mitch

I'm looking forward to seeing the 'Tornado' Pack in action, it doesn't surprise me that they would introduce a new incarnation of the Strike Pack in this film. For those of us who like the DX figures I fear we're looking at another Tamashi exclusive in the making Still, if it kicks ass then I'll have less objections jumping through the hoops. I also hope that they elaborate on the flying scenes, for example showing the effects of g forces on the pilot like in Plus and Zero.

I voted GERWALK because I remember finding the plane/robot/bird/griffin combination fascinating, but what really got me into Macross and cemented my love for giant robots in general was when my Father went on a business trip to Japan and brought me back an SDF-1 as a gift. I can't have been more than 5 or 6, and I had no idea what show it was from, but the size of it and the design blew me away. I honestly never saw robotech (except maybe the 'movie' where they edited bits of the Macross series together and slapped it on VHS), so it really wasn't until when "Clash of the Bionoids ", Macross Plus and MII came out in the 90's that I was able to figure out what the SDF-1 was. At SDCC this year I found an SDF-1 for sale, and after carefully checking over the joints and ratchet mechanisms I haggled the booth owner down to $75 and it was probably the highlight of the whole convention for me.

Very cool. What did you do for the neck extension?

a Revoltech Vajara could be cool... The licensing is another matter entirely, but I still think it would be cool.

Shweet! Good find! Thank you for sharing!

Agreed. Going on the number of '25 repaints and re-releases and the return that has to be made on the re-tooling and build (especially the way the economy is right now), I'm sure Bandai will want to milk the '27 for all its worth. Plus, now there is a valk that the Tamashi fold booster can attach to and look correct. On the down side, I'll be waiting longer for a '171, but if they are doing a '27 then at least Bandai are still making frontier valks so there is still hope. I thought that going on the stated premise of Bandai making the most of each design for re-issuing variant color schemes that the '171 would be next since they could do the regular '171, the RVF-171, and with just a new head and canopy you would have the EX's and all their variants. Also, while the pink fold booster is more accurate with the '27, a 171 would utilize the Tamashi weapons set.

I'm definitely intrigued. I'm wondering how perfect their purported 'perfect' transformation is on something of this scale (is it supposed to be the same scale as the previous revoltechs?). I hope they do a decent enough job to spur them on to do a valk that ISN'T A VF-1!

VF-17 FTW! I would love to see it done properly with the fast-pack add-ons. 2nd choice would be the VF-4. I'm a little surprised the 2SS is getting so much love. It's a cool design, don't get me wrong, it's just that I would have thought the 'canon' valks would be more of a priority. What I REALLY want to see from Yamato would be the reintroduction of diecast for key stress joints like the DX's, but there you go.

Nice! Keep it going, I look forward to seeing it when it's finished. I also think that panel lining would give it some extra zaz if you are so inclined.

When it came out in the UK it was on a dub-only VHS I believe. I watched it again last Christmas, and I feel that the pacing was a bit rushed in places, there wasn't nearly enough mecha action or dog-fights, and some of the voices were reeeeealy annoying. Also, after about episode 3 or 4 the animation department either ran into budgeting problems or just stopped caring as the quality takes a serious dive by the end of it, and Ishtar's big song near at the final battle was also dubbed over (not completely mind you, you hear the first few lines in the original language, then when it kicks in it is suddenly in english and being sung by a singer who sounds like someone's drunken Aunt at a Christmas karaoke competition). Lame. Despite it's flaws, there were aspects of it that I really liked - manipulating of the Zentradi through song, UN Spacy is portrayed as an oppressive military presence, Female Valk pilots, Ishtar's reaction to heavy metal, and the songs were generally okay (apart from the one I described above, obviously).

Holy Crap! This project is looking in-freaking-sane! I admire your speed, skill and availability of workspace sir! Can't wait to see the finished article.

Very tasty! Nicely done mate! Just out of curiosity, what type of paints did you use?

While the clear '25 isn't my cup of tea, I would advise anyone who does buy this exclusive to handle it extremely carefully. Clear plastic has a reputation for being more brittle than solid colors, and when you add that to the Macross DX's notoriously sensitive decal aps (never mind the 'warp' coloring) you have a recipe for heartbreak. Unless Bandai comes out with a seriously kick-ass paint or sculpt variant from the movie I'm done with the VF-25.

That 'zombie sheryl' is truly horrific! As much as I support anyone's right to collect whatever they want, if you find such a... thing appealing you need some psychiatric help. Even if you're a serious completionist and your goal is to get everything with a Macross label on it, you should get it, leave it in the box, put it in another box, wrap it in chains and put it away for safe keeping at the bottom of a very deep lake (or a well, considering it looks like an extra from Ringu). Worst. Macross. Collectable. EVER!!! Seriously, is that supposed to be a custom or is it really being mass produced?

Basara and Silvie. Basara is an important figure in Macross lore, but he just annoys the s#*t out of me. "Listen to my song! Listen to my song!" I ALREADY HEARD PLANET DANCE A HUNDRED TIMES! PLAY SOMETHING DIFFERENT!!!! Silvie because out of all the female protagonists in the poll she's the one I connected with the least. To be fair M2 was pretty badly written from the start. A shame since the premise has so much potential to be good. Didn't go for Mylene because she's a 14 year old girl so its not surprising she's annoying, she can't help it. Poll notwithstanding, I would have gone with Lynn Kaifun (That dude needed a serious beatdown and never got one), and Vifidas because on stage she's a good drummer, but the rest of the time she incessantly drums with all the skill and rhythm of a 3 year old. If there was a distinction between SDFM Minmei and DYRL Minmei I might have gone with SDFM Minmei. She crazy.

