Mog

Thanks, Ace! Glad to see the custom found its way to a MW home. Wouldn't mind seeing someone taking this to the next logical step and doing the 19 up in the white with yellow and black trim color-scheme.

Thanks for the post, eriku. Part of me isn't surprised by this news. But part of me wishes Toynami would still just say "screw it", grow some freakin' balls, and just release their damn Beta already. Oh well, just means more money to CM's.

Is this gonna be like the "I'm amphibious" quote from awhile back that really wasn't a hint about a future release? When I first saw this latest sig, I just figured it was Graham putting up a quote/lyric he considers really cool. Nothing more, nothing less. Am I correct? (for once in this thread)

Anyone ever save a pic of takatoys' YF-19 custom in the Skull-1 color-scheme? I checked out the original thread/post, but the pics are no longer there. He added a nice touch where the signature color-scheme is even on the chest parts in battroid mode.

Well, the sleek fighter mode, dual gunpods, accurate landing gear placement, and first release FAST PACKS(!!!!) are some good first steps with the 21. But still, Yamato absolutely, positively has to bring it's A-game on the design and QC side of things with the YF-21. And yes, after not purchasing any of the Zero releases, I'll step up, take the plunge, and be the test dummy on a couple of these first release birds.

^^Fair enough, Shin..................Gotta keep our priorities in order.

Not to take anything away from your argument, but would you at least concede that fansubs potentially expose more people to these anime shows? The fansubs really developed and nutured my appreciation and exposure to Black Lagoon. Sure, there was the good word of mouth. But actually seeing and experiencing the series for myself was the best selling point. I'm usually very picky when it comes to my DVD purchases. And granted, I'm waiting until a box set of the ENTIRE Black Lagoon series is released in the US. But it's because of that initial exposure from the internet fansubs that I even have the desire to purchase the Black Lagoon DVD's. Without those same fansubs, would my strong desire to purchase the series' DVD's even have existed in the first place? I doubt it.

Yep, the "hunt" just pauses for a bit while you wait for the releases you want. Odd that they're releasing the two pilots without their respective rides. Please tell me Hasbro knows our wishes about getting a non-astronaut Ace. They surprised us with Serpentor's design; hopefully they'll do the same with Ace.

Regarding bluecyclone's pic, am I the only one hoping that pic is right after Indy's popped a cap into another fancy-schmancy, sword-wielding fool?

With all this talk about whether the beaver tail is anime accurate or whether Yamato should add the delimiter mode feature, you know what I'd like the FEET to do? 1) Support and keep upright the battroid in a variety of poses. 2) Make that beautiful "click-click-click" sound of good-old reliable, rachet joints. 3) And if at all possible, I'd like the feet to have that "lateral wiggle" that the 1/48 VF-1's have, so the feet can easily support a nice, wide A-stance. Call me silly or simple, but now I just want no QC issues or no design flaws on the YF-21. Yamato's already giving us a sleek fighter, the dual gunpods, and the fast packs with this first release. Now, I just hope they put that same amount of effort into their design and quality control for this bird. Regarding us "having such a cow," our main concern about the detachable limbs is that "removable" could easily result in "loose" or "floopy" joints. I'd much rather have a poseable Valk that can hold a ton of poses than a loose-jointed mess. If the delimiter mode has to be sacrificed for solid and poseable limbs, I'm willing to live with that loss.

It depends on which mode you want to pose your Valks in too. Personally, regardless of the Valk's mode, I'm a staunch believer in mixing and matching the rod lengths to get the best possible pose.

I'm too lazy to find the actual pic where she's holding a bottle (ala a Corona girl shirt). But here's a link to a small reference pic (along with the absolutely awesome work Ryuji did to make this into a model kit): Link (first attachment in first post).

GASP!!! How could you post all those pics and NOT post the infamous pic/sketch of a scantily-clad Millia holding a bottle of Yoshinol?!! BLASPHEMY!!! .......................

Damn guys! Thanks for pointing out the feet; I really didn't notice them in fighter mode until now. You think it was a design compromise to keep the arm and leg proportions okay in all three modes? Uh-huh-huh, you said "tail."

