Vic Mancini

The 21 actually does have a heat shield in the anime. ...Actually it has three, one for each of the windows. I doubt we'll see that on the toy though, as it's logistically near impossible. Not a big deal to me, since the main canopy practically is a heat shield anyway. The 11 also has a heat shield. You can see it open in the scene where Guld and Isamu have a near mid-air collision that sends Guld into an emotional state that temporarily disconnects his BDI and sends him into a free fall.

I've been admiring that lego 21 since I first found it almost a year ago. I think the builder did a perfect job at capturing the profile of the menacing 21. The only draw back is it's not perfect transformation and the legs have to be removed to change into F mode.

Im guessing those little 3D vector thrust paddles go a long way? (It's a cartoon, and it's a damn cool scene, so I just turn off the logical side of my brain during that part of the movie. )

I'm sorry, but I strongly disagree with the D'Stance looking superior to the Yamato. Aside from the forward fuselage of the D'Stance being just plain wrong, the Yammie kills the D' in just about every way IMO. You be the judge.

QFT. F-mode is the only mode that moves around at Mach 20+ and thus needs to be sleek and aerodynamic. If it was a real world mecha the sleekness of F-mode would be more important than having fat legs. I won't speak for others, but for me a Yamato Valk is supposed to be a perfect transformation interpretation of what the Valk would look like if it existed in real life. So for me, if the skinny legs are a necessary compromise to get that sleek F-mode, so be it. I'm more than glad they made that compromise and I would be disappointed if the F-mode was even 2 milimeters fatter than it already is. The top of that F-mode is so beautiful I don't even notice the bottom! Maximiria has convinced me. Just teasing, Maximiria. You're entitled to your opinion, and I respect it, but I think even you can see from Swoosh's post how important the bottom of a fighter mode is even when you are viewing the airplane from above. Edit: The visible feet in F-mode actually bug me a lot more than the skinny legs in B/G mode. But what can ya do?

....just some random thoughts on the Sheril/military connection. Perhaps the Frontier government brought Sheril over as bait rather than protection. The aliens showed up almost immediately after Sheril arrived, after all. Perhaps the military needed a pure Anima Spiritia specimen to lure the aliens out of hiding, if in fact they are attracted to song energy. Maybe mankind is actually the villian in this series with dark sinister plans to flush out an indigenous alien race for extinction before colonizing their region of the galaxy.

The underside of the jet is very important.

The legs are a bit skinny, but the #1 most important feature of the 21 is the flat/slender F mode, and I think I speak for a lot of 21 fans when I say that. The skinny legs look like a necessary sacrifice to get that sleek profile in F mode, so I'm all for the compromise they made.

I'm with you. Apparently a lot of people around here don't think the lack of a lock is a big issue since they 'don't hold their valks upside down in B-mode'. Sorry to hear about your nosecone issues. I'm holding out for a Dobber scheme 51, so I'm anxious to hear if your nosecone issue is widespread or unique to yours.

I think that's a very safe bet. #1 When Sheryl arrives at the airport the president personally calls "Misa" and tells her that there will be huge ramifications if anything should happen to Sheryl. #2 Then when the aliens attack, the president makes a mysterious phone call and indicates that he knew about the presence of the aliens and knew that they would be attacking. #3 Then after the attack, Sheryl is personally escorted to safety by Misa and the president's body guards. It seems obvious to me that Sheryl's safety is extremely valuable to the military and government, and not only because she's an intergalactic pop star. They definitely have plans for her.

This should be re-posted here: You can see where the shoulders go and how visible the feet will be from underneath.

Renews hope? Graham already confirmed a VF-11, (without actually confirming it). I'd re-post the quote, but I can't find the VF-11 thread anymore. Relax, it's coming. And that automatically makes it better than the 1/48s in my book. Those low hanging arms are an eye sore.

Well obviously. All 3 are going to look better than the B-modes of their perfect transformation counterparts because there are no limitations with the exaggeration they can use on a non transforming figure.

