VF-1Guy

I mostly just display my toys, but I like knowing that they transforms from one mode to another without the nead to go find the bag of parts. The engineering that goes into the figure is the appeal of Macross & Transformers for me. Accuracy compared to the line art isn't all that important to me. In fact, I think the line art accurate battroids are ugly (too stocky looking for a robot that turns into a sleek jet). I much prefer the lanky look of the perfect transformables.

There are more than 5 Dinobots in that combiner. I see at least 2 Swoops, 2 Sludges, 1 Slag, 1 Grimlock and 1 Whats-his-name (the one Dinobot I never had). I always thought a Dinobot combiner would be really neat. This reinforces my belief.

Over the past 6 years I've gained a lot of insight into how small or moderate sized companies work. I've seen, and been in the middle of the interactions between customers, R&D, sales and marketing. It is sometimes hard for a company to communicate with the core customers/fans. There is always the risk that the wrong information goes out or that the information becomes destorted or perverted. Yes, there are people who exist only to distort or pervert information. As far as going down to the grass roots or hiring a person or two to feed the community goes, a company will only consider this if the company sees a financial benefit that exceeds the cost. Would doing something like this actually help the bottom line? Would this convince more people to buy the product? I'm not sure that it would. Communicating with a bunch of fans may not increase sales since the fans are going to buy the products anyways. Sure, the fans may feel more warm and fuzzy, but does that translate into more sales. I've seen this same sort of thing happen with other toy companies. The company representative leaks the wrong or too much info or one fansite whines that another site is getting special treatment so the company decides to be tight-lipped to avoid further problems. I don't like being in the dark anymore than anyone else does, but I wanted to shed some light on why companies do what they do.

I paid for mine long ago when I preordered from Toy-Wave. I'm ready for my toy!

Hopefully a BT Grimlock and the VB Monster. I guess I can count the new HP laptop we just bought as a Christmas gift.

It seems to me that Toynami should have more than enough cash to fund a Beta project. They are getting at least 2x more profit on the Alpha and the VF-1 than they really should be (due to the fact that their customer base is fairly price insensitive). In addition, they are getting 3.5 Alpha products out of a single design and they have gotten 6 VF-1 products out of another design. Heck, I imagine that they would still make a profit even if they sold the remaining VF-1 stock at half price. Where is all of this revenue going? Is their office more than they can afford? Are they paying to much to the factories in China? Are they being raped on the freight charges? Are they paying exhorbitant license fees? Is their staff too large? Do they spend too much on salaries? Are they losing too much money on unsuccessful/low volume lines like Thundar and Herculoids (figure collectors seem to be more price sensitive since there are a lot of figure lines to choose from)? I've picked up a handful of products from Toynami over the past few years and I've never felt that I'm gotten my money's worth. I think it is time for me to look for other things to spend my money on. I do hope that the company finds a way to succeed since I hate to see any company fail. If things improve, I will certainly give them another look.

I've now watched the first 18 episodes. I don't really have strong feelings either way as of yet. I feel that the story is painfully slow, but I felt the same way about SDF Macross. I plan to watch the rest if I can find it. My Macross ranking (I tend to prefer the shorter stories)... 1. DYRL 2. M0 3. M+ 4. SDF M 5. Flashback 6. M7

It is a simple fix on the 1/60 to get the armor to fit on the stock shoulder. I'm sure the 1/48 will be no different. There is a bit of an overhang, but I prefer that over the huge shoulders (since the coloring is inaccurate for a number of the valks). Just cut a couple of pieces of craft foam and attach with double stick tape.

Spring 2005 and all we have seen so far is a sketch? I'm not anticipating seeing this until late 2005 or early 2006. Lately, we've seen prototype pics at least 6 months in advance of the actual release. How long ago did we see the first pic of the VB and VF-0? In any case, I can patiently wait for this one as long as it does eventually come out. This will be a beautiful compliment to the 1/48.

