Graham

As Hurin said, it doesn't make sense for Yamto to produce as many FPs as the total number of Valks produced, as not everybody who bought a Valk will buy an FP. I've no idea of the production run size, but if the FPs do sell out quickly and retailers start demanding more stock, I'm sure Yamato will do a second production run. Dont worry, be happy Graham

Well, if Yamato do reissue the FAST packs, I'm sure it will be beacuse the demand is so high and the first batch sold out, not because there is anything wrong with them. There's not, they are perfect. Well, the RMS-1 missiles are a bit loose on their pylons, but that's the only very minor problem. The FPs are as close to perfect as you can get IMO. Graham

Does the condemed have any final words? ........................... No. Squad! Take aim........ FIRE! Graham

Stone the heretic! Cast out your evil SEED kits, get down on you knees and pray to the hory Froating head for forgiveness I gotta admit back in the dark decade of the mid 80s to mid 90s I must have bought over a hundred Gundam model kits to satisfy my love for mecha (even though I consider 99% of MS designs the ugliest mecha in the history of anime) as at that time there were few decent mecha toys available, so it was a case of buying Gundam models or nothing. These days, I've pretty much renounced all Gundam merchandise, with the sole exception of the Sentinel FIX, as I love Katoki's Sentinel designs so much. Graham

I have the original cartridge. I agree it is a hard game. I've never been able to finish it. And technically, being a Japanese game, you should refer to it as a Super Famicom game, not an SNES game (I know, same system diferent name) Graham

I couldn't agree more Rob. Big West really needs to be more proactive about advertising and they really need to get a new Macross TV series on air as soon as possible and push it as hard as they can. I've heard very vague rumors of a new TV series coming after Zero finishes, but nothing concrete. Perhaps Egan Loo (Macross Compendium) would know something? Personaly, I think BW dropped the ball long ago by not airing a sequel TV series to Macross in the mid-to late 80's (and then a new Macross series every 2-3 years thereafter). Original Macross was pretty damn popular at the time, but BW wasted too much time on other less successful projects before returning to Macross in the 1990s. By that time they had left it too late and a lot of fans had moved on or lost interest. If BW do release a new Macross TV series, I think they would have to go with a more mainstream approach in order to capture a bigger fanbase. While I personaly love Macross 7, it was a little to 'out there' for many people and alienated a lot of fans. This of course begs the question, what do we as fans want in a new Macross TV series? Do we want a more mainstream approach ala Gundam SEED, aimed to appeal to a younger audience and thus sell more toys, models and CDs? Or do we want to trust Kawamori's vision, knowing full well that he may veer off into unpredictable teritory and give us a Macross that while inovative and fresh may only appeal to a limited audience? Graham

I say go for the 1/60 Super Ostrich. It looks loverly in fighter mode. Graham

If it's correct, this will be the first time ever in the history of Macross games that one actually gets released ahead of scheduled. Macross games are infamous for suffering multiple delays and being released months after the first published release date. Graham

While Macross is not as popular as Gundam in Japan, it still has a large hardcore mostly adult fan base there. The reason for the poor sales of the Bandai 1/55 toys in Japan was not the lack of popularity of Macross, but that the majority of the mostly adult Macross fanbase thought the toy was too old school in design. This according to people in Japan who have spoken with Japanese retailers and fans. Of course Yamato's income from exports of Macross toys overseas is mariginal. Actually, it's non existant beause of the HG blockade! However saying there is no overseas market is pure BS! Actually, there is a potentially huge market for overseas sales. If you review the sales figures of parallel (grey) imports of Yamato Macross toys bought by Macoss World members, it works out that the average fan has purchased 12 Yamato Macross toys (all scales). This based on a survey of around 200 people. If Yamato were free to export the Macross toys, retail prices could be lowered and sales would be much higher. One only has to look at the large number of Macross models Hasegawa has released over the past few years and continues to release to get an idea of popularity. If the models did not sell well, Hasegawa, would not keep on releasing new models. The same with Yamato. If the Macross Plus 1/72 and DYRL 1/60 and 1/48 toys were not selling well enough for Yamato to recover their costs and actually make a profit, they would not keep on releasing new toys. Graham

Maybe Graham knows something that we don't? hehehehe Perhaps there's the 1/48 VT and VE somewhere in the R&D stages?! Well, welcome the 1/48 club!!!! My only complaint is still is: THE BOX IS TOO BIG!!! Paulo Nope, no 1/48 VE-1 & VT-1 in development yet as far as I know. Who knows what the future may hold though! I agree that they would be ultra-sweet in 1/48 scale. Basically, my Bandai VE-1 and VT-1 (sold both now) had just been sitting in my closet unloved and unplayed with for the last 3-4 years just taking up valuable space. So as I needed more money to feed my 1/48 love, I had no second thoughts or regrets about offloading them. I won't miss them either. Graham

