Jawjaw

I can't remember the exact specs, but you can swap out an X number of hardware components without having to re-register. If you swap out the mb, video, and cpu all at the same time, then you will probably have to register again because it will be like a new machine. However, if you just drop in a new video card, it shouldn't give you any trouble.

Maybe I missed something but I don't remember hearing about that many major flaws that would dictate such a rant. I just don't understand what some of you want Yamato to do. Do you want them to make Macross toys or not? Yamato is never going to be perfect and will always try to improve their product. They don't make toys for children and their stuff will always be expensive. These things are not going to change. I don't have a problem with that but some of you do. To those people, I would suggest not buying anything from Yamato or at least wait a year to see if anything better will be out. I wish I knew about the 1/48's before I bought all my 1/60's. I could of saved a lot of money by just waiting for the 1/48's.

Sounds like you have more than your fair share of computer problems. I've heard nothing but bad things about Windows Me so you might want to think about upgrading the OS or going with Windows98 SE. BTW - Thanks so much for keeping iMacross4 online. I'm currently watching Full Metal Panic and really enjoy it.

Nice work as always, cheng. Am I the only one that thinks the yf-21 looks awesome with a clear canopy? I think one of the reasons I did not care for the yf-21 in the past was because of the painted canopy.

Since there has been little info lately, I am beginning to wonder if the 1/60 Monster will ever be produced. The true question is how many people in Japan are going to buy something like that. Since there can be no variants, Yamato would have to sell a lot of them to recover costs. I just don't see the logic in this product and wouldn't be surprised if Yamato cancels it.

That's interesting, we have had a lot of good luck with Toshiba laptops in my company. I just got a new Toshiba Pro myself and really like it. My last few laptops, IBM and Compaq, were nice but wasn't as polished and trouble free as this Toshiba. Anyways, cool custom, Druna. It's good that you got some good use out of a Banpresto. I bought one myself and it didn't take me long to throw it back in the box. I thought it was cool but it was too annoying to keep parts from falling off.

Finally someone who shares my pain. I did the same thing except I think I let mine go for less than $10. I also had the box and all the parts in near perfect condition. The only thing that keeps me from screaming at night is the hope that some poor kid got a hell of a present and never forgot it.

That's strange. I guess Yamato is running out of new things to release.

Arc - You mentioned that your backpacks are really floppy. Are you locking them 'down' into place? Mine were very hard to do the first few times but it got easier. In fact, the first time I tried to do this with my vt1, the backpack broke off. Well it didn't break but I had to loosen several screws to slip it back into place. Basically, you flip the backpack over like normal, then push straight down so that the backpack arm snaps up into the backpack. If you do not do this, the backpack will flop around and not sit straight. When snapped into place, it is very sturdy and won't flop even in battroid. My VT-1 and VE-1 were off great quality. The best I have seen since the VF-1J super. I fixing to put up my reviews on my website in the next couple of days..

One of the big reasons I waw initially attracted to Macross was because I thought the mecha made sense. The people on earth knew there was huge aliens running around in space with advanced weapons that would probably come to earth looking for the SDF1. Building multi functional valyries that could fight in any environment and against any type of enemy seems logical to me. Of course, in the real world, we would never build such a complicated piece of machinery. Like you said Monkey, it would make more sense to have fast aircraft and destroids. They would be much easier to train pilots for and would be cheaper to build. But Macross would not be very entertaining if they were going to be that realistic.

No worries here. I am just super excited that you are actually doing this project. Take your time and keep us posted.

Wow, that's like 7-9 months away. I wonder what Yamato will be doing until then. I would expect a new Mac+ valk before then but what else besides a few 1/48 VF-1's?

I can't remember where I got it but it was a bittorrent. You could do a google search for "bittorrent yukikaze" and that should get you started.

Good point. Will the VF-1J FP set come with a strike cannon? Will the fp by themselves even have a strike cannon since it was not in the tv version? I would like to know more details about the tv armor.

