Graham

Yes, I'm sure. Graham

Yeah, I love the look on Kawamori's face in that last photo. It's like he's thinking; "What they f#ck is this crap?" "Where's my Yamato, dude?" Kawamori and Yamato actually work quite closely together on the 1/60 toy line. Graham

From what I understand, Bandai is the main sponsor of the show and as such gets the exclusive toy and model rights for at least a couple of years. Basically, these means that Yamato and Hasegawa are locked out, unless they negotiate a sub-licence directly with Bandai, which I can't see happening. Graham

Not to be the bearer of bad news, but often early porototypes are a larger scale than the finished product. What we actually get, me be significantly smaller than what is shown in those pics. Graham

Heh, weird, I don't remember seeing these in the 25th anniversery special. I'm guessing these are transforming toys in 1/100 scale, probably with a HCM-Pro level of quality and articulation. I doubt we will see larger deluxe versions from Bandai. Bear in mind that what you are seeing is obviously very early stage samples made on a rapid prototype machine, so the finished versions will probably look far better. Hopefully these will be shown in a more finished form at Wonder Fest on Feb 24. Looks like we will have to wait several years for larger detailed versions from Yamato and Hasegawa. Oh and Bandai better bloody well do the VF-171! Graham

People are willing to spend money on Yamato toys, beacuse they know that Yamato is going to be as accurate and faithful to the lineart as possible. Graham

That's what I remember as well. Will try to get a screen shot from tht ep today. Graham

I forget which episode number it is, but it's the one where one of the protodeviln is creating all those little pink beasties inside city 7. You see the VF-17s in Gerwalk using the elbow lasers. I agree we never see the wrist lasers in use in battroid mode. We do get to see the VF-17's chest guns firing lots of times in battroid and fighter mode throughout the series, although it's usually so fast, you only catch it playing in slo-mo, or if you are specifically looking for it. Graham

That footage was already shown several weeks ago on the ep# 2 preview. Graham

Nothing new there that hasn't already been shown before. Graham

My theory about the reduced number of micro-missile launchers on the VF-171's shoulder is that the rate of fire per launcher may have been improved, so it is now more practical given the limited space in the shoulders, to just have a single launcher per shoulder with a slightly high ammo capacity and equivalent rate of fire as the older twin launchers on the VF-17, rather than have twin launchers, which would take up slightly more internal space and reduce the missile capacity. I never figured the VF-17 was able to store a large number of missiles per shoulder launcher, probably no more than 2-4 maximum per launcher. Don't forget, it also looks like the VF-171 may also have twin internal micro missile launchers on the lower legs (ventral surface of the fighter). No sure what you mean about the forward articulating knee. The VF-171 certainly does appear to have a forward articulating knee (as does every VF) for GERWALK mode use. The Macross Frontier manga, does show the VF-171s with extended elbow cannons in GERWALK mode. Of course, we are not sure how faithful the manga is to the anime yet. IIRC, the VF-17s in Macross 7 only used their elbow cannons in one episode. Graham

My theory is that the two cylinders on the right shoulder are either fuel tanks for greater endurance in space, or power packs or liquid propellant tanks for the large cannon on the left shoulder. Graham

Guys, lets stay on topic with Macross Frontier news please. Graham

If anything, the QC on the 25th anniversey YF-19 is near perfect IMO. If transformed correctly, the nose should lock up super-tight. OC-wise Yamato seem to have been on a bit of a roll recently, with the Nora SV-51 and the 25th anniversery toys being near-flawless (especially Nora). Hopefully, the cannon fodder tan SV-51 and the YF-21 will be just as good. Graham

Please bear in mind that these are very rough samples, made on a rapid prototyping machine and quickly hand painted. Graham

The only problems with the first issue Ivanov are as already stated, the wings sagged a bit and the hard points were too loose. Graham

From the manga, it would seem like the VF-171 still has the full size gunpod from the VF-17 as well. Graham

Wasn't XStoys working on one at one time? Graham

Not sure, but I think the bottom paragraph that Kresphy posted is just talking about the next issue of the Shonen Ace Macross Frontier manga. I should be able to pick up the manga in the next day or so. Graham

No, it does not. Can you recommend a good free software that has this feature? Graham

No, they don't wear it like a suit. The Meltran's arms stay in the toso, not in the Q-Rau's arms. Also (at least according to Yamato), the Meltrans legs actually go into the backpack, not intothe Q-Rau's legs. I think Yamato's interpretation is correct. Graham

Yeah, I think a lot of the issues with the VF-171 battroid are just that particular pose. I'm sure it will look better in action or in a more dynamic pose. Graham

Middle scan is Megahouse. Graham

Here's a slightly higher resolution scan of the pics I posted earlier today, from the March 2008 issue of Dengeki Hobby magazine. Graham

Here's a slightly higher resolution scan of the picture I posted earlier today, from the March 2008 issue of Dengeki Hobby Magazine. Graham