jenius

I think more what I'm arguing against is the fact that Macross has been doing such a horrible job of de-magic-fying things. I'm okay if something shows up on screen that seems magical only to be explained three episodes later as scientific. That's fine, it keeps the audience on their toes. What we're seeing in Macross though isn't that. We're seeing really random stuff and never offered the slightest hint as to how it's happening. There's also a lot of subjectivity here too. I was okay with the AFOS lifting all the ships out of the water and dealing out all sorts of death and destruction because it's an alien craft with alien technologies. I was not okay with Mao appearing to Shin in a vision and communicating with him that way. Mao may have had a rare blood type or whatever but, as a viewer, I have a hard time swallowing that her and Sarah are magic-wielders and that's okay because a gabillion years ago the Proto-Culture swung by and played with some island residents. I also hated Mao's blood being a match with the AFOS' but that's probably just a personal qualm. It can have lots of stuff in it but it can't take existing de-mystified stuff, like a rock, and mystify it and then fail to write in a reason for having done so. A lot of the stuff you're talking about is fine but why have it in a show called Macross? The original Macross didn't have a bunch of crazy mystic crap in it so if you want to make a sci fi mystical show shouldn't you just start with something new rather than adapting something existing? There was lots of dialogue in the original series but we never heard the Zents talking about anything scarier than miclones. That's not to say the stuff isn't out there it's just to say that the original series did nothing to associate itself with all these half-baked "sequels" it has sprung (although obvioulsy plenty of contextual/chronological ties exist). YES, Macross mustn't because it doesn't introduce any of these elements. I like my sequels to expand upon the existing... not reinvent it. The other big difference is the Mayan are humans who we're supposed to be okay with having alien abilities after eons of breeding and kickin' it on Earth. What in Macross prepares me for superhumans on Earth pre SW1? Nothing. On the same token, if a prequel to Mospeada showed a human doing what Sara or Mao do it still would seem completely inappropriate. It's the aliens that are capable of crazy stuff, not humans.

I've never watched a single episode of Gundam. Um, birds have wings they move to fly. I think it's perfectly logical to accept anything flying that has a means of flying, even if said means are explained away by scientific babble like antigravity would be. A rock, on the other hand, has no means in any way of elevating from the ground. Therefore, if it were to elevate there would need to be an unseen force acting against it (ie. magic). To then require a girl singing to said rock or otherwise controlling it... No, the writers got too lazy to even attempt to explain any of this. If they were going for a mystical feel (as it seems they were) then the audience has gone from the non-mystical original series to a mystical sequel... that will irritate some, as evidenced here. Again, there's NOTHING EVER AT ANY TIME in the original series that sets us up for this kind of hocus pocus. We're going from a series that strived to have a bit of a realistic feel (difficult when dealing with transforming jets, giants, etc) to one that mocks itself by embracing magic (or, if it makes you feel better, a technology the series has thusfar been entirely unable to describe). Also remember that that scene was not followed by Minmay singing to the SDF-1 and thus lifting it off the ground and pushing it into space. The problem was solved by using thrusters. Again, a precedent was set that was later abolished. You accept all the freaks in Xmen because they've been there since the beginning and backstories are given to them. It's the same in pretty much every show you've hinted at. It's not the same in Macross. It's non-sensical to argue Macross must go this route to stay interesting. It's establisehd logically in the first series and movie that there was a MUCH more advanced civilization out there and that all humans can do is reverse engineer from this Easter egg they've received. That provides a huge variety of avenues for the story to go in. You don't NEED to have telepathy, happy music rays, telekinesis, or any other form of magic to keep it fresh.