I like the Alpha/Shadow design although I've never watched the series. I just checked the line art for both based on above comments. The two designs have a lot of differences that I never noticed - and will probably be sacrificed in the MPC. The Shadow (based on the line art) seems to be much less detailed than the Alpha: 1. Head (looks OK on the MPC) 2. No sensor pod (can't tell if the mount was removed on the MPC) 3. The shoulders are more rounded and don't have the triangle detail (the MPC uses the Alpha shoulders) 4. The forearms have less detail - the line thingy is removed (the MPC uses the Alpha forearms) 5. The hands are claws (this looks correct on the MPC) 6. The center of the chest is flat and less detailed - does a Shadow carry a Cyclone (the MPC uses the Alpha chest) 7. The intakes are less detailed and larger (looks like the MPC may have only removed the detail - shape looks off a little) 8. The Shadow does not have a crotch vent (can't tell if this has been removed on the MPC) 9. The hips are more rounded (looks like this is correct on the MPC) 10. The shape of the legs are the same but the details are different (the MPC uses the legs) 11. The gun is different (looks like the MPC is correct). I still think I'll still get the Shadow as my second New Generation Veritech (already have the Blue Alpha) as long as the claws are more durable than the Alpha hands.

I can't speak for the Japanese market since I only follow Macross and now BT. From my perspective, there has always been high-quality, high-priced toys/collectibles in that market. It seems to be a more recent thing for the US market. The change in the US toy market is largely due to McFarlane and his original Spawn stuff. McF raised the bar for detail and helped to move action figures from the 4-5" scale to the 6-8" scale. All the other companies had to play catch up to McF to remain competitive. A more recent change was the advent of highly articulated figures by Toy Biz. This has mostly obsoleted the old 5 point (neck, shoulders, hips) standard for articulation. It seems that articulation is becoming more important in Japanese figures, although they have always been a bit better articulated than American figures. Another change in the American market has been the advent of a number of new companies (Toynami, Toycom, SOTA, Paliades, Jazwares, N2 Toys, BBI, Mezco, Art Asylum, etc.). McF proved that a small start-up can make a change if they have a high quality product and good management. I feel that these changes in the US market have indirectly helped the Japanese market as well. I started paying attention to toys again when Spawn came out. Since I was greedy and wanted more high-quality, highly-detailed toys than the US market could offer at the time I looked to the Japanese market and realized that it was already filled with all sorts of great stuff. Even with all the improvements to the merchandise in the US market, I still feel that the quality of the Japanese stuff is better.

Isn't the Primal Prime toy actually a much smaller scale than 1/24? Maybe 1/55? I don't have one anymore, but I remember the seat in the cockpit being much smaller than an Alternator seat. This would mean that Optimal Optimus is actually much larger than he was depictated on the show. IIRC, the Decepticons board the Ark, shoot a bunch of folks and don't make it off before the crash. The Ark computer (Teletran-1?) indescriminately repairs the Autobots & Decepticons giving them Earth forms. Or maybe it is the comic I'm thinking of.

I recently watched 1-5 and really enjoyed it. I felt there was a big gap between 4&5, but not so much that I couldn't quickly put the pieces together.

I have tired to be selective with Macross so that the collection doesn't get too big. I basically limited myself to 1 each of the Yamato transformable mecha, but even then the collection got out of hand by the time the 1/48s came out. Recently, I've been selling off small portions of my collection since my wife and I are trying to have a baby. My goal is to have my whole collection fit into 1-2 cabinets that I can lock. My Macross collection currently stands at 6 1/72s, 7 1/60s & 5 1/48s (shameless plug to check out the collection link in my .sig). I've preordered the VB and will probably pick up the VF-0 now that I've watched M0.

The last time I watched the movie was in '86 or so. Was Hot Rod's alt. mode supposed to represent 2005 Earth cars or Cybertronian cars? I was thinking Hot Rod/Rodimus was futuristic Earth designs whereas Kup & Blur were Cybertronian designs. Or maybe I made that up myself. Looks like I got my answer before I even finished the post.

Sticking the name "Hot Rod" on a Benz would make less sense than calling a Mustang "Grimlock". After all, a Hot Rod has to be an American car. I'd say Chrysler/Plymouth Prowler, but the name association somehow bothers me. Maybe the Chrysler Crossfire SRT-6. It may have Benz and AMG parts, but it's still an American car. Heh, maybe so, but I was taking an aesthetic approach to it. Besides, they couldn't use the name "Hot Rod" anyway. And it's not like the original Hot Rod turned into an American car. Who's to say? Maybe the G1 Hot Rod was the 2025, or whatever year the TF movie was set in, model Mustang.

