Graham

Here's a couple of quick under the desk, in the box shots. Graham

I wish. Graham

Ha, sorry lunch hour is gym time.

Heh, guess what I have sitting under my desk at work at the moment? Can't take it out of the box until I go home tonight though. Can confirm the UN Spacy kites are the correct colour.

Not allowed to say yet whether Yamato have both MD7 and M7 licence.......wait and see. Bandai have always put pressure on BW not to licence out M7 to other parties, even after Bandai's licence expired. To be honest, Yamato was previously not that interested in M7/MD7, despite me telling them for years to go for it. If Yamato has M7 licence, then yes, M&M VF-22 & VF-11C would be easy candidates, as only minimal retooling is required. VF-17 & VF-19Kai/F/S/P are a whole different kettle of fish. Despite what many people think, the VF-19Kai/F/S/P would need nearly all new tooling (99%). I think about the only parts they share with in common with the YF-19 may be the hands, upper arms and gunpod (F/S only). Graham

The VF-11C color scheme always reminds me of the DYRL color schemes, i.e. white body, with black stripes and dark-ish blue FAST Packs. I'm a sucker for the VF-11C with FAST Packs, especially in fighter mode. Graham

I would be all over an M7 M&M VF-22 and also a VF-11C. I acually prefer M7 VF-11C colors to M+ VF-11B colors.

She just sort of shrugged and laughed. Basically. Not much they can do about it really. I did of couse tell her I've bought all the original R2 DVDs and have been encouraging others to do so. Graham

I picked up the 1/100 VF-25S for HK$299 yesterday in Tai Po. There are been no changes or modifications to the design that I can tell of. I was hoping for extra wing locking, but it was not to be. So basically, if you have the Alto, you know what to expect. Graham

I also wish they would do more characters, especially Ozma. I passed on set 2. Didn't really want or need more Altos, Sheryls or Rankas. The standing school uniform Alto and Alto in SMS fatigues is plenty already. Really didn't want a sitting Alto in school uniform. In fact the only figure I really wanted from set 2 was Michael, just a pity the sculpt is so bad. Graham

One of the ladies at the Satelite booth spoke very good English. She told me she had previously worked for Manga Entertainment in the US. Satelite are well aware that there is a very large fan base overseas. In fact the size of the fan base in different countries was one of the topics we discussed. Of course, they would love if Frontier could be sold outside of Japan, but that is outside of their hands. They are also well aware of the fansub situation. As for Macrossworld, she admitted that she hadn't heard of it, but I showed her a few pages on my mobile phone and gave her the website address so she could take a look later. I told her we have a very active forum (much more active than Japanese forums), with close to 9,000 members. Graham

At the HK C3 show it was mostly the 'Macross Frontier Creators File # 1' book, which was on sale at the C3 Satelite booth for HK$200, although I also saw a few people holding DYRL and Frontier DVDs. Graham

I asked them about the movie, and they said they hoped it would be ready by Autumn, but this depended on how hard the creators worked. Actually, I was asking them about the possibilty of Macross Frontier season 2, given the popularity of the first series, but they wouldn't say. Graham

Had a real Basara moment yesterday. We were travelling home from C3 on the bus & my son who has never seen M7 wanted to sing a song to my wife & I, and he suddenly shouted out "listen to my song!". Sounded exactly like Basara, but in English. My wife didn't get the big grin I had on my face for the next half an hour.

I was there. Saw Kawamori transform his lego VF-25. Didn't queue for his autograph though as the queue was too long & I had to leave half way through his talk to meet my wife & son. Lots of Frontier cosplayers there. Saw Klan, Sheryl, Ranka & many Altos. Satelite had a booth there, so I talked with them for about half an hour. Told them about MW. Asked about a Frontier sequel, but they wouldn't say..

Confirmed with Yamato: 1) VF-22 comes with 2 gunpods. 2) Gunpods light grey in colour. 3) Gunpods cannot be stored internally in belly plates (sorry, anime magic, not possible on toy).

Happy that the VF-22 is being offered at a cheaper price than the 21. I don't use the stand anyway. It's footprint is too big. Flexi stamds are better.

The belly FAST packs most likely won't, due to the different shape of the VF-22's belly plates. Don't see why the arm FPs wouldn't though. Graham

Should be no stand and no FAST Packs (as the VF-22 never used them), but I've asked Yamato for confirmation. Graham

Haven't been following development too closely, but I seem to remember being told the internal frame is all metal. Graham

Shot off an email with various questions about the VF-22 to Yamato. Let's wait for the reply. Graham

Just picked up the new hobby mags (June issues of Hobby Japan and Dengeki Hobby). Not much new news about the DXs. No new pics of the Macross Quarter or Ex-Gear and no announcements of any new DX. I was hoping for news of a DX VF-171 or VF-27. There are some quite large and clear photos of the Armored Ozma, but they still show the clear unpainted armor, so nothing really new there. There are some new photos of the actual painted accessory sets (Galia IV Fold Booster & Speakers and Ghost+weapons set) and they look nice, but that's all. Graham

Also, just picked up the new hobby mags at lunch (Hobby Japan & Dengeki Hobby June issues), but no new pics of the VF-19Kai. There are some pics of the 1/100 VF-25S, VF-25G and some slightly larger and clearer pics of the Armored VF-25F unpainted, but nothing new really for the VF100 line to report. Graham

Spotted the 1/100 VF-25S Ozma type in two shops in the Oriental 188 Center in Wanchai today at lunch. One shop wanted HK$330 (US$42.58), the other HK$320 (US$41.29). I'll wait until the price drops to HK$239 (US$30.84), same as the Alto VF-25F. Graham.

If it's a toy and not too expensive, I'll buy it. However, if it's a model kit supplied in the white, I'll pass, as I'm really crap at painting. Graham