Cyclone Trooper

Yes, I know the first (and most obvious) answer everyone would give is that Revoltechs have their patented Revolver joints. I know this...as I own a few of them. I'm asking what the differences are between the Revoltechs and Robot Tamashii figures in terms of posability, overall sculpt accuracy, etc. I'll back up a bit and explain why... Recently, I started watching Full Metal Panic! and absolutely loved the mecha designs because they were very similar to designs used in "Mekton Zeta," an old RPG I played when I was younger. When I saw that Revoltech had both the ARX-7 Arbalest and the ARX-8 Laevatein, I ordered them both from HLJ. The figures are ridiculously posable, as any Revoltech would be. But the sculpting seems a little "off." One leg of the ARX-8 doesn't seem to align with the other leg, and the mecha's faceplate appears slightly deformed. Also, parts of the figures have sloppy paint jobs, even to the point of looking like they were hand-painted in places. Still, I like the designs and the half-ton of extras that came with them, so I can't complain too much... But a few days ago, I was browsing Hobby Search's website and came across the Robot Tamashii versions of the ARX-7 and the M9 Gernsbeck. The sculpts looked amazing, and they seemed damn-near as posable as the Revoltech versions. The sculpts look like they were done in CAD instead of hand-sculpted. I couldn't resist, so I ordered both of these figures. Are Robot Tamashii figures basically non-Gundam MSiA-style figures? The reason I ask is because the ARX-7 appears to use the same elbow joints as several of my MSiA figures. And since both lines (RT and MSiA) are made by Bandai, it would seem logical. If I'm completely off base with my assessment, please correct me.

Actually, that part is meant to rotate on that screw when it goes from Fighter to Battroid mode. No real surgery was needed, unless the screw on your particular radar dish was too tight.

Thought Yamato already did that and didn't sell very well...they were called Destroids.

That'd make sense. Half the size, half the price of the prototype... Still too rich for my blood if its going to be around the $1k USD range, though. But let's wait for more official info on the price before we start panicking/griping about it.

On a whim a few days ago, I was browsing BBTS and began looking at the 12" VF-1 Pilot Hikaru figure. The overall look of the figure decked out in his DYRL flightsuit was impressive--and since I'd never owned a pilot beyond the 1/48 and 1/60 scale, I broke down and ordered one. The fact that BBTS is running a sale on it helped too. I paid for UPS 2nd Day delivery and it showed up this afternoon at my front door. I was impressed with the overall accuracy the figure has to the line art, with the helmet's retractable face visor, good posability, and all the small details like the chest monitor and the life-support hoses running from the backpack to the back of the helmet. Well...maybe not that last part, exactly. According to the photos on the box, it shows Hikaru standing in profile with the hoses attached to the back of his helmet. The hoses themselves are supposed to fit into two sockets that protrude out from the helmet. My helmet has two small indents with what appears to be molded grillwork across them where the hose connectors are supposed to be. There's no way to attach them to the helmet. I'm wondering if anyone else who got this figure has experienced this same issue. I realize that this figure is fairly old (released in 2006, I believe), so I apologize if I'm asking a question that's been answered a dozen times over before. I'm just wondering if this is how the mass-production version was released or is my figure missing parts to it?

Motors and actuators for R/C transformation, perchance?

Nope. Those look like they were photoshopped into the pic along with the " motion haze" around the SDF-1, the Earth in the background and the big blue laser bolt.

If this thing is remaining at 1/2000 scale, I'm not even going to psyche myself up with the false hope that it's going to be anywhere near affordable for my budget. My wife epically denied me buying the prototype, so I'm pretty sure the mass-production version will fall under that same "you aren't gonna blow $2k on a plastic toy" category in her book...

