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HG and Robotech Debates, ep. 8


azrael

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it was pretty great

It's probably best to keep the HG hate in this thread. Even if it's a bit of a broken record now.

It's so great it even got mentioned on RobotechX.

What ALSO got mentioned there was the theory that MaverickLSC's hostility towards Shoji Kawamori was caused by Kawamori sleeping with Mav's wife, but MEMO1DOMINION deleted that particular post.

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It's like watching a train wreck, we can't turn away. But like all rubber-necking, we're holding up traffic and it's probably time we move on. Unless some fundamental change happens, nothing is happening.

But what if Bendo starts his podcast again? He gets three hours of material from one post here.

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oh what did they say over there

are we popular Stratos 4 fans?

I said that Stratos 4 is a good anime, and that VF5SS did a podcast about it.

No links. Make the neckbeards WORK for their rage, I say.

But what if Bendo starts his podcast again? He gets three hours of material from one post here.

When did he ever finish it...? He's on Youtube now, after all...turning everything to black and white in order to get Starz Media off his back.

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I can lock this thread anytime if you guys want. I'm surprised people still want to talk about this.

At this point I just read this thread for laughs. Aside from recycling comments by new people, some of the stuff seen on the rt.com forums just seems like comedy gold to me. As in the words of Dark Helmet- "Keep firing @$$h0le5!"

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At this point I just read this thread for laughs. Aside from recycling comments by new people, some of the stuff seen on the rt.com forums just seems like comedy gold to me. As in the words of Dark Helmet- "Keep firing @$$h0le5!"

The majority of them really are clueless, aren't they? Lambs to the slaughter and all that...

But seriously...Robotech fans... Why are you here? If you read this, you should join our side. We have dumplings and ice cream.

mfnamja1.jpg

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Take your fujoshi pandering anime like a man!

I did, man. I ordered it, and I ate every last drop.

Dressed like Alto

of course with the wig

Umm...I didn't go THAT far.

My favorite, though, was the "Keitai-kun" ice cream. There were two women working that booth, and when you ordered one, the first woman would should, "DAKISHIMETE~" and then the second one would shout, "GINGA NO, HATEMADE!!!"

Actually, wait...

Come to think of it, that was embarrassing, too...

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I was listening, skipping around in it, to the Space Station Liberty Macek interview the other day and found it sad how Tatsunoko created this environment where Harmony Gold USA would have to make deals with Macek and Revell to use the license they bought. Apparently, Tatsunoko didn't give them any art to sell the product so they had to go buy some cels from the Carl F Macek gallery where they met Macek. I know it's HGs responsibility to make art for packaging, but there is some extent to which a product line will tend to look similar across countries. Tatsunoko could not have cared less. HG probably didn't even know what was on those reels until they did their Mospeada and Macross dubs and even then I bet they didn't watch the whole show at first.

Poor SDF Macross, sold off to the animation company who didn't want to put any effort into marketing it, who let the North American toy line become fragmented. Oh yeah, by the way, the main toy you need to sell this show has been sold to Hasbro.

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I was listening, skipping around in it, to the Space Station Liberty Macek interview the other day and found it sad how Tatsunoko created this environment where Harmony Gold USA would have to make deals with Macek and Revell to use the license they bought. Apparently, Tatsunoko didn't give them any art to sell the product so they had to go buy some cels from the Carl F Macek gallery where they met Macek. I know it's HGs responsibility to make art for packaging, but there is some extent to which a product line will tend to look similar across countries. Tatsunoko could not have cared less. HG probably didn't even know what was on those reels until they did their Mospeada and Macross dubs and even then I bet they didn't watch the whole show at first.

Poor SDF Macross, sold off to the animation company who didn't want to put any effort into marketing it, who let the North American toy line become fragmented. Oh yeah, by the way, the main toy you need to sell this show has been sold to Hasbro.

A for effort, but still, if this thread were closed, the site would attract a lot fewer idiots.

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I was listening, skipping around in it, to the Space Station Liberty Macek interview the other day and found it sad how Tatsunoko created this environment where Harmony Gold USA would have to make deals with Macek and Revell to use the license they bought. Apparently, Tatsunoko didn't give them any art to sell the product so they had to go buy some cels from the Carl F Macek gallery where they met Macek. I know it's HGs responsibility to make art for packaging, but there is some extent to which a product line will tend to look similar across countries. Tatsunoko could not have cared less. HG probably didn't even know what was on those reels until they did their Mospeada and Macross dubs and even then I bet they didn't watch the whole show at first.

Is any of that actually true though? I ask because it seems like from what I read everyone else was treated as Carl Macek's scapegoat for the problems with Robotech after the original only 85. In fact, that's what Tommy Yune does too these days.

