Chronocidal

Holy... $300-$400??? How can it be that much? I mean, the whole series costs, what, maybe $100 for both seasons on dvd? I know I saw season 1 for about $40 a while back. Unless this is some ultra-super-extra-special-with-cookies version that includes a complete set of the novels, Haruhi-Chan, a bluray of the movie, and a complete set of SOS Figmas, I almost can't imagine what would make it cost so much. I mean, it's only twenty eight episodes about 25 min in length.. maybe each box set comes with a random real-life wearable copy of one of Mikuru's outfits? Unless of course, this is like the ultra-completist edition, and they include separate copies of the episodes in all the different variations they aired. That would give you... 1. Original broadcast version of Season 1 with Kyon/Haruhi argument teasers 2. Second version of Season 1 in chronological order with Yuki Descriptions and any changes made at that point 3. Second broadcast version of extended season 1 episodes with season 2 interlaced What I almost wish they could do was put all the episodes on one disc, and just let you pick the order to view them in, and which version of the episodes and teasers to watch (original, edited, or rebroadcast). But that'd be asking a llittle much to fit on one disc I suppose. Then imagine the extras they might have... -Sing-alongs for all the songs, maybe karaoke tracks -Dance-along instructional videos (kind of a no-brainer actually) -original and translated commentary tracks -art galleries -music galleries -included SOS armbands/shirts etc.. I suppose they could bundle Haruhi-Chan with it, considering it's due to get a full release too, I think. And come to think of it, it wouldn't be a bad idea to bundle some of the main soundtrack albums with the box set, and I'd be much more likely to pick it up that way, especially if it contains the orchestrated one, "Suzumiya Haruhi No Gensou."

I had a small crossover aneuryism earlier when I discovered that Wendee Lee did one of the original Bridge Bunnies, Vanessa, in Robotech way back when, then went on to do (among a lot of other things) the voice for Haruhi Suzumiya... who is voiced in Japan by Aya Hirano.... who recently did Nene and Mena Roshan (the purple haired Bridge Bunny) in Frontier. Sheesh.. any one of the dub voices in Haruhi (Lee, along with Crispin Freeman, Stephenie Sheh, Johnny Young Bosch, etc) could have an equivalent to the whole "6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon" game.. only you'd probably only need 3 steps.

Bumping this up because yep, it's that time of year again. Who wants to hang up wishes that we get a Disappearance release and the 10th novel this year? There hasn't been much news recently, but the preview for novel 10 is sounding interesting. I can't find the actual text yet, but the summary is enough to get me very interested. Apparently Disappearance has also been playing in a few select theaters, but I don't know where for sure, or how often. Anyone who went to AX hear anything new? On that note, it's probably time I finished watching the second season. I only watched Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody, and the first episode of Endless Eight before deciding I'd just wait for it to finish, then marathon both seasons in order. Edit: I think I just nearly had a crossover aneuryism.. I went clicking through voice actor lists in a bit of random boredom... Ok, so... Wendee Lee is Haruhi in the sub. She was also Vanessa in the original Robotech dub. Aya Hirano was Mena Roshan in Frontier, one of the Quarter's bridge bunnies. Mind = blown. So, now have SOS Bridge Bunnies running through my head. Along those same lines though... I now have this sudden curiosity to hear Aya Hirano play Minmay in a Macross: The First anime.

Good point, and I actually don't mind sound effects, or even lights if done well (my Art Asylum Enterprises can attest to that ). It's more the shooting missile type stuff that makes me cringe. I mean, I loved that as a kid. Anything with multiple launching missiles was a must buy, and the more the better.. but I really don't care for that type of feature on something I'd probably put on a display stand next to my MP Skywarp. I'd rather it has something looking semi-real, like the sidewinders that come with the older MP Seekers. Speaking of stands though, do they plan to include one with it?

Oh, I agree the narrower cockpit looks better. Mostly I was referring to the way the modelers just slapped a new canopy/cockpit on and tweaked the nose to match it. And yes, back to the VF-22s. One thing I kind of wish about them was that the stand mounts were a little more rigid. I got two SV-51s partly so I could have my M&Ms on stands next to my YF-21, but the 51s just look so much better on the stands, and feel much more tightly attached. I'm afraid to pose my VF-22s in too many angled poses because the stand mounts just feel like the planes are rather precariously perched on them, like they're not close enough to the plane's center of gravity, and the planes tend to wobble around a lot. In comparison, the SV-51s always feel rock solid on those stands.

The thing that cracks me up about the VF-171EX... they just grafted a VF-25 cockpit onto it. Makes sense to use the EXgear, but it doesn't match the body as well as the original canopy.

