eriku

Ditto. Titanium would be great, too. Probably too much to ask for, but I'd prefer that over lights, sounds, auto-transform & a scratch-N-sniff tuna head.

I wouldn't be surprised if the percentage was higher than that. There are a lot of people who keep their valks in the box or never transform them, so maybe they haven't noticed yet. It pains me a bit to think that the one I sold probably ended up breaking on the person I sold it to. It's a really unfortunate problem caused by (presumably) such a tiny, tiny mistake - inserting the pin the wrong way. Since that mistake is so easy to make it does make me a little afraid of every 1/60 V2 release because it could happen to any one of them. I think Yamato should re-think the shoulder piece completely to avoid all the stress that gets put on it, but that will only happen if sales and complaints they recieve warrant it.

I thought he meant the 1D at first too, but I'm pretty sure he meant the Roy because he mentioned he was going to update the Roy review. He probably had Roy out for some comparison shots with the 1D and noticed Roy's crack. Perhaps Yamato purposely engineered this defect into Roy as a nod to his death?

Has there been any kind of general consensus on the replacement shoulder hinges for the VF-1S Roy yet? I'm curious if they are problem free or if they will be prone to breaking as well.

Maybe they're using stronger magnets now.

Indeed. I hear there is a special 'golden shower' scene in Transformers 2 involving Bumblebee and the character played by that man-faced chick. I'm glad Gwynny is coming back for IM2. She makes a great PP.

Come on now, statements like that are far from constructive and only lead to fights. Some people just like to have the facts straight before subscribing to an idea one way or the other.

The offer might have been pre-Wrestler, when Rourke was only worth about a buck-fiddy.

I concur as well. While I don't have a strong dislike for the 1/100, I rarely find myself reaching for it...and when I do, my hand invariably sways toward the DX and I play with that instead. I expected as much though, I knew it was a partsformer going into it, and I've always had a dislike of partsformers, so I'm not surprised in the least. I bought it mostly out of curiosity, sort of an experiment to try and cure my partsformingphobia. I think it is a well made piece and looks really fantastic in all modes...but I'll still probably get rid of it and hopefully pass it on to someone who will appreciate it more. Anyone who wants to call dibs can PM me.

Cool, so we'll probably see more allusions to Mandarin in the second one then. Good point on the Dark Knight working wilth multiple villains - I guess I'm still a bit apprehensive of multiple villians after the older Batman movies. I agree that they probably know what they're doing. I loved IM1, it was my favorite action film last year (yes, even more so than TDK) so nothing will keep me away from part 2.

Thanks for the clarification, Graham. I wasn't trying to discredit you or MW, I just hadn't read anything official on the matter and thought it was possible people were jumping to conclusions. I promise I'll think of you every time I look at the grey kite logos on the 11b and wish they were red.

Hrm...while I loved the first movie I'm having a hard time getting excited for part 2. Almost sounds like too many villains, unless some of them are just brief cameos. I'm also having a hard time accepting Micky Rourke in the film because I really don't like him at all. And I was hoping for some cheesy Mandarin action.

While I think the new 1/60 is fine, I still prefer the 1/48 overall. I've never warmed up to the unsecured shoulders of the new 1/60 and I actually prefer the overall look of the 1/48. So my 1/48 is staying with me, while the 1/60 2.0 I bought has aleady been given the boot.

Here's the best clarification you can get at the moment: NOBODY HERE KNOWS. Anything anyone else says, weather it proves to be wrong or right in the future, is pure speculation.

Post your thoughts (in the appropriate thread of course)! Let the hatred flow through you! I don't mind the 1/100 but I can't say I would ever recommend it to anyone. Sorta like CMs ride armor - I like it even though I know I should hate it. And I agree about the 1/60. I had mine out again the other day and was having a blast. My one lingering complaint is that I wish the screw holes on the shoulders weren't covered because I'd like to adjust them and I don't know how to pop the covers off without damaging them.

