joke-machine

SD Joke-Machine all the way!

Mods, I also placed an ad for this in the wanted section, so if you feel it is inappropriate here feel free to delete- My wife is a big My Little Pony collector and at this years Comicon convention there will be an exclusive superhero pony at Hasbros booth. I am looking for a member who is going to the con who could pick up 2x of the pony for my wife. We would of course pay you in advance, plus a little extra for your time, and shipping to my house. If there are any members gong to the con who can help a fellow MW member out please let me know--

HI-- Been out of Macross collecting for several years now and am finally liquidating some of my older Macross stuff that is not my all time favorites, but since I have not been collecting I have no clue on some values-- Got both of these from Yahoo Japan years back (Probably around 2000) Any help would be appreciated Item #1 complete set of 6 Arii SD valk kits, unbuilt, parts still in sealed bags. Item #2 Bandai RoboChanMan motorized SD strike valk kit. Has big west sticker on it. Has a 1985 date. parts still in sealed plastic bag, with slightly damaged instruction sheet and unused sticker sheet

Well I think I may be getting into another! collecting field. I am seriously addicted to being a collector, but that is besides the thread topic. I am looking to get into the miniture military model collecting. Like 1/32 WWII armor mostly, but possibly some 1/18 stuff as well (the planes in that scale are just freaking awesome). I am an absolute history nut, especially WWII, so the subject is perfect for me. The ones I am looking at are the kind like Ultimate Soldier, and Forces of Valor. They seem pretty well detailed, good paint apps and such. Here is an example of some of the 1/32 armor from Ultimate Soldier Cold Steel line- I am hoping that some of you out there are collecting these. Are they worth getting into? Are they a huge money drain (doesn't seem too bad, maybe $20 each for 1/32 armor) Any advice on them from colelctors would be appreciated, as I am still kinda undecided on the whole affair--

High School Social Studies teacher in a juvenile prison near Cleveland, Ohio. It's the only teaching job around where part of your orientation training is in hand to hand unarmed combat.

Yeah Mercenaries was an absolute pain in the #&@ I stopped trying after a while. The Chicago Typewriter and Infanite Rocket Launcher were good enough to whet my bloodlust for senseless violence.

I need some of the sage advice from you old school Macross collectors. As I was trolling through Ebay, I came across a very reasonably priced BIN for Jetfire parts, with a unknown Macross jet added to boot. I think it may be a 1/100 from Bandai, but really I don't know. Anyone have a clue what it is I just bought

I'm through episode 12 on the series, eagerly awaiting the last one! The two girl assasins just plain rocked with that cold sense of cruelty and heartlessness to others, juxtaposed with a warmth and tenderness in regards to each other. The ultimate yin and yang, all wrapped up into one. I have gone back and rewatched those episodes with them in it again and again

I sooo much more liked the series than the movie. The movie was altered considerably from the series, and felt very rushed, and pieced together. Anime has shown us time and time again that you shouldn't cram the equivilent of 8 1/2 hours of anime footage into a 2 hour movie. It would be like saying that you could fit all of the Lord of the Ring trilogy in one movie. Sure it could be done, but you loose so much of the character development, the interactions, and all the deep layered storyline. It would feel cheap, and incomplete. And that was the biggest problem I feel with The Vision of Escaflowne. No real chance to really develop the characters, the love Quadrangle interaction between Hitomi, Van, Allen, and Merle, or even the bond between Van and Escaflowne. Also, I didn't like the "new" direction the movie went, with a decidedly shift to grittier, angst ridden characters. It lost much of the original fantasy and love themes that the series featured prominently. To top it all off, we don't get to see much of the best character in the whole series, Dilandau.

Okay that makes sense in a way. Pilgramage point wasn't anything special other than Yurii's home. BTW does one of the aliens eventually make it to pilgramage point? And thanks guys, you just freed up a couple of hours better spent watching more interesting anime (currently Dual, Parrallel Universe)

Okay here is the deal. A while back I started watching this series and stopped watching both almost at the end. I just couldn't stomach it any more. I stopped watching after episode 20 (I think) of this horrible EVA clone with franeknstein symbolism literally crammed into our throats. Even though I don't want to waste any more of my time on it, I still have that vague sense of incompleteness that I would like to know a quick recap of the ending. So if you have seen it, and would be willing to throw me a paragraph or two explaining how the series ends, I would really appreciate it. SPOILERS BELOW THIS LINE The last I remeber is that the Funeral team had just figured out that the EVA's, (darn it, I meant ot say SARGS), were made up of alien pieces parts (actual alien creatures?) and the base had been destroyed via the latest incarnation of the angels..... whoops, I mean aliens. So If you know the deal with pilgramage point and what happens at the end, please spare me the grueling mind numbing two hours I have left and just tell me---

Wow, thanks guys. I am definately going to pick that up and see it again. It was the very first anime I ever saw (probably at age 7 or so) and it still sticks back in the crevices of my memory. It will be interesting to see it again after 25 years and to see if it was as cool as I remembered it being as a child.

