L.A. area Just Found

[bikerscout]

Big shouts to darkknight4516!! Thanx to his stash I scored a LC ironhide at walmart in the valley yesterday! It was the last one unfortunately.

Also picked up gen. warpath from the PO yesterday. Opened him. Very cool. Transformed him to robot & back. Fantastic figure!! A must get
gotta run

[JediTricks]

sorry JT. Didn't know which ones u needed & thought everybody was caught up pretty much. As I was writing that report I wasn't sure if it was SF mission target or not. If it wasnt there, it was Raymer, but I think it was Sf Miss.

No worries. I don't think I'd take a run on the valley right now for 1 stashed figure anyway, with gas prices and the 405 and all. I haven't done the valley whatsoever since I moved to Culver City.

I think my warpath came in the mail yesterday, but no one was home so I got a package slip. Time to go to the PO tomorrow. Can't wait.

They pulled that crap on me with my Warpath, left a note on my door - I work from home, the bathroom is right next to the front door, so I'd know, nobody knocked. Jerks. Warpath is pretty dope though, I picked him up the next day at the PO, woman cut in line ahead of me and then held up the window for 10 minutes.

Just now realizing that DOTM 3D ticket upgrade might not work with Imax 3D. Sux if it doesn't.

Unless you're seeing it here at The Bridge or at the Universal Citywalk, there's no great reason to spend the extra money on the IMAX anyway, since The Bridge and Citywalk are the only theaters in the area with a true IMAX screen, the rest are these tiny fake ones. (The California Science Center also has one, but they aren't showing it.) http://www.lfexaminer.com/20081016.htm
What a joke! $20 a seat for tiny IMAX, what a ripoff.

[bikerscout]

Unless you're seeing it here at The Bridge or at the Universal Citywalk, there's no great reason to spend the extra money on the IMAX anyway, since The Bridge and Citywalk are the only theaters in the area with a true IMAX screen, the rest are these tiny fake ones. (The California Science Center also has one, but they aren't showing it.) http://www.lfexaminer.com/20081016.htm
What a joke! $20 a seat for tiny IMAX, what a ripoff.

I know all about this. Rave (formerly the bridge) and Uni. Citywalk are the best true Imax screens in LA. CSC should show more general release movies, but they have limited hours, and staff. Be a great 3rd option if they did. Believe it or not, at Imax HQ in Santa Monica, they have an Imax screening room that seats about 50 and the screen is probably only a tad bigger than the "fake" imax screens at AMC and such. (I had a small job a few months ago) It's a close call, you'd have to see it & judge. You'd of course need a reason to go there & inspect - .

On Sun. nite - baldwin park wally didn't have any good SW. (I should've looked harder for sl spacetrooper) But they did have at least 5 DOTM BB deluxe exclusives (racing design) and 2 Sideswipes dlx.

[JediTricks]

Yesterday, the FedEx guy scared the hell out of me with a double doorbell ring and bolted before I could even get there. Luckily, he left the box with my Leader Class Ironhide and Voyager Battle Blades Optimus.

LC Ironhide is big, bigger than any previous LC, in both modes. This is a scale problem if you want to display him with LC Optimus, the m1 figure is a head shorter, while the m2 figure is half a head shorter (but in alt mode, that's reversed, m2 has the smaller alt mode). Tycho thinks the scale might work for Human Alliance figures, the wheelbase on the Topkick is 176" while on the Solstice is 95", so it could be a decent fit, and while HA human figs look a little small with LC Ironhide, the Topkick is a very big vehicle in real life so it's not outside the realm of possibility.

Truck mode has gimmicks, a button for a revving motor sound, and pulling back the exhaust pipes reveals the 2 forearm guns out of the roof, which is pretty slick. Detail is very good, but there's a lot of light blue robot mode plastic exposed beneath the truck, as bad as any other Ironhide release, possibly worse, and the underside looks like a robot slightly mangled.

Transformation is simpler than other LCs, but not woefully so. However, the roof/windshield combo is a nightmare of angles that don't work together, requiring excessive force to transform in both directions. The front fenders are on ball joints which fail EVERY SINGLE TIME you transform this figure, they're just too weak, making it seem like a worse transformation than it is.

