VFTF1

Figured this would be the best place to post it: Is anybody else having trouble accessing their gmail account? It takes me like 10 minutes of waiting to get an "error - we're all screwed up" message (paraphrasing here). Pete

A 1/100 VF-19Kai Nekki Bassara that transforms and doesn't look short stocky and ugly? I'm in Even if it's a partsformer - I'll take it... Pete

Just noticed all of the other pics slightly above the ones I commented on... Sheryl grabbing Alto while Ranka tries to keep up is lovely. The child Alto sheltering Child Sheryl is touching and sweet. However - Alto flying in his gear and holding Sheryl is... something's anatomically wrong with it... well..no - looking again - it's all correct I guess... I just don't like the fact that her stocking is up on one leg, down on the other - it disfigures her. And while she might well like it, I highly doubt Alto would be holding her mid-flight be the boob Still - all really nice stuff. Pete

So apple sauce is the new Death Food? Pete

Well Jenius - Please note that in my prior post I did ask NugundamII not to make ad hoc attacks and not to swear - so here I am in complete agreement with you. At the same time, I understand how sometimes people can attach excess emotions to their views, especially when the subject is basically "how bad are you doing in this depression? Are you having to sell your hard won collection?" So - I think we need to cut peopel a little bit of slack if they get emotional and not let ourselves get carried away. To make a long story short: I agree with you also that it was not right to call some people "leaches" - since by and large nobody buys a home in boom years thinking "yeah! Hah hah! I'm gonna leach" - everybody pretty much is happy and hopes to make due and make ends meet as you say. I guess this is one of those problems that is a little bit like a virus - once it starts "going around" - people take preventive measures, but other people will suddenly become its' victims and spread it to others. I guess it's not right to say that the toxic debts started with any one simple decision or program or law or business model - it's a systemic failure - the most frustrating kind because people do like to be able to "lay blame" somewhere - on some one, or at least get clear explanations. Here - we're in murky waters. So - on all of these points we agree; and especially on the point about the need for being polite. Like I said - read my whole post above - while I disagree with some of your views and arguments, I disagree very strongly with nugundam II's way of over-emotionally presenting his views. As for our respective remedies for the crisis - clearly we have different theoretical backgrounds and different interpretations. I don't hold the Keynesian view - as you probably can tell. But I can only hope that the people who are actually trying to get us out of this also have different backgrounds and interpretations and are able to come to some common solutions that end up working so that our collections can grow and prosper instead of being sold to the lowest bidder in order to buy bread. Pete

Looked at pictures. Want. Hope it's not "ginormusly huge" The EX Gear Alto is mildly interesting too. Now all Bandai has to do is come out with improved movie VF-25 DX so I don't have to assemble ALL of my VF-25s as 1/72 models... The Quarter looks good though. Looks good. Pete

Interesting pics 1) Did Klan really feed Micheal pineapple salad? What episode was that in? It must have been after Michael had been wounded during the battle following that planet blowing up, right? I didn't notice it - but ... guess this just goes to show that the curse is still with us... 2) I liked the comic strips more or less 3) RANKA DOES NOT HAVE WHITE/BLUE STRIPED UNDIES!! NO WAY!!! Pete

Oh, that's just a typo. It's all part of Toynami's new 1/2000 line. We'll be getting Haydonite fighters next. There's even talk that they'll produce a 1/2000 black hole for your SDF-1 to hover perilously close to. Pete

You know - there are benefits to a design where the back seat only allows women in skirts to sit with their legs pull up to their chins Kudos to the design team! Pete

Toynami. Next month. 600 USD, but only 200 USD if you buy Shadow Chronicles on DVD and find the hidden code in the black hole that is sucking the SDF-1 into it. Pete

