Graham

IIRC, doesn't the Tokyo Game Show open today? Didn't Min say he was going? If any MWers are going, hope they get a chance to view or even play the game and report back here ASAP. Graham

Not yet. I'm still waiting for somebody (anybody?) to design some artwork. Graham

Yamato is based in Tokyo. And as you should all be aware by now, the toys are only designed in Japan but actually manufactured in southern China. Graham

I have all the reissues and will eventualy get round to doing reviews of them. However my free time that I can devote to Macrossworld is quite limited at the moment due to commitments in other areas (work, family, education etc). Graham

It's an Anti-UN plane. For more info see the Macross Compendium. Graham

Minmay Guard VF-1S, but only if it was the first version shown here, not the second version, which Hasegawa is releasing, see: here. Graham

The PC game 'Macross Since 1983' released in 1998 was a turn based game using a grid map. Read my review here. Graham

No pictures yet guys. I wasn't able to start unpacking the toys until 10.15pm last night and by the time I had removed all the damn twist ties from two of the toys and assembled them, it was already a quarter after midnight and I was too tired to take any pics. Just to clarify on my comments about the poor paint job yesterday. Actually it's only the 4 Hummingbird boosters that have a sloppy paint job, the rest of the toy's paint is quite good. I've got the blue one set up as C1 WR and the red as A1 MS at the moment and happy to report that in both modes they lock together very well. Graham

As it's very quiet at the office this afternoon, I thought I'd remove the blue Z-Plus GFF from it's box and see how easy (or difficult) transformation is. I gotta say it's pretty difficult. If you are familiar with the Z-Plus MG kits it may help a bit, but not too much as there are quite a lot of differences as the GFF has far more locking tabs and is much smaller. Also, the black and white instructions are a bit unclear in places and don't help much. Probably easier if I could read Japanese! Anyway, I just removed the basic figure from the box. I'm leaving all the acccessories (wings, tail, shields, guns, boosters, etc....) in the box until I get home tonight. I managed to get from MS to partial WR mode with only a few wrong turns. I gotta say now I have the toy out of the box and in my hand it looks much nicer. One warning, I don't think this toy should be transformed much. The small hinges and joints and PVC construction (w/a few ABS parts) all mean that this is a pretty fragile toy which will probably wear or break if handled roughly or transformed too much. Personally, once transformed to the mode I want, the toys are staying that way! Beautiful looking and a dream come true for this Sentinel / Z-Plus fan, but more of a display piece than a toy, but that's OK, as that's exactly what I expected anyway. Graham

I may be wrong here, but I think it's only in DYRL that we see the armored VF-1J with a grey painted visor. IIRC in the TV series Hikaru's VF-1J has a white visor. Graham

I have a feeling the Anti-UN forces do have Destoids and we will see them later. I have no proof, just a gut feeling. Graham

Can't see your pic. Graham

Well, there was that issue of Character Model magazine (or was it Model Graphix?) about a year ago which first showed the blue and red Z-Plus Humming Birds. The English blurb on the box lists the Beam Smart Gun as being 'for S-Gundam use'. I'm wondering then does the Hummingbird only transport it for the S-Gundam? Anyway, looking at the toys through the box windows, I gotta say that the paint job looks pretty sloppy. While there are lots of great Tampo printed markings, the actual paint job features lots of paint bleeding, overspray and wonky lines that are supposed to be straight. I thought the paint job on the three S-Gundams (Refined, Deep Striker & Task Force Alpha) was generally excellent, but on the Z-Plus it is no way near as good. Mind you I noticed the paint job on the two GFF #0016a&b Crossbones Gundams (which I didn't buy) was also pretty bad. I'm still not sure waht is the purpose of the Hummingbird. I know we discussed this on the old forums, but I don't think we ever reached a consensus. As the photo in the Sentinel book shows it flying in the atmosphere, my bet is that it is supposed to be a high speed rapid response interceptor designed to rapidly intercept high altitude fast moving targets. Graham

The GFF #0017a&b Z-Plus A1/C1 [bst] blue and red were just released today in Hong Kong. During my lunch break just now I picked up two of each color. For those of you thinking of buying them, a warning. Apparently the quantity of the blue one shipped is quite small compared to the red version and at least here in HK the blue one is selling at a higher price. So if you want a blue one I would order it quickly. I won't be able to open and assembly them until after I get home tonight, eat dinner, spend some time with the wife etc. Plus as usual all the parts are held in place by about a million twist-ties, so it will be about 11pm tonight HK time (about 9 hours from now) before I can post some pics. Also, the new November 2003 issues of Hobby Japan and Dengeki Hobby magazine have some nice multi-page color photo spreads showing how to transform the Z-plus GFF toys. From the photos transformation looks very solid with lots of tabs to lock the toy together. Also, unlike the transforming ver.2 Zeta MSiA toy, the arms and head remain on the toy in Wave Rider mode. Graham

There's only two things that come from Texas boy! Graham

It would be really great if after flying several missions and graduating from rookie status, the game allows you to custom your own color scheme. I really don't want to be stuck in a purple VF-1 I'm hoping if the game engine is good and the game is popular then we might see other Macross games using the same engine, like Macross Zero or Macross Plus. Graham

Guys, I know very little, in fact next to nothing about the Yamato display arm. I've no idea about the material, strength etc. It's a project completely controlled by Yamato Japan and they have been keeping it very close to their chest, so my contacts at Yamato Hong Kong know nothing about it. Also, unfortunately my main contact at Yamato Japan is no longer directly involved in the day-to-day management of the Macross line, so my access to info is not as good as it used to be. I'm not that close to the guy now in charge of Macross product development Anyway, I'll probably buy one of these whenever they come out. If it turns out to be good then I may buy 3 to 4 more. However, at the moment I'm really satisfied with the acrylic rod display stands I bought from s i t h l o r d. Graham

Yeah, nearly but not quite as good as Yamato's YF-21 pilot Jost joking, of course! Graham

The topic subject is fine, but the location is not. IMO it is really pointless having this topic in the toys forum. It really should be in the Other Anime & Sci Fi forum. Goes off to talk with Roy. Graham

I have that one. It's good, nice picture and sound, but no extras or anything (not that I really care about extras on DVDs anyway). Graham

Yeah, I'm a bit worried about having to fly purple Valks as well. Let's hope that they are just a supporting squadron or one of a choice of squadron colors that you can choose. Graham

Not sure, but at only ¥285 or ¥300 a pop, I'm guessing gashapon. Graham

Maybe it can't fly and is forced to remain grounded during battles, when wearing the armor I'm guessing the Full Armoured VF-0S Battroid can't fly in atmosphere and is limited to walking, running or jet assisted jumping. I doubt a VF-1 fitted with GBP armor could fly in atmosphere either. Graham

It can be done if one wants to drill holes and run coper wire through the entire thing. Heh, heh, I'll let you drill holes through your FAST packs, I'm not going anywhere near any of my Yamatos with a drill. Graham

Anybody want to make a guess what the plane in the foreground is? I'm guessing a UAV. Looks to have forward swept wings and canards. The plane in the background is obviously a VF-0. This pic is from Macross Zero episode # 3 and was scanned from the November 2003 issue of Hobby Japan. Graham