David Hingtgen

I'd like to see fighter mode without FAST packs.

Technoviper's coming, and it will rock. That's all I really need.

Two positions for ankle extension? Hmmn, never noticed. (only transformed once to each mode though) I'm guessing it takes so much pressure to get them in or out that it just skips past the middle position usually. The YF-19 has it too, but it definitely "stops" at each position. As for shoulders/arms---yeah, even if you could get replacements, I don't see how you could actually swap parts---the shoulder "rotating bars" are pinned to the back plate, and the shoulders themselves seem very "sealed up". Did you notice the shoulder armor is quite independent of the shoulder itself? Try moving the armor "up and out" in battroid mode. Still haven't figured out why it can do that, and then can rotate. Very much like YF-19 shoulder armor. I miss the detents for the wings too. The others had "mid-way" points that looked nice in fighter mode (I always like VF-1 wings at the mid-way point). Now I just have to visually align them to something (like a panel line) and keep checking them, and keep adjusting them with the missiles to keep them even, etc.

I haven't even seen wave 4 yet...

I don't care HOW it transforms, so long as it looks good in both important modes, if we get valks we'd otherwise have almost no change of getting otherwise---VF-11MAXL, VF-5000, VF-4, etc.

Ack. And I even had one. (they suffered from the problem every other factory-painted Trek ship has had though---way too high of contrast between colors. Every company that makes Trek toys should be required to go to an airshow and see at arm's length how subtle the contrast between real-life camoflage colors is on most "grey" planes---Trek ships are pretty much the same)

I personally think it's "human voice as an instrument" vs "lyrics". I've always had trouble understanding lyrics--even pretty clear ones by native english speakers. Just something about them being sang instead of spoken. I mainly like songs purely because of the simple sound of the voice singing, not what's being said. (thus, I tend to like women singing FAR more). And thus, since I can't really understand any lyrics anyway, I like almost all languages equally when sung. In fact, sometimes when I *do* figure out what a lyric is after hearing it 500 times, I often like the song less. It was better when it was just a "musical sound" versus an actual phrase. That said---if they're translated, they will then SOUND very different, because it's not the words/meaning that matters---it's the sound itself. E.G. "gomen" and "sorry" sound completely different, musically, even if they are identical, linguistically.

Galvatron's one of the few characters that could really be well served by having an Ultra-class toy---he NEEDS lights and sounds! Him and Shockwave.

It's not going to be painted. No Bandai kit has ever come factory-painted AFAIK. (Tamiya makes a few like that, but they cost about 10x as much as the unpainted ones)

Damnit, I hate it when I get names mixed up. I think part of it was that you ranked him, but didn't mention Kinryu at all. Physica was the only Diamond Force name I saw on your list other than Gamlin, and thought "surely he means the bald guy who was awesome".

Heck, he doesn't seem very good at fighter mode either. He seems to be in battroid 98% of the time. The only time he uses fighter is when he needs to go in a straight line for a long distance at high speed.

The problem is, the upper part of the heatshield would be right behind the cockpit--which is where the whole forward fuselage pivots 180 to transform. If the heatshield is stored behind the cockpit like the VF-1----it's in the way to transform.

Basically--yup. Military landing gear is white, period. (except for the very few planes that have titanium landing gear). Stealth bomber? Bright white gear. Stealth fighter? Bright white gear. Special ops night-mission pure black C-130? Bright white gear. It's a safety thing---bright white makes cracks and leaks show up really easy for visual inspection. Always wondered why civil airliners don't do the same. (Painted silver if Airbus, pale grey for all others) I was always a bit annoyed that a 1/48 Milia, while having white gear, has red main gear bays.

There's little bump-stop just like the 1/48. But I don't know if you can "go past it"---I've never tried, nor with the 1/48. Overall the backpack is much more solid than the 1/48, with thicker hinges and the like. (kind of the opposite of the shoulders).

Just attached FAST packs for the first time. Heard a big "snap" when doing the boosters, and totally freaked out--it was the head/back flap pulling out from the recessed position. Apparently it's NOT recessed when the boosters are installed, making the whole thing pointless----it's not needed in any mode/configuration it seems. Backpack no longer supports anything other than itself, and the hook is under stress even without boosters. It seems the only reason that flap can still be recessed is because the 1/48 did. Same for the hook. I'm just glad the flap let go from its position, rather than the backpack's hook snapping or something. There's no mention anywhere of battroid mode having that part in different positions based on whether the boosters are installed. FAST pack tip: For the armor on the back of the legs, work with the upper tab first. Seems counter-intuitive based on the "hook" of the lower tab, but lower tab first just doesn't work.

LAFtoys should be getting restock of the YF-21 this week.

