Jasonc

To add onto this, there was a looooootttt of info, on a regular basis of Mac F well before it came to fruition. Each article, interview, official post, was either a confirmation, or something new added. Natural progression kinda goes (more times than not)...1)We're announcing a new story...2)We're announcing the title and timeline...3)We're announcing basic plots...4)We're showing a pic or two....on and on, until the damn thing comes out. HG has done it like 1) We're announcing a sequel and title...2)We're doing stuff, but we can't talk about it 3)We're doing stuff, but we can't talk about it 4)We're doing stuff, but we can't talk about it 5)We're doing stuff, but we can't talk about it 6)We're doing stuff, but we can't talk about it 7)We're doing stuff, but we can't talk about it... get the idea. I wouldn't even compare What Robotech is now to Macross or any of it's components. Robotech doesn't measure up to anything Macross for a long time.

What was really annoying about the comment of the new thing, was that they termed it "new production with Tatsunoko" or something like that. What does Tatsunoko have to do with Tommy drawing a picture for what appears to be some sort of comic, and why try to mislead people by saying "new production"? If it's a comic, why not say that? What is so secretive about that? In the scope of things, anime in general, Robotech is little more than a quick "oh look" in a melancholy manner, and onto real stuff. Why try to sell one thing, when eventually, if you're going to release something, it's gonna be completely different? Oh, I forgot, it's gonna be word manipulated to fit the dice roll they get. I don't care about a new Robotech comic, or product coming out. If it does, good, but why turn it into some area 51 secret? Really... everytime they try to hype up such small news, their fans start catch onto what the M.O. is. Anyways, whatever, I'll get a free copy from someone of whatever it is, and make comments of this later, after it's already out, or there's real news about this.

I keep looking at my avatar here, and keep imagining that I'm singing "We Built This City", although that wasn't the song I was doing in that picture. Here I am, a couple hours later, and it's still there.

Hahaha, that was great. It fits the "Fire Bomber way" perfectly, and it was edited really well. I enjoyed it a lot. Great timing and work. Thanks for sharing it here. The only thing is, now I have that song stuck in my head and it won't come out.

Lookwise, I think both of them are very beautiful, and very personable. What makes the combination of May'n and Megumi unique is that in their own right, they both appeal to a broad spectrum of fans. I like May'n and her style (music of course) cause it draws one emotion, and Megumi because it draws in all that in other areas. What's great is that both overlap each other, and that makes me appreciate both of them in so many ways. I really can't say I like or prefer one to the other as entertainers. I enjoy both of their music libraries and have a playlist in my car of several CDs. Totally unrelated to that, I do find Sheryl to be a more attractable character. Maybe it's cause the character personality fits more of who I would be attracted to, if I was Alto Saotone. Hahaha, that's totally unrelated to this thread, but had to throw that out there. After this weekend, May'n and Megumi both have my utmost respect for coming to the U.S., both for the first time, and for both giving a great performance. Wether or not they'll admit it, it's gotta be kinda nerve racking to perform in front of a show where you are unfamiliar with the styles and ways of American concert fans. I don't even know if they are aware that Macross isn't aired or on DVD here. If they are aware, I can only hope that they felt the vibe of many of us, in that we enjoyed the concert to the max, and respect them for performing in front of us for the first time ever. For that, I applaud and respect them.

They did sign only one item, but my wife used her ticket to get the other signature on the CD I had May'n sign on Thursday, and had May'n sign the concert ticket. Oh yeah, I should say that although it wasn't on the schedule, May'n came back to sign again. Me, I had May'n sign the booklet, and Megumi sign the Ranka book. One item each, for both of us. My wife loves the Ai-Kun plushie she bought. And I gotta admit, it's quite adorable. Well, that ends my AX experience. I have work tomorrow at 6a.m. and coming off of a bruised rib, ear problem, and a nasty cough, I need the sleep. I'll be back on tomorrow afternoon. Can't wait to read everyone else's events.