My problem is that I like to try things out and have a little interest in everything. However, I do have some big interests like cars, mountain biking, computers, and video gaming. I also have an old Camaro that I am dieing to fix up. The problem is that I lack mechanical skills and tools to do a lot of the work myself and money is often a problem. I have been mountain biking for over 10 years now and it gets pretty expensive. The kind of bikes I like to ride (lightweight, aggressive handling, full suspension) cost $2000 and up. Parts either break of wear out fairly quickly so there is always something to spend money on. Computers and video gaming also suck the life out of my wallet from time to time. To play the latest games with all the eye candy, it seems like I always need to upgrade my computer. It's not as bad as it used to be but it still holds true. Right now, I am wondering if I will need a new video card to play doom3 or hl2. If the games are as good as the hype, I would hate to play them at low resolutions. One of my new hobbies is 1/32 scale slot car racing. It is more of a European hobby but seems to be catching on in the Us. What got me into it was a huge race car track with two vintage trans-am race cars (69 camaro and 69 mustang). The track tacks up an entire room and the cars are super fast. There are a ton of other 1/32 race cars to choose from and almost all of them are based on real race cars. There are also cars of every racing type of all years. The cars are a little expensive ($30-$60 on average) because they have a lot of detail. Something else that I am wanting to get into is home theater. I have done some research and know what I want to get. The hard part is coming up with an extra $2000 to pay for it. Another money pit is my house. There is always something I want to do to fix it up or something that needs to be done.

Yikes, I knew the vf-1j with fp would be expensive but seeing the actual number hurts. If anyone is curious, you get a whooping 800 yen discount if you buy the vf-1j with fastpacks instead of buying the two separately. I wonder how huge that box is going to be?

wm_cheng - It would be cool as hell if you could write up a detailed how-to on customizing the 1/48 and fastpacks.

I like Blue Gender. At first it wasn't very interesting and was pretty much just annoying. But I stuck with it and really like how the story evolves. However, it is hard for people to tune into the series late and figure out what is going on. Some parts of the show are not all that great, such as the characters, but I think it works as a whole. It's free to watch and I have not found much better on tv. I have not seen the last few episodes yet so I cannot comment on the ending. I record it on my PVR and watch them later without commercials.

I'm heavily into Soldier of Fortune 2 but on occasions I do play Wolfenstein. While SOF2 does use Punkbuster to fight against cheaters, there are still lots of ways to cheat and it seems like a lot of people do. I'm hoping Half Life 2 will ship with kick ass mp where it is very hard to cheat. Doom3 might have good mp but so far it just sounds like a lot of camping in shadows.

That's pretty much my deal as well. When I first watched Robotech as a kid, I was fascinated by the mecha. I thought for sure there would be a flood of cool Robotech toys on the market. The show was popular with a lot of kids but I never found any toys. The closest thing I found was the Jetfire and the Revell model kits. Even if I found a Taka toy or two, I probably couldn't get them because I never had any money. My parents might of got one for me on a birthday or Christmas but only after a ton of begging. That only makes it more sweet to be able to buy toys today. I make my own money and can buy what I want. Anyday can be like Christmas or a birthday.

That would work for me. If Yamato does the GBP, I think 1/48 scale is a must. That is the only way you can pack in the detail and opening missile bays. Also, doesn't the 1/60 have the same long nose problem as the 1/48? It would be expensive but I think more people would buy it in 1/48 scale than 1/60. They could also do a low-vis GBP for a variant. How cool would that be? B)

Man, that is tight. That is the best, or one of the best, 1/55 customs I have ever seen.

Why would it be hacked up? The worst they had was the overlays on a few episodes but even then they took them out.... It's ADV's most popular title. If they screwed it up, they would be the laughing stock of the business. Since I don't know Japanese, I can't tell whether something is a good translation. There is also the question of voice talent and whether they edited anything for one reason or another. I guess hack is too strong of a word in my previous post.

Funny thing happened today. I heard the doorbell ring and thought it was Fedex delivering my fastpacks. I opened the door and was disappointed because it was my mother-in-law instead. However, a few hours later the Fedex did deliver and that totally made my day. I was quickly drooling over each part and was suprised how everything was detailed. My favorite detail was the clever way the missile covers are removed. I did have the same problem where one booster did not want to go all the way into the holes. I used quite a bit of force but was afraid to push too hard because I didn't want to snap the backpack hinge. I fiddled with it for a while and eventually something loosened up and it now works fine. It helps to wiggle it a bit and apply equal pressure from the other side of the backpack without the other booster attached.

I seriously doubt it. If Yamato ever does the GBP, it would have to be a totally redesigned valkyrie to handle it. Yamato did not just throw out fastpacks to clip on like the 1/55's, so I doubt they will do that for the GBP.