MAAS Toys is making Veritech Hovertanks and Red Commander Bioroids w/Biover!

[easnoddy]

Look, someone has already done their work for them.

[505thAirborne]

20 minutes ago, easnoddy said:

Look, someone has already done their work for them.

Minus the Rifle I did this to my Hover Tank years ago. Not a very difficult mod. 

I think for a Hover Tank to work properly for transforming in all three modes, especially Tank is to go the VF-1 V.2 & Beagle Ride Armor route (Go on a diet) and slim down the parts. Like the DX VF-19 a lot of folding & opening compartments for parts to secure into and double joint the hell out of it. 

The Hover Tank / Spartas is a chunky design right out of the gate but IMO it needs to be slimmed down for all the parts to come together properly.  I could be wrong but that's how I see it. 

[Mazinger]

3 minutes ago, 505thAirborne said:

The Hover Tank / Spartas is a chunky design right out of the gate but IMO it needs to be slimmed down for all the parts to come together properly.  I could be wrong but that's how I see it. 

It's those chunky calves.  Really needs to slim them down.  Also the flip/flop part of the hood to skirt transformation is also odd.

[captain america]

28 minutes ago, Mazinger said:

It's those chunky calves.  Really needs to slim them down.  Also the flip/flop part of the hood to skirt transformation is also odd.

It's not even the calves themselves. Look at the Matchbox image above: the backpack module isn't even resting on them. You'd just need to be able to collapse the toes downward and the hinged forward lower-leg armor with it, then collapse the knee. Ironically, a 33 year old toy devoid of an official tank-mode still looks better than a 2018-19 offering with more advanced design technology. 'Splain that!

[tekering]

10 hours ago, captain america said:

Ironically, a 33 year old toy devoid of an official tank-mode still looks better than a 2018-19 offering with more advanced design technology.

I was just thinking exactly the same thing.  

I'm so disappointed that this project has derailed your 1:48 Southern Cross plans that I may actively boycott MAAS Toys (rather than simply ignoring them).

[sh9000]

On 1/25/2019 at 3:29 AM, Convectuoso said:

Seems like MepToys is also working on SC designs

https://www.meptoys.com/wipblog/vf-8-logan?fbclid=IwAR0MXHtYFNOUw9-2aelE6TgAiAbBm4iCAkOrubNauAHUMwh9G1KHlPr-m28

This one too.

https://www.meptoys.com/wipblog/the-dreaded-red-bioroid?fbclid=IwAR0MXHtYFNOUw9-2aelE6TgAiAbBm4iCAkOrubNauAHUMwh9G1KHlPr-m28

[Convectuoso]

I saw that one, but seems to be on a really early stage of development 

[RavenHawk]

15 hours ago, tekering said:

I was just thinking exactly the same thing.  

I'm so disappointed that this project has derailed your 1:48 Southern Cross plans that I may actively boycott MAAS Toys (rather than simply ignoring them).

Don't boycott them for tackling a less-popular figure that some folks have been asking for for years. Boycott them for trying to sell people on a lazy design.

 

8 hours ago, sh9000 said:

This one too.

https://www.meptoys.com/wipblog/the-dreaded-red-bioroid?fbclid=IwAR0MXHtYFNOUw9-2aelE6TgAiAbBm4iCAkOrubNauAHUMwh9G1KHlPr-m28

I'm not familiar with MEPToys. Has this person put anything out before? From the "shop" link, it only shows a Breetai listed as "coming soon". The sample looks pretty nice, but the transformation on the Logan looks very amateurish (that said, it may just be a very early "let's see how the parts need to most basically move" kind of thing).

[Seto Kaiba]

On 1/25/2019 at 3:21 PM, captain america said:

Ironically, a 33 year old toy devoid of an official tank-mode still looks better than a 2018-19 offering with more advanced design technology. 'Splain that!

It's Robotech.  The brand as a whole never left 1986.

 

1 hour ago, RavenHawk said:

but the transformation on the Logan looks very amateurish (that said, it may just be a very early "let's see how the parts need to most basically move" kind of thing).

To be fair, the same could be said for Southern Cross's mechanical designs themselves... Tatsunoko Production didn't exactly bring their A-game to the series.  Even the show's own promotional materials take the piss out of the Logan on a regular basis.

[Roy Focker]

They did a good job with the body armor designs and that's about it.

[NeoverseOmega]

 Yowza - as much as I wanted to see a modern interpretation of the Spartas, it doesn't seem all that, well, modern - it's a bit like I would have expected from Yamato back in the nineties when they were just starting on their Macross Plus toys.

Back in the day I was going to commission a 3-D artist to help me construct a model of the unit (I knew a little 3-D, but I didn't consider myself good enough to construct anything that could be used for CAD).  So I sat down with graph paper and worked out a basic set of proportions and transformation scheme that I thought could physically work - heh, as the graph paper was only quadrille and small, I had to "estimate" where I thought 16ths would be, but it was roughly 1/35th scale at 7 inches.  He told me he thought it would work with a little tweaking, and as ashamed as I was of it at the time, I don't think I'm deluding myself too much when I say it still works better proportionately than what MAAS Toys is doing.