Yes but when? Certainly not in the original Macross or DYRL. Exactly my point... the Macross universe currently has a completely crappy version of Magic being explained by "spiritia" (in Mac7, they don't even bother attempting an excuse in MacZero). I believe that, through the use of spiritia, any possible thing beneficial to pushing a plot forward can magically be accomplished... WHOA, look at that, it works! Rocks fly to help the protagonist escape, people can communicate telepathically at just the right moment, and naked chicks can levitate and grow flowers when the plot needs a twist. It's like the epitome of the laziest writing ever and it has almost ZERO connection to the original series. Mac7 at least makes a (crappy) attempt of providing some sort of scientific basis for "sound energy" but just when the viewer is about to have to puke from having digested that crock MacZero comes along and steps it up to an even more ridiculous level (and the whole time I watched Firebomber dance their way out of a conflict I never would have imagined things were about to get more ridiculous). The Star Wars reference is valid because in the very first Star Wars movie we were given The Force and told it was the shiz so we accept it every time we encounter it hence forth. There ain't crap in the original Macross that has me ready to accept floating rocks, floating chicks, or the ability to sing to flowers and make them brow. Your theory about Mayan being ruins of a protoculture city is cool and all but aren't you just really filling in giant holes the writers of MacZero couldn't be bothered with? "Um, you think we should explain what any of this means?" "No, if we explain things now it makes retcon harder later."

The Banprestos are modern toys. If it's an old Macross toy you were playing with it was almost certainly made by Takatoku or maybe Bandai. You can just click on the manufacturer names to see what those companies made (although, admittedly, I don't have every single offering up... but I'm working on it very slowly). You mean to ask what were the three best Valkyrie toys made? There are a lot of things to take into consideration. By far the best modern toy is Yamato's 1/48 offerings. The easy best for vintage was pretty much the only show in town, the Takatoku 1/55 (very similar to the Transformer Jetfire). If you're looking for a smaller scale toy the best is Toynami's 1/100 series (or at least that's the best I can think of at the moment). The best Macross toy (aka SDF-1) was Takatoku's 1/3000 and there's not much competition so the best modern SDF-1 toy is the WAVE WHAM 1/5000 piece. PS - If you're looking for an old classic in decent shape I have a few Takatoku 1/55s for sale on this board at what I think most would consider pretty low prices.

It really depends on how much you're willing to pay for nostalgia. Anything above $100 should be absolutely pristine at that kind of money. You can get these at less than perfect condition for less.

OOh it does make an appearance in the show. Nifty.

I would guess a Takatoku 1/100 scale? Did it look like this? Go to the site in my signature and search around if that's not it. If it is it, and you want to see more then click here. Bandai released a 1/100 VF-1A in Hikaru's colors, it's essentially the same toy as the brown 1/100 Takatoku released but with a slightly different head mold.

Not exactly. Granted, you'd like to see jobs tacked to the inflation rate but people who have jobs that aren't tacked typically carry a good amount of debt. They won't make up the entire 3% but they'll make up a portion of it there (as the money they repay isn't worth as much as the money the borrowed). When runaway inflation happens all bets are off.

To be fair, GERWALK combined fighter (I think) was never seen in the show either, it's just really cool line art at this point. For my part, I seriously doubt the CMs can pull this off. We can all see the Legioss sits WAY too low when linked with its feet way splayed apart (because it is sitting so low the feet run smack dab into the Tread's hips). If you have a flexi-display stand I bet anything is possible but it's probably going to take some tweaking and be a "display case only" type of pose.

Then I expect to be able to throw it through a building with no damage!!!! What? Too literal? Sorry.

I love Mospeada still. Don't listen to Cyde, he's insane.... isane I tell yoU!!!!!

Well Kicker, knowing that, if I ever find the ones that were supposed to go with that Valk I sold you I'll shoot you a PM.

Isn't that from the relatively obscure alternate ending to Army of Darkness? That ending definitely sucked in comparison to the regular one.

Toynami is the best company ever, don't believe the hype! <---- Jenius, never one to not live up to the way people paint him. SHAMELESS PLUG - Click on the link in my sig to learn the whole truth and nothing but the truth (as completely tainted by my opinions)

Oh I'm gettin' one... just haven't decided which one yet. The blue one would be my normal choice but making the others LEs is a bit appealing. OOOOh, you think we'll see a super LE Dark Legioss version?? Does CMs ever do super LE stuff?

I'd pilot the little spider craft that went out and picked up the wreckage from you fools after you were slaughtered. I would then come back to base and console your girlfriends.

You may be best waiting for a used Alpha to come up on the boards. Sometimes it's better to let someone else take the initial risk. I have plenty of decent Alphas with a few so-so ones (but I sent a bunch back to Toynami).

