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That is true— I would agree that there is some VF-1 oversaturation, especially since you all have been draining your funds into 1/48 Yamatos for a while now. I would not mind working on other Macross mecha, but I will need to scrounge up some hefty research material on those machines. Any ideas where to look for that? Macross books seem to be getting harder to find, but I admit I haven't started really looking for reference material yet. And working on a Destroid would certainly prove easier because I wouldn't have to bother with the combined hassles of a) engineering a transforming, well-proportioned model, and b) ensuring that the finished model isn't all wavy and unstable. We'll see when the time comes. Naturally, I have the inclination to try to model everything, starting with a VF-1J or S. But it is going to take some major time to produce what I want and I imagine there will be lots to learn working on such a project. Thus, time will curtail my explorations to only certain designs. I may make a VF-1 just because that's my favorite, and then try to sell recasts of it after the fact to recoupe some costs. I shall mainly be doing this for myself, so that I can both have the pleasure of modeling and also cover the extensive costs of designing and scratchbuilding something as elaborate as what I am considering. I will know more when it gets closer. I am quite a ways from starting such a project— I have a lot of decisions to make and planning to do yet. Thanks for the enthusiasm and support. Hopefully I will have something cool to offer reasonably-financed Macross fans next year! Cheers, Gregory Scott

Well, I am pleased to know that it is possible to avoid being sued. I had memories of some debacle involving John Moscato's project and some Harmony Gold entanglement, but that, I've recently been reminded (because I read about it long ago and found the truth, then forgot) was crap. So it's on. As far as what I am building, all I can say is that you will have to wait a long, long time to find out. And so will I. But this post is one of the first steps. I predict that I will try to do some kit-building jobs and maybe custom toy paint jobs for a while. I have a workflow in order for design and production— I'll be designing it using Vectorworks and FormZ (unless Alias releases Studiotools on OS X sometime soon, which isn't likely), then I'll start sculpting the originals, then doing the molds, and so on. I assume that, with the level of detail I would prefer to establish, the design of the kit will take a long time. My plan right now is to produce a kit of a Valkyrie; I hate to be boring, but that mecha was my very first anime robot experience, and the design still reaches me more than some of the designs that proceeded it. The thought of making a Destroid is appealing, as well. But the work involved is substantial, and I will need to start making a little bit of money modeling first to cover the cost of a longer-term project. All the above is why I say to you that you should probably forget that I ever mentioned any of this, because you won't hear back about it again for quite some time. My talk is useless until I have something to offer the other Macross fans out there. Thank you for the replies. Cheers, Gregory Scott

I understand that copyright owners (like Harmony Gold, for instance) have advanced legal teams and a real hankering to snuff out independent modelers trying to make limited-run custom models from certain anime shows. Is there any way around this? I was considering making very low-run productions of either kits or finished toy/models from Macross, but I don't want to invest the time and money and then be threatened by some money-grubbing bastards who enjoy threatening legal action for perceived copyright infringements. One possible solution I considered was to make replicas of certain designs and then rename them as something else. Instead of "Valkyrie" you'd be purchasing a custom-made "Sci-fi Model." Think of Hong Kong bootleg naming schemes. Of course, the designs of the mecha are copyrighted, as well, but I am thinking that they are copyrighted in Japan, and that Harmony might not have actual design patents here, just names, concept, and so forth. But that is a distant hope, and probably not the case. So I may have to go undercover. I'll start another level of the modeling underground. I think one should be able to make a little money producing low-numbered replicas of certain sci-fi mecha. It isn't theft— no one gets rich, and the money made is purely to cover the loads of time & skill that will be put into the reproduction. I'm fine with that on moral grounds, how about ya'll? Anyway, I'm just looking into it. Maybe it will never happen, and I'll just keep my kits to myself. Cheers, Gregory Scott

Yes, I did search around the forums before I posted this. Would anyone mind if I started a post where people can post all they know about the Yamato reissues? I have bits and pieces of info gleamed from here, but it may be nice to have a clean, new topic to post all related knowledge. If this turns into a warfare post, with people disagreeing eventually to the point of Nazi accusations, those guilty will dissapoint me greatly. Cheers, Gregory Scott

