Valkyrie Driver

I'm a bit confused as to what exactly you're asking for, but I'll give a go at what I think you're asking for: Just because you're highly trained, doesn't mean you get plot armor. Bad things happen to good people. Think about it in terms of Macross, Roy, Hikaru, and Max are all aces, we know their names because they're central characters, but each of them probably got the same training as the nameless cannon fodder pilots. They just got lucky enough to survive, and got good enough to stay that way. Even so, Roy proves that main characters aren't invincible. BattleTech is a bit different, because even the cannon fodder dudes get names, and small back stories, to make the hero's character seem more human in mourning their loss, or knowing their name. Even the guys that don't occupy 'mechs get to have a bit of personality, and that's probably due to the big difference in format. You can convey a lot more of that detail with a novel, than you can with a 30 minute TV episode, or a short manga or other illustrated story. A single battletech novel couldn't be condensed into a 30 minute TV episode while preserving that level of detail, you probably couldn't do it in an hour or even 2. I'm not saying that makes it better, just different. If you sit down and read a star trek novel, or a star wars novel, you'll see something very similar, where you get fewer nameless red shirts, and more detail. The Next Generation era Star Trek series were better about this, not leaving so many nameless corpses. Like I said, it's a difference in format that really makes the difference. I can't speak to the Macross novels or manga, as I can't read them, but the shows are lacking that kind of detail, and rightly so. Who wants to keep track of a million different named characters in a 30 minute episode? I came for sweet space fighter battles, kickass mecha fights, and sappy love triangles, with some music thrown in for flavor. I don't care about those one off characters that fly out and die just so the hero can look like a badass. Since I brought up the Battletech TV show in my earlier post, I should probably mention that it does much of the same kind of thing Macross does. There are the nameless cannon fodder guys that do stuff, and die, while the heroes look like badasses and get crap done, only with crappy dialogue, and very 2 dimensional characters. Does that sound like what you were looking for?

My hope is that when I'm a father, and old enough to have this worry, I won't have to worry.

Not too hard, but it could complicate transformation, by making it more fiddly.

Thanks! I hope it arrives soon too. I've got the first semester under my belt, but that was 5 years ago. I still kinda remember my grammar, but my vocabulary and my writing skills are very rusty. I need to study up if I'm going to do well in the second semester. I have confidence I'll do well, languages come fairly easy to me.

All I was saying is that while yes gerwalk is traditionally the weakest mode of any valkyrie, and that the VF-19's is the weakest of all of them, this toy manages the strongest implementation of that mode than any other 19 toy. So the Strongest of the weakest. I was just amazed at what you could do with it. As my Yamato 1/60 YF-19 will fall to rubble if you look at it funny, and my Yamato VF-19F lacks the simple grace of the YF-19 design. That, and the VF-19 advance is a lot less scary to transform, that VF-19F gerwalk joint is so stiff that I'm always afraid I'll break it, the shoulders pose their own problems with that locking mechanism.

Well damn...

Maybe I just didn't get to go the places where you'd see it. Though I did know this girl in tech school, who was still hot as hell wearing cammies and BCG's.

You're right, I think I worded it a bit wonky. I should have specified, the idea being that these Mecha would be piloted by professional soldiers (highly trained and capable individuals) rather than an untrained civilian kid (like Amuro Ray, or some of the other gundam type pilots we've seen). Granted Macross doesn't suffer this too much (Basara isn't exactly a kid at 21, and Alto isn't exactly untrained), and it isn't unheard of for us to have 15 or 16 yr old kids fighting on the front lines (kids would lie about their ages to enlist during WW2). Anime seems to involve some kind of extenuating circumstances, that allow younger people to participate in military actions, to get around the fact that most Professional soldiers in developed nations are over 18 years of age. Not saying that's a bad thing, it certainly makes the protagonists more relateable to a wider audience. You may be right that the way I framed it might have been a bit off. I hope this clarifies what I was trying to say.

Wow. It's impressive that it can hold that much. So definitely a purchase to group with others so as to make shipping worth it. Or get the shipping free. I wouldn't want to pay twice what the toy cost in shipping alone.

We learned that the isocyanate paint was incredibly toxic, and difficult to apply. We have since learned that glossy finishes increase light and radar reflectivity, making them easier to spot. Before the glossy paint the aircraft were silver, or natural metal finish, which decreased corrosion resistance. We also learned that other paints would strip off as they heated up with multiple trips through the Mach barrier. The Faster you go the more heat you generate from air friction, the faster the pain wears off. The Glossy paint was a tougher finish. It was mostly applied to air defense fighters, that is, they weren't deployed overseas, so the need to be harder to see wasn't as pronounced. Also you kinda wanted to be seen, so that russian bomber would know you were there and ready to shoot him down. Now paint technologies are so much better we can make matte paints that are every bit as tough as the old isocyanate gloss paint. Now we can have our cake and eat it too...

How much did she set you back? Also, I'm really loving that ability to put a 2 ship on a single stand...

There were a ton of Static Displays at Lackland, There was the 8th Air Force Museum at Barksdale, and a bunch of randoms at Keesler. There was also the 101st Airborne Museum at Ft. Campbell that had a few good ones too. I've only seen two F-106's on static display, one at Selfridge ANGB's MIANG museum, and one at Camp Blanding.

