VFTF1

I do agree that the ROTF Prime looks like they put a substantial amount of effort into it - not enough effort to make it perfect or as good as it should be - but certainly enough effort to warrnat the retail price. It is a great piece at that price and a fine effort. So yes - just to show I'm not biased - I agree. However, it also seems like all the R&D money went into developing leader Prime and then the plan is to get the R&D investment back by selling things like Supreme Devastator, which clearly was designed by somebody's 5 year old kid, drawn with a Crayon on some toilet paper and approved by a Hasbro exec AFTER he'd blown his nose in it by accident. As to keeping costs down... yeah; I will admit I quit on Hasbro to keep costs down. Transformers were just not selling well and Hasbro was just not making it worth my while to carry them. But this is probably because Transformers is pretty much the only major toy line carried in real-time non-internet retail outlets all over Poland... If the economy were better, I'd still stock the crap as a loss leader just to get people to come, buy something from Hasblow, and maybe take something better while they're there. But with the economy being crack and negotiating with a Hasbro rep being about as realistic as kissing the ass of an 80 year old woman after she'd taken a crap in some poison ivy ... yes - cutting costs is the way to go But - if the Takara Tomy stuff actually ends up looking extremely good - as in like the FrenzyRumble customs that have been posted, I might just be game for them. I do agree that a lot of what makes these toys look ugly is the paint job - or rather the lack of paint. It's like somebody (sometimes) took the time to sculpt details but then nobody cared enough to ...actually paint them. On old G1 Transformers, there were no details. The sculpt was usually smooth. The details were all decals that you applied - often times imitating shapes with breadth and width even. The end result looked kind of cartoony, but that's part of the charm and..hey - it WAS a cartoon But what's the point in these new sculpts where there is detail but no painting? Pete

Hm... Mr. Chogokin - on the one hand I agree with you. If I had a big collection of 1/48s before the v.2 came out - I'd keep it sure. I mean - other than the lack of the double shoulder joint - the 1/48s are perfect give or take... But... on the other hand - I don't think the v.2 will vanish into obscurity. I mean - if anything - that'll be the fate of the v.1... The sculpt on the v.2 is just too perfect, and the dis-attaching cockpits and all the other features are just too awesome. But yeah - you are right the 1/48 is not going to be something peopel don't want anymore in the future. In fact, I can see most people going back to their 1/48s collecting after getting the v.2s they want... Pete

Ha ha. I knew Takara-Tomy would give us something better as usual. But I'm still not getting it. Poo doo to Transformers - except G1, Henkei and Masterpiece. Er- and Beast Wars. Pete

Sell the girl. Keep the Valkyrie. I mean - you really shouldn't have to give up your Valkyrie collection on account of a woman. Just tell her she has a boyfriend who loves his airplanes more than he loves her. Besides - you don't keep your Valks in the kitchen, or on the bed - so how can she possibly take up any more space than those two places? Pete

I'm now listening to God Knows by Haruhi Suzumiya! Bomba! Pete

Thanks for the link. I guess that review has reminded me to panel line mine... Oh well. I don't mind. It's still an awesome piece. And those butt-boosters make more sense now. One needn't have leg articulation when one has butt boosters in conjunction with ankle boosters If I had boosters coming out of my butt, I wouldn't mind not being able to sit on the toilet Pete

Yeah... this is a tough call. It all depends how many 1/48s you have? I had four, out of which only two were heros. I sold two and kept two. Big whoop. Thankfully I didn't manage to create a huge 1/48 collection and so when the 1/60s came out I focused on them. If you have a big collection with all the main hero characters like Roy, Hikaru, Max, Kakizake, Milia -- I would say DON'T SELL. But if you just have a few of them - sell and aim for a big collection of 1/60s. Pete

Well - on the titanium coating the stub marks just make it look a little whethered. What I hate a stub marks on hands - because they just look like... well...stubby plastic Anyways - built my first Gundam stand too. In a bit of a hussle today, so no time to make pics yet but I love the stands! Pretty soon, everybody's gonna get a stand rammed up their butt! Unicorn was the first - and he was so happy - I could tell because he finally started flexing those legs and taking on some stellar poses... Speaking of stellar poses - either I did something wrong (again) or the leg armor limits leg mobility EVEN more... But I can't believe that - I must have done something wrong... it was too close to midnight for me to be thinking clearly Pete

