Renato

I agree with Tochiro, there's not actually that much to talk about. I'm quite envious of the Transformer podcasts because they are overwhelmed by news every week. Then again, that doesn't seem to stop Doug Bendo's incessant Robotech rants, does it.... Another problem is that our schedules rarely seem to converge... Tochiro is hardly even in the country these days!

I change favourites, too. I really want to say the 1/60 Fire Valkyrie because it's such an excellent toy, but I'm just so afraid of touching it because it's so expensive, that it actually takes a lot of the fun away. Maybe the VF-11C?

Thanks for this. It certainly makes a lot of sense.

Technically, he did make a point that he designed the area which becomes the backplate so that it covers and protects the cockpit, and he demonstrated that feature on his Lego model. However, he also mentioned that no product had been able to reproduce this accurately, and now it seems like even the people who made the CG models couldn't do it....

I wouldn't recommend that -- both films have totally different pacing. You might be better off watching them on consecutive nights.

Well, the ending, I can kind of take it or leave it. I didn't want to think too hard about anything, since I was just expecting to be entertained and in that sense the film delivered beyond expectations. It was just a bunch of fun, and it gave me room to NOT CARE about the characters, unlike the series and the first movie, where I felt like "oh come on, shut up, get over it, and let's see this story going somewhere already". I can take melodrama if I'm interested in the people involved, but I'm just not, so I'm glad that it was kept to a minimum for this one. Therefore the ending didn't bug me. I thought "yeah, fine, go ahead". Yep, I agree, that would be interesting.

"Contemporary"? How can people be so ignorant in the Information Age, 2011?

Hmm. Doesn't sound like too much fun. And Jetfire is a waste of space, as I assumed, huh? Oh well, perhaps I'll skip this one again and save my monies.

You know, I'd love to help a guy out, but I've had too many "experiences" to know not to jump into that fire again... Perhaps get in touch with Tokyo Hunter et al? It's what those guys do, full time.

It seems to me like just a polished version of the PSP games. And that's fine, those games are great. The VF-X2 game was OK for its time, but these new Artdink ones really put them to shame in terms of actual performance, speed and control. Only thing VF=X2 has going for it now is the story, characters and music.

It was something like, "if you look at it this way, it's like the series; if you look at it this other way, it's like the movie", etc.

Yeah, but then so was my blood-test resulting in losing consciousness and valium-enhanced stomach x-ray with subsequent laxative-induced adventure last week.

Apparently "Busta Phrymes" is being reissued in a two-pack with Jetfire? I don't care for Jetfire, but what does everyone think? I don't have a ROTF Leader Prime, I always put it off, but now I think it might be time to finally bite the bullet since I like fun transformations, and the videos I've seen certainly make it look that way. Do you think this set is worthwhile? Anything I should be aware of?

Exactly, it's not -- but the "Scoop" was that her husband was ill. Which he's not, and if I don't come into this thread and correct that, then she may start receiving "condolences" emails or whatever I'm more than happy to stick to the rule if it means we can keep the pointless chitchat to a minimum, but there is plenty of room for exceptions, so I suggest it be relaxed a little more, so it's not such a hard-and-fast, stifling rule, which, when it comes to news and rumours, can do more harm than good.

Think of it this way: There is a niche for everything in Japan. Most bands release exclusive tracks only on Japanese releases of albums. Remember the Ventures, Mr Big, or even Shampoo? They were "Big in Japan". Almost everything imaginable has a dedicated following here, but you'll be hard-pressed to pick someone off the street and strike up a spontaneous conversation about any anime that isn't Ghibli.

You can say that again. Those things are bulky shelf-warmers. I still see them in shops, first-hand. Trust me, they're here, in the stores (well, some of them, anyway). Valks are just too expensive in general; some of these like the 11C or the Millia 22 don't shift unless they go on clearance.

I don't think so, those were the Boy's Toys / Hobby division, the people who handled the Chogokin DX Macross stuff switched to the Collectors division later on, so it is literally different people. I may be confusing the names, but it is a fact that the divisions handling the Macross items changed, thus the improvements with the VF-27 and after. They thought they could handle Macross in the same way as Gundam. They were WAY off the mark.

Why not, I'm up for anything.

What if the "scoop" is wrong and needs clarification? Should we make a thread just dedicated to Mari's rabbit, in that case? Should we make a thread about the AKB48 anime even though it may have nothing to do with Macross? I don't think the "no discussions" rule should apply to general Macross news, since some do warrant discussion. I know why the rule is there in the Toy section, since every new toy announcement will bring about its own thread, but I think it doesn't work in this case.

Yeah, but you don't have a Skull Gunner!

While I also cannot see evidence for any demand for another version of Starscream, I really think there are not many more iconic characters for Takara to do in the MP line. Galvatron, if only to give Hot Rod an adversary? Ultra Magnus as a white repaint of Prime is a given, and they MAY consider doing the actual transforming trailer as armour this time, but really... what else? Bumblebee? Not if he's not a VW Beetle... Soundwave? Wouldn't be the most exciting transformation... As much as I hate to say it, it's probably more likely that they will bring out another Megatron next.

Here's an answer: Yes, it does. It houses the regular BR case as well as the special materials booklet with the new interviews etc. The booklet inside the actual BR case, in turn, acts as the instruction manual for the game.

Oh, it's the return of those audio clips! "BULLSH1T! STOP THINKING YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT CULTURE!" Hey, Tochiro, where on Earth did you get that recording of Chie singing an acoustic version of My Friends??

BTW, there are loads and loads of tangible extras including full reprints of the movie pamphlets, TONS of amazing genga reproductions (probably the nicest pack-in, for me) and two full-length copies of the scripts for the two movies. As they mentioned in the interviews, the final dialogue had not been written yet, so the last few pages have a lot of blank spaces, which is really interesting from a production standpoint. Ultra nit-picking complaint: I would have included the full set of storyboards instead of the scripts -- even if it's just for one movie. I have the Akira and DYRL ones that came with their respective boxes and it is fun to compare the visual concepts of the scenes to what actually ended up on the screen.

Still don't have my PS3 yet, maybe in a few days. As for the box scans, yeah, maybe soon, but I'm sure some people will beat me to the punch... Yes. But I don't have it on BluRay, so I'm glad that they have an empty card box space-filler instead.