TheLoneWolf

While I've never tried to remove one of those pins, I think a roll pin punch might be able to do the trick. Good luck.

Thanks for explaining how you got the leg armor to attach without the clip. I forgot that the 1/55 legs were made out of die-cast metal, so a strong magnet would definitely do the job. I want to say that Toonz was the guy who originally sculpted those DYRL arm armors, but it's been ages since I bought my sets. I noticed your own refinements because there's no way to clip the gunpod onto my sets. Great work improving the design! I believe the main reason EXO banned the sales of recasts was that he was concerned that people would buy rare WonderFest kits and start selling recasts here. While WonderFest sculptors don't post here, they do check out the site on occassion, so I think he was concerned about what they might think if they saw recasts of their work being sold here. Simply posting pictures of recasts from personal builds is acceptable because no one is making a profit off another person's hard work. I personally think it's a reasonable policy. Seeing all these excellent 1/55 mods makes me wonder what the old scene would've been like if CAD and Shapeways had existed back then. Alas.

Mike, I like those clean, straightforward customs. And I really love those subtle improvements you made, because they improve the overall look of the toy without becoming a distraction. The DYRL arm armor is a perfect example. I also like how you managed to attach the leg armor without using the leg clips. Btw, did you sculpt those arm armors or are they from Rob? I only ask because I bought some ages ago and I can't remember who sculpted them.

I just got my HMR Glaug in and it's worth every dollar! Proportions, surface details, and paint are all top notch. It's also got tight joints and good posability, my favorite engineering combo And for those of you who thought that the two arms included with the stand were meant to support the Glaug's arms, they're actually meant for the Glaug's main body. Maybe those early photos were of a resin prototype, which needed the support for the arms. My only gripes are minor. The antennas (only 1 is used, but 2 are included) that attach to the cockpit are incredibly small and can easily pop loose when opening the toy's clamshell trays. Also, while the joints are tight on mine, I don't see any way to safely disassemble the Glaug's forearms. If those joints get loose in the future, there might not be any way to fix them. *crosses fingers*

I assume that Robotech has a respectable fan base in China, because Harmony Gold has been attending Chinese conventions for a long time. I remember seeing photos from one of these conventions and there was a pretty impressive Robotech display area, much larger than anything I've seen in America. Though, it's possible that many of their "fans" are actually SDF Macross fans who don't take umbrage with Robotech. While I'm glad to see Harmony Gold mentioning Kawamori and Tenjin's names, it's most likely a self-serving manuever to attract more attention to themselves, as evidenced by our discussion of it here. If HG starts promoting Kawamori and co. in shows that they themselves aren't attending, then you can color me impressed.

Yeah, I wouldn't consider these recent colors final. Max and Milia's ultimate color schemes will have to be approved by Big West. Whoever hand painted these mock-ups probably just blindly referenced the 1/72 model kits. Speaking of which, aren't inaccurate color schemes on models kits kind of pointless, since model kits (unlike toys) are designed to be painted?

Yeah, the simplest explanation is usually the most likely. Toynami probably surmised that this Unlicensed Third Party was sitting on a mountain of unsold stock and offered them a pittance for it. Or, if Toynami was feeling respectable, worked out a distribution agreement so that they could collect a licensing fee and royalties off these toys.

I think the VF-1 v2 is still a good toy, but I also see a lot of room for improvement. Especially with the advances we've seen from Arcadia and Bandai lately. The backpack sits too far back in Gerwalk mode and also when equipped with Fast Packs in Fighter mode. According to the line art, it should be much closer to the cockpit. The wings in Battroid mode hang too far down. According to the line art, they should be able to slide further upwards. Move the pilot's seat further back in fighter mode, as per the line art. Improve the leg delivery system during transformation. The current swing bar works, but pops out too easily when posing. Remove the "priest collar." Integrated side covers for Battroid mode. Removable straps for the gunpod. While the v2 has decent posability and joint strength, the VF-19 Advance demonstrated just how much posability and joint strength technology has increased in the past decade. I love playing with the VF-19 in Battroid mode, but I can't say that about the v2. Improve the panel lines. They're barely visable and so thin that they make panel washes frustrating. I'm sure that there other improvements that can be made. This is just my personal (and admittedly nitpicky) list.

My guess is that sales from Arcadia's v2 VF-1's were becoming lukewarm, so now they're working on a v3. After seeing Bandai's latest offerings and Arcadia's own VF-0 toys, the v2 is starting to show its age to me. If Arcadia were to reissue any more v2's, I wouldn't buy them. They were outstanding products for their time, but that was nearly a decade ago.

After reading the dismal reviews and seeing the stagnant sales for these unlicensed SD VF.1's, I thought that we'd seen the last of these toys. Leave it to Toynami to try to turn junk into cash. What Cannon Films was to Robotech movies, Toynami is to Robotech toys. When Toynami saw these crappy toys, they probably said (in a thick accent) "Now dees is a Toynami toy!"

That's pretty good speculation. But nothing in the animation, nor the official literature, suggests that specialized Zentradi soldiers are deliberate.

