Apollo Leader

Yeah, so, Luke Skywalker will appear in a Star Wars film again before Robotech fans ever find out the fate of Rick Hunter. Just saying.

Speaking of Mark Hamill he will probably reprise his role as the Joker, a character he tentatively has retired from portraying anymore, in several more video games and Batman animated series before he voices another Robotech character... or find out Rick Hunter's fate.

Hard to believe it was just several weeks ago I predicted the failure of this Kickstarter though I felt they would have at least gotten past the $300,000 mark.

hahahaha

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/717039805/robotech-take-over

Too funny. That's one Kickstarter I could see backing.

http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/1381502542/robotech-academy/#chart-daily

This is may be gone before anyone sees this, but at this moment in time starting Thursday the pledge amount is MINUS $90. Did someone cancel their pledge at the start of the day???

And the pictures to back me up...

Ok, so, I did a little research. The first use of "purist" that I coud find in relation to Robotech and the three anime shows it was built off of is from a usenet post on November 5, 1985 by Sean Rouse. Yes, you read that right, 1985. Harrmony Gold was getting a decent amount of flack for their "adaptations" of anime in the 80s, and the term purist was used on several occasions in regards to this. Though I never heard it first hand, it appears to have been a term in common usage among anime fans at the time in relation to the numerous butchered anime productions being shown in the West. The first time "Macross purist" was specifically used on the usenet was on October 23, 1992, by one "Predecrement David."

Now, the infamous "lying Macross purist," and the now-common use of "Macross purist" as an insult, stems from an incident that followed the 2002 Anime Expo. The story goes as thus (as described by "skullone"):

Before this incident "Macross purist" wasn't considered an insult or used to dismiss Macross fans. And now you know.

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!search/macross$20purist

Looks like its use back even in the 1990's had at times a negative condemnation.

A couple of MWers trolling McKeever about his former misadventures on this forum that got him banned. And this right after he essentially told the people whining about Macross fans to STFU.

If I could remember my passwords for my robotech.com accounts I would go over there to clear the air over this, but I will do it here instead.

Here's the short version of what happened.

1. Kevin got in a tussle on here with one of MW's members (A7) who is a Filipino.

2. At one point during this argument Kevin called A7 an "inbred hick".

3. A7 corrected Kevin by mentioning that he was Filipino. (I guess "inbred hicks" can only be white?)

4. Kevin responded basically saying that A7 was the Filipino EQUIVELANT to an "inbred hick".

Did Kevin put down or attack A7's Filipino/Asian ancestory? No.

Did Kevin attempt to raise his own race, white/European/Irish ancestory, over A7's? No.

But there were people on here that wanted him silenced and were just so desperate to make him, Harmony Gold, and the Robotech franchise look bad so the "race card" was pulled.

If anyone has a link to that original message thread , please post it so this silliness can be cleared once and for all.

I see some saw the variable Predator design as well. Here's another UCAV that appeared in the video.

In fairness, the Animeigo set was also single-layer DVD, so it had less space to start with. Of course, it was also a single mono audio track instead of mono japanese and OMG SIX CHANNELS OMG english.

I'd wager the lower quality of the ADV release was down to just plain not caring more than it was disk space, though.

Animeigo used a better quality audio source which I believed they obtained directly from Big West. ADV was forced to use whatever audo source HG had on hand which was poorer in quality. I have both sets and the difference is noticeable. As for video quality, the Animeigo DVD's ran at 480P. I honestly don't know if the ADV DVD's ran in either 480i or P. It has been mentioned by some the concern of compression and artifact issues with the ADV Macross DVD's.

Some of the guys involved do seem like genuine folks. So how does HG fail so much? I doubt it's the minions working behind the scenes (if they do have a staff)

How can I put this without sounding like a jerk...

Tommy Yune is no public speaker, Kevin is no marketing genius, Whoever is coming up with the new concepts needs to go back to trade school.

They have a good CG team, but I feel that their designs and some of the animation is rushed. Given enough time, things would look better. Just looking at Robotechx's videos, there is a part where the moon executes a fold as seen from the mars surface. It was actually pretty good in comparison to the other CG we have been shown.

I think the problem is anime/animation is not even remotely Harmony Gold's main industry/pursuit. With Robotech specifically it was just something cobbled together from others' work and efforts as opposed to being a 100% from scratch original creation by an experienced animation studio/production company. If they had been successful in launching Robotech II back in the day, it's very possible it (Robotech as a franchise) could still be doing well and producing sequels and spinoffs. But as it is, a nearly 15 year period (1985-2000) where very little was being done with the property besides small things (ie. comic books), multiple failures to produce new material, alienation and loss of fans, burnout of fans (one too many Robotech DVD sets anyone?), and not to mention that most of those in the Macross fan community see Harmony Gold in a very negative light is definitely killing them.

