RTShark

Agree here. I think the 1/48 still wins a close match here simply because it's more stable and more poseable, but as far as proportions you are dead on. Of course, either the 1/60 or 1/48 are vastly ahead of pretty much anything else for overall proportions in all three modes. Re: price. They're getting harder to come by so that price doesn't seem to be too bad. I only have one of them, and I'd love to get another but I don't think I can justify it... oh well. I'll also echo the sentiments that the Valkyrie Exchange is a great place to do business with.

Ido... They're definitely not the Toynami models... but thanks anyways. Valkfactory... Yeah that seems more likely. Thanks for the links. I just wanted to confirm that that's what they likely were. Like I said I hadn't actually seen them myself yet. Are the Matchbox versions at all valuable/collectible? (I know that's the next question I'm going to get, might as well post it now).

Anyone have any info on these. My friend found two of them. Hikaru and Max. They appear to be the same as (or similar to) these: http://www.macrossworld.com/macross/toys/_bandai_hcmaxj.htm But have Robotech boxes and were released in the US by Matchbox, presumably in the 80s when Robotech was on the air. I have not laid eyes on them myself yet, but my friend tells me they match the picture in the link. Anyone have any more detail on these?

You sound exactly like me, a year ago. I also had a MPC Sterling that I was disapointed with... Still wanted to get something along those lines, but was a little gunshy about dropping a lot of money for something like that again... To echo the sentiments you've seen elsewhere in this thread... You will absolutely not be disapointed in a 1/48. I bought a Hikaru 1J and absolutely love it. Now, I'm not as crazy as most of the guys here, I only have the one... Hoping to pick up another one sometime next year if I can do it without spending an arm and a leg... The 1/60s are nice too and I have a soft spot for them. They're especially good for the cost now as they've gotten cheaper with the 1/48s being available. Some people dislike the removable legs part of it, but IMO they definitely compare very favorably to an MPC (I'd rather have removable legs on a line-art accurate sculpt than ugly ass swing bars attaching out of proportion legs to an out of proportion fuselage)... In short, you can't go wrong with any Yamato Valk, IMO. Go for the 1/48 if you've got the money, but if not the 1/60s are pretty nice, too.

No. No discussion of any Robotech (or related) products of any kind are allowed there unless the products are Harmony Gold's. I got warnings and account freezes for even the barest hint or mention that other stuff was available. I basically just started e-mailing people whenever they'd ask questions like that. Quite a few. The ones that make me sad are the ones who talk about getting an MPC as if it's the greates thing ever and will be the crown jewel of their collections. Heck, I used to be that person before I actually saw an MPC... <sigh>

OK for the record... FASA did *not* "rip off" the designs. They licensed them from one of the Japanese companies that were involved with Macross (I'm not certain if it was Tatsunoko or Studio Nue). The lawsuit, ironically enough was from Harmony Gold and *not* from any of the original Japanese companies that were involved. (I've been told from those in the know, but do not know for certain myself that FASA was actually in the right in this lawsuit, but gave in simply because they couldn't afford to fight HG in court). Battletech and MechWarrior originally ran side by side, for a long time, Battletech focused solely on the Mechs and combat whereas MechWarrior was an RPG set in the same world. FASA eventually went under, which had *nothing* to do with Battletech or Mechwarrior, but rather to do with other lines it made being unsuccessful and dragging the company down. BT and MW were the only really strong lines FASA had going. Another company, called WizKids, which was founded by Jordan Weisman (a former employee of FASA) bought the rights to Battetech and Crimson Skies from whoever held them after FASA went under and proceeded to make completely new games based on these properties based on it's own system that they designed for MageKnight (figures sat atop a rotateable dial which had a window showing the stats and could be clicked in different directions to show the effects of damage or healing/repair). WizKids new game is called MechWarrior. They also licensed out the rights to produce Battletech to a German company called FanPro (who originally got work from FASA translating their books into German) who is now producing the full line of Battletech books and miniatures and producing new material for the game under the name Classic Battletech.

Point is... name doesn't make sense at all. Autocannon already implies that it's a type of automatic gun so the fact that it can fire in bursts is implicit. And who calls the bursts of an automatic weapon pulses? Pulse tends to imply an energy weapon... and the description of the gun sounds like an energy weapon, so why call it an autocannon at all? Either word by itself would have been fine. They just don't make anything resembling sense together at all.

