Graham

David, you should send me your 1/60 YF-19. If I can't easily transform it, I'll eat my boots. The only Yamato toy I've ever had difficulty transforming was one YF-21 FP. Graham

Will post a bigger pic when I get home. Graham

Maybe I'm remembering incorrectly, but I don't think this was really a huge issue. IIRC, the number of cases of reported stress marks on the blue YF-21 was pretty small and actual breakage even less frequent. From what I remember from my talks with Yamato, a slight redesign or material change solved the issue on the purple YF-21-FP Admittedly this was a big problem, but was completely fixed on the VF-11B FAST Pack version with the hip joints reinforced with steel pins. The VF-11B-FP is a very sturdy toy. Given the large numbers of 1/48 released, the number of reported breakages is tiny. From what I've read most cases of breakage with the BP8 happened early on when people didn't know better and tried to force the BP8 past its design limits. Or they dropped the toy onto a hard surface and the toy unluckily landed on the backpack. It's interesting that most people here now consider the 1/48 as a very sturdy toy. Maybe I've just been lucky, but on the 20+ 1/48 I have out of the box, I've never had this problem. While rubber seepage seems to be fairly frequently reported, it doesn't seem to cause harm. Cracked intakes seem to be very rare. I'm wondering do people confuse the mold lines for cracks? This is an issue of some concern on what is otherwise a well designed and sturdy toy. Hopefully it will be fixed on future VF-0 toys. Loosening the top shoulder screw slightly and sanding down the shoulder ball seem to help prevent this. Graham

I take it you are joking, right? Graham

Haven't checked this thread for 2 days. Been busy. Gaps and saggy back are most likely due to it either being resin, which will have loose fit insufficient locking and heavy weight, or a very early test shot, before the molds are tweaked to tighten things up and improve fit. Common problem, don't worry. And no, I don't have one.......................yet. Graham

The leg FAST Packs on the VF-0 also have three micro-missile launchers (2 forward & 1 aft), holding eight micro-missiles per launcher IIRC. I love the look of FAST packs on most VFs, especially the VF-11, VF-2SS, & VF-17. The only FAST packs I'm not really keen on are those used by the VF-19F/S. They look terrible in battroid mode IMO. Graham

I've transformed 6 x YF-19 toys so far and have not encountered difficulting on any of them. Are you sure you guys are transforming correctly? I can't understand why there is any need to start sanding down or unscrewing things. It's not that difficult. Graham

I've seen the first few eps of Layzner years ago, but in Japanese with no subs. Seemed pretty good. I liked that they animated the mechas vernier jets firing when flying around and changing direction in space. Graham

I'm so tempted to put this as your member title. Graham

[pink floyd]set the controls for the heart of the sun[/pink floyd] Graham

I don't know why you guys are even bothering to list the VF-4, as in my newsletter, the comment about a transforming toy from an 80s anime is listed under the heading of 'Non-Macross Products'. Graham

Sorry, still no VF-4 planned in either 1/48 or 1/60 scale. Graham

I haven't handled the Yamato SV-51 yet, so this is purely conjecture on my part. but with the skinny limbs, smallish wing hinges and multiple small spiky antennas on the cannards, all 4 tail surfaces and all around the nose, I'm wondering if Yamato is going to be able to build enough durability into this thing. Graham

Haven't seen that before. Pretty cool, although I'm a bit disturbed by the way the guy is hugging it. Graham

What I'm looking for if possible is: - 1) Group pics of each set. 2) Pics of each individual figure - front. 3) Pics of each individual figure - side. 4) Pics of each individual figures - rear. 5) Box pics. Photos in focus, with good lighting and with a plain background if possible. Photo size between 800 to 1000 poixels width. Graham

I'd really like somebody to supply some decent pics of all the CMs figs, so we can add them to the main site toy section. Any takers? Graham

I'd also love decent transforming toys of the VF-2SS with removable SAP and also a VF-2JA Icarus, but honestly it's not gonna happen from Yamato and Bandai has little love or respect for Macross, so don't expect anything from them either. Toynami anybody? Graham

I'm gonna invoke the ghost of Agent One and call anyone afraid to transform their toy a 'Girlie Man'! Graham

Don't be afraid. It's a sturdy toy and not difficult to transform IMO. I can never understand you guys that get your toys and then don't transform them for weeks or months. As soon as I get a new toy, I'm transforming it within minutes of getting it out of the box. Graham

I'm also a big fan of Iain M Bank's Culture novels, but their Effector technogy is probably a bit too advanced for knight26's ships, at least from what little I know about his ships (they look sorta old style Flash Gordon-ish to me). He's also stated that he does not want to directly copy shield tech from any source. Personally, if you want to make it a realistic hard sci-fi universe, I'd stay away from any sort of energy shields, and instead go with physical armor (reactive, ablative etc). Point and medium range defence with lasers, railguns, missiles etc and active and passive stealth technology for avoidence. Another possible anti-laser defence could be sounding the ship with ablative anti-laser particles (sorta like chaff). In the old Traveller RPG, this was called 'Sand'. Graham

I don't know, I'll ask. Graham

Not gonna happen, sorry. Graham

I'd forgotten about that scene with Nora's SV-51 kicking. I'm hoping too that the SV-51 will be at least able to stand in a neutral pose, but for those funky action poses, I imagine the stand will be a must. Graham

All production launch bars are grey. On the publicity pics, which are of a preproduction (non-final color scheme) sample, the launch bar was white. As we all know, the production toys often differ from the preproduction pics, the most obvious recent example being the VF-0A. Graham

You guys are only thinking of TV series. It could just as easily be from an OVA or movie. Then again maybe it is from a TV series. Graham