protostar8

So Graham, think you'll be able to get a sneek peak at these before they release so you can tell us if they will be worth however much CM decides to make them cost?

As far as CM goes, they have made very good products in the past on average. I've seen numerous people that have been happy with the GGG toys, especially since you can actually transform them without worrying about breaking them. Okay, I'd like to make a little list of my observations about the Alpha/Beta Legioss/Tread pairing Beta/Tread: Hands appear to be able to fold away. I dot think there is a piece missing to hide the upper arm, or at the very least give a lower portion to the arm in fighter mode as there is a large round henge that doesn't appear to have anything connected to it and might allow the arm a full range of motion by being able to pivot. If you look at this picture in Graham's update mini-cms-18.JPG, you can see that the undercarage connector piece appears to have a small tab that isn't connected to anything and sits much lower than the leg. This small tab either helps hold it in fighter mode and the toy is mistransformed, or it might be to help support the alpha in robot mode. The legs do have a little bit of blockiness to them. Look at the same picture mentioned above and you can see some of the blockiness at the top of the leg towards the knee. The head is small, but it needs to be in order to properly swing down inside the body for robot mode. The head would be a small piece of anime magic in my opinion as it is huge in the cartoon in some shots. The connector for the alpha beta appears to be removeable. The connector tab mentioned previously along with the fact that it is a "cradle" underneath the beta and doesn't come out of the hip joint makes me think it is definitely removeable. This is GREAT if it improves the overall sturdiness of the toys when linked. It does appear to fold up too for storage. The missile pods on top DO fold down further as you can see the henge in some shots and it doesn't look to be flattened out. Alpha/Legioss: The chest appears to be able to sit lower on the body, so I think it's mistransformed. Likewise, the arms appear to be mistransformed, which suggests that the arm transformation may be complex and the person paid to set it up had no clue how to do it and didn't want to break it. Example: The left wing sticks further out, but the outer part of the arm that swings open sits closer to the rest of the arm than the same piece on the right arm. However, the right arms wing sits in the body better. Something tells me the final version will sit flush with the arm and the wing will only stick out slightly, much like how the wing on the right arm looks. And a few last things to note: CM makes stuff you can PLAY with and not worry about breaking as long as you're careful, much better than what Toynami has thrown at us. These can still be altered to some extent as they are only prototypes. Think about the MP Starscream from Transformers and how large of a change occured in a few months time. Kind of on the same note, paint apps can make these look STUNNING, kinda like how people thought MP Megatron was kinda crappy until they saw it painted and wanted one badly. (I liked him from the start). And finally, I LOVE THESE. The best compromise between the two for the price (which I'd say will run around 20000Yen, which means you can find them cheaper. One of CM's greatest strengths is moderate pricing for the quality of work you get. Even the Star GGG set and Goldion Hammer was only around $210 before shipping if you bought it from the right places and that was a lot of stuff. I'd say this will probably run about the same, especially if they aren't that big. Either way, I'm gonna get a set of the blue ones so long as CM doesn't floor me by making these uber expensive. (and please excuse any spelling errors, it's a long post)

Well, it could be a BGC Motoslave, or a Masterpiece Jetfire based on his G1 self b/c TF's are kinda hot right now with the new movie coming out, but my guess would be something from Mospeada, especially since I've seen reports of companies expressing interest in the line from a few years ago. If I remember right, the company wanted to do a full line of bikes that transformed to ride armor, and a set of poseable figures in armor as well. I'd love to get a Beta though.

I don't think it looks like Megs either. I actually think he kinda looks like a reject from Power Rangers or some generic anime fighting robots game. Prime is okay, the toys look WAY better than the CG renders b/c they actually have lots of alt mode kibble visible. Overall though, this movie just isn't shaping up to be too Transformers-ish. At the very least, the team could have used correct heads for crying out loud!

I'd buy them if Toynami had a good track record of putting out what they show, but they don't so I'll wait and see if FAST packs come out before I make a purchase. I have so many other things that I'd rather have b/c I already have tons of VF-1's and without FAST packs, I can't really justify the cost.

