treatment Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 42 minutes ago, jenius said: I'm looking forward to the three zero Melkia. That reminds me. Did you ever get the part (s) from them to fix your regular? Quote
jenius Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 It didn't work out smoothly. I sent it to them, they had it for about a month and sent it back... the foot was fixed but the arm was broken. I contacted my retailer which allowed me to return for a replacement. Quote
treatment Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 8 hours ago, jenius said: It didn't work out smoothly. I sent it to them, they had it for about a month and sent it back... the foot was fixed but the arm was broken. I contacted my retailer which allowed me to return for a replacement. Bummer. Hopefully, ThreeZero has improved the parts/materials on their upcoming Melkia. Your dealer and/or ThreeZero should've let you keep the other one as some really anime-accurate version... Quote
no3Ljm Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 Robot Damashii or Hi-Metal R should make this line. They already made Dougram, what's stopping them for making a Scopedog figure. Quote
jenius Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 I think they don't want to cannibalize sales of the 1/20 models. Quote
no3Ljm Posted June 6, 2018 Posted June 6, 2018 13 hours ago, jenius said: I think they don't want to cannibalize sales of the 1/20 models. Why would it cannibalize the 1/20 sales? Besides, the HMR and RD is more of an action figure than model kits, right? I mean, they've been doing that on their Gundams, so why not just try to make one and see it from there as long that it's Chirico's Scopedog. If it's not going to do well, then atleast a collector owns the hero's figure and not some obscure ones. Quote
jenius Posted June 6, 2018 Posted June 6, 2018 It's just a theory. If any other manufacturer was doing the 1/20 line, I totally think Bandai would be doing Robot Spirits or HMR Scopedogs. Gundam is the obvious exception to every rule... the world can't get enough Gundam. I would love for Bandai to do it though as I don't have time for models... even ones that are as friendly as those seem to be. Quote
no3Ljm Posted June 6, 2018 Posted June 6, 2018 2 minutes ago, jenius said: It's just a theory. If any other manufacturer was doing the 1/20 line, I totally think Bandai would be doing Robot Spirits or HMR Scopedogs. Gundam is the obvious exception to every rule... the world can't get enough Gundam. I would love for Bandai to do it though as I don't have time for models... even ones that are as friendly as those seem to be. Agreed. Would love to see Bandai do some. Btw, I know you reviewed a lot of Scopedogs figure. But can you share which scale out there that share the same height as RD/HMR figures and which brand? Thanks! Quote
jenius Posted June 6, 2018 Posted June 6, 2018 Some day... yes. I would really love to get back to doing Votoms reviews and pull those toys out again. Unfortunately... right now they're all way buried in storage. I'll probably pull a bunch out when the ThreeZero arrives but I didn't even see that on the ThreeZero shipping schedule yet. Quote
no3Ljm Posted June 6, 2018 Posted June 6, 2018 7 minutes ago, jenius said: Some day... yes. I would really love to get back to doing Votoms reviews and pull those toys out again. Unfortunately... right now they're all way buried in storage. I'll probably pull a bunch out when the ThreeZero arrives but I didn't even see that on the ThreeZero shipping schedule yet. Oh. You don't need to dive in in the storage soon. I tried to ask if you will remember something based on when you were doing the reviews. Anyways, I know there were some 1/35's, and some Takara figures but since I don't have those, I'm just guessing which line would fit in RD/HMR height size. Quote
jenius Posted June 6, 2018 Posted June 6, 2018 Well we can probably back into that info without digging too much out. What would you say an appropriate HMR Scopedog height would be in centimeters? Since the HMR line includes a few different scaled items there's no perfect answer. We could just take that height and do the math to see what scale that would be. Then we can figure out what toys to compare it to. I'm guessing 1/35 like the MaxFactory or CM's. Quote
hachi Posted June 6, 2018 Posted June 6, 2018 17 hours ago, no3Ljm said: Robot Damashii or Hi-Metal R should make this line. They already made Dougram, what's stopping them for making a Scopedog figure. Nooooooo the financially responsible side of me will not be happy Quote
