Sumdumgai

Apparently the voices will be dubbed over for US release. I wonder how that's going to work/sound.

1) Not yet as far as I know. As for 2 and 3, I don't know so I'll let someone else answer. (widescreen FTW!)

I liked the character designs of Frontier, although it took some warming up to. They certainly weren't as jarringly different as those of Macross Plus. I'll bet that for the movie we'll see DYRL nods in the valkyrie color schemes. Alto's remaining the same, possibly Ozma's (or it'll switch to white/yellow/black), but Michel and Lucca will get DYRL style color schemes. White/blue/black for Michel, and WHite/green/black for Lucca.

Nyan Nyan Service Medley, a little bit of the good songs, even if it doesn't have all the good songs. That it contains Lion, Diamond Crevasse, Seikan Hikou, Watashi no kare wa pairoto, Ai oboete imasu ka, and Aimo, is a nice selection.

The 1/100 VF-25 while sharing some of the same problems as it's big fat brother, looks much better despite the hip placement.

Even being careful you can get paint chipped or scraped off of transforming toys that have metal parts that come into contact.

Like this? Pic found on HLJ originally. Looks nice and skinny, not chunky and fat.

Good releases: -1/60 YF-21, depending on what mode you prefer it's awesome or crap. Some people hate the battroid to the point that the whole thing is ruined. Others prefer the fighter mode and think its fabulous. I love it despite it not having the massive battroid mode (it's limbs are thin). It's super sleek in fighter mode, and everything is held together nice and tight in all modes. The transformation is complex, but once you get it down pat it's simple. -1/60 YF-19 with Fast Pack and Fold Booster. Absolutely beautiful in my opinion. Some people have it ruined by the "gullet". This version doesn't have some problems the stand-alone version had (see the problem portion ahead). Nice and tight fighter, sleek battroid. Be warned that the chest doesn't have a locking mechanism though, one thing that everyone gripes about. Still a fantastic toy though. -1/60 SV-51 Nora. As far as I've heard it's been a fantastic release with no QC issues. I'm not a fan of the SV-51, but I've been tempted to get it because Yamato made it look so damned nice... -1/48 VF-1. It's beautiful, though you might want to wait for the 1/60 VF-1 version 2 as they are fantastic looking (sleeker fighter mode, the arms are integrated better so the shoulders don't hang down like a ball-sack) and very poseable. The 1/48 is larger, and you have to be careful of the backpack hinge, but other than that it's very solid. -1/60 VF-1A version 2 Hikaru. It looks fantastic, though some people don't like the way the cockpit was set-up as they had planned to be able to convert it to a two-seater. The VF-1S though had some problems, look ahead. Now the problems. -Avoid the 1/60 VF-0A Cannon Fodder and the old VF-0S toys as they had a problem where the shoulders crumbled (chemical reaction). The VF-0S with Ghost Booster is a safe set to get. The VF-0A Shin is chancy as some of them had fixed shoulders and some of them didn't. -The 1/60 YF-19 stand-alone had the gunpod held crooked in fighter mode, and the rear landing gear could not cant outwards. The 1/60 YF-19 with Fast Packs and Fold Boosters had those problems fixed, as did the 25th Anniversary YF-19. -The 1/60 SV-51 Ivanov I think had the occasional issue of the wing joints being the wrong way around, but was fixed on the SV-51 Nora version. -The 1/60 VF-1S version 2 apparently has issues with one of the shoulder joints being likely to crack, so far the VF-1A Hikaru doesn't seem to have this problem.

I wonder if it's going to have paint scrape-age on the die-cast parts after some transformations... I wonder how good the QC will be on this too. They haven't brought their A-game to the table on sculpt. I wouldn't bet on them brining their A-game on QC either, but I'll wait and see on that.

A wonderful summary of the problems. Model kit does not equal toy. 1/100 partsformer (which looks better but not by much) is not perfect transformation. Bandai made the decision to make it ugly. It's great that they're making a collectors toy. It's sad that it doesn't look like a collectors toy, especially at that price.

On the announcement they had Macross, Macross Plus, Macross 7, Macross Frontier, and Macross II. The VF-4 was listed amongst the different valkyries.

