TheLoneWolf

Save, Renato If either of you happen to meet up with any of the creators of MII, please consider posting a transcript of your conversation with them. It seems like it's especially difficult to find reliable information on MII, and what better source of information than the creators behind the anime. Also, since the few interviews I've read took place while MII was still being released, it'd be interesting to read what they have to say about MII in hindsight.

The 3ROD is caused by the 360's motherboard warping due to excessive heat. IMO, all older 360's will eventually succumb to the 3ROD, but how long these old 360's will last depends on how well the motherboard was manufactured, how much play time the 360 is exposed to, and the environment the 360 is kept in. Unfortunately there's no easy fix for those old systems; they usually involve disassembling the 360 and reinforcing the motherboard or replacing the internal cooling system altogether with a custom and more powerful system. And sometimes these fixes aren't even enough. The good news is that 360's manufactured since the last quarter of 2009 have new motherboards (called Jasper) that don't generate enough heat to warp the motherboard. Since these can now be found for pretty cheap, I'd recommend buying one just to have a peace of mind knowing that there's very little chance of getting the dreaded 3ROD.

I have some of those rare earth magnets and if you could figure out a place to imbed them, they'd be plenty strong enough to keep the boosters mounted. But maybe a bit too strong. If you're planning on using them with a custom painted 1/55, I'd be concerned that the booster would snap to backplate with so much violent force that repeated use would result in paint chipping or scraping on the backplate. If you decide to go with rare earth magnets, I'd suggest testing them out on two random pieces of custom painted plastic and see how well the paint job holds up. Best of luck!

I don't think this restriction will affect many MW members, because: 1) This restriction only applies to shipments that are sent via air to the United States and its territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, etc). 2) According to Celga, this restriction doesn't apply to "reliable" businesses that have special contracts with JP Post. I'm taking this to mean that if a business has a corporate account with JP Post and is in good standing, then they're exempt. I assume most Japanese retailers that MW members do business with (HLJ, Amiami, etc) already have corporate accounts with JP Post as that's the most efficient way to ship out packages. 3) This restriction doesn't apply to packages that weigh less than 16 ounces (roughly 1 pound). The only people that will probably be affected are USA folks who have personal friends/contacts in Japan that send them their toys. If these guys still want their contacts to send them stuff, then they'll have to settle for sea mail, which takes about 6 - 8 weeks.

"Improve" it? I didn't know you could improve a masterpiece.

Big West was able to register "Macross" as a trademark in the 90's because the United States Patent and Trademark Office wasn't aware that Harmony Gold had already used (but not registered) "Macross" back in the 80's. Now read section 2(d) of the Lanham Act closer. "No trademark...shall be refused registration...unless it...Consists of or comprises a mark which so resembles a mark...previously used in the United States by another and not abandoned." Harmony Gold first used the trademark in the 80's. Big West registered it in the 90's. "Use" trumps "registered." This isn't assumption on my part. Vail Assocs. v. Vend-Tel-Co., Ltd. stated "A strong trademark is one that is rarely used by parties other than the owners of the trademark, while a weak trademark is one that is often used by other parties." As we've established above, Harmony Gold owns the "Macross" trademark, therefore they can cite dilution under 15 USCS § 1125. This is basic trademark law. Again, this is the headnote of Vail Assocs. v. Vend-Tel-Co., Ltd. that I was referring to: "A strong trademark is one that is rarely used by parties other than the owners of the trademark, while a weak trademark is one that is often used by other parties." I hope this clarifies things for you. If not, I honestly don't know how much simpler this can be explained.

