eriku

None of that is what I would consider "aggressive fanaticism" or "unnecessary displays of violence" nor anything that would require some kind of (and I can't help but snicker as I type this) "apology". Speaking of free passes, Banpresto gets a free pass on this board too because somebody said once that they really liked them. Actually, come to think of it I'm pretty sure every single company that has ever made any kind of Macross or Macross-related toy gets a free pass because there is always someone who likes it. And why not? It's Macross World - there's something for everyone. Indeed. If someone, anyone, doesn't give us a VF-171 or VF-17 soon I'm going to keep doing this:

Nobody reacted with "aggressive fanaticism" or "unnecessary displays of violence" positively or negatively to Bandai's VF-25 toys. Some people were expecting some truly durable toys based on Bandai's track record. I expected that, and when I first got the VF-25 it really did feel almost on par with the 1/55 "Chunky". It was only the loosening of joints over the passing of time that caused me to feel differently. And even still, aside from the loose joints I believe that the VF-25 DX is for the most part a very durable and solidly made toy. If they could keep the joints tight I could easily see it holding up as long as a 1/55. I'm sorry but I refuse to apologize.

Exclusives are not what I would call my preferred way of getting something, and I would never claim to "like" exclusives, but if it's a matter of getting something as an exclusive or not getting it at all...the exclusive route is the better option. So far the only Macross exclusive I've had any burning need for is the VF-27 Grace, so I haven't felt much frustration yet.

Ravens paintjob for the VF-11 perhaps? If so, sweeeeet.

She was standing on a couple of phone books.

It stars Russell Crowe, so already I know I would hate it. On the plus side it wont have any Bryan Adams in it.

Another difference is that her belly and arms are brown on the Takara version and black on the Hasbro version.

There's nothing wrong with them asking if they can still transform. I never said anything was wrong, nor was I trying to point out any serious issues with them flying or having alt modes - I just said it was funny. I don't take Transformers seriously enough to claim anything is wrong or right or have any kind of debate about it. It's brainless entertainment and I view it as such. I meant no offense to those who choose to take it seriously.

Funny you mention that because when Spielberg's name appeared on the trailer before Iron Man last night, I leaned over to my wife and said, "Hey, this is the trailer for ET 2!"

Thought it was great and a fitting extension of the first film. My strongest feeling going out of the theater though wasn't Iron Man-related, it was, "I want a Black Widow movie starring ScarJo!"

I can't say the trailer piqued my interest enough to even care what the movie is at this point. Not really a fan of the "Oooh, what is it? WHAT IS IT???!?!" gimmick for movie promotions. Nothing ever seems to live up to fabricated hype.

Nobody seems to know why, but the 0A was pushed to a late May release. The 0S was released at the end of April and is already gone at most places. And yeah, I was bummed too about not being able to use AmiAmi's half-off EMS towards it. It's in the old-style Yamato box that's big enough to raise a small family in, so the shipping box will be enormous and expensive.

Based on a random comment from VFTF1

Yeah, I always thought it was funny that they needed alt modes at all on Cybertron. Doubly funny that Soundwave's Cybertron alt mode was apparently a street light! I would love a toy of street light soundwave. These days when I watch G1, which isn't often (although I did get the complete Matrix set for Xmas so I've been watching it out of duty rather than desire), I watch it as a comedy. There is so much funny and nonsensical stuff happening that watching it as a comedy is the only way I can enjoy it. One of my favorite things is how every robot can fly in bot mode without transforming into a jet, using a jet pack, thrusters or anything. They just go up, up and away like Superman. Or how transforming is always a way to determine how badly hurt someone is. It's always the first question a fellow Autobot will ask when someone goes down, "Can you transform?" "I....I think..so.." Great stuff. As for these new Power Snore combiners, so far the only one I'm warming up to is the core robot of the car gang. I'll probably end up grabbing him, and maybe even Huffer if I'm at Target, bored, with money to spend. Hopefully those connection points can be removed. I guess they thought kids wouldn't be able to figure out where the connection points are unless they were an unholy flourescent blue. :|

Funny you mention that, because when I looked at the most recent photos of Peg the first thing that popped into my head when I saw the hip kibble was MP Starscream. Does Reprolabels to requests? I'd love to put a nice big decal on Peg that says "Peg".

