blacklotus

Some of our Macross fans can achieve what 2 mega toy companies fail to do properly - make a great VF-1 toy instead of just a good one. I'm still so very impressed by the works done by these old-timers. Just compare Jung's paint schemes to the latest Year 2009 1/60 "weathered edition" by Yamato. I know which one I will buy straight away and which one I won't be touching with a 10 foot pole. I guess Minmay was right - love can indeed overcome all obstacles. Too bad mega toy companies don't practice what the anime series preach.

Thank you. It's a very good reference site. As for the gray VF-1S, it looks quite good to me. I don't mind getting one, as long as these comes with the earlier faults rectified. No release date yet though.

At least you don't collect girl figures. That'll add about another 1K to your expenditure on toys. It did to mine. My collection so far on the new 1/60 valks: 1. 1/60 Perfect Transformation YF-19 25th Anniversary Model x1 2. 1/60 Perfect Trance VF-11B with Super Pack x1 3. 1/60 Perfect Transformation YF-21 x1 4. 1/60 Perfect Trance VT-1 Super Ostrich (Pre-ordered) x1 5. 1/60 Perfect Trance VE-1 Entry Seeker (Pre-ordered) x1 6. 1/60 Perfect Trance VF-22S Sturmvogel II Gamlin Custom (Pre-ordered) x1

Same sentiments here. I boycotted Yamato Macross stuff for about 3 years after all the problems with the 1/48 Valks. I only recently bought a YF-19 25th anniversary model that's on clearance sale at HLJ. But that black jet stays a jet. With all these issues of the new 1/60 models, I ain't getting any new ones unless they're on sale, and even that only for non-faulty models, and after reviews and comments from early adopters. US$200+ for a toy that's broken out of the box isn't what I want to spend my money on, especially when the economy's still trashed.

Thanks for the picture. And at a good price point too at 20,790yen. 30cm tall. So, it's not bigger than some of the larger 1/60 Yammie Valks out there. Should look great with my collection of other sci-fi battlecruisers.

IMO, Yamato did a good job for a perfect trans of a YF-19. I definitely believe Yamato can do a very good parts trans version of it. But, there's gonna be a lot of complaints from fanbois everywhere, me included. Definitely at a 18,800 yen price point. And sales will probably be bad. I will definitely not buy a parts trans version. After all, how well did the original 1/60 VF-1s parts trans versions sell? Definitely not as good as the 1/48 prefect trans, I think, even though it's cheaper.

I believe we're discussing about Ranka Lee, not Sheryl Nome. BTW, quite a number of entries in that link are obsolete due to a number of changes in the laws of the countries involved to cut down child prostitution. Even Japan (or at least Tokyo) is pretty strict about paying a high school girl for sex dates. It still happens, but they're making arrests more common now. (Prostitution is ILLEGAL in Japan, but not soaplands. Go figure. )

Just to add, I believe some laddies in Australia or Britain or USA got arrested for importing loli manga from Japan. Lost the BBC links, but I believed it was reported by BBC online.

WHOA! Now's that's a Woman. Definitely a MUST BUY figure, if they ever release a good one. Maybe Megahouse can do a core retro figure of her. I would love one of her. There's enough Minmay figures floating around, but not enough Misa.

Well, she's still a 16 year-old teen. I think that means she's under legal age in most parts of the world, except Japan and France. So think of the stars as nipple tape. Anyway, it's not like she's a Pamela anyway. For those who like their a-minus cup lolis nekkid, there's always the recently released Wave succubus and the Max Factory Polo vampire girl. Or one can google up Zhang Ziyi's (leading lady of Memoirs of a Geisha) nekkid beach pictures with her boyfriend kissing her ass. Who says we Chinese are conservative? Anyway, if Indians and Chinese are really that conservative, how the hell did they become the 2 most populous nations in the world? Cloning? Sorry, but I'm just not into flat chested women.

Command & Conquer Mammoth Tank? Looks great though.

I highly recommend getting the 19 too. My on-sale 25th Anni black version just arrived from HLJ on Friday. And boy, do I feel like a ten year old kid all over again. The QC's great. No bend, broken or stressed out parts. Of course, some may dislike the non-canon all black with gold trim colour scheme. But I just remembered why I like this black scheme so much - SR-71A blackbird - a real all black mach 3+ jet with a looong neck. Or you may wait for the version 3 - YF-19 with the blue on white or orange on white colour schemes. IMO, they look great compared to the resin colour look of the original anime colour release.

