Blaine23

Diecast makes anything better. Even poorly made bootlegs. I dig those shiny feet!

Don't let the horror stories in the "what's wrong" thread scare you off. I own 4 1/48's and I've yet to have a problem with any of them. So I'd reccomend you buy (at least) one - the transformation is NOT that complex, actually very easy once you do it a few times. Also, ALL the releases other than the 1st ed VF-1A Hikaru and VF-1S Roy have the better nosecone, so any VF-1J will be fine. Here's a few tips to having a successful 1/48 purchase and transformation, etc. 1. Order your valk from a reputable dealer on Macrossworld. Valkyrie-Exchange, Blastotoys, Neova (and many more) are great guys to work with and any of them will work with you to replace your valk should it arrive with some sort of postal damage or problem. It may cost a few bucks more, but the piece of mind is totally worth it. 2. Read the instructions before transforming. Well. Take your time and don't use too much force. After you've done it a few times it'll be simple and you shouldn't have to worry. 3. Store or display your toy somewhere safe. If you put it on the edge of a shelf 7 feet high over a tile floor... you're asking for trouble! Follow these steps and I'm about 99% sure you won't have any problems. I would also recommend the Hikaru 1J over the Max or Millia as it is pretty much known that it has the best paint application of the VF-1J's so far released. Good luck, enjoy your toy and welcome to the boards.

Seriously... you guys are killing me! Who woulda thunk that a 30 second spot on a comedy show would induce actual internet arguments, complete with moderator enforcement? Only on Macrossworld...

I knew it looked like the Miller version - cool post Limbo. Any of you guys claiming to actually like Batman really have to read Dark Knight Returns. Easily the best Batman story ever told, IMHO.

Because nothing's really more fun than basic clear plastic shapes you can pretend are robot fuel.

that makes perfect sense... I think the argument against it is "I want to spend as much money as possible, because it's MY money and I don't want it to be mine anymore!" It still doesn't make any sense from any sort of realistic marketing standpoint. No offense to Crisp, but his points are a bit muddy. How can you check eBay to get pricing info on a toy you haven't released? What on Earth could the size of the box have to do with anything? If anything, we've only complained about Yamato's overly large boxes. And by your own point at the end, you're really implying more that the middle agents (those selling to the US market are the ones who mark it up, not Yamato itself, as they cannot make the profit of selling overseas since they can't ship there. And since there are more than a few competing vendors selling these import toys in this market, if one of them overprices then the others will take the sale. Competition. Market. Capitalism. It's all very simple. But those of you who really want to believe Yamato checks a foreign language website in areas they cannot legally export to to determine prices, feel free to go ahead and do it. Just don't impose your beliefs on the rest of us. Continue being paranoid and odd on your own, please.

Congratulations to you and Amy, Graham! Also, welcome to the world, Jeffrey!

Awesome news! Congratulations to both you and your wife, Graham!

For the sake of animators everywhere, I hope there's plenty of 7 year olds who agree. For the sake of animators everywhere - I hope that they have really considered other career options if the fate of their existence hangs on the success of a Krypto cartoon.

Eh, it would just piss people off. "There's no way that HE-MAN is cooler than M.A.S.K.!!" Everybody has a different level of appeciation for toys. And everyone is more partial to toys that represent something they like. For example, someone could make the most badass Masterpiece My Little Pony and I still wouldn't give a damn.

I see your point, too - but you have to admit posting your beliefs in large red letters could be a bit annoying to those who completely disagree with you. DO YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?! But you do have a point in that no one here has to listen to you. Mainly I'd hate for newcomers to the board to think it was some sort of MW policy because it isn't. And if you feel I've been a jerk to you by disagreeing with you, then I'm sorry. I was simply trying to illustrate why I think it's a goofy idea and have a bit of fun while doing so. No offense intended whatsoever.

Kooky... but I have to admit I have a certain love for the silliness of Krypto. It was a much more innocent time back then. Do ya think Krypto will talk? Any chance of him hanging out with Beppo the SuperMonkey? Dude, I know this isn't your dream animation from WB... but you gotta admit, having a super powered dog would kick serious ass. If I was about 7 I'd watch this show daily.

When I say "not functional"... I mean that there is absolutely no way that the Tim Burton (or is it Schumacher's update of Burton's batmobile?) could pull itself up the wall with a grappling hook. If it did carry a winch and could pull itself up a wall, it would take about 2000 times longer than it did in the movie. Anyone's who's ever used a wire to pull anything can tell you this. So, by way of further explanation, I mean not functional in the purest sense. It cannot function. Which could also be not realistic or not plausible. Tomato, tomahto, etc. I totally agree with those here that believe that this is a total change from the Bat designs of the past... but I think they're doing this deliberately, with a bit of logic behind it. Not just F--ing with legacy for the fun of it. I could be very wrong, of course. But to my eyes, this design is far more practical and realistic than past Batmobiles. I don't think a guy that dresses up to fight crime will look at his car and go... "yeah, man... that looks baaaaadasssss. Now I just add some sick graphics to the hood and I gotta drop a DVD player in the back seats for my homies. Then it'll be awesome."

