jenius

I disagree, the 1/48 seems closer to the lineart to me. The 1/60 is far too pointy and I don't remember enormous hip joints in the original lineart.

Couple of pointers: 1) Veritech is a Robotech term. In the macross universe we are specifically discuss "Valkyries" 2) You should visit the website in the link in my signature although I haven't put up my uber comparison yet... still working on the pics and should soon. 3) the 1/60 VF-1A Hikaru Ichijo (aka Rick Hunter in Robotech) is a first edition 1/60 meaning it has none of the improvements of the later versions. That said, the improvements weren't all that huge so you shouldn't feel like you're missing much. You'll have a gun that isn't as cool and little removeable plastic pieces on the arms whereas the later versions didn't need them.

Alright, so they decide it's time to make the world's ugliest valk and send it out to the enemy to emulate Minmay's singing. Um, I guess I follow so far. They decide, to do this, where does Basara get involved? Project M seems to always be something mentioned in passing, as in the whole "it's not really important, Basara has a valk, deal with it" and it's almost put exactly that way to Gamlin. I just don't see where Project M with Basara at the helm being any more or less believable then a news channel owning a Valk. That said, Sketchley did clarify for me that it was the feats that valk pulled off that he had a problem with and I agree with that. I also find Basara's prancing through battles to be even more outlandish than the Scramble News Network valk doing what it did. Aw but wait, I'm forgeting that Basara can reach Q9 or whatever BS they invented. Wow, both series are so bad.

Wait, so Sketchley you're saying Hibiki having a valk = bad but Basara having a valk is in with the theme of the original Macross and so it's okay? I find that to be an interesting take on things. I also loved the explanation of why Basara had a valk and the thought process behind it... oh no... wait... that's never really cleared up is it? At least we know Hibiki has a valk so he could report on a war. Basically I think it comes back to which steaming pile of poo you like more and I'd still contend you don't have to smell MacII for as long as Mac7 so that's the edge it has. MacII's theme is that man's greatest weapon is not his battleships (which the Marduk can best) but culture & love. In fact, the entire thing seems listed straight from DYRL. Mac7's theme? When things look bad, sing and dance and the whole universe will love you! See, the themes are actually pretty similar.

Oh wow, I didn't notice that someone beat me to that observation. Great minds think alike I suppose.

Kensei, I'm pretty sure that's a reference to the 1/55 SuperO and Elint. Last I checked they still fetch $450-$600

it kinda looks like two frogs humping (not the coloring, just the toy in general)

Wow, I was reading over the previous posts and was just about to write nearly exactly what Mr. March had already said. Excellent summation sir. Also note that I said "A bit more fantasy than the original SDFM" not "A bit more fantasy than M7" or something like that. The original series is relatively grounded (obviously with exception to the crazy conventions of the giant transforming robo universe). Minmay's singing affected people's hearts and minds as did culture as a whole. Minmay's singing did not shoot rays of love energy or make rocks fly. I say "rocks" because that's all we know them to be. The AFOS we know to be an extra-terrestial bad ass so, by the typical giant robo conventions, we grant it the ability to make the impossible happen (ranging from levitating ships to judging good guys from bad).

That's just terrible logic! Cold sores = easy. I see a girl with a cold sore and I'm like "yeehaw, you call me in a week." It's like unwed mothers... it's not like that chick doesn't put out. This post is meant entirely for levity.

How about a backdoor Macross project? Develop some new show with transformable mechs that doesn't mention the Protoculture or spiritia. It's on some distant Earth colony and there's a war. Have plenty of singing in it, I'm cool with that. Then, at the end, do something that ties it into the Macross universe. I think Macross needs to escape Protoculture, Spiritia, and many of the themes it has constructed to get fresh again and get a new audience involved. The universe is a big place, there's no reason every story in it needs to tie tightly together. Quick Edit - Kawamori for designs only. I saw what Lucas did to Star Wars and I'm convinced that's the road Kawamori is taking Macross.

As far as fantasy elements making it into the Macross sequels, I seem to recall Shin flying around on a rock at some point in Zero. Yes, it was drawn less colorfully than Mac7 but it sure seemed to be a bit more fantasy than the original SDFM.

I'm confused. It seems like we more-or-less all agree that price speculation is silly. I was just trying to prevent people from villifying Yamato. Clearly it is the evil, vile, and contemptible middle man we should all hate. Watch out middle men, I hear Geico is out to eliminate you. Anyway, let's not say how much we'd be willing to pay, let's let the middle men try to figure that out on their own. In the meantime I'll say this: I found Ghost to be quite good for cheesy romance films. I mean, Demi was looking pretty hot and I'm a sucker for movies that have bad guys being carted away by badder guys (the furies or such). I even didn't find Whoopi entirely annoying... quite a rare occasion.

There are people with far more information than we are privvy to who will decide what the price point will be. I think it's a bit vainglorious for us to believe that these forums have anything more than a trivial effect on how Yamato acts. We may bring faults to their attention after a toy's release but they probably get that information from MANY sources. They have a bottom line, they have a profit margin, they use equations to determine pricing. It's the middle men who do the marking up based on the flavor of the week. I also find it unlikely we can affect when they feel a product is of sufficient quality. They have standards, they try to live to them, they release products when they feel they have been met. When sales do not meet expectations they rethink those standards. To play it safe though, I agree with the artist formerly known as Haterist, speculation really can't be beneficial in anyway. Display optimism for a low price point, hesitation for a high one, and really just hope for the best. I don't think it makes a difference if you say "I'd spend a million dollars for one!" so why bother doing it? Play it safe so the middle men don't try to bump up their own profit margins.

With every Yamato release the old classics become worth less and less.