As for the Kickstarter, they barely cleared $1,100 for Friday. This is the lowest day yet and it's right in the middle of the SDCC. Several days ago they almost only had a few hundred dollars if it hadn't been the thanks of a last minute $10,000 pledge. I honestly think the pledge was done by someone who wasn't serious about this, but since they figure that things are doomed at this point they wanted to make the Kickstarter look like it wasn't an abject failure.

There's one other thing I would like to add tonight. I keep reading the comments about "not enough word getting out" is what's hurting this campaign. I can't believe that. The Robotech Facebook has 150,000+ Likes so whenever anything gets posted on the Robotech Facebook a lot of people are going to see it. There are all kinds of anime, animation, sci-fi, and other related sites that have made mention about this campaign. The word is out there. But again there are all the factors I mentioned above and in my previous comments. And as Tom Bateman mentioned about a week ago, there are probably quite a few Robotech fans who are acting with discernment.

Here's the latest on the *ahem* new Robotech boxset(s).

http://www.robotech.com/news/viewarticle.php?id=518

Basically the first boxset is episodes 1-18 of Macross both in its original and in its Macross Saga form. Looks like no extras and I assume its the ADV version of Macross with its low sound quality and lower video quality (9 episodes per DVD as opposed to just 4 on the Animeigo set).

I'm guessing they made that on a 3D printer? Looks like the same kind of plastic we were using with our 3D printers on my last job. Definitely R-Type-esque

As for the new DVD boxset, I found out last night that the boxset is a combination of Robotech, Macross, Southern Cross, and Mospeada so in a way it's an ultimate boxset. But I'm still waiting to hear back on what versions of the shows it will be. It's possible that the at the Robotech episodes are the original versions and not the remastered. Don't know if the Macross episodes are the Animeigo or ADV versions. In one way its good that Macross, SC, and Mospeada will be available again considering its been 8 to 10 years since any of them were last put out and some people may want such a set. But that's kind of the thing, how many people need a big ueber set like this especially with Robotech since they put out a new boxset almost every year? I think they should have just released Macross, SC, and Mospeada individually instead... of course all of us Macross fans are really clamouring for a Blu Ray set instead since that is what the Japanese market currently has.

Lionsgate is doing a classic DVD featuring the original audio and the original macross series included. The bass and applause from Sharknado 2 keeps overwhelming the conversation. First Carl name drop and rt Academy. Children of Zor are last remnants of rt masters.

Tommy claims Carl was secretive about rt Academy, nobody knew he was working on it.

So Lionsgate is doing a Macross DVD combining the original Japanese Macross audio with the Robotech audio or ADV Macross English dub??? The only way I see myself buying Macross again is if it were a new transfer for Blu Ray. Already have both the Animeigo and ADV sets.

As for the main subject on hand, there's still about an hour-and-a-half ago left to today (Central Time Zone), but the pledge for today is still under $1,500. I will be honest that as of a day or two back I thought they were going to be surging back towards the upper thousands again or higher. Did they really blow off that much steam in the first few days after the announcement?...

Check the first post and click on the graph... more detailed graphs in the link.

I've seen the Kicktraq link and its daily breakdowns, but it doesn't detail out each individual pledge per day, just the total each day unless I am missing something. But I did see on the Kickstarter page itself that there is now a single $10,000 pledge.

One has to laugh to keep from crying.

Long time no see.

Anyway, after a huge landslide the last few days they actually bumped it up to $10,000+ for Tuesday. But again, they have to average $20,000+ DAILY until this comes to a close if they want to succeed.

If it wasn't for that 10k backer it would have been a -$300 haul for the day. Timed really well I would say...

Where can you see a more detailed breakdown of each day? I wonder if this person is going to follow through? If this is true, for all practical purposes they only made $288 on Monday. Have to wonder if someone at HG has gotten their marching orders to break their piggy banks?

http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/1381502542/robotech-academy/#chart-daily

Sunday they took in less than $1,600. Looks like Monday's total pledge is a hair under $1,400. Right now they would basically need $20,000 pledged every day up until the end. SDCC might still give them a push, but I honestly can't think they are going to pick up to much more support. But then again, the Kickstarter for Palladium's Robotech RPG Tactics had a huge upswing the last day.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rrpgt/robotech-rpg-tacticstm/?ref=kicktraq

But I do got a question regarding the Kickstarter for the Robotech RPG Tactics. How was it so much more successful? Were people happy with the end product and the goodies that were dulled out to the Kickstarter participants? I'm not into the Palladium RPG's, but I am curious on if this is playing into any current issues the Academy Kickstarter is having (along with everything else).

