Graham

No you can't order from Yamato directly, as they cannot sell Macross items to customers outside of Japan. However, HLJ is not the only authorized distributor. As I understand it, any toy store which is physically based in Japan can request the replacement parts from Yamato. Graham

I'll have some firm news by tomorrow hopefully as the customer service rep at Yamato is off sick today. My main contact seemed quite shocked to hear that HLJ was charging for these. It's probably just a misunderstaning between the two companies. Graham

Great toy so far. Transformed between all three modes last night. No problems yet. Graham

I'll ask Yamato about this, as it doesn't sound right. It may take a while for an answer as communication is sporadic at the moment. Graham

Just got one today, but won't have a chance to open it until tonight. I've been told that the arm parts that were cracking on the original VF-0S/A have been changed to POM plastic on the Shin type VF-0A, which is supposed to be stronger than ABS. Graham

The chara designs remind me of the Getter Robo OVA, especially the guy with the scarf. Not liking the mecha, but then again I like very few Gundam designs anyway. I have to say the Unicorn mecha are far better looking than the 00 mecha IMO. I'd actually consider buying Unicorn toys based on the designs shown so far, but I wouldn't touch these 00 mecha with a 10 foot pole. Graham

Beautiful. Graham

In theory yes, although I haven't handled one yet to verify. Graham

Parts will be available and not just through HLJ. Any Japanese toy store can contact Yamato and request parts. So if any Japan based MWers are friendly with any Japanese toy stores, ask them to contact Yamato and if you want to help out, set up a bulk buy and help with distributing the parts to MWers. Don't worry about HLJ's reply. These parts are fresh from the factory and it takes time to get the information passed from Yamato to HLJ. I've known some companies it takes them a year just to issue a part number for a new item, so things seem to be moving ahead on track. Less panicking please. Graham

I also gotta say that the 3D CG character designs look terrible. I would have preferred a more photo-real style, like the Final Fantasy CG movie. I'm guessing Lucas stuck with Clone Wars era as most SW fanboys just wanna see Jedi and lightsaber action and if you go with original trilogy time-line you are limited in that respect. Still, as bad as it looks, we are probably all going to end up watching it anyway. Graham

My personal taste: - Watchable: CCA, 0080, 0083, CCA, F91, 08MST & V Unwatchable: 0079 (TV & 3 movies), Z, ZZ, Wing, X, G, Turn A, Savior, Seed & Destiny Graham.

Yes, it's just out today. Well it is here in Hong Kong. Graham

Patience.

I'll ask what the correct part name & number is supposed to be and post the info here when I get it. Graham

Yeah, I prefer Nora's scheme. My Hasegawa SV-51 is painted in Nora colors. Graham

Somebody bought the first book for me a few years ago. I'd have to say it's very much young teen level reading. I guess if you like Harry Potter books, then this will be your cup of tea. Graham

Yeah, the VF-2SS's gun pod looks like it's had the back part of Basara's Speaker Pod Launcher stuck on to the rear. Graham

I'll get one to two bundled sets and one stand alone foldildo. Graham

Nora is due for an October release. Graham

As it's confirmed that DMZ #05 is going to be the 'Last Red Shoulder' version of the Turbo Custom, I'm thinking, perhaps rather than release another complee Scopdog toy for the 'Roots of Ambition' version, perhaps Takara will just release an accessory set, to convert DMZ # 05 into the the 'Roots of Ambition' version. Should be possible. Graham

The RSC from the TV series, was a cobbled together garage workshop one-off, designed to emulate the weapons load of the Red Shoulder Battalion's signature mecha, the Scopedog Turbo Custom. As already mentioned, the Turbo custom features diferent lower legs, with fold-away rocket boosters and extra wheels for providing extra high speed sprint dashes. On the Turbo Custom a mission pack carrying two spare GAT-22 mags is usually carried (in addition to the two spare mags on the side skirt armor), as well as either a 6 or 7 shot missile launcher on the right side of the mission pack (above the right shoulder), a 2 shot missile launcher on the right waist, a six barrelled vulcan gun on the left waist with ammo for the vuolcan stored in the mission back. An arm gun is also commonly mounted on the left forearm. Graham

Picked up the stand alone Ghost last Friday. Will have a review up soon-ish. Got it mounted on a VF-0S in fighter mode at the moment. No problem with removing the top panel on mine and while the rear landing gears are a bit hard to deploy, it's certainly not impossible. Graham

I like 08thMST, CCA, 0080 & 0083 and agree they are more real robot than super robot. Sorry, I can never take the origianl series seriously, the mecha are just too goofy. Graham

You hit the nail on the head. I've always thought that original Gundam is more like a Super Robot show rather than the real robot anime that it's fans claim it to be, especialy in regard to the increadibly goofy mecha designs. Near indestructable super mecha (Gundam) fighting a different monster mecha of the week, as happened in many episodes. My views tend to be in the minority though. Graham

The Roy 1/48 VF-1S toy is the DYRL version and has 4 differences from the TV version: - 1) The toy has the yellow DYRL head arrows on the sides of the head. The TV version should have black head arrows. 2) The toy has solid DYRL type elbows. Only the 1/48 VF-1J toys have the TV 'U' type elbows. 3) The pilot is in DYRL flight suit, which is completely different from the TV flight suit. 4) The toy only has the articulated DYRL type 'chicken hands', not the non-articulated fixed pose bubble hands of the TV version. These only come with the VF-1J toys IIRC. Yes, this is TV accurate. It has a DYRL movie type VF-1A head, not the the TV type VF-1A head. DYRL VF-1A heads have a more extended eye-piece that has a grey border around it. In comparison TV VF-1A heads have a flatter eye-peice with no border. Yamato has never made a TV accurate VF-1A head. Same thing, as above has a DYRL type head, not the TV head. Can't remember if it comes with TV hands or not. Need to check mine. By 'gray' if you mean the recently released Urban Camo GBP, this never appeared in the TV series only in a hobby magazine. You want the blue and red version to be accurate to the TV series. The double-barreled Strike cannon was only used in DYRL, not in the TV series. If you want to stick to TV accurate, you need to buy either the Hikaru VF-1J with FAST pack set (or Max & Milia sets, but they are color specific). Note the stand-alone Supe/Strike FAST pack set includes DYRL type arm FAST packs. The TV arm FAST packs are a different shape and only come with the VF-1J sets. None of the Yamato FAST backs are gray. Hope that helps. Graham