Well after coming from Otakon this year I saw something that stirred a long repressed memory in me of seeing a wierd anime a long, long, long time ago when I was much smaller. The reason I remeber this is that on a generic AMV I saw, it featured a quick clip of a train flying throuhg the sky. Now, if I remeber correctly, it would have been sometime in the late 1970's or early 1980's. It featured a train that would fly through the sky. It collected peoples souls that died I think. And I am pretty sure it featured a little boy whose mother died and he has to take this train to find her soul (?) I know this is a long shot, but if any one has a clue, let me know---

Just picked up a Shadow Alpha for $60 at Otakon convention this weekend. I really wanted Scotts or Lancers Alpha, but all those I saw were still running $80. I had the shadow out and it is really, really cool. After all the crap I have been hearing I was expecting alot worse. It feels surprisingly heavy with the diecast. And my paint and joints are just fine. Now I just have to wait for the blasted Shadow Beta to come out to really make it shine--

thatwas a pretty good shot wasn't it.

We are going to have an exciting time as always. And this year we even get an extra half an hour!

Another vote for Asuka versus Mass Produced EVA-05's I have popped in End of Evangelion just to watch that scene several times. And Escaflowne the battle with Dilandau and Van, when Van was using the pendant to locate the hidden mechs in Dilandaus side. Absolutely stunning fight.

Lets hope we get a good slot again this year. Last year having it on Friday just rocked Hmmmm... I just realized I was asking for a good slot. There's so many slots you won't know where to begin (Only really funny if you have seen Beavis and Butthead Do America)

I can't wait for Otakon this year, its gonna rock. I am definately looking forward to being a part of the panel again. Its been soo much fun for the two years we have done it, I gotta imagaine this years going to be just as intense! The Macross community was so supportive (especially last year) and we were able to pack the house.

PM'ed you

My wife is actually really understanding of my collecting. She's a collector too (My Little Ponies). So while neither of us really gets ga ga over helping the other find things, we are very supportive of them getting it. We have agreed along time ago that as long as certain spending doesn't dip into the family finances, then it okay. If I want to go ape poo over an expensive toy (like a 1/48 for example) I need to come up with the $ myself by selling other members of my collection usually. And too boot, her collection dwarfs mine We recently did an inventory to up our insurance and she is at over $11,000 in ponies

And for sheer comedic value, please don't forget: Excel Saga. 26 episodes of the funniest anime ever shown.

I had a chance to see Gundam F91 over the weekend at Otakon and I have a new addition to the stupidest deat ever. There is a scene, somewhat near the beginning, where there is a fierce battle raging inside a colony between gundams. As you can imagine there was some collateral damage (civilians). There was a lady holding her baby running past a large Gundam (that was sporting two huge automatic cannons over its shoulders). As the Gundam was shooting its guns at automatic speed it was, naturally, spitting out a ton of shell cases. The shell casings were huge, like three or four feet tall. One of the ejecting cases thwacked the lady and killed her. You wouldn't believe how many people spontaneously burst out into laughter at the showing when it happened. I mean really, what a stupid way to have a person die. She died from being hit by an ejected shell case. She wasn't shot, stepped on, had her building blown up, or anything else you would expect for a casualty of war. She was thwacked by a huge, empty, shell casing.

Lets not forget some of the saddest deaths of them all from Now and Then, Here and There Spoilers-- Spoilers-- When almost all the main characters get killed near the end, Boo, Sis, Nabuca, Tabur. What a depressing (although very appropriate) way to end such a good anti-war anime. I'll admit it, I cried when Boo got shot. They were all just kids forced against their will into the bloodlust of Hamdo. What was Boo, like 6 or 7 years old?

I used to work in the plastics industry, so I can say for sure that its plain and simply the cost of making the item is WAY too prohibitive any other way. The plastic the toys use is called polystyrene. Polystyrene needs a special machine, called an injection molder, to force it into a special built metal mold. A small injection molder can be found used for, oh say a couple of thousand dollars. Add on to that the hundreds of dollars needed to have a mold machined and well you get the picture. This is why so many toy companies are not willing to make toys that won't have a decent selling run. Just to produce one single toy a company may have already spent several thousand or more dollars in design, research and mold creation. Resin, which is the casters poision of choice, on the other hand requires no special expensive tools. Recasters can use silicone rubber to make their own molds, and they don't have to have an expensive machine like the injection molder to cast the parts into the mold.