VFTF1

Re: Half Age Girls - wow. I'm surprised that it's actually that I was expecting literally half aged cute gashaprone renditions of the heroines when they were children Oh well - looks like I underestimated things again Sheryl looks great Klan Klan looks wrong Ranka looks...as someone said... THE SAME But I am kind of dissapointed as I would totally have gone for REAL half aged girls - by which I mean renditions of the children - Ranka with that pillow thing crying, Klan in that nifty outfit "swinging" Micheal, Sheryl as a poor orphan girl... And of course - I had high hopes that we would eventually get HALF AGED BOYS - and see Alto with his little paper airplane... alas... Pete

On a completely different albeit very Transformers topic... I have loved As Cybertron Turns since I first read it like...what...5 years ago? And yet I've NEVER heard it mentioned by anybody else EVER. And I kept forgetting to mention it myself. That changes today. I hope some of view have read this epic fan comic. For those who haven't... http://spacebridge2000.tripod.com/comic.html Is anybody else a big fan of this? Pete

I really really like Gamlin's Sturmvogell II. The color scheme is superior to the YF-21, as is the cockpit design - as it should be, given that the YF is just a prototype... anyways - really awesome that Yamato made this. Pete

I'd say it's worth somewhere in the range of negative zero to positive zero... Pete

It's not a fetish and it's not eww guys - it's just completetist - read the description: These are going to be figures of Ranka when she was a little girl (see the anime episode where she has the dream sequence remembering Brera, her mother and the Vajra attack), Sheryl as a little trash-grubbing orphan on Galaxy, and Klan Klan when she was little and played with Micheal. Maybe we'll even get a little Micheal to go with Klan Klan? I think it's a cute idea Pete

Obviously. After all, my dad and half my family lives in Australia - so there wouldn't be any problems there Pete

Yes, I have even MORE Gunpla joys to share with everyone! Yesterday, I got my very first taste of working in a Chinese Toy factory! I sat there assembling the same damn thing over and over and over. It got to the point where I didn't even need to look at the instructions anymore. I'd just cut the pieces out of their sprues, put them together as fast as I could, apply the screw, jam it up a Gundam's butt and move on to the next one. I speak, of course, of Gundam Action Base stands - which are AWESOME and which are so totally necessary to full exhibit the awesomeness of Gundam models themselves. The pictures bellow are taken from something I publish on my website in Poland called "Super Robot Overview" (and by "super" I mean "awesome! cool!" and not what is traditionally meant by "super robot" as opposed to "real robot" - which is why Gundams fall into the category...). Anyways, don't mind the sometimes foriegn language writing in the pic - I hope you like them! Hope you guys like my modeling! Recomendations welcome Pete

Taste is of course relative, so everyone can have different notions of what they find entertaining - but often times it's possible to at least explain WHY rather than just leaving it at "you like X and I like Y." For me, it's hard to be entertained by a Jetfire toy that looks nothing like Jetfire from the movie in either jet or robot mode, and which even standing on its' own, could use more paint aps and less kibble. "the best Macross figures" - on the other hand - meaning Yamato figures - are anime accurate, pain stakingly painted, perfectly variable, extremely poseable and feature numerous additions (like removable cockpits) which are not just gimmicks (like a light and sound box on the TF), but actually a sensible reference to the anime. I can see how someone would be entertained by a very good Jetfire toy - but by that? Hard for me to get excited over it. Pete

Clinton. Godzilla. If my theories are correct, that won't help at all. As you can see from my posts, I argue that the cause here is external. Pete

I haven't seen the movie yet, but why does he have Decepticon symbols? Pete

Is that one Monica? I hate upskirt shots - they totally ruin the curvature that a girl gets thanks to a well designed skirt... As for the Macross 7 comics - I don't undertsand them. Why is Basara clueless as to what he should do whenever someone tells him to stop singing? Mylene is nice - the character is...now that I think about it...nnn...so vague... Hard to pin... She's like...undefined. Mylene just ...hmm... Ah - now I remember - I really thought she was cute in that episode where she snuck after Basara into the forrest where Sivil was sleeping in her...um...cacoon thing... I need to watch Macross 7 again - seriously. Pete

