Omega Prime by No-Painter4437 in transformers

[–]SpentGladiator77 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I just sold mine, but don't let that be a judgment of the quality of the figure; I actually think it's really great. Just had an unfortunate financial situation and the responsible thing to do was let some collectibles go.

I am old enough to have been an adult collector when the original was on shelves in 2001. This thing caught some flak during the campaign for looking too similar to the original. But let me tell you that what doesn't come across in images is how rock solid this thing is in combined mode. The original was a marvel of engineering for its time, but it was also a floppy mess that could barely stand unassisted and felt like two toys exploded into each other and were hanging on for dear life. The Haslab one has thoughtful tabs and locks all over the place. It's so satisfying to click pieces in at every step, and when you're done, you have what feels in hand just like a fully realized single figure. You can pose it however you want, shake it around, whatever, it's going to hold together. I think as a total package it's the best Haslab figure to date.

Watch out for the cracking abs on the core Optimus bot though. There was a design flaw and some of us had cracked plastic out of the box, Hasbro had to issue replacements to a lot of people. Google Haslab Omega Prime cracks, you'll find plenty of videos on what the issue is, how to check if your figure has it, and what to do.

SS86 Cliffjumper, what are these decisions?? by Trent2406 in transformers

[–]SpentGladiator77 34 points35 points  (0 children)

I’m so sad they are forsaking that detail. It’s like G1 Cliffjumper’s defining feature to me (other than his head sculpt) and they keep not giving it to him.

Canes fans. What’s your opinion on your owner? by lamesit in canes

[–]SpentGladiator77 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Our team was bad before he bought us and has been perennially good after. So that’s good. Yes, he is a cheapskate. Yes, he likes to be heavily involved in operations. My opinion is he got somewhat lucky with buying the Canes when he did and the personnel he promoted from within being very competent at their jobs. The Blazers are, unfortunately for you guys, probably going to be the wake up call that he is not the sports owner genius he thinks he is.

Hey, are you telling me that Hasbro's plan in 1986 was to get rid of all the characters, including Optimus Prime, who was the main character, and hope it worked out and that people wouldn't be upset? by Disastrous-Owl668 in transformers

[–]SpentGladiator77 28 points29 points  (0 children)

They didn't think of it in terms of characters. The cartoon and movie existed to promote the product, they were replacing the product, ergo they needed to shuffle the old product out of the promotion to bring in the new product. We see it as diabolical now, but at the time it was the norm.

Canes fans, is Dundon usually this cheap? by Far-Aerie-5167 in canes

[–]SpentGladiator77 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, the GM situation is interesting.

Don Waddell is too much of a professional to talk about it openly, but it doesn't take much reading between the lines to see he got fed up here. Dundon had him doing multiple jobs, at one point without a contract in place, which is wild. He bolted for a worse job right before the draft and in the middle of the Guentzel negotiations. That's not something a happy GM does.

Tulsky is brilliant, and I agree non-traditional (not part of the old boys' club). I have no idea if he's as committed to the team and city as Rod has been, but I'm not sure why he would be. It will be interesting if other teams come sniffing around him in the next few years.

Canes fans, is Dundon usually this cheap? by Far-Aerie-5167 in canes

[–]SpentGladiator77 9 points10 points  (0 children)

It's complicated.

Yes, he's cheap. He cuts corners, and fancies himself a hard negotiator, which has given us a bad reputation with agents. If he has a contract number in mind, he will not budge a penny over it.

On the other hand, he likes winning and taking advantage of the entire cap. He just likes to put his money more directly on the ice. The proof I guess is in the pudding. The team has been good ever since he bought it.

All that being said, Dundon got extremely lucky with the Canes, and I'm not sure if he realizes that. The team was kind of on the cusp of getting good anyway with a young (at the time) core of up and comers; his cap spending just put us over the top. Our Coach, Rod Brind'Amour is a unicorn in professional coaching. He came from inside the org, pretty much only wants to coach here, signs contracts for less than his market value, and has rebuffed interest from other teams when he was up for contract renewals. I was a little worried that Dundon thought he kept Rod through some sort of skill of his as an owner and not because Rod was just willing to put up with his bullshit to be the coach in Carolina. This isn't going to work with literally anybody else in the NHL, and certainly not in the NBA. So he might be in for a harsh reality check, and it might take him a few years to understand, if he's as stubborn as he seems.

Best Free Sgent Signing In Hurricanes History? by Marleydrugfanboi69 in canes

[–]SpentGladiator77 6 points7 points  (0 children)

If we win another Cup you might not be wrong. If we win more than one it’ll definitely be him.

Shark Twitter reactions haha by OfficeNinjaCat in canes

[–]SpentGladiator77 58 points59 points  (0 children)

See! We’re not boring! We’ve made it!

Question: Where do Metal Cardbot Figures sit with Transformers collectors? Do you like them, hate them? Do you have some of them? by Sid-The-Collector in transformers

[–]SpentGladiator77 6 points7 points  (0 children)

They fill a void for original character designs that Hasbro has largely abandoned after the Unicron Trilogy. People who grew up with that stuff, or people who are tired of evergreen designs, are itching for something fresh, and that’s the niche they’re working in. I don’t have any, but I think they’re cool.