treatment Posted June 6, 2018 Posted June 6, 2018 (edited) 6 hours ago, no3Ljm said: Oh. You don't need to dive in in the storage soon. I tried to ask if you will remember something based on when you were doing the reviews. Anyways, I know there were some 1/35's, and some Takara figures but since I don't have those, I'm just guessing which line would fit in RD/HMR height size. RD scale is really just way too small height-wise against the various Votoms lines bigger than 1/48 and 1/60 from takara/bandai. HM-R line will be a bit more nicer height-wise, but only with either the 1/24 or the 1/35 Votoms line. A Bandai HM-R VOTOMS line at the 1/24ish height will be really ideal if they don't want to cannibalize their rather awesome 1/20 VOTOMS kits line. As such, the ones below were all previously posted here, but here they are again if you're that interested: 1/20 RSC with HMR Xabungle: https://i.imgur.com/idpvm5n.jpg 1/20 RSC with HMR Dougram: https://i.imgur.com/VBYBbsj.jpg 1/20 RSC with HMR Glaug: https://i.imgur.com/TgT5Ia0.jpg 1/35 35Max with HMR Defender: https://i.imgur.com/YMaT99c.jpg 1/24 with HMR Destroids: https://i.imgur.com/4BMxsBm.jpg Edited June 6, 2018 by treatment Quote
no3Ljm Posted June 6, 2018 Posted June 6, 2018 Thanks Treatment for this comparison pics. Really appreciate it. I think I like the 1/24 scale more than the 1/35. The 1/20 felt bigger and I doubt Bandai will make a big Scopedog if ever they will make one. The 1/24 is a good size I guess to go with their HMR and RD line up. Oh well, one can just dream, right? Quote
treatment Posted June 7, 2018 Posted June 7, 2018 Yeah. The 1/24 'Dogs size up nicely with the HMR. here's the Yammie 1/24 IRC TurboCustom with the HMR Hikkie-1A: Quote
Valkyrie Griffon Posted June 15, 2018 Posted June 15, 2018 So question here. My first exposure to Votoms was the amazing Armor Hunter Mellowlink...which falls apart a little towards the end but still kicks some serious rear-end. And then I watched the original TV series...which was completely awful in my opinion. Potentially worst protagonist ever in a mech series, and that's saying a lot with all the crybabies and other nonsense the genre forces viewers to endure. Awful side characters, a continuing series of wars that no one seems to be able to explain or are even justified by the show. I watched ~12 episodes of so and I just couldn't stomach it. I've read that if you make it to around episode 50 it gets really good, but I am not willing to slog through 49 mediocre episodes for a show to finally pick up. Recently I came across some fansubs online of Pailsen Files and Shining Heresy. Started watching Pailsen and it completely sucks. Awful "combat" scenes. More lets-fight-over-a-dead-dirt-patch-because-reasons!-nonsense and some conspiracy around Chirico. Only got two episodes in before the site that was hosting blacklisted it. They also blacklisted and pulled Shining Heresy so my guess is the show just got licensed. Anyways I'm wondering is there anything of the series other than Mellowlink actually worth tracking down, or keeping an eye out for when it releases here? I love the mech designs but man they are stuck in the most uninteresting mech-universe ever, lol. Secondly are there any good durable Votoms mech figures you guys/gals would recommend for my little one to play with? He really likes the designs and I let him play with my HMRs, Revoltech and Robot Spirit Patlabors, and Panda-Zs; though some of these fall apart so much we spend the whole time putting them back together, lol. Quote
jenius Posted June 15, 2018 Posted June 15, 2018 I love Votoms stories although the more they made Chirico into a god the worse they got IMHO. The toys you're looking for are by Takara and are called Dual Model or Revival Dual Model. Getting a RDM Red Shoulder custom might be a great start. Those are the equivalent of Macross 1/55 Takatoku toys. They aren't the most articulated but are very solid and actually sold so well they kept Votoms on the air despite so-so ratings. Quote
