AcroRay

Sweet! (And crew figures to recast! Mua-hahaha!) According to the comparison chart on page 162 of PERFECT MEMORY, the Tomahawk's search-light is about level with a Battroid's shoulder, and the missile box tops out just a hair taller than a VF-1J's head lasers. So if Yamato keeps to scale, you'll looking at something roughly eye-to-chest to a Battroid, but much more massive. So it'd be about 7 & a half inches or so tall at the apex of its torso hull, about 8 inches to the top of its right shoulder missile launcher- give or take a quarter-inch or so. Probably a bit wider than a Battroid at the shoulders. Quite a brute!

I'm sorry if it seemed as though I was coming down on you in particular, Noyhauser. That wasn't my intent. I'm just baffled at how so many people in this thread (again, not necessarily you) seem to be simply burping up assumptions and opinions based on a cursory glance at a prototype without even understanding what that prototype is or - even more baffling - not even making an attempt to really learn what it is they're looking at even though numerous explanations & links have been provided for them to learn more. This site, and the community here, should be a place where you can learn a bit to enhance your hobby, not just toss out cheap opinions. I do understand your point, however, about the drawbacks of a variable kit offering - and the design inaccuracies required by the variable features - vs the accuracies offered by offerings dedicated to one mode or the other such as have been offered by Hasegawa (or Imai and Arii in the past). With what appears to be an exclusive license, I can understand how many Macross modelers would hope for those from Bandai, rather than only being offered a variable kit. While Bandai would be my first choice to develop an exceptionally accurate, variable model of the 25, I don't think its completely possible for them to develop something totally accurate. Even though Frontier's mecha were developed realistically and compatible with 3D rendering, there's still a lot of "anime magic" at work in the new Valkyries, including what I would expect to be a huge array of smaller assemblies involved in their transformation that could never be reasonably, accurately translated into a hobby kit in such a small scale. I think their work is looking spectacular nonetheless, also keeping in mind that while their prototypes are complex and advanced, the materials they're made from also behave much differently and scale differently than the plastic that will be used for the final product and I expect the tolerances of the final product and the scaling of some individual assemblies to differ - positively - as well.

True, except for the aluminum. It would be steel or a steel / berillium mix. Considering the speed & pressure Bandai's production likely requires, I doubt aluminum would stand up to it. Anyone ever see the "Stomplamo" video included with some of the Gundam MG model kits? It covers Bandai kit development from CAD to tooling all the way to rolling cases of kits onto delivery trucks. Great stuff.

Fan-to-Fan's pic makes the Strike's display card much easier to read. According to a Japanese reading/speaking associate, the card's title says "The Over-Technology of 25 years ago!" and goes on to briefly talk about the toy's origins with Takatoku.

As yellowed as it is, its probably a design shop sample that's been standing under florescent lights by someone's drawing board for a few years!

Bandai has been using vintage or previous-edition samples as stand-ins for repro products in development. I'd say is a solid bet that the Strike on display is representative of an intent on Bandai's part to release it in the Origins line near the fall/winter of 2008, unless the Origin series sells very poorly. Given that it would require relatively very little additional unique tooling to create the unique Strike accessories, and given that Bandai's current marketing mode on designs like this is to release a base version of a product and then re-release that base as stand-alone variants with additional accessories, and Origins Strike 1S would fit Bandai's pattern. Unless its a rare historical display, Bandai typically doesn't show off a toy at a trade show unless they plan on selling it. Their buyers are at the show to see what Bandai product they need to order, not to feel warm & fuzzy about antiques.

The fugly head was a stop-gap measure to repair damaged old TT tooling. Given that a Super 1S is already in their product line-up in its Takatoku-headed format, I seriously doubt the Hi-Metal variation is going to get its own SKU. Since they've re-tooled the entire toy for the current edition, I doubt they'd go back to an earlier element that was only a partial fix to begin with unless they honestly consider the Hi-Metal-headed edition to be an 'exotic variant' product. Besides, don't the current crop of 1/55 bootlegs universally have Hi-Metal heads? Bandai would probably keep away from that design just because of that, for branding reasons. (...Could do a "Mr Hardhat" version.... Yikes!)

It does look as though the FASTPack armor on the DYRL VF-1As is a different green color consistent with the DYRL anime color schemes, iirc, rather than just a recycling of the TV color pieces.

