Graham
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FYI, the Votoms graphic novel "Supreme Survivor" that is in PDF format on the CPM bonus disc is a graphic novelisation of "Roots of Ambition" OVA, plus a novel called "The First Red Shoulder", plus the first epsiode of the TV series. I'm still reading through it, but so far It's pretty well done. Graham
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Toynami..........cough....30% diecast content in VF-1 MPC....cough! Keep promises, yeah right! Graham
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It's in the volume two (red cover) of this two book TIA books. Graham
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I spoke with Yamato a few days ago and they said the replacement VF-0A POM arm parts should be available some time in May. I'll post more firm data as soon as I know. Graham
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Yamato definitely has an edge on internal mechanical detail, but overall external sculpt is a close tie I'd say. Graham
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Prometheum 5 has first refusal, as he did ask first. I do want to sell the stuff as a whole set rather than breaking it down piecemeal. Graham
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PM Sent. Graham
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I think the helmet looks great. It's got a nice sci-fi anime look to it. Graham
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Picked up a Yamato 1/12 Red Shoulder ver.2 Scopedog a few days ago as well as some of the accessory sets and Chirico Cuvie pilot figure. I have to say although I’m normally a big Yamato fan, I’m not terribly impressed with their Scopedog, especially when compared to the sublime Takara 1/18 scale rendition. The problem is the Yamato is just too big and heavy for its own good and even the improved ver.2 joints are not strong enough to allow you to pose the toy in any but the most neutral static poses keeping within the toy’s extremely limited center of gravity. Attempt any sort of dynamic action pose and the toy more often than not wants to topple over, resulting in limbs and other assorted small parts flying off! The balance problem is made even worse if you fit the Parachute sack. Right out of the box I encountered a problem with the right elbow being so loose, it would not support the full-sized GAT-22 rifle at all. On removing the outer armor, I found that one screw was missing from the elbow! After finding a suitable replacement screw, the elbow joint was better, but the elbow ratchet will still not hold a 90 degree pose with the weight of the rifle and will sag one click even when holding the short barrel GAT-22C carbine. Forget even trying the heavy SMAT-38 9 shot box missile launcher, it is just too heavy. I’ve had problems with the arms and legs falling off the toy, especially the arms. As mentioned above they are just too heavy and the joints insufficiently strong. Also, the bicep armor on both the left and right arms and the antenna all constantly fell off. This got so annoying that I have crazy-glued the arms and legs onto their respective shoulder and hip sockets so they are no longer removable and also glued on the bicep armor and antenna in an attempt to make the toy more playable. This means I can no longer completely strip the toy down, but that doesn’t bother me too much. Another minor problem is that the cockpit hatch will not stay open to full extension and will only stay about 60% open. The cockpit hatch is also the least smoothly opening of any Votoms toy I’ve handled. The crappy thumb also kept constantly falling off the gun hand, so this has also been crazy glued on. Means I can’t change weapons, but at least it is not so bloody annoying. In terms of paint job, markings, articulation, tightness of joints, ability to hold dynamic action poses, the Takara 1/18 beats the Yamato 1/12 hands down. The only areas where the Yamato shines are in the Chirico Cuvie pilot figure which is head and shoulders above the crappy Takara Microman version. In a perfect world, Yamato would make a 1/18 scale Chirico to fit in the Takara DMZ. I’m sorry, but the Yamato is just not an enjoyable toy IMO. You are constantly struggling against it to get it to balance and hold a pose and this just takes away the fun factor. I’m probably going to sell off my Yamato Scopedog and accessories and stick with the DMZ line. Graham
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Peace through superior firepower. Graham
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Just one look at the pics posted in this thread is enough for me. Not a fan of this sort of anime at all. Graham
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Heh, that 'Jump In My Car' song is great. Graham
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Topics merged Graham
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Just spoke briefy with Yamato and was told the TAF schemes are not going to be made into production toys. Graham
