1/1 LowViz Lurker

PS4 is probably easier to obtain so I would not cancel the toy.

Just go to your friends house and play his ps4 lol.

As for XB One: titanfall's robots are not as cool as valks. Waiting for them to drop from the sky is kinda lame imo. If only respawn had the macross license they could do a macros fps. Make it extremely violent though with giant soldiers having their heads explode, and damage modeling on the robots as you get shot up.

Like I said if there is a show, they are going to be the guy that makes the merch.

But the market was saturated when Yamato had their VF-1 v2 line of 1/60 toys.

now that people paid all their money on those there is less overall purchasing power left in people to buy more.

If they had released the 1/100 around the time when yamato were doing macross zero toys I believe this would have been the best timing because at that time, the 1/48 toys were big and the 1/60 vf-0 was as big as 1/48 vf-1. So a small toy would be a alternative to those who think that size is too limiting for their display.

The 1/100 PT would have killed off revoltech, (revoltech released a super posable PT macross VF-1) would have made banpresto valks obsolete (I know people hate these but they were cool desk toys you could stick to the monitor with blu tack in interesting poses lol) because they were of high quality not meant to be cheap toys, and it would also have prevented yamato making GNU toys (forcing yamato to not waste money on stuff people are not interested in) because the HiMetal looks good in robot mode and fighter mode and is better due to capturing the transformation that makes the macross mechs unique.

If Bandai is smart they should just do limited numbers of the PT small toys and branch into other shows like PLUS, Zero, and Videogames of macross at 1/100 scale to make it a more collectible scale for those kids who have limited space to store toys. A YF-19 HiMetal would be great for those who can't afford the big one. But the timing is important too. At the time VF-1 Hi Metal came out, everyone had spent their money on V2 1/60 vf-1 from yamato.

The advantage of smaller toys is they are easier to store away. But they are not as good as display pieces because the detail is less. They couldn't compete with 1/60 because these were still cheap enough for people to afford to get them. I think the only way to get himetal back is if they have an exclusivity deal on a new show so that it prevents other toy companies from having the license.

As a fan of the Himetals, I think Bandai should look at this realistically: make the price cheap and affordable but flood the market early with the toys so the competition comes later than your toys.

The problem is by the time HiMetal came out, people were already set on 1/60 scale. If the 1/100 were the standard scale for collectors before this, then they would have had an easier time with this.

ie

1. show comes out. Kids are eager to buy toys of their fave characters to show their fandom to others

2. himetal toys are released and flood the shelves

3. profit is made thanks to exposure on tv which acts like ads for the toys

4. yamato/arcadia announce something bigger and better (but it is too late for them to sell to the initial audience of fans since they have already purchased himetal)

The solution to the problem is there needs to be a show or something big enough for people to get excited about before otherwise you are only going to be able to sell to the hardcore fans only. And there are less of these than casual fans. So what bandai can do is get exclusivity to be the sole toymaker and then you will see himetal do well. When you can sell to larger pool of people (both hardcore AND casual fans) you can release the toys cheaper and sell in bulk.

We can put up with paying premium on things like the VF-4 as hardcore fans because we know it is not a popular or exposed mech in the macross universe compared to Vf-1. VF-1 is cheap and easier to sell because it is wideley recognisable. That means it is more profitable than obscure mechs. So you have to take these things into consideration:

Himetal did not fail to satisfy the owners who bought it. Critically it is a success. It just wasn't released at the right time due to having to compete with 1/60. So commercially it suffered.

As long as they know this, then they may reconsider and do re-release of the toy or start new thing with that line. But not if the fans are buying cheap 1/60. You got to look at is the property new and interesting and different from what's already on the market? That comes with new shows, ovas, comics, games etc. Or is it just in ADDITION to what's already been done before by other companies? If it is the latter you won't make as much money because people will ignore the second best option and go with the best option. You want to jump in earlier so you can first feed off the buzz of the new show and then while it sells you can then work on the more-expensive stuff (made from the profits of the previous stuff) for the hardcore and rich guys who want a higher quality toy than the mass produced toy.

The thing is this:

If HiMetal came back, would all those who bought v2 yammy vf-1 valks care?

It came out during a time when yamato saturated the market of vf-1 and those people saw himetal as low priority in their to-buy lists.

I would say the only way to get hiimetal to come back is there is a show on vf-1 (something like a sequel to macross zero with new characters getting to know how to fly valkyries after the anti un attacks)

The hi metal could be modified to have the "new VF-1" look for macross zero 2 (more curves? cockpit that lets you get out of the robot from the chest instead of the top of the head?) and act as official merchandise for this show.

In 1/100 they could do the non-tranforming destroids (also updated) to sell alongside NU vf-1, and a new monster in 1/100.

