JsARCLIGHT

Tis the world we live in where the icons of our youth are slowly dying out... too bad the ones we want to die just keep hanging in there like it was a marathon or something. But we must learn something from both Robert and John... go to your doctors, get checkups, try to live healthy and live every day to it's fullest.

Am I the only one that sees Flashback 2012 as a music video OAV made by the creators of the show so they could cash in and make some more money off the rabid Macross fans? What is all this "2012 is a defining piece of material that explains all" malarky? It's a freaking music video show! It's purpose is to entertain us with Minmay music and videos. Why does the Macross appear the way it does? Simple. Kawamori liked the DYRL designs more than he liked the TV designs. The only thing I see Flashback 2012 as doing is letting the fanbase know that the old designs have been updated with the ones from DYRL. I see absolutely no evidence whatsoever of it being a "movie in the Macross universe". I agree with Agent One, until I see some facts, i.e. a transcript of an interview with Kawamori or another high ranking Macross creator explicitly saying that DYRL was originally in 1984 intended to be a movie in a future timeline. What you guys are saying in effect is that in 1984 Kawamori and Studio Nue had already concieved of all the future Macross shows and OAVs and knew they where making this movie to be a movie in those future unwritten timelines. I'm not to bright, but the only person I've ever met with the balls to claim something as stupid as that is George Lucas... and when you are King George and have more money than God you can say just about anything you want. One point I am willing to give is that DYRL was bastardized at a later date for the sake of putting it in Macross 7 to give that dog pile of a show some legitamacy. Who here can honestly say that in 1984 Kawamori was telling himself and his fellow staff at Studio Nue "OK Guys, this big budget big screen adaptation of SDF: Macross we are working on is only one tiny piece of the Macross story, in reality it is an insignifigant movie within a movie being made by these people in the future on a colony ship from earth called Macross 7!"... I seriously bet his fellows would have started checking his coffee for LSD. But if by some drunk chance of fate that was true, WTF is the deal with the movie they where making in Macross 7? If that piece of crap was supposed to be DYRL then it must have gone through a lot of script, director and production changes before being finished. Think of all the CG work needed to make Basara look like Hikaru... or are they now implying that the person we really know as Hikaru in DYRL is in actually an actor named Basara from the future who likes to annoy people with his music? Head spinning... logic failing... must... kill... self... before... this... evil... corrupts... others...

I watch a lot of movies... some may say more than most people... I have strange tastes. Here are some of my picks that I am watching this month: - Heat - Tigerland - Scarface - Mad Max - Apocalypse Now - Glory - Baseketball - Hot Shots (both) - Kentucky Fried Movie - Aliens - American Graphitti - American Pop - Dawn of the Dead - Escape from New York

Yup, I followed the picture instructions to the tee. I usually try to carefully examine any transforming toys before trying to transfrom them just to make sure I'm doing it right. Both my VT-1 and VE-1's backpacks where nearly impossible to bend the two angle piece into an upright position (the locking lug that holds it up was too tall and prevented it from going up) and I saw how the backpack side of the piece slid into the unit while it rotated up. It looks to be set correctly but it is still just so darn floppy. I know that is possible to be "locked down" as my VE-1's backpack is transformed the exact same way and is much more solid (but still a little wavy). My VT-1 has more QC issues than any Yamato toy I have ever had... actually it is the first time I have found myself angry at a toy's quality. If I had not paid about $90 for this thing I'd most likely let a lot of these gripes slide and I bet there are ones out there that are better painted and put together than this one... and I seriously hope there. At it's core the QC issues with my two are compounded by the slapdashedness of their designs. You have to admit that the VT-1 and VE-1 toys have that sort of Kitbash "nothing fits quite right" feel to them.

Angel Birds. The low vis card has been played already.

Well, they could have just jammed in two nondescript TV pilots like they did with the VF-1D. Those two little TV pilots in that unit, to me, totally dissasociate it with the TV show. In my mind only a civvy flightsuited Hikaru and a civvy Minmay can pilot that unit.

