Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Today was a Google Video day.

Yeah, I got on Google Video today to find some cool stuff, and I think I did a pretty good job. First I went on to try and find some good Stargate stuff, and I found a couple things. First up, I found this video of Amanda Tapping and Richard Dean Anderson in a fun little blooper reel. Next up is a couple of producers singing along to the SG-1 intro, the hidden lyrics!!! After coming up with a bunch of nothing after that, I started to search Gundam, then figured that I had done that to death, and I wanted to check out on Evangelion. So I searched that and found some great goodies. First up, anyine who is vaguely intrested in Evangelion needs to see this video. In my opinion, one of the best music videos EVAR!!!! The next video was kinda funny, the Cruel Windows' Thesis. This next one is a music video, "In The End." Cool song, cool video. This next AMV is really wicked cool as it is, but the subtitles are what makes it worth it. Anyhow, last but not least, a soundclip from MGS: Substance, with Evangelion clips. Coolness.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Revoltech figures

Recently, Danny Choo had a post about Revoltech figures. It showed some cool stuff and these tiny joints that made mini-figure posability feasable. In that post, he showed pictures of Evangelion, Devil May Cry, and a couple robots like Shin Getter Robo. Anyhow, there was an anime exhibition recently, and there they showed some cool Revoltech goodies.



This first picture shows the Eva-01 and Eva-00 in their boxes, just waiting to be released from their paper and plastic prisons. Poor guys.....



Here are some more figures in this line, looks like they are gonna have a full lineup. I see the Unit-04, the Unit-03, the Unit-00' Kai. I also see that they have a pretty good attention to detail, the Unit-04 doesn't look like it has a power plug, which is keeping with the details. The Unit-04 used an experimental S2 engine, which is what cause the unit and the entire Nevada NERV outpost vanish.



Here we have the yellow Unit-oo with the space shuttle shield and the experiemental positronic rifle. The posability on these figures is pretty good, seeing as how they are probably only about four inches tall or so. In the background we see the Eva-04 and the Eva-00' again.



Here we have the Unit-02 and the Unit-01. Doesn't look like the Unit-02 comes with the production positron rifle, but I suppose that can be forgiven. However, the Unit-01 DOES come with the swords as seen in the manga



And in the last image, we see the Unit-01 with all sorts of cool accessories. Multiple heads and hands. Mmmmm, goodies.... Anyhow, I've always wanted a full set of Evangelions to do some full loadout operations against my Gundams. Oh, and before I go, check out this cool Evangelion bicycle!

Monday, March 27, 2006

Secretly in love...

Yes, I think I'm secretly in love. Or maybe not so secretly. It's not with any of the hot hot Asian chicks I saw in Canadia, and it's not with Major Kusinagi, (I think she might be lesbian). No, my true fiery passion lies with the FALKEN, a hidden plane unlockable in Ace Combat 5. Well, apparently it's gonna be in Ace Combat Zero as well, since Bandai made a EX Kit of it. Anyhow, the FALKEN is hot, I mean, insanely hot. And in that red color scheme, it's lustfully hot. I mean, it's about the hottest thing since the Mave Yukikaze. I should pick up this kit. This is the plane I put hours into the game for. This is the plane that made me break my no-cheat policy on the game so I could afford it. This is the plane that comes with the most insane secondary weapon ever. The laser cannon can fry any target in mere moments. This plane can kill anything that flies, rolls, runs, sits, walks or twitches. My work in Ace Combat 5 to get the x-02 has practically ceased, since I have been falling over the FALKEN. I'm not easily moved by a plane, but this one has got me. I'll park it in my garage next to my M1 Abrams and my S2000. Yep.

Saturday, March 25, 2006

Second day in Canada, first day in the con.

