RosarioLuv

woah, work is incredible. I agree with Noel though, that the legs don't match well well with the top, and kida thick, but that's to be expected since they're bashed from different figures. But (and I do mean Butay) DUDE, he sure has a thing for BIG BUTTS! Dang! I can see the Brazilian influence there. Especially with the Chinese Dress Minmei....reminds me of Patricia Velasquez (The Mummy, The Mummy Returns). Red Beans and Rice certainly did NOT miss her.

I don't own a Q-rau yet so indulge me please. Does the milia pilot toy's legs go into the Q-rau's backpack? Or does it slide down into the legs somehow? In either case, does anyone happen to know the REAL way her legs should go in the anime? I always assumed her legs go into the Q-rau's legs, and her arms go into the Q-rau arms. Is that right? Or is it more like a little cockpit where she controls things from a center console?

oh yeah, thanks for the review (nick? sorry, it's been a while I can't remember which names went with which i.d.'s. from two years ago. ) Nice scans (in the other thread), and thanks for the details. Now I wish someone would translate for us...

it's funny how this mag keeps popping up as "new" news, and people are like "woah, cool mag, where can I order this?" I don't even think anyone saw my post about the same mag, and I think I've seen at least two others pop up, lol.

**sigh** This is what happens when you take a cool mech idea from Japan, rip it off for sale by America, and manufacture it cheap in China. Japanese Bot + Yankee Entrepreneur + Underpaid Chinese Factory Worker = MasterPieceOfCrap.

i like swoop the bestest! I also like the little autobot spacejets. But why so many flying autobots? And this is wierd: funny how STORM JET looks like JET FIRE. Just like JET STORM also somehow reminded me of JET FIRE. It's like in Bewitched. You had Dick Seargent and Dick York both playing the husband, and you get Seargent York. So in this case, Storm Jet plus Jet Storm that both remind me of Jet Fire equal "FIRE STORM?"....

I have always been a long-time 1/55 fan to the point of being flamed for trouncing the 1/60 Yammies (which I still don't really like). So for the longest time in my book 1/55's reigned supreme, and there was no other way to convince me otherwise. This year I bought my first and only 1/48 (hikaru strike). Now I say the 1/48 is the best combination of looks and playability. It has all the awesome features of a model, but is nice and plasticy like a toy. Some folks I know complain it doesn't have that chokogin feel, but honestly, since it is all plastic, I feel like I can actually play with it more without worrying about breaking it from dropping it or chipping the paint. The only thing the 1/55 has over it is that the 1/55 is FUN to transform during mock battles. 1/48's just aren't fun to transform for me, even though I am good at it. Heck, deploying the landing gear isn't even fun; it's almost like a mini transformation sequence in itself. Just too much work. The 1/48 is durable enough for me, with two exceptions that I find myself "babying": 1. BP8 (just cause everyone else has broken theirs, though mine seems fine) 2. Hip Ball joints: I feel like if I move the legs too fast between fighter to battroid mode, the ball joints will break somehow.....they just look so thin, plus the rubber washer keeps popping out the side like a hemaroid waiting to burst. Other than that, it is pretty darn durable for an all-plastic toy. BTW, anyone ever put a 1/48 VF-1S head next to a Chris Baretta 1/55 VF-1S head? THe 1/48 head looks almost 99% identical in shape and size to a Chris Baretta VF-1S head. I swear they're almost exactly the same. Either they copied Chris' head, or we can attribute it to how well-sculpted the Baretta head was in the first place that it happens to match up nicely with the official one. Who sculpted the Baretta head in the first place anyway? Wasn't it a japanese fan? (I know Chris fixed it up and cast it, but wasn't it someone else's head before?) BTW, I just remembered how the whole Chris Baretta 1/55 Head was one of the catalysts that made MW even bigger at one point....that and talk of the release of Yammie Plus Valks in the US.....remember those old days, preordering MacPlus valks at Valk-Exchange? Leaving messeges to each other on that old messege board with baby-blue solid background? Drooling over Nam's collection pics at Valk Factory, and being amazed at Eric's (takatoys) first 1/55 SUPER DETAIL CUSTOMS with a Maxtype DYRL VF-1A with extended nose cone and super details, Ah, the good ole days.... Actually, Eric's old custom looks better than a 1/48 to me for some reason....now THIS is the colour I wish Yamato used on the 1/48 Fastpacks:

nose looks good in fighter, but looks funny in battroid. Reminds me of a chinese foreign film I watched where this guy was insecure about his ability to please his wife so he got a transplant from a giant horse.....

