Graham

I actually prefer last years 1/60 HG Strike kit or the 1/100 MG Strike over the new 1/60 PG version. While the PG may be more articulated, it's too fussy in my opinion. Bandai added too much detail that is not on the lineart and changed some parts so they are not accurate to the lineart. A prime example of this is the PG's front skirt armor, which looks nothing like it should. Personally, I think the 1/60 HG Strike set that comes with the Aile, Launcher and Sword packs can't be beat for value. It looks great assembled and here in HK sells for a third of the price of the PG kit. Graham

Actually, the 1/60 Force Impulse kit is quite a bit better than the 1/100 version. Off the top of my head, improvements I can think of are:- The 1/60 Core Splendor cockpit opens and includes a pilot figure. More inner mechanical detail under the removeable armor pieces on the 1/60. The 1/60 Force pack's wings are molded in two colors red and black. On the 1/100, they are only black plastic (w/probably a red sticker...yuck). On the 1/60 the 'V' on the chest is actually a separate peice of yellow plastic. On the 1/100 it's just molded detail on the blue plastic part. Basically, the 1/60 has a bit more detail than the 1/100 and will look more accurate without painting than the 1/100. Graham

Wadda ya mean coming out next month ? The 1/60 Force Impulse is already out in Hong Kong since at least Monday December 20th. Cheapest I've seen it is HKD278 (US$35.65). Looks like a nice kit, but I'm waiting for the MMM GQ toy instead. Graham

Ah, I see. Yes it is quite nice. Wonder if we'll see an MSiA of it. I'm sure we'll at least get a 1/144 HG model. Graham

Hmm interesting! Shin's mid-season replacement after Impules inevitably gets destroyed perhaps? Graham

Lastly, one of Chaos's Mobile Weapon Pods with weapons open. Graham

Now Chaos in MS mode. Sorry, no MA mode as it's just too much of a pain to set up. Even setting up this photo for MS mode was difficult, as the arms, beam saber hilts and head cowling kept falling off if I breathed the wrong way . Graham

Gaia in MS mode, I couldn't be bothered to change hands for this photo so it could hold the beam rifle and shield. Just trust me it does come with extra hands and can hold them, just I'm a lazy git. Too tired actually. Graham

Now Gaia in MD (Mobile-Doggy) mode. Graham

Here's some very quick pics. Only a few though as it's late at night and I'm knackered. First Abyss in MS mode. Graham

Heh, if good Jedi are not allowed to have girlfriends, marry or even have sex, becoming a dark Jedi would sort of be a no-brainer (for me anyway ). Heh, I can think of an awful lot of uses for the old Jedi mind trick. No more "not tonight dear I've got a headache" Graham

Can somebody please confirm/deny/clarify these points for me please: - 1) Jedi are not supposed to fall in love, have girlfriends/boyfriends, get married...correct? 2) Are Jedi supposed to remain celebate? 3) If a person is strong in the Force, i.e. has a high midi-whatchmacallit count, then their offspring will also be stong in the Force? 4) If point 3 is correct, then wouldn't it make sense for Jedi to get married (especially to other Jedi) and have kids, thus creating more Jedi? Seems that by not allowing mariage, the Jedi are shrinking their numbers. Several years ago (before the prequel trilogy I guess), I seem to recall reading an SW comic about Jedi that featured a married Jedi couple. Wouldn't this completely fly against what is now accepted Jedi lore? Graham

That's something I have thought about, espcially as I did sign a non-disclosure agreement regarding the Macross products. Most of the toy info I have is so out of date now though that it probably doesn't matter or is already public knowledge anyway. I still have lots of juicy behind the scenes stories though as well as some very intersting prototype pics. I probably shouldn't spill the beans though as I'm usually not one to burn bridges if at all possible . Graham