treatment Posted June 15, 2018 Posted June 15, 2018 (edited) Well, I dunno. You described MellowLink as "amazing", where it's actually a pretty weak derivative of the main AT-V anime. It's even weaker than Pailsen Files anime, which was really the weakest of the main line. The first two episodes of PF were done in really "dark" cg animation, where any details of the mechs or the battles were completely lost due to Bandai Visual experimenting with their CG crap back in the day. You won't understand anything in Shining Heresy if you didn't go thru the main tv-anime, so it's a good thing you didn't even get to watch it. AT-V anime getting "better" around ep-50 is most likely an exaggeration and possibly mistaking Macross-7 or something instead of VOTOMS. That said, it would help to let us know what other shows you think is "amazing" or good in your view. If you didn't like ep1-12 of AT-V like you said, then there's something already wrong with you and you should feel bad about it ala Zoidberg. AT-VOTOMS anime is awesome and very consistent with the characters, the plot, and the mechs from ep1 thru all the various OVAs, in the honest of opinion of mine and others who have watched pretty much almost all classic mecha and even giant robot anime. --- add/edit: As for a durable toy for your kid, the only one to consider are the 35Max 1/35 toys from Maxfactory. Even if they'd fraked up and never corrected their misproportioned head on the Scopedog. Edited June 16, 2018 by treatment Quote
jenius Posted June 16, 2018 Posted June 16, 2018 Oh yeah, good recommendation on the 35max if you want something a bit more fun than heavy metal nostalgic. Quote
dizman Posted June 16, 2018 Posted June 16, 2018 The 50 episodes thing is probably someone just joking with you. I don't love Votoms as much as Jenius and Treatment but it's still a pretty great show once it gets going. Votoms can be easily broken down into four arcs, the first arc is the setup and does run a little slow. You were almost to the second arc where things pick up, the third arc slows things way down to get personal and the final arc is where all hell breaks loose. My recommendation would be to try the Votoms OVA Last Red Shoulder and see if you like that. If you still hate it then Votoms probably just isn't for you, if you do like it then continue the series. After that stick with production order on the OVAs till Shining Heresy and stop there since everything after is kinda bad. Quote
treatment Posted June 16, 2018 Posted June 16, 2018 Haven't checked, but YT used to have Roots of Ambition, Last Red Shoulder, and Shining Heresy ovas. Not sure if they're still there, tho. fwiw, the proper continuity for mainline VOTOMS anime is as follows: -- Roots of Ambition (ova) -- Votoms TV (Uodoo/Kumen arc) (tv) -- Last Red Shoulder (ova) -- Votoms TV (Dead Space/Sunsa arcs) (tv) -- Big Battle (ova) (skippable) -- Votoms TV (Quent arc) (tv) -- Shining Heresy -- STOP! DON'T WATCH ANY MORE OTHERS UNLESS YOU JUST WANT SOME SOUL-LESS CG MECHA FANSERVICE and some bad/crappy/bizarro/wtf continuity and stuff. -- If that doesn't dissuade you, then... -- Pailsen Files (supposedly happened just right before ep-1 of VOTOMS-TV, but that was just stupid marketing. It messes and screws up both RoA, LRS and Votoms-TV canon) -- Alone Again (event after Shining Heresy). -- Phantom arc (events after Shining Heresy). Animation and character-design qualities vary due to different times/ages of productions. The latest doesn't necessarily means the best... Quote
treatment Posted June 16, 2018 Posted June 16, 2018 (edited) addendum: nah, think i'm spoiling it too much if i post the addendum... Edited June 16, 2018 by treatment Quote
hachi Posted June 16, 2018 Posted June 16, 2018 I actually liked Pailsen Files because I saw it first before the TV series haha. I never really finished the TV series as I get bored after a few episodes, but I like the Scopedogs as they are a unique design. I didn't know Pailsen Files was bad vs other iterations but I guess ignorance is bliss. I also liked Mellowlink. Maybe they should reboot Votoms series and make it not-boring. Quote
jenius Posted June 16, 2018 Posted June 16, 2018 There were moments in Pailsen files I liked but the more they elaborate on Chirico's backstory the less AT:V makes sense to me. This might be all on me, but when I first watched AT:V, I felt that Chirico knew he was a great soldier but did not know he was unbeatable. That added tension as he goes up against the Perfect Soldiers. When he starts defeating Perfect Soldiers he comes to realize that he is a naturally born Perfect Soldier. Then the show progresses to him being shown that he's more than that, he's an Overman. Then they added in OVAs and prequels that make it so Chirico knows he can't die. It's not even that he can't die because he's such a good soldier... he literally can't die, the universe intervenes on his behalf. Doesn't that suck all the tension out of all of the events that led up to the moment he is revealed to be an overman? There were scenes in the TV show that are throw-away glimpses that make no sense that seemingly were trying to hint at this also but the OVA beats them to death. Chirico has brief flashbacks in the show to being on fire and even being a baby in a lab that gets sucked out to space. They are bizarre glimpses though that just make you think WTF. Quote
