Graham

Nice, but even chunkier than I expected. Be very interesting to see what the fighter mode is like. Graham

My current bedroom TV-top display is very Macross 7-centric. Graham

I'll pic up that magazine today, but I imagine it's just a photo of a Konig test shot. Most test shots just use whatever color plastic the factory has laying around, so often tend to be in weird colors. Graham

It's far safer if you remove the back of the head part during transformation. You need to swap out the battroid head part for the more flat sided fighter mode head part anyway. Graham

Where did this happen? Graham Never mind, saw where on the vid. Pilot was very lucky. Hope he's OK. Graham

Gotta say, that VF-1S Strike is looking nice (not as nice as the Blazer tho!). Graham

There, corrected for you. Graham

Squeeze the legs together from the sides, then push down on teh shoulder in fighter mode, that helps it click into place. But yes, the do pop out by themsleves from time to time, both on the Kai and the Blazer. Graham

Yes, the VF-19F/S should be no slouch in an atmosphere, with its extra verniers, powerful engines and large control surfaces on the wings and tail. With option longer wings shown in VFMF it should be even better. However, asking whether it is the best of the 19 varients is opening a can of worms, given the controversy that exists regarding what is an accurate engine thrust rating for the VF-19S. In theory, the alround best 19 variant would be a VF-19P, fitted with VF-19F engines. This would give the highest thrust and the largest number of atmospheric control surfaces. Graham

Well, I like this toy so much, I just picked up my 3rd one. Got this one from the Causeway Bay branch of Animate for HK$499. Was shopping around Mong Kok last night and the Blazer seems to be sold out everywere but Animate and also one shop in the basement of the 111 Richmond Center on Argyle Street. Heh, I just noticed the box art picture of the VF-19F has the large triple vernier cluster aft of the cockpit, whereas the actual VF-19S toy lacks it! Graham

Well, we see a variant of the VF-5000 in non-UN Spacy use, in service by a law-enforcement agency on a sleepy little back-water planet. In the big picture, that doesn't really tell us much. Graham

Wrong forum. Please go to the games forum, we already have a thread on the new Another Century game there. Graham

While the VF-11 was designed as a duel environment (space and atmosphere capable) main fighter and technically doesn't 'need' FAST Packs to fly and fight in space, it certainly like any VF will benefit greatly from having them. As you mentioned, without FAST packs it is extremely limited in it's internal weapons carriage. And although I'm sure it must be capable of having external hard-points fitted to the wings (likely 2-3 per wing), we have not yet seen any evidence of this to date. However, it's interesting to note that in both Plus and M7, we always see the VF-11 fight in space with FAST Packs fitted. On the subject of the VF-11's internal leg bays, did Macross Chronicle clarify whether these were in fact canon now or not for both the VF-11B and VF-11C? IIRC,didn't Kawamori previously state his line art of the bays was only a concept drawing and the animation of them in M7 was actually an error (or something like that)? Graham

Beautiful photo of a beautiful plane. Graham

Let's hope they can actually hit what they are aiming at this time and no longer look like rejects from The Village People! Graham

Would prefer Hikaru's VF-1S Strike Valk, but I may end up getting this. Graham

The problem with internal weapons bays, is that while they do help with stealth, they are always going to be limited in the number and type of ordnance they can carry, due to limited internal volume. Thus a VF that relies soley on internal weapons bays (and internal fuel, in space), will always have to break-off combat sooner than a VF with additional weapons and fuel mounted on external hardpoints and FAST Packs. Frankly, I doubt we wil ever see an end for the need for FAST Packs or optional Armor for VFs in the Macross universe. I know if I were in a VF-19F/S facing massed foes, I'd much rather have FAST Packs fitted, giving me 200+ missiles, rather than relying only on my 12 internal missiles in the leg bays. Graham

I think it's a bit of both. No matter how many external hard points a VF has or how many internal weapons bays, FAST Packs are going to provide extended combat persistence (endurance), in terms of additional weapons and fuel, thus allowing the VF to stay in the fight longer. Simply put, a VF without FAST Packs is going to run out of weapons and fuel (in space), sooner than a VF with FAST Packs. Graham

No, they didn't change anything for the Blazer. The hips are just as poseable as the Kai. That is to say very poseable. Graham

Thanks for clarifying the source. I must admit that Trash is not something I really paid much attention to or liked. Graham

Let's keep this thtead to discussion of the upcoming 1/60 Yamato VF-19Kai please. Discusions on the D-Stance YF-21 or Bandai making a VF-22S do not belong here. Graham

Whoa!..............where are you getting this information about the VF-4 being used as a test platform for newly developed spiritia weapons? First I've heard of this? Graham

I disagree, I find it very poseable in battroid mode, even more so if you pose it using the display stand. You can achieve some very dynamic poses. Heh, and I like mine so much I'm planning on picking up a 3rd one tonight. Graham

Actually, yes you can attach the open leg-bay doors with the missiles in fighter mode. See the 3 attached pics. I made a mistake in my previous post when I said the wing tab wouldn't lock into the leg with the open bay doors attached. Actually, the wing locks in place just fine. Graham

Interesting topic and I concur that the VF-11 is likely the most produced VF in terms of sheer numbers in service. If certain fleets such as the Macross 7, ended up eventually replacing all their VF-11 with the VF-19 on a 1-1 basis, post-Protodeviln war (as seems to be infered by the recent Hi-Metal information refering to the 19 as a mainstay fighter), the total number of VF-19 produced could easily reach higher than 2000+. Although I feel that due to the cost and complexity of the VF-19, a 1-1 replacement was unlikely. However, given that the VF-19 is a far more capable fighter than the VF-11, it may have been decided that a smaller quantity, say something like a 1-2 replacement was acceptable (all pure speculation on my part). Not sure I agree with the estimate figures for the VF-171 though, they seem a bit on the high side. Just my gut feeling is that in the 2050s, manned craft numbers have been trimmed drastically, so that there is only a skeleton force of manned VFs and unmanned craft (Ghosts) now make up the bulk of the forces. Although again, this likely varies, as we have seen from fleet to fleet and planet to planet. Please feel free to correct me if any of the above speculation on my part has already been contradicted by officially published info. Graham