jenius

I'm sure some of you saw this coming... Read up about Toynami's Comic-con booth here. I realize many of you won't trust my conclusions and I'm okay with that but I heard the news from Japan and HK before asking Toynami about it at Comic-con.

+1 And ya know... I'm a bit too mature for that. Just a bit.

Totally off topic but I was looking up Tommy Yune's conversation and I found this recent CNN interview: http://video.aol.com/video-detail/ireporte...cid=VIDLRVNWS05 I was expecting an interview about Robotech.

I doubt that's true. Do you think the Alpha would be in it? Probably not because it looks like a boxy 80s design. The new transformers don't look like the old ones either. I would have never expected LAM designs to closely resemble cartoon designs.

You may want to take your cartoons a bit less seriously.

If your grasp of the situation was correct... don't you think the situation wouldn't exist? I'm just saying... maybe there are more legal amateurs in this thread than you realize... Yeah but imagine how cool it would be to see Macross Frontier on Adult Swim or SciFi channel or something. I know the American anime market isn't huge but who knows, it could be lucrative. Apparently not a risk worth the headache though.

The Tats/BW battle ended with it being confirmed that Tats did have rights to the animation and thus the sell of them to HG was legitimate. What wasn't legitimate was the thought that any sort of intellectual property rights came bundled in that package. As the original Macross is part of Robotech, and is called the Macross Saga, they do have a right to the name.

I'm afraid I won't be able to attend. My August calendar just filled up. It's a shame too, I was hoping things would stay open and I could check out J-town with the crew.

Ha, more 1/48 Focker weathering editions!

Wow, when I saw reissue and read everyone's thoughts I was hoping for a reissue of the Koenig with some improvements. Dead stock though? Not so exciting.

I believe that episode is being aired at Comic-con also.

I'm definitely not arguing that HG has done well with their business. Actually, it seems to me that the animation angle of their business is more a hobby, a somewhat profitable hobby, but a small enough hobby that they let it be run by a bunch of people who have little industry experience and not a whole lot of direction. It's like the brass at HG said "Hey, maybe we could make a lot of money off this Robotech franchise." They hired a bunch of lawyers, threw a bunch of weight around they didn't have, and failed miserably. After all that they gave up saying: "Hey, you guys really like Robotech right? Well, it's making enough money for us to employ some people, why don't you take the helm?" So now HG comes off to me as a bunch of amateurs who probably have their heart in the right place but don't really know what they're doing. They've got all the right general ideas, they're trying to defend the license and grow the name brand, but the truth is the name brand needs to be taken away and given to someone with clout and muscle. They're trying to write new storylines but they don't have any accomplished storytellers. They're trying to create new mecha but they don't have any accomplished mechanical designers. They're trying to market the hell out of it but they have no marketing budget. They're trying to animate new shows but they have no animation talent or budget. The problem is, if the franchise does go to someone with more clout, once the ones who love it lose control of it there's no telling what it will become. Some who have seen Shadow Chronicles would probably gamble on it turning out better though. And yes, they still deserve a cut of every VF-1 sold outside of Japan. That's what they paid for, they deserve it. Is it a sustainable way for HG to continue to exist? No. Does it suck for all of us that BW won't let Yamato and Bandai sell internationally? Yes. Can you blame BW after HG's legal bs? No. Did Macek ever imagine this clusterf*ck when he was gluing together three series? No. It's kind of funny to think that Robotech only aired for about one season and has as big a following as it does. Just think about all the other shows that were around so much longer and no one gives a crap about. Still, in a few more years that small franchise from the past will be just about as memorable if HG can't get WB to right their ship.

