ewilen

Look at the lower picture here for the Iranian F-5 mod.

Look at the top right picture. It looks like the port side of the bow "ramp" is twisted upward. It may be just a freak of perspective combined with the shape of the ship. Or possibly some kind of distortion introduced by the (virtual?) lens.

This belongs in the other animation section. Anyway, I picked the last option, since as noted elsewhere there's no choice for "I'll think about buying one if the price drops far enough". In fact, I did buy one of the Toynami blister-pack morphers when I saw it for $2 at a comics store, and I'd even consider getting a Ben VF-1A MPC if the price was right.

Back on topic... It's some neat artwork... When I look at it, I see hints of the SDP-01 sticking out in the picture... the naked gatling gun and the fins on the FAST packs are similar. We've discussed one of those before though. Didn't we just go through this? I agree it's silly to try to come up with an explanation for fan customs or prototype sketches (although it doesn't bother me enough to initiate a rant). However, these pictures are artwork from an official promo made well after the original series, and all I said was it would be nice if there was a backstory. If anything, it would be surprising if there weren't a lot more minor variants and loadouts of Macross-universe mecha that don't make it into the main story, at least if you compare weapons development during 20th-century wars. Most of them are minor because it turns out they weren't very cost effective, or were only used for a limited purpose. Nevertheless, they're interesting to technology freaks. Everyone else can just ignore them. Edit--ah, missed this: Okay, I hope you feel better now.

The perspective in the four view (first post) looks kind of weird to me, as if one of the corners is tilted up.

Note that the Valk in the picture isn't just any Super VF-1S--it's Skull 1. It'd be cool if there was a back story to this variant somewhere.

No real disagreement with what you say, haterist--I'm just pointing out that even a seemingly safe investment has risks. Basically, unless you're very good at somehow predicting future value, I'd look at collectibles as something akin to gold--in the sense that their value should track inflation. But they're riskier than gold since they're also subject to fads. Also, it's a lot easier to sell gold at a known price point than it is to recover the value of a collectible--especially a niche item like a Macross toy. And again, storing them is a liability.

Welcome to Macross World! You might want to look at this thread: http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=2027 Stuff about various Monster models, including comments on accuracy/proportions.

That pic from Jung is great. For a fighter mode comparison, you can look at http://www.robotech.com/infopedia/sizecomparison/20ppm.php (but you might have to log into RT.com). It's on the bottom of the page. Also this by Jung:

VF is how the Navy designates a fighter squadron. V I believe refers to heavier than air aircraft (non-helicopter); F means fighter. Helicopter squadrons start with "H" and airship squadrons start with "Z". Here are a couple useful links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Unite...craft_squadrons http://navysite.de/terms-squads.htm http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/squades.htm Most complete description (in PDF, 114 kb): http://www.history.navy.mil/avh-1910/APP16.PDF

I agree with haterist, mostly, except that mutual funds, stocks, bonds aren't a guaranteed payoff. Even US Savings Bonds and FDIC-insured savings accounts can be losers if inflation outstrips interest. There's no way to take risk out of investment. That said, collectibles aren't especially good investments for most people. And to add to Mechamaniac's comment, if you're just collecting for the sake of investment, you're going to incur the ongoing cost of storing your stuff. If you happen to have a spare bedroom, then it's just an inconvenience (at least until you start a family). If you have to move to a bigger place, rent storage, or build an addition to your house, you'd probably be better off selling the stuff.

Errr...yeah. Did I say Americans? Looks like Cyc has conversion notes for Robotech RPG, Sillhouette, and Big Eyes, Small Mouth. http://members.optusnet.com.au/~cyc01/rpg.htm

Since "good" depends on what the user wants, it can't possibly be false. To the fan who doesn't get his game, there's no difference between the market ignoring the needs of fans of obscure games and the market ignoring the needs of Macross fans. And broadly speaking, they're both the same: if American Macross fans had enough market clout, the legal problems would be litigated or settled. Since they don't, the region lockout facilitates Harmony Gold's blockade and severely reduces the export market for Macross video games. Finally, the whole thing started with Keith's complaint about region lockouts which keep him from playing Macross games. So where does that leave your comment about framing the argument?