Well, I'll end up getting a Series 2 Max version if Toynami releases FAST packs. But I've been talking with Toynami via e-mail and they refuse to give me any form of hope that FAST packs are still coming out. The only thing they'd tell me was that they were focused on Series 2 right now with no information on FAST packs. Forgot to ask if anyone's heard anything different as to when/if the FAST packs are going to be released?

Anyone know if Toynami is still gonna release the FAST packs for these? I haven't really seen anymore news as far as the release date on the FAST packs goes. And like some of the other people in this thread, I haven't seen the toys around where I live either. I too hope that Toynami makes some Alphas and especially some Beta's around this size, not scale. I don't care a thing about scale as long as they are about the same size (or a little bigger in the Beta's case since it's much bigger than the Alpha) as the other valks. Shouldn't be too hard to engineer a decent looking beta at that scale. I'd even settle for a cheap little docking system with an interchangeable piece that fit between the Alpha and Beta.

So what's the cheapest expected grand total cost for the YF-19 and FAST pack set (I don't really care about the uninspired looking fold booster) after shipping to the US? I'm having a hard time trying to justify this expense when there are so many other things that I could spend the money on. I really wish they'd come out with a small scale YF-19/YF-21/VF-11 series like Toynami's has right now, even if the QC wasn't the greatest b/c at least the small scale ones would be very affordable.

I live in Georgia, and by the time anything anime related makes it to a hobby shop or comic store, it's more expensive than if I ordered it off the internet and had it shipped to my house. I haven't really been following this too hard, but does Toynami plan to mass produce these or are they going to be things that I'll see at my local video game stores (like MPC Alphas awhile back)? I really only want a TV Max w/ fastpacks just b/c I'm a sucker for tiny toys that I can fidget with and don't take up tons of space. I'd buy the max w/ fastbacks for $30 total (I know that the fastpacks are sold separately). Has anybody tried putting the super poseable fast pack equipment on the 1/100's or is the fast pack stuff permanently attached to the super poseables?

Nice pics. Too bad the person didn't get close up pictures of the Max and Milia with fast packs in jet mode. Those two are at the top of the display case in the event someone hasn't noticed them in the "display case" pictures. They look great from what little I can see of them. 422784[/snapback] 422897[/snapback] Awesome pics. Thanks. Max was always my favorite.

Nice pics. Too bad the person didn't get close up pictures of the Max and Milia with fast packs in jet mode. Those two are at the top of the display case in the event someone hasn't noticed them in the "display case" pictures. They look great from what little I can see of them.

Is there some reason nobody has ever made a resin re-cast of the rare Tread toy? I know I'd buy one if it was reasonably priced. I'd also assume that the rights to that toy probably don't exist anymore (or have expired). Out of all the resin stuff I've seen like resin heads and part sets, why no resin Beta/Tread? Would it even take that much resin to reproduce? Surely you could find the screws at a local hardware store. I've heavily considered making a beta out of plastic just b/c I want one and I can't shell out $250 for a Toynami one (if they ever make it). I just can't figure out how to make rounded parts with the plastic (like the jet's cockpit area).

If you want something that really looks like he cartoon, look at this old thing: http://www.bwtf.com/pvc/scf/starscream/1.jpg http://www.bwtf.com/tfg1/tvshow/mtmte3/20.gif He even has some of the gimmicks MP Starscream is supposed to have: http://www.bwtf.com/pvc/scf/starscream/3.jpg http://www.bwtf.com/pvc/scf/starscream/ No tail fins and blocky as hell (just like the cartoon character) but it doesn't turn into a plane. Considering how blocky Starscream is, the plane would look like crap. Lets not forget that blocky Optimus turns into a blocky truck, something that I'm sure helped make the design of the MP Prime easier. 411463[/snapback] I already have that, and I'm not too impressed w/ it b/c it's kind of small and has very limited articulation. It's very deceptive looking in the pictures b/c it looks like it would move all over the place. In actuallity, the legs are more or less fixed pose. You'd just have to own one to really understand. The MPC Starscream looks great, just not as MPC Starscream. This particular line wasn't a line meant for re-inventing the wheel. The line was meant to give the fans who have waited for over 20 years the toys they wanted back then, G1 versions of their favorite characters that looked great in both modes. If this was another line of Transformers, then It'd be okay for Shoji to go nuts, but this isn't another line. He should have left it alone and just fixed the minor gripes people had with the first prototype. Please don't triple-quote pics.

