Graham

Ah the metric system! You mean that little known system that's in use by 99% of the world Graham

Considering those disappearences take place years apart (2008, 2016 & 2047), it's extremely unlikely that the characters would all meet up at the same time. Graham

Your wife is always pissed with you (not just this year) Graham

Ah...stereotypes, based on Hollywood's portrayal of the British! Yes, all educated British men are naturally effeminate and condescending, just the same way as all Americans are 350lb, burger eating, flannel shirt wearing slobs called Bubba who marry their 14 year old cousins. I'm guessing you've not travelled outside of the US much eh? There's nothing I hate worse than steroytyping or generalizations. You will find effeminate and condescending men in every country and among every people, just as you wil find fat slobs in every country. There's no monopoly on this sort of thing you know! Graham

Where did you get that information? That's the first time I've seen a specific caliber mentioned for the Q-Rau's chest guns. I'm guessing you are quoting inaccurate RPG stats? The Macross Compendium, which can be considered an official source and a direct translation of Japanese source material has the following to say on the Q-rau's armament: - Primary Cannon: two medium-bore simultaneously-firing impact cannon. Secondary Gun: two air-to-air high-speed-rotating tri-barrel laser pulse gun. Rocket Weaponry: four close-combat short-range super-minature high-manoeuvrabilty missile launchers (126 missiles standard). Graham

He's a car. He takes it up the tail pipe of course! Graham

Andy, There's some parts in the package that I'm not sure what they are. Can you elaborate? I can recognize the 2 leg FAST packs and the 2 shoulder FAST packs, but what are the other bits? Graham

The 1/72 variable kits were good for their time, but with advances in model technology and design, they are looking increasingly dated these days. One of the best things about the 1/72 kits is the beautiful classic box art IMO. I've owned several of them over the past 20 years and before the deluge of new VF-1 toys from Yamato/Bandai/Banpresto/Toynami, the old 1/72 kits were a great poor man's alternative to the old Takatoku/Bandai 1/55 toys from the 80s. As others have stated, if you want a good variable VF-1 these days, the Yamato 1/48 is really the only way to go. For non transforming VF-1 model kits, the Hasegawa Fighter and Battroid mode kits are king of the hill. Just a pity Hasegawa has yet to release any Gerwalk mode kits. Graham

I doubt that we will ever see a direct continuation of the Macross Zero storyline from Kawamori with the same characters, as he seems to have a thing for having his characters disappear, never to be seen again. Hikaru, Minmay, Misa and the Megaroad-01 vanishing near the center of the galaxy in 2016, never to be heard from again. Basara and Gamlin disappear while following the galactic whales at the end of Dynamite 7. As they have no fold boosters on their Valks, they would seem to have no way to return unless the whales fold back to civilized space (remember, their Valks will have limited oxygen, fuel and food). Shin & Sara disappear with the AFOS at the end of Macross Zero. Anybody see a trend here? I think the best we can hope for in the near future is a movie version of Macross Zero with perhaps a few minutes of new footage. Graham

Roy dies!? Aww.........sh*t, haven't you guys ever heard of spoiler warnings? Sorry, couldn't resist. Graham

Junya Ishigaki designed both the Octos and Cheyenne, so they will definitely not be in this book, which is about Miyatake's designs. Graham

Damn, I missed the Luna pic. Anybody save it? Graham

Wow, $699.99, that's gotta be the highest price anybody's ever tried to sell a Yamato YF-19 for. Heh, I guess Yamato Macross plus toy prices are going to end up crazy like Takatoku/Bandai 1/55 prices in the 1990s. Graham

The publisher's website is now showing a release date of April instead of March. 発行 2005年4月発売予定 ISBN 4-89601-629-7 税込価格 3150円 通販価格 3550円（送料・通販手数料込） 日本のSF、アニメに多大な貢献と影響を与え続ける宮武一貴のデザインワークを本人完全監修の元で制作した資料集。代表作「マクロス」「オーガス」の極秘資料をテキストに、デザインワークを解明する。メカデザインの枠にとどまらず、作品世界をヴィジュアルとして構築する巨人の歴史書でもある。 Graham

