rnurmin

Wheww.... after reading all the 10 pages of thread in this article, I just got to say these (coming from a fan who watched Macross back in the 80s and met some of the fans like Graham & Noel in HongKong): - Yamato name-change to Arcadia: Sometimes this happens in business. Let's hope Arcadia will keep Macross fans' hope alive - Expensive prices of Macross toys (Yamato or Bandai): As USD grows weaker, the prices of any toys will increase (this is not even factoring the cost of the company to produce the toys). I remember when 1 USD = ~109 yen back in the 2005. It's even more expense to go to Canada now. Plus, keep in mind that Bandai and Yamato are competitors per say as they are in some similar toy industry. Not a perfect example: if you look at the transformers toys by Takara and Hasbro toys, you can kind of understand the price differences and reasons why some folks choose one over the other. . (Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder) - Elitist: I don't understand why this word is even being used here. I for one am happy that some of the members are willing those share their collection since they give me ideas of what collections they have, how the toys are displayed (using detolf shelf, custom shelf, special ligthting), actual reviews of the toys, etc.. I have found the reviews, comments, advices very useful since they give me enjoyment of seeing their collection, helping me in deciding which toys to buy, prevent me from "re-spinining the wheel" on things that I don't know of. Truth be told, sometimes these collectors will sell their spare valks in the forum for reasonable price and it provides opportunity for new toy collector to grab it and admire it. For those who had travelled to these locations, It's the same excitement feeling when you walk accross the walls of shops in MongKong(HongKong) or Ahihabara (Tokyo) and seeing all the toys on the display cases. Nothing beats that feeling for toy collectors. - I grew up admiring Bandai's 1/55 Macross. I was not able to afford one in my teen years. When I got my first full time job, the 1/55 prices have gone to the roof (IIRC, 1/55 ElintSeeker in 1999 cost at least $700 in MISB condition). I joined Macrossworld and when I found out Yamato announced the Mac+ toys and to be released with Toycom, I was overjoyed with excitement (until Toynami decided to ruin the parade). Still, with Ebay I am able to afford my very first Mac+ YF-21.Fast forward, after several Yamato toys release, Bandai decided to re-issue the 1/55. In my mind, without Yamato, it will probably take several more years before Bandai decides to reissue the 1/55s (not to mention of the cheaper prices on them since there's new competition in town). More competition means good things to consumers. - I don't make a lot of money and I try to save for any upcoming releases. I remembered asking my Wife (then GF) to go to Mongkong (HK) and buy me the very first 1/60 Yamato release VF-1A Max. She went with her cousins to get one. It was her gift to me, but she also decided to let her cousins play with it first. She mentioned to me that her cousins (3 grown men) were full of excitement of handling this new toy and they were very carefull, in comparison to my Wife who decided to move pieces in-out without looking at the manual. Her cousins were not new to Macross and they had seen Bandai 1/55s, but the new concept that Yamato introduced opened their eyes. Sure, it's imperfect (you have to swap the legs), but if you ask all the long time members around MacrossWorld about what this release means , they will say something like having a light in the dark tunnel. - As much as I want to collect these new toys, there will always be changes in life. Flashback to now, I have Wife and Kids. They are my priorities now. I had reduced my collection, as some other members had done as well. I did make one expensive purchase on one of the new releases. Sure, the prices will keep going up on this toys (but hey, what's new). We have issues with prices of gasoline, milk, eggs (you have to hear what my MotherInLaw is saying on the prices of the green onions). As long as we have inflation, prices will increase. I guess the last note that I want to leave is be proud that we have MW forum that allows us to share our opinions, ideas, collections and heated opinions. Instead of always mentioning that prices is getting higher everyday, perhaps we need to look down at ourself and see if our income is growing or asking why our tax is increasing. Everyone around me is complaining about the recent tax laws and increases in the US, and I think those should be the main topic. Less income means less discretionary spending.

When you guys are referring to NY, which online store is this? Can you provide links? Thanks

Me three

Thank you all for the explanation that this is a web-exclusive toy only. What is the retail price for this toy before shipping originally? I guess I might have to go to E-vil Bay to get one of this. HLJ is out of stock, but I can see that the original price is ~$300

Wow, where can you still get one of this? I checked all the sites and I guessed you guys cleared up most of them. Any idea of where I can still get one (around bay area) or US? Thanks.