You're still talking about Macross. Yes, I'm talking about Macross video games. The latest of the bunch, released in October 2003 for the PS2, is discussed in a number of threads in the Macross:Gaming section. Prospects for a US release are murky at best. Who said anything about Robotech?

Believe it, because the context isn't the distribution of Macross, it's the availability of video games. Two different concepts. I am talking about video games. "is there any game that doesn't get translated at one point or another?" To Macross fans the answer is an obvious "yes".

I can't believe you wrote this in a Macross forum.

If it's on a bootleg DVD, do you know which "production company" made the DVD? Not all of them are necessarily going to have it.

I don't think the Japanese make RPG's of anime, if by RPG you mean the paper-and-pencil D&D type game. So it's up to Americans to do it--and for that, I assume the Robotech RPG has been sufficiently annotated and modified by Mospeada officianados. There was however a Mospeada board game, probably a simple wargame of the Avalon Hill/SPI/TSR variety. Some pics here. Some more info and pics here.

This is the first I've heard of it. Does anyone know if it's available for download?

Congrats, Rob!

That's pretty much what I thought about the mission. Which could be rephrased as Canada "doing her share" in collective security--a pretty thankless job. In my opinion, if Canada can come out ahead financially, you should go for it even if it means having a slightly less capable fighter. I'm not so sure that EF is superior to JSF, by the way. Especially when you consider that the toughest job for the Canadian Air Force is almost certainly not going to be intercepting airliners or air-air combat (who is going to be on the other side?) but bombing in conjunction with US or UN interventions. If so, stealth should count for a lot, as should range, payload, and numbers (which goes hand in hand with replacement cost). JSF obviously wins on the stealth and numbers areas. External stores capacity of JSF is 6805 kg vs. 6500-8000 kg for EF 2000. Not clear if JSF gets "extra credit" for its internal bays. The EF 2000 has 13 external weapons stations (not sure how this is counted); the JSF has 7 external plus two internal and two wingtip missile rails. Ground attack radius for F-35 appears to be 600-700 nm. For EF 2000 I see about 750 nm quoted for a hi-lo-hi mission profile. So on the surface I see the JSF being about as capable as a nonstealthy tactical bomber, but you can buy a lot more of them, plus you can use it as a stealthy bomber. If Canada also comes out ahead financially, JSF looks like a winner. But that's only provided the JSF actually materializes at the price and capabilities which have been promised.

Yes, that's what I'm saying, JB0. Take M0 for example. List price per episode is 5000 yen--about $44.70. Do they think they'll be able to charge that much in the US--assuming they ever release it here? I doubt it. So why not make the domestic Japanese release Region 0? They'd be bound to pick up a few American and European sales. If they added an English subtitle track, so much the better.

Or try this: http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=7131 I was really bored most of the time when I watched RT:NG. But I enjoyed Mospeada. Also, I hated the little girl in NG, but I liked her in Mospeada. One thing I particularly enjoyed about the show, although it could have been emphasized a little more, was the friendship between Ray and Stig, and more generally, the theme of friendship and devotion to comrades.

I doubt it, unless Sony shared the profits with movie studios. Regionalization is designed to maximize the profits of the movie studios by allowing them to charge whatever the market will bear in each area, and to prevent access to the DVD version in a given region before the movie's been released in theaters. It has the annoying semi-side effect of facilitating censorship (e.g., I've read that the UK release of Eyes Wide Shut has footage that isn't in the US version) and, as we know, creating stumbling blocks for watching anime. (This gets into a bit of a peeve--why in the world do Japanese anime companies even bother to regionalize their stuff? Domestic Japanese releases probably have a higher margin than elsewhere, so it's not like they'd be cannibalizing more lucrative markets if they just made them regionless.)

More generally, Noyhauser, what missions does Canada have in mind for the F-35?