Instead of calling the show macross zero they could call it Macross One, for the generation of kids that started on Zero and see Roy in Zero as the official roy, not the long haired hippy in SDFM. lol

In Macross One show they could show us Low Vis vf-x and maybe design new robots ie transforming variants of destroid that never got mass produced for use in space war 1. (ie they might have been things that were made in secret bases against anti un only, not to fight giants, or perhaps robots that were destroyed in the big zentradi laser attack in Space War I)

The theme would be mind controlled pilots using music to brainwash young people to joining the anti UN. lol The main character could be a brainwashed pilot paid lot of money to leak the government secrets to mercenaries and anti un. Eventually it leads to show down between anti un, un, and anti war groups trying to destroy the machines so there is less danger to society of these secret weapons. (perhaps peaceful natives who see the technology as possessed with evil spirits)

In Zero we saw stuff we didn't get from sdfM like octos: transforming submarine. Or Monsters with claws. That stuff is interesting to me. Perhaps there are other things we did not see like mini-monsters or drones that launch from monster to support it?

1/1 scale talking cola vending machine. Most iconic robot character from SDF macross.

Variable Glaug for crying out loud.

Well to clarify I think Bandai are doing a great job because they give you a stand and their pieces are solid efforts.
The HiMetals could be used as an example of "too expensive for what you get" though.

Lots of people on here were complaining that since the VF-1 toys is smaller than the version 2 1/60 VF-1 from yamato, "why would you bother buying the bandai Himetal VF-1?"

I explained that just because something is small doesn't mean poor value. The transformation of the Himetal is still more enjoyable and better design than the Yamato. The gunpod also looks better imo with a skinnier barrel, and being small means more space for you! (see people forget that: not everyone has massive amounts of space to store this stuff. The toy being small may be seen as a positive for those guys)

Were himetal out of the range of collectors? No. But it is an example of the general macross fanbase looking for reasons to whine about price. lol We are lucky to even SEE things like the VF-4 imo. I wish stuff like Himetal were continued and would love to see a 1/100 YF-19 but whatever. Everyone has a limit on their budget and will just buy the bigger stuff.

When cheap toys were made (the non-transforming toys from yamato that were meant to compete against super posable Revoltechs) people didn't seem all that crazy for it.

If you don't buy the cheap stuff it sends a signal to these companies to make only the high quality toys (not that HiMetal wasn't high grade quality) and ignore the low-budget range.

If the quality has increased, it is an excuse to pay more imo. Because over time you want these toys to last you. Not have to rebuy replacement parts and treat it like a kit where you constantly need to mod your toys to fix stuff that should not have been broken from the beginning when made and approved for sale. I guess I like to think of it like buying art and it is up to you to determine what something is worth.

Some people like me care about things like durability so we want to pay workers more if it means they last. You can not say that about past yamato toys. All these toy companies need to do is give us ample warning of when these will be available so that the average joe can save up enough money and set it aside in advance of release. This way even people who are poor can afford a expensive item. But if they lower price too much and cut corners too much don't you think that sends a message that you don't value the long term worth of the toy?

I remember a long time ago when it was normal to only have 1 1/48 VF-1 from yamato. Then over time people started to get multiples and wanted to have all the variations. It then became an addiction and as time went on it became a competition to see who had the most 1/48 lol.

Now If you can afford to buy an army of VF-1 with different paintschemes, surely one really good YF-19 or VF-4 is within price range right? If you pay the high price it encourages companies to go for the more risky mecha that do not appear in shows much. If they only have 1 chance to do it, you want them to get it right on that one time. Because if it sells poorly at least the existing customers who bought it are stuck with a good attempt at the mech than one where they only put a half-assed effort into it.

Although the price has gotten out of the range of some people, the early adopters can be relied upon to absorb risk. Then if they make profit from that, the company can later re-release cheaper editions for the less desperate fans. (eg YF-19 without the missiles and stand and FP)

But if it doesn't sell well enough, the company can do something else first to get some cashflow, (man dolls?) and then after they profit off of those, attempt to revisit the toy again. But while there is that dry period of no new transforming robots, those who bought the toy before at high price will at least not be stuck with a low quality toy and can at least take satisfaction that although they paid a lot for it, it will last them years. There is no need to return it, wait for 2nd and 3rd release for design flaws to be fixed, and parts breaking easily due to cost cutting measures to keep it in range to sell to the casual fan.

If you want good quality, I would rather pay the high price for it, then pay a low price, but then worry about needing to fix it. I always felt that the feeling that you were being used as a guinea pig was the worst thing about older yamato releases. I don't want to have to worry about that stuff when I buy stuff. It's one of the reasons chunky monkey was so loved for so long, because you knew these would not fall apart.