I don't think there's any way to fit an average 1/100 Zentradi pilot inside the HM-R Regult, even if you were to remove all the handles and internal details. When John Moscato began sculpting a Regult model kit in 1/72 scale, he discovered that the Regult's official dimensions left no room for an actual Zentradi pilot. And yes, he was was already aware that the Regult's cockpit is supposed be ridiculously cramped. But even so, the official dimensions still wouldn't allow for the most confined cockpit possible. John Moscato's solution was to use a scale he called "Logical Scale." Logical Scale was based upon the size of the vehicle's pilot, not the vehicle's official dimensions. In other words, in order to fit an actual 1/72 Zentradi pilot, Moscato increased the size of the Regult beyond its official dimensions, in order to accomodate a pilot. In order to fit an average 1/72 pilot, he had to scale up his Regult to, approximately, an enormous 1/57 scale! Attached below are pictures of the finished result. As you can see, even with the Regult scaled up to approximately 1/57 scale, the 1/72 pilot can barely fit inside. Though, this faithfully replicates Kawamori's original intent that piloting a Regult must've been an unenviable job. I remember John Moscato commenting that he didn't really mind making the Regult larger than what the official numbers dictate. His rationale was that its larger size would make a Regult encounter more terrifying for a VF-1 opponent, which emphasizes the the point that the Zentradi are supposed to be a galactic menace. Both photos are © cool8or Zentradi Soldier and Regult assembled and painted by cool8or Zentradi Soldier and Regult sculpted by John Moscato

Just got my HM-R Regults and Bandai did a superb job with these toys. They feel durable, have awesome details, and have a good posability. Even if you're a strict 1/60 fan, you wouldn't regret picking up a Regult for your desk. It's such a great toy to fiddle with. I've no doubt that the HM-R Regult is going to be remembered as one of the most underrated Macross toys around. Just a word of caution, though. The small, lower front lasers can pop off (by design) without too much force. My Regult fell off my coffee table onto thickly padded carpet, yet one of the lasers managed to fly 3 feet into the air. The lasers are so small and dark that they'd be easy to lose.

That VE-1 is a kitbash made from a Toynami superposable toy and a Hasegawa 1/72 VE-1 model kit. It was made by someone on this board, but I can't remember who.

I'm surprised that the VF-1J Max came in at 2nd place because it looked like nobody bought it during the original HM run. On the secondary market, it was the cheapest and most easily obtainable of all the original HM VF-1's, despite the fact that it was a Tamashii exclusive. Bandai must be perplexed by fans asking for a toy that they won't buy. On a side note, did anyone else notice that Max & Milia's Fast Packs are sporting strange color schemes on Bandai's colored line art? Hopefully it's just a snafu and not an official revision.

If Mr. K believes that these legs may be falling off due to user error, then there may not be any changes made to the VF-0S.

Here's an update on the Nintendo Playstation prototype: The Diebolds got a power supply and finally turned on their Nintendo Playstation. The good news is that it works, but now without a few hiccups. Kudos to Engadget for taking lots of pictures. And here's a nice addendum from someone who analyzed Engadget's pictures of system's PCB's, in which he makes some compelling arguments as what the system can and cannot do. Fascinating stuff!

Holy hell, it's transformable! That looks like the Hi-Metal's swingbar on it, and there's a noticable line on the forearm, so that the fists can fold back into it. The long wings are also a giveaway; if it was meant to be non-transformable, Bandai would've shortened the wings to make them line art accurate. What astonishes me is it doesn't have the ballerina limbs of the Yamato/Aradia toys. Unless the camera angle is playing tricks, this might be the most accurate VF-1 ever.

Bandai's marketing department also deserves applause, because all the new Hi-Metal boxes feature Tenjin artwork.

Do we know if this 1/35 VF-1J is actually going to be transformable, or just be an ultra-detailed/gimmicked battroid?

Gubaba, I nominate you for Man Crush Monday

Just curious, but what's your source? Because I've never heard of any complications regarding Flashback 2012.

I think you're misunderstanding what jenius wrote. He's trying to explain how Bandai might've been able to affordably pay for the license for Hikaru's VF-4 in their gashapon line, whereas Yamato/Arcadia was unwilling (or "unable") to pay for the license for use with their premium line. Unless I'm misreading what you wrote, both you and jenius agree that Bandai most likely does not have an all encompassing, exclusive license to Hikaru's VF-4.

I really hope that those pictures are of hand-painted prototypes, because the skull & crossbones on the heatshields are placed too high, making the heatshields appear oblong. This is strange because while the old Hi-Metal Strike VF-1S (2010) also had the same problem, Bandai fixed the skull & crossbones the following year on the exclusive Hikaru, Max, and Kakizaki VF-1A's. Now, it looks like Bandai is reverting back to their original misapplication. In some of those pictures on Bandai's page, Roy's VF-1S almost looks like it's grey with a slightly blueish tint. I don't mind the change, it just seems pretty inexplicable.

To you guys who paid a lot for Yamato's VF-4 on the aftermarket, I wouldn't start regretting that decision just yet. Given Arcadia's history, the colors on the VF-4 reissue might be off, or it might be missing some tampo markings, or have crooked tampo markings.