Seto Kaiba

I just got back from seeing it with some friends not too long ago... it did not wow me.

If I had to pick one word to describe it, it would be "Schizophrenic". It can't seem to decide if it wants to be a mediocre fantasy/action film or a depressingly bad teenage romance comedy. The end result of trying to mash those two conflicting storylines together in cliffnotes form left me feeling like Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince had originally been two movies, filmed separately and spliced together. I'd really say this movie was a failure of editing, because so many scenes from the novel that should've been included because of their importance to the plot were left out, and so many scenes that did bugger all for the actual story were included. The "new" scenes, like the destruction of the Burrow, kind of leave you wondering if they were added just to get rid of surplus pyrotechnical supplies leftover from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

True, but hasn't HG been saying, "We WANT to release more Macross...but Big West won't work with us!"

Either they're blocking it or they're not. And if they are, they shouldn't be playing the victim.

According to Tommy Yune, Harmony Gold wants to work with Big West to release the rest of Macross in the US, but Big West doesn't want to work with them (specifically, doesn't want them getting a cut of the profits just because they trademarked the name "Macross" in the US and abroad). I'm sure Kevin McKeever has his own spin on things, where Big West are big, evil tossers who want the still-beating heart of Carl Macek on a silver platter before they'll consider working together.

Anyway, you CAN'T be serious...a new VF-1 technical book, TWO magazines devoted EXCLUSIVELY to Macross, a concert coming up, followed by two Frontier movies, and (*ahem*) translations of Macross comics, novels, and drama albums that have never been available in English before.

And everything has already been said...?

If you have nothing to add to the Macross discussions, that's fine; you don't have to post. But to imply that Harmony Gold and Robotech is the only vital topic here (and that the rest of us are wasting our time) is both wrong and insulting.

I'd go so far as to say it's the LEAST vital topic here... Robotech is a shambling corpse of a franchise that has yet to produce anything new or interesting to realize the promise that its creators editors continue to claim it shows. If I had to ascribe one particular function to this thread, it would be trying to form a decent theory about why Tatsunoko is content to prolong the current state of affairs, rather than trying to mend fences, brooming the tired anachronism that is Robotech, and releasing Macross on a worldwide scale.

The only time I've ever been banned from an internet forum was back in 2004 or so, for posting several choice remarks about Doug Bendo, who at the time was doing his damnedest to draw me into a flame war. I got a temporary ban that was lifted after only a couple of hours, and Doug Bendo got a permanent ban.

(I still say that's possibly my greatest service to the Robotech fanbase)

Oh, I'm pretty sure you're the real deal, MEMO. You being all buddy buddy with the Harmony Gold staff.

Recently, I had quite an interesting discussion with some fairly influential members of the Robotech fanbase about just this sort of thing. It seems that quite a few of the more vocal and fervent defenders of Robotech and Harmony Gold... particularly those who are very active in the fanbase... are motivated by the mistaken impression their hard work will land them a paid staff position working on Robotech for Harmony Gold.

On an unrelated, but still interesting note... during that discussion an interesting theory was proposed about the whole Harmony Gold/Warner Bros partnership. With the huge emphasis on the live-action movie as thought it were a make-or-break situation for Robotech, some of them have started to think that Harmony Gold may be shopping around for someone with more experience to take over creative control of Robotech, leaving them free to just sit back and collect royalty checks. The theory is that the live-action movie project is to get Robotech back into the spotlight long enough to make it a marketable property for them to sell.

What's the difference? You do the same job the official person does, except for free.

You are the new Robotech Master, Justy Ueki, Darkwater, and Captain JLS for the Robotech fandom. You're essentially doing the same thing those people did, just not burned out yet.

Give it time... they're screwing over Brian McAfee pretty badly right now... I'm sure they'll get around to screwing MEMO over once they're finished.

On another note... I've heard from a few fairly reliable fans who still attend Harmony Gold's increasingly feeble convention panels that the forthcoming Robotech: the Shadow Chronicles game that they were hyping not too long ago will be, as we predicted, a cell phone game.

For Comic-Con, they will sell the Stealth Veritech there exclusively but no other news so far. They also hinted 25th anniversary celebrations for Robotech at various conventions and events throughout the year. Does anyone know what that could mean?