I'm still super stoked about my VF-19Advance, and I'm still waiting on my VF-19 master file book. I want it to be the Spring semester so I can take Japanese... Hopefully this book will give me the incentive to study hard so that one day I'll be able to read it...

Alas, it does not. It's heavy on the transformation detail and gimmicks, but stingy on the others we'd like to see. The one good one you get is an opening leg bay with a missile, which is nice. The nice little 10 second cameo didn't give us a ton to go on for what those shoulder packs do, so T-Rex I guess just assumed they were missile packs like on the VF-25, while bandai, it would seem, figured they were something else. The bandai parts are two piece which is odd to me since the CGI model showed no such joint. They are also fairly small pieces, which don't allow for a lot of space to hide the mechanisms required for an arm or opening missile door.

I agree that Battroid is the strongest mode, fighter the second, and gerwalk third. I think though that in comparison to other attempts at the YF-19 styled toys, it has the strongest of all three modes (minus super parts). I would definitely take this over the Arcadia. Obviously because it's expensive and harder to get, but also because of how Bandai executed the transformation just looks so much better than the arcadia, which is very similar to the way my Yamato VF-19F transforms. I think Bandai nailed it. I'd still love to have an Arcadia, and an original Yamato 1/72 (v2 because of that damned tab a), just to have the progression in my collection, but this toy is a ton of fun. I really like where they put the leg swivel, it's at the top of the gerwalk joint, which lets you get some really nice poses, but a second swivel at the knee or mid thigh might have been a good inclusion as well, to really get some good aggressive poses. There is certainly room for improvement, but this seems to be the best execution to date.

Interesting Article. By the time I had come into Battletech, the Dougram, Crusher Joe, and Macross designs had been removed. Though the Warhammer IIC and Marauder IIC were still present in MechWarrior 2, my introduction to the franchise. My interest stemmed from there. Around the time I was in 2nd or third grade FASA had authorized a horrible TV show (horrible by my modern standards, having been "spoiled" by anime, watching it again was like trying to watch G1 transformers). It was enough to associate the name with the tabletop game, and the novel series, which I took to with gusto. Then the discovery of the link to macross, and now look at me. I bought my Tomahawk Destroid because of my love for the old Warhammer IIC from MechWarrior 2. That and I really like the Tomahawk destroid, and wished it had received more screen time. Oh well there's still Macross Delta...

Nope! TU-144! Sorry, I had to. At this point I'm just being an ass... My apologies.

They are now, but that's the intake and wing root of an F-106. Back in the 1960's through to the 1980's, we painted our Air Defense Fighters in this glossy isocyante based paint. The F-106 was grey, and I think most of them were a light grey. Dad's Air Defense Detachment painted their F-4's in the same color (giving the REGAF guys conniption). The low vis matte schemes started in the 1980's and became widespread when Strategic Air Command and Tactical Air Command merged to become Air Combat Command.

I agree, mostly. I really liked the stinger, the Unseen version much more so than the Reseen version. The other VF-1 based designs not so much, the VF-1A the way they adapted it, just seemed to fit. I can remember discussing Battletech with someone at my local hobby shop when I was much younger, and mentioning that it would be great if battletech had a mech that transformed into a fighter. I was pointed to the novel Freebirth (in which the LAM's play a significant role), and to the internet for more information (as I had come into battletech after the whole unseen thing). Of course I did a bit of research as to why I'd never seen them, and discovered the link to Macross (which I had already been introduced to through Macross 2). They way they adapted the Glaug into the Marauder also seemed to fit too. The regult based designs seemed a bit wonky. As long as our chosen works of fiction are appreciated in the proper context, it's never bad. Except Twilight, that's universally bad and should never be appreciated by anyone ever... except as the measuring stick of badness. Seriously, it's literally the only book I would burn, I wouldn't even condone burning Mein Kampf, that's how important I think books are (even ones with terrible content).

While I like Klan, her whole character design is a bit ridiculous. I mean, as a Red-Blooded, American, and most importantly, Man; I do like me some buxom beauties, but there comes a point where it's too much. Also the high heel space suit kind leaves me scratching my head. If they could just slim down Klan's bust she'd be perfect with a nice proportional hourglass figure. All in all though, very nice figure, and she should go nicely with the rest of you collection.

We also have one other thing to consider. No one really knows what the true capabilities of the F-35 are and are not, except the guys who are dealing with it every day. Any information we have regarding such in the public domain, is all hearsay or taken out of context, because we don't know the variables introduced in the test.

I actually kinda like the glossy finish on the VF-25's and VF-171's kinda reminds me of this:

I wish my VF-19Advance had those shoulder parts... I want opening missile bays...

I wouldn't really call the VF-19Advance's finish matte... It still has a pleasing shine to it, so maybe more of a satin finish really... To-ma-to, to-mah-to...

As I just moved into a smaller apartment, my space is very limited. My collection is limited to 6 on display right now. My current favorites, My VF-25F Renewal, VF-171EX, VF-1S Super/Strike, VF-19F, Tomahawk Destroid, and VF-19Advance. On my coffee table and end table.