VFTF1

I feel fortunate that I never heard of those and can one day enjoy them in their original form without the mental anguish of having to burn my childhood memories and nostalgia... I guess that's the good thing about having been a Transformers fan all throughout my childhood. It was crap - but it was TRUE crap! Unless there's a lost Diaclone manga or anime out there that will ruin that fantasy too... although even if there is...hah hah...who cares... Transformers itself doesn't care at all about its' "continuity" anyways Pete

To quote Kyle Reece: "The year!!! What year is it!??!?" Pete

Ok...so...I've tentatively decided to get back into Transformers. However -I've decided to mix things up. I'm a fan of the original Marvel comics MAINLY (both US and particularly UK). I have just about all of the Titan paperbacks and really love them. I'm not ever going to collect "lines" again. Particularly since there is no scale anyways - it doesn't really matter whether I have a Transformers from this line or that line. I'm gonna focus on characters. So - probably will pick up TT NEST Bludgeon and Lockdown. MAYBE Barricade since I liked him from the TF Movie. Nothing else from ROTF interests me. Now comes the big descision though... Which Optimus Prime should I pick up? From the MP line - I seem to think that only Grimlock makes sense. He's also the right size to play with other regular TFs... I probably need a Prowl... and it would be nice if they FINALLY made a Nightbeat. The Energon repaint that was a Botcon exclusive totally doesn't cut it. Most of the Henkeis are horrible. Maybe Octane is ok. But I don't like the necks on Prowl and Bluestreak, and Hotrod just looks way too bulky. But yeah...which Optimus Prime should I pick? Really a touch decision... I dunno... Maybe Mega PVC Optimus Prime He LOOKS just right! Uh...the headache... maybe I shouldn't get back into Transformers after all... Pete

Thanks Gubaba. I guess it's like all mythology - the original classic is a one time done deal - and later everything whether it runs closer to the original classic or farther away will somehow be drawing from the original well... Pete

In Macross, there is no such thing as "Robotechnology." There IS "Overtechnology" - which is what human beings learned while studying the ASS-1 (known as the SDF-1) which, as you see in Macross Zero's beginning -crashes to Earth. It is also not the "last fight" between the Un and Anti-UN forces - not really IMO. The Anti-UN did after all manage to attack Mars Base at some point - so clearly galactic warfare was something the humans were waging amongst themselves before the Zendradi showed up. Although I could be wrong about the timing of the Mars Base attack (help someone). Also - remember that there were places on Earth that were not under UN Spacey jurisdiction - remember that the SDF-1 was looking for a place to dump the civilians and they negotiated with Ontario or something to do so - which was independent of the UN. Anyways - I'm happy you like Macross Zero - it is indeed full of emotion and a great, great movie. Pete

I think Bandai needs to step in and make a huge snap fit model kit of the SDF-1. Kind of like their Yamato kit, but without the cement/painting needs. I mainly want my SDF-1 to be interactive with smaller scale valkyrie, destroids and Zendradi armor. Barring that...I guess I now feel like a dork for selling my WAVE in anticipation of this thing Pete

You guys have it all wrong. Optimus Prime Kiss Player was not a lolicon. In Kissplayer - Transformers could not transform unless transformation was activated by a kiss from a beautiful girl. This is also why Megatron was after the lolis. Come to think of it - it's the only Transformers series that made any sense. Too bad it went nowhere. As for Clash of the Bionoids or whatever it was called - umm.... this brings to mind a question: It appears that only Macross had the misfortune of being systematicall butchered in the 1980s. I mean... there were some piss poor cartoons and anime, and some great ones, and some in between ones - but to my mind Macross was the only one that was so badly treated in the USA. Am I missing out on knowledge of other victims? Pete

I'm definitely rooting for Chu-bra! All the other ones look lame and generic. This one has gutts - IF it's done right. The concept sounds fantastic. Then gaina, the concept of a secret organization watching as the Earth declines into warfare over energy and pledging to end war by using super powerful mobile suits sounded (and still sounds) great too. Sadly, the execution was lacking... Same can be said for Strike Witches, which looks bizarrely appealing but didn't reall catch my heart. This could be one of those anime where the idea is great but there is epic failure. I want to be pleasantly knocked off my seat like I was by Gurren Lagann and Haruhi Suzumiya ... But that is quite a line up for the winter season! Nice to have it so well organized. EDIT: Hanamaru kindergarten looks like it could be fun too. Yotsubism crossed with Calvin and Hobbes ? ... beats me...but Chibi adventures are sometimes cool (at least I liked Haruhi Chibi-san. Haruhi-chan..) Thanks, Pete

