1/1 LowViz Lurker

Yeah I wouldn't mind a larger one to be honest. Make the fastpacks light. No need for diecast ones this time. Concentrate on making sure the joints are not floppy, and that ankles with good articulation can withstand the weight of the robot mode without collapsing or anything. Because the vf-11 is already kinda skinny-looking compared to the other two, it might end up looking super-skinny if they slim down the fighter mode a lot. Maybe the larger size will allow slightly thicker body for robot mode? (hands can fit inside sleeve?) Oh and if they can: make the wings able to be rotated outwards fully.

Wow that's interesting to hear. Is that like the colour of the vf-0 how it changed from white to grey?

Anyone have any idea what these will weigh? Are they going to be heavy and full of diecast?

Yamato: clip the upper body of the yf-19 to the rest of the toy. Side covers for all 1/60s as default accessories. Bandai: eliminate gaps. Those are the only two on the list so far? Someone should email both companies. Like carbon copy of the same message. Then hopefully they can listen to all the advice and not have to repeat the mistakes that the other company already corrected years ago. Even if they don't respond, if enough people keep bothering about it, they are bound to be pressured to do something if they think its a serious enough issue to work on. But nice to see the hinge on the canopy is gone.

This part of the robot I think is anime magic. In battroid mode the nose squashes and goes blunt in the anime. One thing I will be interested in is how this affects the crotch piece of the GBP if they get to that. Will we get both long and short crotch pieces? Poor owners of 1/48. I reckon they check this thread everyday and are tempted to sell them all and start the whole collection again so they have to justify to themselves why they should keep them now that yamato has abandoned them and didn't go through with the two seaters? Wasn't there like a guy who had 10000000000000000 million of them? What's going to happen to them? Anyway these will look good next the Qrau in battroid fighting poses. Same with destroids.

When you think about it, it makes sense to stagger releases. Lets us poor folks who are falling behind catch up. (and for them to not fall into the first release curse) I wonder what size it will be? Are they going to cheat the scale? And what of fast packs? These going to be standard like yf-19 and yf-21? I hope so. Atmospheric boosters?

Yay. I bet it was finished ages ago and graham has already been playing with it but they want to make it look like they had never intended to make one just to build up suspense.

Yep but the point of all this is.... they can improve. Just because they have the market to themselves doesn't mean they can't keep improving. Locking chest is easy.

Sqidd will probably end up buying all the 1/60s. This is probably his denial phase.

Shame to see him go so early. We'll miss him. Especially in the age of cg. (nothing against that though)

It was never promised that TF LA was going to be G1 anyway.

Well it's not part of the robotech universe maybe? There are no guld or dyson people renamed as robotech characters. Oh no I don't want to give them any ideas.. (they might make a robotech sidestory like with megazone )

Not lately but maybe they've changed their tune since the past and don't send those letters anymore? What's the story with the cease and desist letters? Do they still do that now? I'm glad we can have both macross and robotech co-exist in the same market so there is some choice. Now that they've made shadow chronicles and own the mospeada rights they can make their universe different from macross. I just see it as this: Overseas fans of macross are not the same as fans of robotech. If you saw SDF:macross as a kid but as an adult just happen to live outside japan you must be really angry for having HG claim that RT and macross are one and the same. (when RT is just a seperate universe that uses designs from original shows) Having them stop macross items is morally (maybe not legally? and maybe not good for business?) wrong and bad. You are just an innocent fan trying to get a toy from japan over here similar to a kid who makes a zelda or walt disney fan website getting told you are unauthorised to use images that you don't own. (where's the harm really?) Sure it's in the owner's interest to protect IP, but common sense tells you that these are just fans not people trying to steal your ideas and profit from them like the guy at the fleamarket selling t-shirts with your images on them who didn't pay for a license and actually trying to rip you off and profit on something that isn't his. Fans want to support your show and help get others into it. It's partly because HG forgot all about robotech by not doing anytthing with it that demand for all the toys went up. It's like, what's the point of having the rights to something if you don't do something? Look how long it has taken for alpha/beta toys for example. Fans will support if you do something, but at the end of the day: if they can't get it local, the quality stinks, they will go import. It would have been good if years ago you could get the bandai chunky monkey as a robotech toy, then there would be a lot of happy kids. But a lot of those kids now grew up and angry that they couldn't own a vf-1 and just said "forget it, I'm going to import everything" because they are sick of waiting ages. Legally yes, maybe they might have the high ground, but morally the fans who have waited a long time lost patience and feel like they shouldn't have to take this. I mean in Macross Plus the sdf-1 is still standing? Totally different universe. Not robotech where the SDF-1 was destroyed and SDF-2 was made. I want macross plus to be macross plus not robotech plus. Robotech can then be a seperate universe where rick/hikaru was able to age and they can continue in a different direction. So instead of have the butchered version of "macross plus" (with robotech footage shoe-horned in) a person can just buy macross plus, frontier whatever in original form outside japan... and also have robotech stuff alongside it. (shadow chronicles, robotech spin-off games, new robotech tv series etc) But not mix the worlds together. Times have changed: anime is a little more mainstream, dvds have come out and people want options, they are more spoilt for choices and want access to as many things they remembered but with subs and no censorship. It's time to change and allow the robotech universe to be independent from the macross universe which isn't always going to fit with the direction robotech was going with anyway. (although I admit the usage of bugs in frontier could have been used as a new evolved form of invid )

