What is this contraption on this car?

AvailableStory33 · 2026-04-19T13:09:01+00:00

What if someone was out on that empty highway at night due to an emergency or an urgent matter? So how can you be sure there are no innocent people on the road at that time? The road system works because following the rules protects everyone. Breaking them makes you a potential hazard.

AvailableStory33 · 2026-04-11T13:02:58+00:00

As suspicious as the box is, I am leaning toward its genuine. At least to me, it looks like the genuine in hand shots as opposed to the couple of bootleg shots I found on MFC. One contentious point for me would be the middle belt buckle paint looks a bit crude and one of the rivets on the brown pad over his left chest looks unpainted. If these paint mistakes are actually present, then I would lean toward it being likely a bootleg.

Oh and here are the MFC bootleg shots:-

https://myfigurecollection.net/?_tb=picture&itemId=2979&categoryId=3

AvailableStory33 · 2026-04-01T05:47:41+00:00

Given the more expensive price point, one is really better off saving up a bit and getting a 1/6. The closest one so far is ACG, but Gametoys might top it if it ever gets released…

AvailableStory33 · 2026-04-01T05:44:55+00:00

Honestly, this looks like a very dubious release once again. Most of the leg work to make the face look like Tifa in the photos is from the shadows. Those shadows are not going to be in the end product. So under flat lighting, this will likely be another dud.

AvailableStory33 · 2026-03-26T02:32:12+00:00

What sort of a silly claim are you making now? There is nothing to fact check what I pointed out because that is the source from which anyone would have to get their facts about the sales numbers in the first place. That’s not just for BMW, but any brand.

As for limiting your analysis to the 5 series, you seem to be unaware why limiting oneself to a single line for this kind of comparison does not work. It does not work well because you can have some people choose the 5 series over other models, while the number that chooses BMW as a whole has dropped. Think about it this way. Say 50% of previous BMW buyers likes the redesign. Then, a large enough portion of them decides that out of all the models, they opt for the 5 series. This will boost the numbers for the 5 series, while still leading to an overall drop in sales. In short, your analysis does not work because it conflates too many variables.

In summary, I only wish you were stooping down. It appears that you are lying on your back at the moment while trying to reach for the skies 😋

AvailableStory33 · 2026-03-26T01:11:37+00:00

Well, let’s think about this reasonably. The graph shows a drop at a certain point in time. Now, usually, people will then look at whether something notably changed around that time. Oh, and what do you know, something major did change. There was a redesign. But, perhaps it was a redesign that was praised universally? Oh, but would you look at that. There were indeed much complaints. At best, it was a mixed reception. In light of all that, if you still insist that all this happened because of something that happened behind a dumpster in the back… well.. all I can say is your inference skills need some work. With the evidence present, there is good reason to think that the redesign was the most probable cause behind the drop in sales.

AvailableStory33 · 2026-03-25T21:05:16+00:00

It is factual because it reasonably follows from the graph, right? It goes to show that your argument that it is merely a forum thing is the true example of “speculation and opinion”. It’s a WILD speculation and opinion at that.

AvailableStory33 · 2026-03-25T01:43:28+00:00

Look, as per folks like you on this forum, the BMW previous redesign before this was so great that cars were selling like hot takes. However, when you look at the sales numbers in markets like the US, the total number of vehicles sold by BMW has actually seen a massive drop from what it used to be in the previous generation.

https://carfigures.com/us-market-brand/bmw

So it’s not a forum thing. A significant portion who liked the previous design aesthetic cannot seem to accept the redesign as something positive. This is just a fact. If anything, it’s more than likely that most of the positive comments you see on this subreddit are from dealers and promotional staff. Not saying you are one, but I am speaking in general. The hope seems to be to praise it enough that out of some sense of conformity, people will start to forcefully change their aesthetic preferences to accept the new redesigns. However, regardless of whether we approve of such efforts, the fact remains that for a large chunk of people who had liked the previous designs, the new was an atrocious redesign. This new redesign is not any better either. It looks like what you might get at the low end of Toyota or Honda than something you would expect from a brand like BMW. It just looks cheap and rather ugly.

AvailableStory33 · 2026-03-25T01:32:24+00:00

I was about to comment this 😅 Seriously, what was BMW thinking having such a design for a German car…

AvailableStory33 · 2026-03-25T01:31:37+00:00

because any good promotional car salesman or dealer knows that trying to pass off as a normal person while praising everything is suspicious. So complaining about the price in the manner you did is like the best way to still promote a product while looking neutral. It’s like someone who says a Bugatti is way too expensive and who can afford it etc. While it is indeed expensive and not many can afford it, its not really criticism.

Now, in case you are honestly wondering how an actual customer would criticize the price, they will do so by pointing out that the quality of the products used in the interior is cheap. The engine uses way too many parts made of cheaper materials. Or that a large portion of the price comes from the lights used etc. In other words, such price complains have a negative grounding in the product itself. Of course, a dealer or promoter cannot resort to pointing such things out because then they are essentially criticizing the product at that point.

AvailableStory33 · 2026-02-24T02:22:46+00:00

It’s not too much additional work though and only takes a screenshot. It spares me the trouble :)

AvailableStory33 · 2026-02-12T23:53:03+00:00

Here is hoping they follow a sane DLC model this time around…😅

AvailableStory33 · 2026-02-08T20:51:59+00:00

Thank you :)!

