Graham

Still waiting for permission to post what I wrote........sorry Graham

I agree that Gerwalk mode should have chest locking. The lack of it in Battroid mode doesn't bother me at all though. Graham

If it wasn't for the increadibly ugly head sculpt, I'd pick up one of the Hikaru VF-1S Strike Valks, but that head is a real deal breaker. Graham

Bah, listen to the Marillion song 'Grendel'. Graham

"Discontinued" is perhaps the wrong word to use and somewhat misleading. All it means is that HLJ has sold out of their stock and need to order more from Yamato. Of course it could also mean that the toy has sold really well and Yamato has already sold the entire production run and has no more stock in inventory. In which case if there is enough demand Yamato may commission the factory to do a second production run. Graham

Moving this Trannie crap out of the Macross toy forum. Graham

Hear hear! Graham

100% conjuncture on my part, but I'm guessing the VF-1 Battroid kits did not sell as well as they hoped, certainly not as well as the VF-1 fighter kits. Perhaps the Macross Plus YF-19 and YF-21 fighter mode kits did also not sell as well as they expected, despite being fantastic kits (although a bit too skinny from the side) IMO. I think that it all comes down to cold hard profit. Hasegawa probably doesn't think there would be a good enough return on the expenses needed to make Macross Plus Battroids. Same applies to Gerwalks from any series. Graham

Another difference between 1st and 2nd versions is supposed to be the right side shoulder flap which is now more secure and doesn't fall off all the time like on the 1st version. Although, to be honest I haven't tested this yet, so I'm just going by Yamato's word on this. And why would anybody want to hold the battroid upside down? Graham

The YF-19's and YF-21's FAST packs are definitely useful for the greater number of missles they allow the AVFs to carry. The YF-19 especially has a pretty limited missile load with just it's internal bays. The extra fuel in the shoulder packs will give longer range/persistence for space operations. Also, don't forget these were only prototype FAST Packs and perhaps not representative of the final production versions. It's interesting to note that in the opening movie for the Playstation game Macross Digital Mission VF-X, the VF-19A is shown launching with traditional style back mounted booster type FAST packs. And of course the VF-19F/S in Macross 7 also use space/atmosperic capable back mounted booster type FAST packs. Graham

This sort of thing really pisses me off you know. All you guys have seen is one low-res, low-detail CAD picture for a single day and already you are making polls about whether or not you will buy it based on bad QC. Friggin unbelievable!!!! For fu#@s sake, how can you make a decision based on the extremely limited information you have so far? Graham

Still waiting for the OK to publish what I've written. Graham

You are all assuming that Yamato will get the toy licence for M25. As far as I know, it's still not been decided or announced yet. From what I understand, the major sponsor has first rights of refusal. We could well end up with a situation where Bandai get the licence and then sit on it and do nothing, just to stop Yamato making money. Worst case scenario, but it could happen, given that Bandai has never really cared about or put much effort into Macross merchandising. Graham

I'll definitely do a review and the release date should now hopefully be mid-August. Graham

Not allowed to say anything, but I don't think I'll get in trouble if I say it's sleek and the landing gear works real well. Graham

No and no. Graham

Sorry guys, that list is definitely false. Lots of stuff coming that isn't even on that list and some stuff on that list that is definitely not coming. Graham

Stand by for the true skinny on the replacement parts. Graham

Need to see it first, especially the head sculpt. As we all know the VF-1S headsculpt is pretty difficult to do right and most manufacturers fail abysmally. Yamato 1/48 being the best so far IMO, with Yamato 1/60 and Toynami Super (un)Poseable being the worst. Still from the photos so far, I'm not terribly impressed by the VF-1J Revoltech. I know a lot of you seem to think that Revoltechs are the bees knees, but so far it looks only slightly better than a rubbery gashapon in the pics. But non-transforming battroid toys or model kits have never really floated my boat anyway. Graham

The cat is out of the bag (finally). The first CAD lineart scans of the upcoming Yamato 1/60 scale YF-21 are being shown in the new September issues of both Hobby Japan and Dengeki Hobby magazine. The same fighter mode plan view is shown in both magazines. Attached is a scan of the Hobby Japan article. Release is due for first quarter 2008. The CAD art actually tells very little. Trust me on this when I say it looks great. Graham

Pics from the new issue of Hobby Japan magazine. Graham

Still not sold on these, even with the latest color pics. But then again I'm not sold on Revoltechs in general. Graham

Err......I'm not the most knowledgable person about the Marvel universe, but isn't Nick Fury supposed to be white? Graham

So does this show have good mecha action/dogfights or not? Graham

Extra weapons. Both of the YF-19's leg FAST packs carry additional twin micro missile lanchers. The YF-21's belly FAST packs also both have an extra twin micro-missile launcher. Graham