Graham

My ADV disk 1 with outer box & disk 2 just arrived in the post a few minutes ago from Amazon. Gotta say I'm very impressed with the box art. I just wish the AnimEigo set had such nice art. That was one of my main gripes with the AnimEigo set. Garoquel(sp), the guy that did the art on the AnimEigo sets is a talented artist and capable of much better, but he came up with such bland boring designs. Graham

IMO, it's rather silly trying to trace a constant design aesthetic to every canon Macross Valkyrie. they are not supposed to all look the same or have the same visual design cues. Although all the canon valks were designed by one person, i.e. Kawamori-san, they are designed and built in the Macross universe by different companies and IMO tracing design aesthetic by manufacturer is perhaps a more realistic and sensible approach. Valks By Manufacturer Northrop Grumman/Stonewell/Shinsei: VF-0 Sukhoi/Israel Aircraft Industries/Dornier: SV-51 Stonewell Bellcom: VF-1, VF-4 Stonewell Bellcom/Shinnakasu: VF-3000. Shinnakasu/Northrom Grumman VB-6 König Monster. Northrom Grumman: VA-3. Northrom & Grumman/Mikoyan: VAB-2. Shinsei Industries: VF-5000, VF-11, YF-19, VF-19. General Galaxy/Messer: VF-14. General Galaxy/Mikoyan: VA-14. General Galaxy: VF-9, VF-17, YF-21, VF-22. We can see for example that for Shinsei industries there are obvious shared design aesthetics between the VF-5000, VF-11 and YF/VF-19, such as use of an arm shield (11 & 19), similar canopy and nose shapes etc. For General Galaxy even though the the VF-17 and YF-21/VF-22 look wildly different, they do share many of the same design features, such as forearm mounted beam weapons, stealth, internal micro-misile carriage. Even the Stonewell Bellcom VF-1 and VF-4 share a very similar nose and cockpit section, although everything behind the cockpit represents a step in a different direction. If I want an anime, where all the mecha rarely change and have the same basic designs from series to series, with only minimal cosmetic changes (yawn), then I'd watch Gundam. Graham

G.I. Joe AKA the animated Village People. Graham

Haven't seen the box, but I'm not anticipating any surprises. Graham

Pretty much all my consoles were bought just because a Macross game was released for them (although of course I do play other games). So unless a really sh*t hot new Macross game is released for the next gen consoles I won't be buying them. Heck, I've still got a ton of games to finish on the PS2. Still playing though RE4 and haven't even started on Ace Combat 5 yet, despite buying it when it was first released. Graham

In fighter mode the 1/60 VF-0S is slightly larger than the 1/48 VF-1. For those who still can't wrap the brains around this, it is simply beacuse the VF-0 is a big plane, where as the VF-1 is a much smaller plane. Also, the 1/60 VF-0S is more complex than the either the 1/60 or 1/48 VF-1, having more parts, more features and better articulation, thus tooling and development costs were much higher. Don't worry, you guys won't be disappointed with the VF-0S Graham

There's a French movie called 'Sky Fighters' opening at the cinemas here in Hong Kong this Thursday. Looks like it's got Mirages in it and some dogfighting. Anybody seen it already? Is it worth seeing? Thinking of perhaps catching it. Graham

Well, when you create your post, there is a button for adding attachments, which let's you upload photos directly from your hard drive, but only up to 1.95mb IIRC. Alternitively, you can use a free image hosting service, such as picsplace to save you photos and then post the clickable thumbnails in your topic. Graham

Japanese shy!? Not, the ones I know, well no more so than people of any other race. Graham

I've always loved the box art on the original Bandai 1/55 DYRL VF-1A. Graham

Comparing models to toys is really comparing apples to oranges. Toys and models are not in competition with each other. They are designed to appeal to completely different fanbases. Although, it could be said that Bandai's Gundam plastic models with their snap-fit construction, pre-coloured plastic parts, multiple points of articulation and toy-like level of detail have blured the line somewhat between toys and model kits. However, despite being slightly more sturdy that traditional plastic model kits by manufacturers such as Hasegawa, Bandai's kits are still relatively fragile and cannot match toys for sturdiness. Neither do they match the level of detail of traditional model kits, making them neither fish nor fowl. But anyway, I digress................... nightmreB4macross, you seem to be missing the point that models are not relly meant to be played with, especially traditional style plastic model kits. If you want something sturdy to play with, buy a toy. If you want a fine looking display piece that will give you joy and satisfaction in the process of building, then buy and build a model kit, it's as simple as that. Toys and model kits both have their place and both serve their respective purpose very well. It's not a case of one being better than the other. Both have different purposes and both can exist alongside the other. There's room in this world for both toys and models. Although I'm a dyed-in-the-wool toy guy, I'll admit that the even most state of the art toys, such as the 1/48 VF-1 or 1/60 VF-0 cannot come close to a well built model kit for detail or realism. While custom toys such as the many wonderful custom 1/48s on this site look absolutely fantastic, they still will never look as good as a carefully built model kit that a skilled model builder has taken time to fit, sand, putty and paint well. Graham

You are all going to be very happy with this toy. It's loaded with improvements over the 1/48. Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to go into details yet. Graham

Anasazi37, Kurt or Jung would be the best members to ask about customising the Yamato 1/48. Graham

No, you still have to use your finger (or other appendage ) to rotate the seat, it's not automatic. Graham

Impressive. Can't wait to see it finished. Graham

I wouldn't expect too much of the VF-0S box. By all accounts it's Yamato's usual photo shop job. Graham

That seat needs a soft drinks holder GRaham

The new May 2006 issue of Dengeki Hobby magazine has some more pics of the Yamato 1/60 VF-0S, showing part of the transformation sequence. See it here. Graham

The May 2006 issues of Hobby Japan magazine and Dengeki Hobby magazine are just out and they both have pics of the Hasegawa 1/72 scale VF-0S battroid showing it assembled and painted. The magazines also show photos of the also the upcoming Wave 1/100 scale VF-0S, showing it built, but unpainted. See: May 2006 Dengeki Hobby And May 2006 Hobby Japan The painted kit at the top half of both pages is the 1/72 Hasegawa and the unpainted kit at the bottom of both pages should be the Wave 1/100 scale kit. Comparisons Hasegawa: scale 1/72, price ¥3570, height 22cm, release date March 2006. Wave: scale 1/100, price ¥1995, height 14cm, release date May 2006. Graham

36, will be 37 in October Married with 1 kid. Graham

The main character 'Shin Kudo' pilots an F-14 at the start of Macross Zero. His first variable fighter is a two-seater VF-0D. When the VF-0D is destroyed, he later gets to fly a VF-0A with Ghost Booster attached. As to whether Yamato will make a 1/60 scale transforming VF-0D toy, that's still unconfirmed at this time. I guess it will probably depend on how well the VF-0S sells. Graham

Different strokes for different folks I suppose. The VF-9 has always been my least favorite VF in any mode. Graham

I am going to mercilessly make fun of any MWer who admits to buying the God/Nobel GFF and displaying it in Nobel form. You have been warned. Graham

IIRC, it was discovered accidently during VF-1 flight testing and was never supposed to be part of the original design. Still, it serves a useful purpose for certain limited applications. I've never been particulaly fond of GERWALK mode and seldom pose my toys that way. Still certain VFs such as the YF-19 and VF-0S do have a very nice looking GERWALK mode. Graham

Toyzone is a pretty cool place to go. I haven't been for a while though as since my office moved it's too far away and I rarely go to HK Island these days. Graham