motley

i think the 'Short-range electron beam gun' you're talking about is the gun seen in this picture of the TV n-ger. though the DYRL n-ger seen in this pic isn't similarly armed.

well as it turns out, its not even a Gouf, its a Zaku II C-type. this also explains the nuklear bazooka, as the C-types were used during the early phases of the war when both sides were using the full NBC spectrum against each other, the C-type differs from the F-type mostly in that it sports full protection from NBC, and is thus a lot heavier and has poorer performance. the odd thing though is that Ranba Ral supposedly skipped out on the Zaku IIs and used his Zaku I up until he received the the Gouf. but the Zeonography and GFF lines aren't exactly known for strictly following the canon. still looks like a nice figure. edit (a little late) - spelling

i'm frustrated. i'm trying to swear off my GFF habit, but these are so tempting. they both look good.

unfortunately there's also been no new info about either a SEED 2 or a new UC show, though SEED MSV has been very active in the news i'm getting, presumably in connection with the SEED related Astray OVA that's in the works, yawn. the only other news i've been hearing relates to the SD gundam show, which will be starting its second season in Japan before the second season comes out here in the states. gunota did post a nice interview with Tomimo about the Zeta movies the other day, but i have still not heard when they're actually going to debut.

hey congratulations graham!

well, i don't own a Deepstriker, but i do have the new mudrock GFF in the mail. i've picked up most of the line so far, though i haven't acquired more than a couple of the mold duplicates, nor have i ventured into the Zeonography line. i've become really dissatisfied with the plastic used, its way too soft. the details it allows is nice in comparison to the harder plastics they use in the models and Kado/Kahen Senshi lines and the softer more rubbery stuff they use for the MSiA line, but the toys are getting increasingly more complicated, and especially with the transforming toys, a harder material would be a big improvement. the other problem is the high price tag, its getting to the point where i'm seriously considering not collecting the line anymore, though the F-9x's are awefully tempting. that said, i have loved the last couple toys in the line, the Alex and the Heavy Gundam. i'd say the weakest figures in the line are the first two, the perfect gundam and the full armor gundam, though the FAZZ and its problematic skirt armor are way up on the list as well. i also had problems with my nu gundam and the G-Armor set. i think it was due more to flaws with my particular figures than anything else, as my heavy gundam (which uses the same base figure as the G-armor set) had none of the problems as the other. (i suspect i'm cursed when it comes to Gundam G-3 toys, i haven't gotten a single version that didn't have major problems, and my GFF G-armor set was the G-3 version)

really? well its been pretty hard for me to find. the regular versions don't show up on e-bay very often, and i'm not interested in the limited editions. mandarake did have some several years ago, but they were sold out before i got to it. i may have to snag one of these despite my finacial woes.

basically the R version has a number of redesigned features for aethetics and some new parts. most of the redesign is in the torso launcher. i only have the R version so i'm not an expert on the other, but if you want a really in-depth answer head over to Toybox DX and post your question on their messege boards. they also have several pics of the regular version on the site.

whoa, how'd they get their hands on those? those are the Kado Senshi Gundam and Kado Senshi Char's Zaku, they've been out of production for several years, and the gundam is usually hard to find. hmm. thanks for the link.

? links no worky. and which chogokin figures are we talking about here?

thanks for the review. one question for you, is the space based combat improved at all in AUEG vs Titans? i always felt it was the weakest part of FvZ, and was REALLY hoping they'd improve it for AvT.

for the next six months or so.... Lat 46° 59' 32" Long -114° 7' 5"

i'm going with no, even though i haven't picked up an "alternate" subbed SYRL yet. i would like to own a legit professionally subbed DYRL, but not one without large Big West logos and credit where credit is due, neither of which are likely on a HG copy. when HG starts toeing the accountability line i'll take a look.

seems to be working fine, though the last update seems to have been in february. i haven't been checking the site anywhere near as often as i used to, i find that Gunota Headlines is a far better source for gundam news. they don't have the toy lists or reviews, but then i've largely stopped caring about either, so...

i know no japanese and no chinese, but i've never had any problems with the master grade kits. not sure about the PGs. the instructions are presented visually and what little text used i've never needed to understand. though it'd be nice to get the manual part translated, lots of fun info there.

