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TheLoneWolf

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  1. TheLoneWolf
    In my book, this acquisition is a good thing. Lucasfilm is bristling with talent, except at the very top: George Lucas himself. Relegating Lucas to the position of creative consultant strips him of his veto power and will allow other young talents within the company to truly shine. Make no mistake, while Lucasfilm will probably still give Lucas' thoughts considerable weight, Kathleen Kennedy and Disney now have the final say over all matters. And I wouldn't worry about Disney putting a hack like Michael Bay in charge of Star Wars, or 'Disneying' up the movies. As long as Lucasfilm continues to fill Disney's coffers with healthy profits, Disney will be more than happy to let Lucasfilm run Lucasfilm. And Lucasfilm are connoisseurs when it comes to making money.
  2. TheLoneWolf
    If I had to take a guess, I'd say that 2013's surprise will be a Wonderfest-exclusive "Beagle" Houquet Ride Armor. If it is an event-exclusive, we'd probably be looking at about 10 ~ 30 pieces. As such, I'd be shocked if it's sticker price was less than $500. It's after-market price would be...astronomical.
  3. TheLoneWolf
    Good catch with those catalogues! Usually, catalogues and other paper inserts are the last things to be made during the manufacturing process, since they can be printed off relatively quickly. And it makes sense that they only feature screenshots from episode 1. IIRC, Ishiguro said that episode 1 (and possibly episode 2) was the only episode that was actually finished well in advance of Macross' debut. As we all know, the remaining episodes were notoriously finished at the last possible minute.
  4. TheLoneWolf
    I've been following this case for several years now, but it's still far from over. Like others have said, this case will now move to the appeals process, which will take a few more years. And if the appeals courts uphold this ruling, then the case will on to the extradition process. Even if Agrama were to pass away tomorrow, nothing would change with regards to Macross. I'd imagine that another member of Agrama's family would run the company in his stead and business would continue as usual. And don't count on Tatsunoko Production severing ties with Harmony Gold either. Tatsunoko's handling of their portion of the Macross rights in Japan has been equally questionable. The fact that Tatsunoko approves of the way that Harmony Gold handles Macross over here speaks volumes.
  5. TheLoneWolf
    You tell 'em, phatslappy! That's definitely a fan custom set, not an authentic Takatoku product. You can tell because of the use of those two screencaps on the front, especially the screencap from "Bursting Point." Takatoku couldn't use screen caps on their boxes because their boxes were designed before Macross' TV broadcast. That's why all of their boxes just use preproduction artwork. Nevertheless, that doesn't take away from the fact that that's a beautiful custom box.
  6. TheLoneWolf
    Your models just get better and better each time. And I love the changes you made to the stock VF-4; they compliment the overall appearance without appearing kitschy. Can't wait to see what else you've got in store.
  7. TheLoneWolf
    Excellent work! Just curious, but what's going on with the tip of Misa's finger?
  8. TheLoneWolf
    This is the best English article on Ishiguro that I've ever read. Now I know why Ishiguro always spoke so fondly of pioneers. Thanks Renato!
  9. TheLoneWolf
    Thanks for taking the time to translate that interview, Renato. That one was a goldmine, it answered a lot of common questions that western fans had been pondering for decades. I now have a greater appeciation for the movie's original ending.
  10. TheLoneWolf
    Thanks for finding that! I always imagined the these unlicensed TF's had production runs of around 1,000 ~ 2,000 pieces, which is comparable to the average Yamato VF today. So it looks like these TF's have similar production runs to Yamato VF's, have less overhead expenses to deal with, are slightly less complex than Yamato VF's, but are just as expensive as a Yamato VF. That tells me that these guys are very shred businessmen and have priced their products so that they bring back a very very generous net profit. But as Renato said, at least they're using part of this money into making more, and better, toys for their fans.
  11. TheLoneWolf
    Just curious, but what do you think is the average production run for one of these?
  12. TheLoneWolf
    That's pretty much what I was thinking. These toys are nearly as complex as Yamato Valkyries, and just about as expensive too. Except that Yamato has a lot of overhead that they have to factor into their prices: licensing costs, corporate taxes, legal expenses, office expenses, customer relations. Unlicensed Transformers are probably run by handful of guys out of a small apartment and don't have to worry about these types of expenses. So they're going to be pocketing a much much larger net profit from their products than Yamato does with theirs. That explains why these unlicensed Transformers are being cranked out at a furious pace. It's all about the money.
  13. TheLoneWolf
    I'm working on revamping the video section of the main site, and the blu-ray set will definitely be there.
  14. TheLoneWolf
    If VF-X2 were ever expanded into a TV series, I think a more appropriate title for it would be "Gundam."
