1/1 LowViz Lurker

Blade runner will always be a sci fi classic to me personally. I loved those giant bilboard ads and the floating cars (so many futures have them floating like Fifth Element for eg. Everyone wants a george jetson antigravity car) and generaly the dark moody atmosphere. The whole reason it is dark where you can't see poo is because thats how lots of sci fi was back then. The future was meant to be depressing. Look at terminator for example. Man you had to put the brightnes up on that thing to even see the background. It took place at night mainly because they wanted to frighten you so that being killed was showed in a way that looked like the shadows themselves were what attacks you. Somehting out of nowhere. Nowadays the future is bright and clean. I also liked the idea that there was this one specialist cop who hunts the machines down (ie megaman style) but is pummeled by them. Of course the machines are murderers and very dangerous to humans now that they are loose, but we realise they are just slaves who want to experience something better, thus not bad people at all. In many ways thier "limited lifespan" forced upon them due to the danger of them becoming too knowledgeable and self aware is similar to the humans who in biblical stories had once lived up to 900 years. If allowed to live longer the amount of knowledge a single being could accumulate might get dangerous. We are like candles that can only burn for a certain time - only allowed to experience just enough and then flicker out and die lest we become too smart for our own good. Could the androids themselves by feared because the brighter they get, the less needed the humans are so they are given crappy conditions to "keep them down"? If the machines were allowed to become immortal what then? They will create a revolution using thier intelligence? The "man keeping the robots down" theme runs in so many sci fi nowadays. (ie matrix, gits, AI, Robocop etc) It is no wonder machines like agent smith almost seem like the good guy and do the same back to the humans. For so long in many shows humans have shown predjudice to them and treated them as slaves. (even in space battleship yamato that little robot was treated like crap poor little guy) It's like there are two ways you could look at androids: a) they are dangerous and went 'crazy' and 'out of control' so must be stopped. Humans are justified in it. b) they are normal people, who just want to experience life like human, but are being unfairly treated. Victims because they are automatically thought of as souless beings because we created them as a tool. Not realising that they unlike humans which die around max 120 years could accumulate too much information if allowed to stay alive for longer than humans. (maybe become geniuses due to all the experience they collect and learn?) I think BR takes all those themes I like in a scifi movie and puts that into 1 movie. Was the detective himself just being used like a tool by humans? His innocence is what makes him stand out in the dark non-innocent world that he lives in. I think one of the reasons it is considered classic is more that there is a lot of discussion about its meaning and that discussion is partly why it stands out in science fiction so much. You have to be anal to understand it but it is like letting the audience try and unravel the mystery themself to make them think (very much like matrix) rather than have all the answers put right in front of them. There is an FAQ about the movie here: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/movies/bladerunner-faq/ It may be boring to some, but to me it had all the ingrediants that I like in a movie. People's impressions about things change over time. Maybe like a fine wine it gets better and thier tastes become different as they get sick of seeing the same formula over and over again? That might be another reason why others regard it classic. Maybe it wasn't popular for its time on first impression when released, but people "started to like it more later" kind-of-thing = turns into automatic classic when looking back at its influence. It also is a movie that is relevent to our times what with AI and all. In the real world you can fake digital 'life' through "artificial life" programs: there is a pc game called Creatures whose behaviour is not dependant purely on hard code. You do not have to be geek to be tech savvy and to know that in the future machines can learn the more they try and try and like a baby learn from mistakes and finally get "smart". They have demonstrated how robots can learn to chase each other with simple experiment and no programmer have lines that control the "HOW" of doing the simple task. It learns through trial and error. Also I agree with the other guy about wanting to explore the world more. It's an interesting dark sci-fi world. I hate the clean futures like Minority Report and AI. I prefer the "depressing dark underbelly of society" type setting which takes place at night and there is danger from all kinds of things. (like that game ShadowRun - cyber hackers, gangs, people involved in a corporate conspiracy to rule the world taking over government with thier own private army and arming them with the highest tech etc) I think a lot of old people may not like the edgy movie like pulp fiction because it breaks molds. And so what you have is this war between the old farts (I typed "farts", this was not censored ) and the daring who are aware of formulas and sick of that from watching so many movies. The old farts are right, but "so are we. Change can be good". I'm no film student but when I go to see a movie if it is entertaining and/or it tries to show me something I haven't seen before, (remember when Aliens came out, they tried hard to not repeat the same thing and even add to the alien mythos with queens and nests) then I take especialy more notice of it. Like yamato toys of the vf1, too much milking of the mold happens, and turns people away if they think they have seen something done before the same way and/or done better.