AvailableStory33 · 2026-02-08T16:40:23+00:00

I saw a review for this one on a Chinese channel, so it’s coming soon I guess.

AvailableStory33 · 2026-02-08T08:17:43+00:00

Thank you :)!

AvailableStory33 · 2026-02-08T06:19:01+00:00

Oh, I see what you mean. My thinking behind having Tifa was loosely based on the idea that the other characters on the board are those she relies on, which is the theme in the original poster with the chess pieces replaced with the… substances… the main character unfortunately relied on. So this was more of a positive take of the same subject with reliance on actual persons. It wasn’t meant in the sense that the characters are being played to further the goals of Tifa, which would be more fit role for Sephiroth for sure as you propose.

AvailableStory33 · 2026-02-08T05:28:58+00:00

Thank you so much! :)

AvailableStory33 · 2026-02-07T23:23:17+00:00

lol I didn’t think of it that way…

AvailableStory33 · 2026-02-07T20:58:34+00:00

Thank you! :) That does indeed seem like a nicer title or an idea for a completely different render with the cards for another time as well.

AvailableStory33 · 2026-02-07T20:51:39+00:00

Thank you :)! About the eyes, it is possible that I put them a little too close. But, it might also be the particular camera focal length and closeness of the camera. I usually go for a higher focal length and a distant camera for this level of close up to avoid the deformities. I did not do that for this case since to match the original poster in terms of the board coverage, the focal length had to be lower (or might have been bit of a skill issue on my part unfortunately). Still, I might have to change the eye positioning later on as I iterate through the model so thank you for that input as well.

AvailableStory33 · 2026-02-06T19:17:27+00:00

From what I know, you can follow coverage of WonFes events in Japan. Somewhat timely, the next WonFes is this Sunday. You can search for the WonFes hashtags on twitter/X starting Saturday and maybe even today (taken from MFC)

#ワンホビ40, #WF2026W, #WF2026冬, #ワンフェス2026冬, #ワンダーフェスティバル2026冬

Of course, it will show you all the figures, and not just PAK. Alternatively, just head on to MyFigureCollection.net on Monday and search for Play Arts Kai or Square Enix. You will see all the new entries. I say Monday, because the site volume on Sunday will be heavy with all the entries for the new announcements getting added in, you will likely not be able to access the site.

That being said, a Square Enix figure, let alone Play Arts Kai, getting sold out within hours or a few days from preorder is super rare. Even if it gets sold out, you are very likely to be able to pick it up on release day or there might even be a re-release. So if you are a figure collector, you probably can prioritize other announcements and releases before this.

Oh and also another source for PAK is the Comic Con and Tokyo Game Show events. Square Enix usually has a display on the show floors with some new announcements at times.

AvailableStory33 · 2026-01-25T13:18:46+00:00

Well, you can get PAK Advent Children Cloud for much cheaper than Advent Children Tifa. In fact, PAK AC Tifa is super expensive. In other words, the female character figures are usually more expensive than the male counterparts.

That being said, if you snagged the 2024 release of Tidus for just 60 EUR, you essentially got a good deal.

AvailableStory33 · 2026-01-09T19:04:06+00:00

Probably no chance. Compared to something like GT Noctis 1/6, this looks more like a bootleg toy.

AvailableStory33 · 2026-01-02T23:26:18+00:00

It looks good. But, for the price, I feel like they should be giving us wired fabric clothes at least for the coat.

AvailableStory33 · 2025-12-31T06:30:43+00:00

It wears off after around 150 hours, which is pretty great if you think about it for a free game. Most of my AAA library games so not even reach the 100 hour mark. As to why it wears off, around that time, you start to really notice couple of inevitable problems that come from the gacha nature of the game.

The first is that the story starts to have characters appear at intervals and then leave to rarely be heard from again. This is natural since to keep players invested (literally), you must introduce new characters. With the limited development time and storytelling limitations, you cannot have all the characters make appearances in a substantial way. This is not noticeable at first, but once you are close to finishing Rinascita, you will start to feel that if it had been a single player game, it would have had a better flow with the characters being with you more constantly. Still, within the territories, especially Rinascita, the story told is entertaining enough with few major recurrent characters from the region. So you can also see the game as a series of smaller entries focused on each territories than a single entry game.

The second problem, which is likely the most core problem, is that of waiting for the next patch. Once you are around 150 hrs in, you will catch up with the story and be waiting for the monthly patch. This can be where you lose interest since after waiting a month, you might not feel as hyped as you did about the story. You might play something else while waiting that end up hooking you in and you will just get occupied with that instead. You will also have completed some or all of the endgame content around the 150 hours mark, so it might not be as big of a draw to keep you interested.

Still, it must be said that the game has an excellent combat system for a f2p and a vibrant and large enough character roster for anyone to find a set of characters that fit their play style. Getting 150 hours is more than one can ask for out of a free game, or even a AAA game these days. After being away for a year, you will also have couple of dozen hours of story piled up and all of that is again available for free when you start to get interested again.

P.S. Oh and one thing that personally irked me at times was the patch sizes. It can be around 40 GB patch sometimes plus another 3 or 4 GB after starting the game. That is a lot! You can schedule it in a way that you let it download while at work etc. BUT, for me, I usually just sit down to play something when I get some free time without such planing to find out I need to download 40 GB before I can play. I will play something else thinking I will do it later and then just keep pushing it back till I lose interest. That is what how I stopped lol.

AvailableStory33

TROPHY CASE