So, the semester ends in about a week and a half. That means I have to deal with the fun of finals. Being in computer technology stuff makes me sad, because they actually have finals. Back when I was in graphic design it was final projects. I could spend a week putting together the most slap-dash POS and still get at least a B. With networking, I have to kind of try because it's all stuff I should remember. My problem is that if I'm not actively using this information over and over, then it's forgotten. So, do I remember anything about Cisco routers for my exam? Not particularly--but that's not what worries me. My issue is subnetting a virtual network and getting everything functioning for 20% of my grade.
And once that's all done, I get to turn around and go back a month later to another semester. This semester may be more fun, though. I'm in a network security class that has us doing 'war games'. We try to hack the other teams' while we defend our networks from them. Sounds excellent. And might I say, it sounds like a fitting end to college for now since after this next semester I'll have my Network Admin degree. And then I'll be doubly overqualified for what I do. Wooo.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
‘Aerial Team Appendage Add-On’ Kit for Superion
[caption id="attachment_115" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Superion"]
[/caption]
Next on my review list is the 'Aerial Team Appendage Add-On' Kit. This add-on is meant for Superion, which was a Target exclusive. Let me just start off by saying, I saw this in stores and laughed at it. It looks so damn stupid as-is. There is literally no reason whatsoever to buy this without the intent of picking up this add-on kit. I have pictures of the original mode of this down at the bottom. It's just... argh. It's angering to see something this 'durpy'.
Needless to say, there was no hesitation to pass on this because I wasn't as into Transformers as heavily as I am at the moment. I basically just bought the Transformers: Animated toys, and that was it. To buy a toy like Superion would have been a waste of money--not to mention, it's considered a Movie toy. I hate the movie toys. I've never bought one--aside from Superion and Bruticus--when I heard FansProject was making add-ons for these. Kind of a peer pressure buy.
Seeing the pre-order for this on BBTS.com made me think, "Oh, that looks kind of neat. I don't remember it looking nearly that... Oh. my. gawd... That thing is hideous." Maybe it was my reaction to how much of a difference this add-on makes that made me want it. It's like Extreme Robot Makeover. HOWEVER, I'm not too keen on how much this set cost. Supposedly it's a very limited run, but I find it hard to believe this should have cost $45.
It basically fits together the same way the durpy version goes. The durpy version is supposed to have the limbs alternated. One jet for a leg, one for an arm. One plane for an arm, and one for a leg. It's able to stand up better like that since the planes are a bit too wide to stand up without the 'knees' rubbing, but the way it does the hands and feet looks dumb. This version keeps some semblance of symmetry and has the jets be the arms and the planes be the legs. It can take a much wider stance with the add-on feet, so the 'knees' aren't rubbing together.
What would normally be part of the arms is now the shoulder--which looks great. He's an all-aeronautical Transformer combiner, so to have jets as shoulders makes sense. What's normally an arm for the stand-alone flips down and you're using that ball joint to give him more mobility of the limbs. A 'forearm' is placed over that stand-alone, and then a fist is attached at the end into a peg. It works surprisingly well. He also comes with a visor, which helps him looks more like the G1 counterpart. It stands at about 10.5 inches tall--to the topmost point of the shoulders.
I wish I'd have thought to take some pictures of the stand-alone figures with the accessories, but to me that wasn't the appeal of this. It's great they made everything fit together and work as one cohesive unit, but the only reason I got this was because it was a combiner that was getting the FansProject treatment.
For those that may have picked up Superion directly from Target, I'm sorry. I feel your pain indirectly--since I basically paid the retail price for it, but on eBay. So, that was $35 spent on the durpy toy. And then $45 to make him look cool. Why does this math not make sense? Don't get me wrong--It looks so cool. On a scale of 1 to 10, Ultra Magnus would be a 9.5. The Superion add-on would be about a 6--drunk 7--so to speak. The price tag is just too high for this considering how much Ultra Magnus is. I'd have paid $30 tops for this. If it goes on sale on tfsource, or bbts, then go for it. You won't be disappointed FOR THAT PRICE. If you're going out to specifically get this toy just to get the add-on (like I did), then you should save your money. Not worth the price unless you're very into Superion. What's sad is that when they come out with the add-on kit for Bruticus Maximus, I'll probably buy that as well. Blargh.
