Graham

Despite the red and blue being the "official" heat shield colours for the Hikaru and Max VF-1S's, I personally think a black heat shield would look best to stay consistent with Roy's black heat shield. I know that Graham had previously mentioned that he thinks the heat shield should be the same as the skull logo on the fast packs, but I think it should have been consistent with the constant black stripe on the chest plate of all the DYRL valks. Heat shield of VF-1A's should be the same colour as the lower stripe, but the few VF-1S's should be more distinct with all black, regardless of who is piloting.

Just my opinion...

I also think that a 1/48 Hikaru VF-1S would look more distinctive with a black heat shield. Makes it more special compared to the 1/48 Hikaru VF-1A.

For those of you who think the black heatshields look better on the Hikaru VF-1S, you can always try to order a black 1/48 heatshield through Monkey-N (Rob). See the thread here.

Graham

ok. dagnabbit!

now i want that SD VF-1S Hikaru.

Oh well, too late. I sold mine recently.

Graham

And it would take 26 half hour episodes just to finish a single game

Graham

Yes there is an upcoming 1/48 Hikaru 1s.... or was it already out? It has black heatshield.

Hmmmm. Link me to a pic... The only Hikaru DYRL 1S toy I have ever seen was the one made by Bandai, and that had a BLACK heatshield.

Don't forget the Bandai 1/72 HCM VF-1S Hikaru, that had a red heatshield!

And of course, even Bandai later made a correct red clip on heatshield for the 1/55 VF-1S Strike Valkyrie. See here.

Banpresto made an SD VF-1S Hikaru with red heatshield and removable Strike Armor a couple of years ago.

Graham

Get both.

If I had to choose though, it would be Hikaru as I've always prefered his colors over Roy's.

Graham

Oh yeah...

how did I forget about the ton of weapons lying around

Anybondy need a highlander sword?

There can be only one!

Graham

Macross is my main passion. I'm also into lot's of other stuff, but not to anywhere like the same degree of seriousness.

I also used to be heavily into IPSC shooting and used to own a Glock 21, Glock 17, S&W 745, S&W 629 and a Remington 870. However, the high expense of shooting in HK, not to mention the restrictive gun laws here meant I had to give that up. May get back into it later tho.

Also into martial arts. Used to study Wing Chun, but have decided to switch to Kali (first lesson tonight), wish me luck.

I also like cats and have 4 at the moment. Seems like lots of MW members like cats. Wonder if there is a connection between cats and Macross?

Graham

If I ask nicely, I can probably get a sample to review. But to be honest, I'm really not that interested.

While I quite liked the Escaflowne anime, the mecha designs don't really attract me enough to want to own the toy.

Anyway, I've go so many reviews and articles backlogged to write it's not funny.

Graham

Sorry, officially Max's VF-1S heatshield is blue, just as Hikaru's VF-1S heatshield is officially red.

Graham

While not the world's greatest movie, I quite enjoyed the first Resident Evil movie.

In fact, I even went to see it twice at the cinema and bought the DVD (I'm a sucker for zombie movies).

I still think it would have been much better if George Romero had directed as originally planned.

Graham

I never paint my AMM-1 missiles.

I gotta say, IMO the red tips just do not match with the low-vis color scheme.

Graham

A live action GI Joe movie, dear god why? The cartoon was bad enough.

Normally I don't like to judge movies before seeing them, but I can tell this is going to suck bigger than a giant sucking machine manufactured on the planet of Suck!

I suppose it will be filled with dozens of D grade actors that nobody has ever heard of and there will be thousands of rounds fired, but no one ever gets shot or killed, ditto the A-Team movie.

Oh well, I suppose there will be some preteens somewhere in the world who may like it.

The best thing for somebody to do to Hollywood right now would be to drop a nuke on it.

Graham

Back in the mid-90's when they first came out I built all the 1/144 and 1/100 Bandai Macross 7 kits.

As I'm not really a model builder and have no talent with paint, putty or glue, I just snap-fitted them together and slapped on only the bare minimum of paint necessary on certain parts, i.e. VF-11B's FAST packs and feet. I even kit-bashed some VF-11B fighter with FAST packs. Think I've still got some blurry photos somewhere.

I also once paid a skilled model builder to paint the 1/100 VF-19S in a special custom Roy Focker color scheme. Unfortunately that's long gone now, broken as inevitably happens to most plastic models.

Graham

I love my Yamato VE-1 and VT-1. Luckily no QC problems on mine and they transform smoothly and lock together very tightly. My only minor complaint is that the backpack hinge lock is if anything a little too tight

I've only transformed them once, but didn't have any problems. These two toys will be displayed permanently in fighter mode, as that is how they are shown most of the time in DYRL and look best in that mode IMO.

