mechaninac

I'd love to see the Valkyrie II in toy form, but I doubt Yamato will be touching anything from MII any time soon, if at all. The reason being that Macross II just isn't popular enough to warrant the investment on Yamato's part.

Kinetic weapons could be handled with ablative armor. This type of shield would be most effective against charged particle beams, plasma weapons, or anything that uses ions, electrons, positrons, etc. Anything with an inherent charge would be caught in the,and dissipated by, the magnetic field of the shield, creating an Aurora like effect at the shield's poles. Visible light should have no problem getting through this type of shield... it may be distorted by the lensing effect caused by the magnetic field, but that could be compensated by adaptive optics sensors. Consequently, light weapons, from IR to UV lasers would not be affected much by an electromagnetic shield unless the particles riding within the field are geared towards absorbing specific spectrums of light. Comm signals may be a bit more problematic; but since, like light, they consist of electromagnetic waves, they should be able to slip through, specially if they are modulated to a special shield neutral frequency. Sensor beams, other than electromagnetic (see comm signals), would be blocked by your own shield since anything that would cripple your opponents beams would also affect yours; unless, similarly to the comm frequency loophole, your sensor wavelength is neutral to the absorption properties of the particle stream within your barrier. Thinking about this stuff is beginning to give me a headache.

How about: A coherent energy field consisting of negatively (or positively) charged particles trapped within a magnetic field around the ship in the shape of a torus. This would be akin to Earth's own Van Allen's belt. If the magnetic field is strong enough, and the particles suspended within kept in a sufficiently energetic state (in constant motion around the field at near relativistic speed), than the shield would be capable of protecting the ship from most radiation and energy weapons, and would play havoc with the guidance systems of missiles and mines that get anywhere near it. However, this type of barrier would be near useless against kinetic weapons such as rail gun fired projectiles.

The only stuff you are likely to find in 1/60 scale are white metal gaming figurines; but those won't help with creating a flight deck diorama.

Here ya go... [attachmentid=39646]

As much as I'd like to get a YF-19 right now, I'll wait for the second issue which will be bundled with the fast-pack/fold-booster combo. It'll be pricier, but will be a complete package and the YF-19 itself should have any fixes for minor issues with the first release. After that, I will be sorely tempted to get the low-vis version... I'm a sucker for real world paint schemes on sci-fi aircraft.

SV-51 [attachmentid=39636]. I can't wait to see pictures of Yamato's version. As for the "other" mecha from an '80's anime: I highly doubt it will be anything from Mospeada, as HG owns all rights, domestic and international, to that license... same goes for Southern Cross; so, unless Toynami has been dropped and a deal struck to have Yamato produce their licensed property I don't see that happening. I'd love to see something from Orguss or the Motoslave from BGC, but I'm sure whatever it is will be, at the very least, interesting.

Draco was okay as anthropomorphic dragons go, but it still looked too cuddly; however, it, at least, had a leathery hide look. The one from Eragon has feathered wings, if I've interpreted what I've seen correctly from the clips, and that just looks wrong for a Wyrm... a giant eagle or Gryphon, fine, but not a Drake. IMHO, the best rendition of a Dragon ever to grace the big screen was Vermithrax Pejorative from Dragonslayer. That stop motion beat still gives me a chill up my spine every time I see that movie... it's just that impressive.

I'd pay to watch a well written movie trilogy adaptation of The Dragonriders of Pern... Aragon, I'll pass until I've exhausted all other personal choices at my local Blockbuster. Like JsARCLIGHT said, the commercials are too overbearing, overexposed, and, other than the smoke dragon, sort of unimpressive. @phenix01: ROTFLMAO! So true. Excellent observation.

The Buck Rogers Starfighter would be nice... the Monogram version, when it turns up, is too crappy and too expensive.

