Graham

That is incorrect. I also used to think that the the YF-21 could only have guns if it had FAST packs. I BLAME YAMATO!!! To be fair to Yamato, the based their YF-21 toy onepisode # 1 of Macross Plus,where the YF-21 was not armed with the two gunpods. Graham

Yes, the gunpod can be fired from inside the VF-17's leg in fighter mode. Graham

That is incorrect. I also used to think that the the YF-21 could only have guns if it had FAST packs. However, take a look at the pic below from page 88 of the Macross Design Works book, which clearly shows the YF-21 without FAST Packs, but with the two gunpods semi-recessed into the leg bay cover panels. The Hasegawa 1/72 scale YF-21 model kit and the Doyusha 1/144 scale die-cast YF-21 toy are also set up like this with two gunpods semi-recessed into the leg bay cover panels. Also, if you watch episode # 2 of Macross Plus OVA carefully, during the weapons testing, there is a shot of the underside of the YF-21 in fighter mode, where you can see the gunpods attached without FAST Packs. Graham

Unfortunately in real life trying to shoot two guns at once just means you end up not hitting anything. It may look cool in John Woo movies, but it's a really shitty gun fighting technique in real life. Graham

Err....have you watched Macross 7? Check out these screen shots from ep # 44 which clearly show a Fold Booster on Max's VF-22S. And the VF-22 has different leg bay cover panels than the YF-21. Each leg bay cover panel on the VF-22 has the gunpod stored internally as well as a pair of micro missile launchers and a bay for a reaction missile. Yes, you have to suspend belief a little to imagine that all that stuff could fit into the panel . Graham

Manfred Brando's VF-17S color scheme in VF-X2 is different from Millia's red VF-17S in Macross 7. See the attached pics. Note, the yellow trim on the shoulders and wings of Brando's VF-17S is a different more fancy design and the UN Spacy emblems are replaced with what looks like an eye emblem. Graham

Call me old fashioned, unwilling to adapt to change, a dinosaur, etc, etc. But I have absolutely no interest at all in online games. Tried them a couple of times, didn't see what all the fuss was about. I'd much rather just play a good single player game by myself or if there is a 2-player mode with a friend next to me sharing beer and pizza. I guess this is a minority opinion though. I'm not a hard core gamer at all, but I have been playing games on various systems for 20+ years. Graham

Well, at least they are being honest. I've been to a lot of restaurants that served crap, but would never admit it. Graham

Shawn is a legend, a myth. Some say he was once real, others say he never really existed, a figment of the imagination as it were. What is known is that he went MIA years ago, rumoured to have been kidnapped by those dastardly blaggards at Harmony Gold and their evil henchmen, the Row-Boat-Techies. There are those that claim to have sighted Shawn in the years since his disappearance, but much like the ledgendary Yeti or Loch Ness Monster, those sightings remain unconfirmed. Other schools of thought put forth that Shawn is actually not a human being and is in fact the name of the Macrossworld A.I. server. Graham

Puffy are OK, I've got a couple of their CDs, but for J-Pop/J-Rock I'm more into Nanase Aikawa. Graham

I have it from reliable sources that the 1/100 Macross Zero toys were originally planned as a lower budget mass market line, which would proceed a larger scale perfect variable 'collector grade' line of Macross Zero toys to be released at a later date. This is basically analogous to the 1/60 & 1/48 VF-1 marketing, where you have the smaller, cheaper and generally crappier toy line released first and then after selling multiple variants you come out with a larger more detailed version, forcing fans to buy the same mecha (only better) all over again . Unfortunately, it looks like the 1/00 VF-0 toys may not even get a release, which does not bode well for any future collectors grade versions. Graham

Be careful, you might make Agent One jealous . It's pretty dangerous making anybody who looks like a giant tomato angry! Ever seen the movie 'Attack of the Killer Tomatoes'? Graham

What I would like to see would be a new Macross game from Sega-AM2 set in the 2050s to allow a wide choice of VFs. Not a remake of VF-X2, but perhaps VF-X3, continuing the adventures of Aegis Focker. Either that or a combined Macross Plus and Macross Zero game, as neither anime is really long enough by itself to provide enough stages for a decent length game. And of course for extra reply value a Macross game really needs a mission generator, that allows you to choose terrain and input the number, type and location of enemy units, as well as perhaps choosing different misson objectives, i.e. destroy a bridge, rescue a hostage etc. This is my number one requirement for a new game. If the old Sega Mega Drive F22 Interceptor cartridge game (great game BTW) could have a mission generator back in the early 90s, it should sure as hell be possible to add one now. Graham

