Perrych

1 hour ago, captain america said:

No, all that material belongs to the toy company. The point I was trying to make is that you can give a subcontractor EXACTLY what you want (3D sample, blueprints, etc.) and they'll still find a way to f*ck it up. People who know how to do things right seem expensive to the untrained eye, but then when you factor-in multiple re-works and missed shipping windows only to realize that mediocre talent is the most expensive thing you can buy.

It is amazing that Chinese factories will screw up a mold and then charge you for the fix, push your work back while they do otherr jobs, force so many redoes, and still US companies claim it is cheaper doing business over there.  I can’t help but think of the health of middle managers who are overseeing production as the stress must be terrible -or you would just give up caring.

Received my fast pack today.  The batteries  are a pain to deal with but the set looks great.  I have mine in G mode and it is cool.  I just hope it holds together over time.  I really wish they put the switches in a place where you didn’t have to unscrew or remove something to turn them on.

I am in. I have all your other Invid so need the complete set!

7 minutes ago, woll622 said:

Having seen your post, I checked my preorder I did for stick and Rey back in January at bbts. For some reason, it says my order isn’t due until October!  What’s up with that?  Are those of us who ordered thru them going to have to wait a year to get an item we ordered?  Anyone heard anything from them regarding this, because I’m ticked off!

I saw the same thing today, as I was expecting an email saying the order was processing any day now.  I hope it’s a mistake!

CMs had a few of them in regular outfits and the seemed to do well even though they were static poses and were often posed a little oddly.  And they left out several characters - although Annie was included with Red.  Those figures show that even in a relatively poor line the figures sell.  Today they go for quite a bit on the secondary market,

I'm all for a 1/18 scale Protector.

I will take a set.

Looks awesome! Can't wait to see this finished!

My understanding is that the art books will have a strong Macross flavor as they will include art given to them from the original series - things they promised would be remarkable. It will be interesting what they produce from the archives. I don't think even the publishers know what they are going to use or produce yet.

To be fair, hearing how many folks have gloated that the contributions were inflated by Macross fans who planned to take them back at the least second, I would say that there was an effort by some folks to do more than just talk bad about HG. Sure, it would only hurt HG if the real fans were supporting the cause but a mass exodus would almost certainly undermine the effort. It's more psychological than economic - if people think RA is good, why contribute any more? So, while not every Macross fan is nefarious, some were up to no good.

You're making the faulty assumption that those who donated constitute the limit of the franchise's reach. You're also making the faulty assumption that all those who were Robotech fans donated. Neither is true. This Kickstarter was doomed from the moment of its inception not only by having investment levels with diminishing returns, but also the fact that there was no an immediate series of defined Add-Ons. The continued updates that showed what people would actually be investing in caused it to falter big time.

To go along with this, it was just simply not a well thought out Kickstarter - almost as if it was created in an afternoon so it could be announced at a convention. It was quite late in the game that they became somewhat synergistic across the different Robotech brands by suggesting add-on toys, exclusive Tactics game pieces, a new "art of" book, etc. I'm not sure if they just thought that if they offered new animation that fans would jump on it - no matter how ill fitting the title was to what they were attempting to create (Robotech Academy implies it would be about the education of the students, not an adventure to follow their parents to Tirol). On top of this, you have the added issues created by the creators of the Tactics game who have failed to meet deadlines and promises to fans on multiple occasions and you have a fan-base that is jittery about Kickstarter to begin with. There was a complete failure to reach out to fans of the show that are not on fan sites but might have supported this via advertising or creating some PR. No bone was thrown to Macross fans, only a slight nod was given to the Project:Valkyrie group, and there was virtually no attempt to ask if fans even wanted this concept.

To the original response - this would have likely succeeded if it had been a continuation of the Sentinels. It would have succeeded if they had negotiated a new deal with Big West and worked out their legal issues and announced that they were tying the new animation in with perhaps Macross 7. It might have even succeeded if they had chosen to not make this a pilot but an OVA.

But HG doesn't listen to anyone so fans responded by refusing to pay. But don't assume for a second that this was all that HG was capable of raising. They just didn't try to woo the fans - they just thought we would jump at the chance for more Robotech.

