crasis

You know, these pics really made me want to go back and watch Megazone 23 again. Oddly enough though, I don't recall Shogo's face being visible behind the Garland's head in the anime. Am I wrong?

Wow, I couldn't disagree more. I've been wanting accurate character sculpts of the Macross cast for over 20 years. Macross is FAR more than just transforming planes, IMHO. I'm actually surprised how little buzz there is around here for the 1/6 line. It's sad, really, as this news has me far more excited than some 1/48 repaints.

Ha! OWND. I love when Egan comes through and cleans house of all inaccuracies. You need to visit more often, sir.

Uhh... I wouldn't say any of this is accurate, considering Macross 7 and Zero have NEVER BEEN RELEASED in the US. How could you judge how well they are "loved" or "hated" when they've never even hit these shores? Where are your facts coming from? The average US anime fan hasn't seen these shows, and isn't necessarily all about searching out fansubs and/or bootlegs. Until official R1 releases of these come to light (:sigh:), I'm not sure I buy into any of this thinking.

For some reason, I'm still not digging the Stealth VF-1J. It looks too...patchy to me. The Stealth Super/Strike parts, however, look great on the Low Viz! I wish I could just buy the FAST packs separately!

He, I felt gyped myself when I picked up mine, but I think the "glasses face" is for the chase Valk pilot figure, not the Q-Rau's 392862[/snapback] Well, Max doesn't actually wear glasses once he's in the Q-Rau suit (macronized), so it does make sense.

Mari definitely looks incredible, and I highly doubt there was any surgery involved. Trust me, she has aged well. Don't believe me? Check out the clip (I finally was able to upload this to a file hosting site): Mari Iijima singing My Boyfriend is a Pilot at the Knitting Factory, 2/26/06 Forgive my awful shaky cam and low quality image (it was dark in there). Also, this is a large file (21 MB), so it isn't dial-up friendly.

I so wish I could have been there last year. Hey, is there any chance she might be persuaded to attend MWCon this year? I think I'd have to fly out to CA for that after all. This Knitting Factory concert in NY was such a huge rarity for us east coasters, as we usually get the short end of the stick for any Macross related goodness.

Ha! Actually, I blew it earlier in the conversation when I mentioned how my fiancée and I plan on playing Ai Oboete Imasu Ka at our wedding. I felt guilty because my girl really wanted to be there that night, but was home sick. Here's the really amusing part, though: As I was talking to the lovely Ms. Iijima, her assistant/friend (who took the pictures) made a comment about Mari finally finding that boyfriend she was looking for. Mari then blushed and replied “No, no, he’s getting married!†Life is weird. It was definitely a night to remember, and I got her to sign some original SDF Macross scene cards as well as a few of her albums. After the utter fiasco that was the New York Comic Con (or wasn't, in my case, as I was told the place was beyond capacity when I arrived that morning and had to wait in a 2 hour line for a chance to get my refund and go home... ), I was determined not to make the day a total waste, so I hiked right back to Manhattan that night for the concert. It was worth all the effort. Like I mentioned before, I have video of the performance, but need some place to host the files. Any takers?

I had the pleasure of attending Mari's recent concert at the Knitting Factory in NYC (it was part of an anime "after party" of sorts for the NY Comic Con), and was honored to spend some time with her after the show. She looks beautiful after all these years and sports an incredible voice, but what really amazed me was her kindness and warmth towards fans. We discussed Macross through the years, her performance in the new dub (which I told her was the one thing that even the most nitpicky fans were in favor of), and her coming to terms with being Minmay. Funny thing, she recognized the name "Macross World" and could have sworn that she was scheduled to have an interview with this site in the near future. Shawn? Graham? Can anyone confirm this? I'm positive she wouldn't have us confused with Robotech.com. And if this isn't the site she had in mind...let's make it so! Speaking of Robotech: during the show, before performing the "Mari sings Lynn Minmay" version of My Boyfriend is a Pilot (I have a large 22 MB Quicktime movie I took of this entire song, if anyone is interested in hosting it? I'd love to share it, but I have no place to store it currently. PM me if you're interested), she asked the audience if they were Robotech fans (to which a few hands raised) or Macross fans (which caused a lot more clapping and noise). I just thought that was interesting, since I would have expected the opposite from this crowd. She seemed very excited about the response and mentioned that she's on a quest of sorts to redeem Minmay in the eyes of the english speaking world, since she feels so strongly for the character. As for Macross songs, she only performed 2: My Boyfriend is a Pilot and Cinderella. The rest was all original material, including some demos of new songs (which sounded great, IMO). Throughout the entire show, she would talk and laugh with the audience for long periods of time and explain the meaning and emotions behind each song. The whole setting was very intimate, with almost a VH1 "Storytellers" vibe. After agreeing to take a picture with me, and noticing the photo came out rather crappy on my digital camera (due to the poor lighting in the club), Mari asked if I would mind waiting for her to finish signing autographs and such so she could take a better picture with me in the lobby of the place. How cool is that?! Anyway, here's a picture of the beautiful Miss Iijima and myself (modeling only the HOTTEST in geek fashion ):

Sweet. Looking forward to it, as I'm still on the fence with this one. I'll only be taking the plunge if there's a decent amount of (new) Macross imagery within.

