Graham

I wouldn't mind getting just the extended version of Reloaded, for the extra footage, but why on earth would I want to buy Matrix and Animatrix again when I already own them? As for all the documentary discs, those things are not my cup of tea. I very rarely bother watching extras on DVDs anyway. So, I think I'll pass on this set. Graham

If Minovsky particles can't block a Mobile Suit's heat signature, then I wonder why IR homing (heat seeking) missiles are not used in the Gundam universe? Graham

But if I understand correctly, the magic Minovsky particles are supposed to block IR and Radar (as well as doing a million other things), which means that a Mobile Suit's heat and Radar signature would not be visible using either Radar or Thermal Imaging systems such as IRST, FLIR etc. Somebody correct me if I am wrong, as my understanding of Minovsky Particle Physics is shaky at best. Does this mean that in theory a Mobile Suit could be as hot as the sun, but if the area were saturated with enough Minovsky particles than a person standing just 10 feet away from the Mobile suit and looking through a hand-held thermal imager would not be able to see the heat signature of the MS? If my above assumptions are correct, then this means that the only way to detect a Mobile Suit would be by (A) visual identification, i.e somebody actually seeing it "hey, look guys there's a 18m tall MS walking down the road towards us". (B) Motion sensors, which are usually short range or ( C) seismic sensors as shown in 08MST. Given that somebody actually seeing a Mobile Suit will probably be the most common way it is detected, then camoflage will still make a certain amount of sense. Yes, an 18M talll MS is hard to hide, but a Green Zaku in a Jungle will still be a bit harder to see then a white, blue & red Gundam in a jungle and every extra second that you can stay hidden will help. The most common things that cause soldiers to be detected are movement, shape, shine, colour, spacing & silhouette, so anything that can be done to lessen these will help. Graham

Just want to add, never fire a Glock in a swimming pool or a small bay with your head underwater. The sound waves reflecting off the sides of the pool will f*ck up your ears. Firing it in the open sea with your head underwater is tolerable as the soundwaves are mostly travelling away from you. And as JsARCLIGHT pointed out, water is a very effective medium for stopping bullets, so expect range and practical accuracy to be greatly reduced if firing underwater, we are talking 10 meters or less. And no, I've never personally fired a Glock underwater, but the guy who tought me the Glock Instructors course had, as had my previous boss during a diving trip in the Philippines. Graham

LOL....'Hobby Gundam', is also my nickname for Hobby Japan! Graham

Heh, so I wonder if SEED Destiny will feature an N-Jammer-Canceller-Canceller? Graham

Yep, 08MST is one title that manages to avoid every cliche of the Gundam universe, that's probably why I like it as well. But for realisms sake, I still would have prefered the RX-79G to be camoflaged. I mean an 18m tall red white and blue robot does tend to be a bit obvious in Jungle or desert warfare Graham

Some great replys, thanks guys. In case I gave the wrong impression in my initial post, I just want to state that I'm not a Gundam hater. I also don't love it, but I do feel that some titles are worthy of respect and are genuine classics of the genre, especially IMO 0080 & CCA and should be on every serious mecha anime fans 'must see' list. I also like 08MST & V. And just for the record, I have watched every UC title. I haven't watched much of the AU stuff. I tried watching Wing, G, Turn A, X and SEED but couldn't sit through the whole series. And when I refer to gundam as being samey or forumlaic and cliched I'm not referring to the 'war is bad' theme that pervades much of it but rather smaller issues that seem to be recycled throughout many of the shows, such as: - The number of times that we have a blond bad guy, usually wearing a domino mask or helmet to hide his face. The number of times that the mother and/or father of the main character is the designer of the Gundam. The number of times that we have an angst-ridden teenage boy with no military or piloting experience become the most kick-ass pilot within the space of a few episodes, without any sort of formal training except maybe flicking through the MS instruction manual for 5 seconds. The number of times that Okawara recycles his MS designs The number of times that we have a colony drop or gassing. Many of the above points I've listed are repeated in so many different Gundam shows, that Gundam for the most part losses all credibility and believability with me. Graham

The continuing popularity of Gundam both amazes and puzzles me. I mean do fans (both Japanese and overseas) like Gundam, because it's all so samey? I mean just like Super Sentai shows and Godzilla movies most Gundam animes (with a few notable exceptions) follow the same tired old formula, with nearly identical characters, Mobile Suits and plot lines. Gundam may have been new and fresh when it first came out in 1979, but half a century on, it seems to have degenerated into a parody of itself with endless near identical rehashes of the same material (at least in my opinion). Is Gundam's popularity just a case of people being comfortable with what is familiar and not willing to stray outside of their comfort zones? Conversely, is the much lower popularity of Macross caused by the fact that the creators, most notably Kawamori like to take Macross in completely new and original directions with each new anime and never retread the same ground. While this approach may create hit and miss titles, at least we know we are going to be getting something new and fresh with each new title rather than something bland and generic. I guess basically, what I am asking is if Big West and Kawamori had gone the Gundam route and released a near endless string of Macross sequels every year of so, which differed only slightly in detail from the original, would Macross be much more popular than it is today? Personally, I think that Big west missed the boat and waited too long after the release of the original TV series and DYRL to release a sequel. By the time Macross II was released, all but the die-hard fans had forgotten Macross. And let's face it, most people don't hold Macross II in very high regard anyway. My thinking is that if Big West had released a new Macross TV series around 1986 and then followed up with a quality sequel every 2-3 years, Macross would now have the same popularity as Gundam has today. Personally, I've never understood the popularity of Gundam anyway. While some of it is good, I've always felt that Macross has far superior mecha designs, music, characters and story. Graham

