AcroRay

I'll also add... Live (Current) Trademark: http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc...tate=3pi0rp.2.2 Dead (Abandonded) Trademark: http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc...ate=3pi0rp.2.12

The legal minutia as you call it is quite the point here, I think. I don't think anyone is questioning the legitimacy of Yamato's license. The question would be whether the scope of Yamato's license permits the sale of their products outside of a certain geographic region, and whether the sale of those products outside of that region conflicts with the entitlements of license holders outside that region. If Yamato's license permits only sales and distribution of their product within the national borders of Japan, for example, then the sales of those products elsewhere would conflict with the rights and entitlements of the license holder(s) outside of that region, which in this instance would presumably be Toynami if they were given that license by Harmony Gold, who is the international license holder for SDF Macross. If that is the case, then BBTS is selling Macross product which is unauthorized within the US, and it isn't unreasonable for Toynami to be upset that one of their customers is selling unauthorized product alongside their fully-authorized product, and to require BBTS to stop doing so if they want to do business with Toynami in the future. SDF Macross is Harmony Gold's and Toynami's game here in the states, legally. They can pick and choose who they play it with. The owners and license holders of any property share the same legal rights. The same thing occurs in the music, film and gaming industries, and is enforced in part by region coding and import bans. And people similarly lament that they can't get such-and-such film or edit or track because of it. But the fact of the matter is that the particular creating artist or their company owns the work, and they are well within their rights to say who may and who may not distribute it or express it, and how. The particular expression of the work in question here are Macross toy products. As I understand it, Toynami has the sole right to produce and distribute SDF Macross toys in the US - a right which was given to them by Harmony Gold, who obtained it from Tatsunoko, which a Japanese court asserted had legally obtained that right. Anyhow, I doubt anything other than the test of time and the future development of the property and its merchandising in North America will really change your opinion about the situation, VFTF1. And neither of our opinions will likely have an appreciable effect on it, no matter how 'riled-up any one of us would choose to get about it.

I think its just a matter of time - and a particularly difficult time right now at that. My personal speculation is that HG & Big West and Bandai will align their interests and we'll see more domestic releases of Macross media - driven in part by Frontier's success and the whole property's newly-proven value. If the players involved believe there's a significant amount of revenue to be made, they'll work out some way to come to an agreement. We'll see Bandai, I believe, proven to be the prime mover. It may take a year or so for the players to work out their partnerships, and for the glut of the domestic anime media market to thin out a bit to the point where retailers will be willing again to carry decent quantities of quality programs instead of the thick chaffe that's clogged and suffocated the genre at the moment. That might seem like a significant negative for many of you guys who are used to the more instantaneous delivery of fannish gratification available with media and merchandising these days. (Not that there's anything really wrong with that situation!) But a couple of years to localize what should be an evergreen property isn't a problem for a company - or group of companies - which are strong and diversified enough that Macross isn't the only thing on their plates. Personally, I think its a good sign that these companies are occasionally willing to butt heads over a point or two. I think those are ripples on the surface that show something significant is going on underneath it. The stage is set, as it were. Zero, Plus - those were side-stories: little extraneous spin-offs that I think didn't look like the big cash cows the property needed. Frontier - however - has been HUGE in Japan and Asia. The aged, original Macross - and its Robotech iteration - have only recently been proven to be strong, viable properties in the English-speaking west once again. The key licensed product players in both markets have established a partnership and are asserting (or re-asserting, in Bandai's case) their positions. Regardless of what we might think of their particular values, their end goal is to make Macross a significant, current property and source of revenue. Only good things can come of that. I think - and hope - we'll see things finally pull together to make Macross an active, upper-tier international property rather than the limited assortment of secondary market import items and legacy media releases it largely has been domestically for the last couple of decades.

Wow - what a nice, interesting looking build! Is it articulated? I'll be eagerly watching it go together.

I think it would be a real riot if Big West exercised their licening rights and forbade anyone from selling certain Macross products outside of Japan - like Yamato's toys (which are, I believe, licensed only for sale within Japan). The products are produced under limited licenses which restrict their geographic sales. Rather like region restrictions for DVDs and electronic gaming media. So Big West would be well within their rights to do so. If we're playing the "who's legally allowed to do/should do what" game... But this is all pretty nostalgic: all these fanjaculations of paranoia and bile about Harmony Gold and Toynami. It reminds me so much of when is was... oh... 16 years old, and I hated Harmony Gold sooooo much for what they did to those shows and how I could never ever have a decent, subbed or properly dubbed Macross, or toys that really said "Macross" on them, and why didn't Revell put the right names and colors on those models, blah blah blah. Now I'm 20 or so years older, and there are actual US companies releasing real brand-name Macross & Mospeada stuff (not really into Southern Cross, so I don't care about that.). Never thought I'd see that - just like I never thought I'd walk into the same place I bought WARRIORS OF THE WIND at years ago and buy NAUSICAA. Works for me. And my kids. And my buddies at the studio. "Toynazi"... heh. Can I coin "FaNazi", too? The SCA had "Authenticity Nazis" when I used to dabble in that. They were pretty similar, IIRC.

Has anyone considered the possibility that Toynami might be asserting rights to the domestic distro of official Macross product because they're gearing up for a domestic release of MacrossF products and media? "Don't by Toynami's [officially licensed, developed in cooperation with Bandai and the domestic license holder] Macross stuff. That'll show 'em we support Macross in the US! Nya!" Really...