Ok, here's a series of pictures showing what I did to fix my nose droop. Unfortunately I don't have shots from before I changed it, but it's pretty easy to understand what I changed. The first step is taking apart the nose, and hoping Yamato didn't glue it shut. There are three screws you'll need to get to. The first is a small screw that holds down the door that covers the hip bar mount, which removes that door and lets you get to the second screw, which actually attaches to the upper half of the nose. The third screw is inside the landing gear well. After you take out those screws, the nose should come apart with a little bit of pulling. Mine had some adhesive tape near the front that you can see, but it wasn't hard to pull loose. The nose is pretty sturdy, so as long as you're careful I don't think this will damage anything. Note, the insert that holds the main gear doors is just held in by pressure, so it, and the doors, will fall out when you pull the nose apart. Be careful to keep track of the pieces. As a side note, if your front gear is difficult to pull down, this is the perfect opportunity to fix this. The front gear is held into the nose by the screw you see here, and loosening it a little will lessen the tension on the gear. I don't recall how much I turned the screw, but I was able to make the gear easier to extend, while still holding decently in the down position. What you're left with now is the following. It's easier to remove the upper nose with the plane partially transformed, since it moves the chest plate away from the nose, but I was able to get the nose out without taking it out of fighter mode. You really just need to pop the large peg out of the slot in the metal plate, but it's easier to do once the nose is slid back from the front a little. What I did was pull the cockpit shield out from under the lip at the back of the nose, and raise the chest just enough to slip the nose back under it a little. The nose peg popped out of the metal plate without much trouble after that. Now, you've got this: When I first took this thing apart, the large center plate with the track cut out of the center was quite bent. It was bent down far enough that it reached down between the two plates ahead of the intakes. What I did was just gently bend it back up with my fingertips, pressing against the center plate with my thumbs while pulling on the intake plates with my other fingers. Make sure to press evenly on both sides at once so the plate doesn't warp sideways. After a little gentle pressure, the plate should be aligned to look like this: The center metal plate should be parallel to the outer plates, so everything slides in a straight line when moving to battroid mode. Now just a word of caution if you do this... I'm not sure how strong the metal used in that plate is. Die-cast is obviously stronger than plastic, but it's also rather brittle in terms of metal. Don't force the plate to bend, and be very gentle. I probably held my thumbs against the plate pressing it upwards for a good few minutes before it was level. It doesn't take a lot of force, but it does take patience. I really don't want to hear that anyone snapped that plate, and ruined their VF-0. That being said, it really helps the nose stay in place well, and after I did it, I could detach the legs entirely and the nose still stayed pretty level, with almost no gap behind the cockpit shield. Good luck!

Wait, you mean the newer crotch design lowers the cockpit section in battroid mode? I never noticed that, although I admit the collar never bothered me to begin with.

Well.. I suppose you could always set the blue parts for a Max TV 1A out in the sun and hope the blue yellows... Fortunately, the Max and Kakizaki TV 1A's are both the same type of paint scheme, so it's a pretty simple custom repaint to do.

Am I the only one a bit disturbed by the method used to hold on the chest plate?

I'm guessing you haven't extended the knee joints all the way. The VF-0 was made before they started putting the type of sliding joints in the knee that we see in the V.2 VF-1, VF-11, etc. It's actually got a double rotation joint in the knee. The regular knee joint only rotates the legs downward about 60 degrees. After that though, that grey piece will actually pull downward out of the thigh, giving you a total of about 90 degrees of knee bend forward. The pics will probably explain it better. Here's what I'm guessing the legs currently look like, which is as far as the first knee joint will bend. Here's what it looks like when you pull the extension out of the thigh. The big bonus to this extra extension is that it frees up the thigh swivel from the knee cover. Without the extra extension, you can't turn really turn the lower legs outwards because the kneecap catches on the grey piece. I'm working on taking some pictures that show the metal plate I bent to fix the nose droop, I just have to clear my desk off so I have room to take it apart again.

Perhaps. But just because Ford made the Mustang doesn't mean they also didn't make the Pinto. Designed by a masterpiece designer or not, that movie starscream just doesn't look like it was designed with the same market in mind. I mean, while the US did get simplified versions of the Japanese MP Starscream with less markings and such, you can't do that process in reverse and make Leader Starscream worth $100. It's just a completely different approach to what features are important in a figure. The older Starscream has an opening radar, a cockpit with a figure, optional missiles or guns for the wings, opening panels to see the engines, and that sort of thing. In contrast, I see a little kid getting this one and seeing how it has lights and sounds ("Look! It's laser light ups!"), firing missiles via a goofy bulky launcher ("Cool! It really shoots!"), pop out concealed weapons ("Wow, more guns!"), and a nutcracker jaw that opens and shuts when you pull a panel ("Umm... cool?"). I just can't see a figure with these types of kid-oriented gimmicks selling well with the people the Masterpiece line is targeted at. It's like Toynami adding the LED to a Valk's visor.. it'll make kids go "OOH IT LIGHTS UP! COOL!," but the people who are actually interested in a high quality figure will just scoff at how gimmicky it is.

