TheLoneWolf

In addition to constructive criticism, I think we should also limit this thread to realistic suggestions. IE: no $20.00 1/48's Mine would be 1) Crystal clear canopies 2) Include an optional set of DYRL non-articulated hands

This reminds me of the old Star Trek vs Star Wars debates...

Like Phyrox said, the rare Tread toy is a POS. On top of that, it's not in scale with the Toynami Alpha. I believe it's 1/72 scale, making it relatively small, and the only Legioss it can connect with is the equally craptastic 1/72 Legioss.

Excellent custom! Love the pilots! Did you replace the nosecone with a resin one or is that from a Bandai?

Like eating.... 420370[/snapback] It's not my fault I'm part Italian

I completely agree with myk on this one. I only get the 1/48's that I want, the iconic TV colors. Respect to Yamato for releasing uncommon TV schemes like the Angel Birds, but to me when I think of Macross, the AB's don't come to mind. I'll only buy the Valkyries that, to me, invoke the spirit of Macross: Roy, Hikaru, Max, Milia, and the CF. The only exception I've made to my rule was the Super Stealth, but only because I've always wanted a black VF-1 with fast packs since I was a kid. The Low Vis' are cool, but don't scream Macross to me. DYRL's got awesome color schemes, but at 90 minutes, is only a tiny fraction of the 13 - 14 hour Macross saga and thus doesn't do much for me. If I were a hardcore collector and had loads of money to spend, then I'd probably get every release Yamato cranked out, but I've got other priorities.

That's interesting, would you mind posting some pics of your work? I always imagined that the Alpha's die-cast would've made it too heavy for any sort of discreet connector. The connector would need to be strong enough so that the weight of the Alpha would be supported by just holding the Beta in your hand and vice versa.

It wouldn't surprise me if Toynami created a mock Beta just to push more Alpha sales. Same situation with the no die-cast MPC vol.1, Toynami's laughing all the way to the bank.

OMG, Yamato has broke tradition: Kakizaki! Hmm, shouldn't the Kakizaki pilot be substantially larger than Roy and Hikaru?

Yes, this definitely looks way better than the CAD drawings. Now we just need to see battroid and *gasp* gerwalk. Thanks for posting the pics, Graham! No profile shot in fighter mode? Is Yamato being self-conscious about the "bulge"

The rules say nothing about OT talk being outright banned or prohibited, just that threads that are OT can be deleted at any time. As for the Other Anime section, the "rules" for that section as laid out by Roy and the Admins are that it covers anything "that geeks like to talk about". Why one thing stays and one thing goes is a judgement call by the mods. That judgement call in no way violates the rules as the only thing the rules clearly state is that "OT topics can be deleted at any time" or "randomly deleted" or consolodated into a larger topic. 417415[/snapback] The above paragraphs can be summed up into a new title for the OT forum: OT Sci-Fi Threads That Don't Displease Roy The sooner people learn to accept it, the easier MW will be to deal with. I'm sure that Roy would love the new title too.

They look more realistic than the stock thrusters, but are certainly not canon. That's also a pretty high price to pay for such a minor enhancement, notice that all the shots needed to be zoomed in. I'm not knocking Fulcy's prices, which I believe are very fair, but the problem is that you can't buy 1 or 2 thrusters, you need several. And that price is only going to mutliply if you want to outfit additional Valkyries. Overall, from a practical and aesthetic point of view, these probably work best on the mecha they were designed for: Gundam

If the Italian "Strike" Valkyrie was a bootleg, might the Spanish version also be a bootleg? I find it funny that the Italian bootleggers called it a Strike Valkyrie even though it didn't come with any armor.

Very nice and objective review. I agree that after you tally up each toys advantages & disadvantages, you get a tie. I still stand by my opinion that the HCM should only be worth $75 (I paid $150 for mine back in the day), and that's if you're a serious collector. Nowadays, you can find far better Valkyries in larger and even smaller scales.

I think Azrael's on to something with the expensive distribution theory. HG is probably charging a lot of money to distribute it, and none of the current distributors are willing to take the risk. On HG's side, when the Robotech DVD's were released in 2001 they sold insanely well. But Robotech is an old old show, so distributors are probably thinking that's it's not worth paying a lot for. Does anyone know if distributors can view the actual film before agreeing to distribute? I know it sounds like a silly question, but there are some weird regulations out there. Perhaps they think it's shoddy and not worth the price HG is charging.

VFX2 was released in 1999, so I think it's safe the say the painting was from that same year. The best place to look for the original would be the VFX2 Strategy Guide. I have the OST (above) and, aside from the cover, that pic isn't in it's booklet.

