Ghadrack

Sorry, been out of town for the last few days, What do I need to do to confirm my order? I am definitely in for one without question.

What does the R stand for then? Reject?

I can respect Gundamhead's point of view, I avoid bootleg products when there is a legitimate alternative available. In this case though there is no official "licensed" version avaiable. If IHP was still offering these kits I would immediately buy two from him, his design and work is masterful ad given the opportunity I would gladly support the creator. Unfortunately this is not the case, this is an attempt by fans to obtain reproductions of his artwork because the original is not avaiable. If anything, this sort of fan support of the artists work should provide incentive for the creators to seek official licensing of their designs and creations. To seek mass production, maybe register a trademark on his design and parts, work on obtaining a licensing agreement, sell the design to a toy company who can get the rights. Something, rather than make a few and then just move on to the next project. This particular thread is not a covert attempt to mass market someone elses idea, it is an attempt by a few fans to get together and devise a strategy to obtain a very very rare, otherwise impossible to find kit for their own personal collections. IHP is not selling the kit and as far as we know has no plan for future re-release, therefore there is no damage to his business and in fact this publicity is certainly going to have people watching this man's work in the future and actively seeking out his products. I dislike bootlegs, I would prefer to support the artist, but when demand exceeds supply and the official distributor shuts off the supply completely secondary markets are born. I already PM'ed but I too am in for one of the VB-6 Monster kits. I know that Valkyrie can do a really nice job with this project if given the chance.

One thing I have noticed about the Joons Vakyrie is that the metal that they used in the joints appears to be very corrosion-friendly, meaning that they build up corrosion like the battery posts on an old car. I have'nt bothered to learn how to post pictures to the internet or I would show you mine, but my green and red Joons valkyries which I have had on a display shelf for 7 or 8 years, all of the metal joints have turned green and corroded, a tooth-brush scrubbing didn't phase the crud and I am going to have to get a metal polish and buffing wheel to clean them up. Just thought I would mention that, if you live in a humid area and plan on displaying your valks the Joons seem to require a little more maintenance than the old Bandai tanks As far as collector's items go I guess they are kinda neat to have around, I picked mine up at a comic book collection in the mid 90's after not having seen a valkyrie aside from my old jetfire in about a decade. They are not the highest quality toys out there, they are not painted or configured to be representative of any series that I know of so I too would go for the bandai valks before I went hunting for any Joons valks for the collection.

Love him or hate him, it doens't really matter, If I read this article properly this is an anime convention giving the guy an award. That means that a group of fans are honoring the man for what they perceive to be his contribution to the american anime scene. You know what they say about opinions. They are entitled to theirs and you to yours. Personally, I was very lucky as a kid, I got to watch Starblazers, Battle of the Planets, Robotech, Tranzor Z (Mazinger in on a spanish speaking station). Robotech was one of many japanese cartoons that helped form my current love for the genre, regardless of how they manipulated the product I am pleased that these shows were brought stateside. I know and value the original creators of the Macross series, and certainly like Macross better than the editted format that I digested as a child. That being said, I can certainly understand the logic behind rewarding these people who helped get japanese cartoons into american homes in the early 80's. They created a desire, and a market for more that has sent millions millions of dollars from U.S. Fans to the japanese creators of these shows. You may not like the way they butchered the shows but they (Including Carl macek and his cohorts) helped put a lot of extra dollars into the pockets of the companies that produce anime. Like it or not, they are the reason a lot of americans, myself included, feel the way we do about anime today.

This is great information, thanks for posting it and the mold products site.

I have purchased a couple of the Eldar kits from forge world along with some accessory kits for vehicle modification. My experience has been that their smaller kits and parts look great, and have really good detail. The two large vehicles I bought both had some air bubbling on the underside that has taken a ton of work to clean up (But I am a bit of a perfectionist and could not stand to just write it off as the part no-one will see. The detail is great and they are solid as a rock, in most cases you aren't going to have trouble, but you can get unlucky and end up with the "Friday night special", you know, the last one off the assembly line on friday night that got rushed so everyone could go home. Just give the parts a thourough inspection when you get the kit and don't be afraid to request replacements if you get something you aren't happy with quality wise.

I saw that too, but I can't tell, it almost looks intentional like marbelized or cloud-pattern in the blue. Either way, I really don't think it detracts from the thing at all, in fact it looks like extra detail to me. I am in awe, that toy looks like a work of art to me. You could not advertise your decals or macross collectibles any better, Awesome work!!!!