I suppose that people can charge whatever they bloody well feel like, but that does have a negative effect on the market, and it also makes a lot of people fighting mad. Its artificial inflation. That toy isn't really worth $250 a year after its release, that vendor raises the price because he's betting there is a sucker out there that will spend that much (and on Ebay, there probably is). Altering the values of things is a pretty evil thing to do. That is precisely why we had the problem of the $1200 1/55 Valks a few years ago. Its just outrageous to do that, most especially when there are re-releases on the way— whoever shells out $250 (more with shipping, of course) for a valuable collectible is going to eventually find that their toy lost most of its value. There is a whole universe of people selling and trading collectibles, and there is so much dirty pool being played that it is sick. I hate to watch greedy people looking for a fast buck taking in suckers— it does have an effect on the collecting community as a whole. "PM Neova"— I figured out what this meant immediately after I posted my question about it. Lowviz: Yeah, Gen is a pretty cool character. I rather like the Street Fighter Alpha artwork and design. I forgot that I had that avatar; this is the only forum I've used one on, and I haven't posted anything in quite a while. Cheers, Gregory Scott

Rad. I was actually browsing Twin Moons and Valk Ex. when you posted your reply, but who is PM Neova? I don't recognize that name. Thanks be to God that Yamato is doing a reissue. I hate it when toys get so valuable that you can't afford them anymore. They are just toys. I mean, I love them, and I think they are neat, but it is still just a toy, and one shouldn't need to spend two grand on a toy. Or even $250, especially for something that just came out a year ago. Regards, Gregory Scott

Wondering around Ebay I found this: http://stores.ebay.com/WWW-TISINC99-COM_Ma...displayZ2QQtZkm Now, I must ask: is this fair? Are the prices that this person is asking actually realistic? $250 for a 2nd Edition 1/48 VF-1S? Did the value of these toys skyrocket this much while I was away? I never had a chance to buy one when they were cheap! Or can you still find these toys for $135 + shipping somewhere? Because I want one, and may finally get one, but I am not going to pay some jerk an outlandish some of money, hopefully. Thanks, Gregory Scott P.S. I ask that you don't flame me, for whatever possible reason that you might be compelled by. I mean you no harm.

John Moscato mentions this in his pages on the Legioss. Has anyone used modeling board before? Here is a link to site I was looking at. http://www.freemansupply.com/RenShapeModelingan.htm

Wow, cool to see someone else working on a the same thing. I am not likely to get started on actually building it for a long while, unfortunately. I am planning on building up a thorough plan of the design in Vectorworks (a CAD program for Mac) over the next year or so. Once I get that ironed out, I'll start with the actual building. I don't have lots of free time right now, either, so that doesn't help. But, at present, I am just doing research. Wow— $1,000 on reference? I'll have to make some stuff up to put on this model before I'd be able to plow down a G on it. It will be expensive enough for just time/materials... As far as doing Google searches, that was what I was just doing. That actually turned up the Special Preview book I mentioned in the above post. Good luck on your project. Keep me posted. And what happened to that guy working onthe 1/32 Legioss? That was really coming along. Cheers, Gregory Scott

Thank you for the response. Does anyone know if the stuff that is in the "Do You Remember Love? : Special Preview" is included in "Macross Design Works?" I saw a little clip of lineart from the former book and it was very interesting... But, sadly, it would be near impossible to find that book. Thanks again, Gregory Scott

Yeah, i just looked at some pictures of a MPC. That thing is really, really ill-proportioned. If I thought the Yamato 1/48 chest was too big, man, I just didn't have any idea how bad it could be. MPC Valks look stupid... It is sort of a pity. But their hands are better, it appears.

Sorry— I know I tend to go on about the chest. Its just that it bugs me so much that i almost can't help but go on about it. I'll save it. I am aware that there is no chance of it being redone, unless I do it myself. But I want to scratchbuild a larger scale version, anyway, so I'll just pick up a VF-1J for fun. The type of hands don't matter to me that much. Looking at some of the original lineart on this site, it seems that the hands are about twice as wide as the forearm— about the size of the head, in fact. But it varies from screengrab to screengrab, design art to other design art. The look of the thing changes enough from what I've seen to make it all a moot point (aside from chest size, which is always thinner than in the Yamatos). We just need the guy up above to make some garage-kit hands for those of us here who want them, and that will solve that. — Gregory Scott

