VFTF1

But seriously- can someone please explain the wheel cane thing? Pete

So... Just to prove I'm retarded, I made the same mistake twice. I really wanted to see those Mobile Suite Gundam compilation movies rather than retreaving the 20 plus episodes of the original series that I haven't seen and... accidentally downloaded that damned Gundam SEED movie... oops. Anyways, I also started re-downloading MS Gundam (the original series) - figuring - what the hey. I watched about 16 or maybe 20 episodes before my computer crashed taking all of my anime with it... Having recovered Macross Frontier, Gurren Lagann, and DYRL (still gotta get around to saving SDFM TV)...I started yearning for Gundam again - largely because I have all these Gundam models sitting around that I need to build and wanted to get motivated... Anyways - I watched the first part of the Gundam SEED movie while waiting for "Gundam Rising" to load - and then watched that. Now - this is fun - because I'm watching both a second time, and getting a chance to compare them. And - yeah - naturally I still like MSG better than the SEED movie - but now I can specify why... and...it's wierd but... It's because of the Animation Yeah - wierd... right? But seriously - SEED is too clean; and I don't like the characters hair. They're all grunge babies. They look like a cross between Bon Jovi and Nirvana. I love Bon Jovi (Nirvana not so much), but that doesn't mean EVERYBODY has to have hair like Bon Jovi. I prefer the 70s hair of the MS Gundam people because it makes it look more realistic - or at least makes it look like I can actually connect to these people... Er...ok - that's a pretty weak criticism...but... I also like that MS Gundam is SLOWER. It's slow, but thanks to this it's also high on detail. Details like the eery silence and breathing-in-a-tin-can that we get at the very opening, with the "pssst!" as the Zakus change direction. LOVELY. SO much better than the death metal guitar riff and porno-orgasmic-voice-over-posing-for-suspenseful-gasps that SEED is full of. I also like the fact that the soliders in MS Gundam are less flamboyant, more focused, and more human. In SEED, EVERYBODY has aristocratic names, locks in their hair, and EVERYBODY is always screaming like...well - like Alto.. Only Alto being melodramatic is fine because he's a Kabuki actor, he's flamboyant, and he's a conscious girly-boy in terms of his looks. Also - he's the only one going "WWWWRRRAAAAAAAAA!!!!" Michael doesn't do it. Luca doesn't do it. Klan does it like once or twice (and then it's something like "MIIIKKKHAAAEEELLL!!!") and heck - even Ozma doesn't do it; and when he does - it's timed better.... But these guys in SEED are all like...GASP! IS THAT YOU TOFU LE-CLERK!? YAAAARGGG!!" and it just gets really absurd... Also, I guess I don't like the "powered up" Mobile Suits in SEED. All those extra weapon limbs... yuck... Err... Guess I haven't said anything new here - but it just often strikes me that the retro old stuff is so much better than the newer stuff...in general... Oh well - maybe this time I'll manageto finish MSG Pete

Well - now we know WHY ROTF Jetfire combines with Optimus Prime: It's because pig-backing on Prime sure beats walking around hunched over and using a cane all the time. It looks like somebody figured "hm - I know - we'll make Jetfire look like my Great Grandfather who spent 50 years working in a coal mine and ended up covered in soot, hunched over, and couldn't walk without a cane." The combined mode, by the way - is utterly pointless. It's a fine study in "Why Decking TFs in jutted Kibble is a bad idea to begin with." Why? Because then when you add a "combining" TF - it just looks like you've added more kibble. I mean - WHAT possible benefit has Prime acquired here? Jetfire, we know - he doesn't have to suffer walking with a cane any more - fine - but Prime? He certainly isn't faster with all that weight dangling off his back. Has he acquired amazing aero-dynamic wings? Oh - he has Jetfire's gun. Wow. Big leap forward there... It KIND OF reminds me of the combination from Transformers: Cybertron/Galaxy Force - but at least Optimus actually had a NEW CHEST armor plate with a cool Autobot cressent, above the shoulders weapons as well as WINGS. What has he got here? NOTHING. As for Jetfire himself... Is this munkey granfather aesthetic going to be the norm for all jet Transformers now? I mean - clearly the influence of the munkey Starscream design is vissible on this figure. Except Starscream at least had massive gorrila like arms with lots of missiles and stuff in them. This guy looks like he's been hooked up to an IV. In fact - given the wheel on his cane - they should have just made that thing an IV instead of a cane... The only thing I like is the Jet mode. Because it reminds me of Overlord. I just can't get my head around how bad these look- AGAIN Pete

