mechaninac

In other words, regardless of the administration, whenever government decides that it needs to come up with a solution to a perceived problem, that solution invariably results in a bigger real problem down the line which, when allowed to fester long enough, generates a demand for yet more government intervention which creates further unforeseen circumstances, etc., ad nauseam, ad infinitum... and the taxpayers, producers and consumers alike, always get the shaft. The corollary to that is to let the free market take its course in shaking out excesses and bad financial decisions. Edit.: still sticking only to the economic side of the argument...

Diligent budgeting and buying discretion are going to become more and more important in out purchasing habits. Personally, I intend to spend 20-50% less on toys than I did last year; but even if I were to spend around the same amount I'll end up getting less stuff.

Wow! you must have a lot of fun at family get togethers...

Sure. Just follow these two simple steps: 1. Hold destroid down on table with left hand while holding a hamer (or any heavy object will do) with your right hand. 2. Swing away... There you go...

I guess I'll chime in too. Takatoys, will you be making a sticker set for the upcoming YF-21 as well? And how about the Destroid Tomahawk that's to be released later this year?

Wow! The sculpt and design of Beagle's Ride Armor looks stupendous. However, just to keep everybody honest and add some balance to all the glowing praise being bestowed onto this ultimate rendition of this mecha, I'd like to point out that Beagle better include screw covers for all those exposed screw recesses on the rider figure, because they stick out like sore thumbs on something this high end (I don't care about the exposed screws on the Bike itself... that's a mechanical conveyance so the screws showing just adds to it's mechanical-ness).

Finally finished watching Ep. 4. This series rocks!

That's a disappointing possibility. Permanently attached packs would translate, to me, as an immediate NO-SALE unless the price is extremely cheap.

Ah, the power of positive thinking...

Those are fantastic. You should realy keep it alive. I'd sure like to see more.

Or you can just call them floozies... BSG is getting to be more and more of a mind frak with each new episode.

I can see a day when you'll be able to don 3D goggles and data gloves and create a model by actually manipulating points, curves, surfaces, etc., in virtual space in a similar fashion to what you see in Minority Report, but with actual tactile feedback via the gloves. A thinking cap would be several decades or even longer away. Can you imagine the first impression a lay person would get walking into a design/engineering room and seeing all these computer geeks (I do 3D CAD myself, so I know whereof I speak), with goofy eye pieces on, pawing at empty space... priceless.

Treading on mighty thin ice with those bad puns, ain't ya?

Which is not surprising given the fact that the Beta/Tread is a very squarish design. Other than the cockpit being slightly "off"... hard to describe what's wrong with it, it's just a general impression that may be influenced, in some measure, by the angle and possible perspective distortion of the photo, the Toynami sculpt is far more consistent with the line art than CM's rendition (CM's is beautiful in its own right, but it has a large amount of artistic license in its interpretation of the mecha; and it's cockpit is "off" too: far too small for the scale of the toy, albeit with a better shape). I won't be overly critical of the Beta until I see a photo spread, with accompanying review, of an actual released item... that's IF they ever release this thing before I'm too old to care.

Will these be of any help?

Finally got to watch ep. 3, subbed. Very good episode. I don't know if this has been brought up before -- I stayed away from this thread until now and I don't feel like perusing 20 pages to find out --, I thought the Soilent Green/Matrix-esque body recycling bit fascinating and creepy at the same time; that was an unexpected insight into the workings of what is essentially a closed loop system, and a very mature, thought provoking idea to be presented in a cartoon, even anime... bravo to the MF creative team.

Sigh!... VF-1 again; all well and good, but... where is my 1/72, mass produced, styrene VF-11B, dammit?! Attention Hasegawa, you will utilize the M+ licence and produce a VF-11B kit, you will produce a VF-11B...

I tend to agree as far as the YF-19 goes... the Revoltech joints just look goofy on that mecha, and the anime derived sculpt does suffer for it. The YF-21, however, is a whole different story; Omega One is bulgy by design, specially with the stylized sculpt, and the ball joints complement its aesthetics perfectly... add to that the beautiful finish on it (judging from the pictures) and the YF-21 is a complete out-of-the-park home run.

