Toy Review: Transformers Generations Legacy United Dinoking

Review:  #852

Name:  Dinoking

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Decepticon

Line:  Generations - Legacy: United

Year of Release:  2024

Size Class:  N/A

Mold Status:  retool of Legacy United Volcanicus

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS:

Released as an exclusive, Legacy United Dinoking is the first modern update of the character, and he comes in a really nice fancy packaging that does it justice.

It's designed to replicate the looks of the G1 packaging and it looks really nice.  It's a box that you would be keen to keep.

DINOFORCE:

Dinoking is formed from the Dinoforce team, comprised of six members:

• Goryu
• Kakuryu
• Gairyu
• Yokuryu
• Rairyu
• Doryu

Each of the members transform into a robotic dinosaur, who looks good as a team.

They look equally good in robot mode, but you can tell that they are retools from the Dinobots as their designs are clearly supposed to be Dinobots, which is a shame.

Nevertheless, having them all together is great, even if they are only in a smaller size class.

TRANSFORMATION:

Dinoking is a combiner formed of six members, so four of them become the limbs, and two forms the torso.  Transformation isn't hard, as effectively each team member partially transforms from dinosaur mode into their combined form.  Each piece has multiple pegs to lock it into place.

A big difference compared to the original Dinobot release is that Dinoking comes with a bunch of additional parts, including new fists and new feet for the combined mode, which makes it much more stable and cohesive.

COMBINED MODE:

And now the mode that we all bought the set for, and the combined mode does not disappoint.  It's definitely the strongest mode, and is worth the compromises that the individual bots suffered from.

He feels extremely solid in hand, and the combined mode holds together super well (except maybe the fists, which can detach due to only being attached by thin pegs).

The head sculpt looks good, very G1, although can be generic as a result.

Being formed of six Core figures, he ends up being around a Voyager in height, but much much bulkier.

Looking from the side, you can see that he's bulky from only from the front, but has the depth as well.

He has the theoretical articulation, having joints in his head, shoulders, elbows, wrist, waist, hips and knees.  And thankfully, he can use most of that articulation.

All the individual robot weapons can combine into a giant scythe, and a combined gun.

The scythe looks great, while the gun just looks like one of those where you needed to plug everything together.  The great thing with the scythe is that since the handle is formed from multiple parts, Dinoking can hold it naturally in the middle of the shaft rather than the end.

The weapons can peg onto his back for storage.

The addition of feet pieces helps keep him super stable, and allows him to effectively use the full range of articulation that he has.

Only slight negative are the arms, where they are of the design with the inward facing elbows.  You can rotate them so that he can have more naturally looking elbows, but the left arm cannot do this properly as it ends up being too thick and sticks out by his side.

The limbs are also all designed to be attached in a certain way, there is no mix and matching of limbs here like the original G1 figure, but it's not a huge deal.

This is a fantastic combined mode, there's not doubt about that.  Dinoking, despite his smaller size, is an impressive figure that can become a centrepiece of your display.

OVERALL:

Putting out it there now, Dinoking himself is worth the price of admission.  This pack is not cheap, and the six individual Core figures each have their compromises, but it comes together beautifully into the combined mode that's super stable, is articulate, and looks amazing.

-----------------------------------------------------------

For other Transformers reviews, have a look at this page and this page

Support this blog by purchasing from Amazon using this affiliate link.

(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)

KonoSuba: God's Blessing in This Wonderful World! 3 (2024)

After a lengthy wait, KonoSuba: God's Blessing in This Wonderful World! 3 is the third season based upon the light novel series, taking place after the movie. It is eleven episodes long, so it’s not a long season. The first episode of the season encapsulates what the series is about: Kazuma, and his whims. He can be very relatable, and not the perfect protagonist. Despite that, there is a certain charm to his genuine and honest behavior, not to mention how hilarious it can be.

On the face of it, if you look in as an outsider, Kazuma is living a good life. He has his own harem, being the goddess Aqua, the wizard Megumin, and crusader Darkness. yet the truth is that it’s not the stellar life that Kazuma thought he would be in such a scenario. Everyone has their own weird quirks: Aqua is dumb, Megumin is obsessed with the uber powerful Explosion magic, and Darkness is a massive masochist. Yet, despite their dysfunction, somehow, they manage to work very well as a party.

