Batou

$2900000000.56 each? Why the extra $ 0.56? Did anyone else add one to the shopping cart? I love the "secure order form" that allows me to charge this thing to my Visa.

Heh. It's funny because it's true.

He said "popular". Seriously, I think Southern Cross was a big flop in Japan. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

The "bad guy" mecha in Macross Zero. Here I believe Graham stated it would be the Ivanov color out first - the black one you see in that link. No idea as to the release date ... I think Graham estimated a mid-2007 release in his update. Check the news section on the main site for details.

Ha! So the flying spaghetti monster does exist!

To anyone who didn't catch the nuance there: The title is more or less the same (translated from "Watashi no Kare wa Pairotto"), but the music wasn't in any way re-used by Macek for Robotech. And I'm sorry, Oihan, but the music in Robotech blew goats. Then again, people cringe when I put on Zappa, so there you go. Different strokes, I suppose.

I don't think any of the original music made it to Robotech. If anything, only the sound effects survived the transition. Pity, too. You won't exactly catch me playing the old Iijima tunes in my car, but they were at least vastly superior to the cat-in-heat affront to the senses that Macek commissioned to replace them in Robotech. "To be in loooovveee ...." (shudder) I just threw up in my mouth a little there.

Oh look what you've started now ... If he says it like that, either he's either screwing with us again (ha!), or they must have something big planned. Since it's the 25th anniversary of the original series, I can't imagine it would be a YF-21 or something like that (please, for god's sake, make one, though) ... SDF-1 perhaps? Who knows. I foresee another ten threads speculating what it could be opening (and swiftly being closed by the mods) in the near future ... Back on topic ... Ask them where the *$#&@ the enemy mecha is. I'd give my spleen over for a 1/60 glaug with a removable Qamzin. I might throw in a kidney, too, if he had a huge bottle of wine in his hand and a drunk look on his face ...

There was a recent article in (I think) PC Gamer where they pitted a team of veteran console die-hards vs pc players ... I think it was on HALO or HALO2. The console gamers were allowed to set the auto-aim as high as they liked, pick the maps, and every other advantage they could come up with and it made no difference whatsoever: They just got smoked by the guys using the mouse-kb setup on high-end PCs. I was a savage beating, IIRC ... Man I wish I could find a link to the article somewhere online.

Oh wow ... Never thought of that and waaaayyyy - OT for a Macross board, but I'd kill for a Guges-D of the same quality and size of the 1/48's. Talk about a niche market, though ...

Oh heavens yes. It'd save me the time and effort ... Reminds me I need to order new pens for the YF19.

Heh. "only".

I've also found that if you push it in slightly from the bottom (of the removable intake cover, not the entire assembly), it will lever outwards enough to allow you to get a fingernail in there. Just a quick pop out from there.

Oh good lord ... Considering I have almost an entire closet full of the little guys in their boxes now, I shudder to think of it. I've definitely scaled the habit back since I was grabbing one of each 1/60 that came out, but the new ones are so much more expensive it hardly seems to make a difference. I'm definitely more picky now and won't shell out for repaints.

Ha! And I was minutes away from buying the 0A to wait for the ghost ... Can anyone (Graham?) tell what the differences color-wise are for the Shin vs the existing 0A? Obviously the stripes, but is the gray any different? You can never really tell from the press photos.

When did it expire? I thought no one would comment on the agreement terms ... kind of like Microsoft and the OEM's. A VF-19S or any of the variants other than the "A" would require a complete new mold to do it as so much of the frame is completely different (like David Hingtgen said above) ... I don't know that M7 had a big enough fan base or visibility to justify that kind of investment for Yamato to take a risk on. Then again, they made the freakin' Konig Monster, so who knows? For the record, I'd be all over it if they made it. I just wouldn't recommend anyone held their breath over it, though.

