Shawn

I've not seen that kit up for sale in 15+ years. I know the v1 valks don't get a lot of love these days, but they were appreciated back in the day, and this kit is a very niche part of Macross toy collecting history!

This auction is up for another few hours https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/x1173464532 This was an official VF-1D conversion kit from Yamato sold at Wonder Festival 2002, with a run of only 30 kits (rare!) It was done by Nishikawa, who then designed the Yamato 1/48 line up! At this time in Yamato's existence, they only had the DYRL license, so they could not sell a VF-1D variant. This was a way for you to convert your existing v1 VF-1 DYRL toy into the TV VF-1D! They did get the TV license the next year and did a mass release, but for those who like the weird and rare stuff, this is a nice bit of Macross toy history to have!! Here are a few pics of the finished modification kit from my old archives I found on a hard drive, 2002!!

btw-the new Rakuten poster only high sale price is now $69, that is basically the sales price for the set (9900 yen I think) https://jp.mercari.com/item/m59002684316

The ending concert footage was only storyboarded (in the 1984 Movie Storyboard book, and the 2007 DVD bonus book), and some concept art from Mikimoto showing Minmei's dress was done in 84, but the animation was not started for the original movie release, thus it would never have been possible to see it in the theaters. 100% rumor. Earlier in this thread it was shown in a letter that the animation was still being completed in early July, so it seemed they worked up until the release, like the '1979 Start Trek the Motion Picture' type situation where the newly processed 35mm prints were basically "still drying out (a little exaggeration)" If you look through the 1984 storyboard pics, it was exclusively concert based with Minmei, there was no Megaroad or VF-4 footage, this was all expanded upon in 1987 for the Flashback OVA. https://www.macrossworld.com/macross/books/dyrl_storyboard.htm

I definitely agree with going to a large scale for the Legioss, 1/48 is just too small in my opinion. It needs some ROOM. The 1/28 is close to the original Gakken 1/32 scale which is great. Larger = potentially more durable as they can pack in more material into the important bit, potentially

found this pic, little better https://timelessdimension7.wordpress.com/2025/02/09/玩具新聞-2025年2月9日-toy-news-9th-february-2025/

I think the Rakuten one is the hard one to find right now. I saw the poster for sale for $50 and it sold by itself recently. I don't think many people are letting that one go yet.

Watched the 4k today on my older LG OLED, UHD Player, and a new(to me, i.e. used) 5.1 system, and it was fantastic. This is the first time I've watched the movie in in a non stereo tv/mono mix, and it was pretty wild. All the lasers and explosions finally hit my ears in a way they were meant to, not coming out of some small tv speakers. Its a great mix and holds its own, but there were some weird echo type things, like the crowd in the first concert. Something seemed out of phase for a few times. I'll need to recheck my wiring. I then played the mono mix and that weird crowd echo was gone, and strange enough, the sound was beefier-more 'solid' with more presence than the 5.1. I guess all the bass moved into the LR speakers. I actually like them both, each one its own way. They did a great job on the audio. At the very end when I got the 1 & 2, the pause, and then the Angel Paints beat hit I got a chill. GET YOURSELVES A NICE SOUND SYSTEM to watch this movie, you won't regret it. I certainly have. The video took some getting used to. With the restoration they did, it sometimes seems like there are different layers on the screen at the same time. Can't really explain but the old bluray had a flatter picture, where this one seemed like there were different elements involved. It was a bit unnerving at first, but my eyes got used to it and I eventually just forgot about it all and enjoyed it. Everything does 'pop' now-it is vibrant in a way I've never seen before. Having the subtitles was fantastic on the TV-its like seeing this for the first time again, where I was not having to remember all the dialogue from past subtitled viewings from a computer screen. I know we could run laps around picture restoration preferences, but once I got to the Hikaru/Minmei in the city scene I just accepted the picture in and stopped judgement. It was a great 1.5 hours this afternoon. And again-I cannot recommend this enough-get a sound system, it makes ALL the difference. I am happily retiring my soundbar. For the next Con we really need to consider renting out a theater and having a private viewing.

CD-Japan must be reading the forums, because I just got a shipping notice, says arrives Wed, yay! Looking forward to seeing this with my own eyes.

Ditto, CD-Japan messaged yesterday saying thank you for the confirmation of the extra shipping costs and payment and it will move forward in the shipping process They are super nice but please ship it already!