I have an old Konig Monster and am afraid to transform it too often because I know at some point some of the nubs may weaken. That is the kind of thing as toy collectors we should not have to worry about.

I think if paying a higher price means more robust toys, then it is justified. Especially if it is of a toy that will never sell in high numbers (due to lack of appearance in a popular show) and your chances to "get it right" are limited. (ie there may not be a "second chance to fix flaw" since it isn't worth the effort to revisit again due to lack of interest by the masses and the company going belly up)

We should not have to keep up to date with a list of the "fixed releases that are safe to buy". If it is high quality "masterpiece", it should be of better quality than "non masterpiece" toys, and if it is a rare release because only a few people recognise the mech, then the effort to make it last is important because there may never be a revisit of it again for a long time. (unlike the popular mecha with shows and videogame appearances - many toy companies will gladly do these since they are recognisable)

Initial release - make it expensive but of high quality so if it fails commercially the existing customers never have to worry about wishing for better versions because it was done right the first time.

later release for the casuals - drop the price to reflect the larger base of people out there. (more casuals in existence to sell to than hardcore fans = more overall money to be made from this group, but less profit per sale of the item.)

The casual fan who is not willing to buy rarer valks, wll not be willing to pay a high price like the desperate hardcore fan. So go for the hardcore fan first (price it high) then later (if the initial release goes well) lower price for the casuals but produce more of it. (don't make it limited quantity like bandai was doing for Mac F toys - ONLY do that if the initial release barely breaks even)

"Limited Release" appeals to collectors who will one day feel good knowing they own something others don't have yet, or can't have.

Wide release would be for those who were not crazy for the design, but would still consider buyig if it was cheap and they could get it at a bargain price.

Profit from the desperate fan first. Then use the profits of that "desperate fan" group to continue to produce more of it for the casual fan who do not want all the extras. Since there are going to be more casuals, the release becomes less risky as there are more overall people able to afford the item at the low price.

If they make the initial release cheap, sure maybe more people will buy it, but then the market value of the toy goes down because people instinctively know they overproduced the toy in high numbers and they just wait a long long time for HLJ clearance sales before buying the toy and collectors lose interest.

What they should be doing is they only want to produce enough for the desperate fans first. That way ensure you make profit per sale of item to make it worth it to hardcore collectors who want to buy "rare things" and "limited release" items. Then increase the number of later release based on how much interest there is for cheaper alternatives to the first release. (eg YF-19 without missiles - some people only want to pose it in battroid and may never use these) The emphasis of the need to buy one should be on the quality of the toy itself, not on good value. You can buy a high performance car and like the "high performance" and this is the basis for why you want it. Or you can buy an economy car and like the money being saved by the fuel efficiency when driving to work.

The first group are people who value high performance/quality not "how much money can I save?". So as long as the QUALITY is there, (in this case toys that are durable, no exploding shoulders or lame excuses for why the toy can't lock the chest together in robot mode lol) ..they are prepared to pay extra to keep seeing new products in future at the expense of being wallet-raped. You don't want a situation where you have loads of toys sitting on the shelf collecting dust and people waiting for bargain clearance sale while they are buying bandai toys. You want to limit the initial release to only those who are willing to fork out the higher cost so that the second hand market value is always kept high in the mindset of fans and collectors. Once you overproduce, people will just wait and you get a situation like the destroids where it's not considered a rare item and they wait until after sales are on before jumping in.

It's getting out of reach but, so long a the quality is high, and the items are easily available I am willing to sacrifice paying a bit more.

What I don't want is defects and having to wait for second releases to be certain that the toy is safe to buy.

The old yamato = cracking shoulders and timebomb exploding hips and other annoyances. Forcing us to have to buy multiples and wonder how durable in the long term these were. Now yamao/arcadia toys seem to be more robust. Plus we should pay for work what it is worth imo.

If competitors think they can compete with them on quality and release cheaper, lets see it. Perhaps that can drive prices down?

Lack of competition is the true main factor for high prices in any industry. Some of the toys don't sell well so I imagine that the ones that do, are relied upon to compensate for the ones that don't. VF-11 for instance didn't do too well. And that was one of yamato's well-made toys. I think the more risky it is to do a particular VF, the more it is expected for collectors to pay to see it made. The high-paying customers absorb the risk until it is proven safe enough to continue to keep supplying more. If the fanbase shrinks over time this is also important. Less people to sell to = more reason to sell high to maximise profit. Macross is not as popular as transformers or gundam. They have to target the really hardcore fans who are desperate since the series is old..

The chunky robot mode is for us fans of the chunky robot lineart.

I can understand people having issues with fighter but it's still overall a better toy than the old yammie.