You mean like the one in your Avatar? What do you call the 1/60 SV-51? That's a pretty big time achievement. Pete

Where'd you get that nice Misa on your profile pic Psajdak? http://myanimelist.net/profile/Psajdak Which kind of makes me wonder... If only Misa could sing - would she beat Minmey in a love song contest? I kind of imagine Misa's songs would be full of sorrow because of Riber... I think the only time she was actually happily in love was when Hikaru came to rescue her from Alaska base - er... just kind of thinking... She was the only big time Macross idol who never sang any songs but still moved everyone's hearts.... interesting... Pete

I hope they paid Peter Cullen enough that he can afford to That dude deserve it. Pete

WHAT!? Gubaba - not only do you get to go to all these awesome concerts, but high school girls sell you tickets in exchange for you spending the following night with them!? DAMN! You're lucky!!!!!!!!!!! Pete

Ok - this picture quality sucks because there is too much bright light which completely fails to show off the beauty of titanium coating... so as soon as I build some stands and get some decent picks of him I'll post 'em - but this one is just a quick "yay, I'm finally done!" pic : Pete

Ok - how's this then: DYRL Needs to be re-released into the theatres so we can all go see it on the big screen. Lucas did this with the original Star Wars trilogy in the early 1990s. I know people laugh at him for the 'digitally remastered' scenes - but those are few and far between. The main point is - it was possible to relive the thrill of seeing Star Wars as a kid. So I would say - DYRL needs to go to the movie theatres again! Pete

I keep logging on to this thread and seeing these amazing pictures of good looking Transformers. Then I realize they are customs sigh... Pete

Exo - that's only partially true. Yamato does need to keep thinking up ideas about how to make the Valkyrie more anime accurate and how to expand what is available (diaoramas - heck now that they're doing those VFM or whatever super poseable figures of Queens Blade - maybe THEY can do Misa and the gang without waiting for Kaiyodo?) . Also, Yamato is obviously probably always thinking about how to make their business more cost effective. I'm sure if it was financially feasable, we'd get dioramas, crews, sets - the whole nine yards. The way I see it - they are trying to have the quality of complexiy of Studio Half Eye, but also offer the generally affordable prices of Bandai - so... lots of thought. Lots of engineering, lots of sculpting and lots of marketing independent of BW and Kawamori And Shadow Strikes - don't bad mouth the mods. You'd really be surprised how much info is out there and how much info lots of people on these boards have that you don't. When I was new to to this forum, I would also sometimes talk out of my butt due to ignorance - and honestly - nobody's blaming you for not knowing something. Just relax, be patient and read around in the threads that people are linking to. There's really a ton of info here. There's not a "Party Line" - people are free to disagree - and there's even a thread for discussion of Robotech/Macross stuff - but it does help a lot when you have all the facts and all the info before voicing an opinion. I speak from my own experience on this Pete

Thanks for all the tips Transfan52! I was afraid of that... I have no clue where I can even get any puddy around here... The stubs on the Titanium/chrome finish kit actually don't look too bad even - because it just looks like "Rust/weathering" rather than a plastic stub... But I guess in the final analysis one day I will have to buy spray paint, hang the sprus up outside on little strings and pppppppppppssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!! spray them prior to assembly.... one day... The problem I have is that I don't know where in Warsaw I can walk in and say "hey - I need some spray paint, some puddy, this that and something else." There is an online shop though with modeling goods... so I might eventually get around to buying some from them.... Both of my Unicorns are Mastergrade. The first one is Version Kai, the second is Titanium. I too love the design of this mecha. It doesn't break easy at all. It's fairly solid. If you built it right- which I'm discovering the secnd time around - it's solid as a rock. I think that my first Unicorn just has some parts stuck in upside down, right side up... and that's why it was a tad loose. But this time around, since I've got more than a few builds under my belt - including 1/72 Ozma - I feel like I'm doing a better job and I get the feeling the model is coming out more solid. I like Destroy Mode as well - that's why I'll probably up and build a third Unicorn to display in Destroy mode One in Psycho-Frame, one in Destroy, and one as inner frame As soon as I finish building Titanium Coating Unicorn, I'm gonna build a couple of Gundam Stands and put both the inner frame Unicorn and the armored Unicorn up in some nice poses - pictures will be incoming then. But inner-frame Unicorn reminds me of EVA - he looks very menacing. The ONLY complaint I have about this model is that the legs do not bend as far back at the knee as I would like. He can't crouch. I'm not exactly sure why this is the case - but there it is. Great for space combat though Pete

