No Love for Southern Cross?

[derex3592]

WOW! That looks great! 

 

[Convectuoso]

Thanks, @derex3592

[Podtastic]

Its true you can also still find them on e-bay even now.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LS-1-48-Super-Dimension-Cavalry-Southern-Cross-SOL-BIOROID-SEIFRIED-WEISS/123966992904?hash=item1cdd023208:g:~8UAAOSwYIxX3jAf

Although this may not be the price that you want to pay.

•  

Edited August 4, 2020 by Podtastic

[captain america]

3 minutes ago, Podtastic said:

Its true you can still find them on e-bay even now.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LS-1-48-Super-Dimension-Cavalry-Southern-Cross-SOL-BIOROID-SEIFRIED-WEISS/123966992904?hash=item1cdd023208:g:~8UAAOSwYIxX3jAf

Although this may not be the price that you want to pay.

•  

A resin kit with vastly better proportions, detail and hover sled would be cheaper than that!

[Convectuoso]

This is far more reasonable:

https://item.rakuten.co.jp/saitamatoy/b085n2p2sf/

 

[tekering]

12 minutes ago, Convectuoso said:

This is far more reasonable:

Still way more than I'd pay.  They sell for about ¥4000 on Yahoo! Japan auctions, as this completed auctions search will demonstrate.

[CoryHolmes]

15 hours ago, captain america said:

A resin kit with vastly better proportions, detail and hover sled would be cheaper than that!

Oh please, oh please, oh please *begging hands, hound dog eyes* 

 

Do it.  Doitdoitdoit!!!

[Podtastic]

16 hours ago, captain america said:

A resin kit with vastly better proportions, detail and hover sled would be cheaper than that!

That it would.

[Convectuoso]

If the Captain were to make a Bioroid, I'd strongly prefer he made the blue one, since it's never been made (at least to my knowledge).

However, we know it's not going to happen due to low interest in Southern Cross kits

[Podtastic]

16 hours ago, Convectuoso said:

If the Captain were to make a Bioroid, I'd strongly prefer he made the blue one

The Blue is actually my favourite.

 

 

[Convectuoso]

These were posted on Facebook by the MEP Toys guy

 1/12 variable Hovertank

Edited September 9, 2020 by Convectuoso

[jenius]

Wowsers... that's huge. Seems like a first effort fit/finish, probably not even put together totally prototype. The Southern Cross mecha should all go with more of a Sentinel approach... reinvent all the designs and just carry forward the theme of them... everything except the two mode goofy plane seemed to rely VERY heavily on mass shifting. 

Edited September 9, 2020 by jenius

[tekering]

MEP Toys wouldn't be anybody's first choice, but... beggars can't be choosers.  

[Podtastic]

It could look much better if it was non-transformable. One of each mode without the schlep.

[Seto Kaiba]

52 minutes ago, tekering said:

MEP Toys wouldn't be anybody's first choice, but... beggars can't be choosers.  

As clunky as that prototype looks, beggars might want to give choosing a try... 

[DewPoint]

Well, since they are still in the prototype stage, perhaps they should try to make sure that it will be compatible with the upcoming Kits Concept 1/12 Dana. Unless, of course, they are planning to release their own figure.

[vladykins]

Looks like a final one would be huge and fun, but probably cost-prohibitive.

[pengbuzz]

Wow...looks like that hovertank transforms backwards or something. Talk about "blow it out yer @$$" rofl

[easnoddy]

Yeah, we certainly don't need it that big.  A decent 1/48 would be nice, but really 1/24 would be ideal.

Also, I don't think the gun is supposed to be centered on the hood of the tank.

Edited September 10, 2020 by easnoddy

[tekering]

10 minutes ago, easnoddy said:

I don't think the gun is supposed to be centered on the hood of the tank.

It doesn't look like the right shape...

...and it's certainly not mounted properly...

...but a centered position is appropriate.  

Edited September 10, 2020 by tekering

[vladykins]

13 minutes ago, easnoddy said:

Yeah, we certainly don't need it that big.  A decent 1/48 would be nice, but really 1/24 would be ideal.

Also, I don't think the gun is supposed to be centered on the hood of the tank.

Oh, it is centered, but it is recessed into the hood (so you can't see the handle and such).

[easnoddy]

Nah, not centered

[derex3592]

I like it off centered, but who am I kidding, it's centered, Imma buy it! 

[Convectuoso]

2 hours ago, easnoddy said:

Yeah, we certainly don't need it that big.  A decent 1/48 would be nice, but really 1/24 would be ideal.

I asked about what scale they were planning to produce, if they ever actually produce it, and it seems that it's going to be 1/48th

[Lexomatic]

My first encounter with Southern Cross was via the mid-'80s Robotech novelizations where the visuals are, of course, imagination-driven. When I finally found a picture of the hovertank (in Robotech Art 1, as I recall), my reaction was, "That can't be right -- it's tiny, and where's the canopy? No practical design would expose the pilot that way." The contemporaneous Matchbox toy version had only two of the modes, which led to more confusion.

