valkyrie13

I wonder if Hasegawa would ever produce a 1/72 model of the VF-11. If not, maybe Dragon would do this some day since they seem to be spending enough resources on military models.

Nice costumes. The person posing for Minmay is cute but not enough to be the galactic super idol!

The opening title song for this game is called "Shinku" (roughly translated to "bright red") and was performed by Shimatani Hitomi, an up and coming singer in Japan. It's quite catchy. The CD single is supposed to come out on September 5th in Japan and I am hoping I can see it soon here in Hong Kong as well.

Come on folks... you just can't have enough 1/72 Regults! Count me in, John.

The 2nd video uses a software called "VOC@LOID", which creates synthesized vocals for songs. It's possible since Japanese use very discreet syllables that match each Katakana character. I guess it's a primitive version of Sharon Apple...

Andy, you can also get a glimpse on "Flashback 2012", available on YouTube.

Very nice! It also has that SD feeling but not deformed...

Aren't these the 1/100 resin completed kits that were available during Wonder Fest?

There are a few being auctioned off on Yahoo! Japan Auction site, with price ranging from JPY3,000 to JPY5,000. I wonder how large size "L" is. If it's made in Japan, they are usually smaller than the US size "L" which would fit me. Anyone have this info? Thanks.

They should have had it in Hong Kong or better yet, China!

I actually saw the movie on big screen in Korea while traveling on business. (It was late and I had time to kill. ) It was supposed to have cool special effects, most of which you can get a glimpse of from the trailer. But the final scene which doesn't show up anywhere in the trailers was kick-ass (purely in terms of special effects). According to an interview with the director, the movie took 5 years to shoot and 1 year to clean up with CG. Of course, that is because the director was raising funds as he went along and also put all of his personal assets into it. It doesn't come without its shortfall. The acting by both the Korean and the US cast leaves room for improvement. The plot is pretty simple and very predictable and often skimpy as well. This is a blockbuster hit in Korea because it portrays a very "Korean" legend (a monster called "imugi" which is a morph from a snake to a dragon. Every country seems to have a legend on dragons but Korea is a bit unique in a sense that people believe that the wisest and oldest of the snakes are sometimes rewarded for good deed with the greatest prize of "turning into" a dragon. But the real reason that this movie attracted a lot of viewers in Korea is because of the human drama surrounding the director "Sim, Hyung-Rae" (a/k/a Younggu). Director Sim is a well-known comedian in Korea, who started off his career playing a "fool", much like a degraded version of the British Mr. Bean, on TV. I was in grade school when he debuted and he was a sensation to kids my age and under. He amassed a fortune by starring in children's sci-fi movies during the day, making TV appearances in the evening and appearing on stages at night clubs during late nights. In real life, he shares an infatuation for animation, guns, weapons, robots, sci-fi movies, monsters and dinosaurs. He could have just as well lived a very comfortable life but instead, jumped into directing and movie producing. In particular, he spent most of his fortune when he produced a movie called "Yonggari" (which was a knock-off of Godzilla) that flopped. He lost most of his fortune and had to start again from bottom up. I am not sure if it was the smartest thing to do but he prides himself on having copied, improved, created and recreated all of the technology that went into this movie "D-War" instead of outsourcing to ILM, PIXAR and the like. Learning from his previous mistake, he went for 1st tier (although not topnotch) casting in the US and shot the entire movie (other than the intro about the Korean legend) in English. In an interview, he confessed that he had to opt for and incorporate certain elements of fantasy and lore that the West is familiar with and would have a less hard-time digesting (e.g., the smaller dragon-type creatures, which are really not dragons in the movie and evil soldiers dressed up in costume that resemble the Lord of the Rings) over purely Korean content. Note, however, that the dragon that appears at the end of the movie is certainly more true to the Korean (or Northeast Asian) form and style of dragons that you can find in sculptures and paintings. In my opinion, if you're into Godzilla, King Kong or just action-packed Sci-fi movies, it's worth viewing or at the least, renting. I certainly wouldn't mind watching it again on DVD.