From what I've heard so far, the "celebrations" for Robotech's 25th anniversary aren't going to be anything worth writing home about... most of what I've heard about is fan-organized get-togethers. They'll probably trot out some sort of "25 years of Robotech" video at a special panel discussion each time (brace yourself for many dramatic accounts of how they spent 1987-1999 giving Carl Macek piggyback rides).

Besides toys, I expect another reprint of the series on DVD or Blu-Ray on the way with more "improvements."

Eh, I can maybe see them announcing a few more MPCs (probably Marcus with a "Super Shadow Fighter" and the Shadow Beta) and maybe the renewal of the super-poseable line, but another DVD re-release? Not bloody likely, they're still trying to convince people that Robotech Remastered and the Protoculture Collection are worth buying.

Didn't the synchro cannons on the Beta totally back-fire in SC? -- as they went to go shoot them off the enemy (who supposedly designed them or something) used them to blow up the fighters carrying them?

Yeah. That's how the wisecracking cardboard cutout "best buddy" character died.

Watch the new Haruji Suzumiya episode being aired and the second of the new episodes you seen Kyon yelling 'Kakaizaki"

Doesn't he also shout "BOMBAAA!" in one of the episode previews?

Just a thought, but Harmony Gold hinted they were going to release an "enemy mecha". Since the trend for the past three years has been Mospeada all the way, its easy to assume its going to be an Invid/Inbit Trooper.

Yeah, they've hinted that a few times in the past, but nothing has ever materialized. The closest they've done were those limited-edition bookends that had a Regult on one end.

Fair enough, but an Invid? What about the a Hovertank?!! If Toynami is low enough to brand DYRL toys as Robotech (in "limited" production), why can't they do the same with a Hovertank? *sigh*

While Harmony Gold's marketing department may not have a solid grip on reality, their minds aren't completely out to lunch... they know full well that Masterpiece ANYTHING from the Masters Saga/Southern Cross won't sell. They did a poll a while back on their official site, asking what saga was the fanbase's favorite, and the results were pretty predictable... the vast majority voted Macross, a small but significant number voted New Generation, and almost nobody voted Masters. Fan interest in Masters Saga toys has ALWAYS been low... most fans detest the entire saga on principle. There have been a few petitions for Masters Saga merchandise beyond the Southern Cross Army mug and sweatshirt, but they usually peter out after the same five or six signatures.

I think it's pretty safe to say that Southern Cross is the redheaded stepsaga of Robotech.

I don't know about you guys, but I think these stories are funny. Sad, but funny. Maybe my comic isn't so far fetched after all.

I think you may have been right on the money, actually.

I popped into the RT.com chatroom briefly tonight, and was told that apparently Steve and Maverick_LSC were talking about me, and other members who "need to tone down their behavior". I was apparently close to the top of the list, because of my "negativity" about the franchise, which amuses me to no end.

Nah, nada. Don't know what happened to the guy. Although for sh*ts and giggles, I checked that anthology site. It's still dead. Is this thread also any indication?

Not really, no. RobotechX is pretty much a separate entity from Seifrietti's Robotech Anthology project.

I sorta liked that 85-ton ER-PPC armed wonder. I still can't wrap my brains on why former FASA members would consider showcasing the Warhammer in their debut trailer? It's like they're begging to Harmony Gold to file legal action. Still, it would be nice to have Mechwarrior/Battletech fans start hating Harmony Gold again for this if it ever happens.

More like they're TAUNTING Harmony Gold, secure in the knowledge that they can't do a damn thing. Remember, Big West owns the IP rights, not Harmony Gold.

Seto. Seto... SETO! Pipe... DOWN! I... I believe a certain someone has been reading/following this thread in his free time... Don't believe me? *wink* *wink* *nudge*

Ah, the public relations nightmare continues... I see McKeever's working hard to make the Hulu molehill into a mountain.

You sound like you have a lot going on, don't waste so much time on imbeciles.

Far too much going on these days... of course, you can just turn on the news to hear all about why I'm so bloody busy. All the same, I prefer to keep a finger on the weak, thready pulse of Robotech fandom, simply for the sake of staying in the loop on HG's weakening stranglehold on Macross. If that means I have to put up with a couple idiots, so be it.

