VFTF1

Taking some steps back here... but check out how these guys compare - nothing says "v.2 1/60 is better than 1/48" than having them side by side: Pete

Sweet Westfall I also finished the legs today and am getting around to assembly time... Although mine doesn't look half as good as yours Pete

Now that's a really interesting point there Killer Robot. I mean - you're right - there's no oxygen to burn in space... so what would explosions in general look like? Pete

Far as I can tell - Devastator ate Optimus Prime... Pete

Speaking of which, I think it's a bit TOO coincidential that TWO movies are being made - one titled "Terminator: Salvation" and the other "The Terminators" when I'm just now completing writing my romantic love novel - Terminator Sock Puppet. I have spent the better part of my life writing this book in my mother's basement - and now it turns out that despite all my attempts at keeping this gem under wraps - people are pouncing to profit on its' popularity BEFORE it has become known to the world. Dag Pete

I thought that by "novel info" he meant "new info" not "info from the novels" ... ? Pete

Hm... and where can I get "it" ? And will it work on my laptop...? hmm... Pete

Well, I just finished watching Frontier for a second time. Watched it pretty much straight through.... Here are my "second-time" impressions: 1. The plot is now far more clear when you watch it a second time around, in terms of motivations and connections, but there are also some grey areas that emerge: a) Leon. I guess he was after power the whole time, although it seems he also sincerely was after glory - since, if he succeeded in defeating the Vajra and taking charge of the planet, then he would be glorified as a kind of founder of a new planet. However, was he even aware of Grace's plan? He clearly had no clue WHO Grace really was - or rather what Grace really was - which we know because he figured that sending a bunch of guys with guns to kill her was sufficient to get rid of her... b) "Small favor that bullets work on them..." This is actually a tad ridiculous and confounding. In the episode that Michael gets killed in, we see Alto, Luca and Michael fending off the Vajra with machines guns. The same Vajra that could survive nuclear bombs, as we saw one episode prior when reactive weapons stopped working against them... Now - is this because the Vajra Michael and the gang are fighting a NEW swarm? Therefore - they haven't managed to super-evolve a defense against machine guns? On the surface, this sounds plausable - but Leon ventured the theory that the Vajra are all inter-linked and inseperable and that experience of a solitary member is communicated immediately to the remaining ones and super-evolution adapts them to conditions in order to help them survive...So... did these "new" Vajra not get the message? Can we therefore presume that this communicative-hive only exists in real time? That is to say - there is no "memory storage system" that is unputed into new Vajra that are just hatching? There is no - to borrow from Beast Wars Transformers - "Vajra chip" that brings a new member "up to speed" Does this therefore mean that "new" Vajra need to evolve "all over again?" And can't they some how interface with existing Vajra to "download" relevent history? Or could it be that- contrary to Leon's "swarm" theory about them - the Vajra are actually somewhat capable of individual action - or at the very least we could posit that there are distinct and seperate Vajra swarms with distinct histories? Finally - I would think it would have to be that there are distinct swarms since Aimo is a love song that Vajra sing to call other Vajra to make love to them and procreate. c) About that love song... Alto says that humans are "alone" which Grace considers to be their damning feature and something that needs to be overcome by becoming Super Dimensional Creatures - but Alto quickly adds that it is being alone that allows people to want to find some one to love - and that rather than being a Super Dimmensional God - it's better to find a girlfriend (basically that's his argument). But - since Vajra sing love songs, they too are "alone" insofar as they are not fully fulfilled without another - and even if it is "mere" biology - well - as Ranka says- Vajra have feelings too - they just communicate differently... but essentially - they are calling out for a mate with their love song and therefore are more like humans in being alone and needing love. D) About that Grace... What exactly is "she?" What is "we?" Did a bunch of scientists in Galaxy encode their personalities onto computers? Did their bodies all burn leaving only their minds on an AI system? ARE they an A.I. system? I'm not very clear on who "they" are ? And 'WHERE' they are. Concievably - the corporate headquarters would not put their CEOs in such danger nor would ALL of them have gotten melted and transfered onto a computer program. I would imagine that "we" are scattered Corporate officers throughout the galaxy who just happen to work through the artificial humanoid that is Grace. Perhaps the "real" Grace O'Conor is in there somewhere as well- but most likely only her hatred of the Vajra and lust to surpass the Protoculture are there? In any event - who is she? Finally - who was Sheryl's father? Who did Mao end up being with? Could it be possible that she agreed to help Grace with the project because, kind of like Bilar dreamed of finding Minmey, so Mao dreamed of finding Shin? Pete