See I told ya. Looks like it won't be such an issue with the TF fans after all. Some changes might actually be worth it if people can get used to it over time. Like when the X-men got a costume change and updated look (no more mohawk for you storm), the hulk turned grey for a while, the ninja turtles shed thier stupid "archie" comic look from the ole 80s cartoon, batman getting slight mod from when an artist wants to put thier own spin on the character etc (not to mention batmobile changing) Nostalgia can sometimes get in the way of toy coolness. 411045[/snapback] But those were supposed to be new takes on the old characters. This was supposed to be a perfect version of the old character. It wasn't supposed to heavily influenced by the artist/designer. If anyone doesn't believe that it was supposed to be G1 Starscream, then just look at the first prototype compared to Starscream in his G1 days and they are pretty close. Their was enough "stlye" in the first prototype w/out making it not look like G1 Starscream. Now it looks like like the illegitimate love child of Starscream and the YF-19! (With those scrawny legs and hip kibble) No version of a G1 Starscream toy homage I can remember has ever had gigantic hip kibble.

Does anyone know where to get one of the old X-02 models or how much they usually go for?

Could someone point me to a transformation faq for the MPC alpha? I'm having a hard time getting the waist to slide back into the upper torso. It looks like two little metal bars attached to the upper torso where the arms join the upper torso are getting hung up on the lower legs, which are attached to the waist. It looks like they are preventing the waist from sliding back into the upper torso. Why couldn't they just make them transform as easily as the model kits? Thanks for any help.

Hi, I've seen some pictures of Alpha's with blue canopies and others with clear canopies. Does anyone if the cockpit canopy is blue or if it is clear? Is there a relation between the color of the canopy and the authenticity number? Thanks

I was actually thinking that HLJ was clearancing the Super Max and Milia 1/60 for 7800 Yen at one point.

Does anyone know if Yamato will ever re-issue (maybe for a cheaper price too) any of the 1/60 scale valks? I wouldn't mind picking up a 1/60 Super Max, but I don't want to pay the $90 Ebay prices for one. Thanks

Why do companies turn their backs on fans when they see they can make even more money by just tweaking a current design and adding a few accessories? I mean if people are getting 200+ US dollars the Macross Plus YF-19's, then you would think Yamato would want to start making more so they can get some of that money. But, I guess some companies just don't see things my way. Also, Have the bandai fire valks been made into knockoffs?

Hi, Thanks for the info. I know that Yamato doesn't currently have any new news on a FP YF-19, but does anyone know if they plan on selling the rights to Macross Plus so that a really good FP YF-19 might be made by another company?

I know I have seen and purposely bought other cheap knockoff valks, but I have never seen a YF-19 (or Macross Plus) knockoff. Anyone know if they exist? How much? I have been wanting one of the white YF-19's that Yamato made ever since I got the VF-19a (I just like the white and black color better) and don't want to pay a fortune for a YF-19.

Thanks for the information.

Hey, I was just wondering if anyone has ever done a recast of the Tread toy or even done a custom job and sold them? Also, does anyone know if toynami still plans to make masterpiece cylcones and super poseable cyclones or if they plan to make a masterpiece tread/beta to accompany the masterpiece Alpha's? Thanks P.S. -- Robotech Invasion for Xbox is a pretty good (although short) game for Mospeada fans.

I found a website that is selling the new mospeada I-men for $2.95 per each set of two and wanted to know some things before I buy them. How posable are they and how tall are they? Also, is there really any difference in the molds of them other than the color for each? Thanks P.S. - The site I found them on including some of the robotech I-men is voyagertoys.com and sorry if mospeada stuff is taboo on this forum.