And we care how the mods at RT.com treat the members...Why?

Personally, I think the subject of how the powers that be at Harmony Gold are mistreating the Robotech fanbase is an excellent barometer for the health of the franchise. You have to remember, the Robotech franchise is essentially coasting on merchandise sales and the future potential of the live-action movie and Shadow Rising. The only thing that really changed between the last Robotech release drought and the current one is the type of merchandise that's keeping the franchise alive. In late 80's and 90's, what kept the franchise afloat was the inexpensive comic books. These days, it's $200 toys. Back then it wasn't a big deal to lose a few fans, because they were still pretty numerous, and the expected profit loss was minimal. Now, they're depending on a much smaller fanbase to buy outrageously-priced toys, and every die-hard who says "FGSFDS! I QUIT!" means less people spreading the word, and hundreds or thousands of dollars in lost revenue, and potential undercutting as fans who are sick of their poo broom their collections on eBay.

If they continue alienating their increasingly skeptical and rapidly shrinking customer base, how much longer will they be able to keep convincing the higher-ups that renewing their Macross trademarks is worth the money? For that matter, how much longer will the higher-ups at Harmony Gold be willing to keep backing Robotech when the disgruntled fans stop buying the overpriced toys and re-released DVDs? If the live-action movie and/or Shadow Rising falls through, will there be enough fans left to keep the franchise alive until they can muster themselves for their next attempt?

Oh this is bad comedy...

I get threatened with a ban for essentially doing nothing at all, and after three pages of personal attacks, flame-bait, and trolling, sanman gets this:

This is only about making sure that everyone is having their full enjoyment out of using these forums for fulfilling their social entertainment.

However both the TOU and the FAQ & Guidelines clearly states that trolling and baiting are not allowed and are clear violations.

If a member continues to break the TOU repeatedly, even with warnings from the moderators and/or administraitors, it merits a ban.

And remember this is a family friendly forum even for kids under 13. There's a special permission form for children under this age to sign, see here;

GO

So just stay out of trouble everyone, that's all we ask for...

Mav...

I haven't heard back from Steve on my e-mailed complaint about Maverick yet, or on Maverick's assertion that e-mailing him to dispute his obviously BS judgment call constitutes harassment.

EDIT: Oh this is REALLY amusing... it looks like he's trying to imply that at least a few of the people supporting me are using clone accounts to appear more numerous than they are.

Suddenly, I fully appreciate why so many of the good contributors who used to go to Robotech.com have given up on the site and the fandom and gone to greener pastures.

Seifrietti's fan artbook isn't going anywhere from what I know. ChrisK may have some idea of this, maybe not, but Tommy's been giving him a runaround for so long on that thing. Truth is, Tommy's not gonna let that thing through as it seems. If it's not Tommy's idea, it's vaprowareas far as a licensed release. I don't know if it's worth even contributing anything to it at this point, since it seems like it's going the way of the dinosaur.

Yeah, that was pretty much my assessment of the situation.

I'd guess that Tommy knows full well that the chances of Seifrietti's Robotech Anthology being a success are pretty slim. He probably doesn't want to waste company resources on a book that most likely won't sell, and he doesn't want to say "no" and risk offending Seifrietti, who is one of the few remaining Robotech.com moderators, so he's giving him the runaround so he doesn't HAVE to say "no". I wonder if Seifrietti has realized it yet.

As for Memo, I know Memo does a lot of stuff for the fanbase that's left, and it's agreed that it does take a lot of blind devotion to do something like that. To provide so much leg work for them, promoting, marketing, and all that, and not even get anything but a pat on the back, very few people would spend that kinda time doing that.

And I am not one of them, hence my reluctance to get involved.

As someone who is very informed about it, there might be some benefits to contribute to it, even if it is a small site. If you're lucky, some of the stuff might end up in the Robotech Codices or something.

Eh, I really can't imagine there being any benefits to contributing to such a small site on that scale... unless you count sitting at the RobotechX booth at conventions... which I don't (Sorry MEMO). I can't say I have any real interest in contributing to the Robotech Codex either, since I've already got one time-consuming fan project on my plate... building my Macross II reference guide.

