Graham

I have a strong feeling that Shin will die in episode #5, perhaps while saving Roy? Graham

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, it's a great time to be a Macross fan! Just a few short years ago most of us didn't have enough Macross toys to fill even a single shelf, now our shelves and display cabinets are overflowing with Macross toys, with many more on the way. Ya know when Yamato first started releasing toys, I was determined to keep all the boxes, but even with flat-packing them it's becoming impossible. Sebastian..........4 display cabinets!!!!!! Is that just for your house in Shanghai or also includes your home in Chile? Graham

Guys the new November 2003 issue of Dengeki Hobby magazine just out today has some color squadron pics for the Longhorn(?) squadron from the new PS2 game. The VF-1A is overall mostly purple with a white nosecone and the backs of the legs are also white. The VF-1J is similar to Hikaru's TV VF-1J, but the stripes are purple instead of red. The VF-1S is in normal VF-1S markings, with purple instead of the normal yell or red bits. Anyway, will scan and post pics when I get home tonight. Graham

Guys, I just picked up the new November 2003 issues of Hobby Japan & Dengeki Hobby and both magazines have color art of the Full Armored VF-0S battroid from episode # 3 of Macross Zero. Unfortunately, the scanner here at work is busted, so I can't scan the pics now, but when I get home tonight I will scan them and post them here. Graham

Graham. Do you have the stands with 4" rods or 6" rods? My display stands are all the 4" version. Until I read this thread, I didn't even know there was a 6" version available. Naughty s i t h l o r d for not telling me. If the rods are interchangeable, I would't mind getting a few 6" rods. Graham

Guys, please bear in mind that from project start to finish it can take anywhere from 1 to 2 years to get a transforming VF toy into production, depending on the complexity of the toy and a whole host of other factors. It is a long drawn out and extremely slow and complicated process. Unfortunately, Yamato are not yet at the stage where they have Star Trek type replicators and can just press a button and instantly out pops a completed toy in the blink of an eyelid. These things take time! They will come when they come and not before (the M0 toys, not the replicators...duh!), so be patient. Also, it doesn't help things that Kawamori was very slow to provide design drawings for The VF-0 & SV-51. Also the guy is so busy these days that anytime Yamato needs access to him to clarify something it can take weeks to get an appointment. As for the scale yes I know, but can't say. However, as I've said before you may be surprised. No, I haven't seen a prototype yet. As for the lineup, remember the more paint variations Yamato release, the quicker they can recover their design and tooling cost, so don't worry guys I'm sure we will get the toys in all variations (Focker, Shin, CF, D.D. Nora...etc) Graham

Although I prefer my Valks in 1/48 scale, I think for the Destroids, which I'm not a big fan of, but would still buy I'd prefer them in 1/60 scale. Plus we already have a complete line of 1/60 Valks to pose with the Destroids. Graham

Yet another case of members forgetting that Macrossworld is more than just the forums......sigh! The answers to most questions like this can be quickly and easily found by checking the toy/model sections of MW or the Compendium. Graham

Yamato are going to make them and they are coming sometime in 2004. No exact release date is given yet, but I would say we can probably expect to see the first toy sometime around the middle of the year. Graham

I'm not a big fan of US style Superheros. I stopped reading Superhero Comics when I was 12. To be honest I find the whole men-in-tights concept extremely lame. However, I did enjoy the Christopher Reeve Superman movies as a kid and also enjoyed the Lois & Clark and Smallville TV shows (nice lite 'switch off the brain and relax' entertainment). I really don't think we need another remake of Superman movie though. As others have said, Christopher Reeve nailed the role. Personally, I think Hollywood needs to give Superhero movies a break. Although the recent X-Men movies were watchable, I found both the Hulk and Daredevil to be real stinkers. And let's not even go into the last few Batman movies. Also, I'm glad Brett Ratner is off the project. I worked on one of his movies in HK once a few years ago (IIRC it was Rush Hour) and didn't get a very good impression of the guy. Graham

Looks cool, but where are the .50 calibre machineguns? Graham

The UMM-7 micro-missile pods, NP-AR-01 arm FAST Packs and HMMP-02 back FAST Pack micro-missile launchers all hold different types (different size & shape) of Micro-missiles. The UMM-7 pods each hold fifteen Bifors HMM-01 micro-missiles. No info is listed for the name & model of the micro-missiles in the arm and back FAST packs. Graham