There must be a typo in there, 12GBP is a little less than $24.

Just a thought but is there a little merging of HG and Toynami happening here? I don't know how much HG leads Toynami (I always assumed HG had them by the short ones but I've been told several times now that's just not the case). Anyway, Toynami made their 1/100 series valks and some superposeables now but I don't know how much of that could really be construed as HG trying to affirm any rights. Seems to me like Toynami is just looking for new angles to make cash. After all, the DYRL superposeables was just another excuse for a repaint of existing products (although they did throw in a strike gun). I know HG does have a DYRL website that gives the visitor a strong impression that HG could release a DVD at some point (that website is now very old). quick edit - I think lots of the questions regarding this licensing dispute (forgive me I haven't read through this) boils down to the word "derivatives." As far as the models go, maybe HG contends that the wording only applied to existing models at the time of agreement and models created since are based on derivatives of the original Macross universe.

we need macrossworld call signs.

Nevermind

I know, I said I was making assumptions and that I may have completely missed obvious examples to the contrary in previous pages. I'm glad to hear I'm wrong, I can't wait to see more pics that show off the mode better.

I'm actually quite serious. I haven't read through all the pages though so I might be missing lots of things not hinted at in the newest pictures provided. To me it looks like no A-stance, no mobility in the neck, and shoulders that can't "wobble" like the VF-1 (1/48 or 1/60). I'd say that puts it at exactly the same poseability as a Toynami MPC. If that's the case this is a tremendous let down. You can keep your stupid head piece that is removeable for detail no one will ever see if you can't angle the legs outward in an A-stance. I can see where a waist might be impossible but that's even more reason to add more mobility at the hips. From the look of the feet I don't think they'll be much help either. Don't get me wrong, this looks 1000x better than any Toynami product... it just looks like it'll be nearly equally poseable (although it seems like some minor upper hip rotation might be possible in addition to the knee swivel). Note that any cool battloid shots are taken with the battloid being off the ground, when it is on the ground all it's doing is standing for static shots. This definitely leads me to believe that, unless you're going to put this thing on a stand of some sort, all you're going to be able to do is pose it just like the 1/72 version (except with the knees angled outward).

The more I look at it the more I think I see flaws. Is there a neck on this thing? The chin is covered by the chest in the pics we see. That can be easily overcome if we can make it look upward. I'm having more and more reservations about battloid. It's gonna have all the poseability of a Toynami MPC... watch.

No A-stance and no swivel at the waist... I don't think this thing will be very much fun in battloid.

Yeah, I know you're joking but if I worked for Toynami I certainly wouldn't admit to it... as much as I'd like to think I'd be capable of convincing them to make better toys (but, from real-world corporate experience, I know they'd probably make the same crap and I'd collect the same paychecks). Although you know wherever there's pretty much ANY toy talk you can find me. To be fair, was I arguing? I thought I just made a glibe observation. I'm all for criticism so far as it's grounded in genuine observation. I appreciate the fact you've visited the site. It's also true, I do really look for positives. The basic idea was that I'd highlight the good of products and mention the bads and then do lots of comparisons. Thusfar, I've been so busy just getting the initial posts up there's only one comparison. That'll change eventually... probably a long eventually from now since I have almost zero time for the site. As I repost the reviews that are already up there I'm actually showing now flaws with the toys instead of just mentioning them in the review. I'm about to repost the MPC Alpha review with pictures of their crooked heads, paint flaws, close-ups of the pin that breaks free in the hand, and a broken arm. I think that will help dampen the typically sweet tone. Yikes, I better double-check my posts because the whole goal of the site was to never recommend anything but I do think maybe I've forgotten that at times. I was hoping to just give my impressions and let people then decide from them what was important on their own. The total score is useless really, it's the individual scores that should matter. You want a toy you could throw at someone? Look at the durability section. You want a toy you can pose, look at the articulation section. I would love for people who disagree with stuff to actually post that they do disagree with it, I think it'd be great to have other opinions on there. Hopefully those opinions wouldn't be just "Oh this is a cheap knock off!" but rather an explanation of why someone would feel that way. And yes, I apologize, my last post was entirely too serious sounding. Note that I haven't purchased another 1/100 valk since the first one I grabbed. I'm pretty dimissive of this product, it's fun for $15 (if you can get it for that) but that's about it. I'm just surprised that actual dislike of it seems to exceed the general apathy I have toward it. I will probably buy more at some future date as fodder for my display cases... but that's about it. EDIT - The toys are supposed to be receiving grades. A score of 30/50 would be 60% or a D-. A score of 35 would be perfectly average. Any score above that would be above average. In that respect, I think i've basically stated that Macross/Robotech collectors have largely average toys to choose from... with exception of the 1/48s which gets B+ and maybe an A-.

I always thought "Turd" was a lovely color.

Agreed, these aren't knock-offs but I don't think anyone actually considers them to literally be knock-offs. C'mon folks, if you want to call a toy crappy call it crappy, don't call it a knock-off or you might confuse people (or indicate just how little you actually know about these toys). As Chet has indicated, they are vastly superior to the Banprestos and share nearly nothing in common with them. They do have parts in common with other larger, more expensive toys but let's face it, you can only make a VF-1 so many ways. The fact that Toynami lifted design cues from larger toys and made them work for this small of a toy is actually commendable. I still don't understand why people who don't like these $15-$20 toys feel they should bash them (especially since the majority of those people have not, and would not, ever purchase these). There are hundreds of actual knock-offs out there, why not make threads for all of those and bash the product? People who bash these 1/100 toys in this thread seem to me like the people who hear from a coworker what happened on the Howard Stern show and then call the FCC to complain.