It was know earlier than this, but earliest mention on this version of the forums was 2004 omg that was 21 freaking YEARS ago here. Windjammer old school!

LOL See, now there needs to be Ultra-Hard Core UHD Release #2 with Heat Shield color correction and grain. Even just a flat 5k scan isn't generic enough

Ha! I love seeing that feeling of new discovery after all these years. All too rare anymore!

The Minmei one is the tear glimmer in the eyes, omg. Watching it 30 times back to back it finally sunk in. Argh. This scene's filming was part of the DYRL TV Special. The original alternating eye glimmer is all THEIR fault. 😛 Could you have imagined having someone from the future pull one of them aside and say '40 years from now some old jerk in the United States on a Macross website he runs will be complaining from his personal computer about how the AI enhancement engine was used to fix your minor painting mistake, so take a deep breath and paint that glimmer within the lines please'

That link above with the Britai changes has some other interesting ones too. I couldn't figure out the Minmei one though, is just just the colors? The easy way to make ALL the fans happy is to have version 1 scan only and the required base color correction, and then have version 2 fix everything. Make a UHD box and a STD Blu-Ray box version and stop mixing the 2 formats, because each home is buying an extra disc they will not watch based on what they have. For that minor extra cost in packaging, we can have the peeps that like the live grain feel of the movie have their cake, and the smoother de-noised cel-like people have theirs. This is not our first rodeo, I think it has been established by NOW that whatever you do will make some part of the audience upset, but yet this is what continues to be done. Hell-scratch that entire thing I just said, the bean-counters won't be happy. How about this... Make an extra 'Ultra-Collector Scan Only' version and charge $250 for it. This one comes on a single UHD disc only, in a plain brown cardboard box, and then let those fans have the de-smoothed/de-enhanced variant. The helmet pic below is a great example of this, on the left it is less vibrant, but in my old eyes more familiar, more natural, and more in focus than the enhanced one on the right (MY opinion). Just make it an OPTION for some of us who have bought every version of this title for 40 years. You can milk us for one more version! Also, when does the re-pressed disc to fix the helmet artifacts error come out

I'm having flashbacks from some anti-piracy ad for 'you wouldn't download a car would you' I can't believe those are 3d printer in color. Someone could do that in 1/100 right? Or a Nous/Quead and fill in all the HMR 1/100 gaps?

Ran across this pic today-they are some pre-production layout pics from Shin Ueda ( 上田　信 ) https://392puramo.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-1556.html Trying to find out if there is a follow up post. I find these amazingly cool, and cannot wait for someone to put together a Macross Box Art Volume 2 edition, there is a lot more out there! Pics if the final Box art below! Link to a previous exhibit https://syuppanbi.com/?p=1346

Love these prints, and you did a great job framing too

I guess there is also a Nous-ger Missile back back variant in the background when they are about to go into the sdf-1 in the movie, that would be a cool variant.

ok so this is it, I think. Just got notification of an extra 4600 yen needed for shipping from CD-Japan( I ordered 2x), so at least my order is closer to being shipped.

These are the 3 unique B3 sized posters right? (not my pic) Which one is from which store? There was Rakuten, Amazon, and the special edition fan club one right? No I think the fan club one is the acrylic board. I think the Rakuten one is the sdf-1. Who is the 3rd source?

The purple Queads in the movie are the UN Spacy Equivalent of the Cannon Fodder Tan vf-1s Regular soldiers, with the Ace pilots always doing something different, like the Red Milia variation. I don't ever recall seeing an Ace pilot Nousjadeul-Ger livery, but it would be interesting to explore one.

Imai did the Full Size tailfin on their VT-1 Prototype in 1984-just adding fuel to the fire Re-found the pic so thought I'd share

This is an amazing piece of Macross trivia-apparently there was a July 1st screening for the movie, BUT it wasn't done yet, so they showed what they had completed at the time (partial) then threw in some Macross TV episodes, all to make it 90m total You then got some tickets for the later finished release. That is wild!

I agree on the 82/84, but I THINK that is in the context of it being next to the Big West copyright? If the year is by the manufacturer, could it be current year? Like this 2001 1/55 reissue pic, and the lower pic of the 1985 1/55 VF-1A release There is probably no official rule, but just thought I'd see a 1990 on that 1/55 reissue, and the fact that is is from the TV series (no DYRL markings on the 90 release right?) I grabbed my Yamato Low-Viz and it says Big West 1984-2003.