So, you got one on order, Jenius? Can't wait for pics!

I really want the red one, and possibly the dark. I hope that at least the red one makes it into production. (I've got some worries, given the state of the economy.)

Wow! The hands look like they're backward, though... What scale Valk is that next to it? More pictures, please!

I agree. Totally love the two Toynami "Alphas" I have (Fuke & Dark), but they've got some bugs. Nothing horrible, but they're not perfect and would likely justify a return if they were a mainstream retail product. For the $70 or so they cost, they were a pretty good deal. They're on display with my Artmic Starship Trooper powered armors, Takatoku Dorvack mecha, and some Orguss pieces and they fit in perfectly. I do pick them up and toy with them occasionally. Fuke's stays in Soldier mode all the time, because I really like it that way. The Dark tends to be displayed in one mode or another depending on my mood. Right now its in 'Stalking Fighter' mode with the canopy up to show off the figure. The one thing that consistently bothers me about them is how difficult it is t to collapse and pull apart the legs properly, which I've found is due to paint and poly-caps binding inside of the legs. (Requires some dis-assembly to fix.) And also that the upper arms pull down from the shoulders in such a way that its so tight most people actually miss the full extension range. I'm hoping to pick up the Maya Sterling one at some future point. The color combo is interesting, and I'm expecting the QC will be really good unless the tooling is damaged from Aoshima's mishandling of their manufacturing run. (No smear on Aoshima. They just wound up in a position where they had to rush the production of their first runs, and the product absolutely doesn't do well on a rushed line. "Fast.... good... or cheap. Pick any two.")

Nope - just the first couple of disks. Which - while very good on their own merits - didn't live up the what I'd gotten from the manga.

Loved the manga. Hated the anime. But picking up the anime for $3 a volume at Big Lots - I even bought some for friends!

Well, that's why we're in this thread, yes? In any event, as much as I admire the Beagle, Megahouse & Brave Ride Armors, I just can't afford to add them to my collection. The old Gakken will have to do, and maybe an old Imai figural kit or two. (Still have to finish the Fuke I started back in 1986...) Although, the show-exclusive with the transparent & chrome parts are calling loudly to me from the direction of my Microman collecting motivations...

It sure is a helluva lot easier to just buy it than to try to BUILD Imai's old kit. That's worth the MPC's price alone.

FWIW, During Mospeada's preproduction Aramaki walked into the studio one day and found someone had essentially designed a 'booster mecha' and stuck it to the back of the Legioss, so that the project could get in another potential product piece. (I believe this is mentioned in the DVD booklet, or in one of Matt Alt's interviews with Aramaki.) The thing is an afterthought, cumbersome, and on the whole rather poorly designed and thought out. That feeds a lot into the inconsistencies that constantly appear with it in the anime, line-art, and - ultimately - the toy renderings. No one seems to be really capable of developing a fully acceptable, variable rendering of the design because it inherently requires too much "anime magic". I think both the Toynami and Brave Ghokin versions are roughly equal overall. It is simply six of one & a half-dozen of the other. The Brave Ghokin is colorful, playfully toy-like, and not completely accurate. Toynami's is hyper-detailed, a more "Real Type" rendering, and not completely accurate. Toynami's is massive, but expensive. The Brave Ghokin is two mecha in one, but is twice as expensive. Pick your poison. Its laudable that either company has ventured to render out such a huge, complicated and esoteric beast as the TLEAD into a collectible toy. I think our hobby is all the richer for it, even if many of us can't afford to actually buy either of them...

For the record: Looks fine to me. A little chunky compared to the anime, but I don't like the thin build of the anime mech anyway, so the interpretation works for me. (I like 'em a little more curvy! Kind'a like Klan in the episode interstitials, rather than in her first episode appearance...)

There's still a lot of plastics production in Mexico - just not much by the US toy industry. I wouldn't be surprised to see more in the future.

Yeah, you'd probably want to ask a collector directly for large images. Alternately, Hobbylink Japan should have images - even for relatively recent out of production kits. Also, there have been a fair number of Legioss kits and reissues. Which ones do you mean?

It sounds worthwhile for items that have turned a horrible shade of discoloration. But I'd really have to think about bothering with it for pieces that aren't so degraded, or which would require extensive dis-assembly or decal removal & replacement. My giant Takatoku Macross has some minor annoying yellowing on some of the white areas. I'd have to decide if it would be worthwhile to bother with this if it would only gain back a year or two of pristine white, or simply leave it alone for a while longer and eventually paint the white areas. Humn....

I find myself wondering why they're re-issuing an item that already seems to be readily available. Surely retailers have enough of the previous editions.

I think she'd make lovely nose art.

Truly one of the very few things I really liked about Macross 7....

I made my own set-top playable DVDs (works well in my household, with kids who also want to watch). I just downloaded fansub avi's with hardsubs, re-encoded them with CleanerXL, and worked from there. I use Adobe Encore, make motion menus with music clipped from the OSTs (trimmed up in Audition) - all the bells & whistles. Then I do my own disk art, and inkjet print it on printable disks with a specialized printer. I figure that'll do well enough for me until the real thing comes out for region 1.

Adding: Your six year old daughter sings Minmei, Sheryl and Ranka songs to herself while she plays and does her chores. (Mine actually does this - and does it pretty well, too.)

Perhaps Tomahawk pilots are required to uniquely be below a certain.. ahem... stature in order to pilot the machine, given its restricted cockpit space.