hmm, i think i'm still going to go with HLJ on this one. they list the MG GP02a at 4000 yen, or about $38.00. plus their estimated shipping costs (i'm going with the cheaper, slower SAL) its 5,800 yen or about $55.00. TRU is selling the cromed version for $49.99 (which is a steal, but the chrome will chip if you breathe on it wrong), but the regular GP02a will run you $69.99. as for the MG RX-78 they're listing at $39.99 with free shipping, HLJ will send it to you for about $39.71, including SAL shipping. HLJ will save you 8 dollars and change for the MG GP01 FB $49.99 versus $40.65, SAL shipping included. the MG RX-79 at TRU is also $49.99 with free shipping, with HLJ shipping it to you for $38.76. their price on the MG Alex is good, especially with the free shipping, but the US kits have really crappy altered boxart in comparison with the original release, and the "translated" manual is really just a second copy of the build instructions with english in a couple spots. but the original set of instructions is vitually text free, you don't have to know a single bit of japanese to put the kit together. its just not worth it, and i'd rather not support bandai america if they're going to overcharge me for what comes off as an inferior version. its supposed to be cheaper to get the US version, thanks to the inflated japanese economy and cost of living. and that's it, TRU.com lists only 6 MG kits, two of which are on sale, and possibly worth it. HLJ lists every MG ever made. neither has all of them in stock, but HLJ has most of their listed kits in stock, and has dates for when most of the rest will be in stock. TRU has 3 of the 6 in stock, with no dates listed. granted this is just HLJ, there are other sites and stores out there selling the japanese kits too.

i've only seen about 3 MG kits total in all the TRUs i've ever been in. not three in each, just 3. if they actually priced these things close to the japanese retail price or lower, and stocked them, they might actually sell.

there are entirely too many gundam toys out there, but these do appeal to me, mostly in that they are small and cheap with lots of detail, and good sculpts and a wide variety of figures available. that said i have no idea if i'll actually be acquiring these, i have a sinking suspicion that these will be more randomly packed trading figures, and i have just been cut off from the place i usually am able to track down specifics for this kind of line. and as much as i do like gundam, i would be much more interested in a similar line of macross figures, or moreso a bigger more detailed line.

a pineapple salad, to be specific, iirc. a bit of a nod towards macross in a backwards kind of way.

my most dissapointing toy ever? got to go with the Kahen Senshi Zeta figure from a couple years ago. its part of the diecast Kado Senshi line and it contains ZERO dicast, and its cheap plastic too. yeah it transforms, but at the cost of a stable MS mode, and it looks like ass, the sculpt is horrible, not retro, not modern, the thing has no curves, just hard angular lines. second vote goes to the GFF G-3 G-Armor set. mine didn't break, but the gundam wouldn't stay stuck together, the upper torso is two different parts, and the top half wouldn't stay attached. i eventually just superglued the two parts together.

yeah... its still crap. the animation is horrible, getting marginally better, but still beyond bad. its the same cell shaded CG that they used in the Zoids shows a couple years back, but the Zoids animation (while not great) was orders of magnitude more well done. the characters are more annoying than ever. and the toyline, while full of G1 references, is worse than the shows animation. some of the small basic toys are ok, but the combining autobots are very very bad, and the designs on most of the upcoming decepticons leave a lot to be desired.

isn't it Dastun, das - tun, at least that's how they seem to pronounce it in the show. i think its a scar, since he has it even when he's portrayed in a calm state. though i'd say its also used as a stress vessel, as it does seem to change in size and sometimes seems to pulse.

its pretty sad just how much better that yellow viper hardtop looks than the red convertable they used for Sideswipe. sideswipe looks more like a miata than a viper, oh well, a crappy toy for a crappy toy. i just picked up the alternator sideswipe a couple days ago and i'm extremely dissapointed, though i'm glad i didn't get the binaltech version.

VF-4s would mostly be engaging Regults. Queadluun-Rau's and Nousjadeul-Ger's would be less common, but both would be more likely than the Gluag, remember that Kamjin's were amongst the last known units what with the factory that pruduced them being destroyed during the war with the supervision army.

i liked dalton as bond when i first saw the living daylights (and i was 12 or so), but that was then and now he's less appealing. his lack of appeal was mostly a case of bad writing and an attempt to take the franchise in a different direction, same thing happened to lazenby. brosnan was good initially, but the last several movies have just been crap, one part writing and one part bad acting. really original few connery bond movies are the only good ones. though moore had a couple decent ones. jackman isn't british enough to pull off bond, neither really is macgregor or any of the others on the list. bond should be put out to pasture once and for all.