I agree with you on the price of the MPC Alpha. It truly is not worth eighty dollars. That said, I have to take issue with your comment about the original Gakken Legioss toys. As the proud owner of all 1/35 scale Alphas (red, green, and blue) , I'll be the first to admit they are big, chunky, and not very accurate. Now the MPC Alpha certainly isn't perfect, but it *is* a hell of a lot more accurate to the line art and animation than the Gakken toys ever were. Still doesn't mean I'd trade my Gakken for one of them though!
But don't you see? At eighty dollars a pop they *aren't* aimed at children. They are aimed at adult collectors who have a nostalgia for the show and for the mecha. Mospeada does have a pretty big fan base. Certainly not as big as Macross but the fans are there. Not to mention the Robotech fans...old and new. These people want an Alpha/Legioss and unfortunately Toynami and the MPC Alpha is the only game in town. It is too small (if a tread isn't produced) and it is over-priced but it will sell. At least I belive it will. Guess we will have to wait and see. Just my $.02.
Melissa
Targeted at adults? this isn't Japan we're talking about here where old school fans can appreciate Valks and the Legioss and buy them like pre-dot-com-bust stocks. There are more adults in Japan that are more robot crazy compared to American adult collectors. In America, you got to sell to the kids to make a profit. Not to adult collectors. Yamato is probably kicking ass in profits selling to adult collectors over there. Kids here don't really care about Alphas/Veritechs. Sad to say(not really), but Transformers kicks Robotech's ass here in the USA. Producing 15000 toys targeted at American adult collectors? It's no wonder I see MPC VF-1 Veritechs toys gathering dust on the shelves at various toy stores. Some Robotech fans we got here in America.
How sucessful is that 5000 limited edition YF-1R MPC again compared to the Japanese 5000(?) produced 1/48 Low-Viz? Japanese(and the rest of the world) will buy the Valk compared to the Americans buying a proprietary MPC. The YF-1R is still in stock @ valkyrie-exchange or BBTS for $80. The Low-Viz is twice more expensive and it's GONE. Where are all those Low-Viz being sold to? Last I checked, only 150 were bought by members of MacrossWorld(a majority of the members such as myself aren't Japanese). You can bet non of those clowns at Robocrap.com bought any(those that don't know about this site). The Japanese/Asian adult collectors bought the majority of those Valks.
As for the quality? Okay, they have more detail, but it's so.....small for $80 and it's not like it's imported or anything? I can atleast ding Toynami for the size and price.
Like I said, I'll choose the Gakken anyday.