Graham

hmm....

that means the weight of a 1/48+FP is equilibrium to a 1/55+FP or 1/60+FP?

guess i can feel some substance in my hands when i get my FP

Oh yes, you will definitely feel some substance. I recomend you start working out with some weights at the gym in preparation

For those of you who were dissapointed by the light weight of the 1/48 VF-1, you will be pleasantly surprised by just how heavy the Valk becomes with FPs attached.

Graham

Personally, I'm not fussed about the lack of a cockpit view in the new Macross game. While I don't mind having the option of a cockpit view for pure flying games, I definitely prefer a chase view for giant robot games.

Whenever I play a robot game with a cockpit view, I get no feeling of actually piloting a giant robot. This is especially true with Macross games, where a cockpit view gives you little feeling of the difference between the three modes (F/B/G). On the other hand, when I can actually see my mecha (ala VF-X2, Armored Core series etc), it gives me more of a feeling of being in control of a giant robot.

I'd much prefer the designers put in a two-player split screen vs mode and also a survival mode.

Just my 0.2 cents.

Graham

The only diecast content on the FPs is the twin pegs that plug into the holes on the side of the VF-1's backpack.

However the FPs are made from a very solid and weighty plastic. IIRC, the Valk with FPs attached is close to double the weight of a naked Valk.

I don't recall the exact weight, but I'll weigh them tonight when I get home, unless someone else does it first.

Graham

Only the Destroid Monster is confirmed in 1/60 scale for 2004 relaese. No other Destroids are confirmed at this time.

For enemy mecha only the 1/60 scale Q-Rau in Millia, Max and standard colors is confirmed for late 2003, early 2004 release. No other enemy mecha are confirmed at this time.

Graham

How securely does the entire set of armour attach, when you mount the 1/60 armour it usually makes things a bit more floppy. I would love someone to describe the mounts for the armour. Will

The armor attaches very firmly and will not fall off. In fighter mode, the Valk locks together very solidly, except perhaps for the arms, which could do with a better method of locking together, but this applies to the naked VF-1 as well IMO, not just with the FPs attached.

In fighter mode you do have to exercise a little bit of care when you pick up the toy with the FPs attached as it is extremely heavy. If you were to pick it up just by one leg or by the backpack and it slipped and fell, you might risk damage to the Valk, as the weight of the FPs is extreme.

When I pick it up in fighter mode, I usually hold it so that my palm is under the Valk and my thumb and fingers are gently applying sideways pressure to the leg FPs. This keeps the arms from unlocking and dropping and means the Valk is safe from being accidently dropped.

Graham

Quick question,

Can you mount the micro missle pods on the inner hardpoints along the two RMS-1 missles without them "bumping" into each other?

i.e. can you make it look like the payload the valks were carrying at the beginning of DYRL?

Thanks for any info.

Yes you can make the payload from the begining of DYRL. Here's a couple of pics I previously posted in one of the other 1/48 FP threads.

Graham

Running out on the street with a replica (but real looking) M16, that kid's lucky his neighbours didn't call a SWAT team down on his ass.

Although airsoft can be fun it it does often lead to somewhat irresponsible and reckless behavior among people who have not recieved proper training in the SAFE use of firearms.

Graham

Hear hear. I could care less how popular it is, and I think the Hoary Froating Head is of the same mind on this one. It's his baby, and why on earth should he have to compromise his vision and integrity for the sake of mass-market appeal? Sure there's the money from merchandising, but I think Kawamori considers himself an artist, and I would say that Macross is his life's work (whether he'll admit to it or not is another story). I think Kawamori-sama is living comfortably enough, and has his priorities straight. No need to sell this one out just yet. I'd much rather Kawamori stick to his guns and do it his way, mass-market appeal be damned. When Macross (Insert Version Here) comes out, I'll tune in to see what's new regardless of when it's released. I might be the only geezer in the nursing home making "swoosh" noises while I fly my (now vintage) Yamato 1/48 around the room, but I'll be a blissfully happy old bastard.

Look at the great music groups of the last few decades - I won't name names since tastes will obviously vary, but think about this: How often do the truly great bands release albums? Do they do it like the bubble-gum pop cookie cutter flash-in-the-pans that Mtv force feeds to the masses with a new album out every 9 months or so until they're burned out and used up and discarded like a used tissue? (breath) Or, do the great ones sometime take YEARS between releases, only putting them out when they have something to say and when they're ready to release it (as opposed to fitting the schedule of some seedy music exec looking to fund a new wing on their Beverly Hills palace)? Macross is like one of the great bands - it might not pull in as many new fans en masse, but the fans it has are devoted, rabid, and unquestionably loyal to a fault.

