ewilen

The HK prices + import costs are pretty much what everyone here is getting their Q-Raus for already. Maybe $10-$20 more depending on the importer/shipper. You really don't know if that represents the lowest margin Yamato can afford. If it is, you can convince the whole world not to buy at that price, and the result will be remaindered red Q-Raus, followed by no more Q-Raus at all. And probably no other enemy mecha, either. Or maybe Yamato will take a cheaper (lower quality) approach.

The Compendium is official. Anyway, there's a picture on p. 33 of Macross Design Works and on page 152 of Perfect Memory which appears to show one of the hooks and text pointing to it that may say exactly what it is. There's a picture on the same page that shows a Valk coming in for landing. Part of the same text appears--based on puzzling out the kana, it looks like it says "arrest[something]". Here's the picture from MPM:

The writing on the top left Phalanx says "Doi Mika". (That's the name of the voice actress for Misa.)

And sometimes the trailers tell the ENTIRE story of the movie they're advertising. Thus saving me the trouble of ever watching the piece of dreck.

Get a TiVo or a ReplayTV. Or get the hardware/software to do the same thing with your computer. Everyone who watches TV should have something like that. Either that or cancel your cable subscription and use the money freed up to rent DVDs and buy box sets of your favorite shows.

Watch them in the order they were produced, using the Compendium link as a guide. You can probably skip Macross II, though, since it's not part of the official universe any more, and most people think it's somewhere between bad and below average story-wise. (I haven't seen the cartoon, but the manga version is wretched.) Macross 7 is highly controversial--a lot of Macross fans (especially in the US) hate it, and a lot of Macross fans love it. You can probably skip it since it lies at the end of the current Macross continuity; all the other stuff takes place before Macross 7. However, some concepts from M7 seem like they might show up in Macross Zero (even though Zero is chronologically the earliest in the continuity). I doubt that would affect your understanding or appreciation of M0, though. For more information on M7, I'd suggest you do a couple searches because the same debate basically keeps coming up. If you start a new topic, you're just going to distract everyone from Econ 101 (aka, the Q-Rau price wars).

Bandai HCM has two hooks, which are stowed in the rear landing gear wells. Better evidence is probably somewhere in Macross Design Works or Macross Perfect Memory. Oh wait. Why didn't I look in the compendium in the first place? http://macross.anime.net/mecha/united_nati.../vf1/index.html

MW itself is up (and pingable), but I can't get the name to resolve to an IP address from my home computer. Your web browser or your computer may have the IP address cached, or it may be cached at your DNS server. I also can't seem to access the two nameservers at rackshack.net using the server command within Unix nslookup. EDIT: as of this edit, it looks like the problem is gone. Thanks to whoever or whatever is responsible for fixing it.

Sorry! Must have predated my return to the Macross fold. Anyway I'll bet there are some newbs and even not-so-newbs who haven't seen it yet.

www.macrossworld.com doesn't resolve on my home computer. I can still connect at work, probably working from a local cache. Tried doing ping and traceroute to the nameservers listed in the WHOIS record for MW, but both tests fail--testing both from home (DSL) and work (T1).

I don't know but I thought this caption was funny: (Emphasis mine.)

That's the first I've heard of it. If you can get more details, please let me know.

For all its brevity, that's actually a very enlightening response. Thanks.

From JAF-CON 8 Minmei's no slouch, either. http://www1.sphere.ne.jp/kobochan/photo/val001.htm http://www1.sphere.ne.jp/kobochan/photo/val002.htm http://www1.sphere.ne.jp/kobochan/photo/minmei1.htm http://www1.sphere.ne.jp/kobochan/photo/minmei2.htm http://www1.sphere.ne.jp/kobochan/photo/minmei3.htm http://www1.sphere.ne.jp/kobochan/photo/jafco.htm http://www1.sphere.ne.jp/kobochan/photo/ruri1.htm http://www1.sphere.ne.jp/kobochan/photo/ruri2.htm Not sure if that's one variable model or two models. I think it may be a 1/7 scale variable Valkyrie. More pictures of the model(s) and/or previous versions here: http://www2.plala.or.jp/banda_fujino/bgvf-1/bgvf-1.htm http://www1.sphere.ne.jp/kobochan/val2/val21.htm http://www1.sphere.ne.jp/kobochan/val2/val22.htm http://www1.sphere.ne.jp/kobochan/val2/fighter.htm http://www1.sphere.ne.jp/kobochan/val2/battroid.htm http://www1.sphere.ne.jp/kobochan/val2/gerwalk.htm

Correct me if I'm misunderstanding, but are you saying the price is completely unconnected to the cost of production, supply/demand curves (elasticity of demand), and maximization of profit?