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Just spoke briefy with Yamato and was told the TAF schemes are not going to be made into production toys. Graham
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It seems to be a serialization that's been running in Hobby Japan the last few months. Text with some photos and drawings. Yes, Max factory will be releasing their 'big head' 1/35 PVC Scopedog toys in Commando Vorct colors in May or June this year IIRC. I think there is also a garage kit manufacturer releasing some resin conversion parts, possibly for the Takara plamodels? Graham
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I'm loving the TV series so far. I'm about half way through the Kummen Jungle Wars arc. I recently ordered and recieved the first three R2 OVAs "The Unknown Red Shoulder" 1985, "Battle Of The Heterogeneous Species" 1986, & "Red Shoulder Document, The Root Of Ambition" 1988. I've watched the first two and they are great. I've also just placed an order with CD Japan for the 5-part OVA "The Defrost". Can't wait for the new TV series to start later this year. Chirico is such a great character. It's nice to see a professional soldier as the lead, instead of a whiney, angsty teenage brat, as is common in many mecha shows. After a few days with my DMZ #02 Strikedog, I've found that the shoulder and hip joints, especially the hips are much looser than my DMZ #01 Scopedog, meaning it tends to overbalance fairly easily. I think I'm going to have to take it apart and see if I can tighten up some of the joints. Poseability is also a bit less less on the Strikedog, as the ankles don't have as wide a range of movement as the Scopedog's and you can't really get the feet flat on the floor with the legs spread wide. Still a great looking toy though. Graham
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I voted for the X-Wing. While Fett's armour looks cool, the guy was a real wuss, getting beaten by a blind man with a stick. Graham
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It's only been announced as an accessory set so far, complete with a Vanilla Microman figure. Of course, that's not to say that Takara might not later release it together with a Scopedog, but there has been no official announcement either way yet. Graham
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Macross 25th Anniversary! New TV series coming!
Graham replied to wolfx's topic in Hall Of The Super Topics
I Luv Mylene! Graham -
Anybody have the CM's red & green Calamity Dog toys? Are they decent toys, i.e. do the have good articulation, tight joints, decent paint job and do the parts stay on, or are they a floppy mess with crap paint job and self-destruct if you breath on them? Also, are they made mostly of ABS or dreaded PVC? Graham
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Odd question--has nothing to do with toys or anime...
Graham replied to question's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
Not to try to hijack this thread too much, but I'm just curious as to what bitrate you guys use for your MP3 files? After some experimentation I found that 128kbps seems to offer the best balance for me between acceptable audio quality vs file size. Graham -
On The Bloodsucker I handled, the limbs were very loose, the backpack wouldn't stay on and the magazine kept falling off the rifle. Also, the surface of the figure showed more than the normal amount of PVC lumps, bumps and depressions, i.e. the supposedly flat surfeces weren't as flat as they could have been. Maybe this was just a bad one and others are better, but I wouldn't buy it. Graham
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Although I haven't had much time to handle it let, my initial impressions of the Takara 1/18 Strikedog (DMZ #02) are very positive. Articulation is good and the joints are nice and tight with very positive ratchets. The detail and paint job is also very good. It seems Takara fixed most of the issues found on DMZ #01. The head turret is now nice and secure, the visor actually stays up when opened and the antennas are of a flexible blue plastic, so there's not so much worry about them breaking (a second set of harder plastic antenna painted silver are also provided). My only complaint is again about the hand design as the fingers are just not secure enough to hold the big Solid Shooter bazooka and the fingers come off within seconds. I've already super-glued them in place. As others have mentioned, the plastic used in the toy feels more like fragile model-kit-grade styrene rather than toy-grade ABS, but so far on my Scopedog (DMZ #01), which I have had for a couple of weeks seems to be holding up fine. Graham
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No idea if DMZ #03 comes with any stickers, but I agree that it does look really plain with no weathering and no printed markings. I'm definitely going to pass on it. Although I'd like to have a Round Mover and Solid Shooter, I'm not going to buy another Scopedog, especially such a plain looking one, just to get the accessories. C'mon Takara, release more accessory sets! Graham