Mog

Here's the link izzyfcuk was talking about: Linky. Admist the minor overkill of photoshop pics, there's some really good nuggets of info--almost a tutorial if you will--about taking shots and doing lighting and mini-studio set-ups. Best basic/beginner tips I personally learned over the years: Use the macro function, especially for the detailed/close-up pics. Never, NEVER use flash. Use a tripod or some kitbashed (but solid) stand to stablize and settle your camera on. Read your digital camera's manual and learn about some of your camera's advanced/rarely-used features (You'll be surprised by what your camera is capable of!). After doing Number 4, experiment with numerous shots at different settings, angles, lightings, etc. (Don't worry; if it's crap you can just delete the pic. But you'll never learn what works best, unless you experiment a little.). P.S.--The above tips were for some of the newer folks here on the board. Your photo-taking skills and pics are already solid, Vegas!

It's gonna be interesting to see what color-scheme and surprises you have in store for us, Wicked. Looking forward to more updates!

I don't really think it's intentional. Yes, there might be an optical illusion of a slight upward slope because of the paint scheme. But on some of the Alphas I own, the nose and dorsal parts of the fighter look straight. But with my Shadow Alpha, which sports a solid-colored nose? Its got that banana-back look. Something's probably not collapsing/connecting properly somewhere. As has been said before, the tolerances to get the Alpha into a tight/almost gap-less fighter mode are pretty small. It's a flaw in the design and/or how the factory assembled the Alphas.

Yeah, it's called Knights of the Old Republic.

Which is truly unfortunate, since there's still a ton of untapped schemes for the non-VF-1 mecha fighters. Just on this board alone, there's the Dobber scheme for the SV-51, Wicked Ace's Vampires scheme (was that the correct name?) for the YF-19, takatoys' Roy scheme also for the YF-19, my own Blackjack scheme for the YF-21, Scream Man's DYRL Max scheme for the VF-0, Kurt's Enigma scheme for the VF-0, and Wicked's Sundowners scheme for the VF-0. Off the top of my head, Yamato could still do any of the following non-canon schemes for non-VF-1 fighters: * Low-Viz Grey; * Black/Stealth (at least for the -21 and Zeros); * VF-X schemes; * Blue Angels; * Roy schemes; * Minmei Guard (or should those be Sara Nome Guard, Sharon Apple Guard, and Basara Assassin/Hit Squad )

Or we'll have anime-inaccurate toys with a plethora of QC issues that cost three-times what they're currently going for. Competition is good for us consumers/collectors.

The Dobber Scheme strikes back!!! Very nice.

Yeah, it's one of the four or so songs that would be randomly picked as you're racing around the track ("Lose Control" and Garbage's "As Heaven is Wide" were the only two that I still remember fondly). I also loved Maniac Street Preacher's "Everything Must Go," which is the intro music for the US release of GT1. Hell, GT2 had a solid soundtrack too: * Cardigan's "My Favourite Game"; * Apollo 440's "Cold Rock the Mic"; * STP's "Sex Type Thing"; and * Garbage's "I Think I'm Paranoid" Good ol' fashioned balls-to-the-walls music that makes you wanna drive fast! Heck, the GT soundtracks inspired me to burn my own CD of fast driving music.

I still remember playing the original Gran Turismo and being totally blown away by the kick-ass guitar riffs of Ash's "Lose Control." Always got a little more excited for a race when I heard that TIE Fighter flyby start up in the background!

Well, a few folks on this board have upped the color-scheme numbers for the YF-19 and YF-21, thanks to their custom efforts. But it kinda sucks that the 1/48 VF's and the old school chunkies are the only ones that seem to have a plethora of custom paint jobs out there.

Ahh, much better! My display is finally complete*. * I left myself some extra shelf space for that other blue Beta I'll eventually purchase.

So, after watching each webisode and their related commentaries, I think it's safe to say that any shred of interest I may have had in Underworld 3 has been crushed by having to sit through that bloody trailer each and every frakkin' time!!! Who's bright idea was it to have that trailer pop up every single time (without fail) when we decide to click a webisode link? Yeah, yeah, advertising and such. But is pissing off your target audience the best way to generate interest in your film? There's no chance it would cause a backlash and blow up in the marketers' faces, would it? Heck, why not add a Quizno's survey at the end of each webisode too for good measure? I'LL KILL YOU!!! ALL OF YOU!!!!!! (Well at least Sci-Fi's or BSG's marketing folks ).