azrael's right, trademarks are awarded on the basis of first use in the USA. According to section 2(d) of the Lanham Act: "No trademark...shall be refused registration...unless it...Consists of or comprises a mark which so resembles a mark...previously used in the United States by another and not abandoned." Harmony Gold claimed trademark ownership in the USA of the name "Macross" with the Macross #1 comic back in 1984, and they've been using it on a regular basis ever since. They all share the name "Macross," therfore the latter two would be infringing Harmony Gold's trademark in the USA. The name "Macross" is a unique fictional word, therefore it's considered a strong trademark. If Harmony Gold released a series called "War Saga," it would be considered a weak trademark since "War" and "Saga" are generic words. But since "Macross" is a strong trademark, using it as part of the title of another science fiction series, such as "Macross II" or "Macross Plus," it's considered trademark infringement. See Vail Assocs. v. Vend-Tel-Co., Ltd. I believe Harmony Gold said that they gave Manga Entertainment's recent releases of Macross II and Macross Plus a free pass because they realized that they goofed by not blocking them back in the early 90's. I believe Harmony Gold's explanation was that they were "asleep at the wheel" during the early 90's. As evidenced by section 2(d) of the Lanham Act, Harmony Gold's claim to their "Macross" trademark is very strong in the USA, that's why no one is challenging it. Litigation costs are the icing on an already bitter cake.

I don't hate all English dubs. In fact, there are some that I think are excellent, such as Manga's Macross Plus and Viz's Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture dubs. But I thought ADV's SDF Macross dub was pretty awful. My opinion is limited to the first two episodes because that's all that I could stomache. First off is the obvious: Macross. I find it inexcusable to mispronounce the title of the show when Robotech, Macross II and Macross Plus have been correctly pronouncing it in English for the past 20 years. Second, Roy Focker's voice actor. It sounded like I was hearing Randy "Macho Man" Savage doing his best California surfer-dude impression. The whole time I was expecting him to yell out "Toes on the nose, bro!" And while I thought it was a great gesture on ADV's part to bring back Mari Iijima as Lynn Minmay, unfortunately Mari's voice (through no fault of her own) no longer sounds like that of an immature 15 year old girl.

Wow, I never expected to see an old US anime accurately give credit to its' original Japanese creators. Do you know if Claster Television Productions was contractually required to list Star Blazers' Japanese origin, along with its' Japanese creators, in the opening credits? Or was Claster sincerely paying tribute to the show's Japanese origins? The contract writer in me believes that the Japanese were proud of their work and wanted to ensure that Americans knew who was responsible for it, but the optimist in me wants to believe that Claster made a conscious effort to do the right thing.

Thanks for the update. I think it's funny that all it took was a single phone call from Archie's legal department to shut Penders up. Penders' argument had more holes in it than a fishing net. I'm confident that Sega and Bioware were following these developments closely and will exploit the expanded universe again as needed. If Penders' claim had a shred of legitimacy, then I could see how Sega and Bioware might be reluctant to risk using that material again. Fortunately, that wasn't the case.

Traditionally, comic book writers/artists are employeed on a work-for-hire basis, meaning anything that they create is automatically owned by the publisher. Naturally, some of the more acclaimed writers/artists, such as Neil Gaiman and Jim Lee, carry enough clout so that they can demand contracts that give them joint or complete ownership over anything that they create. But the last I checked (and it's been a while), this was the exception in the comic book industry and not the norm. I don't believe Ken Penders is a famous writer, so it seems odd that Archie Comics would award him complete ownership over his stories and characters. It's possible that Archie Comics unknowingly offered Penders a contract that gave him complete ownership, but the contract would have to explicitly state just that. The Second Circuit (which would have jurisdiction over this matter) has held that, in the absense of an explicitly designated owner, the copyright is awarded to whoever had the ultimate decision making authority over the work. In this case, I'm pretty certain Archie Comics would have the final say over what hit the printing press, not Penders. As for Penders copyright registration certificate, Bleeding Cool is on the money when they say that US Copyright Office doesn't perform an exhaustive background check on copyright applications. Copyright registration certificates are issued on the honor code; if a dispute arises, then it's up to the US courts to determine who actually owns the copyright. I don't believe Sega has anything to worry about. And Penders should go to another lawyer for a second opinion.

It's been a while since I've taken French, but it doesn't look like that site is selling anything. It's just a gallery of Macross and Robotech toys. The prices listed are just their estimates for each item's worth. Like pud333 said, if you post photographs to the Internet, then you had better accept that other people will use your photos for their own personal uses. If you don't want other people copying your photos, then don't post them.