Pros:
Cons:
[gallery link="file"]
[/caption]Next on my review list is the 'Aerial Team Appendage Add-On' Kit. This add-on is meant for Superion, which was a Target exclusive. Let me just start off by saying, I saw this in stores and laughed at it. It looks so damn stupid as-is. There is literally no reason whatsoever to buy this without the intent of picking up this add-on kit. I have pictures of the original mode of this down at the bottom. It's just... argh. It's angering to see something this 'durpy'.
Needless to say, there was no hesitation to pass on this because I wasn't as into Transformers as heavily as I am at the moment. I basically just bought the Transformers: Animated toys, and that was it. To buy a toy like Superion would have been a waste of money--not to mention, it's considered a Movie toy. I hate the movie toys. I've never bought one--aside from Superion and Bruticus--when I heard FansProject was making add-ons for these. Kind of a peer pressure buy.
Seeing the pre-order for this on BBTS.com made me think, "Oh, that looks kind of neat. I don't remember it looking nearly that... Oh. my. gawd... That thing is hideous." Maybe it was my reaction to how much of a difference this add-on makes that made me want it. It's like Extreme Robot Makeover. HOWEVER, I'm not too keen on how much this set cost. Supposedly it's a very limited run, but I find it hard to believe this should have cost $45.
It basically fits together the same way the durpy version goes. The durpy version is supposed to have the limbs alternated. One jet for a leg, one for an arm. One plane for an arm, and one for a leg. It's able to stand up better like that since the planes are a bit too wide to stand up without the 'knees' rubbing, but the way it does the hands and feet looks dumb. This version keeps some semblance of symmetry and has the jets be the arms and the planes be the legs. It can take a much wider stance with the add-on feet, so the 'knees' aren't rubbing together.
What would normally be part of the arms is now the shoulder--which looks great. He's an all-aeronautical Transformer combiner, so to have jets as shoulders makes sense. What's normally an arm for the stand-alone flips down and you're using that ball joint to give him more mobility of the limbs. A 'forearm' is placed over that stand-alone, and then a fist is attached at the end into a peg. It works surprisingly well. He also comes with a visor, which helps him looks more like the G1 counterpart. It stands at about 10.5 inches tall--to the topmost point of the shoulders.
I wish I'd have thought to take some pictures of the stand-alone figures with the accessories, but to me that wasn't the appeal of this. It's great they made everything fit together and work as one cohesive unit, but the only reason I got this was because it was a combiner that was getting the FansProject treatment.
For those that may have picked up Superion directly from Target, I'm sorry. I feel your pain indirectly--since I basically paid the retail price for it, but on eBay. So, that was $35 spent on the durpy toy. And then $45 to make him look cool. Why does this math not make sense? Don't get me wrong--It looks so cool. On a scale of 1 to 10, Ultra Magnus would be a 9.5. The Superion add-on would be about a 6--drunk 7--so to speak. The price tag is just too high for this considering how much Ultra Magnus is. I'd have paid $30 tops for this. If it goes on sale on tfsource, or bbts, then go for it. You won't be disappointed FOR THAT PRICE. If you're going out to specifically get this toy just to get the add-on (like I did), then you should save your money. Not worth the price unless you're very into Superion. What's sad is that when they come out with the add-on kit for Bruticus Maximus, I'll probably buy that as well. Blargh.
Pros:
- Figure looks awesome with the add-on. Very much so accented by the fact that it looks DUMB AS SHIT otherwise.
- More G1 accurate... If you're into that kind of thing.
- Fits in amazingly well with the single-vehicle mode as accessories.
Cons:
- Price. $45 is a lot to pay for some appendages, a gun, and a visor.
