mechaninac

Rental... several months after the DVD is out, when several copies are just taking up space at my local Blockbuster.

If Yamato had never gotten into the business of making Macross products I would never have gotten the Anime toy collecting bug and would be several thousand dollars richer today. That's not to say I resent spending all the money I've dumped into this hobby over the last few years, just stating a fact; the same fever that was instigated by Yamato's products has spread to other franchises that would have held little, if any, appeal to me otherwise... strange but true.

That's true, however... My concern with a live action GITS movie is that, based on current trends, it would likely be more akin to Aeon Flux than Blade Runner.

Thought I'd contribute a video for everyone's amusement: Rube Goldbergh, eat your heart out!

How about this beast. I know its from the much vilified Robotech universe, but it's still a nifty hover tank design; the VBT-1 Centaur Veritech Battle Tank:

We've already seen that powers are not individually exclusive: power absorption/emulation and flight. Maybe Hiro's father is "Unbreakable", like Claire. I don't see his character as being so disposable as to be offed in the first episode of season 2. And I must mostly agree with chrono... the season opener was a bit "flat".

Man oh man... I can seriously see that "kid" walking into his school one day toting a platoon's worth of firepower and going SS on the whole student body until the German equivalent of SWAT puts a bullet through his demented fat head. That is one ANGRY mofo.

I'm skipping these... I'm not into the Smoky And The Bandit 1978 Trans Am look.

For some pretty cool imagery on modern MBTs vs. WWII vintage tanks and the role doctrine plays on battle outcomes between woefully mismatched adversaries I suggest giving Harry Turtledove's Worldwar tetralogy a try. The books are incredibly entertaining reads.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I've been nothing if not honest and pragmatic in my assessment of all things Yamato (or Toynami, or Bandai, etc.), including the SV-51. I believe in shedding the light on all flaws I encounter, including design oversights, where applicable, even if they do not constitute defects; but I also give credit where credit is due. That way, anyone contemplating a purchase can make up his/her mind based on a comprehensive review instead of only gloom and doom carping. Time will tell if the SV-51 proves reliable or not, but that is true of all toys. The SV-51, more than any other VF, is extremely complex, so I wouldn't expect it to be anywhere near as rugged as the 1/48 VF-1 let alone a Bandai 1/55.

I got my 51 a couple of days ago. I went over the whole thing and here's what I found: 1. No stress marks of any significance. The ones I did find where on the elevator-stabilizer assembly hinges. It seems to be caused by the insertion of the hinge pins during assembly and should not get any worse as these assemblies do not undergo any real stress. It is worth noting that the plastic's color amplifies the appearance of any minor stress mark. 2. Droopy wings, specially the right one, and the sliding locks don't really do jack (they would have to be twice as long to make any difference). 3. My wings fold symmetrically, so no same-hinge problem on mine. 4. All the ordnance attaches securely to all hard points on my example. 5. Best closing Canopy of any VF, including the 1/48. 6. Radome magnet could've been stronger, but it does it's job. 7. Wing root hinges should have been designed with a flange on the bottom surface to correspond to a matching shelf on the wings; that way, even if they were less then tight they could not rotate down past horizontal and the wings would stay straight at the roots, by default. As it is, the wings are free to rotate an extra 3-5 degrees until the wing's hinge pocket inner surface hits the lower edge of the hinge block. It may be possible to glue a strip of styrene to the hinge just above the bottom corner and then paint it Euro I gray to hide it (it would look just like a surface detail); this would cause the wing to "bottom out" much sooner than it currently does. 8. Most Gear bay door are abominably loose but do stay closed okay. This should be a painless fix with some clear nail polish. 9. Gummy DD rocks! I have not transformed it yet, so I may find other nitpicks in the future; but from what I can see thus far, this is Yamato's best release in terms of initial quality since the debut of the 1/48s.

The two best MB Tanks in the World are the Abrams M1A2 and the Challenger 2. Of the two, the British beast has a slight edge in overall sophistication and capability (it was designed based performance and shortcomings of its predecessor, the Challenger 1 and the Abrams).

After going through this thread I went to check on my 1/60 VF-1s... and I'll be damned, my Hikaru VF-1A has yellowed gear bays doors (nose and legs), and slightly yellowed upper arms, but the rest of the plastic parts are still pristine white; this Valkyrie has never been exposed to sunlight, direct or otherwise, and has been cooling its jets (Get it? Jets?... ... umm... cough... never mind... ) inside a drawer for the better part of four years. As mentioned before, the formulation combined with the whiteness of the plastic makes it very prone to yellowing due to chemical interaction with the atmosphere regardless of UV exposure; the odd thing is that most parts haven't yellowed at all. I also checked on the condition of my other 1/60 VF-1s and they all seem to be faring much better (VF-1A Max may have the slightest hint of color shifting on a couple of parts, but if it is there it is near imperceptible, or just my eyes noticing a variation against the painted die cast that isn't really there). It appears that everything after the first 1/60 should not suffer its extent of non-photochemically induced yellowing due their grayer tones, and hopefully better grade of ABS.