I'm neutral towards 3D as long as I still get a 2D option. But I agree, if something I wanted to see was only available in 3D I would just wait for the DVD. Luckily I haven't run into that yet.

Thanks for that, I haven't really read much on her transformation until now. Mine should arrive tomorrow (had to rely on an out-of-state friend to obtain her) and I'm very anxious to get my hands on her. I agree that there aren't enough TFs with really clever and fun transformations. It seems like the trend has become intricate for the sake of being intricate, which is no fun to me. I don't mind intricate and complicated transformations if they are intuitive and fun, but that's not usually the case. One of my favorite aspects of Animated is how clever and fun a lot of the toys' transformations are. Regardless of what one might think of the designs themselves, the toys struck an almost perfect balance between good alt modes, good bot modes, great articulation, excellent construction and finish (the soft Yamato-like matte on most of them wasn't used much at all prior to Animated), and fun/intuitive transformations. I sorely miss the line and I really look forward to the few remaining stragglers yet to be released.

In case it's the latter, AmiAmi has it available for preorder now: http://www.amiami.jp/shop/?set=english&amp.../e_display.html

I see no reason to assume there will be a lot of part swapping. The VF-25 transformation isn't that complicated, and this isn't aiming for an "anime-accurate" interpretation anyway so it's not going to rely on "correct" transformation. The SD proportions shouldn't be an issue because the VF-1 Joke Machine was SD and required no parts swapping. That said, I expect the head might have to be removed and repositioned because its so big.

I never asked for Action Masters when I was a kid - didn't want any. The only one I've ever handled was the one that came with New Years reissue G1 Prime. I think I had him out of the box for 5 seconds before basically forgetting about him. The only non-transforming TF I had as a kid was a little rubber Ratchet that came as a bonus with one of my regular TFs. I remember trying to use it as an eraser and then tossing it into the bin. As for the PVCs and Revoltechs, nope and nope. Same goes for busts and statues. Non-transforming Transformers (or Macross, Dorvack, whatever) hold no interest for me. I'm glad they're available for people who like them, but they simply aren't my cup o' tea. ::EDIT:: Which isn't to say I don't like non-transforming robots. I love me some super robots. Tetsujin 28, Iron Giant, Mazinger, Bender, they're some of my favorites. It's just toys of robots that are supposed to transform but don't transform that I have an aversion to. No real logic behind it, just a wire in my brain that was never connected properly or something.

I hereby dub them: "Power Snore Combiners". Yes, yes, I know, very clever. I'm still in touch enough with my 10-year-old self to know that if I would have been given Transformers that didn't turn into robots they would have gotten thrown in the bin and never touched again. My adult self doesn't feel any outrage towards them, or really any emotion other than disinterest.

Why is it lame? I'm sure you can just leave whichever set on that you want. ::EDIT:: Unless they're like the Revoltech wings, which I've heard fall off easily.

Even though this is the umpteenth VF-1 toy it's cool that Bandai still managed to bring something new to the table by including alternate wings. It seems like such a tiny detail, but I'm looking forward to having wings with no hard points on them.

The Yamato 1/60 V2 is definitely nice, but I've never really been that in love with it because of the shoulder design and the transformation. If the Hi-Metal has shoulders that actually lock into place instead of swinging around freely and/or exploding, I'll be happy to kick my 1/60s to the curb. Plus I'm really looking forward to the scale, which is just a matter of taste - and that's what all of these different VF-1 toys really come down to: personal preference. It seems silly to argue over which one is the 'definitive' version because there is no absolute. We all like different ones the best for different reasons, which is why it's so damn cool that there are so many to choose from.

It's supposed to be a toy, and there will also be a Nirvash and Gurren Lagann (sorry if I got the name wrong) in the line. Some drawings of all three and a fully painted sample of the Nirvash were shown a month or two ago, and the Nirvash is currently available for preorder at places like AmiAmi. I hope they turn out reasonably well because this line has me very excited. The Joke Machine was always and still is my favorite VF-1 toy.