Honestly, I'm not sure if I should show MEMO and Seifrietti a bit more respect because they're trying so hard to do something good for the fanbase with their respective fan magazines, or feel pity because they're working with the certain knowledge that they'll get screwed over by Harmony Gold just short of the finish line. I couldn't work under conditions like that.

I didn't know the RDF Underground forum was still active. Last I heard, Justy mentioned on the show that someone hacked it leaving it with tons of porn ads.

Sorry, brain's running on autopilot... I meant RDF HQ, which is, like RobotechX, a ghost town.

In fact, the only real activity there in the past few days has been this post made by manofsan (aka sanman) about how to deal with "Macross purist trolls" (or rather, anyone who doesn't agree with his belief that RT is flawless). This guy's a hoot... it's like one of those murder mysteries where the murderer gets amnesia and starts investigating the crime himself, except with trolling.

EDIT: Hmmm... it looks like Maverick_LSC's been here to see what I've been saying... I wonder if I'll be receiving a snide e-mail from him soon.

This might turn out to be another bad year for HG and Robotech after all. The effects of MacF have not disappeared, with projects besides toys definitely coming, lasting at least until next year. They're also modernizing the original series in manga form which could steal some of the LAMR's thunder if they ever get to work on it. Even more so if if it eventually turns into an anime series itself.

I'd bank on it being a bad year for Harmony Gold and Robotech just based on their pitiful offerings at the panel discussions they've done. With the live-action movie still a distant POSSIBILITY on the horizon and Shadow Rising going nowhere fast and gathering essentially no fan interest at all (seriously, NOBODY, even on Robotech.com, seems to care about it), they're back to where they were in '01, coasting solely on toy sales and the pitiful re-releases of their DVDs.

EDIT: Seto, you and all the other fans with extensive knowledge of the Robotech universe should maybe post the updates you want somewhere else where people actually care about it, like Robotechx. Help make that site the new legitimate source for Robotech and stuff since the "official" site can't be bothered to do it themselves.

Well, that presents its own particular set of problems...

In its current state, Robotech's continuity is a horrible, fractal cluster-fart of contradictory stories. If you thought the confusion about whether DYRL or the TV series was the right version of Space War 1 is bad, Robotech is a billion times worse. Because Harmony Gold got into the habit of giving licenses to anyone who could spell their own name in three tries or less, half of the stuff they produced back then reads like it was written by someone whose total knowledge of Robotech is a single, vague recollection of the back of a VHS box from some five years previous.

Despite Harmony Gold's declaration that all that garbage was non-canon, the fandom has taken it upon itself to mirror the fractured, confused, often nonsensical state of the continuity. You have the purists, who hold the TV series above all else, the McKinneyists, who think the novels are the be-all end-all of Robotech, the fans of the comics, who really don't have a fancy name and think the now non-canon comics are the bee's knees, and the Universalists, who want to smash all the contradictory stories of the TV series, novels, comics, non-canon side-stories, etc. into one big messy whole and call it official. Because the fandom is so heavily divided, it's almost impossible to get them to give a poo about any one thing or any one fan site.

This, of course, makes it impossible for them to congregate at any one fan-site. The two big fansites are RobotechX and RDF Underground, but both of those are essentially ghost towns, where most of the members seem to have given up and moved on, leaving only a few devoted contributors keeping the place moving. I avoid going to RDF Underground, because I see the population of that site as a bunch of Bizarro-world beings with completely alien concepts of fun and entertainment, but I do visit RobotechX from time to time. RobotechX is the only site with any real concessions to a fan-made Robotech encyclopedia, but it seems to be done from a Universalist approach, and with the active population of the site numbering some six people, those of us who actually know the source materials and the few authoritative Robotech books well simply cannot be arsed to do anything with it. We have better, less tedious things to do, like counting the number of atoms in our monitors, calculating the growth rate of our front lawns, or reciting the complete text of War and Peace backwards in Hindi.

I am beginning to think that FASA and Microsoft must have obtained the rights to atleast the Macross inspired Lost Mechs. For one losing the most popular mechs in a legal battle isn't something FASA would just forget and there is no way Microsoft would pour millions into rebooting the Mechwarrior franchise over just continuing their platinum selling Mechassualt series unless the licensing issues were all squared away.

You're half-right.

