the white drew carey

Due to an unforeseen mixup, this variant cover was never published. Look closely and note that Max's VF-1A features a unique color scheme. The preliminary version that actually ended up getting printed used his VF-1J color scheme.

"Variant Cover" my ass.

No, sir! The EDSEL isn't a horrible mistake! It's a Variant Automobile!

i think you're misreading it (or i'm misreading you). they're not claiming that the wrong colour scheme is a variant issue. they are saying the second cover (ie. the variant issue; each RT comic has an A and a B cover) was improperly coloured.

It looks to me like they're saying the variant cover was never published.

Do you in all seriousness think that's going to happen? I'm willing to bet that BW/Bandai continue to make M0 episodes and that TP at best starts airing Macross TV reruns and maybe releases it on DVD in Japan (after all, that's what they stated as being the intention of the suit). How does $100.00 sound?

Actually, Tatsunoko can't air SDF: Macross on TV or sell the DVD's in Japan. Regardless of the rights they have they are still bound by the Memorandum which basically puts BigWest in charge of the broadcast of the TV Series in Japan and Tatsunoko in charge of the int'l broadcast rights.

Whew! I'll sleep better knowing this mystery has been solved...

LOL!!!

A- I was pointing out that the scenario he presented would prove HG to be the lying company that it is and that evidence already exists that throws severe doubt on HG's claim of a big "Saban Headhunting Expedition" being the reason why previous Macross productions have been licensed outside of Japan without Tatsunoko or HG's inclusion.

B- My point, as a whole, is the assertion that Tatsunoko, nor HG, ever did anything in the past because they don't hold those rights.

All I'm saying is that the proof is in the pudding.

...BTW- What the heck doesn that mean, anyway?!?

Well, we don't know if it was Kawamori who came up with the character (or do we?)... but that's still pretty neat.

Sounds like nickpicking to me............

Nah... it's not nitpicking. It's outright criticism of the poor quality of the artwork.

Speaking of which, in regards to the Q-Rau on the cover- Do you think the artist had the common decency to at least trace the original, or do you think they used the cheap-o shortcuts they've utilized before and just cut & pasted it the original source material*?

*as seen on page 172 of Perfect Memory, as well as other Macross and RT-related materials.

Due to an unforeseen mixup, this variant cover was never published. Look closely and note that Max's VF-1A features a unique color scheme. The preliminary version that actually ended up getting printed used his VF-1J color scheme.

IE- Someone screwed up.

"Variant Cover" my ass.

No, sir! The EDSEL isn't a horrible mistake! It's a Variant Automobile!

I'm well aware of the multitude of Japanese products available for Macross, as well as the spattering of products that have been made available int'ly.

You seem to be upset about when HG became interested in Macross.  Yet you make a very good case as to why they became interested in it at that time.  TP/HG can simply say that up until the late '90s  there was very little int'l interest in Macross as a franchise and saw little reason why they should invest time and resources into it.  A court of law isn't going to tell them how they should have run their buisness.

Your rebuttal is very funny. Really.

You seem to be saying that it's perfectly OK for a company to completely ignore their rights being trampled and then only start making a beef about it once those rights show an acceptable level of profitability.

Sure, a court of law isn't going to tell them how to run their business. But it surely will chastise them for thinking the court is stupid if they try to use this as an excuse. Tatsunoko is a large corporation and I don't think a large corporation like that would allow Macross derivatives to be licensed internationally if, as HG claims, they hold those international rights... regardless of profitability.

HG waiting for a market to develop is just good buisness sense.  I don't see how the timing of when HG showed interest in Macross matters to wether or not their interst is legitimate.

Well, that's where you and I differ. I don't believe HG's weak excuses and their pathetic claims while you do.

If you propose to see the amazing coincidence of HG's "sudden awareness" as simply "Good Business Sense", than I fear for your understanding of how companies and corporations really work. HG's excuse of Mac+ "slipping by" is simply a weak attempt at placating the RT fanbase and not in any way an accurate reflection of the truth. Anyone who knows the facts will see this as a nothing but garbage. Garbage which cannot be held up in court because of it's own contradictory nature.

I don't think that BW has done as much with the Macross derivatives, at least not on an int'l scale.  They've released very few things and have done little more than grant a few license.  All the marketing and advertiment would have come out of the licencee's budgets.  And production costs could easily be covered by any agreement they made with TP as well as any other costs about the toys or whatever.  It's the int'l distribution that is in question not what's been happening in Japan.

You can use the same criteria for HG in what they do for RT and licensing it out. I think you understand the point I was getting at in regards to BigWest's handling of the franchise, but you are intentionally being obtuse.

