F-ZeroOne

wolfx, I found out about removing the rings after too much time spent fiddling trying to the hands in with them on - D'OH! As for the Devil Strarf, its still mostly in its box. However, its various bits certainly look nicer in the flesh than I originally thought from seeing the photos.

If I said that in Battletech, that one was called "Thunderbolt", you'd love it then right? Because everyone on Macross World loves Thunderbolts, right? (it was also, in Battletech at least, made of awesome).

http://www.microforever.com/main.htm should be your first information stop.

A little set-up I've been wanting to try for a while - introducing AcroYear Voltech and his personal harem of MicroLady slave-girls!

Someone wanted pictures? You get pictures! "Waffe Bunny" has some faults. It shares with Microman a tendency for bits to fall off whenver you're trying to adjust anything, and it suffers from perhaps the worst fault any figure of this kind can have - loose hands that can only just hold the outsize weapons its provided with. (tip: each "fixed" set of hands has a small ring attached; remove that and you'll find that the hands fit better, although still annoyingly loose). Theres also the whole "having to buy two kits to get one body" issue. Damn you, Konami. Damn you to heck. On the other hand - its freakin' bunny-gal with a Vulcan cannon! Plus two very wicked swords for those "Deunan Nut" moments and a pair of pistols. It also looks nice with the magnum pistol from the "Devil Strarf" set. Toy Engrish of the week - apparently MMS figures are "Customaize".

Okay, I got some new MicroLady figures today - MicroLady Marl, Eriss and MicroLady-gone-bad, AcroLady Spiria. Disappointments first - Spiria. She looks awesome in photos, like the Terminator crossed with one of those "sexy" android designs from th 80s. Unfortunately, Takara didn't follow up the great design with the execution. Instead of being chromed plastic, as I was expecting, the figure is mostly painted silver plastic. Its not nearly as nice in real life as images make it look. It also suffers from the traditional Microman weakness of fiddly armour parts that have trouble staying in place. I still think its a great piece of design as a character, but this really should have been a much better product. Fortunately theres some good news - MicroLadys Marl and Eriss are pretty damn good. Although theres still a fiddly aspect to them, one gets the feeling this is more due to their size than their design this time round. Marl has perhaps the tightest joints I've yet encountered on a Microman figure, but Eriss slightly lets the side down by being a bit looser. Both lovelies come with huge "Medical Weapons" which you would not want to see anywhere near you in a hospital! Eriss has an item that like a giant syringe, and it has some really clever touches - the plunger actually pulls out, and the transparent parts can form giant, propellor-like blades for reasons I'm sure have nothing to do with healing! These large items do create slight problems of balance, and keeping arms straight, but early experience suggests that its possible to find poses that shouldn't cause too many problems. Besides, if you get tired of these huge implements of medical destruction, they also convert into little jet-scooters for the girls to ride around on! These figures also benefit from recent improvements in the MicroLady line, such as "anime"-type hands, which lack the moveable connectors of previous versions - although both kinds are included. Theres also a saddle-like seat for the included figure stand, but I'm a little unsure just how to balance the figure on them - it certainly looks uncomfortable! So, overall, as always with Microman figures, a bit of a mixed bag, but Marl and Eriss are two of the nicest Microman types I've met yet. NURSE!

Thanks for the correction. All we need now is for some Typhoon brylcreem boy to break the ROE on the next training exercise and get himself a photo of a gun kill on a F-22... [1] [1] Yes, I know that the infamous "F-18" shot wasn't the full story, and was also really, really silly on the part of the Navy pilot.

Just got this about a week ago too. So far, I've found it too be a little bit harder than the last game on "Normal" setting - I've actually been shot down, rather than killing myself by flying into the ground. Your wingman - depsite having the most ridiculous wingman name in the history of aviation - actually does things this time round, too! "Hey, that was my kill!". I really liked the fact that the Draken is one of the starting aircraft, too...