FASA sold the rights to the Mechwarrior line ages ago... Wizkids had it for a while, and I think the current owner is Catalyst Game Labs, who made an announcement June 24th of this year that they had acquired the rights to the "unseen" (aka Lost Mechs) artwork from the early Battletech/MechWarrior games.

The announcement can be found here: http://catalystgamelabs.com/2009/06/24/cat...gs-back-unseen/

Diamond Force is a wing, a squadron or a team?

No source that I'm aware of specifically defines it as any one of the three.

Given its size (never more than 3) and its equipment (VF-17 Nightmares) I would say that it's probably just a special forces team.

Here are some "choice excerpts" of some reviews I found on Hulu.com:

I love this new addition to the huge world of macross.

i only watched about a third of the way through, and thats all i could handle.

what happen to Optimus Prime?

did anyone else notice that around 24:43, the enemies look like a birth control pill holder sending out little pills?

Wow... just wow... anything I say will just detract from the fact that this just goes to show how right I was. Robotech will always be remembered as a penny-ante crapfest because it never produced anything worth watching after the first series... it'll never escape association with Macross (specifically, as something riding Macross's coattails) either at this rate.

Now, now... Lets put things in perspective, Seto. The current Robotech fandom online is going to hell. If they wanna make BS excuses for not updating their website because nobody's paying them to do it, who do you think will suffer in the long-term?

Robotech fans or Tommy, Steve and Kevin?

They'll get what's coming to them.

Nah, the current Robotech fandom in general is going to hell. There are very few decent people left among the fans... because the few decent people (like you, me, Wanzerfan, Jasonc, etc.) get hounded off the site for our lack of blind faith in the franchise. They've been whittling the fanbase down so that only the blindly faithful remain, the idiots who will buy the same Beta fighter four times just because it's painted a different color... the idiots who bought the original series on DVD every time a new version came out... the idiots who still hope that Harmony Gold will revisit and finish Robotech II: the Sentinels and Robotech 3000... there are, sadly, enough to them (for now) to keep the feeble mess that is Robotech chugging well into the foreseeable future.

Whether McKeever will ever get his comeuppance? Well, it won't happen on RT.com... not so long as he has admin privileges there. Maybe he'll get too big for his britches and get axed like Tom Bateman did, or he'll become head of RT and run it into the ground for us. It might take a while, but I'm a patient man. I can wait.

Dude, if you start getting too stressed about this Robotech/Macross business, just sit back... and laugh at Kevin McKeever. Not with. At. It seems quite clear we're dealing with a fairly insecure person here.

I do... every time he posts.

Frankly, it's a mystery to me why Harmony Gold even hired him. After seeing how he handles panel discussions at conventions, how he behaves on message boards, and reading his blog, I wouldn't give him the time of day even if his resume was printed on solid gold ingots. He's an ideal example of the very worst aspects of Robotech fandom... a frothy-mouthed fanatic who does his damnedest to discredit or drive off anyone who doesn't think Robotech is a flawless masterpiece beyond the critique of mortal men.

I'm not privy to internal Harmony Gold affairs at all, but just based on what I've seen I don't think much of his abilities as a marketing director either. As any cynical businessman will tell you, marketing is the use of fraud and deception to sell trash to idiots. A key part of being a good marketer is knowing just enough to come up with a believable lie. Not only is McKeever's hype virtually transparent, but he actually seems to believe his own absurd claims that Robotech is successful, popular, and a big seller. He actually thinks that getting it into a nosebleed timeslot (7am saturday) on a Canada-only Sci-Fi network ripoff and getting the movie onto Hulu are huge achievements. It's never a good sign when a marketing department starts to buy into its own hype... that's what got GM where it is now.

If you have the stomach for it, read this long-running Robotech thread. It encapsulates everything that's wrong with your description of contemporary online Robotech fans.

http://www.robotech.com/community/forum/re...&forumid=13

In the interest of not ruining my expensive new monitor and keyboard with projectile vomit, I think I'll pass on re-reading that thread.

Oh those Robotech Masters fans. Always willing to turn little things into grand space adventures. And this is coming from someone who liked Southern Cross. Seriously, that bald guy was a nobody whose plot went nowhere fast. I can't even remember his contribution to the show.