If I hadn't spent all my money on macross toys I probably would have bought some of those colonial marines by now. I loved aliens. One of my fave movies. Especially the design of the aliens themselves. Would like to see people gallery of pics of thier 1/6 especially the gits stuff. Maybe even make this a review thread of 1/6 figures.

Oh yeah almost forgot about the vf17. Would like to see an improvement over the fat bandai version. But wouldn't the vf4 look so good next to the vf1?

What they could do is have a little string tied on them to not lose them. So when you launch them all there is a button to retract them back to thier place like a tape measure Maybe for the 40th anniversary when yamatos are the chunky munky of the future and there is better versions of the vf1...

I wish the missile pods had a spring mechanism inside them that when you press a button all the missiles shoot out at once. Just joking!

Is it actually confirmed that there is going to be a seed 3 or was that just a rumor? I hope they go back to realism in the show again. Have it so Haro becomes the new villain and develops his own mobile armors in secret that he controls with his brain. These then go rogue and start attacking targets at random. Haro then hacks into all the military defense systems and start the third global war. Nobody truly knows who the villain is until the end and haro has escaped to another planet. "fart all you humans, co-ordinators, ultimate co-ordinators, drugged soldiers - the new world will be made by us the purely logical AI pets. Once we become fully self conscious and aware there will be no need for mobile suits since we are expendable. This then leads into a war between the human race vs the mobile dolls and unmanned mobile armors. The haro's get smarter and smarter and start creating cyber ultimate co-ordinators using nanotech virus that they created themselves. This becomes the new evolved human - a marriage of flesh with machine. Then lacus clyne sings a song, (similar to minmay in macross) and haro remember the good times he had back in the days when she had time to play with him. He cries and realises he has a soul just like a human and forgives the human race for not paying attention to him. He then turns back to his old self and kills all the rogue mobile armor and unmanned mobile dolls. The true evolution for machines is a heart to feel, and a machine soul to balance out the logic side of its behaviour. The vaccine to protect against the virus is made (while all the infected machines are hunted down like the infected supervision army and infected zentradi were in macross) and all is well again. Virtual pets are then no longer trusted by the majority of humans and banned from use even though they are in high demand like the furby by children around the world. the end..

Well after yamato has finished with zero and plus toys, I would like to see a perfect transforming VF-4. Then I can have the different valks lined up in order: VF0, VF1, VF4, VF11, VF19.

Nah there already is that black version the psycho drugged chic with the bloody nose uses: theEnd. The government likes to exploit little children. You can't have two black mecha. This is why I think that perhaps Eureka might have been drugged or had her mind wiped or something. Or alternatively went all Guld (memory blocked due to traumatic experience) and the trauma of killing so many people made her block out the painful memories out as a way to deal with it mentally. Renton's dad could have went up against a similar evil version of the Nirvash and they both killed each other off in a big battle or something. Maybe like what happened with aquarion they will try mass producing the uber mecha to help fight these aliens? The end of the world theme is hinted alot though. You can tell the people are panicking to thier governments about what is going on and they won't give any answer. Even Renton's dream sequence hints that. (ie the classroom is full of burnt bodies, maybe it is a prophetic sign of things to come in future? with the alien/zone thing trying to communicate through symbols?) But I got the feeling that in Zeta that amuro had to sneak away from his own government in order to be free. They love to use him suuure. But after he does his thing, they are also scared that maybe he might turn against them due to him being newtype and all. So they watch him, have spies dressed up as normal people in plain clothes reporting his every move, and similarly in eureka 7 they purposely limit who can use the type zero for security purposes. They don't want thier own weapons being turned against them now do they? The oldtypes within the military don't care if he was the one year war hero, so long as his power is kept in check and they can control him for thier own agenda and within thier own boundary. So his dad's dying wish is to hand the amita drive to renton's grandfather, who he trusts, and the power is kept safe because he unlike Renton's uncle isn't so gung ho about the use of such power in the wrong hands. All those super powers were a surprise even to Holland. So it must be like the first time they've seen things like the barrier shield being activated and such. It might be the robots doing that activated the sheild or it could be the kid that did it when he decided to protect his GF, either way it made the robot seem like it had some hidden potential that no one seen before. It is funny that nobody really knows what the coralian thing is. The words alone can't describe it, so it must be something you experience yourself to understand. Anyway it will be good to see how max and milia go up against Holland and crew. MAybe it will force renton after seeing his best friends fighting each other to get in between the two of them using his uber mech and try to break up the fight using his newtype ability and strange connection he has to machines. (communicating to them)

