26662

You said the quiet part out loud. Apart from Macross Plus, I honestly haven’t enjoyed the source material since the original series as a 10-ish year old. I’ve tried rewatching the original trilogy since then many, many times but couldn’t stomach it beyond 2-3 episodes. Macross Plus pulled me back in during undergraduate but there wasn’t an accompanying toy line (that I was aware of) so I fueled my passion for mecha by buying 1/55s and Transformers. A big part of me would like the Macross franchise to mature(?) and ditch the songs/sirens angle.

Sweet Jesus, get in my collection! I have the blue version. I picked it up from Mandarake during a stretch where I bought every single Chogokin they had for about a month straight. My wallet still hasn't recovered. I don't know what it is about this design but it just speaks to me. And I haven't even seen the animation! I have zero storyline context but I love the design.

I'm a longtime on/off collector of Transformers as well, and you're right, that community is something else. The quality of Transformers has nosedived over time, and I'm typically stunned(?) by what Transformers fans will embrace in terms of quality, design, and QC. You sound like a kindred spirit: I became a neuroscientist in part because of my fascination with Transformers, Macross, the man-machine interface, etc. from an early age. [Full disclosure, I left neuro when I realized I couldn't live (or even date) on a post-doc's salary. Proud to say I'm much happier now that I've moved into pharma.]

OMG. Can’t you just be happy Bandai cares enough to put their blood, sweat, and tears into a 20-yr old franchise (or thereabouts)? Sweet Jesus, save me from these ignorant, unappreciative hordes. You honestly believe your shitting on these pre-release images will manifest something better at this point? Talk about cutting off one’s nose to spite their face. Look at its construction and design! These guys worked their ass off to translate 2D images into a miraculous 3D valk. Go ahead and sit this one out. I’ll buy enough for the both us us.

I hope the quality is there. I've owned at least one of every commercially-available alpha fighter ever produced and I have yet to be impressed enough to keep even one of them. And w/r to the cyclone, I was pretty stoked to get the Sentinel RIOBOT version until I went to transform it: what a piece of complete junk that was. Before I could even transform it once, the lower leg popped off because the meshed thigh is connected to the plastic calf with just a dollop of glue.

Actually, I dislike both Yamato and Toynami equally. 😜 That said, I’ll be picking up multiples upon multiples of the cyclone and fighter if they get released. 🤞🏻

I haven't seen this advertised here or anywhere outside of Toyark. I'm not a huge fan of Yamato Toynami, but these look amazing! https://www.toyark.com/2023/07/20/sdcc-2023-toynami-robotech-display-508536

Yes, please!

I might be alone on this one, but I kinda miss the joy that came with toy hunting. As an undergrad in 1997, nothing brought me more joy than taking a study break in the middle of the night to tour a handful of Walmarts down the mountain in hopes of finding the latest Beast Wars release. Sure, I was driving around in a Chevy Celebrity that was on a fragment of its last leg, never knowing if I'd have to piss in the radiator to keep the engine from seizing, but those drives were always an absolutely magical experience - especially when the search paid off. Fast forward to today, completing collections has never been easier, especially where it concerns what I used to consider grails. For example, I picked up an MIB 1/55 Elintseeker and an MIB 1/55 Superostrich last week and the euphoria of finally having a 100% complete 1/55 collection barely lasted an hour; I used to be able to ride that "high" for days, if not weeks. And this is a goal I've been chasing for nearly 40 years. Anyone out there missing the chase as much as me?