Yes and no. By throwing a slug out the muzzle of the sniper gun the FV-25 is expelling mass and would receive a recoil (back-wards push) equal and opposite to the energy imparted to the bullet by either magnetic or chemical means. If the VF is firmly standing on solid ground within a gravity well, this recoil would be minimal, but in space you'd need to exert some force to counteract the momentum of the projectile. The thing does look cool, and is yet one more variant to be milked in the forthcoming toy lines.

Just watched Ep 2. Much better pacing than Ep 1. Great show so far. Is it just me or is Sheryl, so far, an insufferable, childish, egotistical, Diva?

Anything that affects the surface texture by making it rougher will invariably make it more susceptible to oxidation down the road. While the bleaching, or sanding, or peroxide may whiten the surface somewhat by removing the offending layer, it can also make it more vulnerable in the future... unless you take it upon yourself to either polish the new exposed areas or coat them in varnish. The problem is that even if you paint or clear coat, unless you use automotive paint or another kind of color fast mix, they will eventually yellow too. --//-- Another culprit in yellowing is you, the owner. The more you handle the toy, the more hand oils, salts, acids you deposit on the surface. Even though the effect is minor, it is cumulative. Unless you wear gloves when touching your toys, or you wipe them down after each and every time you play with them, your own greasy self will cause some yellowing of the plastic. Unfortunately toys, even the collector variety, specially if molded in light tones (white is the absolute worst for this, hence how poorly the original pristine white 1/60 VF-1A fares), are perishable items.

It will if there is another Fed rate cut. It's all a vicious cycle: cut rates to forestall a recession and stimulate borrowing (pump more money into the economy); this leads to a lower dollar value (like any commodity, the more of it you have, the less it's worth due to over-supply); with the weaker currency, energy gets more expensive (one of the biggest reasons for the current crude oil prices is because the dollar is so week... less bang for your buck); the higher energy prices makes everything more expensive (manufacturing, farming, transportation, retail... all feel the pressure of higher oil prices); since oil instigated inflation occurs, consumers tighten their belts on discretionary spending; when the consumer spends less, corporate profits suffer; with lower profits there is less corporate expenditures into R&D, infrastructure, labor force, etc.; lower corporate spending leads to less economic activity and higher unemployment; this leads to a slow down in the economy teetering on the edge of recession which prompts the Fed to cut rates to forestall... And so goes the Merry-Go-Round (this is overly simplified, of course, but you get the idea). The only saving grace is that a lower dollar makes American goods more competitive in the export market, but it's little consolation when you cringe at where the prices for our favorite obsession have gone, and how much it costs to ship the stuff. Things will get better once the markets digest all the bad news and people start jumping back in to invest in the next fill-in-the-blank-bubble. Don't you just love market cycles? With all that being said, I hope that when the Beagle is released there will be a convergence of a stronger dollar and a lower MSRP than has been rumored so I'll be able to afford it. The thing looks awesome.

Unfortunately, UV is not the only culprit. Oxygen in the air will cause the plastic to oxidize and yellow, although at a much slower pace than direct sun light; as Jenius commented, the early 1/60 VF-1s will yellow regardless of UV exposure... my Hikaru 1A has severely yellowed landing gear doors just sitting inside a dark drawer. Also, flat finishes yellow faster from atmospheric interaction than gloss ones due to their larger surface areas. Gloss is achieved by highly polishing the mold tool cavities and matt comes from the molds having less polish or some type of surface etching that produces an irregular surface finish that scatters light The only real way to absolutely prevent yellowing for certain is to put your toy in a hermetically sealed, UV proof, container filled with some noble gas like Nitrogen.

Watched the AiA&I-Z sub of Ep. 1 and thought it was pretty good. I have to agree that what they omitted from the Deculture version was a shame and the editing in some parts felt a little choppy and/or rushed; but overall I did not have any problems with it. I like how they kept the Portuguese greeting (Bem Vindo) at the gate where Sherryl arrives in Frontier... I liked that multilingual touch in the DE. Now that Ep. 2's sub is out I can't wait to start its download to see what everyone is raving about in the other thread.

Admittedly, I pulled that number out of my... well, you know. The way I figure, if it's good enough for a political poll it should be good enough for a scale representation of a fictitious aircraft. I doubt that the new 1/60 VF-1 will be exactly the same length, width, depth as the old version, but it should be damned close, within...