Graham

Haven't been paying much attention, so are these 1/100 toys actually in stores now or what? Graham

I've found HLJ to be reliable and safe, but from my personal experience they are often notoriously slow with order processing. I'd recommend them if you are not in a hurry, but if you want an item quickly, they are problably not the best choice. Graham

OK, finally saw this movie on DVD last week. Had to wait for the DVD, as it didn't receive a theatrical release here in Hong Kong. I'm a big fan of director Kurt Wimmer's previous film 'Equilibrium' and was looking forward to seeing Ultraviolet, but boy, as much as I hate to say it, it was a real stinker. I haven't seen a movie this bad in a long time. While there were a few nice ideas for weapons tech, the movie was let down by the increadibly bad CG and lousy choreography on the fight scenes. Haven't seen Underworld 2 or Aeon Flux yet either, but I think I'll just play it safe and avoid them. Graham

Thought Lightning would've been an OK name for the F-22. Hated that it called Raptor, just because the Raptor dinosaur got popularised in the Jurassic Park movie. Anyway, weren't the real Raptors only about the size of Chickens? And Lightning is definitely not a suitable name for the F-35 IMO. I can think of many suitable names, but none of them fit to mention in polite company. Graham

Anybody want to take a pic of one next to the Konig Monster? Graham

How do they compare to Banprestos? Tighter joints? Are they are direct or near-direct copy or a completly new design? Anybody want to write a full review for Macrossworld? Graham

Any of you photo shop geniuses want to trying coloring in the Yamato CAD line art in the anime colors? Graham

I'm just guessing here, but if there is a hole in the back of the upper leg for the lower chest section to fit in fighter mode, the hole may be partially covered in battroid mode, by the upper sub-intake section. Or, it just may be that the CAD drawing is wrong. Graham

Crotch piece folding is correct to the lineart.

The Hasegawa is a nice kit, not sure I'd call it awesome though. Even before I knew about the new Yamato YF-19, I always thought it was far too skinny. Hasegawa's YF-21 and VF-22 kit have the same problem as well IMO. Graham

Actually, the more I compare my completed Hasagawa kit to Kawamori's 3/4 view lineart, the more the kit looks completely wrong to me. The forward fuselage (plane's neck), intake section and lower legs are all far too skinny and lacking in curves compared to Kawamori's 3/4 view lineart. Plus the Hasegawa has almost no belly curve. It should have some. Also, based on the position of the gunpod in Kawamori's art, the Hasegawa gunpod also extends too far forward. It should only come as far as the angled line on the mid-thigh, whereas Hasagawa have it coming to the thick black vertical line at the top of the thigh. Not knocking the Hasegawa kit. It's still a great kit, but it's not the be all and end all as far as accuracy is concerned. The main problem is that even from Kawamori, there are so many differently drawn versions of the YF-19 and so much anime magic involved, that it's impossible to make a definitive perfect version in one mode, let alone a perfect variable toy or model in all three modes. Graham

Yamato is all about perfect transformation these days. Removal of major parts died with the 1/60 VF-1 line. While removal of small optional parts such as intake covers and pitot tubes is acceptable, they won't go back to large removeable parts. Graham

IMO, the Yamato top view fighter mode CAD lineart is 98% spot on. The, Yamato side view fighter mode lineart is perhaps 70% when compared against the Hasagawa, TIAS etc side view lineart. However, when compared against Kawamori's 3/4 view lineart, the Yamato is much closer, perhaps 90%, as a lot of Kawamori's fighter mode lineart has a short nose, bigger curved belly, thicker forward fuselage and thicker lower legs and intakes. Anyway, the YF-19 probably uses the most anime-magic in it's transformation of any of Kawamori's designs. One of the prime areas being the intakes, which are a completely different shape in battroid and fighter modes. Graham

Just to lay all rumors to rest, I don't have a prototype. Wish I did, but I don't. Graham

I'd only buy this if you could play Planet Dance and Seventh Moon. Graham

Wasn't Toynami supposed to be making a PVC SDF-1, to be sold in parts together with the VF-1 Superposeables? I thought I remember reading about that once. Graham

Just a correction, this is not a Toynami figure. It's made by Popbox, using a Toynami 12" body. Graham

Damn, the Hong Kong release has been rescheduled to 13 July. Saw the CNN news story this morning, about how the phrase "Truth, Justice & the American way" is not used in the movie, instead, it's been changed to "Truth, Justice......and all that stuff". LOL! Graham

Just fixed the poll and also added 'None' and 'Other' options. Graham

Heh, but whether a flight suit version comes, may depend on how well the blue uniform version sells first. If people don't buy it cus they are waiting for the flight suit version, then it may end up not getting made. Graham

The Bandai 1/65 scale VF-19Kai & VF-19S toys have terrible proportions in both fighter and battroid modes. In fighter mode, the LERX extend all the way to the hybrid sensors, which is completely wrong. Graham

Guys, I've just thrown together a lineart comparison. Enjoy. Graham

As I've said before, while others cried watching their favorite transformers die in the movie, I cheered! Evil Graham

As I've said a few times already, trust me when I say it looks even better than the CAD lineart. Graham

Does it matter what weapons they use? I mean if the movie follows the TV series, they'll never hit anything anyway. Graham