Just as V2 1/60 VF-1 is overall better than the 1/48 "skinny girl arm and rat finger" VF-1

I'll opt for a toy that actually locks the chest for one that flops about like crazy if you try to pick it up.

Sloppy effort for yamato that last time. And let's not forget the small gunpod. Way worse than the newer one.

Perhaps in another 5 years they will go back to skinny robot and sleek fighter proportions again to milk us of more money.

I believe the "harpoons" are Fold Wave projectors.

http://macross.anime.net/wiki/YF-29_Durandal

See under Avionics and Optional Armament.

Thanks I forgot about looking up this stuff on macross compendium. But "Harpoon things" should be the official nickname. Everyone knows what happens when space whales get possessed by demons. They become giant monsters that want to ram into you and swallow you to obtain your energy. Harpoon things is the way to fight against them. Also the japanese like whaling. Kawamori is sending us a message not to hurt the innocent whales. But what if the whales were cloned by mad scientists and then those clone bodies became possessed by demons thirsty to inhabit a physical body? The humans would need to make monster-hunting valks. That's what I think when i see harpoons on the valk. lol Space lobster and space whale are very tasty too. *licks lips like ozuma*

1. yf-19 (best looking gunpod and almost the best fighter mode. Great 'helmet' design to make it look more sporty than the mass produced robots)

2. VF-4 - at first wasn't meant to transform. That is why I like the f mode a lot. Looks powerful (without being bulky) and fast at the same time. No gunpod to worry about either. If a VF loses that it is more vulnerable than a vf-4 which relies on built in weapons in the arms. At close range it is more deadly.

3. vf-1 - I love the swing wing design. At high speed they can dive down like a bird to attack and at low speed or in gerwalk they can open the wings wider and just glide and focus on attacking at slower speed for more precise and up close fighting with better turn speed. When first introduced by Roy in the first show as he flies down in plane mode, transforms to GERWALK mode to gradually slow himself by skating on the ground like a guy on rollerblades, and then come to a stop to turn into a robot, it defined the entire meaning of variable fighter and set the stage for all other valks to come. People are still buying the toys today. With GPB armour and super valk FAST packs the basic design can further be adapted to different roles too. It's a classic mecha. No wonder the VF-25 goes back to that style. I would say overall VF-1 deserves to be in the top 3 mainly because all modes are satisfactory in terms of the function. When I look at GERWALK for YF-19 or VF-11 I don't think that they look as good as the VF-1 for instance. VF-1 is probably the most practical design for general purposes imo. While YF-19 and yf-21 are probably better for special ops missions. (ie more stealth, the ability to fold into position etc) But what if the YF-19 gets damaged? More expensive to repair. What happens if a general purpose guy is damaged? You can replace the parts easier/cheaper hehe. You won't feel bad having to eject and watch your plane blow up. VF-1 basically ticks more boxes than the other more fancy designs do, despite being of lower performance in the lore of the macross universe. It looks good at the same time as being practical.

received mine yesterday. Looks way better than the original colouring.

Not so certain I will get the FP though. Harpoons look funny. Just reminds me of space whales from macross 7 ova. lol

So what are those harpoon things anyway?

I wish they just raised funds through Kickstarter so all the fans of the rare valks could forward thier money and when the adequete money was raised to create it, arcadia would have no excuse to not work on the thing.

If you want Variable Glaug or SDF1 TV series toy, you could donate to it and it happens when the required number of people raise the money. So much easier..

Some people want space lobsters and octos right? Well put your money where your mouth is.

If the creator of megaman games can raise money for mighty no.9 (clone of megaman) why can't these toy companies do it for risky toys?

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/mega-man-creator-on-how-kickstarter-could-rejuvenate-the-japanese-gaming-scene/1100-6413953/

The fanbase is loaded with money and wants these companies to take it. Just set it up so you donate, the project completes, and the product is sent directly to you.

Shoji Kawamori could probably make a Macross Alternative (just like the megaman alterantive) for fans outside japan to make money doing transforming plane toys. The big problem of macross being that it is tied to legal disputes with Harmony Gold which prevents us seeing macross shows outside of japan. (this is bad because it limits the market to sell the toys to)

The story behind megaman was that its IP holder Capcom, didn't show much interest in the series (they cancelled the last game on the 3DS) and the fanbase is perceived by them to have died off or not be interested enough in it anymore to be worth risking the release of new megaman games anymore in the future. The creator of the megaman game series then went indie, created kickstarter fund-raising campaign to get an alternative to Megaman for fans of the Megaman games, and now that they have raised the necessary funds to complete the project, fans can enjoy a spiritual successor megaman games made by the creator who no longer works at capcom.