- The figure is worthless without this add-on.
[gallery link="file"]
'City Commander' Ultra Magnus Add-On
I got my 'Pile of Loot' from "Big Bad Toy Store" yesterday. It was a happy day, so I'll be posting some pictures and my opinions on each of the things I got.
First on the agenda is 'City Commander' Ultra Magnus. As I said in my preview, I was really stoked to see this. All of the previews I watched made this seem very cool. It did not disappoint. Well, maybe it did disappoint some. I kind of imagined it would be a little bigger. With all the armor, it comes to 8.5 inches tall--to the top of the shoulders. It's about the size of a normal 'Leader' Class figure. Really not all that big of an issue to me, but I was expecting something more of the size of the original Ultra Magnus trailer.
For the price of right at $90, it's kind of worth it if you're really really into Transformers, and already have an Ultra Magnus sitting around. With the re-release of this add-on, the eBay market is now averaging around $40+ for just the figure. So, all-in-all, it makes this figure ~$130. So, honestly, you're not going to get this figure unless you're really into Transformers to begin with.
It's kind of a shame that Hasbro didn't make some kind of add-on like this themselves. It would be much cheaper if it wasn't being made by a third-party, but at the same time, I don't think Hasbro would listen to the fans as much, or at all. The original add-on didn't include the missiles for the shoulders, or the white, transforming gun for both modes. Fans pointed out it would be much more G1-accurate if he could have missiles and a gun, so FansProject did an addition to their add-on that updated their original. Pretty fancy, and shows that they listen to what people say. After all, they are getting $$$ from us, so it only makes sense they should listen. Good for them. So, to break it down... even though my cons will outnumber the pros, the pros are far greater if you're a Transformer fan.
Pros:
Cons:
First on the agenda is 'City Commander' Ultra Magnus. As I said in my preview, I was really stoked to see this. All of the previews I watched made this seem very cool. It did not disappoint. Well, maybe it did disappoint some. I kind of imagined it would be a little bigger. With all the armor, it comes to 8.5 inches tall--to the top of the shoulders. It's about the size of a normal 'Leader' Class figure. Really not all that big of an issue to me, but I was expecting something more of the size of the original Ultra Magnus trailer.For the price of right at $90, it's kind of worth it if you're really really into Transformers, and already have an Ultra Magnus sitting around. With the re-release of this add-on, the eBay market is now averaging around $40+ for just the figure. So, all-in-all, it makes this figure ~$130. So, honestly, you're not going to get this figure unless you're really into Transformers to begin with.
It's kind of a shame that Hasbro didn't make some kind of add-on like this themselves. It would be much cheaper if it wasn't being made by a third-party, but at the same time, I don't think Hasbro would listen to the fans as much, or at all. The original add-on didn't include the missiles for the shoulders, or the white, transforming gun for both modes. Fans pointed out it would be much more G1-accurate if he could have missiles and a gun, so FansProject did an addition to their add-on that updated their original. Pretty fancy, and shows that they listen to what people say. After all, they are getting $$$ from us, so it only makes sense they should listen. Good for them. So, to break it down... even though my cons will outnumber the pros, the pros are far greater if you're a Transformer fan.
Pros:
- A very cool re-imagining of the G1 version.
- Collectible third-party add-on.
Cons:
- You have to have an Ultra Magnus to start with.
- The price is a bit steep at $90.
- Not as big as I'd hope for the price tag.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE, ALTERED BLOG!
I've seriously got nothing new to talk about here. I haven't drawn anything. I've finished my workbench. That's about it. Oh, and I put up some shelves the other day.
Recent obsession of collection is Transformers. Not the old ones, cause I can't afford those. I've been getting the newer ones, which are still ridiculously expensive. I think it all started when I saw good ol' City Commander Ultra Magnus.
