Graham

The figs at the top of the page, the K&M series 2 (Tomahawk, Armored VF-1J etc) have not been released yet. Should be out either end of this month or early next month. The figs at the bottom of the page, the Bandai HG Mission # 3 gashapons (Glaug, Q-Rau, M&M Gerwalks etc) have already been out for several weeks. I have them sitting on my office monitor. Graham

The Q-Rau review is already ready, but I can't show it until the toy is actually released, otherwise the fans in Japan will throw another hissy fit. Graham

Just saw that and corrected it. Graham

Anasazi, do you mind if we use some of these photos on the MW mainpage? HGraham

I'll be adding the March 2004 Model Graphix tonight. It's got a nice two-page spread on the Hasegawa VF-0S. And in the next 2-3 days, I'll be adding the April issues of Hobby Japan, Dengeki Hobby & Model Graphix. Expect more pics of the Yamato 1/100 VF-0S! This weekend I'll be starting some more reviews as well in order to clear my backlog and get up to date. I'll probably start with the 1/60 VT-1 & VE-1 or perhaps the 1/48 VF-1S Hikaru, I haven't quite decided yet. Graham

Wow.....fantastic custom. I've forwarded the link to this topic to Yamato for them to see. I'm sure they'll be very impressed. One thing though, I notice the intake area on the legs is not properly attached in the photos. Graham

It seems to me that the Japanese don't really care about chara/mecha from one show guest appearing in another. However, just imagine the fuss in the US, if for example an episode of Star Trek featured an X-Wing. King George would propably throw a fit Graham

I'm wondering if Macross 7 Trash was just dropped, because well the US publisher may have realised it probably wouldn't have sold very well, not because of any licensing issue. Despite the 'Macross 7' in the title, Trash actually has only a slim connection with Macross 7 and the original characters and sod-all in the way of mecha action. Personally, I don't rate it either as a Macross title or as a stand alone Manga. I'm a hard core Macross 7 fan. I love the anime, characters, and mecha. I have all the toys, models, books and CDs, but to be honest, I'd have no interest in buying an English language version of Trash and I even feel my Japanese editions were a waste of money. Realistically speaking, how many hard core Macross 7 fans are there in the US that would actually buy this manga, a couple of hundred at most? Or perhaps the publisher hoped to sucker Robotech fans into buying it when they saw the name 'Macross' on the cover. Just my 2 cents. Graham

Whoa........before I report this to Yamato so they can pass it on to BW, I want to make sure that the YF-19 is actually going to appear on the comic cover or in the comic. That piece of black and white art is obviously just a rough image, not the final cover. So let's just wait and see. Anyway, even reporting it to Yamato may not achieve anything. I reported the Toynami DYRL Super Poseables a week or so ago and so far have not recieved a reply I'm beginning to wonder if there is something going on behind the scenes with HG and BW that we don't know about yet. Graham

Try PMing Blackaces, he usually has info on show dates. Graham

Back in 2002, when I went to the Tokyo Toy Fair, the first two days were for industry people only and the last 1 or 2 days it's open to the public, although of course you have to pay to get in. Graham

Giant Robo was one of the first anime titles to get a HK DVD bootleg box set release a few years ago when anime DVD bootlegs with English subs started to appear. However, the HK set (I forget by which company it was by) had the most appalling subtitles I have ever read. The sentence structure just did not make sense at all and all the characters names were completely changed to either Chinese names or total stupid sounding made-up names. The subs were so bad that I really had to force myself to sit through the whole thing and once I'd finshed, I threw it out at once. One word of warning about Giant Robo. If you are expecting lots of mecha action (as I was), you will be very disappointed. Apart from the first episode, there is hardly any mecha action at all. Most of the action (and there is quite a lot of it) is in the form of hand to hand combat or gunfights between the characters. Giant Robo is well animated and has a good story (I suppose). It certainly has a fairly large fanbase, but I just didn't enjoy it much due to the lack of mecha action. Out of the recent Super Robot genre titles, I far prefered Shin Getter Robo Armageddon and Mazinkaizer, both of which featured far more mecha action. Graham