Actually, lots of people on the HK side were fired around the time the Milia Q-Rau was released. I'm pretty sure that it had nothing (or little) to do with leaks to Macrossworld though . It gets pretty complicated but to the best of my understanding revolves around a shift in the balance of power in the the Japan HQ, a clash of personalites between Japan and HK offices, what I perceive as descrimination on the Japan side to a powerful (now ex) female manager on the HK side (whom I was closely associated with) and allegations of backdoor trading and certain people outstepping their mandate (unfounded IMO). It all got pretty nasty for a while, but I'm not going to go into specifics now. Anyway, pretty much all the Macross toy information given out by me on MW was officially sanctioned by Yamato. There were actually very few leaks. AFAIK, there were only two times we were really hurt by leaks, once after a dinner with the CEO when I released a long newsletter without pre-approval. This was 100% my fault, but I swear to this day that I asked and received verbal approval to release the info. The other time was when a MW member unknowingly made a lucky guess about a top secret prototype sculpt and released photos of a near-identical garage kit that the sculpt was based on and photo-shopped the photos with the words 'copyright Yamato' and claimed that this was the mystery sculpt. This particular incident really got Yamato steamed and I had them shouting down the phone at me for leaking photos they had given to me in confidence. As for a certain ex-MW member who claimed to be female and half Japanese and have contact with Yamato Japan, I tend to discount claims that she was a major source of trouble for Macrossworld with Yamato. My former sources had never heard of her. She may have gotten some minor info from Yamato's old Japanese BBS and perhaps made some lucky guesses. I was off the boards when these 'so-called leaks' happened, so I'm not sure what she said as it was all deleted by the time I came online. What bothers me the most is the way Yamato broke off contact without any notice, especially as I like to think there were some genuine friendships with several people there (quite a few wild nights as well ). If they want to break off contact with me and MW, fine I can accept that, but at very least have the balls to send an email (if not a phone call) informing me of the fact. I've heard from a few people that this lack of contact from somebody I considered a friend, might be a Japanese face-saving cultural thing. Sorry, I don't buy that, my main contact was well-travelled, spoke great English, was quite Westernized and should bloody well know better . Graham

I've heard that this YF-19 will be sold as a "completed resin model". I assume this means it will be finished like the kits SHE currently sells. Even better for those artistically challenged. Carl I was wondering about that as the name seemed to imply it would be sold as a completed item. Gonna have to try to score two I think. Let's hope the producion run is a decent size and the cost is not too high. Graham

Hopefully Y*mato have decided to skip that fugly parts-swapping monstrosity altogether and go straight to a larger scale perfect variable version with a more accurate and better looking sculpt. Whatever, it's a pretty poor showing on Y*matos part that 2 years since the release of Macross Zero and they still don't have a single M0 product on the shelves yet. Graham

I'll see if I can snap and upload a few quick pics when I get home after baby goes to bed. No promises though. Graham

I've been considering picking up a second Chaos, just to see if my first one is a dud. Still thinking about it though. Haven't tried the hot water or hair dryer methods yet. Will see if the clear nail varnish works first. Legs are not that sturdy on mine. Forgot to mention in my review that my Chaos has quite loose elbow and knee joints. Knees tend to want to buckle in MA mode and loose elbow joint cannot support beam rifle witout flopping down . Graham

Saviour's not too bad IMO. In MS mode I usually flip the cannons up over his shoulders so they are pointing forwards in firing position. Helps a lot with balance. Yes, I agree that most variable flying Gundams have extremely half-assed fighter modes, which usually consists of rotate waist 180 degrees, rotate head 180 degrees, bend legs at knees and stick shield either on the back or chest. Graham

