JValk

some form of the hikaru vf-1j. toy, model, plush beanie baby, it doesn't matter. it's iconic. (of course, i have a vf-1a and a vf-1s but not a vf-1j lol. i'm hoooolding out for a gbp-vf-1j combo personally) i was going to say *any valk* but man - you gotta represent old-school. some book, any book, involving at least one macross character illustration/sketch/cel and one mecha illustration/sketch/cel. you must hold the book in front of your face and be mesmerized. sometimes moving pictures tax the otaku's imagination. at least one recording of a macross song. soundtrack, single, album, mp3, doesn't matter. doesn't even have to be minmay (slap self with wet noodle) but it's gotta be macross. nothing brings you back to the macross memories like a song - unlike some other not-to-be-named "mecha" series. but if your one recording is "yellow dancer" singing "to be in love" i pity you. and you know what? no video game rendition of macross is required. really. =p

I think my diecast Mach 5. MAN I wanted one SO BAD when I was a kid - I was so jealous of my friend who had the Hot Wheels ripoff-looking one. Now I make do with an ertl and a reissue hot wheels. But still it WOULD have been my holy grail. 2nd place - tie between the die cast mimoru(sp?) reissue of the Space Battleship Yamato, and the Uni-Five diecast Gatchaman GodPhoenix. I wanted these both badly too, but not like I REALLY wanted a mach 5...it wasn't like I had access to either of these in my youth

that misa pic isn't in the macross series - it is in the Orguss TV series.

Oh yeah! Some kid at the Close Encounters Arcade was playing a Lupin type game and it was from Castle Of Cagliostro? Cool! ~G25 Yep and if you were lucky (and old enough at the time - i miss the old arcades) right next to "Dragon's Den" they had "Cliff Hanger" - also a videodisc-based arcade game - except using snippets of LUPIN anime to drive the plot no kidding lol. i played that game out - but stopped when they installed the cheat function (subtitles would flash to tell you how to move, how cheap) -so the vid game in that macross episode was an actual game in the arcade at the time! i love the 80's! Oh I found a pic of the Arcade dashboard -

Movies - pick your fave Miyazaki film. Mine is Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind. OVA - GUNBUSTER baby! TV - Space Battleship Yamato. Then we have Macross, Speed Racer, Gatchaman/Battle of the Planets for what I grew up on (I saw Marine Boy too but that wasn't that good- but awesome theme song lol) And I really liked Rumiko Takahashi's stuff on manga more, so I'll just give a nod to Lum and Ranma 1/2 (but not Inu Yasha) on TV/OVA/Movies. I guess I have two spots left, so I'll just go with the seminal Akira (which i remember really being impressed by but now of course it's played out) and hmm...Initial D because it's mindless formulaic entertainment to a good techno beat with cheesy CGI. That I like.

can you imagine another live-action Guyver-type release for Eva? Mark Hamil should be in this one too lol! anyhow back in the day i thought U.S. Renditions would have a longer track record than ADV - but yeah i guess anime porn builds up a more solid capital base to launch expansions, bleh.

right at the end of the movie when hikaru is busting thru the fortress to get to bodolza - he unleashes a volley of missles which tears thru the cables etc in the tunnel - one of the missles is a beer can.

forget the original topic (gundam). forget the new topic (crappy beers) - i like the sidestory of old vs. new anime lol. i still think speed racer is one of the best looking anime out there - when you desire a supercar from the 60's you know it's drawn right. go Mach Five! ok so the characters move around all herky-jerky - but that's just part of the "charm" - retro is cool. as for yamato/star blazers - there is a reason why that Daft Punk video was so popular a while back - good anime never dies, and neither will anything by Leiji Matsumoto. it's not fine wine, because it was good straight off the vine. finally, look at the cruddy anime coming out these days - pokemon? digimon? yugioh? and yes, even DBZ? cmon, you have to admit- the actual animation isn't beautiful, pretty, or even cute. it is of low quality and ranks up there with the Transformers in terms of animation shelf life. some day these kids might buy the dvds for nostalgia quality, but it won't be because it looks good. with the exception of Transformers:The Movie lol. - edit one more thang - the advent of the OVA and the death of the Full Length Feature movie marked the end of good quality anime imho - it's hard to find ova that doesn't cut corners, and very few good movies come out in the theatres anymore, to the point where each one is an "event" and is the "next akira" lol. let's just thank macross for even putting out some quality episodes despite animefriend - budgets even in the better days didn't allow for great quality, and even less so now.

