Graham

Bravo to Yamato for listening to the fans complaints and greatly improving the problem areas of the sculpt. Or perhaps it wasn't the fans complaints they listend to, probably both Kawamori & Big West told them how ugly the original hip joints were and to go and make the improvements. Graham

Wow, the hips look much better. I think they have corrected the wing shape as well. It's great to finally see FAST packs. And FYI, the wing hard points have always been on the wings, even from the very early sculpt, but we still haven't seen missiles. I wouldn't worry about the head too much. I think it's still the same sculpt, just the upward pointing camera angle is making it look different. Still no LERX in battroid mode though I notice they have also changed the backpack hinge, so it looks much better now. And the VF-0 in the anime also has fairly skinny arms, so the toy is pretty accurate in that regard. Definitely buying 3. And I like the color scheme on the fighter pic. Graham

Left or right arm? And where's the exact point of breakage? Details please. Graham

Left or right? And where's the exact point of breakage? Details please. Graham

Updated MPC Alpha Casualty List EXO = Broken hinge on the shoulder missile hatch. Opus = Broken hinge on the sensor pod door. Opus = Thumb fell off the left hand due to stress crack. Opus = Ratchet mechanism broken in left shoulder. Opus = Left hand broke at the pinky edge of the finger joint. dejr8bud = Broken hinge on the sensor pod door. Mechafactory.com = Arm fell off straight out of the box. Sam = Little hinge on bottom of hand that holds fingers to palm broke off. macu5454 = Arm broke off. Graham

Updated MPC Alpha Casualty List EXO = Broken hinge on the shoulder missile hatch. Opus = Broken hinge on the sensor pod door. Opus = Thumb fell off the left hand due to stress crack. Opus = Ratchet mechanism broken in left shoulder. Opus = Left hand broke at the pinky edge of the finger joint. dejr8bud = Broken hinge on the sensor pod door. Mechafactory.com = Arm fell off straight out of the box. Sam = Little hinge on bottom of hand that holds fingers to palm broke off. Graham

Did something actually break, or did the cover just fall off? If it can be reattached, by just slotting it back into place, that doesn't count as a breakage. Graham

Ah, the good old days Graham

Yep, that's what I meant, Master Grade models of mecha from other non-Gundam anime. I'd definitely buy Master Grade Kits of: - Macross VFs & Destroids .....that's a no brainer of course Tactical Armor from Gasaraki. Armor Shrikes from Blue Gender (never gonna happen unfortunately ). The MADOX-01 from Metal Skin panic. The mecha from Dragonar. Graham

Still hoping one day for some Master Grade Gasaraki Tactical Armor kits. Graahm

I wonder if Bandai has completely given up on non-Gundam Master Grades? Graham

Nah, I'm only listing actual broken parts, not floppy limbs, otherwise the list would be a mile long already Graham

I've transformed some of my 1/48s dozens of times, without fear of breakage. I even speed transform them and I'm not really gentle about it either. Graham

The 1/55s are still great toys even now more than 20 years since they were first released. They are very durable and quick to transform. The only down side is that they are not that well articulated, the sculpt is not particularly accurate (especially for the A & J heads and plane nose) and the gunpod doesn't attach in fighter mode. Transforming toy design is always a trade-off. If you want more gimmicks, better articulation and more detail then you have to accept a longer and more complicated transformation sequence and perhaps slightly decreased durability. I think though that with the exception of part # BP8, the 1/48 has proven itself to be much more durable than expected. Of course not as tough as the 1/55, but it's still more a toy than a fragile 'display only' model kit as some people claim. Anyway, I do think that Bandai would have sold many more 1/55 toys if they had made some minor redesigns to update the toy. I'm not talking about turning it into a 1/48 clone, but just doing minor resculpts of certain parts so that the toy would look better, but still transform quickly and keep the legendary 1/55 durability. Here's the bare minimum changes that I would have liked Bandai to have made to the 1/55: - Resculpt the A, J & S heads, especially the A, which is terrible. Slightly resculpt the plane nose, especially the FLIR sensors which are too big and the wrong shape on the original 1/55. Remove that stupid scope from the gunpod and change the gunpod design so that it can attach in fighter mode. The HCM method would be perfect. Add wing hard points and missiles. Add wrist rotation (I don't care about an articulated hand tho). Add a pilot figure, even if it's only from waist or chest up. All the above changes would make the toy look better IMO, but should not negatively affect durability or transformation time. Graham