HG do deserve to be bashed for stopping macross imports imo. But for a lot of people, RT was a part of their childhood and helped them get into macross. Are there any japanese fans of robotech that actually like the "protoculture as a magic battery that three warring alien races are trying to compete for" idea? I mean I don't think it's such a bad idea and can see some similiarities with halo where you have 3 main alien species wrestling for control. (similar to how you might have a human rush for oil) You see that influence in starcraft too where you have the Protoss (who I will think of as close to robotech masters because they seem to be the most intelligent and sophisticated) the zerg (invid! most organic aliens and the psychic abilities) and terran. (the Robotech Defense Force!) I'm surprised there isn't a Robotech RTS game out yet. Destroids vs Glaug vs Invid fights would be interesting.

I'll trade "skinny legs" for "no arms hanging off the bottom of fighter mode" any day.

Exactly. I was impressed by the garland's magnets though. So maybe graham can ask them do find something involving that? All I know is that it isn't the hardest thing to fix. This is the same company that made the landing gear mechanism work so nicely for the 1/60 yf-21. Seems a little odd they would overlook something like this imo. Study other toys and find out how they did it and clone the idea.

Ok then: design a way to lock them without causing wear. Very powerful magnets? I dunno that's their job and why they should research better ways of doing things. Things like poseability and stuff can come later, but first work on click joints so the hips can support weight, (for gbp and back-heavy mecha) and find a way to have more locking in general. Use diecast and more flexible plastic if you must just like with the swingbar. Have a little panel that opens somewhere on the chest and reveals a tiny button that releases a spring mechanism to unlock the locking mechanism. (like the projectile gimmick on the guns on transformers? ) To unlock: Just hold it down to bend the flexi-plastic latch releasing the lock so the protruding bit isn't inside a hole, and while doing that: lifting the chest up....Anything.

Wait for the 1/60 vf-1 because it will: -have a nice look in all modes. -Better poseability from the old 1/48 -Details comparable to 1/48 which so far is considered the king for vf-1 in terms of using it for display. (more than playing) -support for future two seater valkyrie fighter (that means elint, ostrich, vf -1d etc) -cheaper than 1/48 -smaller than 1/48 so it saves space (to display more?) -to scale with all the newer 1/60 macross toys (like the bandai VF-25 or yamato's old 1/60 Qrau) -if it breaks spare parts are easy to find here -I have a feeling there is an increase chance of more *diverse releases due to lower price point so more people can afford it *where a more expensive toy would be harder to sell due to costing more, a cheaper one means more people to sell to. People that might not have bought say an angel birds paintscheme at 1/48 size, might be tempted at 1/60 since it won't burn as huge a hole in the wallet. Maybe yamato can sell more by bringing the price point down, and they can start taking more risk with unpopular characters?

The clicky joints for hips is going to be my main thing. If hasbro can do it why not yamato? It's going to be important once the toy gets a certain size that it needs them. Balljoints are great for smaller toys but spend some money on research on better hip joints. The 1/100 monster has big-ass feet, and could do with clicky joint for spread stance, and forward and backwards movements of the leg. What they need is a joint that you pull the hip joint outwards and it extends, and then from that extension you can click outward/inward, and click back and forth. (the extending bit allows a little space between the inner thigh and crotchpiece of the robot to allow clearance) Someone should send them a leader class hasbro transformer and say: "this is what good hips need to be. When GBP armor is added you are going to need stronger hips." Bandai are going to kick your ass yamato. Listen to the critics to stay in business. But having said all this I stand by my previous comments: yamato achieved what they set out to do with the 1/48. They made something that is accurate as a toy, but not delicate like a model which you can't transform. It sits between those two. Adults shouldn't really be playing with the toy, afterall. It should be strong enough to be transformed without risk of breaking stuff however. But there are going to be long term problems with joints as they wear out. So make them clicky. 1/60 Qrau needed something like that. Oh and lock the chest pieces of future yf-19.

