David Hingtgen

Question: This pic (lower-left) seems to be a physical model, but it says "CG"----and it's PERFECT. Is that actually a rendering, or is it a prototype Bandai made that perfectly matches the CG just to show what it "should" look like but can't be made into an actual transforming toy/model?

Just checked--it was ep 2. I just never saw that as "wanting to eat the lobster".

Just a little FYI, not sure if you've seen it, but a PURE red valk is canon---Basara's VF-19P in M7: Dynamite---even more red than his standard one.

That was either really quick or I don't remember it---when/where was that?

I still constantly shift between do I want Alto's or Ozma's in 1/60... (I lean towards Ozma, but Alto's keeps growing on me---probably because we see it so much more) My plan for a while has been to get one 1/72, and one 1/60. I have Alto's 1/72 on order, thus a 1/60 Ozma. But I may switch that around---I basically have until the first 1/72 kit ships to decide for sure. (and if there is no *full* armor for 1/60, I probably won't buy any)

Shouldn't this go in the Transformers thread, rather than the "YF-21 FAST packs" thread? PS--thanks for the video, I should be getting my YF-21 next week.

All other Yamato Roy valks (1/60 v1 and 1/48) also have "no yellow circle". Right or wrong, that seems to be their intention, and it's not a "mistake" on this release. Checking DYRL, it does seem to be yellow in every scene. Hasegawa says yellow. Bandai/Takatoku don't have it yellow, but they simply don't even have that area molded with canon details it seems--there's no circle at all. Still--Roy's valk clearly is not a PERFECT color-copy of Hikaru/Max/Kakizaki---otherwise, he'd have a yellow heatshield and yellow background for the skull on the boosters. Roy seems to prefer "not quite so much yellow".

I currently rank it only below Plus.

Umm, Encore isn't classic, it's G1. But better than the originals. (Heresy you say? Nope---insignia are printed on instead of stickers)

Wanted to ask a few days ago but the boards were down: Does anyone want to split an Encore Thundercracker/Skywarp pack? I just want Thundercracker.

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.