Interesting that they're showing the two side by side. I suppose showing the animation error gives them credence to say "look here, it's canon!" but it's pretty easy to tell that the head in the animation error is significantly different than the Y/VF-1R head... I like the caption also... "A VF-1R *appears* to be dishing out some discipline to a Zentraedi rebel." (Emphasis mine)... Wonder how many have fallen for it? EDIT: And what the $#**& is a "pulse autocannon" anyway?!? Sounds like they were looking at Battletech and used it's weapon charts to come up with something 'cool' and new. Hmmm.... Pulse lasers... Autocannons... Pulse Autocannon... Yeah! That's the ticket! (And for the record, I like Battletech, and you can add FASA to the list of companies that Harmony Gold has screwed over).

30? <sigh> I have 3. (1 Bandai, one Yammie 1/60 and 1 Yammie 1/48)... I'm hoping to have the spare cash to pick up one of the 1/48 Roy reissues that's coming out... I can't really complain. I would have the resources to build up a sizable collection of these, but I tend to diversify my interests. I'm currently collecting comics, toys, gaming stuff (cards, miniatures), and taking weekly music lessons. This on top of normal family expenses... Anyway... I was just discovering Tam's TMPanime page around the same time discovered Yamato and there was (probably still there) a long thread there detailing different Valkyrie toys that were available nd that helped a lot. That was an awesome resource and was the primary factor in my deciding to get a 1/48 (I was a little gunshy about dropping a lot of money on a 'boutique' toy after my Toynami experience)... Too bad it's not more accessible to the layperson...

I'll chime in here as well... As a kid I started out with Robotech, like many others. In the early 90s when I became interested again (Sci-Fi Channel was showing Robotech) I became aware of Macross and the differences between it and Robotech (It wasn't until I started coming here that I got the whole story, but anyway)... Even though I was aware of Macross I was not aware that anybody was making toys based on it, except for Toynami. As an American I was aware of Toynami through their marketing efforts here in the states... Ending up buying an MPC (Max 1J) and was pretty disapointed with it, but settled thinking it was the only game in town. I had heard tell of the 1/60s a little after that, but didn't bother getting one because all of the reviews I found made it sound like it wasn't worth getting (I must have found all the ones written by Perfect Transformation nuts )... Anyway. Luckily for me a friend of mine bought me one as a gift and despite it's flaws it was such a huge jump over the MPC that I began to do some more research. I found TMPanime first and through them found this place and between both sites heard about the beauty that was the 1/48 (I bought a Hikaru 1J, btw). So anyway... to sum up, I think most people buying MPCs do so because they don't know what else is out there. Even though they were flawed, if they were the only thing you could find, they'd have to be good enough. Having said that, I still would not have bought another one at any price more than 1/4 of SRP after seeing up close the one I did buy... Let alone the inflated collectors value... No accounting for taste I suppose.

I thought I was the only one who tried that...

My 1/48 is very playable... Of course I don't have a Fast Pack on it yet... Are the FPs really this unstable or is this an exaggeration? Regarding the MPC... I didn't have an Archer, I had a Sterling, which was Vol. 4 (I think, I don't have it anymore, so can't check)... Supposedly all the major bugs in the design had been worked out by then, but I was very dissatisfied with mine... Aside from the issues that'd be issues no matter what, like the proportion problems in the legs and fuselage/chest piece it was just very 'loose' in general. The biggest annoyance was that if I set it on it's landing gear in fighter mode the legs would push upwards and if I picked it up in fighter mode they would sag downwards. This wasn't like a tiny bend this was a noticeable 5 or 10 degree off from straight difference... As to the FPs, they looked nice, but were only marginally cool. One of the leg pieces would literally not stay together until I glued it together, and even then had problems staying attached to the leg...

I think the oddest thing I've ever seen in Disney animation, which was simultaneously the funniest and most horrifying thing I've seen in Disney animation was a short clip from the 40s of war propaganda. VERY anti-German (and not just anti-Nazi)... Wish I knew where to find the clip online... I saw it at a friends house. I was more than a little shocked... This was Disney? Anyway...

I actually thought that Gerwalk was the best form for the MPC. The one I had pretty much stayed in Gerwalk all the time, because that was the only one of the three modes that didn't make me want to throw it across the room and break it into hundreds of pieces. Seriously, it actually looked pretty good in Gerwalk. Better than the 1/60 (the ONLY area where I'll say this) but not as nice as the 1/48. I think this was because the odd angle made the out of proportion fuselage and legs less noticeable whereas in fighter the fuselage was very noticeable and in Battroid the legs were very noticeable. Of course I don't own it any longer so it's all moot, but there you go. (depressed about the US elections and so trying to find something else to worry about)...

Heh. That's fair. Of course, nostalgia has tricked me before. What the $%&(! I used to like THIS!?! What the $%() was I thinking?!?