I ordered a second Macross Launch Arm display stand and a Queen's Blade Melona figure from HLJ and decided to try out their new FedEx shipping option. The items got here to the US in about the same time that EMS would (3 to 6 days), but there's a slight snag in doing it this way: All FedEx shipments from HLJ require a direct signature upon delivery. As I'm always at work when deliveries are made, I've missed it twice so far. If FedEx cannot get a signature on the third attempt, the package is shipped back to sender. I had to call FedEx customer service this morning and insist that it's okay for the driver to leave my packages at my front door without a signature. A slight hassle IMHO, but I do understand why HLJ is doing things this way...

Okay, that's what I thought. Her height being more in line with Britai's chest seems more accurate. On an unrelated note, watch Yamato do a bait-and-switch on us and this figure ends up being yet another DYRL incarnation instead of the TV version pictured...not that I'd complain if they did!

Milia only comes up to Britai's crotch? (no jokes please...) For some reason, I thought she was much taller than she is, but if the Q-Rau is indeed 1/60 scale, then Meltran pilots are tiny in comparison to their male counterparts.

Specifically, I ordered a Revoltech Queen's Blade Melona figure from HLJ, which for intents and purposes, is a completely naked figure with removable clothing and...um, other accessories. I just bought her for the articles, I swear! http://www.hlj.com/product/KYD02104 HLJ states on its website that the buyer must check with his/her country's customs agency to see if an item like this can indeed be imported or not. Well, I checked the U.S. Customs website and could find absolutely nothing pertaining to items of an "adult" nature getting intercepted by customs. But that doesn't mean that there aren't laws in place that would make it illegal. Anyone on MW familiar enough with customs to know the answer to this or not? If the figure gets snagged, then I'm only out about $40, but at least I'd know one way or another whether to expect this to get shipped to my front door or not. It's not like I'm trying to ship a 1-watt hand-held laser into the country or something like that...

I'll be willing to bet that this is just a second super-limited run, not a huge mass production run.

I gotta go with the majority rule here and vote no. The differences between the TV and DYRL are so minute that it'd be like splitting hairs to release both. Slight differences in tampo printing probably doesn't warrant a completely new release. Of course, based on Yamato's track record, anything's possible...

I'm actually kind of glad I passed on these. Not sure if I'm skilled enough in the painting department to even attempt to customize anything...or at the very least just paint simple things like the black "ring" around the nosecone or detail the canopy. If anything, I'd kitbash it for spare parts if anything broke on one of my other Valks.

1. The hands that come with the GBP-1S armor are larger and have holes in them instead of pegs like the "normal" hands that come with the VF-1, so those are newly sculpted hands. 2. My Cannon Fodder VF-1J is currently wearing my GBP-1S armor instead of the Hikaru 1J that came with it. The armor is designed to fit any VF-1 body except the two-seater versions (VF-1D, VT-1 or the VE-1). 3. The only version-2 CF available right now is the SDFM version, not the DYRL version. The head units are different designs. You may want to check with one of the modelers here on MW about casting a DYRL 1A head in tan.

Just got a notice from HLJ that my Yamato Valkyrie display arm just shipped. I had ordered it back just before Christmas but HLJ was out of them at the time, so I had completely forgotten about it until I opened my email. It was a nice surprise...

What VF5SS said... If that screenshot is any indicator, that's not even her original flightsuit...it's more like Hikaru's. Her flightsuit was blood-red with white accents. His was white with red (and some blue), and that's exactly what she's wearing there. So maybe it IS just a generalized nod to SDFM in that respect. And as far as the flight controls go, I was under the impression that the Block-6 cockpit layout was written off as simply an upgrade from the original cockpit configuration, not specifically a DYRL design (although for all intents and purposes, it is).

Hmm...point taken...