You're being very narrow in your vision and choosing to villify HG instead of looking at the larger scope. There is room to villify HG in how they made their legal attacks which killed their relationship with the rightful Macross rights owners back in Japan. They were stupid and wrong and in their desperate attempt to grab more dollars they were just loading the gun to shoot themselves in the foot with (and I believe Macek was no longer involved with HG at that point but I may be wrong). Years later, in their horribly mismanaged and bungled way, they saw that they had screwed up but the damage was done. They tried to make inroads back with Yamato and just about anyone that would listen to them (including Bandai) but they had burned so many bridges they had no where left to go. They don't deny that Macross is an existing and successful franchise, they just say "Don't look over there, look over HERE!" and point to the stuff that they can make money on. That's just business. Even the "Macross" trademark makes sense since The Macross Saga is the most popular arch of Robotech (although it still seems douchey). They paid good money to have a license. Those dealers are making conscious decisions to try to make a money in a gray market. They shouldn't complain when HG says "Ahem... we have a license we paid good money for." Of course, this is only true of merchandise from the orignal Macross series. I still find it insane to think they would try to stop MacF, MacZero, or MacPlus merchandise from being brought over although I'm not sure if they do any more. Now see, you should be angry with BW then. HG just wants to earn a percentage off of each sell of Yamato or Bandai merchandise for the original series (again, if they tried to make money off any other series that would be wrong... and they have been wrong often). As the legal license holder outside of Japan they are ENTITLED to that percentage (again, this is why they are entitled to shut stores down selling merchandise and not giving them a cut). HG first burned the crap out of BW and as a result BW forbids the international distribution of toys they license. So, you can't get toys anywhere outside of Japan because BW doesn't allow it. Robotech, HG, and all involved have bad reputations for lots of very good reasons. It just seems a little odd to drag the original guy into it and pin most of the complex mess that happened long after the creative phase was over back on him.

There are actually TWO pictures Yamato has for Summer WonderFestival that are blacked out. One is clearly the GBP, the other picture is an entirely black square so you can't see the sillouette, maybe that's the phalanx? The black square is right next to a Weathering Edition Tomahawk.

Damn, what's with the hostility toward Macek? He was a business guy who made business deals; he wasn't out to hurt anyone. He was trying to bring cartoons to the US and make a dollar. No one, not Tatsunoko, not Big West, not Studio Nue, not your grandmother, ever thought the rights for a little cartoon in Japan would escalate into so much frustration and so many opportunities lost. Edit - if he was literally raised without the presence of a father, then I apologize for inferring you meant some hostility there.

He credits himself with the Legend of Zelda theme?

But the VF-19 looks like it got stuck between transformations in Gerwalk mode... it has never looked like an intended mode in anything I've ever seen. So, if the toy looks like a halfassed creation I think that'd be pretty fitting.

Excellent use of the destroid ground crew and excellent diorama.

It looks like the legs must be parts swapping as the carved area is missing and there is no spot to put the landing gear in battroid.

The CMs legioss is roughly the same size as the MPC Alpha, the Tread is much smaller than an MPC Beta. You can see comparison pics on my site if you click the Tread/Beta link you'll get to it quickly.

The CMs ride armors are finicky and small, they started very fragile but the newer releases improved. The CMs Legioss/Tread combo are two very well made toys with clicky joints and super sturdy. The only fragile thing I've found with them is the paint on the head wears off because it rubs against the chest in fighter mode. EDIT - I have not planned on purchasing the "improved" legioss/tread set so no review planned here. If I ever find one super cheap I'll change my tune.

Overdrive went to a show (In May I think) and CMs had the improved blue Legioss/Tread set on display along with the pictures of the fixed-pose civilian clothed cast from Mospeada to go along with the ride armor toys. I didn't see anything about a release date though. Honestly, I expected the thing to become vaporware until I saw the picture of it at that show.

If that's a Robot Soul toy (and I have no idea but it looks like what the sign says) then it wouldn't transform. (EDIT - although it does look transformable)

You know what is due out in the meantime? The Aoshima Tread. I've got me a blue one of those on order... primarily to see if Aoshima makes any upgrades. I hope Toynami has an announcement at SDCC about an all plastic Alpha but I get the feeling we won't be hearing about that until next year after all the variants of the current MPC Beta have been on the market for a while

I believe it's due out right at the end of July but still july last time I looked