$150 is a very good price for a Bandai 1/55 Strike Valk with box and all accessories, even if it is yellowed. However, as others have mentioned, this one has been modified and the forearms are either no longer the original parts or they have been repainted. Without examining the toy in person or seeing some close-up photos, it's difficult to tell what else may have been replaced or modified. Still, $150 is not too bad even just for the FAST packs Graham

It's not too expensive to get in. IIRC, last time I went to the Tokyo Toy Fest a couple of years ago it cost between ¥1,500-¥2,500 to get in (I forget the exact amount). Graham

Noel (Blackaces) is in Tokyo at this moment. Graham

Just added some updates to the site:- 1) The long overdue VF-11B FAST Pack review. 2) Dengeki Hobby Feb & March 2004 scans here. 3) Hobby Japan March 2004 scans here. 4) Character Model Winter 2004 scans here. Graham

Hmm....first time ever I've seen that part break on a 1/48, strange! Need to check is it actually screwed or rivited in place as well. If it's rivited in place, you'd probably need to get a whole replacement backplate assembly. I wish people would stop calling the 1/48s fragile though. IMO, they are pretty tough toys, with the exception of part # BP8, which even I admit is too fragile and needs to be handled with care. The only parts I've ever heard of breaking on a 1/48 are several backpack hinges (part #BP8), a couple of head lasers, but that's usually through carelessness and I think on one or two occasions the canopy hinge. But considering the total quantities produced, there has been little to complain about generally. Still, it does suck though when something does break on such an expensive toy. Graham

That depends on how many official color scheme's there are of this model in Mac Zero. So far there have been three color schemes shown in the animation: - 1) Nora's SV-51. 2) D.D. Ivano's SV-51. 3) Tan Cannon Fodder. SV-51. Graham

Looks nice, but how about adding a US Army style 'Chocolate Chip' desert camo scheme. And that purple Heat hawk really clashes. IMO it really needs to be a darker color, maybe gun metal grey or something. Graham

Yep, I've been told that the GBP-1S Armor will fit all 1/60 Valks, except for the two-seaters VF-1D, VT-1 & VE-1. Not sure if the armor set by itself comes with the big hands, but i presume so. Graham

The charcters kill this show for me. The main character is one of the most annoying in anime history. I just cannot take angsty main characters in anime anymore. In real life, the main character (Rei?) would never have made it as a military pilot the way he acts. Graham

Err...they should have identical articulation as they both use the same basic battroid body, just one has FAST Packs and the other doesn't. The only real difference between the two kits is that the Strike battroid should have the newer 'improved' stronger hips, while the standard battroid has the older hip design, which is supposed to be quite fragile. Graham

Not a Trekkie, but I don't mind watching TOS, TNG and DS9 if they are on. Never liked the characters in Voyager, although I've only seen around 3 episodes, so maybe I'm not giving it a chance. Enterprise hasn't been shown here in HK yet, but I did catch a few eps last time I was back in UK. However, what I saw seemed really dull and lacking in any atmosphere. For me Star Trek is one of those franchise, that I don't mind watching if it's on TV, but I certainly don't like it enough to buy the DVDs, toys, models etc. Graham

This is just my guess, nothing official, but I think either a Kakizaki DYRL VF-1A or a VF-1A Cannon Fodder are most likely. Graham

Like most resin kits, they are produced in fairly limited quantites, so yes they are fairly rare and expensive. The molds used to make resin garage kits don't last for long, so unless somebody recasts them, it's possible that we may not see these kits being made again. It seems like SHE has moved onto Super Robots as they have not made a Macross product for a long time, basically since Yamato came on the scene. Possibly they have not renewed their Macross license with BW I have owned the YF-19, YF-21 and the VF-5000B (ver.1). However, not being a modeller, I hired somebody to build these for me, this being prior to Yamato releasing their Macross Plus toys. The YF-19 and YF-21 look nice, but depend mainly on screw tension to keep everything tight. This results in very floppy kits. Also, they are very fragile and prone to paint chipping during transformation. If you want a transforming Valk, buy a Yamato or Bandai toy. If you want a nice looking fighter model, buy a Hasegawa kit. The SHE perfect variable Macross kits were fairly revolutionery for their time, but this day and age when we have far more choice, I can't really recommend them. Graham