I'm having visions of binge drinking ants in a mental ward... I saw a trailer recently and really liked it. Gotta admit I loved the first movie and will likely love the second. Just wish the damn toys looked better... Pete

What I could really use is the music track...so many great pieces... anyways - now to comment on Rbstr's thoughts... Yes - but this is what makes is so amazingly cool - they really have gone the distance in concieving of something audacious... This is one of my favorite parts as well - largely because Nia does it in her own special way. She's the first person to see Simon and NOT know who Kamina was. So, it's only natural that she doesn't look at Simon as being Kamina's young follower or dependent or whatever - she just sees Simon. And in this sense, with everyone else (including Simon himself) so awe struck by Kamina - someone like Nia coming in and just being like "Simon you're cool" is exactly what's needed. Also I find it ironic that in a sense she takes Kamina's place insofar as it used to be Kamina who believed in Simon when no one else would - now Nia takes on this role. I think Kamina would be happy. Yeah - I like this too because it kind of shows that "evil" and "good" are stupid terms which don't really mean much. All of us face the same enemy: mortality and despair. The Anti-Spirals just figured that the best way to deal with it was to voluntarily stop evolution and create fictional horizons for the human psyche - whether in the form of simple religions or elaborate mind control - while the Spirals hope against hope that they will be able to beat despair and spite mortality.... I really like this a lot more than the "good vs. evil" we see elsewhere. Heck - even the Beastmen's plight is moving. That chikcen who got his wings cut off after the fall of the Helix King... great stuff... That right there is the kind of thinking that the Anti-Spirals dread and the justification for them trying to stop evolution. The Spiral Nemesis will result from human pride and hubris trying to surpass death. I too was a bit puzzled at how Simon just let Nia die after overcoming all those other challenges... But maybe we're reading it wrong? Maybe Simon lets her die because he's happy? Because he found love? Maybe the solution to the Spiral Nemesis is love and friendship? When people find their soul mates, fall in love and have children and take it easy in life - they become content and happy and settle down. They do this not because they are being lied to as part of a religion - but because they are happy to spend their life with this other person.... So maybe Simon just let her die...because he had found a kind of fulfillment and final happiness? Besides - it's now Gimmy and Darry's time to step up to the plate. But my favorite character has got be Viral. Next to Lord Genome - he has the most extraordinary character arc of them all Pete

I was thinking of wrapping them around - but that would potentially cause friction later on when the ankle guards need to be transformed - and the last thing I wanted was sticker-peal So snip snip and everything fits nice and snug now... Pete

So - I ran into my first Bandai screw up... The stickers for the feet guards armor - you know- the grey half-circular things that go on each side of teh Messiah's feet... the yellow/black stripe stickers are too long for one of them... had to cut it down shorter...very strange :/ Not a big deal. Still looks good... but wierd... Pete

Skull leader Max.... sigh ... That's one thing I like about Macross Frontier - Alto didn't get a VF-25S with red lines ... keep it simple I never liked 1S Max... But I wonder - I'm sure they don't give you a new valkyrie. So... do they just change out the head? Err... anyways - nice pics Pete

I'm gonna chime in with 100% support of Excillion's views here. This is probably because I am a relatively new member so don't have the perspective others have. But here's how I see it: A) Everything is great B) Some people suddenly announce that things suck C) I pour through threads looking for proof of things sucking - can't find any. D) Some people persist in making a huge deal out of nothing E) I still don't understand what the commotion is about. There is NO mod abuse on this thread. There is NOTHING bad about the rules or the way the forum is run or about moderating styles. While I do acknowledge difference of opinion and I DO support free speech in such contexts to let people vent it is my PERSONAL opinion that there is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON TO COMPLAIN. This is the best site on the web for Macross and for Anime and hobby stuff in general. People going to bat for their buddy who broke multiple major rules and never once felt compelled to stop breaking them and straighten up or people holding a grudge against a mod for moderating is uncalled for. As Roy said in one of the earlier threads: Did Exo rape your mother? Did he call you mean names? Did he send you a trojan virus? What's the big deal? Why are these things even issues? If people keep whining then the mods and admin will eventually believe there is something wrong and people will end up hurting a good thing that this forum is. I mean - come on - not ONCE did I see any suggestion to change the rules. The mods base their decisions on the rules. There is not really such a thing as "moderating styles" to discuss because there are clear rules. Not once did anybody say - hey look -the rules say X and the mod abused his power and did something with no basis in the rules. If anything - the mods have been leniantly interpretting the rules the whole time I've been here. To me - these complaints have about as much merit as Crescin's old thread about how MW is "dogs on a leash" or some other BS. It's like - huh? Where is this coming from? Pete