I'm wondering about the complexity too. When I look at the pics we've seen it almost looks like it could be the most simple transformation on a Yamato valk so far, unless there are complexities that aren't outwardly apparent. I'm very excited for this toy!

Why should they have made it to accomodate an accessory they might not have had any intention of making? Egg on their face? Losing money? Please. That's all nothing but elementary conjecture especially considering how this line only just got started and you have absolutely NO way of knowing if or how much money they will lose. Look, I'm not saying it doesn't suck that a future accessory may or may not be compatable with an existing toy. It just seems silly to reach for the tar and feathers so quickly with so little information and fact to go on.

It's just the nature of the game that companies change and update products all the time based on new research, new developments, new demand. Is Yamato 'alienating' it's valk customers by making their own versions of toys obsolete? Sometimes twice? Is Apple alienating their base by releasing a new kind of iPod sometimes twice per year? There are a lot of customers out there, and what doesn't appeal to one will probably appeal to another. Companies typically know what they're doing, especially ones that are as well established as Bandai, Yamato, Apple. If they didn't then they wouldn't still be around and they wouldn't be relevant. I don't presume to know why Bandai or Yamato do what they do. I can speculate, just like the rest of you, but at the end of the day we're not part of the industry (well, most of us aren't) nor are we as familiar with the industry as many of us like to think we are. Still, I don't think either Bandai or Yamato fumbles around like the drooling idiots so many people characterize them as with all of the "der, dey jus 'tupid!!" posts I've read over the years.

That's a point I tried to make before, most of the ~PANIC!~ is based on assumptions.

I still think it's fully within the realm of logic that Bandai was just practicing cautionary business and, not knowing how well these toys would sell, didn't bother designing them to be compatible with the full armor, ghost pack, etc. It's only short-sighted in terms of them not wanting to waste money on an uncertain venture. Sure, they could study the rest of the Macross oeuvre and get a good idea of how well toys would sell from those series, but when they were developing the Frontier valks they probably didn't know enough to make much of a gamble with. Why spend the money developing a full set of armor when, for all they knew, nobody would buy the valks to go with them?

That's all well and good, but that just proves my point - you think we contributed to the color change, it doesn't mean we did. Just because it was changed after Graham mentioned it doesn't mean it was because he mentioned it. Yamato could have already caught it by that point. I'm not saying we didn't, just that I don't believe we really know for sure one way or the other. It seems strange to presume credit for something.

Has Yamato said anything like, "Thanks to MacrossWorld for pointing out the incorrect kite logo color. Due to their keen eye we've corrected the mistake." Or is everyone just assuming that they changed it because people here noticed it?

Again with these comparisons to the model kit. I just don't get it. The 1/100 is not a model kit, nor is it even built like one. The difficulty of swapping the 1/100 isn't anywhere close to the difficulty of assembling the model kit. It's just not. Far, far less parts, no sprues to cut, no details to add. And not everyone can make a model kit look good. If you're good at putting kits together, good for you. Not everyone is. Nor does everyone even like the look and feel of model kits.

Some theories: Perhaps Bandai didn't really knew how well these would sell so they didn't bother making the initial 25s with holes to accomodate armor. No reason to waste the money designing something that wouldn't be produced. Perhaps their original design for the armor didn't require holes at all, but later on after the Alto and Ozma were released they realized it needed extra holes for a more solid connection. Perhaps the holes are there for a reason we haven't guessed yet. Perhaps Bandai watches us and knows how quickly Macross World escalates into EXTREME PANIC mode. Amused by this, they thought it would be fun to toss a little fuel on the fire by releasing "OMG HOELZ!!" pics when in fact the final production piece will feature no such holes. Perhaps the holes are there to accomodate a stand that will hold a tiny cello with which you can play yourself a sad and haunting Yo Yo Ma song when you are ultimately disappointed by the DX 25. Or, alternately, the holes will hold a bowl to collect the tears of joy you shed over getting such an incredible toy. These tears can then be mailed to Bandai to get 10% off the next DX toy! Isn't speculation fun?

Yeah...because most of Macross World is sooooo pro-Bandai. Please.