I remember when they used to show Bugs Bunny cartoons before the movie. By the way, I've fallen down and I can't get up.

No offense intended. They aren't the same, but they can be compared from the buyer's perspective. The problem that keeps coming up is (partly) from people trying to rebut the buyer's perspective by offering the manufacturer's perspective, and vice-versa.

Does the original report even say that the new figure will be Millia? And even if it is, maybe it was impossible to make an articulated figure that would fit properly. Maybe this is the start of a new line of 1/60 posable Zentradi. I'd be up for that.

Correct. You can find most of your answers at http://macross.anime.net/production/animat...tion/index.html http://www.mahq.net/animation/macross/macross.htm http://www.macrossworld.com/macross/video/_video_menu.htm Briefly, SDF Macross is available subbed from Animeigo. Macross Plus OAV is available subbed and dubbed from Manga. Macross Plus Movie is available subbed from Manga. Macross II is available from Manga in sub/dub. Do You Remember Love is available dubbed (really badly), and subbed on VHS. The subbed version was only released in the UK, by Kiseki films. DYRL is also available subbed in various HK bootleg DVDs. Macross 7 and Macross Zero are not available in English unless you get subtitled bootlegs. Even with bootlegs, I don't think there's an English version of FB 2012--but there's basically no point, as it's nearly all singing, with a tiny tiny bit of dialog--for which you can refer to translations available on the net.

You just quoted someone saying that this toy can be had for $105 to support your argument. At least be consistent with your facts. Also, we really don't know the details of manufacturing and marketing. Are you including the cost of design and tooling in that? Consider that based on market research (if any), Yamato probably doesn't expect to sell as many Q-Rau (all variants) as Valks (all variants). Which means the startup costs have to be amortized over a smaller number of units.

I guess that's just too bad for toy investors. I don't recall Yamato ever saying they were going to keep supplies low in order to boost secondary markets.

I found a higher-res version of the DYRL-styled one at http://pantransit.reptiles.org/images/1999-06-06/mik0117.jpg Based on the context, I'd guess it may from a book called "Step: Macross and Orguss". At least, what appears to be the cover of a book by that name is at http://pantransit.reptiles.org/images/1999-06-06/mik0106.jpg

(I know this point has been made but I'm going to have a stab at it.) It's a valid comparison. It's quite sensible to decide whether to buy something based not on whether you think the price is "fair", but whether the item offers value compared to other stuff you could spend your money on. In my opinion, the Q-Rau price is quite likely fair--since (as you note) the production run is relatively small and Yamato has to recoup the cost of design and tooling, as well as have a reasonable markup to justify the investment. (If making a product yields a smaller return than simply investing in stocks & bonds, why bother?) The Q-Rau price is also a lot higher than "equivalent" products from other toy lines. "Equivalent" means different things to different people, depending on what sorts of stuff you like. But basically, yes, it's expensive, too expensive for many people to justify spending their money on. Is there a problem with this? Are those people wrong to pass on the Q-Rau? No. Consider the cost of resin kits. Considering the time and effort that goes into making the original molds and the limited number of castings that can be made before the molds deteriorate--as well as the limited market for the sorts of esoteric items typically done in resin--the prices are reasonable. Does that mean they're affordable compared to Spawn.com stuff ? Of course not! The Q-Rau situation is a less extreme version of the same scenario. Yet people keep getting offended when someone explains that the Q-Rau is priced reasonably, because they somehow think a reasonable price is necessarily affordable. And other people keep getting offended when someone says the Q-Rau costs more than they're willing to spend, because they somehow think that the person is claiming Yamato is engaged in price gouging. Both groups are wrong. As for me, I voted "about right" but I also think the Q-Rau is rather expensive compared to just about anything else I can spend my money on. Still, because I like Macross, I'm going to get one--I'm just waiting to find out if it's going to come out in TV green.

Golden Arms, you left out the 1/60 VF-1D.

Capt. America: you're right, and I think 91WhiskeyM6 knows that--the point is, Toynami's stuff is expensive even though it isn't subject to the extra costs of the imported Yamato/Bandai stuff. Exo, did you have a cubicle next to Dilbert? Anyway, yes, this thread is stupid. It's just as pointless and inflammatory to declare that people who won't pay as much as you for toys are "not real collectors" as it is to call people stupid or dupes because they're willing to buy stuff at prices you won't pay. Argue about the toys, evaluate their quality, discuss how the manufacturing costs break down--fine. But don't diss each other (even implicitly) just because of a difference of opinion.