No matter how hard people try - those with power over others will always feel that they are being asked to do the impossible by making a judgement about who went over board, who crossed the line, and who didn't. If they never make a judgement - they are weak and chaos ensues - if they make a judgement they will forever themselves be judged for it and expected to spell out in precise detail what their justifications were. Newsflash: Human beings and judgements about human things can never be precisely explained. If you are waiting for a mod to present a mathematical proof for why somebody got a warning, temp-ban or suspension - you won't get it because no person is capable of giving it to you. All judgements by humans over humans are imperfect - yet they have to be made. On the other hand - those who are being judged will always want the judgements explained and always will tend to find holes in those explanations. In the end - we either agree to be reasonable and moderate or we quarrel into infinity. I've been given a warning twice - once publically by Exo (who probably dishes out so many warnings he might not remember this particular one) and one privately by Hurin (who wrote me a five trillion page email justifying his actions which was totally appreciated). In the end - my reaction when I got a warning was to simply depart from the thread in which the situation that led to my warning came up. To withdraw yourself helps immensely - it cuts the potential cycle of he-said-she-said and back and forth bickering and it guarantees that you won't be warned again and the potentially bad situation won't develop. There are enough threads on MW that you can quickly find another one to go to and - eventually return to the one in question when emotions cool off. Above all - as members - let's take responsibility for ourselves. If you feel a moderator went to far and over-stepped and was unfair - here's my advise: Be the bigger Dude. Back off. Bow. Apologize and smile. I've noticed that the people who got into the worse trouble (Roger and Ryano) were the ones who couldn't just smile, say "sorry" and go back to having fun but had to make a melodrama out of their predicament. Meanwhile - the people who were humble -Agent 1 - are back kicking and cooler for it. Pete

Yes, badass it is. Meanwhile, in Amateur Land, another day another small step towards universal domination - or something... Pete

I don't detect a hate wagon anywhere. I've also emailed a couple times with Ryan and done two transactions with him - he was an honest and reliable dealer, which is a big pluss. He also clearly was and probably still is a big Macross enthusiast and has a good collection to show for it. No body here is questioning his humanity. I think the point is - like I wrote when he was banned the first time around: The only person who can bring Ryan back is Ryan. And he's been doing a lousy job at it ever since Pete

One of the things that made me a Macross fan was that it was very obvious that the creative talent behind the series cared about making it very good. One of the things that made me want to sign up for Macross world was that it was very obvious that the people who set this website up cared enough to make it a fun place to be, cared enough to create rules and regulations so that there would be no ad hoc punishments, but so that we would all have a written guide of rules for reference that we were free to critique and petition for changes if we saw they were merited. Look - I generally agree with you if you interpret the "why do you even care?" line as meaning that it's never good to get too engaged and that a bit of distance never hurt anybody. But the other extreme is just as overboard. I mean - look at the guys in the Model Kits section. Look at that guy building the 8 foot long Daedelus. Look at Gubbaba doing all the translation work he's doing... Look at people taking the time to amass collection, take cool pictures or feeling that it's worthwhile to spend huge chunks of time watching anime and thinking about it and analyzing it... Clearly there's a lot of caring going on. And last point: I actually disagree somewhat with this whole "it's just the internet" vibe - I think we've fallen victim to it - it's a BOBBY TRAP... Look - the internet might be a virtual world - but behind these letters and posts are PEOPLE. And really it's no different then when people gather together in large groups in the "real" world - you need some kind of common rules and guidelines that are fair and you need common courtesy. More than breaking any rules or guidelines - Ryan broke common courtesy. He was not nice. He was impolite in what he did. Because it's "just the internet" doesn't make that ok. The internet is populated by human beings - and yes - true - you're right - it's "just" a message board and it's "just" an anime hobby - ok. But - then again, it's also something we all love and it's something we enjoy being a part of. Heck - look - if Ryan created a new user account in order to open a topic that was titled "I'M SORRY LET ME BACK IN PLEASE" - fine. Heck - if he came into THIS thread and wrote a long post about his point of view - fine. But come on. The guy hasn't even had the common courtesy to let us know what his point of view is. He comes into this thread with what is either a flippant joke ("how did you know it was me?") or carelessness on his part ("oops, forgot to wash the blood off my hands" type of carelessness) while people here are taking the issue seriously enough to try to stick up for him. I just don't think that's nice. Does it mean I'm going to starve, die, go bankrupt or that by dick will fall off? Do I lose sleep over it? No. Does the fact that it's not a vital national security matter mean that automatically I shouldn't really care? No. Don't think I don't appreciate your POV DnD. I just wish that Ryan himself could stick up for himself half as good as some of the members have been doing for him. Pete

