Hiriyu

Thanks for the links guys. Looks like the hands on the Orgroid do not in fact fold into the arm, but are removable/reversible along with the arm cover. Interesting.

Sorry, Eugi! Just kidding of course. Still keeping the kids locked away from your valks?

Well, that makes one of us

Correct, but iirc the odd thing is that the hatch marked "L" is on the right, and the hatch marked "R" is on the left... either that, or they are both marked "L"... Would have to unpack mine to recall/verify.

Roger just posted this over at TBDX: 2007/05/46.html Lots of nice pics.

Aww, man, sorry for your loss, but that is just TOO funny. Sounds like something that would happen to me.

Take a very close look at the hands: the hinge pivots for the fingers look way different the the old ones - especially evident when looking at the upper surface of the hand on the green one. Also, there is a noticeable "shine" to the plastic, whereas the old ones are a non-shiny matte grey. Who knows, I could be out in left field on this one, but somehow don't think so.

Not to derail your thread, but I've got a couple of the little co-ax Dragonfly King type copters. They are very stable, and lots of fun to play with - though beware, they won't work too well out of doors. Any little gust, even a draft from a fan in another room is enough to send them swooping out of control

Nice, ruskii. Glad to hear you got the killer selection . Since I got a pre-picked batch, I already knew what I was getting before I opened them, so no Christmas excitement here The CF is my favorite too, but the Supers are pretty dang cool too. Odd that the Miria 1Js seem a magnet for weird little problems, so to speak.

Not so sure about the hands... They look significantly different than the Nami Toy's (the old ones are a darker grey "gummy" plastic, whereas these look lighter in color and slightly glossy). Other than that, the missiles and coloration stand out as the only really visible differences. The shoulder scopes look the same as old, so not so sure about rumors/conjecture about their being mountable in fighter mode.

Nope, no magnet action. Might have been either an erroneous description, or something that never made it to the final product.

You read my frikken mind. Naval F4F-3 scheme all the way. You can be my wingman anytime.

Not to mention Tolkien, what with names like Varda and Valar. And Fairies. Cute ones.

Just a little update, have received my replacement Miria 1J and, other than en errant spot of glue on one of the tailfins, all is well. At least, it is displayable Ruskii, have you gotten yours in yet? Whaddya think?

Actually, mine had been stored undamaged and in box for quite some time, and I just recently pulled it out of the box to put back on display. Wouldn't you know it, the left shoulder joint immediately chipped (1/2 of the joint flange is still there, so the arm is still attached). Must have grown more brittle while stored. I'll be emailing Yamato USA very shortly

The SV-51 is a bit odd (in the Macross continuity) in that it is a 'back to front' transformation, and the legs in Gerwalk mode are actually opposed 180 degrees to how they appear in Battroid. They do not swivel (edit - actually, they do), but should have both forward and backward articulation.

Damn, Skippy! I must reiterate: You, Sir, are a madman, but a madman of the highest order nonetheless. Great stuff.

Mine is, and will continue to be on preorder regardless of what the peanut gallery here perceives as 'deal breakers', based on heresay or blurry pictures. The way I see it, I'll pay a little premium in order to get my hands on it fairly early and check it out in person, before delivering any personal judgement. I will always have the option to sell it off for ~95% of my sales price if I don't like it. I like to think of this loss as my 'rental fee' [thanks to EXO, Bobe-Patt, or Jenius, whoever came up with that term]. My basic point is, buy it you want it. Otherwise, don't, and shut up about it already

Sorry to hear you guys are getting all these QC problems. I guess that I was lucky in only having one out of seven that was an obvious lemon. That said, the detached nose/cockpit assembly is not really a problem, it's a feature (I learned that phrase from Microsoft ). Just like the old model kits, it makes it easier to decal or detail the parts. What's even kind of interesting, is that they have fully sculpted heads, which are visible when you pull the nose off - the older model kits made due with only the visible top half of the head. These things are really analogous to pre-built model kits in every way, just sad that some seem as if they are assembled by 5 year old kids. That said, I still quite like mine.

Nope, not just you. It's reading -2hrs on my end (PST).

"Now listen here, Hayase!"

A quick update for me, the seller I bought my set from says he will procure and ship me a replacement Miria 1J at no cost! I'll need to wait for it to arrive by surface from Japan, but I am very happy with his service and would strongly endorse him as a seller to others Ruskii, the decals are of the same kind that you would typically find in model kits (they transfer after being wetted with warm water). I've decalled all of mine now and the effect is nice - the decals are thin and don't have excessively big borders. They really add a nice level of detail to the figures and are worth spending the time to apply.

I just received my set from the seller I mentioned above - they got here very quickly and were well packed. The set did include the Zent-Max figure as stated. I'm very pleased with them overall, with one notable exception... The Miria 1J I received is a bit of a lemon. The top of the chestplate was not fully seated to the LEX area when glued, so there's a big gap there. Also, one of the reaction missiles is glued on about 10 degrees out of whack. Either of the above issues could be fixed with a little patience and glue. The bigger issue is that it is missing one of the tailfins . I looked all over the place in the tray (which was still taped shut) and the outer boxes, but it was nowhere to be found. Close examination of the figure doesn't show any glue in the slot that it fits into, so I'm guessing that the omission is a manufacturing/assembly defect. I'll see if the seller can do anything for me, but I won't be holding my breath. Anybody have a spare Miria to sell/trade? Otherwise, these are really neat (had no problems with the other six pieces), and look much like a shrunken down ARII 1/100 fighter model kit, even down to the way that they're assembled. The overall sculpt is actually a bit nicer than the Doyushas IMHO. The non-super and non-reaction weapon models have geared wing-sweep, while the supers have their wings in fixed position. The ball-jointed display stands work well, and the fastpack accessories fit tightly on the 1S models. They have lots of fine panel line and rivet detail, and are shipped with water-slide decals. Overall, very cool little display items.

I've got a CH Products HOTAS (Fighterstick USB/Pro Throttle USB) with CH Rudder pedals. It works wonderfully, and is extremely configurable/programmable, though many recommend the more inexpensive CH Flightstick for IL-2, as it is less cluttered with fewer buttons. Myself, I find the Fightersick more than adequate, even with 'too many' buttons or switches. I've been flying IL-2 since '02, and would heartily recommend it to anyone with an interest in flight sims.

Nice to hear your impressions, Leo. We've been discussing these in this thread, but it's really nice to hear from someone who has actually handled them. I'm looking forward to receiving my set soon