ChristopherB

I've been looking forward to this release for a while, ever since Graham had dinner with the guy from Yamato and alluded to the release of something from an anime besides Macross. Does anyone have information regarding the (2) jets shown in the picture above. The medium blue one in the upper left hand corner, and the light blue one at the bottom both look pretty sweet. Do they transform? What do they look like in battroid mode? Do they play a pretty big role in the anime? If so, perhaps Yamato will make them next.

No, the R/C Guntanks are definitely smaller. I'm not sure of the exact scale without going to HLJ, but the info. is there. Yes, I would love to see R/C articulated robots before I die.

Noel, Yeah I know, but I would still like to own them. If you can locate any of the items for me, I will appreciate it. Technically, buying the event only clear releases from you was redundant since I already own the standard clear releases, but I'm trying to locate anything I can that was made for the Hasegawa valkyries. I'm not sure if you're still there, but please pick up anything you can for me that is for use with the Hasegawa 1/72 valkyries. If anyone sees one of these items on Yahoo Japan please let me know. Sincerely, Christopher

All right, let's see if I can figure out what's displayed, please post any corrections, or additions. Starting with the (4) Hasegawa heads on the wood board, upper left side: VF-1A, VF-1J, VF-1S, VF-1D To the right, it looks like the underside of the VF-0 nosecone, with a VF-0S head, and next to that is a VF-0B head. Bottom left corner is a 1/72 Hasegawa VT-1 converted to gerwalk mode being sold for 700 Yen. Not bad, but no decals, and the black weathering is over done. As clarified by Bariaburu Faita, the (2) gray parts are YF-19 micro missile launchers, and the clear bag next to them contain metal micro missiles. And finally, something in a plastic bag for 1/100 (?) scale at 600 Yen, and to the right of that, something in a plastic bag for 1/350 (?) scale. (edited to fix visual acuity impairment involving the retina )

Hello, I've read about the head laser upgrade before here on MW if I remember correctly. Basically they are small machined metal tubes that replace the stock plastic. I'm not sure if the same people that made the VT-1 shown for sale, are the same people that are producing these parts. Please PM me or post if you have any information, or any of these items for sale. I'll have to search for the link to the modeling club that builds the awesome custom Hasegawa kits. Sincerely, Christopher

Hi Major Johnathan , I started collecting Hasegawa Macross kits for several reasons. 1.) They are affordable at around $15 to $25 per kit. 2.) They usually release no more than (1) new kit per month, which allows you to catch up on previous releases at the same time. 3.) As you mentioned, the boxes are beautiful. Each one is different, and they are a work of art. 4.) The quality of the kit itself is amazing. 5.) Awesome decals. 6.) It's fun trying to keep up with all of the rare items that you never knew existed. 7.) If you can get past just collecting them, their a lot of work/fun to build, and look great when displayed. 8.) All of the extra stuff you can buy is cool, such as the individually sold decal sets, photo-etched decal sets, weapon sets, display stands, and etc. I could go on, but I've probably bored everyone as it is. Later, Christopher

Fellow Hasegawa Fans, I've updated the list, to include the following really rare item I recently found out about: Hasegawa 1/72 VF-0S "Metal Plated" Fighter Valkyrie, Limited Edition Please don't ask me who my source is, because I don't want any competition (), but apparently you could only get this kit by winning a contest. Does anyone have more information about the origin? I also added the VF-0A. I recently located a 2002 Hasegawa Calendar in mint condition from a fellow MW member, plus (3) Hasegawa Posters, and the (3) Clear Event Only kits from Blackaces. My thanks go to Rob (Monkey Nugget) for the event only Hasegawa Battroid Upgrade kit, which he bid on via Yahoo Japan for me. Please post and news/updates you have, or the kits you own and/or have built. Sincerely, Christopher

I would love to get my hands on the Hasegawa upgrade parts. The gray YF-21 with the brown falcon/eagle on it is awesome. I wonder if it's hand painted or a really large decal. Great news regarding the 1/48 GBP.

Jesse, Thanks for the info. By the way, it sounds like you need to cut back on your high fiber diet, because apparently your septic system can't hang. Christopher

Gosh damn that's beautiful! John, you are a true businessman, and a very talented individual! Thank you for all you've done. You mention the timespan between updates like it's been a really long time since we heard from you, and while that isn't the case, it's very refreshing to see a project where the person is really on the ball like you are. I only wish you were involved in other projects here on MW.

Ken, Thanks for the good news. The last thing I wanted is for all of your hard work to be wasted, or for all of the interested customers to be let down. I can only imagine how difficult this project must be, and I know the prospect of a soon to be released and less expensive Yamato VB-6 must be discouraging. Since your initial post, I've only had one person PM me to cancel, so the list remains full of customers. I appreciate your commitment to the IHP VB-6 recast. Sincerely, Christopher

Carl, I agree 100% with everything you said. A nice cold coke sounds like a good idea, maybe we can hang out and drink a couple together sometime. I completely understand, and if there is a "magic" number of interested parties needed for the project to not be cancelled, then knowing what it is will definitely help, but according to the list, we still have a large number of people. Either way, I would hate to see all of the work Ken has done and all of the excitement and energy put in to the project to be for not. Short of PM'ing every single person on the list, I don't know of any other way to triple check who is interested. Unless Ken has been receiving cancellations and not advising me, I'm not sure why he is concerned. I say "triple," because a lot of the people on the list had already posted in the initial thread, and they then took the time to PM me and re-confirm their interest. Knowledge of the Yamato VB-6 is very widespread, and the IHP VB-6 thread and my inbox do not indicate cancellatons by MW Members. My honest concern is that Ken himself is getting burned out, based upon his post. It does not make good business sense for someone who is working hard on a recast project to tell his customers that he himself would rather just go ahead and buy the Yamato. To me that is an indication that the consideration for stopping the project is for personal reasons, as opposed to a lack of customer interest. Finish the project, and the customers will be waiting to buy it. It isn't really fair to ask the customers if they are still interested, when there haven't been any updates for over (4) months, and you just finished telling them why the Yamato is the better choice. Show them a completed IHP VB-6 next to the mass produced Yamato, and then ask them and see what kind of response you get. So, stop now, make a waste of all of the invested time, and refund the pre-orders, or have faith that the majority of the people on the list know about the Yamato VB-6 and have not cancelled for a reason. That reason is simple, they want you to finish. Sincerely, Christopher