Pray to the toy gods Oh, that's SOP when it comes to toys these days Repeat after me ten times: "Open the pod bay doors HAL". Maybe it will work. He He He sorry, I'm in a silly mood. Graham

Pray to the toy gods Graham

Updated MPC Alpha Casualty List EXO = Broken hinge on the shoulder missile hatch. Opus = Broken hinge on the sensor pod door. Opus = Thumb fell off the left hand due to stress crack. Opus = Ratchet mechanism broken in left shoulder. Opus = Left hand broke at the pinky edge of the finger joint. dejr8bud = Broken hinge on the sensor pod door. Mechafactory.com = Arm fell off straight out of the box. I guess we can say that Opus is officially having a bad day with 4 breaks on his toy. Graham

When first shown in fighter mode in the Zolan Patrol hanger near the end of episode # 3 (IIRC), the VF-19P is white with red trim. However, once in space in episode # 4, there are some shots where the red trim appears pink (see attached picture). Maybe the paint heated and faded during the VF-19P's launch and flight up into space Graham

It should still be pretty easy to buy on bootleg DVD. Graham

I'm guessing the addition of the fins on the lower leg of the VF-19P is the reason for the change to launching the micro-missile through the hexagonal ports. If the VF-19P used the hinged weapons bay door of the VF-19Kai/F/S, then at least some of the missiles would hit the leg fins as they fired. It's previously been suggested that the change of missile launch system was a cost issue, but I don't think so now. Graham

I dunno, they shouldn't work in space. And by the way, this has nothing to do with the Varauta. Those speakers were added by Lawrence to test his theory. They're not part of the P varient per se. Better watch the show. It's been several years since I last watched Dynamite 7, but wasn't Lawrence also a fan of Fire Bomber? And IIRC Lawrence's theory was that Basara's music could be used to try to communicate with the Galactic Whales? I think the speakers Lawrence constructed for the VF-19P and VF-5000G & VF-5000T-G (2-seater) were not conventional speakers, neither were they a sound energy system, but utilised some method of transmitting music in a way that the whales could recieve it. And Renato is correct, the speakers were not originally part of the VF-19P or VF-5000. Graham

IIRC, from discussions about this with Monkey-N, that "Meteor Busters" 1/48 VF-1A custom with a box autographed by Kawamori is the grand prize for a 'write a Macross essay' competition being run by Figure Oh magazine. Basically, you have to write an essay (in Japanese) explaining why you like Macross and the best essay wins the custom 1/48. Other prizes for the runners-up include IIRC a full set of Doyushas, some Hasegawa Macross models, CMs Macross figures & some K&M Macross figures. And of course the competition is only open to those residing in Japan. Graham

Not just the head, you also need to modify the lower legs to add the two micro-missile ports and of course add the speakers on the shoulders. Graham The VF-19Kai already has micromissile launchers in the legs. And it has speakers in the shoulders, but they're not exposed. The VF-19P fires it's micro-missiles out of two hexagonal openings (ports) located on the outside of each lower leg. The VF-19P does not have the same opening weapons bay doors in the lower leg that the VF-19kai, VF-19F/S, VF-19A and YF-19 have. And yes, I know the VF-19Kai has speakers in the shoulders. However, the point I am making is the "Lawrence" Speaker system on the VF-19P is located on top of the shoulders nacelles on the VF-19P, it is not internal. Graham

Still think Jolt is the best cola. Just a pity you can't buy it in HK anymore. Graham

I'm guessing that just like the Yamato 1/60, the MPC Alpha was not designed on computer, hence the problems with poor parts fitting, large gaps and seams, asymmetrical parts etc. Compare that to the 1/48, which was designed on computer and exhibits far superior parts fitting. Still like my Alpha though despite all the minor problems. Graham