F-ZeroOne

Ah, sorry, David - I couldn't find the right video when I clicked on your link.

The UK motoring programme "Top Gear" (known for its outlandish stunts, which have included a Range Rover vs a Challenger II tank and an Apache gunship against a Lotus Elise sports car) did this too. I'm afraid I don't know the specific type of 747, but it was a Virgin airlines one (sorry, David!). It completely blew over a Ford Mondeo (mid-range saloon car) and absolutely demolished a 2CV... * * Do you have those in the US? Looks like an upturned pram, similiar to the car Clarisse is driving in the opening of The Castle of Cagliostro?

If we're talking dream aeroplanes we'd like to own, then I'll have a Blackburn Buccaneer. You can spend your time with your head in the stratosphere, I'll be down here at 600mph looking up at the weeds going by...

No, you're not - not sure which movie, but he does appear in a TV interview.

Kawamori designed the VF-1 Valkyrie; if he had done nothing else with his life, if people from planet Oni had descended and whisked him off into space, he would still be one of the greatest mecha designers of all time. He has his off-days - all greats do - but when hes at the top of his game, hes almost untouchable.

Now I'm starting to get interested ... 348815[/snapback] I don't know specifically what may have been edited, but Captain Scarlet was always fairly dark for a series "aimed at children" (who as we all know are liable to run screaming at the very thought of - gasp! - DEATH!). Its possible also that advert breaks were partly to blame. There is also what can only be described as a degree of fan-service... [1] Agent One, Gerry Anderson does not do low-budget. Ask Lew Grade (well, if he was still alive). Static shots really don't do the series justice. [1] No! Not Captain Blue and Captain Scarlet!

I've only had a chance to see a couple of episodes but liked what I saw. Only nitpicks I would have would be the voices and the theme music simply doesn't have the same appeal as the original Barry Gray theme. Unfortunately, in the UK the show was broadcast in the middle of a childrens entertainment show and may have been edited for content. However, those of you with multi-region DVD players should be able to order the UK DVD sets now. Graham is right, though - the flying sequences are superb. Captain Scar-let - dun-dun-dun-da-DUN! (its alledged by the way, that Thunderbirds is next for the same treatment - the rights reverted back to "Mr. Anderson" recently... )

Sigh - last of the 50s - 60s "Gerry Anderson" designs... I've always liked the Draken.

Oh, yes we do - V.I.N.C.E.N.T for President!

Theres some truth to that - although a few Japanese pilots had extraordinarly long careers, such as Saburo Sakai (who lived through China, the first years of the Pacific war, and the defence of the home islands; the latter part of his career flying with one eye...!) - but it should also be noted that Japanese aircraft were, in general, much more frail than most US or European aircraft (Zeroes, Oscars and Bettys being particularly notorious in this regard). Theres certainly a degree of callousness or "samurai spirit" to Japanese losses, but part of the reason Japanese aircraft were designed fragile was because Japanese industry had trouble developing (and perhaps more importantly, maintaining) reliable high-power engines; the Zero for example was on about 900hp when its comparable rivals were over 1000 or more (although at higher weights). It was a design trade-off that become more disadvantageous as the war went on.

The Yamato was - for a machine dedicated to killing created by what was, essentially, a dictatorship - a very attractive ship (as Leeji Matusumoto well knew!). My favourite fact about the Yamato is that the Japanese designed an anti-aircraft shell - for the eighteen inch guns! Imagine being some poor Dauntless pilot and beginning your attack, and seeing three of those monsters pointing at you! (although by all accounts, the shell - a sort of incendiary shotgun affair - never really worked). The other astonishing thing about the Yamato is that the Japanese were planning an even bigger "sequel" - with 21-inch guns...!

I've only seen the anime version, and even then, only a few episodes, but "Touch" is of the same era as Orange Road. The pace is somewhat slow - continental drift possibly happens faster - but it has "something" that makes you keep watching. Like Urusei Yatsura? Pick anything where a jerk somehow lands himself the hottest girl in his sector of the Galaxy... Love! Hina, Please! Teacher, Magister Negi Magi... "His and Hers Circumstances" is an intersting take on romatic anime by Hideki "Evangelion" Anno. "Childs Toy" (aka Kodocha) is more generally zany but has romantic elements, although with a somewhat younger cast (it will also melt your brain).

What always gets me about this sort of thing is I remember years ago a cousin of mine got the Lego fan-club magazine, and someone had sent in a Lego armoured car they had made. Lego noted that they liked the work but that they didn't normally like to promote warfare and fighting in their products. Now, they're talking about "taking out" things with the long-range laser rifle...

I don't know why they're using it in a Macross/Robotech context (other than as a possible Zentraedi reference), but "Standing Upon the Shoulder of Giants" is a quote attributed to Sir Issac Newton, discoverer of gravity, all-round scientific genius, possible pyschopath, and crime-buster. Although often assumed to mean that Sir Issac was acknowledging great minds of the past, its more likely to have been a barbed aside to Robert Hooke, a rival of Newtons who suffered from a hunched back. The quotation also appears on the edge of some versions of the British 2 pound coin.

Fort Max, thanks very much!

Cat-girls and bishies. The entire population will be too busy fawning over them to notice me occupying No. 10 Downing Street.

As expectedfrom SHE. Damn it looks cooL! 345554[/snapback] Nuts, you all beat me to the punch! Oh. My. God. This is kind of cross between a toy and a resin model kit, yes? I know that they did a Getter Robo toy like this - what was it like? Fragile display piece? Cool but fiddly? Just trying to get an idea of what this puppy might be like...

I suspect Kensei is either a) exaggerating for effect or b) has misplaced the comma.

My average has been between about three - four weeks. I'm from whinging pom land.

You have got to read the Aphrodai-A (normal version) review - its the best toy review I've ever read, even better than Anime Jumps infamous bootleg Dragonball Z flyer review... talking nonsense missiles indeed!

And the winner is...

Watching the opening of Macross Plus OAV... tracking shot of the asteroids, friend says "Hmm... looks like Battle of the Planets so far... " Then Isamu kicked off, and there was nothing but stunned silence beside me.

Yep, those are the tail hooks all right. The HCM, like the real Valkyrie, has two. They go inside each rear landing gear bay. Hopefully the attached photo will help:

Having got over the intial shock... I think I've come up for the perfect name for the Cannon Fodder squadron you're building... "Brown Sugar" squadron...!

338123[/snapback] Well for me it would be expensive since I bought 32 of these CFs... 338301[/snapback] You did what?!