That's true. I think it's safe to assume that every legioss was meant to have a corresponding Tread to mate to (we do see three of the four in the series) but it's also true that the red Legioss has it's own paint variation so its Tread may also appear unique. Without an actual illustration though it can't be definitively labeled as incorrect. It'd be cool if Toynami still makes their Beta and chooses to go with a variant paint scheme that better matches the Alpha's. Then again, it'd still be made by Toynami.

Even so, for pure means of flexibility it would make sense to have a couple. The Tread is what gets the Alpha to space, it's the bomber component, it serves some functions. What if the intent were to drop it off in orbit but the attack was so fierce you had to scramble beforehand? Wouldn't hurt to have a tread handy.

Even if the Zeta is a somewhat specialized Legioss for atmospheric combat you could still think of plenty of reasons to give it a Tread. The Zeta still has to get down to Earth so fighting with a Tread on its way down like Stig did would probably be the option that makes the red Legioss just as deadly as a blue one in space and then ditches the Tread (assuming its bomber role) once entering the atmosphere.

Yep, if these things go bargain bin i might pick one up.

Myk gives some good points. I said 100 years though although yeah, it'd suck to wake up Blue Gender style. Think about what's happened in the last 100 years... anything more than that and you may be completely lost.

I don't mean to pick on you but this is all wrong. 1) The value of paper curreny is a function of demand. It goes up, it goes down. The biggest factor there being the export/import business. The dollar is getting weaker. That means it's more expensive for people in the US to buy goods from the rest of the world so there are less US dollars floating around (less supply). This also means it's cheaper for the rest of the world to buy stuff from the US. This means that the US economy will get a boost from people buying US goods. Also, the dollar is an investment and as its value drops demand for it grows. The system self-regulates. The US trade deficit ought to decrease, the dollar will start to climb again. 2) The US economy is only very loosely regulated by the Government. The Government has been spending a TON lately which actually helps the economy just as private sector spending helps the economy. It's the monetary and fiscal policies established by the Fed and the Fed is a FORWARD looking group of economists and bankers that has the most direct effect on our economy. Constant decreases in the FedFund rates has kept the economy afloat during the subprime debacle that is shredding the world economy, not just the US (even if it is the US's shoddy lending practices that push the first domino over). 3) The economy is much bigger than the government. It takes a really inept government to crash an economy, it really takes a worldwide course of calamity (think Great Depression). The subprime credit crunch is a minor worldwide calamity and that's why we're seeing such reverberations. It's not the US' wars that are doing it, or OPEC, or any other number of crappy situations. 4) Inflation isn't any worse than deflation so long as it's kept to a reasonable amount. What inflation actually means though isn't that "things cost more" it means "your money is worth less." If everything inflates as it should you'll find yourself with like 3% more money in your wallet buying things that cost 3% more than they used to. The net is neither a gain or loss. If this is hard to stomach imagine you owe $10K to someone to be paid a year from now and inflation is 3%. A year from now you'll pay them back $10K but you'll have made 3% on the deal since your money is now worth less.

If it says Toynami on it then it seems really hard for me to believe that Aoshima did friggin' anything to produce it. I still hope the Beta gets made, I bought enough Toynami MPCs to have one really good one of each and I'd love to have one really good Beta to go with each of them. Of course, if the Aoshima offering is any indication where QC is heading these days then these companies can both go directly to hell and not pass go. Well, I'll expect the worst but hope for the best.

I don't really feel like anyone is being hard on me. Here you guys go, I found the comment from "Tommy" over at RT.com Does the Legioss say "Toynami" on a stamp on it anywhere or does it say "Aoshima"? Also, by the information that was available at the time, what I told Lynx was the most up-to-date information available. It's hardly like I sought out to misinform him. Sorry I didn't put a disclaimer that the information was only based on hearsay, website postings on CollectionDX (IIRC), and the Release Dates Toynami was showing on their convention circuit (which we should all know are wild optimism just short of outright lies at all times). EDIT - to put it into context, the "recent posts" Tommy is referring to was all the speculation was that the Tread/Beta had been cancelled due to the mess that is the Aoshima Legioss.