Happy birthday DYRL! We will always remember love! Pete

That's just without the helment, which is removable - which was a big surprise for me - and a pleasant one! The head sculpt is great, and it's being "tiny" is not correct. It's just that Dangaurd Ace is so HUGE! Pete

Nice nice nice! I find the Queens Blade statues - and therefore designs - extremely pleasing. However, when looking at the Revoltech I was dissapointed by the hips. Revoltech does ok when hips are covered by skirts and even when the skirts are removable and there are panties. They've actually improved as I've just discovered with Asahina Mikuru - from their intial skirt-dropping Tohsaka Rhin - in terms of getting a nice female form done... But Riena is diffent. They apparently don't have panties or skirts in the middle ages or where ever she comes from - so you need hips that aren't holes... Looks like Yamato has done it again. That ass is totally worth 70 bucks Pete

Neat I think that Bassara looks perfect. He'd annoy the hell out of anybody!! A+ As for Sheryl - can't complain well done. Pete

I guess I should write something positive about Transformers once in a while since it was my first true love... Today I got my Henkei Hotshot. I am kind of amused about the fact that Henkei Jolt is like seven steps down from Armada Jolt. It seems that in Armada, the Minicons were amazingly well sculpted, poseable and have neato ingenious transformations while all the bigger robots basically sucked. Now, with Henkei, it's the reverse. Hotspot is kickass, Jolt is worthy of being a bad knock off. Best keep him in helicopter mode.... As for Hotspot, a tiny bit dissapointed at his Hotrod license plate but I guess that's who he was/is in Japan - so ok... I love his chrome exhaust pipes/weapons. Very nice transformation. The arms are still kind of limited in what they can do, but it's certainly a step up from Armada - albeit without the minicon powerlinx gimmick. So really - again they got a bit lazy, because having a more anime accurate Hotshot would essentially mean having something that has the gimmick PLUS the poseability/better sculpt. Oh wait ... I was supposed to say something positive...stick to positive...positive...flowers...bunny rabbits... JAM! Pete

Translation: Well personally, I'm outraged that Yamato is doing nothing but milking the VF-1. Oh - and can you believe that the VT-1 is delayed and not only that but ok - I like the VT-1, but can't they ALSO make a version with a Misa figure - there's an idea. Why don't they do that. But yeah, in general they are greedy and keep milking the mold. Good point Eugimon Pete

Now, now. Didn't you do some pretty dumb things when you were sixteen? When I was sixteen, I kissed my first girl...now that I think about it...there was this hill in switzerland...you'd walk down a winding road, take a left onto a path and there was this hill and we went up there, sat on some rocks and I think I asked her if she would kiss me, and she asked me if I had ever kissed a girl before and we kissed...beautiful red head - curly red hair... last name of Dusang (French for "Of Blood" basically :-) ) ... Uh - anyways - my point here is let's not beat up too much on SS. He's here, he's into Macross, he's learning the ropes and hopefully his heart will guide him. After all - we all believe Macross is better and Robotech is no-no not because that's what the rules here say, but because that's what our hearts say, and the rules just reflect that. I'm confident that the more he watches, reads and learns, SS will come to love Macross more. I mean - correct me if I'm wrong - but are there ANY cases of someone starting as a DYRL/SDFM TV fan - and then discovering Robotech and saying "wow! That original Macross sucks! Now this - this Robotech is awesome! See ya!" ... cause I'd be surprised if there were Um...and Yamato will never run out of ideas because we will never run out of love! An as Ranka's manager says, Bunka is Ai! Ai is Bunka! Bunka and Ai are powerful forces! Pete

I've found that I do better with women who don't know what I'm saying. Then they imagine I must be saying what they want to hear Pete