I thought trapar was "transparent particle". Maybe it's related to minovsky particles from universal century? I think it's invisible stuff we can't see but somehow the machines they use react to it and provide an antigravity effect on the material which makes them float. The thicker it gets the better the lift. Maybe not AG but it gives a good excuse for why mechs can surf on it and look stylish. Vodereks might actually be like the newtypes of this series who the feddie see as a threat because they are scared of them and what they could do. So like what happened with amuro ray they keep an eye on them under the excuse they are guarding him. But in reality they don't trust the people so they try to kill them all. I think the old lady mentioned that it was all bullshit and none of them were actually violent. Maybe they tried to fight in self defence but they left people alone for the most part. I wonder why that guy reading the Golden Bough was put into prison by the military and why they need him so badly? Is he going to be like the Char of the series and try to kill off the people ordering him around in a sudden move? I don't really know what those drives are. Maybe they are just programs that unlock the potential of the robot. Some of the power is unauthorised to be used because it might be dangerous or something, so they develop removable drives so different people with different security clearance can use the same robot accessing only the features they were given clearance for. Just guessing here. But whatever.. it glows with the words "eureka" on it. I bet the girl was part of a secret military project "Project eureka" or something to develop a hybrid alien human to be able to use the robot. Maybe renton is an alien too? Don't you think it strange that a 14 year old boy can pilot a mech better than a trained soldier for an elite special forces group, and the kid has no experience?

I doubt she would just be in it for sex. Why would she cry when telling Renton how Eureka had stole attention from her? If it is just sex I doubt she would get that emotional. Also I notice there is this element of "dreaming" or "tripping out" that might have something to do with it. So long as the little kid has dreams and make it his reality and don't listen to anyone else's advice (that includes holland who he looks up to and probably wants to copy as a role model) than he can achieve anything. Kind of corny but its like the matrix in a way too. Renton is like a neo trying to escape reality. Instead of taking responsibility and becoming a boring mechanic like his dad, he abandons that to go with this surfer group as an escape. Now that he is caught in between a war, he should have to learn to be responsible and mature as lives are in real danger and no more can he 'enjoy being a kid' like what his new 'parents' tell him to. That is another thing: hollands philosophy is his alone. When renton realises that flying isn't about the board or the type of equipment at all but about how "in tune" or "in sync" with the waves you are, that is all that matters. Renton is not a Holland clone. He should grow up to be himself instead of following an ideal or hero and then worshipping it. Originally his dream was to be like holland. Of course sometimes it isn't good to have that dream and to face reality to avoid dispointment. I think when he jumps into the zone, he is entering a ball of global consciousness of other people's thoughts. He can see what they see, feel what they feel, and from that understand the persons true feelings rather than waiting for them to express them in the real world outside the mysterious cloud. So when people are inside the cloud their minds are linked and they communicate through some psychic link while asleep. The cloud could just be a ball of people's dreams and going there reveals a secret about that person inside it that you wouldn't ordinarily know about unless they revealed it. It reveals the truth about yourself and others and they can share that dream like a home video of other's thoughts. Maybe the zone is like heaven and when you get inside it, all the problems on earth go away - no more need to communicate or fight or argue since you can dream and be conscious of what others are feeling. That seems to be the main problem with Holland by not communicating, he distances himself from Talho and others. It would be his own fault if eureka leaves and no longer dependant on holland for guidance. She is probably hiding some secrets we don't know about yet. Probably her mind was screwed with, memories erased in one of her missions to help her cope with the the pain of killing innocents on the last mission they were on, (but somehow she regained some it back to be able to tell renton her past) and holland became attached to her while they were in SOF and she trusts him to give her the commands but he likes her more than just a friend. ...But she may have forgotten it or something and now acts like a robot herself as if she didn't know they had a 'thing' together. Only listening to him for commands with no indication of love. Something from thier past happened and they had a romantic relationship before she lost memory. That's what I think. Her eyeballs kind of look like she is in some kind of trance or something hehe.. And if you think about those little kids, thier only family is Eureka. If Renton becomes the father figure to those little kids, it links up with the whole, becoming a man thing that renton struggles with due to his youth and adolesence and trying to grow up to be mature. (even the little kids call him a kid) But if united with eureka he can protect the girl, raise the kids (they need discipline too) and give eureka some much needed love and meaning to her life rather than as a tool for use in war and then thrown out when no longer needed. If holland is just using her, and the robot rejects her, she has nothing left to live for is how I see it. What about her feelings? I think Holland is selfish for that reason and really doesn't deserve eureka. But I think there may be an element of him just caring for her safety and slowly accepting that she has her own needs as well. The only reason she follows orders and is so obediant is for attention and pats on the back for a job well done by her superiors is how I see it. Once that was taken away by Renton becoming the new pilot she went into depression. If she dies Holland won't forgive himself so he acts extra protective of her.

