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Which points to one of the problems with F-14-vs-F-15 arguments: you really need to specify the full scenario including Which model of F-14? Which model of F-15? Who's the opponent? Or is it an F-14 vs. F-15 duel? When/where does the fight start? (Beyond visual range? Or closer?) What are the rules of engagement? Now, I have done some scans of Usenet for anecdotal evidence, and I've come up with some stuff from people with first-hand experience. See messages 13-17 in this thread. One poster with real experience wrote: But this was in the period before the F-14 got up-engined. Once the F-14's got F110's, it would appear that the advantage narrowed. I'd also suggest messages 33, 45, and 47 of this thread. An air force pilot and an F-14 pilot exchange some interesting information, with a good deal of courtesy and mutual respect, I might add. Another point raised in these threads is the fact that the F-14 never got the AMRAAM, even though it certainly could have been fitted. So are we talking about the two planes in their "real life" configurations, or some kind of hypothetical upgrade? After all, the P-51 wasn't anything special until it got the Merlin.

1BRD, I'm not sure if Blaine was asserting anything regarding TP/HG ownership of the copyright to the cartoon Super Dimension Fortress Macross. However, I doubt that said ownership would give HG the right to use the remastered Animeigo footage without Animeigo's consent. Blaine is saying, simply, that the announcement of the RT remastered DVD's shows that Animeigo did give their consent.

I agree, JB0. On the other hand, I wonder how different this is from learning to ride a bike, play a guitar, or fight/maneuver in a game like Oni or Halo. At first you have to think in terms of physically manipulating inputs; later it becomes second nature. Playing a chord on a guitar ceases to be a matter of "put this finger here, that one there, etc." and turns into "play a G minor" without thinking about it.

The VF-1D never was a dedicated trainer--but you're correct (as far as I know) that it never appears in DYRL. Differences between DYRL and TV Valks that I can think of: VF-1S "arrows" on the head are colored differently. (Black in series, trim color in DYRL.) Details of the small thruster nozzles on Super armor are drawn differently. (Difference may or may not be reflected in the Yamato toys.) Also, color of Super armor and shape of the arm armor is different. (This is shown in the 1/48 VF-1J, but not in the 1/60 Hikaru, Max, and Millia.) VF-1A head may have gone through a redesign. TV Valks usually use AMM missiles (clusters of three) on their wings, though they get RMS missiles in at least one episode; DYRL Valks use UMM and RMS missiles. Internals of cockpits are different. Edit: correction re: color of super armor.

I think the Valks are somewhere in between powered suits and robots. In a powered suit you have a direct brain interface or a "movement amplification" system so that the pilot simply moves his body (or thinks he's moving his body) and the suit copies the motions. That's not how Valks work, with the possible exception of the YF-21. Instead, humans control Valks more or less the way you control a character in a video game like Halo, Oni, Tomb Raider, etc. You tell the Valk what you want it to do in somewhat general terms, and the (highly sophisiticated) control system interprets that into specific movements. If you want to run up a hill, you don't have to tell the battroid to raise its knees higher or whatever--you just give the same "move forward" command that you'd use if you were running on level ground. This is somewhat similar to the computerized flight control systems on modern jet fighters. But given that this is the case, I agree that the humanoid form of the Valk wouldn't be strictly necessary or desirable in the real world, even if transformation techology was practical and even if the enemy was a race of giant humanoids. We might or might not want to build giant mecha to fight them, but there'd be no need to limit the designs based on human limbs, etc. Even in the limited case of "ambidexterity", there'd be no reason you couldn't have the battroid fire two guns at a locked-on target (or in the direction indicated by a targetting pipper) with the squeeze of a single trigger on the control stick.

They're closest to 1/60 scale, although the proportions are different from the Yamato 1/60's. I posted a review of them on the old boards, but due to technical difficulties, the old boards are currently unavailable. I don't think they're quite as bad as Graham says. Let me put it this way, though: I paid $5.99 plus sales tax for mine. I don't hate it, but if it broke tomorrow, I wouldn't cry. I wouldn't pay $22 for a new pair of them. Not only is the plastic brittle, but the tail fins won't go into the correct angle, the legs are slightly crooked, and the only piece of metal in the whole thing is the metal rod that the swingbars attach to.

You may have just caught them in a little stretching of the truth. They want to sound like heroes by saying they "shared the expenses" with Animeigo. Who knows what that really means.

KingNor--here you go. Nanashi referenced this link in the thread. Endo-Outer Space Valkyrie-Use Armed System Nanashi has a few more comments in the thread that elaborate on who came up with the idea (Ichiro Itano) etc. Start with his post of Dec 23 2003, 03:53 PM.

Unless something's happened very recently, indications are that the RAAF will continue using regular (not Super) Hornets until the JSF comes on line. http://www.abc.net.au/dimensions/dimension...pts/s889679.htm http://www.minister.defence.gov.au/Hilltpl...?CurrentId=3299 Edit: i.e., no Flankers for Australia. Although I've come across some bellyaching about Indonesia getting them.

