Graham

I've already emailed Yamato about this. Waiting for a reply. Also, I noticed on the Toynami DYRL figs, that the arm FPs are the TV type, with the slanted front. Graham

Actually, I was under the impression that the Sea Harrier could hold it's own quite well in air-to-air combat, even against supposedly superior and more modern aircraft. One of my favorite books is 'Sea Harrier Over the Falklands' by Commander Sharkey Ward, who was one of the Sea Harrier squadron Commanders (800 or 801 sqdn, I forget?), during the Falklands war. Anyway, in one chapter of the book he talks about how the RAF Sea Harriers used to practice against US planes stationed in UK and Germany and they were frequently able to beat even US F-15s in mock combat. Graham

Don't go there, that's treading on dangerous waters! Graham

I suppose with a HG R1 release the obligatory bad anime dub is inevitable. However, as long as there is an option to switch to the original Japanese dialog with English subs, then I'll be a happy camper. All I can say is that if HG does release any Macross titles, they better not mess with the music! Graham

If an agreement has been reached between HG & BW, then perhaps within a year, we'll see a HG box set of Macross Zero, hopefully uncut and with subs (I loath dubbed anime). Still, it's all conjecture at this time. Hey, I wonder if Toynami releasing a Kakizaki DYRL toy will finally be the push that Yamato needs to release a 1/48 DYRL Kakizaki? Now I'd buy that for sure! Graham

AFAIK, he JSF is designed to replace a lot of different aircraft, not just the F-16. Plus the JSF is mostly (70%) optimised for ground attack missions, not air to air unlike the F16. IIRC, the F-35's payload is pretty small if just using internal weapon bays. Of course using external pylons, the payload increases greatly, but then stealth goes out of the window. Basically, you have an aircrart that is probably going to be complicated and difficult to maintain, has a limited payload if it wants to remain stealthy. Has poor rear visibilty due to not having a raised buble canopy (how many times do aircraft designers need to relearn this lesson). Has no internal gun on most versions. Has little ability to defend itself in a close-in dogfight, due to the inability to carry a short range AAM. Is not really faster or more manueverable than many other modern fighters. IMO It's one big compromise that doesn't really perform especially well in any area. Graham

The F/A-22 will be able to beat the Eurofighter, Gripen and Rafale, but the Eurofighter is supposed to be better than the Gripen and Rafale and any older planes the US has, including the F-15, F-16 and F/A-18. Graham

I believe there is also a Cat translator and they are also working on making a baby translator as well. Graham

I'm no HG lover, but if BW is now willing to deal with HG and license Macross properties to them, this could potentially be a good situation for us. That is of course only if HG is willing to release pure Macross anime, i.e. subbed, completely uncut and unedited, with all orignial character names retained and no mention at all of Robotech. Graham

Whoa......just came online and it's like WTF! Did I go to sleep last night only to wake up this morning in an alternate dimension, where reality as we know it has been turned upside down? Anyway, until we get some concrete information, the way I see it is that either HG is just try to see how far they can push the envelope or they have been secretly negotiating with BW recently. Graham

Mostly to do with the above points, rather than details and gimmickry. Graham

Actually, the VF-0's hands do not retract into the arms in fighter mode. They are permanently out in all three modes. Graham

Oh, I didn't know we could post photos in the profiles again. I'll have to post something tonight when I get home. Graham

The 12" Guts Black Swordsman figure is by Dragon Models. All the Universal Model Limited (UML) shops in HK have this figure in stock, as UML is the retail arm of Dragon Models. Anyway, IIRC it's selling for the insane price of HK$1,300 (US$167), which is way too much IMO for a 12" action figure. Here's the link to the relevant page of the Dragon Models website. Graham

That one is the McNell Douglar F203 Dragon II. See Compendium. Graham

Yep, it's the Mikolev MiM-31 Karyobin. See the Macross Compendium entry. Graham

He want's big hands, I want a Yamato style big nosecone. Hey, we just gotta learn to live with what we were born with, unless you consider cosmetic surgery that is. Implants anyone? Hey, I wonder if Zentradi resizing chambers can selectively macronize specific parts of the body? Graham

OT a bit, but I'm curious, why was episode # 1 cut? I don't recall there being any 'questionable' content. Graham

I'm not a big fan of the JSF concept. It seems to be too much of a 'Jack-of-all-trades' plane IMO. It tries to be too many things at once and does nothing very well. Limited payload, unless external pylons are added, which compromises stealth. No gun on some models (will they never learn). Sure you can add a gun pack in the internal bay, but that ties up space needed for other ordnance. Limited self defence capability. Can't carry Sidewinders internally (seeker head partially blocked by body) so has to use AMRAAMS instead. OK for medium to long range, but not so good in a knife fight (and when is BRV combat ever allowed anyway)! Poor rear visibilty. Not really faster or more agile than existing planes. No off-boresight targetting (like most US planes)! I know that the JSF is supposed to be 70% geared towards ground missions and 30% for air-to-air, but it seems curiously poorly suited for both IMO. And yes I know that the JSF is supposed to use internal weapons only for the early days of a campaign thus maximizing stealth and will only start carrying external weapons only once air superiority has been acheived. However, even with air superiority, there may still be ground threats that haven't been neutralized, long into the campaign. It always makes me smile when I read about how short range air-to-air combat is a thing of the past and that all air combats will take place at long ranges with missiles (people having been saying this for what, the last 50 years LOL!). In theory this sounds good, but modern rules of enagement are so tough, especially when operating in an environment with other allied forces aircraft, i.e. Desert Storm or pretty much every NATO/allied joint operation in the past decade, that getting a visual ID before firing is essential. I think the US is placing far too much emphasis on radar defeating stealth recently. It's expensive and difficult to maintain and Infra Red Search & Track (IRST) sytems are improving by leaps and bounds that an aircraft with a good IRST system will probably be able to detect, track, lock-on and fire at a so called 'Stealthy' F-35 or F/A-22 anyway. Personally, I think the the Europeans have the right idea about multi-role planes with the Gripen, Typhoon and Rafale, which I think are superior to anything the US has in the air, except probably the F/A-22. Graham

Note, as this is not a Macross question it is being moved to the 'Other Anime & Science Fiction' forum. Graham

Whoops sorry, thought I'd answered this a long time ago. It looks like I'm not going to need the decal set , but thanks for remembering. Graham

It also left a Valk's decapitated body lying on the floor next to his own severed head. A head which at this time has no name. I know his name. There can be only one! I have something to say! It's better to burn out, than to fade away! Graham

LOL....not true. The 1/55 is a very tough toy. Graham

I use forward view all the time in VF-X2. It's the only way to play! I've never had a problem with it on both my original disk or my bootleg copy. Graham

For those of you in HK, I found one shop yesterday that had the VF-0S in stock. It's that small hobby shop on the 1/F of Causeway Bay Center, just to the right as you go up the stairs. It was selling for HK$199, which I think is a bit too expensive. They had about 3-4 remaining. I didn't buy one. Graham