Why doesn't this happen for macross? Imagine if S.Kawamori were to reboot macross without using the macross title just like this guy did by inventing a new series "Mighty No.9" to bypass the problems with the "Megaman" IP owned by Capcom?

That would be cool. Technically they already tried to reboot macross with macross zero and updating the VF design with the VF-0. (basically a vf-1 with curves on it, has a bigger size, and requires constant refueling)

But this would mean they could make a whole new macross-like IP and then have the creator of it (who designs all those mecha) partner with Arcadia to be the exclusive license holder for the toys. No more bullshit of waiting for bandai who always make it hard for everyone to buy their stuff due to gundam being naturally the competitor to macross as a robot show, and them(bandai) favouring their own homegrown robot show over macross by making macross toys scarce and annoying to buy.

I'm pretty sure the japanese macross fanbase is just as pissed at that lol. Why should they let the big guy sit on top of such a loved series and have that big company only reisue old toys or worse yet, make the good toys hard to obtain.

The in universe designers of sv-51 probably got a job working on vf-27. The original guy that worked on the project was fired after wanting to put boobs and a penis on it after studying mylene's valk in macross 7, and watching zentradi tentacle porn and combining the two ideas.

He now creates gigantic minmay robot sex dolls that obey any command and do any sex dirty act for old zentradi who are sexually frustrated as the warrior wife is too violent during sex and refuse to provide the anal sex and be submissive.

Remember when Bandai had the Macross 7 license since the 90's and only released those shitty DX toys? Bandai held so tight to that license that their VF-1's are coming out all crooked now.

I even bet Yamato had to payed them and Big West a substantial sum to release the license to them so they could do the VF-11/17/19/22 hence why they were so freaking expensive, could also be a reason why they went bust too.

So I say they'll probably never fully release the Frontier license.

Even if they did release the license there would not be much incentive to buy new toys if the current ones are good enough to meet the standards of those who bought the bandai toys.

If you are happy with the renewals, why buy them again?

This is why older series like mac 0 would be best since there is no competition here. They could do stuff like the wheeled destroids in this that they have not attempted yet. Maybe arcadia could go the cheap route too and make sets of small toys of all the non-transforming mecha in macross universe like yamato did with the GNU line? I think that's what they could have done with the destroids or glaug or space fighters you see at the start of SDFM when the ARMD01 and 02 space carriers are attacked at the beginning of the tv series. Or maybe those black drones? The small toys would be great for desk toys you could play with.

I think the most needed are new vf-0 toys. When they released originally, that was during a time that quality wasn't the best. Today they can make durable versions and make things like reactive armour and vf-0D which they never got to make last time.

I think that whatever fans say they want (based on popularity of the design in polls) that is what they should do first (easier profit) and then work their way down to the less-popular designs. (eg variable glaug which I would love to see) While that is happening release the usual SDFM toys for the latecomers or army builders who missed the boat. (give them better boxes like toynami masterpiece collections lol)

So how are preorders going? Is Arcadia able to profit off this release now that people have had time to learn about this toy being made?

I ask because I will probably buy a repaint in another scheme rather than 2 yf-19 in the usual mac plus anime paint scheme.

If this does well enough I hope they get around to doing vf-0 phoenix with reactive armor set. Or VF-11C with the full armour and giant gunpod. (maybe they can retro actively reduce the size for the toy version)

My view of the high cost is this:

if you want really good quality, just pay the high cost and tell hundreds of your friends about macross to grow the fanbase so they will spend money buyiig toys too. The bigger the pool of people buyig the easier time toy companies have selling because there are more people to sell to. Eventually they can drop price afrer the hardcore fans have absorbed the high initial cost to produce it, and then later gradually sell to casual fans with less desire for it (or poor guys who can't save up in time to buy it at full price because of lack of money)

Unlike transformers, this is merchandise of really old forgotten anime shows that older people remember, not aimed at children where you can see cartoons on tv of the toys constantly. (ie the cartoon is the ad for the toy so it's easier to sell a toy if people can see what the characters are all about and recognise them in a store)

TF has the advantage of selling to more overall people so the risk just isn't as high as old mecha shows for aging sci fi nerds who have more income than a kid. It's just not a fair comparison imo. True they are just toys and they both transform. But if macross had a regular saturday morning show which constantly gets exposure to a mass audience all the time and also new shows after the old shows are over, then it might be a different story. ie The characters and machines would be instantly recognisable to the average joe on the street, the masses of fans would be larger, and the risk to making merchandise for it becomes far less risky.

That's the main issue here.