I'll try to see if I can make it. Life is busy now with a one year old

Ghostkiller: Very nice work. I like the Dobber color scheme =D

Ah, I don't mind having Yamato miling the molds by releasing various colors. If only they can reduce the price a little bit =p With all the new toys releases and their prices, this hobby is just getting expensive =(

Sumdumgai, SaveRobotech: Wow, thank you for all the information. I knew some of the information, but I didn't expect that version 1 has a lot of variations. Now I need to figure out how to collect the ones that I don't have =/ I heard that there are also some bootlegs being released for version 1. Is that correct?

Hi all, I am trying to find more information about Macross CMS Figures. I believe CMS has released 4 lines so far. I want to find details of each release (along with their rarity, some price estimates if possible). I didn't start following these figures until the 3rd release (with the rare Max Pilot figure). Would any of you have some info to share? I recall seeing a thread discussing this a while back, but I couldn't find it even using the search function in this thread. Thanks for the help in advance =)

Damn it. When I read about the price reduction on PS3, I was kind of pissed =( I paid premium just to find out that Sony reduced the price later. It just put them in a worse situation now. Potential customers might be thinking that Sony will reduce the price again in the future. Oh, how I wish Sony will offer some credit (just like what Apple did with iPhone) =/

The problem with Macross is that the Fanbase is not as big as Transformers fanbase. That's why Transformers toys' value most of the time always go higher than Macross toys. Like what everyone said, invest in 401K Plan or IRA. For those of you who don't like people managing your money, you can choose a PCRA (Personal Choice Retirement Account), which is also a 401K but the difference is that you invest the money yourself in securities and funds Some benefits of 401K: - You can actually take out the 401k money (before retirement) as a loan with the interests payment made back to your own account (not bank). - For first time home buyers, you can actually take out the money with no penalties to purchase property (I think you have to paid tax on it). Last time I heard you can only take out $10k (which buys you nothing in Bay Area California ). Hopefully they will bump up the amount.

Yep, that is a customized Gakken 1/12 bike for sure. I've seen this pictures before so it is not new. That is some sweet custom paint job

Oh, you should have seen the full version of that video. It is hillarious

Thank you for the quick updates, Graham. Am I the only that thinks the 1/24 Radio Controlled (RC) Scopedog Custom is the coolest?

Ah, finally. The thread fighter. It will be nice to see how the CMs Alpha Beta comes out in the final production (not to mention their boxes). They use styrofoams as the toy container, so that will be nice. I like my CMs Gaogaigar, so I have no concern of their ability to churn out a good quality toy. Since CMs is a subsidiary of Yamato, I wonder if they both uses the same sculptor?

Hopefully High Tech company executives count. In Dec'06, I was checking out the PS3 in one of the Sony stores in the mall when I bumped into Chad Hurley. He is one of the CoFounder of Youtube. A really cool guy. After shaking his hand, I felt a jolt of enterprenuership spirit in myself

Looks great

Awesome news, thanks

Ah I see. So it is not when I connect to the Wii24. Thanks.

Ok, I just enabled my Wii24 connect. For some reason I don't see the Blue light. Do you know when the "Blue Light" appears? Thanks.

LOL

Wow, thanks for the SV-51 pic. For some reason, the Fighter mode looks a bit off from the anime (probably caused by the fuselage?) but the Gerwalk mode looks dead on. Graham: Since the pic is out, can you shed some light on SV-51? Props to Yamato for speeding up their new toy process. Like everyone else, I was thinking about seeing the full transformation and colored picture by March. I just hope all the small parts and hinges last since this is one Heck of a toy

TowerRecords website has the entire store on sale for 25% off the price. All games are automatically discounted by 25%. They have some Nintendo Wii games this morning, but it seems they have taken it down . You can still get the PS3 games that you are missing. They also have some BluRay DVDs. Tower Records PS3 Games

For those who owns a PS2 and wants to buy a PS3, Gamestop/EBGames have a special trade in program that ends tomorrow (Thursday, Jan 18). You can trade in your old PS2 (plus one controller and memory card) for a $100 trade in towards a PS3 (usually the trade in values at $40). More info here: PS2 TRADE IN