I'll throw my hat in the ring and deliver a short short brief review of them, just the good and bad points. Nice and to the point. No pics though as I'm at work right now. SUPER OSTRITCH VT-1 1/60 PROS: - the sculpt is good, very accurate to the line art - several new unique pieces make this guy stand out against all the other 1/60s, it is definately a head turner - little Hikaru and Minmay figures rather than two generic pilots make this a more personal, movie specific toy which makes me smile - the joints (with some exceptions) are tight and easy to move CONS: - the molded plastic orange colors, when under lights, look cheap and "plasticy". This 1/60 seems to look more "toyish" than any of the other previous releases - the backpack... ugh, the backpack... both the VT-1 and VE-1 use a new type of backpack design that is tollerable at best and terrible at worst. My VT-1's backpack when up is horribly floppy and if you so much as touch the toy it flops and moves all over the place. It is a pain to get the backpack locked up into the right position in the first place (some folks might even not do this as you have to apply so much pressure to the part to get it to lock in place you feel like you might break it). - the paint quality on my particular one was abysmal. Overspray everywhere, chips and missed spots. All in all this is the worst paint job I have ever seen on any 1/60 I own - the arms, since they have no arm armor, connect to the legs in a strange way and never seem to sit quite right in fighter mode - this is a minor gripe but the head and neck are double jointed, meaning the neck piece swivels and the head has a four way joint on it which makes lining up the head and collar piece in any mode kind of a pain. OTHER POINTS OF NOTE: - the VT-1 does not come with a gunpod and only comes with two hands - the VT-1 does come with two nose plugs and the large backpack antenna (which is easy to install and looks good when on) - it has two sticker sheets, a standard new 1/60 type and a specific VT-1 sheet. The stickers are typical Yamato. MY VERDICT: It's a trainer. It's boring. If it didn't play such a pivotal role in the movie this toy would have never been bought by me. It has some quality issues that I feel it would have behooved Yamato to spend more time fixing but as this guy and his brother (the VE-1) are seeming to be the last of the 1/60 VF-1 series I feel that the line is going out with a whimper rather than a bang. The huuuuuuuuuuuge box belies the sub-par toy that is inside. I will admit that the toy is starting to grow on me a bit but any love I have for it is being overshadowed by it's glaring problems. I might end up liking it more later on, who knows for sure. My advice is that if you are addicted to the 1/60 line and are an uber-completist like me... you have to get this toy no matter what I or anyone else may say about it. Just don't come bitchin' to me when you open it up and are dissapointed. ELINTSEEKER VE-1 1/60 PROS: - the colors on this one are higher quality, more on key with the rest of the 1/60 line - the accessories are numerous, two different arm sensors, backpack fins and dish make this valk very unique and noticeable from across the room. - the two pilot figures are your standard no-name generic pilots but they are painted a different color than the previously released VF-1D pilots so they stand out - the toy really "spreads out"... meaning it is very tall and it dwarfs some of the other 1/60s CONS: - the head... ugh, the head... it's pretty much an unmoving blob of plastic that hangs too low in fighter mode and just looks goofy in battroid - the same backpack issues that the VT-1 has are present in my VE-1, only that the VE-1's backpack does a better job of locking in place and does not wiggle around a lot. - several parts on this toy have been made in a total "what the heck where they smoking?" sort of fashion. Most notably are the large radome mounting arm and the arm sensor pods. The large radome arm is not only not removeable but it only has one joint on it which makes it only possible to achieve one or two poses. Lame. Mainly because the defualt poses are so high up in the air and gangly looking it is just ugly. (it should be noted though that you can remove the screws on the backpack and remove the radome arm from the backpack... why you would do that though is beyond me) - the arm sensor pods completely obstruct almost any and all chances of this fighter sitting on it's landing gears in a decent way. The only way to make the fighter sit is to turn the head around backwards and fold up the large arm sensor into the cockpit as tight as it will go in a vain attempt to keep it off the ground... only to have the other arm sensor hit the ground and have the whole valk sit off kilter. This toy almost demands a display stand to be properly displayed. - the sensor fins that extend from the sides of the backpack boosters are very flimsy and fragile. Be careful when installing them or handling the toy. OTHER POINTS OF NOTE: - the VE-1 does not come with a gunpod and only comes with two hands and an extra nose plug - it has two sticker sheets, a standard new 1/60 type and a specific VE-1 sheet. The stickers are typical Yamato. MY VERDICT: It's a recon unit. It's boring. It only appears for two seconds in one movie. Once again, some fundamental design flaws keep this from being a top notch toy and that enormous box makes you think you are getting something wonderful... in reality I think Yamato made the boxes so big so you could not flush these down the toilet. I know I'm being harsh but the letdown factor when taking these toys out of the box is the worst I have ever felt with a Yamato product. Much like the VT-1 I will say that this toy may grow on me as time goes on but for right now it is an ugly, gangly and clumsy looking toy. Until I get a display stand it must sit in it's half folded up way as it cannot be propperly displayed without a stand. My advice again is that if you are a die hard "must have them all" 1/60 collector then this will be a purchase no matter what I or anyone else has to say... but if you are cash strapped or on the fence, avoid it. FINAL THOUGHTS: I'm one of Yamato's biggest fans. I love their Macross toys. I have never had an issue with their quality control, paint, parts or designs before. I've been more than willing to accept very small blemishes or loose parts in the past but these two toys just tore it in my mind. I found myself thining "how can a company that makes the technological and artistic wonder that is the 1/48 with FAST packs turn out such poorly designed toys?" I have been left with the feeling that the VT-1 and VE-1 are almost like manufactured kitbash toys. It's like Yamato was in a rush to crank out these toys and just started substituing parts here and there and turned out things that look rather good but fit and function quite loose and sloppy. These toys would really have benefited from some slight redesigns that would have just made them a tad more solid and functional. Now before people start jumping me for bashing these toys let me just say that of you leave them in one mode (fighter) and walk away from them they are nice display pieces... but when it comes to being a toy they are a train wreck. I almost feel obligated now to buy some of Sithlord's stands just so I can display these things "right" and possibly get some love for them in my heart.

