Graham

Nope, for the DX. There will be two different Gallia IV sets, I forget exactly what the come with. I think one comes with missiles a Ghost and the second comes with the speaker pods and a little Ranka figure and possibly a Fold Boooster as well. From what I remember, these will be mail order exclusives and there will be a coupon you need to cut out from the VF-25G and RVF-25 boxes to order them. Graham

And of course we all know the next version will be the OD Defender with weathering. Graham

Nope. Possibly the occasional reissue or limited edition if there is demand, but for all intents and purposes the 1/48 line is finished. Graham

No pics, pricing or release date for the Macross Quarter toy have been released yet. All we know is that it is coming and IIRC that it will be somewhere around 20cm tall. Graham

So far the shoulders are still OK on all three of my Roy VF-1S. Graham

I loved episode 12, that it was a fantastic episode. Generally I love Frontier, it's definitely in my top three list of all time greatest anime ever. Graham

You know that Bandai are releasing a DX accessory pack with the speakers and a little Ranka figure. Graham

MY Ozma was also a much better fit than Alto, especially the hip guns. Graham

While you are right that there are a few Evas that were never made by Bandai, they have given Eva pretty good coverage in terms of the sheer number of toy and model lines made. We've had three model lines for Eva from Bandai, LM, HG and one PG IIRC. On the toy front from Bandai, we've had: HCM-Pro, SOC , SPEC, countless gashapon and wasn't there at least one GFF style figure? Eva will probably never get as much coverage as Gundam from Bandai, despite it's popularity, as there are simply not a large number of different mecha to make. Most of the Evas are simply a head swap and repaint with different weapons. Back on topic. Placed my preorder for the two of the 1/100 Alto VF-25 yeserday. Looking forward to this. My only concerns are beeing able to keep track of all the small parts and whether the peg-in-hole joints will hold up over multiple transformations. Worst case one gets displayed permanently in fighter,the other in battroid. Graham

I've been told the black rubber-like material inside the shouder socket is PE, not PVC. Graham

Great. Look forward to reading it all when completed. One request, when done can you repost it all again. Graham

What, ya' mean the recent Millia Q-Rau reissue dosen't include the pilot?????? Graham

Just to jump in. My wife is Chinese, I'm Caucasian We've been married for 12 years and together for 18 years. While it's true that many Chinese women are very money-minded, not all are. I was lucky enough to find one that doesn't put money first and also puts me ahead of her family (at least until our son was born and now he comes first) . While my wife does have a very quick temper, I'm lucky enough that she doesn't mind my collecting. As long as I put X amount of money in the bank every month to save, the rest is mine to do as I like with. The Q-Rau is a great toy. Very under-rated. Graham

I'm reasonably confident that the VF-25G's gun will be able to mount in fighter mode, but I doubt it will be able to be displayed with landing gear down. Graham

Hey, what about Larry, doesn't he deserve some love too? Graham

I just noticed from looking at the pics that the 1/100 VF-25 has a swivel joint just beolow the intake. That puts it one up on the 1/60 DX, which lacks a swivel joint anywhere on the legs. Graham

Still wondering how the missiles that come with the Gallia IV set will attach, give the lack of hard points on the toy's wings. I really hope it's not an over-wing clip, like on the old 1/55 Strike Valk, but I can't see how else they will do it, unless the set also includes all new wings with hard points. Graham

OK, I'm sold on the VF-25G & RVF-25. Actually, I was sold already, but the latest round of pics makes them a must buy. Graham

Hmm.........I'd like to know what is that part they used? Graham

LOL....a 'super strike armor part'! Now that I'd like to see. Correct name how they refer to it in the series is 'Armored Pack'. Graham

Fantastic, finally some new pics of the Super Packs showing full markings. Looks great. Graham

as i mentioned previously, assembly inspection qc was stepped up after vf-1J and there have been very few breakages since then.graham (from phone)

Just had another talk with Yamato's HK-based QC guy and he is at least now discussing with the Chinese factory ways to solve the shoulder cracking problem. On the two suggestions I put forward of 1) making the pin a smaller diameter and 2) changing the shoulder joint material from ABS to POM, the factory has come back with the following comments: - 1) Regarding making the pin a smaller diameter, the factory is worried that it may not be secure enough and may work it's way out. Personaly, this wouldn't bother me. I'd rather have a loose pin than a shoulder that cracks. Anyway, a loose pin can be secured easily enough. 2) Just changing to POM without any other changes would only bring a marginal increase in strength. This would need to be comined with soomething else, such as a smaller diameter pin or actually making the part thicker (retooling needed). Will be meeting with him tonight for a mutual friend's wedding dinner and will discuss further. Graham

Got too annoyed with the black paint rubbing off the right LERX/Swing bar on the Ozma VF-25S, so went over the offending area with a black Gundam marker last night. Not a perfect color match, but acceptable. Graham

Or in the case of the lo-tech folks, set your VCRs! Graham