Alright, that's it. I think I am going to start designing a Valk to scratchbuild. I haven't decided what scale— either 1/24 or 1/35, the former being my preference. This will certainly take a long time, but I don't have my shop setup right now, anyway, and I am not even about to start actually making the thing for some while. Right now I am in the 'discovery' phase of model building. As such, I am looking for excellent reference material. I posted an article earlier asking for a link to an interview I thought I had read by one of the guys that designed the Ultimate Detail VF. The reason I was looking for that is because he cited some particular piece of super-detailed reference material they used to guide them while working on designing the kit. I would like to find out what this material was, and also get some tips on what other stuff I need to get a hold of. I am looking for as much lineart and technical reference as possible. Any tips will do. I have already looked through MW, but I didn't find too much to help me. If someone would like to recommend an excellent book or two, I would appreciate it. Thanks in advance, Gregory Scott

That's what companies do. But I maintain that Yamato could do what I suggested above— have distant, bogus release schedules. If they plan to release a Monster in March '04, tell us the release will be the end of the '04... Until the next trade show, then give us a release date of March. It is kind of reverse-lying. No one is going to quit buying their stuff now in hopes of saving up for the Monster at the end of next year— we will keep on buying just as we are. But when we get this all-of-a-sudden new release date, then everything will change. To top it off, everyone would think that they are the corporate hero of getting things to market way early— good reputation, no other company has such a rep. It also gives them leeway to push things back from their own target release date of March (for instance; this is just a theoretical example) if they need to take time for extra product polishing, and yet still come in before their announced release date of the end of '04— in this case, they still come out as heros and release a better product, to boot. This would essentially just be what they are doing already— they let everyone know what is next a couple of months before the product will hit store shelves. The difference is simply that we will all know what they have in the kitchen for later on, although no one will know how soon these news products will hit market, so we won't stop buying stuff in the meanwhile. Good strategy, but companies don't like it. Releasing some good info along with misinformation would be a devious tactic, but, unlike every other devious corporate tactic that businesses use, this one would put the customer ahead /and/ make the company look good. — Gregory Scott

Yeah, I noticed that, too, a good many years back when they came out. Cheap remakes of cheap Destroids. I guess they got a battletech license or something. — Gregory

With Apple, that is just how they have always done things— Steve Jobs started that. He likes to keep everything secret and suspenseful, and then he loves to make a big giant show out of it when he unveils the new, awesome thing. But for Apple, it certainly does work, and has always worked. Those people that go to his keynotes and unveilings /always/ leave with something on order. Apple's marketing is based around hype— that is what the whole mystique of the company is built on. This is the reason why we have about ten Apple rumor sites. It is a double-edged sword, though, as you never know if the computer you just bought will be totally out-dated within a few months' time. Also, Apple is a company that really does have competition, so there are additional reasons for secrecy. Yamato does not have much to compete with in terms of other Macross toys, but they do compete with Hasegawa (which makes awesome-looking stuff), and, to a greater extent, every other company in Japan that sells any kind of toy that targets the adult market (Gundam mainly, I imagine). Most people aren't totally Macross-centric, so they have all kinds of things competing for their dollar, and Yamato is but one of them. That said, I think it would be good for them to be a bit more up front with their plans. They could make small news releases that inform their customer base of what they are working on, and just leave out release dates (or give false release dates that are actually farther away than the real release dates, which would prevent canibalized sales and also make people happy when they think they are getting stuff early). It seems to me that this would work better for Yamato than the secretive approach. But companies, for the most part, just do things like this because that is simply the way businesses /do/ things. The business world isn't known for being non-conformist with their strategies and practices (aside from the videogame world, which operates almost entirely differently for some reason).

1/48 too big? I wish Yamato produced 1/24 toys! They wouldn't be any bigger than old Voltron stuff— just 20" Valks. —G.S.

See the size of the chest and head to the shoulders and everything? I think that Yamato could get a little closer to that and still keep a good looking fighter. Plus, if they did eventually release GPB armor, having a slimmer physique would much improve the look with armor on. This is not voiced as a complaint, but more of a hope... — Gregory Scott

Didn't there used to be an interview with one of the guys that designed the Ultimate Detail Valkyrie here on Macrossworld? I thought I had seen it before... Anyway, I wish WM Cheng could get his hands on one of these and build it. I wish this purely for selfish reasons, however, as I would like to watch a step-by-step guide of one being constructed so I can get some scratchbuild ideas from it without buying one myself. g-sys.com evidently still sells this kit. Cheers, Gregory Scott

