Protoplast

The reason I like Macross as Shoji Kawamori once said is that "every valk I design for the anime can be modelled into a toy as well." There are many Transformers toys that does not resemble their anime counterpart. I would say Gundam also does the job very well, nearly every Gundam design can be modelled accurately as a toy.

I'm still waiting for a voice only of Mylene's "Kimi no Todoke" Also there's an unknown song that Mylene was singing to a Protodevlin when she was trying to protect that boy name "Billy." One huge song I want is Mylene singing "Remember 16" when she was crying and feeling sorry about Basara disappearing.

I don't know what they made Starscream so stupidl in Energon. In previous G1+, Starscream was slick and always a pain in the neck to Megatron, the Energon Starscream is so cheezy with his morphing trick. Optimus Prime seemed like he's a clueless grandpa. He talks to himself "how did he(starscream) do that?" "We are not going to give you any energons no matter how hard you try!" Says Optimus Prime to Megatron.. The dialog in TF Energon is so lame.. I missed the good serious TF G1 with Vector Sigma and Perceptor talking all the scientific stuff.

I think this was meant as an inverted feedback from the pilot. Since Guld was hurt, the 21 was somehow weaker. I think that was the appearance authors wanted to give to the scene. Anyway, the 19 should have stronger engines than the 21, this should be a fact. With an armor energy based, the failing of Guld proper controlling it resulting in the loss of an arm should be likely explained. FV Maybe that's because Isamu is a better close-combat pilot than Guld. I think the 21 more versitile like the F15 bomber, it can carry more payload and best for recon and bombing missiongs, the VF-19S is sort of like the F-16, it is a very good combat fighter but lacks the payload capacity of the VF-22, it's a trade-off for speed.

Having watched many oldschool Transformers series.. I think the new TF series are all crap.. The mecha design are totally uncool or like they were designed by Fisher Price, bright colors and no sharpness to their design. As for character designs.. I thought Optimus Prime in the Energon series suddenly became a hippie or teenager, no longer he speaks with wisdom like the good ole Optimus. The rest of the characters like Megatron is a joke, I thought Megatron acted very weak or dumb as he has no clue what he was doing when Scorpinox revived him. Why can they just follow the previous TF story lines and keep them serious.. No wonder kids today can't pass 3rd grade because the cartoons are just as dumb!

What do you think the chances of Bandai ever making a Soul of Chogokin toy for Macross? Maybe a small SDF1 or a 1/72 scale transformable VF-1S... I have so many SOC toys such as the Evangelion, Mazingers, and just wished they could make like a DanCougar sized VF-1S Valkryie.

Delays or not.. I actually wait for the toys to come out and go down in price then pick them up.

If you changed the price around.. Say the Q-Rau for $69 The MPC Optimus Price for $109 That's not that bad... But the MPC Optimus is $69, transforms, got a little light, comes with megatron, lots of diecast, heavy, and huge! The Q-Rau if you didn't know what it was probably thought it was the Transformers Optimus Primal. And it cost $100+

You are definitely a PS2 fanboy.. hehe

Gamlin is sort of a Hikaru/Guld combined.. He is dignified and has integrity but he does get angry pretty easily like Guld does he is a nice guy afterall and they always finish last as usual..

I'm fine with this one..

Hope you are eating well and not having ramen for meals.. Don't use plastic ok? If you need help, just think of other things that you like to do other than shopping..

If you guys look at Nintendo, Sega, and Sony.. Just like the internet boom & bust.. the company survived and won are the company with the better business plan & model, rather than technology or innovation. Sega had the better technology, almost each round.. they tried to stay ahead of others with technology. Nintendo had innovation, each new system they had something new & innovative. Sony wasn't the better innovator or technology, but they had the marketing strategy and business model to get all the 3rd party to sign-on as the hordes of people lined up because Sony made them believe it was the "emperor's new clothes.." which is the reason why Sony is on top today in many businesses.. Not because Sony makes better TV, stereo, or any console.. because Sony leads people to believe they are better.. and the companies follow where the consumers go..

The only games left to play on PCs will be online RPGs, (I still think the PS2 FFXI HD pack is a waste of $$) turn-based+real-time strategy games, and then shooters. There are no arcade games, no fighting, console-platformers, and not many decent racing games. The PC gaming scene is left with hobbyist programming houses like id who still give a damn about PC hardware but still knows the cash cows are in console games. You can do 4096x4096 resolution in PC, but makes no difference the games usually has bugs, patches, and just issues that you have to wait for V1.x to fix or sometimes just completely not fixed in favor of next version. PC Gaming is just a hobby.. you must invest time into it to get best results..