If arcadia had the license to a new macross show, and that show was currently showing, they could probably afford to make larger numbers of the toys, (higher demand when a series is current) and reduce the price in anticipation of having more people to sell the toys to. (both kids and adults and anything in-between)

It seems yamato/acrcadia is a brand mostly known for catering to the older fan who has trouble finding new toys of old respected shows of the past. If the fanbase for older stuff is small, then that natural result is those fans having to fork out a lot more money to get the toys of these things to sustain the company making it since it is more risky to make new toys based on characters/mecha from older series. However the advantage of that is you are closer to your hardcore fanbase (ie you can listen to their criticism) and that is where companies can listen to feedback from their buyers who naturally will get ignored by bigger companies that have larger IP that they can mine for money. (fans are loyal to that company more than the big company that might only put in a half-assed effort)

If say you think "optimus prime's paint apps are crappy" in the latest release of masterpiece optimus prime, you are less likely to have anything done about it in future since so many people (casual fans) who don't complain about that stuff are still going to buy the optimus masterpiece with crap paint apps.

But if you have a small dedicated fanbase who cares about small details, the company is much more likely to care since they rely a lot on their support just to survive. They can't fall back on the casual fans who wil accept only ok quality. This results in overall much better toys since they have to outdo themselves constantly just to get existing fans to rebuy the next best thing around the corner. A big company which can profit from many different properties may not need to improve the products to keep profiting and the quality for the next release might actually be worse than the previous one. (they reason that people may still buy it if the quality dropped a little bit which only the hardcore people would notice who can be safely ignored) If it was a smaller company they don't have this option as it relies on smaller but dedicated fanbase who pay premium for their product.

Silencers? In space? Whaaaaaaaaaaa? Gettin too technologic up in this shiz!

Oddly enough very rarely did they fly in space in plus. Lots of the testing seemed to be on the planet surface flying as low to the ground as possible almost as if they needed to avoid detection. In one scene dyson even flies upside down almost touching the floor. Alien tech I guess makes everyone 10 times more like a stunt pilot in macross. Max actually did go all 'Solid Snake' in SDFM when he had to free his friends so it could be useful to have some kind of stealth weapon in that kind of situation. They've already got knives now. Don't forget the yf-19 has the long wings so it was meant for atmosphere as opposed to the vf-19 in mac 7 when they shortened the wings and fattened up it's butt.

As for beam sabers I would prefer whip-like weapons as seen on Gouf mech in gundam. (electricutes the body of the robot) I thought that was a cool gimmick. lol At close range you saw the yf-19 do some kind of kung fu move with its fists which pushes guld away. Haha martial arts with giant robots is funny.

Three gunpods is not wierd. The YF-21 had two so I think the YF-19 should have been designed with 3.Ok I am only half joking around.

1 for longer range, a smaller one for close range, and a secret third one in its legs that combines with the two cylindrical pipes stuck to the side of the yf-19 torso that nobody knows what they are for but which is really detachable pieces to complete the parts for a new weapon. lol These are most likely giant silencers that you can attach to the gunpod to muffle the sound of a gunpod shot so you can kill a giant mech from longer range and not alert other giants.

Maybe graham saw a vision for future ideas of how kawamori can create a "MS 8th Team" show of macross where valks need more than one gunpod to fight effectively lol

They are kinda going towards specialised weapons with knives (close range kill of vajra to pierce the hide?) and sniper beam weapons (penetrates by placing all the damage into single point instead of just aiming all over the place) so maybe that is where macross is going to be headed soon?

Personally I think YF-21 with two gunpod is more sensible because the zentradi fight at close range and having a lighter weapon in each hand used at closer range might be advantageous because you can draw the weapon more quickly. You might get less lag in movement as weight is balanced evenly in both arms. Also In GERWALK mode for instance I can see both arms working with more freedom. One thing about the YF-19 is it looks kinda vulnerable when reloaded magazines. The YF-21 doesn't reload. If it uses up all the bullets in one gunpod it can just throw that empty one away and shed some weight. Then rely on the reserve one. Having less to carry around with you increases your speed and gives you more energy efficiency. Also the beam weapons in its wrist can still be used if the robot mode ever gets disarmed by an enemy. At extremely close range this could be devastating. Punch them in the gut then fire at point blank range to get a instant kill. You never really got to see Guld in macross plus do any flashy finishing moves in the OVA the way milia and max did in DYRL.

Just goes to show the community that no price is too ridiculous. But all these ridiculous prices would not exist if these toys were made in large enough numbers to satisfy demand to begin with.

We all want to kick bandai in the nuts. They have their gundam fanbase and view macross fans as second class humans.

What I am afraid of is that, with all of this free "market research," Arcadia is likely to get the HIGHEST quoted price here, add 25% and be done with it.