I respectfully disagree. FDIC and government insurance of banks is one of the things that got people into this mess by creating a false sense of security. "Hey - don't worry; hand out low interest credit to people with bad credit ratings - the government will insure your bank." Also - the laws were written to encourage banks to lend to people with bad credit, no work, and bad prospects - all in the name of "giving them a home." Now everybody who worked hard to get a good credit rating and to pay their bills has to pay for the people who leached off the system. In any event - I completely disagree with the idea that "the economy" needs our cash in banks "right now." Above all - "the economy" is too multifaceted and diverse to have one over-reaching need, which is exactly why macro-economics is a completely pointless science (as is the artificial and unrealistic division into micro vs. macro). Some people are going to keep their money in good banks. There actually are banks which, despite this crisis, have not gone under and seem to be doing fine. Others will be unlucky and have their money in bad banks (mine is in Citibank - guess where Citibank is headed now?...) Others will have it in shoe boxes. It really does not have any effect on the economy at large where people keep their money and people should act out of self-interest as they understand it, and not out of "patriotism." This is the same malarky as "we're in a depression so go out and buy stuff you people!" It's ridiculous. Capital accumulation (savings) are the basis of long term growth and recovery. The depression is good because it's finally cleaning out bad debt. If people go out and spend or give money to banks who turn around and issue more credit cards - it will only make things worse by increasing bad debt, toxic debt, foreclosures, bankrupcies, and devaluing the flimsy currency. Or there should be Economists who recognize that theirs' is not a science in the strict sense, like chemistry or physics, because as Aristotle noted "human things are not mathematical, they can not be precisely assessed." In other words: econometric models, which are beloved by Keynesians - have pretty much ZERO to tell us about reality, and we can learn more via deductive reasoning about praxeology. So - yeah - I guess I agree. Again with all due respect - but I don't fully agree. Nobody here is talking about "politics" in the sense of "political party A is great and B sucks" or "Your arguments and opinions are silly because you voted for candidate Y." People are discussing the "The Economy and Your Collection" - the title of the thread. So - people will talk about the economy and economics and their collection. They will naturally try to draw inferences or postulate theories about why the economy is the way it is and why they are acting as they are acting regarding their collections. Yes - people have different opinions on the internet. But I like the fact that on this forum - everyone is always polite in presenting those opinions. Everyone can disagree and write other opinions. I guess the problem really appears when people get over-emotional with their language. NugundamII: as small request from someone who probably agrees with most of your opinions: Please try not to swear (aka sh!t etc) when writing about your opinions, and try not to use labels (like saying that all economists are an unnecessary evil etc). I think that just causes people to take offence instead of looking at the reasoning behind your opinions. Just state your reasons and what you think and let people make up their minds. I like this thread and I like the discussion - so I hope we can all get along. I certainly don't think I'm "absolutely right" or anything like that - I just have my opinions and thoughts and enjoy presenting them and reading other peoples' opinions and thoughts. Let's all get along and continue please. Pete

I would just like to say - because it's of urgent importance and cosmic significance: Technically those are NOT white undies, but the bottom of a two piece swim suite. Pete

To my mind, yours is the first report of something like this happening. Pictures would help. Are you sure you didn't bring it into contact with some kind of chemical agent that made it do that? Pete

Hm. Backpack reminds me of the Ultra Magnus figure from Transformers Armada that attached to Super-Pants Optimus Prime. NOT a good thought. Pete

I'm not going to get rid of my WAVE. First of all - I got it when the exchange rate was fairly good - from BBTS on top of that so "more expensive" in dollars, but the dollar was so cheap back then that hey - whatever - it was worth it. I wouldn't get such a good deal on it today - let alone in future. Plus, it would be kind of silly to put my CMS Lyn Minmey in front of a 1/2000 SDF-1.... they just wouldn't comport well together. Also, it helps having a miniature version for various photographic scenes. The 1/2000 would be good for scenes where a "huge Macross in the Background" is needed. Also, the inclusion of little 1/2000 valkyrie and Destroids (I'm sure they'll give us Destroids) is a big plus. However - there IS one big MINUS: I'm not getting the 1/2000 unless we get a TV Version, or at least until it is confirmed that there is a seperate set where Daedelus and Prometheus can be bought. I understand why they went with DYRL - but DYRL's not as fun as sticking Daedelus and Prometheus on... Besides - at that scale, it would be nice to have an army of Destroids who could participate in the Daedelus attack. Can't really have a Daedelus Attack without the Daedelus. And one last point: This thing better not be at the same level as Yamato's Quied Raus. Aka "looks good" but does absolutely NOTHING and just costs a lot of money because it's a Quied Rau. I want this thing - at this scale - to have opening hatches revealing inner details of the (TV) city. I want the capacity for Daedelus attack. I want all of those 1/2000 VF-1s to have magnets at the bottom thank to which you can attach them to the launch strips on the ARMD I and II. If it turns out that this is just one big fat chunk of plastic with a transformation that is more simplistic than the WAVE - then I'm out. I want it to be as chock full of features as the new Yamato Ingram 1/24 seems to be (although - it's pretty much akin to CMS's old movie Ingram in terms of features). The high price and large scale are fine if - within those ramifications - we get an SDF-1 that offers more than just a "pretty display piece" but also has interactive features. Obviously the "battroid" mode of this thing is not going to be more poseable than the line art/DYRL make it out to be. It was never meant to be a super robot doing karate chops in out space - so I don't expect that. But - I do expect it to feature everything we love about the Macross - that means I want THE WHOL LEG COMPARTMENT TO BE ABLE TO COME APART IN TWO AND INSIDE THE LEG YOU SEE THE CITY - WITH ALL THE LEVELS, AND THE PRETTY HOUSES, AND NYAN NYAN RESTAURANT. Basically - if this thing DOESN'T have the Nyan Nyan restaurant and the City in it (which would be SO EASY TO DO given its' size and given how big those legs are and how easy you could make the armor come off) - I'm not buying. So - gimme some Nyan Nyan pictures please Let's see what this baby can do. Pete