So only HK but not mainland China? What about Taiwan? Well, I guess HK is where most of the business stuff would take place..... That's kinda wierd though, I mean, aren't some companies like SonMay and Ever Anime based on mainland and Taiwan? (although, Ever Anime is suppossedly licensed, but not considered legal in USA because it conflicts with American licenses for the same product lines like CCS, Macross/RT, etc...). That's what I never understood, is how all the otaku here ban Ever Anime from the conventions as of ot were a bootleg. It's licensed in HK, but not USA, so it's a boot? With that thinking, any japanese import would be considered a boot (including Macross, which would infringe on RT). But we've all been there on that one (HG) sheesh. SonMay, though, is definitely boot, isn't it? But no restriction to Taiwan? Then again, HK has chucked out TONS of boot DVDs, games, and CD's almost the same time the real ones come out. MacZero case in point. At least SonMay and EverAnime only seemed to cover CD's that are hard to find now, but the new bootleggers are competing directly with the original companies during immediate releases. That sucks. The only "plus" I can see for the HK boots is that it's the only way HK'ers can watch anime with chinese subtitles....or *ungh* gosh-forbid, cantonese dubs! Man, I thought english dubs screwed up the flavor of anime characters, but man, hearing cantonese intonation (which can be pretty abrupt compared to japanese intonation) totally gives the characters a different spin. The only cantonese dub I could sorta stand was DBZ. But even in Japanese, I always thought of the DBZ characters as chinese anyway, so it doesn't seem so out of place to hear Goku's wifey yelling (in cantonese) outside for Gohan to come in for dinner. Reminds me of my aiyi when I was a kid.

Actually, I half-started doing the same thing with my GBP. The 1/55 GBP is so big that it could be modified to fit onto a 1/48. I can almost fully dress my 1/48 in 1/55 GBP enough for a convincing frontal pic. I was about to post a pic, but my digicam crapped out on me. Btw, I like Max VF-1J Blue Scheme with the 1A head a lot for some reason. Looks good! And it looks like he tinted the canopy for some reason. Too bad they'll never issue a Max Blue VF-1D Marriage Valk. Chris Baretta's 1/55 Heads, btw, are the same size as the 1/48 heads, pretty close. So I bet someone could do a 1-Seater VF-1D........

So even though DYRL is a movie within the world of the TV Series, the explanation for post-tv-series sporting the DYRL designs is what? The TV Macross was refitted and thus appears now like the DYRL Macross in the movie? And Exedol now has a giant pulsating green broccoli head brain like in the movie because wha? Did he watch the movie and go, "man, I look good like that. Someone macronize me and gimme a big brain like in the movie?" -longtime macrossworlder and fan, but newbie technicality-nit-picker.

wow, I hate all you pretty people. I wish I were pretty. Although Mr. Lee there gives me hope. The wifey there is nice to look at, but man, how exciting can she be? Her aspirations are to not work, travel around, drink lemon water, and sleep? Conclusion: Useless but Pretty Girls match well with Nerdy Rich IT Dudes. Moral of the Story: FOR GIRLS: If you're useless, you better be nice to look at. FOR GUYS: If you're not nice to look at, you better be "useful." Food for thought: Can two useless but pretty people maintain a happy marriage? More Food for thought: Would two useful-but-ugly people ever go for each other? I only ask because it is out of my domain; I am neither pretty to look at nor useful. I guess I'd be the nerdy poor dude. The only thing I have going for me is my custom extended nosecone, lol.

Yeah, Yamato does seem to kinda be all over the place. Can't pic a series, can't pic a scale, can't pic a sculptor. Kinda frustrating for completists who would like to have all the relative mechas from one line of each series in a particular scale. Makes it hard when Yamato jumps around in scales and series lines and doesn't finish them. (eg: FP 11 and FP 21, but no FP 19, 1/48 1 seaters, but no 2 seaters, VF-1X game colour 19, but no other video game valks in the same scale(WHERE's my VF-17?!), 1/60 GBP but no 1/48 GBP.) Ya know what's always bugged me the most? I can NEVER complete a Vermillion Squadron without customizing! They always make Hikaru's VF-1J, but then no Max or Kakizaki 1A's to go with it! Instead they always follow up with M&M VF-1Js, which are cool, but they're not part of the Hikaru-Max-Kakizaki Vermilion Squadron! Grr! Why ignore the TV 1A? They were there for like half the series before Hikaru took over Skull Squadron.

