captain america

Hi Chris. The possibility is always there; it's really more an issue of how many people would actually be willing to purchase what would probably be a fairly extensive (and expensive--maybe $150-ish) upgrade kit. The Ostrich & Elint would require a whole new nose section with its own canopy & cockpit, as well as a new chest, heat-shield, modified FAST packs, a new set of V-tails, different head, as well as the huge radome on the Elintseeker. Do-able, but at a price.

Hi Gabe. No worries, I've got my hands full right now so this project probably won't be ready intil early May at the earliest. Hopefully that'll give you enough time to save up. The kit should be in the $75-ish range based on a quick review of the parts needed.

Removeable heatshield, heh... It'll transform perfectly with the heatshield in place, thank you very much. And it WILL come molded in color to prevent paint scratching... Beige or light grey; just specify which variant you're doing when you order (1st ep. version, or Virgin Road ver.) and I'll cast it directly in the specific color. Should you wish to paint the parts just the same, you can always do so; that remains at the discretion of the customer.

Well I guess that's about all the info I need to start prepping to make a 1/72 GBP-1 kit for the Hasegawa battroid.

Hi Exo. Wow, you've got more patience than I do to work at that size! If by the time the 1D conversion is done, your figures are done as well, I may just use em. You don't have to donate, I'd gladly compensate you for your contribution.

Hmm. I'm not crazy about sculpting tiny figures; very hard on the eyes. I'll start by seeing how well the conversion goes first, and if I feel that I can also produce some decent figures without making the kit too pricy, I'll give it a go.

I'm wondering if I should include a set of round TV hands to go with the 1D? I also want to mold the head's double visor in clear green... i think that'd be a nice touch.

Hi Guys. In order to maintain a decent amount of strength on the toy, I can always mold the parts out of the same high-performance polymer that I used on the VF-1 Launch Pylon as well as the Tachikoma. The material is significantly stronger than the more widely-known resins, but like anything else, it still has its limitations and isn't quite as strong as ABS. The stuff also incurs a slight cost penalty, as it's a bit more expensive and needs to be post-cured. I immagine that from a complexity point of converting a regular Yamato 1/48, you'll basically have to become familiar with the use of a screwdriver, but beyond that, it should be a piece of cake, and as with anything I'd offer, you'd get full-color, step-by-step in structions on how to dismantle, AND replace all the necessary parts. I'd contemplated offering the 1D parts pre-pigmented ( a la Tachikoma) but in so much as the rest of the toy would end up having to be painted anyway, I can just mold them in one standard color.

*sigh* Guess we all knew this was going to happen eventually Well either way, if Yamato won't pump-out any Macross goodies, I will... They forced me to do this.

The fighter you see in the pic is most likely a manicured test-shot model, and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they left out all the forearm/inner parts/snap pegs to keep it looking nice & tidy fit-wise. Don't try to get that look on your blue Bernard version, you simply won't be able to; the fit is just too awful on the production toy. Oh, by the way, the old Imai model was also very delicate. But then, it was designed as a model kit, not a toy. Much of the sloppiness in the arms stems directly from the fact that Toynami copied an already flawed design to begin with; throw-in some poor assembly at the factory and the end result is what we hold in our hands now.

Hi Valk. Truthfully, I don't think the Toynami sculpt is all that bad. If anything, they gave the toy a really good balance visually in all 3 modes; particularly the fighter mode, which I think looks better than mine. In this case, my overall sculpt or theirs wouldn't have made any difference; it's more an issue of engineering & troubleshooting. But then, that's where I think I could've helped them most of all. The thing is, these are "collector" toys. Designed more for appearance & detail (as much as you can put on a toy anyway) than for outright sturdiness or quick transformation. Collector toys are more about cool poses with little or minimal playtime and in that respect, that's where this toy blows bigtime, because of the limited joint capability, you simply can't give them the cool action poses like you see on the old Imai box art. I'm going to try to hack-up one of mine, and see if I can't do something more intelligent with it.

