My next immediate step is to finish preparation for my defense of my dissertation. Basically, I need to finish up a PowerPoint on the results of my study and present it to my committee. It looks like my actual defense will be next week. Doctoral defenses have a LONG tradition in the educational process of earning a doctorate. Even though it feels a bit like a formality designed to give me something to do while we await yet another review of my dissertation, I kind of like putting this together. In fact, I hope to share this presentation with my school board once my doctorate has reached full approval as my results have implications for our school district.
Anyway, URR approval is a Dinobot-worthy step in my journey towards becoming Dr. Marks. Swoop, the Dinobot who transforms into a pteranodon was next on my list. His name is the only one of the S-named Dinobots (which is all of them except their leader, Grimlock) that made sense to me as, at the time, he was the only Autobot who could fly.
This new incarnation is not only bigger than the original, he's actually larger than the other Dinobots that I have opened thus far. Strangely, he is also the only one with a large amount of blue on him instead of red (like both the original and the other newly-designed Dinobots). Even his packaging shows him in red. However, the blue is a throwback to his pre-Transformer origins (and thus color-scheme on the TV show). The website which provided the previous information also states that "Swoop is notable for being one of the most fragile Generation 1 toys …" -- a fact that I can personally substantiate. I had to complete some surgery with superglue to get his head reattached for the photos below.
With Swoop, I have hit four Dinobot-worthy milestones. Two more remain.