Don't worry, you are not really missing much. It wasn't really that funny IMO. I was sorta yawning while watching it and wishing it would hurry up and end. But then again I don't like Evangelion or the Guntank, so it wasn't really to my taste. Graham

I can't stand the fighter mode on the Yamato YF-19/VF-19A toys. The sculpt of the nose and canopy area especially is so ugly and inaccurate that it is a joke. Poorly sculpted hybrid sensors on the nose - those things are really a joke. Completely incorrect cannopy shape when veiwed from the side. Not only is the side profile of the canopy wrong (too short, hump in wrong place), but the bottom edge of the canopy is also totally wrong. The bottom edge of the canopy should be straight lines and angles, not all curvy! (just look at the lineart). Completely unnecessary trianglar gap where the nose folds. None of the other transforming YF/VF-19 toys & models (Bandai/SHE/LS/Retppu) have this gap. the nose of the Yamato YF19 would still fold even without this gap. I don't understand why they have it. Front landing gear which is still exposed even in the 'up' position, along with those ugly bumps where the front landing gear hinges, that really spoil the lines of the forward fuselage. this is the biggest sin. Wings too short and droop downwards. Ugly screw sockets on the wings. Shoulders sit far too high in fighter mode. Out of all three modes my opinion is that Battroid is the least ugly. Graham

Don't let anybody tell you the VF-19A is fragile. It's not. As Lonewolf stated, it's one of the sturdiest Macross toys Yamato made. The only problems you will have with the toy as already mentioned is paint chipping on the diecast metal parts and of course the hideously ugly sculpt in fighter mode . Don't believe the 'it's so complex it takes ages to transform' crowd either. While the instructions are not the clearest in the world, it really shouldn't take you more than 5-10 minutes maximum for a first try. With practice you should be able to transform it in under 2 minutes. Back when the YF-19 came out, I was able to transform it in 1 minute (I have it on video). Graham

One word, 'space'! Not all of us have a second house or own private warehouse just for storing our toys And not all of us live in huge American size mansions either. Remember, the primary market for the Yamato Macross toys was Japan and houses in Japan (and also here in HK) tend to be much smaller. Living in a small house makes it that much more difficult to have large toys. There is also the issue of what I call 'handiness' for want of a better word. There comes a point where a toy is so large that it becomes unweildy to play with. The 1/48 VF-1 is approaching this point IMO. Personally, I find something about the size of a 1/55 is just right for palying with, not too big and not too small. Graham

Unfortunately, in none of the artbooks are those chest tubes labled. The only piece of lineart that has any writing next to them is in the Hasegawa YF-19 instructions. Graham

In my book, if the base mecha was a toy, I'd call it a toy, no matter how many model parts you stuck on it. Graham

Referring to the title of this thread, do you guys realize how insanely huge a 1/48 VF-0 would be! This has been mentioned numerous times in the past, but the VF-0 simpy dwarfs the VF-1. Those of you who have both the Hasegawa VF-1 & VF-0 kits will know what I mean. 1/48 woud be just too big IMO. Basically, a 1/60 VF-0 would already be about the same size as a 1/48 VF-1. Personally, I'd be more than happy with a 1/72 or 1/60 scale version, just not the craptastic 1/100. Graham

Damn, I get the sound but only a white screen Graham

The problem is the Hasegawa kit is not accurate to the lineart in this area. In Kawamori's line art, the front of the tubes are completely covered in fighter mode. This was mentioned earlier in this thread. So while the chest tubes may well still be guns, they could only be used in battroid mode, not Fighter or Gerwalk mode. Also, as has been mentioned, the YF-19 has the wing root lasers for use in Fighter mode. Graham

Nah, maybe it's that drink that Aries gives to the villagers in Macross Zero. What was it called, Appale Genki? Graham

[iron Maiden]... If you're gonna die, die with your boots on, If you're gonna try, just stick around, Gonna cry, just move along, If you're gonna die, you're gonna die....[/iron Maiden] Graham