Graham

Although if you want to nitpick, the VF-11B (both original and FP) is not actually 1/72 scale. It was slightly resized up from 1/72 scale to make it more durable...Ha Ha Ha.

Graham

Nice custom Sebastian.

Somebody really should recast the Hasegawa pilot as it's too expensive to buy the Hasegawa Weapons Set just for two pilots, not to mention that the Weapons Set is getting difficult to find now.

Graham

Here's what improvements I'd like to see on the 1/48: -

1) The DYRL pilot figure resculpted.

2) The backpack hinge (part # BP8) beefed-up. This can be done on the part of the hinge that is on the inner side of the back plate, so it would not

change the appearance in fighter mode).

3) Sell each Valk with a set of swapable non-articulated hands ala the upcoming VF-1J Hikaru, in addition to the normal articulated hands.

4) Better, thinner stickers, with less border area. Maybe Yamato should hire Takatoys!

5) Change the material of the heatshield, so that the two side pins are not so fragile.

6) Yes, I agree with Tamim totally about the boxes.

7) Resculpt the VF-1S head to get rid of the vertcal seem down the centre of the face.

Graham

Heh...Chungking Mansions....You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

I wasn't even going to mention that place. Still, some good Indian restaurants inside.

I never go in there without my trusty Benchmade or Cold Steel or MOD tactical folder. It's not the safest of places. Watch your back and your wallet if you decide to stay there.

Graham

Damn, saw the title and thought it was going to be an aviation anime

Graham

Got mine today! Very cool little figures! I even was lucky enough to get the chase Minmay doll!! Thanks again to Tam for letting me know about these.

What's the switch on the back of the Minmay doll for?

Graham

The Doyusha VF-1J Hikaru was cancelled and never made it into production

I agree, these are nice little toys if quite pricey.

IMO, the best of the bunch is the YF-21. I'm still POed that I accidently dropped mine from a height of about 3 feet and it landed on it's plastic canopy, which shattered into about half a dozen small pieces. Have to get a replacement someday.

I'm pretty sure that Doysha has no plans to continue with this line, as sales were somewhat lower than anticipated.

Graham

Wasn't the Lo-Viz Valk inspired from the Pic on Model Grafix?

No, the Low-Vis 1/48, which was painted by Mr. Naoki Kimura first appeared in the February 2003 issue of Hobby Japan magazine.

Graham

I like it. A good precursor model to the VF-2. Maybe could be MII's version of the "VF-0"? I still think the Metal Siren is better than both, though.

The Metal Siren may have better combat performance in the anime, but IMO, it is an ugly, ugly Valk that looks like it's been cobbled together out of mis-matching parts.

The VF-2SS Valkyrie II and VF-2JA Icarus on the other hand are just so beautiful and sleek looking.

Graham

Even I don't know what's next for the 1/48 line after the VF-1J Hikaru in November.

However, my completely unofficial guess would be Max & Millia VF-1J. I guess another possibility would be a DYRL Max VF-1S.

Personally, I'd like to see some more non-canon color schemes, like some of the ones that have appeared in Model Graphix magazine.

Graham

My agent tells me it's a little bit early to get hotel rates for January.

In the meantime, here's a couple of web sites with info on HK hotel pricing.

HK Hotels

And

HK Hotels

It would also help if you can all let me know your rough budgets and if you all would prefer to stay in the same hotel.

Graham

That is not a Yamato prototype. Neither is it the Hasegawa. the Hasegawa will be much more detailed.

Studying the pictures I seriously doubt that it is in anyway transformable.

Mostly likely, it is just a scratch build by a talented amateur, or possibly judging by the low level of detail and poor placement of parting (seam) lines a prototype of a game prize toy by perhaps Banpresto.

Graham

Hiya Graham,

Hey you work in Kowloon, My fiancee lives there. Maybe we can meet up when im back in Hong Kong next Jannuary, maybe we could meet up together with your wife and have some dinner, then some drinks later perhaps?

Cheers

Sounds good, I'm always up for meeting fellow MWers and having some drinks.

Not sure I can persuade my wife to come though. She's not a Macross fan and gets very bored and irritable when I sit around talking Macross and toys

Graham

Just to clarify a few points: -

1) The Monster is definitely confirmed, but we won't see it until the first quarter of next year. Yamato were not happy with some areas of the design and also the level of detail, so the Monster is currently undergoing a bit of a redesign and also having a 'detail-up' face lift. B)

2) Despite what some people have posted in the past on the old MW Forums, no other Destroids or enemy mecha besides the Q-Rau are confirmed at this time. Yamato are considering a lot of stuff, but no firm decision on whether to produce these items has been made yet. At the moment, it's a case of wait and see!

