RavenHawk

My gf saw my blue Alpha arrive from my eBay purchase, then sit there on the dining room table next to my Shadow Alpha and linked up to my blue Beta, and said that I should collect all the colors... ... and I had just decided to only collect blue and Shadow mecha...

Good point. Keep in mind, whether you liked the games or not, they made Robotech: Battlecry based on Macross, and then skipped right over Southern Cross to base Robotech: Invasion on MOSPEADA.

I agree. In all fairness, Roger, I pretty much agree everything should be made into MOSPEADA.

I didn't mean in Antarctic Robotech books in general, I meant specifically in the Antarctic series entitled "Robotech."

Antarctic "Robotech" Annual: - Macross story that is pretty much useless, and nowhere near as clever as it hoped. Artwork is nice change of pace though. - Sothern Cross story that is really just filler. Nothing interesting here. - New Gen story that I really enjoyed. We see Rand learning to ride his Cyclone, and have some McKinney types questions answered! Antarctic "Robotech: Megastorm" Graphic Novel: This is just a reprint of the first story arc from Antarctic "Robotech." See my comments above, but I think it's a complete waste. The backup here, though, is fantastic. It's a reprint, though colored, of the New Gen story from before, where we see a less successful group of freedom fighters taking on the Invid. I love it. Overall, uninspired stuff, but I wish so much we had had more New Gen stories like these two backups!

Antarctic "Robotech" #8-11 (final issue I believe): Main story: The backup from the first seven issues, Prototype 001, is now the main story. It begins to get better, art becomes a little better, though still inconsistent, but the ending is such a HUGE letdown that it basically invalidates all 10 previous issues. Rick is strangely almost completely missing in all of these Antarctic Robotech comics. I wonder why that is? Backup: Potential for something interest, as a research shuttle from the moonbase witnesses the Invid invasion, however it just makes no sense. They're doing pollen counts... on the moon? Fly to Earth in a matter of minutes? The Invid are already morphing to a new genetic level as their spores crash to Earth? Ridiculous conclusions are drawn, and the whole thing feels so insanely rushed, it just isn't enjoyable.

Robotech.com still says shipping end of January.

Beast Wars really didn't do much for me, though I loved Beast Machines (I suspect I'm in the minority on this one). Cheetor RULED! Wish Transtech had come out, with that version of Cheetor. Well, at least we get to see it a little in the Trnasformers Club comics.

Antarctic "Robotech" #4-7: Main story: Never was a Southern Cross fan, so this didn't do much for me. Again, just one long action scene here, really, in the first issue, though some more plot comes in later. Nothing else going on, though there are some potentially interesting ideas which are pretty much glossed over for the sake of more action, explosions, and exagerated reaction shots. The art isn't to my personal taste, but I know some people do like this more dynamic, more cartoony style. I will admit that, by the end of this story, the style had grown on me a bit, and I did like the new mecha (or modified ones). I did LOVE the look of the Invid in this one, though it was only for one panel. Would love to see more of this rendition. Backup "Prototype" feature: Keeps getting worse. Very very amateurish, soap opera-like, and a very generic cast of new characters. Again, faces vary from panel to panel, not just based on cartoony vs. realistic effect, but more like some panels are drawn using other artwork as references, and others are rushed and done from memory. And Fokker's mentor is named "Focke?"

I do like the first two bikes from the new Transformers movie though.

Reading the Antarctic "Robotech" (no additional bits to that name) series right now. I'll comment on each storyline separately. #1-3: Megastorm: This was truly awful. Just a big fight scene, really, nothing else. Characters are not written with any real distinguishing elements. This feels like Macross:DYRL, but without any added realism, like that attempted to do by reimagining the original. Art and story are both very disappointing. There are some closing comments about Roy's and Max's work with the prototype that make no sense whatsoever. Backup feature (so far): Terrible, insconsistent artwork. The story... well, there really isn't any yet. Just characters fawning over each other.

The manga artist's website, including additional designs: http://www.din.or.jp/~te2/

Just watched episode 2. There are more changes from the manga becoming apparent, but these are really apparent. More of a cutesy, comedic new sidekick has been added. There is no real turmoil with the roommate about which clubs they should join, and their social standing on campus based on it (in fact, the roommate is supportive of her joining the Rideback Club, instead of being very negative towards it, and how people, especially "cute boys" will view her for it). The politics is tone WAY down. Unless I mistakenly watched episode 3 instead of 2, they completely removed the scene of her accidentally crashing the political rally/protest on her first ride on the Rideback. However, I'm really enjoying this. The more I watch, the more I'm getting into it. They're also continuing to do a great job of showing the joy inherent in riding.

Funny, I just posted a new topic about Reprolabels for the Masterpiece Alpha.

So, I bought a couple Alphas off of eBay for (somewhat) cheap, because they already had the stickers on them. However, the stickers are either poorly done, or not quite in the right spots. I'm assuming that I can't just take them off and reapply them elsewhere, right? Correct me if I'm wrong. Does anyone know where I can find new stickers for my Blue (Scott) Masterpiece Alpha? I looked at Reprolabels, which does a TON of Transformers stickers, but this is all they have for Robotech/Macross/MOSPEADA (or Macrospeada, as they like to call it): http://reprolabels.com/Macrospeada/ Thanks.

Nice, thanks. I have to say that BulletBike just does not look like a Transformer. More like a GoBot, or some sort of knockoff. I have the other molds of Windrazor (DirtRocket and Blight) listed but not this coloring. I could've sworn I had NightBeat, but I guess not. I have an updated listed. Probably time to post that up. I'll do so in a day or two, soon as I get done with a couple projects for work that are sucking up a lot of my time. Thanks for your help with finding these variable bike robots.

Sure, if you're looking for a giant robot mecha, then I can see why you would think it sucks. If, on the other hand, you're looking for something a little more down-to-Earth, then it's cool and refreshing compared to a lot of the other stuff out there. If you love motorcycle riding, and like mecha, then this is something that kind of brings to life the joy of riding and the extension of yourself which it can be. That's my personal opinion. I'm enjoying this a lot more than I expected.

Nice! I'll check these out. Thanks.

Gotcha. Thanks.

The manga is VERY politically charged.

Bought a Beta and a Shadow Alpha abou a month ago. One of my kids or cats, take your pick, because no one will admit to it, knocked the Alpha over and broke off a piece. Just got a Blue Alpha and Shadow Alpha off of eBay ($170, not too bad)... opened them, look great... opened the landing gear on the Shadow, and the panel covering the front one broke right off! Grrr... very frustrating...

More of a Ray Charles than a Stevie Wonder... but I'm actually asking what this means. What is Nadesico, and how is this possibly copyrighted 1998?

Just wrote this in another thread, but it belongs here: Ok, just watched episode 1 of Rideback, with subtitles. Wow. MUCH better than I was expecting. Really really well done, nice animation, and great music. I would say, while being different from the manga, it is very true to the spirit and of the manga, as well as the character designs. Where it differs, in my opinion, is really just setting up more background information, and more character depth and development. Man, I have to say... I REALLY WANT A RIDEBACK!

Ok, just watched episode 1 of Rideback, with subtitles. Wow. MUCH better than I was expecting. Really really well done, nice animation, and great music. I would say, while being different from the manga, it is very true to the spirit and of the manga, as well as the character designs. Where it differs, in my opinion, is really just setting up more background information, and more character depth and development. Man, I have to say... I REALLY WANT A RIDEBACK!

And, to add to my own previous post, if they want to do like Toynami did with the Jack Archer Masterpiece from Battlecry, they could hit Invasion for Locke, Guppy, Arturo, and others.