I finish.
Nala: You weren't the only one that loved Mirage. I'd have to say its a toss up between Classics OP, Jetfire and Mirage as my favorite figure. I think Mirage is one of the best Deluxe-sized figures ever released by Hasbro.
No Probs Mate. I'm just trying to spread the TF Luv around. Over the past few days I've been able (for the first time) to display some of my 308 TF's in Bot mode - seeing them like that makes me appreciate them even more - rather than seeing them chucked altogether that is.
Bleh, guess someone else beat me to it. So far I've only constructed Classics Dragstrip and Classics Motormaster. I was waiting for Classics 2.0 so I can do a proper Breakdown.
Incase you haven't seen this yet either, Anemis (Mark's Projects) scratchbuilt Prime's Girl Elita One http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/showthread.php?t=139671&page=13 (which means that his Giant-sized Metroplex is back in development - Woo Hoo!)
See, that just doesn't do much for me. It's nice, and it's great work, but it just doesn't jive with the Classics aesthetic, for some reason. I feel more or less the same way about the Energon Devastator recolors. Dunno why, given that I display the Target RID Build Team guys as my "Classics Devastator"...
I guess I just need a little something crazier from customs - everyone's doing stunticons and combaticons and shit, let's see somebody do tributes to somethign AFTER 1986, you know?
I keep meaning to get around to my Vehicon Headmasters deal, but don't think it'll ever happen. (BM Mirage, Obsidian, Tank Drone, and Sky Shadow as G1 Chromedome, Brainstorm, Hardhead, and... uh, the other dude. I may substitute Clocker for Mirage, just 'cause.)
-hx
Not too shabby ... weird feet though.
I've been keeping tabs on this guy all week - I love the project. Also, the fact that at heart, TFs are primarily "car robots" (^_^) might have something to do with the proliferation of Stunticon customs.
I'm dying for a real re-work of the Combaticons though. I know some peeps have super-articulated the original, but if ever there was a single combiner team with personality for every member, it was those guys. They need to be Masterpieced already. :)
What you said about avoiding TF message boards... every now and then I forget why I stay away from them, de-cloak, and within 5 minutes remember all over again. Usually goes something like this:
Me: blah
Someone: blah already did blah, you just pinched blah's blah
Me: I don't mean that, I mean blah
Someone else: Oh, no, but blah
Someone #3: Yeah, you can't blah because blah
Me: *sigh* All I'm saying is blah
Someone #4: blah's the expert on blah, and at blah they said that blah, isn't that right?
Someone #5: yes, that's right, blah is in blah assortment blah blah repaint blah and in the next 12 months blah blah blah blah blah blah
Me: I was just saying, blah
>gone
I think "blah" could almost be the new "foo" if you know what I mean.
"blah" is usually about as interesting as "foo".
At least it's not "yada" though, cos that guy really sucks.
ObTopic: very Menasory, looks a little Micromaster Defensory too. Not sure I'm feeling the clunky Cybertron Downshift Wildrider among the sleek Classics though. He might feel a little more Menasory in a more traditional config. I'm sure forums full of TF geeks have gone on about the traditional config he "should" be in, but I won't go into that here, because:
a) it would be sad and deserving of painful blahs (as Red Alert says, "knowing it's sad is half the battle"), and
2) I'm sobering up, so it's time I got another. And I'm not even slightly kidding about that.