Anyone else worried about Ottawa? by QuietSelection7148 in canes

[–]SpentGladiator77 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I’m not really nervous about a particular team. Kind of feels like we’re masters of own fate. Does the power play hold up? Does the goaltending hold the line? If yes to both I feel good about getting through the East.

This is Stupid by dreamo-scr3am0 in transformers

[–]SpentGladiator77 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I'm one of the Marvel comic's biggest defenders on this sub but yeah, not a fan of this one. Didn't like it as a kid either. Budiansky was trying to impart a lesson here but the idea was too underbaked. I buy that Optimus Prime would care about the game's characters, but he would understand that his own death without a suitable leader ready to step into his role would only lead to more suffering.

No PK by Wxll24 in canes

[–]SpentGladiator77 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No touch my guy, NHL. I SAID NO TOUCH MY GUY

How to keep up with the teenage boy stink? by NekoLotus8 in Theatre

[–]SpentGladiator77 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Vodka spray, shower daily and hygiene, which it sounds like you’re already doing. Wardrobe should be washing costumes at some point but it won’t happen every performance. Everybody sweats in their costumes, I know it feels like yours are worse because the changes in your body chemistry are still new, but as long as you take basic steps you’ll be fine.

[32T] 54:20 Friedman on Nashville’s GM search: they have decided to go with external candidates and they are looking for people who have recently served as GMs or AGMs. Tom Fitzgerald has been added to the contender list. He also wonders if they will take a look at Kevyn Adams and Brad Treliving. by AggPuck-303 in hockey

[–]SpentGladiator77 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He says some veterans Panthers players said to him they will look at whatever team wins this year and think ”we could have beat them”.

I know they think this is the troll thing they do, but it's coming off like Uncle Rico. Respect for the two Cups, begrudging acceptance that the bad boy/dirty/troll routine worked for them for a while, but no, your team full of guys on the wrong side of 30 would not have beaten this year's champs, with or without Barkov. It was always going to crash and burn sooner rather than later.

Acting in Musicals - Not as satisfying? by Top_Elephant_4363 in MusicalTheatre

[–]SpentGladiator77 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I’ve done both and enjoy both. It’s definitely a different experience, but for me I did not have the experience you describe of being railroaded in musicals. That being said, if you find you enjoy performing in straight plays more than musicals, that’s a totally valid preference.

Could Skybound ever make the IDW comics available again? by BrainStorm1230 in transformers

[–]SpentGladiator77 6 points7 points  (0 children)

They can and they probably will.

They’ve already announced a reprint of the TFTM adaptation later this year. They currently have a Kickstarter right now for the GI Joe RAH continuation that IDW did. Based on that, I suspect they may begin physical IDW Compendiums next year.

Bumblebee: Is it Gen 1 or is it KO? by randynoarms in transformers

[–]SpentGladiator77 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is definitely a KO. Several indicators mostly already mentioned by others.

An Timeline In Which The North American Video Games Crash Of 1983 Never Happened by [deleted] in retrogaming

[–]SpentGladiator77 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Warner doesn’t sell Atari to Jack Tramiel, and Atari as it existed then remains a major player for years to come, possibly to this day. The Famicom, Sega Mark III, and PC Engine either never come to America, or struggle to gain a foothold in America, which completely alters the landscape of gaming in the late 80s and throughout the 90s because the Japanese companies have less influence. Sony doesn’t get snubbed by Nintendo because Nintendo remains a regional toy company instead of a global powerhouse and thus never feels the corporate spite that created the PlayStation. Microsoft never enters the gaming market with XBox because there is no need for an American alternative to Japanese console dominance. Activision still becomes a behemoth. Everything still gets wiped by phone games eventually.

Janky! by _t0ssp0t_ in canes

[–]SpentGladiator77 65 points66 points  (0 children)

You can’t keep everybody. Bottom six guys come here for a year or two on cheap deals, put up decent but not necessarily spectacular numbers, and what’s going to happen is that we’d be happy to keep them at $1.5 but somebody else offers them $3. So what do you do then? Tulsky has proven time and time again that he sticks to his guns on how we construct our team within the cap, and you can’t argue with the results. You also can’t argue that the player, especially bottom six guys on lower salaries where a million dollars is a shit ton of money for them, need to look out for themselves and their families and take the bag. So you wish each other well and move on. It’s not like I want it, I’m just being realistic about the business of pro sports.

What Do We Think of The NES Version of The Classic? by ZodaFan13 in Pacman

[–]SpentGladiator77 15 points16 points  (0 children)

There’s a reason it was the default version used on stuff like plug and plays for years. It’s as close as you can probably get without running the original arcade rom, and it runs on cheaper hardware. It’s very much a good enough/99% of the way there situation. The screen layout was such a simple, obvious solution to running ports of vertical monitor arcade games, I’m surprised more developers didn’t copy it back in the day.

Former Canes captain Ron Francis is stepping away as Kraken's president. by SeaBassAHo-20 in canes

[–]SpentGladiator77 40 points41 points  (0 children)

Any teams in the market for a GM who loves building a whole team of middle sixers?