Graham

You still see the MK.II HCMs quite frequently in toy shops here in HK. I think they sell for between HK$120-HK$160 (US$15-US$20). And yes, they do have opening cockpits. The beam sabres are one piece grey plastic though, so need painting to look good. Graham

Interesting ! die-cast ! because I really want the HCM Gundam MKII and you can forget the FIX MKII to expensive! IMO the HCM MK.II does not really have a very good sculpt, the head is a bit wrong, plus I find the body a little chunky. Also, it does not come with a bazooka. If you want an accurate looking, well articulated, relatively cheap MK.II toy, IMO the MSiA is far better than the HCM. Graham

Yup, I'm with you there, bring back models, epecially model space ships. Graham

There's a transforming 747 in this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was thinking of checking it out after reading the review, but I may pass now. Graham

It's not confirmed yet, but it should be somewhere around ¥4,000 I think. Graham

If you think that you might possibly later regret selling them, then don't sell them. Personally, I've found that if you think you might regret getting rid of a toy, you usually will regret it sooner or later. Graham

If you already have the seperate 1/48 FAST pack set and don't want or need another FAST pack, then just buy the standard (blue box) VF-1J without FAST pack. If however, you don't already own a FAST pack set then I would say spend the extra money and buy the VF-1J with FAST packs. Graham

Well, I just went again and checked 2 branches of Animate, one branch of Kanto Hobby, plus a few other smaller toy shops during my lunch break and the Q-Rau is still not in toy shops in Hong Kong yet (at least not in the MOng Kok district). Graham

Hmm........interesting, that's the first reference I've seen to the F-35B (STOVL ver) having an optional external gun. Previously, I'd read that it could be fitted with an optional gunpack in the internal weapons bay, which replaced one of the two bombs. In order to ba able to fire this gun pack, I'd presumed the bay doors would have to open and the gunpack extend out to be able to fire. Looks like I was wrong about this. Anyway, I just found this very interesting page about the F-35 Weapons Capacity. Didn't know it would have a 25mm gun like the Harrier rather than the 20mm standard on most US fighters.....interesting. Graham

A door knob! Better don't tell Agent One.....the results would not be pleasant. Graham

1/60 would be nice and would be about the same size as the 1/48 VF-1. Graham

Hope you can find the pics, I'd love to see that! Graham

Just wondering has anybody ever attempted to custom a Bandai 1/65 VF-17S Stealth Valkyrie in Millia color? Graham

I thought Christian Bale was also excellent in Equillibrium. Graham

Yep, definitely interested in seeing custom Mac 7 toys (have to add a 1/65 category tho) and custom Yammie VF-11 toys as well. Graham

Good idea and I'll have a think about it, but it would be several hours of extra work and I ain't getting paid for this ya know Graham

Actually, I'm a bit worried about Egan. It has been longer than normal since his last update. He was supoposed to have an update in December, but then delayed it several times due to a lengthy illness. At least back in early January, he was still updating the date for the next update, but even that has stopped. I hope he is just busy with work or something and not still sick. Graham

I just checked out Animate and a few other toy shops during my lunch break and I could not see the Q-Rau yet. Also, those ebay auctions are all using the stock publicity pics, so it's doubtful the sellers actually have them on hand yet. Thus, I'm not putting up my review until I see some definitive proof that the toy is actually out, otherwise I'll get in trouble with Yamato. Graham

Some great links there, thanks. I'll get them all uploaded to the MW Custom Toy Gallery this coming Saturday. Graham

Ah, if it's released today, I can get my review up then. Graham

Wow.....fantastic work so far. I definitely want pics of the finished custom for the MW custom toy gallery. Graham

Guys, I need some more submissions for the custom toy gallery. I'm sure I've seen a few VF-1A DYRL Kakizaki 1/60, 1/55 and 1/48 customs in the past, so where are they? Also, Sebastian, didn't you do a low-viz 1/60 once? Also any 1/72 Yamato Macross Plus customs? Jaw Jaw, I will get your 1/55 pics uploaded soon, probably at the weekend. Graham

Guppy & I found the Bandai VF-1A Cannon Fodder reissue for only HK$150 (less than US$20)! Five years ago, who would have thought you would be able to buy a brand new 1/55 for so little. Graham

The missile pods on the back do open and close. It's only the hip pods where you have to pop off the closed covers and replace them with the open covers. Graham

I think the IRST on the F14D is a fairly old look down system. AFAIK, on the Eurofighter the IRST image can be displayed on the HUD, so the pilot doesn't need to go heads down. And combined with the helmet mounted sight, off-boresight targeting, low radar cross section, direct voice input, excellent defensive systems, super cruise and low radar cross section makes the Eurofighter an excellent dual role (air and ground) machine (well, at least it will be in it's full-up Tranch 2 or Tranch 3 configuration). I'll have to check all my literature on the Eurofighter, but I think all versions, both single and dual seat retain the cannon. However, I know that some versions of the French Rafale have deleted it. I think the 2-seat M (marine) version doesn't have it), but I need to check. The VF-0 also has other advantages over the VF-1, such as an active stealth system and the leg mounted atmospheric FAST packs with micro-missile launchers, meaning in an atmosphere the VF-0 carries more missiles than the VF-1. Graham