Huh? So if I create multiple user accounts and open seven topics about Jennifer Aniston and tell the mods to piss off if they start to lock them, then that'll mean I like this place more than the majority of the membership? Define "steps out of line in the slightest" ? Because from what I can tell he's already done that over and over and over again. I agree. Which is why I don't get how Ryano could take to heart his 3-day temp ban to the extent that he led to this ridiculosu situation for himself. Or is it only that the MODS can't take things to heart, but if a member feels unfairly treated then they can break rules and flame away? Pete

Clearly there must be some trick to the heat shield- I mean - on some pictures it looks just fine... Pete

The new packaging is nice..but...I don't like it being bigger. Makes shipping costs go up, makes box size more of a pain... Lagann looks GREAT as a Revoltech though. Really top notch job. Pete

I agree with Taks about not punishing people who interacted with Ryan 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 because how are you going to prove who knew it was him? So far, I don't even know all the user names he used - just Macross1979, and then the one he used to butt into this thread. I don't think I interacted with him but - it would be bad form to punish people who did because...what? Are we supposed to suddenly become paranoid about newbies? Are we supposed to request ID papers of users before we talk to them or engage them in forums? But on the other hand - this is exactly why Ryan deserves his ban: look at what happened because of him - look at the harm done. We now have a discussion going about possibly punishing some members for engaging with other members who were "fake" members and really subversives going against their ban. What really takes the cake - IMO - though - is just how BIZZARRE Ryano's behavior in all of this is. I mean - WHY would you create a duplicate account after getting a 3 day temp ban? WHY would you send a letter to the mods via an intermediary asking for leniancy ONLY to create yet another duplicate account - even after the mods BASICALLY told you "we'll let you back in after 3 months" (because - come on - let's be serious - is there any doubt that "3 month review" basically translated to "we appreciate your letter, if you're sincere then we'll bury the hatchet in three months?")... Another note - this whole discussion is kind of unfair to Agent 1. I saw the thread where he got banned - and yeah, what he wrote was out of line - but in the grander scheme of things - it was also a "petty" offense - he didn't exactly murder anybody or set the forum "on fire" or something. And yet I'm really impressed that he had the wherewithall to patiently wait out his ban, probably petition through several channels for re-entry -and come back with a completley cool attitude and make positive contributions to the forum. Meanwhile this the - what - second multi-post topic thread dealing with Ryano. And this is the second time where lots of us say things like "he's a nice guy" and "he should apologize and we'd help him get back in" and then we learn what Exo has told us. Personally, I at this point feel like Ryan is either totally on an emotional rollar coaster ("Please send this letter to the mods on my behalf"...five minutes later...creates yet another user account/undermines the mods)... or he actually ISN'T a nice guy and ISN'T trust worthy. Finally - whoever the member was that stuck his neck out and conveyed Ryan's message of peace to the mods has now been burned in terms of credibility - at least judging from Exo's post. Independent of whether this member made a big mistake or not, the member is ANOTHER person hurt by this situation. So - all in all - I think it's obvious that Ryan's caused some real harm to people and continues to do so and deserves his ban in light of all of this. Pete

Dag. That's one fine Luca. You even managed to paint the pilot ... people amaze me... As to the WIP pics - I love seeing them and reading people's comments because it helps prepare me for what's ahead and gives me ideas to mull over... I guess I need to buy some paint or at least a couple a' markers ... Pete

I appreciate the long post, and I hope other members do too. Thanks for clearing it up, Pete

