kajnrig

Just a head's-up: They show up fairly regularly on Yahoo Japan. If push comes to shove, you can look for them there.

Oh right, I don't mean to imply it is their fault, but they're the ones having to run point on it regardless. I haven't paid especially close attention; I want to say they were the ones who submitted concerns to Microsoft/SIG about the connector in the first place.

Oh boy, I wonder how many more of these 1) will show up, and 2) will it take before Nvidia takes action, and 3) will it take for Nvidia to issue a recall and/or redesign the board entirely? I doubt it'll ever get to that third option, but my god imagine the cost of that... (EDIT: I wonder how fragile those connectors actually are. Is it really taking only minor bends to warp them into fire hazards? Or were these users being particularly aggressive with them? It doesn't seem so from the pictures shared.) The way I hear it, the right angle adapter was made for aesthetic reasons first; the practical benefits were a fortunate byproduct. That said, no doubt they'll be marketing the heck out of it now. I was watching a JayzTwoCents video on the issue where he said that AMD was and would be using the same 12VHPWR connector, which appears to have been in error. Scott Herkelman (Radeon senior VP) confirmed:

Is anyone else watching this show? I'd have expected more engagement from this crowd... But maybe there's a reason for that. Four episodes in like I said I would do at minimum, and I think that might be it for me. Maybe give it ONE more episode this weekend, but barring some massive upswing in quality I don't see me continuing past that. As always seems to be the case, Gundam shows strive to tackle ideas that they ultimately can't because they have to sacrifice too much to the altar of... well, Gundam. The franchise is just too mainstream for its own good; every transgressive idea has to be pared back and neutered so that the show can be marketed and merchandised. I can see what Witch from Mercury wants to be about, and how it might be infinitely more able to be about that if it didn't also have to be about Gundam mecha doing Gundam mecha things while Gundam characters talk in Gundam character ways about Gundam politics in a Gundam world...

Probably pepper it full of random lines and holes the way they do with Ver Ka model kits nowadays. Emphasize the psychoframe by introducing a "transformation" mechanic. Like so: I'm curious about the Metal RD Nu Double Fin Funnel. Is the "canon" design supposed to be just the full set split evenly on either side? I always thought it was a full set of six funnels on each side (so 12 funnels total).

Their response: "Thanks for reaching out to us! We are planning on stocking this item however we don't currently have a projected date for when we will receive the item. Make sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our newsletter for updates on new and projected product releases!"

They've stocked and sold a bunch of recent Macross stuff - WWM toys, the SD toys I forget the name of the line, VFG kits, etc. Everything BUT stuff with the UN Spacy roundel, which is why I suspect it's an HG issue (but even then there's the exception of the HMR VF-0S...). Good to know on Gundam Planet.

I've never bought from Gundam Planet, but they have a preorder page up ($48.95 preorder, $50.95 regular); https://www.gundamplanet.com/hg-1-100-yf-19.html I emailed USAGS about whether they'll stock it as well. We'll see what their answer is. Any other places I should inquire? I emailed HLJ an hour ago about the possibility of upping per-order quantities and got promptly but politely shut down.

I honestly don't know. The original Armored VF-1 kit came with both the original VF-1 Battroid hands and a set of original Armored VF-1 hands. On second glance, these appear to either be taken from MG 1/100 Gundam kits (MG Sinanju? Sazabi?) or other third-party articulated hands (like these Hobby Base ones).

Hardware Unboxed did a quick power scaling comparison (the only one I've seen so far, but I'm hoping to see more in the future). The astronomically high TDPs that these new generations were commanding made it seem like they required nothing short of exotic cooling to keep them under control. But the power scaling puts into perspective the generational improvements. The 13900K manages to match the 12900K's Cinebench scores at roughly 170W (compared to I'm guessing the 12900K's full 250W), and the extra 130-150W on top of that gets it an extra ~40% performance increase. (On the AMD side, the 7950X maintains the efficiency edge by getting the same performance at a kind of crazy 75W, at least according to the one HU graph.) Power throttling these CPUs seems like you'll still get really good performance without crazy cooling requirements. But I dunno... that seems almost anathema to their very design, no?

Yeah, anyone know if those are planned revisions to be included with new Armored VF-1 kits? IIRC something similar happened with the Regult recently, something about the joints being updated?

The reviews of Black Adam would suggest they haven't been. I have a feeling Cavill is the one hope this film has at being a success. Maybe he takes on an executive producer role and can dictate some of the creative decision-making.

