AcroRay

Europe seemed to have gotten a handful of kits that weren't included in the North American line. I've seen an Olsen Orgroid from ORGUSS, and a tiny thumbnail of "Khyron's Battle Pod" from the Ceiji/Revell line.

That's a steal for that cabinet. I wish I lived closer to you!

PM Sent

Always cheap for me. In fact, I usually use it for a preorder, then I toss in small things like option parts, books and tiny model kits that vary in availability. It always saves me money, and allows me to stretch purchases out over a couple of months as my hobby allowances are rather limited at times.

It's been a great resource for me to obtain little things like option parts, gundam markers, tankobons and stuff that's invariably out of stock when I'm placing an order, but which would be prohibitively expensive if I ordered them on my own. A couple of pens, a small tanko and a sprue of Wave or Koto option parts usually doesn't impact the shipping of a larger item more than 100Y, if at all, for me.

Reprolabels still offers them:

http://reprolabels.com/Macrospeada/ridearmor.php

I think it's interesting how the theme of travel (the 'road' in Megaroad? heh) is so much more pronounced in these series plans. It's still there in the televised series, but much less so than in these notes. It reminds me of White Base's journey in the original Gundam series, with a target hairs of destruction and disaster following along.

I seem to recall some quote - maybe from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - about the impact of displaced persons on the universe...

Well... I can't afford it, but you've absolutely got my vote for "Man of the Year" for seriously venturing into accomplishing it!

(I'd rather have 1/55-1/48 scale Inbits by you, personally. Or 1/18 Inbits.)

You're a true hero, Gubaba. Thank you so much for bringing us another piece of classic Macross!

Very nice!!!

I picked up some other things from the same seller. Been on a bit of a binge buying vintage 1/72 Variable kits lately, out of nostalgia and partly out of disgust for the proportioning on the new Bandai kit...

No apologies, sir! You're fulfilling a wish I've had since the 80s!

I compared the pictures & scale, and it seems to be based on the Nichimo 1/15000 plastic kit from the 80s. (I've got one in my collection.) The arms have been reworked to not have joints, though.

Still, not a bad item in any way - especially for the price. Bases don't seem to be included with this seller's model spacecraft, if I'm understanding reviews of his products correctly.

Update on the BattleCry inclusions and add-ons...

http://damommasboyz.com/sodapop/rtsquadrons/battlecry.html

I happily pledged & Battlecry level. I think it's an excellent looking product. The miniatures are designed by a designer in Australia who goes by the handle "Insane Kangaroo". I recalled seeing these CG renders on his blog a number of months ago along with a rough rules set, but he later took them down due - as I believe he put it - to his involving the designs with a larger, unnamed game maker.

Studio Ninja is handling the product development for Palladium, it seems. I liked the look of their Soda Pop sf minis. It sounds like they're a good studio & have a good handle on getting things to market. Like any publisher, the product may be Palladium's but the design and manufacturing can be handled by another vendor. (You'd be surprised how often this happens. Plex, anyone? Matsushiro?)

Good looking stuff! The ongoing re-alignment of Robotech property elements back to their original Macross roots by Robotech licensees has always been a positive factor in the property, IMO. Returning the Destroids to their proper names, burying the "Veritech" term into little more than a technical classification as generic as 'mech', bringing out more Macross wordmarks into the Robotech IP, all shows the designers and authors know where the real identity of the property originates. The brand is just the colorful logo on the box.

And such a huge pile of fun plastic Macross mecha! Wheee!

I've found Muv-Luv's mecha to be a wonderful combination of Mamoru Nagano's mecha style and Shinji Aramaki's 80s style. I've got a technical drawing of the Storm Vanguard Shiranui as my computer desktop here at the studio, and it has been mistaken for Armored Core on a couple of occasions... which is also Kawamori.

But with regard to Yamato's reorganization: I'm inclined to wonder if Yamato found itself heading along the same path that lead Takatoku into dissolution. Have they become engorged with extensive SKUs of wonderful product that are becoming too esoteric and too expensive to cover their investments, and need to shed some of the overhead gracefully? Their original business model might not support their endeavors any longer.

My only real disappointment in the matter - since their products have become far more expensive than I'm willing or able to invest in - is that their sofubi Breetai Kuridanik figure will probably be abandoned. I'll chip in my [ultimately useless] wish that the new reorganization would give them the opportunity to launch a more affordable line of sofubi or Revoltech-styled support mecha and characters, much like Toynami attempted with their soft-vinyl mecha line and T-Rex with their Zentran soldiers. (Not that the T-Rex products were in any way any more affordable or accessible that Yamato's to me, but the R&D for the possibility was there.)

Guys maybe we should just cut out the middleman and collect Muv-Luv stuff instead because most of that stuff is cheaper and is more readily available. Who needs jets that turn into robots when they have jets that ARE robots?

Muv Luv is everything for me that Macross used to be - and substantially less expensive. Complex world. Beautiful character and mecha designs. Multiple storylines... and toys & plastic kits that cost substantially less than Macross stuff does now.

I've had a Uni5 Gatchaman Godphoenix on display on one of these FlightPose stands for years. The rubber tips touch paint that's on diecast metal. I've had no reactions whatsoever.

I'm not seeing anything yet that endears me to it more than to the old Imai kits. :-) Of course, that may change when they release a 1J Milia that doesn't require much painting!

I'm bumping this up because as of January 2013, I'm STILL looking for a set!

Does anyone out there have the (unassembled) head parts from an Arii VF-1D Battroid kit, or the unassembled kit they'd part with 4-cheap? Any edition, any color. Thanks!

The holiday was more of an excuse to shop for a couple of my own gifts: two Korean-made Macross kits - editions of Arii's 15th anniversary 1/100 Super Battroid kits. Pretty cool items, with nice box art.

Pretty neat! They're in unusual colors (attempts at making them molded-in-color), and have transparent-backed stickers for the markings, rather than waterslide. They've got DYRL-style cannons for their FAST Packs, as well as the normal boosters. Unfortunately the 1D comes with a 1J head. I don't know if that's standard or a mistake. Other than that, though, they're the classic 1980s fugly Arii tooling.

The toy and neither the pictures are mine.

But just to proof of a real Macross holy grail with lots of history and mystery.

Ladys and Gentlemen’s, Zentradis and Macross fans.

THE TAKATOKU HENKEI TYPE VF-1S SUPER VALKYRIE

!!! In its original colors !!!

The upper legs don't match the color of the main body. The upper arms are painted. I'm inclined to suspect that this is a mix of a knockoff Super version that happened to be made in green, and a stock TT/Select VF-1S in original colors.

When I was young, I used to mix white & brown knockoffs to get somewhat show-accurate VF-1As.

jvmacross you wish is my command this are all the only original henkei macross visions that were sold in the USA under a different company and name, and pictures of Zadark that is an original recolored in black of the VF-1S Super Valkyrie henkei type from the Takatoku mold.

Valky, did you notice that the Super's undercarriage is modified so that you can mount the gun-pod underneath in Gerwalk and fighter mode? TT also retooled that element so you can actually put the gun-pod under the body, rather than placing it in one of the hands.

While I can't ever get to go, I think it's amazing that Macross has a gathering like this in North America. Glad to hear it was such a good time, and a round of applause for everyone involved in putting it together. Another really proud moment for Macross fans here!

Late to the thread.... This is really something, Exo! Bravo!

Amazing!