This morning I woke up and got geared up. The first order of business was to go downstairs to catch a bus, but while I was waiting I popped some SAC in my gizmo and saw a couple episodes. At 11 I went downstairs and boarded the bus with my sister and mom, ready to go visit Bridge Studios. Bridge Studios is the largest sound stage complex in Canada, and possibly in all of North America. It's called Bridge Studios because the Golden Gate bridge and many other bridges were built indoors at this facility, then shipped to the final location. Nowadays it's used to film Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and some show called Dead Like Me. There, we toured the sets for Stargate. I took many pictures, none of which I can show, since I signed a waiver. The first part we saw was the SGC corridors. Most notably for me, I saw the place where the dude ran over Daniel Jackson about 50 times in Window of Opportunity. After that, we went on to see the Gateroom, (BTW, the cool big guns the point at anyone coming into the SGC, yup, they're made of wood.) After that, we went up to the control room, and a few people stuck their hands on the iris controls. Above that, there is the meeting room, and the general's office. BTW, situatated throughout the base in several locations are shiny red buttons. I pushed a few, they don't do much. I'm sure tomorrow I'll read in the paper about disasters in China or something. After that, we went through the cave and villiage sets, and trooped through the spaceship set. There is no ceiling on that spaceship, neither is there glass on the front viewport. The command chair is comfy though. From there, we went to some SGA sets. First was the puddlejumper set. It's real cool. Pretty lights inside and whatnot. The jumper is only whole on one side. The other side is all framing. After that, we went on to the Atlantis control room. We all took turns being shot on film in front of the Atlantis gate, then browsed through the control area. After that we all shipped out and got on the buses. That was a fun trip.

Friday, March 24, 2006

First Day in Canada

Here I am at the lovely Vancouver Hilton on McKay street I wish I could upload pics, but my card reader flat out refuses to operate correctally. The Hilton is part of the Crystal Mall, which is an Asian mall. Some cool stuff here, and I even got to see a couple good looking Asian babes, one in particular was quite hot, but scampered off before I could ask for her phone number or email address. There are a few stores here that seel the kind of goodies I like, one that sells lots of capsule toys, Transformers, and Gundams, one that sells lots of anime and OSTs and some Gundams and capsule toys, and one that sells mostly Gundam models and plushies. I bought from all three today. ^~^

From the first store, I bought some cute posable capsule toy chicks. Actually, they look to be mostly variations of the same chick, but one in particular was quite cute. I think I saw this at Remy's site once. Anyhow, at the second store I bought the entire series of Ghost in the Shell, Stand Alone Complex. I would have bought SAC: 2nd Gig as well, but it wasn't dubbed bi-lingual. As for the third store, I picked myself up a HGUC Advanced Hazel and a set of Gundam Markers. So, new capsule toys, new Gundam, new anime. I'm set! I saw from pretty things that I didn't buy though. Each of those stores had a HG 1/60 scale Strike Freedom, ranging from the $190 range to the $170 range. The store with models and plushies had every Gundam model I could ask for, including some nice MG Zetapluses, MG Freedom Gundam, MG Mk-II ver. 2.0, MG Zeta Ver. 2.0, and just about every recent SEED kit known, like the HG Destiny Gundam. (Don't fret too much Tim, it was $45) I also saw a lot of PGs I need: the Mk-II Titans, the GP-01, the Zeta, the Skygrasper, the Strike, and the WZC. Though on that last item, I think the MG WZC is better in many ways. I saw that too. I was in heaven. There were some cool FIX figures at the anime shop, and I almost walked out with a GFF F90 one, but I resisted, as it was $75. I have said in the past that I could spend any amount of money at this mall, and refreshing my memory of this place has only cemented that idea.

Anyhow, very sorry that I have no pics, and I'll check in again tomorrow when I have more news.

PS. Danny Choo's site has info on a new SAC show, called Solid State Society. He also has a bunch of pics and a video. One of the pics shows the Major in her undies, ooohh!

Thursday, March 16, 2006

HGUC Methuss

Sweet! The HGUC Methuss that I have been wishing for has just been released!! After 6 years my prayers have been answered!! The kit is really sweet, just about the only complaint I could have is that it requires the removal of the hands for transformation, and at the very least, they could have included a set of parts that resemble recessed hands to put in the empty polycaps. At any rate, this model looks really cool, I'll have to pick one up as soon as I can!

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Black Holes on Google video

I was making my usual rounds today on the Internet and at Danny Choo's site he had a link to a video on black holes that was on Google Video. I watched it, and it was interesting stuff, though nothing I didn't know already. I dunno, if you have a half hour of time to kill, it's worth it. BTW, if you click that little download button on the right side, it asks you to download a Google Video player, which allows you to view the videos less compressed, so they look and sound better.

Saturday, March 11, 2006

Strike Freedom relit!!



Yay!! I have finished rebuilding my Strike Freedom! Is is very dim, since the LEDs are not nearly as bright as the filamant bulbs, but it's still bright enough to look cool. Just think, a few hours ago my Strike Freedom was almost completely unrecognizable as a Gundam. From there I put new LEDs into the chest and arms, then worked on the wiring for the head. Instead of using a yellow light for the head, I used a mini green one, and it looks good. Anyhow, all in all, I recommend using the very cool USB technique, just be very very certain that you wire a resistor into the circuit to keep them from burning out!!