Nice legs, shame about the face. Graham

Actually, I thought all the MS in SEED were battery operated, something to do with one side or the other having some sort of gizmo that prevents nuclear powerplants from working? I dunno, I gave up on SEED about half way through, once they started introducing MS with names like 'Calamity Gundam'. And I swear Okawara doesn't really design new MS any more. I bet he's rigged up a software that randomly selects parts from all the MS he's designed in the past quarter of a century and throws them together. Sort of a 'shake-n-bake' MS generator if you will Graham

I've now officially given up on everything to do with Gundam. Horrible, unoriginal MS design. Okawara really needs retiring. Graham

Mospeada (not Robotech) Superposeables have also been popping up in Toys R Us, Jusco Department stores and the UML chain of model/toy shops here in HK recently. I've also seen VF-1 MPCs in HK Toys R Us as well. I guess Toynami is really trying to push sales outside of the US. Graham

(Post with the Richard Simmons pic deleted by me as it has absolutely nothing to do with meaningful discussion about the MPC!) Staying on topic, I didn't realise how big the feet looked in fighter mode until I saw that top view pic. Oh well, I guess I can live with it. I'll just have to not look at the fighter mode from that angle too much. I'm still curious as to whether the gunpod can be attached to either wing. Anybody ask this? Graham

You don't have the HK Zero # 4 DVD yet Keith? It's been out weeks already! Anyway, the subtitles are crap, it's far better to download the fansub instead and of course buy the R2 original from Japan to support Big West I heard about this raid on the news, but I wouldn't sweat it too much. The HK Customs and Police do these raids all the time, but the pirates are always up and running again within a week or two. Graham

I've always found it best in life to keep an open mind and form your own opinions on something by actually experiencing it first hand. It's never a good idea to rely too much on or let yourself be influenced too much by other peoples views. Everyone is different and has their own likes and dislikes Mind you, I've never been one to mindlessly like something just because the Sheeple (AKA the herd) think it's trendy, in, hip (or whatever the current buzz word is). Graham

Heh, I keep promising Guppy to scan him the VF-11 color squadron pics from TIAS Mac PLus, but I never seem to have the time these days Graham

We can but hope I'd also love a VF-5000B and an SW-XA1, VF-3000, VF-22S Max & Milia, VF-17 with FPs, the list goes on and on Graham

eh? do you have a picture of these graham? See the August 1995 issue of B-Club magazine: - Page 1 & Page 2. Graham

I'm still hoping that one day we will see a resculpted, more accurate looking YF-19 from Yamato, hopefully in a larger scale (at least 1/60). I suspect the problems and thus the long delays are caused by two areas of the 19s design which have always been troublesome, namely the shoulder/ lower-leg interface in fighter mode and the front landing gear/folding groin section. In fighter mode, the original Yamato YF-19 had shoulders that sat far too high, giving the fighter a too bulky look, whereas in fact the shoulders should sit very low (actually down into the back of the lower leg) to give the 19 it's sleek streamlined anime look. If we look at other transforming YF/VF-19 toys and models, we see that getting the shoulders to sit down low in the back of the lower leg can be accomplished in the following ways: - 1) Have most of the rear of the lower-leg cut-away ala Bandai's 1/65 scale VF-19 toys. This is the most simple approach but means the battroid's lower leg looks ugly when viewed from the rear as most of it is missing. 2) Have an intricate 'origami style' folding rear lower leg section ala Studio Half Eye's YF-19 garage kit. The may be too delicate and complex for a mass production toy and it also makes it difficult to incorporate a rear landing gear as the inside of the lower leg will be partially taken up by the folding leg panels. 3) The third option, would be to have the back of the battroid's lower leg as a removeable piece which is taken off when the toy is transformed into fighter mode. This would be far the simplest option and would allow the shoulders to sit low enough in fighter mode. Personally, I could accept this, but such an approach may not satisfy the 'perfect transformation' or nothing crowd. The other troublesome area with the YF-19 as mentioned above, is the folding groin section and the front landing gear. These two parts are so close together, that it is extemely difficult to get them accurate to the lineart within the limited space of a toy without the parts interfering with each other, this gets even more complicated when you add battroid hip joints into the mix. No mass production toy or model has gotten the folding groin section correct as per how it is shown folding in the lineart, not Yamato, certainly not Bandai (who didn't even try) and not even SHE. In fact only one custom transformable model kit from one of the hobby magazines ever got it correct. Basically the dilema is that if you make the groin piece correct, then you don't have space to put the front landing gear in the correct position or make it look correct. The SHE kit didn't have any landing gear and remember Yamato's awful partially expossed front landing gear on their YF-19! Even the beautiful custom IHP transforming YF-19 featured in Model Graphix magazine has removeable front landing gear. So, again, it looks like the only way around this problem is to have the front landing gear removeable, which will probably piss people off. However, please consider that the problem is not so much with Yamato, but rather caused by Kawamori, as the YF-19 employs more 'anime-magic' than other Valks in regarding to changing proportions during transformation and this really makes it tough to make an accurate, perfect transformation toy without parts removal. Anyway moving on, I'd also like to see Yamato attempt a complete resculpt of the YF-21 and VF-11, as the present toys are inaccurate in a number of areas. I hope Yamato would consider using a better sculptor than Billy Wong who did the original toys, perhaps either Nishikawa-san who did the 1/48 or IHP's Sakuragawa-san. And I would really like Yamato to try to get their hands on a toy license for Macross 7 & Dynamite 7, as I would really love to see a VF-11C in Macross 7 colors, not to mention a Max and Milia VF-22S as well as a Gamlin VF-22S. Graham