I'm not ashamed to admit I cried in that theater when Prime died... hell, I was seven and he was my HERO! Despite the emotional rollercoaster to my young mind, to this day I still think that movie was the finest moment in TF history.

Hrrm. I really have to disagree there. A good story is a good story--it shouldn't matter WHEN you experience it. My fiance just got into Macross about two years ago and loves it just as dearly as I do. I think that example alone invalidates your comments. And damn! I just enjoyed the hell out of the first three books of George R. R. Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series, but I suppose my love for them is somehow tainted because I didn't read them on the dates they were published...

My copy arrived today, courtesy of deepdiscountdvd. I haven't had much time to watch it yet, but from the little I've seen I'm actually (wait for it...) content with the voices for Max and Kamjin. "MUHcross" still makes me roll my eyes, but this dub is growing on me. Slowly.

The reigning king of all anime will always be Macross to me. I can be halfway through exploring some new series and find it very easy to stop and put on ANY of the Macross installments (well, maybe II is an exception). That said, I do place a few other series on a relatively high pedestal, though for some reason (nostalgia?) they tend to be older titles. In order of preference: Bubblegum Crisis (original OVAs) Vision of Escaflowne (the movie is interesting, but the series is prefered) Cowboy Bebop Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (and 2nd Gig) Genesis Climber Mospeada Gunbuster (original OVAs - haven't seen the new "sequel" yet, but I'm afraid to) Project A-Ko (just NOT the Versus Battles) Record of Lodoss War (original OVAs) Crest/Banner of the Stars Megazone 23 Rahxephon Movies: Akira Nausicaä Laputa: Castle in the Sky Spirited Away Hrm. So it's a bigger list than I thought, but still not all that massive. Most anime these days just doesn't grab me the way most of these classics (especially Macross) do.

More peaks at the 6" Titanium line (including a redesign of the classic VF-1S--err, Jetfire) are up at BBTS: http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/menu.as...0&category=1979 I'm digging the War Within Thundercracker, though I'm still not fully convinced that I NEED these yet.

Don't forget the Mari concert at the Knitting Factory later that night: I'm definitely planning on attending the panels and concert(s) this weekend, proudly wearing my Macross World '03 shirt. Anyone else here planning on going?

MAX!!! That's all I needed to see. Between these Toynami/Popbox figures, Sideshow's 1/6 Star Wars line, and Yamato's continued offerings, I am seriously going to be in financial trouble this year. Oh, and I guess there are some small valks coming out, too... or something. Let's hear more about the 1/6 line, shall we?

Like others have said, I'm interested, but it depends on the price.

