Roger

When has this ever happened? With the exception of one dealer (who doesn't even deal in Macross stuff), I've never seen new toys sell above the Japanese SRP.

Sicko. You don't have to match the colors of the Alpha and Beta, theoretically any of them will fit together. Personally I think the two-tone combos look pretty cool.

I seem to remember Ariel being part of the picture, so she might be the one for the Shadow box.

Don't forget the...

This was the Regult-oid pod from the simulator: http://www.robotechresearch.com/rpg/mecha/REF/z1/Z1.html There was also a Glaug-y one that was designed, but never animated: http://www.robotechresearch.com/rpg/mecha/REF/z2/Z2.html I saw Tony Oliver at a Creation con in the 80s while Sentinels was being made, he said something to the effect that there was a conscious effort at Tatsunoko to make the characters look different from the Macross versions. Perhaps even back then Tatsunoko was being cautious given the provenance of the Macross property. On the other hand, the Southern Cross and MOSPEADA characters remained unchanged. I seem to remember that Carl Macek accused Tatsunoko of working harder on the scenes that didn't have the Macross characters in one of the Robotech Art books. Maybe they did plan on repurposing the animation for something to be released in Japan. A Zillion prequel? At one point, some of the character designs were going to be ported directly from other productions into Sentinels. There is a character chart of the Megazone 23 characters in Sentinels uniforms, and I could be misremembering but I believe there is another one of the "elfin" DYRL-style Macross designs in Sentinels uniforms.

Hey, I've got a reputation around here to uphold! Honestly, if I didn't ruffle peoples' feathers so much around here and the results weren't so entertaining, I wouldn't be here. When is chowyunskinny getting that Lifetime Achievement Award I nominated him for?

Actually, after re-reading the thread I think I'm being a bigger dick now than I was back then. Your mileage may vary: http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?...9676&st=300

100% of it was to point out what silly geese people were being. I don't care about how "dishonest" someone is or isn't. It was a matter of being realistic. It was an obvious error, and even after it was corrected there were people demanding that retailers still honor it, as if the typo was some sort of mandate that they should sell the item at a loss on opening day without question. I won't deny I was being a dick about it, but the bar had already been set.

No, Danth, you were annoyed because someone actually challenged your unrealistic assumption, which was probably rooted in a deep sense of fanboy entitlement that's so common when it comes to situations like this. Most people don't like their assumptions challenged around here. It's one of the things that gives this place it's charm. ;p And if you think that I had something to do with the price change, you're giving me an awful lot of credit.

Materials aren't the only resource to consider. If toy B is larger than toy A, it takes up more space in the shipping container when it comes over from China, more space in the wholesaler's warehouse, and (most importantly) more space on a retailer's shelf. Of course they're going to want more money from you when you take it off their hands. Going with an analogy from this angle, you have two apartments in the same building. One has twice the amount of floor space than the other. Does anyone expect the rents for both apartments to be the same? No, I'll pass on that bet, because I'm not dumb, I'm smart (and stuff).

Ray, you missed out on this, but when the Beta was originally listed with an SRP of $80 (due to an error in Toynami's price information that was sent to retailers), many people here took that price as gospel, even though it was the exact same SRP that was used for the Alphas. When the error was corrected and the correct price was set ($150), these people started crying foul. I don't know why those people thought that a toy that was twice the size of the Alpha would cost the same as the Alpha. I guess that in the supermarkets on their planet, two pounds of sugar costs the same as one pound. I offered a wager to anyone and everyone who would take it: if the Beta's SRP was actually $80, I would buy that person a Beta, no strings attached. Of course, if it turned out to be $150, they would have to buy me one. It's too bad, I could have had some free Betas to share for Christmas. ;p

If you wanted to actually buy the book you can do it here: http://www.hlj.com/product/MOV01629

Who's to say that they're not doing that right now, and that this request from Toynami to BBTS isn't part of the plan?

It's a custom Gakken ride armor by Yaco, and the Legioss it's standing next to is only 1/55 scale.

You're out of the loop. Toynami is going to be importing Bandai's Soul of Chogokin toys and other items, and they solicited pre-orders for Bandai's Origin of Valkyrie toys (which have since been delayed). They've been announcing this for at least six months.

Exactly. Who is VFTF1 that he should be telling us and the retailers we buy from what to do?

You just demonstrated that you clearly don't understand the mustard analogy. Don't ignore what I pointed out: you believe that people in America should be spending money on fighting a legal battle that doesn't mean jack in the grand scheme of things. Must be really easy to do when you're sitting in front of a computer in another country.

Yes, but what about manslaughter?

Heeehee. "Manopoly."

You're saying that buyers of Macross products and retailers should be hiring lawyers and filing suits over this. That's the frivolous part. Set this against a backdrop where adults are buying robot toys and it gets a bit silly. And if people aren't getting the mustard the analogy then I don't know how much simpler I can make it for you.

I think you need your definition of "monopoly" (and that cough) checked out.

Yes. It applies to American companies that participate in the American consumer market. Since Yamato USA does not sell Macross toys in the USA, it doesn't apply to these products.

Yes. This really isn't that important in the grand scheme of things, even to the people who have a stake in it: BBTS is probably losing only a small percentage of sales, and the collectors that buy these things can very easily just surf to another site and make their purchases there. Most of them probably weren't buying this stuff from BBTS in the first place. And in the end you're probably talking about 25 to 75 people. If you want to get outraged about something and support legal action for something that matters, read up on Diebold electronic voting machines. These are much more significant products to look into than Yamato Valkyries (and probably just as flawed).

I really don't understand what you're trying to say here. Yamato Valkyries should be made of recyclable materials? Why?

Where?