Mog

So much for my attempt to lighten the mood of the thread (or at least getting us to discuss the delimiter mode pros/cons again). I'd say more, but it's not my place to say nor is it appropriate for the thread.

I just looked back at the two sets of pics from the hobby mag scans (the old grey prototypes and the somewhat recent black prototypes). And unfortunately, it doesn't look like the intake/chest holes were made any bigger. I think the black color of the prototype kinda obscures a lot of the details. As I said, you can tell they tweaked the connecting boom every so slightly. And I'm pretty sure the fully opening Tread cockpit was only recently revealed. But a lot of the big issues we've been mentioning are still in the prototypes. What's weird is that in some pics it looks like the tailfins go completely into the Legioss arms. But in others it's partially exposed. Probably a mistransformation, but still leaves me a bit worried.

Should I start the next round of "b!tching"? Apparently, I found a super-secret snapshot of the upcoming YF-21 in delimiter mode : ................. ................. ................. ................. ................. .................

You wanna know what the saddest thing is about all this? If I were to disregard Toynami's well-earned "reputation," I'd easily find myself longing for Toynami's version of the Beta right now. Sure, Toynami's Beta has issues where the cockpit doesn't hide/disappear in battroid mode. But it can do the A-stance, and the combos both in fighter and battroid mode look fairly accurate. Add to that, Toynami's actually modified and improved its Beta sculpt a bit since its intial introduction. Of course, we're going into Year 2 (or 3) of their "preproduction" phase . But that's a whole other headache. That's what's so frustrating about this whole Tread/Beta situation: I wanted CM's to come out with a kick-ass product. But they just seem so damn unwilling to make any kind of changes or improvements to the sculpts. Remember, these things were originally supposed to come out last summer. With all this extra time, what have they done to improve the sculpt, design, or look of these items?

- If you're a bad guy, avoid taking on the rookie pilot in the first episode. - Apparently, some of the best pilots wear glasses while flying. (So, what if you wear glasses AND drink like a mad, mutha-Focker? ).

Nice, Black Valkyrie!! I kinda wish you went for the Force choke somewhere in there too.

Dammit eugi!!! Both of their gunpods are way too small. And the gunpods aren't BLUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wohoo! Got us to the next page!

Let me preface this by saying that I still love those pics of the D'Stance YF-21 (Hell, I still have the website bookmarked). BUT I do see an issue with the D'Stance's "beefy" legs: there's some rather unsightly gaps around the joints, especially at the knees. As for Yamato's offerring, my only concerns with the feet and legs are that they be poseable as heck but sturdy enough to easily hold the battroid upright. Honestly, the "look" of the legs never really bothered me all that much. Edit: Geeze Dante74!! Are you mentally deficient or something?!!!

You know, I'd like to say it's just prototype pics and just wait for the final product. BUT the issues we've been complaining/hoping CM's would change haven't been resolved. As I said way back in April, they needed to fix the fighter combo connection. They haven't. Sure, they've made the connecting boom a little bit thicker. But it's not enough to make a significant improvement on the fighter combo's overall look. Since the first pics of the Legioss in fighter mode came out, people have been concerned about the stretched-out nose and scrunched-up arms/boosters. What, if any, improvements has CM's done to the sculpt in these areas? Look, I knew when we first saw these back in February that they were going to be a more stylish/artistic interpretation of the Legioss and Tread. But there are certain things you just can't change on the design (like how the two should be flush when in fighter combo mode). Yeah, I'll probably buy one of these ('cause I really, really want a Tread). But the day I finally get it will somehow be a little less glorious than I expected. In all likelihood, I suspect I'm gonna have to mod these ever so slightly to make 'em look a hell of a lot better.