Mine only shipped this week - and the actual figure I need for the body a couple of days after that. Its coming via SAL, so its going to be a little while before I receive them. I'm intending to post images when I do get them. FedEX Delivery Valkyries are expensive...

Interesting Typhoon tid-bit from the Eurofighter forums - apparently the Typhoon will be getting the 27mm cannon, plus relevant training, in RAF service. This is apparently due to current operational experience involving Harriers which is causing air/ground force co-operation problems. Go ahead, punks. Make our day.

Well, Konami got my 4,500 yen in the end. I hope their marketing people are happy. First thing I do when I get my gun-bunny is send her round to strafe their offices.

Isn't a "nisei" an Americanised Japanese person?

Ah, nuts - so I have to get a seperate MMS body then if I want the Waffe bunny?

Oh, thats fine with us. They do that, and we'll just revoke all the jet engine privileges we gave you guys about sixty years back. You did read the small print on that contract, right?

I loved them as a kid, but never had more than a couple. I really like some of the modern designs, but because of space issues haven't picked any up. I also know that if I begin, I'll never stop...

It isn't what you've got, its how you swing it... So long, F-14...

Are you referring to the TV series? Rather like Ghost in the Shell, theres a number of different "versions": Patlabor: The Movie 1, 2, and WXIII. Patlabor: The Original OAV series. Patlabor on TV and The New Files OAV: this is the version I'm referring to. Patlabor isn't a "flashy" show, and the animation is decent without being outstanding, but I like it for the generally superb writing, character interactions, and the gentle - rather than "in-your-face" - humour. The other nice thing about Patlabor is thats theres quite a lot of little Japanese-culture background ; for example, when Captain Goto decides he needs the team needs some bonding, he does it in a traditional Japanese way - by taking everyone out to get falling-down drunk. Helps that the Ingram and Griffon rock, too. No magical girls, but there are big robots.

Gee, I guess all the other Air Forces had best just give up now, huh?

Thanks - I've checked against another source since posting that and it does appear to be the correct figure. Bunnies with guns shall be mine!

I'm not so sure Patlabor on TV is under-rated - just about every review, critique, and book entry I've ever read on it states its a great show - but it is under-appreiciated, except seemingly in Japan. Not enough busty magical girls in skimpy outfits, I guess...

Is that the same product? I know it shows the Waffe Bunny figure, but the listing is as "Weapons Set" and the price is half that of the other figures - is it more likely to be just a set of additional weapons...?

Its okay, Drifand - I've read about the measures you take to get those poses before! Its just having recently built two Cloth Gears myself, I wouldn't have believed that pose possible until you did it. Its a really strange feature of those toys, that they have this - for the time - really poseable inner skeleton that is practically useless because of the way the armour fits together. I'll also admit that the the 1/32 Ingram toy is a brick, but it does have a certain "presence". I also like seeing your shots, Drifand, by the way, as it provides inspiration for posing my own toys - even if the result if often a demonstartion of gravity in action...!

Does anyone know when the "Waffe Bunny" is coming out? The add implies this month, but I can't seem to find it for pre-order anywhere...?

Labors are designed to work - mainly - in and around urban environments for the most part and they are quite a bit smaller than many anime mecha. You can get some idea of size by looking at the windowed area immediately underneath the head; on the Revoltech you can actually see the HUD display used by the pilot. The revolvers and shotguns were obviously designed to keep with the "Police" feel of the Ingram and the series. As has been pointed out, the relover officially fires 37mm rounds, although the artwork and animation is a little inconsistent here and it often appears much bigger than that in action. The shotgun, IIRC, is 90mm, but like all movie shotguns, calibre doesn't matter because shotguns are the Macross Cannon of movie close gun fighting. I hate Drifand, not for getting toys before me, but for getting his toys to do those poses. I have several of those Patlabor toys, and I swear Drifand must have broken the legs of the Cloth Gear Ingram to get that splayed pose like that!

Happy Birthday, Noriko! (though I feel I should point out that Norikos birthday was not a generally happy occasion for her after the events depicted at the beginning of Gunbuster... )