Graham

Anyway, even if by some miracle Bandai did decide to release a line of Macross GFF VFs, you just know that they would be stupid and release umpteen dozen VF-1 variants first. And of course, they wouldnt sell that well, as everbody is sick of the VF-1, which would lead Banadi to conclude that Macross doesn't sell and cancelling the line before they could get to the interesting stuff like the VF-5000, VF-4, Mac Zero Valks etc. I'm not being cynical, just realistic. Graham

I'd also be happy with a GFF line of Bandai Macross toys, even if transformation did require extensive parts removal & parts swapping. Heck, I'd even be happy with non-transforming GFF Macross VFs, as long as Bandai sold them as a two-pack including both a Battroid & Fighter mode, with perhaps Gerwalk mode being possible be combining parts from both the Fighter & battroid figures. Just think how nice Macross GFF would look with all the Tampo printed markings that Bandai likes to use for GFF figures. However, it ain't gonna happen folks. Bandai hates Macross. Macross doesn't make money for Bandai. Bandai loves Gundam. Wake up and smell the roses dreamers. There won't ever be a Macross GFF line or Macross MG or PG kits for that matter. Anybody who thinks there will be is just deluding themselves. the best we can hope from Bandai is just reissues of the old Macross model kits every 5-10 years. Graham

Tony, Can you please clarify which part exactly you broke? Do you mean the 'L' shape plastic tab that locks the wings to the body in Shuttle Mode? Or do you mean something else? Graham

Personally, I've got no problem with things looking different between the PT & OT. It doesn't bother me at all. But I do disagree with the line of reasoning that says it's due to the time difference. The 'to sell more toys' reasoning is far more plausible IMO . Graham

If she's an android, how can she have an uncle? Sorry, just in a nitpicking sort of mood today. Graham

What no T&A? Not interested then . Graham

Actually, I've always had a problem with this line of reasoning. I mean it's only what about 20 years difference between the PT and OT and in 20 years, design aesthetics don't generally change that much, that quickly. Using real world examples, it's 2005 now, but 20 years ago in 1985 we still see a lot of the same planes, cars etc as we do today. Boeing 747 yep, F-15 Eagle yep, Porsche 911 yep all in use 20 years ago, all still in use and/or being manufactured to this day. Graham

i am not sure if i am looking at the right one, looks alittle like a revamped Astray The Murasame's head is quite similar to the M-1 Astray's head. The February 2005 issue of Hobby Japan magazine features black and white line-art of the Murasame in both MS and Fighter mode. Somebody already scanned the pics and there are links to it in this thread a few pages back if you want to look for it. The Fighter mode looks a bit like Zeta, except with forward swept wings. Graham

The HK vol.3 DVD of Destiny was released about a week ago. It contains episodes # 9-12. The English subtiltes for episodes 9-10 are excellent (as they were on the first 2 DVDs). However, for episodes # 11-12, the subtitles take a sharp turn for the worse, with quite a few errors in sentence structure, grammar and frequent name changes, e.g. Shin becomes Zhen! This is quite annoying as the subs for eps # 1-10 were so good, I'm pretty sure that the bootleggers were actually using proper fansubs. One good thing about the vol.3 DVD though is that it retains all the cool Japanese Gunpla, manga and console game TV advertisments, which were not included on the vol.1-2 discs. It's nice to see a cute Japanese woman jumping up and down and getting all excited about the 1/60 Force Impulse Gundam kit. If only it were so easy to get women turned on in real life by Gunpla . Not a bad DVD for HK$40 (US$5.13), especially with the fantastic action of Episode # 12. It was so nice to see what Shin is really capable of. Graham

Yeah, it's true I have transformed this toy about a dozen times so far, including in a dimly lit restaurant where I couldn't really see what I was doing . That's not a huge number of times though. I'll also admit to being fairly rough during some of the tansformations. Hey, gotta find out where the potential weak spots are ! However, for those of you thinking of not buying this toy just because 1 toy so far (mine) shows some wear, Id advise you to wait until more people have the toy and more reports (either positive or negative) start coming in before you decide to cancel. And at least here in HK, the VB-6 is not too expensive. A shop near my home was selling them for only HK$780 (US$100). At very least you gotta give Yamato some credit for having the guts to produce a toy of such an obscure mecha as the VB-6. And from the intricate transformation, you can tell that the designer put a lot of heart and soul into the design. Graham