This one bugs me too. Although I don't think fixing it myself would be a problem, I would rather not have to...specially at its price range. <image removed> I think Graham did mention that there was no stop to prevent the wings from pivoting too far forward and that doing so could over-stress the wing gloves' pivot points. So, yes, the wings will be able to rotate just as you illustrated but I have no clue about potential floppiness. Not a deal breaker here, but some way to lock the torso would have been nice. I believe that these are not a gaps, but relieves to allow the shoulders to tilt up to replicate an accurate battroid stance. Yamato's solution was to tilt the shoulders at the rotator cuff point and not the fuselage's swing points. However, I could be wrong... someone with a YF-19 in hand would be better suited to verifying this. Hey, don't fret about nitpicking; it's the prerogative of any prospective consumer to point out the good and the bad, perceived or actual, of any product costing as much as this one does. And welcome aboard as a contributing member... and a very good first post.

Graham, thanks for the in-depth review; it is greatly informative and appreciated. As tempted as I am to get this toy right now, I think I'll wait for the second run version with all the fixes. It's not so much that the current release has flaws (compared to the VF-0S they look mild), but that, at around $200.00, I want to be more selective with my purchases and make sure that what I get for my money is as close to perfect as I can possibly get.

BINGO! But you do get the bubble bursting award.

I'm sure both the YF-21 and VF-11B are in varying stages of development right now. As to which one will be released first, or if any of the two will be released at all...[attachmentid=37882]

Saw it last night. Other than the farewell aspects of the program it was mostly a retread of a previous Modern Marvels; but it was still great. Saying goodbye to the F-14 is bittersweet since it is so iconic and has served admirably for over 35 years. However, the decision to retire it is sound: It is an aging airframe that requires more maintenance per flight hour than more modern fighters; the taxpayer in me can see the wisdom in it, but the enthusiast in me can't help but shed a tear seeing such a thoroughbred being relegated to the bone yard.

Wasn't there some concern about the round bases being less stable than the square ones, specially with 6" rods? But I too would like to get a few round ones as they display better due to the absence of corners. @chowyunskinny: Those are both great ideas (I think TMP did A La Carte rod selection when they carried these stands). I think that clear silicone end caps would be a great improvement too, since they would look nicer and completely eliminate the tendency for leaving a spot of residue that the black ones have.

After heaping some criticism on this latest interpretation of the venerable VF-1, I ran across a good deal on eBay and just couldn't pass up on it. I'm now the owner of a 1/100 VF-1S Roy. While I won't refute all my previous criticism, except the one about the canopy, although the translucent one with zero detail under it is not that much of an improvement, I will say that I am pleasantly surprised with what Toynami has produced. The toy looks great in Battroid and GERWALK modes, and passable in fighter configuration, and the largish shoulders and stylized 1S head look far better in person than they do in pictures... not perfect, but definitely not as garish. Now the particulars: The Good: 1. Incredible posability for a transformable toy of this size. 2. Inclusion of the openable knee caps. 3. Excellent hand sculpts. For their size they are on par with the ones included with the 1/48 GBP-1S. 4. Most accurate feet exhaust nozzles of any VF-1 toy I've ever seen. 5. I like the use of polycaps. 6. Proportions are very good overall. Yes the shoulders are big, but not as big as they appear in pictures. Forearms are beefy (they look great in GERWALK and Battroid modes). VF-1S head is a bit elongated but, again, not as much of a visual sore spot as pictures would lead you to believe. The Odd: 1. The raised skull on the heat shield is just plain goofy; it looks fine head on but crappy from all other angles. 2. Paint application, while not horrible, could be better. Most paint edges fall short of engraved detail they should abut. This can be easily remedied with some gloss black paint and a steady hand. Speaking of paint; if you take the time to paint the engraved square on the back of the hands yellow, and the hand joints a very dark grey, the hands will look awesome. 3. Frosted canopy. The Bad: 1. Floppy back pack in fighter mode. 2. No locking function to securely attach the intakes to the fuselage underside in fighter and GERWALK modes. The only thing holding them in place is the available friction on the swing bar, and that is not adequate for anything other than static display. 3. Proportions (I know it's a positive, but it's also a negative). The legs are a bit skinny in depth (height in fighter mode) and cause the fighter to look awkward with too much exposed back pack. The upcoming Fast/Strike packs should ameliorate this shortcoming nicely. 4. Complete lack of a cockpit; although you wouldn't be able to see much of anything with the frosted canopy. 5. Haven't tried the stand yet, but from all reports, the socket sucks. As I've mentioned before, a bit of paint here and there will make this toy really stand out. A little chrome silver for the wing lights and landing gear pistons, gloss black to touch up the factory paint apps, yellow for the back of the hand, dark grey for the hand joints, red for the missile tips (yellow for DYRL...?), and some panel lining.