Umm, can we go back to posting pics of Zardoz and calling each other mentally deficient? (Dante74, stop. It was a JOKE. Leave the Zardoz pic back on your hard drive. )

Alrighty, still getting over a hangover right now, but here's my impressions of the latest pics. (Thank you for the link, Black Valkyrie!!) The Tread by itself still looks good. Though I'm hoping those overhead missile launchers fold down more when in bomber mode. If that's the furthest they fold down in these pics, then that's just shameful. Regarding the linkup, !@#$*$%^*&*(#$%, mother of frak!!!! Wasn't I railing about this since last March or April?!!! It's not so much that the Tread is too high up. It's that the Legioss is sitting too low. Why can't they force the Legioss to sit higher up? It'd make the combo a helluva lot better looking, and it'd allow the Legioss' feet not to be splayed out so much. ARGHH!!!!!!!! Tons of lineart, pics, and models depicting the thing, and never, NEVER do they show the combo looking so "split-level" like this. MAKE THE COMBO FLUSH, CM's!!!!!!!!!!!!! As for the Legioss, the less said, the better. Between CM's apparent stubbornness about its sculpt inaccuracies and Toynami's "we don't have the balls to produce and release our Beta" attitude, it's just a bad time to be a Tread-head.

Hold up, just to clarify, the first release will come with the full-on Fast Packs.

To add to warpaint22's reply, the first release will also come with the stand packed with the SV-51 (not sure if it'll be the black one or the clear one in the recent pics). About the only advantage to waiting for a second release would be to wait for Yamato to get rid of all the kinks and quirks that may come up during production. Though, I'm personally hoping and praying that the first release doesn't have any issues. Hope this clears things up.

Still gotta get the gifts from my friends, so I may add to this thread later. But being the BSG geek that I am, my favorite gift so far this year is a "FRAK OFF" t-shirt. Simple design, yet very effective.

Considering that's how it's supposed to look in the anime, not really. Yeah, I'm concerned about how solid the joints will be, but that's something I'm ALWAYS concerned about on all the new mecha toys.

Personally, I just hope the gunpods mount solidly (both with and without FP's). As long as the gunpods don't fall off with the slightest of bumps, everything else about them will be gravy.

Thanks wolfx! Such purty pics. For those still worried, it looks like there's a pic of the non-FP'd fighter with the gunpod mounted below. Wonder if the stand they're gonna include will be the clear variety shown here.

Glad to hear it's been officially confirmed by Graham. A bit of a dumb question from me: are the wings of the VF-1 supposed to swing out completely horizontal in the anime and lineart? One thing that always bugged me with the original 1/60's (and the RT 1/55 MPC's) was that the wings couldn't be swept completely horizontal/perpendicular to the main fuselage. Whereas, the original 1/55's and the 1/48's had no problem getting the wings into this position. The reason I ask is because I'm not sure if the wings on the new 1/60's can completely swing out, much like their original 1/60 predecessor. As for me, it's gonna take some serious convincing for me to buy one of these. Either the posing options have to be ridiculously sick and improved over the 1/48's, or Yamato comes out with some never-before-released scheme like the Minmay Guard or the VF-1A TV Max.

Replying to Roy's Blues, I wouldn't say I'm ticked off over this (assuming it's true). But this latest news isn't striking my fancy like say the announcement of the YF-21 or any news about the Tread/Beta would. My reaction would best be described as "I'm happy for you guys that have been asking for this for awhile, but it's just not something I'm all that interested in." I agree that scale consistency is a good thing. But personally, I like the heft and size of the 1/48's. It gives them a more commanding pressence in my displays. I ain't knocking the 1/60 VF-1's (past or future) (Heck, I do have a 1/60 VF-1A DYRL Max and have done some wicked poses with him). But they just ain't my main thing.

Fair enough. But will those kneepads be adjustable like the 1/48? Would that sale include the TV-Max in your avatar? (I can't remember if you said that it was sold awhile back or not.)

You guys sure this isn't that non-transformable line Graham was talking about just a month ago (with the VF-11)? If the rumors are true though, does this mean you guys are gonna be selling your 1/48's on the cheap?

The Zartan I got didn't have the "color-changing face!" logo/sticker on it. I've heard there's a ton of variants with Zartan: fixed crotched with color-change sticker, old crotch with color-change sticker, fixed crotch without color-change sticker, etc. As for your last question, I believe the trick to making ol' Zartan change color is sticking him in the freezer for a few seconds. He comes out of the deep freeze with a thick green hue on his face.

^^I almost afraid to ask what you consider a "major" haul, Kicker773.

Even more of a reason to use Roadblock instead!!

Is she gonna do the "Spinning Bird Kick"?