I have to disagree with Glane21 on the HCM cockpit, it's only marginally better than the 1/55 cockpit. Not to mention it's got that same awful amber colored canopy that the Tak's had (why Takatoku, why?!). I have no love for Toynami, but I gotta give credit where credit is due. Toynami did fix the backpack problem. For those who don't have an HCM, in battroid mode the backpack sits so high that it reaches a good 1 inch above the battroid's head. On a 1/72 scale toy, that inch looks like a mile. Toynami also fixed the canopy by making it clear and didn't dye it amber like the 1/72's, gosh why didn't Bandai think of that! Also, the Toynami canopy can open whereas the HCM canopy can only be popped off. To the HCM's defense, a 1/72 hinge to make the canopy open would most likely be too brittle. I do agree that the Toynami 1/55 featured craptastic plastic, especially the PVC hands. The chestplate was also way too big in battroid mode. The nosecone is also off, but since when have we liked any VF-1 nosecone? We moaned that the Taka nosecone was too short, groaned that Jetfire's was too blunt, b1tched that the 1/60 nosecone was too skinny, and whined that the 1/48 nosecone was too fat (don't believe me, just search the archives). We just need to accept the fact that the nosecone is always going to look wrong in a transforming VF-1 toy due to anime magic. The only nosecone that legitimately deserves lambasting is the Matchbox VF-1 nosecone, and that one didn't even transform.

I dunno about Minnesota, but here in MD we have an old saying about radar guns: if you can see the cop, then you're close enough for him to clock you. If you're going to question the cop in court, you better have a significant amount of empirical evidence on your side. Judges hear BS all day long and have little patience.

Nah, Bandai made the HCM's and they're entirely different sculpts from the Takatoku's. I have an HCM and the only drawbacks are a lack of fastpacks (unless you want to kitbash one) and the backpack sits way too high in battroid mode. At best they're ok toys, but definitely not great, especially after Yamato entered the scene. IMO, the most I'd pay today would be $75 for a MIB. ***ducks stones***

I have an HD set, but I think I'd have to pass. DYRL is so old that it may end up looking worse on HD, it would have to be completely remastered to take full advantage of everything that HD has to offer. For now, I'll stick with the R2, I don't mind the minor artifacts and my xbox does a decent job with the interlacing. M+ Movie Edition would benefit more from the HD treatment, but it's still over 10 years old, so who knows. What I really want from this film is a DTS release. The geometric leap from VHS to DVD justified spending the extra money, and you didn't need a high end set to reap the benefits. But from all the reviews I've read about HD DVD, an HD set is a must, and even then the increase in picture clarity is only marginal. The only titles that really shined on HD were those recently produced. That knocks out all of the Macross, except Zero. Too bad I didn't like Zero.

Yes, they did. But we got a consolation prize: the 1/100 Koenig Monster

Oh you ain't seen nothing yet!

Sounds like the same kind of plastic that they used for the xbox's headset hinge. I don't have an answer, but I tried gorilla glue and it didn't help. :/ kanata, I'm sorry to hear about your father. You and your family have my condolences.

That's right, there were even prototype shots of it and it actually looked good! But that's probably because it wasn't transformable, and I don't believe that the arms & main cannons didn't move either. Back to the topic, it was toss up between the VF-4 and VF-2SS. I decided to go with the VF-2SS because the VF-4 looks like in involves way too much anime magic, and even with the help of CAD may not end up being an accurate toy. The VF-2SS looks much easier to pull off, with the exception of the leg placement during transformation, but I think Yamato could pull it off. Realistically though, if Yamato had to chose, they'd go with the VF-4. Just no love for the VF-2SS.

WOW!! Great comparison pics, Mr. March. Yamato's CAD drawings differ from the lineart in several places, I take that back, it differs in a lot places. But for most part, I don't mind because the YF-19 is such a ridiculously complex design that compromises are going to have to made to maintain transformation and infrastructure. My only nitpicks are the areas that Yamato could improve without sacrificing neither. IMO, fighter mode is already looking chunky due to the fuselage bulge and legs, so raising the shoulders an extra 2cm probably wouldn't be noticable. David, you and I are different sides of the same coin. You're concerned with fighter mode, and I'm all about battroid. Graham could probably answer these better than I, but I'm going to guess that the tailfins are small because they have to fold behind the calf in battroid mode. If they're too long, they'll jut too far past the legs in the frontal view. Sadly, this is anime magic in action. The best thing to do would be to design slip covers to elongate the tailfins in fighter mode. As for the canards, they're most likely small because they have to fit nicely into the torso in battroid mode. If they're too long, the torso won't be able to lock together. Again, more anime magic. IMO, you're absolutely right, the underneath bulge gives the illusion that it's short. From my experience with the 1/72 variable models and toys, that bulge becomes the battroid "crotch" (can't think of any better term). During transformation, the bulge moves downward and becomes the crotch. I can't tell from the CAD lineart if this is the method Yamato used, but it appears so. In retrospect, after seeing all the compromises Yamato made, I have to give them mad props for going ahead and making the toy anyways. It isn't going to be anywhere near as accurate as the VF-1 & VF-0 when it comes to the lineart, but at the end of the day I'll be glad to have a quality 1/60 YF-19 from Yamato.