ScrambledValkyrie

VE-1 still available for PO from MyKombini for Y7990. https://mykombini.com/en/january-2018/8561-hi-metal-r-ve-1-elintseeker-macross-do-you-remember-love-bandai-4549660192923.html

Lots of places carry them, but it seems few have them in stock right now, at least for a good price. HLJ had them for about Y1000 a couple weeks ago but they are sold out now. AmiAmi has them on PO for about the same price. You can also go Amazon or EBay but you'll likely pay twice that much. Mandarake currently has some blue ones if that's your color. I'm thinking about repurposing the Regult stands for my VF-1s as well.

I pretty much totally agree with everything here. Didn't get far in the original until the players guide came along opened up the map. Then I played it to death. I also never played Metroid 2. Super Metroid is probably in my top 10 all-time favorite games. Aside from the upgraded graphics and sound from the original, I think the built-in map was part of the key to making this game more accessible. Though this might not have been possible with the original due to system limitations. My biggest gripe with Fusion is the way it locks you into a completely linear quest. Sequence-breaking aside, Super Metroid was actually more linear than many people think; but they succeeded in not making it feel that way. I thought Zero Mission was OK; it just didn't feel as innovative. And of course all of the Chozo narrative...

Thanks for the additional photos, @seti88 Nice to see the articulation on the missile pods, and it also helps confirm that a stand is included for each Regult. I'm glad I PO'd this.

So I recently re-watched SDFM, and when I saw Phantasm (Ep 17), it struck me this time just how many subtle parallels there are between this episode and the DYRL movie, both of which essentially represent convoluted (perhaps imaginary) retelling of previously-established events. This is mainly due to the additional material in Phantasm that creates differences between the "real" story and what's going on in Hikaru's unconscious mind. Here's what I noticed. All of these are true of both Phantasm and DYRL: Minmei's concert occurs very early on. Minmei is captured by Zentradi, and Hikaru flies a training valk in a battle in connection with this event. Photographers capture Hikaru and Minmei together, hiding out in the SDF-1. Hikaru defies a command from Misa and goes off on his own to (ultimately, in DYRL's case) rescue Minmei. We see unreal visuals of Hikaru and Minmei together in wedding clothes. Hikaru and Misa find a mysterious floating city. Anyone else notice all these connections? I'm into analysis like this, and noticing similarities between creative works, seeing how later works may have been influenced by earlier ones. When I first saw Phantasm, I thought it was just weird. But now I think it's more on the brilliant side, and it makes me wonder if the DRYL creators took cues from Phantasm when making the movie.

Not sure if this is right place for this, but I ran across this line art image randomly online today. It seems to be a drawing of a variant of the VF-1, called the VF-G1A (or perhaps VF-GIA?). Has anyone seen this before, or know where it might be from? Looks a lot like a super VF-1, but there are differences. The Japanese makes me think it's not some kind of R-tech thing.

Noel, you are doing some impressive work here, both on the VF-1S and VF-0S. Glad you have the time and patience -- I don't think I would. It's making me want to get a VF-0S, if the prices weren't so incredibly high.

Hallmark's doing G1 TF ornaments now? He looks just like a miniature of the original! Does it actually transform?

That was a good read. Nice to have the inside perspective. Thanks to @nautilus for posting. A large TV SDF-1 would be very tempting. I wonder if they would try to make it in 1/3000 like the Yamato DYRL version.

I haven't put my hands on any HMR beyond the VF-1 yet, but I can definitely tell a difference between the HMR VF-1 and the original Hi-Metal VF-1 from 2010. Even if they didn't update the mold, they feel tighter and more solid with better finish to me overall. I definitely think the fact that the rest of the line doesn't transform has something to do with the way they appear to have better quality. And I agree that the VF-2 will be an interesting study in Bandai's design abilities at this scale.

Does anyone know if the upcoming Regult set with missiles will also come with Tamashii display stands, like the standard Regult did? I already have the set on PO, just trying to decide if I should perhaps get some additional stands for them. From looking at the descriptions on a few sites, it doesn't look like the stands are included.

@Brick_Sash, that's really cool (and fitting) that you got to show your amazing work to the man himself! Makes for a great and unforgettable story, for sure.

Great work, @EmilianoAlfaro. I'm impressed! Looking forward to more updates.

Very cool to see, @sh9000! How many Hikaru VF-1J did you buy for stuff like this? They're so plentiful now I've thought of getting another for custom.

When did you see that price? It seems to be that prices have been climbing on the CF, and I haven't seen any lately (on Ebay at least) for less than $85 shipped.

My Defender's still sitting in my PW at HLJ. All these photos are making me want to go ahead and ship it! The VE-1 of course looks fantastic. I'm also really pleasantly surprised at the very reasonable price. That encourages me that other future valks will follow suit, assuming they're not TWE.

Hey, at least it's not blue...

Cool pics. Really hoping that Tomahawk is the next PO announcement after the VE-1. Bandai has been teasing it all this year.

If I were looking for a Q-rau (preferably a red one) to scale well with HMR (roughly 1/100), what are my options? I'm thinking of making a custom DYRL Max from a spare Focker VF-1S and it would be cool to pair Milia with it like the dogfight in the movie.

Good point. That was just under 10K, right? I still wouldn't be surprised if the VE-1 is a little higher, since it's now 2 years later, and prices for many things tend to naturally climb a bit over time.

Yeah, me too. I think VE-1 is more niche, while VT-1 is more iconic. No HMR super/strike VF-1 has been priced above 10K so far. But as @Lolicon mentioned, there's a lot of pieces there they can't reuse in other releases. I'm guessing it will be more like 12K.

I'm hoping the VT-1 won't be far behind... So glad to see this finally being made!

Wow, I didn't know that they actually trademarked Macross for themselves, including the logo? I always thought it was just licensed to them. That's disappointing, but it look like they jumped on the opportunity when Big West abandoned it. Does that mean that BW actually owned the Macross trademark in thr US at one point? IP sure can get messy when you have multiple countries and legal systems involved...

IIRC, the PO for HMR Milia was open at NY for at least a couple of months. Just to be on the safe side, I went ahead and got my Regult order in. My HMR collection will finally include some Zentradi mecha.

Custom. Note the Frontier SMS logos on the boosters. They did another one with attaching HMR FAST packs. https://mobile.twitter.com/otoha_42d/status/897566911877087232