I imagine the types of paints may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, but from my experience I doubt that you would be able to get them in the US at least. When paint is thinned with gasoline, that's usually not a healthy sign...

I saw it when it first came out in the UK on VHS. I'd heard it mentioned before in a video games magazine's anime section (Super Play anyone...?) and a few (years?) later I saw the trailer for it before some other 'Manga' titles and thought the music and visual aesthetics were fascinating. It's been one of my favorite animes ever since. Yoko Kanno's score mixed with the stunning animation (the technical animation is some of the best I've ever seen, not like these dang kids with their CG mechas and their inter-webs and their MP3s..!), and the mature story line that didn't shy away from the complexities and trials of love and friendship like so many other titles out there. I know that some people didn't care for the pacing of episode 3, but I loved the whole thing from start to finish (you get used to pacing like that when you are a Mamoru Oshii fan), and I consider it one of the pinnacles of 90's animation. Macross Plus is, in every sense of the term, a work of art.

Beautiful! gorgeous work! God, I love the Minmay Guard!

Now that looks pretty cool. I think the 'baby blue' may have been for a different non-transforming Battroid that Bandai is doing (can't remember the line but I know someone here does). Either that or someone finally chirped up and said 'You know, that blue looks a little sh*t...'. Whatever, I'm definitely tempted, but it's a case of economics for me as to whether I can get this. Hopefully after we get the movie-color repaints out the way (along with maybe the YF-25..?) bandai will finally get round to doing another valk to gouge the hell out of.

After thinking it over (probably for too long) I finally voted for Max. He's not my favorite pilot, but that's not the topic of this post. Over the course of SDFM, DYRL and M7 he seemed the best at utilizing the versatility of the Valkyrie platform to it's fullest extent in combat. Basara, whatever you think of him in terms of personality, was undoubtedly a good pilot, but lacked versatility. Piloting a valk while singing AND playing a guitar is an awesome party trick, and his abhorrence of violence can be seen as noble, but he relies on culture-shock tactics to survive. If confronted by a talented enemy who either doesn't receive audio transmissions, avoids being hit by sound pods, or simply doesn't like listening to 'Planet Dance' over and over again, I wouldn't put money on Basara coming out of it too well. If you can't fight, you can't win. You can only dodge really really well, which admittedly does indeed make him a great pilot. He can fly and perform at the same time, but ultimately his piloting is for survival in battle. Max can survive a battle and strike back at an opponent, which to my mind makes him more versatile. Plus, if Basara can't sing or doesn't have a guitar at hand he is useless on the battlefield. To that extent his music is a crutch that he needs for peak performance. I don't think we see Guld actually pilot a valk without using the direct brain interface which I think makes it hard to judge him on an equivalent field with the others. Isamu I feel should definitely be near the top of the list, you don't put anybody behind the controls of a test aircraft that costs insane amounts of money unless they are at the top of the field. I feel that if we saw him in a Space-War 1 situation we might have a new top-of-the-list, but I'm not convinced from what we saw of him that he's #1. His dog-fights with Guld were legendary, and he survived anti-aircraft fire from the Sharon-controlled SDF-1. If he was doing both at the same time, then I'd feel confident in calling him the best. But he didn't. So I won't. Also, I'm surprised that Alto got rated higher than Ozma (by a vote), since Ozma definitely struck me as the more talented pilot in Frontier. Both Alto and Shin show great potential, but their lack of experience would automatically put them behind Roy and Ozma IMHO.

I pre-ordered from HLJ in March and I've not heard from them either. Have to admit, I'm getting kinda antsy about it...

I was re-watching Frontier the other day and I noticed that when Ranka is about to leave Frontier with Brera and AI-kun that the Fold Booster on Brera's '27 looked kinda pink to me, maybe that was the color scheme they were working from when they went to production?

Oooooh! A-symetrical head design with larger lense and 2-seater cockpit! Me likey!! The face is kinda like the cameras on the RVF Ghosts. 5 bucks says that it'll be used in an Alto/Ranka tribute to the VF-1D a la Hikaru/Minmay*. *Disclaimer - 5 bucks in this case classifies as a gentleman's bet, since I am broke and without regular employment. If I'm wrong, I suck and I'll be rather surprised. If I'm right, I win at life. Forever. In my own little world. Bwa ha ha ha ha!

I got my Ghost set in the mail from Overdrive the other day, and my first impressions are fairly good. I agree with Graham that the sculpt on the Ghost is gorgeous, and the clear lenses are cool, but I share his concern that the clip for the milliles may scratch the stripes on the top of the wings. Plus, Bandi's scratch-prone paint aps strike again - there were some scratches (not major, but noticeable) on some of the MDE bombs before they were even out of the package. Anyone else who has this set apprehensive about the missile clips? They do clip on... kinda... and they can be put straight... kinda... but they don't fit as snugly as I had expected, especially since there are the mounts for them sculpted into the under-side of the wings. I don't mind the use of clips to mount them, but I am still treating them gingerly. Apart from that minor quibble, I'm happy with my purchase, although I would have been happier if I could have got a set of 3 ghosts (damn you, economic turmoil!!). I essentially got it for the armaments, but the Ghost is undeniably sweet. And I didn't even get the RVF! But then again, I feel the unmanned Ghosts were always cooler than Luca AKA Puttsy McGee. YOU SOLD OUT RANKA, ANGELLONI!!! Let's see what Nanase has to say about that when she wakes up! *Ahem* Sorry. Anyway, generally good stuff. You know what else those missiles would look good on? A VF-171! Ball's in your court, Bandai...

Yup, I'm pretty sure it does come with the stand like the Tamashi super packs.