RavenHawk

Nowhere near me. I've been to multiple Targets, Walmarts, Toys 'R Us, even grocery stores that carry the toys too. None of that wave are out around here.

Another thing to keep in mind too, and remember that I AM a Yamato fan, but these toys are solid. My kids and I play with them, drop them, transform them, parts come off, snap back on, etc. Then look at the Yamato and similar ones, where you spend $150-250 for it, and are scared to transform it, because they break so easily, and if one ever falls off your desk, it's all over. I still buy my expensive transforming toys, but they really end up being display pieces. The Transformers we buy, be they $8 or $50, have detail and gimmicks and are actually toys meant to be played with.

For what it's worth, I picked up Sideswipe (Deluxe), Skids (Deluxe), Chromia (Deluxe), Breakaway (Deluxe), Rampage (Deluxe), Optimus Prime (Movie Legends), Jetfire (Movie Legends), Depth Charge (Scout), Rollbar (Scout), Ransack (Scout), and Knock Out (Scout) over the weekend (a couple were previously, the rest were taking advantage of Toys 'R Us having a 20% off sale). For anyone who is interested, here are my thoughts: Sideswipe: Absolutely love this one. Had a feeling I was going to like him when I saw the first pics of this one, but it is my absolute favorite, by a long shot. Yes, he's tough to pose, but he looks great it car mode, is actually fun to transform, and looks fantastic in robot mode. This is the one I keep going back to, as do my kids, while leaving the others on the shelf. Skids: Not sure what to say. My son wanted to get this one, so we did. Transforming him is fun, though more complicated than it should be and I don't see a lot of kids really enjoying it, but the robot mode just looks awkward and too small. Chromia: I really really wanted to love this one, since I am obsessed with motorcycle Transformers. Now, I really really love the bike mode, but the robot mode doesn't look right, doesn't pose, and is all disjointed, like they just rushed something, saying "Just have something fold out, and we'll call it an arm." I like this toy, but I don't love it like I should. Breakaway: I really like this one. The jet mode is really pretty boring, but his robot mode just looks nice and different, and he's genuinely fun to transform. Problem is, his colors are terrible. If they had colored him the color that he is on the back of the packaging, he'd be fantastic. Rampage: Looks good as a bulldozer, and his robot mode looks fantastic, really impsing. Problem is he's hard to pose, and he is a pain in the neck to transform. This is one of those ones you transform once, then just leave on display in robot mode. Optimus Prime: He's ok. Nice to have a simple change prime, and I like that they went with a new way of transforming him, instead of just trying to shrink down the old one. Jetfire: Eh. Doesn't look so hot in either mode, but I think his robot mode might look better than any of the other movie Jetfire toys currently available, including the robot replicas. Depth Charge: I really like this one, and I don't know why. Something about the robot mode just looks very cool to me. Rollbar: Fun little guy. More to the transformation than I would expect. Nothing really special here, though you have to love the Red Bull knockoff. Ransack: Very very cool. Love the biplane, love the steampunk look of the figure. Wish I had the patience to paint it red. Knock Out: Not bad at all. Fun and different transformation, not too simple and not too complex. Just right. I like this one a lot and am looking forward to the Reverb repaint. Now, what I think is a big deal: COMBINING! Movie Legends class (yes, the tiny ones) Optimus Prime and Jetfire combine! I didn't know this when I bought them, but was kind of hoping they would. Granted, a peg on Jetfire just slides into a notch on Prime, so there's nothing to it, but the result actually looks a good bit like the combined form is supposed to in the movie (and on the big toys and on the keychain). HOWEVER, with the Deluxe class vehicles, it really ticks me off. We get Chromia now, but Arcee, whom she combines with, doesn't come out until the fall. We get Skids, but Mudflap, whom he combines with, doesn't come out until the fall. Same with Prime and Jetfire I believe. I assume that this is so that when they combine in the movie it will be a surprise to the general public, but it is really disappointing waiting months to get the other half of the combined toy.

There was the Transformers/GIJoe comic series a couple years back that took place during WWII, with appropriate vehicle modes.

$200 if you're buying the Toynami release. As far as I know they've sold well. Has anyone heard different? The Fuke prototype is pretty recent, so there's no reason to think they're not intending on making it.

So, if HG were to dub Macross 7 and make it somehow watchable, then we could all get along? (j/k, I know some people here like it, though for me 7 really is unwatchable and I can't fathom how it lasted so many episodes while other anime series have gotten cancelled so early, but that's just my personal taste)

Wow, nice job. That looks fantastic. Might have to try this too.

Out of all the continuity rewriting that Shadow Chronicles did, this seems to have been the most overlooked. I myself didn't even notice it until "reading" (since there's so little actual text) The Art of the Shadow Chronicles. The REF is now redefined as going out to look for worlds to colonize, whereas it had previously, in all sources that referenced its mission, been described as a military expeditionary force sent out to confront the Robotech Masters. As you said, this is why Bowie and Dana were left behind, since it was a purely military mission.

Wow, I'd never seen this model before, but that is an absolutely MUST-HAVE I think. I'd been lamenting for a few months now on this board and some others the lack of ships from MOSPEADA. I think they're perfect to get a small treatment, like the Titanium Star Wars and Battlestat Galactica ships from Hasbro.