Depends on the contract. It's possible that Animeigo paid a fixed fee (or agreed to let HG use the remastered footage) in exchange for the license. HG only gets something when you buy the Animeigo SDF Macross if Animeigo is obligated to pay a per-unit royalty. Do we know anything about this? The reason is obvious, and it's why I lost interest in RT a long time ago, even though I found the original grand story arc fairly appealing: HG is incapable of creating new, interesting material.

A lot the questions in this thread should probably go in the Newbie section...in fact some of them have already appeared there. For example, origin of the name "Macross". Regarding the idea of aliens influencing human evolution--yup, it's an old theme in the SF genre. 2001 also has it.

Apparently it's not an animation error. Or if it is, it was accepted by SN and made part of the canon. Look here: http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?...4093&hl=nanashi

In that case, I hope Animeigo was compensated in their contract.

Your logic and sources certainly agree with why I think the F-14 was terminated. But the same logic applies to the F-22...a beautiful, expensive plane that would have been great if the balloon went up in Europe, but now that the threat for the foreseeable future comes from third world countries with nonexistent navies, negligible, poorly-trained air forces, and rabble armies...Not to mention, the F-22 is probably "too good" for the export market, and too expensive. (Not that I agree the F-14 would do a worse job than the F-15 in a dogfight with a Flanker, say, or intercepting a Mig-25. I don't think the data is conclusive. If it means anything, Iran specifically bought the F-14 to put an end to the Mig-25 overflights, as noted in an earlier link and here. Israel got the F-15. Both planes seem to have succeeded in stopping the overflights.)

Also, if that's how it works, it would be overkill to use a reaction warhead against Regults and such. But a "proximity fuse" with 250 m kill radius against small targets would be great for a long range engagement since it reduces the effectiveness of enemy evasive maneuvering. IMO once you get into the technicalities and science, it all requires a good deal of suspension of disbelief, though--I'm afraid the "hard SF" approach would be the boring but extremely lethal "nuclear shotgun". Imagine a BIG cloud of tungsten BB's headed in your direction with an enormous relative velocity.

One potential source of semi-objective data might be one of the better board wargames on the subject of air warfare. The best of which is probably the Air Power series of games. (I only have passing familiarity but it's certainly the most popular of the bunch.)

It has been stated "officially" that SN is going to use the TV chonology as the basis for all future Macross works. Also, SN has apparently decided that for the sake of the chronology, DYRL is going to be considered a "fictionalized movie within the Macross universe". So M0 is apparently a prequel to the series. The island in M0 is called Mayan. There's no such thing as "Macross Island". In Macross, as opposed to RT, the Macross landed on South Ataria Island. Since Macross isn't RT, there's no Zor to worry about. As Pat said, the Macross was a boobytrapped derelict which was deliberately or accidentally sent on a collision course with Earth. See section 5.2.2 here.

You probably don't mean to imply otherwise, but just to be clear: if HG's contract with Animeigo doesn't contain an explicit option to use Animeigo's cleaned up footage, I doubt HG could just "take" it.

Surely the Joons are recasts/copies of the same sculpt, but not the same molds...right?

I like scale, because I want to put my Macross toys next to each other and see how big they "really" are in comparison. And maybe imagine them blowing the heck out of each other. That's one reason why I'm happy I got a 1/60 Hikaru 1J. It's already close to scale with my Matchbox 7" destroids and Glaug, and I plan on getting at least one version each of whatever 1/60 scale enemy mecha Yamato releases. (Also any destroids in 1/60 besides the Monster.) I have one 1/48, and that's enough--I love it, but I'm not willing to commit the room or financial resources for any more of them. Basically, Aegis is right--the 1/60 Q-Rau is going to have plenty of room for detail, as will the 1/60 monster. (Although, if you carry the argument to extremes, scale would affect detail. But that would only apply to, say, a 1/700 U.S.S. Iowa vs. a 1/48 Valkyrie. Both would be around the same size, but the Valk could arguably have better detail. Even that's a bit subjective, though.)

Wings of Honneamise. Watch the subtitled version. It's kind of an alternate-Earth version of The Right Stuff, with some action, intrigue, and social message thrown in. There's a bit of combat--not much, but you won't miss it. Great animation, too. I'd have to think that anyone who likes M+ would also like WoH.

I've noticed that the toys which Rolli, Konda, and Warera are selling during the Christmas episode include a toy Valkyrie and an Astroboy (Atomu). Probably one or several other "real world" toys as well.

Since this topic isn't for discussion, may I suggest further talk about the Supervision Army be moved over here?

If I were a mod I wouldn't have killed it. A low-traffic thread on a narrow topic, bound to die a natural death. But technically, Roy is right--it's neither anime nor science fiction.

I didn't know about the Mark 23! Thanks for bringing that up. But I don't think it was armor-piercing. (Found one reference here.) I wonder what it was designed for. (I have a guess: land war in Asia.)