ChristopherB

Thank you for posting the pictures! You did a wonderful job, and I can only imagine how much work the project must have been.

I found what looks to be the home page for the modeling club: Modeling Website Here is the link to the VF-1 Riders. Their Gerwalk VT-1 is shown along with the upgrade parts, and the other valkyries are familiar as well. VF-1 Riders Now if I could only find someone that can translate and find the ordering information.

Update: I contacted HLJ and was able to order (15) sets of the VF-1D photo-etched parts. Don't ask me why I ordered (15), because I don't plan to build (15) Super/Strike valkyries. Maybe (10) different versions, but not (15). I honestly never expected that they would even be able to fulfill my order, because I didn't think Hasegawa would have extra limited edition PE parts just lying around. Plus selling one without the other means something gets shortchanged, but... HLJ was able to come through, and ended up charging me almost the same price for the separate PE set. I never expected to pay more than $5 a piece, based upon the total price of the VF-1D, as compared to other kits that don't include any PE parts. So, if you want to build a completely hooked up Super/Strike, and would like a set of sealed VF-1D PE parts, send me a PM. I'm not looking for money, but perhaps a trade or something.

Sweet! I'm truly sorry that Rob had to deal with the hassle/financial loss from the initial artist, but things seem to have conspired to bring us something even better I'm sure.

Rob, Sweet! Thank you very much, your eyes must be better than mine, plus I completely spaced regarding the VF-1D head. Any other corrections? Maybe I should contact the guy that took the picture and see if he can elucidate. Do you think that the metal parts in the bag are landing gear? The card says YF-19, so I can't imagine what else they could be. The other thing that has me guessing is the 1/100 item, and what looks to be 1/350 scale. There's several 1/100 kits, but I can recall anything in 1/350, unless I'm reading it wrong. Grayson72, No, I don't have the canopy masks for the standard Hasegawa VF-1, or VF-1D, nor have I ever seen or heard of them until now. I would love to have one of each to add to the collection. I would be happy to trade a mint set of sealed VF-1D photo-etched parts. If you recall, the VF-1D PE set has the extra parts for the missile pods. Do you have a link or a picture? Christopher

AlphaHX, Thank you very much! The close up shot of Max does indeed show that his booster matches his valkyrie, as does Hikaru's Skull One, and of course the same logic will apply to Miria. The distance shots switch Max back to a plain white booster, but that's to be expected given the established precedence of inconsistent animation, especially where "Anime Friend" is involved. That's not to say that they necessarily were responsible for this episode. Given the conclusion that time is taken in some instances to apply special paint jobs to specific boosters, I would think that they would recover them for future use. The boosters are essentially big fuel tanks with (4) booster nozzles on the end, and as such are very similar to the (2) white long cylindrical boosters used in conjunction with the space shuttle. Even though my dad spent (35) years with NASA, I can't recall if they are recovered, or are jetisoned so high up that they burn up upon re-entry, or become space garbage. Sincerely, Christopher PS: Gundamhead, thank you for the PM and link.

Brad, Looking good so far. Just be careful how much modeling putty you use, because as I'm sure you know, the more you use, the more you have to sand, and the greater the risk for losing panel lines/detail. Re-etching is no fun, I learned that lesson the hard way with my first resin kit. Anyway, good luck, and it's cool to compare the Yamato to the Club M. Sincerely, Christopher

Grayson72 is correct in that the "new" Super/Strike combo. kit includes the green decals for Hayao. Not only that, but the boxart is pretty cool. It was discussed previously, but the original Strike kit included everything needed to make a VF-1S or VF-1A Strike or Super Valkyrie with the yellow, red or blue decals. The original Super kit included everything needed to make a VF-1A or VF-1J Super Valkyrie, with the red, blue, or green decals. The new Super/Strike kit includes all of the above, except for the VF-1J head if I remember correctly. So, if you plan to build a Max or Millia VF-1J Super valkyrie, don't buy the new kit.

Gundamhead, Thanks for the info. I wanted to try and keep everything as cannon as possible, and so I'll have to check out the few screen shots that have been posted. I've been planning this since Rob first mentioned the possibility of the valkyrie boosters, so it's cool that everything is coming together. I can only imagine how cool an Enigma or Blue Roses valkyrie and booster would be.

That's what I get for trying not to be too verbose. I should have clarified and said that I am using (2) 1/72 Hasegawa Strike Valkyries, because the legs are in the correct position, but I will omit the armor. I plan to use the leftover armor to build a VF-1D Strike, and a "Virgin Road" VF-1D Strike. I think that each 1/72 Booster kit will include the parts to angle the legs, so I will use those parts with my (2) VF-1D's. Hopefully I covered all the bases this time, and with some luck, everything should work out.

Dammit, I demand a recount! I think we have a problem with hanging chads. Oh well, congratulations to the winners! I call dibs on anyone willing to sell their prize. I suppose we are all winners, because our raffle money will go towards the purchase of an awesome 1/72 Valkyrie Booster, but I'm still sad. It's a good thing I anticipated not winning and pre-paid for my (2) boosters. Hopefully no one will steal my thunder, but I've already started on (2) Hasegawa 1/72 Strike Valkyries, which will be done in the Max and Millia scheme, and the boosters will be painted to match. All we need now are the lauch vehicles.

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