Today was Megumi Nakagima's panel...And she was very likable and very friendly. My buddy with the press pass was able to get Mitch, my wife, and I in the front again (2 for 2). There were some great questions asked in that panel about her Philipino roots, and if she'd possibly do songs in Tagalog in the future. While she doesn't speak it, she can understand it, and she'd like to, as it's part of her. Also, someone asked if she could do the Nyan Nyan song, which she obliged, and it was awesome. I was able to get a couple pics, well, my wife did, maybe she can put them up. We did more shopping, and bought the TIA Macross Plus Movie book, two of the Half Age figures, the Sheryl PVC fig in swimsuit, Ranka pillow, a few keychains, and...waited in line for a long time to get autographs. I got the other part of my two disc CD signed by Megumi, as well as the Ranka Diary book. My wife got a concert ticket signed by May'n and I also got the booklet to the CD signed by May'n. Overall, macross was a big part of this year's con, and I will be in the cosplay thread, posting pics of the other Ranka/Sheryl cosplayers.

My wife and I were talking just now, and we came to the conclusion that May'n (Sheryl) had the more entertaining/indulging show of both Megumi and May'n...However, it was Yoko Kanno's performance of the show that made Megumi's performance worth the praise and adoration that it's receiving. That's not negating her, as art and music is both universal and both great and enduring, but as stand alones, May'n is a great performer and the singer of Sheryl is a strong voice and very big as a solo act. That said, Megumi is very charming as a solo act, but I have to say that May'n is probably my favorite solo performer, she made the show, while Yoko Yanno made Megumi's performance. On the cel purchase, I have to say it wasn't the $$$$ that was a grand, but it was from the same section of anime. We aren't big spenders yet when it comes to cels, but my wife loves all that stuff. The lines of the cel she got aren't so strong and some are faded, but overall, well worth the purchase and worth the money. $2.5K to what we got is a lot of difference. My wife got the Minmay and the second Jeanne, or Jean, I got the Orguss (which he'll be getting more later, and the second M7 of Mylene. "Dancing on the Planet Dance!!!" is awesome. She's one of my favorites, and cutest when it comes to M7. Hope to see you guys tomorrow, and for all of you...Decultcha' !!! My wife will be putting up the pics of cels in the Collection section of the forum and under cel collections. Enjoy!!!

I have to say, that this was the first concert I've been to at AX, and it will forever be, the most memorable. May'n did a great set of the most popular songs, and her voice sounded great. I was very excited to hear Universal Bunny. Megumi Nakagima was introduced into the concert when May'n started singing "What bout My Star" (translation). It started off as the Sheryl version, then mixed down to the Ranka version. There was new verses in the "carrot song" as people kept calling it. Megumi sang a verse in english, singing about how "it was a long long way from Japan. Utterly brilliant, and was a nice twist. When Yoko Kanno came out, she was out when Megumi was finishing a song, and she was out there dancing a bit (something I didn't expect to see, but a happy surprise). When she got on the grand piano, she started to play, and started off playing Aimo. Somewhere in the piano playing, notes of Ai Oboeteimasuka (spelling?) came through, and then Megumi started singing the verse. Then she started playing "voices", at which point, my heart almost stopped. Such a medley and rarity to hear those songs in such an arrangement. Absolutely priceless. As for the attire of the stars, May'n wore a Red cap with black shirt and black shorts. She had a black vest on with pink hearts or red hearts on it, and some plaid type boots. Very cute outfit. Megumi wore a dress that was very puffy around the waist, almost Ranka/t.v. Minmay-esque, also very cute. They wore outfits that almost seemed to fit their perspective characters. The concert ended with the song "Triangular" which was perfectly befitting, and had May'n and Megumi Nakagima both come out for the final performance. For those that weren't able to make it for health, or transportation issues, we all missed you out, and I do hope you are better and that we will get the opportunity to meet next time. The concert was packed, and there was all the expected glow stick action from the concert attendees. I can't really put into words the excitement I feel for being able to go to this. I wish you from the site would've made it to the dinner. There was 8 that showed in total, and only Mitch, my wife and I from MW. We were inside, and had access to additional tables to expand the party size. It was a good time. On purchases, my wife and I bought a cel of DYRL Minmay singing, an Orguss cel, Mylene from Mac 7, and one of Jean from Southern Cross. That was a lot of $$$, but it's priceless art to us fans. Tomorrow, my press buddy will try to get 4 of us front row center for the Megumi Nakagima panel and then it's off to autograph sessions and then more shopping. If anyone is gonna be there tomorrow, we'll be going to the Yardhouse again for drinks moreso than official dinner.

