Vifam7

Go to ebay and search for "flight deck crew" and "ground crew" for personnel. For a hangar like accessory, go to HLJ.com and look under "mechanical chain base". Hope this helps.

The Shizuoka Hobby Show had no mention of a third collection. Reports from the hobby show suggests that the next kits from F-toys Confect (the company that released these 1/144 VF-1s) seems to that of Star Wars vehicles. I doubt we'll see F-toys release VFs from other Macross series. Especially since Yamato has jumped into the candy toys/gashapon market with it's 1/200 VF Collections.

I'm sure Brits know about the Vulcan. Which do you think is more well known - the Victor or the Vulcan?

My problem with building kits is that I don't have much time during the weekdays and I don't want to devote a substantial time of my weekend on models. As a result it takes a while to get one finished. To me, the most tedious part of building kits is the puttying and sanding part. I absolutely hate it. Which is another reason why my kits take forever to even get to the painting stage.

Looks like Yamato got the message regarding the overdone wash on the VF-1J in Collection One.

They don't look that bad to me. Then again the VA-3 isn't exactly one I pay close attention to. The YF-19 figures in the collection are top notch though. Real sharp looking. At least IMHO.

I don't think the issue is so much the designing of the toy to look good enough. The issue is more likely whether it can be designed ,made, and sold at a price consumers will accept. I think most of us will accept a few trade-offs on the looks if the price was right. I mean there are folks who are willing to buy Toynami's 1/100 Valks at $60 a pop.

Yeah, a bit pricey but my major beef with this model is the scale. Aircraft like Yukikaze should be in 1/72 scale.

I'm sure limited space plays a factor in what they want. It's one reason why they like the 1/144 scale for Gunpla.

It'll be from a Japanese manufacturer but the product will likely be built in China resulting in QC defects that make the robots go bonkers or fall apart. My Yamato sexaroid came with a loose XXXXX!

Although I'm Japanese, I live in the states and I haven't spoken to Japanese fans lately. But I do read a good many Japanese blogs and frankly there doesn't seem to be much talk about the DX toy. There's much more excitement/expectation about the model kit. Interestingly, fans in Japan are expecting/wanting the model kit to have transformation and MG quality. One thing I read recently that caught my eye is that some folks in Japan are saying that the sculpt of the model kit is actually handled by Hasegawa while the transformation gimmick is being handled by Bandai. I don't know if that's true and I can't find any solid proof of that info but more than one blog has mentioned this. It's most likely BS rumor though.

Just to note, at the bottom it says: Both photos are that of prototypes. Actual product may differ.

I'm Japanese. I can tell you that every male anime fan that was a kid during the 1980's knows and loves Macross. Basically my generation. If I were to rank '3 most popular anime' of my generation - it would go- 1. Space Battleship Yamato 2. Mobile Suit Gundam 3. Choujikuuyousai Macross Interesting to note that all 3 had theatrical movies made which were extremely popular. In regards to toys, I'd bet that every 80's kid in Japan (who are now otaku) has at least one 1/55 Takatoku/Bandai Valkyrie in their collection. Especially those of us who had parents that wouldn't/couldn't buy a chogokin for us back when.

That might be due to Kawamori asking for a head shape change that's not apparent in the lineart. The article scan posted by mickayesou mentions that Kawamori wanted a "/ \" shape for the head when viewed from the front. The same article suggests that the torso is the part they're having difficulty with balancing the look with stability and sturdiness.

I don't know. It's possible. The SOC SPEC Dragonar comes with a good load of accessories and still costs under 10,000yen. The SOC Reideen DX Fade-in set also with a lot of stuff costs 15,000yen. At 12.000 yen, a DX VF-25 with fast packs is entirely possible. The Hobby Japan scan above says it'll be made of diecast and ABS plastic.

Ofcourse I would buy it. Heck, I'd buy it even if it wasn't perfect transforming. In fact I'd buy a VF-4 even if it was non-transforming and fighter-mode only.

I should stop wasting my time on the HG kit and just buy the SPEC L-Gaim.

That's a good angle. I'm also a fighter mode guy but I'm starting to warm to this shorter nose VF-1. I think many of us are simply so used to the long nose 1/48 that our perspective on how the VF-1 nose should look like gets bit warped. Also I think the big bubble canopy tends to make the nose look shorter than it is. It's a million times better than the nose on the old 1/60. That's for sure!

Wow, those are fantastic poses with excellent camera work Mr. March! Although the sculpt and finish may not always be perfect, Revoltechs are pure win when it comes to creating anime-like poses.

If you're talking about MH's Palm Action Orguss... Somewhat floppy with a transformation that is difficult to complete. I think it's just too small a toy to work in a smooth transformation mechanism. I couldn't even get to decent gerwalk mode. That said, it looks quite nice in robot mode.

It's the 1/100 PVC completed model from Alter. http://www.hlj.com/product/ALT20801

Orguss had 2 'in the bed scenes'. Both of which leave nothing to the imagination.

It was released on DVD from Imaginasian. They had some kind of odd burn-on-demand release plan and it was only available exclusively from Imaginasian or Rightstuf

I wonder what accessories it'll come with. I don't remember Tetsujin 28-go having a lot of gimmicks. Then again I only saw like 3 episodes back when I was a kid.

I found out that Gundam Marker Eraser Pen easily strips off the paint and markings. Good for wiping off some of the overwash. I got a little too ambitious with my VF-1J battroid and stripped off the red striping on the chest. Maybe I'll make it into a low-viz version