Bot mode is a mixed bag, in general it's good, but reminds me of an upscaled Voyager in the simplicity of the articulation and the relative chunky sculpting style and simplistic paint on the details. There's also the annoyance of the neck being glued down when it clearly was designed to move (they left enough gaps to see the inner wiring easily, which makes me think it's the cause of the glue), on mine the head isn't even glued straight, but slightly to the left. The joints don't have one commonality in strength, some are very loose while others are fairly tight, one shoulder barely stays up while the other is ok, one transformation joint drops the whole arm while the other requires force to unlatch. The hip joints aren't really strong enough, and again have poorly-laid-out ratchets. One of the knees had to be changed after prototyping, because now it can only bend 1 click while the other bends 3. There's a lot of annoyances like that which add up to a mixed experience, especially first time out.

Ironhide is about gimmicks, he's got plenty, and even a removable missile-firing handgun (the instructions don't seem to know it's removable). The chest opens to reveal the spinning gatling gun, that is very fun and makes great noise and light. The rambo knife is keen. The right forearm weapon reveal is cool, if a bit small, but the barrel doesn't spin. The left forearm reveal isn't as good, the panel is loose and flops open before using, and then the gun isn't as exciting, reminds me of the Dlx Ironhide's tripod buddy.

All in all, LC Ironhide has some charm, and is very big, but little things do hold him back from greatness, like the glued neck and floppy joints.

Voy BB Prime is actually very cool, in some ways a little better than the LC version they're aping. For $10, that was a great deal, and his smaller size works nicely with Voy DOTM Megs.

I know all about this. Rave (formerly the bridge) and Uni. Citywalk are the best true Imax screens in LA. CSC should show more general release movies, but they have limited hours, and staff. Be a great 3rd option if they did. Believe it or not, at Imax HQ in Santa Monica, they have an Imax screening room that seats about 50 and the screen is probably only a tad bigger than the "fake" imax screens at AMC and such. (I had a small job a few months ago) It's a close call, you'd have to see it & judge. You'd of course need a reason to go there & inspect - .

To be honest, CSC is in a neighborhood I don't think I'd like to find myself walking to my car in after dark, so I'm fine with not seeing it there.

Is that screening room a theater, or a private screening room? That's pretty interesting.

[bikerscout]

private screening room. It is a very high screen, so maybe i'm wrong. It may just barely meet the minimum imax requirements. It is in the HQ after all. I think the other offices are in Chi, and NY.

I went on an insane 5 target hunt late night last nite in the south bay/long beach area. I ended up with a goodie at the last target. More later. No, i didnt find wave 7. : (

Opened a LC Sentinel prime last nite (not what i found last nite). Dang that guy took an hour to transform. (I was really tired too). Really cool figure. The hiding of the weapons is neat. Last TF it took me an hour to transform was MP Megatron!! I havent tinkered with him enough to write a nice review like JT. If u can get it at target with the web coupon for $30 + tax i'd recommend it. He was so powerful in the movie!!!!!! Had to get him!

[El Chuxter]

I've seen a few GIJoes pop up at area WM's lately. I keep seeing Skydive and kicking my butt since it means I missed the Shadow Tracker.

Also, I found the ROTF Banzai-Tron for $9.99 at two different TJ Maxx's in the Palm Springs area... though, curiously, not at the Marshall's stores. He's a pretty worthy repaint of a minor character who would've had potential had the vintage line not died at exactly the time the figure came out.

[bikerscout]

Okay here is my Thurs. night TF hunting story: extended edition (15 discs available at BB -j/k)