I had no intent on getting caught up on toys again after I finished getting through a GI Joe phase. But, damn... come on. This toy looks amazing! So, naturally, I checked into it. Apparently, you need to have Classics Ultra Magnus, which was a repaint of Optimus Prime, and was exclusive to Target. I thought to myself, "Hey... I saw these all over the place. No one wanted that crap..."
And, no one did--until Fansprojects made this add-on trailer. Now, Ultra Magnus goes for $40+. The toy itself is freakin' gorgeous when you get this add-on. I have to give them props for making something that should have come with the figure to begin with. Even at $90, I feel like it's completely worth it. The only downside being, you need to have Ultra Magnus (or one of the other Optimus Prime molds) for this to work. There are various armors available. They have one for Prime, and it's in red and blue. One for Nemesis Prime, that's grey and black, and green-ish. And then this one, which is the original.. for Ultra Magnus. I've seen pictures of people who have all three of them, but to me that just seems like a waste to triple-dip on the same figure.
BBTS.com is having an anniversary sale on anything that's not a pre-order, or new. The 'Powered Commander' armor is on sale for $100, which is a good price. BUT, after looking at various reviews on youtube, it just doesn't look as good. None of them look as good as the City Commander armor. So, grats to me, I just saved $100.
Now, they just need to come out with Rodimus' Protect armor, and Springer. I think the guys at fansprojects enjoy teasing Transformer fans with info way before these things ever come out.
Recent obsession of collection is Transformers. Not the old ones, cause I can't afford those. I've been getting the newer ones, which are still ridiculously expensive. I think it all started when I saw good ol' City Commander Ultra Magnus.
I had no intent on getting caught up on toys again after I finished getting through a GI Joe phase. But, damn... come on. This toy looks amazing! So, naturally, I checked into it. Apparently, you need to have Classics Ultra Magnus, which was a repaint of Optimus Prime, and was exclusive to Target. I thought to myself, "Hey... I saw these all over the place. No one wanted that crap..."And, no one did--until Fansprojects made this add-on trailer. Now, Ultra Magnus goes for $40+. The toy itself is freakin' gorgeous when you get this add-on. I have to give them props for making something that should have come with the figure to begin with. Even at $90, I feel like it's completely worth it. The only downside being, you need to have Ultra Magnus (or one of the other Optimus Prime molds) for this to work. There are various armors available. They have one for Prime, and it's in red and blue. One for Nemesis Prime, that's grey and black, and green-ish. And then this one, which is the original.. for Ultra Magnus. I've seen pictures of people who have all three of them, but to me that just seems like a waste to triple-dip on the same figure.
BBTS.com is having an anniversary sale on anything that's not a pre-order, or new. The 'Powered Commander' armor is on sale for $100, which is a good price. BUT, after looking at various reviews on youtube, it just doesn't look as good. None of them look as good as the City Commander armor. So, grats to me, I just saved $100.
Now, they just need to come out with Rodimus' Protect armor, and Springer. I think the guys at fansprojects enjoy teasing Transformer fans with info way before these things ever come out.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Workbench... and stuff.
So, I actually started something and may finish it.
Since I'm slowly but surely trying my hand at carpentry/woodworking stuff, I decided to take the plunge and try to make a workbench. So far, so good! I have a frame done. I'd have the whole thing done, but all I have is a miter saw right now. So, I had to get the friendly people at Lowe's to cut the MDF board I wanted as the top. MDF board is pretty rough on blades as is, and I'm sure the Lowe's saw gets used like a dirty whore, so it was really no surprise that halfway through cutting that it died. So, no workbench top for me last week. I did go back on Monday to pick up the tops, though.
So, today after work, I get to glue the two 3/4" boards together and let that sit overnight, and hopefully, if all goes according to plan, I'll have an awesome indestructible (not really) top for my workbench. What's going to suck is screwing it into place. MDF isn't known for its screw holding abilities, but I'm fairly certain if I predrill my holes, I'll be fine. We'll see.
It's just one more step toward doing something fun with my life that still nets me money. I figure I'll start off small on the projects, then work my way to bigger projects--like furniture, and hopefully that whole prop business I wanted to get into, which apparently someone is already doing, and is really good at it. Go figure!
