Graham

While they are not meant to be played with in the way that say a 5 year old plays with his toys, they are meant to be strong enough that an adult collector can repeatedly transform and repose the toy without having to fear breakage through normal and careful daily handling and transformation. Yamato has proven that it can make detailed yet durable transformable collectors grade toys. A case in point is the 1/48 VF-1 series. After a few initial teething troubles when the toys first came out, such as people having to learn how to correctly handle the BP8 hinge, most people here now regard the 1/48 VF-1 toys as sturdy and durable and transform and handle them without fear. So far, the 1/60 VF-0S also seems to be holding up pretty well as well. Graham

Including mine, there's only 2 or 3(?) reported cases of this happening that I'm aware of, so the incidence of breakage of this part is not very common yet. Hopefully, it will turn out that only a small amount of the metal bars are flawed (badly cast?) and prone to breakage and most are fine. Graham

What annoys me is that mine broke during transport, not during transformation. When I received it, I transformed it once only from bike to robot and it was fine. It didn't seem to have any obvious weak spots, so I put it carefully in a bag and carried it carefully home in the bag in robot mode. Only I guess I wasn't as careful as I thought, as as soon as I get home and take it out my bag, it's already broken...........grrrrrrr! Graham

Here's a photo of the broken metal bar on mine. Note, it's the peg at the end of the bar that has broken off. Click to enlarge Hopefully, Yamato will issue some replacement bars, as once this part breaks, the arm can no longer securely attach and falls off all the time. Graham

Very loosly based on his work, but yes, good flicks. Graham

Heh, if Doc Octopus had a mecha, that's what it would look like. Graham

Received my Pop Box 1/6 scale DYRL Hikaru figure today (thanks to Noel) and should have a review up by the end of the week. Quite impressed by it so far. If you are thinking of buying one of these, don't forget to take advantage of the free international shipping offer, by clicking the banner at the top of the forums (or on the bottom of the main page) Graham

As much as I like Minmay, enough already! The only new Minmay figure I would be willing to buy is a DYRL shower scene Minmay. I was really hoping that the next set of CM's Macross figures would include a Guld and perhaps a Shin, but alas, it seems it is not to be. What I would really be interested in from CM's is a series of cut-away cockpits of other VFs, such as the YF-19, YF-21, VF-11, VF-17, SV-51, VF-0 etc. Graham

I also lament the lack of good sci-fi at the cinema. As others have said, Serenity was excellent, but that was last year and there doesn't seem to be anything new coming. Wasn't there talk a while back about a new Flash Gordan movie and even a John Carter of Mars movie? Those could both be excellent under the right director, such as Peter Jackson or Singer but could also all too easily be screwed by a hack director like Boll, Anderson or Ratner. Oh well, at least we have the new BSG and new Dr Who on TV. I must be one who the few people who did not enjoy the Ender books. I'll have to dig them out and re-read them to see if they are better the second time. Graham

Hmm.......color me unimpressed. I think I'll actually pass on these. Graham

Props to the people who made it for trying and I'll say it's a thousand times better than I could do myself. But sorry, I just found it quite painful to listen to. Graham

It seems to be just the tip of the bar that''s breaking, where it narrows and changes from a rectangular cross section to a circular cross section. Graham

Heh, mine arrived at the office yesterday. Opened it up and immediately had the first 'oh sh*t' moment! As I gently lifted it out of the plastic tray, the two small painted silver plastic parts located near the neck & handlebars, that hold the front section of the bike on promptly fell off. See pic below: - Luckily a couple of drops of super glue fixed the problem and I was back in business. Another minor niggle was that there was a big glue fingerprint on the left side of the bike, where the two magnets are located. I managed to get the bike transformed into robot mode in a couple of minutes while only having to glance at the instruction manual a few times. Overall, I'm very impressed with the design and engineering that went into this toy and the high level of detail and articulation. Most of the joints were nice and tight and the robot balances well. The magnets are also executed quite well. I love the detailing behind the visor. Getting Shogo into the cockpit is a pain in the posterior though. I also wish that the robot could hold the gun a bit tighter. A peg on the guns grip mating with a hole in the right hand would have been a nice addition. Second big 'Oh Sh*t' moment came when I took the toy home. Rather than carrying it back home in it's box, I left the box at the office and put the toy in robot mode in the plastic bag that the instructions came in and then put that in my bag, together with a couple of books and DVDs I was carrying. The toy was on the top of the bag though, so was not being squashed in anyway and I was being careful. When I got home, to my horror I found that the tip of the right metal bar (about 3mm long), where it plugs into the wheel had somehow broken off and now the right arm cannot securely attach to the toy and falls off quite easily. Tried gluing the tip of the metal bar back on, but could not get a good bond on the zinc pot metal. Also, I tried transforming back to bike mode this morning and the big rear red light fell off. This is only press fitted, so it was easy to reattach. Also, the grey plastic shoulder spike on the left arm came apart and fell off. Seems it was not glued at all and was easy to reattach. I want to like this toy, I really do. Perhaps, I'm just unlucky and got a lemon, but while it's a very clevely designed toy, it does so far seem overly fragile. Graham

No. Graham

Met Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fat and several other minor HK celebs while working on various HK movies back in the '90s. Celebs don't impress me. They're just people like you and me. In fact many of them tend to be real Alpha Hotels. Graham

Good news. From what I understand, the second run of VF-0S due out in July is supposed to have tighter knee and elbow swivel joints. Graham

Correct. Graham

Heh, I normally just thow mine away. No space for the bloody things anymore. Graham

Don't be an ass. You don't know that and are assuming. And if you do, then state your sources. vinnie 407818[/snapback] Both of you, no personal attacks or name calling please. Graham

They're 'Man-Dolls', not dollies! Graham

I think the means the shipping cartons are blank, not the actual individual toy boxes. Yamato shipping cartons usually hold 4 x 1/48 IIRC and are brown card, with the writing (Yamato name, PO number etc) printed in blue). Graham Graham

I emailed the Saab online shop about the book and they just replied that it is in English. Graham

Didn't there used to be a live-action Witchblade TV series, with the title role played by some ugly girl with a unibrow? Graham

Release is now rescheduled to July. Graham

Can anybody tell me what the weight of the Super Stealth box is? My scale doesn't go up that high. Graham