Looks like it'll be no markings on any of the remaining bikes.

I enjoyed it thoroughly, but obviously at least one person here didn't. Rent it/Netflix it, see for yourself, then decide whether or not you want to buy it.

Isn't that what the new CMs figures will be?

Seconded. The movie may be terrible, but the book is one of the best pure scifi books ever.

Especially at this price point (compared to, say, MegaHouse or even CMs).

I didn't realize that, guess I was remembering incorrectly, but you're right. Ok, guess I don't have as much right to be annoyed then.

While justified, most of the issues with this new release don't really bother me. The only one that REALLY does is the lack of painting. I'm not a fan of applying stickers to my toys/models, preferring to leave a very clean look. For this reason, I like them as prepainted as possible. The Mars Base symbol and the freedom stripes are a MUST on this bike. It's not as though Ray's bike didn't have them, so they are a sticker, just in case you choose you like it better. It had it in the animation, just like Stick's, so I don't get why they are no longer prepainting, other than saving money while still charging us the same.

There are a couple threads on here with a TON of MOSPEADA pics. Just look on the first page or two of this forum and you should find atleast 2.

Save, Can you let us know when, where, and under what exact title it becomes available?

I don't know how historically accurate that one is. I read it years ago and ejoyed it, but as I recall the extent of historical basis to it is that there is evidence of Arabian and Viking contact. Beyond that, it's just a retelling of Beowulf meant to be slightly more plausible.

Unlike most people here, I'm not really much of a fan of Macross (though I loved it as a kid) and do consider myself a fan of Robotech. Keep in mind I'm really a MOSPEADA fan more than anything else in reference to this topic. That said, one would expect me to LOVE Shadow Chronicles. It is Robotech, which I liked as a kid, enjoyed again a few years ago when I watched it with my kids, and read all of the novels as a teen and loved them. It is also visually the closest thing to new MOSPEADA we're ever likely to see, as it continues the Robotech version of the tales of some of their characters (well, Stick/Scott, really, as Ariel is pretty changed) and continues using MOSPEADA mecha, unused MOSPEADA mecha that was previously only seen as lineart, and slightly modified versions of MOSPEADA mecha. Clearly, I should have loved it. Instead, I was horribly disappointed by it. The writing was terrible and uninspired, the dialog was worse than fan-fic level, with the "jokes" stolen from numberous other shows and movies, where they weren't funny either, none of the characters acted like themselves, and the art was just bland. I've seen other anime made by the same studios, so the low quality here, I assume, must simply be due to not paying them enough to put real effort into it. Even my kids didn't like it. In fact, my son mentioned last weekend that he had just rewatched all of the first gen of Robotech, then mentioned that one horrible movie, with the really lame dialog. I said, "Oh, you mean that old tape we have of Clash of the Bionoids? That's not really Robotech." To which he replied, "No, I liked that one. I mean that Shadow Chronicles one." In contrast, I was bored a couple weeks ago and downloaded and started watching Macross Frontier. I loved it. Had to ration it out so I didn't finish the 25 episodes too quickly. Gorgeous artwork. Well written story (sure, with flaws, but relatively few, all things considered). Good dialog. New designs, but which still feel like part of the same universe. Overall, it builds on everything that came before, while still being its own unique, original, distinctive entity. It makes references to previous series, as well as paying homage to them, while still giving it all its own unique, updated spin. EDIT: One other thing. Robotech and Macross both have music/song as an integral part of the stories. The Shadow Chronicles music and singing is quite weak and uninspired, more just a new rendition of old stuff, hastily put together. The Frontier songs are surprisingly good, get stuck in your head, and have generated 2 CDs of music which are all very listenable.

Depends on how old you are. In my early teens, I absolutely loved the David Eddings Belgariand. The sequel series was a bit slow (Mallorean, I think it was). Later teens, I'd say William Gibson. In your 20s, I'd say read George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. Starts off a little slow, but well worth it. In your 30s, I'd say Neal Stephenson, if you have the patience. Sadly, I can't think of any good scifi to recommend, which is weird seeing as how I haven't read fantasy in years, since it really started to bore me, and now read more scifi or history.

Same here.

Ginrai, you mention on the podcast that you would love to get more recommendations for anime that portrays teenagers fairly realistically. Check out the anime version of Starship Troopers. It's only like 7 episodes, so it's pretty short, more like a long movie, but there are definitely some interesting reactions, especially early on. There's one scene that somehow stuck with me, where the mom gets mad at the son because he decided to join the military (in a fairly believable teenage way), and the dad calmly takes the son for a drive in the car to talk to him in private. The dad stops the car, giving the son some advice, and lights up a cigarette. The kid is shocked to realize his dad smokes, while it interestingly shows some insight into the dad.

Who asked you to remove them? What exactly will be available in the US, so we know what exactly to look for?

I'm not trying to be antagonistic here, so hope it doesn't come across as such. Despite how adamant you are about this, it simply is not the case. Megazone came out after MOSPEADA. There was no Megazone footage used in MOSPEADA. New Gen of Robotech edited out a few scenes for content from MOSPEADA, it did not add any even more violent footage in. If you still disagree, find proof.