Yeah but if they know what people can't afford they might price it to the lowest in order to sell as much as possible. (the richer guys then buying multiples like they always do)

There is always hope that if arcadia can't continue making these valks due to low sale and perceived lack of interest, bandai step in and take the macross license and do all premium toys for the high end collector. Prices under bandai might be cheaper.

The only reason hi metal got no love here was because yamato offered a better deal with their own 1/60 line according to people here. But if yamato had not beat bandai to market the himetal probably would have done better.

Bandai is watching what happens too. Some people just can't afford something at the prohibitivly-expensive price. While those that can will take a while to save. (it will sell slower than a cheaper product and sit around on shelf for a long time)

If people give an idea of how much their limit is it can also mean if these are made in small numbers the resale price you set when selling it off later is higher too. There might be for example late-comers who missed out on the item when they were originally released who get desperate to get one that will offer you more than what you originally paid.

I remember a long time ago there were actually angry collector pissed off at yamato for releasing more 1/48 toys because the items they bought and stock-piled drove the resale price down of their collection lol.They had assumed the items would not be easy to obtain.

Hopefully these sell well enough for arcadia that they profit and are able to keep doing other shows from macross.

There is a little incentive to release it cheaper since there are more fans of yf-19 than vf-4 which never got major exposure at all in a series. (and next year is the 20th anniversary of mac plus) The more that want one, the easier it will be to keep cost lower. I don't expect that to happen though since yamato went out of business. (don't know if this had anything to do with macross though) My opinion: They will start high and if they are desperate and nobody buys the thing, (due to lack of money) price will go down. But then if they put it TOO low such that profit is low too, it might mean they lose future interest in doing more stuff. The fear of no new stuff is probably an even bigger fear than the fear of a high initial price imo.

I'm one of those that is willing to pay high price so long as the quality is also high. Maybe when companies set low prices the paranoid guys ask "why it is so low?" and then fear it may break or something because of using crap materials or not caring about the quality checks lol There is also that factor too. Sometimes when you buy a premium quality product you expect a high price to match whatever high quality is claimed about that thing you are buying from the seller of such thing. It's like the company is saying that they are so confident you will trust that the product is good, they can afford to set price high and those that can afford it can take pride in knowing that other people can't. It is much like fashion: wearing the latest stuff means you had to pay a high price to keep up, and those wearing last season's stuff are not as hip since they waited a bit for prices to go down. lol Sometimes collectors do stuff as a status symbol more than anything else.

If you are seen wearing a cool looking shirt that no one else has seen before and which people like, it makes you special and more unique. Ok so maybe I have been playing too much Animal Crossing today..

For those who didn't like Plus, you guys are crazy.

Yeah maybe it didn't feel like macross but it was. Just not how you expected.

The idea of mind control through music and using hacked machines to mess with the technology that humans built to protect things is one of the controversial topics we actually face today with drones.

It's the sole reason Plus stands out from all the other shows as it seems to be the most adult out of the whole group of shows because it asks a question of whether we as humans are even necessary anymore if we have convenient and easy to use machine doing everything for us.

Are we the master of technology or is it the master of us? What is the difference between synthetic music and music that humans created?

Also the idea of overcoming challenges would resonate with anyone trying to invent a new thing that has never been tested before but has a high chance of failure. When Dyson tells Myung that you don't know if something is dangerous until you try it, that is not a sign of recklessness so much as saying ideas had to have come from somewhere and the first person we use to test a new thing may be risking his skin for others. It makes the reckless guy seem all that more important. Of course at the start of the Macross Plus OVA we just see the negative side to doing stunts but towards the end when Myung is whining about being such a failure because machines have taken her job, Dyson is a hero for telling her that she should never have given up.

Imagine if inventors never created new innovative designs? Imagine if Shoji Kawamori never wanted to create new Valks? This is the difference between human pioneers and machines which can only copy us. They can look like us and take out personality and patterns of behavior but not BE us and own our soul unless of course we become depressed and let the machines become our gods which we worship at the ritual of a concert like members in a strange cult.

To me Plus makes a great sci fi show that stands alone by itself, but maybe not so great as a MACROSS show in particular. Music doesn't have to be positive. It can be used to plant subliminal messages into our subconscious and make us feel relaxed and at ease but at the same time it puts us into a dream-like existence where we forget about the reality around us.

In this show you don't have music starting off as a happy love song, it is actually more like creepy stuff that puts people into hypnotic trances like people on drugs who have been put into a mind controlled state and can no longer reason anymore. The machines can fly planes for you, so why not sing? What's the point of creating new things and existing at all?

I thought that was an interesting twist.

