SuperSenpai
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Everything posted by SuperSenpai
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We can complain all we want about how something looks. But unless it causes a dip in sales, companies are going to do what they are going to do. That's the problem with these types of hobbies -- there are always customers/fanboys who complain about the product, but they spend money on it anyway. As long as something sells, there's no real incentive for companies to change course.
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The fight choreography in all the Karate Kid films was done by Pat Johnson, who is a legitimate Tang Soo Do stylist. Strictly speaking, Tang Soo Do is a Korean martial art and was introduced to Americans by Koreans (both Pat Johnson and Chuck Norris earned their Tang Soo Do black belts while stationed in Korea). However, that conversation gets messy really quick because there's a lot of controversy over how much influence the Japanese occupation had on Korean martial arts. The TL:DR version is that you have one end of the spectrum that claims Korean martial arts were virtually non-existent, and that all modern Korean martial arts are essentially derived from Japanese arts (Karate --> Tang Soo Do, Taekwondo, etc., Aikido --> Hapkido), and the other end of the spectrum that claims all these styles were native to Korea, and any foreign influence on Korean arts was from China (the "Tang" in "Tang Soo Do" refers to the Tang Dynasty), and a range in between. The reality is that it's pretty hard to deny that the Japanese had at least some influence on Korean arts, and a lot at the very beginning. So most of the "Karate" in the Karate Kid is actually Tang Soo Do. But of the Korean striking arts, Tang Soo Do is probably the most directly linked to Karate because the first generation Tang Soo Do masters were all students of Shotokan Karate. In fact, Tang Soo Do is often called "Korean Karate", and many of the first wave of Korean TSD instructors who came to the states in the 60s interchangeably referred to their art as "Karate" and/or "Tang Soo Do" (and later "Taekwondo" after that name was codified). William Zabka studied TSD with Pat Johnson afterwards, so he is legitimately trained. I think he's just a natural athlete as well, because even in the first movie before he studied TSD seriously, he pulled off most of his fight scenes pretty well. In TV and movies, the giveaway regarding someone's training is how well they pull of their kicks. Hand techniques and grappling are easier to fake for a non-martial artist because those movements come more naturally to human beings, whereas kicking techniques are not natural, and most people look awkward doing it unless they are really athletic or have seriously trained.
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I realize that Ralph Macchio is not an actual martial artist, and that he's in his fifties -- but that spin kick was awful. They should have just done a close-up on his face before and after, then cut to a wide shot, and have a stunt double do it.
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I can't get past that... appendage.
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I used to enjoy going back and looking at some of the older posts to marvel at people's collections. But ever since Photobucket stopped letting people link to their photos, there's a lot of broken photo links.
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Odd that a Japanese web store is selling a MOSPEADA model kit labeled as "Rook Bartley type".
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It's the hip joint on one leg and the knee on the other. But you're right about the spring tabs. I think those are used in all the other joints to lock things together. I thought my proposal to him was reasonable, particularly since I tried to resolve it with him first before leaving bad feedback or calling the eBay cops. But his response raised my ire. I've had toys arrive in slightly worse condition than they appeared in but I've always worked it out with the seller. One time I had a Yamato VF-1D that I got off of eBay that arrived with the notorious cracked shoulders. I had a pair of Shapeways replacements, so it wasn't a big deal to me, but I contacted the seller and requested a small partial refund on the grounds that this flaw should have been mentioned in the listing, as it's common and does detract from the value. They gave it to me without any problems.