Welcome to MW! I've been a member here for years, but only recently started to come out of my shell (I'm a lurker by nature, what can I say? ). This is definitely my favorite little "home away from home" on the web, with a very colorful cast of characters. I don't think you could find a more opinionated and informative group anywhere else. I also broke down and purchased the dvd recently (despite my earlier misgivings) and had the same painful reaction when viewing. The pronunciations are SO awful! Even my fiancé, who I wouldn't call a major fan of the series by any means, kept asking me how it was possible that this was released with the TITLE of the show incorrectly pronounced. Every "MuhCROSS" resulted in the two of us locking eyes in disgust. Seriously, how can they justify this as "accurate"? I swear, it would be akin to FOX releasing a "completely new accurate dvd" of the hit series "FEAR-FLEA" from the guy who brought you "Sara-NIH-tie!" What gets me is how the "expert translator" (Javier Lopez) they brought on board repeatedly slips in and out of "MAcross" AND "MuhCROSS" during his commentary and interview. Matt Greenfield (ADR Script Director) also does the same during the commentary track on episode 3. It's like these guys couldn't even figure out how to pronounce it, despite listening to the Japanese audio track and the THEME song. Even ROBOTECH, of all things, had a correct pronunciation of the word. FAH-ker is bad, yes, but the second most glaring issue besides "MuhCROSS" (to me, anyway) is hih-CAR-u (sometimes hih-CAR-oh!). It's even more apparent in episode 4, when Mari correctly pronounces Hikaru (no emphasis on the middle syllable). It's also interesting to listen to the commentary with Mari Ijima and the American vocalist for Misa, in which it almost seems as if Mari is (in her own polite way) constantly correcting the woman by using the accurate pronunciations every time a "MuhCROSS" or "hih-CAR-u" is uttered. My third major gripe with the dub (besides some blatant OVERacting and shrill shouting) is the gratuitous swearing and slang (Global's "This ship is a piece of shi..."; Kim's "Oh SH!T!"; Claudia's "That's lame!"; just about anything Roy says; every character saying "Freakin" at least once, etc.), which really adds nothing to the show and results in moments of awkward, juvenile dialogue. Part of the reason I bought this disc was to have something to show my kids in the future, but the out-of-character "adult" dialogue makes me question that decision. I'm no prude by any means, but a lot of this stuff was just out of character and unnecessary. Oh, and Keith was right-on about the POOR Japanese audio track. Man, did they screw up that one. Hell, they could've swiped the audio from the Animeigo release if they were having THAT much trouble with the original masters. The hiss and muddy fx, dialogue, etc is very apparent, especially when compared to Animeigo's release. I was hoping to have this new series as a replacement for my original set (in case of cracking, which I'm happy to report is nil at this time), but the audio on the Japanese track (the track I'd listen to far more often after experiencing the dub) is just a mess. I guess I'll have the ADV set for those really bizarre moments that I want to hear some overacting/cursing characters and save the Animeigo for seriously digesting the series in all it's glory. All the negatives aside, the bonus features with Mari, and her English portrayal of Minmay (even with the accent) are what made this worth purchasing. And, sadly, as hypocritical as this sounds, I'll probably buy the rest of the volumes... not for ADV--certainly not or Harmony Gold--but for Mari. She's putting her heart into this, and I'll gladly support that.

Oh hell yeah! I was just mentioning this in the TOYS section in the thread about the new line of MACROSS 1/6 figures (!!!). The incredible Sideshow Collectibles line of Star Wars figures has changed the way I look at "dolls." These are definitely NOT your average Hasbro 12†toys, as they feature amazing likenesses of the characters/actors, with real clothing and a ridiculous amount of accessories (in fact, these are so well done that I’m thinking of ending my smaller scale action figure collection to focus on these). So far, I'm liking these better than what I've seen of the Medicom figs. Check out the sculpt on Luke (BEST Mark Hamill likeness ever...every detail is there, even his burned mechanical hand): NORMAL version Exclusive SS version w/ Skiff Blaster Anakin (His hair could be messier, but they did a decent job): EXCLUSIVE SS version w/ Holographic Sidious: NORMAL version EXCLUSIVE SS version w/ Holo Sidious And Obi-Wan (just released Friday): NORMAL version EXCLUSIVE SS version with Grievous' Blaster And here's a glimpse at the unpainted sculpts:

NEW sound FX? PLEASE tell me this is on the dub track ONLY! The mispronunciations are insult enough, nevermind messing with the classic SFX. Ugh. So far, besides the extras disc, there's nothing here that entices me to buy this, based on the reviews (and those horrific dub snippets). This is sad, as I was looking forward to this for Mari's contribution alone. I was thinking curiosity would lead me to redeem one of my xmas gift certificates on vol 1, but after hearing about this SFX thing... I love my Animeigo set, thank you very much. Call me crazy, but there's something to be said about not BUTCHERING the original show.

If anyone's looking for a good deal on either Anakin's EPIII or Vader's EPV Force FX sabers, check out Deep Discount DVD. I was shocked to discover they are now carrying toys/props with their usual excellent prices ($ 92.39 with free shipping for the sabers). They also have a decent amount of the .45 sabers and larger props, as well. That free shipping can come in handy. Oddly enough, they also have Toynami Robotech MPC's on sale (Ben and Miriya for now). I hope they decide to carry more items like this in the future... I may end up having a one-stop-shop for all my entertainment goodness.

Have you checked out FX-Sabers.com? You can buy a vertical stand designed specifically for the MR sabers here. A little pricey, perhaps, but worth it for preserving your blades.

So I was just casually browsing Entertainment Earth's website today, and I spotted what MUST be a typo: YAMATO 1/12 SCOPEDOG FOR $34.99! I ordered one, and it went through with no problems. Take advantage while you can, before they quickly correct this! Granted, it's the Purple Melquiya version and a PRE-ORDER, but still...!