Kickin’ it old school. But better!

Insecticon Kickback in robot mode

Let’s talk about Insecticon re-issues. Specifically, let’s talk about the Legacy and Legacy Evolution series. Why, you may ask? You may not know this, but I name my computers after Transformers, and have for a long, long time. This used to be A Thing among nerds. For instance, a friend of mine named all of his computers after South Park characters. Anywho, I had a quick round of three computers (a laptop, a Roku replacement, and a streaming machine for while I’m working on servers in the basement), and I named them all after G1 Insecticons. If I like the Transformer enough to name a computer after it, I usually also enjoy collecting a toy of it. In a stroke of luck, this happened during the Legacy and Legacy Evolution releases, so I picked Kickback up during one of Ace of HeartsTarget adventures.

Insecticon Kickback in grasshopper mode

While the transformation is more complex than the G1 version of the toy, it’s still pretty straightforward. There’s a hip rotation, and there’s some feet repositioning, and there’s some neck twisting. Nothing surprising, and nothing difficult.

The joints are stiff enough to be able to pose the figure and leave him that way, and there are enough of them that there’s plenty of articulation. Articulation and detail – in both modes – are where this re-issue shine. In those ways, it is absolutely an improvement on the original 1980’s toy. In every other way, it’s faithful to the original, and a worthy update.

Glorious Garage Sale Find

Be-stickered laptop lid

On a day much like this one, at a garage sale, MonkeyLinkMega found something that would change his life forever. Or, for a couple of years, at most. He found a used laptop, for only $15. A Compaq Presario CQ62. He jumped at the chance to have his own computer, and brought it home, beaming. It needed some love, but, luckily, this Dad knew what to do. Tech Dad replaced the battery, the charging cable, and the keyboard. He added RAM and upgraded the hard drive. Once it had Linux on it, it could ALMOST run a full-screen YouTube clip without stuttering. You see, it only had a single core processor and no dedicated video. (Cue gasps and sobbing)

Eventually, MonkeyLinkMega traded up for something a bit better, and this laptop was consigned to the spares pile. It languished, sad and alone, for years, until one day, the tech-savvy Dad decided he was going to max everything out for a Linux installfest fundraiser.

The maximum RAM was listed as 4GB DDR2 (which it had) on some sites, and 8GB DDR2 on others. Tech Dad splurged on some eBay RAM, which was only expensive because it had become harder to find over the years. He also swapped the spinning platter hard drive out for a SATA SSD, to make sure that storage wouldn’t bottleneck what little speed the laptop could get.

Opened Compaq laptop

Initially, things were looking good. The full 8GB of RAM was recognized, and several distros of Linux would install, but none of them booted. After several rounds of this, successful booting became intermittent, even off of the USB drives. In the end, the laptop stopped booting at all, and wouldn’t even POST.

Tech Dad had a sad, but knew that the laptop had lived a long and productive life. (It’s me, I’m Tech Dad.) In the end, the RAM and SSD were put in a drawer and the laptop in electronics recycling. Rest in peace, you glorious garage sale find.

Also, if anyone has a need for DDR2 SODIMMs, let me know. :)

More than a Maximal flyer

Transformers box

Airrazor came in a two-pack with Inferno, so this post is a follow up to that one.

Airrazor, much like Tigatron, feels her bird mode as keenly as she feels her Maximal nature. Unlike Tigatron, though, she also sees the importance of her community, and regularly tries to convince him to become closer to the Maximals. This dynamic, and the closeness between the two that develops over time, becomes pivotal to the main story arc throughout the seasons of Beast Wars, and culminates in Tigerhawk.

I’m not sure why this toy was paired with Inferno, rather than with Tigatron, but I’m also not a Hasbro/Takara marketing decision-maker. The box and packaging material were beautiful, and definitely created the sense that I wasn’t just opening up a two-pack of toys – I was opening up something special. This may be the first box in a long time that I keep. Then again, it DOES take up a lot of space. So, we’ll see.