Last time I was in New York, the entire city had a black out. So that explains the trouble on your end. Anybody else? Pete

But the Klan figure is none-removable from what I've seen. At least I HOPE she's none removable, since she actually looks pretty lame. Pete

Well, counting Jenius - so far only Poland, Canda and California are having trouble with getting things to function properly. No surprises there Until somebody from someplace else confirms these problems, we might as well just accept our fate guys... Pete

Well you're from a bankrupt state - so that explains it. Anybody NOT from Canda, Poland or California having these problems? Because otherwise the blame is clearly to be placed on our locations Pete

I have the same thing. And it happened to me before. However, when I emailed Gubaba one time - he said he could access the webpage just fine, so I attributed it to living in Poland where everything has a tendency to stop working for short periods of time just because :-) So I feel somewhat relieved that YOU are having the same problem as me. Pete Edit: notices Mr. March is from Canada. Well - so much for that. You live in Canda, so clearly Canda is to blame.

Re: the light and sound feature - I have a suspicion that Hasbro's target market actually prefers lights and sounds to having no kibble under the fusealage. That is to say - 5 year olds don't care how inaccurate the thing is when compared to either the live action on-screen version or to the real-life vehicle. All they care about is that it goes "wwwwwwweooooooooooooo ratatararararrataratratatatataa!! BOOOOM!" and transforms from something that vaguely aproximates a cool jet to something that vaguely aproximates a cool robot. Kawamori has better things to be doing with his life than designing ROTF Jetfire. I did, however, appreciate that he was brought in to design the MP Seekers and the little Convoy. Also, just as an aside, I might be wrong here - but didn't Kawamori also design the original Diaclone seekers? Pete

As nice as these are, especially the Klan Klan - I am holding out for a 1/60 DX. Pete

Re: Anime52k8's Nanase pic: Best one of the lot. I think the explanation for 'what is she doing' is two fold: 1. Notice how she's lying down in exactly the same pose as Sheryl in that magazine? 2. Remember in episode 8, when Nanase confronted Sheryl in the shower and told her to leave Ranka alone, and that Ranka can do just fine without Sheryl hustling her to try to give her a "hand" ? Sheryl made a remark abou how beautiful Nanase was. I think Nanase didn't expect that. She never seemed to think of herself as a girl that could be as attractive as other women - not even as Ranka. She was just a loyal friend and a caring person. So - I think in this pic she's taking a moment to reflect on her sexual appeal and feminity - something she doesn't usually do in the anime. Actually - something she NEVER does in the anime. She really is good looking Probably the best looking Macross girl ever. Funny that she ends up being a side-lined character. Pete

Don't feel bad. All of the Yamato Valkyrie are awesome for their time. Just like Bandai's chunkie monkeys are. I think the problem you might be having is that you're immediately thinking how much it will cost you to buy up all the v.2s. Don't think that way. Just start with one. Can you save up for one? Maybe the VF-1D or the Elintseeker - something special (IMO), or your favorite hero from Skull Squadron? And don't worry about getting them all quickly, or about "how long is this going to take?" or "where will I get the funds?" Thinking like that will just make you depressed and lead to a heart attack. Just get one for now and when you can - try getting another. Before you know it you'll have a big collection of v.2s without having to sell off your old ones. I had only ONE version 1 1/60 and the only 1/72s I owned were the VF-11B (broken legs) and the YF-21. Given this fact, it really was NOT a big sacrifice to sell these guys when I did. Same with the 1/48s, as I explained above - which I only got into at the time when Yamato was just gearing up with the v.2 1/60s. I'm glad you're not giving up your 1/48s. But I would still encourage you to just be patient and get a 1/60 VF-1D. Why do they all have to be in 1/48 scale? Pete

It doesn't matter how confusing it is if the end result is bucket loads of great products. What I really love about the Japanese market is that there is no license hoarding, but instead it seems that multiple companies can buy the licensing rights to the same thing and have their own crack at it. So you have Kaiyodo doing some Macross figures, you have Yamato working their magic, you have Bandai's stuff, and then you have all of the statue makers like Megahouse and what not also making sculpts. Everyone is competing but it's like a race to the top - who can make the better product? And also - since these guys really diversify in order to stand out and not just be a repeat of what the other dude did, what ends up happening is people just want all of it. Too bad Harmony Gold's products are so piss poor that rather than desiring to play along and actually compete with people making excellent stuff, they retreat to legal arguments and lawyers... Pete

I have said it already - but what really dissapoints is that Live Action Transformers SHOULD have been the TF event of our life times. Instead... Bleh. Pete EDIT: Let me add one more point: His head looks like it has the cockpit up there - but then the entire cockpit is actually hanging off his arm?? So ... which is it?

