knoted

I like the headplacement of the 1/48's a bit better than the headplacement of the V2 1/60's. I always prefer the TV paintschemes over the ones in DYRL....

Still, the 1/48's are just a bit too big and pricey for me.

^ Agree about the head, the teal colour not so much.

Oh btw...made this pic for comparison :

nevermind

Nice picture, although it makes me even more eager to see a VF17D with white striping instead of yellow.

That is, the argument seems thrown around often as if "no character development" == "boring character".

Not really.

A story about some creepy serial killer might show zero charcter development too, as the killer is trapped in an endless loop of his own sick mind...but the big difference is that this character might be written in such an interesting way as if the audience were observing this guy in documentary manner.

The ones that don't like Basara basically agree on this thing : he annoys the heck out of people.

character enjoyment.

....and Basara in one sentence. For some people that only has relative meaning....

Bird as director !? Ah.. that'll be interesting

Actually DYRL on the whole was kind of depressing. Especially the scene where they discover the earth and at the end when you can hear all the Zentradi wailing in the background.

I think that's actually one of the strongest points of the movie ; like Misa said herself ; in terms of brute force, the puny human army never stood a chance. This vision is cemented by scenes in which the icon of the human fleet, the VF SKull leader gets smashed to pulp and as we learn that Earth was wiped out in the blink of an eye.

Regardless that the F117 was designed with the specific stealth purpose, it looks like a piranha from the side... Really don't like it, especially how it's flat underneath. There's nothing sexy about it as it's like a skinny supermodel with no t*** and a**.

Well, I just happen to really like the uncompromising angular & flat shape of that reallife stealth. The VF17 is cool on its own merits as a VF and as reference to the F117, but some of the VF17 design elements go against that stealth.

I dunno, I just think that a plane with a tapered thin rear looks more elegant.

Probably wouldn't look as balanced as a Gerwalk.

That might be a consequence indeed. But, I found this artwork, which is obviously

a F16 robot - imo, it would look pretty cool as a VF, since it has this kind of rounded Zentraedi style about it :

I still wonder sometimes, why there are no single engine VF's in Macross.

A F16 or F35 inspired VF might have been interesting in terms of creative design challenge, since there would be no

dual thrust nozzles for feet.

I just really like the battroid mode of the VF 2SS ; the turbo thighs, the tapered shinlegs and even the illogical chest plate ( pointy bits obscuring FOV ).

For its fighter mode, I like the fact the canopy is a rather short, since I don't like elongated canopies in jetdesigns.

Hmmm...nostalgia doesn't make for the most objective era assessment. Each decade has its own pulp media....which might ironically be heralded as retro gold 10 or 20 years later.

I'm from 1978 myself, but I try ( emphasis on TRY ) to keep off the rose-coloured nostalgia goggles. I think it's best to be pragmatic about it and just pick things - such as toys, films, music etc.

which you happen to like, regardless of era. Sometimes you just have to ' wade ' through eras which seem to cater a little less to your preferences, but there will always arise a new favourite ; usually

when you least expect it. Heck, sometimes favourites of yesteryear don't hold up as well as you thought in current times....so like any extinct species, they couldn't handle changes of time.

When it comes to designs, the VF1 is still one of my favs, but I think the F22 Raptor is my favourite contemporary design as well.

but at the price of Hikaru's integrity and strength of personality. I don't see that as intentional character development.

Well, execution of the concept might not always be on par...but I do think it's there to serve a dynamic between characters, as their archetype roles transcend into character relationships ; which is the drama which draws in the audience. Cause & effect, chicken-egg...which way around doesn't really matter, but it works for the charm of the story.

Contrary to that, is Basara's arc, which is very much like an island, which pretty much goes against the workings of dynamic to draw in and immerse an audience.

Oh i assure you that if i said that he is a douche it's really not because of a single slap.