Squaresoft's best programming tricks are the overuse of FMV or pre-rendered graphics.. Not amazing consider my $50 DVD can also render FMV. Artistically Squaresoft has the best of any group in Japan at putting out well polished RPGs.. But the best graphics programming house is Team Ninja of Japan.. Ninja Gaiden, DOA series, and especially DOA: Volleyball blows all games visually. Ninja Gaiden, my pick of game of the year. Squaresoft had gameplay back in the days when the SNES was limited system spec but they had the gameplay.. now, they have PS2, the gameplay hasn't improved but the graphics without the use of FMV is just weak.

If you are a true gamer, then get both because I think there are a lot of great games to enjoy on both systems. My PS2, I get most of the Japanese console games and my Xbox I play a lot of online games and graphically intensive games.. Grand Theft Auto is way over-hyped, IMHO.. it's pretty repetitive.. Some people who prefer PS2, are missing out on Xbox Live games like Rainbow 6, Project Gotham Racing 2, KOTR, Halo, and Ninja Gaiden(awesome game) People who prefer Xbox only, are missing out on R-Type Final, Macross(import), Jak 2, GT3, Devil May Cry, Kingdom Hearts, and Virtual Fighter Evo.

That's actually a skimpy free catalog.. If you want a "real" Bandai Gundam catalog.. get the "Perfect Gundam Catalog v3.0" or the HobbyJapan's Gundam 2002 Catalog, full color and details on every model kit produced.

Agent ONE, MBA aside if Yamato is trying to sell to older collectors exclusively why do they sell their products at Toy’s R Us in Japan. The cost issue is directly related to the fact that those a** h**** at Harmony Gold won’t allow Macross products to be sold through normal US domestic retailers. Toys R Us in Japan carry a wide variety of toys and toy collecting in Japan span ages from teens to those in their 40s. There are many otakus in Japan that are in their 30-40s now and still collect as a passion.. not for playing or investing.. simply the enjoyment.. Toys R Us also carries the SOC and Bandai's Perfect Grade line which are marked for 15 yrs or older. Compare the US toys R us, they stock mostly low grade or consumer friendly toys which have marked labels on them so idiot parents today can't sue if a Perfect Grade model kit poke their kids eye out..

Agent One, you atleast understood my reasoning while most youth use their self-righteous aspect to reason.. Nothing wrong with some youthful enthusiasm however.. as I stated before.. Some of you guys here who were born in the 80s after Macross was conceived.. I really think if you are still in school and live off parents, that you don't get yourself in debt by attaching yourself to a collecting hobby.. Yamato once targeted the 25+ collector, who demands a high quality poseable toy, playability is not important.. then came the Internet Boom and these toys became easily accessible with the internet and anybody 13 or older with a PC can see the toys and steal your parent's credit card and order a few Macross toys.. When I was a kid, my toys didn't cost more than $3-15, my dad bought me my first Takatoku VF-1J and it costed 1300yen, which was roughly $8USD at the time in conversion. The quality was superior to today because it came in a nice box, foam cushion, and every joint area had either screws or some diecast and the plastic was solid. I take my time to apply the decals and I messed up in some areas.. That was the beauty of the toys at that time.. Nowadays I see kids on this forum complain when decals aren't applied and they think they paid a lot of money and demand to have decals applied for free...

Yes, you have a good point.. People complain about vintage stuff that is sold in the 80s being too expensive so when the producers hear about it and re-issues them.. it killed the prices of the vintage original which the collectors hate about re-issues. That's exactly the trickle effect I dislike. Yamato has done a lot of re-issuing of their own product line which is a bit flagrant to me as a collector which not only kills the value of the original one but they re-issue toys with improvements instead of making it different, they basically killed off the value of the 1st releases they issued.. so the question is.. why should a collector buy Yamato's 1st run products when they keep re-issuing with fixes and one might just wait until the next one with the fixes and then buy it. Case with the 1/48 Low-Viz.. the price went up because it says "Limited Production" but Yamato may see the demand for it go up and re-issue it.. killing the value just to make a few quick bucks.. It's all part of the trickle effect as there's really no collector toys anymore larger production runs..

