myk

No sign of Wheeljack in 'SoCal. I found a Shockblast once, but passed on him...Of course, I'm not a cherry-picker/scalper, so maybe those two have been all over the place and have been snatched up by everybody else...

So.....is Kevin taking pre-orders at the Valkyrie Exchange, or is this going to be a Big Bad Toy Store thing? In any case, sign me up...

Oooff! Those ARE nice, especially the 'Low Vis. Yamato or someone should get you on their payroll....

A pinned Star Wars thread is an excellent idea. Question though, I haven't kept up with the information surrounding the t.v. series so I'll just ask this here: what is the premise of the t.v. series? Is it to be something along the lines of the new 'Galactica, or maybe a stylized life-romance saga like the O.C. or Smallville? I'm assuming that the series will take place right after Episode 3, with 'Kenobi living like the Fugitive?

To begin with, thank you Kevin at Valkyrie Exchange for sending to me the 'Shadow in under a week; his excellent service is the type that is seldomly encountered but always remembered by his customers. Well, I must admit that I can only give my initial impressions of this toy. I have to say that one must remove the toy from its packaging and properly set it up-the pictures of the 'Shadow that were posted on this thread from the Ebay auction make the toy appear far worse than it actually is and almost convinced me to cancel my order. I agree with those of you who state that the unit itself is rather complicated, with a countless multitude of little joints and locking components that MUST be perfectly aligned to achieve "somewhat" of a cohesive fit. Ultimately though, even with spending a considerable amount of time trying to get everything to balance out, I could not make the Fighter mode's arms close completely and lie straight on the back of the legs as it should-even Jenius' excellent photos of his 'Bartley Alpha show that. There is a noticeable gap between the "upper arm" and "forearm" on the fighter-I hope I can work this out. I did manage to "massage" out the broken back appearance much like Jenius' Bartley Alpha, but I have really high expectations and I can still tell it's there. I frown on the fact that the main wings are not completely level and flush at the point where they bend in half. It almost looks like there are two sets of main wings on each side, one lower in front leading to a higher one in the back. The landing gear is.....odd looking but serves their purpose. I am not bothered by the difficulty of prying the wheels out of their resting areas, as this is something that I learned to deal with during the early days of Yamato's '60 series. Question though: couldn't they have made the landing gear just a little bit longer? Unless you squeeze and push the body just right, the 'Shadow will sit on it's rear wheels and the Cyclone storage compartment instead of the front wheels. Maybe they could have made the storage space smaller? From what I can tell it could probably be half it's current height and still not affect anything. Missile bays! I love the hidden missile bays on this thing. A total of 64 in all? I have to applaud the attempt at detail. The weight-pick this thing up and their is definite heft to it. I am now comparing it with one of my Bandai '55s and I believe it's heavier! I am assuming that means a significant amount of die cast, and I am hoping that it has been well placed throughout the unit. The paint is somewhat lackluster though. I suppose that the stealth scheme would negate the use of a glossy or otherwise more brilliant finish, but I just feel that even a flat, darker black color or much darker blue would have worked better. Is the current blue correct to the line art? I don't know that either but it's really dull looking. I like the gun! The EU-XX (?) is a unique looking gun pod that collapses and opens by pressing on either the clip or the scope/sight. I couldn't really get my gunpod to securely seat itself on the fighter, though. As I said these are only my initial observations of the toy, and I haven't even tried the transformations and other modes yet. I will venture the idea however, that if Toynami had increased their quality control standards, so as to have avoided situations where people had parts literally falling off of their Alphas as they manipulated them, they would have had a better product than the coveted '60 series from Yamato. Summarily, I am currently satisfied with the 'Shadow Alpha and look forward to the other modes and the transformation process... Gilermo, it does concern me that your Alphas ultimately broke on you-what became broken? Much like the Yamato line, I'm sure that the Alphas need to be handled very gently to ensure proper fit and alignment, not to mention prevention of breakage... Chunky Monkey, anyone?

Monica is beautiful, but her caboose is way too huge to fill those star studded tights of Wonder Woman's...

Couldn't have said it better me-self...

Final Fight meets, the Force?

Thank you ALL, especially Mr. Jenius with his detailed tips and photos to boot. I love my '35 Gakkens also, but I am mesmerized with the notion of having greater detail, not to mention a Legioss for the first time in the form of the 'Shadow. I now feel much better about my purchase at Kevin's, I just hope that I happen to get the 'Shadow with a minimal amount of birth defects. Whoever listed those pics, posted on the previous page of this thread, in the ebay auction should be put on trial-the way they portrayed the 'Shadow was absoloutely hideous. Pictures and smiles of your new Shadows people! Smiles everyone!

Damn. I'm anxiously awaiting a detailed review on the 'Shadow. Aren't there more people that have this thing? Praise it, condemn it, just review it already! LOL

Amen to that....

I'll wager that the shipping is at least..........$30? In that case I'd rather give my business to Kevin at the 'Exchange...

It looks like to me that they're cut from the same story-cloth, or at least Stealth was somehow inpsired by the Yukikaze story. I will say that at the very least Stealth will guarantee an action oriented story with a clear, although pedestrian plot that will conclude itself in 2 convenient hours, unlike Yukikaze where for countless months viewers are left scratching their noggins, wondering as to what direction the story is taking...

Do you truly consider the MP Alphas to be the best version of the fighter, with all of the amorementioned flaws? If so, I just might reconsider purchasing the 'Shadow. I just can't get over that "broken back" look...A variable fighter needs to be straight and sleek, dammit!

Where's it being shipped from?

Just as long as those lame-ass fools don't touch the '68-'70 Dodge Charger they can do whatever they want...

Ugh....I wonder if it's too late to change my order to something else at Kevin's...

That angst actually applies to 99% of lead-anime characters... The home page is also rather neat-o....

Yeah, well there's nothing like some pre-release gossip like those 2 getting together just to pump up their weak movie.

Ugh...Batman toys have always been on the "tacky" side, and the new wave of items continues the tradition so I for one am staying away. I wonder if the designers of the Hummer, one of the ugliest vehicles ever created, had anything to do with the design of the new Batmobile?

I think that you, yourself, said it best...

Not to rub it in to those who don't have one, but I was just looking at my Low Vis, and I must say that this thing is beautiful....

Oh man, I feel for you. Try this:http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=7776

Oh very well, someone give Jerry Bruckheimer a call....

Yeah, I finally gave in to the Dark Side and got a cable line, so BF2 and other multi-play sounds like alot of fun, especially if I get to the chance to riddle some of you with bullets, albeit virtual. I must say that even though I've just started playing online, repeatedly getting taken out by some sniper, usually named "DeathSnipeFX3000vb" or something is starting to get really old. I haven't played many games, only Black Hawk Down, AvP2, Doom and 'Vietnam...