He's immature and douchy a lot, A LOT of time. (remember when he's stuck with Misa in the city during an attack ? Just an example)

Movie Hikaru tends to be more like that than Tv-show Hikaru though.

True, but at least Hikaru's douchebag behaviour is there to drive the character dynamics, between him and Misa for example ; and we see, as episodes progress...this dynamic remolds and shapes the character relation between them ; in short, it's an element to serve the dynamic and draw in the audience.

Basara's behaviour seems to serve no narrative dynamic, thus in contrast to Hikaru's douchebag behavior..Basara's works counter productive...it throws the audience out of the character immersion.

Well, that's something Hikaru and Basara have in common, they are both pretty much douchebags.

(come on, you know it)

Ehm, the point is rather ; even if a character's actions and/or skills ( like Minmei's singing ) are a crucial plotdevice, a scriptwriter shouldn't allow this character to go out of hand.

In my example Minmei showed human weakness ( this is good, it gives her character, depth ), so Hikaru was used to set her straight ( slapping her , then telling her to sing for the sake of all humanity ) ; this resulted in Minmei getting it together again. Good story arc of these characters.

However, if there's no one to dampen Basara's annoying style - even if his motives are noble - then the narrative message is lost and the character works counterproductive, alienating a large portion of the audience.

When Minmei put up an attitude in DYRL near the end, it took Hikaru to slap her and put her in her place.

I haven't seen many M7 episodes, but it doesn't seem there's a character to put Basara in his place...or is there ?

So far, Basara gets a dislike from me. ( an acceptible anti hero would be Mark Landry, but that's Ro....)

The problem with an electricity alien is that electricity can't be alive, it is a form of energy and not matter.

Well, who are we to decide what qualifies as life ?

Anyway, I see a weakpoint in this trailer already :

- it already kind of shows how the humans find the key trick to fight back ( just like Bay's TF movies )

This looks very nice. Way better than the old Bandai's, as it conveys a sense of mobility & articulation.

Still, personally I think the design of the actual F117 jet looks prettier, especially because it tapers thin towards the rear

whereas this VF basically becomes thicker towards the rear.

MG Rex, the mother of all chickenlegs

I finally got Wheeljack too and I think he's fantastic.

2 points of critique though :

- The Shoulder hinge joints keep his arms in a raised position.

I HATE short arms and the raised shoulder position only emphasizes his stubby arms.

....so, I just had to sand off the little nubs of those hinge joints, resulting into a more natural pose and longer looking arms. I wouldn't mod the legs though because that would make his thighs too short in relation to his shinlegs.

- The Corvette car mode. Generally speaking, I prefer European style cars over American cars and this case is no exception. Sad to see the renewed Lancia Stratos ( Italian ) being dropped for an American Corvette. It's not as bad in person as I feared it to be, but I'd rather have Wheeljack stay with the Lancia.

So, thanks to my little shoulder mod, I think Wheeljack's robot mode looks even more phenomenal than it already did. Very much recommended.

MP-10 Transformation vid, the guy doesn't talk at all though makes you want to put on music while watching. Also there are a few breaks in the vid but not during anything important.

http://www.youtube.com/user/wewyllenium#p/u/0/F2Wm-U64xGI

What an amazing Prime mold. Totally beats the old MP01.

Ashley Wood | Zombies vs Robots, Metal Gear Solid, etc. Picture :

Don Lawrence | Storm, Trigan, etc. Picture :

Herge | Tin Tin

Willy van der Steen | Suske en Wiske

Imo the only downside is the white head.

....and the lack of thigh swivels ( often resulting in schoolgirl x-legs poses ).

Picked up Skyhammer from the Mechtech line. I think it's one of the best helicopter transformers (with exception to the whole mechtech thing). Neat thing is, is that when he's in bot mode he doesn't look too much like a helicopter, except for the rotor across his chest.

Funny...how some people like a TF which' altmode resonates into its robotmode versus the ones who'll like a TF robotmode for having only few hints about its altmode.