WARNING: The following is full of foul language, however, hopefully the mods will find it funny enough that I won't have to edit the foul language. If foul language offends you - I am sorry. Hopefully, you will laugh BEGIN: Graaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm studying for my driving exam. I have to go take the test on Weds. 18 questions out of 500 - randomly chosen. Basically I have to memorize the answers to 500 fricking questions... And no - it's not logical. It's not simple poo like "do you stop at a stop sign?" It's assanine poo that MAKES NO fartING SENSE!! Here's some examples: QUESTION: If a person is unconscious after a car accident. Do you - a) Shake him and ask "hey- what's wrong?" b) slap him delicately in the face to see if it wakes him up c) douse him with water? The correct answer?... Before I tell you - let me say that obviously - being an American - the FIRST thing that LOGICALLY enters my mind is "DON'T fartING TOUCH THE PERSON!!" Because- hey - they could have spinal injuries - you're not a doctor - you don't have any knowledge - you could end up paralyzing them.... But clearly that isn't one of the options.. Douse them with water? Well - poo - what if you don't have any water? So...I figured... that can't be the answer... So... I picked "slap him in the face" - thinking - poo - this has the least potential to do harm - although of course with back injuries or sprained necks - even the slightest movement could be fatal... THE REAL ANSWER? If you guessed A - YOU'RE RIGHT!!! Yes - it's like taking your drivers exam in farting Borat Land!!! The RIGHT ANSWER AND APPARENTLY LEGALLY OBLIGATORY THING TO DO is SHAKE THE fartING PERSON and say "hey, what's wrong?" I'm not making this poo up guys - it's hilarious - but it's also just sooooooooooo stupid!!! I'm gonna have to turn my brain off to pass this exam... Other brilliant farting examples: Q: How do you try to re-animate a baby's heart? a) with one hand b) with two fingers c) with one finger Q: How do you try to re-animate a pre-schooler's heart? a) with one hand b) with two fingers? c) with two hands? .... There's a picture of a car driving on a three-lane road. All farting three lanes go STRAIGHT. THere are NO SIGNS anywhere indicating that the car can't be there... The question is: This car is a) breaking the law b) should switch lanes to the farthest right lane c) should switch lanes to the middle lane ANSWER? a) and b) together... WHY!?? What the fart law is it breaking!?!? Or questions like this: Q: If by chance you happen to take your foot off the gear pedal too early before pressing down on the break pedal then.... a) something something something which I don't give a frickin frack about because I drive automatics!! b) something something something which I don't give a frickin frack about because I drive automatics!! c) something something something which I don't give a frickin frack about because I drive automatics!!! And there are like 600 farting road signs to remember - 590 of which don't make any farting sense whatsoever!! Here's an example of some of them: Now - granted - most of these signs are pretty self evident - although a couple of them are not... But what is ANNOYING is that the questions to the signs are fartING STUPID!! Take for example sign number A-11. A-11 is a picture of two bumps in the road- right? Pretty straight forward - you see the sign - and you think - ok - un-even road, potholes - whatever... But - the question is: SIGN A-11 signals that: a) Horizontal bumps in the road will appear b) Vertical bumps in the road will appear c) Man-Made bumps in the road will appear And the correct answer is that HORIZONTAL bumps in the road will appear!!?!? Why!??! Because potholes ALWAYS go from left to right or right to left and NEVER straight ahead?!? Is there a different sign for potholes that go straight ahead!??! (and no- it's no A-11a - that's farting Man Made Speedbump!!) Of course - my favorite is the sign or rather three different signs (not shown) which basically signal - NO PARKING IN FRONT OF THIS SIGN/NO PARKING BEYOND THIS SIGN/ NO PARKING IN FRONT OF OR BEYOND THIS SIGN. For SOME farting reason - the sign that signals NO PARKING IN FRONT OF THIS SIGN ALSO suggests you CAN park in front of it "for under one minute." AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! There's absolutely nothing you can do except just memorize all 500 of these assanine idiotic questions and all of their god foresaken answers. No point in even trying to think about what's going on. Just remember folks - if you see a man sprawled in a pool of blood on the road in Poland - you MUST run up to him, shake him and say "are you ok!?" Stupid wankers. They have all these crappy rules but not one damned highway in the whole country... Pete

It's because in Europe you have to pay import taxes plus VAT. Therefore, EMS or not, it's going to sit in customs for a long time anyways. Pete

Lovely Z'Gok...Especially like the muddy feet I think I'm going to build my v.2 Char's Zaku II now... and also I think I'm gonna go panel line my other Gundams... Maybe I'll do the Z'Gok next... Pete

Well - I don't think any of my Valkyrie are discolored. Heck - none of my ANYTHING are discolored... But maybe I've just got optimistic eye sight? According to Dangaurd Ace, my 1/48 1J is yellowing - but I just think that the 1/48 was never as pearly white as the v.2 1/60 to begin with. I hope that the face that my whole collection is kept in a dark closet helps? I only turn on the lights in there when I want to either photograph something or take something out for play time... EDIT: RE: Colour vs. Colour... That's not the only english word Euros spell different. Theatre, Centre, Programme - there's a whole ton of them. In my writting, I write in American english, but when writing for Europeans I have found myself accomodating their wacko spelling because otherwise they contend that I don't know english - and telling them "I'm an American" doesn't help because then they just think "oh - that explains why you're ignorant and can't spell correctly" So - whatever Pete