The key is starting with the hoversled design.  If you get the hardest one out of the way, the rest is comparatively cake.

As lousy as those snapshots are, now I kinda want to import them into illustrator and reconstruct them with vectors to see if I can clean them up and tweak some of the issues. 

[easnoddy]

I, for one, am all for a parts-forming front of the tank.  If you leave the tank/sled front on in robot/soldier form, it will just about scrape the ground.  Include a smaller one for a better robot look.  Bandai does it with the wings in the HMR series, should work here also.

[Knight26]

On ‎1‎/‎30‎/‎2019 at 1:50 AM, NeoverseOmega said:

 Yowza - as much as I wanted to see a modern interpretation of the Spartas, it doesn't seem all that, well, modern - it's a bit like I would have expected from Yamato back in the nineties when they were just starting on their Macross Plus toys.

Back in the day I was going to commission a 3-D artist to help me construct a model of the unit (I knew a little 3-D, but I didn't consider myself good enough to construct anything that could be used for CAD).  So I sat down with graph paper and worked out a basic set of proportions and transformation scheme that I thought could physically work - heh, as the graph paper was only quadrille and small, I had to "estimate" where I thought 16ths would be, but it was roughly 1/35th scale at 7 inches.  He told me he thought it would work with a little tweaking, and as ashamed as I was of it at the time, I don't think I'm deluding myself too much when I say it still works better proportionately than what MAAS Toys is doing.

The key is starting with the hoversled design.  If you get the hardest one out of the way, the rest is comparatively cake.

As lousy as those snapshots are, now I kinda want to import them into illustrator and reconstruct them with vectors to see if I can clean them up and tweak some of the issues. 

Send those to MAAS Toys, seriously, already looks a ton better.

[NeoverseOmega]

Thanks man!  I just posted lower resolution versions of these on their Facebook page - there are already some REAALLY sweet looking 3-D models people have posted that blow their current design out of the water so I don't expect this study will get much traction - hopefully MAAS is humble enough to pay attention and look at what people are saying! 

Again, starting from the hover-tank design goes a long way - the transport mode was a big part of the show.  I DO kinda hope they notice and use my ideas for the torso transformation though- most soldier modes for this mecha end up looking a bit like a sumo in order to make room for the arms when the waist should taper, and the crotch plate needs to be able to tuck completely out of the way for transformation - I think using the groin as a "storage bin" seems like a near perfect solution - but I admit, I'm biased  . . . .sometimes I actually like my own ideas.

[Mazinger]

11 hours ago, NeoverseOmega said:

 hopefully MAAS is humble enough to pay attention and look at what people are saying! 

^ this 100x's. 

[RavenHawk]

1 hour ago, Mazinger said:

^ this 100x's. 

From what I've seen, they listen, but they've already made their decisions and don't tend to change their minds.

[captain america]

22 minutes ago, RavenHawk said:

From what I've seen, they listen, but they've already made their decisions and don't tend to change their minds.

So basically, they don't :P

[RavenHawk]

9 minutes ago, captain america said:

So basically, they don't :P

Exactly. They act like they do, but in reality they only respond to feedback to tell people that they already made their decisions because they know best.

[JetJockey]

14 hours ago, RavenHawk said:

From what I've seen, they listen, but they've already made their decisions and don't tend to change their minds.

Well if they stick to what they have now, that's a no go for me. I would take a non-transforming hovertank mode only if it got the look right over a sloppy looking transforming version.

[Convectuoso]

If I remember correctly, preorder was supposed to start by February 1st. Are there any news about it? 

[Seto Kaiba]

3 hours ago, Convectuoso said:

If I remember correctly, preorder was supposed to start by February 1st. Are there any news about it? 

Not a peep on their official website since 16th January.

[RavenHawk]

1 hour ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Not a peep on their official website since 16th January.

Looks like they haven't responded to any comments on FB for about 3 weeks now, either (including ones asking if the Kickstarter was still a go for February 1st).

[Seto Kaiba]

40 minutes ago, RavenHawk said:

Looks like they haven't responded to any comments on FB for about 3 weeks now, either (including ones asking if the Kickstarter was still a go for February 1st).

Huh... I wonder if they've run aground on Harmony Gold's insistence that their licensees not use crowdfunding sites for their projects?

Ever since Palladium Books came clean about having been lying about the state of its Robotech Kickstarter's finances for three years, resulting in the project's failure due to inadequate funds Harmony Gold has been death on anything to do with crowdfunding.

[RavenHawk]

20 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Huh... I wonder if they've run aground on Harmony Gold's insistence that their licensees not use crowdfunding sites for their projects?

Ever since Palladium Books came clean about having been lying about the state of its Robotech Kickstarter's finances for three years, resulting in the project's failure due to inadequate funds Harmony Gold has been death on anything to do with crowdfunding.