"Perfect Transformation" means you can transform between all 3 modes of the Valk (fighter, gerwalk, battroid) WITHOUT removing and changing parts. The very old 1/60 version (we'll call this 1/60 version ZERO) needs to change parts between modes. As anime52k8 has mentioned, and, imo, I agree, the latest and newest Yamato's 1/60 scale Perfect Transform VF1s have the most accurate fighter modes.

Good to hear John's back. I love his height-challenged Lord Farquaard. And more importantly, I wonder how Dreamworks gonna resurrect him? I mean, the last time we saw him, he was in the stomach of Donkey's dragon of a wife.

I didn't forget. It's just that in this discussion about anime accurate valks, those parts-transforming ones shouldn't even be considered at all. So, I didn't mention those. My remarks are based only on the Perfect Transformation versions. I guess I should have clarified this earlier. Sorry about that.

Welcome to the Macross world forum. Hope you enjoy your stay here. I know I did. IMO, the newer 1/60 versions are more accurate. All the 1/60 scales use the same mold (for the same valk that is). So all 1/60 scales are the same in terms of accuracy. In terms of QC quality, the newer versions have better QC. So far, this is true. Still, if you don't want to risk hard earned cash, wait for reviews 1st from forumers here.

Personally, I like the Spiderman and Friends cartoon (friends = Firestorm and Iceman)

Yup. Those were made by Kenner toys. Unfortunately I had to throw my old play figures away (about 2 dozen) as the arms and legs have turned sticky. (I think the rubber/plastic melted in my country's hot and humid climate) Same here, except I'm still not a dad yet.

Probably the internal compartments will be like the old Darth Vader Face Carrier for star wars figures, except this 1/300 SDF one will be for storing Valks. One can dream right?

Just to add: my 1 piece of 1/350 space Yamato did shipped in from HLJ in the original factory box. Since that box holds 2 pieces, I wonder how HLJ shipped the other piece out? Hmm... I never keep these shipping cartons as they're usually damaged by the postal handlers. Anyway, I just want the items inside to remain safe and undamaged.

I think it's more in their own interest. As Graham said so convincingly, not too many Japanese fans, even seriously wacko ones like me, have the space at home to house something this big. This will limit the sales numbers. And economically, all of us globally aren't doing too well. So not many of us are willing to fork out US$500 + shipping to buy one, even if we have the space. I will probably get one, but maybe only after reviews. Too bad it ain't a 1/60 Monster. That'll be a multiple must-buy without waiting for review in my book.

Just got my shipping notice this Wed morning (SG time). That means I'll either get my stuff on Thu or Fri morning. For those that want your items shipped quickly, there's an option in your orders screen that says "ship available items". It'll cut down on the normal processing time for HLJ to prepare your orders for shipping. I usually just wait patiently. The thrill of anticipation. To regult: Wow! You're lucky. No local SG retailer will allow any exchange for damaged goods after one pays for them and takes them out of the box to play with, even if it's a manufacturing defect. Consider yourself blessed to be in HK with cheap toys. Heck, even if you need to ship limited edition items from Japan, it's cheaper than SG. If I'm correct, lots of Japanese toys manufacturers have local support branches in HK. e.g. Bandai, Megahouse. So you definitely can get the latest stuff faster than the rest of the world, sometimes even faster than in Japan itself, especially if one is not staying in major cities like Tokyo or Yokohama. BTW, transporting stuff internally in Japan isn't cheap either. Sometimes, it costs more than certain EMS shipping. Anyway, enjoy the SV51-Ivanov. It's one of my fav mecha too because of its unique profile. Unfortunately, Yamato didn't do a good job on the QC part. sigh...

Thank you VF5SS and mr.chogokin, and all macross forumers that bought these Valks even though they know they aren't fault-free, and kept the faith with Yamato. I know I gave up on them for a while. But with the coming of the messiah (SDF-1), I'm rediscovering my belief in them. Gonna go read up the reviews now. Thanks again. Cheers.

Nah. I don't really like the Executor now. When I was a teen and watched ESB the 1st time, the Super Star Destroyer was impressive. Now, in my late 30s, that hunk of steel is just impractical. To paraphrase when Peter said earlier, for such a large capital ship, it doesn't even have a TERA laser? p.s. I know the clone Emperor's SSD from the Dark Knight comics does have a mini Death Star laser.

Well, if they can make a Candice Bergen one (Boston Legal), I don't think it's any issue to custom a Minmay one.