Graham

See this picture from the Winter Wonder Festival 2004. It's of a very difficult to find resin conversion kit for the Hasegawa YF-19, which AFAIK, consists of new wings with the pylons and High maneouverability missiles. Graham

That's not really a good example, as Bandai already owns the tooling for the old HCMs, so there are no design or tooling expenses (tooling is a major cost). It's basically just material and labor cost. Graham

It's the final boss baddie from the Dreamcast Macross M3 game released in 2001. The Macross Compendium has the following to say about it: - "Zentradi final weapon with two different combining mecha modes depending on ending". It's one of the hardest Macross mecha to find pictures or information on. I buy a lot of Japanese hobby and gaming mags and this is the first time I have ever seen that picture. So props to WJ for making it available. Graham

Actually, I don't touch the model section. Models are Shawn's baby. These days as well as writing the toy reviews, I'm also mostly responsible for updating the toy and magazine sections of Macrossworld as well as updating the updates page . As Shawn is very busy with work these days, there are other sections of the site that I'm also planing to update such as the book section, game section and video section as all missing many recent Macross items. Graham

Do you mean Gilliam? If so he'd have to be pretty young there, as VFX-2 takes place over 40 years later. Do you have a picture of him? Just to add, Gilliam was not a traitor. Graham

No, not Yamato. That's the old Studio Half Eye 1/100 scale YF-19 perfect-variable resin garage kit. Graham

If there is a connection between Dragon and Hasegawa, wouldn't it be great if Dragon started making diecast, prepainted 1/72 scale versions of Hasegawa's Macross kits Just imagine diecast 1/72 scale VF-0S, SV-51, YF-19, YF-21 etc fighters. Graham

Giant contact lenses Or perhaps the macronization process corrects genetic defects. Graham

Yes, it's called Octos, although I've also seen it spelt with a double 's' (Octoss). The underwater mecha that Shin fought with and the mecha that assaulted the beach are one and the same (it's transformable). Graham

What, you mean it's NOT real? Graham

There is only one more episode to come as it's 5 episodes total. No firm date has been given for episode # 5 yet, but based on the length of time between release of the previous episodes, most people think it will be released in November 2004. Graham

No. Graham

Gonna try and get a longer review with photos up at the weekend. It won't be a very complementary review though The more I handle this toy, the more convinced I am that the person responsible for approving this POS for production (Yes, you know who you are if you are reading this) should be taken out behind Yamato's office and be soundly flogged. While the overall sculpt is nice and the plastic used is good quality, the constantly falling off front groin peice and inadequate hip joint connection should never, ever have made it into production. These days, since the bar has been raised so high with the 1/48, this kind of sloppiness is just unacceptable. Graham

Toynami 1/55 (MPC): 1pc (it was a gift, I didn't buy it) Bandai 1/55: 11pcs. Bandai 1/65: 15pcs. Bandai 1/72 (HCM): 3pcs. Bandai 1/100: 1pc. Takatoku 1/55: 1pc. Yamato 1/60: 20pcs. Yamato 1/48: 17pcs. Yamato 1/72: 18pcs. Joons 1/55: 1pc. Doyusha: 7pcs. Used to have more Takatokus and Bandais but sold them on ebay to raise money. Sorta regreting it now Graham

I've bought and sold loads of Valks since Yamato first started making them 4 years ago, so it's difficult keeping track of what I've owned. Anyway, I think my present total for my personal collection is: - 1/48 = 17pcs 1/60 = 20pcs. 1/72 = 18pcs. Graham

I'd like an Alpha if somebody can pick me up one. Graham

I agree, that looks like the finished product. It's definitely plastic, not resin. Those stickers don't look too bad IMO. Graham

That ScotlandonSunday article is really annoying. Same old BS from reporters who have no idea what they are talking about. The Eurofighter was not designed just to fight Cold War Scenarios. It's a true multi-role aircraft and will handle very nicely any conflict, land sea or air, that you throw it into thank you very much. And it is most definitely not obselete. The only plane that has an edge on it is the F/A-22. Idiots. Graham

If it is old stock from the 80s, then the seller is pretty dumb to be selling them for only $50 Graham

I dunno, I was just discussing this with Neova and I don't think this can be old stock from the 80s, it looks too new, unless it was hermetically sealed and locked in an airtight vault for the last 20 years Graham

A long time ago (maybe a year ago, I forget) it was mentioned to me that it was extemely unlikely that we would see a 2 seater 1/48 VF-1. However, that was then, this is now and plans do change, so who knows. Graham

Looks good, I'll add this to the MW custom gallery. Graham

I was under the impression that the CFTs on the F-15 actually contributed very little to drag. Graham

No idea about what the next 1/48 VF-1 variant is. It seems like Yamato don't want to talk to me any more . Anyway personally, I think it's probably a good idea if they give the 1/48 VF-1 line a rest and don't release any more variants for a while. Most people are starting to get burnt out on the VF-1 and I think at least a six month to one year break until the next 1/48 VF-1 release would give time for people's interest to build up again. For the moment, I'd rather see Yamato working on a larger perfect variable VF-0 A/B/D/S, VF-0 Reactive Armor, SV-51 Nora/D.D./Cannon Fodder version, Destroid Cheyenne and Octos and a resculpt YF-19FP. Just forget the crappy 1/100 scale parts-swapping VF-0S. I would eventually like to see Yamato release a 1/48 VF-1A Cannon Fodder, a DYRL VF-1A Kakizaki and two seater VT-1, VE-1 and VF-1D. However, we all know that the 2-seaters are a very slim possibility. Of course I hope they are working on a 1/48 GBP armor set as well. And then of course there's my wish list of stuff that probably won't get made: - Perfect variable VF-17D/S with FPs, in Diamond Force & Miria colors. Perfect variable YF-21 complete new resculpt. Perfect variable VF-22S in Max, Miria & Gamlin colors. Perfect variable VF-5000B. Perfect Variable 1/48 Stampeed Valkyrie. Graham

Solid looks better IMO. I sold all my clear hair set 1 and didn't even bother buying the clear hair set 2. Graham