I didn't suggest that they were example early rapids (although rapids can still have fine detailing, particularly considering the resources available at Bandai's home division) however they are still prototypes - and still rapids at that. They don't look like injection styrene, so they wouldn't come from final tooling. You can actually see the textures all over the item shown at the CA website that indicate they're rapid prototypes. The presence of an internal skeleton feature doesn't disallow for it to still be a relatively early prototype, since that feature would naturally have to be developed in conjunction with the kit's other elements as well. You're still looking at engineering pieces. See textures ALL OVER smooth areas of gun pod: http://ga.sbcr.jp/mreport/009935/07.html See textures on 'clean' wing areas, shallow uneven inner cavities and hand-carved edges: http://ga.sbcr.jp/mreport/009935/06.html ...Who could look at those and bark 'Oh, that's pretty close to the final product! See, it has details!' ? Someone who doesn't know what they're talking about, that's who. Not ABS = developmental prototype, engineering pattern, etc. ABS = tooling test, product sample, VSP (not applicable here, however), QC sample. I expect Bandai will show off full sprues of parts, which would indicate the product has reached the steel tooling phase. When you see that in conjunction with a built-up, then you can bet you're looking at finalized engineering. Until then, its not worth getting upset about anything.

Wow! Thanks so much for these translations! Gems like this are so often lost in the noise of program subs & discussions about products. Can't wait to read the rest!

I notice that a lot of people here (or maybe just a lot of people who post) just don't seem to understand that. Its really bizarre...

That stuff's all still resin. Doesn't mean a thing 'till it comes outta steel, and still doesn't mean much 'till there's a built sample.

OOh... Pretty, shiny, cheap = temping. Memories of building metallized Macross kits in mid-1980s = reality. Thanks for posting the sale info, though!

Yay! I'll start saving my $$!

Wow. I'm glad I read this thread. I was actually, seriously looking into getting a 1/60 VF-0 because I like the design so much and I thought Yamato nailed it from the pictures I've seen. Now it sounds like I'd be better off just flushing my cash down the toilet. At least I wouldn't have to buy an extra handle before I did it. A $100+ item with arms that break off so readily that vendors sell extras? People seriously suggesting you buy the replacement arms when you buy the thing in the first place? WTF? This is so disappointing.

Do you have any examples? I'm hoping they're cast in really funky colors, too!

Of course, you need "Funny Intellect" to build them (see box back!)... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=150253542130 They're so cheap, I ordered 3. Nice new additions to my knockoff Valk collection.

I loved Imai's & Arii's old Metalize and Iron kits. They looked very cool, but were a b1tch to build because you have to scrape all the chrome away from the joining surfaces or the glue absolutely won't bind. Then you also had to touch up every spot where the parts had to be cut from the sprue. I built the non-Metalized version of that kit back around 1986. It was a fun little set, especially when you lined them up from fighter to Battroid. It included the Stalking mode, which is rather rare to see in plastic form.

In many cases like Yamato's Tomahawk, I sort of look at it as a hobby item, and the extra cost is what you pay for not having to build the thing yourself (which is rather important when you've got no time for it whatsoever). I felt the same about Toynami's Legioss/Alpha MPCs. "Modelled after Imai's design? That's OK if they're going to build it for me, too." Not to diss' the Capt's amazing, amazing models. Someone should hire him to do styrene & PVC.

No, they're still in business. They just had a product update a few days ago.

Preorder: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10072322 Macross Solid Archive (6 types) due Late sept. There are 5 kinds of figure models. (1) VF-1S Strike Valkyrie Fighter Mode (Ichijo Custom) (2) VF-1S Strike Valkyrie Fighter Mode (Roy Focker Custom) (3) VF-25F Gerwalk Mode (Alto Custom) (4) VF-25F Battroid Mode (Alt Custom) (5) VF-0S Reactive Armoured Mode (Roy Focker Custom)

Darn, could'a ordered a whole case: http://www.toy-wholesaler.jp/cgi-bin/goods...cgi?id=CHO-0535

There's no metal indicated in Yamato's homepage entry on it. Much like the Q-Rau. I believe the Koneig Monster has not metal as well, correct?

Good man!

Bandai is the toy company making them. They've offered only a single solicitation image of the movie 1A FAST Pack duo, which has been copied at the front of this thread. They're probably not mentioned at their website due to slow updating. Or - more detailed notice might be on-hold until they do a major Macross product marketing push after the MacF toys are ready and update their website accordingly. Toynami is the official distributor of Bandai's 1/55 line in the US. They'll be offering them to stateside retailers, most likely in Bandai packaging with a Toynami logo sticker added to the package. Prices will be comperable to the Japanese MSRP.