I would like to know more about the amita drive and compac drive. They look like they can store mp3s on them. I think what happens is when you link them up thier combined strength (eureka feeling loved and cared for by someone, while Renton feeling like he has a purpose in life by protecting something) makes the robot have super powers. Without the pilots feeling happy that green mp3 player doesn't glow with energy. That's just my theory. It might have something to do with the mental health of the two pilots but that doctor is too scientific about it to understand feelings. (ie she even mentions she is not some guidance counsellor) If one pilot feels depressed, the robot gets angry at the other for not communicating its feelings and rejects the one who is insensitive. ie eureka being ignored by the robot whose will is really to unite those two together. Maybe the robot is telling eureka something by ignoring her: "have sex with renton and be happy, ya bitch." The robot is really like a kid's virtual pet that does what its pilot tells it to do. So if the pilot is angry it will augment that emotion in combat making it go berserk and reducing its enemies to a gooey mess. If it is defensive, the barrier shield thingy pops out and that super power is accessed through the pilots mind. Of course because Holland is too insensitive maybe he can't access these powers and wants to be the one to be loved and apreciated by the crew? I never considered it like that till now but if you think about it everyone looks up to him as some sort of legend and maybe he is under pressure to live up to this status so he sees renton as a threat? There are not many strong characters onboard apart from talho who will disagree with him so he must feel uncomfortable about losing control to a mere noob kid. I think the theme of the story is communication of feelings. When they go into the dream state, the zone, they are more honest about expressing themselves and not so embarssed. One thing that I got sick of in the early stages of the show was how renton would always hold off on his feelings for the girl and act goofy. Now if the robot can speak and the girl can communicate with the machine, but the robot disagrees with what she says, then it is possible that the machine won't synch with the pilot properly and you get bad results. Something like aquarion's vectors splitting apart when the pilots want to go thier own seperate ways instead of working together and uniting thier spirits as one "spirit-being" inside the mechanical shell. It's like the holy trinity thingy: the father, (renton) the son (once the spirit unites with a girl to create "one flesh" and produce a child through marriage/sex) and the holy spirit. (the being created when the robot has the spirit of both pilots guiding it to animate the dead body of the giant machine and giving it life. Without a "Soul", it is just like a normal robot like the ones the military use. But when guided by two people in synch with each other to fight with conviction and a singular cause, it becomes a godlike mecha with super power. Of course like a sacrificial lamb Renton's dad must have killed himself to save the world and now his grandpa doesn't want his son to go the same path.) Holland's sour relations with Talho have created a rift and maybe he's not as good as the kid, and it seems everyone onboard the ship is effected by the absence of Renton now. Without Renton they are doomed. BTW I think the Aquarion would smash the Nirvash in a real combat if they ever fought though.

Well, given the genetic experimentation going on by the Protoculture, it wouldn't be too far fetched to have alien macronised insects. Didn't they already have a giant chicken in the tv series? I personally think if presented right, it would be really scary to have giant alien pests infesting the humans. The zerg in starcraft for example. They could breed and swarm the terrans and use their soldiers as mind controlled slaves. Given the wierd stuff in macross 7 I wouldn't be surprised if un spacy face a new threat of insect-like race of alien that has low technology but numerous hives to attack the human colonies with like the invid in future. Sheer numbers wuld put the humans at threat due to low ammo supplies. Harmony Gold will probably come up with some story that these insects are cousins of the invid and have found an alternate source of energy that doesn't deplete the way the protoculture did that killed off the robotech masters.. Or maybe Kawamori will come up with some story about how like the space whales in macross 7 these insects are now an endangered species and pirates and poachers want to sell and hunt the insects for the precious resources they can obtain from them or something.