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Looking for some opinions here. I recently acquired a Matchbox Vehicle Voltron off of eBay. According the listing, the toy was in pretty good condition -- all vehicles included, none of the typical breakages (like the shoulder helicopter blades, fins on the head, etc). No missing wheels, no missing fists. It even came with the original box. Aside from some light wear one would expect of a 30 year old toy, it looked to be a pretty solid specimen. After the auction closed, I ended up getting it for $200 before shipping, which seemed like a pretty fair price given the condition. When I received the set, everything checked out OK until I started to put the thing together. I discovered that the leg joints were basically shot, and would not stay locked in. I was pretty disappointed because I expected a near-flawless toy, and I felt that something like the legs not staying locked together was a pretty big thing that the seller neglected to mention. After all, the whole point of this toy is the completed robot -- who cares about all the individual vehicles on their own? I contacted the seller expressing my disappointment, indicating that I felt that the legs not locking together should have been mentioned in the listing, as it would have definitely affected my bidding process. I also made what I felt was a reasonable request: would he consider a small partial refund ($40, but negotiable) to compensate for the legs. I told him I didn't want to return the toy, and I didn't want to open a case with eBay or leave negative feedback, and that I desired to resolve this amicably. After a few days of no response and additional follow-up from me, the seller finally responded and basically said that it was my problem, what do you expect from a 30 year old toy, that I should have asked before the sale, and basically that I was out of luck. Am I being unreasonable in thinking the legs not staying together is a pretty big deal and should have been mentioned in the listing? And should I press the matter further, either by requesting a return, opening a case with eBay, or leaving negative feedback? Or should I just cut my losses and move on?
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I was kinda hoping it would be a comedy series, starring two old, out-of-shape dudes living vicariously through their kids' karate careers while drinking beers and busting each other's chops over old times. Daniel: "Hey Johnny, remember that time I sprayed you with water while you were smoking weed in the bathroom stall?" Johnny: "Yeah, I do. But do you remember the time you were spying on Ali at the country club, crashed into the waiter, and collapsed on the floor in a pile of spaghetti? That was hilarious!! Especially since you were wearing that all-white outfit for your date with Ali. What were you thinking? You looked like one of the club staff!!" Daniel: "Ha ha... yeah, yeah. At least I didn't fall for the crane kick. How could you lose to that technique?? Even Chozen saw that one coming!" Johnny: "Oh don't go bringing Chozen into this. You're comparing me to a guy who couldn't figure out that after getting counter-punched in the face twice that he should try something else?? At least Ali didn't drop me for some football player from UCLA!" Daniel: "No, she didn't. She dropped you for a skinny Italian kid who got the crap beat out of him every other week." Johnny: .... "I hate you."
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Robotech and REMIX by Titan Comics
SuperSenpai replied to Old_Nash's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
I'm kind of amused that, for a comic book that pretty much everyone in this thread seems to hate, that it has generated 12 pages of posts. -
Wait, so does that now mean it releases in May?
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Hey guys, I have a question regarding the classic vehicle Voltron toy -- a.k.a. Dairugger. How tall is it? Will it fit in a Detolf space? I'm asking about the large version that breaks apart into the smaller vehicles that was released by Matchbox as Voltron I -- not the mini version, and not the recently released version with more articulation.
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That broadly true. I don't "play" with my toys either. But I think it's a fair expectation that even collector toys should (especially if they are transformable) have a minimum level of sturdiness and ability to be handled. They definitely shouldn't come broken out of the box, or fall apart with minimal handling, or have parts disintegrate after a few years -- flaws that most of the recent Legioss toys have all suffered from. The Arcadia/Yamato VF-1 is definitely a collector toy and I wouldn't handle it like I would a chunky monkey... but it withstands transformation and handling reasonably well for a collector toy. What's the point of having an articulated, transformable toy that you can barely handle? You might as well buy a statue or a non-articulated model kit.
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I think that opinion is usually held with an understanding of the era it was made. Given that, and considering the advantages and modern aesthetics that current toy makers have to work with, you'd think that they'd produce something light years beyond the Gakken toy, in the same way that the Arcadia/Yamato VF-1 is light years beyond the chunky monkey. Nope. Instead you get toys that look somewhat better than the Gakken (and even that might be debatable if you're talking about something like the CM Legioss) and nowhere near the sturdiness and overall quality. Imagine if the best VF-1 toy that manufacturers could make today was something like the Toynami MPC Veritechs or the Yamato VF-1 V1 toys, but with even worse build quality. If those are being compared, I would give the title of "best VF-1" to the chunky monkey easily.