For the answer, see Alto's remark to Luca in Episode 4, Miss Macross: "Capitalism at work, eh?" NUNS is a government outfit. Government is always financed either through direct coercive taxation or through indirect taxation (deficits and monetary inflation). Translation into laymans' terms: Government will always have money whether they do a good job or not because government gets money by taking it from other people. Therefore everything government does will ALWAYS be - at best - inefficient - including running valkyrie squadrons. This isn't because NUNS pilots are all inferior while SMS pilots are superior. It would be silly to presume that all of the stupid and bad people went to NUNS and the smart ace pilots all went to SMS. Rather - this simply means that SMS functions on the basis of real-world incentives and price signals. NUNS functions on the basis of budgets that have nothing to do with their management choices and everything to do with political control and coercion. To look at it another way: let's say you ran a grocery store. Let's also say that all the people in your town were forced by law to visit your store once a week and spen 100 bucks there. Since you know they have to come and have to spend, you really don't care what they spend it on and you certainly don't care about what they really need (what is really in demand). More - the people who supply you will artificially inflate their prices because they KNOW that you are guaranteed customers who are forced to "buy" from you. Since you are guaranteed this money - then the suppliers can jack up their prices and even disregard the quality of what they are selling to you (since it will be "bought" no matter what). Now take this example into the realm of NUNS and valkyrie. The mecha that NUNS have is shoddy because the producers probably got their contract through connections and not competition. Either they financed a political party, or they have some other kind of friendly ties to those in power. Therefore, they don't care about producing quality mecha and good prices because they know they will get their money no matte what they produce - so long as it nominally does what it's supposed to. Meanwhile, SMS, even though it has a rich sponsor, is managed on the basis of real-world prices and financial incentives. It is basically a market insitution. As for morale - the people in NUNS are likely a mix of three types: a) idealists who want to defend the colony and the women, b) people who chose the military rather than working at the proverbial Macdonalds, c) people who are somewhere in between - a bit of idealism, a desire for financial security. These people probably have various skill levels - certainly it is not possible to say that all of them are unskilled or cowardly. However- upon entering the government-funded system which is NUNS, they fall prey to a million insanities caused by the beauracratic nature of the institution. The mecha is in constant disrepair and it seems impossible to weed out the bugs. People are more interested n their careers than in improving things and - unlike in a market situation where the only path to career advance IS improving things for your customers - here it's the opposite. SMS doesn't have this problem. It was pretty much the same on the Macross in SDFM TV. All that UN Spacey could do was get people killed and blown up. Yeah, they built the VF-1 - but they had to steal the technology from the Anti-UN and create a global monopoly on over-technology under the guise of "sharing" technology with the world (but really - look at how it turned out - it basically turned out as "all technology belongs to the UN - if you don't give us yours - we're gonna kill you"). And even with this technology - they achieved nothing. They barely got the Macross off the ground, and the thing folded to Pluto leaving Earth defenseless. Oh - wait - there was the Grand Cannon. Fat lot of good that did. And it probably cost half of Earth's population's food and comfort. Then the UN Spacey got Earth nuked because they refused to listen to Misa and Global. On the flip side - what ultimately stopped the Zendradi wasn't the government (coercion) but market forces (voluntary interaction). Minmey didn't force the Zendradi to like her songs, she didn't compell them to become cultured - she managed to CONVINCE them (move them) with her singing. Bassara does the same in M7 - and of course the government attempts to copy cat it - but you can't copy the flaming love heart of Nekki Bassara by government fiat - thus Jamming Birds is a failure. This isn't to say that ALL THE PEOPLE (individuals) in UN Spacey or NUNS are corrupt. Nor is it to demonize all situations. There were heroic UN Spacey pilots and courageous individuals who made a difference and managed to beat the odds and do something good despite the system. But that system was stifling and restrictive and on the whole did more harm to humanity than good. In Macross Frontier - that system is completely falling apart. Space Colonies are more independent of one another, and even the military is finally privatized (the first step towards this was in Macross 7 where we saw during the carnival episode that people owned their own Custom Mecha - it wasn't just that only the government could own the stuff). So..I'm sure it's the same with NUNS - they're not all cowards and they don't all suck. But the system they function in is counterproductive and difficult to live with. But towards the end of Frontier they do manage to kick ass anyways Pete