Wow, I don't really know what to say. My first impulse was to call on the original post; however this "thing" is legit... who woudda thunk it??? Unlike many here I have no deep seated antagonism towards Robotech (Star Blazers introduced me to Anime, but Robotech introduced me to the "real" Giant Robot genre), and I actually prefer Robotech's opening and ending credits to the Japanese originals; that being said, I readily agree that the dialogue, censoring, and editing/shoe-horning done by HG are mediocre at best when compared to the real thing. This film, it it ever gets made and distributed, has an outside chance of turning into a -Top Gun meets Independence Day- feast for the senses, but will more than likely turn out into a -Wing Commander / Robot Jox train wreck that will put an end to Hollywood's, post Transformers, interest in this genre.

Wow! Now I'm intrigued.

If --more likely when-- Yamato does revisit the VF-11 for the "1/60" treatment, I hope they include wing hard points a la VF-0 and SV-51 (they should have done so on the YF-19 on principal alone)... I'd love to be able to mount ordnance on it. As for size, I've said it before: make it to 1/55 and call it 1/60.

The more I look at all my Yamato Valkyries, the more I'm convinced that the company has very talented designers, but very lackluster engineers --not as poor as the jokers at Toynami, but not as competent as they should be either: choosing adversely reacting materials even though their interactions are well documented (a little research on the internet would have prevented a lot of VF-0 grief), designing left and right wing hinges that are just an assembly snafu waiting to happen when a single hinge that could be used on either side without causing folding problems would have been a cheaper, better, solution (when engineering something, KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID! is a motto that should be taken as gospel), and the most egregious, boneheaded, engineering no-no... NEVER, EVER, MAKE A MOLDED PLASTIC PART WITH SHARP INSIDE CORNERS!, and if the part will be subjected to any sheer or torque stress that little rule is even more important (.5 mm for non stressed corners and 1.0 mm for anything that will encounter a load should be a given). I hope that if Yamato reps read my post they will take it as positive criticism, and a challenge for them to implement better engineering practices and assembly forethought in their future offerings ( I'd love to see the YF-21 incorporate filleted corners on load bearing parts and wing hinging that would make the SV-51's known issues, however minor, moot). I've already received a shipping notice from HLJ and I'm looking forward to getting this bird. Everything I've read so far points to a fairly trouble free first issue (a Yamato first in many years), but the minor goofs, even if easy to remedy, cannot be excused.

I may be wrong here but I don't think that radical shaving is necessary. If the part is as shown in my attached picture, all that would be required would be for you to rotate and/or flip the hinge so that it's bridging bar faces in the same direction as the correct one, and then, if necessary, shave off the extra length or the hinge peg to match the protruding amount on the other side, finally, add to the original short end if needed to match the original length of the now shortened long end.

The lack of a contra-rotating prop on the Jigabachi is not unrealistic. The AV has a vaned exhaust port on the tail boom to provide yaw control. In the Hellhound's case I don't know since I haven't seen any side views of the copter. I have to agree that the Comanchero is a dated design, but no more so than a Hind Gunship, which seems to be it's design inspiration. And I agree that it is highly unlikely to ever be chosen as the subject of a plastic kit from any manufacturer, in any scale; still, it would be nice to see it get the Injection PS treatment... and there is always garage kit makers (also not very likely).

Yep!... Tedious, but it gets the job done. The Ivanov SV-51 looks gorgeous, in a sinister, ugly, way. I'm glad I got the early bird pre-order at HLJ; now I just have to wait until I get the email from them and then the delivery wait begins. The reported "problems" reported thus far -- granted, it is early so a lot more f-ups and design flaws can show up -- are fairly minor: 1. The wing droops a bit when loaded with all the ordnance, and really sags when the boosters are attached -- Not surprising considering that wings are hinged to fold vertically in two places and is rather thin. 2. Some joint looseness -- Could be a design problem, but if the affected parts can be easily disassemble it should not pose a problem to affect minor "repair". Also, given the limited number of reviews, this could be an isolated occurrence... time will tell. 3. The second hinge wing pivot problem looks like an assembly mistake (QC oversight... this is Yamato after all...). However, it looks like a painless fix. I'm eagerly anticipating getting this mean bird in my hands.

They are pretty funny/cute. Edit: Mods, if this post violates any rules please delete. Edit2: Added a few more.

I wouldn't worry. With a new item like this, a restock status just means that their first batch was sold out in pre-order. If you pre-ordered before they put a stop order during the availability period then you should be one those with a SV-51 waiting for processing and should receive a payment request or processing notice shortly. If you don't get any messages from HLJ within, say, 10 days of the official release date, then I'd contact customer support.

Beau-ti-ful!... but not $230 + S&H beautiful. I think I'll wait until Bandai makes a SOP Andromeda in scale with their Yamato; if they never do, I'm sure there will be a VF to claim the loot I won't be spending on this.

Difficult choice there... pick between a sterile Fascist regime run buy a pruny Totalitarian emperor bent on Galactic domination (granted, he did make the space-trains run on time, stabilized the economy, reduced crime within his zone of influence, and more than likely improved the standard of living of the average Empire citizen); or a guerrilla group composed of anti-establishment types, ungrateful ner-do-wells, subversives, terrorists, pedophilic warrior monks and their fellow travelers, and all sort of Galactic scum. You know what? I think I'll take the Hutts: uncompromising, unabashed, unapologetic, hedonistic capitalism all the way.

Ah! My eyes! I must now pluck them out with a rusty spoon. Thank goodness for modern designing and manufacturing standards. While, some times (most times?), not as forgiving of abuse as the old school stuff, the new crop of mecha toys just look sooooooo much better.