It gets better... that group's stated intent is to "correct" people who think that Leonard (orig. name Claude Leon on SDC: SC) is a big, evil tosser or a bad commander. They pop up in droves when someone badmouths him. They'd probably poo out their kidneys if they saw that the Wildstorm comics depict both Leonard and RTSC villain Edwards as Anti-UN agents working to bring the United Earth Gov't down from within.

Maverick LSC has some serious issues. Sanman can call people a troll, and that's not attacking? Ah, give it to the blowhards for making all our points so valid everytime. LOL, Seto, one would think you pooped on Sanman's childhood the way he's crying and throwing a damn hissy fit.

It gets better... just like the last time he sent me a bullshit threat, I sent a scathing e-mail to Maverick_LSC, illustrating exactly why his accusations that I was baiting, trolling, etc. were completely and utterly unjustified, and then told him flat-out that the only rational explanation I can see for his behavior is that he's abusing his mod position to pursue a personal beef against me, and that I would be appealing to Steve for a review of the situation and the revocation of his moderator status. I sent a carbon copy of the message to Steve, and told him as much in the e-mail.

What I got back from Maverick_LSC was:

I have contacted the admins, and I've forwarded the the letter that you sent me. It constitutes a form of harassment, a decision will be pending.

Maverick_LSC

Robotech.com moderator

He forwarded them the letter they already got when I sent them a carbon copy, and is filing a harassment complaint against me because I called him out on his obvious bullshit threat. I actually busted out laughing when I read that... it's just SOOOOOO illustrative of why the whole Robotech franchise is going to hell.

Wait, did Kevin imply that if you had to pay to use rt.com the staff would actually put more care into updating the site? They're unwilling to give interested fans the chance to update the infopedia for free and for everyone's benefit, but may reconsider it if people started paying them on a regular basis to do it? This is supposed to be "The Official Headquarters of the Robotech Universe."

What's his position again?

Yeah, it's complete and utter bull... at some point or another ALL of the site's authorities on the various sagas and their Japanese origins have offered to update the Infopedia for free... myself included... but they always ignored the offers. Now we're getting some snide line about how they'd pay more attention to the site if only we paid them to do so.

McKeever's their marketing director... and the worst thing to happen to the Robotech franchise since its creation (its creation probably being the worst thing).

Jason, and to everyone who has been screwed over by Robotech online, I dedicate this comic to you:

SAVED FOR GREAT JUSTICE.

Sir, I wish I could shake your hand... that was epic.

(Show it to McKeever, it proves you're a better writer than any of the asshats who wrote Shadow Chronicles)

I was reading more on that rt.com thread, that guy has got some serious issues to deal with in his personal life. Somehow, somewhere in that thread, all the Macross purists of the world are in his thread, attacking his childhood, making outlandish claims, and bashing Robotech to no end. So much so, that now he's resorted to name calling and probably whining to the mods and staff. GM Murdock, whom I know, is making some good points, and now he's a Macross purist??? Hahaha!!! I also like the Ben_G guy's post...A Robotech fan being embarrased by other Robotech fans. Classic.

Isn't it? I've gotten all kinds of e-mails of support and agreement about that thread, though many of the people are afraid to publically post their support for me and my position because they don't want to be banned out of spite by Kevin McKeever or Maverick_LSC.

This is truly a franchise that abuses its fans to no end. They're like an abused spouse that's too afraid to leave. Why has Robotech survived this long if they're dead-set on treating their fans so poorly?

This thread is a great example of how the website is supposed to think. If you don't agree with all of Robotech and their decisions, then you are completely against them. Oh, poor HG, long are the days when they actually had a large number of intellectual postings and members.

Those days are gone, I'm afraid... never to return. With McKeever at the helm, there is no such thing as freedom of speech on those boards. Discourse on politics, religion, or anything that isn't PG-13 safe is banned. Criticism of Robotech for any reason, even constructive criticism, is apparently also banned. I look at McKeever and Maverick_LSC's behavior over there, and they consistently remind me of two people... Stalin, and Senator McCarthy respectively. We've got one joker who makes people who disagree with him disappear, and another who's content to invent enemies where none can be found... triumphantly marching off to battle against the fans, and returning with the scalp of a "Macross purist", a fan who dared to criticize the Shadow Chronicles.

