Draykov

There is also this from last November... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUgaeL_FnyQ&

Wishing your mom a speedy recovery, Eleanor.

I've got some armor sets on pre-order for the April release. As far as an HMR Monster, I wouldn't mind one if i could find one at a reasonable price, but there's also the issue of space. I'm a long-time LEGO guy and I've been picking up Star Wars Hot Toys for a while now...so a Monster might be a bit much.

I have been out of the game for a bit. I've spent the past month and a half or so playing a bit of catch up.

Yeah, I'd see a DYRL version as more likely given that they've already done Hikaru's. Seems like easy money. But I'd be down for whatever...

Nothing Macross DX related yet on the Tamashii Nations release calendar for the rest of the year except for the re-releases of the super/strike armor in April and the missile pack in June. I hate to give in to my juvenile need to speculate wildly until an official announcement, but if I were a betting man, I'd place my money squarely on a Roy VF-1S as the next DX release. The inclusion of emblems for Skulls 001 (in black), 012, and 013 in the armor set make it seem like any of those DRYL valks could be next. That and the fact that Skulls 011, 012. and 013 VF-1As have been on display at shows. I've only been aware of the Bandai DX VF-1 for about a month, having been away from the hobby since before Arcadia was a thing. I don't know how some of you guys do it. I'm a grown-ass man and I can't sit still waiting to find out what's next.

I can't vouch for the store yet, so a big CAVEAT EMPTOR on this one, but I did put in an order with them this week for the first time, so we'll see (fingers crossed). Anyway, Nin-Nin-Game.com has a few HMRs in stock, most of which are outrageously priced, but a few are relatively low...might be worth it if you can't find them at a decent price on Mandarake or elsewhere. VT-1 Super Ostrich $85.45 (¥9545) MBR-07-MKII Spartan $73.49 (¥8209) ADR-04-MKX Defender $82.69 (¥9236)

Oh, absolutely this lends more credence to it. Of course, they also say "display only" as opposed to the proposed release dates visible on the missle set and FAST pack reissues... ...so their future release is not 100% confirmed. What I meant by "tipping their hand" was that the Tamashii Web Exclusive Super/Strike pack that was already released includes squadron emblems for green 012 and blue 013. I'm assuming that release and the inclusion of those emblems pre-date this video showing the actual Valks. In my case, anyway, I had seen the contents of the FAST pack set prior to the VF-1As seen in the display in this video. My point being, even without the video, there were signs that more DYRL VF-1As were in the pipe.

Speaking of Bandai teases...how often do they display stuff at shows that never sees the light of day? Because I'd be into this two-pack:

Not sure if this is common knowledge yet, or if maybe I have incorrectly identified what's being displayed here, but it would seem that all of the VF-1As from DYRL Skull Squadron (Hikaru 011, Kakizaki 012, Max 013) are potentially going to receive the Bandai DX treatment. The swap-able squadron emblems in the Bandai DX Super/Strike pack kinda tipped that hand, however.

If you're referring to the figs in the picture sqidd posted, I'm pretty sure those are the Hasegawa USAF ground crew (released in both 1/72 and in multiple sets in 1/48 scale back in the 80s).

Having just recently started picking up Valks for the first time in a while, I'm still a bit out of the loop. I've been hunting down DXs and would love to see that line expand as it relates to old school Macross. When might we know what Bandai has planned for the DX series? Is there a certain time of year where they might drop some hints? Perhaps Tokyo Toy Fair in June?

I just recently learned about the Bandai DX and have been playing catch-up. I've got a DYRL VF-1S and the Max VF-1A en route. I originally started collecting way back during the initial Yamato 1/60 waves. I'm excited to get my hands on the Bandai Max TV type in particular. By the time the Yamato 1/48 one was released - well, I was pretty disillusioned by Yamato's release phases and had bowed out. It didn't help matters that my main supplier (Twin Moons Anime) was shutting down its operation, but even if they hadn't, I had run out of space and had other things to spend money on. There is a lesson here somewhere, but damned if I can hear it over the cry of those DXs.

Not sure if anyone else noticed this or even cares, but I thought it was an interesting bridge of two of my hobbies. LEGO was at the San Diego Comic Con this past weekend and they had an MOC (my own creation) designed by none other than Shoji Kawamori using sets from the LEGO "Exo-Force" line. Van-Force 1 Van-Force 2

I'm still waiting in vain for a Region-1 version of this show with decent subtitles. I'd settle for a Matrix-like "jack-in" lesson in Japanese.

Weird. I was expecting the green/blue generic pilot. I don't know whether to be slightly disappointed or pleasantly surprised.

I don't remember a flat 100% "no." Something more like "highly unlikely."

Oh, I'm with you. It'd be pretty hard either way, but I think the D might be a little bit harder given the added length to the fuselage. Perhaps love will find a way.

Man, I wish they'd crank out some two-seaters. The VF-1D has more canon variations possible (with minimal effort, i.e. repaints) than the VT-1 or VE-1, but the step-up cockpit design of the DYRL? 2 seaters would probably be easier to engineer in toy form. The VE-1 and VT-1 have been cult classics and the plane designs themselves have sort of inherited a legendary status as the holy grails of Macross collectibles from the impossible to find Bandai toys of yesteryear. They'd be sure to sell. However, they'd also require new molds for FPs and certain wing antenna and such. I don't know...it doesn't seem likely. As much as I'd love 'em, my wallet is pretty happy. The CF and GBP have been enough to bring me out of my Macross hermitage of late, but with the announcement of a 1/60 VF-0, my wallet is getting very nervous. As much as I love new Macross stuff from Yamato, it is a pricey hobby.

Well, it sounds like something like the USN trainer scheme might appeal to you. Or maybe the scheme the JASDF uses for their T-4 in regular: ...or Blue Impulse JASDF aerial demonstration team:

Actually, I thought it looked more like a salute followed by a "you're number one" gesture.

Megabug Gladiators! These were awesome! Anyone else have these as kids?

This is a long shot, and I can't quite figure out why I remembered these things out of the blue, but I'm trying to identify a set of toys I had as a kid and thought maybe some of you Gen X 2.0 kids can help me out here: There were these 3 mechanoid bugs released some time before 1983. They were each about 10" long. There was a spider a scorpion and a dragonfly. They each had cockpits with pilot figures molded inside. They weren't Zoids, at least I don't think they were. They were non-transformable and they weren't building toys. The scorpion was mostly orange with red trim and it had a blue morning star type thing where his stinger would be at the end of a segmented tail, and if you pulled the ball off of the tail, it was attached by a little chain and you could swing it around. The pincers opened and closed through the use of a spring mechanism and there were little wheels on the belly so that when you scooted the critter across the floor his legs would move. The dragonfly was purple. It had a little dial you could spin with your thumb to make kind of a chirping noise, it had suction cup landing gear/feet so it could stick to walls, and it had a bright green bomb that it held under its belly in a set of arms. When you flipped a switch, the arms separated and released the bomb. There was a small, plastic stinger at the end of the tail that was molded in the same color plastic as the bright green bomb. The spider was black and had the same underbelly wheel mechanism that the scorpion did to make the legs move. It had mandibles that you could lock open and then push a yellow button to snap close. It had a sort of clamshell transparent plastic piece that covered most of the butt end of the thing, but sticking out of the back end, there was a light purple or maybe gray spring loaded projectile cannon that launched a red grappling hook that had string attached to it. Help me geeks of the 80s...you're my only hope.

I wonder what the production run will be like. I'd like to get 5 or 6 of these things eventually, but I'll have to be content to start out with 2. It's gotta be the market value of the USD more than anything.

That is one chunky monkey.