Sorry, wasn't able to write more yesterday, work got in the way . OK, first up the quick review for those with short attention spans : - MSiA Chaos = Crap. MSiA Abyss = Excellent. MSiA Gaia = Excellent. Now for the slightly longer version MSiA Chaos Gundam Includes: 1 x Chaos Gundam figure, 2 x beam sabers with detachable hilts, 2 x detachable Mobile Weapons Pods, 1 x beam rifle, 1 x shield, 6 x hands (2 x closed fist, 2 x open hands for holding the shield or beam sabers, 2 x beam rifle hands). Positives: Attractive box, same style as other Destiny MSiA. Figure has nice sculpt and good paint job. Quite a lot of ABS plastic on this one, including the main body of the Mobile Weapons Pods and the MA mode head cowling. Good articulation (ver.2 knees and elbows). Well articulated waist allows the figure to bend forward (necessary for MA mode). Lots of gimmicks, such as detachable Mobile Weapons Pods which feature opening doors to show missiles and extendable beam weapon barrels. The thrusters on the Mobile Weapons pods are also articulated with a ball joint allowing you to simulate thrust vectoring. The MA head cowling also has a sliding eye sensor to reveal the beam weapon(?) underneath. Beam Saber hilts can be stored on hips. Folding claws on the feet and knees. Negatives: Very strong (nasty) PVC smell on opening box. Shoulder sockets are not deep enough, resulting in both the left & right arms falling off several times. Balance is a big problem in MA mode. I have not been able to make the figure stand up in MA mode at all yet. Beam rifle and two of the fins on the mobile Weapons Pods suffer from gashapon disease (warping). The ABS head cowling for MA mode does not attach firmly enough and is easily knocked off. The hip sockets for the Beam Saber hilts are not secure enough, meaning it is easy for them to fall out and get lost. Conclusion: Nice sculpt, but figure is let down by too many parts which fall off too easily and balance problems in MA mode. Definitely one to keep in MS mode, where there is no balance issues. MSiA Gaia Gundam Includes: 1 x Gaia Gundam, 1 x beam rifle, 2 x Beam Sabers with detachable hilts, 6 x hands (2 x closed fists, 2 x beam rifle hands, 2 x saber/shield hands), 1 x shield, 2 x back wing beam blades. Positives: Nice box. Excellent sculpt. Great articulation in both MS and doggy modes. Good paint job. Transforms easily and stays together well in either mode. No balance problems in either mode. Holds all accessories without problem. No gashapon disease. Beam Saber hilts stay firmly attached in their hip sockets (unlike the Chaos Gundam) Negatives: None really. Well, my only minor niggle is that it is not perfect transformation and you have to detach and reattach the hands when transforming to doggy mode. Conclusion: Looks fantastic (very menacing) in either MS mode or mobile-doggy mode. My favorite figure out of the three. MSiA Abyss Gundam Includes: 1 x Abyss Gundam figure. 1 x Beam Lance, 4 x hands (2 x closed fists, 2 x hands for holding beam lance). Positives: Nice box. Excellent sculpt. Great articulation. Good paint job. The easiest of the three figures to transform, just swing the blue arm shield things above the head and lock them into two pegs on the back section, rotate back mounted guns so they point forward and slightly fold the feet...that's it! Despite the big arm thingies and the back guns the figure balances well in MS mode and the superior arm articulation allows for some very martial arts looking poses with the beam lance (looks more like a beam halberd IMO). Negatives: Strong (nasty) PVC smell on opening the box. Few accessories, but that is accurate to the TV series. Slight warping of two of the long beam weapon barrels on the blue arm thingies. Conclusion:MA mode looks a bit hokey IMO, but it is supposed to be an underwater mode AFAIK, so I shouldn't be too critical. Good figure. Recommended. Graham

The Gaia, Chaos and Abyss MSiAs have just been released in Hong Kong. I picked up one of each a few minutes ago. They are presently sitting unopened on my desk. Give me a few minutes to get them out of their boxes and have a quick play and I'll write a mini-review. Graham

I'm a huge fan of Romero's zombie movies. Never heard of this game tho. Just ordered it. looks like fun. Graham

YF-19 looks nice. Doesn't seem to be painted, looks like the parts are molded in cream and black, which is good. that means less painting for those that are artistically-challenged . A few minor gripes though. At first glance it looks like it there is no way to attach the gunpod in fighter mode. Also, the feet do not close properly in fighter mode. Still, can't expect too much in only 1/100 scale. I do like how they have handled the front landing gear and the toy seems pretty poseable with no parts removale or swapping required. Might have to see if I can get one of these from Wonder Fest. Moving onto the VB-6, looks nice but I can't bring myself to be wildly enthusiastic about it. Maybe it's beacuse I'm a a fighter guy, not a bomber person. Or maybe it's beacuse I'm still pissed at Y*mato for breaking off contact with Macrossword without any explanation, especially after all the free publicity and help we gave them. I'm in half a mind to buycott Y*mato products from now on and remove all Y*mato reviews I've written from Macrossworld. If Y*mato want to be assh*oles, then so can I . This whole thing has left a very bitter taste in my mounth. Maybe one day soon, I should write the whole story on the forums, with lots of juicy pics. Sorry, for the OT rant, but this has been bugging me for quite a while now. Not quite at the stage where I'm going to burn all my Y*mato toys, but getting there. Graham

Wow... that many, I was under the impression that it was only a few hundred or a couple of thousand at most. But yes I agree, when spread out throughout the whole galaxy (galaxies?) 10,000 is not many. Actually, does SW take place in just one galaxy (a galaxy far far away ), or is it supposed to take place in several galaxies? Graham

Next question. At the time of the prequel trilogy is it ever mentioned how many Jedi there are? Graham