It's HG, so anything is possible (especially laziness), but I don't know how you can get in bed with MAAS Toys and NOT know that they're going to do a Kickstarter. That's been their business model for at least the last couple of years.

[Seto Kaiba]

16 minutes ago, RavenHawk said:

It's HG, so anything is possible (especially laziness), but I don't know how you can get in bed with MAAS Toys and NOT know that they're going to do a Kickstarter. That's been their business model for at least the last couple of years.

MAAS Toys was, according to their last newspost, attempting to get away from using crowdfunding sites like Indiegogo and Kickstarter to finance their projects.  They tried essentially running their own crowdfunding/preorder campaign without a third party to collect funds (and take a percentage) and as of their January news update it seems to have backfired and resulted in a financial shortfall for the project when 38 backers and 5 retailers failed to honor their pledges and 3 backers had Paypal refund their money.  They may have thought that that approach would be good enough to satisfy Harmony Gold, since it's basically a glorified preorder.

Mind you, I've suspected for a while now that this sudden surge in Robotech licensing right before the end of their license is Harmony Gold once again just selling a license to anyone willing to pay and finding only small-time indie outfits willing to bite.  (So like the 90's, but with toys and statues instead of comics.)

[RavenHawk]

2 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

MAAS Toys was, according to their last newspost, attempting to get away from using crowdfunding sites like Indiegogo and Kickstarter to finance their projects.  They tried essentially running their own crowdfunding/preorder campaign without a third party to collect funds (and take a percentage) and as of their January news update it seems to have backfired and resulted in a financial shortfall for the project when 38 backers and 5 retailers failed to honor their pledges and 3 backers had Paypal refund their money.  They may have thought that that approach would be good enough to satisfy Harmony Gold, since it's basically a glorified preorder.

Mind you, I've suspected for a while now that this sudden surge in Robotech licensing right before the end of their license is Harmony Gold once again just selling a license to anyone willing to pay and finding only small-time indie outfits willing to bite.  (So like the 90's, but with toys and statues instead of comics.)

First thought in my head reading that: *** hmmm... naked licensing can be a basis for losing your trademark... ***

Not that it really matters.

[nightmareB4macross]

On 1/25/2019 at 11:19 AM, easnoddy said:

Look, someone has already done their work for them.

Do you happen to have a link to the step by steps on doing this mod?

Thank you. 

[easnoddy]

I don't.  Someone on an earlier post said they did it.  Maybe they still have the steps.

[RavenHawk]

Looks like MAAS is back to posting on Facebook, after being silent since Jan. 16. Still no comment on Southern Cross or replies to questions about the project or kickstarter.

[Seto Kaiba]

3 hours ago, RavenHawk said:

Looks like MAAS is back to posting on Facebook, after being silent since Jan. 16. Still no comment on Southern Cross or replies to questions about the project or kickstarter.

Anything said on why they mysteriously went silent for almost two months with no warning?

I wonder if they got cold feet now that even Harmony Gold is admitting they might not be able to secure a renewal of their license, or if Harmony Gold said crowdfunding of any type is right out so they have no way to fund it.

[RavenHawk]

3 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Anything said on why they mysteriously went silent for almost two months with no warning?

I wonder if they got cold feet now that even Harmony Gold is admitting they might not be able to secure a renewal of their license, or if Harmony Gold said crowdfunding of any type is right out so they have no way to fund it.

Not a word.

I didn't scan through all the old stuff on their site closely to see if things were reworded, but the quick glance I took seemed to talk about interacting with the community and the fans, as opposed to talking about crowdfunding.

Still, as I've griped before, they're not so great at taking feedback from the community if it isn't pure praise.

[Lorindor]

I got a reply on my PM to MAAS Toys. HG hasn't approved their Kickstarter plan and MAAS are waiting for more information from HG. I think they want to wait with going public with information until they know something for certain.

[Seto Kaiba]

2 hours ago, Lorindor said:

I got a reply on my PM to MAAS Toys. HG hasn't approved their Kickstarter plan and MAAS are waiting for more information from HG. I think they want to wait with going public with information until they know something for certain.

... so MAAS Toys is waiting on a company that is death on all things Kickstarter to approve their plans for a Kickstarter?

Glorious.

I can only assume this entire misadventure started with someone at MAAS Toys saying "I have a cunning plan".

[RavenHawk]

3 hours ago, Lorindor said:

I got a reply on my PM to MAAS Toys. HG hasn't approved their Kickstarter plan and MAAS are waiting for more information from HG. I think they want to wait with going public with information until they know something for certain.

This just seems... hmmm.... how to be polite about it... foolish.

Their entire business model is based around kickstarter. They claimed to have the license, but terms such as funding and what would be a go or no-go weren't discussed? I really think MAAS had some very preliminary conversation with HG, and then jumped the gun claiming to have a license and rushing out a mediocre design.

[JB0]

Propose we edit the thread title for accuracy by adding "jk lol" to the end?