Add another MW convert from a link from Kevin and Valkyrie Exchange's website. If I remember it correctly, it was a link for the Toynami MPC Alphas (I know ). Lurked for a few years, got better educated on Macross, and finally registered when I finally got a digital camera. It's been a fun, informative, insightful, and dare I say educational experience.

Has any of the toy companies ever made "chibi-fied" versions of the major Macross characters?

That was definitely a good read. From the dumb American Yank' perspective, there's a few other things I'd like to point out about cost and time on this issue. Most box DVD sets for an anime series cost a heckuva lot more than one season of a typical US television series. Sure, I understand that an imported series is gonna cost more than a domestically produced series. But geez!! You mean to tell me that I should pay a heftier price for a 24 to 26 episode anime series than I would for one season of a show like 24 or BSG or even one season of a DC animated universe series? Sure, I'm willing to pay a bit of a premium for a quality anime series. But sometimes that premium is just too high, especially when there's cheaper DVD alternatives that give me more bang for my entertainment dollar. Plus, there's the whole issue of special features and commentaries that you don't often see in most anime DVD's. The other issue is the time-lag that comes with these anime releases in the US. I understand that they probably need the time-lag to do the dubs and stuff. But it literally takes a year for an entire anime series to be fully released. I mean, why do they still follow this snail's pace "release only one disc with 4 episodes every one to two months" format with some anime series? Eureka Seven already finished its run on Adult Swim over 6 months ago, and they still haven't released the entire series on DVD here in the US yet. From the US perspective, the cost premium and the time-lag are definitely contributing factors to why anime DVD sales are down. When you've got free and almost instantaneous fansubs on the internet and less expensive domestic DVD alternatives to choose from, is it any wonder why the current anime model isn't working anymore? Sure, I'd love to add a few more anime series to my DVD collection. But these two factors usually stop me from doing so.

I liked it. (The fanboy in me got a big smile during the three Centurions/"By your command" bit. ) Yeah, we knew and had heard most of Pegasus' backstory. But it was still cool to see that backstory play out and unfold before us. Wonder how the whole apocolypse deal will pan out. My guess now is that it will probably mean the end of the cycle, the end to the whole "all of this has happened before and will happen again" stuff. ......And the next time I think of lesbians and overstating the obvious, I'm gonna think QUIZNOS!!! (And I thought Sci-Fi and/or their sponsors couldn't do something dumber than those stupid survey craps from last season. ). Why didn't they just do some witty spot with Grace Park, Tricia Helfer, and/or some of the other Cylon babes and have 'em say the phrase, "Mmmm.........toasty" with a sexy wink and a bit of smirk?

So, I take it this is the "saturation penetration" you were speaking of, Sir Graham?

I know we've gone over this issue ad naseum with the Toynami Alpha MPC's scale (1/55, 1/48, or somewhere in-between?). But considering this old quote from Graham, I seriously doubt this CM's set will be 1/72 scale. And based on SaveRobotech's old YouTube video of the original CM's Tread prototype, I also doubt the Tread will just be 17 cm tall. I could see the Legioss being 17 cm tall, but the Tread's just too much of a big boy for that sort of height. Call it an educated guess on my part, but the set will probably be that 1/52.335353552358979823 scale that the Alpha MPC's are.

One change I'm glad to see is that they made the connecting boom a little thicker. They shortened the thinner piece that connects to the Legioss' chest and expanded that thicker boom piece that connects to the body of the Tread. Still want to see a side profile shot of the combo though. Soldier mode for both still looks intimidatingly good, of course.

One thing you gotta hand to CM's design is they made a working cockpit for the Tread that hides perfectly when the Tread is in soldier mode. .......Now, just to get everyone comparing the two prototypes: OLD PROTOTYPE (top half of picture): NEW PROTOTYPE: Major thanks to the folks (Lynx7725 and VF5SS) who originally posted these two pics earlier in this Tread thread!

Don't be so "reactive." (mere speculation on my part.)

Fast Packs coming with the first release, eh? That's all I needed to hear.

Even I wouldn't be able to pass on that. At this point though, I'll wait for your guy's reviews on these various Ride Armor puppies. (But in return, I'll take care of some loose T[h]reads..... ).