Just a little heads up, I don't know if anyone has noticed this before, but I don't think the clear lenses for the wing lights have actually been glued down on any of my YF-21/VF-22s. I went to pick up my Max the other day, and happened to lift under one of those lights, and it just popped off. After checking those pieces on my M&Ms and YF-21, it looks like none of them have those two clear pieces glued down. I wouldn't call it a problem, since they stay on fine from friction, but they will come out of the wing with the right pressure from above or below. I'd just keep that in mind when handling them, since those pieces would probably be pretty easy to lose.

Well, actually that pic is a little deceiving. The MP Seekers are a good bit larger in fighter mode than a 1/60 VF-1. They're only so close in height here because the MP Seekers have that big sliding joint that shortens the body. Plus, the booster packs make the VF-1 look even bigger. As far as scale goes though, the MP Seekers are also supposed to be 1/60 scale, based on the size of the aircraft mode. A real F-15 is about 63 feet long, and the Seekers are about a foot long, so there you go. In contrast, a 1/60 VF-1 is a little over 9 inches long, so they'd only be about 50 feet long in real life, putting them on the smaller end of military fighters.

I have to say, I was never really interested in this movie to begin with, but after reading that review on io9, I'm tempted, just to see if the reviews hold true. That review was more entertaining than most actual movies I've watched in the past year. I don't know which is the funniest bit.. the absolute wrongness mentioned early on (think the firehose analogy mentioned by Seto, but in a hentai sense), the mentioning of how it seemed the actors had the incredible ability to make you think they were in front of a green screen even while on location, or the bit about how this movie is a reverse MST3K, in that it actually makes fun of the audience for watching it. I had to shut my door at work I was laughing so hard. Oh, and the "We have to make them believe we believe in our beliefs as much as we believe that they believe in their beliefs" bit had me picturing Kamina lecturing them all.. or maybe the version from Eva Abridged: Misato to Shinji before some battle: "You can't believe in the me who believes in you if you can't believe yourself that believes you. But I believe in you, because I believe you can believe in yourself."

If they can manage to look like an actual F-22 (one that isn't smuggling several freight containers worth of kibble under the belly) then I'm all for it. Tattoos need to die a horrible death though. What's funny.. in this case a real F-22 camo scheme would be both good looking AND canon (at least for the first movie, I haven't bothered with the second). Three things I want: - Decent landing gear (plastic circles stuck to a plate don't count) - Removeable missiles/guns like the other MP seekers - Make it look at least as much like a real F-22 as the older seekers look like real F-15s. I've never cared much for how movie Starscream's robot body looks anyway, but if they can finally pull off a decent aircraft mode, I'll get it so I can have an F-22 I can put on my desk. A big reason I want it in real life colors though, I work around a lot of aircraft/military folks, and want to be able to pass it off as an actual F-22 until, SURPRISE! it's a robot! Edit: Wait.. You mean they're reboxing one of the existing Starscreams for release in Japan? There are not enough facepalm images on the internet. Frankly though, this doesn't make any sense to me unless it's a complete resculpt. Why would they even bother?

Yep, the SV-51's stands will set up that pose nicely, but I don't think the feet are quite in the right position to do it. I think that everything besides my YF-21/VF-22s will stand on the engines though, and they're all pretty sturdy that way, even on carpet. Anything with fast packs needs a little rebalancing, but it's just a matter of finding the right angle to position the feet at.

Good point. I was mainly thinking about the rarity of the kit, but I'm also one of those who really prefers the morgan anyway. Oy, I need to get back into CG modeling. There are so many designs I've wanted to build up in the computer, just to work out the finer details.

Actually, it's not so much pushing the legs forward as it is pushing the knee joint down.. you almost need to lift the foot, to force the knee to bend. You kind of want to find a way to push the upper hip joint open one notch, which will pull the knee down, pulling the leg away from the tab. Be really careful though, if these are all as different as you're thinking, your leg holes might be aligned differently, and require a different trick. It's weird, and my 0A doesn't have this issue at all, I can just pop the legs down with a fingernail and no fancy twist. Looking into the slots those tabs go into, it almost looks like the internal parts that they latch onto might be misaligned, but I don't know of a way to get in there without destroying the leg.

I'd recommend getting a different stand entirely if you want to display it in fighter mode. They're decent enough for battroid, but that stand just has no useful support for displaying the fighter.