That sort of reminded me... how come it's always the "pure blood" human who gets the girl? Wouldn't it be interesting to see a "half-human half-Gentradi" be the hero who survives at the end? How about a short OVA series (a "gai-den" so to speak) depicting a Gentradi soldier who gets exposure to Macross (SDF-1) during the great battle, and who decides to join U.N. Spacy? If you want it long, you can start off with him or her learning about "culture" (or protoculture) and messing things up along the way. Or you can just skip to the end and let him or her be the hero (or the heroine) and gets the girl (or boy)...

Maybe in San Francisco or on the west coast but not the east coast where I am from. Spent 5 years in New York and 3 years in Washington DC and have not heard people call these "cable cars". But then again, those two cities don't have "cable cars" or "trams" to boast of so things could be different. Anyway, different countries or cities have different names for the same thing, for example: 1. apartments, flats, lofts, etc. 2. subway, metro, underground, MTRs, etc. By the way, I wouldn't quote Wikipedia as the primary source of authority. They were found to have been wrong or in this case, "not complete" in many ways.

If I EVER decide to (or more like, have to) purge my collection, I will contact my fellow MW members including you and I guess, Mokman on Rubberslug.

Warning... as someone pointed out and I agree, it can be a very expensive hobby...

A stunning work of art! Hats off to Dobber.

No one should have to part with these babies and I am glad I helped in re-kindling your interest. But if you must and would like to find a nice home for your babies, please feel free to PM me as I am always in search of good cels.

Not to belabor this point but please note the following illustrations: In the US, if the factory QC director doesn't like the quality of products, he sends them back into the assembly line or has it disposed of. If this results from a worker's poor performance, then he or she needs to follow protocol to issue verbal warnings, official warnings, reprimands and then needs to follow company procedures (which have been agreed to with the union) before the employee in question can be dismissed. This is a pain in the you-know-where, not to mention all the paper work. In China, if the factory QC director (or any one in the managerial position) doesn't like the quality of products, he can send the employee home and hire any one of the experienced crafters waiting in line outside the factory. Heck, he can dismiss the whole assembly line if he can't pin-point the cause to a specific employee. In addition, there are companies lined up and knocking on doors of companies handing out the outsourcing contracts, all eager to produce higher quality products for less if the opportunity presents itself.

Many of the paints or materials conventionally used to produce great effects have been banned or are in the process of being outlawed, especially when producing childrens' toys. With that said, I have not seen Japan or other markets in Asia go after manufacturers (in particular, in China) on these grounds. The bigger issue is the condition of labor in factories that produce our beloved toys and finished models. Labor is inhumanely cheap in China and Japan is certainly not oblivious to it. Nevertheless, the Japanese companies continue to outsource products to Chinese manufacturers and constantly try to improve the quality without increasing wages. I suspect that some day this will blow up in their face and the consumers will be left to deal with it.

Baronv, I think I know which site you're referring to since I bought it from that site. Thanks for all your compliments. Below are some more cels for your viewing pleasure.

Just came across this thread as well. I have been collecting for about a year and a half and managed to collect about 50 cels, all from Macross TV series, Macross DYRL and Macross Flashback 2012. For some of them, I shelled out over $3K. Attached are a few of the nicer ones.

Andy, since VF-4 (fighter mode, not battroid) is one my favorite, you know I am in for one or two (or 3 depending on price).

Berttt, any chance I can get a copy of your VF-1 nose? I would be happy to pay for cost.

I have one of those conversion kits as well and I recall getting mine for a bargain (even with the Yahoo! Japan commission and fees paid to either Rinkya or Okshon (which are auction proxies in Japan), I don't recall which exactly. There is one currently offered on Yahoo! Auction Japan. The name of the Company that manufactures these (and is a regular at Wonder Festival) is called "go-ki-gen-sei-mitsu" and spelled as follows in Japanese (or I should say Chinese characters): 御機嫌精密 Graham, if you read this, you might want to upgrade this information on the WonderFest article on the main page. Below is a link that can be copied onto your browser to locate it on Yahoo! Auction Japan. http://search.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/sear...=0jp&acc=jp By the way, the instructions allow you to use either the VF-22 or the YF-21 to do these conversions. Be warned, however, there is a lot of chopping and slicing up of the Hasegawa kits (including parts that are not necessarily prone to chopping and slicing).

Fabulous... count me in for one. I may end up ordering together with Valk009. (Andy, hope you don't mind... ^ ^)