Graham

Neither can, I but people have already posted at least partial translation of the features, in the last few pages of this thread. Graham

Hopes of a new PSP Macross game cruely crushed. Damn you Macross Trial Frontier! Graham

Nice to see missiles on the wings of the non-Super Pack equipped VF-25s. This is what they should have done in the series, given that the VF-25 has no internal missile bays. Still very disappointed that this is not a new PSP game after all. Graham

It's been mentioned on the WF Yamato VF-19 display sign, that a rotating cockpit seat is one of the features. Graham

While the Hi-Metal is a nice toy, it's always been a stand-in for me until the Yamato version comes along. IMO, the Hi-Metal nose section sculpt is a bit off. Anyway, who says you can't own both! Graham

What a fantastic surprize to switch on my computer this morning and be able to see the fighter mode pics. I've gotta say, Yamato have really outdone themselves this time and the fighter mode looks outstanding. This is going to be a must buy for me. Already salivating over the thought of the inevitable Blazer. Grahan

Yaeah, also glad there are no De-Culture vesons in set . I can't stand them. Graham

They are what I love about the VF-19Kai/F/S. That and the more widely spaced tail fins as well. Graham There are white with black stripe VF-19F/S shown in the VF-19 Master Fikle book. They look awesome. Graham

In the first CAD pic we saw, back in page 6 of this thread (pic attached again below), the gullet already looked smaller than on the 1/60 YF-19 and the angle of the nose looked better as well. I'm fairly confident, the VF-19 fighter mode will look OK. Graham

If it helps give us a nice looking fighter mode, I'm perfectly happy to live with the leg cut outs in battroid mode. Graham

Agree with all the above. So what's the figure for an ARMD? Graham

I would consider a VF-4 comparable or better than a VF-1 Super or Strike in terms of speed and acceleration, maybe range as well, if we knew the fuel figure, but certainly not in terms of weapons, at least unless extra ordnance is carried. 12 medium range semi-conformal missiles is certainly a fairly limited loadout, compared to a fully loaded Strike or Super VF-1 with full external loadout. But I agree, that the VF-4 was likely well suited to the Megaroad colony missions, which would be spending long times in space and likely lacked the manufacturing facilities and space that the later New Macross class fleets had. I imagine the bulk of the 8000+ VF-4 produced went to the Megaroad colony missions and were likely in service for so long as the Megaroad colony fleets probably lacked the factory facilities to construct large quantities of newer more advanced VFs. So basically it was a case of the Megaroad ships being stuck with the VF-4. If 8,245 VF-4 were produced and there were 30 Megaroad colony ships, that gives us a figure of 274 VF-4 per ship. Not many really. Did Chronicle ever give a figure for the number of VFs per Megaroad? Graham

Gorgeous custom paint scheme. But to be really nit-picky, only the YF-19 had the 2-peice canopy. Every VF-19 from the VF-19A onwards had a single piece canopy. Graham

If we'd had a daughter, I wanted to name her Mylene or Minmay, but the wife shot the idea down. I nearly got her to agree on Roy for a boy, but alas it wasn't to be. At our wedding party/disco thingie, I had the DJ slip on a Macross Plus CD and me and a couple of friends zoomed round the dance floor with arms outstretched, pretending to be Valks. I forget which track played, possibly Dog Fight. Graham

It says right in the very first post on page 1 of this thread. 6,500 Yen, released in November. Graham

Yep, "Little Rock" refers to the name of the missile launch system in the legs of the VF-19Kai/F/S. IIRC, in the anime, the VF-19P is not shown with a gunpod. However, the Bandai 1/250 scale VF-19P fighter toy has it with a VF-19Kai style Speaker Pod launcher. Graham

You are right, I forgot about that. Graham

I'm glad the VF-19Kai is the first release. This means by the time they release the Blazer, hopefully any bugs from the initial release will have been worked out. Graham

I always got the impresion that at least for the beam cannons mounted on the Strike Valk, VF-11 Full Armor and VF-25 Armoured Pack, the beam guns were powered from capacitors, rather than drawing power directly from the VF's engines. Of course whether those capacitors could be recharged 'on the go', from the VF's power plants is another question entierly. For the smaller beam guns mounted on the VFs head, chest, arms & wingroots (depending on which VF), I would imagine that these do draw power directly from the engines (although I could well be wrong). Possibly size is the limiting factor to power output on target, as well (as previously mentioned), cycle times, cool down times or other limitations. Graham That's exactly what I was implying. Something that was very much a product of the current thinking of the time, but which later showed itself in actual use to be somewhat lacking. Another example that springs to mind would be the initial decision not to have an internal gun on the F-4 Phantom. Graham

I think, whether it's lack of power, overheating, weight or some other issue, we are never going to know what is the issue with beam weapons, unless we are told in some officially sanctioned source. However, I'm firmly conviced that there must be some overiding limitation with beam weapons that at least on VFs prevennts them becoming the defacto main weapon. Graham

When I said experimental, I didn't mean that the VF was still at the experimental development and rushed into service, but rather that it was something of an experiment to try a VF beam weapons substituting for the gunpod. Hah, if you are comparing the VF-4 to Vista, then the VF-4, should be the biggest flop ever, hated by everybody. Graham

I've really got no idea what this alternate universe 'Siren' you keep referring to is? Is it related to the Macross II Metal Siren? Any links, pics? Graham

Still in the box. Graham

I may be wrong, but I don't think Bandai usually do Wonder Fest. Graham

Oh I don't know. I'm expecting a pleasant surprize when we finally get to see the fighter mode. Graham