Like the first two seasons, this is mostly a slice of life anime, with only a very vague objective of defeating the Demon King of this world. As such, the plot moves very slowly, and daresay, without much direction. It meanders towards the overall goal but constantly gets distracted. Just like the characters, the anime takes it as it comes and there can be a certain charm to it.

Unfortunately, that slow plot is used as an advantage with the animation, or rather, the lack of quality of it. The show always seemed to be low budget, with many scenes have low detail, and limited animation. This season, despite having a new animation studio, and the success of the anime, continues with the low quality. There is very limited movement in a lot of the scenes, and it constantly has the characters pausing, with the whole scene being static, for comedic effect. Unfortunately, it pauses for much too long so that it ends up feeling like a waste of time, rather than cleverly using the effects for humor.

The poor animation is compensated by fantastic voice acting. All the voice actors seem like they’re having fun with their characters. However, this is a love it or hate it feature, as the anime as a whole can be loud and noisy. Characters are constantly screaming with over-the-top reactions. This can be hilarious to watch, and you can’t help but be caught in the moment for many of those scenes. It can quickly turn a boring scene into one that splits your sides.

Surprisingly, there are no massive Demon King moments in this season. The characters are thrown into the capital city without much choice. The capital contrasts with Axel, which was a beginner town. The capital is constantly being attacked by the Demon King’s army, and here we see that they are a threat. It’s just that Axel is such a beginner city, and the characters accidentally fall into the way of the Generals, where they fluke their way to victory, do we feel that it is all a joke.

After the capital, the focus returns to Axel and it develops the relationship between Kazuma and the rest of his party. The romantic side of the relationships doesn’t really progress too much, but rather it’s on the camaraderie. The anime is best when the party comes together, hatches a plan, and while they might botch the execution, they still pull through. This culminates into a heartwarming event towards the end of the season and really shows off the potential that the party has.

Overall, if the anime hasn’t won you over by now, KonoSuba: God's Blessing in This Wonderful World! 3 won’t. It’s more of the same, but in a good way. Yes, the anime is loud and noisy, and there can be a lot of bickering, but it’s also funny and Kazuma being such an unsavory, yet realistic and still quite reliable character, sets him apart from other isekai protagonists.

---------------------------------------------

For other reviews, have a look at this page and this page.

Support this blog by purchasing from Amazon using this affiliate link.

(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)

Toy Review: Transformers Generations Legacy United Doryu (Core)

Review:  #851

Name:  Doryu

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Decepticon

Line:  Generations - Legacy: United

Year of Release:  2024

Size Class:  Core

Mold Status:  retool of Legacy United Snarl

ALTERNATE MODE:

Transforming into a blue and white robotic Stegosaurus, the color scheme can make him look out of place.

While he is generally okay, from the back, you can tell that the hind legs are the robot arms, given that the fists are painted silver and sticks out.

Doryu, being in the Core class, is a small figure, above is a comparison against a Deluxe.

He has no articulation in this mode, all the limbs are basically fixed, any articulation used for robot mode or transformation that's available here is not meaningful at all.

The tail is also a bit stumpy, and as mentioned the robot fists stick out behind, and they make the rear legs kind of too big.

The robot weapon can attach to the back.

To be fair, at this size, and considering what the mold is achieving (three different modes), this isn't a bad beast mode.

TRANSFORMATION:

As expected, he's not too difficult.  The front splits into two to form the robot legs.  While the tail also splits, stand him up, and straighten the rear legs for the robot arms.

ROBOT MODE:

Doryu is a retool of Snarl, so he has very Dinobot-like features, but on the whole, this isn't a bad robot mode.

He has a backpack but since it's hollow and sits somewhat flush to the torso, it's not bad at all.

He gets a new head at least, and it is a very G1-looking head, and looks good.

Size-wise, again, he is a Core class figure so it stands to reason he is tiny.

Articulation is one of the better ones of the set as he has joints for his head, shoulders, elbows (!), hips and knees.

Doryu has two weapons, a scythe and a sword.

He can hold both in his hands, and the scythe is definitely the cooler looking weapon.

The scythe being bigger but not oversized, helps with its menacing feel too.

A strong robot mode, thanks to the extra articulation and cool weapons.

OVERALL:

Doryu is one of the better molds in the set, as he does not feel as compromised as the others.  The color scheme is kind of weird, and it is still had to shake away the Dinobot-like looking modes but it's a solid figure that can stand on its own.

-----------------------------------------------------------

For other Transformers reviews, have a look at this page and this page

Support this blog by purchasing from Amazon using this affiliate link.

(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)