Well, that's what I think. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Tom Bateman

With everything that you've laid out I think this begs the question of what happens if this Kickstarter campaign totally fails? Is there a possibility that this was all an ultimatum by Frank Argama for Tommy and the others to prove whether there was still a viable interest in a new Robotech production or to produce some results (that's why they are doing this Kickstarter instead of actually investing money)?

Looking at the stats for this Sunday it looks like they aren't even going to break $2,000 for pledges today and will be lucky to get more than a dozen new backers. I honestly think that there are some shakeups coming...

Hey Apollo Leader,

Sorry I haven't been around lately... I do lurk from time to time.

I was actually at the Robotech panel at Anime Expo (not participating in it, obviously)

I have found this entire thread to be fascinating...

Robotech Academy... hmmmmmm, where to begin?

I assume you didn't get in on one of those $5,000+ tiers?

Doesn't look like this will get funded. It is tracking progressively lower and lower.

It looks like the take for Friday the 18th is the lowest point yet, just $2,925 pledged for the whole day. Right now they will have to average nearly $17,000 each day for the remaining 3 weeks if they are going to make it.

BTW, does anyone know what Tom Bateman has to say about all of this? According to his profile he hasn't posted on here in almost a year.

Harmony Gold doesn't like Japan very much. They call non-Japanese designs and animation "anime" including Korea and Argentina. Tommy doesn't bother to pronounce Mospeada right. They call Robotech Masters "Southern Cross". They see anime as failed raw material to be localized with superior Western culture. They claim they're major players in an anime industry where everybody's failing except for them. And they associate Japan with haters trying to ruin their enjoyment.

With D.R. Movie it wasn't too far of a stretch to call it "anime" since so much of the work in Japanese animated projects these days are being farmed out to Korean studios such as themselves.

But there is definitely a trend. A decade ago even with all the nastiness of the Macross legal battles, there was an otherwise effort on the part of Harmony Gold (at least those involved with the Robotech property) to show an interest and respect in the source materials. We saw Macross restored and receiving two major DVD releases; Mospeada and Southern Cross also getting similar treatment. There was merchandise and toys giving homage to both Macross and Mospeada (ie. Toynami). And with Shadow Chronicles, love it or hate it, they were trying to do something original.

But just this last year or so they seem to be heading backwards. They are back to "butchering" other people's work with Robotech Love Live Alive and the Robotech/Voltron comic book. (As an aside, I would have bought Robotech LLA if they had included the Mospeada version with it as a bonus; including Shadow Chronicles instead and forcing anyone wanting Mospeada LLA to buy a full Robotech boxset is ridiculous and bad business).

As for this whole Kickstarter campaign, it's been enteraining watching this creep along. I honestly don't think we will ever see an actual Robotech animated release ever again, but even if they do eek things out and get this video pilot released it will not go any further than that.

Might as well ask, but if this new Robotech series is being animated by a team in Argentina, isn't that making the Robotech franchise something other than "anime" kind of like Robotech 3000?

(I am definitely not trying to besmirch or belittle the talents of Creavision)

In my own case my very first exposure to DYRL came in early 1997 when I rented a VHS copy of "Clash of the Bionoids" from a local Blockbuster. I think I had just rented Macross II a matter of days earlier. In the next few months I finally saw DYRL on a fansubbed tape and I was hooked. In the next few years I would have the movie in multiple formats including VHS, LD, and DVD. Still got to get it on Blu-Ray one of these days.

And for those looking for a laugh...

I really liked the "Missed Opportunities" discussion, especially regarding the aborted Toynami/Tamashii Nations chunky monkeys. I was hoping that we'd finally have a definitive answer as to what happened, but at least it's nice to know that I'm not the only one who's still curious about it.

I've been told on a number of occasions that the two main contributing factors to why things fell through were a) the economy tanking in 2008-9 and b) the reality of nearly a decade's worth of saturation of large VF-1's on the market.

At this rate, kicktraq has them barely hitting their goal. If the funding drops off even more as the days go on, it probably won't make it at all.

http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/1381502542/robotech-academy/

Funny, I had logged in here just now to post that same link. As others are predicting, here on Macross World and elsewhere, there will likely be a bump after the San Diego Comic Con. My prediction right now, though, is they will come up short of $500,000 unless they are able to extend the Kickstarter out to a later date. Most of the die-hards are probably aware of the existence of this Kickstarter campaign and have made a pledge they feel comfortable with.

But that's just the thing. How can one be comfortable putting money into this? If this were 10 years ago or even 14 years ago (2000) when the whole Robotech "revival" was starting, the economy and job market was much better, the anime "boom" was in full swing, 1980's nastalgia was real big, and not to mention that there wasn't a 14 year track record of disappointment and little to show for (not to mention alienation with Macross and Robotech fans alike), I think they would have a larger turnout of support.

