Graham
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Everything posted by Graham
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Thanks, I'll check that out. I haven't gotten around to taking a look at the extras on the CPMs DVDs yet. Graham
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I forget which was my first toy, it was either the Bandai 1/100 DYRL VF-1A Hikaru or the Bandai 1/72 DYRL HCM VF-1S Hikaru back in either 1986 or 1987. I owned several Macross models back in 1983, long before I ever saw any toys. Graham
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I just paid HK$780 (US$100) for the Strikdog (DMZ # 02) at Animate. Chirico's Scopedog (DMZ # 01) goes for a higher price now as stock is getting scarce. Animate still has it, but is selling it for HK$980 (US$126). The Scopedog with Round Mover (DMZ # 03) is selling for about HK$750 (US$96) IIRC. Graham
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Probably going to pick up the Takara-Tomy DMZ 1/18 Strikedog in about half an hour, so my DMZ Scopedog has somebody to fight. Graham
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I just bought the original Japanese DVD of The Last Red Shoulder and even in raw Japanese with no subs, it's pretty easy to figure out what's going on. Graham
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I couldn't care less about the Vanilla figure (Micromen suck) but it's awesome we'll be getting the Red Shoulder Custom weapons set, without having to buy a whole new Scopedog. It looks like Takara is taking a leaf out of Yamato's book regarding releasing accessory weapons sets. Let's hope they also release the Parachute Sack, Round Mover, Solid Shooter and some of the other weapons as accesory sets. I wasn't looking forward to having to shell out big bucks for a whole new 1/18 scale Red Shoulder Custom Scopedog and now I won't have to. Graham
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I also picked up the Max Factory 1/35 scale Scopedog Turbo Custom 2 days ago. I usually avoid PVC mecha toys like the plague, as you never get nice sharp, crisp detail like you do on ABS toys. Also, with PVC the surfaces are never completely flat and the joints inevitably loosen quickly, or more often than not are loose from the box. However, I really wanted a Scopedog Turbo Custom with full weapons, so I decided to take a chance on the Max Factory version. I'd previouly bought the Takara-Tomy 1/48 scale Actic Gear version, but was somewhat disappointed by it's fiddlyness and the fact that it did not include the Solid-Shooter for the left arm or or the shoulder missile pod. I'd kill for either a Yamato 1/12 scale Turbo Custom or a Takara-Tomy 1/18 scale version and while they will likely come eventually, it's probably going to be quite a wait. I've little experience with the Max Factory 1/35 Votoms line, except for MWer Sebastian's Bloodsucker, which I examined while visiting Shanghai recently. Both Sebastian and I were of the opinion that the Boodsucker was a peice of crap with increadibly loose joints, parts that fell off if looked at the wrong way and typical PVC toy lack of crisp sharp straight edges. Anyway, despite the negative view of the Bloodsucker I decided to take a chance on the Max Factory 1/35 Scopedog Turbo Custom. On my return to Hong Kong, I visited the branch of Animate in Sugar Street in Causeway Bay and picked up the last one in stock for HK$240 (US$30.76) Comments: - The big head sculpt is really annoying and spoils the look of the toy, but I did know about this before hand. The right elbow joint is very loose and will not support the weight of the GAT-22 rifle. The forearm always droops down so the rifle's muzzle is touching the ground. The left knee joint is very loose and the left lower leg frequently falls off when handling the toy. The right shoulder armor is not very secure and often falls off when handling the toy. The waist missile launcher attachment peg was way loose and had to be glued in as the missile launcher would just fall off the peg. The front part of the waist missile launcher (the rectangle surrounding the missiles) fell off out of the box and had to be glued on. I doubt I'll be buying anymore of this line. The joints are too loose and the big head really does spoil the look. I'm going to be sticking to selective Yamato 1/12 and Takara-Tomy 1/18 for my Votoms fix. Graham
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To the top of the head, it's about 15.3cm. To the top of the blue-tipped antenna, it's about 16.7cm. Graham
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I've just come back from 4 days in Shanghai, I had no internet access. My first time too see this also. Yes, it looks hideous. Notice they have also mispelt "Spirit of Valkylie" on the toys Graham
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Wadda ya expect, this is Yamato afterall, they of the huge box fetish. Graham
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Yes, but the CM's Ingram pilot figure is tiny when compared to a Yamato 1/48 VF-1 pilot. Mind you, a Takara Actic Gear 1/48 pilot is smaller even than the Ingram pilot. Graham
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TV edition is already here in HK, just saw it in Animate today during my lunch break. Graham
