Graham

Probably better for grappling or punching Invid mecha. Graham

I own 2 GFF Deep Strikers, which until recently I had on display (just put them into storage to make some space). One I kept in S-Gundam mode and the other in Deep Striker mode and I don't recall having any problems with them. Pretty good figures overall. Just be aware that the Deep Strikers big shoulder cannon will droop slightly after some time. Graham

Just wondering why the Impulse Gundam was designed without beam sabers as standard equipment when recent mass-produced suits like the Strike Dagger, Dagger L and Windam all have beam sabers as standard equipment? This means if Impulse is not equipped with either a Force, Sword or Blast mission pack, it has no melee weapons except it's folding knives. And let's face it, those folding knives while looking good for doing cool anime poses are pretty useless when facing other mobile suits armed with beam sabers, beam axes or polearms, that is unless your opponents is extremely imcompetent. This was a deficency of the original Strike Gundam, so I just find it surprising that it wasn't rectified for the more modern Impulse. Graham

I've also been thinking it's probably because they are a small company, so it takes time to get new kits into production. I also bet that the sales of Slave 1 were not that great (stupid elephant head looking thing IMO), so they maybe choosing their next SW prooject more carefully. Let's hope that they eventually get around to making the Falcon, Y-Wing and Snow Speeder. Oh and of course the Republic Gunship. I'm also a pretty big fan of the AT-TE as well. Clone Troopers and their vehicles rock! Graham

I checked the packaging and thankfully it is written as 'Blast Impulse'. Blust Impulse just sounds so silly . The barrels of the two big long-range beam cannon are the normal MSiA soft PVC . However, the hinged opening covers on the top of the barrels (where the beam javelin handles are stored) are made of hard ABS, which sort of acts as a stiffener for the barrels and should help to prevent or slow down warpage. I'd definitely recommend the Blast Impulse as IMO it looks extremely cool with the black chest coloring. Graham

How about some photos of the red Alpha with stickers applied. Graham

Getting back on topic, anybody know in which episode does Athrun start to pilot the Saviour Gundam? I'm liking that they have made the CIWS guns on the Destiny Gundams a more realistic calibre, i.e. 20mm. One thing that annoyed me about the Strike Gundam from SEED was that the two head-mounted CIWS guns were listed as being 75mm multi-barreled cannons. I'm sorry, no matter how hi-tech you go, it would be impossible to fit guns that size into the head of a Gundam, but 20mm is a more realistic proposition. Graham

Ah, I was actually thinking of the Advanced-MSiA Freedom Gundam, which has actually been out for quite a while, but by all accounts is not that great. It doesn't come with any beam saber blades Graham

Isn't a 'ball cup on the interior of the chest' just another way of saying that your Sazabi is wearing a bra? Sorry, couldn't resist Graham

Very nice. It's good to see a non-standard color scheme as well from the normal boring green or red. So will you be eating him for thanksgiving instead of turkey? Graham

Oh man, Horned Owl, that brings back memories. Love that game. Think I've still got it somewhere. Used to love playing that with a friend. Graham

Just read on theforce.net that Code3 will be releasing a Republic Gunship Man, I love the Gunship, but $285 is a big chunk of cash. Graham

Why do you say that? Have you heard any official news that FM has lost their SW licence or something? Graham

Err.......I don't get it, can somebody explain? Who's Tony Montana? Graham

The Hikaru VF-1J was planned, pics were even shown in some hobby mags, but in the end it was never released. There was also a con-exclusive all metallic YF-19. Nanashi has one and posted some pics in a topic fairly recently (within the last 2-3 months). Try searching the toy forum and you should be able to find it. I think the Doysha Macross toys didn't sell too well, as many people thought they were overpriced for the size. I think Doyusha's Macross license has expired and AFAIK there will be no more. I would have loved a Max and Millia VF-22 (Macross 7), which would have been pretty easy to do just being a recolor of the YF-21 sculpt with a few minor changes, most notably the canopy. Graham

that SEED game is one of not-so-good Gundam game. The game is based on "MS Gundam: Encounter in space" game engine, but Bandai did a bad job on making it as a SEED game. The speed is not right, the ground battle sucks (the game engine was not design to have ground battle), and the feel of the game is just weird. Ah thanks, I won't bother buying the original then. Graham

Where? Linky Linky? Graham

I don't actually hate Gundam. Hate is too strong a word and I don't feel that strongly about it one way or another. It would be true to say I dislike a great deal of Gundam (MSG, Z, ZZ, G, X, W, EW, Turn A). Mainly I don't like the mecha designs and characters from those shows. There is some Gundam I do actually quite like (V, 0080, 0083, 08MST, CCA, F91, Sentinel). The jury is still out on SEED (which I'm giving another chance) and Destiny (which I've just started watching). My problem is that I'm addicted to military robot toys (and in the past models), so from the 1980s until now I have actually bought a lot of Gundam stuff, but mostly during those slow periods when there is not many Macross toys or models being released. Obviously in the last 5 years, I haven't been buying much Gundam due to the flood of Macross merchandise from Yamato, Bandai etc, which is only now just starting to slow down. I'm never able to sustain my interest in Gundam for very long though, so whereas I would never dream of getting rid of my Macross stuff, my Gundam toys and models tend to get thrown out, given away or sold off on ebay every couple of years. Graham

Yeah, I think the project was cancelled. Graham

We'll there's been lots of pics in the last few issues of Hobby Japan & Dengeki Hobby. I've been wondering if it was an OVA on a new console game or what. Guess it's an OVA then. Features a big transforming tank. Graham

Thanks for posting the link to the review. I picked up a Sword Impulse MSiA yesterday, but still couldn't find a Force Impulse anywhere as all the shops in HK had sold out, so I broke down and ordered one from HLJ. Happy to report no real QC problems with either my Sword or Blast Impulse MSiA. The Blast Impulse has a bit of a balance broblem with those big guns and I wish the figures had more sideways ankle articulation, but those are my only gripes. I'm quite impressed that Bandai has started using some screws on these toys. Overall I'm very happy with these toys (this from someone who swore he would never buy another MSiA again). Can't wait for the Destiny ZAKU MSiA toys coming out next year, they look so nice. Hopefully, the GQ line will prove popular and we will see some GQ Destiny Zakus. That would be even nicer than MSiA. Graham

Now where's that drooling smiley when you need it. Graham

Hang on, wasn't there already a Freedom Gundam MSiA released several months ago, or am I imagining it? Or is this a ver.2? Graham

I don't care how cool it looks, but I absolutely refuse to buy something called 'Penelope Gundam', just on principle. Graham

Still haven't got round to playing AC5 yet, except for the tutorials (as a refresher). The little time I've had for gaming has been spent on killzone. Anyway, a quick question. How soon into the game do you get to buy the EF2000 Euro Fighter Typhoon? Being British, I tend to favor British planes like the Tornado, Typhoon, Lightning etc. Graham