Chronocidal

That'd be a VF-19 though, not a VF-1. By this point in time, I'm pretty sure VF-1's would be permitted for personal ownership, though obviously minus the weapon systems (wasn't there a specific civilian version available?). While it might be something from that old zent's collection, I have no trouble believing Ozma could have a personal tricked out VF-1 for stunt flying. Actually.. then again, I just had a really, really goofy thought. Since Sheryl seems to get the monster in this one, what if Ranka winds up flying out in this? Probably piloted by someone else, but still, I suppose it's possible. Probably much more likely though that Ozma's VF-25 gets completely trashed in this one, and he pulls out the VF-1 for his gung-ho "I will protect Cathy!" rampage.

Good grief. I can't believe the first one made enough profit to convince them a second game is a good idea. See even with the corny plot/dialog, AC has tons of aircraft eye candy, and is actually fun to play. HAWX didn't even have that, and the PC version was a half assed console hackjob that never worked worth a damn. I'll be cautiously optimistic for now that they will actually listen to their users and maybe do something right this time, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Oh, and one more thing. If Ubi can make IL2, they have no excuse. If those dipwads don't do some research and actually learn what a stall is this time, I will personally go to Ubi HQ and slap all their developers upside the head with my college aerodynamics textbook.

Frankly, the military hasn't had any inclination to paint aircraft anything other than grey for about 30 years now (excepting showbirds and CAG planes). There's no way anyone other than Focker should have anything other than shades of grey on his plane. If this were real, the only accurate valk would be the Low-Vis V1. Macross Zero actually came close to getting this right, the only planes not greyish were Focker and the anti-UN ones, which don't have the same military color standards to begin with. The only way the colors really make any sense is if you consider that they were fighting aliens who's sensors were gonna pick them up anyway, regardless of how they paint the planes. At that point, it makes sense to paint the planes colors you'll be able to see in space, at least a little, if only to avoid collisions.

Ok, just to clarify things: worn edges ARE deformation by definition. The peg is no longer the proper shape. Now that I think about it, that metal bump that seems to be holding the legs in so tightly could have gotten larger over time. A small detail like that would be easy to damage during the process to remove the metal parts from their mold.

Well, from what I can tell about the YF-19, some of the plastic is along the same lines as the explodium used in the VF-0's arms. It's not as bad, but it's still a little fragile, I've noticed cracking around the slots where the hip ball joints plug in, and had to tighten those joints up with glue. Actually I managed to make one important improvement on my YF-19 since I took it apart. I was able to tighten up the wing section pivots on the hips very well, so they stay where I put them in battroid.. that was a really tricky screw to get to. I bent a paperclip with pliers into a short hook, and jammed it into the gap to try and hold the screw in place, then just rotated the wing assemblies to tighten the screws. Also added some glue to tighten the hips up. As for the arms.. they're a lost cause. Can't get to the joints without breaking the arms apart worse than they already are, and can't tighten anything on them. Makes you really appreciate how many screws (uncovered screws I might add) Yamato has used on more recent releases. Really, I'm glad that I like to display my valks on the feet in fighter, because that's the only way the YF-19 looks decent on display to me. It was okay at the time it came out, but Yamato's other Mac+ valks are so far ahead of it it's an embarassment now. It just doesn't compare to anything they're currently making.

Oy, I told myself I wouldn't get anymore V.2s, but I might grab one of these later on. It looks pretty sweet in that white color. I'll just have to come up with one more to get so I can have a full squadron.. I dunno which I would want though. Maybe I'll wait and see if there are any custom schemes that come out later.

I'm still waiting to see someone customize the Hasegawa 1/48 kit into a working variable model, or maybe even do one myself. The current YF-19 is.. okay. I mean, it's nice to have it in the same scale as the other 1/60s, but it is just so far behind the current standards of what Yamato is producing. At the moment, mine is laying in pieces, scattered across my office. I'm trying to fix it up, but I just can't get to any of the parts that need work, because the whole freakin thing is glued shut.

True, I'm pretty out of the loop with regards to high definition pricing. I dunno. I could afford it if I save up, but that means I have to choose between that, or the new camera I've been planning to get.

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.