Graham

I've never bought into the whole premise in Gundam that just beacuse radar is mostly nulified by minovsky particles that combat has to be mostly a point blank "bash-em-over-the-head" type affair. In modern warfare, tanks shoot other tanks at ranges of 3-4km. Optically guided TOW missiles have a range of 3km. IR homing missiles like the Sidewinder have a range of at least 10km. When you have modern ranged weapons, swords and axes become obsolete. this is why infantry today fight with rifles and machineguns instead of running around chopping each other up with swords Graham

I'd much rather they make a 1/48 VT-1 Super Ostrich. I'm more a DYRL fan than a TV design fan. I don't know whether they have changed their minds or not, but in the past (about a year ago) Yamato did mention to me that there would be no 2-seat 1/48 toys. Graham

As JsARCLIGHT said, you don't bring a knife to a gunfight, or in the case of Macross a gun & missile fight I've always felt that Macross portrays giant mecha and giant mecha combat in a far more realistic manner than Gundam. This is especially true of Macross Zero and Macross Plus. As I've stated in another thread recently, in my opinion Kawamori and Itano have a far better grasp on military technology and combat tactics than Tomino. If you have a giant mecha bristing with projectile weapons, beam weapons and missiles and capable of supersonic (or in somecases hypersonic) speeds, it's pretty silly to go charging at each other with giant swords and axes (if you want to live that is) Using a real world example (sorta), I've yet to see an M1 Abrams tank with a Lance strapped to it's barrel go charging at another tank like a Knight of old (although jousting tanks would be kinda cool to see IMO) There may be certain rare occasions when close-quarter mecha combat may take place, such as urban combat in a city or combat within the confines of a ship, but this would be the exception rather than the rule and in most cases ranged weapons could still be used and are superior to any melee weapon. And as others have said for emergencies, VFs have fists and feet for punching and kicking and can use gunpods as clubs. The VF-11B has a bayonet and the YF/VF-19 and YF-21 and VF-22 (and maybe other VFs) also can perform a pin-point barrier punch. One-on-one Gundam style beam sabre melee combats may look cool in anime, but IMO are not very realistic and are there purely for the 'visual coolness' factor rather than any percieved attempt at realism. OK, I know we're talking about giant anime robots, so any discussion on 'realism' is highly subjective. However, I've always thought mecha combat in Gundam is generally fairly unrealistic for a show which is supposed to be a 'real robot' anime. Graham

I think June, but I'm not too sure. Graham

Actually, I prefer glass display cases. Open shelves = dust magnets. Graham

I'd rather Big West release a new Macross TV series or OVA, rather than reanimate SDF Macross. However, if it was to be reanimated with better art, I also think that the original voice, song and BGM soundtracks should be retained. Oh, and I'd also like more Minmay fan service as well...........lots more Graham

I second that we really need a 'Soul Of Reality' line from Bandai, just leave out Gundam. There's too many Gundam toy lines in existence already. And Yamatos' got Votoms covered with the upcoming 1/12 scale toy Let Bandai give other Real Robots some love. I'd love to see the following real robots included in an 'SoR' toy line: - Orguss. Dorvack. Dragonar. Metal Skin Panic Bubble Gum Crisis. Megazone 23. Gasaraki. Blue Gender Patlabor. Graham

I didn't necessarily mean that is the first time they meet, just that Edgars' funeral will show them meeting up again. Or maybe it is the first time. Afterall, Kawamori has already admit that continuity is taking a backseat to story telling. Graham

Regarding the meeting of Roy and Claudia, I'm betting that Edgar dies by episode # 5 and Roy will be shown meeting Claudia at Edgars funeral. Graham

Great show in its uncut form and highly under rated IMO. One of my all time favorite mecha anime. It's got great action scenes, an interesting story, realistic military style robots, giant bugs, lots of death and mutilation and great BGM and opening song. What more could you want? My one wish is for an art book and some toys of the mecha. Graham

It looks like the sculpt already shown. Graham

Actually, Briareos now going under the MW name 'Physioguy', submitted pics for the MW custom toy gallery a few weeks ago. You can see them here. Also, this custom TV type Q-Rau was already discussed in two older topics here back in March, and early April here.. Graham

Aghhh.....I want Yamato to make the VF-17 and VA-3 from those pics into toys. Graham

Busy, busy, busy. Only about 5 weeks left now until our first child is born. Things are getting hectic. So many things to buy and prepare for. Graham

There's some more and larger pics of the VF-0D up in the MW magazine section. See June 2004 issue. Graham

In most color art of the Max and Miria VF-1J, the head lasers are shown as being blue/red, so I think Yamato got them correct on the 1/48 and wrong on the 1/60. Graham

There's a short trailer for Macross Zero episode # 4 on the Bandai Visual site. Graham

From the bottom left picture, it looks like Roy rescues Aries. Graham

While I like the head sculpt, I'm really disappointed with the wings. The narrow section of the wing is far too short. Compare the wings of the 1/100 toy with the Hasegawa model kit, which has a much longer narrow section. Graham

Here's some more pics from the new June 2004 issue of Hobby Japan. This still appears to be the old sculpt, as the promised modifications to the fugly hips have obviously not been made yet. Graham

And the last one for tonight. Graham

And some more. Graham

Here's the pics of the custom Shin type VF-0D. Larger (and more) scans will be going up in the MW magazine section over the weekend. Graham

Here's some more screen shots from episode # 4, as well as the first look at the DVD cover. Great cover IMO. Wonder if it means Nora gets a new identical SV-51? Graham

Here's the first black and white and color line-art of the Octos from episode # 3. A larger version of this scan whill be going up in he MW magazine section over the weekend. Graham