really how do you explain the $120 price tag on the q-rau? we're not in their market? have you even looked at mcpaz's thread? we account for a huge chunk of yamatos products/business. its been discuss before in teh past and we all have come to the conclusion we are exactly they're target audience. to say we don't count is completely ridiculous. believe me, some yamato dudes already copied down the figures from mcpaz thread.... and sithlords got a care package coming to him. No one's saying we don't count, Haterist... but I still don't think these figures (that could very well be innacurate - no offense to McPaz, but he is going by everyone's word, not actual sales data. For further evidence on what everyone's word is worth VS. actual sales data, consult the Custom DVD box thread...) are what Yamato is using to determine costs. It would be bad business to base your MSRP off of internet babble. They look at what sells and what doesn't. If it goes out of their factories at a certain price, that's as far as they're tracking it, in terms of sales data. What you're proposing is more than a bit silly for an actual business, as opposed to an internet seller. Is this how you imagine a sales meeting at Yamato goes? Yamato Executive #1 - The Q-Rau will be priced at $100 dollars American! It is decreed! Yamato Executive #2 - Wait one moment, it says here on the internet that the Americans will pay $120! Yamato Executive #1 - Are you sure?!? That is madness!! Yamato Executive #2 - I have it printed right here. YF-19 BADAZZzzzz 42513 says it right here in this post. Another user, MINMAYonCRACK agrees with him. Yamato Executive #1 - Well, then we will have to rearrange everything! If we cannot determine our prices by the cost of running a business - then we absolutely must rely on a website based on a continent we cannot legally distribute to and that has an awesome thread like Hot Anime Cosplay Chicks! Thank the heavens for such reliable data! Let's rip those silly gaijin off for all that we can! Yamato Executive #1 & 2 - mwa ha ha. MWA HA Ha! MWA HA HA HA HA!!!! That's just retarded. If you did that in a real business, you'd go broke fast. So, no I don't agree with you. I'd say the majority of logical folks around here don't either. We have not all come to the same conclusion. If you don't want to talk what you'd be willing to pay, fine... but please refrain from yelling at everyone around here what they can and cannot talk about, unless it relates somehow to the guidelines of the forum established by Shawn, Graham, and the mods.

Dude... I know you're obsessed with paying 1 dollar more or less and paranoid as hell, but please don't presume to shove your weird obsession with thriftiness down everyone's throats. Seriously... Yamato is a company. They're going to try and make a profit. They know how much it costs to design, refine, and mass produce toys. I don't believe they base their prices on what gets said around here. They base them on projected sales, profit, and costs. Just like any company. They are not an eBay dealer looking to "screw" you. All that being said, I'd easily pay $120 for it.

Yeah, I'm talking about Bruce Wayne, too. He is a billionaire, not some guy determined to make a giant, shiny, nonsensical fetish machine. The "loose" armor look is a design choice, just as is just about everything involved in a Batman movie. To me, it doesn't look at all as if it will fall apart at any minute. It looks far tougher than previous Batmobiles. I stand by my argument that this looks like a more "realistic" choice for a one man war on crime to drive around in and kick ass. The Batmobile (as the comic defined and Burton's film updated) was obviously created to cater to certain "hot rod" car fetish. Slick paint job, Bat logo prominently displayed, bubble windows... none of that really does anything other than look like it was designed by a car-rabid kid in the 50's. The Burton Batmobile is far from functional, by the way. It drove up the side of a building... how? Doesn't matter. Armor plates cover the whole vehicle in an instant... how? Doesn't matter. This movie is taking a more realistic take on Batman, and this vehicle looks like it could do more than show up at car shows and look cheap.

hmmm.... where have I seen that image before?

I lurve my Honda Element. Didn't like 'em when I first saw them. Test drove it and fell completely for it. It's far cooler inside than outside. Ultra practical and chock full of groovy little features.

I dig it. And I've been a Batman fan for a long time. Personally, I hate the sleek look of the Batmobile in most films. To put it simply, it never looked like a vehicle that a guy would build in his basement to fight crime in. If the car would never blend in with regular cars on the street, why not make it as tough as you can? I'll take this over some ridiculous armoring Tim Burton fetish mobile or a pimpmobile with a jet turbine welded to the bumper. It just seems silly for Batman to bother putting a glossy black coat on a car he'll use to run down criminals. He's Batman, not Paulie Teutel. This looks very Dark Knight Returns to me.

Just an idea here... why don't we use some battroid line art for the spine? You can easily turn any of Kawamori's sketches from Designworks into White on Black line art like the sides. I also like the traditional spine with Isamu and the sky. I'd pay another $5 for the color top and spine. The top blue logo is just too good to mess with.

I gotta agree w/ DA on this point. The spine is definitely the sore point. Maybe you could use a partial of this image - Which would hold the same theme, color and background.

It is a bit weird to see how proud of themselves people can get when they solve something like this really quickly. People's brains are wired in all kinds of different ways. This is hardly a test to see if you're John Nash.

I'm with Fulcy... that's my favorite... but I'd like to see bigger, more contrasted pics of the blueprints.

Dude, I sent you that memo. Do you even read your mail anymore? Maybe if you came to the meetings you wouldn't be so out of the loop. Hell, I told him myself a week ago when we were out buying more kittens for the Great Machine. You know how he's been since the accident...

not possible... Well... it's obviously happened alot already.