I agree, I believe Yamato is trying to charge a high price for the Q-Rau's uniqueness and keep maintain their pricing on the macross stuff when they should either lower the price on the item or make a higher quality one.

Ok guys, I didn't post this thread to insult anyone, I hope it can inform people. This is a democracy so everyone feels they are entitled to choose what to do with their money. But let me say this.. You get what you pay for in life.. price is relative to what you're willing to pay for and the dealers and manufacturers are out to make money and they produce these toys so they can make a profit, if people are only willing to pay a certain price, they will have to make changes to make a profit.. it can be cost cutting measures. I'm all for low-prices just like everyone, but there's a trickle down effect that I am worried about. When prices drop on goods, people are only willing to pay below what the item used to cost.. in order for the company to stay alive and make a profit, they will cut cost to make ends meet and that means quality degrades. For a collectible toy such as what Yamato makes, it's excusable to have higher prices if they make a low-volume but high quality toy such as the original Macross Plus toys YF-21 + YF-19. Now with the 1/60 + 1/48 scale toys, I've seen lesser and lesser quality materials used and lower quality in order to keep up with the demand and price. Now if you guys who are in college or making under $10/hr, I have one suggestion.. Don't try to keep up with the Jones, ok? I see guys go broke with credit card debts to keep up with their car tuning projects and go broke on other hobbies while they are still in school with a big debt eating out of their friend's house or girlfriend's.. Save your money and buy assets like real estates or buy some bonds.. When you see some guy with multiple glass cabinets full of Macross toys and couldn't resist the temptations.. you probably don't know what the guy does for a living.. using credit card debt is asking for trouble. Later on when you are financially more stable and make extra income on the side, you are perfectly entitled to whatever hobby you want.

I'm a long time collector and what gets me is reading so many threads of people complaining that they thing $50 or $75 is expensive. This is an expensive hobby.. Only recently, with mass production in China and Japanese companies seeking to make more $ we have seen prices come down and made most Macross toys to under $100 but before then, Macross toys were all over $200+ in the 90s.. So when I read guys that's complaining about paying too much for a $60 macross toy.. When companies like Bandai or Yamato listens to these demands and bring out the $60 valks, the quality is worse.. Collectors like me, I don't mind paying a pretty dollar, but it had better be worth it and the quality must be.. collector grade. Not very impressed with almost all the Macross releases so far.. Nothing like the older more solid valks made by Takatoku and Bandai in the past.. Bottomline, if you think macross toys are expensive, then you're not a real collector..

Why is Macross 7 so under-appreciated? Is it because it does not have a lot of toys or mechas to show for? Anyways, I thought I rant.. I'm a long time old-school anime fan and I've watched all the Macross but for many reason.. Macross 7 is the only one I've watched over and over the past 5 years on and off.. I can watch DYRL maybe once with 1-2 years just skipping parts to see Minmei sing or Hikaru acts like a chicken sometimes.. Macross Plus, I would only watch Sharon Apple scenes, probably the only "character" worth watching than both Guld and Isamu.. As for Macross 7, there is just so much more life than the other Macross series. Sure the original Macross has the campy feel when Roy was around but the frustrations I see with Misa and Hikaru "the indeceisive." Basara reminds me a lot of who I was when I was a teenager. I was anti-war, anti-government, believed music is a form of untapped power to give you strength. A lot of folks seemed to hate him but just like Gamlin, didn't understand him until later on. As for Max, the genius.. hardly a genius at work as he falters which is very down to earth compared to the never falter Max we see in DYRL or Macross TV. And no kissy-kissy stuff with Miriya and Max as they are divorced! How real is that!? As for the action, people who complained it was "slow pace" it's like slow-roasted chicken, it gets better the longer you wait.. Macross 7 makes you feel like you live in the series and see the lifes of the characters much closer.. There is sexual tension in the series, as well as tabloid TV, and plenty of good fights. The biggest attraction for me is the music.. the sound of Basara saying "Listen to my song!" and Mylene's soft touchy voice chanting great tunes.. The music gets better and better deep into the anime series and nothing like good emotional songs when the drama escalates.. I'm not gonna give away the big spoiler but at the end of Macross 7, anybody who watched the end knows the ending is such a blast to see and hear as the series ends just like Basara finishing off the best song he ever wrote.. Long live Macross 7, the most misunderstood and under-appreciated anime TV series. - Cheers

Very eerie similar to the movie 2001 or 2010.. there is some form of life force beyond the earth orbit that is at work..