This has been discussed a lot in the past 90 pages - along with tons of other stuff that would take a while to sift through. I'll try to be unbiased here... 1. BTs are a lot heftier than Alternators. The metal content is fairly significant on many of them. 2. BTs are subject to paint chips if you are not careful - or even if you are careful on some of them. 3. BTs typically have a glossier finish. 4. BTs are a heck of a lot more expensive (at least 2x). 5. Some BTs, such as Bluestreak, have a metalic finish whereas the Alternator is normal plastic. Some Alts, such as Hound and Tracks, use a nice metalic plastic. 6. The metal and plastic colors on some BTs, such as yellow Tracks, do not blend well. 7. Alt Silverstreak is actually painted. 8. BT boxes are a little smaller. 9. BT instructions are in Japanese. Alt instructions are in English. My personal opinion... Smokescreen - metallic finish on the BT looks great. Sideswipe - passed on him. Silverstreak - painted finish on the Alt looks nice, although it may be dull compared to the BT. Hound - Alt looks really nice. Deadend - the BT has a great looking high gloss finish. I think the Alt. has a dull finish like Smokescreen. Tracks - the metal and plastic colors on the yellow BT do not blend too well. The BT is easy to chip. The metallic plastic on the blue Alt looks nice. The blue BT is supposed to come with the classic hood flames. Meister - both the BT and the Alt suffer from the body panel colors not blending well. The BT has a pearl finish whereas the alt looks to have the same type of finish as the Alt. Smokescreen and Deadend.

Majestic: I have not found the Alternator Tracks or Meister in the Bay Area yet. I saw quite a few Hounds and Silverstreaks last week. I've only seen 2 Dead Ends. Great looking collection VF-0S FAN. The cabinet makes the BTs look nice and classy. A useful trick is to take the pictures at 30 or 45 degrees off center. This will avoid the flash glare since it will bounce off in the opposite direction. Continuing with the catch-all nature of my post, I would interested in at least 2 gray cannons.

It looks like the more innovative transformations compromise the car mode a little. See that huge divider in the rear window and the lack of front wheelwells? I'm not complaining- just pointing out that innovative transformations have a cost. I can't wait to get this one. It looks like it will be a lot of fun!!

Can someone explain to me how to use Bittorrent and where to find subs of the episodes? I'd like to see what everyone is talking about and maybe convince myself to get the VF-0 when it comes out.

There is a huge amount of bickering on most the Transformers boards I have seen. When someone posts a picture of a new toy some fans start a lovefest, some say they don't like it - and get flamed for it, some say that they only like G1 - and get flamed for it, some burb - and get flamed for it. I just don't fit in there since I like robots that turn into realistic vehicle modes. I'm not a fan of a lot of the modern Transformers targeted at kids because of this. I never liked the early BW stuff since I don't like the mixing of robot and organic parts (I prefer the machine-machine dynamic). I did like some of the Transmetals though. I liked the Beast Machines Vehicon designs, but didn't like the rounded/streamlined look of the Maximals. The Transtech designs are all rather odd and unappealing to me. RiD is what got me interested again. I started to lose interest during Armada and Energon (although I admit that the gimmicks of these lines are great for kids), but was sucked back in by the BTs and Alts. So, you see why I wouldn't fit in too well on many Transformers message boards.

Best of BTs/Alternators According to Matt (I'm bored)... Best Robot Mode - Smokescreen (#1 varient, BT-08?) Best Car Mode - Deadend * Honorable Mention - Meister Best in terms of Fun Factor (transformation, poseabilty, can't-put-it-down-idness) Meister * Honorable Mention - Tracks (the missiles & wrist cannons are fun)

I received BT Meister and Deadend today. I was a little disappointed in Meister. I'm not sure why. I think I may have just had really high expectations. The transformation works really well and is a lot of fun. The car-mode looks great and the bot-mode looks nice. The gun is a nice change. I was much happier with Deadend than I expected. The car mode is awesome and the bot mode is really nice as well. The gun looks great. I even like the really bulky look from behind. It works well for a Decepticon. All the colors work great. Maybe I was a little disappointed with Meister since I opened Deadend first I now have a BT of Smokescreen #1, Tracks, Meister and Deadend and Alternators of Hound & Silverstreak. The only ones that I am concerned about chipping are Tracks and Hound (the flat black on the feet doesn't look like it will last).

I enjoyed the season premiere. I don't mind the occasional time travel episode or story arc. It helps to add variety to the show and let's us see how the characters will behave in other situations. I can't wait until next week (or beyond depending on how long this arc goes). It looks like a fun episode.

Die cast in a toy isn't a requirement for me. I'm more interested in how it looks. It doesn't bother me that a 1/48 Yamato has next to no metal. As far as the Alternators/BTs go, I prefer the BTs because of the great finish. The finish makes a BT look more like a real car. I would buy the Alternators if they had the same quality paint over the plastic. In fact, I did get the Silverstreak Alternator since it is painted.