Could it be? A possible answer to the age old Macross fan debate: did Guld actually rape Myung or was it just an assault?

Nah, they'll leave it intentionally vague, just like they did last time...

I'm looking forward to the first (probably of two) Flashback 2012 character sheets... and hopefully soon we'll get a VF-4 Lightning III sheet.

Crap, does this mean he's going to show more skin for the ladies?

"Brera's wardrobe provided by The Village People."

Total non sequitur here for a moment...

I got drawn into a discussion about the current state of the Robotech franchise and how it's remembered on Robotech.com. The OP quickly turned out to be one of those dyed-in-the-wool fanatics who thinks that Robotech is a flawless classic beyond the criticism of mortal men that must be regarded as a megahit. He took it very poorly when I explained to him that 9/10ths of the world doesn't know what the hell Robotech is, and that the remaining tenth is split into fans, people who hate the show, and people straddling the fence between the other two groups and started attacking me for it. The dolt was basically labeling anyone who disagreed with his deluded belief that Robotech is a pillar of the American sci-fi genre as a troll and trying to hound them off the site. When a bunch of people reported him... it was ME who got threatened with a ban by the moderators (specifically, Maverick_LSC, a particularly loathsome little toady who interprets any criticism of Robotech, no matter how well-intentioned, as flame-bait).

Then, of course, McKeever comes along, while professing to actually listen to fan opinions, quotes my criticism, and says "this is why I don't listen to Robotech critics".

And these people wonder why the Robotech franchise is circling the drain? It's run by people who only listen to positive feedback, and do their best to quash criticism of any kind.

I wrote to Steve Yun about Maverick_LSC's behavior... I expect a VERY interesting and informative response... if he does what I think he'll do, I'll be posting a copy of his e-mail telling me that fans aren't allowed to criticize Robotech under any circumstances...

Hey Tommy, instead of wasting time going to Anime Expo and Tribute shows, why don't stop ripping off from the Japanese and do something original for once? Stop turning Robotech into a cheap Battlestar knockoff! And while you're at it, stop exploiting fans to do your dirty work!

Hey, if you take the tribute shows and convention tour away from him, he won't have anything to do at all.

Since Harmony Gold isn't calling the shots on the live-action movie, he doesn't have anything to do on that front, and it's highly doubtful that they're actually doing anything about Shadow Rising. Maybe he's cooking up another plot-critical limited-edition comic book to tie Shadow Chronicles and Shadow Rising together, so they can keep the same level of storytelling quality... y'know, overlong intro cutscenes that explain nothing and go nowhere.

Funny you say that, because as of this posting it hasn't become a big deal with the fandom. People probably don't know about it yet, but knowing them it could become something, though morbid, in the next few hours/days. Maybe make a connection between Robotech, Tommy Yune, and Michael Jackson to make it relevant. But come on, it's an iReport, anyone can post there. To everyone else, he sounds like any other tech savvy nerd out there, and the flair in his work space helps the image. Too bad it's questionable whether or not he's actually doing work there anymore.

No doubt the fans will try to make something major of it.

It says "8-engined all-wing giant['s] bomber" referring to the Northrop [Grumman] err, I mean Wingthrop SB-10/10 seen in Macross Plus and designated with the PlayStation video game Macross VF-X 2. The word 'giant' does not refer to the enormous size of the aerospace craft, but rather to its operators: giant Zjentohlauedy affiliated with the U.N. Spacy/UNAF/U.N.S. Air Force.

Somehow, that seems neither wise nor efficient... is there actually precedent for that thing having Zentradi pilots? That just doesn't sound right to me for some reason...

Back to the subject of gun pods from Macross Chronicle #22.... I'm surprised that no one has made a comment concerning the mislabeling of the VF-11B's 30mm Vulcan gun pod as "GU-15". The GU-15 is of course the YF-19/VF-19's gun pod. This isn't the first mistake I've noticed with the Chronicles. There are actually quite a few. Perhaps a separate pinned errata thread is needed.

Yeah, I did a bit of a double-take when my copy first arrived, and then Mr. March, Talos, and let loose a collective "WTF!" while discussing Chronicle in a group chat. Still, Chronicle makes mistakes and omissions every now and again, like their sudden change in labeling of the VF-22's gunpod, and their misidentifying the armaments of the VF-2SS. So a typo here and there does not surprise me much anymore. They're rushing to meet a very tight production schedule, so one can hardly blame them for a few mistakes. I'm actually amazed there haven't been MORE problems.