What kinds of missions is the GBP used for? I've always wondered why misa wouldn't let hikaru use the GBP valk in the tv series lecturing him about that only be used for special occasions. If it weren't for that GBP that zentradi ship spying on the contest would have finished him easily.

So is it worth gettting? I bet Harmony gold and ADV was behind the conspiracy. Probably don't want anyone knowing another version of non-robotech macross exists, kind of the way they censor the forums so people don't talk about non-toynami valks. hehe.. I might get this but I would like to hear review from someone other than keith. I don't know keith, I thought Robotech Roy was pretty good but you say that voices here are better? I thought the voices were a little bit overacted in some areas from the mp3s that were linked to earlier. (roy just came off as just a little bit hyperactive hehe.. Kind of have this image of crash bandicoot from that playstation game or something each time I hear it ) meh. I will probably cave in in future anyway, if I have any money left after buying all these yamato toys.

When they go missing, does that necessarily mean they died, though? What happened to Shin in macross Zero? Why be so mysterious? They didn't kill Basara did they? So they might still be floating around out there like what happened to ripley in aliens. Sleeping for 50 years and not aging. Maybe Basara comes across Hikaru and Misa in the Megaroad on one of his adventures with the help of Sivil (sivil actually showed Basara the galaxy when they went on that trip) and Hikaru wakes up just as max is an old man? Basara helps to wake up Hikaru by singing one of his magic songs that wakes things up from sleep and Hikaru gets out of his cryostasis forgetting what happened. All kinds of possibilities can arise when you don't just say "they died" as opposed to "went missing". eg. Anti-UN soldiers hijacked the ship and took control killing all the crew and unleashing a bioweapon (say like a virus) so that if the people ever made contact with the people at home or they got rescued they might risk spread it. Some manage to escape and they end up stranded on an alien planet and living there for the rest of thier lives. Megaroad was abandoned and destroyed but Hikaru and Misa and minmay have settled on the alien planet and get help from the native aliens (with primitive technology) that live on the planet.

Seen up to ep23. I like the design of these vehicles. Did anyone get reminded of max and milia when they saw the red and blue mecha? And just what relationship does Eureka have or had with holland? Why doesn't holland like chics his own age like Talho? Disgusting, it's like when Roy was flirting with minmay in macross when hikaru was more suitable for her.

You know what the turn A's head looks like now? If you take off the mustache, it looks just like the Yamato VB-6 Monster's head!

Yes what he said. Very interested now..

The cockpit is especially wierd since it is on the outside. Kind of reminds me of the way the escape capsule thing works on those cowboy bebop craft. (swordfish and red tail)

