SGC has virtual con has kicked off and tonight we got several new reveals from Iron Factory, a 3rd Party company that is well known for its legends scale figures. Iron Factory updated their Weibo with a nice banner showing whats to come, and TFW2005 member, ThatGuyCalledBlaster was nice enough to grab screen caps for better views of the figures.
Iron Samurai Homages:
- Ironhide
- Ratchet
- Lockdown
- Wing
- Drift
- SG Lio Convoy
- Nemesis Lio Convoy
- Bonzaitron
- Cyclonus
- Grimlock
Iron Factory G1 Homages:
- Sandstorm
- Pipes
- Huffer
- Beachcomber
- Seaspray
- Alpha Trion
- Nacelle
Excited for the new reveals? Share your thoughts in the SGC discussion thread after the jump!
RobotKnight95
It started out as a question discussing Raiden (the train combiner) and it evolved into discussing railroad infrastructure comparing the USA, China, and Japan. Put simply: Japan's trains are best cus they're invaluable transportation method across the island and their innovation reflects that. China's divided between higher and lower parts of society. Then you have the US with is a glorified shitshow.
The Barbiter
Why\'s everyone talking about trains?
RobotKnight95
Scourgatron
Train dorks
RobotKnight95
More or less, yeah. It really just boils down to being interested in the trivia surrounding railroads, be it the companies or locomotives, more than anything. Like say how a bunch of crewmen nicknamed an engine class "Bongos" just to piss off their manager. Or how Union Pacific is obsessed with making "super" trains like the Big Boy's and their replacements. Or the apparent reoccurrence of American companies turning to Europe for innovation post-WWII.
divinecomedy
Viewed in isolation, the trans continental railways was a waste of money indeed, but according to historians "The standard historical interpretation holds that the railroads were central to the development of a national market in the United States and served as a model of how to organize, finance and manage a large corporation, along with allowing growth of the American population outside of the eastern regions." The American West quickly grew because of railways. So in aggregate, the country benefited. Kinda like how companies lose money with every console sold, and they later earn it back in game sales.
TM2 Dinobot
The trans-continental railway was a waste of time and money. It was decades before it broke even. It was more of a political gambit and publicity stunt than anything else. No one asked for it, no one wanted it. But they got it anyway. And heir tax dollars paid for it.
Hougangkid
This train of thought is going off-rails.
divinecomedy
Yeah for high speed train enthusiasts, go to YouTube and look for "Japan Maglev".
Tokyo Osaka (320 miles) in 67 minutes? Where do I sign up?
No one runs train systems like the Japanese. Fast, clean, punctual, and smooth. Bring your own Ekiben, and you are set!!!
grimtnt
I have to admit, I've become a bit invested in it as well
Wait…is..is this how it starts? Is this how one becomes an enthusiast and connoisseur of the railways?
The hooks have dug in too deep!
Bezuul
I can't believe I told them to stop. A day later and I'm now engrossed.
Skottech
Sorry for interrupting the discussion on trains…
On the topic of IF Figures I really like the Not Grimlock I think I'll keep on eye out for him
grimtnt
Ah yes, the TFW boards
"Train Fans Worldwide"
divinecomedy
If we follow that argument i.e. sparse population, the first railway lines a century or two ago wouldn't be laid. Many areas in the US used to be sparsely populated and yet they eventually developed into major areas. It's simple. Communities follow jobs, not the other way around. With a sensible industrial policy, once those electric lines have been built, you can build other things that feed off that.
And remember, Japan was bombed to smitherens. It would be too easy to pull out the pity card every day, every month, heck for the rest of your life saying that this can't be done, that can't be done. Heck, didn't we go to the moon once?
David Hingtgen
High-speed rail requires overhead electric lines on every single inch of track. The cost to do so in sparsely-populated areas (western US) is generally considered prohibitive. Amtrak works in the Northeast because the Pennsylvania RR wired it up MANY years ago, and Amtrak can take advantage of it. It'd never happen if they had to build it themselves.
RobotKnight95
Oh I'm aware there are other networks, government operated, in other countries that are stunning. Japan being one of those examples where the trains are always on time to the second. Issue is USA (and I think UK) doesn't have that sort of accountability hence why our rail networks are nothing but a joke. I'd say more but I think this video covers everything I could say,
Chareos
You just made me want this guy now!
TranslucentBag
Yeah, I live outside DC and can say that the METRO here is a giant money wasting black hole of unaccountability. They call for more and more money while withholding FoIA requests. The expansion to the Dulles Airpoint–which was first envisioned back in the late 80s–is now endangered by substandard concrete usage; the MD expansion is mired in a bureaucratic and construction nightmare, and the shiny new headquarters in downtown DC will ironically have 4 stories of parking deck.
I'm of the belief that government services can be exceedingly beneficial; however, they have to be stringently monitored or else inevitably spiral into nigh unending depths of graft and corruption.
In other news, I love the revealed IF Alpha Trion. That might be the best bot mode of the character I have seen on a transforming figure–mainline or 3rd Party.
divinecomedy
I think it's more than that. Nothing works if no one demands accountability, and the ultimate freedom is ZERO accountability right?
GrimLocke
Government services don’t work if you nominate and employ people who say “government services don’t work” for decades while defunding public infrastructure so you can give big, big tax cuts to big, big businesses…