Yeah but have you seen the hands of the 1/60 vf-1? It's the same size as the 1/48. lol And it looks much closer to lineart. Answer me this: would you prefer them to be smaller on the 1/60 now that you've seen how much better-proportioned the hands on the new 1/60 vf-1 are to the rest of the body? Nothing personal, but somehow I think complaints about complainers is getting old. We anal retentives know what we like and will continue the campaign of whining until yamato listens. It got us the tampo printing, helped alert yamato of the first release curse, and (for other non-macross toys like the megazone 23 garlands) allows them free feedback on problems with their QC on early releases and better treatment for future buyers who can avoid the flaws. 1/48 hands are crap. (clown hands are closer to the right size imo. Maybe not the gbp ones, but we all know they are only so massive because yamato made the GBP massive, so they had to be upscaled to ridiculous size along with it) I think having too-small hands is as bad as having the over-sized shoulders on the 1/100 toynami valks or over-sized chest on 1/48 yamato. For a lot of people it can spoil the look of robot mode and is a flaw. Other toys don't do it so why settle for less?

And yes I do think they might improve it, perhaps go back to 1/48 again but to accomodate 2 seaters. Just reshape the battroid mode so it doesn't have huge chest and the chicken hands. Plus include all the improvements seen in the 1/60 vf-1. But 1/48 might get less regular release since it is expensive. You would have to be more picky about which one is your fave and go with it exlcuding non-fave stuff. Not enough space for many people.

Sidecovers yamato. I'm going to keep posting about them until you say they are standard!

Looks good. I agree with all the recommendations to make it cheaper, more accessories, and to present the super posability of these things more by having them in interesting anime-accurate poses that people will remember from macross plus. But...I think people are distracted more by the larger PT 1/60 macross plus toys. If these had come out before the 1/60 macross plus toys there would be a stronger temptation to get them. It's like how you have different size classes with transformers toys. I would have skipped deluxe brawl if I could just get leader class brawl straight away. But I can see the appeal for those who have limited space and were already interested in revoltechs but wanted something better sculpted than it without being too big that it hogs shelfspace. Just that the more expensive these are, the less of an impulse purchase they become for some.

Well for me, most comic movies I leave my brains at the door, so I'm used to them not being accepted by the critics in reviews because these movies are seen as merchandise movies not art! I don't really have as high expectations on movies adapted from cartoons either. The golden rule is that so long as you don't go in expecting movie of the year all the time, and you felt you got your money's worth then that's all that matters. It's important to remember that different people go in to a movie expecting different things: I can watch a hong kong action flick and rewatch that hundred of times and rewind the stunts and think its fun to watch over and over again, but hate the crappy acting and poo story. I can watch a horror movie and pick out all the crap fx, but still think of it as a cult classic. My enjoyment is that it caters to a niche interest that isn't mainstream enough to be able to get the $ to improve the things that would benefit from more of it. But if a movie is misleading or the hype is big and you paid lots of money to see it and were let down by high expectations built up for months, (star wars episode 1 syndrome?) ...that's different. I can see why you'd want to scrutinise the flaws and bitch about them. You got "tricked" and now want to warn others not to waste money. That's a bit different from someone who went in knowing the risk. ie "it might suck but meh, I have lots of money and want to kill some time and relax. If it is average I won't waste time complaining." Oftentimes just having that attitude and not knowing anything about the movie might surprise you. It happened to me with the first matrix movie and ironman actually. Hype can sometimes backfire. When you view a trailer or something sometimes what is shown is the best that is in the movie and it may not be representive of the average quality of what's in it. (just bits and pieces of the best thing)

Speaking of sexaroids: http://www.physorg.com/news132727834.html normally I would save that for science and technology thread but thought it was on topic to this thread too. Just watching BBC again and I wanted to link two youtube vids to illustrate how much BBC reminds me of terminator. (ie same style of music used?) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w35ylYNy0OY ..only japan is more comfortable about the robots as we see from all the super robot shows where they are heroes. One of the problems I have in robot shows is sometimes how colourful the robots are. The old bubblegum crisis was very dark and "Terminator 1" compared to the newer BBC. I wonder if yamato will make non-canon paintschemes of the knight sabers like they do with the macross toys?