Edited by Einherjar
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Is any of that actually true though? I ask because it seems like from what I read everyone else was treated as Carl Macek's scapegoat for the problems with Robotech after the original only 85. In fact, that's what Tommy Yune does too these days.

You miss the point.

Robotech as you know it is dead. Go enjoy something else.

Like, maybe, Futurama.

Edited by Gubaba
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Here's something that I believe is unique to Robotech fans:

http://www.robotech....1280&forumid=11

Heck, do Star Trek fans wonder what they can incorporate into Star Trek? Do (original) Battlestar Galactica fans do the same...?

For fudge's sake, do even VOLTRON FANS wonder what other "Combining Robot" shows they can make into another Voltron...?

My sources say no.

Yeah, youtube is full of those rtards.

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It was... at least, according to the mooks currently running the show. The goal, as it were, was to make the Robotech series accessible and attractive to the younger "anime hobbyist" demographic. Harmony Gold's staff talked it up like they were serious about trying to make Shadow Chronicles more than just a film "by the fans, for the fans", but in the final analysis it looks like their only real effort to appeal to that younger audience was redesigning all of the female cast to have the same stripperific body. (It's an especially weird choice, because Tommy's early anime-esque concept designs would almost certainly have gone over better with that target audience.)

Saying that the Shadow Chronicles instigated the decline of the fanbase is probably giving it too much credit. The Robotech fanbase was already in the early stages of its terminal decline before they even announced the project as "Robotech 2004". What Shadow Chronicles - and the reaction of Robotech's "veteran" fanbase to it - accomplished was dramatically accelerating what was already the inevitable outcome. The craziest of the crazy among the Robotech fans had already made their presence known before it came out, but they used it as a platform to promote their own particular brands of stupid... mostly by latching onto the anti-Shadow Chronicles uproar and becoming vocal supporters of the moderators doing the banning with the aim of ingratiating themselves and becoming "insiders".

(Heck, I don't think anyone who was on Robotech.com at the time will EVER forget the thread that started it all, the year before they announced the Shadow Chronicles project, "WHO CAN BE THE ROBOTECH MASTERS!")

I didn't mean that Shadow Chronicles was the primary cause, but it definitely put the ball into motion. People were already getting feisty at the lack of news on the release of the feature, but when criticism was met with bannings, I think that caused the opposite of gaining fans to happen. More people were leaving than coming in. I can think of everyone that I knew from the forums then, friends, aquaintances, and all in between, and many just don't go there anymore. HG's choice to ban some people due to their criticism, ended up spreading to those that were friends of those people, and a mass exodus started to happen right after the release.
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I've told my story before over with protoculture times,, but for the sake of discussion and keeping momentum alive.. one more time won't hurt.

I LOVED Robotech when I was a kid... it set alot of gears in motion for who I would end up being one day. Watching Robotech inspired me to go into engineering from the time i was 9 years old. After the show was no longer on the air in Pittsburgh I came across the Jack McKinney novels and worked my way through the entire series... they reinforced my love for Robotech... the stories, the characters... books 1-12... then the Sentinels... and then when I was in HS and i finally got my hands on End of the Circle... it was a great day,, it was the completion of a process that started when I was in 4th grade. So... when I was a freshman in college and Robotech was on Cartoon Network in the afternoons I was giddy... the show of my youth was back! I could watch the episodes that I had read about in the books.. life was good! And then the DVDs started to come out.. and new toys.. and Battlecry... and It was like,, Hell Ya,, Robotech is back baby.... I can finally catch up on everything I was missing from my youth.

Then I hear about this new movie, "the Shadow Chronicles" and I buy it day one... and I rush home and i pop it in the DVD player and I am like... wow... that CGI looks kinda dated... ummmm thats Rick Hunter? WTF do you mean its not a real ending, its a setup for the next film... nooooo!!! Oh.. ok..there is gonna be a sequel movie and an animated series? cool... this will be great.

Then I made a mistake.. an epic mistake... I went to Robotech.com to learn about the next movie, cause surely this fan site... oh wait.. no.. this old school site is the OFFICIAL site? wow.. um.. ok... so ya... lets check the forums and merch.... ok.. those shirts are lame... all of that merch is sold out..... um... it never restocks... ok thats wierd.... ok so the Forums.... wow... those two guys are realy intense! They are shooting down everything anyone says negative... oh, this PR guy Kevin.. I will email him and try to make sense of all of this... reply.. "Memo and Mav are moderators"... wait.. i thought moderators were supposed to moderate... wtf... ok, so lets get proactive and make some suggestions.. ways of improving the state of things... "you are a liar" ... well damn... why the hell am I even bothering here??