Rob, Consider it done. Please respond to my last PM when you get time. Your busy "week and a half" at work has passed I believe. Sincerely, Christopher

Carl, Please re-read my post and show me where I said Ken is quitting, because I can't find it. I haven't edited the post since you posted your comments, so it shouldn't be too hard to find the sentence where I say, "Ken is quiting." I used the words "contemplate" and "consider," so no, I did not presume anything, but apparently you did. Let's not get into a quoting and semantics debate here, either Ken is considering quiting or he isn't, and neither you or I can answer that question for him. Until he clarifies, I stand on what I said. Personally, I've added more people to the list of "confirmed" then I've removed since the Yamato VB-6 was first mentioned. As of yet, I fail to see some mass exodus. It's common knowledge that the same sculpter is responsible for both the toy and IHP kit, but the toy will never replace the original, or diminish the importance of the project. Once again, regardless of whether (5) people, or (500) people buy the VB-6, I don't see that as being relevant as to the progress of the project. The project has already been funded, and there is no reason to stop. Furthermore, I don't recall any thread advising people they needed permission to cancel their order, so if you want to back-out on your order just PM me. That's the way it's always been. The future of this project has never been predicated upon a certain number of kits being sold. The release of the Yamato VB-6 should have no bearing upon the continuation of the IHP VB-6, and so this discussion is meaningless, unless Ken is contemplating cancelling the project. Sincerely, Christopher

Long live the IHP VB-6!

I'm still in. The project must go forward! For me, it has nothing to do with whether Yamato's "toy" will be cheaper, or easier to play with. I want to own a piece of rare Macross history, and I want to compare the IHP to the Yamato, while at the same time appreciate both of them for what they are. By no means am I rich, but this project has gone to far and has really shown what fans can do when they work together.

Thank you for the scan. Everything looks great. I hate to admit it, but I haven't watched Macross Zero yet, but I hope Hasegawa releases the drone/fighter thing on the back of the VF-0S.

The head lasers are a distraction. Maybe a little hot water and gentle pressure will help decrease the angle, but probably not. The wings look like they overlap slightly in battroid mode, as seen in the picture at the bottom of the second page. Overall, I am happy with the improvements, and I appreciate the fact that Graham posted the excellent comparison pictures. Definitely a great point of reference, which permit the improvements to be realized. I don't collect 1/100 scale so I'll properly skip this release, but then again I don't want to contribute to the dismissal of the possibility that a larger scale with perfect transformation will be released. So, for now I'll be content with the Hasegawa version.

Wow, absolutely beautiful! I concur, that we never get tired of looking at quality customs such as yours. I could see getting a little bored with seeing a lot of really, really low quality customs, but to the best of my recollection, all of the customs posted have been nicely done. Thanks to the damn federal government we aren't allowed to check out eBay. So, I'll have to wait until I get home to see your auction. By the way, the weathering looks perfect.

Everything sounds great, and thank you for the update!

Wow, it's cool to see your progress. Great job, and I had no idea how nice this kit is. It would be cool to hinge the two hatches on the backside of the Monster so that they can open, and then include some interior detail. That would be awesome, and I don't think it would be too difficult. Off topic, but I love the Tamiya 1/16 tanks. I've owned about (5) of the R/C versions, and they are a ton of fun. You did a great job painting yours, and I would love to see them in action.

Jesse, Thanks, I'll take you up on the offer for a Coke sometime. It's cool, I'm back on my anti-smart ass medication, so I'm feeling much better and less factitious. I'd shake your hand if I could Gundamhead, but they haven't invented that technology yet for internet users. Sincerely, Christopher

Great news! Thank you for the info.

I doubt you've been around as long as I have, but regardless, it's a moot point. No you did not offend me. I'm just posting my opinion regarding the HCM. You've already verified it's a toy not a model, so we're in agreement on that. No matter how much you try to rationalize or explain, it doesn't change the facts. I responded because it suprised me that someone would even mention a toy to a new member that's looking for model kits. Oh wait, it just happens to be 1/72 scale, so that makes everything all right.

Gundamhead, I already explained that I understood why you mentioned the HCM, and you've already admitted it's a toy and not a model. I didn't bring it up because he said he's looking for: "best variable 1/72 scale (~18-20cm) model of the VF-1S." As my post states, I covered every available option, and the HCM is not one of them. Once again: 1.) IHP 2.) Scratchbuild (Hasegawa, etc.) 3.) Bandai Furthermore, the SHE kits are non-scale. Some are closer to 1/72, and others have 1/100 on the box, as verified by Carl. In addition, my search of Macross World and Hobby Link Japan turned up no VF-1S. Yeah, I suppose you could turn a 1/72 HCM toy into a model. While we're at it, let's do the same with a 1/55 Bandai and a 1/48 Yamato. If we do that, their called..."Custom Valkyries," not models. They get posted in the "Toy Section," not the "Model Section," because they are still toys. Get the idea? You're relatively new here, so we'll cut you some slack and take that into account when you post. Sincerely, Christopher