blacklotus

I vote 1/2000 scale. Ideally, I want it bigger to rival the 1metre long 1/350 Tamiya Enterprise carrier. But I doubt Yamato's will do so now. So just make it as it is originally meant to be - 1/2000. Any smaller and I will be putting it on my "KIV till spare cash is available" list rather than my "Gotta Have THEM ALL" list.

Wow. Ok, I got to ask: How's the quality of the 25th Anni YF-19? Any serious issues/stress marks/breakages? Thanks. I just ordered one from HLJ Yamato sales. Since it's released 1 year after the anime YF19, I hope Yamato did fix up any serious issues. Thanks for any info provided.

SAL is safe too since they're shipped in the same heavy cartons as EMS. The only problems with SAL (at least in my country) is the possibility of parcel loss/misplacement. Not HLJ's fault as the items actually reached Singapore's shores. But after that, anything goes. Since SAL has no insurance cover, the loss becomes my loss. At least with EMS shipping, my monetary losses are covered, but if the toy's a very limited collector's item, I won't be able to get another replacement. So far, it has happened to me once in 4 SAL orders. But all my EMS orders are safely in my hands. (over 200 EMS orders thru various online shops). So I don't mind paying the 100% extra for shipping. I do know that shipping from Japan to Asian countries is cheaper than shipping to the Americas. So, I'm lucky that way. Anyway, enjoy your new purchases. I know I will. It's been a while since I play with a transformable mecha.

My favourite original capital ship design has to be the Imperial Class Star Destroyer. (But does it qualify as a battleship? Or is it a destroyer? ) As for the Yamato, that's my favourite "real" ship design. It really trumps its sister ships the "Musashi" and the "converted to carrier" Shinano in terms of popularity.

My favourite picture too. The TV series should have ended here, instead of continuing with the "Hmm, I think I should cheat on Misa with Minmay as Minmay's still the girl for me, even though I just risked my life 1 episode ago to save Misa from a collapsing Star Wars Laser base because she's my 1 true love" scenario.

Thanks for the review and the pictures. I ordered my 1st Valk/mecha in almost 3 years - the black YF-19 25th anni version that was on sale at HLJ. Guess I will wait for more reviews about the BBOP version from fellow Macross fans before I get an anime color scheme YF-19. Cash is tight anyway. Need to save up for a pair of rumoured 1/60 Monsters or the equally expensive 1/2000 SDF.

Between the SDF and 1/60 Monster selling at the same price point, I will definitely buy the 1/60 Monster (or 2 or 3) and KIV the SDF.

Glad to see items getting sold out quickly after I posted this thread. It shows the items on sale are actually hot, but the original prices make people think twice before buying them, especially in this New Age of Austerity. (I got that term off BBC news today. ) If I remember correctly, EMS costs twice as much as SAL shipping for me. I live in Singapore. But it's been a while since I shipped via SAL because shipping takes at least 6x as long (2 days via EMS vs 12 days or more via SAL) On top of that, SAL shipping is not insured, so if the parcel goes missing, it's my loss. And I cannot track SAL shipping, unlike EMS. So the extra S$30 I pay for EMS shipping for a 3kg parcel is fine by me. If I really want to save serious money, I'll stop this hobby of collecting toys. Ordered that black YF19 after all. I guess it'll come with the "faults" of the anime series YF-19. But if I leave it in fighter mode, it should be ok.

I just ordered the black 25th Anni version of the YF-19 from HLJ which is currently having a Yamato toy clearance sale. I just found out about the "faults" of the YF-19. I suppose the 25th anni version will have the same "faults" as the YF-19 anime color version. Still, I really like the black color scheme. And it's on sale as well. As for the re-release of the YF-19, I prefer to wait for reviews 1st. One can never tell if more faults will be found in the updated version. Among the original 3 anime color versions, I will buy the YF-21. It's cool blue. And I always have a preference for villains. (I know Guld's not a real villain, but still, he's the main rival of the hero, so...)

Quite a good selection for sale: http://www.hlj.com/scripts/hljsalepage2/?C...andstr=7wfatgm8 p.s. I'm not in anyway affiliated with HLJ. I just happened to buy stuff from them. And they were the 1st online shop I ever buy stuff thru the internet from. So far, I'm happy with their services. And my request: Is there any review on the black 25th Anniversary YF19, especially on the quality of the toy (e.g. loose joints, exploding shoulders, etc) ? I do like the color scheme quite a lot, and this would be the 1st Valk I'm buying in a long long time. So all comments are welcome. Thanks.

