Graham

Review coming up in a few minutes. This thread is being locked and a new one started. Graham

A back door release is identical to the genuine retail release. They are both from the same production run. The only difference is the back door version has no Big West licensor sticker. Sebastian's one is definitely backdoor. I just spoke with Yamato and no shops should have it for sale yet. Graham

But isn't that the idea? Graham

I'm not allowed to post my review until the oofficial date unfortunately. Graham

Backdoor release maybe as I don't see any BW sticker on the box! Graham

Heh, the old 1/72 looks really fugly next to the 1/60. Graham

HLJ probably won't be recioeving it in their warehouse until 7 or 8 Dec, so you won't have a shipping confirmation so soon. Graham

My review of the mass-release version, actually it's of two of them. What I'm reviewing is exactly the same as what you will be getting. Although I also have an early preproduction sample as well, it is not covered in the review. Graham

7th December at about 8am HK time. Less than 24 hours to go. Graham

JUst heard from Yamato that the toys are being delivered to the shops today. From what I understand, it willbe on sale in Kotobukiya on 7 Dec and all other shops on 8 Dec, but I may be wrong about that. Graham

Finally, some shots of the whole display. Any errors made in the description of the products are mine. I hope Noel will feel free to jump in with corrections and/or clarifications. Graham

Here’s some photos of the ‘Fish On A Stick’ and ‘Camp Stove’ accessories for Hikaru, which may be sold seperately, or perhaps offered as part of a mail-in campaign. Graham

Here’s photos of the long-awaited flightsuit prototype. Note this is still an early prototype and will probaly improve quite a lot by the time it reaches production. Noel mentioned that the Flightsuit would come with two different heads, one for wearing with the helmet and one for use when not wearing the helmet. Obviously the typical Macross hairstyle of Hikaru, Max & Roy would not fit into a helmet when molded in hard plastic or resin! The helemt should also have an opening visor. A possiblity for the future would be a flightsuit variation with light up pads. Graham

Next up we have the Maximillian Jenius figure, which is actually the next figure to be released. IIRC, Noel said this is production standard or close to production standard, so it is what the actual toy will look like. While the face sculpt looks pretty good IMO, I’m not 100% sure about the glasses. Graham

Popbox the manufacturer of the 1/6 scale Macross figures that MWer Blackaces (Noel) works for had a booth at the recent Asia Toy Expo 2006 held at the Hong Kong Convention Center on 25-26 November 2006. Fellow HK MWer Valk009 (Andy) and myself decided to visit Noel at the Expo and check out Popbox’s booth to see what new items they had that would be of interest to Macross fans. Noel who is heavily involved in the design and manufacturing of the 1/6 scale Macross figures was happy to take some time out from his busy day and explain the upcoming new products to us. I must apologize for the quality of the photos, as they were all taken through the glass window of the display cabinet and also I didn’t have a tripod with me on that day. I also have to apologize to Noel for not getting the photos posted sooner, as I promised him. First of all here’s the prototype of the DYRL 1/6 scale Roy Focker figure. Note that it is actually taller than the Hikaru and Max figure and will have a specially made taller than normal body. Noel mentioned that the body in the photos is just a mock-up and the limbs are not proportionally accurate (compare the forearm and upper arm lengths). However, this will all be fixed on the production body. If I remember correctly, the face and hair will also e resculpted slightly. The Focker figure features an ‘anime-accurate’ darker uniform and will come with a beer glass (no shown) as well as dog tags, and iron-on batch. The Focker figure is scheduled to be released after the Max figure. Graham

Pretty good, but the canopy and leg bay cover panels need modifying to be accurate. Graham

Yes & no. There is less actual physical modification of the toys going on now as it's unecessary with Yamato IMO, due to Yamato's more accurate sculpts, greater detail and improved level of articulation. Most of the old-time customization of the 1/55 was about improving articalation and adding more detail. However, there is certainly more customized paint schemes coming out for the 1/48 now than there ever was in the heyday of the 1/55. Graham

I think I have a front view lineart pic of the Megaroad somewhere. Graham

Pretty big. About the same hight as the 1/60 VF-0 in battroid mode and about 1cm longer than the VF-0 (excluding pitot tube) in fighter mode. I've got some good pics of it in Battroid mode, standing next to the 1/60 VF-0A and 1/48 VF-1S. Graham

All three of my production VF-0S are sufficiently tight that they can hold poses, without the arms sagging. Graham

I like it nice and tight! Graham

Yes, it pops out and yes, there is just about space for a seond figure, although he might be an amputee. Graham

As far as I know, no. At the momet, the plan is to sell the FP/FB set by itself, not bundled with the 19. Of course, the toy biz is highly changable and what a company announces one week, may change by the next., so never say never. All I can say is as of this moment, a bundle is not planned. Graham

Fold Booster & FAST Pack set will be released early next year, probably March or April. Graham

Probably not sneaked out, more likely an early gift sample given to a favoured friend of buyer by Yamato. Whoever has it shouldn't be posting pics tho! Graham