mechaninac

Thank for the pictures SaveRobotech, but I didn't notice any shots showing the underside of the Legioss in fighter mode; that's the one shot that, mysteriously or intentionally (not referring to you, just a general statement), hasn't shown up anywhere yet, and the picture that would put to rest all the debate regarding how the legs look stowed from bellow. Do you have any such shots?

If I could hazard a guess I'd say their earlier statements regarding price were mere trial balloons intended to gauge customer reaction and interest, as well as sheer over estimation. As large as the Beta is at 1/55 (not nearly as large as the Koenig Monster) it is mostly comprised of empty space, and hopefully Toynami has limited die cast to areas where it actually makes sense instead of how they did on the Alphas.

Oh go on, preorder already... you know you want to

The blue is the hero version of the Beta that gets just about all the screen time with the freedom fighters. However, during the initial assault by the Mars Base fleet seen in the first episode of the series, the green Beta does show up in combined mode with green Alphas as background cannon fodder. The Shadow Beta shows up fleetingly in the assault on Reflex Point, I think... not sure, and it is prominent in Shadow Chronicles. The Red Beta never shows up in Mospeada, so it never did in The New Generation chapter of Robotech either; however, it is shown in Sentinels. Of all the Betas, the blue one is the only one, to my knowledge, ever shown transforming into the different modes.

To me that's an easy choice. I already have the Alphas and, although they aren't great as far as fit and one has an area of sloppy finish, none of them are broken or show any signs of spontaneous disintegration, and they do look almost anime accurate in all modes... unlike the CMs (maybe I'm one of the lucky ones who did not get the craptacular examples of the breed). So, I can have an Alpha/Beta combo for, at most, $180 shipped (and I do think that the Toynami example looks better than CMs' -- no judgment on quality, however), or a Legioss/Tread combo for app. $300 shipped. In addition I will be able, if I so choose, to procure all the Betas to go with all the Alphas, including the SC ones, for the same or lesser price for a complete collection; whereas, with the CMs I can only be guaranteed to acquire the blue alpha and be left hanging or forking over even more than the absolutely absurd retail price for the other, exclusive, versions. Thus, for me, there is no contest; Toynami's it is. I preordered the blue Beta at BBTS (thanks for the heads up by the way) and if I'm satisfied with their rendition of this "holy grail" mecha I'll pick up the others as well; if not, then I'll at least have one which does complete the set for the main characters in the show.

I don't know if these have been suggested yet, but how about: VF-25 Rapier VF-25 Stiletto VF-25 Scimitar VF-25 Katana VF-25 Claymore Since the VF-9 already has the code name of Cutlass, a bladed weapon moniker would be appropriate from an already established Macross naming convention.

So, since the YF-21 is being released very soon, and Macross' 25th anniversary lasts the entire year, what do you guys think are the chances that Yamato will pull a 25th anniversary special edition YF-21 before the year is out? After all, it would help them amortize the tooling that much faster by releasing another scheme independent of licensing issues... just a thought...

I remember Graham mentioning that the intake covers were removable pieces just like every other Yamato offering since the 1/48 VF-1. That shot of the undercarriage really sells this bird; where I thought the YF-19, while very nice, only got within 75% of matching the sleekness of the design as implied in the animation, the YF-21 is 98% there... it's a stunning effort on Yamato's part.

Damn! Those glowing eyes are just too freaky. Thanks for posting... that 1/100 just got owned.

To quote Graham: "I backed out of there slowly, making sure to make no sudden moves to alarm the natives (inmates?)." Just messin' with'ya

Cheapest place I found so far is Image Anime at $57.99 before shipping. If you find a better deal, please let us all know.

If they make a Helldiver in 1/24 scale I'll have to give this new line a second look, and if they make the AL97S I won't even think once, let alone twice.

13 inches in height... Dayuhm. I like the mech's design, but not that much to own a shelf hog like that; I think I'll just stick with the Revoltechs and the one MG kit I have.

I've noticed that Rei's shoulders are specially prone to the problem you describe; this is most likely due to the short peg of the Revoltech joint in that area... the hips also come off rather easily, but not as bad as the arms. I have not noticed this quirk with any of the Patlabor Revoltechs I own, so I'm assuming this is a ,mostly, Fraulein exclusive "defect". I was thinking of a way to remedy this and have come up with a possible solution (I have not done this myself, yet): Since the joints look like ABS, it could be possible to use a hot knife to create a nub on the end of the shaft that keeps coming off the PVC body's slots; a very slight flange would increase the friction and, because PVC is soft, act as an anchor without adversely affecting the ability of the peg to rotate inside the slot.

If they are going to make Alien Revoltechs, they better make the Colonial Marines too; otherwise, what's the point?

Ignoring any possibility that Toynami's repackaged MH Ride armors could come with blue visors to diferentiate them from their Japanese counterparts, how long before some enterprising soul recasts the visor(s) in clear blue resin to redress this "issue"?

If red is good, and blue is good, wouldn't that make purple twice as good?

I wish those were my doing, but they're not. I got them off this site Some more:

Since Bandai is diving back into producing Macross toys and models due to their sponsorship and licensing of Macross Frontier they could dust off their other Macross related licenses and produce M7, FB2012, and M2 toys in 1/60 and models in 1/72 (forget their usual 1/100 fetish). I know it'll never happen, but if it did, how cool would that be?

Actually, the VF-0s shoulders' problems were not due to poor QC on the manufacturing end, but to lack of material interaction research on the engineering side of things. But I agree with your sentiment that Bandai, being a far more mature company, could do better than Yamato... and that Yamato will improve their game too.

I'm quite happy that Toynami is going to handle international distribution of the MH Ride Armors under their Robotech license. From everything I've read thus far, MegaHouse did the design and engineering, and any pre-production changes, and will be responsible for manufacturing. Therefore, Toynami's involvement means a win/win for the consumer: somewhat cheaper MSRP and lower shipping costs ($15.00 - $25.00 savings to the consumer), the possibility of included sticker on all the units sold under their name... if they insist on having those as standard (I'm hoping anyway), the possibility of the mail-in accessories being offered through them as well (again just hoping), and last but not least... product support in case you get a dud*. As far as the large scale Beagle/Toynami MPC, the possible outcome is a lot murkier, and far less confidence inspiring. In my experience (none), Beagle is a completely unknown quantity in the field of transformable toys, but their CAD render looked very promising; Toynami's design/engineering and manufacturing record is a VERY known quantity that inspires dread in the heart of every serious collector. If all Toynami does in regards to any aspect of the production of the MPC Cyclone is to ask for Beagle's engineers to beef up the calves a bit to improve the proportions a little, then there is hope for a good product at domestic (US) prices, and, again, product support. If, on the other hand, they feel compelled to muck up with Beagle's engineering, or insist that their version be the one to see production, and at their manufacturing plant, then things become a lot more troublesome. Time will tell. * As Jenius has stated before, a 1/15 dud, even in a Toynami box, as long as Toynami is only doing repackaging, would be entirely MegaHouse's fault.

I stand corrected...

Not official line art or anything, but so cool...

The demonstration team's Valkyrie IIs did not carry SAPs. You are right that each individual VF-2SS in the team was a single solid color (not including feet thrusters, canopy shield, and other minor accents) with white stripes.

Definitely getting at least 2 Regults: one for standard unit, one for the Large Missile Carrier; but where is the small missile version? They may yet include the SM pods with this release or save that for a future 2nd run.