Graham

Haven't checked the toy stores here in HK yet, but will do so during my lunch break in a little over an hour and report back after lunch. As far as I know, the toys aren't supposed to be released until Aug 29th or 30th. Graham

Hmm...the leg mounted air brake is interesting. I'd always assumed those hatches on the lower legs were for internal missile bays. Graham

Don't shoot me for this, but legal issues aside, perhaps Toynami should see if they can get a Macross II toy license from Big West. Heck that might be the only way we will ever see Macross II toys. Toynami do seem to have been getting better with their sculpts recently (FPs & Alpha MPC). Graham

From what I've been told, yes it's true. Unfortunately, what this means is that the chances of seeing any Yamato Macross II toys are slim to none until Yamato have made every Kawamori designed VF first. Only then would Kawamori say "Go ahead, I don't care, you've made all my stuff already". B) Graham

Heh, I'm the opposite. I love Mylene. I'd like to move my hands down from her shoulders to her ******* and squeeze B) On the other hand if we are talking about Basara, that is one character I could happily throttle. Throughout the whole series I was so wishing that Gamlin would plug him in a *ahem* friendly fire accident. Anyway jokes aside, as others have said Macross 7 is not everbody's cup of tea. Personally I love it, despite my dislike of Basara. In fact I probably prefer it to original SDF Macross. If you can get past the Valks with human faces, the over-use of stock footage in the combat scenes then you are in for one heck of a ride. Graham

In fighter mode, I'm pretty sure it would have to flip the backpack up to have the wings all the way back and touching. Graham

IIRC, the TV Hikaru VF-1J is not supposed to have a colored visor rim. Graham

The new October 2003 issue of Dengeki Hobby magazine shows that the next series of Gundam Ultimate OP will include the EZ-8 (from 08thMST) in at least two different color variations and IIRC a Gouf Custom as well. Graham

Heh, heh, that's not the currant issue any more, the latest issue is the October 2003 issue which has been out 3-4 days already. Graham

Did anybody (Junmei, Munkey Nugget?) go to the C3 2003 character show event in Tokyo (August 23-24)? They may have had a playable demo of the new Macross game there. Graham

My most prized possessions used to be my original Takatoku and Bandai 1/55 Valks, but I got rid of most of them since the 1/48 came out. I don't really have a single most prized possesion, I love them all. Graham

Not just that, C1 usually has the BSG nose/shield. A1 usually the normal nose/shield. Graham

Interesting. I dont think it's the prototype Hasegawa plastic model, as it doesn't look nearly detailed enough. I'm not sure where it's from though. Which web site did you find the picture? Graham

Because it looks cool and beacuse the Imai 1/100 scale VF-1J Armored Valkyrie model kit was the first ever Macross product I bought back in 1982, so it holds a special place in my heart. Graham

I guess we just have to wait and see. Only about a week or so now to go. Yamato have told me it is safe to use the clip, but I don't believe them Don't forget, the 1/48 FAST packs are going to come with that optional extrawhite plastic part, which attaches behind the back hatch. Yamato say that this is a dual function part. Firstly, it adds a bit of extra detail to that area and secondly, it is supposed to add a bit of reinforcement. However, that part can only be used in Battroid mode and has to be removed for transformation to Fighter or Gerwalk. Graham

The Macross Compendium has some figures for the VF-1: - Fully extended 20° swept backward 42° overswept backward 72° in stowage position at 122° Graham

I'm pretty sure that the events in M3 are canon as they are covered in the Macross Compendium Chronology. Graham

Dancing Skull squadron was basically him and Millia. Considering they were ace pilots, they got dibs on just about every new fighter. The Algenicus was the Dancing Skull squadron flag ship in M3. But how much is that game cannon anyway? I don't see a ship of that class in Macross 7.... plus that whole giant bug thing was pretty... odd to say the least. Actually, I thought the giant bug thing was pretty cool in M3. I've always liked the idea of mecha fighting bugs, ala Starship troopers (the book, not the crappy movie). I thought the bugs in the opening movie of MS were great. It's just a pitty they were so poorly done in the actual game Graham

Actually, if you wanted to display one in each mode, you would need to buy 6 of each color! 1) Humming Bird WR 2) Humming Bird MS 3) C1 WR 4) C1 MS 5) A1 WR 6) A1 MS Graham

I'm sure they will. I'm mean it allows them to maximise their profits. No new tooling is involved, just a simple paint change, so it makes sense they will do this. I mean they gave us three different colors of EX-S afterall. Graham

No, no, no. The question should be not red or blue, but how many red and blue? B) Graham

Yes, be gentle with it and don't push it up past the horizontal position. In fact I keep the backpack hinges on all my 1/48 toys angled down, not even at horizontal postion and I don't use the upper swing clip as I beleive it puts undue pressue on the hinge. The backpack hinge on my very first 1/48 broke, but only because I was pretty rough with it and pushed it up into the angled-up position several times to try to get the backpack to sit higher, before Yamato informed us we were not supposed to do this. Since I have started keeping the hinges in the angle-down position, I have not had a problem with the backpack hinges. Graham

Having a gunpod which hit the ground was a design issue, not a QC issue, Don't confuse the two. The same with the shoulder joint. Am I saying the 1/60 line, was without QC problems? No, there were a few, but all thankfully minor. But the two examples you specifically mention are not QC related at all. As for the 1/60 gunpod, Yamato wanted to making it right from the begining with a collasable handle. I've seen and handled the prototype. However, they were not allowed to do this by the licensor as a collapsable handle gunpod was not considered 'anime accurate' It took several releases before BW could be persuaded to change their mind. For the 1/60 shoulder joint, yes I agree this is something that should have been modified and improved. Why it wasn't I don't know. Not every company improves products (Bandai's 1/55 FAST Pack fragile front arm clips anyone). And yes, Yamato are a business and they are in it for the profit. However, they do want to give us good quality transforming Macross toys. In the begining, they had a very steep learning curve, jumping in at the deep end of toy manufacturing with what had to be one of the most dificult product lines for a company with no prior experience. I think most of you will agree, they improved by leaps and bounds in the last 3 years. Graham

Basically just the color and there is no Double Beam Cannon in the TV series. Graham

DO NOT PANIC! The sky is not falling down. I can say no more just yet, but there will be a win-win situation for everybody come November. Graham