Valkyrie Griffon Posted June 16, 2018 Posted June 16, 2018 19 hours ago, jenius said: I love Votoms stories although the more they made Chirico into a god the worse they got IMHO. The toys you're looking for are by Takara and are called Dual Model or Revival Dual Model. Getting a RDM Red Shoulder custom might be a great start. Those are the equivalent of Macross 1/55 Takatoku toys. They aren't the most articulated but are very solid and actually sold so well they kept Votoms on the air despite so-so ratings. Thanks. Given the age of those sets the prices I'm seeing are pretty high for something to give my little guy but man this one is a steal.... https://www.amazon.com/Armored-Trooper-VOTOMS-DMZ-06-Scopedog/dp/B000TUR8PG I'll probably try these instead: https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10103559 https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10446816 16 hours ago, dizman said: The 50 episodes thing is probably someone just joking with you. I don't love Votoms as much as Jenius and Treatment but it's still a pretty great show once it gets going. Votoms can be easily broken down into four arcs, the first arc is the setup and does run a little slow. You were almost to the second arc where things pick up, the third arc slows things way down to get personal and the final arc is where all hell breaks loose. My recommendation would be to try the Votoms OVA Last Red Shoulder and see if you like that. If you still hate it then Votoms probably just isn't for you, if you do like it then continue the series. After that stick with production order on the OVAs till Shining Heresy and stop there since everything after is kinda bad. I actually misspoke with the 50 episode comment, what I was thinking of is this blogpost I saw years ago here: https://www.bateszi.me/2009/06/17/the-scent-of-flames-armored-trooper-votoms/ In which the author opines his love for the Deadworld Sunsa beginning around ep 28, but after 12 episodes that I did not enjoy at all and a protagonist that I completely disliked I had no interest in slogging through another dozen episodes to reach the "better" part of the series. Instead I sold my CPM DVD set for $500 and smiled all the way to the bank. However given that the show seems to have been licensed and just pulled from the site I was viewing I may give it another go when I can get a Blu-Ray for $50 or less. I really like the more realistic tone of the show...I just didn't care for anything else at the time, lol. 19 hours ago, treatment said: Well, I dunno. You described MellowLink as "amazing", where it's actually a pretty weak derivative of the main AT-V anime. It's even weaker than Pailsen Files anime, which was really the weakest of the main line. The first two episodes of PF were done in really "dark" cg animation, where any details of the mechs or the battles were completely lost due to Bandai Visual experimenting with their CG crap back in the day. You won't understand anything in Shining Heresy if you didn't go thru the main tv-anime, so it's a good thing you didn't even get to watch it. AT-V anime getting "better" around ep-50 is most likely an exaggeration and possibly mistaking Macross-7 or something instead of VOTOMS. That said, it would help to let us know what other shows you think is "amazing" or good in your view. If you didn't like ep1-12 of AT-V like you said, then there's something already wrong with you and you should feel bad about it ala Zoidberg. AT-VOTOMS anime is awesome and very consistent with the characters, the plot, and the mechs from ep1 thru all the various OVAs, in the honest of opinion of mine and others who have watched pretty much almost all classic mecha and even giant robot anime. --- add/edit: As for a durable toy for your kid, the only one to consider are the 35Max 1/35 toys from Maxfactory. Even if they'd fraked up and never corrected their misproportioned head on the Scopedog. Mellowlink is worse than Pailsen Files....ummm...no. Just animation alone AHM kicks a$$ with its solid late-80's hand-drawn animation. Angry, pissed-off protagonist who the viewer can empathize with within the first episode, great Jungle-warfare/Guerilla-style use of tactics, stealth, and traps against superior foes. Meanwhile