Let's try again, shall we?

What has been done, internationally, for Macross while under BigWest's control?

DYRL. Macross II. Macross Plus. License of Macross Plus toys to Toycom. Attempt to release VF-X2 in North America by Bandai (mind you, this was an actual working GAME, not a failed attempt like Crystal Dreams).

Sure, this is only a spattering of the multitude of products released under the Macross license under BigWest's control. True, most of which were never licensed internationally.

In case you doubt, go to MW Main and click on Ads, Books, Collectibles, Games, Magazines, Models, Music, Video, Toys or Unreleased.

Then try to tell me that BigWest hasn't done a lot for the Macross franchise.

Now, why wasn't all of this licensed internationally before? Probably because anime was simply a niche genre outside if Japan, especially here in the U.S. until the late 90's. I wouldn't doubt that the industry here in the states has grown tenfold, if not more, since then. Before that, only the biggest titles received a legitimate release (hmm... MacII and Mac+?). Other than that us fans had to rely on bootlegs and fandubs/subs.

But now, even titles 20 years old are being picked up and released officially here in the U.S. Sounds like a perfect chance for Macross to really go international, eh?

But right about the time that anime became mainstream (as well as extremely profitable) in the U.S. and Macross started gaining a surge in popularity, HG suddenly chimes in...

...FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER SINCE THEIR INVOLVEMENT WITH MACROSS...

...and suddenly says that they own everything Macross outside of Japan. DYRL, MacII and Mac+ simply "slipped by."

Does that sound a little convenient to you? Because it sure does to me.

If the guy's not a good mecha artist, get someone who is and have them collaborate on the covers.

Don't send an orangutan to do a chimpanzee's job, and vice-versa.

I can understand if Long Vo is more of a figure artist and less of a mecha artist. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. But then the fact remains that he shouldn't be the person drawing mecha on the cover of a mecha-intensive comic.

I think the issue of the ownership of derivatives is far from settled, and I'm of the opinion that Bigwest will be granted the proverbial franchise license to Macross.

Why? There's the obvious reason that, until HG made a stink in 2000 causing BigWest to take legal action, Tatsunoko didn't say or do anything in regards to derivatives (except for direct or indirect involvement with DYRL) or the fact that they were being licensed outside of Japan without their supposed consent.

But there is other circumstantial evidence which could possibly lead to a BigWest controlled franchise:

A- BigWest has invested enormous amounts of money into the production, marketing, advertisement, etc. of Macross sequels and, essentially, the Macross franchise itself. To have the franchise stripped from them and handed to a company who hasn't cared to do anything about it would, in my opinion be an odd decision for a court to make.

B- Tatsunoko's abandonment of Macross could hurt any claim they make regarding ownership of the franchise. Tatsunoko was granted (at the very least) international distribution rights to Macross. When they transferred/sold/shared/licensed (no one really knows) those rights to HG, HG essentially ripped the heart out of the Macross story and used it for one part of the RT saga. Afterwards, Tatsunoko joined with HG in perpetuating RT, instead of Macross, by working with them on RT II: Sentinels. Now they are working with HG again on a new RT series as well. It's obvious that Tatsunoko has no intentions of ever continuing the Macross franchise as envisioned by it's creators. This is another reason why I believe that Bigwest will ultimately be allowed to continue the Macross franchise as they see fit.

Given, these are just personal opinions, and in no way reflect any legal precedence.

The simple fact is, Tatsunoko chose Robotech over Macross. I say let them have it.

edit: poor punquashion

And here's the inked, but not colored, version of Max:

Here's the sketch I worked off of for the VF-9. Yes, the tailfin is chopped off. That's because I'm at the very top of the paper (waste not, want not).

[shameless self promotion mode]

If HG/Udon was smart, they'd hire the guy who drew this to do their covers:

[/shameless self promotion mode]

Seriously, I know I screw up my drawings a lot. And I do still post them. But I'm always the first to point out my mistakes and I sure as hell don't call them "professional" or expect people to pay money for them!

Geez.

I try not to be too hard on RT ( ) but seriously, the only thing that seperates this new stuff from the original RT comics (I'm talkin' about the Old, old school ones) is the coloring. The actual drawings are just as crappy, only now they're exploiting "Exciting Poses" (circa 1996) for the VF's. Gah...

I personally enjoy the GFF's as purely visual toys. Don't play. Just pose them and let them make your bookshelf, desk or food processor look that much cooler.

One way to fix loose ball joints is to coat the ball with clear nail polish. I had problems with my FAZZ keeping his pose until I did this.