Since I'm slowly but surely trying my hand at carpentry/woodworking stuff, I decided to take the plunge and try to make a workbench. So far, so good! I have a frame done. I'd have the whole thing done, but all I have is a miter saw right now. So, I had to get the friendly people at Lowe's to cut the MDF board I wanted as the top. MDF board is pretty rough on blades as is, and I'm sure the Lowe's saw gets used like a dirty whore, so it was really no surprise that halfway through cutting that it died. So, no workbench top for me last week. I did go back on Monday to pick up the tops, though.
So, today after work, I get to glue the two 3/4" boards together and let that sit overnight, and hopefully, if all goes according to plan, I'll have an awesome indestructible (not really) top for my workbench. What's going to suck is screwing it into place. MDF isn't known for its screw holding abilities, but I'm fairly certain if I predrill my holes, I'll be fine. We'll see.
It's just one more step toward doing something fun with my life that still nets me money. I figure I'll start off small on the projects, then work my way to bigger projects--like furniture, and hopefully that whole prop business I wanted to get into, which apparently someone is already doing, and is really good at it. Go figure!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
So... We meet again...
I started playing Warcraft again. Blaaarrrghhhh. I was actually doing kinda well with not playing it at all. But then I kinda got the flu. And my options were to lay in bed and sleep all damn day, or prop my head up with my arm and mindlessly click away. Granted, this was a few weeks back now. So I've been back in the fray of WoW for far too long. And the sad thing is, I've nothing better to do at all. It's either watch Battlestar Galactica and play WoW, or do something constructive. Usually WoW wins.
But, on the rare occassion I want to be creative, I kind of end up playing with Legos. That's right, my collecting obsession has led me to a very old, very distant friend. I never got a whole lot of Legos cause I was more into action figures--not to mention Legos have always cost an arm and a leg. But, when I was smooth enough to get my parents to get Legos, they were the awesome, huge sets that could be used for any myriad of different creations. Anyway, point being--after pulling out the Legos to sort through them, I felt the need to buy a new set. All's well and good, cause, ya know, I buy a set like... once a year, just for kicks. Well, this time when I bought one, it made me want to buy another. And that's when I realized I had no addicition at the time. I wasn't playing WoW, I wasn't throwing money at DVDs, and I wasn't saving for anything except bills. So, I think that's when my brain decided it was time to buy Legos.
The good news is, at least they're somewhat more useful than an action figure. I guess I should get back to working on my portfolio sometime. Blah. Of course, I do have 4 days off in a row--every week. So, even being a complete slacker, I should be able to slowly but surely make some things. Or something.
But, on the rare occassion I want to be creative, I kind of end up playing with Legos. That's right, my collecting obsession has led me to a very old, very distant friend. I never got a whole lot of Legos cause I was more into action figures--not to mention Legos have always cost an arm and a leg. But, when I was smooth enough to get my parents to get Legos, they were the awesome, huge sets that could be used for any myriad of different creations. Anyway, point being--after pulling out the Legos to sort through them, I felt the need to buy a new set. All's well and good, cause, ya know, I buy a set like... once a year, just for kicks. Well, this time when I bought one, it made me want to buy another. And that's when I realized I had no addicition at the time. I wasn't playing WoW, I wasn't throwing money at DVDs, and I wasn't saving for anything except bills. So, I think that's when my brain decided it was time to buy Legos.
The good news is, at least they're somewhat more useful than an action figure. I guess I should get back to working on my portfolio sometime. Blah. Of course, I do have 4 days off in a row--every week. So, even being a complete slacker, I should be able to slowly but surely make some things. Or something.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Blink Sketch
Blink, from Marvel Comic's 'Exiles', or 'Age of Apocalypse'--whichever you prefer. Been trying to think of what I want to draw next, and this came out while I was sketching around. Decided to color it and post it since I generally don't get anything done.
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