  15. TheLoneWolf
    I normally don't listen to fan podcasts, but decided to give this one a shot. You guys definitely know your stuff and it was nice to put voices to your screen names. I also liked the group's chemistry. I suppose that has to do with the fact that you all have hung out in person before and that chemistry carried over to the broadcast. And like Renato wrote earlier, being bilingual and living in Japan gives you guys a perspective and credibility that other shows can't match. I was surprised to hear that Tim Eldred was your guest speaker. I remember him and Greg Lane as being the only good mecha artists that the old Robotech comics had, so I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Eldred's now a professional storyboarder and works on the Star Blazers' website. I always wondered what happened to him after his days at Eternity. Another thing that I really loved was hearing an intelligent discussion that involved both Macross and Robotech. I'd almost forgotten that that was even possible. Listening to that segment made me realize that one huge advantage that closed podcasts have over messageboards is that dumdums and trolls can't sh!t on the discussion. But, there's always room for improvement. There were times when you guys rambled on and went way off track. I could tell that Tochiro was trying to steer the discussion back on track at times, though I just wish he did it a bit more often. I understand that there's probably a desire to give everyone an opportunity to have their say, but I think it's best for the show's producer (Tochiro?) to take a stronger role in steering the ship. Also, try to make sure everyone speaks directly into their mics. It was a little jarring to hear someone speak at full volume, then another person at almost a whisper. Though overall, job well done.
  16. TheLoneWolf
    Here at work, I only have IE and there's no "Save As..." option either. Though, for anyone in my predicament who does want to save it, try right-clicking on this direct link to the podcast. Since it's a 90mb+ file, I'm not going to download it through my job's network and will wait until I get home.
  17. TheLoneWolf
    Haha, I posted that comment right before I checked the front page. After so many years of inactivity, I've gotta break my habit of going to the forums first. I think Bandai Visual might have a greater outpouring of help if they'd offer to return those items with signatures from DYRL's main staffers and give the donor credit in the BD booklet. That way, no money exchanges hands and the collector will still have a one-of-a-kind item. I'm surprised to see the DYRL postcard book on BV's want list. I also have a copy and I do remember seeing it listed pretty regularly on eBay and YJA.
  18. TheLoneWolf
    Seeing as how Bandai Visual is trying to include every single piece of DYRL artwork ever made, does anyone else get the feeling that this might be the last hurrah for DYRL on physical media? As for those rare posters/advertisements, if they're still out there, they're probably very expensive now and in the hands of private collectors. BV's going to need to up their ante if think collectors are going to willingly devalue their prized possessions for a BD box set.
  19. TheLoneWolf
    I think this game would've been better received if it just didn't have the name Ace Combat attached to it. Yes, the Ace Combat formula was beginning to show its age and lose its profitability, but for better or worse, pseudo-realistic dogfighting was AC's signature formula. But downgrading the dogfights only pissed off the series' core following, and I doubt it pulled in any new followers because they've long associated "Ace Combat" games with a genre that doesn't interest them. A new name would've allowed everyone to judge the game de novo. Alas, marketing guys are deathly afraid of starting new IPs and would prefer to run existing franchises into the ground. I think AC 4, 5, and 0 are good candidates for HD conversions. AC 3's textures would have to be redone for the ground up, so I doubt that'll ever happen.
  20. TheLoneWolf
    Even though I can't make it, I'm just happy to see a picture of May'n whenever I logon to MW. Good luck to all the contestants!
  21. TheLoneWolf
    I think a more expensive license would've come with a larger scale.
  22. TheLoneWolf
    Glad you got it to work! I'm baffled as to why you had problems to begin with. I have an American IP address and I was able to download the Macross skins without any problems. Though, there are some Japanese titles that XBL JP won't let me download, like Arcana Heart 3. From my understanding, region locking on XBL JP (excluding Games on Demand) is entirely dependent on the publisher, not XBL. Since Macross_Fanboy and I are both in the USA and were able to download the Macross skins, I assumed that Namco Bandai didn't implement region locking. Another weird thing is that if there's a JP game that I'm not allowed to download because of my American IP, XBL JP won't show me the "Download" button to actually download it. In your case, it sounds like XBL JP showed you the "Download" button, but then performed a region check when you clicked on it. Thanks for the VPN link, I'll include it in my article in case anyone else has the same problem.
  23. TheLoneWolf
    It's good to see the Metal Siren get some more attention, especially with the today's sculpting technology. But 1/144 isn't my sorta scale. Built a few 1/144 kits back in the day and it was just too small for me.
  24. TheLoneWolf
    Hmm, maybe you're thinking of Ace Frontier for the PSP, which featured the VF-0 as a playable fighter? Other than that, I can't think of any games about Macross Zero.
  25. TheLoneWolf
    Good catch! If you could find a copy of the movie's script book, the answer might be in there. Macross script books occassionally pop up in auctions, and whenever they do, they usually don't go for that much.
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