The robot mode is clean, and very poseable. There’s virtually no kibble. Everything folds neatly away, and there’s an extremely clever (if hard to discern) use of double hinges above her waist and in each wing that allow this. She’s got two little arm pew-pews, and her robot mode is very show accurate. As with many modern instructions, the pictures do a lot of implying that don’t always convey what needs to be conveyed. But not to worry, there’s… oh, wait, no, these are in Japanese, because they’re imports. Whoops. On the upside, because it’s an import, it’s got a slightly different – and much better! – paint job. The wing tips are frosted, the orange contrasts very nice with the dark brown of the feathers, and she is very much a Maximal.

Airrazor bird mode

As for the birb mode, it’s just as clean as the robot mode, and just as accurate to the show. Again, the double hinging allows for the bird to look like a bird, rather than a bird-human-hybrid-monster-thing. Listen, they’ve made some mistakes in the past. Anyway, as with Inferno, I’m flat-out impressed with how close to the show these recently-released Beast Wars toys have been. It warms my geeky, nostalgic heart.

Right away, my Queen!

Sometimes, taking the risk of modifying a Maximal protoform into a Predacon has some… side effects. Wait, let me back up.

Transformers box

In the 90s, when CGI was first becoming A Real Thing, a couple of animated shows went all-in on the computer animation. Hasbro took a huge risk, and Transformers: Beast Wars was one of these fantastic shows. (I’m not forgetting ReBoot! I hope I never forget ReBoot.)

Transformers box

Much like their Autobot and Decepticon ancestors, the Maximals and Predacons chased each other across the galaxy and ended up crash-landing on an unknown planet in an unexplored solar system. The Maximal ship was a research/colonization vessel, and carried a precious cargo… Maximal protoforms – unborn Transformers. When the Transformers on the surface recovered, they realized the protoforms were orbiting the planet in their pods, and some of those orbits were decaying, destined to land and aid their Maximal compatriots.

Inferno in ant mode

The Predacons would prefer to expand their own forces, however, and came up with a plan to reformat the protoforms to that end. And it worked! Mostly. Every once in a while, there were side effects. And Inferno, well, his beast mode overrode his logic circuits, in the parlance of the show. As a fire ant, his only purpose in life was to protect his colony – the stasis pod that he’d ridden down to the surface. Eventually, he was introduced to Megatron, and his understanding shifted to include him as the colony’s Queen. His beast mode – a gigantic fire ant – is creepy and bumpy and just incredibly FIRE ANT.

Inferno in robot mode

Inferno is my favorite Predacon in Beast Wars, and I cannot state this strongly enough. His wild glee, his chaotic spreading of fire with his flamethrower, and his complete abandon while flying through the sky with his butt… er… abdomen jetpack, leaving an enormous smoke trail through the sky! Just amazing.

FOR THE COLONY!

Is my PC an Autobot? Not YET.

Autobot symbol stencils

Have you ever wanted to have something custom? Something made so it’s uniquely yours, and different from all other versions of that thing/ Some people customize their cars, or have custom jewelry designed, or have clothes made that are one of a kind. I get this urge every once in a while, but I often ignore it. Not this time.

Spray painted computer case side

This time I went for it. My PC was going to have an Autobot badge on it. Spray painted and messy, like it had been applied hastily in the war with the Decepticons.

The first step was the stencil. I’d tried making one before, and I’d ended up with some mixed results. So I took a good friend up on his invite to a crafternoon, and set to work. I tried jigsawing through thin wood, but it snapped when one cut got too close to another. Plan B was gluing two sheets of card stock together, then gluing the outline to that. An x-acto knife did the work of making the holes, and the stencil was ready!

Stenciled autobot symbol on a computer case side

It had been so long since I’d spray painted that I was basically starting over. Wait, had I ever used spray paint before? I had to have. Well, the primer/paint mix worked really, really well. It covered great, and two coats was probably a little too much. I had made one mistake, though, and MonkeyLinkMega saw it right away. I’d left the stencil at 8.5″ x 11″, rather than squaring it up more tightly around the symbol.