I say leave Macross to Kawamori's best judgement. Macross 7 aside (and even that's debatable), he hasn't steered us wrong yet, and I don't expect him to. Let the attention-starved children have their new Gundam series and associated merchandise every year. Leave Macross fresh and for the adults who've been around long enough to appreciate it. If I have to wait 5 years for a decent Macross series, so be it. Better that than the alternative ...

P.S. - No disrespect to Gundam fans intended. Hey - I like a few of the series myself. I just don't particularly like the way they keep rehashing essentially the same series over and over with not much new to show for it. It's very obviously become about making money, and not telling a story, which - let's face it - is what brought down even the mighty Star Wars from its pedestal.

Hear, hear! Well said that man.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Graham

Very nice pics ! Congrats ! but the elint head in battroid is so tiny !

Yes, poor VE-1, while in the prototype stage he took a vacation to Papua New Guinea and tangled with a tribe of head-hunters and got his head shrunk

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

  This is exactly what I'm talking about.  I'm about to plunk down for 4 sets of FaSTpacks.  Whos' to say they won't "reissue" it.

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

Oooh, if that's how you react to SEED, I wonder what you'd say if you saw my Gundam Wing models standing next to a Jetfire that someone's dog chewed on.

...

Crap, did I just say that out loud?

Does the condemed have any final words?

...........................

No.

Squad! Take aim........

FIRE!

Graham

I've never seen an episode of Gundam Seed but I own 3 kits.

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

Like others have said in this Thread. Macross is not "Dead" here, but under publicised (big time).

It is still popular here and it would sky-rocket if it had gotten a TV slot. It's just my opinion.

Rob

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

Ya unloaded all of my 1/55s (originals and reissues). Some of the money used to buy 1/48s I've sold most of my 1/60's too. Some of that money used for 1/48s as well

I wouldn't mind seeing a Super O in 1/48. The only problem(for me) is spending all that money just to leave it in fighter mode. That's why I'm undecided on the 1/60 Super O. The battroid mode looks like an after thought.

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

Fellow valkaholics,

I've read on this board that the reason Bandai abandoned their reissues because Macross is not popular in Japan. Is this really, really, true? Come to think of it, the explanation doesn't jive. Yamato's main product line is Macross. Their valkyrie transformation manual is not bilingual because, according to Quadrono639, the toys are meant only for Japanese customers, and that their income from exports is marginal. Now if Macross is a truly dull market in Japan, Yamato would not have prospered to these days.

I believe Macross is very popular, in and outside of Japan. Bandai's decision to not continue with the reissues is due to something else. Otherwise, I say, bring on the reissues! If old mold causes Bandai to be less competitive, then they need to redesign.

How do you feel about it?

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

Yes the 1/48 is probably the best valkyrie toy hands down. However I just can't get over people saying that they'll dump their bandai 1/55s and or their 1/60s. I was shocked to hear Graham dump his Bandai Elint after getting the Yamato.

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

I received my 1st 1/48 Today, A VF-1S Roy arrived and I dont know what to say. I was the biggest Chunky monkey 1/55 Bandai fan and was a avid Yamato 1/60 hater. I was on the fence for over a year on the 1/48 but when I saw the Fast packs i decided to take the plunge. Yea I think its over priced by about $30 or 40 bucks but when i look at it the rest of my collection of all the 1/60's and 1/55's just look sooooo bad. This is the best looking Valk ever and I cant believe how much I love it. It really makes me want to dump the entire collection and just keep the 1/48's, really I just look at it and say what do I need any other Valk for, this is the reference.

Im going to get them all....dam you Yamato!!

Im glad it has no diecast, no leg smashing clang like my 1/60's and the sculpt is dead on.

I just really had no idea how great it looks in person...

Im totally satisfied

Welcome to the 1/48 lovers club

Graham

Finally, is it possible that we're confusing "re-issue" of the 1A etc. with the release of the 1S Hikaru.  Doubtful. . . but I'm just curious just how clear this newsletter is about what will be (re)released.

Best Regards,

H

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

A couple of new pics from the TGS.

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/2...030902/sega.htm

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

Just got my Low Vis yesterday, i do have a few gripes

1) head laser waaayyyy to long (not to mention the head looks small) and i got it caught in the back area when transforming and got a stress mark, so i trimmed it back about 3MM and am going to drill it out and paint it

2) That second little fin on the area that holds the backpack in gerwalk mode is a stupid loose piece and should be molded in

3) Is it me or does the nose of the plane look a little big

4) Takes to long to transform, i wish it was easy as the bandai's, but the sculpt and detail are EXCEPTIONAL

5) Oh, and the hands can be taken off, they should have been screwwed in or positivly attached,

My 50 cents <_<

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