Both SDF Macross and Macross DYRL are the "Band of Brothers" and "Saving Private Ryan" of Space War I. Like DYRL, SDF Macross is also a dramatization of Space War I. While DYRL debuted in 2031 in the Macross universe, Shoji Kawamori hasn't given us a broadcast date for SDF Macross in the Macross universe. So what did the military really look like in Space War I? Nobody knows for sure. See this very informative Kawamori translation from Renato. http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=30317&view=findpost&p=760765

Zentradi "elf" ears have appeared before. But when exactly they started to appear, I don't know.

Good catch! I have that DVD, but could never bring myself to watch that presentation because most of the Matchbox toys were so awful. So now we have confirmation that it was supposed to transform between fighter and guardian modes, but not battloid...thankfully!

Hehe, that's what I said the first time I saw that LD. And yes, it's the David Hayter dub. Unfortunately I don't have a VHD deck. It's hard to find reliable information on them, which makes it hard to decide on which to buy.

While I can't find an official explanation as to why Matchbox scrapped the transformation process, I have a theory as to what happened. In 1984, Matsushiro applied for a design patent (D287037, now expired) on the 1/55 VF-1 toy, including its transformation process. One year later, Matchbox starts production on their own tranforming VF-1 toy. Since Harmony Gold/Matchbox legally acquired the merchandising rights for VF-1 toys from Tatsunoko Production, this trumps the first part of Matsushiro's (now owned by Bandai) patent since Matsushiro never owned the original VF-1 design nor its merchandising rights in the first place. However, some of the toy's transformation mechanisms (ie: swingbar, et al) are still protected by the patent since those are original Matsushiro creations. As we can see from that advertisement, the Matchbox VF-1 prototype blatently copied the Matsushiro swingbar, and probably some other patented transformation mechanisms. Matchbox becomes aware of Matsushiro's patent and must decide whether they should 1) compensate Matsushiro/Bandai for use of the patent, 2) spend time and money challenging the Matsushiro/Bandai patent through the USPTO, 3) go back to the drawing board and design their own unique transformation, or 4) scrap the transformation process and make a quick buck off a VF-1 fighter mode-only toy. Ironically, Bandai would later join Matchbox in releasing Robotech toys, such as the SDF-1 and Joke Machines.

Are you sure about the legs? Because they're supposed to be one solid piece of plastic. edit: I've seen some people who've managed to get the legs to swing forward, but I thought they had to mod the "swingbar" first.

You're probably thinking of Bandai's Joke Machines.

It looks like that's a prototype, because the actual production toy didn't transform at all, not even a VTOL mode. Someone here took apart the production toy and you could see that it was sculpted with a transformation sequence in mind, but for some reason Matchbox decided to mold all the would-be joints as single pieces of plastic. If this toy did end up transforming, it would've been hilarious as the battloid's proportions would've been absolutely horrid.

I was wondering if this feature was going to be enabled. But it looks like if you try to vote a post down, you get this error message: "Action failed: You have reached your quota of negative votes for the day"

By all means. Information is meant to be free. *shakes head* Harmony Gold's a business. Their goal, like any other business, is to make money while keep expenditures at a minimum. Silencing naysayers doesn't bring in money. While it's true that they've banned critics on RT.com, it's because those are commercial message boards meant to market Harmony Gold and their products. If Harmony Gold had nothing better to do than silence their critics beyond RT.com, they could've easily shut down MacrossWorld long ago.

I agree that in all likelihood, Harmony Gold has no say over what Warner Bros. does with the movie. If I had to put money down on this, I'd say that you're right. But playing devil's advocate here, without a copy of the actual contract available, there's a very small chance that Harmony Gold could've reserved some veto power for itself. Not every contract written is a winner.

The Harry Potter films. J.K. Rowling reserved for herself a good deal of creative control over the films. While there are certainly cases where the film studio has complete control over a movie's production, this isn't an absolute rule. It all amounts to leverage. It's the film studio's desire to obtain the movie rights measured against the owner's willingness to cede over complete control. I think most fans generally assume that the original owner has no input in a movie production because, oftentimes, the movie version radically strays from the source material or it simply flops at the box office.

Agreed. It all depends on how the contract was written. Since none of us have seen the contract, we can't be certain of what (if any) veto power Harmony Gold has reserved for itself.