Note, Guld was only part of the design team of the YF-21, not the main designer. The Macross Compendium has the following to say about this matter: - Graham

My suggestion for Shawn, get to a computer and spend some time posting on Macrossworld Graham

I mostly listen to older rock, pop and metal from the 70s, 80s and some 90s stuff. I can't stand most modern music and most modern pop as well as Rap, Hip Hop & trance makes me cringe. Here's some some of the groups I often listen to. The Doors Queen Marillion (Fish era only). The Clash Iron maiden (up to Powerslave only). WASP AC/DC Black Sabbath Pink Floyd Duran Duran Gary Numan Crowded House Space The Cure Credence Clearwater Revival Hawkwind SDF-Macross/DYRL/M+/M7/M0 OSTs Led Zepplin David Bowie Graham

There is no Yamato VF-0D toy. That is likely just a typo on Yamato's site. Yamato have so far only made sculpts that we know of, of a 1/100 VF-0S and VF-0A toys, which they have displayed at several Japanese toy and hobby shows. However, no new pics of the toys have been seen for about 4-5 months now, leading many peple to think the toy has been cancelled. Graham

No it doesn't. Brando's VF-17S had different a different style of yellow trim and no UN Spacy emblems. Graham

I wanna see the Rhino or perhaps Parafino. Anyway, the only true Spider-man is the 1967 cartoon. Graham

Yes, Milia flew a red VF-17S in one episode of Macross 7. It's a pretty cool episode. I'm actually having a VF-17S toy painted in Millia's colors at the moment. I'll post some pics when it's ready. Graham

I tried to give Battlecry a chance but just could never get into it. Too many things annoyed me about the game. One of the worst things had to be the sound effects. Your VF-1 sounds like it is powered by a lawn mower engine, rather than thermonuclear jet engines. The gunpod sound is also just as weak sounding and completely unfaithful to the TV series sound. Also I didn't like the music and the horrible voice acting also put me off, especially the voice of the main character Jack Archer or whatever his name was, whom I found increadibly annoying. The Valks (sorry, Very-teks as it's an RTgame) looked pretty bad as well. In battroid mode the wings were missing and in fighter mode I seem to recall the nose was too stubby and rounded. Also in fighter mode, it looked as if the feet were always open. I ssem to recall there were quite a lot of limitations as to what moves you could do in fighter mode as well. I forget exactly, but I don't think you could fly loops. Maybe you couldn't roll either (I forget). Graham

Pretty good, but I think you removed more plastic than necessary from the knees. Check out the custom in the pic below, which can also bend it's knees back. Graham

Unfortunately preassembled and prepainted resin garage kits don't often survive the rigors of international shipping unscathed, even with the sturdiest and most careful packing. I also have some experience in this matter. I once shipped several hundred prepainted resin figures. When I packed them, they were all in perfect condition and well packed, each in a plastic bag inside individual die-cut foam bottom and top trays with outer card box and sturdy shipping carton. However, by the time they arrived at their destination, parts had fallen off on about 50% of them . Usually though it's just a few pieces that will seperate at the points where they were glued together. If you are lucky and depending on the design of the kit, there won't be any damage to the paint job and the parts that fall off will be easy for the customer to glue back on by themselves. Ryuji, while it's good that you are offering to repair the damage free of charge, both you and your customers need to be aware that when you send back the repaired figure, there is a high chance that it may just get damaged again during the international shipping . While I don't think you should give up on selling internationally, it's probably a good idea to warn customers before they buy, that the figure may suffer some damage during shipping and that this is unavoidable due to the fragile nature of the figure. The customer then has to decide if they can live with this. And obviously as others have mentioned it's a good idea to use a lot of shock absorbing material such as newspaper, bubblewrap or foam chips in the packing (and when I say a lot, I mean A LOT ). Perhaps using metal pins to pin some of the parts could help to reduce breakage during shipping, although this may increase the cost. Graham

I wanna see the Gerwalk mode. Graham I wouldn't even wish that kind of hip-dislocation on a clone. GERWALK also known as BOHICA Graham

Wonder if it would be possible to cut off the plastic head lasers and replace them with some thin metal tubes? A lot of tricky work I would imagine, especially drilling out the ear disks to accept the tubes. Graham