I probably wouldn't mind sleeping with him if I was really drunk. But I'm sure Alto actually wouldn't let himself be picked up by a guy, drunk or otherwise. I mean - he is pretty weary of Bobby and does not react well to gay people hitting on him. This is of course a major bad strategy, since there's nothing better then leading gay people on and getting them to buy you drinks all night only to tell them at the end of the evening "sorry but I'm straight" - it really helps save money. See - Alto's just got feminine looks and is a tad over-concerned about his looks because has the actor's instinct of wanting to look good for his public. Girls love this because they can play with his hair and stuff. Alto lets cute girls play with his hair because it's cool when cute girls play with you. No-brainer. But I seriously don't think any guy would ever score Alto - Alto would never go willingly. I don't detect any bit of actual homosexuality in the character at all. He's just a pretty boy. So here I guess I agree with Alto having the virtue of manliness. I spent all day searching the internet for ONE stupid picture - namely the VF-25F Messiah doing the Kabuki pose from Macross Frontier, episode 4 because I think that's a decent response to the "badass pilot" notion... I mean - ultimately - what it boils down to is whether or not you think it's manly to be an artist - and Alto is pretty much an Artist, kind of like Basara. But the difference is that Bassara sings loud glam rockin' songs that are screamin' manly - plus he's so focused and single-minded that this too is manly. Alto on the other hand is engaged in a "softer" and more subtle art - and it's the delicacy of that art that can make him seem feminine. But aside from all the 'alto hime' jokes - I don't think he's at all feminine really. He's a good male protagonist. Pete

That's just horrible. It looks like a robot using a jet as a glider. The hands sticking out from under the cockpit is just a really bad bad bad design - and it's the same problem that ROTF Starscream seems to have, albeit his hands stick out from under the afterburners (although I guess that's progress in the world of Transformers, since the Movie 07 version had the HEAD sticking out under the afterburners)... EDIT: It also doesn't seem to stick together as well. At least with cars and trucks and tanks they manage to make those look generally sleeker (although not always) - here it just seems to be wavey and wiggly all the way through - as if they couldn't get that nose to just be sleek and straight, and the wings have a wierd droop. And the colors of the kibble are so horribly bland. It almost makes me cringe when thinking about transforming it to a form where those bland colors become the ....main colors Good for you. I know that when I finally manage to secure my first JP G1 figure, it'll be easy to buy more. I was aiming for Victory Greatshot at BBTS, but someone beat me to it. Then I took aim at Victory Star Saber, but I can't seem to find one that WON'T cost me a thousand dollars when all is said and done (shipping, the inevitable taxes blah blah blah)... Again - I tell myself it's the first one that always hurts the most - which is why I really want to start from a good figure like Star Saber or Great Shot or someone like that - then it'll be easier to follow through with the future ones. Of course, Takara-Tomy could also solve my problem by starting to just reissue Victory... Pete

This is Revoltech Yoko's stand. It is bent. It is the only Fraulein stand that something like this has happened to. At first, I was a little upset at Kaiyodo - maybe I got a defective stand that had very bad durability? Then - I realized I should praise Kaiyodo to the ground. Why? Because the stand is so anime accurate! After all? How did it get that way? Answer: YOKO YOU HAVE A BIG FAT ASS THAT BREAKS KAIYODO STANDS!!! ANIME ACCURATE REVOLTECH YOKO ASS ATTACK HASHIN!! Ahem. And to finish off, a family picture: Please note: Ayanami Rei was not hurt in the making of that photograph. Contrary to what you are seeing, Gurren Lagann does NOT have her head on a drill-pike. She was posing behind him, and that's just how it came out... Fight the Powa! Pete