I'm really sorry to hear that Gerli. I've been reading all about it. Anyway, can't get into the politics on this board, but I hope for the best for your nation.I don't have the kind of nostalgia for Robotech that you have JBO, but I certainly understand it. That's why I don't think people should be so hard on Robotech fans. In spite of all the bad blood and the misplaced animosity toward Macross fans (we all acted out our fair share of arrogant haughtiness too, which doesn't make friends), they are just fans that fell in love with an edit of Macross. They just want to enjoy their beloved anime the way we all do our own Macross. That's not a crime.When I got into Macross now 15 years ago, I'd never been interested in any Robotech after that...but I could have been. All it would have taken was the opportunity to buy Macross AND one fun, entertaining Robotech production. If I had my Macross, there wouldn't have been any worry, guilt or anger preventing me from enjoying Robotech. As long as the quality was good enough.The real reason Harmony Gold legally denied Macross is because they couldn't profit from it. It was selfish, petty greed mixed with a little bit of American jingoistic entitlement and a LOT of obsolete, old school business arrogance. The reasons they shared publically for their actions (fear of a diluted market for the Robotech brand by allowing a product too similar) were always bullshit. Even at it's height, both Robotech and Macross were niche markets internationally. The consumer base for niche markets don't need to be told or sold about products; they inform themselves and actively seek out the products they want. If niche consumers wanted to be easily informed and catered to buy, they'd be mainstream consumers.I agree a significant portion of Macross fans want more SDF Macross story, but that's not me. But you're right, it is a different situation for Robotech fans. There is no Robotech DYRL or Robotech 2012. No Robotech Plus or Robotech 7. No Robotech Zero or Robotech Frontier. And Shadow Chronicles didn't have half the impact on Robotech fans as the worst Macross sequel. For them, "The Macross Saga" is all they have. And the tragic part; Kawamori has forever closed the book on SDF Macross, but Robotech could have ran with it. We Macross fans could have enjoyed a continuation of the SDF Macross story through a Robotech sequel that we'll never have from Kawamori...for those of us that want it. Seems like a missed opportunity to win over Robotech fans AND Macross fans. That would have been a good kickstarter project.What could have been...

Macross zero could have worked in the robotech universe. Heck, we kind of had a live action robotech zero on youtube until HG stepped in.

Part of me really believes that HG will pay out the remainder at the end, although that would be kind of dumb as they would be paying kickstarter to pay themselves. I think the biggest blunder was saying this might go forward without kickstarter.

Sweet!

As a fan of Macross who wasn't even born when Robotech was airing, seeing all these Robotech fans cling onto their dead franchise is just sad. Why can't they just accept that their old 80s cartoon is done and move on? Nothing Harmony Gold produces will manage to capture that same magic they felt when they first watched Robotech and even if Harmony Gold tried to "robotech" a Macross series, the fans still wouldn't like it because it's "too anime". I'm sorry if I offend any Robotech fans on this board, but I have no connection to that series so I would be completely fine if it just died completely. I have no interest in a chopped up westernized anime especially one that was "produced" by a company that mooches off another company's hard work and talent. Harmony Gold should just die already.

Not sure what the point of your post was as of course someone who has not watched, grown up, or has any connection to a series would not care about it. The same argument you are making could made for any of the following: GI JOe, Masters of the Universe, transformers, thunder cats, tmnt, etc. Yet many of those have had resurgence recently. Just like many of them, Robotech has hung around in various forms for quite a while now - in fact, it only really died when HG started working on shadow Chronicles. The same could be said for these other shows. In fact, many of them stole ideas from other franchises - GI Joe= shield, Transformers=Diaclone. To your point, Starblazers - another westernized anime - has been rebooted and continued numerous times, even via a live action movie (albeit by the original Japanese company, not a westernized version). Robotech could follow their lead - if HG could simply move forward.

I don't think there really is anything they could do to make Robotech legitimately popular. Macross is really the only part of the show that people care about, and there's nothing meaningful they can do with it for legal reasons. Even if they fired everyone who currently works for them on Robotech and hired people who legitimately know what they're doing, what would they have to work with? Two obscure, dated shows from the 80's that are barely popular with the existing fans, let alone something that could ever draw in new viewers? The crap from sentinels that was already stupid back in the 80's? by the time you strip away all the stuff they can't use or they shouldn't use you're left with nothing but the thinnest shell of a premise for a show and a goofy sounding name from the 80's.

First, among Robotch fans, there are a lot of fans of mospeada/new generation. Macross is not the end all for them. It just happens to be the loose end - what happened to Rick Hunter and co. The Sentinels wasn't bad in concept, but the idea of planet hopping was just a means of dragging out the story for syndication. Some of the ideas - confronting the Masters before they came and realizing that they were not only too late, but left their children and Earth wide open to attack, confronting the Regent to prevent further invasions, the civil war from Edwards - were great. Not much in terms of mecha was unique, as it all borrowed from all 3 shows.

Second, few cartoons are popular among kids these days. We live in a different world where kids have so many options that few kids shows gain traction for long. Most shows that are created with nostalgia in mind have not done well recently, particularly with kids.

Probably the best route for Robotech was OVAs or a Netflix exclusive.

If you are still taking orders, I would love to purchase 1!