The shelf's about chest or shoulder high for me. So, it's probably somewhere around 5.5 feet high. The Stealth Valk did take a stage dive off another bookshelf during the last earthquake here in Cali'. Parts came off (mostly the FP items). But nothing broke or was seriously damaged. Since this pic was taken, the Alpha/Beta's been moved to my home desk. I didn't like how crowded the shelf looked with the three sharing the same space. Plus, I'll probably want to display the combo at an angle other than head-on. As for the Blackjack, I'm just a little concerned. Chances are it will probably just collapse onto the shelf itself with minimal to very minor damage during another similar-sized earthquake. So, I'm not too stressed about what may or may not happen with the remaining Macross birds.

Hopefully, God has a sense of humor, or I'm royally screwed with this next caption: Father, Son, and Holy Combo

"C'mon Honey. Our child needs an in-scale, fully articulated, panel-lined, and weathered 1/60 destroid.......Oh! The extra one? Well, our child needs to learn to share and play with others. And I'm willing to make that sacrifice and spend time teaching our child that lesson!"

Happy New Year's from the Eastern Pacific time zone!! Yeah, so I'm practically five hours (and ONE SECOND ) late. Cut me some slack! It's gonna be hard for 2009 to top all the great things that happened to me in 2008, both on the toy and personal fronts: * More cool GI Joe figures were released; * I got more opportunities to refine my toy painting and customizing skills; * I made a custom GI Joe Motor Viper; * The YF-21 was released and came complete with FP's and a nice clear stand; * I was finally able to make my idea for a custom YF-21 become a reality; * The long-awaited Beta was released right before year-end (allowing me to finally retire my Beta avatar and bring back the Mog avatar). And more important than all of that, I lucked out in the best way possible: I married a beautiful woman who loves me and is cool with my somewhat crazy toy collections. I'm sure 2009 will have its share of joys too: another Blue Beta to be purchased, some Airborne figures to be finally found, one or a few more customized action figures to be made, and maybe some KOTOR figures to be finally released (if Hasbro was smart ). So, I'm looking forward to what awaits in 2009. But I will always look back at 2008 with a lot of thanks and fond memories.

They're just your average peel-and-stick variety. If you mean the custom Mars Base ones on the wing, those are also peel-and-stick too.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is that the stickers that come with the Beta are pretty high quality and top notch. Compared to Toynami's earlier MPC releases, the Beta's stickers are a vast improvement. They're also much better than most Yamato stock stickers and have practically none of that ugly haze. The "NO STEP's" in particular are big and clear. Of course if you're still looking for something to criticize, Toynami definitely should have made the Mars Base stickers for the wings BIGGER. .....But yeah, I rectified that problem quick (and added some light panel-lining to boot!) :

For you "sick freaks" out there , there is a way to link the Alpha and the Beta in double-battloid mode. It's a little bit of a cheat, but you'll get the idea from the following post (as well as some embarassment for even thinking of doing a double-battloid!!): Post Linky. Enjoy! EDIT: Regarding the two Stig/Scott heads, I'd have to see how the Beagle head looks with the helmet on before I make a final judgement. But I'd lean more towards the Beagle head. Not a fan of the blue hair, and I kinda prefer my Stig/Scott with a more brooding/angry face.

(Apologies to chowyunskinny for "borrowing" his signature): FULL-ON ROBOT CHUBBY!!!!

Yeah, I noticed some similar cracks/stress marks in the same spot with one of my -21's. I think regular wear-and-tear from transformations and taking the legs off for limit-break mode definitely make that particular area very susceptible to stress marks and cracks.

<Takes a swig of his martini> Finally picked up the Beta (Thanks Kevin!), and got to take the Mog avvie out of hibernation!!! Definitely loving that beautiful click-clickity-click-click of rachet joints! Yeah, the gaps between the legs/boosters and the missile rack are pretty noticeable in bomber mode. And a swivel torso joint would have been very nice additional articulation point. But I think I was more bugged by the gaps between the legs/hips and the center booster/connecting boom assembly. I'm almost certain it was a design compromise to allow the Alpha's feet/boosters to slip inbetween the Beta in fighter combo mode. But in solo bomber mode, those underside hip gaps muck up the beauty of the solo Beta, especially when you look at it head-on. Make no mistake though, I'm loving this Beta!!!! I'm gonna have fun posing this pooch in action (and comedic) shots! And after so many years, the ugly gap, the damning omission, the constant reminder in the following pics will finally, FINALLY be filled :

Can we see how your FP'ed YF-19 looks in battroid?