Just transformed mine for the first time, went VERY slowly and carefully, here's my tips: Page 6, step 4, section 2. The outlined hinge is often stiff. Get that loose before folding the backpack---I would avoid trying to fold the backpack to unstick that hinge---BP8 situation. Page 6 step 6. Look at the shape of the tab. Move the legs INWARD as you pull them down. This should help a lot, both with difficulty and breakage prevention. Page 8, step 11 and 12. The infamous shoulders. My suggestion which I think will GREATLY reduce stress on the parts: skip ahead and detach the legs/swingbar fully. With the intakes/hips out of the way you can then grab BOTH sides of the shoulders, and EVENLY *lift* them over the tab/stop. If you do it how the instructions say, you have to lift just one side of the shoulders--the side that is NOT encountering the tab---you have to lift that side WAY up, to try to get the other side to come up to get over the tab---that can't be good for it---you're lifting one side WAY high, and trying to force the other side over the tab via a twisting force in doing so. Or, if you're swinging/pressing instead of lifting, you're just pressing the shoulders until they bend and "jump" over the tab due to the amount of force they're receiving---also not good. By doing it my way, you can directly lift that "other" side over the tab, placing far less force, and evenly-applied force, on both sides of the shoulder. Yes, this means you are doing a few unnecessary steps if you plan to stop at GERWALK, but well worth it. (and if you're going to GERWALK from battroid, there's no extra steps, it's just out of order) Page 9, step 13. Super-stiff. Works exactly like the YF-19. Just grab the leg and pull until it comes. Wiggling doesn't help. I'm going to try loosening a leg screw or two---even 1/4 turn makes a big difference with the -19. Page 12, step 1/2/3. Their suggested method's pretty good. I would add that you do not want to free the legs ONLY by bending them inwards. Bend them inwards to free the inner tab, then pull/wiggle the intakes down directly to disconnect the forward tab---do not rely soley on the lower legs to make the intakes let go. Also, you'll probably find one side lets go easier---once that intake's free, disconnect that side's hip bar as well---it'll help leverage/wiggle the other side. Page 14, step 7. Another "important" tip I have. Pushing down the cockpit is NOT the method. It is the goal. You can press and pull the nose down all day, and just end up with a lot of bending or even breaking. There is no lock/tab at all in the nose/cockpit/intake area there. But you'd think so based on the instructions. The actual lock for the whole front section is at the chest-plate/back-plate seam. Right behind the yellow chest stripes. THAT is where the tabs holding the nose together are. What you need to do is to grab the chest plate near the circle-bar verniers, and LIFT UP. Look at step 8---directly below the outlined heat shield, you can see a tab. That's it. The slot it goes into is down and to the right of the tab, at the very bottom of the pic. Pulling down on the nose is NOT going to free that tab without high odds of breaking it--and some people have, I think. Lifting up the chestplate where that tab is is FAR better and easier. Page 16, step 14. Opposite of the legs---don't push or pull--wiggle! Page 18, step 20. VERY tight "clasp", unlike the 1/48. "Just do it". It won't break. Well, so far at least. Swingbar---watch the video. Also--Yamato's website showing how to get it out--that's pretty much the same angle as getting it in. Getting the bar into the square notch is more important than getting the hip bars into their holes to start the process, and should be the first thing you get lined up. It really does "go all together" and should be done in one motion--you can't do this part, then that part, then close the door. It's all or nothing. Everything will "snap into place" all together. And do NOT try to close the door to force the parts together--will not work. The bars will actually automatically close the door (more or less) when they get into position. "Wiggling the bar down to get the hips in" seems to work decently, especially if you lock the swingbar into the backpack first to help hold it in place.

I'll just chime and say that most people are ranking Gamlin and Mylene too low. Gamlin's good, period. So good they gave him a VF-22S, and *very* few people get one of those. Also, Physica's WAY too low on most people's lists IMHO. He gets automatic "hard core" points for jumping into an armored VF-11 half-naked from a hospital bed and single-handedly saving Battle 7 by taking out a Varauta battleship... I'd put him above Docker.

Well, the VF-11's design inherently has no gaps where there's markings, and almost no panel lines. Yamato's last VF-11 way-back-when had every marking tampo-printed, I can't imagine there'd be fewer this time. (it also inherently has very few markings to start with) ::edit:: Whoops, just checked pics against my memory---the kite on the nose wasn't printed. But the entire front half of a VF-11 is "static" and doesn't have any parts/panels open to transform, so they certainly should be able to print it on this time---though there is a "bend" in the area due to the canard. Hmmmn.

My opinions have switched since the beginning--I didn't like Sheryl at all, but now I'm rooting for her. Ranka's gone from cute to clueless.

Ouch, that's as bad as the 1/48's got.

2 hours, I swear. Note: everywhere says 98 mins. Gotta be wrong. I checked my watch when I got to the theater, when the movie started, and when I walked out of the lobby. Right around 2 hours. I expected it to be just over an hour and a half like they say--but it ran longer. ::edit:: Ah---found a place that says it's 121 minutes. And that fits perfectly.

"Officially" my car's between the R/T and SRT8 (depending on what mag you trust--or the manufacturer), but damn hard to launch decently (FWD sucks like that)----I doubt I'd ever actually get a 5.7 out of mine. (5.9 is probably the most common number used for mine, 5.7 is claimed by GM and C&D) I'm just kinda wondering why the Mustang GT does so well compared to mine---first link I came across said 5.1 for it. My car has nearly identical HP and torque, larger engine overall (very broad torque curve), and only slightly higher weight. Transmission----does the GT have one heck of a first gear? Sheer physics of being RWD?

Congrats---Nora's doesn't seem to be that popular, despite how awesome and problem-free it is. It's overall the best valk I own. It always photographs more "pink" than it is--it's really much more of a wine color IMHO.

Part of it is, I think, the fact that the skull itself is very asymmetrical in design.