Interesting news. Guess I better get back to building my 1/350 scale Yamato. It's been in cold storage since I bought it 2 years ago.

So far, I've yet gotten a wrong toy order or damaged package from AmiAmi. Similarly for HLJ and Hobbysearch. But I only buy from them if I can't get the items from HLJ or Hobbysearch, like the alternate color schemes for Griffon Queen Blade's figures. Like you said, to buy from Amiami, I needs a proxy if one is outside Japan. So it's more expensive. On 1 occasion, a blade was missing from my Witchblade figure, and one of her spikes was broken. HLJ promptly sent me the replacement parts with my next order. NOTE: I've not bought anymore mecha stuff since my bad experiences with locally purchased Yamato VFs about 5 years ago. That's also the time when I switched to figures, and online shopping. So, unfortunately, I cannot tell how good or bad the aftersales service will be for defective mecha products from these online shops.

Yup. Archie comics is Camp Rock/Musical High School for the pre-MTV age. And yeah, I read quite a number of them during my elementary school days. Why? To improve my English.

Listen to Sharon Apple's songs? p.s. I don't really like the OVA and movie, but I do love the soundtracks and songs of Mac Plus.

Very nice work. Definitely looks better and more realistic with the panel lines. The Max looks like a cheap toy in comparison.

And just to clarify what's the difference between the versions, you should always get the latest version ones. The latest versions will usually have the problems faced by the previous versions fixed. But sometimes, the latest versions also introduces other new issues. Just like software.

Strange thing is that Bandai's subsidiaries (Megahouse, Alter, AlphaMax) can release excellent quality figures at very attractive pricing. So what gives? Sometimes I don't understand their company culture at all - the subsidiaries can do better than the group company. And not all Bandai products are bad - their model kits are excellent too. I have their Yamato 1/350 scale and a few 1/60 perfect grade Zakus and Gouf. These are great. So like I said, I don't understand why the quality differs so greatly even in the same company...

Consider yourself lucky, and Hong Kong's toy shops aftersales services ain't that bad, since they allow you to exchange. In Singapore where I live, one can forget about aftersales services after you fork out the cash and walk out the door. That's why I stop buying locally for almost 5 years now. I only buy online straight from Japan (HLJ, amiami, etc), where the online aftersale services are infinitely better than Singapore's ZERO aftersales services. Anyway, that's 1 reason why I stopped buying robot toys and switched to fixed posed figures. Even the ultra expensive SHE's ones (I had a perfect transform getter robo and a gunbuster) aren't problem free either.

I have faith in Pixar. They've not disappoint me as yet. I think this is about the only "film" company that has a 100% record, imo.

Point taken. I definitely won't turn her off. Then again, considering how old I am now, and balding as well, I think I will turn her off. The phrase 'DOM' comes to mind nowadays. Unfortunately, real humans cannot stay youthful forever. Maybe that's why there's a recent surge in the number of handsome/beautiful people committing suicide.

Same here. I keep my toys away from direct sunlight. Hence, I love my yellow brick castle from the early 80s. One doesn't have to worry about that turning yellow, since it's already yellow. I also love my early 80s space exploration series. BTW, is there any sites where one can view those early series? As a kid, I don't have the luxury of getting the full series. So it's good to know what I had missed out back then.

Think of them as nipple tape. She's still underaged after all (in most parts of the world, except Japan and France) Anyway, the figure production quality is very good, as expected from Megahouse. No complaints there, except maybe for the hair color.

But at least those are still shades of similar dark colours. Green and Yellow are totally opposites in the color scheme. Anyway, unless the Japan only limited magazine tie-in version is on regular sale somewhere, I just have to be contented with the Monster poster color correct scheme.

You didn't actually believe they'll stop at just 2 or 3 figures right? If you've been in this anime hobby long enough, you'll know that figure releases are just the tip of the merchandising business. BTW, the anime is nothing more than just a very well-produced 13 hour advertisement to get people to buy the merchandise. Anyway, definitely getting the Nyan Nyan Ranka Lee. Goes well with my other 'maido' theme anime figures. Hopefully, this time around, she comes with the anime correct green hair. The Monster Ranka Lee has yellow hair, unless one managed to snag a Japan only limited-release magazine tied-in green hair version.

Thank you. That explains why I too love M7 and M2, and the various other anime you mentioned above (especially War in the Pocket) but dislike M+. Like I said in another thread, M+ is just a CGI tech demo to me.