I was flipping through the Gold Book this afternoon and when I came across the Minmay Doll's line art on page 249, it made me think about the relative scarcity of this particular item from Macross merchandise. Hell, the GB even gives specific measurements on what the doll's height is supposed to be (20cm tall). To my knowledge, the only doll that's been made is the one that came with the CM Macross Collection Minmay set...and that one is nothing but a PVC statuette. I may very well be wrong about this, and if so, I'd love to see pics. Seeing how the Minmay Doll played a pivotal part in both the original SDFM and DYRL as one of the catalysts behind the "cultural contamination" among Zentraedi troops, I would have thought some company--at some point--would have produced a working replica of said doll. The Minmay Doll seems to be very similar in nature to the iPets that have come out in the past few years. You can play streaming music through them (and some can have songs uploaded to onboard memory) and they move to the beat of the music. In essence, this is what the Minmay Doll does. She dances a little jig as she sings. The technology is there...it's just a matter of applying it to this particular doll, I guess... I think it'd be a neat addition to a collection, personally.

Exedol...or Exedore for the unenlightened...has always fascinated me ever since I first saw him back in the mid 80s. Here was this malformed little midget (by Zentraedi standards) who was reputed to be quite a bit older than even Britai and second only to Bodolza himself. Then DYRL/Macross 7 redesigned him to be possibly the most alien of all Zentraedi, having tentacle-like appendages instead of arms and an oversized pulsating cranium instead of hair. Well...if you don't include Bodolza's head-in-a-jar redesign, he's the most alien... Since Kawamori prefers the overall DYRL designs, they've since popped up in various Macross series. Similar Britai-type Zentrans appears in both DYRL and Macross F...both sporting the same "techno-eyepatch" as Britai. The green-skinned, hairless Zentraedi seem to be relegated to upper-echelon command and first officer roles. I've always attributed this to them being the "first" Zentraedi created by the Protoculture, and therefore much, much older than the average rank-and-file soldiers...and also attributes to their otherworldly, almost "prototype" appearance. The average trooper and junior officer had a decidedly more human appearance in contrast. The Meltrandi were also subject to this strange kind of heirarchy, as evidenced by Lap Lamiz's DYRL-style floating head makeover...although there doesn't seem to be as many different types of Meltran as there seems to be of Zentraedi. Aside from Lap Lamiz, all of the officers and soldiers appear to be from the same basic "normal female" genetic template. If most modern Macross series are running with the DYRL character designs, Bodolza and Lap Lamiz primarily exist as living, breathing worldships, while Britai/Exedol types are always paired together in an almost symbiotic way to command large fleets, while the more human-looking troops serve as shock troopers. At least this is how I've always viewed it. I guess this turned into more of an observational posting instead of questions on the matter...but I couldn't change the title after posting it. What are others' thoughts on this?

Got my hinges in the mail today! I swapped the shoulders on my Hikaru VF-1J just in case the inevitable happens. Thanks Graham!

I have only a modest collection...nothing nowhere near what some on MW have amassed over the years. 1 WAVE 1/2000 SDF-1 1 Max Q-Rau (with CM Max pilot figure) 1 VF-1J with GBP-1S Armor 1 VF-1J Mass Production 1 VE-1 Elintseeker 1 Destroid Tomahawk (Olive Drab) 1 Destroid Defender 1 CM Gutto Kuru Collection DYRL Lynn Minmay figure (Ai Oboete Imasuka Costume) 1 Bandai VF-100s VF-25 Alto 1 Bandai VF-100s VF-25 Ozma Custom *all Yamato Valkyries are Version 2.0

I bought the Alto and Ozma VF-25s from HLJ since they were marked down to practically nothing. I was expecting them to be parts-forming, but not to the point of feeling like I'm reassembling a model kit each time I want to put them into a different mode! I'm impressed as hell over the overall design, since these are my first MF toys, but a tad put off by the "garage kit" feel of the things...

The line art... If you look at all the sketches and tech drawings of the Zentran/Meltran mecha from official sources, they have insignias, squad designations and even unit numbers all over them (all in Zentran, of course). Back when animation was actually still hand-drawn, as opposed to the CGI cel-shading of mecha done nowadays, it was most likely too time consuming and difficult to animate logos on each and every Regult and Glaug in every single scene. It was just easier and more cost effective to refrain from adding them to footage.