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No worries, not trying to pick a fight. By "correct" I guess I meant the way the Japanese characters would say it on the show, and therefore the way the creators would say it. Your pronunciation of "Legioss" in no way detracts from your tremendous service to the Macross/Mospeada/Transformers/mecha toy collecting community! Consider it a reflection of your credibility and depth of knowledge -- "Gosh, if that's how Jenius says it, it must be right!" :-)
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Just saw your review. Discouraging is the word I would use... after all this time, still can't get a decent Legioss toy. By the way -- is "lee-jee-os" the correct pronunciation? I always thought it was pronounced "leg-ee-os" (hard "g", "leg" as in the things you stand on).
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I don't think it would be that hard to have some designer extrapolate updated designs for Houquet/Rook and Yellow/Lancer based on these. It's really just portions of the upper body armor that need updating, since the leg armor is the same across all the characters.
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It's... complicated. It took me about an hour to get it the first time I tried to transform mine.
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So here's a question -- if HG loses the license and rights revert back to Tatsunoko, HG can no longer sell Robotech DVDs and Blu Rays, nor can they license Robotech for streaming. Tatsunoko could license the animation for various platforms -- but only the Japanese versions, not the Robotech dubs/edits, am I right? Does that mean Robotech DVDs will skyrocket in value on the secondary market??
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It's been years since I read the novels, but from what I remember, the Sentinels novels were where things really went off the rails. Perhaps because the story at that point was unknown to the general public, so the authors felt like they had a lot of license to crazy things. While there were a lot of completely unnecessary ideas added to the story in the novels based on the regular TV series, there were some things that I thought were good. I liked the little excerpts from fictional publications at the beginning of each chapter -- they added some depth to the story. And it seemed like the authors were making some attempts to address some of the inconsistencies and plot holes in the show with additional dialogue or narration that attempted to explain things. You have more expertise so feel free to correct me, but the impression I get is that these technologies could adequately explain how a battroid/battloid would perform gross movements -- walking, aiming a gun, picking up large objects, etc -- but it wouldn't be sufficient to explain the natural movements that we see them engaging in on the show. For example, getting dressed in an enemy soldier's uniform, slinging a rifle over the shoulder, picking up a girl without crushing her. These movements require fine control and tactile responses that would be hard to duplicate on such a massive scale.
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Hey, I never said adopting the novel material would make for a *good* movie -- just that it provided them a plausible path to take if they were trying to use ideas that were not directly lifted from Macross!
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I was thinking that one way they could go is to take the elements of the Robotech novelizations that were added onto the TV show. Those were far out enough that it would be hard to argue they were lifted from Macross. So stuff like Protoculture being more like the Force from Star Wars, Robotechnology being enabled by Protoculture giving machines a lifelike quality, the pilots controlling the mecha through brain interactive interfaces, or the biggest whopper of them all -- Minmei being the mother of Zor via time travel, and thus the focal point of the entire story.
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Is there any way they can even be "loosely" inspired by the concepts and not invite a lawsuit? There's some level of plausible deniability if the producers claimed they had no knowledge of Macross and ended up making something that sort of resembled those shows. I always thought the re-booted Battlestar Galactica had some resemblance to Macross, but given its origins and development I never assumed that Macross was an influence, especially since the original BSG predated Macross. But everyone knows that Robotech is adapted from the Japanese anime, and everyone knows that the core of what makes Robotech appealing was retained in the transition from Macross to Robotech. Even the most basic premise of "alien ship crashes on Earth and humans reverse-engineer its technology to defend themselves from invaders", there's no way that they can argue that was an original concept that was not influenced by Macross.
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Ah, that makes sense. Thanks.
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Speaking of Voltron, not to go off on a tangent -- but does anyone know how they managed to do the reboot legally? Did Dreamworks work under license from the original Japanese producers of Golion, or was the reboot different enough that licensing wasn't necessary? I'm hard pressed to see how the latter is possible, given that it's pretty similar to the original anime. They even use names from the original anime like planet Altea and the Galra Empire.