Cloaking device in the works...life imitates Star Trek. http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci...-home-headlines

The way I look at it, the perception of time, and it's relativistic time dilation effects in the Macross universe's version of space fold is entirely distance and energy dependent. Like Keith posited, the distance a ship can fold is related to the amount of energy a space fold generator can muster and/or handle. Unlike Keith, I think that there is only one type of fold, but it's effects on the passage of time within the fold relative to the rest of the universe is dependent upon the distance being traversed in a somewhat exponential relationship: the longer the distance the greater the relativistic time dilation. Therefore, the SDF-1's impromptu fold to Pluto's orbit would seem instantaneous to those on-board, and anyone observing from Earth; but the fold to Bodolza's headquarters would have taken days or weeks within the folding ship, and several weeks or months to an Earth bound observer. In a way, fold in Macross seems to be somewhat akin to near light speed travel in real space, in that the faster you go the more time slows down to the traveler; but in Macross, distance, and not speed, is the factor. My two cents on the subject. Man, did I just geek out that much??? Well, at least it's out of my system for a while.

Like you said, modern fighter aircraft are designed to be inherently unstable to improve maneuverability. However, internal weapons stores on fighters have far more to do with stealth considerations than aerodynamics. Sleek is important, but sleek in the right places to maximize lift, minimize drag, and optimize control surface efficiency is paramount: Yukikase aircraft may be sleek, but they are drag hogs with no aerodynamic merit, and if able to fly would do so only through brute force. The same can be extrapolated to all the VFs. The VF-0 series, having been penned 1/4 century after the VF-1, naturally looks more streamlined, even more sophisticated, than the VF-1... that's only natural. Within the continuity, the VF-0 is, maybe, more primitive as a narrative device; hence the fuel burning engines (I know it was to have prototypes of the thermonuclear power plants installed), inability to operate in space (assumedly), larger size, etc. Another way to look at the relationship between the VF-0 and VF-1 is to take the Gundam universe as an example: The VF-0 is akin, after a fashion, to the RX series mobile suits and the VF-1s are the RGMs. The VF-0 was more complex and slightly more sophisticated precisely because it was a test bed for the VF-1, and included features that would not find their way into future VFs until they matured and/or became easy to manufacture.

It does look like those two pilots fudged their pants. That must've been some bad chili they were serving in the SDF-1's cafeteria.

I don't know... getting grown men to buy most, sometimes all, and even multiples of everything they make associated with the Macross license counts as a major win in my book. Don't get me wrong, I think their stuff is great, leagues beyond anyone else, but I do reserve the right to point out something that I think is boneheaded.

Since the missiles are PVC (or similar), and the struts and tow bar are ABS, there is no way they share a common mold; therefore, they could have completely different colors if Yamato so chose. However, pigment sourcing for their raw materials supplier may be a factor. @Dante74: I must have missed that particular post. See what a difference, and improvement, the "white" missiles make to the overall look of the plane? Yamato, your grey missiles are poo!

If there is a problem with the gummy pilots reacting and/or adhering to the paint in the seats, the easiest solution would be to just put a small piece of translucent scotch tape on the pilot's ass to isolate it from the painted surface. That will prevent the two trouble surfaces from contacting each other and the low tackiness of the tape won't harm the pilot, and it's plastic side should be completely non-reactive with the paint on the seat.

After reading all the comments and ogling all the posted pictures I must admit that the VF-0A is indeed an improvement over the VF-0S, although my 0S is near flawless to begin too (major gripe are the too easily collapsible feet... most of the other minor looseness is easily fixed/ignored). However, I do have one nit to pick with it: Why are the missiles molded in grey PVC?... they should be, at the very least, off-white like the ones for the 0S; just like the VF-1A LE LV, while the pylons are fine, the missiles are unworthy of being displayed with the plane and should remain inside the box.