And in closing........ Primus doing disco.

Wahoo!! Google Video rocks even more now!!

Google Video was rockin' awesome before, but now it's even cooler, because I'm on it!! Yes, they posted my Primus video, where I show everyone how he is transformed, and do it without the benefit of my Chip Square which Takara said was 'required' for transformation.

Friday, March 10, 2006

Strike Freedom rebuilding.


Okay, so I burnt out more than half of my Strike Freedom the very first day I lit it up. (btw, for anyone who wants to know, the Strike Freedom runs off filament bulbs, not LEDs!) Oops. Now I'm working on making it light again. First a buddy of mine located for me an LED Wizard that tells me what I need to do to make it work. After that I went to the local Radio Shack and bought about 20 LEDs and 5 resistors, all for about $3.50. Now I have a test circuit set up that I am going to leave for a good long while. Once this test is complete, I will then start wiring the LEDs into the Gundam. This is gonna be good!

Also, check out this Multi Touch Screen Prototype by Apple. It's really cool.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Primus!







It must be the evilness of my RAZR, but I haven't posted a word since I got it. Well, that is to say, after I said I got it. Anyhow, back on the topic. Primus.

Some years ago, as part of the Transformers Armada series, Hasbro released Unicron, the Chaos Bringer. (not me, the more nouny chaos) This was inevitable, since Unicron factored so hugely into the Transformers universe. He premiered in Transformers: The Movie, and has been featured in post-TFTM G1, Beast Wars (I think), Beast Machines, Armada, Energon, and somewhat Cybertron. After all this, a toy was inevitable. Primus featured mostly in the UK and US comics, but quickly became a critical part of the Transformers mythos. According to the mythology, Primus and Unicron were the ultimate incarnations of good and evil, respectively. Primus and Unicron battled for eons, eventually Primus banished Unicron to the farthest reaches of space, where he consumed and grew in size and power. Primus, on the other hand, surrounded himself with metal and went to sleep to make it harder for Unicron to find him. Over time, he became the planet Cybertron, the homeworld of the Transformers.

So, as you would expect, you start with a roundish shape. Unlike Unicron, who is only round on one side, Primus is completly round, which is good. Also, scattered across the surface of the globe is landmarks familiar to a transfans. I don't know them all, but I know some people do! :)







Transformation to robot mode is remarkably simple too. I timed myself at transformation to planet mode in under a minute. Included with the figure is the Chip Square. Or, if you prefer to watch the US version, the Omega Lock. So, the first step is to put the Chip Square into the lock on the top and slide it back. This makes the 'wings' the the planet pop out and also the main guns. If you raise the rear armor panel, it is now in 'planetary attack mode' or something like that.



Also of note is that the Chip Square has it's own battery and lights up when inserted into one of the lock areas. It's pretty cool.



After that, you unfold the entire lower hemisphere to make the legs. When you have the legs down, insert the Chip Square into the leg locks and rotate them to lock them into position. As the leg parts rotate, the guns on the legs rise into position. Check this out.



Next you insert the Chip Square into the chest and push it up. This lifts the shoulders, seperates the chest plates, widens the shoulders and raises the head. If I had two AA batteries, his eyes would light up and some noise would be made.



Rotate the waist around and you are done. One of the first things that struck me about Primus is the incredible amount of detail on him. The surface detail rivals that of Noisemaze, with little structures and lines over every square centimeter.


(sorry for the blurry shot, it didn't look blurry on the tiny LCD screen on the camera)



When prototypes of Primus first surfaced, people complained about his long heels, and how dumb they looked. Whether in response to the complaints, or if it were already designed in, the heel flaps fold up. I honestly don't think it does a whole lot to make it cooler looking, but it does make him less stable.



Posability on Primus is really good, and he can do a lot of cool action poses. I was a bit concerned that his wrists don't rotate, then I figured out that they rotate up by the elbow. His forearms are massive, but his upper arms are teeny tiny, the elbow joint is immediatly below the shoulder joint. Somehow, though, it works out perfect.





When you insert his Force Chip, the guns on the forearm pop up and extend.



All in all, Primus is a really really cool figure, the pinnacle of the entire Transformers line, and exactally what us transfans have been waiting for all these years. I give him a perfect score, since I can't think of a single way to make him better.