Graham

Firstly, the hands. An anime accurate TV type VF-1A would have bubble hands, whereas the DYRL type would have the more mechanical looking hands. Secondly, the the head unit would differ. The DYRL VF-1A would have the prominant rim around the eypiece, which the TV VF-1A head lacks. Graham

I ordered mine from OverDrive and they sent them by EMS. I know there's an EMS parcel waiting for me at home, so it's probably the sets. I do wish Bandai had made the standard Fold Booster that Alto uses to get to Galia IV, rather than the Pink Super Folder Booster though. The standard one looks much nicer IMO. Graham

There's a parcel waiting for me at home, which I'm pretty sure is my Ghost & Fold Booster Sets. Graham

Just wondering have you seen them anywhere in HK yet? I haven't, not that I've looked too hard though. Graham

Been meaning to ask is Macross Ace printed on good quality glossy paper, or is it the typical low quality "toilet paper" type 70's era comic book era crappy paper used on most Japanese phone-book thickness manga? Graham

Was going to avoid the GNU VF-1 toys, but I'll probably pick up one now, but just the VF-1S I reckon. Not going to collect all the variations, that's what the 1/60 line is for. Graham

Well, the pics show it's supplied with both TV and DYRL type hands. Graham

Received notice from OverDrive that my Ghost & Fold Booster sets are shipping today.

Have you tried Amazon Japan or HMV Japan? Both have English pages and are easy to use. Graham

Really getting back into the game. Just got the Monster. Tomahawk is way cool. Graham

Picked up a second Armoured VF-25F yesterday, just so I can display one in fighter mode and one in battroid mode. The biggest problem IMO wit the battroid mode stability, is the extremely loose swivel joint that connects the two parts of the groin peice. It is really loose. Graham

According to OverDrive, the Galia IV Fold Booster set & Ghost & weapons sets should star shipping today. Graham

Got the YF-19, YF-21 & VF-11B FAST Pack sets already. Graham

Starship Troopers!!!!!!! Surely you jest, sir? Them be fightin' words. Graham

I'd be quite interested in a quality BSG 1/18 Viper MKII and MKVII toy. Graham

Just to clarify, this book is not by Yamato, although they did contribute. It is by GA Graphic. There is all ready a longer thread on it in the Movies & TV Series forum. It is well worth getting. Graham

Trust me, you wouldn't want the nightmare that would be removeable Armor packs at this scale. These things are already fiddly and annoying enough already as it is.

I've been wondering if you will be able to carry over saved stats from MAF to MUF. Can you carry them over in the Gundam games?

On a personal note, would I buy a 1/18 VF-1 fighter toy? If it were detailed enough perhaps, but only one. Space considerations would preclude multiples. I'd actually prefer a VF-171, VF-25 or VF-17, but as mentioned, licencing issues would preclude those.

Practically speaking, with the present licencing situation, if a US company wanted to make a 1/18 scale fighter mode-only Valk for sale outside of Japan, the only one they would be able to licence would be the VF-1, via HG. Also, not sure if Toynami holds a master toy licence, so it may be a case of having to negotiate with HG & work with Toynami both.

Acually most of the extra parts are just the optional 'open' missile hatches. Because the Armor parts are mostly non-removable, there's not really too many other extra parts.

Those new screenshots look amazing, especially the VF-2SS @ VF-0 W/FPs. Can't wait to get this.

Actually, the Armored is quite fun to zoom around in fighter mode, as it is less floppy than the standard unarmored version. Another point is that the 4 main thrusters are on ball joints, so can be individually posed. The 2 ball turret beam guns are also on ball joints, so have quite a good range of motion.

I love Macross 7. I actually prefer it to SDFM TV. Gamlin and Mylene rule! I will buy any and every VF toy produced. Roll on the VF-17D/S, VF-11C, VF-11C Full Armoured, VF-22S Max & Millia, VF-19F/S, VF-19Kai. So many cool VFs in that series. Graham

Picked up the VF-25F Armored last night for HK$388 and transformed it once from battroid mode to fighter mode. Here's some initial comments: - As suspected the open & closed missile hatches are separate swappable parts. The toy comes with a small display stand with adaptors for all three modes. Finish is nice. The toy, being very back-heavy and having very loose hip and waist joints has trouble standing by itself in battroid mode. The stand in battroid mode can have the toys displayed with the feet not touching the ground, however, even then it cannot hold a spread leg 'A' stance, due to the looseness of the hip joints and the weight of the lower legs, which cause the legs to swing back to center position. The little flaps on the shoulder missile pods, that fold upwards for fighter mode can get knocked off quite easily during transformation. The radar only turns 90 degress one way and 90 degrees back the same way, it does not rotate. It is really tight to turn. I was scared I was going to break it. There are no extra looking pegs, but despite this, the toy holds together pretty tightly in fighter mode and is not really floppy, this is probably helped by the weight of the Armoured packs. Getting the head lasers on in fighter mode was a real pain in the ass and then they partially get in the way of attaching the shoulder missile pods. The head lasers in fighter mode can also get knocked out and lost quite easily, so be careful. My opinion so far, is that it is a nice looking display piece in fighter mode. Battroid mode is a bit too floppy although I do need to spend more time experimenting in that mode. Overall a bit too fiddly and not really a 'play' toy. Graham