It's kind of mildly infuriating how there's been more information about this release, two weeks or so after its initial announcement, than there has been about ANY of the supposedly incoming American box sets in what feels like half a year.

Unfortunately, super glue cures into a hard plastic not too dissimilar from the ABS/polystyrene/whatever types that are used in toys and model kits, etc. Super glue remover works by dissolving the super glue... and if the super glue and plastic are made of the same/similar material... yeah... You might - MIGHT! - be able to mechanically break the bond. Super glue has good tensile strength - ie hard to pull apart - but very low shear strength - ie easy to snap. Depending on what's glued and how, you MIGHT be able to twist the joined parts apart. But I have the feeling that's not possible in this situation.

I went with Macross Frontier, Gundam Seed Stargazer, and a bit of Revolutionary Girl Utena myself, for the first episode (well, first episode and prologue) anyway. Second episode was a bit aimless and general world-building, so I've reserved further judgement until episode 3... which I'll get to in just a second and get back to my updates in the MSG thread. I admit I haven't bothered watching G-Rec, but somehow I know it's an apt comparison anyway. IBO is a bit more... nihilistic... from what I remember, but the mecha designs are obviously similar (same designer IIRC), and the pacing maybe? I get some of the same nagging issues from WfM's storytelling as I did from IBO before I dropped it, which doesn't necessarily bode well...

I've seen the kit occasionally pop up on YJA. I know you'd probably rather not have to buy a whole kit just for some spare parts, but if I come across any in the near future I'll post them here. Is it possible to do as Chronocidal said and basically scratchbuild replacement parts for that section?

Both? You mean the YF-29 we saw is actually a husband and wife time-share and they each get to use it every other month out of the year? Or they purposely spent their savings buying the YF-29 so they could fight and bicker over it?

Okay, I was starting to worry that I misremembered parts of Frontier. As for "ignorable," that's my go-to strategy for most things Delta. That's right, I forgot she was supposedly head of Xaos. For being fairly unreliable on most things Macross, that fan wiki is pretty accurate about Delta lore. I suppose that's just owing to it being naturally easier to document modern events than shows/games/etc. from the previous 40 years.

Did Lady M play a role in the goings-on of Frontier? I don't remember her name being uttered in the show or the movies, but some of the comments here suggest she did...? The closest that might be inferred was Richard Birla/Belra holding onto the photo of Minmay. Did Delta retroactively imply her influence on the Vajra events?

Honestly, I'm surprised they've gone this long without advertising it yet.