I do hope, however, they are able to pull something off whether it be this new series or the Shadow Chronicles sequel. I know that Tommy, Kevin, and Steve (and Tom Bateman when he was still with HG) are all passionate about their work and having had the opportunity to be part of something that fired them up when they were young. Few people get that kind of opportunity. I can only imagine some of the fustration that is being dealt with on their end...

Here's a thought no one else has suggested yet. This might be the last stab that Harmony Gold makes at an animated Robotech feature.

After 30 years since Robotech hit the airwaves what do they have to show for? Three episodes of material for a series (The Sentinels) that should have taken off when its popularity was at its peak. One straight-to-video release (The Shadow Chronicles) which is already now 7 years in the past. And then there was the several minutes of new footage added to Love Live Alive to make a Robotech version of it. Then of course there is stuff like Robotech 3000, the Shadow Chronicles sequel still being held up, and any other failed effort to bring a new Robotech animation into production.

Now that they are asking for the fans to help finance this new production I think it is in the realm of possibility that this is all a low-risk gauge to determine whether or not Robotech truly has a large/strong enough following for it to be worth pursuing a new video/series. With Robotech failing to gain any traction in regards to animated sequels, I wouldn't be surprised that there is increasing pressure for the Robotech property arm of Harmony Gold to produce... or else.

I don't think Robotech itself as a franchise is anywhere near dead. You will continue to see DVD re-releases, new comics, new toys and other merchanidice. But I think that the window of opportunity for a new Robotech animated feature or series is fading into the past.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcQI4PDwiW8

Warrior: The Ultimate Legend

WWE Network, 2014

Rated TV-PG for "sports entertainment".

After nearly two decades of legal battles between each other, the Ultimate Warrior and Vince McMahon had finally made amends in 2014, with Warrior inducted in this year's Hall of Fame during WrestleMania XXX weekend. But on the day after his appearance on the April 7 episode of RAW, Warrior collapsed and died of a heart attack.

Serving mostly as a companion to the DVD Ultimate Warrior: The Ultimate Collection, Warrior: The Ultimate Legend expands on Warrior's career in sports entertainment, with more interviews by people who had worked with him - including former tag team partner Sting. It also debunks most of the 2006 DVD The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior, with more details from Warrior, Hulk Hogan and Razor Ramon. Perhaps the most important part of this documentary is the night of the Hall of Fame induction, where Warrior buried the hatchet with Hogan and talked to Jake "The Snake" Roberts before giving Vinnie Mac a signed copy of the children's book The Little Engine That Could. This alone brought Vinnie Mac to tears, as he had once told Warrior during at the beginning of his career that he was that little engine.

If you haven't watched Warrior: The Ultimate Legend, you owe it to yourself as a wrestling fan to do so, as it is the single most important wrestling biography video ever produced. The spirit of the Warrior will live on forever.

Rating: A+

I wonder if there is any chance they will put this video on a future home video release? I picked up the Wrestlemania XXX Blu Ray last week. Unless it's an extra, this video doesn't appear to be on that set.

It was very sad to see Jim Hellwig/Warrior pass away at such a young age and so quickly after the weekend of Wrestlemania, but it was good to see that he was able to make peace with so many people over this past year.

PS

Good to see the post that I started over five years ago still alive and kicking.

Besides, any substantial fan magazine is a lot of work for any one person to do.

I suspect that's the reason why Apollo Leader was not able to put together

Gunsight-1 issue 03.

So my old Gunsight-1 newsletters are being hosted in places other than Macross World? Interesting...

When I started doing the newsletter back in 2002, I was also doing the newsletter for a hobby rocketry club here in southeast Nebraska. I really love writing about my interests and passions. I am also big on history and preserving it. At that time there was just so much going on in the Macross fandom: all the activity and community of the Macross World forums, all the new Macross/Robotech toys and models that were coming out (Yamato, Toynami, Bandai, etc.), the Macross DVD set by Animeigo, Macross Zero, the legal battles between Big West and Harmony Gold, and so on and so on. There was just so much going on and it was some pretty exciting times. I was so enthused by all of it that I thought it would be neat if some of that history, news, and fan content could be compiled into a document that could easily be saved in both electronic (PDF) and physical form (hard paper copy). My intro in the first issue expressed my concern about all the content and history that might be lost when some of these websites go down/disappear; it's a point of view I 100% believe in today.

As you (boinger) guessed, by the time 2003 rolled around and I started laying out an outline for a third issue, I realized I was way in over my head. I was only one person and I had many other things going on in life. Also, what should have been a source of fun and enjoyment started to become too much stress so I had to let go.

I wish you well in trying to bring about another Macross fanzine.