That's sarcasm I hope. Maybe in some parallel dimension the 1/55 reissues sold well, but they definitely didn't do too well in this one, hence the line being cancelled before it was finished. Graham

Any idea which company is doing these? Graham

08MST, 0083, 0080, CCA, F91 & V are all UC Gundam anime that I enjoy. Overall, my top 3 favorites are V, 08MST & 0080. I never could get into original MSG TV or the movies as I find the mecha designs too dated (not to mention just plain fugly) and Amuro extremely annoying. Flying in the face of popular opinion, I find Zeta extremely overrated and boring (I fell asleep watching it several times). It starts off good IMO, but goes rapidly downhill. Graham

I've gotta say despite the wear-and-tear issues I'm having with some of the pegs and holes on my VB-6, I'm getting to like it more and more day by day. It just looks so imposing in all 3 modes. I've got no regrets about buying it. My only problem is finding somewhere to display it. Standing at 44cm tall in battroid mode, there's no way it can fit in my display cabinet. Guess it's going to have to be displayed in either Shuttle or Gerwalk mode, but something is going to have to be removed first to make room for it. Graham

Here's a pic in Battroid mode of the kness sort of bent backwards. Good luck getting the Battroid to stand without support if you do bend the knees though . In this photo, I'm using a chair back for support. Standing normally with the legs locked straight is no problem and doesn't require support. Graham

Here's another potential problem. Notice the white stress mark on these two pegs. These pegs are used in both Shuttle & Gerwalk mode, but use different holes for each mode. They seem to be under some stress in Gerwalk. Graham

I may well be doing it incorrectly and missing some special trick, but getting the arms locked into place in shuttle mode is a bit tricky as they sort of have to be twisted into postion. It's difficult to describe, but when you have one, you will know what I mean. It's far to early to start panicking anyway, as we need to wait and see does everybody else have the same problem or not. Graham

Here's a close-up pic of the damaged hole in the arm, which ataches to a peg in shuttle mode. I'm a bit worried that sooner or later, the hole will shear at it's thinst edge. Graham

OK, my bad. I forgot about that pic. I just went and had another play with the legs of my VB-6 and yes, the knees can bend back like in the pic. On my VB-6, the knee hinge assembly is quite tight, so yesterday when I tried to bend the knees back I didn't use much force and just assumed that the knees didn't bend back when I tried to move them but got no backwards movement. Today I used a bit more force. Also, the knee assembly is fairly complex, so you've got to know which bit to pivot. Graham Graham

OK, hope this shows what I am talking about. Graham

Yes, it's confirmed that the VB-6 comes with a sticker sheet (didn't read my review did ya? ). The kite symbols are the same size as the 1/48 stickers. The VB-6 comes with 2 sizes of 'U.N SPACY' stickers. One size is the same as the 1/48, the other slightly smaller. For some reason the VB-6 sticker sheet even includes two skull squadron symbols (same size as the 1/48 chest skull). There are a lot of other stickers on the VB-6 sticker sheet that are just copied dierectly from the 1/48. Graham

Just beware than ankle joints on the S & EX-S MG kits. Snapped mine on about the third transformation. After that I decided to stick with the the GFF versions . Graham

After several more transformations last night, I have noticed another potential problem. The missile launching end of the forearms (i.e. the end that doesn't have the hands) has a small hole, into which a peg located behind the head attaches to lock the arms in place in Shuttle (Bomber) mode. However, to get the peg into and out of the hole requires some force and twisting of the forearms. I noticed this morning that the hole in both forearms has already elongated slightly. This would not be such a big problem, except for the fact that part of the hole is very close to the edge of the arm, so has a very thin rim, which I could see breaking after not too many more transformations. It's possible that I might be transforming the toy wrongly and causing the problem, but I don't think so. I'll try to post some pics over the weekend to show you what I mean. Graham

I always thought that Slave 1 was inspired by an Elephants head. Graham

I'm perfectly willing to pay that much to get one, maybe even a bit more, but with only 10 being released the chance of securing one is probably lower than winning the lottery. For a perfect variable limited edition resin kit, that's not really such a high price. Consider that 10 years ago the perfect variable Macross Plus SHE kits were selling for about ¥22,000. This new Liquid Stone version is a big improvement over the SHE kit, as it comes molded in 3 colors, features landing gear and is pre assembled. I consider the price quite reasonable. Graham