Graham

If Yamato made the new Macross Zero Destroid, I would like to see it with electrically powered rotating gatling gun barrels. Perhaps also a sound chip for the gun firing sound as well.

Graham

I'll do some research on hotel rates.

Graham

Hey Graham

I thought Kanto hobby was more expensive than Animate?

Sometimes I think we can get better deals at Animate, but their stock (if any) are usually low.

Do you try your luck on Causeway Bay area near the Sogo dept. store?

Paulo

I think it varies. Sometimes Kanto is more expensive, sometimes Animate. But I think you are right that generally Animate is a little cheaper overall. Yes I also noticed that Animate's stock usually seems more limited though.

No, I don't get over to Causeway Bay much, probably just once or twice a month as I live out in the New Territories and my office is in Kowloon side.

Actually, my office is fairly close to Mong Kok, so it's very easy for me to go and check out the Mong Kok branches of Animate & Kanto during my lunch break.

Graham

OK, I just checked the Kanto Hobby and Animate stores in Mong Kok during my lunch break and as of today Wednesday August 27th at 1.30pm (HK time) they still DO NOT have the VT-1 and VE-1.

Graham

My first yamato was of course the YF-19 ver.1. I bought 3 of them the day they were released. This was long before I had any contact with Yamato (that didn't start until after the release of the YF-21).

I remember when I first handled the toy being a bit disappointed with the paint job of the YF-19 and the groin piece blcking the gunpod in fighter mode, but I still loved it, as in terms of an accurate sculpt, it was light years ahead of Bandai's horribly out of proportion VF-19Kai/VF-19S toy. And yes, I broke the Tab-B on one of my YF-19 toys, but only on one. It actually didn't bother me that much as I was able to work out a fix for it pretty quickly.

The last few years have been a real pleasure for me with release after release of new Macross toys, each one better than the last. OK we'll forget the VF-11B shall we

Compared with the dark decade of the lat 80's to late 90's where we had no new Macross toys accept the Macross 7 toys, we are in real heaven now with so much choice.

Yamato just keeps getting better and better. The 1/48 really deserves the title of Masterpiece and with the addition of the FAST packs should be even better.

I think Yamato's releases in the next few years are going to blow us away.

Graham

Haven't checked the toy stores here in HK yet, but will do so during my lunch break in a little over an hour and report back after lunch.

As far as I know, the toys aren't supposed to be released until Aug 29th or 30th.

Graham

Hmm...the leg mounted air brake is interesting.

I'd always assumed those hatches on the lower legs were for internal missile bays.

Graham

Don't shoot me for this, but legal issues aside, perhaps Toynami should see if they can get a Macross II toy license from Big West.

Heck that might be the only way we will ever see Macross II toys. Toynami do seem to have been getting better with their sculpts recently (FPs & Alpha MPC).

Graham

Is it true that he is part of the reason there aren't many Mac II toys? (cough Yamato 1/48 VF-2ss cough)

From what I've been told, yes it's true.

Unfortunately, what this means is that the chances of seeing any Yamato Macross II toys are slim to none until Yamato have made every Kawamori designed VF first.

Only then would Kawamori say "Go ahead, I don't care, you've made all my stuff already". B)

Graham

I liked M7...But there were times when I ever so gently wanted to place my hands on Mylenes shoulds then slowy move them up to her neck........And SQEEZE as hard as I can 'till i heard a crack. But that was just me, and in only a few episodes.

Heh, I'm the opposite. I love Mylene. I'd like to move my hands down from her shoulders to her ******* and squeeze B)

On the other hand if we are talking about Basara, that is one character I could happily throttle. Throughout the whole series I was so wishing that Gamlin would plug him in a *ahem* friendly fire accident.

Anyway jokes aside, as others have said Macross 7 is not everbody's cup of tea. Personally I love it, despite my dislike of Basara. In fact I probably prefer it to original SDF Macross.

If you can get past the Valks with human faces, the over-use of stock footage in the combat scenes then you are in for one heck of a ride.

Graham

In fighter mode, I'm pretty sure it would have to flip the backpack up to have the wings all the way back and touching.

Graham