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Picked up an Actic Gear Red Shoulder Scopedog Turbo Custom yesterday (AG-VTM05). This is the one that comes with a hexangonal desert color base and 4 extra stranding figures. The Scopedog has a light paint wash on most of the green parts and some mild weathering, so it doesn't look so plasticy. It comes with the chains, bedroll and extra ammo mags hanging off the back of the mission pack, but lacks the large missile pod for the shoulder and the gun for left forearm. From what I understand this is an OVA version. Engineering, articulation and detail are good for the size, but definitely not up to the latest HCM-Pro standard IMO. The amount of bits that needed to be cut off from the spru far surpasses any HCM-Pro. My biggest complaint was the insecure attachment of the two waist weapons (the gattling gun and twin-missile pod). I'd been warned about this, so was expecting it anyway. It seems it would be simple for Takara to make the attachment slots in the waist deeper so the weapons attached more securely. At present the slots are stupidly shallow and the weapons fall off if you even look at them wrong. Anyway, I ended up super-gluing these on. I tried normal model glue first, but it wasn't secure enough. Some of the small parts on the figure, such as the knee caps and elbow pads also have a tendency to fall off easily, so they got the super-glue treatment as well. All in all, not a bad little figure, but a bit too fiddly unless you glue everything on. I'm hoping Takara make a 1/18 scale Scopedog Turbo custom with full weapons or Yamato in 1/12 as it's my favorite Scopedog variant. I was thinking of getting the Max Factory 1/35 scale PVC Scopedog Turbo Custom, but I dislike PVC toys immensly, plus it's head sculpt is far too big IMO. Graham
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If we are talking about what would be the most realistic and practical mecha and could possible work in the real world given moderate advances in technology, I'd have to give the nod to Gasaraki & Votoms (both by the same director ) and MADOX-01 from Metal Skin Panic. Any other mecha, including labors are a bit too large to be truely practical. Graham
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Have they strengthened the tips of the two metal bars as well as the shoulder sockets? The metal bar tips are another common area of breakage. The shoulders of my two early Garlands are still fine, it's the tips of the metal bars that broke on both, where they connect to the front wheel. Graham
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Nah, I'm just messing with ya all. Honestly, this time my sig has nothing do do with Macross. But it was pretty funny reading Dobber's interpretation of it. Maybe I should use more obscure song lyrics for my sig and see what sort of wild and wacky guesses you guys try to read into it. Graham
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Err....OK. I guess it makes sense in a sort of twisted way. Not that you are correct....................or are you! Mwahahahaha. Graham
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Not bothered about fitting it back in a tray. I always throw boxes away anyway. When toys get rotated off display, they go into zip-lock bags. I've ordered a couple of AG Scopedogs and 1 Fatty ground type. Graham
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I.H.P (formely known as Liquid Stone YF-19 1/100)
Graham replied to sochunghojohn's topic in The Workshop!
The kit shown in those photos should be the Hong Kong recast of the old IHP variable YF-19 resin kit. HK-based Macrossworld member Valk009 was instrumental in getting this recast late last year IIRC. Just to clarify, the IHP YF-19 is a completely different kit to the later Liquid Stone YF-19, although they were both originally sculpted by Sakuragawa-san. Thus he title of this thread is incorrect, as IHP came before Liquid Stone. Graham -
Presumably you can glue on the fiddly bits to make them more secure? Graham
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Any comments on the Takara Actic Gear toys guys? Good or bad? I'm thinking of picking up a few for office desk toys. Graham
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Not yet that I know of, but HK bootleg anime DVDs are getting harder and harder to find here in HK, due to the extensive crackdowns and raids by Customs. It seems most HK bootleg DVDs are shipped overseas for sale rather than sold locally for retail. Graham
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Sorry, but just how the heck do you manage to come up with VF-11 from those lyrics? The mind boggles! Graham
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Why? To sell more toys of course. Graham
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Can't get into GGG as it has horrible kiddified mecha designs IMO. I mean c'mon, robots with trains for shoulders, lions on their chest, wielding big screwdrivers, and giant childrens squeaky hammers.......yuck. Plus the GGG opening song is one of the most annoying ever. Give me more serious real robot designs anyday, like Macross, Mospeda, Patlabor, Votoms, UC Gundam etc. Graham