The objectives were to find LC Ironhide (to use web coupon with), SW Tvc new waves & spacetrp, and thirdly, (this became an obsession after I saw the sale at the 1st target) the Robin Hood bluray/dvd combo pack. It was on sale for 9.99.
Anyway, I was working in Long Beach and got off at about 8:15p. I proceeded up Bellflower blvd, found a target I'd never been to and stopped. No ironhide, no great SW, but I spotted the empty rack for Robin Hood on sale. To aid me in my hunt, a nice cashier at this store printed me a raincheck, even though the sale notice said 'no rainchecks.' Sidenote: I really enjoyed this film last year, put in my top 3 if not top 2, and have been eyeballing the price for 10 months on this. So, like a madman, I decided to go on a run to as many targets as I could before closing, using a south bay/outer rim hunting route I designed for "htf" runs. Keep in mind I thought most of these targets were closing at 10p, although I got lucky and they were open til 11p. Next, I hopped on the 405 N to hit one of the Carson Targets off of the 110 & Sepulveda. Result: nothing good found. Next stop, target on sepulveda and hawthorne (think its close to del amo mall?). I think I saw a TF generation Sgt. Kup who I'd never seen in the wild, but no dice on anything else. Next Target, the one behind the South bay galleria off of Hawthorne. Ironhide? nope. Tvc? nope. Robin Hood? nope. Empty. I was really discouraged at this point and was running out of time and options. I remembered another target off of Redondo beach blvd., but hadn't been there in at least 3 yrs. and was foggy on the exact location. (I dont own a smart phone) After turning around a few times to avoid construction and gain my bearings, I headed east on Redondo and found it!! It was around 10:30. Was it open till 11? Yes! Made my way to toy aisles and low and behold there was 1 LC Ironhide sitting on the bottom shelf. (These have juuust been hitting TRU & wally in socal, but no sightings at target). I forgot to bring the web coupon with me, so I temporarily stashed him till i got back from my car. Normally $45, target's TF sale bought him down to $40, and the web only coupon was for $10 off LC. So I got him for 30 + tax. Nothing great for SW, and no Robin Hood br unfortunately. However, on Friday, the hunt continued for the bluray. Had an errand to do in the valley and was closest to the Target on de soto and ventura. No great TF, but iirc they were was a nice remix asst. of CW figs, but no riot clone, bariss, koth, colt wave. Went to the movie section and found the Costner Robin Hood sitting on the shelf where I wanted the 2010 Russell Crowe Robin hood to be. Had the item # and asked the clerk if he could help. The computer said they were in stock. After another look in the section on the bottom shelf, there it was. The movie that took 6 targets to find. 5 of them!!! Were they still on sale? Yes!

Final thoughts: It's usually fun to hunt/go to stores that you've never been to. (Esp. if you know u wont get lost easily) Never know what will turn up. The hard part of this hunt was that I had to execute the route I designed backwards on top of remembering where the last target was. Also lame that I didn't spot any Tvc wave 7. As you can tell, I wanted LC Ironhide badly & now I have him! And the BR!! Thx for reading.

[Chaddymac]

Join us again next week as our intrepid hunter, Bikerscout, goes on a hunt from which few ever return: the hunt for Windcharger. Will he find his prey, or will he be claimed by hoochie girls in Chino? Stay tuned...

[JediTricks]

For LA folks, if you're going to Comic-Con, we should meet up. There's a thread about it here:
http://www.sirstevesguide.com/showth...G-Get-Together

private screening room. It is a very high screen, so maybe i'm wrong. It may just barely meet the minimum imax requirements. It is in the HQ after all. I think the other offices are in Chi, and NY.

Of course it's private, you'll have to forgive my stupid question, I'm still sick, my brain is running at 60%.

Well, a true IMAX screen is 76' tall, and a digital IMAX screen is a mere 28', I believe, so a 76' tall private room would be amazing. I didn't know it was their HQ though.

I went on an insane 5 target hunt late night last nite in the south bay/long beach area. I ended up with a goodie at the last target. More later. No, i didnt find wave 7. : (

Opened a LC Sentinel prime last nite (not what i found last nite). Dang that guy took an hour to transform. (I was really tired too). Really cool figure. The hiding of the weapons is neat. Last TF it took me an hour to transform was MP Megatron!! I havent tinkered with him enough to write a nice review like JT. If u can get it at target with the web coupon for $30 + tax i'd recommend it. He was so powerful in the movie!!!!!! Had to get him!

Good intel. I missed the $40 sale, just too tired. I'm trying to save for Comic-Con too, I can't believe it's less than 3 weeks away.

BTW, your journey was epic, but I wish it had been more fruitful. I had been thinking about making a 1-way run from Culver City to Anaheim (and then spending the rest of the day at Disneyland, rather than trying to fight traffic back here) and now I'm a little gun-shy.

[bikerscout]

Hahahaha chaddy!!!!!! Very funny!

JT - i think it was an Imax digital screen. Pull the trigger on that hunt!!! Get the adrenaline goin!!!

hopefully the $40 LC target sale continues. What sucks is, the t-shirt offer that was described at Botcon starts 7/25. U must buy at least $20 in DOTM products to qualify. Already bought 2 LC! Dangit!! I got a small card with a url to an email reminder for this offer, but tried it last nite & it was closed. Hopefully the shirt's cool when the offer starts