danth

I always thought it was really good synth orchestra crap. Reba West ruined the Minmei stuff, but the BGM was wonderful.

I know big companies like Takara and Bandai might have pretty consistently good QC, but I don't follow Transformers or Gundams. Second-tier toymakers, who concentrate on niche toys like Mospeada or Megazone or even Macross, seem to be plagued with QC issues. Sometimes it's just "minor" stuff like looseness and parts that don't fit or that break too easily, or major problems like the ones I listed previously. My Takatoku and Gakken toys attest to the quality of old-school niche toymakers. But they either went under or left the toy business, so maybe that kinda quality is not profitable.

No, it's true, at least for all the toys I'm interested in. There is no "aside from the windshield on the CM," because that's huge. And the Megahouse and it's visors breaking or wrong parts. Or the Aoshima and Toynami Legioss. How about Yamato's shoulder problems, on the VF-0 or Garland? Yeah, Eriku can pretend it's only a Toynami thing and others can just downplay the extent of the problems, but it's pretty much industry wide, and while companies like Yamato fix the problems by the second run, any first run toy these days is likely to be problem-ridden.

Obviously the Beagle blows the competition out of the water in the looks department, but we all know this is a modern day Japanese toy and will therefore have pretty sh!tty QC and crappy materials. So I just hope it doesn't break out of the box or have wrong pieces or any other problems like that. I know it'll have loose joints and pieces that fall off, because that's par for the course, but man, if it's not broken and is correctly assembled when I get it, I'll consider myself lucky. Yeah, I'm getting pretty cynical about this stuff. But it's damn true!

Wow, sometimes sarcasm just falls flat. Jenius, that's a great idea. I'm sure someone will do it. Makes me wonder if any of the Japanese hobby mags have already done a customized Imai Legioss. There was a sweet custom Ride Armor in June 2007 Hobby Japan.

And the term hobo is cruel to the homeless. Seriously, "Mega-Studmuffin" is the only moniker that is as politically correct as it is accurate.

I never noticed how much nicer the Imai kit looked in the nose/cockpit/canard section. However, the Toynami made a lot of improvements in my opinion: bigger wings, angled tailfins, and a flush airframe (lots of gaps in the model).

But it still has nothing on the giant, missile-lactating man-boobs of the VF-1 GBP armor.

I propose the term "Mega-studmuffins" for us guys who are more selective in our mecha toy purchases. Yeah...I think it's gonna stick.

Oh, 'cause I keep hearing it used to refer to people who will not or cannot pay $250 or more for a toy that they find disappointing. I was just wondering if it was a pejorative meaning "discerning fan looking for a reasonable deal". Some people think that's a bad thing.

I figured out what I don't like about the VF-25. Its chest is narrow, or looks narrow at the angles we've seen. It looks weak compared to the manly pecs of the VF-1.

What's this "hobo" codeword I keep hearing from you Toyboxdx guys?

Yeah, that joint is a bit iffy. But I do love shiny plastic! Probably comes form years of lusting after shiny, shiny Takatoku valks.

So it seems that both toys have problems, and it just comes down to which toy looks better to your taste. For me it's the CM easily, since I love it's shiny plastic, spot-on proportions, and perfect transformation.

The giant clown feet on the Legioss toys are what make it hard to connect it to the Tread the way it should (the Toynami has the same problem). Also, the legs should telescope completely. If a toy could pull that off and get the foot size right, the Legioss should be able to link with the Tread without spreading its legs.

From how I understand it, that price was supposed to be the minimum stores were allowed to charge. In other words, the Toynami price list said that stores had to charge at least 79.99, implying that the wholesale cost would be even less than 79.99. It wasn't supposed to mean that the retail price would be 79.99 or more. Now, Toynami is saying the minimum stores can charge will be more like $150.

I canceled my pre-order. I can't say without a doubt that I won't end up paying $150 for the Beta anyway, but I want to see the actual finished product before I worry about that. If it's surprisingly awesome looking, then maybe. More likely I'll not pre-order, wait for reviews, and hold out for a better deal. But I'm really hoping all the canceled pre-orders convince Toynami to drop the price. I can't blame the online stores for changing the price, because a pre-order is not like a binding contract, and the item itself is not even available yet. Like Roger said, the customer can back out at any time, so I can't blame the retailers for doing the same when Toynami goofs up. The one sure thing is it would have been stupid not to jump on that pre-order, just in case.

Jenius, do you know if the Beta will be released in Japan through Aoshima? Sorry if the question has been addressed already. If the Beta does turn out to be between $150 and $200, I predict that I will still get a Beta for about $100 after the 25 or so crazy enough people pay the retail price and they toy goes on clearance. Then again, I'm probably underestimating the number of crazy people out there. What do you guys think: Will retailers have to slash prices to sell the Beta?

I think Beagle is my new favorite company. And I still don't really know who the hell they are. Let me be the first to predict: TOTY 2008 (2009?)

Jenius, thanks for trying to move the argument to PMs. Holy hell man, dragging this back here is one thing, but quoting someone's PM in the main board? Are you F'ing kidding me? Anyway, what if Toynami has worked out a deal with Aoshima to release the Beta in Japan? Wouldn't that significantly increase the production run and drop the price? And as Jenius said, it probably won't feature die cast, it's not much bigger than the VF-1, etc etc. Also, I thought that price was the main reason they always gave for not releasing the Beta: It would be too expensive. If they're releasing it, it must mean they found a way to reduce the price. I'm usually right when I expect the worst, so I won't be surprised at all if it does turn out to be around $150. But I won't be shocked if it's $80 either.

Definitely, especially when the motive seems to be nothing more than bragging rights.

It's not good odds. $115 is halfway between $80 and $150, so he should win if the price is less than $115. Also, if you're right, he loses $150. If he's right, you lose $80. So the bet is totally in your favor. Just sayin'.

Maybe this has already been noticed, but it seems they changed the orientation of the forearm armor on the Yellow figure: The Yellow set will have bigger tires and differently oriented forearms. I wonder if they'll release a Stick and Ley with the same fixes.

I'm glad to see some new pics. I'm looking forward to this one.

This is great news. Not sure I believe it, but I want to.