I forgot... have I showed off my VF-25S yet? He's panel lined even I think I'm gonna weather him a bit Love these models Pete

Makes perfect sense to me... In Poland, there is a saying which translates as " 'Till the End of the World - and one day longer!" - it's been used mainly by a charity program that runs every year to raise money for medical treatment of children. They always play concerts and have a big money raising thing - and they always shout "We're gonna play until the End of the World - and one day longer!" So - when I heard (well, read the sub) of Ranka saying "Hold me until the end of the Galaxy!!" I pretty much understood it to be kind of like this earlier slogan, which also has a bit of a twisted logic to it... In Ranka's case, it essentially means - "We're gonna spread this message to the far reaches of the galaxy/we're gonna spread this song" - the idea is to catch hold of her - in your heart, in your thoughts, - and "her" meaning her song and the heart in her songs and "ride" it to the end of the galaxy. I really love that little catch phrase of hers. It's great Pete

Dag - a 1:48 VF-25 would be huge I mean - it would be like three times the size of a 1:48 VF-1! That would be bigger than the upcoming 1:5000 SDF-1... Pete

Don't let the pics fool you though... Just rmember that for 200 bucks you are getting: 1. Non-poseable hands. You have to swap hands on this thing. And it's not like with Yamato where the hands are poseable, and you still get extras just for anime accurate "TV series" or "Dyrl" hands - all of the swapping hands are completely unposeable. 2. Shopping Cart wheels. For 200 bucks you get wheels that look like they came off of a 10 dollar Transformers Cybertron scout jet or something. 3. Ugly tabs on the cockpit hatch. Open the cock pit and behold your 200 buck BIG UGLY TABS jutting out the sides. So anime accurate that you'll miss them in the anime... 4. Disembodied pilots. Forget about detailed cockpits like with Yamato. The pilot is not even removable. In fact, the pilot has no legs and is a set piece just moulded into the dour and ugly cock pit. 5. Erectile Disorder: Notice how nobody's showing off the DX Ozma. That's because all of the Ozmas have erectile disorder. Their heads have bent antenas. Supposedly these can be fixed by blow driers.... 6. Turtle head: Ozma also suffers from Bandai forgetting to give im a proper neck. Apparently you can customize this by sticking a Revoltech joint or someting in there.... 7. Gunpod on a stick... The Gunpod attachment is disgraceful. There is a thin stick that you have to attach to the Gerwalk's butt and then stick the gunpod on the end of that. 8. Knife in box. There's no where to store the knife on the 200 buck DX. Look - to make a long story short - the way I see it is this: You need to spend about one thousand dollars to get all of the hero mecha in the DX line from Macross Frontier. 1000 dollars is a lot of dough for four mecha. You don't get your monies' worth. Better to get more Yamato mecha for that price. Bandai does great stuff when they put their heart and mind into it. They failed miserably on these things. These are totally not worthy of being called Chogokin. but in general - it is sad that all of Bandai MF products have these problems - problems that Yamato wouldn't have had. Yamato is the best. Hopefully Bandai will give us some renewal MF valkyrie in the future... Pete

If it's PG then I'm presuming it'll be 1:60 scale? Now mind you, I've never built or seen a PG kit with my own eyes - although I have read enough to "know" that the PG Gundam Wing Zero is terrible compared to the MG Gundam Wing Zero - at least from what I've read (about the feathers on the PG kit not moving and the like?) ... But in general - I'd be up for a PG kit IF it meant that the thing would essentially be far more durable once assembled. But still - it all really just boils down to one thing: they need to fix the DX. If they want to fix the DX by selling it in 400 pieces and calling it "PG" - fine... Just fix the DX... By fix I mean - wheels that both look good and actually FIT into the wheel area, a Gunpod that is held some OTHER way than by sticking it on a long plastic slab that looks tacky and not anime accurate. A canopy that actually OPENS and does NOT have those disgusting pegs on the side that make me think I'm looking at a Gobot and not at a Chogokin... In the end - I got the model only because it looks better than the DX.. not because I inherently prefer modeling or something .. Pete

I'm with Edwin on this. Building the 1:72 model is fun and it is the best that Bandai has made but... The gunpod still can't attach properly... The wheels - though much nicer than the DX- are detachable rather than being integral The legs can't pivot left or right for good Gerwalk posing... This is all too much to ask of a model kit - but it's just sucky and yucky that we have - what - THREE different VF-25 figure on the market and all of them pretty much SUCK if we go by Yamato standards.... Save us Yamato! Acquire the license please Or is there even a REMOTE chance that Bandai will come out with Renewal versions of the DX that remedy the numerous problems? Pete