of course, buying toys is perfectly normal, but actually PLAYING with toys? That's just insane! Lol As far as the sculpt on the VF-0, how many beers did it take before it started to look "good" to you? Better make sure you have a couple buddies around to give you a second opinion before you decide you've found the girl of your dreams and future mother of your children, hehe....or ask your optomitrist for your money back. j/k. Just look at a hasegawa VF-0, then look at the yamato and tell me it still aint ugly. Either that, or lay off the juice, hehehe. Actually, I find the Battroid mode kinda ok lookin. And if it is as tall as a 1/48, I'd probably buy it just to have since it's a unique valk, but fighter mode is just plain messed up. And what bugs me about Gerwalk mode is the legs don't seem to have nearly enough articulation to have the full bent gerwalk stance that makes it a "gerwalk" rather than simply a jet with arms and legs hanging off of it. I'm hoping at least that Battroid is VERY poseable to make up for the other modes. But judging from the HLJ vido footage, I think the only thing impressive about this toy is perhaps its size (which appears to be bigger than a 1/60, and possiby as big as a 1/48, hard to tell.), and I'm hoping the price doesn't match its enormity.

***ungh**** (gnashing my teeth) Firstly, nice looking boy thar. Cool lookin valk too. That being said, I fear for both the boy and the valk. 1/60 is heavy, and pointy. If a leg fell off even at a 2 year old's height, it could seriously hurt his head, or even if it just fell on his foot. VF-1A head laser and nose can poke out an eye. Landing gear doors can cut. Wing headlights can come off and be swallowed. not to mention he's handling a painted valk that can chip or get smudged onto skin. Just not a good idea IMO, being a parent myself. Landing gear wheels can also come off and be swallowed. But really, just dropping it on his own feet can really hurt. Holding it by the wing like that is just asking for it. Not to mention, even if you don't want the valk anymore, even if it maybe only cost $35 at the cheapest, that's just too much money and quality toy to cast to a 2 year old....hold it for him till he's older and can appreciate it better. In the meantime, give him a plastic bootleg, a 1/65 (like Graham said), or MAYBE a chunky monkey (minus landing gears). But for goshsakes, I fear for what could happen with that fan-painted sharp pointy heavy diecast collectible in the hands of an innocent toddler. Just my two cents. By the way, Nice looking son you got there, again. (btw, I started my daughter on a 1/65 blazervalk (with supervision), which, she was able to transform on her own at age 4). Yesterday she drew me a valk coming in from the sky in fighter mode shooting missiles at a glaug unit on the ground. It is every macross parent's dream! My little Meltrandi!

Botoru Pilot getting shot point-blank in the face by Milia's Fist guns, then used as a human (zentradi) body shield, thrown aside, cut in half, and then stepped on his head crushed like a melon. (actually happened to several at once, so I don't know which ones died in which of one or more manners combined. Either way grotesque. DYRL Max ripping zentradi out of glaug and firing point-blank into his helmet which cracks open and his face explodes as it depressurizes in the vaccum of space (and his eyeballs pop out as he screams) DYRL civilian decapitation during Macross transformation TV series Misa watches CF pilot get blown out of the cockpit and suffocate in the vaccum of space. TV series catseye pilot gets crushed to death from crashing into asteroid debris TV series CF pilot gets shot point blank in face by glaug WORST EVER (for me to watch): TV series little girl and daddy soldier get blown away during zentradi blitzkrieg.

Not sure about DVD's and such, but as far as toys go, I think a lot of bootleg toys are being ripped straight at the factory by the workers (such as the Illustrious 1/3000 SDF-1 Bootleg made from actual bandai/taka parts but packaged in a bootleg box and sold under a different name). I've always thought the 1/65 Mac7 valk boots were also ripped in this manner. And some of those ripped Yamato Prototype (test run) valks that ended up on ebay are another example. Here's a thought: Hey Japan (and USA, while I'm at it), go back to manufacturing your own quality products instead of outsourcing them to China for cheap labor. If you insist on outsourcing, at least hire better quality workers and give them better pay. If you go cheap, eventually you'll still end up paying the price later in some other way. I miss the days that my anime products actually read "Made in Japan" on them. Here's another thought: Hey Japan, why don't you acknowledge that anime fandom now has an economically-viable global fanbase, and expand your anime industry to include the world outside of Japan so that it isn't so hard to get your products to the point that diehard fans would claw for even a bootleg version of your product? And for Godsakes establish JAPANESE business ambassadors in outside countries who can take charge of and control their own out-of-country license for your products. STOP selling your licenses away to other countries who go and distort your anime storylines, make their own ugly versions of your products, and reap all the income from it that could have potentially been YOURS in the first place (HG case in point, among other companies). In other words, rather than the reflex response of trying to stop bootlegging, why not take a proactive response that ESTABLISHES licensed releases of your products in countries outside of japan. For once, please get out of this SUKOKU mentality and acknowledge that Japan is not the center of the universe, and that the Sun rises in all parts of the world, not just Japan.