Seto has written (here(?) and elsewhere) about the troubled development history of the show, and the backstory of colony planet Gloire -- its military is largely ceremonial, doesn't want internecine fighting, and doesn't expect to encounter nonhumans. (They don't know the Zor are time-displaced human colonists, rather like the Evoluder from Detonator Orguss (1991).) The ceremonial role explains the ornate body armor, but the mecha designs should've leaned into the premise -- with scrollwork like on Walther P-38 Megatron, or the identifying banners worn by samurai (sashimono). As-is, they're too boxy and utilitarian; they're almost convincing as light high-mobility units, like armed jeeps.

It doesn't help that I can't convince myself of the utility of all three modes, given the magical hovering and vectored thrust. I guess the tank mode provides high speed for deployment, and the upright mode is a stable but agile artillery piece (stability is necessary if your targeting is slow), but given the lack of giant humanoid adversaries the third mode is for ... I dunno, parades? Being unable to use all three weapons in all modes seems like a huge design flaw. And why three weapons at all? (TV animation is lousy at showing any distinction in capability -- rate of fire, range, ammo capacity, anti-personnel/anti-armor/anti-structure.)

[Seto Kaiba]

43 minutes ago, Lexomatic said:

Seto has written (here(?) and elsewhere) about the troubled development history of the show, and the backstory of colony planet Gloire -- its military is largely ceremonial, [...]The ceremonial role explains the ornate body armor, but the mecha designs should've leaned into the premise -- with scrollwork like on Walther P-38 Megatron, or the identifying banners worn by samurai (sashimono). As-is, they're too boxy and utilitarian; they're almost convincing as light high-mobility units, like armed jeeps.

To be honest, a lot of the explanations for why things are the way they are in Southern Cross feel like the staff came up with them after the fact to talk their way around how disorganized and blatantly derivative the show's development process was.  Their body armor - the Arming Doublet - definitely works with the idea that the Southern Cross Army was mostly for show, but that's because that armor was designed back when the series was going to be about space samurai.  The mecha came along much later, and in something of a hurry, when Tatsunoko decided it'd rather have another go at cashing in on the success of Gundam and Macross, and consequently don't fit the same aesthetic.  The only mechanical design that dates from around the same time as the Arming Doublet is the Zor Lords mothership, being the foundation of their earlier flying castle design with the castle itself removed.

 

[danth]

The gun is definitely not centered in the line art. Compare the center of the gun with the center of the little wind screen/console thing.

[CoryHolmes]

*heavy breathing*

[Convectuoso]

[tekering]

Yeah, that detailing might be appropriate for 1:48 scale, but it looks absurd blown up to 1:12.  

Plus, there are a lot of prominent gaps visible.  The whole point of the buttflap/hood is to cover gaps, not introduce more.

Ammonite designs get no respect.  

[Convectuoso]

[tekering]

Oh, fer Chrissake...

I can't even.

[CoryHolmes]

7 hours ago, tekering said:

Oh, fer Chrissake...

I can't even.

Hush, you.  Don't ruin it for me! 

[jenius]

If it's a 1/12 prototype of something that's ultimately going to be 1/48 scale, I think a lot of sins can be overlooked. In final form, at 1/48 scale, this thing will be TINY whereas it's currently monstrously large.

[treker14]

On 1/5/2009 at 11:23 AM, blacklotus said:

I'm kinda sad that Southern Cross is not much loved by anyone from both sides of the Pacific ocean. Anyone has any idea if this TV series is a big flop in Japan when it was originally released?

I mean, we know Macross is huge, even before the Macross Plus revival, with tonnes of toys made for it, and Mospeada is currently enjoying a nice revival in the toys re-release.

But I am doubtful if I remember seeing toys in Japan for Southern Cross in the original 80s release, and even more doubtful if any toys will be re-released in the near future.

I hope anyone can provide info if this series is really a flop back then, and why so. Many thanks.

p.s. I don't mean Jeanne released as Dana Sterling on a vacuum cleaner in the 'Robotech' toyline in USA. I mean Jeanne released as Jeanne in Japan.

And I don't remember seeing any Bioroid released either. Correct me please if I'm wrong. Thanks.

p.p.s. What I really really want to find is the song CD of the show. They're hauntingly beautiful (the ending song, and the Zor song of the flower legend. And not to sound blasphemous on a Macross forum, but imo, I think they're even more beautiful than the Macross songs)

nb: Found this in wiki:

The three titles share some of the same creators, and Macross is referenced by character cameos and inside references by the latter two series. However, the basic stories are unrelated. Southern Cross was the least successful of the Super Dimensional banner and was actually cancelled due to low ratings, forcing the scriptwriters to hastily conclude the series.

No wonder the last episode always felt rushed, trying to tie all the loose ends in the last episode #23. sigh...

I think I read somewhere there that it was flop because of mecha. My understanding was that Japanese anime try to make money off the merchandise, but they never created any because the mecha was too bulky and not streamlined therefore was not liked by the kids or adults like they were in Macross and Mospeada or even Gundam