The stands are great. I bought 3 from s i t h l o r d and cannot recommend them highly enough. My stands are currently being used to display: - 1) 1/48 VF-1A Hikaru w/FPs, fighter mode w/gear up. 2) 1/60 VE-1 fighter mode w/gear up. 3) 1/72 VF-19A fighter mode w/gear up. Graham

The second set will come in February 2004, but it has not been announced which characters will be featured yet. My advice is to preorder as soon as possible as the first set sold out very quickly and many people missed out. Graham

I don't think the VF-1J FP will come with a Strike Cannon. I'm planning to buy one non-FP VF-1J and one VF-1J w/FP. I'll display one in fighter mode and one in battroid mode However, the FPs along with one set of TV hands and one Hikaru TV pilot will be transfered to a spare Focker VF-1S, to make a TV accurate VF-1S. Graham

Hmm....tough choice. The VF-1Js (Hikaru, Max & Millia) are beautiful toys with great head sculpts and nice paint jobs, but in the end I chose the VT-1. It just looks so nice in fighter mode with the FPs and it locks together so solidly. Graham

Not interested. As others have said, there are plenty of F14 models/toys already available from other manufactures. Plus a 1/48 F14 would take up too much valuable shelf space. My money and shelf space is reserved for transforming Macross toys. Graham

Woo Hoo! According to Kanto Hobby, the GFF # 0017a & b Z-Plus C1 red & Blue should hit stores in Hong Kong this coming Tuesday 23rd September! Guess who's going to Mong Kok on his lunch break on Tuesday. Graham

Heh, That's a great moto.....and so true. Can I use it for my signature? Ya know, it gets me that people are complaining about the lack of a GPB together with the VF-1J. I bet if Yamato had announced they were releasing the GBP together with the VF-1J then we would have people complaining that it is too expensive. Whatever you do, you just can't win! It's a case of 'damned if you do, damned if you don't'. Oh well, like they say 'you can't please all the people all of the time' (or ever). Sometimes I wish people would be at least just a little bit grateful. Graham

Of course, I knew this a month ago already, but like most stuff I have a gag order preventing me from telling anybody And it is really frustrating having to read endless post complaing about Yamto forcing people to buy the toy w/FPs, when actually I knew they were going to give people a choice of with and without. Graham

Perhaps in the case of the VF-22/YF-21 it's just a case of more armour protection for the pilot in battroid mode. Unlike most other Valks which have either a sliding heatshield to protect the pilot in battoid mode (VF-1, VF-11) or the cockpit is protected by moving inside the body (YF-19, VF-17), the VF-22/YF-21 leaves the cockpit very exposed in battroid mode. Graham

That's exactly what I'm planning as well, get the TV FPs just to put on the Roy VF-1S. I'll also try to order some extra TV type hands and an extra TV type Hikaru pilot figure to make a TV accurate VF-1S Super (remember, Roy never flew the VF-1S Super in the TV series, he died before the FPs came into use). the only other thing that will need changing is the color of the arrows on the head (DYRL is yellow, TV is black). Graham

The VF-1 starting from block 6 manufacture (the type we see in DYRL) had the holographic HUD, which allowed symbols to be displayed anywhere on the canopy. So as long as the threat is picked up by the various passive or active sensors on the VF, the holographic HUD can display threat direction at the appropriate position on the canopy. This type of holographic HUD is also seen in the VF-11B in the opening fight of Macross Plus episode # 1. Presumably there is also an audible warning to alert pilots of the direction of an approaching enemy or missile(s). Some VFs obviosly have better canopy visibility than others. Probably the top contenders would be the VF-11 and VF-5000, which has a very high mounted bubble canopy. For dogfighting, the canopy with the worst visibility would have to be on the VF-17, although I imagine that holographic HUD and advanced sensors probably make up for the poor visibility at least to some degree. Mind you, I think the VF-17 was designed as more of a strike fighter rather than a pure dogfighter, although for most of Macross 7, it seems to serve as a rapid response interceptor. Graham

Good job Mcpaz. You have saved me some work. I had actually compiled the figures on an Excel spreadsheet, but hadn't updated it past page 11. Graham

Yes, it's confirmed that the Hikaru VF-1A and Roy VF-1S are being reissued in late October along with the new release of the VF-1S Hikaru. I'm 99.99% sure the reissues will have the updated nose cones, radars and flaps as the molds for these parts have been modified, it doesn't make sense to change them back again. Graham