jenius

My work vehicle is electric so I've been adapting to the new way of driving for a little bit now. I think fake engine noise and fake transmission shifts is akin to Henry Ford deciding that the Model T needed to sound like a horse and occasionally blast horse poop smell into the cabin. I love old school hot rods and will always have a soft spot for the notes of certain engines' exhaust but it's a different thing from an electric car. It doesn't make sense to make an electric car feel like something it's not. I hope there's always a vibrant hobbyist scene for combustion motors going forward but I don't see that crowd being swayed by artifice. 

That said, the whole world is grappling with a transition that many consumers are weary of so I understand and sympathize with manufacturers trying to figure out how to get through this transitional period that will likely last more than a decade. They have to try it all. For manufacturers whose core demographics are more into muscle cars and off-roading (MOPAR), this is very scary times. If I were them, I'd be leaning really hard into hybrid drivetrains right now. Muscle cars with "E-launch" and "E-cruise" that make them faster off the line and get more MPG. Maybe they've been doing that already, I haven't been keeping up. 

EDIT - I think that Daytona electric car looks really nice.

Oh no! Glad you're okay, that looks like the kind of accident that can hurt.

I'm glad they did that because I checked my order and I've moved TWICE since it was placed. Ha!

Thermals make a lot of sense on Gloire.

Well that's certainly one way of getting around the difficulty of removable armor.

I think you typo'ed in there somewhere. A VF-1 is 12.68 meters tall, 1268 cm. 1268/48 = 26.41 cm. A DX toy is roughly 26.5 cm tall so 1/48.

Fighter length 14.23 meters long, 1423/48 = 29.64 cm. A DX is roughly 30.5 cm long so a little on the large side but close enough for 1/48. 

Yes, if the person stored it in their attic it could yellow in the box. If it's been in a closet, it's probably fine.

I've been using the boat method with no issues other than the long wait. Still not cheap but better.

Same!

Thanks! Will do - 

My son and I are building a 1/20 Bandai kit now as a "when we have time" activity and I'm pretty impressed (as many of you said I would be). Anybody have a suggestion on what kind of glue I could use on this kit? My son snapped a couple thin rods on the missiles and now he can't connect the red missile tips to them. 

Nin Nin likes to be slow and adjust their mark-up

Looks like my first yoyakunow order. Thanks for the link!

The NEED is strong.

Looks like they just made the Xmas deals live again after a week of them not being live. \

EDIT - LOL, I'm really looking forward to that GBP that's coming "in 2021!"

1 hour ago, Chronocidal said:

I don't really care about Luca's enough to want another, but I hope they at least address the screaming elephant in the franchise and finally release an armored Ozma pack, just to satisfy the demand that has gone completely unanswered for over a decade.

100%! I don't get Bandai at all. Ozma should have been before Michael and why do I own an Angelbirds DX instead of that scheme in HMR? Why do I have Hayao's DYRL 1A and Max's TV 1A but none of the other squad members in DX? They're totally nuts.

Oh I was confused by the comparison of on the previous page! My bad for limited attention. Good to know they skipped the extra wings and made the connection super strong on the pegs. That's a plus!

They gave us wings and no way to install them? Bizarre.

Mine is arriving today so I'll get a review up... In a few weeks.

Okay, fair enough, if it's equivalent to a coupon then it all makes sense. Asking who had the best rewards balance feels funny but whatever.

Right? LOL. Just for clarification for everyone. When someone asks "What's the cheapest to get this shipped?" they're looking for a recommendation. Something that is unique to your situation doesn't really help anyone. "If you use this coupon, you can get it for $X" is helpful. "This site has it for only $Y shipped which is the cheapest I've seen" is helpful. The "I used an amazon gift card my mom gave me to get it for $200 shipped" is not helpful. 

Those are just holdovers from the original translation.

Well we'd need to use the meltrandi alphabet for that.. I think it's been accepted that the 'l' versions were an early translation error and Miria is the proper Macross name and Miriya in Robotech.

2 hours ago, Spark-O-Matic said:

I think I might just buy a Roy Yamato as its almost Impossible to get a good deal on the Bandai on second hand market.  Pic is very helpful. thanks!

Don't be fooled too much by that photo! There is a night and day handling difference between those two toys. My major problems with the DX are:
1) The stupid detaching legs. Even if you don't "HAVE" to detach them, I still have them detach during transformation frequently when I don't intend them to and sometimes it's scary, like they could fall to the ground and break something. The metal in the feet is just way too heavy for that little plastic housing lock they have. Also, when I do detach them, the hip joints are so stiff that moving the legs around can cause the lock on the back of the nosecone to unpeg and then the toy becomes floppy. I would rather not have the twisting waist honestly.
2) The connection of the strike parts in fighter mode. Yamato gave us individual mini missiles which was a nice touch but ulitimately a handling problem. Yamato (at 1/48) also didn't peg together securely enough, I had some issues with my missile towers being bumped off which could cause the cover to pop off which could cause the mini missiles to pop free. Bandai's big improvements are details, affixing the missiles, and much tighter attachments. This all great for handling but then Bandai goofed and made the attachments to the toy (in fighter mode only) worse. The Yamato 1/48 has insufficient arm support in fighter mode and the DX has the pegs that are good enough but don't lock everything into exactly the right spot like they should. The legs and arms should be held exactly flush which Yamato was able to do on their 1/60 V2 so there's no excuse. 
3) The strike parts are lazy! It's as if someone said "Let's copy Yamato but make it prettier!" There is line art for what's supposed to be in the arms and the back of the calves. If the DX is the 'ultimate representation' then they should have made those clear and mechanical also! 

All that said, the Yamato 1/48 doesn't hold a candle ot the DX in handling. There's 20 years of manufacturing improvement in the DX toy and it shows. It just feels like Bandai set the bar at "better than Yamato" rather than "the best we can do." The Yamato 1/60 V2 still does a pretty good job of holding its own against the DX toy. It's smaller, lighter and feels less significant, the priest collar still bugs me in battroid, it lacks the articulation improvements, but otherwise still a very good toy and a better strike parts experience than the DX. 

Oh I remember now, I didn't pre-order because it said it came with a Miria figure and their figures take forever to produce. Not even a prototype yet.