Great, now I'm interested in knowing what you can do to make a panel presentation like Robotech last for at least an hour, saying nothing new but keeping people interested at the same time every year.

Honestly, Harmony Gold's creative and marketing staff has perfected the art of talking a lot without actually saying anything. I understand they also devote something like half the panel time to Q&A and other associated malarkey.

I guess the weird thing about it is even on the Internet fans sound conditioned to expect these things every year and are happy with it. All important criticisms reverted to a call for patience that will sort itself out in time, every time. They trust these guys way too much, they haven't done anything creative for Robotech for years and they're mostly pitchmen now.

"Be patient" seems to be the default response of the die-hards these days. They're so utterly convinced that Robotech will finally deliver on the promise it supposedly had back in the 80's and will wow the world when the live-action movie comes out... we just (supposedly) have to give them enough time to make the live-action movie a flawless masterpiece... so our great great great great grandchildren will probably be watching it while they tool around the galaxy at Warp 6.

At least we can take this as a sign that the RLAM is still a go. Since they announced the RLAM to the world rather then keeping it underwraps they got to at least speak to the fans. If the RLAM was shelved Kevin and Tommy would have canceled any scheduled Robotech panels, silently retreated to their offices of solitude, and post that it was all BW's fault for not recognizing HG's copyrights to their "original" series Robotech and scarying WB away with lawsuits so don't blame us fans blah blah blah.

We shouldn't take this as a sign that the LAM is a go... it's out of Harmony Gold's hands at this point. They sold the rights to Maguire Entertainment and Maguire partnered with Warner Bros. Whether or not the movie makes it into production is not going to be Harmony Gold's call. As it still HASN'T entered production, it would appear that it will not be going anywhere for the foreseeable future.

If it falls apart, and I believe it probably will, Tommy and Kevin will only retreat to their fortresses of crapulence once Warner and Maguire tell them it's been axed... odds are they won't bother telling Harmony Gold for a while anyway.

It's also a sign that they're still banking on the LAMR to fix the rut they're in when the 80's/Japanese revival trend is no longer a guaranteed money maker. They've halted work on everything else and waiting as long as they can for the film, it's either profit or bust for them now. That, toys and RPG books are realistically all that's left in the foreseeable future.

One has to wonder how they think they're going to succeed with this live-action movie when the trend they're depending on is dying fast, and they're still dicking around in the earliest phases of pre-production. It looks to me like when the bubble bursts, we're looking at another twenty-year silence from Harmony Gold. Maybe a few more Macross shows can slip through once they're back to having nobody "minding the store".

Basically, there will be a Maia Beta made at some point with a "synchro cannon" attached.

Well, yes, but that much was essentially a given. They couldn't pass up the opportunity to sell another Beta repaint to the masses at $200 a pop. I wonder if it'll sell bugger-all like the Jack Archer YF-1R did.

Also, some European video game company supposedly is gonna make a Shadow Chronicles game, not sure how valid that is or how sure that deal is.

So they're ditching Vicious Cycle Software as a developer? Maybe they've hired the cheesy French pricks at Ubisoft to handle it this time. If Robotech: Invasion was anything to go by, they don't have a goddamn clue what the fans want. I can't believe they think there's actually enough content in RTSC to make a game. Why, WHY am I thinking that this'll be a Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena-style repackage of Invasion billed as a new game because of the addition of an expansion pack that was too short and too poo to be a stand-alone title was tacked on to the end?

Harmony Gold/Toynami is back to shoveling Macross repaints like they "own" the license:

Well, they DO have the outside-Japan merchandising rights to DYRL.

Gosh, where did Toynami get the idea to paint a VF-1 black and yellow and market it as a limited edition? I'm sure I didn't see that in the Macross animation which they purportedly own.

Nah, they're just stealing ideas from other toy manufacturers now... I'm kind of amused that this black and gold repaint is a Strike Valkyrie from DYRL, rather than something from Robotech. It isn't the Stealth Valkyrie from Battlecry though... that was just Hikaru's color scheme with the white replaced by black