sidearmsalpha

Really good news! I hope that doesn't change.

No offense, but how can you view that as good? Seems to me that it would be much better to have an easier and possibly less expensive way to acquire Yamato Macross products in the way of a deal between Yamato and Toynami. Are you really that much of a Toynami-hater? We're just talking about importing here. How could Toynami screw up the actual toys by importing them?

If this is true, why wouldn't Toynami just approach Yamato and offer to distribute their Macross products in the US? I mean I'm sure Toynami is well aware that many Macross collectors are importing the Yamato toys or buying them from online or import dealers. Why bother making their own toys when they can just import them like they are doing with Bandai?

Yeah, I got a set of 1/60 GBP armor just for the yellowed VF-1A Hikaru I have. What a shame.

I voted for the TV VF-1A Max and Kakizaki. I really hope there's enough of you out there that didn't buy the 1st reissues so that sales justify them making the ones they didnt reissue or ones they haven't done before. I have all the last reissues, so I'm only picking up any new ones and maybe a VF-1A Hikaru if the armor it comes with is darker and has the skull insignias on the boosters instead of the kite symbol that the early pic is showing.

I'm still confused about Harmony Gold's involvement in this new deal with Toynami/Tamashi(Bandai). How is HG involved? Did HG just give Toynami it's blessing in exchange for more licensing fees to do this?

Bandai's QC isn't exactly that great either. Just look at any of the Gundam FIX figures as an example. I haven't picked up any since 0025, but I'm sure they still are plagued by bad paint apps and poorly molded/assembled parts. But then again, these are made of PVC, which I doubt the Macross F toys will be, so we'll see.

I'd be happy if they'd update the mold on the VF-1J Hikaru to include a heatshield this time around because if they screw it up again, I don't have high hopes for them making any other improvements.

So, is Toynami merely distributing the Japanese versions in the US, or that AND have some deal with Bandai/Tamashi to have variants, hence the rare/exotic ones they alluded to on Robotech.com, made that Bandai may not produce for the Japanese market?

Is that second vid from Macross F? And is she really THAT well-endowed?!

What's up with all these companies not going the extra mile to make accurate arm armor for the TV versions? I mean Yamato did it (well, for the 1/48's anyway). First the Revoltechs, and now Toynami. And Bandai could finally give us DYRL arm armor for their 1/55 DYRL VF's, but I don't see that happening either.

I'm still worried about that hook for the backpack in the early pics. I wasn't too impressed with how it's part of the backpack this time. It just stuck out in Gerwalk mode. Can't wait to see new pics to see how it'll turn out.

Yeah, that's true. I'm thinking the gunpod could actually swivel about it's handle or it can be positioned the other way around on the arm. The attachment points on the arms can mechanically adjust to accomodate the handle to switch the position of the gunpod the other way. The Revoltech figures allow you to position the gunpod in the opposite way. Now if only Kaiyodo would make a VF-1A Max and Zentraedi soldier with optional blasted head to match, that woud be awesome.

Even if I had the money to blow, there's no way I would pay what this so-called "weathered" Valk is going for. I mean if it was done up to mimic Roy's last stand with extensive battle damage, a wounded TV Roy figure, and a bloody cockpit then that would truly be something worth getting. You could buy about 4 1/48's for what it's going for. I think the Low Vis 1 and 2 probably required more time and skill to paint than this weathered VF-1S. I wonder how long this will hold its current value? I think if it even dropped down to $175, I'd be hesitant to buy it. I ended up paying $160 for a 25th Anniversary VF-1S, which I feel was still too much, and I think that has more going for it than the weathered VF-1S.

I was watching a video on YouTube that shows the transformation of the VF-0S for the first time in slow-mo which I think is from the first episode of Macross Zero. There's a scene where Roy catches the gunpod in mid-air. Not sure about this, but is this how a Valkyrie normally grabs the gunpod during transformation from Fighter to Battroid? Or is the gunpod normally stowed on the left arm and the Battroid uses the right arm to grab it? Seems that there should be a more efficient way to transfer the gunpod to the right hand during transformation, such as a mechanical arm that would guide it to the right hand from being attached to the right forearm for faster deployment.

Man, these look more like MSIA Gundam PVC action figures. Very plain looking indeed. Maybe more articulation, but not as articulated as the Revoltech ones. That YF-19 does look really bad. Those legs are just too chunky. I might get the other 2 though.

Doesn't make sense why they would do this? I could see if the color was slightly different, but totally different?!

I think the pic is too small to tell how the color is really going to turn out. Looks like the color of the Super VF-1S reissue to me, and even that color was way off from the Takatoku version. I loved the dark greenish color of the Takatoku version. Even Yamato couldn't get it right on the 1/48 Super VF-1J's. Knowing Bandai, I'm sure they won't get it right either this time around.

The armor would be so much nicer if it was in the DYRL colors like the 1/55 Strike armor.

Did the YF-21 have one or two gunpods? I've seen a pic where there is one gunpod and another pic where there are two.

Sticker thieves? What do you mean?

When it comes to getting rid of older toys when newer, improved versions come out, it really depends on how much I personally feel that the older toys are compared to the newer ones, but I can honestly say that I would probably keep at least one of the older version unless it just looked so dated. The problem these days is just having the room to display my ever-growing collection. With the Revoltechs, there really is nothing better than them right now, and they are cheap enough not to break the wallet and small enough to fit in places on my display shelves without taking up too much space. I'm only collecting the Patlabor, Macross, and various other ones that I like. I totally passed on the Eva ones except for one, because I'm just not a big fan of the Eva mecha. Being more of a Macross fan than anything else, I do like to see other companies put out other stuff to collect like the CM's figures, Bandai's Macross Mission gashapon figures, the K&M trading figures, and the Chara Works trading figures. The only downer is that too much emphasis is placed on DYRL or the TV series. Or they don't release stuff that I think we really want to see like more obscure mecha, enemy ships, a TV-style SDF-1, and character figures. I hope that Yamato/Kaiyodo/CM's/etc. continue to support the license as Bandai/Banpresto does with Gundam, so that we can someday see stuff other than just improved versions of what's already out there or just more of the same mecha and characters.

Well, the problem with the transforming Yamato's is that they could never achieve the poses that the Revoltech figures can, and for the asking price, you get a cool, extremely poseable figure. Doesn't bother me that it can't transform. That's the trade-off. The way I see it, I can build a cool display with different versions ot the YF-19. A cool looking transforming one from Yamato, the Revoltech version in some dynamic pose, the GN-U version (maybe), and the smaller line of Yamato versions in the 3 different modes. I can't wait for more of these to come out. Of course, it'll probably mean I'll have to give up something to collect more of these or sell off stuff that I don't really want or need anymore to make room.

I really like this pic of the Revoltech YF-19. Looks like that one scene where Isamu is flying the -19 for the first time, and he's having the time of his life. http://ga.sbcr.jp/mgangu/009713/04.html I wonder if the -21 is going to have 2 gunpods? I see one pic of it and the accessories showing 2 gunpods, then another pic (and the ad) only showing 1 gunpod.

I meant the brown one if I wasn't clear in my previous post. Were there any problems with the brown one?