Pailsen soldiers meander up the beaches in episode 1 dying by the droves and not one thinks to turn his gun on his idiot superiors and save his and his fellow soldier's lives over a fight over some forgotten patch of dirt. Then when the crap CG is done we get sub-American-cartoon quality animation. Sorry but Mellowlink is the only one I have seen in the ATV universe who isn't an imbecile. I'm not going to even remotely entertain the idea that I should feel bad about disliking Votoms. I actually want to like it because the mechs are so cool but so far it has kind of sucked aside from one offshoot series. What counts as better mech series? Escaflowne, Gundam 0083, MS Igloo, Thunderbolt, Patlabor (especially the films), SDF Macross, Macross Plus, even Megazone 23. Quote
treatment Posted June 16, 2018 Posted June 16, 2018 26 minutes ago, Valkyrie Griffon said: Mellowlink is worse than Pailsen Files....ummm...no. Just animation alone AHM kicks a$$ with its solid late-80's hand-drawn animation. Angry, pissed-off protagonist who the viewer can empathize with within the first episode, great Jungle-warfare/Guerilla-style use of tactics, stealth, and traps against superior foes. Meanwhile Pailsen soldiers meander up the beaches in episode 1 dying by the droves and not one thinks to turn his gun on his idiot superiors and save his and his fellow soldier's lives over a fight over some forgotten patch of dirt. Then when the crap CG is done we get sub-American-cartoon quality animation. Sorry but Mellowlink is the only one I have seen in the ATV universe who isn't an imbecile. I'm not going to even remotely entertain the idea that I should feel bad about disliking Votoms. I actually want to like it because the mechs are so cool but so far it has kind of sucked aside from one offshoot series. What counts as better mech series? Escaflowne, Gundam 0083, MS Igloo, Thunderbolt, Patlabor (especially the films), SDF Macross, Macross Plus, even Megazone 23. From your list , I think you like more showy and more fantastical shows with seemingly no regards to continuity/canon and stuff. That's fine. Everybody's got their own preferences and stuff. With that, you might actually like Shining Heresy since you prolly won't care about or even notice the underlying history it directly built on from Votoms-TV. I think it has enough stuff to keep you entertained despite that, and it is rather as luscious as any 90's era ova like Plus or GitS. Alone Again and Phantom arc, as well as the non-mainline Case Irvine might be up your alley as well. The character-designs and animation are very modern and stuff in those. As for PF , it actually has good solid character-designs. That's prolly one of its few strengths to me. Much better than the flat character designs on Mellowlink, imo. The CG animation on PF clears up by ep-3 or so, as BV soon realized nobody literally can see anything on the first two episodes, so they pretty much brighten it all up throughout the run. If you prefer to watch pretty old-school stuff with VOTOMS, then you might try Roots of Ambition OVA. It was the prettiest hand-drawn cel-animated of the Votoms franchise. The Last Red Shoulder is fine in that regards, too, and LRS is full-on canon with no twist like RoA. Quote
treatment Posted June 16, 2018 Posted June 16, 2018 4 hours ago, jenius said: There were moments in Pailsen files I liked but the more they elaborate on Chirico's backstory the less AT:V makes sense to me. This might be all on me, but when I first watched AT:V, I felt that Chirico knew he was a great soldier but did not know he was unbeatable. That added tension as he goes up against the Perfect Soldiers. When he starts defeating Perfect Soldiers he comes to realize that he is a naturally born Perfect Soldier. Then the show progresses to him being shown that he's more than that, he's an Overman. Then they added in OVAs and prequels that make it so Chirico knows he can't die. It's not even that he can't die because he's such a good soldier... he literally can't die, the universe intervenes on his behalf. Doesn't that suck all the tension out of all of the events that led up to the moment he is revealed to be an overman? There were scenes in the TV show that are throw-away glimpses that make no sense that seemingly were trying to hint at this also but the OVA beats them to death. Chirico has brief flashbacks in the show to being on fire and even being a baby in a lab that gets sucked out to space. They are bizarre glimpses though that just make you think WTF. PF would've work for me better if they'd placed all the events before RoA. As well as cut down on the rather gratuitous final assault. They could've gotten rid of the kid, too, as that was a stupid idea to even include in. The RoA twist was wicked, but completely unnecessary. I think they realized that it was really a stupid idea so they just referred to Chirico as the mysterious untouchable in SH. Quote