Hm - just noticed the sniper rifle... So we can re-create the 'Coup de Grace' (literally!) scene... cool... But wasn't he un-armored in that scene? RE: Decals. Great. Thanks for the info... I think. But - whatever - I want to decorate Ozma with Sheryl Nome decals and I will... although I was also thinking of customizing one of my VF-1s from Yamato... Or maybe my VF-0...Birdman Sheryl lover? why not? ... Hmm...in fact...should I do that? It would be fun I could have a VF-0 from Macross Frontier then Pete

I actually like the humor. I like Sam's parents. Ronald is just the kind of guy I always wanted to be. He's got a hot wife, a nice car and he obviously eats alot The dynamic of the family is all out fun - not just funny but just fun. It's perfect. It's also exactly the way the whole thing was set up in the original comics, where Sparkplug and Buster were just a regular American midwestern family with a completely irregular set of ...first names ... As for girls - I think it would be interested if Sam found a new girl in college - or at least was tempted to - only to realize that his high school sweet heart is the one for him... Then again - it would be hard to imagine - after going through what they went through together with Mikeala, that Sam would really be very excited by....well...ANY other girl... As for Bumblebee and antics - why not? Honestly - I really like the way the movie is structured - the first one. I like EVERYTHING about it. Most of all, as a fan of the comic book, I like just how much the first movie feels like the original Marvel comics. I also think this second movie will rock on that account. The one thing I hate is Hasbro's piss poor execution of the toys. Pete

Sweet, but I think I'm going for the armored DX Ozma. I've still got a battalion of Zeon and Federation forces to build for Gundam - and these 1/72 kits take a big chunk of time... An MG VF-25?? In what sense? The one we have now has an inner frame for all intents and purposes. I don't really think there's much of a need to make a more complex or detailed kit of these. Last pics of the day: Pete

Well - I'm not afraid of screwing up. I never screw up. Except that one time when I let that half cm Ozma face sticker fall on the floor and TOTALLY couldn't find it and had to pull out a second unit to get at the sticker for it and swear to therefore build that second unit as a non-variable Sheryl decal love machine... no mistakes other than that... Dag... well - I hope I don't screw up when time comes to apply sheryl... Do you suggest I apply the decals PRIOR to construction? That is to say - I've been applying the stickers on the VF-25S as construction goes along rather than at the end since I'm kind scared that when I put it together it would be harder to apply stickers. Same with decals I presume? Anyways - for now I'm panel lining for the first time in my life. Here's the wing unit. I also panel lined the rear -legs and pretty much the entire nosecone and cockpit and surrounding area. Fun.

That's sweet Halfan Very very nice Gonna have to pick this VF-11B up sooner rather than later. Now - is the sub-heading true... in the end - no trouble with the heat shield? Graham was just doing something wrong? Pete

Thanks guys What do you think about taking a cue-tip, dipping it in water, and "soaking" each individual decal marker before sliding it off? Also - are decals preferable to stickers in any way? So far - the Dry Transfers from my MG Gundams are my favorite type of marking because it's like painting on the design without having to paint - and there is absolutely no risk that it'll rub off or anything... which is a particular risk on a variable mecha like the VF-25... Anyways - I must admit that while building this, I'm at times frustrated I didn't go for the DX - but... then again - I just have to look at it again to remind myself how ugly it is and go back to work on my model Pete

Hm... soak them in water you say? And then they peel off? I'll have to try it out. I'm gonna build a second Ozma unit soon, so I will use decals on the second one. Although I was thinking of customizing it a bit and giving him Sheryl Nome decals...er...which I guess boils down to me using decals again anyways - tuuuranfurrmation! Ike!! (or something like that): Pete

Stupid question but... can you explain the difference between the two? Are decals the things that come with the model and can't be peeled off? How do I use those? Are they like with the Gundams where I rub over a surface and they magically appear "painted" on the plastic? I'd so prefer that to stickers... Nice Micheal That's one I'm very looking forward to doing... Pete

For the same reason you have street cars from 1920s San Francisco driving around a space colony - because no where is it said that a good design can't be re-used. Pete

Yeah - the "Megatron wants what's in my mind" line had me recalling good ol' Marvel comics TF G1, where Prime puts the Matrix into Buster's mind... so...yeah that is cool. Could it be that you have never removed the face mask from your Masterpiece Optimus Prime? Do so, and you will see what kind of screaming Prime is really capable of Pete

None of my Valkyrie or any other figures ever yellowed. The 1/60 is just that much whiter

I want diaoramas. They can even be really small scale - like "micro machines" scale - but I just want them.... Pete