Heh heh heh... I bought a PS2 back when they first came out... and sold it shortly after... I bought an X-Box when it came out... and sold it shortly after... I bought a Game Cube when the price dropped to $149... and sold it shortly after... About the only "game system" I have ever dumped tons and tons of money into and only got rid of so I could get a better, faster one is my PC. PC rules.

I think the real question at hand is why would someone who now has culture be upset of what they once were? My opinion is no, it would be like someone who couldn't read acknowledging they once could not read but now they can. They now have culture, songs, happiness, peace, fruit pies and sex. Who cares about being insulted by your previous self? Is someone in the audience going to blurt out "Hey Zorg, you where a real tool back then"... This argument is akin to someone asking why children don't sue their parents for showing movies of them before they grew up... or the Germans suing for people making movies about the Nazis. It's not like DYRL is portraying the Zentradi as being that way now (to the people in the future) but it is showing what they once where and how they became what they are now.

Any time you can divide your collection into squads, platoons, companies, battalions, regiments and finally divisions, then you officially have an "army". I think no one here posesses that many toys.

The way I see it several "facts" where self-evident to the UN: - there where very, very large people out there in space that could build very advanced weapons... people don't generally build weapons and never use them so the UN had better make weapons to defend against these giants. - said gaints come from space. No person wants to fight an enemy in their own backyard so it could be assumed that any conflicts would be in space and would require trans-atmospheric combat vehicles capable of meeting the giants on an equal footing in any environment. - all this time you need to keep the earth's population "in check". If people knew of the exsistance of these space giants with the technology to cross galaxies and lay waste to entire worlds there would be panic in the streets. Therefore the frontline fighting units of the future should resemble common military items to a degree and should not present themselves as what they truly are: i.e. make them transform to hide their true purpose. - The old saying of Adapt and Overcome. An enemy cannot begin to predict the unpredictable, and what is more unpredictable than something that is really three things in one with three different performance capabilities?

That's what makes me think it is some form of Kevlar or pliable leatherish material that the VF wears like humans would wear body armor.

This is the point I was trying to make: See how the new armor looks "leather"-ish... kind of like the reactive armor the Patlabor Ingrams wear.

Tartakovsky is a god when it comes to minimalist animation. I have yet to see anything he makes have any real detail or complication to it. He accells at blocking, pacing and layout... not at traditional animation. I myself would like to see what he could do with a real animation studio behind him... you know, a studio that doesn't rely on flash and runs their work at 24 frames per second on most of their shots.

Yeah the stuff they have on the M1A1 Abrams MBT, They call it CHOBAM armor.