I even sold my old, yellowed and fugly (IMO) Bandai 1/55 VE-1 and VT-1 after getting the Yamatos.

Graham

The more I look at 1/48s in Battroid mode, the more I see in my mind's eye how badly distorted the GBP may be due to the nosecone's length. Even for the 1/60s, I expect the armor to be highly restrictive if it's ever made. We should forget about any cool poses for an Armored Valk - it's either hatches open or closed. And that should be cool enough. :-)

Drifand is right, due to the length of the 1/48's nosecone the groin armor on the GBP would need to be disproportionaly long.

However, I was thinking about this and what if you had to remove the nosecone first before attaching the groin armor. While not anime accurate, it would certainly reduce the length of the GBP groin armor. What do you all think, would you accept having to remove the nosecone to attach the armor or not?

Personally, if it gave better looking armor I don't think it would bother me at all.

Graham

Is MPC worth the price plus the fastpacks?

Is bandai ever gonna continue to the Milla and Max super upgrades?

yamato looks great but i don't like that its not perfect transformation...

1) I don't usually like answering questions about worth as it is too subjective. All I will say for the MPC as with any product is read as many reviews as possible, try to see and/or handle one in person, take some time to look around for the best price and then make up your own mind.

2) I doubt that Bandai will release 1/55 Max and Millia Super upgrades. That is not something that either Bandai or Takatoku ever previously released and Bandai are not noted for their originality when it comes to Macross. There is a slim chance Bandai may continue with the 1/55 reissues next year for the 20th anniversary of DYRL and reissue the Strike Valkyrie, Super Ostrich and Elintseeker, but I wouldn't count on it.

3) As others have noted, the Yamato 1/48 offers perfect transformation, whereas the 1/60 does not. However, both the 1/48 and 1/60 have more detail and feature more articulation than the Bandai 1/55. The Yamatos should be considered as 'Adult Collectibles' and are not suitable for children, whereas the tougher Bandai 1/55s are more toy-like and are suitable for children.

Graham

Only Graham knows

Yes I do, but I ain't saying.

Graham

Awesome 1/55 custom Super-O.

Graham

The countdown is over!

Wow, Great DYRL pose! Classic photo!

I've been waiting for somebody with a 1/48 Hikaru VF-1S custom to recreate that classic pose.

Graham

these are the toys I've being wanting and dreaming of since I first saw DYRL in 1986. They are absolutely beautiful. The design, quality and finishing is first rate.

Boy, with the VT-1 & VE-1 as well, it sure was an expensive weekend. Anyway, here's a few quick pics.

Graham

Graham. . .

Tell me about it. I felt the same way after I saw DYRL too!!!

I've been hoping to get a set to display in a pre-launch scene.

And now Yamato comes thorugh with outstanding toys. . .

Can't wait to get back home in 30 days.

Then, the fun will really begin!!!!

And my wife is still recovering from the price tag

Yay, Darkwind's back!

Haven't heard from you in ages. Guess you've been away in some nasty places blowing stuff up

Anyway, glad that you are safe. The FAST Packs will be a nice homecoming present for you.

Graham

I have never said that an SDF-1 is definitely going to be made.

As with many Macross items, it's something which is under consideration for possible future production. Which means it may or may not get made.

My personal opinion is that the chances of seeing an SDF-1 toy from Yamato are only poor to fair as unlike the VF-1, they can't release endless repaints to recover tooling and design costs

If it does get made, I'm pretty certain they would make the DYRL version though, rather than the TV version, which suits me fine as IMO the DYRL version looks much better.

Graham

I haven't heard anything about this for ages and every time I talk with Yamato I keep forgeting to ask

I'm pretty sure it's a dead project though. probably the interest from Japanese fans wasn't high enough to warrant going into production.

Graham

hey graham, could you post a pic of it? im curious as to what it would look like too

i think this guy serendipitously found the elusive 4th mode!

edit: PUT HIS FAST PACKS OR STRIKE CANNON ON ALSO !!!!!!!!!! B)

I'll try it when I get home tonight in about another 5 hours.

I doubt it would work with the FPs though as those things are just so darn heavy.

Graham

Movie # 9 with the VF-1 in space shows the wingtip roll thrusters in use, which is pretty cool.

Graham

I'm sorta glad the MPC Alpha has been delayed as it means that hopefully Toynami is taking their time to work out any bugs and improve the product.

Also, it will help to give my wallet a rest, although there's still lots of other stuff I want coming out this year

Graham