Yeah... has anybody read the manga? It sounds like it would be a lot of fun! Although they could throw in some mecha for good measure Like that one RX-78-2 with the pink hues and white lace... we could get some "Black Lace Panties" mecha Pete

Courtesy of GNN (Gubaba News Network): I ca't wait for the figures... I just hope they come with real panties because it would finally give me something to market to women... Pete

Very nice. I've been oogling that model kit for two years now - but sadly I can't paint and can't glue worth squat. It is a great design and you've done it justice. I assume it can't really be posed, can it? Pete

When I see that picture, all I can think of is being an unemployed Zendradi spy with a bankrupt laundry business who was reduced to peddling Macross models on the street for Christmas. Pete

Watch Gurren Lagann The action scenes are certainly NOT tactical, nor are they at all logical - in fact they are anything but. That said, their utter unpredictability makes for very refreshing action-anime. Add to this the fact that the fight scenes are also always intensely dramatic and you have a winning and novel combination. As for the other stuff...yeah - things move, pacing is good...although...when I watched Char's Counter Attack I felt they went overboard because they tried to do two things at the same time -impress us with the mecha animation, with all the details etc AND also give us good fight scenes. This is not always possible. As for getting old and eyes not seeing as good ... you know ... way back when I didn't know anything about anime, I thought the fight scenes and animation from the original Transformers movie were the pinnacle of awesome... now, they just look like fairly well rendered stills - but certainly lack fluid motion... But this whole conversation should probably go into the Gundam Show thread. In any case -yes - Exia seems to be my only Gundam model who would be useless in space and has no vectoring thrusters. Unless the anime (which I haven't seen save for 5 episodes worth) contradicts this and shows him flying around. I do remember Virtue flying around in space....and I don't remember any vectoring thrusters on his HG 1/144 model either... Pete

Here's another newbie question from me: Was the notion that DYRL is a movie within the main story introduced with Macross 7 only - or was it originally intended that way? Did Kawamori and Co. give any interviews or make any statement when DYRL came out - or in the time between DYRL and Macross 7 where this was cleared up? Given that Macross Plus was initially intended to not be a Macross story and was only later retro-fitted as Macross - I presume that the "problem" of the various time lines (foremost SDFM TV vs DYRL) only really became a problem when they sat down to do Macross 7. In infer this above all from the fact that immediately in episode 1 the bridge bunnies talk about having seen "the movie - Do you Remember Love" - right at the very beginning - as if Kawamori felt it was necessary to insert this right away so people could watch the anime comfortably; knowing what they stand on. This theme is later explored in the episode where Max decides to make what I can only classify as his own personal B-version of DYRL... But I'm just wondering - was this thought up only due to the needs of Macross 7 - or was it intended all along? Pete

Good point about fight scenes - and to tell the truth, as much as I am not a huge mecha action fan - I have to say that one of the things I really appreciated about Mobile Suit Gundam was just how intelligent all the fight scenes were (I speak here of the original anime). The first episode with the dead silence of space penetrated by the Zaku's thrust bursts (or was it the breathing of the pilots?) ...was great. And in general, all of the combat sequences really gave you a feeling that these things were real robots - like tanks or jets or boats - they were machines that were operated and governed by physics and stuff.... Now - I do LOVE Gurren Lagann's fight scenes - those are some of the most awesome action sequences ever. But in general - yeah. Action in anime is like panties in anime - it's kind of all over the place, and you really need to be careful to find the better quality stuff. But whatever... it all depends on mood realy... And still - it's better than stupid Transformers where there's not even much of an attempt at making the lasers do anything but make flashy noises... Pete

Well...if it's any consolation, Bandai did make the Zaku Cannon - it has lots of guns and stuff and also a nifty antenna that makes him look like a 1950s sci-fi robot terror reject Pete

After getting a bunch of Haruhi Figmas I'm really pleased with them. I like the variety. Kaiyodo's Fraulein's aren't bad eithr though. Rei and Asuka are now stiff when compared to some of Kaiyodo's later stuff... But in general it ultimately boils down to what series you like. Kaiyodo lost me when every new Fraulein was suddenly a color variation on that Strawberry shortcake or raspberry idolmaster chick or whatever she was called... Figma won me over with the Haruhi line. Kaiyodo did the Adventures of Asahina Mikuru/Bunka Festival - and I do love those figs. Those three are great... but really - I don't own any other Revoltechs besides them and NGE Rei and Asuka. I'm also looking forward to what will apparently be the Fraulein Asuka version 2.0 that hopefully is in the pipeline..although honestly I'm so into the original series that I don't really think I'll want any "re-imaged" figures... As or the "popular-itis" ...I WISH!! If they went by what was really popular I think we'd be getting some super poseable Ranka and Sheryl figures, not to mention they could give us Luca, Micheal and Alto in school uniforms or something like that. But no. strangely enough apparently Macross Frontier isn't popular enough to warrant it... I need to google Idolmaster. I was pretty surprised when those things came out...and it seemed like there was this point in time when they just kept coming and wouldn't stop But whatever...so happy Haruhi Suzumiya figures were made. But in general - I am a fan of neglected anime. Gurren Lagann is my favorite of them all and while there are some nice statues of Yoko and a couple cool Revoltechs....come on...where's the love? Where are the Gunmen?! Why does no body care? It's so unfair. Same with Macross. But oh well...we'll see what 2010 brings. The alien princess looks nice - and I think I vaguely remember seeing her somewhere with that little floating dude... but generally... doesn't ring any bells. Pete