I like the story behind the -19 he flies in Wings of Goodbye. It's not actually his old YF-19, but a highly illegally modified ace custom of an ace custom production-model VF-19. Its official model number is VF-19EF/A (the DX toy called it either VF-19ADVANCE or VF-19 Advance). The VF-19EF "Caliburn" was developed by Frontier/SMS as a special forces VF prior to adopting the VF-25. Isamu, now part of SMS, wanted his VF-19EF to perform more like the YF-19 he tested some 20 years ago (which is to say: better but wildly), so enlisted the aid of Jan Neumann to source legacy VF-19 (and maybe even YF-19?) parts. Much of this retrofitting would have been illegal due to an export ban that had been placed on the VF-19, but apparently they smoothed things over politically by making their pet project an official "modernization program." (IIRC in-universe the reasoning for the ban was to keep superior tech in the hands of NUNS and Earth (which is why you see the same thing happen with the Y/VF-24 where lower-spec plans are sent to the various emigrant fleets instead of the full design specs), but the meta reason was because Kawamori thought the -19 looked too much like a hero design and didn't want to see it used as cannon fodder ). As part of the modernization program, the affected VF-19EFs were returned to the higher performance specs of the YF-19 and VF-19A variants, and IIRC introduced some technologies from the new VF-25 as well (EX Gear cockpit system, VF-25 engines, and support for the VF-25's Super booster unit), and re-designated the VF-19EF/A. If Max had gone to the same lengths to retrofit a legacy favorite of his, imagine what it could have been. A "VF-22MAX," maybe? An Armored VF-11, finally rendered in 3D? Or maybe even a super customized VF-1? There was the VF-1EX from the early episodes of Delta with the new EX Gear cockpit system... I'd imagine there's only the single YF-30 prototype from Macross 30... which makes it hilarious that IT saw a production VF descended from it and the YF-29 with anywhere from 3 to 6 prototypes didn't. tl;dr - YF-29 was designed to use infinite energy to power and/or enhance basically every facet of a VF. YF-30 was designed to operate in a really specific, really wonky environment while wearing different backpacks. As Bolt says, compared to the YF-29 it's not as capable, but it IS a fighter with fighter roles in mind. I remember being confused about this as well and asking about it some time ago. You'd think it's newer, it's the protagonist's super prototype versus the antagonist in yesterday's model, it MUST be better, right? Makes sense to me. But once it was explained to me and I drove down into the details, I kind of saw why that wasn't really the case. The YF-30's main "fighter-specific innovation" is the modular weapons pod... and that's kind of it. Everything else about it, besides the "Fold Dimensional Resonance System," seems pretty standard VF weapons technology - gunpod, knife, secondary lasers, etc. Even the FDRS, which is supposedly an enhanced version of the YF-29's Fold Wave System, doesn't seem to translate directly to better fighter characteristics. It seems almost to have been simply in the right place at the right time (or could only really exist/be developed in/for one specific location): It resonates/amplifies song energy, and it allows one to navigate fold faults... and the planet Ouroboros where the YF-30 was being developed(?) was doing really funky things with fold space and song energy, to the point of warping characters and singers across space and time to it. The YF-29, on the other hand, is kind of all about DA STRONGEST OFFENSE and DA STRONGEST DEFENSE. I forget the specifics, but there's something about its guns shoot compressed space and/or matter, its big dual-gun shoots out miniature black holes, it has tons of internal missile launchers (IIRC two on its shoulders, two larger ones on its lower legs), and so on. It has the best energy conversion armor ever, and its Inertia Store Converter can store more G's than ever. Its four engines are supertuned past what they "should" be able to sustain. All of this stuff takes a lot of energy, and it gets that energy from the tons and tons of fold quartz integrated into almost every major component and the Fold Wave System, which generates infinite energy and also allows the YF-29 to disrupt fold communications systems like those the Vajra use. I suppose with that in mind, it makes sense that the -30 would get production models and the -29 wouldn't. Kind of hard to mass-produce perpetual motion machines, not so hard to adapt a hinged backpack mechanic.

Gah. Of course. Thanks for the correction.

Right? You knew it was a 4070. We knew it was a 4070. You didn't believe it when you said it, we weren't fooled when you said it. Just change the name and charge what you want to charge for the obvious reasons why and just let it be what it be. You're already dead set on this strategy, you don't get to try and claim any sort of value crown either. Stop trying to have your cake and eat it too.

Gah, it seems I completely misremembered the various YF-29 releases and missed out on one. So as far as toys go, thanks to anymoon.com (I forget... is it you, @seti88?) there are: Alto's YF-29 Durandal 30th Anniversary/Roy Focker's YF-29 Durandal Isamu's YF-29 Durandal Ozma's YF-29 Durandal (forgot this one) Rod's YF-29B Perceval Max's YF-29 Durandal I'm assuming that the only "real" Durandal variants are the Alto, Rod, and Max variants: Alto and Max because they were animated, and Rod because he's the main antagonist of Macross 30. IIRC, the 30th/Roy is a "what if" scheme, and the Isamu and Ozma ones, while they appear in Macross 30, I'm assuming are also non-canon "what if" type designs. The 31AX are weird custom variants of custom variants. They're the VF-31J/C/S/etc. Siegfrieds repaired using VF-31A Kairos parts. I honestly don't know if they deserve to have a whole new designation based on that fact alone, but it does at least help to differentiate them from the regular Kairos and Siegfried versions, if not from each other. I think I'd have preferred something like "VF-31AJ," "VF-31AC," etc. Right, I just meant which ones actually exist as far as the canon is concerned. As explained above, I'm fairly certain the Roy/Isamu/Ozma variants are just "what if" designs thrown into the Macross 30 videogame for fun. So if, officially, there are only three YF-29s in existence, then it makes sense that there wouldn't be a mass-production VF-29 yet or ever. If, however, there are officially 6 YF-29 variants in existence, then it kind of makes a compelling argument to start mass-producing VF-29s, unless the YF-29 was never meant to actually be mass-produced and was only ever a technology test platform.

Something that irks me is how they bother to give it the ol' robotic doll facial animations and the non-moving hands, but then can't bother to make its full-body animations more robotic as well and instead just have a regular person moving with a mask on or composite the face on or whatever. Certainly doesn't sell the illusion quite as well as