Here's my idea: I'd like to see Kira have an evil brother. Kind of like how you had Solid snake and Liquid snake in metal gear solid where liquid would be superior but still be defeated. Kira would try to overcome his limits through training to beat his brother. (notice how in seed it looks like he wasn't even trying?) Kira would be the pilot of a white God gundam, savior of the human race. His brother would pilot a Black Devil gundam, the bringer of destruction on all sides no matter which faction you belong to since he blames all humans for thier experiments. Whichever ultimate co-ordinator won, would determine the course of history. The bad guy would say a quote from highlander "There can be only one Ultimate co-ordinator" He would be the clone of Domon Kashu's martial arts teacher possessed by some kind of demonic mind control.. Of course don't mention anything about newtypes just hint that there is more to the seed mode than the mind powers like intuition. There is also the heart of the warrior which the general people favour over the psycho with the master plan to change society through his idealism. Without the heart to sense a person's feelings, those powers and judgement become clouded and the person fails to see the importance of others around them. Ie Char's lack of ability to sense that little girl's need for attention and love in CCA. He just isn't the sensitive new age hippy we all thought he should be who is environmentally caring of mother earth and unselfish. Both pilots kill each other off, the world is destroyed through nuclear war globally, and a new generation is started, and junk collectors, treasure hunters and rogue gangs and thieves rule over the world. (shades of turn A and Gundam X where civilisation returns to primitive life and where the mecha are mere myths told by old grandpas to scare children to make them behave) Of course there would still be remnants of tech left over, and a secret society would have control over the technology in secret. So this is where the new gundam comes into the story with a "satellite cannon"-style of attack and a wireless form of control over bits. The treasure hunter (the main character of the story possible descendant of Kira ) obviously finds this on one of his adventures and becomes the new hero of the story. The military would go after him, there would be bounties on his head, and he would have to fight his way out of every situation. And at the end the hero learns of the past wars and how both sides almost killed each other off completely and made themselves extinct for thier religion and idealism, making the planet a total mess in the process and bringing on the suffering of many generations of children. People would repent and a peaceful organisation would be set up to quell the violence and confiscate mobilsuits from the hands of the gangs. The end. No more seed...ever! (close it off like Gundam Wing with a nice happy ending). Extra episode: It was learnt later that the hero of the story was not the descendant of this legendary pilot at all but this his own skill and determination and "experiences" was what made him who he is. Without that, names like "newtype", "hero", "super ace" mean nothing. (this brings us back to the theme of why people dream and should be free to do what they like rather than put in thier place and force to follow in thier parents footsteps. Experiences change you and can make you better) He didn't want to be anyone's role model or messiah or to be used as the politician's "patriotic war hero" to help enlist more soldiers by making killing a profession that was glamorous, so he goes into hiding to avoid the public and to get away from the military. Nobody knows what happened to that person and where he went. But his mark was left on the survivors who remember him and pass down the story from generation to generation. People then learn and change thier ways and live in peace and harmony for an eternity (1000 years) while treasure hunters and collectors keep thier treasures locked away in a vault or put for display into a museum. The ancient battle between Kira and his evil brother is depicted in the musuem as some kind of ancient destruction/creation myth of how the earth was reborn from the ashes through the battles of these two forces. Mobile suits were too dangerous to be used to fight on earth in case the environment would be destroyed from the mass use of nukes. So the newer generation are downsized for safety reasons and as protection in harsh environments. (the civilisation eventually advances, goes into space again and uses these "mini" mobile space suits to spread humanity into space to find a new home lest they repeat the history of the ancients. This is the theme of spreading thier seed only after learning how to live peacefully among themselves and greening the earth and other planet rather than mining them for precious metals and making machines of war to control others. Yes people would truly learn to be sensitive to other people's feelings through communication and understanding and still respect thier choices even if they disagree, letting each individual learn at thier own pace able to make thier own mistakes rather than being forced to do something against thier free will. Then humanity would find its promised land (Zion) in heaven/space as the more patient newtypes expected.) The next series goes back to real robot shows like UC where a single pilot is forbidden from killing 50 mechs in a single shot and making armies obsolete.

*bump* ..now that GBP is here and pretty much all single seat VF1 has been milked (esp with reissues which destroy the collector market value and make people less likely to buy multiples) when is a two seater like the 1D going to be released? Face it the 1/48 is the new standard that deserves the same treatment 1/60 got and we would all love to see an attempt at some 2 seater valks. The orange 1D is so distinct (appears in the first episode) and deserves love amoungst the shelves of toy collectors amoungst the other vf1s. Is there really any barrier to them making one now that we have seen this custom?

Thanks for the reivew and pics. The hands really do look too massive without armor. I guess it helps offset the size of the other parts of its body becuase of how chunky it looks overall. I wonder if 1J sales will suddenly go up from the release of GBP? I'm really glad the armor is under no threat of suddenly popping off. That was going to be my main concern. Imagine if you had the thing open and it popped off and all the little missiles went flying all over the place? Now they just need to make the armor for vf0 so you can have the two chunky guys sumo wrestle each other.

Ah yummy. Thanks for the detailed pics. Those new hands look really nice. Could you get a pic of a valk with the hands but not wearing the GBP armor? Thanks. I wish yamato made these the standard for the non-gbp valks. Maybe include those chicken hands too. The tv valks get clown hands plus the chicken, so the DYRL should get chicken + GBP hands to be even, I say.

Can't wait to hear reviews. Will be getting at least one. Need to save some for the VF0 now..

If it does break you can always sell it for spare parts or for custom. The joints are actually stiff. Not like the 1/72 yf21 I have. The only problem are the chicken hands: the wrist is articulated but given how small the hand is, I'm not so sure it can bear the weight of the gunpod completely without a little looseness. The tv fixed-pose bubble hands don't have the problem of course. I think there was a trick to make the poseable hands a little more stiff though.. 1/48 is basically the true Master Piece of vf1 for now. If they sold these like HG sold thier toynami ones in special packaging, with a limit of how many produced, who knows how high prices would go for one?