well - cheap as in "relatively cheap" and "relatively" as in "compared to other items similar to it at various price points and scales. I'm not saying it's cheap as in "walk into the store and pic up a snickers bar, a bottle of water and a 1/2000 Macross - no bidggie." Obviously it's an expensive item. I'm just saying that the price sounds ok to me - if that is the price. Sounds reasonable and not that bad. Comparatively cheap. But of course it's all speculation now. Maybe our Japanese member friends can sound off on whether that kind of price would be considered reasonable in Japan for such an item at such a scale? Pete

50 thousand yen would be pretty cheap. Considering that the Yen is a bit undervalued in today's economy - I'd say there's a fair chance of 50,000 yen being about 300 to 400 USD by the time this thing comes out. Right now it's about 500 give or take - which is pretty steep, sure... But from the point of view of Japanese Yen prices - this thing is cheap. Heck - if this is 50 thousand Yen - it's not even twice the price of an SV-51 or YF-21. Granted, those things have more complex engineering going for them. Anyways - hopefully that will be the final Yen price. Sounds reasonable to me. But really people outside of Japan shouldn't cheer or complain - for them it all depends on the exchange rate, so no need to fly into a frenzy or anything yet. Pete

I like Undies too - but above all it was the green hair that got me I really do think Ranka is a very beautiful girl, and she looks worse with the light green/yellow/monster girl hair But she needs a dress and some boots dag nabit Pete

1) As soon as you convert the legs for gerwalk mode - before touching the arms - delicately rotate them both out and check your shoulder hinges to see if they are broken out of box/cracked/hair line fractured. 2) If they are - call up Monster girl (or Overdrive I guess) 3) If they are not broken: here's how to keep them that way: a) When rotating the shoulder ALWAYS hold the square portion of the shoulder hinge with the fingers from one hand and rotate the shoulder with the other. This take pressure off of the hinge and ensures it doesn't get bent left, right and up down like crazy as you manipulate the arm b) some people will say "loosen the screws" - I have not done that on any of my 5 version 2s. One of my version 2s had a hairline fracture out of the box - I applied preventive epoxy and it is fine. I personaly see no reason to loosen screw or otherwise manipulate the joint. If it ain't broken - don't fix it. Pete EDIT: Re: super parts - I have two VF-1J Hikarus with TV super parts. I'm gonna give one set of super parts to the 1D

So... I noticed on another wesbite that there was a pic of a 1/2000 SDF Macross from Yamato. I hastened to this board to see if there was a thread. I saw (for the one hundredth time) THIS thread. And then it dawned on me. For some reason - rather than "1/2000" - I had been seeing "1/200" in the thread by line, and thought that "Macross" refered to the series and not the ship. So - I didn't enter this thread because I thought "meh - not interested in the 1/200 line - and what's this "today is the day" crap? These were announced and issued like ...ages ago. Now - too late - 12 pages in - I suddenly realize that this thread deserves attention Pete Bringing New Meaning to the Term "No-Brainer" EDIT: Is there a JAPANESE YEN PRICE any where to be found? Pages and pages and pages of banter about how many dollars this might cost are kind of meaningless what with exchange rate fluctuations. The Yen price will always be the same (well - at least pretty much always). Any word?

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeet So cute! Now they need to do Goodbye Mars Misa rescue! All this Minmey love lately (new sexier version in Macross Ace, 1/60 VF-1D tv dress version, the DYRL statue from CMS) has really made me pretty much forget how much I loved Misa and become a total Minmey nutt Pete loves Minmey!

It's free for everybody, with purchase of any Macross product until they run out. Pete

Aw sh#t. That's the one I want... Pete

"AFTER?" the VF-1D? I just hope that doesn't mean all of my VF-1Ds are going to have their arms fall off to prove the point Pete

I tried this already. Trust me - all that happens is you start seeing Lyn Minmey and Yamato valkyrie everywhere. In the grocery store, you take a carton of milk up to the register and try to give the guy 200 bucks for it and get annoyed when he's like "um - sir- that only costs 2 dollars" And don't even get me started on what happens when you run home to open the box... "Yamatoed again! Instead of a beautiful fighter - all I got was this white liquid that came streaming out! I hate you Yamato!" Pete VF-1D lover