I'm more interested in a Battle Frontier than a Macross Quarter. I certainly like its design better than the Macross 5, 7, 13, and Galaxy.

You are correct, Macross Frontier used the Q-rea, not the Q-rau. Though they're cosmetic and weapons differences.

Doesn't necessarily mean a hit from a capital ship. I was thinking more like some stray rounds from a gunpod or an enemy fighter. When it comes to capital ship shots, hell I wouldn't want to be on the damned thing period! And I agree on the transparent aluminum. "How do you know he didn't invent it in the first place?"

The melody of the song may be ancient, the lyrics may be as well, but French isn't thaaaaat old.

When you put it like that Mr. March, I have to agree with you on the VF-5000 being the most innovative after the VF-1. And when I posed the question of most innovative, I meant most innovative after the VF-1 which is the benchmark for valkyrie design. I probably should have mentioned that, but I wasn't thinking. In terms of Armor, the VF-25 and its armor packs is a nice step forward from the GBP and Protect Armor systems.

I wouldn't want to be in that office if the floor took a hit from enemy fire...

With all the proportional problems, stubby landing gear, and all that, I wouldn't say this fatty is worthy of being called Deluxe. If Bandai had actually put in the effort and made the 1/60 VF-25 look good, it would be worthy of being called Deluxe. But then again Bandai has a history of calling crap DX, like the 1/65 VF-19kai. If you want perfect transformation your only choice is the chunker. If you want a good looking VF-25 you're either stuck with a model kit, or a partsforming toy. Can't go into Macross Frontier with their A-game, but with a C-game instead.

IIRC Graham had mentioned that the licenses were granted in particular scales. Yamato used to have the 1/100 scale license for Zero and VFX2, with a 1/100 VF-0S prototype that they scrapped, and the 1/100 VB-6 Koenig Monster from Macross VFX2. A member of this forum asked if it was true that Bandai blocked Yamato from reissuing the VB-6 Koenig Monster. Who knows? But Bandai does have that 1/100 scale line of partsforming valkyries that's coming out, which listed every animated Macross series released. Maybe they're considering releasing a partsforming VB-6 Koenig Monster of their own... And the YF-19 is a beautiful bird that sold out fast. They're sure to do a reissue sometime.

Will the VF-25G have the option of co-pilot seat and a Sheryl in space-suit figure? The 1/60 YF-19 has the option of a second seat and Yang figure... Food for thought Bandai.

Actually I have a question for those who've gotten replacement VF-0A arms. Do you have to pop the replacement onto the ball joint? And are the replacement arms capable of holding poses while the gunpod is being gripped?

UN Spacy Marines with power armor: "We've got nukes, we've got knives, sharp sticks..." I like that idea. What do you guys consider to be the most innovative valkyrie design? For me it's the YF-21, because it can function after having lost all its limbs. Plus it's a powerhouse. 2 gunpods, 2 lasers that can be used effectively in any mode (fired forwards or backwards), anti-aircraft beam weapon, internal missile pallets...

1/1250 Macross Quarter sounds good. I'd prefer a Battle Frontier though. Hold the City Section.

Sheryl better watch out! Leon got one vote!

Inconsistent animation, not enough character development for other characters, some things got dropped and were never picked up again (or were picked up with no explanation like the "kadun chaff/flares" that the vajra drop in a couple episodes only). VFTF1, but we had the status quo maintained in deaths. Main character: Michel died. Supporting characters: Gilliam, Nene, President Glass, the Zentraedi commander and his archivist, and at least one of Alto's Sagittarius squad mates. Getting into background characters: plenty of cannon fodders, sniper ripped in half, civilians blown into outer space, soldiers smeared by invading vajra, capitol ship crews, and everything in the path of the destruction eater on Gallia IV. While almost the entire human population wasn't wiped out like in SDF Macross, there were a fair number of deaths in the series. A lot more could have been done with Frontier, but for what it wound up being it's still damned good. I certainly wouldn't call it the greatest, but it's one of the better shows I've watched (especially when you count all the mediocre shows out there).