Yeah, I think he means GenX'ers. BUT, it was the babyboomer generation that created these wonderful storylines and (original) toys for us succeeding generations. The babyboomers were a generation of poets and profits. A lost era... btw, I always thought I was a GenX'er. But if 1975 is the cutoff, and I'm born after that, does that mean I'm an MTVgen? I didn't really grow up in the 80's persay, but more the 85-95's, if that makes any sense. My first car, btw, was a 1986 Honda Civic Hatchback....and it was 1993 when I got it.

about 4 or 5 years ago I had to go to New Mexico for an improptu vacation at my mom's, right in the middle of a custom 1/55 VF-1A I was working on that I hadn't finished decaling and hadn't taken pics of yet (for ebay). So I put the valk and armour in "compact mode", along with a digicam and installation hardware, all in a little handy toolbox so I could have it as a carry-on on the plane (since I didn't want it getting crushed by baggage handling.) I too got stopped by security, and they thoroughly examined my box and even called other security guards to come look at it for a second opinion. Then the guard turns to me with a smirk on his face saying, "a toy and computer hardware....in a toolbox?" I was held up like 15-20 minutes just for that (this was before 9-11). I dunno what they were all fussy about anyway...heck, it was made with the blunt jetfire nose too, and I hadn't extended it yet either. Maybe they were afraid it could poke someone's eye out too. Oh, btw, they finally let me go, after giving me wierd looks. What, doesn't everybody carry around a toolbox with a toy and digicam hardware in it to the airport? What?

Where in the toy section do you find this at WalMart? With the name brand stuff like GIJOe, Transformers, etc? or is there a generic toy area? I went to my local Walmart and found nothing....where do I look? EDIT: now that I looked at your pics of Battroid mode....*ungh* LOL, that robot mode is hysterical! LOL, I can't stop myself. Now I MUST go see this freak of nature out of morbid curiousity!

Where in the toy section do you find this at WalMart? With the name brand stuff like GIJOe, Transformers, etc? or is there a generic toy area? I went to my local Walmart and found nothing....where do I look?

The VF-19A and the YF-19 have the same diecast parts, so won't the scheme look the same if you're just painting the diecast parts? BTW, can you chrome plastic parts? Auto customizing places often offer chroming services for car hood ornaments and other parts of the car that may not be metal by first metalizing the part and then chroming it on top of the now metalized part... I own the Starwars Episode 1 Royal Starship (THE BIG ONE) and I've always wanted to chrome it. How much would something like that cost to do, if you can do it?

Why is it that everytime Kawamori designs a new valk, it gets bigger and BIGGER and BIGGER than the previous one?

I've always wanted to see a valk in Blue Angels garb....now especially the SV-51. BTW, my favourite plane is the F-18, because, for some reason, of all the real-life planes, including the F-14, the F-18 is actually the one that looks like a real-life valkyrie to me for some reason. I always wanted Kawamori to do a valk after the 18, and the SV-51 looks a lot like it. Someone outta get that kit and Blue-Angelfy it for me. Hehe.

Back in my customizing days I made a custom arm armour that fits both vintage and reissues ala outside clip like the elint arm armours. I made one mould of it and one cast of it. Since then the mold got warped. The new armour had circle vents on the side, along with armour trapezoid lights on the side, and new square fronts (dyrl style) with seperate missile cluster attatchments. Man I miss customizing. This was way before 1:48's were even known, but I also had ideas for redoing the rest of the 1/55 armours with new details and such. I even wanted to recast the exposed strike FP engines and adapt it for both boosters, and then cast clear resin covers for them. (1:48 eventually did the same thing). Ah, I miss those days....so many ideas. Yeah, I think now with 1:48's out, it's pretty pointless to try to improve on the 1/55's. Now it's best to collect 1/55's in their original vintage form, and appreciate them for the original design for its day. To try to make them more realistic wouldn't be worth the time or money now.