Welcome to the 1/48 lovers club Graham

That was my first thought as well. I know it won't be that accurate, but could somebody post a Bablefish translation of the Yamato newsletter please. Graham

Absolutely beautiful photos. I'd love to know what type of lighting you used, how you set it up and also what did you use use for the white background? Graham

Interesting. According to the Bablefish translation of the text on this site, it looks like the game release date has been moved forward from October 30 to October 23! Graham

Pfunk, it seems your post is mostly just your opinions of the toy and not legitimate 'what is wrong' complaints. 1) That the head laser is too long is your opinion. It certainly does not qualify as a 'What's wrong with.....' topic. Likewise, getting the head laser caught and stressing it is a user error. The 1/48 VF-1A head laser is actually very easy to clear through the hatch when transforming. 2) The purpose of having the second fin a moving peice is to allow the backpack to sit flatter (lower) in Gerwalk mode. It is a clever design feature, certainly not 'stupid'. 3) The 1/48 is designed to look best in fighter mode, thus the nose is longer than how it appears in the anime in Battroid mode. However, the anime uses anime magic to shrink parts so unless you go the Bandai route and have a short stubby inaccurate nose, it is impossible to have a nose which is lineart accurate in all three modes. 4) Transformation will become quicker with familiarity. What a lot of people don't seem to be able to grasp is that the more points of articulation a toy has, the longer it will take to transform. If the Yamato had the same limited articulation it would be just as quick as the Bandai. What it boils down to is is that everything is a compromise. If you want greater articulation and more features, then you have to suffer slightly slower transformation times. If you want quick easy transformation, but limited articulation, then buy a Bandai. 5) having the hands removable gives the option of adding optional hand sets ala the 1/48 VF-1J Hikaru. Anyway, the 1/48 hands do not fall out easily so what is wrong with this feature? Graham

You have very, very strange tastes in anime! Graham

The white filler peice is essential for Battroid mode, for keeping the backpack locked in place against the extreme weight of the back FAST packs. Without the extra filler piece which doubles as a retaining clip, the backpack hatch unlocks under the weight of the FPs in battroid mode. Graham

The double micro-missiles stay in place fine. The single micro-missiles (the ones at the front of the FP) are a bit loose and some don't stay in too well. It's not a big deal though. Graham

Transforming from Fighter to Gerwalk or Gerwalk to Fighter there is no need to remove or add any parts. If you are transforming to Battroid mode, you need to add the white filler piece behind the neck. Conversely if you are transforming from Battroid to another mode, you need to remove the white filler piece. Graham

Same with me. The toys just looks so beautiful with the FPs I will probably never remove them. Luckily I have enough 1/48s that I can display some with FPs and some without. Graham

Both the arm and leg FAST packs can be removed very easily. However, I have not tried to remove the back FAST backs yet. The metal pegs on the back FAST packs plug into the backpack really tightly and I'm a little worried about twisting and damaging the backpack hinge (part # BP8) when I try to pull off the back FAST packs. Anybody tried installing and removing the back FAST packs multiple times yet to see how the backpack hinge holds up? Graham

That's what I thought at first, but it's actually very easy to remove. How to describe the procedure. Well, basically just twist it to one side and they pop off real easily. If I was at home, I'd take a picture, but I'm not, so I can't Graham

Lucky I don't like Gundam (except for Sentinel). More money to save for Macross goodies, or beer B) Graham

Finally able to view all the movies. Movie # 3 is awesome. Real Macross gunpod sounds...Yay!!!!! Also, it looks like the gunpod does a respectable amount of damage, unlike the gunpods in VF-X and VF-X2, where you had to shoot something for half an hour before it blew up! Graham

I'm getting rid af all my 1/55s as they just look so dated next to the 1/48. However, I'm keeping my 1/60s, at least for the moment. As UN Spacy pointed out, the Q-Rau and Monster are coming out in 1/60 scale and it will be fun to pose them together with the 1/60 Valks. Also, the possibility exists that Yamato will make more enemy mecha and Destroids in 1/60 scale, although this is as yet unconfirmed. While we know that Yamato is going to release the 1/48 VF-1S Hikaru and 1/48 VF-1J Hikaru, we don't know what other VF-1 variants they will release in 1/48 scale. So it is by no means certain that they will release as many variants as they did with the 1/60 line. I imagine that a 1/48 Max & Millia VF-1J toys are a strong possibility, after all it makes good financial sense to maximise use of the existing 1/48 VF-1J tooling. However, there is so far no indication from Yamato that we will see other 1/48 variants such as the VF-1D or VT-1 & VE-1, so these may be strictly limited to 1/60 scale. Graham