So around that point.. i became pretty disenfranchised.... this show that I had been so excited about for years was in the hands of jerks and meanies and liars and con artists.... the Three Stooges were running things, and i lost interest. I sold off all of my Robotech DVDs... I am still debating selling off my Masterpiece Max Sterling Veritech.... and I avoid my local con because I know that if i ever saw Kevin Mckeever, security would need to be called in to restrain me. I went from a massive fan of great stories and concepts and characters that I had come to know through the Jack McKinney novels that were my only connection to Robotech for many years since the VHS tapes were completely out of reach to me.... to not even being interested in watching it anymore... all thanks to the machinations of 3 clowns that control the fandom. Honestly, the only bright spot for me in the last few years was the Protoculture times... hearing someone else vent the same frustrations i had... meeting other fans via the associated forums and chat rooms... it reminded me that there was something positive about the property,, even if it had been ruined for me.... and that is my Robotech story.

oh.. and if anyone wants a good laugh.....

http://www.ripoffreport.com/Search/harmony-gold.aspx

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Something that I've kind of realized, and I'll kind of play devil's advocate here. From a financial point of view, a lot of Robotech product is a success when it's actually released. For better or for worse, regardless of the product quality.

Obviously, I don't have hard numbers to back it up, but if you look at the history of it, you can kind of tell. Toynami's had the license for over 10 years, and while the amount of products they've made lately has lessened, there's no way they would have kept producing stuff if they didn't think it would make money. With the exception of a few years, there was a company licensing Robotech comics from 1985 - 2005. Even when there was no interest for them after 2005, they still went back and published the last series as a graphic novel after there was an increased demand. The novels have been re-printed ad nauseum since their first publication, and Palladium came back to publish the RPG. And notice how HG has been able to milk the soundtrack for the last 10 years? Last but not least, you have to take into account that Tom Bateman himself said Shadow Chronicles was a financial success.

Granted, not everything's been successful. The video games were pretty bad (especially the second one). The Matchbox toys were horrible back in the day, and there's a lot of weird licensed crap that I'm guessing is just sitting in storage not moving (messenger bags, keychains, luggage tags, etc.) Also, a lot of this stuff is based on the Macross portion, which is probably was resonates the most in the minds of the casual, nostalgic fan.

But the point is, regardless of quality, the Robotech name still has some selling power to it. When stuff gets produced, it tends to get sold, otherwise the licensees wouldn't keep coming back for more. It appears that in the last few years, since nothing has been produced, it's just fading away from the consciousness of the masses (who are where the real money is, not the hardcore, message-board posting, blog writing, fan).

Edited by Darkwater
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The success seems to be the same as the American comic books industry.

Insular and self-serving, shrinking every day, and for fans only.

Even if anime itself is having similar issues, I'd rather be on the side with a thousand Sheryl Nome cosplayers.

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I'd rather be on the side with a thousand Sheryl Nome cosplayers.

That's another thing, and I'm not saying this to flamebait or troll, or start a fanboy war in any way, but are there really "sides?" Is it one vs. the other? I know what you said specifically isn't said literally, as if when the apocalypse comes all those will be judged by Babylonian Gods on which they like better, but the attitude of some fans feeling there has to be one or other gets kind of pointless when you realize how insignificant it is the whole scheme of things.

It was like during the HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray days, I was discussing on a forum the benefits of HD-DVD (not over Blu-ray, just the benefits it had) when some guy on the forum got all pissed and started to tell me how he was going to "win" with Blu-ray and leave me in the dust. When I told him I owned both players, he started accusing me of being a traitor. When I asked him why he was getting upset over a piece of plastic, he stopped responding.

Also, there was a time when Bendo came into RDF-HQ and would tell us to come here and defend Robotech (he would literally say it was our duty). We were like "dude, shut up, we don't care." He was genuinely preplexed and then proceeded to accuse of not being real Robotech fans, and would then do three hour shows on our posts as retaliation.

Again, VF5S, I'm not saying your statement is the equivalent to those examples in any way, but it just brought up the point to me that a lot of fandom feels they have to choose "sides"

Edited by Darkwater
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I mean of course there aren't sides per se.

But Harmony Gold is just being hangers on because someone sold them on this hitting it off super big someday. It's a tumor from the 80's and gets them nothing bigger than the same fans from almost 30 years ago.

All it did for me is get me to organize a way to fix my toys because I can't get free replacement parts like I did for my Garland from Megazone 23 (something that used to be a part of Robotech).

So I'm gonna hang out with the girls. Blonds have more fun after all.

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