Perfect Grades aren't frail... They have their issues, but they are, for the most part, pretty sturdy (or seem to be— I've only built the Zaku so far). Now, designing a transformable PG (like the Zeta) is a pain in the ass, and it is hard to get it to be sturdy, this is true. But you really can make a well-proportioned 1/48 that is sturdy and has a smaller chest plate. I would wager that it is theoretically possible to make a Valkyrie skeleton (ala PG kits) that you can put armor pieces on, and the whole thing transforms. After all, the human race has been responsible for creating much more impossible-sounding things. I know of people that design their cars— making a PG-style Valkyrie that was solid would not be any more impossible than that. And remember, we have gone to the moon. And designed cameras— any SLR that you have seen or used before is 1,000 times more complex than any valkyrie will ever be. But they make them, and they work. It just took a lot of innovation (and financial backing). It would take some development costs... Which would be recouped, as the things would likely be expensive. Who here wouldn't pay up for a Valkyrie model or toy that has detail on par with a PG Gundam and has proportions on-par with the Hasegawas? As a bonus, it could be offered in a super-scale, like 1/35. That would make it how tall? Let me check... 14" on the dot— about the size of a 1/60 Zeta. So 1/35 wouldn't be unreasonably big... Anyway, it would be awesome. But I would be happy if Yamato would just release a 1/48 version with a corrected chest, which is probably less likely to happen than a PG Valk... —Gregory Scott

I was just looking at the Hasegawas... So why doesn't Yamato just hire the guy that does Hasegawa's sculpting? And add in someone from Bandai's Perfect Grade team. Together they should balance out with their ideas on proportions (the PG guy leaning more towards stubby and squat, and Hasegawa man leaning more toward thin and graceful), and their combined sense of detail would blow us all away. Seriously, I know Yamato is a toy manufacturer, but I would plop down Perfect Grade prices for an ungodly-detailed Valkyrie with perfect proportions. Especially since I am going to take my 1/48 and redo it, anyway (one day, when I get the time...) The main difference I can tell from looking at pictures of the Hasegawa and 1/48 Yamato in Battroid mode is the width and curvature of the chest plate. The head on the Yamato sits a bit high on the 1S, too. I will look into correcting these things when I buy the thing; there must be some way to tweak the appearance so that it looks good in both fighter and battroid. It might require some scratch building (or, rather, will /definately/ require some scratchbuilding), but it would be worth it to me. The only thing is that I would /never/ have the time to do more than one... So it would help if Yamato would do it themselves. But they never will. So I am just rambling pointlessly. —Gregory Scott

Actually, I had checked this out already. I was considering writing Takatoys and asking them if they might consider making some decals, too... See, stickers are too thick for what I need. I am planning on painting the toy, gloss coating it, applying decals, and then adding some coats of flat on top of this. The end result is that decals look painted on instead of 'stickery'. But thank you very much for the replies. Cheers, G.S.

Sell my PGs? No... I am planning on building them all once I can get everything straight in other departments. I haven't had the time lately, but I will eventually. I take a ridiculously long time to build things as I am somewhat of a perfectionist, filling gaps, painting, and so on. I need to get my shop set up again... And I was thinking about taking some metal working classes so I can get more use out of my mini lathe, which is something I haven't used so far. I seriously need to get to it, though, or else the building will never catch up with the buying (even though I haven't bought anything in a long while now, aside from some Gundam FIX Figs). Sorry. I'm afraid I cannot help you with this. —Gregory Scott

My view is that a robot toy or model is only worth buying if it is gigantic. Otherwise, scratchbuild it (if possible). Which explains why I haven't bought a model in a long while, and have stacks of PG Gundams lying around awaiting attention... Size always allows more detail. And that, to me is the whole point. I think that the people at G-system know what I mean. —Gregory Scott

I admit to being in a bit of a posting frenzy yesterday and today, but why not? My question in this post is regarding 1/48 decals. Anyone know of some? I know this is not a forum with a whole lot of model builders, but I have heard of it being possible to produce your own decals. I cannot remember the details, however. It seems that, if there are people out there who know about making custom 1/48 decals, they would probably crawl this board. Any help is appreciated. I would like to get my 1/48, take it apart, and build it back up, filling seams, painting it, and, idealy, applying some decals. Thanks, Gregory Scott