Although they were astoundingly vague about any details, on the RT.com site they have stated that these are officially licensed products. So for whatever it is worth, it sounds like HG or Toynami have obtained the U.S. right sot produce toys based on Macross DYRL? . This makes me think that a U.S. region 1 DVD of Macross DYRL? Might not be as far a stretch as I had believed a few weeks ago. If they obtained the rights, but not Exclusive rights in the United States, this could actually open the door for international officially licensed Macross DYRL toys to be retailed in the U.S. If they obtained exclusive rights, I think this could potentially be another major major screw-job for U.S. fans. I don't know the rules on importation of copyrighted materials but theoretically if HG got the U.S. rights for DYRL? would that make it illegal to import products not licensed in this country for resale?

Personally, I would go for the dremel. I have had my moto-tool for about 12 years now and it still purrs like a kitten. With most rotary tool work like etching, sanding and small scale drilling the speed (RPM) of the bit is doing most of the work and not the torque pressure applied. My dremel has lasted an eterenity with period of heavy use followed by literally years of storage followed by periods of extreme mistreatment and heavy use and it works like a charm to this day. I also have a Dremel mini-jigsaw that I got from a friend used, he stored it in his damp garage for three years and rusted it to heck. I called Dremel and they replaced the motor under their motor warranty on the product and threw in a free set of blades even though it had been mistreated and had changed owners. Needless to say, they made a lifelong customer out of me by providing quality tools and good customer service. My Black and Decker cordless powerdrill set is a piece of trash, but then again, I don't know what I expected, I have yet to see a cordless drill that could dream of competeing with a good quality corded drill.

Spiff, I am sure this is common internet knowledge, but I had no clue. I want to thank you sincerely for sharing that tidbit. That mayh be the single most useful thing I have learned computerwise in the last 2 years.

As an uninvolved observer here is my advice. you have already been more than patient, regardless of the person's situation, you deserve direct contact and explanation and immediate recompensation or delivery of product. I suggest that you collectively submit an ultimatum and if it is not met in the very very near future and then go through the proper legal channels and the authorities. Being compassionate is one thing, but you deserve an answer and a direct contact regardless of this person's crisis. He made a deal and took your money, he has an obligation to you regardless of his situation

I was thrilled about the impending release of HL2 until a friend of mine explained the "STEAM" scheme to me. Now this is second hand information but I have been told that HL2 will not be playable unless you subscribe to Valve's online service called STEAM, and this is the only way you will be able to patch or play the game. If this turns out to be true, no matter how awesome the game is I am not going to buy it. I loved half-life more than some people love theri kids, but I disagree with charging a monthly fee for a person to buy and play a singleplayer, Non-online game. If they want to charge people to play multi-player online through their servers that is their business, but Ill be damned if I am going to pay a fee to be able to sit home and pay a game that I paid for on my own computer not eating up anyone elses bandwidth or servers. That is like the old DiVX garbage where they wanted to stop DVD sales and make you pay a rental fee anytime you wanted to watch a movie. Didn't support the dumb idea then and I won't support it now.

My guess.. Would be that it is unlikely in the short term and depending on the video company that goes after the rights probable in the next few years. It all depends on the HG factor, are they going to try to assert some right to the Macross name and create a hassle for anyone trying to release it stateside. Even if they have no right to the work they can make it more costly to release them just by feigning legal action. HG does blow bigtime and they are presently the single biggest roadblock for american fans interested in Macross. At any rate, I have picked up copies of the HK All region DVD's but I would much rather see an official U.S. Release for higher quality Sub/Dub menu options, extras and of course to support the companies that bring us good anime in the states. I really wish there would be a definitive lawsuit and Big West/Bandai/whoever would give HG the legal smack-down and get all this garbage out of the way. HG needs to stick to Robotech and their derivative work and mind their own damn business when it comes to Macross. it would be one thing if they were the creators of the original work, but they weren't there were liscensee's who used the original work in their derivative project. Bleh.... Now I am getting into HG rant land and in the wrong thread. Sorry

I wouldn't want them to re-release the Low Viz and set a precedent for de-valuing their announced "limited" items. But I don think it would be nice of them to release a few more "limited" varaints of the the VF-1 series. There are some really spectacular customs out there that would make incredible collectibles and as they already have the VF-1 molds, repaints and some armor parts would be a minimal expense to be able to re-sell their current product line at a mark-up and anything they make in 1/48scale and "limited" is almost guaranteed to sell out at this point.

Are you asking if it is acceptible to use your primer basecoat as your final paint? And then if after detailing should you clearcoat? If you want your kit to be the color of the primer that you are using there is nothing technically wrong with that, and if you get a nice flat coat on it can look quite nice especially with something simple like a flat white. Primer coats generally are more pourous than finish paint, thus they are going to absorb more from things like washes or paint or oils from your hands, so if you are happy with the coat of primer and you like the looks of it then it would probably be a good idea to apply a clearcoat over it.

