Graham

Nice Dual Strike pic, but what the heck is that really ugly blue robot standing next to the Dual Strike? Graham

Australia is dumping their F/A-18s in favor of Flankers? That's the first I've heard of that! IIRC, I thought Austalia was planning to go with the F-35 JSF (which is a big expensive mistake IMO), as that plane tries to be too many things at once and does nothing particularly well. Australia would be much better going with the Eurofighter Typhoon, which I consider to be superb multi-role plane (at least in it's Tranche 2 or full up Tranche 3 configuration). Graham

The Millia figure is anatomically correct Graham

My top 10 anime are: - #1 DYRL (of course). #2 Macross Plus. #3 Macross 7. #4 SDF Macross. #5 Macross Zero. #6 Bubble Gum Crisis (original). #7 Wicked City. #8 V Gundam. #9 08th MST. #10 Combattler V (My first introduction to anime back in 1976). There's lots more anime I like of course. Honorable mentions go to: The Guyver, Patlabor OVA/TV/Movies, GITS SAC, Jin-Roh, Akira, Nausica, Laputa, Legend of Galactic Heros, Mospeada, Orguss, Vampire Hunter D (new ver.), Memories. Ninja Scroll, Cowboy Bebop, CCA, 0080 War in the Pocket, Blue Gender, Escaflowne, Nadesco, RahXephon. Graham

The chance of seeing any Zentran/Meltran mecha in 1/48 scale is zero. Graham

Corgi don't make an F-14 in their 1/72 scale Aviation Archive series. IIRC, the only Jet fighters they make are the F-4 Phantom, the English Electric Lightning (one of my favorite planes), the Harrier, Tornado and the Bucaneer. All the aforementioned planes have been made in several different color schemes. Corgi also makes some great WWII 1/72 and 1/32 scale aircraft replicas. Graham

That grey part is the removeable engine intake cover, which you should remove for displaying a non-FAST pack equipped Valk in fighter mode. Or to make that a bit clearer, the only time this cover is open in the anime is when the valks are flying in fighter mode (and perhaps also Gerwalk mode as well) in an atmosphere. In battroid mode, or when the Valk is in space this cover stays closed. When you remove this cover, you can see the front of the engine. Graham

If your alternator is smokey, I suggest a visit to an auto mechanic to get it fixed. Graham

I've found a chainsaw, machette or meat clever works well on Harmony Gold products Graham

If you had a Roy type VF-1S I'd say go either Super or Strike, both look fine. But as you have the Hikaru VF-1S (my favorite 1/48 BTW), I'd say go Strike. It really looks much better as a Strike, which is how it is shown in DYRL. Graham

Forces of Valor toys recently started selling here in HK, so I've had a chance to examine them and I think if anything, David is being too charitable about the quality of their products. IMO, the panel lines on their 1/72 scale F-14 and Tornado suck bigtime. Basically a half blind retarded drunken chimpanzee with parkinsons disease could do a better job of panel lining. The panel lines on the Forces of Valor toys are ultra thick and way too dark. Most of them are not even straight, they wobble all over the place and there are lots of overruns, where the panel liner slipped and didn't clean up. The only Forces of Valor products that look half decent IMO are the 1/48 Apache and Blackhawk. PS, anybody wanting a good Tornado should buy the Corgi Aviation Archive version. Graham (still waiting for a 1/72 Corgi Eurofighter Typhoon)

Yes, the pilot has a face (Millia) under the visor. The visor is a seperate piece to the rest of the helmet/head. However, I'm not sure if on the production version, the visor will be removable or will be glued in place. Graham

As we have two near identical topics active at the same time, I'm closing this one. Graham

Quite looking forward to this. I'm a big fan of zombie movies, and I like Milla (especially naked) Graham

Tenjin's Valkyrie Maniax site has this good size comparison pic of a VF-1 and F-14. Graham

Well, we saw the 1/48 Hikaru VF-1A reissue for HK$580 and the 1/48 Max VF-1A for HK$599, which is pretty cheap. We also found the Yamato VF-11B FP & YF-21FP for HK$299, which is a good price. We also found the Bandai reissue 1/55 VF-1A Hikaru, VF-1S Focker and VF-1A CF for only HK$220 each. And not that I care about those yucky Tranny toys , but some members here do, so IIRC, the Takara Masterpeice Convoy was HK$680 and the neutered US version Optimus was HK$450 (I think). Graham

Generally referred to as a 'half Gerwalk mode'. Graham

The real next alternator! Sorry, the only alternators I know of belong in cars! Graham

My first Valk toy was the 1/72 Bandai VF-1S Hi-Complete, which I bought back in 1987. My first Valk model kit was the Imai 1/100 Armored Valkyrie, which I bought in 1982 or 1983. Graham

And Sebastian's baby can nearly say Macross. I heard him say "Ma....ma....", so he just needs to learn to say "cross" Graham

I remember being hugely dissapointed by this movie when I saw it at the cinema way back when. I was expecting lots of cool dogfights, but the film had hardly any action. Very anti-climatic. Two thumbs down. Graham

I have two of the VF-11B FP, both transformed about 20 times each and so far neither of them show any stress marks. Go ahead buy the toy, don't worry. Graham

And whatever you do, don't feed the Monkey! Graahm

Surely you don't have to be a fan of the cartoon, or even the entire franchise, to appreciate a nice, well designed transforming toy. Does it need some UN Spacy logos on it to garner any cudos from you? While I can appreciate nice engineering on a toy, that is not enough to make me rush off and buy it (or vote for it). For me to buy a toy, it has to be of a mecha design I actually like. The toy has to be aesthetically pleasing, well articulated and generally well designed. Lastly it should be from an anime or game I actually like. In my younger, wilder, more carefree days, I'd buy mecha toys just because they were well designed or had interesting gimmicks, irrespective of whether I actually like the mecha design or the anime it was from. Then one day not so long ago, I realised I had a house full of toys that I hardly ever looked at or touched, so I decided to get rid of most of them on ebay and stick just to the designs I really like. These days I have strict rules about which toys I purchase. My interests are mostly in 'real type military robots'. And even then I'm really picky. These days the only mecha designs that I find attractive enough to make me buy toys are Macross, Mospeada, Gundam Sentinel, V Gundam & Combattler V. That's it. The Takara Convoy may be a superbly engineered toy, but transfroming trucks and cars hold no interest for me, so I'd never consider buying it. Likewise, everybody raves about the Bandai SOC Dancougar, but as I find the concept of animals that transform/combine into robots silly, I'd never buy it. Same with the Bandai SOC EVAs. They may be great toys, but I've never liked the design, so why buy it. Graham

I'd advise you to buy at least one 1/48. I don't think you will regret it. I'd recommend starting with either the Hikaru VF-1J Super or the Hikaru VF-1S and a FAST Pack set. Graham