try any of the Patlabor for the realistic mecha/military bent. For the occult, try X or X2000 by Clamp - it's a bit girly but hey so is Vampire Princess Miyu and folks seem to like that. Clamp did another series in that vein and i can't remember it - Tokyo Babylon maybe?

So what if I live in NYC - it's COLD out there and i want my anime delivered to my door! Anyhow, Netflix is a good way to see a load of anime for a bulk rate - i'm sure they lose $ on otaku like me. So far i've seen all their tenchi, princess nine, mahoromatic, sakura wars, all good - i've already seen evangelion and the miyazaki stuff they have (and cowboy bebop) so i didn't rent em. I'm going to start in on GTO now. what do you all recommend from their list? you have to sift through all that DBZ junk to find some nuggets (like Millenium (sp) Princess) but it's worth it. what have you found that's worth watching, but you wouldn't have necessarily bought/seen on tv?

My first valk was a Hikaru VF-1J Joons bought right off the korean department store shelf back in the 80's. The same spree snagged me a knockoff dvorack (that helicopter transformer) and a knockoff transformer triplechanger (robot/tank/airplane with korean flag insignia on it lol) - but the best was the knockoff Shockwave with working laser lights and sounds lol. The whole kit and kaboodle went for about $40 US dollars. I managed to actually destroy all those toys - i do remember thinking WOW when I first shot that valk's gunpod off and the missile flew clear across the room - it was the only thing that could topple my Lionbot (voltron knockoff - see a trend?)

wow that's a really detailed answer, thanks - very interesting, the armoured valk...

What issue of Newtype USA is that?? I have them up until October, and it's not in any of the ones I have... Is it in November or December's issue? If so, then I will grab the issue, and re-scan the image, my scanner is brand stinkin new. We;; it says the July 2003 Newtype USA issue in the article.

Just looking at my Bandai valk decals that came with my chunky vf-1a, and saw that next to the skull decals for the skull squadron, etc., there was a fin decal for a picture of minmay intertwined with a dragon. Is there a canonical minmay squad out there, or is that just a possible fictional squad? Would be interesting to see if there was a custom Minmay valk that could be done that wasn't a "Minmay Guard" - something with a green paint scheme perhaps.

the night i found the budweiser can missles in DYRL - i couldn't believe it. we were watching it in the dorm lounge and i said "hold on..." we rewound and slo-moed and there it was LOL. it's more fun finding easter eggs on your own vs being told on the internet. of course, i never would have found out about the orguss-destroid or naked misa in orguss without the internet, so go figure.

lol that's a great lil comic then, now that we know the context, thank the missus for the translation!

That looks GREAT! I can't wait to hold a tricked-out VF-1A Minmay Guard Chunky Monkey in my hands!

i see trendy gals in NYC walk around with translucent lucite glowing shoes, bags, etc - just one step away from moving from accessories to clothing i think!

This was Lynn Kaifun's valk. (not!)

1) had a joons valk in the 80s - and it STILL was the best toy i ever had. you could put an eye out with that gunpod! 2)i'm afraid to touch my yammie - the legs might fall off. 3)once you go chunky, you stay with the monkey. oh, and 1/48s are too pricey atm, and takas are too. so bandai reissues are what i have/can afford.

hey nice coloring akt_m!

TALENT. YIKES. Great work! I love your Cel Animation feel!

ARGH I have to check my PMs more often! Sent you a PM, thanks for the heads up! Finally that chunky VF-1A will be stripped for Minmay detail!

any news on making the 1/55 decals? that thread on the completed minmay guard decals is making me drool for one of my own...

AWESOME.