"This project, called Super Nova, is to test and develop candidates for the next main transforming fighter to replace the VF Thunder Bold currently being used. In order to solve colonial planet disputes, and in case of an emergency due to an alien attack, this new transforming fighter will make it possible to perform the hyperspace fold on it's own. Not using a reactive weapon which might cause a political problem, the new fighter will break through the enemy lines and destroy only their military headquarters or rescue hostages. We will compare the YF-19 manufactured by a new company called Industry, and the YF-21 made by General Galaxy. The superior one will win the funding." -Millard

Pshhh. That's speculation. A fricken dome of slaves was able to take the stress, so I think a VF-11 of or even a rock could take the stress. Like I said above....lame. Edit: Sorry, I'm drunk-posting. But why even mention the fold in the Mac Plus Ova if the fold boosters had nothing to do with the AVFs? All signs from Mac 7 indicate that you could fold just about anything depending on the size of the object and the number of phallic boosters available. The whole fold booster thing undermines one of the key reasons why Project Super Nova even existed. I dunno, maybe it's something lost in the translation that's causing the contradiction.

Yep. And that pertains directly to the YF 21 / VF 22. The VF 22 dropped the BDS and BDI systems and went to a conventional pilot interface. That is definitely less advanced in my book. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the VF 22 has the morphing wings feature either. Valk Addict is right about the 21 needing a fold booster attachment though. On a side note, the whole fold booster thing in Mac Plus irritates me still to this day. Millard explains that one of the reasons for the Super Nova project was to design a next generation VF capable of making the space fold on it's own. ...and then later in the series we see the YFs needing to use giant green phallic attachments to make the fold. Contradiction, no? Ok...I'll give them a momentary benefit of the doubt and reason that maybe the 19 and 21 are the only VFs capable of using the fold boosters. ...but nooo...in Mac 7 we see fold boosters being stuck on to the backs of all kinds of primitive VFs and even an inanimate dome of captured slaves. In the respect of making a solo space fold, the YF's are no more advanced than a VF-11, a dome of slaves, or presumably even a large rock. Lame.

I don't mean to go off topic, but I actually enjoyed the structure and pacing of the OVA much more than the movie. One thing the movie definitely has going for it though, is how it explains Isamu's motivation on a much deeper level. (I'm talking about the white light stuff). Those added scenes really support the final confrontation with Sharon Apple. Without those scenes, it's difficult to understand what Sharon Apple is even trying to accomplish at the end. And the most obvious addition the movie has going for it is the final confrontation between Guld and the X-9....which is probably one of (if not the) most bad-ass scenes in all of Macross. I still like the OVA better, but anyone who hasn't seen the movie version is definitely missing out.

Yeah, it looks like you're right about that. Which means it's probably transformed correctly in that aspect. ...Damn. Those feet are going to be very visible from underneath since the lower beaver tail doesn't extend as far as the upper one.

That is a good point, except it looks like the feet might actually protrude out past the lower beaver tail (belly plates), which is definitely not in the line art or anime. That won't look very cool when viewing this toy from the bottom. I'm still hoping that something internally wasn't transformed properly on that demo model.

Ahu huh huh... Ahu huh...he said beaver. Not crazy about that gap between the arm and the belly plates either. Stupid anime magic.

The "beaver tail", I think? Hmmmm, I'm not crazy about those visible feet.

Yamato's 1/60 YF-19 blew the SHE out of the water. Their 1/60 YF-21 looks like it's going to do the same to the Dstance. I have no doubt that a 1/60 Yamato VF-11 will destroy the competition in a similar fashion.

I'm the opposite of you in every way! It might be sacrilege to type this, but I would probably prefer a Macross story that didn't have the music/love elements and instead focused more on a realistic war story set in the Mac universe. ...Just my personal preference. I also don't think music itself was such a factor in SDFM. Music was more of a symbol of human culture than anything. IMO, SDFM was about culture shock, (culture warfare?), and using culture as a way to survive an impossible war and then deal with the aftermath through re-integration and culturization. Music itself became a bigger focus in the series following SDFM. Also, my favorite Macross music is probably from Mac Plus. Pop music isn't my cup of tea, so nothing Minmey or Basara sang did anything for me. So yeah, pretty much opposite of you. : )

Not for those of us that don't want a ghost, or to pay an extra $40+ for it. I actually don't even want the Fast Packs! I'd buy a stripped down YF-21 with nothing more than 2 gunpods and a Guld figure if I had the choice and could save a few bucks.

SO COOL. Max and Millia, eat your heart out.