"Stage-fright (something) the feeling's smashing! This is your time to be a staaaaaaar!" Yeah, I recorded episodes of robotech on audio cassette when I was a kid holding a tape recorder up to the TV speaker and I could listen to the opening theme and the episodes over and over again, and to this day I still love to hear the music of Robotech, except for those damnable Minmay songs a few of them still make me cringe. Macross has a very different feel to it. I do enjoy the music of Macross but it took a little getting used to, and I still hear Ulpio Miunichi's compositions in my head when action is about to commence in the Macross series. Purists, and people who grew up with the original Macross series probably have a little stronger bond to the original soundtrack, but being that I grew up with the bastardized version known as Robotech that music still jumps out and grabs me.

Obviously this site has evolved into a fan communication hub. We can all get together here and gossip about stuff coming out and share the scoop when someone finds out some nifty little tidbit about upcoming toys. Graham may be able to glean advanced information through his personal contacts but he is not allowed to divulge important, competetive information about upcoming products, that is fine. I am quite happy that as he has been doing, once the information gets out, he can verify some facts, quell some rumors and panic by giving a few pertinent facts when he is allowed. Don't take this place for granted because it is a labor of love, Shawn and Graham have given the rest of the fans here a place to congregate and chat. Enjoy the community, give and take information and be happy. This is a nice escape from the everyday doldrums a place to see people's outstanding projects (Art, Custom Toys and Models...etc.etc.) I have seen far too many great message boards go into the dumper due to pointless negativity, when the love is gone so goes the messageboard. Thanks for all you guys that run this place do, and thanks to all of the artists, collectors, and fact finders that provide the site with updates and new projects and recasts Feel the love yo! Ditch the hate!

LOL, apparently over at Robotech.com the fans went berserk about the blue cockpit canopy, they just indicated that the test shot's opaque canopy is not the final version that that the production Alpha will feature a clear canopy and visible pilot/cockpit Messageboard panic appears to have been averted for the time being!

Man, I am just the opposite, I always hated the Alpha/Legioss design,, but the Cyclone/Ride Armor on the other hand I thought looked very cool. Now an Alpha/Beta Legioss/Tread linked on the other hand looked really good, I think that is my problem with the Alpha/Legioss, it looks like half a plane to me. Anyhow, I thought I read somewhere that HG/Toynami are the only ones with rights to produce Mospeada toys, so if their line doesn't do it for me, I will probably be out of luck. Here is to hoping for a linking Beta/Tread

Just a guess here, but I have a feeling that the reason for this smaller scale toys is purely a sales numbers angle. For the most part Yamato's 1/60 and 1/48 Macross lines are targetted at collectors only. 60 to 180 dollar toys are not aimed at the toy store pre-teen crowd. They are aimed at the slightly older nostalgia/collector base. This Macross Zero line is being produced on a current theme, a modern cartoon and Yamato needs to use the license to generate s much revenue from the title as they can while still maintaining their reputation as a high quality product company. My guess here is that the 1/100 scale toy here is being aimed at the toy store crowd, kids who like the show, parents buying presents for children. Toys to be played with. I imagine that the transformation process will be simpler, the price will be lower with the hopes of cashing in immediately on the fairweather fans, the people who are buying stuff because they just saw the show on TV, lower price will mean better sales. I would bet dollars to doughtnuts that they will also release a high end line, larger scale, more detailed and more expensive. These will be aimed at the more rabid fans and the slightly older crowd with more disposable income. I would not worry yet, I sincerely doubt that 1/100 scale is the only thing they are gonna do for Mac 0.

I said it already but i am totally enamored with the Thunder Hummer, it is like a GBP on steroids. Stud Machine!!!!!!!

I am not knocking any of them because they all look great but that Thunder Hummer is just the most insanely cool Valk variant I have ever seen. I would give about anything for them to release a kit, or for Yamato to release a toy version. Ultra-Mega-Cool variant.

Yamato Monster Wonderfest sculpt at booth Old link, but unless they totally scrapped this guy and went back to the drawing board this should give you some idea of the scale. In the lower right hand picture, second from the bottom you can see it alone and there is a man's shoulder to the left of it. If you look closely at the top center and middle center pictures you can see the rear of the monster sitting next to the VE-1, that should give you some idea of the scale compared to a 1/60 plane, it is going to be big. Maybe saying coffee-table sized is exagerating a little, but not much

I only had a couple of the parts that were loose from their "sprue", very few though. Looks like the seller there might have begun to prep his kit before he decided to sell it... Overall, I think the packaging in your kit was superb, everything bagged nicely and foam to keep the parts from rattling around in shipment.