jenius

Yes, cars with auto transmissions are very slow to downshift and they seem to engage the clutch to coast longer. I can't swear to that last part but my autos have kept their speed much more than my manuals (but I've obviously never had an auto and a manual of the same car).

I enjoyed one enough to enjoy GT2 but I found GT4 pretty boring and I hear GT5 has even less of an excitement factor. The old car enthusiast in me would probably love the tweaking but I'm sure I wouldn't play the game enough to warrant a purchase.

That's a very dynamic comparison though. Six months from now you'll be able to get Hi-Metals at big discounts that will negate the observation you're making now comparing a brand new product to one that super saturated the market. Well, unless Bandai isn't producing these in as big a quantity as Yamato did (or unless the demand is much higher) so stock doesn't stick around as long. That should be the value of the MSRP comparison. If you can get a Yamato right now for 30% off, chances are with the Hi-Metal is older you'll find that discount too. EDIT - on that MSRP comparison, the Hi-Metal is definitely smaller but it seems nearly just as complex as the 1/60 V2 toy. The fact that it sells for roughly 50% of a V2 toy has me convinced that it's a pretty fair price. That's not to say I wouldn't love all these things to be cheaper

There seems to be some confusion on how prices work these days. Here's a breakdown (Bandai prices HLJ and Keiichi, Yamato prices from Yamato): Bandai Hi Metal / Yamato V2 5,500 / 10,290 (normal release) 6,500 / 13,440 (super release) 5,775 / 10,290 - 15,540 (low end is for Hikaru 1J with gray head visor, high end is for weathering edition)

Keiichi, you probably just need something to support the camera on when you're taking low level photos. Or, if your camera has a viewfinder, hold the camera against your face and use the viewfinder instead of looking at the screen... that will reduce the tiny tremble of your hands and take crisper shots at low light. I prefer the Hi Metal in battroid to the V2 but both are amazing toys. Why are people talking about removing the intakes? That's optional on both the Hi-Metal and the V2. I think it's amazing that a 1/100 toy even has the option of exposing the turbines.

Try doing a search on Youtube, I'm sure a few people have filmed themselves transforming it or the VF-1J by now.

Review up at anymoon.com... check it!

Huh... kinda has a Porsche Panamera (or whatever it's called) rear to it.

I really don't think loosening the hinges helps all that much. People got V2s with broken hinges in the box, before any transformation. So while some people may be speeding the process up via transformation, and loosening the hinges may prevent this speed up, the real problem is still the metal rod inside and whether or not it is creating too much pressure on the plastic around it.

I wouldn't say it's lame that this toy has no decal sheets (I hate decal sheets). Instead I'd say it's lame that Bandai stopped just a tiny bit short on an otherwise superb tampo job.

That toy is sexy... can't wait to get one! I think your mind has blunted how horrific the V1 head really is to help you overcome the trauma from having seen it.

They are neither. In battroid mode they're like 1/52, in fighter they're not close to 1/48 or 1/55.

For every improvement Aoshima added there's just as likely to be an added QC item they missed. The Aoshima quality control was HORRID (they let Toynami arrange the manufacturing and Toynami clearly didn't give a crap about Aoshima). So, I'd say the Aoshima and Toynami are completely on par with each other although the Aoshima has a slightly better design.

You gotta consider that the DX toys sold pretty well though. Supply and demand.

For a brief moment I convinced myself my next car would be American. Recently, with the dollar tanking in value, it seems like American cars ought to become a lot more competitive. Unfortunately, I just can't find an American car I really want. MOPAR is dead to me... every time I've been in one recently its felt like a cheap and bloated automobile. If I wanted a cheap commuter I'd look long and hard at Fords offerings. The only Chevy I'd want to test drive is the Volt and that's out of curiosity more than anything else. I think the only American car I'd really consider is a Cadillac CTS and I'm kinda "meh" on it. The CTS-V sounds nice though but I'm trying to keep myself away from gratuitous power. It's been a while since I looked at a Lincoln but I hear they're being revamped and have a ton of nice features but still dressed down in ultra conservative garb. Really though, I think a lot of manufacturers are heading in the right direction and I hope my current car lasts another three years as I suspect my choices are going to get better.

Very nice customs! Yamato should include a Gnu figure with every premium toy they sell... and in my magical fantasy world, not charge me any more for doing so

The head should also split from the radar array. So new main guns, new head, new shoulders, and obviously the Daedalus and Prometheus. FYI - giving this thing a Prometheus and Daedalus with a TV paint scheme was the rumor I mentioned earlier

I know I'm forever late to this party but I finally got a post up about the VF-19Kai stand (includes video review):

If it's optimized for battroid then I'm hoping there's a way to get that chest down better... maybe they just aren't doing it because it's a resin prototype. It's good to see Yamato bringing everything back out to a show as I'm looking forward to all of these releases... even the Zent uniform

Yes... they're pointing out that the tiny bits that would break super easily are going to be made out of rubbery PVC so you don't have to worry about them.

I think no fast packs is probably a good thing... you don't have to have them shipped twice and don't have to buy them if you don't want them (if it was a regular release I'd like to see them bundled). The good news about getting all three at the same time is you can probably pay a smaller finders fee and less for shipping. I'm thrilled I don't collect DYRL specific paint schemes

580 GTX is out... looks like you can find it for $500 at Newegg. Sounds like a sweet card, more powerful, cooler, and much quieter than the 480GTX... but also more expensive than two AMD 6870s with AMD's new high end card right around the corner. My guess is AMD's next release won't be quite as powerful as the 580GTX but won't be too far off and will be $100 cheaper... still very eager to see. BTW - I have been monitor shopping for a while and the monitor market sucks. LG is supposed to be releasing a sweet IPS screen in late December but I can't believe how few monitors include display port. I might keep my dinky monitor for another year and hope HP or Dell can release a smaller IPS monitor (24" max) with improved response time and no tinting issues.

I was looking to buy a computer recently but decided to take my time and buy all the parts and put it together myself. I'm just waiting on AMD at this point to see what the 6900 series video cards look like. I hear they're due out this month. If they are more enticing to me than the 6870 I may upgrade which might have an affect on what power supply I go with.. Here's my current build wish list . This is going to be a gaming rig that will also be used for photo editing. I won't be overclocking initially but I'm leaving the door open to doing so later (and adding a second video card for crossfire) as ways to keep the computer super fast. I also won't be using Eyefinity initially but am leaving that door open also.- Cooler Master 690II Advanced Gigabyte X58A-UD5 OCZ Platinum 1600 DR3 6GB Intel I7 950 Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler Crucial C300 128GB Hard drive (for games and OS) SATAII 1TB Hard drive DVD Read/Write (probably Lite-on) Internal Memory Card reader (probably Sony) HP LA2405wg Monitor (1900x1200 with DisplayPort) Still considering: Corsair Silent Pro 750W PSU (may get the 1000W Rosewill lightning if the next wave of graphics cards look power hungry AND if I get a side panel for my 690II) AMD 6870

Sadly, too rich for my blood, but I hope it happens so I have pics to oogle over as others complete them.

The lack of interest is related to (compounded by) the economy. The barometer for interest would be the expected sales figures. In an environment of a strengthening Yen export heavy businesses get more conservative so expected sales figures are immediately reduced. So, you would say expected sales were X, now they're 80% of X, and Y is the minimum number of sales to warrant mass release, the chances of X exceeding Y are slimmer. When you add in how limited the Macross audience already is then yep, lots of exclusives. Naughty girl statuettes > than Macross in terms of profitability any day.