Darn, all these comments are making me actually consider getting one of these little suckers. Well, I might eventually anyway, just the VF-19S takes precedence, since I already have 5 other Hikaru 1Js in various scales (some in various stages of being built). I wouldn't mind having one of these to sit on my desk at work though.

Yep, considering I keep mine all in fighter mode anyway... Actually, I use the feet quite a bit more than the gear though. I tend to open the feet one notch less than full, angle them slightly down, and pose the valks standing on the engines in fighter mode. Saves a ton of shelf space that way.

Oh, trust me, you haven't seen thorough. I tend to pick things apart piece by piece, and I could here, but the main points are all covered. It comes from being a little OCD about things like mechanical details. One thing I did forget that I should note though, the left foot seems to slip around side-to-side inside the leg a little. It still snaps into the extended position (a little.. the snaps aren't very strong), but looking inside, I can see the piece that slides back and forth when you extend the foot moving out of line. It's not a problem, but again, I'd like to take the leg apart if I could, and see what causes that. Lately, the first thing I do with any new Valk is take it apart as far as I can, just to give it a once over, and loosen up any overly tight joints. The internal mechanisms in these things are just fun to fiddle with.

Well, it's a possibility anyway.. I couldn't say for sure, but it's something that happens over time, and it's more likely than the holes in the metal piece shrinking. As far as filing the tabs down goes though, I wouldn't be too worried about that. The clips already do a decent job of holding the hips in place, and you have the rear tabs helping in fighter mode, so you might only be a little floppy in gerwalk mode. Besides, if the tabs get too small, you can add a little glue to them to build them up again. I know I probably sound like a broken record sometimes touting the usefulness of superglue, but I've used it to fix so many problems I've lost count.

Just received my 0S from HLJ, and it's not without defects, but fortunately they're minor, and I think mostly able to be fixed. Overall quality is very good, a little paint overspray on the head I think, but looks very pretty. All the skulls are straight too. As for the arms (and other various joint pieces), the material used there seems a bit better. The plastic isn't free from stress marks, but there are no spiderweb crack patterns like I saw before, and the quality of the plastic seems much less... well, rough. It still has a potential to be stressed though, so I've loosened the screws in the shoulders. One thing I did notice was that I think the rubbery friction caps from the 0A have been relocated, and placed in other positions within the joint, possibly to relieve stress on the screws. With regard to the legs, I've noticed a few things. First, the tabs that hold the back of the calves in fighter mode seem to lock much more tightly. I don't know if this is due to internal component changes, but I've found I do have to rotate the toes outward a bit, and push the legs forward to release the legs without stressing the tabs. The right upper leg section tends to pop open when the hip joint is pushed all the way open, just from a lack of glue there I think. Now, one thing I did notice right away was that the nose still droops, much more so than my 0A. In fact, the slot in the side of the fuselage was actually visible almost fully below the grey extensions from the front of the intake. There's also a noticeable gap between the back top of the cockpit shield and the chestplate. While this doesn't bother me terribly, I decided to investigate it a bit. In the end I wound up performing surgery on the entire nose section, which fortunately was not glued together. The culprit in the nose droop is the big metal plate that the nose slides on. Quite simply, it's warped. The center portion on mine is bent down so that it falls between the intake plates. If it was truly straight, it would be parallel, making the nose slide alongside those plates. So, I'm going to see about bending that plate upwards a little. By the way... I got past my fear of filing/sanding/cutting/gluing my Valks a long time ago, and it's given me some opportunities to fix some big problems. It scared me at first, but I realized that even if I do sell them someday, I'd rather sell them in better condition than I bought them. Be aware this fix will require some pretty hefty disassembly of the nose, and won't work if you've stickered it up (another reason I don't ever use the stickers.. much harder to fix things if they break without destroying your markings). ------------------------------------ Okay, it's done, and it works perfectly. I just bent that plate level with the force of my fingers, and now the nose holds nice and level without even having the intakes attached, and the heatshield gap is just about non-existent. My guess is that plate has a tendency to warp during the cooling process, since it is cast metal. I think I lucked out, and they didn't glue most of my nose section together. All that was holding it was two screws (one inside the door for the hip bar, the other inside the landing gear well), and a small piece of adhesive tape under the cockpit, which was rather gooey, and pulled loose easily. So, if your VF-0 nose droops, my guess is that that is part of the problem. It's not the only cause I'm sure, because adding bulk to the intake tabs with superglue on my VF-0A had roughly the same effect, but it's intake plates were already in line with the nose, so the plate may be less bent there. Now, all that's left is to add a little glue to those tabs near the feet that go into the backpack, and she's good to go. Honestly.. I wish they hadn't become obsessed with plugging screw holes up with covers on the Mac0 releases. It makes them so hard to work on. I'd love to take apart the legs and fiddle with them too, but I can't even open them up.