The Bandai 1/65 scale VF-19Kai & VF-19S are very sturdy toys, but are extremely badly proportioned in all 3 modes, lack any hip articulation and have poorly designed, terrible looking landing gear. Also, the VF-19S comes with an incorrect gunpod. Some metal is featured on the joints and hinges, but mostly the toy is plastic. The Bandai 1/65 Scale VF-17D/S Stealth Valkyrie toys are actually among my favorite Valk toys. Although they have zero metal content, they are increadibly sturdy toys. Bandai's sculptors also did an excellent job with the panel lines giving the toy a high level of detail. Actually these toys have more panel lines than the more expensive Wave and Yellow Submarine VF-17 garage kits. On the downside, the toys feature limited knee articulation and look overly chunky in fighter mode when viewed from the side (although they look great viewed from the top IMO). The Bandai VF-17D/S also suffer from poorly designed ugly landing gear. Despite the negatives, I love my VF-17 toys so much I now have 10 of them I've never forgiven Bandai for not releasing the VF-17S Milia and VF-19F toys that were displayed in prototype form at a Japanese toy show back in 1995 Graham

Yamato have stopped talking to me for a few months already. They just do not reply to my emails anymore, no explanation or anything and the phone calls have stopped as well Not sure why this has happened. Well, actually I have a few theories, but I'm not going to air dirty laundry in public. Graham

I'll have to admit that I even prefer Macross 7 to original SDF TV. Ya see although I got into original Macross through the model kits way back 1982 or 83, I didn't actually see any original Macross TV series until about 1986 or 87. And then I was sorta watching it in fits and starts whenever I was able to track down any episodes on rental LD. However, with Macross 7, I got to watch it continuously as it was airing on TV back in 1994 on VHS tapes I was sent from Japan. So I sorta feel a deeper connection with 7 than SDF-TV cus I was watching it almost as it was airing with only a short delay. I gotta disagree that the first 12 episodes are boring. Personally, I think that episode # 1 'Speaker Pod' is a very strong introductory episode. Episode # 7 'Summer Accident' is one of my all time favorite episodes. I mean not only do we get to see Mylene in a bikini, but Gamlin kicks some serious Varauta ass in a VF-11C, proving that it's the man not the machine that matters. Episode # 6 'First Contact' is another of my favorites with Gamlin and Basara's defence of the escape pods being a very moving scene. Episode # 11 'Minmay Video' is also a fun episode. I love the characters in Macross 7, especially Gamlin, Mylene, Max & Milia. Personally I thought it was great that the creators were brave enough to tackle the subject of seperation with Max & Milia and this really added a more serious element to the series. The Valks with human faces, piloted by musicians controlled by over-size joysticks shaped like guitars never bothered me much. I mean they are civilian valks that are supposed to look different to military valks and be easily recognizable 'morale boosters' for the civilian populace. I think most of the mecha designs in Macross 7 are great, especially the VF-17D/S, VF-22S, VF-11C, VF-11C Full Armored, VF-19F/S & Fz-109. I also love Fire Bomber's music, which helps and I have all the CDs. Graham

Damn, I've got one of those myself, so I should have remembered about that. Don't you just hate it when you've got so much Macross stuff that you can't remember half of what you have? Graham

I'm really liking the more drab, darker blue they're using rather than the brighter blue shown on the recent photos on RT.com. makes the Legioss look more military. And from the Armo-Soldier mode pic it looks like they have indluded the detail of the triple barrels on the gunpod muzzle. I'm definitely picking up at least 2 of these and damn the cost. Although I won't know for sure until I've actually handled one, it looks like Toynami have made good this time. Graham