I guess I am a bit biased though since I love the mecha design in this more than the ones in Frontier. And the dogfights had more "attitude" with close combat and dogfighting in equal measure. (this and Zero had the biggest impact on me)

For me Frontier was trying too hard to redo things we older fans had already seen but in a more up to date way. Much like when Hollywood does remakes to old movies. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. But is it as ambitious as taking macross to a new level of greatness by expanding the universe more and showing us things that we don't expect but blow us away when we see for the first time? No.

It is like making a sequel and the fans love it because they know what they like, but overall you know it must stick to a predictable formula as to not upset purists and therefore doesn't give you the same impact as when you were still new to macross.

I think the best part of Frontier was putting enemies that looked very menacing. I felt like I was watching something out of Tekkman Blade lol They obviously spent a lot of the money on the animation of mecha this time probably to make up for the poor battle animation in macross 7.

As for Macross 7: it didn't appeal to me mainly because the character Basara was too perfect as a person and could never die, never fail, and the enemies never seem to get the upper hand since he is basically a Jesus for macross that heals and calms everyone down with the music he sings. He is invincible and after a certain number of episodes as an older watcher, you get the feeling there is no consequences for putting your arse out there in the battlefield and maybe having a stray shot kill you through sheer bad luck.

Because music is soooo god damn powerful that its like having a instant win button. It's the silver bullet that solves everything. That was not what the original was about. In the original a bunch of mind controlled giants are ordered not to interfere with the protoculture (who were the creators of these giants) so that they never had to worry about their own monsters turning against them. All the music did was remind them of stuff before they became mindless killers for the PC who used fear to make them into what they were and told them to never harm small guys so they didn't have to worry about getting attacked. It brought them culture that they lost. It wasn't magic like in macross 7. Minmay could have easily been crushed or died. Her singing wasn't a silver bullet but it was one of a combination of things that won the Space War. Constrast this to Basara who basically can not ever be shot because he has plot armor. It goes against what "real robot" shows are about.

SDFM was a lot more cynical compared to 7. For instance the moment Roy asks Hikaru to join UN Spacy, it is just to serve the government and obey their orders. Hikaru when he first meets Roy asks Roy why he joined military and asked whether he was so proud of being a killer after he boasts about how many enemies he killed. (we see war through the eyes of people that do not take pride in using violence)

To me there is a sense that the characters were more 3 dimensional and realistic in SDFM. But that is just my opinion. I welcome debate.

The newer shows to me feel like they are retreading the old ground for commercial reasons. But as a mecha fan I do not mind so much as long as we get something new.

I think the reason people don't like Plus is mainly because it isn't a retread of what they liked from the original so it often get underrated for that reason alone. But if you just think of it as a Sci Fi story without caring about how great it has to be compared to other stuff it is great.

People who say the show was dated for its time are crazy. It was one that uses CG well in an anime for the first time. (ie it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb)

Valkyries usually die in like 1-2 hits anyway. They don't look like they are meant to absorb that much damage. Especially considering the sizee of powered armor vs VF-1.

Avoiding being hit by getting out of the way seems to be how they protect themselves more. (or hiding behind cover in bot mode and shooting the enemy before they have a chance to draw their weapon)

Even in macross plus you saw that in the opening scene where the rogue zentradi are attacking. Having too much armour may even be worse as it may slow you down too much or take you too long to move into position in time. In the anime you always see heroes dodge-rolling and moving sideways while shooting at the same time which differentiates them from the destroid. (more agility and speed, more points of articulation to do finer movements at close range, and probably a quicker turn rate ect)

They look bad from the side-on though.

The gullet.

Chest doesn't lock in robot mode.

Doesn't have leg missile gimmick etc.

I'd sell them and get a new edition to prove that you want quality over qauntity.

The sculpt is better.

They should just give you a free new toy of your choice that is problem free. Less fussing about.

I hope someone from bandai reads these posts and fixes whatever loose hip problems were there. Yamato would always keep in mind constructive complaints/advice.

So funny that they chose this particular scheme just as yf-19 news was announced. lol

I think the yf-19 will kick its butt in reviews. I'm going to get one though.

Good display plastik. Nice balance of all three modes is shown there too. I would probably chuck in some Mac 7 mecha like a VF-11C and VF-17D for some variety. VF-17D in Gerwalk together with battroid mode.

How is your Cannon Fodder VF-171 holding up? (I heard these are risky to get because of a bad batch circulating)

For those who live in smaller space (cramped apartment) that is why I think Himetal should have continued. Sometimes you want a smaller high detailed toy for the desk or in a spot on a shelf where there is only so much room.

They were expensive but they looked good when viewed from the distance. I have a HiMetal on display all the time. It is a shame there was no GBP made for the VF-1. I bet a lot of people here would have evnetually collected this line if yamato offerings were it not priced so cheap in relation to it.