Roger

The status of the original molds shouldn't matter. Nowadays it's pretty simple to take an existing 3-D item and copy it, you just need to have the money, and the reassurance that you're going to make several times that amount of money back. I'm pretty sure that Bandai created all new molds in China for the Valkyrie reissues, and it would have been worth it because they ended up using them seven times (if my count is right), and it was most likely much cheaper and faster to do that rather than digging up the old Takatoku/Bandai/Matsuhiro ones in Japan, shipping them to China, and getting them serviceable again. (Deja vu?)

Remember, danth, everybody's out to get you because you're paranoid...

How many other 9" tall fully variable and armored Valkyrie toys are you finding for less than $85?

Pre-orders for the Beta is being offered by retailers, and pictures were shown at NYCC of a test shot, produced from the actual molds. You may have missed those things. First of all, Harmony Gold is the company that makes Robotech. Toynami is a toy company that makes Robotech toys. Harmony Gold is not making these toys. Secondly, the statement about releasing the rare and exotic variants said that this was something they planned on doing. It wasn't a promise. It wasn't written in stone. As we all know, plans change. I think you're misstating and overstating things that weren't actually said. Personally, I just choose to call you a silly goose. Honk, honk. So are you buying any of the reissues?

Come on, "Toynazi?" Really?

Oil has hit $122 a barrel: http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/06/markets/oil.ap/index.htm Zinc prices are rising dramatically: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/06/coin.infl...n.ap/index.html The basic materials used to make our plastic monsters and metal robots are getting more expensive by the day. Add to that a weakening dollar, rising foreign labor and transportation costs, and you can see it's going to be rougher and rougher for manufacturers and collectors alike. Adjust your disposable income accordingly...

No. Has anyone seen any new Macross Frontier hentai stuff?

Don't forget that the toys didn't turn out to be that great, either.

Are you talking about the Toycom Macross Plus toys? If so, what US entity was going to grant licenses for those?

Or, he's the Finger of God, who has so far been the central figure in causing the deaths of billions of humans, the subsequent exodus of the survivors, and the splintering of the cylon race in order to move both species through the next cycle of whatever their destiny is. I think the show gives us more evidence for the latter than the former.

Yes, but it just happened to be the exact type of nonsense that would catch her attention. It's a similar situation to the cylons who hang on every words the the hybrids utter. And as we've seen, they've been correct about certain things, too. There has to be something more to it. If there isn't, then the writers have really been wasting our time putting these puzzle pieces in front of us for five years.

I think the "official line" should be what you see and hear on the screen, not what the show's creators (who have a vested interest in keeping you watching and playing their cards as close to the vest as possible) say in interviews. After all, if Moore and Eick were 100% upfront, honest, and truthful and answered every question as completely as possible, then there'd be no point in watching the show to see what happens, would there? They're either lying to us, or they've changed their minds since they were asked the questions. Either scenario is forgivable, I just want the story to work. I still want explanations for the following, though, eventually: 1) How did Anders, a cylon, get pneumonia? 2) How did Athena get all of Boomer's memories?

At the least, there was one person who definitely would have known about it (Anders) and another person Tigh may have confided in (Adama). Even if many people knew, though, why would it have been discussed with a cylon prisoner? Remember, the scene took place before Baltar's trial and the circumstances of Ellen's death became public record. Check out: http://en.battlestarwiki.org/wiki/Cylon-Re..._Hallucinations

Come on, Baltar just came up with the music metaphor (the one that would sway Tory) by chance? Number Six just happened to figure out on her own that Tigh killed his wife? The Six in Baltar's head just happened to predict that a cylon-human baby would be created, a few episodes before they even knew Athena was pregnant (or existed), and where the baby would be born? Even back in the mini-series, the Six in Baltar's head pointed out where the cylon tracking device was in CIC. Too many coincidences.

Even if she is, the imaginary Baltar in Baltar's head was able to feed him information about the music that Tory heard in the nebula. The same goes for the Baltar in Caprica Six's head. It knew that Tigh killed his wife and let Caprica Six know about it so she could manipulate him. I think it's pretty clear at this point that these aren't merely figments of the characters' imaginations and are the manifestations of some other unknown power. Call them "angels from God" or something else, but they're pretty hip to what's going on in other peoples' heads and what's going to happen.

"The inside of the alligator snapping turtle's mouth possesses an appendage on the tip of its tongue used to lure fish, a form of Peckhamian mimicry..."

Mmm. Green Tread, brown bread... I am loving every iota of this so far.

I have a cassette of Herbert reading the banquet scene from Dune, and I believe he pronounces it HARK-o-nen, with the emphasis on the first syllable. (Incidentally, the same way you pronounce Harkavy.)

Yep, I'm familiar with that one. It's supposed to be an older mecha used by Earth-based resistance forces. There's a similar one called the "Wolf" that's a troop carrier.

Nice coffee table! I wonder where they got it.

Nope, new toys. The Godzilla is a scaled-up replica of the first one from 1966.

Do they have waist joints?

I think the same people who can accept paying $250 (really more like $280 now) for the Legioss/TLEAD are the same people who wouldn't bat an eyelash at spending around $200 apiece for 40 cm hollow vinyl monsters like these: (Yes, that's supposed to be Godzilla on the left.) There are people who can accept a robot toy looking like a toy, and people who can't. And that's okay. Diff'rent strokes to the world.

I don't know of any other Artmic books, but the B-Club special has a couple of pages with photos of the staff and bios. There's also a Wikipedia Japan page: http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%...%83%83%E3%82%AF A couple of tidbits I learned about Artmic recently: Suzuki, the founder, was the nephew of the president of Imai. Also, one of the original office/apartment units they used to occupy in that horrid blue building in Kichijoji is currently for lease or sale (that part wasn't clear). Who wants to open an Artmic Museum there? ;p

Sadly, there are very few true Japanese toys these days. Almost everything is made in China, so that's why it appears there first. So far it looks very plasticy, very toy-ish. Nice!