Actually, crooked heads & lose shoulders can still be fixed to a decent extent; the real flaw that I see with this toy are the hip joints, which, like the Veritech POS, greatly limit its posing ability because you can't adopt a wide stance. I hate to say this, but I wish Toynami had stolen my hip geometry to do their toy; at least then people would have had greater posing possibilities.

If you look at the Legioss drone carefully, you'll see that it has almost no common parts with the previous models; it's an almost completely different design, as well as a different transformation sequence. I highly doubt they'll ever make that sku.

Yup, the biker gangs here use .22s for assassination as well, even in prison... The government doesn't seem to mind hardened criminals having guns but taxpaying citizens? That is simply not acceptable

...That's precisely what I'm hoping to do with my own gun designs

Hi JS. I'm guessing that the Five Seven would only really be good for plinking or target-shooting at that point, as the round ityself is so small and sharp that you'd basically have no stopping power whatsoever. Seems very controllable and precise though, from what I've read. As for banning the Mini 14: your guess is as good as mine. The laws in Canada are written in such a way that they don't need to show just cause to ban a firearm; they need only DECIDE that the firearm in question is a menace and follow through to ban it. No explanations due. Unlike in the US, where the right to own/bear arms is precisely that: a right. Here in Kanada, gun ownership is a PRIVILEGE and can be revoked at anytime for pretty much any reason. They've actually been at this for years now, and the only reason that really comes to mind is that like any repressive, self-serving government, it's in their own best interests to keep the masses weak, unarmed, and incapable of any sort of armed revolt. Otherwise, the tyrants would be out of a nice, cushy job.

We get our fair share of greusome crimes here too, no worries. I'd be curious to know under what circumstances this took place: time of day, physical state of the victim & attacker, alone or with friends? Wintesses, etc... Five Seven: I find it simply mind-boggling that you guys can literally get your hands on guns that fire armor-piercing rounds, whereas us poor saps in the Kommunist Republic of Kanada are fighting to keep the government from banning the most common of hunting/ranch rifles No joke, the cdn government is trying to ban the Ruger mini 14 as we speak... Along with a whole gaggle of other weapons, I have no doubt.

I'd be even more worried if there were actually a sword-weilding ninja with night-vision goggles IN the building, but seriously, this getting rediculous. As important as we all like to think we are, I think there's a better chance of us winning the lottery than of being executed by a night-vision wearing, sword-weilding samurai...Heck, they don't even assassinate heads of state with that much eccentricity. On a slightly more realistic note, what's the deal with the FN Five Seven? Exclusive police/military use, or are there any plans for civillian release?

Bingo. Guns have the advantage of stopping a bad guy BEFORE he gets in your personal danger zone...And even point-blank, I'll take my chances with the gun.

Swords & glorified steak knives might have been good against unarmed or similarly armed peasants hundreds of years ago (or heck, against steak), but just short of being damn lucky, you won't win a fight against a guy with a 8-9 .40 slugs. The scene when Harrison Ford shoots the sword-weilding arab in Raiders Of The Lost Ark comes to mind

Those of you who got your kits: please PM me with your name & e-mail address; I'll get a set of instructions out to you pronto.

Hi Fulcy. Yes it is. As you can see, the thigh "socket" is contoured to perfectly fit the bottom of the main body, but I left off any allignment pegs so as to give the builder as much posing latitude as possible. The socket basically just "butts" with the centerline drum, but you can determine the leg-spread best suited to your pose.

Hi guys. I was just wondering if there was any feedback on the latest Samurai Monkey model? I think at least a couple people have gotten their models already; I was just interested to get any feedback. Also: for those of you who have the kit: you may notice that the surface of the parts is somewhat "greasy"... This is simply the effect of the mold release. This is easily removed by washing the parts with mild dishwashing detergent and a toothbrush and/or a sponge. Basically, the mold release is a special, paintable formulation, so it won't affect paint adhesion at all: no scuffing of the surface is really necessary. Instructions: they aren't included in the actual kit, just as with the VF-1 booster & display base, I need to e-mail them to buyers individually... No worries, I didn't forget

...The sale?

I seem to recall someone saying that the premiere miniseries was already available on DVD. Definitely a must have for me, I think the show is just wonderful.