Did that Youtube have the section where Tommy or Steve asks people in the seats to email Kevin if they work for or have a connection with a place or someone who can make the decisions to distribute Robotech? That was a far, and sad reach for "Hey, we wanna be cool again. Can you fans help us?" Came off very unprofessional in my opinion. The Carl Macek stuff and stuff he was working on was interesting. At least he had the mindset to move forward with something, not just sit stagnant and pretend to be doing stuff.

I'll post up more pics when I'm done with all the madness. Gotta resize the pics so everyone can see them and not wait 20 mins to see just one. I'll also detail the questions that were asked at May'n's panel, as well as some highlights. For those coming down. Can't wait to meet you all later for dinner and drinks.

What it looks like is either a comic, or online comic possibly. And the pic they showed is "Sera" the Invid Princess in her suit holding a gun. It's Tommy Yune art, so I'm thinking maybe an online web comic, or Flash webisode. Nothing really earth shattering, but that's all that it really was. I'm sure the pics will be popping up soon. I was really too lazy by that time to take my camera out, even though they said no cameras (I think they jokingly say that, but really want people with their cameras out). Having the Voice actors on there and Carl's wife on there was cool. They actually were interesting to hear and made funny remarks to some of people's questions, but as far as content wise and for being RT's big 25 years, it was really kinda sad. Macross has more going on in this convention than they do, and the series aren't even allowed over here. Imagine that. Almost forgot to mention that I went to a dinner with several Robotech fans, and some of the VA's and HG staff. While I didn't talk to the HG staff (let's face it, what, if anything important is there to say), I did talk to a few of the Voice Actors. I'll probably get critisized here by some, but I tell you, the guys and gals that sat at our table, and the VAs, those are the people that make it fun. Turns out that a few of the RT fans I talked with that I haven't seen in a couple years are avid Macross fans of all the new stuff. So, in conclusion, panel was mostly an homage to Carl Macek, very little on the news of new things coming, and in that realm, still a lot of can't talk about its. However, the Voice actors, Steve Kramer, Richard Epcar, Ellyn Stern, and Rebecca Forstadt were fun as always. Seeing them around is always good times. They kept the panel from being lulled to sleep.

OK, back from the first day. First off, MAY'N is gorgeous,,, and a sweetheart!!! I was in line for her panel with a friend, and we happened to see another MW member, Mitch there. I said hi to him, but he was way ahead of the line. Anywho, he let us get up in line with him, which was really cool. What ended up being a good trade off, was my buddy who is press there, was already inside, and saved two front row center seats and two 2nd row center seats to the panel. Also, my buddy who is press, got to take pics while May'n was doing the panel, and used my camera and his. I have probably about 50+ pics of her. Afterward was the autograph signing, and Mitch and I met up in line, got our respective CDs signed, and, well, what a ride. In the panel, May'n said that she was looking forward to having an American Hamburger, so when she was signing my case, I told her the obvious first, that I loved her music, voice, and her videos, then told her that for the best hamburger, to go to IN-N-OUT. Great first day. Also went to the Robotech panel, but that can go someplace where people are interested in that. Tomorrow, off to buy more cells, Macross posters, and a Sheryl PVC. Then stop at the car, then concert time. May'n did say there will be some special things planned for the concert, so I'm gonna be really looking forward to this show. Here's one of many, many pics I took. From here, I only had to take two steps. You can tell how close we were. Oh, and sorry about the size. Haven't had time to resize. Just save it and fit it to a decent size you like.

I love this book. It's got a lot of great Votoms stuff in there, too. The Gundam stuff isn't too shabby either. The flyer for MW was from one of the pages of this book.

