Graham

Maybe Graham knows something that we don't? hehehehe Perhaps there's the 1/48 VT and VE somewhere in the R&D stages?! Well, welcome the 1/48 club!!!! My only complaint is still is: THE BOX IS TOO BIG!!! Paulo Nope, no 1/48 VE-1 & VT-1 in development yet as far as I know. Who knows what the future may hold though! I agree that they would be ultra-sweet in 1/48 scale. Basically, my Bandai VE-1 and VT-1 (sold both now) had just been sitting in my closet unloved and unplayed with for the last 3-4 years just taking up valuable space. So as I needed more money to feed my 1/48 love, I had no second thoughts or regrets about offloading them. I won't miss them either. Graham

Welcome to the 1/48 lovers club Graham

That was my first thought as well. I know it won't be that accurate, but could somebody post a Bablefish translation of the Yamato newsletter please. Graham

Absolutely beautiful photos. I'd love to know what type of lighting you used, how you set it up and also what did you use use for the white background? Graham

Interesting. According to the Bablefish translation of the text on this site, it looks like the game release date has been moved forward from October 30 to October 23! Graham

Pfunk, it seems your post is mostly just your opinions of the toy and not legitimate 'what is wrong' complaints. 1) That the head laser is too long is your opinion. It certainly does not qualify as a 'What's wrong with.....' topic. Likewise, getting the head laser caught and stressing it is a user error. The 1/48 VF-1A head laser is actually very easy to clear through the hatch when transforming. 2) The purpose of having the second fin a moving peice is to allow the backpack to sit flatter (lower) in Gerwalk mode. It is a clever design feature, certainly not 'stupid'. 3) The 1/48 is designed to look best in fighter mode, thus the nose is longer than how it appears in the anime in Battroid mode. However, the anime uses anime magic to shrink parts so unless you go the Bandai route and have a short stubby inaccurate nose, it is impossible to have a nose which is lineart accurate in all three modes. 4) Transformation will become quicker with familiarity. What a lot of people don't seem to be able to grasp is that the more points of articulation a toy has, the longer it will take to transform. If the Yamato had the same limited articulation it would be just as quick as the Bandai. What it boils down to is is that everything is a compromise. If you want greater articulation and more features, then you have to suffer slightly slower transformation times. If you want quick easy transformation, but limited articulation, then buy a Bandai. 5) having the hands removable gives the option of adding optional hand sets ala the 1/48 VF-1J Hikaru. Anyway, the 1/48 hands do not fall out easily so what is wrong with this feature? Graham

You have very, very strange tastes in anime! Graham

The white filler peice is essential for Battroid mode, for keeping the backpack locked in place against the extreme weight of the back FAST packs. Without the extra filler piece which doubles as a retaining clip, the backpack hatch unlocks under the weight of the FPs in battroid mode. Graham

The double micro-missiles stay in place fine. The single micro-missiles (the ones at the front of the FP) are a bit loose and some don't stay in too well. It's not a big deal though. Graham

Transforming from Fighter to Gerwalk or Gerwalk to Fighter there is no need to remove or add any parts. If you are transforming to Battroid mode, you need to add the white filler piece behind the neck. Conversely if you are transforming from Battroid to another mode, you need to remove the white filler piece. Graham

Same with me. The toys just looks so beautiful with the FPs I will probably never remove them. Luckily I have enough 1/48s that I can display some with FPs and some without. Graham

Both the arm and leg FAST packs can be removed very easily. However, I have not tried to remove the back FAST backs yet. The metal pegs on the back FAST packs plug into the backpack really tightly and I'm a little worried about twisting and damaging the backpack hinge (part # BP8) when I try to pull off the back FAST packs. Anybody tried installing and removing the back FAST packs multiple times yet to see how the backpack hinge holds up? Graham

That's what I thought at first, but it's actually very easy to remove. How to describe the procedure. Well, basically just twist it to one side and they pop off real easily. If I was at home, I'd take a picture, but I'm not, so I can't Graham

Lucky I don't like Gundam (except for Sentinel). More money to save for Macross goodies, or beer B) Graham