I also chose how I wanted my FAZZ and EX-S to look and then super-glued most of the floppy and loose removable parts onto them. But that's just me.

The only difference I know of between the blue and red Z-plus is the color and the unit numbers (although the cod-[eices may be different as well)- Blue is 001 and Red is 018.

Well at least the coloring quality is half way decent...

That's the only thing they've ever had going for them, in my opinion.

What's even better is Gamepro's glowing review which leads me to ask: "What the heck are those guys smokin'?"

Yeah, Udon's horribly malformed characters and 5th grade style mecha are definitely the best of the genre!!! No one else can compete!!!

I almost think that Gamepro's reviewers are either A- Getting paid off, or B- getting some serious reacharound action from either Udon or HG in order to write a review that screwed up.

Umm... yeah.

Max flying a VF-1A with his VF-1J Paintscheme?

Aforementioned VF-1A looking like a cross between a Superposeable (bad torso) and ones of those horrid 5-foot monstrosities Toynami put out (really bad legs)?

A cover artist who thinks that the missiles are fired from the THRUST EXHAUST NOZZLES of the Q-Rau?

Good lord, do these comics blow.

I thought that HG wasn't very serious about the Macross franchise, but after seeing crap like this released, I guess they're probably not very serious about the RT franchise- or pleasing it's fanbase- as well!

If HG blocks Yamato and doesn't provide the evidence to prove it has the right to block Yamato, can it still block them for trying to distribute "illegal" merchandise?

So far the closest attempt at Yamato valks here in the states was Sunwards, a decidedly odd, and apparently unsuccessful attempt ("apparently" only by the proposed possibility that it was an experiment to test the waters).

As of yet, matters haven't "come to a head" yet to the point where all parties will have to show their cards. If and when Yamato makes a concerted effort to release their valks here in the U.S. and HG makes concerted effort to block them, then, in all possibility, will we see, or at least get a concrete idea, of who's got the best hand.

Pencils please!

Sorry. No can do this time. Max was fully inked before he was scanned and the VF-9 was literally a rough sketch before I drew the lines in and colored it with Photoshop.

Saw-weee!!!

Something's screwed up with the download. I've tried it 3 times and all I get is a quick video where the words RULIWEB.COM scroll in from the left. That's it.

It's downloading for me right now. It's pretty huge, though. So it'll be a while.

If there's any good screenshots I'll post 'em.

According to HG selling them in the U.S. through the grey market is illegal...

It's true, HG has said this.

Once again, the thing to remember is that they refused to provide evidence as to whether or not it IS, in actuality, illegal.

Still... I want, no. I NEED to see the contract between HG and TP. Isn't a contract supposed to be able to be viewed by the public?

No. It doesn't need to be made publicly available.

A strong level of doubt has been cast upon a HG because they CLAIM to own all of the international rights to Macross (excluding Japan), and have even threatened several retailers who sell imported Macross merchandise with legal action. But when one of the retailers retained a lawyer who asked HG to prove their claims by providing evidence of their ownership, they refused and basically said that everyone should "take their word for it."

So, in the end, a company doesn't need to make their contracts and agreements publicly available. But when public scrutiny falls on said company due to claims they've made, some say it would be wise for them to provide the proof and settle the matter.

Something with which HG has refused to do.

This, coupled with questionable decisions and statements made by HG employees and associates past and present have led many Macross-fans to questions HG's motives and actual commitment to the Macross franchise. It has also given rise to theories that HG was simply "pulling the collective leg" simply to hamper incoming Macross merchandise in order to clear the market for their revival of RT.

p.s.- Some of the more RT-friendly members here also tend to cite the case of Playmates/HG vs. FASA foor the use of Macross-derived designs as a time when HG won. A statement like this is inherently wrong because the case itself was settled out of court and all parties involved signed a non-disclosure agreement. Therefore, for anyone to say which party won is simply a guess, since we can be quite sure that they actually aren't privy to any part of the out of court settlement.*

*I have a theory of what actually went on in this court case, but it's not as exciting as any of us wish it could be. eh...

Everyone seems to have forgotten something important. Something that NO court will overrule. That something is the fact that TP cannot make derivatives of Macross by the original contract made between BW and TP. This alone is enough to prove that the Macross franchise belongs to BW SINCE they and only they alone can make Macross derivatives. We can argue who owns what in the SDF-Macross copyrights, but where the rights to the derivatives are concerned, there is no question. All BW needs to do now is take TP to court over the derivative rights, something I'm sure is down the pipeline.

vinnie

I didn't forget. In fact, I'm always mentioning that whatever rulings have been made as to actual ownership, the Memorandum itself spells out the division of rights to everyone involved.

edit: dyslexia