Not really because when I see that scene - all I can think of is poor Misa running off in tears Love triangles only started to stop being sad when Ranka and Sheryl did a lesbian lap dance for Alto Before that- we were in the dark ages of SDFM TV where it was impossible to concieve of Minmay and Misa doing any thing more than shaking hands after 27 episodes....although DYRL did kind of break the ice with those wordless smiles and general sounds of female pleasure IIRC.... Pete

The only anime I'm looking forward to is the one about the girls in high school forming a black lace panties club. that and the Haruhi Suzumiya movie. I WOULD love it if 2010 gave us another classic - but failing that Keith has given me a whole list of stuff I need to watch from like...the 70s man!...or there abouts... Pete

Oh don't worry - I wasn't being sarcastic or anything I do appreciate the clarification. I was just being silly That said - doesn't your example technically hold for anything? That is to say - whenever force is applied in space, the lack of traction means that the object to which the force is applied will move at a very fast speed? Thus the thrusters being so important. I seem to recall that in Gundam's battles with the Zaku II in the original MSG - towards the beginning when White Base was still in space heading Earth bound and being chased by the Moussai (?) - Gundam was knocked around quite a bit and at one point sent hurtling out of control, giving Amuro quite a scare... Crap. Now when I think of how many long nights away me downloading all of MSG again... As for that pic of Exia/missiles/crap... Is that a real screen grab from Gundam OO? That Exia looks Transformers quality insofar as the artwork is concerned... Pete who will probably build the Astray eventally but first needs to deliberate on it a while longer to make it seem like a Very Important Life Decision

Wow - thanks for the warning. Definitely won't be building it now! Don't wanna find myself in an uncontrolled spin heading straight for the sun or crashing into some planet due to an uncontroled swing That said...Gundam has all those little positioning thrusters and stuff...and judging by the poses on the box, he basically serves as a thrster for the sword and holds it in front of him... Although in what little I saw of Gundam seed, they were swinging those Force Impulse swords pretty wildly... I dunno... I would kinda hope that the entire frame of the Astray was built to inter-act with the Tactical Arms II. Which brings up an interesting point - namely - weapons systems on Gundams can't be interchangeable, can they? If ...say... Exia picked up Tactical Arms II - he'd be screwed - especially in space... Exia doesn't have any positional thrusters. That solar energy thingy works great for gliding in the atmosphere - but in space... how exactly would he fly? Pete

But the Red Frame doesn't have that awesome Tactical Arms II, does it? I know it's kind of corny - but I actually like this huge sword - and given that Gundams are primarily made for space combat, such gian swords do not present a mass/weight problem and DO enhance range... plus this particular sword is nicely variable ...I like it... I'm just whining I guess... Pete

You know...with all these Hikaru/Misa Christmas pics I got to thinking that poor Minmey must be really lonely this Christmas Pete

I think it would not be cost effective to sell the parts themselves, and it would anger collectors to have to buy a whole new VF-1 just to get some parts. The solution? Sell large diaorama sets WITH parts for the version 2.0 valkyrie. That would kill two birds with one stone. Everybody wants a proffesional hangar bay diaorama and other sorts of diaoramas. Adding special parts/accessories compatable to the VF-1 version 2.0 to such sets would only sweeten the deal. Pete

I'm glad I didn't get this. That said - I'm on the fence now about the new MG Astray. To build - or not to build? I like it when it's posed in that flying sword pose - kind of hiding behind its' massive sword as it lunges forward... but... I don' like the girth in the mid-legs. And generally I'm not a big SEED fan... on the other hand, it is a new model and thus far all the stuff Bandai have done in 2009 has not dissapointed me and I've kind of taken to building any of their new kits just because they are new MG kits... The thing is - somebody here posted a picture of the built product and...well... it looked..bland. Maybe it was just the light? I dunno... Pete