Valkyrie Griffon Posted June 16, 2018 Posted June 16, 2018 Huh...ok. Almost sounds like something character out of Doctor Who or what the Emperor did to a certain character in Escaflowne. I honestly would probably give the series another go when/if it releases here and I was fairly excited to have come across PF and Shining Heresy but man those first two PT episodes were just awful and stupid. Not sure how my list of shows that I like is fantastical and has continuity issues, sounds more like ATV has more of an issue with the latter than anything I listed. SDF and Macross Plus? They fit perfectly together and Plus is one of the more grounded and believable mech series; even the Sharon Apple AI stuff is believable given things like Hatsune Miku/Vocaloid and semi-sentient love dolls. Gundam 0083 and MS Igloo are non-canon and fantastical? Nope. Thunderbolt as well is completely a fit in the 0079 series of events and is brutally, uncomfortably realistic. Patlabor occasionally goes into the realm of fantastic...for ~5 out of 63 episodes, 2 of which are simply fun dream episodes. And the first two movies? Dead-on believable, probably the closest to what we may see in the near future out of any anime show. Escaflowne would count as fantastical, sure. But everything else on my list follows canon and is in some cases very real world and grounded. Stuff like Aura Battler, or even Macross 7, F, and Delta with its flying idols battling enemies would be far more fantastic that anything on my list. Quote
Valkyrie Griffon Posted June 17, 2018 Posted June 17, 2018 On a side note does anyone here have contact info for Lupin Gang Anime? They were a fansub group a while back and they did a really nice translation on Mellowlink that I still have the VHS tapes for. I have found another version online but it is awful, the subtitler didn't even understand fundametals like how a word like "Taichou" is used. Everyone's rank is romanized but not translated and it makes for some very sloppy dialog. Also some of it is just plain wrong and he has a weird tirade in the credits of at least one episode where he rants about Mellowlink is ok because it isn't too religious and launches into attacking Christians for who know what reasons. Almost like some angry drunk subtitled the show, lol. Anyways I'd love to get a digital copy of Mellowlink as subbed by Lupin Gang Anime. Not sure if this is ok to ask here but this show is so obscure it's likely never going to be licensed. Quote
Big s Posted June 18, 2018 Posted June 18, 2018 I feel like I’m missing out on the most talk this thread has had in a while. I love the original series, but I can see how it would be a bit slow for some. The second arc of the show is my favorite. I also love the main character. Chirico felt more like a guy who had seen too much, but wasn’t too much of a weenie to do something about it. Quote
Einherjar Posted July 7, 2018 Posted July 7, 2018 Coming soon, experience Chirico Cuvie's greatest hits, 300+ of them and more, all over again from Section23. https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2018-07-05/maiden-japan-licenses-maria-watches-over-us-hataraki-man-basquash-yumeiro-patissiere-votoms-ideon-xabungle-human-crossing-anime/.133826 Quote
jenius Posted July 7, 2018 Posted July 7, 2018 I'm working through xabungle right now... It's fun how they tear down the 4th wall occasionally. Goofy mech designs, goofy attempts at romance, goofy story, but charming. Not exactly my type of show though, I preferred dougram, which isn't as good as Votoms. Quote
treatment Posted July 7, 2018 Posted July 7, 2018 15 hours ago, Einherjar said: Coming soon, experience Chirico Cuvie's greatest hits, 300+ of them and more, all over again from Section23. https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2018-07-05/maiden-japan-licenses-maria-watches-over-us-hataraki-man-basquash-yumeiro-patissiere-votoms-ideon-xabungle-human-crossing-anime/.133826 Hopefully they get the remastered-version of the TV-series, as they had noticably better colors and stuff than my old CPM ammo-box dvds. Hope they also got the OVAs. At least the LRS, ROA, and SH titles. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.