Spray painted autobot symbol on computer case side

He had a solution, as well. He suggested taping over the symbol, and then going over it in blue. I used painter’s tape to make the square, and hit it with a light-ish (probably heavier than I wanted) spray and let it dry. It looked SO much better! But I wasn’t satisfied with it. Not yet. It needed just a little bit more.

Customized computer case

I taped again, even tighter around the symbol, and did a very light spray of red. That did it. It was just what I wanted.

You may have asked yourself why I usually ignore the urge to customize my things. I’ve got a story to tell about that, so stay tuned for a blog post down the line.

Like the Shrikebats of Dromedon

Kup in robot mode

Have you ever listened to a military veteran tell stories of a war? Have you ever heard them recount how much the Battle of WhateverTheHeck relates to the current situation? Meet Kup; he’s that guy. On top of that, he’s still an incredibly effective soldier for the Autobot cause, can wrangle Hot Rod, Grimlock, and Wheelie during emergency situations, and still has his Cybertronian alt mode.

Kup in Cybertronian truck mode

Kup taught us all about the Universal Greeting – Bah weep grah nah weep ninibong. He helps the Autobots make it through Optimus Prime’s death, and helps Hod Rod on his journey to becoming Rodimus Prime. Yes, he did it through nagging and war stories, but he did it!

Maybe I should write something about the toy.

Both the Cybertronian truck mode and the robot mode are incredibly accurate to the 1986 Transformers movie. The joints are tight enough to keep a pose, but loose enough to be posed in the first place. The toy comes with both Kup’s gun and the energon dispenser that he uses in combination with the Universal Greeting.

I was quite happy to add this Studio Series Kup to my collection, and doubly impressed with the continued accuracy of the Studio Series figues.

Animated Soundwave

Animated Soundwave in robot mode

There is a Transformers series that is set in a futuristic Detroit, and that series is Transformers: Animated. The art style is less realistic than many, and the story is definitely targeted to a younger audience. The human friend of the Autobots, Sari, is actually both competent and relatable to the target audience. I really enjoyed the Easter eggs and one-shot callback characters that appear throughout.

Unlike in most of the Transformers timelines, in this one, Soundwave doesn’t begin as a Decepticon. He begins as a robot toy of Sari’s, and begins to develop into a full-fledged transformer after coming into contact with a shard of the Allspark. This sort of process can be seen in later shows and movies, like the first Bayverse live-action movie.

Animated Soundwave in vehicle mode

As per usual, Soundwave is accompanied by his mini-con/drone/whatever, Laserbeak. And this time around, Soundwave turns into something akin to a Scion xB, while Laserbeak turns into a flying V electric guitar. There’s also an “electrostatic” version of the toy, with a dark gray and red color scheme rather than blue, and Ratbat as a keytar rather than Laserbeak. In the secondary market, this version is much harder to come by, despite any and all whining I may have done.

This is the second iteration of this toy that I’ve owned, and both have had extremely loose knees (much like me). That makes posing a lot more difficult than it could be, but not impossible. I’m very happy to have this one back in my collection, and am now on the lookout for a copy of the Animated series to add to my DVD/Blu-Ray collection.

Trash to Soil

Compost bin built from old pallets

Despite my relatively short hair and deep love of showering, I’m a bit of a hippie. I reuse as much as I can. I recycle as much as I can. I prioritize buying used, rather than new, to prevent the impact of the new item’s manufacturing.

However, since the move to Detroit, I haven’t had a compost bin. I’d had one, off and on, for the last 13 years or so. When I moved to the apartment in Detroit, though, there wasn’t the opportunity to put one out back. And every time I threw out coffee grounds or banana peels or potato peels, it felt wrong to put them in the trash.

Then I bought the house. I spent that first winter without one, and still feeling wrong about it. So, when spring came, I got a line on some available used pallets out by the street in an industrial zone, and I put them into the back of the Prius wagon. Some power tool usage later, and I had an assembled compost bin, complete with a gap on the bottom for turning the compost once it got going. And it HAS been going. Kitchen scraps (no meat or bone), yard waste, and occasional grass clippings have all gone in, and have done the decomposing goodness.

I’m quite happy to have a compost bin again. It feels like another step back toward living my ideals, and that feels good.

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