Wow! Just discovered this kit. Wish that it was still available. Looks amazing!

Let's be fair: Robotech did a better job with Southern Cross than the original writers did.

Bump Midnight Sale till I wake up Monday: $135 Shipped.

Pm sent

But Robotech fans are kind of iffy when it comes to anything that isn't Macross or directly tied to same. That's why every take on making a Robotech sequel tries to tie into the "Macross Saga" as directly and frequently as possible. Macross is the only part of Robotech that 99% of Robotech fans actually care about. By way of example, look at the Shadow Chronicles... every major character except for one has some direct tie to the Macross Saga cast.

I'm not defending that abomination, but Shadow Chronicles was a mix of Sentinels, Macross, Mospeada, and even a Louie thrown in from SC. That's not a bad combination. Why Dana, Bowie, Dante,etc were left out beats me. Macross actually had a kind of small showing.

Actually, I would argue that is what pretty creative to take three completely different anime shows and bridge them together with some pretty small things that just managed to work out. The idea of protoculture was pretty creative in Robotech, as it went from culture meaning a product of a society to a culture like something created in a lab. That was pretty clever. And as Mospeada was often focused on finding fuel, and Southern Cross having the weird scenes around the mounds, it kind of worked. Not perfectly, and certainly not when you see the originals and realize what things were. The mounds in SC also kind of worked with the fake out of the SDF-2. (That was the one glaring omission that every kid who saw Robotech wondered - where was the SDF-2 and why did we never see it!) The idea of Claudia's nephew was a little racist - I guess they were trying to connect the only real African American character in Macross. Dana was in Macross so that connection made a little sense - even though they had to spend a whole episode explaining the connection. Mospeada had the least connection - and in some ways the most. It of course tied together with Macross as the REF came back - but the mysterious missing Admiral Hunter was a bit strange, as was the returning expedition that clearly was following other failed expeditions that were never really mentioned in context. The ending with Scott looking for the SDF-3 made little sense - how was he going to get there is his little fighter?!

But with all the plot holes, all the contextual issues, in the end, it was better contextually than so many movies made as sequels that have far more issues - including X-men, Star Wars, among others.

To the original point, the current HG projects are having FAR more contextual issues that what the original Robotech had with three completely different shows. Shadow Chronicles seemed like a bad fan project from people who didn't watch the original show or had no concept of the Sentinels except some vague understanding. Coming from HG, it made no sense at all. That makes me have little confidence in Academy.

I realize that I am a Robotech apologist to many of you - it has a special place for me in my childhood and opened up anime to me (particularly the Robotech Art I book which honestly spoke of the sources of Robotech and origins of anime). But I'm not supporting this kickstarter simply because I don't think Shadow Chronicles did justice to the source material or enhanced the story. It did nothing to draw in new fans, and created more issues for old fans. With Academy, we can assume that it is the story of the Mars and Jupiter divisions being trained - but it could be the training of Jack Baker and Karen Penn. Or maybe it is the training of Dana Sterling and Bowie Grant. But I kind of thought Jack Baker was trained on the Zentradi station. And we saw Dana graduate on "Earth" in "Dana's Story". And if it follows any other story line, what would be the point? As it stands, I'm not sure there is a point to Academy at any rate as I don't see it advancing the story at all.

I'll take Macross II and Macross 7 over Shadow Chronicles and Robotech: LLA any day.

But ripping LLA, you are really ripping the Mospeada original - plus two extra minutes.

Shadow Chronicles I will give you. And that is primarily because it doesn't fit in with the pre-existing contunuity often for no real reason.

It's beyond belief though isn't it.

Macross is clearly the most popular part of Robotech.

Many of us here discovered Macross as a result of watching Robotech.

Macross is an ongoing franchise with multiple TV series and films with a new TV series on the way.

BUT IN SPITE OF ALL THIS......

There are still those who cling desperately on to Robotech.

All they have to do is give up the RT bulllshite, embrace Macross and they will be happy. The continued RT fanbase makes no sense at all.

But in doing so you are basically dissing two other anime that have their own fan bases.

Macross II is the albatross that macross fans must carry. Also, Macross 7.

Robotech has it's issues but many prefer its linear story. Arguing against it feels a little bit like the argument in the movie Crimson Tide about which silver surfer was best. It comes down to preference.

And to be fair, have you looked online at the rabid dans in South America and Central America? That seems to be the greatest concentration of Robotech fans!

I think the pilot probably could be picked on 2nd tier cable channel, as they are always looking for new content.

The challenge I have to your premise about the legal problems of the Sentinels is that they continue to release it on video. Not sure why profiting off something made 20 years ago is ok but not today. If this was accurate, how are they doing the Voltron crossover which is only using Macross characters?