My thoughts so far: I'm about 22 hours in, and so far this is the best one since FF7. It may even supplant FF6 as my all time favorite, provided no "jump the shark" moments surface. My life has been put almost entirely on hold since loading it up the first time. It clearly has that "just one more level/turn/check point" quality that the triple-A titles have ... you just can not put it down, sleep be damned. I haven't read through all the previous posts, so this may have been mentioned: Is it just me, or are there some serious nods to the Star Wars series to be found at every turn? I found myself making the Vader-breathing-heavy noise when that one judge got off the transport ... not that this is a bad thing (the story is better so far than the new SW trilogy, IMNSHO). I mean we have a Han Solo and a wookie with rabit ears flying around in an airship Millenium Falcon who help a blond-haired orphan rescue a princess from an evil empire ... join the rebel alliance ... Again, not a bad thing, but still a bit obvious. It has gotten rid of nearly all of the annoying aspects of the past titles, like: 1. No annoying side games to get those last summons ... I mean c'mon: chocobo racing? stupid card games? blitz ball fer cryin' out loud??? 2.) Crappy voice acting. Maybe this just applies to X, but I wanted to strangle half the characters. The voice talent is really just superb this time around and I've yet to come across a Reba/MinMei level annoying voice actor so far. 3.) Pesky random battles when you're trying to get somewhere. I was a little pensive about the new combat system having never played XI, but I have to say I like this a lot. No more annoying random battles to deal with is very welcome. Anyway, color me impressed so far. Square has seriously outdone themselves this time around. The only pity I can think of is that you have to wait so long between these titles ... I might actually fork over the $600 for a PS3 if they had one of these on deck for the launch (or even the first year ...). I haven't fired up the old PS2 in ages and it takes me a lot to get into a console game these days. FF clearly isn't for everyone, but you can't deny the imagery and story is just stunning. Wow.

Confirmed, no. Granted you'd know better than the rest of us as to the likelihood of this getting made, but I would think that unless the YF-19 somehow bombs, this would be a no-brainer. The 11B et al would seem to me to be less attractive a risk to take, given the cost of r&d, molds, etc. Then again, maybe not since the licensing issues may prevent them from milking the molds with repaint after repaint. At least canon ones, anyway (now there's a thought: a low-vis or stealth 21/22 ... mmm ... low vis ... arghl ...)

As per the Macross Compendium ... and There's no way to know that the BDI system isn't still being worked on in some lab, but all remnants of it were ripped out of the VF-22 series and replaced with conventional controls. Max was just a badass.

Oh wow. I just peed a little.

Ditto here. Be sure to use the gray ones, though, unless you're dealing with a very dark surface to begin with (e.g., the Max 1J). Used with some aftermarket stickers, it really makes a nice effect, and is much less effort than taking it apart and giving it a full weathering job with an airbrush. Doesn't look as nice, obviously, but the potential for ruining your $160 buddy is much reduced. (I ain't no wm_cheng, here .

You guys are making me impatient now ... I keep watching my porch for the box from HLJ to show up, and nada so far. Damn SAL ...

I second that. I'm drooling over this, but I'm not plunking down my hard earned money until I know how they're handling the ghost release. I don't want to find out you can only get it as a combo pack after I've already bought a 0A and I don't have room for two of these badboys ...

Coming from you, that carries some weight to it: Do we know that they're making a Ghost? Well, I guess you probably know ... I should say, was it confirmed that it's in the pipeline and I just missed it, or is this just innocent speculation on your part? If the way they marketed the 1/48 is any indication, I think it's pretty much a given you'll see every canon scheme made in due time, provided they continue moving units ... and provided HFH doesn't nix it (like the questionable changes to the CF scheme seen here). There wasn't really all that much variety in color schemes, and since making a mold like that is such an investment ... I'm sure they'll do everything they can to make the most out of it.

Oh wow. I think I need a new pair of underwear. I still say the wings and esp the tail could use a little "male enhancement", but man oh man does that thing look in-freakin'-credible. That MP Starscream is looking amazing too ... the Hory Froating Head never fails to floor you with his designs, doesn't he?