I doubt the lines will be that long on friday. I think the way it was set up this year was a marketing ploy by having everyone wait outside. I waited for about 3.5 hrs to get my stuff, then had to jump in another line for the damn concert tix. I got section U seats 301-304 (My buddy got tix with me at same time.) Basically, we're mid section, about half way on main level. Not as close as I wanted, but not bad. Can definitely see a lot from there. I'll be bringing my Macross Frontier CD to have signed by May'n and Nakagima. For the meet at Yardhouse. I think there's gonna be about 8 or 9 of us meeting around 7 to try and get a decent spot outside. If anymore wanna just show, by all means, we'll be there.

I've never seen any DVD official releases. Then again, if the performers are having some sort of tour DVD they are making, they may film some of it. Who knows, but AX doesn't put out DVDs that I'm aware of.

This goes back to the old argument of wether or not Bandai should just add english subs to the DVD and Blu-Ray discs, even if the DVDs are region2. So many want and are willing to pay for the R2 DVDs if it means paying more, just to get official stuff. I always thought that would be a great work around for not being able to get the DVDs and Blu-Rays in the U.S. Since BR is non coded anyways, that'd be the easiest way to go. Alas, we're still at the same issue, having to make DVDs from bittorrents. Speaking of all this DVD stuff, I can make the DVDs for anyone that wants. I'll burn em', pack em' and ship em' for a decent price. If interested, semd me a pm.

Man, hard to believe it's already 3 days left until this pops off. Can't wait. I'm getting my tickets and registration tomorrow.

I'm definitely interested depending on the price as well. Awesome work.

I wouldnt' trust it, but that's me. I made my own DVDs of the show, and they look awesome.

Unfortunately, I don't know it, but they were able to order it for me based on the title alone. They've been pretty good to me, based on the fact that I've ordered many products via email from them, and they've always come through.

I had this debate awhile back ago with someone who was on the "buy Robotech toy only" bandwagon. I've heard his arguments and others about how Yamato is chalk full of defective parts and pieces that break, trying to sell me on how Toynami's MPCs are better. The fiasco with the Maia MPC and the alpha line in general is what I'll always refer to. Knowing the first alphas had defects, they never attempted to fix the initial issues (crumbling hands, floppy legs, poor paint, overglue, landing gear clearance, etc.) Then when the Maia came out with all the brittle plastic and poor craftsmanship, it was just more problems on top of the original problems. Any problem I've heard from Yamato, has been handled, and they try to rectify the issues with their later issues and re-releases. I never vilified Toynami, some of their other toys are fantastic, but it's almost obvious that they don't make their money off of the MPC stuff.

Just ordered 2 copies of #5 from Kinokuniya to be picked up. Can't wait.

I'm sure they are profitable. If they weren't, Toynami/George wouldn't have continued with the Alphas or the betas as far as they did. Now, how much of a profit margin is something we can only guess at without him or someone in his company saying, but to just say they aren't is more on the side of Macross fan speculation(?). If you take all the items Robotech that they sell/sold, it seems like they've done alright. Toynami is a business afterall. In one of their most recent of Macross/robotech projects, their Regult seems to have done well. Even the 1/100 line seems to have endured well enough. Going by initial sales, not collector or 3rd party sales, it seems like Toynami is profitable, but how much is anyone's guess. I'm pretty confident that the Maia Sterling MPC was probably the money pit, but it seems they padded well enough to attempt to fix it at least. Doesn't seem like that was the case with that mess.

For the MPC "Cyclones", there were the 2 only. Apparently, Beagle prototyped the Fuke (Rook Bartley), but the first 2 sold so poorly in Japan and in the U.S., Beagle decided to drop out of the Mospeada game. HG blames Beagle, but in reality, it was both Japanese and U.S. markets that sold poorly. In regards to the Tread/Beta, the sales were poor, not because of quality from what I understand, but because of cost and the economy. I've had nothing but good things to say about mine (with the exception of the heavy, floppy legs), but $150 for an item that is more niche than Macross is kinda obvious. I don't think it's still a for sure thing about the Tread/Betas, but I think the Beagle Ride armors are gone the way of the dinosaur. Oh, and on the Legioss/Alpha, those were the epic failure. I doubt they're gonna run back to those ever again. Poor manufacturing standards, and then going to a less poor manufacturer will kill anything it seems. And I think the MPC version of the cyclones didn't pass 5000, but if so, I think they started off with high numbers to pad the numbers. That's my opinion though.