Finally able to view all the movies. Movie # 3 is awesome. Real Macross gunpod sounds...Yay!!!!! Also, it looks like the gunpod does a respectable amount of damage, unlike the gunpods in VF-X and VF-X2, where you had to shoot something for half an hour before it blew up! Graham

I'm getting rid af all my 1/55s as they just look so dated next to the 1/48. However, I'm keeping my 1/60s, at least for the moment. As UN Spacy pointed out, the Q-Rau and Monster are coming out in 1/60 scale and it will be fun to pose them together with the 1/60 Valks. Also, the possibility exists that Yamato will make more enemy mecha and Destroids in 1/60 scale, although this is as yet unconfirmed. While we know that Yamato is going to release the 1/48 VF-1S Hikaru and 1/48 VF-1J Hikaru, we don't know what other VF-1 variants they will release in 1/48 scale. So it is by no means certain that they will release as many variants as they did with the 1/60 line. I imagine that a 1/48 Max & Millia VF-1J toys are a strong possibility, after all it makes good financial sense to maximise use of the existing 1/48 VF-1J tooling. However, there is so far no indication from Yamato that we will see other 1/48 variants such as the VF-1D or VT-1 & VE-1, so these may be strictly limited to 1/60 scale. Graham

Personally, I can't notice any drop in either quality or in materials used. If anything, the quality of the Yamato VE-1 and VT-1 is very high. Personally, I'm happy with this piece. So much so that I sold my Bandai 1/55 VE-1. The inabilty to remove the radar dish arm on the Yamato VE-1 does not both me at all, as this toy will be permanently displayed in fighter mode with the radar dish attached anyway. Just my 0.2 cents. Graham

Yes, the VE-1 is supposed to have hands. See the lineart on page # 44 of the Macross Design Works book. No, the VT-1 is not supposed to have arm FAST Packs. See page # 42 of the Macross Design Works book. Bandai got this wrong with the 1/55 Super Ostrich. Tamim, thanks for the reviews, guess that means I don't have to do any now....ah time to relax B) Graham

I've only been able to watch a couple of movies so far, I keep getting an error message saying 'server bandwidth exceeded' when I try to open them. But from what I've seen so far, consider me.............blown away! Graham

Although these days I'm not such a big fan of the 1/60 line, I gotta say these are really nice toys. Here's a couple of pics of mine: Graham

Went to Mong Kok yesterday evening to buy the FPs. Animate didn't have them yet, either that or they had sold out already So next stop was Kanto Hobby in Sino Centre. They were sellling them at the high price of HK$420 a set (US$53.85). I managed to bargin the guy down to HK$410 each (US$52.56). I know, not much of a discount, but better than nothing). I ended up buying 7 sets. Yep, I know I could have waited a few weeks for the price to drop, but I'm an impatient fellow and was worried about a repeat of the CM's figures fiasco with shops selling out really quickly and prices skyrocketing. Anyway, these are the toys I've being wanting and dreaming of since I first saw DYRL in 1986. They are absolutely beautiful. The design, quality and finishing is first rate. Yamato have just done a great job with the FPs, from the solid die-cast backpack connectors to the nice detailing on the inside of the FPs. These are absolutely beautiful. Oh, and they are heavy, very heavy About the only negative thing I have to say is that the RMS-1 missiles are a little loose on their pylons. Boy, with the VT-1 & VE-1 as well, it sure was an expensive weekend. Anyway, here's a few quick pics. Graham

This is the best (and cutest) Mylene cosplay I have seen. Graham

My wife doesn't mind me watching anime, but she's not really into it herself. The only anime she likes is Candy Candy from when she was a kid. She usually falls asleep when I watch any Macross Graham

Although that happened in the past with the original YF-21, it doesn't happen anymore for Yamato Macross stuff and hasn't for a long time, due to complaints from Japan. HK will get the FAST packs either on the same day as Japan or 1 day later. Graham

I've already suggested they reinforce this part months and months ago, in fact when the 1/48 VF-1A Hikaru came out. However, as so far there are only a handful of reported breakages, less than 10 that I know of out of tens of thousands of toys produced, Yamato doesn't really consider this a problem. Graham