Is it just me or does this suit of armor look a bit more "Patlabor"-ish... you know, like soft body armor rather than heavy steel plating. With the seeming "turn towards the modern" perhaps this armor is some sort of ceramic plates encased in kevlar... or perhaps it is some form of CHOBAM armor sections.

It looks a little chunky to me... sort of haphazzard. I've been on the fence about getting stands for all my valks and this may push me more towards the clear plastic three prong stands rather than these. They may be "Macross" and all but they just look ungangly and unstable to me... plus it looks like you can only use them in jet mode... and on the VF-1 you have to take the gunpod off to give it a semi-stable seating.

Those photos where taken by Yamato in-house of their prototype quite some time before anyone had even seen one in their hands. I'm almost positive Graham did not take those pictures.

While I agree that on some levels Roy did not need to die and some different storytelling could have let him live, you have to step out of the plotline and english books for a second and realize another truth of SDF: Macross and DYRL... they are telling a story of war... and the main characters are in a sense the "Front Line" troops of the story. To a soldier, death is around every corner... no matter how "safe" or "secure" you seem to be... Even in the most modern wars front line troops suffer at least 25% casualties unless there is a total mis-match of powers clashing... and in all likelyhood the mis-match of power favored the Zentradi and Meltrandi. If you look at both SDF: TV and DYRL, the main pilot cast suffered 50% casualties... Both Roy and Kakizaki didn't make it out. If you want to get even more realistic the unit suffered 75% casualties as Max in DYRL was technically a MIA. Those numbers are about right for a frontline combat unit facing the kinds of odds that Skull Squadron was. Look at all the other "no name" squads that got wiped out to the man... Just as a sort of "insight" to all of this let me tell you a true to life story from Vietnam: My father was a Sergent in the 101st Airborne in Vietnam, his platoon were all friends and they knew each other well from basic through jump school and MOS... all the way into the 'Nam. They knew their officers, their non-coms and their "buddies". My dad served two tours... well, one and three fourths actually... and in that time he saw a good 50% if not more of his squad and his platoon leaders get killed and wounded in action. When he was wounded and med-evaced on Nevada Eagle he was the longest lasting NCO in his platoon, the other three having been killed or discharged. He shared his dustoff ride back to a medical area with four of his squad mates... two in body bags. War is not a story of fancy action, courageous pilots and daring... it is a story of loss and survival. Oedipus aside. Macross tells a seemingly accurate portrayal of war in the sense that no one is immue (Roy)... and the jerk-offs usually get it in the end too (Kakizaki). Think of all the other losses: millions of people on the planet earth, Misa's father and the entire command staff, hundreds of Valkyrie pilots that never even had names... Roy Focker is just one name on the wall.

In the head?... with shovels?... a lot? (Runs to get Ewok bashing shovel) We are the Eeeeeeeee-woks! Wok wok wok wok *BASH!*

I'm not so sure my point needs a defense as with most literature it is just my interpretation of it (but being an English minor it is always nice to have a better back you up). You do bring up a good point though that almost all cultures have the same "Story elements", they just call them different names. One man's Oedipus is another man's Genji. Also, all of the elements do not need to be present for something to be seen a certain way... if there are enough of them you can construe any point you want. I bet if you dig deep enough you can classify and quantify Macross as almost any kind of story.

So I'm guessing no one here took any literature classes in college... Yes the reason they killed Roy off is so Hikaru gets the "hero" fighter, but Macross is also chock full of so many literary elements and paralells that it boggles the mind. Any story that is written with a classical theme has these paralells in it.

Both versions have the sliding bridge and sensor array... I have two of the Matchbox ones and both slide open just like the Takatoku... the only real difference between the two is the lack of missle firing capability.

My guess will be that they will show up when the following things happen: - We are all out of money from all of the other releases - The OAV finishes and comes out in a 5 volume box set - The next Macross show is announced and starts

I'm a die-hard Area 88 fan and I do have the bootleg. It's a typical bootleg, video and audio quality are decent enough but the subs are lacking in spots. If you are like me and are hard up for anything Area 88 on DVD then this is sadly your only choice for the whole show. It's not like the boot is terrible or anything... if you know the "gist" of the story going in and the character's names then you should be able to make it through the boot subs with no real confusion.